Life is Good?

Life's been good. When life is good, time is scarce to be angry. When anger is amiss, the blog is neglected. So even with my hiatus in entries, I did catch a moment this past weekend. Returning to Boston from a weekend at the Connecticut and Rhode Island shores on a gorgeous weekend, I was waiting my turn in traffic when a RI-plated Sentra loaded up with young adults began littering from literally every window. Plastic wrappers, tissues and other non-descript trash items were thrust from the car out onto the road. Not only was there no obvious concern or respect for the public space, it was their brazen offerings with no intention of discretion that upset me worst. It is this behavior that makes me sad to be American, living in a place where throwing non-degradables onto the street would ever be considered where a rationale for any ignorance of their effects could hardly be imagined.

Dewey Beach, DE

More cougars on one beach than in all of the Rocky Mountains. Although I cannot answer the question that I had when I left for Delaware last week, I can say that the number of 30s+ women in pursuit of prey was staggering. The beach was expansive, the bars were explosive and my friend and I received a crash course in the nightstyle of Delaware shore.

It doesn’t stay out late. The bars close at 1. That is quite early for party life standards. But they make up for it by starting early. On Saturday, after a quick nap and a few pounded Aluminum lights, we trekked the two or so blocks to what we affectionately labeled Cork and Pork, referring to something of our intended outcome with some of the female clientele.

When we entered, it was apparent the party started a little earlier than our arrival. There were already more than a hundred people inside. And they were dancing…already. A live band had just finished and it couldn’t have been later than 7p. I still needed a few more aluminums and shooters to even consider getting myself getting into the thick of the melee.

Bachelorette parties began to stream in wearing the matching shirts, or the elaborately dressed bachelorette complete with embroidered sash or funny hat. Closing in on these groups, a new friend of mine made short work getting in with the bachelorette and from there, into the mix with the other girls. But the predominant theme, as I watched (and did my own testing of the tepid water) was that most were attached to significants. As we were part of our own party of bachelorites, it was fun to share in their fun, however, if the goal was to score, we were kicking with the left foot.

In all, there were many opportunities, but I was not accustomed to the older woman game, and I will admit I rescinded from any advances they made. One in particular after an invitation to dance was offered later that night, I did what I haven’t done in 13 years…I chickened out with a hot, older babe. What a fool! As punishment, I got my due spending the remainder of the evening conversing with an attractive girl who happened to also be a fundamentalist Christian, walking down the beach, being saved. Maybe as it turns out I really was saved in some respects…there is a reason they call them cougars.

Money in 2008

I just looked at my online credit card statement and realized that if I didn’t go out to bars and to friends houses to partake in what we would call “social” drinking, I would probably be saving $300-400 every month. I would not even consider for an instant that I have a drinking problem or issue, but going out is very expensive. I was at bar in Waltham watching the Final Four games back a bit and saw the Burger on the menu selling for $4.75 with French fries. I took me a minute to think back to the last time I saw a burger that cheap and it was definitely before a time when I was old enough to go out and pay a restaurant tab. In high school, it was possible to get a $5 lunch. And depending on the place, it could include chips and a drink. Now that the $5 expectation has been breached, lunches at regular places approximate the $10 barrier. Perhaps the $5 limit was holding back prices for longer than they should, but all of a sudden, the $10 limit has crept into play. The same goes for the price of a pint at a bar. Because I got my start going to the Avenue where pints of Bud Light were always a dollar, I was spoiled by cheap beers. Pints of light beer for $2-3 were found at other bars, $4.75 was quoted at fancier locations and the stadium beer could be had for $5. That was back in 2001-2002. Now stadium beers are never less than $6 and can go for as high as $9. A beer costs $4.50 in every bar save one…Avenue still serves ‘em up for a buck. They’re probably watered down.

Blog Riotus Top Music This Week

More Than This - Roxy Music
Foundations - Kate Nash
A-Punk - Vampire Weekend
Just Like Honey - The Jesus and Mary Chain
Free and Easy - Dierks Bentley
Le Festin - Camille
Travelin' Soldier - Dixie Chicks
Trois Romances sans paroles, for piano, Op. 17: in A-flat major - Gabriel Faure

Slow Days of Summer

Slow days of Summer, in this old town,
Sun goes across the sky, sometimes a car goes by,
There’s one right now,
looks like a Chevy, your Chevy’s blue,
This Chevy’s white and brown. it isn’t slowing down...
Guess it’s not you,
You said you’d be here, Sunday or so,
Maybe by Saturday, if you could get away
You didn’t know

I love you darling, waiting alone,
Waiting for you to show, wishing you would call me though,
I don’t have a phone,
Visions of love appear, lovely and true,
All of my life I see passing beautifully,
Waiting for you

Waiting for love to come, always alive,
Birds sing with angel tongues, small stones like diamonds,
All down the drive
Around the corner an old dog appears,
sits in the summer sun, waiting for love to come,
wish you were here, wish you were here...

A shrug or a confrontation?

It's a decidedly awkward moment when an amiga introduces you to a friend of hers as your perfect match. That's all well and good if the friend is even mildly good looking. That situation can be handled without the slightest anxiety. When that person is over-weight and considerably unattractive, however, that introduction becomes as uncomfortable as legend. You not only have to diffuse any unfounded expectations from your introductee, but also must act falsely appreciative that your friend would think to match you with someone else. After all that, there is a lingering sense of shock (and awe) that your friend would actually not see how much of a mismatch this would be! And resentment sets in later when the logical questions linger in your head, "Is this a reflection of my friend's opinion about me? And should I be upset about this?" Then, more appropriately, you give up your depressing questions and replace them with the better question of "The fuck do I care?"

Screaming Orphans at Woodhaven House, Queens, NY

Everything happens by chance and chance met our party of three with the Screaming Orphans at a Queens dive last night. Whether it was ten beers I had already downed before I reached the bar, the dimly lit interior or noticeable absence of any real good options, but this band of sisters caught my eye as we walked into the bar. Their cover tunes were decent and besides walking by the band stand as we staked claim to a non-threatening corner of the bar next to two mildly attractive girls dancing with one of those non-attractive ones (description not necessary), I didn't really pay them mind outside their immediate good looks. I like live music probably more than the next guy does, but I don't care for exposed poppers whose coolgirl fashion imitates what's trendy today. That's what they appeared to be, and their song was a cover on something classic rock. I thought to myself, atleast with the unfavorable ratio and talent, I would have some something to keep myslef entertained outside my two buds.
Then the lead singer spoke. Her delicated brogue immediately peaked my interest. She seemed a little tentative, shy and maybe even lacking in self-assurance, which for a pretty blonde was strangely attractive. And then my peaked interest was rewarded with a few consecutive Irish songs that were played expertly, atleast to my novice ear(of Irish descent). While their American renditions were good but not great, their Irish inspired songs were excellent. The three of us left the bar soon after they finished their set, impressed with the band but more importantly, the pleasure of listening to good and live traditional Irish music. I became a fan of the Screaming Orphans.

"Where the cop is the purp, and the purp is the victim!"

(Copland)

It's not so much that these lines have been blurred beyond doubt but there is some validity to this quote as presented specifically in television in Cop-Thug shows that started with the Shield and continued with what I consider the best television series out there...The WIRE. There is no clear good guys and bad guys and the show demonstrates what's really out there...just people. Some are working behind the guise of the law and others on the corners. But in some twisted way, and certainly by direction of the writers, what side one is on, does not designate them automatically as a protagonist or antagonist...they're still just people. Sure there are the cops you like, but there is also criminals you find yourself siding...errr... empathizing with. And these criminals make you almost believe that selling crack, robbery and murder are... normal. And there lies the beauty of the show. That some things that appeared so foreign at first become commonplace later. After all, the Black ghetto is like a foreign country that happens to be in our cities.

I am a pretty friendly guy. Not a whole lot of things bother me but there are a few things that get to my last calm nerve. This is not a rant because at the point that that last nerve is reached, I usually can rein in that last nerve tight enough that I don’t explode off into a cannon made of fury. There are those rare times when the cords that hold my aggression firmly down get tasseled and I loose my cool. I will not go too far into things that may do the latter, but I am all for exposing for my awaiting audience with examples of the former.

For some reason, reckless SUV drivers don’t bother me as much as a reckless, SUV-driving women, wearing sunglasses too big for her face and actively chatting on a cell phone. The SUV itself is a net negative and the aggressive driving makes me uncomfortable, but I only lose it if it’s a woman driver (sad sexist confession, I know, I know) and there is animated cell phone chatter. It probably has something to do with the probability that she is driving her daddy’s big car and has no idea what the implications of a big bad accident would be like for someone else being hit by her car.

Another thing that just gets me, absolutely gets me, is when you meet people who are obviously trying to show themselves up in front of you and they never realize that the constant barrage of self-compliments never seem to add up with you. You try to goad them along with depreciatory questions and there is never any negative. This happened frequently at college during the early years when you meet somebody new and they would think they needed to provide a verbal resume of their spectacular life’s achievements, usually with getting chicks and kicking ass in high school sports. What usually occurs is later he was really talking about his sister’s friends and his year of JV mytho-reality. It is clearly unacceptable in the limited social contact found in the work setting. No, I don't care or believe your astonishing feats of bravery or urban ferocity. Didn't we used to brag about those things in high school?

People who don’t do what they said they would do. This is the worst of the bunch because these people are usually your friends, colleagues or people that you normally would, or want to trust. “I’ll give you a call back,” is usually the most frequent assertion and it’s not so much that you want to get that call back because 4 in 5 surveyed said that it’s just the idea that they had no intention of calling back that makes them annoyed. If these people had some integrity, instead of misleading (lying to) their “friends”, just be more accurate…”I’ll talk to you later.” Simple and no one feels annoyed/mislead.

This next case is a product of our technological advances. When someone texts you and you call them back, they don’t answer. If you just texted me, and you’re inquisitive about something that I can answer, then why not pick up the f'n phone? Obviously there are sometimes when you are indisposed to answer calls, but we’re not talking meetings here folks, these aren’t daytime calls.

Surprisingly, what do not peeve me are calls to my cell phone during work. I recognize that I am quite busy at work, as are most people working for a salary, but I enjoy a chance of a breather, albeit quick, from the monotony of the daily tasks. I see a call as a welcome reprieve as long as I am not directly busy! So that I am not annoyed by.

There's quite more upsetting things that I have left out. Don't worry, I will include these in a blog article at a later date.