Dance the night away!

DAY 2 of blogging: already had my first annoying experince

God, Day 2 started out fantastically (and pretty much ended fantastically too, aside from this one minorly shitty thing that happened), with me in getting to drive to work...!! I've been so used to bumming rides from Rog lately or having to negotiate for a car anytime I need to do something (I end up having to consolidate errands into one general vicinity so I can get the most possible done so I won't have to ask for the car again for a couple days...me legs ben workin jus foine since Yourup 05). I feel sixteen again. Minus the crushes-from-afar-on-upperclassmen (sigh) and neuroses over some girl wearing the same shirt I had on the same day I wore it. But bonus was it was the jeep...!...grand sound system (compared to the mazda 626 ghetto-rigged six cd changer in the trunk I used to deal with)...!...leather interior! I was totally a rich-bitch on my way to work, especially driving through Hinsdale. I love driving through gaps in the income bracket, like going from Hinsdale into Downers Grove, where suddenly there are discount korean markets and tattoo (world-famous!) parlors along Odgen. So I brought a New Order disc with me bc I'm essentially obsessed with NO/Joy Division (again) but I swear it feels different this time around. I guess I'm still thinking about London and how normal I felt in my music tastes, with their punk/New wave/electronic/rocker roots. Like why did I start re-listening to all my old Bon Jovi and Guns N Roses tapes suddenly in my sophomore of high school? Then branch out to the double-disc of Monsters of Rock (which I did purchase from timelifemusic.com I think, or maybe off a late-night infomercial, I won't lie) and eventually hair metal in general? This was when fucking Puff Daddy was sampling and making shitty (but guiltily delicious) remakes ("I'll Be Missin You" etc) and I wanted to kill myself that this was what was played at LT pep rallies. So I was a loser who listened to hair metal religiously, but occasionally I would throw in some Chris-influenced ganster rap (a la Crucial Conflict, Bone, Nas, Tupac, NWA, etc.) so I felt somewhat current. This was when he thought he was black. Now he just wishes he were black. Now 80s is "cool" again, but what the fuck? It's not a fad for me, I think I worship Bloc Party right now so much because the drumming sounds so much like New Order, and sometimes Joy Division, and the dance beat is like straight out of Kraftwerk. But whatevs, what was my point? My brain is kind of fried from nine-letter speed Scrabble. Will did throw "acre" out there and I had to question how to pronounce it (I was looking at it sideways though, if that helps my case for being retarded at all). Okay, so I brought NO in the car with me, not even an old disc, one from 2001-ish which is still semi-recently in terms of their longevity and listened to this song, #3 "turn my way" I think, that I used to listen to my last semester of college when I had to write my thesis and life sucked, kind of, but was alternatingly exciting. More boredom though, and crazy writer's frustration. But this is among my fav lines of any NO/JD song: "I don't wanna be like other people are, don't wanna own a key, don't wanna wash my car. Don't wanna have to work like other people do. I want it to be free, I want it to be true." Kind of cheesy and gay I know but I love it. This was when I was subsconsciously freaked out about graduating and leaving the fucked up-ness of college, which was secure in a bizarre way. I had no idea how to be nervous though: do I update my resume? Make contacts for jobs? Etcetera etcetera college career center brochure. Instead, I decided to do lots of speed and acid. Oh actually, when I was reading Erich's story about that insane caddy on the PGA tour, I thought of this kid at school that everyone called Rave Dave bc he was always on some substance or other. I bet even his professors called him Rave Dave; no one ever referred to him by his first name only. He was one of those people on campus who had attained mythic status bc of his fucked up-ness. You know the type, ol double name that everyone in your friend group (and beyond) refers to bc of one retarded incident or drunken night. I used to run into him at parties and he'd corner you for a while, telling crazy stories about his life as a poor rich raver kid/philosophizing/verbally spewing hundreds of ideas until YOU were tired of following his points. He's probably dead, in jail, in rehab, or living in Zurich, Switzerland right now. And honestly, I would not be surprised if any of those options turned out to be reality. I would be sad, bc he was just the most pitiful thing to listen to, all his stories of a weird life for a smart kid who grew up too fast (imagine that in the voice of the guy who does summer movie blockbuster trailers...Do I possibly have a screenplay for Project Greenlight?). And, he used to liquid dance unconsciously (or consciously? you never really knew) while he talked to you, if there was music there or not. His hands would just keep moving and in my head, I was like, is he in a rave inside his mind? Whaaaatt? kooky, to say the least. He kind of reminded me of RDJ in "Less Than Zero."

BUT..hearing that song reminded me that time in my life, when I was so scared of "real life" and "resumes" and "networking" and whatevs, all that; didn't realize that I already was participating in real life and that just bc I had a college degree didn't mean shit; life still went on for everyone else around me. So when I would listen to this song and sit on my floor, re-arranging sentences and commas and words (god, I feel annoyed just thinking about that again!), listening to this song, it was like my big F-U to the world (stupid, I know). But I would think to myself, NO didn't really "grow up;" they kept doing what they were doing and making records while maintaining their original sound, just adapting it as time went on. Listening to it now, it kind of makes me empathetic for myself at that point in my life, like heart-string tug, oh! I could probably map out my life, kind of like I think Nick Hornby does (or maybe he just lists his favorite songs?), according to what music was playing. Vacations are a definite. For ex: our fam trip to Ireland in 92 was when Chris has discovered Soul Asylum and Grave Dancers Union and we listened to that tape over and over (I think that was when it came out, maybe 93 though? "Runaway Train" was on heavy rotation). I remember my mom being like, who is this? in her totally dorky mom way, like we could have said Sinead O'Connor and she would have been like, ooohhhhh. But CJS told her the name and she said, hmmm...interesting name for a band. Do you know what "ayslum" means? Both me and Chris had no idea. I could do that for almost every vacation in my memory, which I'm not sure is bizarre or cool. Maybe that just's how my brain works.

Okay, I better get quickly to why this day was great--I could be here all night. So I got to go back to my store, and be surrounded by books again and though I've been out of the loop for six weeks, it all came back pretty well. After a few times of the antiquated computer hissing/beeping at me every time I forgot my password and id number to type in before each transaction. But so many ten year old boys (and under) were coming in and buying "Revenge of the Sith" books, etc. I got so excited, I'm not even that much of a big Star Wars fan but my dad and brother were when we were little, and thus I had R2D2 and C3PO underwear. I haven't seen the last installment yet, so I was taking a poll of these kids, like should I see it IMAX-style or regular theater? One kid said IMAX-style; this was his favorite movie of the whole series and when I said even "Return of the Jedi?" He said, very basically like a ten(ish) year old boy will do, " 'Sith' had more siths, like evil guys. And 'Jedi' had more jedis, the good guys." Which totally makes sense in my mind. But then some other kid told me to see it regular-style (his dad said he was going to watch it "home on the couch-style, with a DVD and cheaper popcorn") so I'm at a loss. I don't even know if I want to see it. I know I'm seeing "Willy Wonka" regular. But I kind of want to see "Lords of Dogtown" IMAX, even though I know it's not as intensely sporty/skateboardy as the orignal documentary. Plus, I found out that this woman at my work, Carmel, has a daughter engaged to the lead singer of a Chicago punk band (but they're vegan and totally straight-edge!) called Rise Against, and she told me today that they make a blink-it appearance in "LOD" as Black Flag. !! She also recommened Deluxe tattoo shop on the North Side to get my tattoo finished since her other daughter used to work there. Carmel is way cool and I love that she completely accepts her daughters' punk-ness, and goes to shows to support Rise Against. If I was in a hardcore band, guarantee my mom wouldn't attend a show, especially if there were evident signs of binge-drinking everywhere. "Um, Sar, are those crushed Old Milwaukee cans on the ground? I think someone put a cigarette out on my brown sandal and I do not appreciate the tar emulating from their breath." So work ruled, all day, I was buzzed on coffee and offering probably way too many recommendations about books, but it was kind of exciting to still know what the hell I was talking about after being away for six weeks. Then my mom called and told me that I got a package from my old professor, Jay Nicorvo, and inside were all these copies of the Eckerd Review, essentially me being published for the first time! I was ecstatic when I got home and couldn't even listen to the questions my parents were asking me about the contributors; I was obsessed with finding out what kind of font they used, and the size they printed my thesis. I'm such a nerd. A word nerd! The worst kind! So I'm still really jazzed about that, and I'm listening to Bloc Party right now this very minute and I kind of want to start dancing, I swear! But I think everyone in my house is asleep though. I have headphones on so I don't disturb the roomie, who is currently twitching on the floor like she's having one of those chasing dreams. Which I would guess are the same all the time? I mean, is she having a dream like humans have dreams? Why else would her paws be seizuring at random moments? It's kind of funny to watch though.

I might have to drive to Skokie tomorrow to get a loan from my stupid small Niles Township Credit Union, attached to my dad's old Dist. 68 administration building. I think I want to sneak in the backway so I don't have to say hi to his old secretaries and co-workers! I need a loan to pay off the credit card bill, installment #1 from Eurotrip! To be followed by hopefully only one or two other bills, then I'm done. {fingers crossed}

If I get that done, I'm going to a pool or my sprinkler or somewhere, and possibly crafting if I have time. I'm completely in craft-mode lately, after the boys I babysat last night and tonight (and my assistance/plotline input) made a comic book called "The Dragon Chronicles Book 1: Bad Dragons Attack!" This is essentially a six part series (like Star Wars, John, the middle kid at 6 told me) and though we haven't completed Book Two, we anticipate the title "Book 2: Revenge of the Good Dragons." I kind of want to figure out how to download pictures tomorrow so I can show you this comic book, featuring Lava and Flame, best friend (boy) dragons who are rich with gold and guns (of course) as well as the possession of a crystal that gives them unlimited power (I did not make any of this up; they dictated to me and I was the font-maker--cursive, bold, art deco, bubble letters, anything--and they drew the pictures). Totally awesome illustrations, and I'm obsessed with it. Even if there are Ambigously Gay Duo-undertones, it's still a pretty rad story with unbelievably accurate pictures (I mean anatomically correct dragons). I'll try to figure out how to do it.

Yikes! 207am! Maybe it's not such a good idea if I got a blog...

PS the annoying thing in my title references the power failure we had for two seconds at work today during the middle of an intense thunderstorm, and typically, I lost a super-long entry I'd been writing in between working. I know, I know, save frequently to avoid losing data. Whoops.
But after writing all this other wonderful stuff that happened to me today, I kind of don't care anymore.

posted by SES @ 1:05 AM