what a crazy week this has been. i realize that i tend to think of myself as someone with little to no "real" life, a layabout, a lazybones, an anti-social bastard. for the most part, that's probably true, but the events of this past week have hammered home to me just how active my inactive lifestyle really is… throw one wrench in the works, and i'm struggling to hold on.

my parents let me know somewhere around the 21st or 22nd that my sister would be home (their home in Princeton, KY, not mine in Louisville) that weekend and would need me to pick her up and to take her to the airport. unfortunately, her arrival and departure schedules were timed just poorly enough to potentially interfere pretty seriously with my work week. now at work i've been just busy as hell. i can barely take time out to chat with my friends, though i do try. and we've got a couple projects i'm knee deep in that have semi-unrealistic deadlines so i really can't afford to take off work for an extended period at this point. my sis was trying to get me to take off a monday & a tuesday, then a half day on thursday to take her to the airport. i managed to convince her to get in touch with some friends and make arrangements to minimize my time away from work, but of course in the process i was really just compressing three days worth of activity into 1 and a half.

on sunday (when i had been planning for and looking forward to a cookout at a friend's house) we decided to cut the day's activities down to just band practice so i could leave at a decent hour. practice ended up running a little long, but it went pretty well so it was worth it. i think i finally left town around 6:45.

another odd thing that i've noticed is that it seems like every single time i go home, it always manages to be during a storm of some point. it always rains on me either on I-65 south, or somewhere along the first half of the western kentucky parkway. this time it managed to do even better than that. it pretty much rained on me down the majority of I-65, and all of the first half of the wk parkway. it was a very impressive storm system that stretched the entire length of that parkway, from Elizabethtown to Princeton, and i really enjoyed trying to catch some good looks at the huge, breathtaking lightning that was going on. i really wished that i had a camera and more time… i would've loved to just pull off the road and try to get some pictures of the sky.

i finally managed to make it home around 9:00pm. the drive through the old hometown was pretty surreal. i go home so infrequently these days that it's just very odd to see all these familiar things from which i'm so far removed. but i did make it home, and hung out with my parents for a little bit since my little brother and big sister were out at the moment providing me what would most likely be my only opportunity to really talk to them. (my little brother tends to monopolize my time when i'm there, which i assume is just a normal little brother thing). almost the first thing out of my mom's mouth was her asking me if i'd permed my hair. i explained to her as i pointed a finger at my dad that no, unfortunately i had, in the genetic crapshoot that is human reproduction, inherited it from him. this got us started talking about other things i'd inherited and from whom, and about family and family history. as it turns out, it is generally believed that i have some melungeon blood from my mother's side, and that my… is it great-great-great grandmother?… was Native American…. there may be another great in there, i obviously don't have any native american features…

anyway, so i helped my little brother (once he got home and i had to quit talking to my parents) dismantle some pieces of his old computer in preparation for the computer parts he was expecting on Monday. another reason for me to go pick up my sister was so that i could help him put his new system together. he showed me his fish which had spawned two separate broods, so there were somewhere around 100 barely macroscopic little fishies swimming around one of his tanks. he played me some of the songs he was writing with the little band thing he's doing, and i showed him a few tricks i'd picked up recently (namely simple things like the blues scale, and how to know what key you're in…) as well as some older tidbits of guitar knowledge.

the next day i took my car to the local repair shop to get the front brake pads replaced and ended up tooling around town until the work was done. i walked up and down the courthouse square area and ended up in front of sharon's parent's business. i went in and had 15 or 20 minute conversation with sharon's mom, and found out that i'd missed seeing sharon by about an hour. i didn't even have any idea she was going to be in town, or i'd have forwent band practice on sunday… ah well. i guess that's the way things work out sometimes, but sharon, if you read this, i'm sorry i missed you.

once i finally got home from that outing, i helped my bro set up his new machine (thankfully, all the parts had arrived.) of course, we ended up having to run out to radio shack twice to pick up some extra parts that he hadn't known to buy beforehand. but we did finally get the beast up and running at around 7:30 or 8:00, and i got the windows installation started for him.

sara and i left town much later than we should have, and ended up getting into Lexington around 1 in the morning on Tuesday. she gave me some crazy directions to get back home to louisville that i ended up screwing up briefly, and i ended up getting home around 3:30. i slept a couple hours then went through most of the day at work pretty much zombiefied. then that night i had band practice again. nice little bookend to the trip home since being at work for 8 hours didn't really help me feel like the whole weekend ordeal was over.

my bandmate's wife had brought home the kittens she'd told us about, and he surprised us with them (since they hadn't told us they actually HAD them yet…). we ran out after practice and got the necessary things, litterbox, food dish, food, litter, and then took them to their new home. we'd called paul to let him know we were bringing them, so he was still up to see them and play with them a bit.

it was amazing. after climbing out of the carrier, the little things were just wandering all over the house, in full-on explore mode. of course, brax and paul were waving their toys around effectively forcing them to postpone their explorations for some play time, but it was all alright. they adjusted so well and so quickly it was just really surprising. no accidents, no complaints, not even any hiding under the bed. they were just kind of walking around like "ok, let me figure out where the hell i am and what all this stuff is, then i'll come hang out and play with you all." they went to their litter box like it'd been in this house in that location for all 12 months of their lives, and they found the food and water and ate with no hesitation. and boy are they cute.

so i ended up staying up with them until around 3:30am. another night with little sleep. yipee.

wednesday is the traditional comics/denny's day, which was good, as usual (it's nice to have those routines, sometimes). and a little later (like around 9:30pm) my sister finally showed up. she stayed with us that night so that i could take her to the airport on thursday. i think i finally got to bed around 3:00am. (keep in mind, i have to wake up at around 7:45am every day…)

i worked straight through until 2:00, left work early and picked up my sis at home. we grabbed some lunch and then headed out to the Cincinatti airport (near Florence, KY and at least 30 minutes outside of Cincinatti). after nearly falling asleep throughout most of the drive, we finally got to the airport and i helped her carry in her bags and kept her company for a while. we stopped and had drinks (coffee for me, diet coke for her) at the "cafe", and just kind of hung out and talked for a while. we said our goodbyes and she headed back to france for another good year. me, i headed back home. thankfully the coffee had done the trick and i didn't have as much of a struggle with sleep on the way back home.

once i got home, i took a little time to relax, then called up brian to see if he still wanted to hang out. he came and picked me up and we headed out to fazoli's for some italian fast food. he had to show me his new musical equipment, so i got to play around with his nice new Gibson and his crazy pedals for a while. and, as he pointed out, we hung out for a while on the back porch (the main feature of the old apartment that i really miss) drinking bourbon and just chatting. a pretty pleasant night, overall.

and that was pretty much the entirety of my week thus far. so much for not having a life, eh? now, it's friday, i've got a three day weekend, and i've been sitting here at work for an extra hour to write this blog entry… i've gotta get out of here and start the maxin' and relaxin. i feel like maybe this time, i actually deserve it.

i spent the evening hanging out with matt for the first time in a while. we went out and grabbed some dinner and then sat out on the back porch, drinking bourbon and shooting the shit. it was a good time, and we're hoping to hit a pool hall tomorrow night.

it's getting into that late summer period. where you sit on the front porch, drinking beer, and watching lightning from a far off storm race across the sky. it's that point in the year where you realize you're more than halfway through it, already. nights like this only spark reflection. a time to come to grips with your summer full of mistakes and missteps. a time to look regret in the face and try to live with it.

what do you do when all your summer amounts to is a stack of snapshots?

buy more film, i guess.

oh, beloved day off…day that i get to spend doing all those things i have to do…day that i get to do whatever i want.

day that i spend sitting at home.

i tried to sleep in late today, but the cat just wasn't havin' it. she's quickly climbing my "major annoyances in life" list, to say the least. i've spent most of my morning/early afternoon making calls and preparing for the trip to cmj in a couple of weeks. i don't know if i can really afford this trip, but it looks to be a shitload of fun, regardless. after this one, i plan on hitting chicago on the 27th and then staying near the home base for the forseeable future.

because, maybe if clyde gets sick of me…she'll let me sleep.

a friend at work gave me a scanner yesterday. he said he wasn't sure if it works or not, but i could have it, regardless. well…it works. score one free scanner for brian.

still no response from rally's. maybe i should write them another email…

in lieu of words…

okay…normally i would give this article a big "hell yes!" but right now i've got a pretty bad taste in my mouth, so i have to give it a huge "what the fuck ever."

nothing personal. just being bitter. very very bitter.

this is the email i just sent to the rally's hamburger company about the disgusting lettuce i found on my sandwich yesterday:

Hello,

Thank you for your time,
J. Brian Hall.

i'm reading it and thinking i wasn't nearly as harsh as i should have been. i went for the intelligent, point-making approach, for once. damn it. matt can vouch for my usual level of antagonistic corporate terrorism…

i must be getting soft…

regardless, my stomach still hurts. i'm stuck at work and contemplating a similar letter to skyline chili, in a bit. it's a sad day when simple food becomes your worst enemy…

i really should learn to heed the warnings. when i climb out of bed to a shitty day like today, i really should learn to just crawl back into bed and hide. try to sleep it off. but nope…being the idiot i am, i go ahead and go out and face my day, thinking "it can't get any worse than that, now can it?"

yes. yes it can.

after getting what's left of my heart crushed to tiny little pieces, i opted to head out and get some lunch. since i was on a pretty slim timeline and limited to the money i had in my wallet, i decided to grab a chicken sandwich combo from rally's. so i munch on the fries on the way back into work, saving the sandwich for when i don't have to juggle steering and shifting gears. so..once i finally got back to work, i trudged up to my desk and proceeded to tear into the previously mentioned sandwich. after a few bites, i noticed the most disgustingly slimy and brown piece of lettuce i've ever seen hanging off of my sandwich. as i'm staring at this disgusting spectacle (imagine that cartoonish slowing of chewing), i bite into what can only be an onion. at that point, i rip the top off the sandwich to find that the entire thing is covered in this sick ass, rotted looking lettuce. and onions! ii fucking hate onions! and they are not a normal topping for these chicken sandwiches (i should know…i practically lived off the fuckers when they were only $.99). i was enraged, but i was all the way back to work, by this time, meaning i just had to sit there and take it like a chump (that feeling had already been hanging out since i got up).

i've been feeling nauseous ever since eating that fucking sandwich. seriously. sick nauseous. not like a "that was so gross i'm gonna puke" nauseous, but one that actually comes from eating bad food.

i spent the rest of the day at work, drinkin sprite and trying not to heave my guts out.

and then i got home. i sat around for a while, still not feeling too great. until about an hour ago, when i realized if i didn't eat something else, i was going to be even more sick.

so i ran and grabbed some skyline through the drive-thru. black beans and rice. a dish you cannot fuck up, in my opinion.

i was wrong…so wrong…

let's say, right off the bat, that the rice in the previously mentioned "black beans and rice" isn't supposed to be crunchy. shit…cooked rice isn't supposed to be crunchy, period ("crisped" rice not included). i felt like i was eating black beans and teeth. and…my stomach feels even worse than it did before i ate.

lesson?

i should have stayed in fucking bed.

fuck. this really, really hurts.

my day is shit. it's barely noon. my day was shot to hell before 9:30am.

the details are really unimportant, i guess. nothing i could say about my situation would come out as either intelligent or witty, so at this point, i think i'll keep my mouth shut.

other than that, i'm sucking on the corporate starbucks (not deserving a link) teat, just because it's close to work. i bought a piece of carrot bread stuff that i'm not even certain i'll eat. i am hungry, but i don't have much of an appetite.

i may or may not be getting sucked into going to cmj this year. this would make my second trip to new york in less than a month. considering i'd never been there before my trip to see radiohead, this seems a little odd. and exciting. and thank god i don't have to drive, this time.

maybe i'll get lucky and some mole person will shove me in front of an oncoming subway train.

who am i kidding?

you'll always mean the world to me.

i've come to the (not so) startling revelation that all i've been listening to lately is neurosis. huge neurosis kick. i just recently got my hands on a copy of times of grace mixed with the tribes of neurot companion cd grace. it's simply amazing, to say the least. i recommend you try listening to them together.

note to self: stop being so frustrated.

i wish it were that easy, you know? i feel like i'm on auto-pilot, most of the time, just cruising through my day, hoping something better will happen. because, honestly, nothing good has happened in a while. i should be one of the happiest guys on earth, i guess. i have a good car for the first time in my life (its novelty has worn off). a good paying job (that i'm growing to hate). i met the most wonderful girl ever to walk the planet a few months ago (and now i can't get her to give me the time of day). i have my health (except for the fact that i was sick to my stomach yesterday). what more could i really ask for? see my instant rebuttals.

ho hum.

my barista had to make my coffee twice, this morning. he got it all the way done and then said "shit. i just made that like an iced mocha. i don't think you want half shots and 90 degree milk." i gave him an appeciative look and said "no thanks." he instantly went about making me a fresh one. when i finally took a sip of it on the way to the car, i noticed it was still a litle weak, but it was nice and warm, so i couldn't complain. and the weak thing was probably just in my head because of the whole prior mix-up.

and now i'm hungry as all hell. still at least an hour and a half off from my lunchtime, so i get to sit here and snack on bullshit like mini oreos. it happens. no wonder my stomach hates me.

when will it ever end?