Tonight I started digging back into my music and started looking at Man or Astroman?. Another band that my brother had turned me onto that I sort of obsessed over for a few years. I ended up with most of their albums on vinyl and quite a few 7 inches as well. Periodically I'll check on eBay to see if they are selling for any decent amounts but I doubt if I would really part with them. Man or Astroman? were a great band and live they were even better. They would always have an interesting stage show and who can go wrong with sci-fi surf rock. The only group (other than various local bands) I've seen more than them is the Reverend Horton Heat.
Unfortunately it seems that Man or Astroman? is now on a permanent hiatus. I only was able to listen to the last album a few times before the amp my turntable was running through was taken away. I'm still looking to piece together a stereo, mostly so I can listen to that record.
Occasionally I'll find myself waxing nostalgic. I hoped when I was younger that I wouldn't do it but I suspect it's inevitable. Never do I wish for a return to the past, I'm quite content with the present and look forward to the future. But there is a fondness for the earlier times in my life. The good thing is I still have most of the sound track for those times (well the last fifteen years or so). And if I put on some of that music, I can remember those times.
Perhaps the fact that soon I'll be leaving what's been my home for the last eleven years or so is helping to trigger some of this. As excited as I am to leave and go start a new chapter of my life with Phrank, I'll still miss this place. And I'll look back on this place with fondness. On the other hand, living here hasn't always been the happiest experience. There was a lot of loneliness (some of which was self-imposed) and heartbreak. I also have this nagging suspicion that I kind of wasted my twenties by living here and am just now starting out again.
Whatever, it's all lessons I guess and I'm sure there I'll take from the last eleven years that can come in handy. Or at least I sure hope so.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
The roads suck but it's worth it
Yeah, well everytime I went to write something last week Blogger wouldn't let me in. So it wasn't entirely laziness on my part.
The upcoming move is getting much closer and it's finally starting to hit me just how soon it is. Thoughts of putting things that aren't already in boxes from the last move are starting to swirl in my head. Thankfully, I never really unpacked from the last move other than clothes and entertainment (books, games and movies). Most of it will probably stay in boxes. Although at least now there will be some closet space for me use instead of the floor.
It could appear to some people that this thing with Phrank and I is moving very fast. The thing is, it feels like it's moving at the speed it should be moving. I realize that a rather vague assessment of the situation but I've never been that good at putting my feelings into words (yeah, yeah, it's one of those things I need to work on). The thing is, previous to her I would have never considered moving in with any of the women I dated before. And I'm quite sure I would rather be in the same room talking to her instead of sitting in my car in the Walmart parking lot on the phone (the reception is better there and there is more privacy). Of course there are brief moments where I have apprehensions about cohabitating, mostly because my living situations have never really been with someone I love (well there is that platonic love I have for current and past roommates but that's totally different).
Thankfully, those apprehensions are few and far between. I'm not worried about this upcoming domesticallity (is that a word?). Even with the drastic change from our current situation from every weekend to every day, we've got a strong enough foundation that we will be able to work out what ever bumps some along.
To this day I'm still blown away by the fact that in this crazy world, Phrank and I were able to find each other. She still amazes me. And I am one lucky guy to have her.
The upcoming move is getting much closer and it's finally starting to hit me just how soon it is. Thoughts of putting things that aren't already in boxes from the last move are starting to swirl in my head. Thankfully, I never really unpacked from the last move other than clothes and entertainment (books, games and movies). Most of it will probably stay in boxes. Although at least now there will be some closet space for me use instead of the floor.
It could appear to some people that this thing with Phrank and I is moving very fast. The thing is, it feels like it's moving at the speed it should be moving. I realize that a rather vague assessment of the situation but I've never been that good at putting my feelings into words (yeah, yeah, it's one of those things I need to work on). The thing is, previous to her I would have never considered moving in with any of the women I dated before. And I'm quite sure I would rather be in the same room talking to her instead of sitting in my car in the Walmart parking lot on the phone (the reception is better there and there is more privacy). Of course there are brief moments where I have apprehensions about cohabitating, mostly because my living situations have never really been with someone I love (well there is that platonic love I have for current and past roommates but that's totally different).
Thankfully, those apprehensions are few and far between. I'm not worried about this upcoming domesticallity (is that a word?). Even with the drastic change from our current situation from every weekend to every day, we've got a strong enough foundation that we will be able to work out what ever bumps some along.
To this day I'm still blown away by the fact that in this crazy world, Phrank and I were able to find each other. She still amazes me. And I am one lucky guy to have her.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
The Future is Now (to borrow a slogan)!
Perhaps I should keep up on this some more. Ever since I released myself from nightly postings, I've pretty much slacked on this here blog. But tonight I've had a couple of whiskeys and I don't even know what randomness is in store.
I've been delving back into my sci-fi roots lately. At some point in my early years I devoured juvenile science fiction. My guess is that sci-fi takes place in worlds that don't exist was the perfect escapism for a kid like me. To this day I enjoy stories that take place in worlds that are not of the one we inhabit. Whether those worlds are just slightly off from this one or completely alien doesn't matter. Even music that has a sci-fi bent intrigues me, which would explain my Man or Astroman? collection. There probably are some psychological reasons for why I was attracted to sci-fi in the first place. It did offer me a world that was beyond the reality I was experiencing as a kid. And it's pretty easy for a kid to imagine that he is some kind of Han Solo like hero when the world around him has turned to utter shit (and Han Solo knew what it was like to be in the shit which is why he will always be cooler than Luke Skywalker (the Force, my ass)).
Strangely I never really got into the sword and sorcery type fantasy as a youth. I chalk most of that of it up to my parents declaring at some point that Dungeons & Dragons was of the devil and I was forbidden to play it. Which now I sort of thank them (although I suspect I would be a bit more imaginative but that's neither here or there). I did however read the monster books and created characters that I'd never be able to play.
In the long run I suspect that this love of sci-fi tempered the cynicsm that I should have truly inherited. Even in the most dystopian of sci-fi stories there is some element of hope for us puny humans. I still cling to the idea that sometime in the future (which I most likely won't be around for) humanity will come to it's senses and join the universe.
I've been delving back into my sci-fi roots lately. At some point in my early years I devoured juvenile science fiction. My guess is that sci-fi takes place in worlds that don't exist was the perfect escapism for a kid like me. To this day I enjoy stories that take place in worlds that are not of the one we inhabit. Whether those worlds are just slightly off from this one or completely alien doesn't matter. Even music that has a sci-fi bent intrigues me, which would explain my Man or Astroman? collection. There probably are some psychological reasons for why I was attracted to sci-fi in the first place. It did offer me a world that was beyond the reality I was experiencing as a kid. And it's pretty easy for a kid to imagine that he is some kind of Han Solo like hero when the world around him has turned to utter shit (and Han Solo knew what it was like to be in the shit which is why he will always be cooler than Luke Skywalker (the Force, my ass)).
Strangely I never really got into the sword and sorcery type fantasy as a youth. I chalk most of that of it up to my parents declaring at some point that Dungeons & Dragons was of the devil and I was forbidden to play it. Which now I sort of thank them (although I suspect I would be a bit more imaginative but that's neither here or there). I did however read the monster books and created characters that I'd never be able to play.
In the long run I suspect that this love of sci-fi tempered the cynicsm that I should have truly inherited. Even in the most dystopian of sci-fi stories there is some element of hope for us puny humans. I still cling to the idea that sometime in the future (which I most likely won't be around for) humanity will come to it's senses and join the universe.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
You get what you pay for...
I've found myself getting annoyed with the customers again. Once again it's only certain kinds of customers. Now I realize that, yes I do work in customer service and I'm supposed to deal with these people. But increasingly there is a type that has been coming around a lot lately. The kind that want a really, really well designed product yet do not want to pay the price of a well designed product. There is some truth to the maxim "you get what you pay for".
Where I work we charge by the hour for design. We call it computer time and bill it in fifteen minute increments. We have one customer in particular that seems to have a serious problem with this. So much so that there is a standing order that she has to sign for pricing before we even touch a job of hers. At some point last week she waddled in (and everyone scurried, leaving me stuck with her) with scraps of newspaper that she wanted us to do something with. But she didn't want to pay much. Truth be told she probably didn't want to pay at all. So we did what she asked in the amount of time she wanted us to spend on it. It looked horrible. Really bad. But she still didn't want to pay us to make it look better which we could have done for just some more time and money.
The moral? There really isn't one. Other than some people need to realize that computers aren't magical and it does take time to create a decent product. And money.
Where I work we charge by the hour for design. We call it computer time and bill it in fifteen minute increments. We have one customer in particular that seems to have a serious problem with this. So much so that there is a standing order that she has to sign for pricing before we even touch a job of hers. At some point last week she waddled in (and everyone scurried, leaving me stuck with her) with scraps of newspaper that she wanted us to do something with. But she didn't want to pay much. Truth be told she probably didn't want to pay at all. So we did what she asked in the amount of time she wanted us to spend on it. It looked horrible. Really bad. But she still didn't want to pay us to make it look better which we could have done for just some more time and money.
The moral? There really isn't one. Other than some people need to realize that computers aren't magical and it does take time to create a decent product. And money.
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