subject: what the fuck ever I think of to type, apparently

My remaining roommate moved out a few weeks ago. The cable was in his name.

I've been reading books. I wish I was working out too, but this heat is prohibitive. Maybe we'll get some sustained periods of weather, what with the hurricanes and all.

We got some weather today. Fuckin 95 degrees from 8am till 5pm, heat that felt like pressure, even everything I touched like my clothing or the couch felt warm itself, separate from the air. Then I heard some thunder. I checked the sky and the east was partly cloudy and hazy while the west was dark and thick with clouds while still letting all the sun through by south. Maybe 20 lightning strikes that I saw and some dedicated thundercracks over the next half-hour. One last LOUD one closeby, then I heard the sirens of a fire. Elusive breeze turned to wind and the first giant raindrops fell, so big that only a hundred moistened an entire sidewalk square. The sun hid and the wind blew and I got soaked despite sitting 3 feet inside the protection of the porch roof. It must have dropped 15 degrees in 15 minutes. The sudden drop in air pressure made me dizzy and my teeth ached in their sockets, but with a cool breeze and the moisture and the air becoming separate entities again I was thankful for it. Once it was safe to stand again I set a fan in every window blowing cool air in so the house would stop feeling like a proofer.

After the rain stopped Keyshaun (my boy who's buying the house I stay in) called and said:
"You work today?"
"Nope."
"You got any dutchies?"
"Nope."
"Go pick some up. I'm comin' over."
"A'right."

So he brought a big bag and I already had one and we did some damage while discussing how we're gonna set up the house once the work is done. After he left I had the bright idea that if noone's gonna be living in the house but me for at least a month and a half I wouldn't be doing any harm if I got my drumset out of storage and set it up. Unfortunately he didn't answer or call back to let me know if that would interfere with the work or not, but even if I get only 15 days of drumset before the work starts it'll be more than I've had in years. Shit, I might even be able to get my forearms back.

I could even set up my camcorder and record audio if I can translate my rhythm and groove progress physically. Its best is 16-bit mono so it would only be a way to not forget a beat that might be too broken and complicated for me to write down, but that would still be useful. As long as the mic can handle high volumes like that. Lately my rhythm's been working in more of a reggae base, and if you're comfortable with broken triplets you can really do some interesting stuff from that framework. I can't wait to hear it come from a more diverse instrument than my mouth.

So tomorrow I have off too. I think I'll be getting the hard work done on installing the ceiling fan. All we have already is wire, which might not even be live. I have to climb through our hopelessly cobwebbed attic to install a box in the ceiling, then I think I'll tap my father (who holds among his talents that of electrician) for the funny stuff for the remote and making sure there's even power in my new ceiling. I'll probably shower and rest after that (I'd be incapable of exaggerating how pervasively heat affects me) and then hopefully get working on moving the drumset.

Setting up and tuning is going to be a lot of fun. I think I'm gonna leave the rack toms out of the initial setup in favor of more comfortable cymbal positioning, because I love my cymbals a lot more than I love toms. The one floor tom should be enough until I get comfortable again, because I'm more into groove than chops.

I'll use my standard right-handed setup I think. I have a lovely 20" ride that peeks over the floor tom to my right, bass pedal right foot, a 5 1/2" deep snare between my knees that'll be tuned to a snappy rock sound (think STP's Core album snare), hi-hats left pedal and a 6 1/2" snare to the left of the hats tuned more like a marching drum. This can be used for grooves or just as an accent. I recently saw a sturdy piccolo snare for only $80 that seemed like it might fit in real nice in place of the marching one, but it'll be a couple weeks before I decide on if I want it or if I can afford it.

Above that I have an old and thick 16" crash that'll probably sit where the left tom would be, a thin 18" above the left of the ride, and an 8" splash in between. It really is too many cymbals until you learn which timbres work with which grooves. That should come back though.

Aww fuck. That's shitty reading for someone who doesn't give a fuck about drums. Your fault. I already typed it.

Um, I think the point is today's reflection helped me find ways to occupy myself that don't rely on others. This is good for a person who hasn't lived by himself in years and doesn't have the transportation available to a luckier individual. Also I think this is another of those times where I wrote not for you but for me.

Here, I'll write something for you. This is one of those bizarre scenarios that pop into my head when my head is tired. Synthetic dialogue seems to thrill me.

"Mommy, I can't finish my relish."
"Okay sweetie, you just work on your mustard and then I'll help you with your relish."

This actually ran through my head after looking through my desolate refrigerator.
And now something I found in my little notebook the other day.

Beautiful girls are like Lay's potato chips. Only more compelling, because they taste better.

Ooh, I met another one the other day. A cooworker (Gordon) invited me over for beerpong on Sunday, and he had a roommate who is just lovely. Maggie is smart and bright and she loves life. Also beautiful. We hit it off right away and we could definitely get along. But I also met her boyfriend. He is not bright, and doesn't have the charisma that he tries so hard to convey, but he is very good looking. I want to hope that he has redeeming qualities which don't translate well to social situations, but mostly because I want to hope that she is as wise as I took her for.

Monday I was invited over again for a tradition of Monday Night Keggers, because Gordon said everyone liked me and I was good for the atmosphere. That's nice. As I smoked my cigarette before hopping on the bike to go there I realized I was going to see Maggie again. My stomach got all funny. I didn't realize until then how well we had worked together (on account of all Monday I was hung over and could barely think). Of course then there's nothing else in the world but how she'll react to seeing me.

I got there and Gordon was occupied but the folks in the living room were all people I had gotten along with the night before, and Maggie's on the couch. All the couches are filled up with comfortable people so I take the floor and smile at Maggie. We have a merely regular "how ya doin'" and I die just a little bit.

Somehow (I think Gordon likes to set teams behind people's backs according to who he thinks should flirt, because the previous night when I asked who it was I had been teamed with he said "the hot one", who was indeed attractive and even obviously digging me, but she was also stupid) I got teamed with Maggie for my first round of beerpong. We lost partly because our opponents were the strongest team there and were already winning, and partly because their table is almost uncomfortably high for me. Still Maggie did all the posturing you'd expect from a flirt, but without the interaction you'd expect from someone interested. My guess is she had consciously considered things and decided on her boyfriend, but has natural tendencies for expressing physical attraction. Like Lara used to say, "Ugh. The body and the mind."

So we got along passively and I still seeked out opportunties to make her laugh probably just to soothe my ego. I also made major contributions to winning every game I played thereafter that night to upstage her boyfriend's relative lack of physical ability, but again, that's ego. I dunno; another one lost. Something to discuss, not to mourn.

There's also a new lovely one at work. Her name is Anna and she has the most amazing looks. Her facial bone structure is perfect to the point of being bizarre, and her skin looks so tight that I'm amazed she can close her mouth. (Me and sewshi made friends the other night and he talked about a strange tendency for detecting intelligence which I have always believed I possessed, but having never heard of such a thing from anyone else I was convinced I was just being a weirdo.) Also I think she's a genius. I've detected genius in others before, and always upon inquiry I've been confirmed (in the cases of those who have been tested). I thought this during the first shift I saw her work, that she carried herself like a genius, but I wasn't able to introduce myself until the next day. Since then she warmly returns my greetings and actually seems to think I'm funny almost every time I try to joke. Also I catch her looking at me a lot of the time when the kitchen is quiet and I'm just working. I think more than she catches me looking at her.

Also she has a boyfriend too. They're really not lying when they say all the good ones are taken. Tony is a good man I work with who seems to be able to detect who is attracted to whom. He has recently married a waitress who was actually working this shift, so he is probably the least threatening person to be asking questions like this, and I think he knows it. I am standing around with Don and Tony during downtime last Friday:

Anna: Can I have a Greek salad no onion?
-silence-
Anna: Anybody? You, you, you? *pointing fingers*
*Swippy walks over to salads*
Tony: So, Anna. You got a boyfriend?
Anna: Yeah.
Tony: You got a husband?
Anna: No, just a boyfriend.
Tony: You gonna marry him?
Anna: *sigh* Probably.
Tony: That didn't sound too convincing.
Anna: hahaha

Later that week my ninja eavesdropping skills discovered that it's her boyfriend's car she drives to work every day. This is discouraging as I have no such thing to offer. It's possible that she doesn't know this though, which is why she still gives me so much attention. She really doesn't interact with anyone else so much.

Possibly she'll be just another one with which I'll have to content myself in the smiles and laughter I can inspire. Though it's still possible I'm wrong there.


I think writing is enough for today. Thanks for reading if you got through all that.