merry christmas from my office...

beer run!

Since you can basically only buy beer by the case in Philadelphia (there are exceptions, but cases are the way to go) some friends and I go together every couple months and get a bunch of cases then split them up. Today we got 7 cases. It was kind of amazing.




We divided them up in the parking lot, and probably looked a little too excited about our purchase.

statistically speaking...

Cormac McCarthy said in an interview with Oprah that statistically speaking at any given time there is in fact a luckiest person in the world. He's right I suppose... I mean people win stuff... some people win a lot of it... and if you could tally all wins (or whatever else one would qualify as a sign of good luck) and make a list, there would in fact be a person sitting atop that list as the luckiest person on the planet. I think I know this person. She lives in Philadelphia and is my girlfriend.

Here's the breakdown.

Oct. 5th: First time I met Haley she buys a lottery ticket at a corner store in Fishtown. She says its her first one... wins $8.

Nov. 14th: At a fund raiser for Peru, there's a drawing for acupuncture treatments. A ton of people enter. Haley wins.

Conversation about an hour ago: "At our Holiday party I entered a raffle for a free weekend in Woodstock New York. I left the party early. I wonder who won." About 10 minutes ago I get a phone call. "Guess what? ... I won the weekend in New York."

That's three increasingly valuable prizes in as many months. I might need to plan a trip to Atlantic City for new years. Unbelievable.

my co-workers are a constant source of encouragement...

I love hymns

because they are full of stuff like this.

For every poor mourner, who thirsts for the Lord,
A fountain is opened, in Jesus the Word;
Their poor parched conscience, to cool and to wash,
From guilt and pollution, from dead works and dross.

A robe is provided, their shame now to hide,
In which none are clothed, but Jesus is bride;
Though it be costly, yet is the robe free,
And all Zion’s mourners, shall decked with it be.

-from The Gospel Brings Tidings by William Gadsby
-brought to my attention by Red Mountain Music -listen -buy cd


One of my favorite things about going to Alabama last week was going back to Red Mountain. The music is no small part of why I loved that place so much. Thanks so much to all the folks who lovingly work on it.

it's different here...

I'm glad to have gotten to spend Thanksgiving in Alabama. It's been wonderful to see so many of the people that I've missed so much since I left. I also couldn't be more excited to almost be on my way back to Philadelphia to see the new people Ive been missing.

aftermath...

This is what I expect the tables at our houses in heaven will look like after we welcome home old friends.

Thanks to the Smith's for the warm welcome, and being the hardest people in Birmingham to say goodbye to. I've missed you guys.

tagged...

So I was tagged by Susan.  Due to said tag I am writing 6 or so random things about myself.  While I'm glad to respond to the tag, I don't feel the need to tag anyone else specifically.  But if any of the 2 or 3 people that read this would like to write random stuff about themselves in return go for it.

I've developed an odd affinity for pumpkins this season.  I don't ever remember liking pumpkin pie, but I liked it this year.  I've also drank a ton of pumpkin beer.  DogfishHead Punkin' is the best by far.  I even made, well sort of made, pumpkin bread this week... kind of weird.

I'm learning that I'm a much bigger nerd than I ever thought.  My boss was giving away a book of fractals, and I was excited to get it.  I like all the math in it, but don't understand a lick of it.  I also was abnormally excited to find out that z-depth information can be contained and manipulated in RLA files exported from 3D programs when imported into 2D compositing applications.  

I am really terrible at bowling.  I wish I were better, but I am not.

I have an irrational fear of getting my fingers chopped off after falling down during the act of ice skating.... which I've never done.

The fact that the Market - Frankford line is both a subway and an el blows my mind.  I mean I get it... but still.

I constantly replay conversations and events in my head.  I think of things I should have said, or said differently.  I wonder how that would have changed the outcomes of conversations.  I think that I do it so I'll be better prepared next time.  I never am though.  Every time I walk away and my head is flooded by more clever comments,  better explanations for myself or the perfect parting words that I typically am left to say to myself.

broken iPhone...

So... my iPhone broke. It actually kinda got soaked by the most rain I've ever seen in my life... while it was in my pocket... as Haley and I were also being soaked by said rain. I'm no meteorologist, but I would say at least 8 to 12 inches of rain fell in the amount of time it took us to walk the last 5 to 6 blocks to my apartment. We looked like we'd been swimming in our clothes. Ridiculous. Anyway... the phone would turn on, but there was about a third of the touchscreen that no longer worked. I got up this morning and decided I'd drive to King of Prussia (yes that is an actual place) to the Apple store and see what, if anything I could do. I get there, make my maintenance appointment, then get to walk around for about two and a half hours waiting on my Genius to become available. In that time I got attacked by a toy helicopter, had my hands exfoliated with salt from the dead sea, found a bathroom to wash dead sea from my hands, and determined that Vampires are definitely in this season.

After all that was done I met Wallie*, my Genius.
"Whats the problem with your phone?"
"The touchscreen isn't working in these areas."
"Oh that has to do with the thermal layers. Let me run the info and if its under warranty we'll get you a new one and you'll be on your way."
"Oh great."
I knew it wasn't under warranty, but I'd let him run it just in case. Then something amazing happens. Wallie goes to the back and gets a small white box... from a gigantic lego-castle-ish stack of small white boxes and pulls from it a shiny new non 3G iPhone. After typing in some stuff on his computer he comes over and says,
"Its not under warranty, but I ran the serial and your phone is known to be prone to this type of issue. We're going to replace the phone at no cost to you."
"Oh great." and in my head I think... "my phone is prone to getting soaked by an afternoon torrential downpour. cool."

Hooray Apple! Hooray Wallie! And hooray for not asking any questions about when I first started noticing this problem!

Check out other pics from this guy.

*not his real name... I remember his real name, but though it might be better to not use it.

my neighborhood...

Took this a little while back while walking home. Its a couple blocks away. There's a lot of speculation about the meaning of shoes tangled in wires. I think it means at some point in time someone threw some shoes up in the wires to see if they could get them caught. I had shoes tangled in the wires at my place in Montevallo too. Probably meant the same there.

what I've learned about Philly...

I've decided that Philly is a town that's just waiting for something to honk its horn at.

would this be too offensive...

So the Phillies are in the World Series.  In all likelyhood the Rays will be in.  This got me thinking.  My buddy Allen lives in Tampa, I live in Philly... we need to finally work together on something.  

We're brainstorming.  Here's the direction that I'm leaning.  I find it amazingly interesting that people are talking about how the Rays rise from being the worst team in baseball last year, to the best this year... has something to do with it being the same year that they had a PR make over, changing their name from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to now simply the Rays.  People have, perhaps only jokingly, said that now the Lord is on their side.  Allen says people in Tampa actually talk about that a good bit.

I think it'd be pretty amazing to sell World Series Indulgences at bars.  You know like the Catholics used to do so families could buy their dead relatives out of purgatory.  I want to get a Rosary Box or some kind of old looking box and decorate it with a blend of religious iconography and baseball memorabilia, make a paper pad of indulgences and let people purchase them.  I'd like to make a couple of these little altars and install them in a couple neighborhood bars.  I'd like to let people write prayers and drop in the box as well.  It'd be cool to take some photos to document it too.  Would that be too offensive, or just the right amount of blasphemy?

i'm old now...

ridiculous...

Minilogue - Animals from ljudbilden on Vimeo.


see more of this dudes stuff here

RSS feed of the Beast

hipsters...

Interesting article about hipsters, and the end of the Western Civilization.

A tidbit, "We are a lost generation, desperately clinging to anything that feels real, but too afraid to become it ourselves. We are a defeated generation, resigned to the hypocrisy of those before us, who once sang songs of rebellion and now sell them back to us."

Read the full Adbusters Hipster Article

and yeah I know... two in one day.

a short one...

I think John Dorian said once, "If my heat wrote songs they would sound like this."  I feel pretty much the same way about David Bazan.  His songs are playing on repeat in my head at most any given time.  Here's the one that's dominated the rotation lately.

Epiphany

It occurred to me tonight that Doogie Houser M.D. was the world's first blogger.

Eat it blog world. No matter how hard you try to catch up... you're (we're) just chasing the 80's.

a month in...

Well I've been here in Philly for a month. Things have gone so much better than I thought they would. I'm not sure thats saying a whole lot... as the move approached I found myself being more and more of a pessimist, even in the midst of all sorts of provisions that should have reassured me that things would be just fine. Maybe all those provisions are a post for another time... or better yet if anyone is wondering about them let me know and I'll email or call you.

It's starting to sink in that I actually live here now. I got my first parking ticket the first weekend I was here... an appropriate welcome. Went to a Phillies game. I'm learning to enjoy hockey... I'm already rockin the playoff beard so I at least look like a local. I've been going to work for three weeks. Getting up each morning, heading out the door to wait on the bus. It actually feels a little like Im in elementary school again. I have my token... which reminds me of milk money... I wait for the crossing guard to wave me across the street (there's actually a middle school right where I wait on the bus... and an elementary school down the way)... then I get on the bus, usually to stand awkwardly with my butt or crotch (depending on if I like them... Montevallo caf goers should remember that game) all up in someone's grill. Sometimes on a good day I get a seat, and someone else's butt or crotch in my grill. I actually saw a girl on a bike get hit by a car whilst waiting for the bus. The crossing guard had just taken a break because she was tired or something. Good thing no one was hurt, she'd be on permanent break then.

I always enjoy the walk from wherever the bus drops me off to work. The first few weeks I got off at a different street every day because I didn't quite get how the request stop stuff worked, and I got confused as to which street I was supposed to get off on. Sometimes I get off on the wrong one just so I can enjoy the fact that I work in Center City. Its pretty amazing to me. I used to watch movies and see characters walking down crowded city streets, in the shadows of huge buildings as they went to their jobs and fancied myself as such a character. Even though I always imagined that I'd take a shot at it eventually I always thought my chances were pretty slim. I remember walking to work my first day and telling myself, "Slow down and enjoy this.. you worked your ass off to get here so don't let it just pass." So I did slow down. I actually stopped and looked around a little. It was pretty surreal for me. And Im thankful to have the shot.

Since then though doubt again has crept in and I've been dominated by it. Work got tough real fast. I've started to doubt myself and have made a lot of stupid mistakes. But some days are good and I feel like I actually have done something worth looking at. Im looking forward to more of those days.

I should be moving into my apartment in the next couple of weeks. I posted some pics here. Its a big place and I don't have much stuff. All of my stuff actually fits into a 5 X 10 X 8 storage unit, and so I guess if I wanted to I could stack it all up in the corner of one room and have a skating party once I move in. Im looking forward to having an office / music room. I guess I should say that Im looking forward to having hobbies again and it will be nice to have a room in which to engage in those hobbies. In Birmingham all my free time either went to overcommitments or trying to making better work so I could get a better job. Now hopefully that I'll be doing better work as a job I can spend my free time on music / learning non work computer stuff and just hacking around in general.

Last night after dinner with the Twilleys and some of their friends I was being asked some kind of get to know you questions which I actually kind of enjoyed... mostly about my family and where they were. "All in Alabama," I said. Then I was asked if it was a big deal that I left. I've wondered about that. I suppose to me it is... or maybe it will be. I told my old boss in Birmingham that the one question that haunted me was "Could I cut it anywhere but here?" Its a big deal for me to find the answer to that. The strange thing is I really don't care what the answer is... either I can or I can't and I'm fine with either, its just the not knowing that drove me crazy. I'm far less scared of failure than of never having taken the chance.

Well as usual, I've rambled on incoherently... hope if anyone's been wanting me to blog enjoyed it.

Last Birmingham Blog

I should be leaving within the next hour or so. I've been told by several friends that I'd better blog more often so I figured I'd best go on and start.

I honestly haven't had the down time I'd liked to have had to sit down and write and process all thats been going on in my head with this move but to try to sum it all up, I basically go back and fourth thinking this is the best thing I'll ever do, and this is the worst mistake I've ever made. And that cycle happens about every 90 seconds or so. Right now the "worst mistake" side is tending to win... but I believe the closer I get to my new home the "best thing" side will gain its lost ground.

Its been hard saying goodbye to people. The community group was tough for me. So many people who I respect so much and have grown close to over the past few years, so many people who've known me for so long that it scares me to think of how old I'll be when I'll know folks in Philadelphia that long. The SouthTown guys were great at our goodbye... I'll miss them more than they'll realize. No more J. Clyde... that just sucks.

I really love it here... I've never said any different. Sometimes I wonder if I've let a bad job situation run me out of my home. But I don't give a lot of credit to that thought. Sometimes you just have to take a shot at something different. I've said several times that if I never go whatever work I do in Birmingham I'll resent it, because I'm comparing it to some ideal that I've concocted in my head. Maybe that ideal is real somewhere, but if I never look I guess I'll never know. The ground is hard in Birmingham for the work that I've found myself in, and its broken my back. Maybe there's softer, more manageable ground north of here.

Leaving is harder than I expected; much harder. I'll miss my friends and family here. So for all the friends I had to say goodbye to and those that I didn't get the chance to, I love you guys and look forward to seeing you all again soon.