Sentimental Valium

Currently playing: "Mellow Song" by Blur.

Yes it's been a long time. I'm a slow learner. I wrote sort of like this back when my friend Scott's dad died and then my grandmother..... I have realized during those times--and this past week--how self-centered I can be. Blogging sometimes feels really self-indulgent--writing solely about me and what I'm thinking/feeling/complaing about/etc.... My best friend has been going through a lot of pretty painful stuff this past week. It's made me re-think (again) some of the junk in my own life and the way I think about it..... Anyway, the point is that it felt sort of weird to focus on me and spend some time online putting it out there for people when I could be thinking about and talking to him. I know this sounds "oh so noble" and crap like that. It's not--I just hope it's not using my friend's struggles as justification for my own laziness.

Anyway, I'm writing now.

Well c@it has done it! She mentioned the idea of a music blog that we would both be part of and she has made it happen. So I'll probably begin saving most of my music commentary for that site. There are four of us contributing right now and so far it's been really diverse and pretty entertaining. So if you're interested in reading the thoughts of us Music Snobs you should check it out. At this point, it might just be the four of us reading it right now. So go there and learn something from us. :)

I'm leaving for another mini-vacation in 6 days. I'll be leaving for South Carolina on the 24th and I'll head back on the 30th. My dad and I are having a "bachelor Christmas." I'm excited for the warmth and sunshine. Although, the sun DID shine here yesterday! It might have been our last glimpse for a while since the snow is going to visit us the next 7 days straight. Anyway, I hope to have a slightly more brown head when it's time to celebrate New Years.

I talk to myself a lot. I noticed it this morning. I was looking for a belt. As I was looking around, I blurted out "I thought for sure I put it back in the closet." Then I stopped. That's when it hit me--I do this all the time. What's worse, I often respond back to my own comments. Had I not stopped myyself, I might have said back to myself "Actually, I think you left the belt in your pants that are sitting on your desk chair."

I'm big on expression--that must be why I do that. Sometimes I just need to get it out I guess. When I remember something I need to do, I often just say it out loud even though no one is around to listen. Or do I just love the sound of my own voice? Am I that vain? (These are exactly the kinds of conversations I have with myself when I'm not writing. Blogging might be a replacement for my talking to myself....)

I met a guy last night at one of my local bar hang-outs. I don't typically talk to people when I'm out--especially if it's another loner at the bar. But last night he started to ask me questions about Fear Factor--it was on one of the tv's. For some reason, he was convinced that I'm well-versed in the show and must be some sort of authority. After I made up a couple things, I expected the conversation would end and I could go back to staring at the bottles of liquor and 3,284 television screens.

That didn't happen.

He started asking me about Grand Rapids--once again assuming I was an authority. Somehow we ended up talking for the next two hours. He was actually a really nice guy. He's 34 and has been working with Siemens (quite possibly the worst name for a company EVER!!) and evidently has made a lot of money in a short amount of time. How did I surmise this, besies being the sleuth that I am naturally? Well, he "retired" yesterday. He is going to spend the next year living in Hawaii, not working full-time or anything. He has been saving up for the past few years and wants to go live there and do NOTHING. It was a pretty cool story. He wants to start all over again with his life after his year over there.

So I started to figure out how long it would take me to save up enough money to spend a year over there. After getting some info about cost of living, rent, flights, etc and a slight increase in my pay over the next few years, I think I have come up with a rough estimate.

136 years.

At least by then the money I'll need for food will be less. Men really start to slow down when they are in the 160's.

posted by -tr0y- @ 11:06 AM