Seeing Things
Mood:  cool
Now Playing: The Ergs: Live at Maxwell's 6/29/05
Topic: Personal

I've recently made several moves directed toward getting myself back into photography.  The electronics on my old 35mm SLR got fried for an unknown reason some time ago - in the intervening years, I only took an occasional snapshot.  Within the past few months I've obtained both a digital SLR and a new 35 mm camera as well (fridge is now well-stocked with Kodachrome).  Now I just have to re-orient myself toward seeing potentially interesting photographs - and remember to take a camera along when I leave the house! 

Guess we'll see if I'm up to the challenge.  Also need to see about getting a decent film scanner for my old 'chromes...

Hiatus
Mood:  quizzical
Now Playing: The Groovie Ghoulies - Berry'd Alive
Topic: Personal
I've been neglecting this blog. There are a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that I have a MySpace page which has an attached blog. At this point I'm trying to figure out whether this Tripod page has a real reason to exist. When I come up with an answer, I'll let ya know...

Letting Go
Mood:  cool
Now Playing: Teenage Bottlerocket: Total
Topic: Personal
A realization has been slowly growing that I spend altogether too much time worrying about things. There's just no profit in it, no good that ultimately comes from all the fretting and thinking. There are some things in life that I enjoy very much that are not currently available to me. There are many other things I greatly enjoy that are available to me. Worrying about the former won't bring those things any closer - all it can do is reduce the amount of time I spend taking pleasure in the latter.

I'm making a stand in favor of fun. Worry is the enemy of fun, so it's now my enemy as well. Everyone knows that life is short, but most of us find ways to fool ourselves into failing to act on that knowledge. I want to experience as much joy as possible, and to hopefully help others experience it as well. Anyone want to join me?

Independence
Mood:  party time!
Now Playing: The Kowalskis - All Hopped Up On Goofballs
Topic: Personal
Hope everyone has a delightful, magical, safe holiday. I've always loved the Fourth of July, but for someone who also loves summer, there's a slight sense of sadness to the knowledge that the days are already becoming shorter. For now, though, it's grilling and homemade ice cream. See you on the other side!

Happiness
Mood:  chillin'
Now Playing: The Ergs - Dork Rock Cork Rod
Topic: Personal
Some recent setbacks in my personal life prompted me to start thinking about how I came to be so frustrated and worried in recent years. After a brief period of time, it dawned on me that my life is really no worse than it used to be - back when I was much more at ease with myself and far less distressed than I have been lately. The only real difference is that I gradually became more and more aware of the time passing by and the aging process, and I allowed concern over those issues to color all of my thinking.

It's just a fact that in our culture, males are expected to do most of the initiating in social situations. And it's also a fact that I've always found that role stressful and unpleasant. So, I've decided to just relax and enjoy my life and stop with all the fretting about whether I'll end up alone. It is true that my horizon isn't as distant as it once was, but worrying about it and wearing myself out chasing mirages isn't going to accomplish anything. I know how to be content being by myself. I hope that's not the way it ends up, but regardless, I'm going to get back to doing things that are fun and enjoying all the individual moments of my life. I'm also going to avoid forcing myself to do stuff that makes me uncomfortable and unhappy.

It's corny as hell, but I really do feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. If failing to find a significant other makes me a freak, then I'm damn well gonna enjoy being a freak. ;-)

Inattention
Mood:  caffeinated
Now Playing: Teen Idols - Nothing To Prove
Topic: Personal
OK, I know I've been sorely neglecting this blog thing. Too much time spent on other online communications and activities, combined with a sense of uncertainty as to what topics I should or can effectively address here. There is an offline life as well - just completed another quick trip to California last weekend to see The Eyeliners open for Social Distortion.

The Eyeliners spectacular new CD, No Apologies, is continuing to receive great reviews. Most recently, Little Steven has been playing Do Anything You Wanna Do on his wonderful Underground Garage radio show, which also airs over the Sirius satellite radio network. He also designated it as "the coolest song in the world" or words to that effect. I think I need to check into satellite radio.

It's sad that Teen Idols is no more. This past Thursday night, I went to see a band that formed out of the remnants of Teen Idols - Bullets To Broadway - at the Green Door. They're just getting started (OKC was only their second-ever show), but they do show some promise. Best wishes to the new band.

It's time for me to see about getting some OFFLINE work done around this neglected house of mine. See ya on down the road...

Not Pretty
Mood:  don't ask
Topic: Personal
What really hacks me off about this deal is that there apparently is an adult chicken pox vaccine. So I missed out on catching this lovely disease as a kid, and then missed out on getting the vaccine all through adulthood, only to catch it via my dad's case of shingles at this late date.

I guess the moral to that story is you shouldn't rely on doctors to give you what you need. If I had been proactive and asked for the vaccine years ago, I wouldn't be currently looking like something from a horror movie. This really sucks...

Too Late
Mood:  sad
Topic: Personal
Crap - missed out on my one-post-a-day pledge by one frickin' minute! But I do have a pretty good excuse, and besides, it's not Sunday yet on the west coast...

Scratching The Itch
Mood:  irritated
Topic: Personal
Well, to most likely offer TMI, what I had thought was just a minor bug has turned out to be adult chicken pox. It seems I somehow contracted shingles as a child but missed out on chicken pox, leading to my current predicament. In the past couple of weeks both my dad and a co-worker have had cases of shingles, which derives from the chicken pox virus. It would appear I contracted this lovely disease from one or both of them.

The good news is that there's an anti-viral drug that will help, and I'm told the thing should run its course within a week or so. The bad thing is that while there was very little itching initially, there's plenty now. I'm using hydrocortisone, but I have a feeling the next couple of days will be rather uncomfortable.

Now where'd I put that tequila???

Discipline
Mood:  energetic
Topic: Personal
When it comes to blogging, I seem to be in short supply. Or at least that's mostly been the case since I started this sucker up.

However, in the spirit of attempting to overcome my general blog malaise, I've decided to attempt to make at least one post a day for seven days straight. Thinking up subjects on which to ramble about incessantly is a far more arduous task than it might appear at first glance, at least in this neck of the woods. It's amazingly easy to tire of hearing one's own voice, even when that voice is being abstracted through a keyboard.

Nevertheless, I've decided to give it a shot. I'm getting this in just under the wire before midnight, so consider May 5, 2005 to be Day One of the grand experiment...

P.S. Almost forgot - in the spirit of the earlier Albuquerque post and my general celebration geekhood, Happy Cinco De Mayo!