‘m in NY now and things are good. I have been pretty relaxed. I am currently at work. In the actual office with the new laptop that they bought for this occasion. I have spent time with my Sue and Alexia on Sunday which was nice. I really enjoyed that. On Saturday when I arrived, Jean picked me up from the airpot and drove me back to Lorenz’s place where we then (along with Shawn) went to breakfast at IHOP. Super good. Saturday afternoon, I napped, and Saturday evening, we went to Lorenz’s to hang out. I had a good Saturday. I stayed at Jean’s place that night. Then Sunday morning Jean and I just sat and caught up a little until it was time to head out around 1 or so. She dropped me off at Sue’s house and that is where I stayed until later that night when my dad got home. I really enjoyed being with my Sue and Kammy and Alexia. It felt so nice to hold Alexia in my arms and on my lap. She is terribly cute. Anyway, Monday morning Sue let me borrow one of their vehicles so I could head over to work. I spent a full 9 hours at work in the office with the people that I have been emailing back and forth vigerously for that past few months. It’s cool being in office. Such a different feeling. Although I can’t say I’m getting any more (or less) work done than I do working at home. Today is Tuesday and I am working a full shift again until 6 when I will go home to a nice family dinner of chicken parm. I think Sue and Rob and Stacy are coming over for dinner as well. I saw my mom also, yesterday, as she picked Kammy up for school. She was very excited and I can’t wait to be able to spend time with her.

I’ve been here almost 4 whole days now. I miss Holly and Gavin terribly. Holly seemed to have a good birthday. She received some gift cards that she was able to take out and spend all by herself. I bought Gavin the “Cars” DVD for Holly’s birthday. I thought it would be nice if he had something to open on Holly’s birthday. He enjoyed that. At least twice that I know of so far. Anyway, I called them last night. I chatted with Holly a biit as she filled me in on her happenings. They had a great cake that Gavin helped decorate. Oh how I miss them.

I’m off to start my day and wanted to take a brief moment to wish everyone who reads this a Happy Thanksgiving.

Last night I went to Volcano Joe’s. It was kind of wierd. I played my two songs and did fairly well considering I broke a string during the second song and have a sore throught froma cough I have. I met some new people and chatted with them and just had a good time. I ordered a 9″ BBQ chicken, bacon and garlic pizza for dinner. It was good. But I have to remember to not eat garlic when I go out. Not good for the breath doncha know. I like VJ’s though. It’s a good atmospere. And it’s about the music so I don’t feel pressure to have an awesome performance. Not that I don’t try to do good, but the pressure isn’t there. And that helps.

I leave for NY in 3 days not. I am so looking forward to seeing my friends and family. Yes, and even work. They purchased a new laptop that I will be using while I’m there. I just have to remember to bring my programs. While I’m in NY, I will work and play. Visit my good friends in the city, go to a concert, and see my family. It will be a fun trip. I’m excited.

Bono, the lead signer of the band U2 is famous throughout the entertainment industry for being more than just a little self-righteous.

He is playing a U2 concert in Glasgow , Scotland when he asks the audience for total quiet.

Then in the silence, he starts to slowly clap his hands, once every few seconds. Holding the audience in total silence, he says into the microphone,

“Every time I clap my hands, a child in Africa dies.”

A voice with a broad Scottish accent, from near the front of the crowd, pierces the silence…

“Well, fuc*ing stop doin’ it then!”

-originally posted by Mirko Hec

Talk about a change of lifestyle. Things have been so different. I woke this morning and there was nothing. No one. Just me. Quiet house. It’s such a different feeling. There used to always be someone to wake up for. Knowing that I would see someone either when I woke up or if not then, then at the end of the day. Now the whole day breathes emptiness. I’m as good as single. Now I don’t want you to think I’m saying how lonely I am all the time. I’m just noting changes in my life. I go shopping and buy food thinking how good a meal would be, then when I cook it, I have to put half of it (if not more) in the fridge as leftovers. Sitting down to eat, watch tv, or whatever is different. I have been reading like crazy. I’m finally catching up on the Dark Tower series which I neglected for so long. Don’t know why I did. I am so enjoying reading them. And the history of the last 4 books has come back to me within the first chapter. It’s almost like I didn’t skip reading them for years. I have been going to the gym a lot. It’s an easy way to kill 2 hours. I never thought I would have so much free time. And it’s not just because Holly and Gavin are not here. It’s because I’m kicking a bad and destructive habit (addiction). I didn’t realize how much time it was taking from me. I missed years of all the better things I could have been doing. I finally remembered to bring my iPod to the gym so I could listen to music. But the next morning when I tried to update it with new songs, my computer told me that my iPod had problems. So I took it to the Apple store and they told me the same thing. Only they elaborated and said that it had major problems and could not be fixed. “It’s dead”, they said. Sigh. So now I have a new iPod. It had more memory, is color, has a bigger screen, plays videos, is black, and I didn’t have to pay for most of it. Yay Apple. Monday night, I didn’t know what to do with myself, and I didn’t want to sit around the house in fear of slipping, so I grabbed my guitar and backpack with music book stored inside, hopped on my motorcycle (I bet that looked funny) and drove to Volcano Joes for open mic night for the first time in months. I had a good time. They started late as usual and the place was not quite full of people, but by the time I went up to play, the place was pretty packed. When I got to the microphone, I had no idea what I was going to play. I asked the host if she had any suggestions, and she flipped to Wonderwall by Oasis and said, “Ooh, how about that one. This song is awesome.” Ok, so now I had one song to play. I needed two. So before I started playing the first song, I started to auction off my second song. I gave everyone a list of about 10 artists that I was considering. I got a great response. People started yelling out names and titles back and forth. It was great. I told them to think about it and I’d open the floor again after the first song. So I did. After “Wonderwall”, which was received very well, I went through the list again. Again, there were artists and titles yelled out. I picked up three prominent bands being yelled, so I asked for a raise of hands. Ok, 6 for Pearl Jam. 9 for Stone Temple Pilots. And 3 for Dispatch. “Looks like STP had it”. Once that was decided, people started yelling out song titles. And of course the one that was the most prominent was “Plush”. So that is what I sang. It’s funny, because when I pick the songs, that is kind of what happens within my own head. Only having them decide makes it more so that they will enjoy the song. I got to listen to the most awesome ukulele player I have ever heard or seen. It was amazing. His fingers floated over the strings in a way that made it look like they didn’t match what was playing. It was amazing. The sounds that came out of that instrument. Wow. Just amazing. So only 6 days until Halloween. 3 days until the Saint Andrews society Halloween party. I don’t have a costume yet. Hmmmm. Looks like I’ll have something else to do to keep me busy for the next 3 days. Keeping busy is a hard thing to do. Right now, having spare time at home is not the greatest thing for me. Must keep busy. So that is me right now. How this post reads is about how things have been going in my head. That is only sort of true. You wouldn’t be able to understand my blog if I was able to get everything down that goes on up there. But this is the filtered version of things. Enjoy.