It seems like I throw a quick post up whenever there is a nice day to enjoy... it really does cheer me up to see warm weather and sunshine.
Considering all of the thought I've put into making the next step and leaving Buffalo thereafter, a different thought crossed my mind - if I move to the place that I'd like to live, will I appreciate the good weather as much as I would here in Buffalo? It seems that you get a bigger kick out of things when its rare to be able to enjoy them.
(e:jason) and I bought an Xbox 360 - for the premium system, another controller and two games the grand total was something like $550. Goodbye PS2! I gave (e:jason) the option of replacing his digital camera or putting the money towards a 360 - I should have known that the gears in his head would have started turning as soon as I said it.
Assuming nobody jams me on this bid, I'm about to get brand new copies of On The Road and Mexico City Blues off of eBay for less than I would have if I ordered on Amazon, including the discounts and free shipping. If you read my journal on previous occasions you'd know that I'm horribly anal about finding a particular copy of On The Road, but right now my desire to reread the book outweighs my desire to sit out and wait for a specific edition.
I've also taken to finally hanging up proper prints and artwork in my bedroom, gifts and purchases alike. A previous... well... theres no polite way to say it... but anyway a previous intimate acquaintance painted a painting for me and made strings of origami cranes, and another friend of mine (not so intimate, a nice but crazy girl) gave me some sort of ink printing in blue. I am not exactly sure how to hang it, but I think probably the thing to do is to get one of those matte finished folding things (sorry, I'm not an artist so I have no idea what its called). In all honesty it makes me wish that I had some more art to put in my room that had been made by a friend - maybe I'll paint my own hideous yet inspired creation. I thought about maybe picking my favorite three pictures from my travels, having my friend print them on photo quality paper and framing them nicely to hang behind my bed.
I hope that if you're working today you are making obscene profits. Otherwise, for those of us who have the day off, took the day off, or are unemployed or underemployed - enjoy the day!
Joshua's Journal
My Podcast Link
04/30/2007 14:12 #39105
Nice Day04/26/2007 13:03 #39054
Everybody's OddI live a relatively quiet, uncomplicated life and I'm a relatively normal person, but everybody (no exclusions) has a strange and weird part of their personality that rears its ugly head on occasion. For me, one of my most profound cultural influences has been Jack Kerouac. Between On the Road and Hesse's Siddartha you have the two books that have had the most profound impact on my outlook on life and so I don't feel particularly ashamed that Kerouac is a bit of an obsession for me.
Well, not Kerouac the man, per se... but more specifically the artwork on his books. I know I'm crazy on this one, but I just think that the cover art that was displayed on his books early on are some amazing examples of Beat-era artistic flair.
Some examples. Here is an example of a first edition PB copy of The Subterraneans... a book I haven't read yet. I'm not inclined to pay the $70 it would cost to get this on eBay, but I like it anyway.
This is the cover art from the first edition of Mexico City Blues - not a favorite but still interesting to me.
Here is the original art from the first hardcover edition of On The Road - this art in paperback I've seen available online exactly TWICE, the last time of which I was outbid on eBay by an eBay bidding driveby sniper.... I was fucking pissed. If you ever see this in paperback, Penguin Compass edition from the early '70s... I want it. :(
First edition of The Dharma Bums - this was released after On The Road and so its not surprising that considering the popularity of OTR, they would somewhat copy the art from OTR for The Dharma Bums. This exact book is selling for $950 on eBay - ouch.
This I really wish I had... I already own a copy of The Dharma Bums but I'd trade my copy for this one asap. Its the most recent Penguin Deluxe edition of The Dharma Bums - notice the hitchhiking figure with the sign that reads "nirvana."
Imelda Marcos had shoes, Kim Jong Il has movies and cognac... I have specific editions of Kerouac books. Sigh.
Well, not Kerouac the man, per se... but more specifically the artwork on his books. I know I'm crazy on this one, but I just think that the cover art that was displayed on his books early on are some amazing examples of Beat-era artistic flair.
Some examples. Here is an example of a first edition PB copy of The Subterraneans... a book I haven't read yet. I'm not inclined to pay the $70 it would cost to get this on eBay, but I like it anyway.
This is the cover art from the first edition of Mexico City Blues - not a favorite but still interesting to me.
Here is the original art from the first hardcover edition of On The Road - this art in paperback I've seen available online exactly TWICE, the last time of which I was outbid on eBay by an eBay bidding driveby sniper.... I was fucking pissed. If you ever see this in paperback, Penguin Compass edition from the early '70s... I want it. :(
First edition of The Dharma Bums - this was released after On The Road and so its not surprising that considering the popularity of OTR, they would somewhat copy the art from OTR for The Dharma Bums. This exact book is selling for $950 on eBay - ouch.
This I really wish I had... I already own a copy of The Dharma Bums but I'd trade my copy for this one asap. Its the most recent Penguin Deluxe edition of The Dharma Bums - notice the hitchhiking figure with the sign that reads "nirvana."
Imelda Marcos had shoes, Kim Jong Il has movies and cognac... I have specific editions of Kerouac books. Sigh.
matthew - 04/26/07 14:50
I love old books as well. I just received two neat ones from ebay. One is a 1899 art nouveau copy of a collection of Edgar Allen Poe's poems. The other is a 1901 first printing of Buffalo Views, a collection of photographs of our cities turn of the century buildings and homes.
I love old books as well. I just received two neat ones from ebay. One is a 1899 art nouveau copy of a collection of Edgar Allen Poe's poems. The other is a 1901 first printing of Buffalo Views, a collection of photographs of our cities turn of the century buildings and homes.
04/24/2007 14:45 #39026
PervA big ol' two-handed "HONK HONK!" to the (e:strip) ladies! How you doin'?
I met (e:ingrid) last week (or was it the week before?) at Cozumel while I was there with some friends for a birthday. A very nice girl. Sorry for having to dash, but we were moving to another bar. Soy un bobo, especially when I've been drinking. I think she asked if I was a pothead. If I said that I can't remember, would that be considered evidence of guilt? Not if you don't feel guilty, which I don't.
I've been enjoying the hell out of my porch now that the weather is better. I feel slightly bad that our new upstairs neighbor had to sit on furniture that hasn't been cleaned yet (street dirt is relentless when your porch is 6 ft. from the curb) but then again, its all supposed to be mutually maintained and she hasn't lifted a fucking finger in six months.
The good news is that our apartment is in significantly better shape for entertaining, so I'm really looking forward to getting people fed/drunk/etc. as summer rolls in. I think I have a summer drink idea - its carbonated but I promise that it will be tasty, in a vodka-y, peary, peachy, grapefruity kind of way. The "750" is past its shelf life and will be retired as our house beverage.
Otherwise its been status quo for a while - I've had a hard time shaking things up so I'm glad that the better weather is giving us an opportunity to enjoy more of what the area has to offer. I've had cabin fever for so long that I almost forgot what it was like to have options!
I met (e:ingrid) last week (or was it the week before?) at Cozumel while I was there with some friends for a birthday. A very nice girl. Sorry for having to dash, but we were moving to another bar. Soy un bobo, especially when I've been drinking. I think she asked if I was a pothead. If I said that I can't remember, would that be considered evidence of guilt? Not if you don't feel guilty, which I don't.
I've been enjoying the hell out of my porch now that the weather is better. I feel slightly bad that our new upstairs neighbor had to sit on furniture that hasn't been cleaned yet (street dirt is relentless when your porch is 6 ft. from the curb) but then again, its all supposed to be mutually maintained and she hasn't lifted a fucking finger in six months.
The good news is that our apartment is in significantly better shape for entertaining, so I'm really looking forward to getting people fed/drunk/etc. as summer rolls in. I think I have a summer drink idea - its carbonated but I promise that it will be tasty, in a vodka-y, peary, peachy, grapefruity kind of way. The "750" is past its shelf life and will be retired as our house beverage.
Otherwise its been status quo for a while - I've had a hard time shaking things up so I'm glad that the better weather is giving us an opportunity to enjoy more of what the area has to offer. I've had cabin fever for so long that I almost forgot what it was like to have options!
metalpeter - 04/24/07 17:46
First of all (e:ingird) was at the last party I went to and she seemed very nice to me also. The other day I thought I saw someone up on your porch but there was no way I was going to yell up at who ever was there from across the street. I was kinda in a hurry anyways. But the point I was getting to is it must be awesome to have a porch overlooking Elmwood. I would think that if you want silence it might be tough but it would still be so worth it.
First of all (e:ingird) was at the last party I went to and she seemed very nice to me also. The other day I thought I saw someone up on your porch but there was no way I was going to yell up at who ever was there from across the street. I was kinda in a hurry anyways. But the point I was getting to is it must be awesome to have a porch overlooking Elmwood. I would think that if you want silence it might be tough but it would still be so worth it.
04/09/2007 13:16 #38819
HelloHi everybody - I hope that your festive period was a good one!
Easter
To be honest I'm suffering right now - this cold that has been going around has swept 750 into uncontrollable coughing, rough lungs and raw throat. I don't think I've been this sick in many years... its a shame that I don't consider boosting my immune system until after I catch something. I'm taking Zicam, a decongestant and 1000mg of vitamin C besides eating well and drinking lots of my double bergamot earl grey tea.
Needless to say, I couldn't taste my Easter meal.
An event also occurred which I could never have imagined. My father gave my uncle (e:jason)'s digital camera (the one that I broke...) to see if he could fix it. Unfortunately there was a picture on the memory card that my uncle objected to. He's a Mormon, which these days is about as close to being Puritan as one can be. Leaving the memory card in the camera was an oversight, but I have no idea why he decided to snoop into the memory card to begin with. Anyway, he found out that I'm not an angel and I was completely unapologetic about it. I'm 28 (soon to be 29!) and I'm not about to be lectured to by anybody let alone my uncle. I love my uncle but I honestly don't give a damn about what he thinks about my personal habits.
The girl whose last name I cannot pronounce
I missed all the outrage surrounding the inappropriate and clumsy comments made by (e:jenks). There was a comment made by me on the original thread but for the record that was actually (e:jason) - he wrote the comment while my account was signed in and actually informed me later about what she said.
I want to be clear - I'm not exactly slamming (e:jenks) and I'll illustrate why that is. Obviously she was offensive, but she apologized and that should be good enough. Besides that, there is something about her entry that we all agree with! Allow me to speak for the entire region when I say that we're sick and tired of the winter. We got teased with some great weather a week ago (the San Fran expats were stunned), and I think we all believed that we had seen the end of the winter. This is as if it was all a cruel tease.
Allow me to use a crude metaphor - for me its like having that girl you've desired in your room, pants off and she is just about to take her shirt off. You're finally about to get that bit of love you've been craving, specifically from her. You are gently kissing her behind her ear... she's got her arms around you... you are running your index finger along the top line of her panties.... she is breathing heavily.... the green light is definitely on.... if you don't give it to her right here, right now then she just might take it anyway.... then suddenly, BZZZTTT! Yeah - that was your alarm that just went off, its 7:00am on Monday and the weather is incredibly bad. Oh, and by the way - you're definitely alone!
That is how I've felt about the change in weather anyway. Its a letdown of Scott "Norwide" proportions.
Buffalo and *gasp* summer!
One thing that can be said about our city is that we have a vastly underrated sense of humor about our winters and our bad luck in sports. It has to be that way, otherwise Buffalo would soon look like a reincarnation of Jonestown.
One of the things I enjoy the most in warm weather is grilling - I'm the fucking grill master. I really look forward to making my neighborhood smell like barbecue. People always pass by and yell up at us - "gimme some!" Part of our suffering is the cabin fever we all deal with - its nice to be able to be on your porch and entertain outside.
I also look forward to creating our new house drink. The current one - creatively titled the "750" - has lost its luster and we need a new beverage. I have some ideas that I'm going to test and I hope to debut it on my birthday!
Enjoy yourselves -
Josh
Easter
To be honest I'm suffering right now - this cold that has been going around has swept 750 into uncontrollable coughing, rough lungs and raw throat. I don't think I've been this sick in many years... its a shame that I don't consider boosting my immune system until after I catch something. I'm taking Zicam, a decongestant and 1000mg of vitamin C besides eating well and drinking lots of my double bergamot earl grey tea.
Needless to say, I couldn't taste my Easter meal.
An event also occurred which I could never have imagined. My father gave my uncle (e:jason)'s digital camera (the one that I broke...) to see if he could fix it. Unfortunately there was a picture on the memory card that my uncle objected to. He's a Mormon, which these days is about as close to being Puritan as one can be. Leaving the memory card in the camera was an oversight, but I have no idea why he decided to snoop into the memory card to begin with. Anyway, he found out that I'm not an angel and I was completely unapologetic about it. I'm 28 (soon to be 29!) and I'm not about to be lectured to by anybody let alone my uncle. I love my uncle but I honestly don't give a damn about what he thinks about my personal habits.
The girl whose last name I cannot pronounce
I missed all the outrage surrounding the inappropriate and clumsy comments made by (e:jenks). There was a comment made by me on the original thread but for the record that was actually (e:jason) - he wrote the comment while my account was signed in and actually informed me later about what she said.
I want to be clear - I'm not exactly slamming (e:jenks) and I'll illustrate why that is. Obviously she was offensive, but she apologized and that should be good enough. Besides that, there is something about her entry that we all agree with! Allow me to speak for the entire region when I say that we're sick and tired of the winter. We got teased with some great weather a week ago (the San Fran expats were stunned), and I think we all believed that we had seen the end of the winter. This is as if it was all a cruel tease.
Allow me to use a crude metaphor - for me its like having that girl you've desired in your room, pants off and she is just about to take her shirt off. You're finally about to get that bit of love you've been craving, specifically from her. You are gently kissing her behind her ear... she's got her arms around you... you are running your index finger along the top line of her panties.... she is breathing heavily.... the green light is definitely on.... if you don't give it to her right here, right now then she just might take it anyway.... then suddenly, BZZZTTT! Yeah - that was your alarm that just went off, its 7:00am on Monday and the weather is incredibly bad. Oh, and by the way - you're definitely alone!
That is how I've felt about the change in weather anyway. Its a letdown of Scott "Norwide" proportions.
Buffalo and *gasp* summer!
One thing that can be said about our city is that we have a vastly underrated sense of humor about our winters and our bad luck in sports. It has to be that way, otherwise Buffalo would soon look like a reincarnation of Jonestown.
One of the things I enjoy the most in warm weather is grilling - I'm the fucking grill master. I really look forward to making my neighborhood smell like barbecue. People always pass by and yell up at us - "gimme some!" Part of our suffering is the cabin fever we all deal with - its nice to be able to be on your porch and entertain outside.
I also look forward to creating our new house drink. The current one - creatively titled the "750" - has lost its luster and we need a new beverage. I have some ideas that I'm going to test and I hope to debut it on my birthday!
Enjoy yourselves -
Josh
carolinian - 04/09/07 18:08
I can actually relate to your weather metaphor, sort of.
My ex-girlfriend once cited as a reason not come up and visit me that "Buffalo took you away from me" (because I left NC for the job up here). My friends' reactions were along the lines of "what the hell? she thinks you cheated on her with a city?"
No joke.
I can actually relate to your weather metaphor, sort of.
My ex-girlfriend once cited as a reason not come up and visit me that "Buffalo took you away from me" (because I left NC for the job up here). My friends' reactions were along the lines of "what the hell? she thinks you cheated on her with a city?"
No joke.
joshua - 04/09/07 15:21
I definitely felt violated - regardless of the presence of the memory card he had no business snooping through it. I would have never conceived doing the same to him.
In any case, what he saw was a picture of a bud next to my brother's cigarette box. It was a nice bud. What he didn't see was the pictures of me and my friends smoking blunts, taking hits out of various glass pieces, etc. - in truth he doesn't know the half of it. The rest of the pictures on the card were of myself and some close friends at Gordon's sending off our buddy who was moving to Houston. The mary jane was one thing, but the bar photos were relatively innocuous. Unfortunately I cannot extract the pictures because I don't have a card reader, otherwise I would have shared what was on the card in my journal.
I definitely felt violated - regardless of the presence of the memory card he had no business snooping through it. I would have never conceived doing the same to him.
In any case, what he saw was a picture of a bud next to my brother's cigarette box. It was a nice bud. What he didn't see was the pictures of me and my friends smoking blunts, taking hits out of various glass pieces, etc. - in truth he doesn't know the half of it. The rest of the pictures on the card were of myself and some close friends at Gordon's sending off our buddy who was moving to Houston. The mary jane was one thing, but the bar photos were relatively innocuous. Unfortunately I cannot extract the pictures because I don't have a card reader, otherwise I would have shared what was on the card in my journal.
james - 04/09/07 14:41
Mormons are like any religious person. Some of them are insufferable ass holes who will look at your unmentionable nethers on a memory card and chastise you as they internal chastise the hard on it gave them. Others can be quite lovely as they are secular. I am not sticking up for a church who's doctrine scares the shit out of me, just that minority of decent people raised Mormon who aren't afraid to drink once in a while, fraternize with heathens, and have a little hot man on man action once in a while.
But man, it is obnoxious to be violated like that by anyone of any religious persuasion.
And by the way, the spring/winter metaphor was tops.
Mormons are like any religious person. Some of them are insufferable ass holes who will look at your unmentionable nethers on a memory card and chastise you as they internal chastise the hard on it gave them. Others can be quite lovely as they are secular. I am not sticking up for a church who's doctrine scares the shit out of me, just that minority of decent people raised Mormon who aren't afraid to drink once in a while, fraternize with heathens, and have a little hot man on man action once in a while.
But man, it is obnoxious to be violated like that by anyone of any religious persuasion.
And by the way, the spring/winter metaphor was tops.
03/28/2007 12:23 #38664
I think I'm going to die of laughterSeriously... I really do think I'm going to die of laughter. There is only one other way that I'd rather go if I have to, and let me say that the laughter option is far less sordid.
WGR 550, our local sports talk station, is having a song contest. Basically, people are able to submit a Sabres' related parody - a complete performed song or just the lyrics if you cannot carry a tune. I'm enjoying myself writing some lyrics to songs such as Howard Jones' "Things Can Only Get Better" and Human League's "Don't You Want Me." This is the sort of thing that I dig, so I think when I can find either an instrumental/kareoke track or even a MIDI file of the songs I'm working on, I'm going to create a parody and submit it. Usually I dislike cheesy/campy things, but this is far to amusing for me to ignore.
SF visitors - (e:hodown), (e:paul) and (e:matthew) - drink water and take off your shoes when you fly home. You'll be more comfy, I promise!
WGR 550, our local sports talk station, is having a song contest. Basically, people are able to submit a Sabres' related parody - a complete performed song or just the lyrics if you cannot carry a tune. I'm enjoying myself writing some lyrics to songs such as Howard Jones' "Things Can Only Get Better" and Human League's "Don't You Want Me." This is the sort of thing that I dig, so I think when I can find either an instrumental/kareoke track or even a MIDI file of the songs I'm working on, I'm going to create a parody and submit it. Usually I dislike cheesy/campy things, but this is far to amusing for me to ignore.
SF visitors - (e:hodown), (e:paul) and (e:matthew) - drink water and take off your shoes when you fly home. You'll be more comfy, I promise!
ladycroft - 03/28/07 17:58
check ur post its
check ur post its
joshua - 03/28/07 16:27
Haha - well, that is generally understood. I do have to admit that it would be interesting to see if any Caniacs want to bring the noise if we get them in the 1st round. Entirely plausible!
Haha - well, that is generally understood. I do have to admit that it would be interesting to see if any Caniacs want to bring the noise if we get them in the 1st round. Entirely plausible!
carolinian - 03/28/07 16:09
They never said anything about having to be a Sabres fan..... >:)
They never said anything about having to be a Sabres fan..... >:)
museumchick - 03/28/07 15:42
That sounds so funny:)
That sounds so funny:)
joshua - 03/28/07 14:26
Z - thanks for the heads up man!
Z - thanks for the heads up man!
zobar - 03/28/07 14:23
If you need the songs Right Now and you don't care about the original lyrics, there's one karaoke version of Things Can Only Get Better and about a bajillion karaoke versions of Don't You Want Me on the iTunes Music Store. It's kind of annoying but you'll have to burn the track to CD and reimport it with a lossless codec in order to use it into your editing software.
- Z
If you need the songs Right Now and you don't care about the original lyrics, there's one karaoke version of Things Can Only Get Better and about a bajillion karaoke versions of Don't You Want Me on the iTunes Music Store. It's kind of annoying but you'll have to burn the track to CD and reimport it with a lossless codec in order to use it into your editing software.
- Z
hodown - 03/28/07 14:01
I wore flip flops today (flying to AZ) for just that reason!!
I wore flip flops today (flying to AZ) for just that reason!!
awesome. glad to see another 360 gamer. hit me up on live: vicious dbm. i have mad games for the system, chances are ill have at least one or two titles that you boys bought. hope to see you online this xblw!
Hallucinatory and alien? Do tell!
Congrats on the 360. I saw my friend play Gears of War and never have I wanted a chain saw more.
I have been looking on ebay, amazon, everywhere for a copy of Code Serephinianus: a halucanitory encyclopedia of imagined things writen in alien scripts. So, I can appreciate your hunt for rare editions. Godspeed.