Learning the Bassoon

Yes, I know you've been waiting for another post for quite a while, but I've been busy working and learning to play the bassoon!

I'd been wanting a bassoon for a few years. I'd ask for one for my birthday or Christmas and never get one. So I started asking band directors if their schools were having an auction or anything to let me know if any bassoons were going in it.

I happened to ask the band director at Cook County Schools in Grand Marais, and she said there was one there that nobody had used in SEVERAL years. It was just sitting there on the shelf in the band room. I decided to purchase it!

I bought Standard of Excellence Book 1, the same thing I started with on clarinet 21 years ago, and the same thing I start each one of my students on. I took home this bassoon I had just acquired, and sat down and got started. This was November 6th.

I learned to assemble it, and I made up a song to help me remember the correct order to assemble all the pieces. I don't need to sing the song to myself anymore, but in the future, my beginning bassoon students may like to use it.

I went through many of the same things I went through as a young clarinet player at Esko back in the day. Struggling with fingerings or lines in the book, or with reeds, or spit in my instrument, or trying to read the bass clef. I struggled a lot, but I also had more "juice" in me this time than I did back in 5th grade. I was able to see for the first time since 5th grade all the things my students see when they learn their instruments. My bassoon teacher was myself, and she was tough! She made me play every line perfectly before I was allowed to move on in my book. December 6th rolled around, one month later, and I had done it! I completed Book 1!

I held myself to the same, if not higher standards as I do my other students learning to play an instrument. I'm not only learning about bassoon, I'm learning about teaching. Meanwhile, I'm having a great time, regardless of the struggles I run into. Can't finish the maze without running into a few walls first, right? The cheese is being a bassoonist, so it's worth the run :-)

Meanwhile, I have accepted another bassoon related challenge. I have been an oboist in the Duluth Symphonic Winds Community Band for over 7 years now. I have taken on a bassoon playing spot in the group now since we gained another oboe player. Luckily, my good friend Kerry is the best bassoon player I know, and I'll get to sit with her every week at rehearsal, so she will be there to help me out :-)

*Enjoy your day*

I Witnessed The Jonas Evolution

Yeah. It's been quite a while since I've posted. This is our busy season at work and I've also taken on a bunch of new students. Anyway, on to the topic...

I DID witness what I like to call "The Jonas Evolution." We all remember the cute Disney boys back in 2005. These dudes:

They were adorable and all the young girls loved them. Fast forward to like 2007 or so when they started coming out with these totally INNOCENT lyrics in songs like "Burnin' Up," when they said "High heels, red dress, all by yourself, gotta catch my breath!"

Very clean, very family friendly, very Disney-appropriate. Today's generation's Hanson really. By the way, I LOVED the video for Burnin' Up, it was hilarious and chock full of celebrities (and of COURSE, Big Rob) (click link above to watch--VERY cute!)

The next era started in probably 2009 or so, when their "message" was quite clear to all. They wanted the world to know they were drug free, alcohol free, and totally abstinent and responsible, so much so that they constantly wore "purity rings."

The message was clear--"you can look, but you can't touch, and we will NOT drink, smoke or do drugs." Young girls everywhere rejoiced at having such fantastic (and TOTALLY HOT) role models who made great music that they loved. Nick also had his own following after writing "A Little Bit Longer"in 2008, where he lamented of his early days with juvenile diabetes (just finding out about it, having it change his life, etc.). The song made girls cry because the lyrics were so moving, and so many of those crying girls had juvenile diabetes themselves and could totally relate. The guys had also had their own show on the Disney Channel at this point, just called "Jonas," about 3 brothers in a band dealing with "normal" stuff like school and of course girls.

2009 was the year I first fell in love with these guys, though I had certainly witnessed everything leading up to this time (they were all over the TV and internet, being pop stars and all). Still "owned" by Disney, they released a sort of "themed" album, where all the songs had lyrics that eluded to the album's title "Lines, Vines and Trying Times." This was their fourth album as a group. The Lines, Vines and Trying Times were apparently pulled from their own lives, dealing with being popular, dealing with world issues, and dealing with lots of other things around that time. 2009 was a busy and crazy time for them all around. They had also come out with a new show on the Disney Channel called "Jonas L.A.," where again they dealt with the women in their lives and the complications caused by them. These guys were really beginning to grow up.

By 2011, they had gone their separate ways as a band (but definitely not as a family). Kevin had gotten married to Danielle, a girl he met on a family vacation several years before. They started their own TV show "Married to Jonas," and Joe recorded a solo album called "Fastlife." I enjoy several of the tracks from Fastlife, but it was VERY different from anything the brothers ever made. Nick also put together a band called Nick Jonas and the Administration, which is a hint at how his brothers always called him Mr. President because he was sorta the boss in their band, and there were hints of him running for actual United States president someday. I did enjoy Nick's new band as well. Their stuff was VERY different than Joe's, but I liked all of it.
Click this link to see my favorite Joe Jonas video, I LOVE this song!
Click this link to see my favorite Nick Jonas video
Notice how different they are? Not just in the music but even in the style of the video. But I enjoy both!

2013 comes along, and HEY! The Jonas Brothers (yes, the Jonas BROTHERS--back together?!) release a new single--and there is not a purity ring in sight!! In fact, there's half naked chicks and all sorts of sexual hints and messages in the video AND lyrics--"I want you on my team. Want you like a kid just wants a milkshake. And I won't let it go to waste if I get a taste I'm gonna drink the whole thing!" Whoa! Not Disney's boys anymore! But I LOVED "Pom Poms!" Yes, the marching band in the video was my favorite part, but oh my gosh, THE JONAS BROTHERS WERE BACK and they were rocking my socks off again in a whole NEW and DIFFERENT way! All grown up and VERY good looking and VERY different guys musically!
Click this link to watch the video for Pom Poms

That seemed to be the last match in the book though for these guys as a group. However, thanks to social media, I was able to continue to follow these guys separately. Nick Jonas split off from the guys in his Administration and went solo, releasing hits like "Jealous," that I again could not resist rocking out to! Click here for the video. Nick wasn't my favorite brother but that doesn't mean he isn't HOT :-P

Fast forward to THIS WEEK! I had been seeing that Joe has been DJing in the western United States (L.A., Vegas, etc) and thought that was that until Tuesday (the 15th) when I saw something about this DNCE releasing this "Cake By The Ocean" and I was like "Eh?!" So I clicked on it and I guess Joe is in this new band called DNCE, and this "Cake By The Ocean" is their first single. I was hooked on it immediately, though there is quite a bit of profanity! It's almost refreshing though, because of all the proper lyrics and behaviors these guys started out with! Sure, Nick's album did have a little "Parental Advisory" sticker on it, but his profanity was more subtle! Anyway I'm hooked on "Cake By The Ocean," and you can click this link to listen to it--but be warned about the profanity! :-P Friggin catchy though!!

Fast forward a whole day to YESTERDAY, when I was scrolling through my Facebook feed and saw that Nick has a new single called "Levels." So I of course had to check it out! I saw the video and there are a LOT of ladies wearing very little! No profanity, but lots of hints at sexual messages. I do love the song though! Click this link to watch the video.

It's just weird to be so old that I watched a "boy band" evolve THIS MUCH, and STILL LIKE THEM! Most people sorta just fade away from their favorite boy bands after they dissolve. These guys always kept me hooked, and I think at this point, I'm gonna continue to be hooked until they're doing choreographed dancing with walkers and/or wheelchairs at the senior center :-)

P.S. Aren't they hot?! :-)

*Enjoy your day*

Saturday night's NOT all right for fighting, Elton John :-P

So Elton John was wrong. There really isn't a night that's all right for fighting, especially not in Big Red's neighborhood. Let me give you the run-down on this whole neighborhood thing and the whole Saturday thing. I'll start with the neighborhood. Yes this is long but these issues are important to me, and if you live in this neighborhood at all, you'll appreciate it.

I live on what has GOT to be THE MOST DANGEROUS intersection west of Spirit Valley. I actually filled out a complaint form and mailed it to the police department. Every night I hear people either speeding from Fond du Lac, from Superior, or back TO Superior (the Oliver Bridge is down the road from here). People from Superior are known to be pretty horrible drivers, especially way out here in GNDLand, a neighborhood "in the middle of nowhere where you can do whatever you want." NOT the case! In the almost 9 years I have lived at this address, I have observed pedestrians almost getting hit, a dog who DID get hit (by a lady from SUPERIOR who DROVE OFF), people yelling at each other from their vehicles, people LEAVING their vehicles to confront each other, people throwing things from their vehicles, people driving VERY recklessly (including speeding, screeching and honking), people going through the stop sign, and people actually BACKING UP because they tried to go too soon. This kind of crap goes on pretty much EVERY NIGHT. I live upstairs so I can't read license plates, but I see everything because I'm often right at the window.

This brings me to this past Saturday night when I had been posting several angry updates to Facebook. I arrived home from work at about 7:30. I sat down on my bed and fired up my laptop (I usually sit at our main computer, which is by that window). I heard some screeching a fe minutes later, rolled my eyes and said something like "for God's sake..." or whatever. Not too long later, I heard more screeching and thought "oh cool, I guess it's Reckless Driving Night in GNDLand..."

So as I look at my BlackBerry right now, it looks like this next thing occurred at 8:38, slightly over an hour since I had gotten home.

I heard screeching AGAIN, and was still sitting on my bed not feeling like getting up and running over to the window, but I WAS getting pretty damn mad at this point. I then heard some YELLING! I thought "FOR GOD'S SAKE!!" I DID get up and run over to the window at that point and saw a guy who had GOTTEN OUT OF his car and was yelling at a lady who had GOTTEN OUT OF her car! I tore open the window (causing me to break a nail), and with my BlackBerry in hand, called the cops. I could tell this guy was a real A hole the way he was yelling & screaming at this lady (for what appeared to be no good reason). I yelled & screamed out the window at HIM to get him to hopefully get in his car and get the f**k outta my neighborhood and stop bothering random people. He looked up at me and yelled some stuff back of course. I couldn't see his license plate but could see he had gotten out of a dark colored Jeep-y looking SUV (out of the PASSENGER side, mind you). I was narrating the whole situation to the cops on the phone trying to describe the car and the situation as best as I could. The lady got back in her car and turned the corner and pulled into the parking lot of the building on the other corner (turned out to be my neighbor). The guy got back in his Jeep and just ripped outta there in the opposite direction.

The cops did call me back to get more information, and I told them to tell the dispatcher that I wanted to apologize for being angry and for him having to endure me yelling & screaming at this rude jerky A hole who was hassling my neighbor!! He informed me that there are TWO, yes TWO cops working the area between 40th Avenue West & Fond du Lac. TWO F**KING COPS for that whole area is frigging stupid as hell. I told the cop that if they ever need to meet their speeding ticket/reckless driving quota at the end of the month to come on over here, it's like Christmas for that!

My downstairs neighbor informed me that he had also spoken to this cop, and apparently the Jeep jerk had pulled a knife on my neighbor. Pleasant. Good ol' GNDLand is now full of random meanies with knives, apparently. I feel so SAFE now! (NOT)

I thanked the cop that called me and went about my business. Looking again at my BlackBerry, this next incident happened at 9:16, only 45 minutes or so after all this.

I heard screeching and a LOUD engine FLYING down the street. I don't mind loud engines, I DO mind crazy drivers. I angrily walked out to the back porch of my building and saw an old ugly blue car with a VERY loud engine turning around at the laundromat. This car screeched around the corner down the street toward the Oliver Bridge. I called the cops again to report the car and its reckless driving. They thanked me for being so aware and would be coming back out. Again, I went about my business. I was mad and ordered a pizza because I was in no mood to cook (I was also ready to smoke a cigar at that point). Looking at my BlackBerry, the following occurred at 9:51.

AGAIN I heard screeching, and at this point I was PISSED. I called up the cops just to report another incident of reckless driving. They thanked me again and I ate my pizza and smoked my cigar. I didn't hear any more screeching the rest of the night. I had a pleasant day and a very maddening night. Story of my life I guess.

*Enjoy your day*

I can't believe I just had to send this to the DTA...

I have called the DTA several times over the years and have also sent them several Facebook messages. I do get responses, though nothing ever improves. My friend Don down the road has spoken with supervisors over the phone several times, and nothing ever gets done. I actually had to stoop to using profanity today in a Facebook message to them. here it is (I have censored it for this blog of course):

"Hello, I wanted to report hazardous driving by a bus driver. I just got off bus #145 on Sunday August 2nd. Rode from mall at about 6:22 to New Duluth at about 7:45. The driver was constantly stopping short and stopping suddenly. Near the zoo, around 7:25, he stopped so quick I had to grab the seat in front of me where a guy's arm was, ended up missing the handle and almost breaking my fingers and also falling into the guy's arm (very rude). I need my fingers for my job, I'm a music teacher. He actually stopped hard enough to cause an earbud to actually come out of my ear. My finger still hurts. I have ridden with this driver in the past several times and he always drives like this. A few years back, bus driver Dave had to stop suddenly down by the M&H and immediately asked everyone if we were okay. This other guy doesn't seem to give a damn. People FELL, and he didn't ask them if they were okay! One guy almost frickin fell in a wheelchair lady's lap!! What the f**k?! Sometimes I have him in the morning when I have hot coffee, and I'd rather not slosh hot coffee on people! That is way more rude than falling on them! I'm really getting tired of having to write complaints to you guys. Back in the day I used to write/call about things I thought you guys did well. I (and my hundreds of fellow passengers) would like to see those days return."

WHY? WHY must people be treated this way in America in 2015?! This is ridiculous and rather primitive if you ask me (like caveman behavior). I have TOLD the DTA that if there were another transit company in town, I would have SWITCHED YEARS AGO! I just want to enjoy my day every once in a while, and on a Sunday afternoon after work, I guess I'm not allowed to. Nice. Thanks.

*Enjoy your day*

The F**kin' Grumpy Dude

It's been a while since I've posted, but I did observe this unusual quick little tidbit today. I've lived in this neighborhood for 8 1/2 years. There's been this guy that gets on the bus less than a mile from here. Over the years I've seen the guy lose weight and eventually walk without his cane & stuff like that. He always seemed very quiet and NEVER caused problems or said a word on bus rides.

Lots of things annoy me during bus rides but I just say things IN MY HEAD like "Oh yay, here comes the town drunk," or whatever. I have even occasionally rolled my eyes a little or sighed out loud, but kept my thoughts & feelings to myself (as you should when you're in public). So today this guy gets on, he goes to sit down, and I clearly hear him grumble "OH F**K." I thought to myself "Was that HIM?! Quiet dude?! Wow. What a grump!" A few minutes later, we were headed out of Morgan Park, and my friend's sister was waiting for the bus with her husband and their little boys, and they had their stroller. This guy suddenly grumbles "OH F**KIN STROLLER!" and gets up so they can sit there. Again I was just thinking "WHAT THE HECK DUDE?! I don't like strollers either but WHOA! Profane language is not allowed on the bus, and I thought you were a calm quiet guy but DAAAANG..."

Probably the WORST thing I've EVER said out loud on the bus is like "Oh for God's sake..." or something. That guy has developed himself a whole new reputation in my mind now as "The F**kin Grumpy Dude." Good job, guy. Way to make yourself look good :-P

*Enjoy your day*

My DecalGirl Story

So you remember the little "ugly pink" iPod I found a couple weeks ago at a rummage sale?

I originally bought it as a "TeachPod" to put my students' book's accompaniment audio tracks onto so I could play them during their lessons. Pink is really not one of my favorite colors at all, but it was $5 and I figured I could buy a case for it or something. In the past I had browsed the DecalGirl web site quite a bit but never really purchased anything. I thought I might as well give it a whirl to get rid of the "ugly pink." I worked quite a bit with Amie over email because I was having trouble uploading my own photo to turn into an iPod skin (for the ever so ancient iPod Mini). She was very helpful, and this is the end result:

Looks great! No more "ugly pink," and it's pretty durable too! With recent glitches happening with my otherwise very reliable BlackBerry PlayBook in the media player, I have recently switched to using the iPod for my everyday bus ride music, and I switched to using the PlayBook media player for the student accompaniments. Now I look pretty stylish with my super old iPod with the cool custom skin. I have been looking into one for my PlayBook now too...

*Enjoy your day*

Brian Stack Ruiner

So this guy got on my bus today, and initially I was like "Whoa, that guy looks like Brian Stack!" (This dude: )

I originally saw Brian Stack as an actor on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and he played some pretty funny characters. One of my favorites was Artie Kendall, the radio show singing ghost. Good times, good laughs.

So anyway, I spotted this guy when he got on the bus and thought he looked like Brian Stack. He ended up sitting with me because the bus was fairly crowded. I don't mind people sitting with me as long as they're not wiggly, chatty or smelly. This guy started out normal enough, but he kept crossing his arms and TOUCHING me every time he did it! Usually it was my leg he touched, and I KNOW it was on purpose! Creepy!! I put my hand on the seat in front of me several times to show off my WEDDING RING hoping he would spot it and knock it off. Finally we got to a point where there were more than one totally empty seats. I asked him to find his own seat. I've only had to ask a few people to find their own seat, and they always do. He said back to me "No I'm fine here, why don't YOU find your own seat? I'm comfortable here." WTF?!?! I WAS THERE FIRST, and he was the touchy feely creep, not me!! We got to the mall, and as he got up he said "There, now you can have YOUR own seat." I wanted to smack him, but he probably would've LIKED it...

Here's a sneaky picture I took of him

*Enjoy your day*

Iowa Trippin'

So it's been a while since I posted. Friday though Sunday we were out of town. We went to Mason City, Iowa to see Nathan's grandma and just hang around town and shop and stuff. Today is her 90th birthday and of course her birthday party is THIS Saturday, not when we were visiting. Oh well, whatever. We took her out to dinner as an early birthday gift. We also had plans to spend July 4th mostly in Clear Lake at their carnival. Here's some pictures of our Iowa Trip!

And we're off!

We stopped in Hinckley and had breakfast at Tobies, and it was yummy! I ended up buying a loaf of that bread they made my toast on

I had brought along (and wore) patriotic clothes & accessories for this trip so I could look festive for the holiday weekend. I painted my nails too!

We had stopped at Kwik Trip for some "road fuel." We "each got 24oz of stay awake"

My favorite part of the journey is passing through Minneapolis on the way down. Very pretty! This picture does not even hardly show it because it was a quick from the back seat type deal

We arrived in Mason City and stopped at Pro's Sandwich Shop, where Nathan's mom ordered their classic "Made Right" loose meat sandwich. Their root beer is also made on site and is FANTASTIC! Very good chicken strip meal with VERY tasty fries!

We then headed over to Kinney Pioneer Museum, where Nathan's grandpa had a handmade ship on display, and I saw some cool marionettes

Nathan had always joked about wanting a switchblade comb, and they had them in the gift shop! He gonna COMB you, fool!

We checked into our hotel, which had a king size bed, a jacuzzi type tub, and a weird sliding WINDOW with blinds between the tub & the main room. It ended up coming in handy though when we sat in the jacuzzi and watched Saturday Night Live through the open window while the TV was in the other room

We visited Nathan's grandma and took her out to Ruby Tuesday for an early 90th birthday dinna

Nathan had been wanting to go back to Birdsall's Ice Cream and share a banana split with me, so that's what we did!

The next day was July 4th, and we were up early for a tasty hotel breakfast to start our day

They had a whiteboard in the breakfast room that was different every day. I captured the one that was up on Sunday

We headed out to walk on the Willow Creek Footbridge, which became famous in the movie The Music Man, so famous in the Iowa area due to Meredith Willson being originally from there and all. We've been to his museum a few times. There was also a cool sculpture called "Kinetic Weather Disturbance Ensemble" made out of trumpets and stuff

We had lunch at Rib Crib, which was really tasty

After that, we went on to Clear Lake for the Evans United Shows carnival. We went on the Sizzler, the Tilt-A-Whirl, the carousel, and the Ferris wheel

We also of course had to enjoy some fresh carnival funnel cake. Mmm!

We had planned to stay at the carnival into the night so we could see the fireworks. Our ideal plan was to watch part of them from the Ferris wheel, which we were able to do!

We also wanted to take another run on the carousel

It was another fun trip to the charming Mason City & Clear Lake areas of Iowa!

This is the hotel we stayed at, and it was fantastic!
*Enjoy your day*

Being nice gets me nowhere--always has

How would you people like it if you didn't get second and third and billionth chances from me? Not everyone deserves it but they get it anyway because I try to show people respect and be courteous. I'm about ready to quit being so nice. You get one chance now, especially if you've wronged me before (really you should be OUT of chances if you have already wronged but GUESS WHAT--I'M NICE!! Don't take advantage of it!)

I have spent decades talking nicely to landlords and bosses and anyone else who has so called "authority." Other than my boss at my current job, these people have given me the shaft anyway! For decades I have tried to be a good neighbor! I try to be respectful even if it's someone I'VE NEVER MET!! Screw that! What YOU get from ME is what YOU EARN! This is why I'm so nice to some people--they have been FANTASTIC to me! This is also why some people don't get to so much as smell my farts--they're A HOLES! Reap what you sow!! This has been my mentality since I was a kid, and some people have really treated me with a ton of respect all this time, and they are still my close friends!

I PREFER to be nice to people!! I don't like having to launch into Big Red mode! I was raised by a heavily Norwegian family in Northern Minnesota, where I learned to be nice to people and show some damn respect!! I WANT to be nice to you!! I do!! But come on, how can I be nice to you if you keep metaphorically skunk spraying in my face?!

A LITTLE RESPECT GOES A LONG WAY!!

*Enjoy your day*

Bus-ted out in GNDLand

So I live out in New Duluth, which has its own bus (DTA route #2). 4 times a day they go to Fond du Lac, but otherwise, their last stop is my stop. Pretty much everyone is already off the bus by then unless they live down McCuen Street or are going fishing at Boy Scout Landing or something. Pretty much all the drivers know me and they know that's my stop, so they don't think anything of it when they look in the rear view mirror after Gary Street and see just me sitting there still.

Occasionally, there will either be a super duper drunk person or some totally bewildered lost person still on the bus. Sometimes there are people who straight up fall asleep. Yes I really do live that far out! The driver always calls "Last stop!" if there's anyone on the bus that doesn't seem to "belong" that far out. Some drivers are cool and if you missed your stop or whatever, they will keep you on while they lay over down the road. It's always a little awkward getting on the bus headed back toward downtown and there's already someone there. I secretly think "Bahaha, you missed your stop, doofus!" but I'm always nice and give them a nod or whatever like a "Watcha think of my neighborhood?" type nod.

However, these "GNDLand stragglers" are not always pleasant. Sometimes I'll step off the bus when they get to my stop, walk down the sidewalk, go into my building, go up the stairs, enter my apartment, and sit down by the window, and the bus is STILL sitting there! I pull back the curtain and listen to the conversation (usually a lost person, the driver is explaining to them where to go to get back on the bus to go back downtown or whatever). Sometimes I can hear the driver yelling, and eventually the back door of the bus sorta busts open and some guy tumbles out who's just HAMMERED and can barely walk. He'll sometimes yell at people or whatever, or even walk up to the front door of the bus and keep talking to/yelling at the driver before he drives away.

The problem with the super drunk doofuses are a lot of them will stumble across the street to the bus shelter and expect to be able to get back on the bus 10 minutes later after the layover! Some people are so drunk the driver has to kick them off, and these jokers are thinking they can just get back on the bus! They just got done yelling at the SAME driver and now they're back! The other problem is sometimes they'll stay in my neighborhood and stumble down the sidewalk instead of getting back on the bus and out of my neighborhood. We live just outside "walk's reach" of the bars in the Gary neighborhood, and I'm always thankful about that. I get enough excitement living at "The Last Stop."

*Enjoy your day*

iDummy

So I've never been an Apple fan. Their stuff is just NOT user friendly and their products look like spaceships for no good reason. Lately I've been wanting to have my Standard of Excellence audio files on some type of media player separate from my phone or tablet, but all I had was a dumb little mp3 player that takes AAA batteries. I was rummaging today, and one of the sales had a pink iPod Mini for $5. I was like "I'm smart, I can figure out how to use this thing." NOPE! I'm reading the manual and it makes no sense, and iTunes is VERY weird and hard to use! I don't know what the frick is going on! I think I'm figuring it out, but it's weird, I just have to ASSUME it put the music on it and check the iPod. I also HATE the "clickwheel." NOW I understand exactly what Odd Todd was talking about with the dumb little clickwheel! I'll get used to it though. Now I'm just shopping for a speaker for it so I can play the recordings for my students. Weird stuff! Until I finish the manual, this thing is making me feel like a ditz. I'm all like "Where's the volume?" and stuff. (Also, I'm gonna paint or otherwise decorate this to get rid of the pinkness),

Shout out to Odd Todd...um...and stuff... :-)

Back in 2004, I started learning about Macromedia Flash 5 because I wanted to create my own cartoons. I read Mark Clarkson's book all about it. Mark had some fantastic cartoons, plus he recommended this "Odd Todd" guy's cartoons (The "Laid Off" series). I figured I'd head on over there (www.oddtodd.com) and check it all out. I really liked all the cartoons and the little games and stuff, and I started reading his "What's Happening" stories. Like a blog sorta, sometimes with pictures. I read all of them over the years, and have recently gone back and started re-reading them because it's been 10+ years. He used to be a single guy living in Brooklyn doing what he could (being laid off and all). Recently I've confirmed my many year old theory that I have some type of ADD or ADHD or something, and it's funny reading Odd Todd again and finding that he goes though the same things I do. Having dopey moments. Being forgetful. Fidgeting a lot. General social awkwardness. Reading Odd Todd always made me feel like I wasn't alone. He had struggles with crazies on the streets and on the subways, just as I deal with mall weirdos and bus freaks. He always made me feel like I was hanging around in Brooklyn, seeing and hearing what he heard and saw. Always running around taking pictures and stuff. This prompted me to create my own web site back in 2004 or so. I still maintain it today, as he maintains his. He has since moved to California with his WIFE and they have a daughter, so he's definitely not a single guy living in Brooklyn anymore. He does still update the site (videos of his daughter or his dog and what not), and I do still check that stuff out. Yes I do need to really get rolling on cranking my web site fully back up again, I know that. I do put pretty much all my updates on Facebook, but not everyone is ON Facebook, but they do still wonder what I'm up to. There is still an Odd Todd banner at the bottom of my home page. :-)
*Enjoy your day*

Can't I just have one "dumb day doin' nothin'"?

Often I say I just need a day to myself, just a "dumb day of doin' nothin'," which I get maybe once a month. Nathan & I have very packed schedules right now, and I was just gonna Odd Todd and TV the night away a whole ONCE this week, but no. I was gonna do that the other night too when I got the text from Nathan about his car. Now I get a call from my landlord just after I settle in to read some vintage Odd Todd all like "Yeah I just found out this afternoon that an appraiser wants to look at the efficiencies and 1 bedrooms in the building. It was supposed to be in a week and a half but it's gonna be tomorrow." Can't be legal, but I cleaned up the best I could, so now I'm trying to recover from heatstroke over here. I did all I could with what time I was given. Of course they're showing up for a whole few minutes "just to get the size" or whatever RIGHT in the middle of when I'm gonna be getting ready for work. So now I have to rearrange my whole morning around THEM. I think my next "dumb day doin' nothin'" might happen in August. Oh well. Story of my whole life.
*Enjoy your day*

Not a shred of sanity left after today. For sure the most stressful day this month at LEAST, if not this past FEW months. I went to St. Luke's Mental Health for my appointment for them to HOPEFULLY figure out how that frickin brick wall got built in my brain and how to get rid of it. I was put through some tests that only served as a harsh reminder that I am worse than I was 10 or even 5 years ago. Then I went to the mall to teach 2 lessons. I was hit in the lip during one. Made it hard for me to play trumpet through tasting blood and what not, and now I have a little gash on my lip. I hope that's not a problem when I need to play the oboe on Sunday & Monday. So I get home and can finally relax and just forget about my day, and then I get a text from Nathan saying his car is broken AGAIN! I can't keep this crap up. I need help now. Our rent went way up, and I just found out yesterday our internet went way up also, and minimum wage doesn't go up until August, so now we're really in a situation. I just had to scream out the window at some jerks too. Now the remote has SUDDENLY gone missing! It was sitting in the window sill a minute ago!! I can't really get to my TV without climbing. Hey life, can we knock this sh*t off now please?? Anyway, if you want to help us out, we would be forever grateful. Thanks!!
*Enjoy your day*
http://gofund.me/wvwen4

Today ended up turning out all right after having to leave the house in broken pants this morning :-P I decided to head over to the GNDLand Family Dolllar after work, and I found this hat while I was there!!
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10155772983325601&set=a.10150422326995601.628062.641210600&type=1
Very me!
I'm not an AIMsi expert yet, but I was just boomin' today checking in POs and a stock transfer. I was all like "scan scan enter, scan scan enter" like a beast. Maybe someday I'll even LIKE AIMsi! :-P We'll see!
I managed to shave a few minutes off my walk home from Family Dollar in these beautiful new walking shoes!
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10155770297680601&set=a.10150422326995601.628062.641210600&type=1
Usually takes me 16 minutes to walk home, but today even with the heat, I made in like 13 minutes all because of the shoes!
Well I guess that's all for today. Once again, I'm glad I had nothing but useless boring stuff to post instead of something horrible!
*Enjoy your day*

Hello again,
    I've just been busy adding a bunch of music to my tablet. I've gotten it up past 800 songs now. Really helps during a bus ride to have all that music. I do need to create a playlist of loud sustained music though for "emergency situations" when I need to suddenly launch it (like screaming kids and really loud talkers and stuff). Right now I just put on Point of Egress and crank it because it's loud guitars and screaming heavy metal. I call it "Emergency Point of Egress Mode." It works, but I may need it for a longer period of time than it takes to play all their songs. Anyway, I guess that's all for today, or at least for now. Nice to not have something rotten & horrible to talk about (and for you to not have to read about).
*Enjoy your day*

Hi there, BlueRoseGeek.com fans, I'm back! Yeah, I know, you haven't heard from me since 2012, I'm doing what I can to help fix that. As a busy music teacher and wife who also works behind the counter at Schmitt Music and plays in 2 music ensembles, I have a tendency to be busy and disorganized. I apologize for that! I have of course been active on Facebook, but that seems to really be the only social media I'm able to keep up on. I'm trying to change that. Lately I find I've got some kind of something going on with my brain. We're still trying to figure out if it's ADHD, bipolar, or some other thing entirely. Running my web site again and writing my blog again my be good for my brain. I do have an appointment scheduled to figure out why there's been a brick wall constructed in my brain and how to get rid of it, or at least drill holes/windows in the thing. I'll let you know how that turns out. That's all for tonight!
*Enjoy your day*