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Oct 4, 2005 22:03:05 GMT -5
Post by Dan on Oct 4, 2005 22:03:05 GMT -5
The past few days I have been working pretty hard on getting ready for this show. Getting in the habit of recording the rehearsals again so I can get an idea of what it sounds like live. I've been trimming the set to fit in the allotted slot as well.
On an unrelated note, I got a call for an interview today for the job I applied for a few days ago. I'll find out more on Thursday.
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Oct 7, 2005 9:54:19 GMT -5
Post by Dan on Oct 7, 2005 9:54:19 GMT -5
Interesting past few days. I have still been working up the set for Monday and I think I have got it down to a set I am satisfied with. We'll see how it goes Monday I guess.
So yesterday I got about an hour of sleep because I was wired about the interview. I took Ryan to school, took a shower, shaved, threw on some new duds and went to the interview. When I got there the receptionist gave me an application to fill out. She appeared to be blind but I was amazed at how well organized she was and how she was able to do everything she needed to. It was very inspirational and it makes me glad that I didn't just give up and collect disability insurance.
At any rate, the interview went rather well in my mind. It seems like all of my past jobs have lead up to this one. Each giving me a specific skill needed for this job including being in a band playing guitars. Apparently, a big part of this job is dealing with guitars and they needed someone with guitar knowledge. So it all seems to work out. I was handed a test before I left that I was to take home and complete which I did and brought it back way before the 24 hour deadline. Anyway, I have my fingers crossed that this will be a good thing for me and my family.
Later on in the day I went to Jeremy’s for another writing session. We were slow to start and hung out just having a good time. We decided to hit goose town before breaking out the guitars. it seems the more we do this the bigger the project becomes. Its almost as if we have started a new thing, a concept album so to speak. The characters are coming together and the story keeps expanding. No one will probably get it but us and that’s ok. The music is still solid and we are enjoying it. The rest is just a bonus.
When I got home I was exhausted from lack of sleep and doing more in one day than I usually do in a week so I hit the sack and actually slept through most of the night. Though I did wake up this morning with some leg pain but the hydrocodone took care of that.
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Oct 8, 2005 9:26:26 GMT -5
Post by Dan on Oct 8, 2005 9:26:26 GMT -5
Its funny how people like to give advice. Not that I don’t appreciate it but everyone seems to think they know what will get this job for me. Personally, I just want to get it if I get it, no gimmicks or kissing up. It would only feel right if I were to get it on pure skills and personality.
I had to go pick up my med refills and go to the post office to send out some Dillweed promo stuff. When I came back home I noticed that AC called me and asked about getting some lunch together as he got off work early. I wasn't able to make it though because I already had plans with Kel. Letter, AC called again asking me to come over and check out his new quebec vinyl. I was pretty excited about it and I agreed to head over in about an hour.
Tired from the meds I decided to grab a nap and unfortunately slept way past 7 pm. I was supposed to be at AC's at 5. I think it worked out because he sent me an IM saying he was leaving at around 5:40 so we probably wouldn't have made it through the entire album anyway. I'll call him today and let him know what happened.
Kel stopped at the store on the way home from work and brought home some chocolate snacky cakes. She threw them to me and I caught them like a football. I decided it would be funny to run across the room with them to play with the kids. That was a bad idea. I ended up running into one of my amps with my foot and broke my middle toe. It has a nice big lump on the furthest joint and I cannot bend it. I have broken a toe before and the hospital does nothing but give you pain pills which I already have. It looks like today I will be spending time off my feet.
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Oct 9, 2005 20:56:03 GMT -5
Post by Dan on Oct 9, 2005 20:56:03 GMT -5
I spent most of the day sleeping due to the massive amounts of pain meds. I think my toe is a lot better today but its really ugly looking, all black and blue. I did manage to get some practicing in but only a minimal amount. Not much else to say...
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Oct 11, 2005 6:42:17 GMT -5
Post by Dan on Oct 11, 2005 6:42:17 GMT -5
I woke up really early and spent most of the early morning/night just trying to keep busy while everyone else slept. I finally did fall back asleep around the time the family started to wake up. I pretty much slept the day away again. Its a lousy feeling to do this all of the time but I know a lot of it has to do with the pills I am on.
I called an inquired about the job again and was told they would decide by the end of the week and let me know. At this point, I want the job but if I don't get it, no big deal.
Anna came home from school and we practiced for the upcoming show. Things seemed to be busy from then on in with phone calls and such. Kel came home from work and off we went to the gig.
Lots of people showed up including AC, Justin, Jeremy, Matt, Kel, Ryan and his girlfriend and her mom, Anna even had a friend or 2 there. It was fun to hang out and I was feeling actually kind of socialable. I spoke with J Knight for what must have been 20 minutes, that’s a record for me. The set went well and of course Anna was a crowd pleaser as always. When we got off stage one of her friends told me I seem like I should be popular, I thought it was cute I guess.
We ended up hanging out for a little while longer but Kel was fasting and hadn’t eaten anything all day then drank 2 beers so she was feeling quite sick so we took off early. All in all, it was a good day.
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Oct 13, 2005 5:31:44 GMT -5
Post by Dan on Oct 13, 2005 5:31:44 GMT -5
Its been a rough past few days. I stopped taking all of my meds because it was causing a lot of stomach problems. It always sucks to go through the withdrawal especially on the anti depressants. I pretty much spent the last 2 days in bed depressed and trying to get through the day. My sleep schedule is all kinds of fucked up. I tried to lift myself out of it by playing guitar and writing but the grip was too powerful and pulled me back under. No music, or friends, or family could help me and I'm sure that was my fault because I couldn't let it for some reason.
Today is Anna’s birthday so I am going to make a very concentrated effort to feel better. My stomach cramps are doing better so I will probably take some Prozac and hope that makes a difference. Even if I do feel bad still, I won't let on.
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Oct 14, 2005 7:46:10 GMT -5
Post by Dan on Oct 14, 2005 7:46:10 GMT -5
I tried to keep myself occupied and we did all start off the day with Kel making us a nice breakfast. I couldn't stay awake after everyone left the house. I'm sure getting up at 3 am doesn't help. I slept until it was time to pick up Ryan and came home to sleep some more.
I got up eventually when Kel called and asked that I take Anna out so she could prepare a surprise for her. I took her out to K-Mart to spend some of her birthday cash and then we stopped at Subway. We drove back home but the our car was still not in the driveway meaning Kel was not home yet with the surprise so I had to pretend I made a wrong turn and decided to go get some gas.
We got home and the door was locked, Kel must have been preparing everything still. She let us in about 2 minutes after we came home and took a picture of Anna as she walked in. Anna was shocked to see that Kel had bought her flowers, a cake, and some balloons. It was a nice gesture and it made Anna tear up. So, we had our little party, watched some tube, and went to bed.
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Oct 17, 2005 6:11:23 GMT -5
Post by Dan on Oct 17, 2005 6:11:23 GMT -5
I did a bunch of writing this weekend. I was supposed to go to Macomb but things didn't work out so Kel left without me. I was sad to see her go but I do think she had a much better time without me being there. Like I said before, this gave me some time to write and I actually felt like doing it. I came up with 2 new songs, one of them is close to being finished with lyrics and the other was just a few progressions.
AC and I spent a lot of Saturday together, we watched the Iowa game and then hit some record and thrift shops. We spent a good 3 hours just looking at old crap and neither of us found anything we couldn’t live without. We did talk about hitting the Ween show in NE and decided it was a good idea. I miss seeing those guys so it should be a great time.
Kel came home on Sunday and we hung out a little and caught up but I had made plans with AC so I went to his place and we listened to Quebec on vinyl. Good stuff. Then after that I came back home, spent some time with Kel and it was back out to Jeremy’s for a writing session. I played him the chord progression that was unfinished and we put it together and laid a basic demo track. This makes 13 tunes for our project. I’m still enjoying working with him a lot and the final project should end up being really fun and cool.
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Oct 18, 2005 8:43:50 GMT -5
Post by Dan on Oct 18, 2005 8:43:50 GMT -5
I awoke early, probably around 4 am if not before. The pain in my leg was not treating me well but I really didn’t want to take any pills for it so I just sat around trying to keep myself occupied so I wouldn’t think about it.
Kel woke up to go to work and she was feeling like shit. She was in so much pain from her bad tooth that she was crying. I decided to call the dentist for her and make an appointment. I got her in for 2 pm and she went off to work. I used that time to do a few quick mixes to send off to Frenghiz to see if he wanted to collaborate on them. Kel came home soon after and I took her.
I was having trouble in the waiting room feeling anxious around all of the people. It was very crowded and not my scene. I tried to keep my cool for Kels sake but I was very happy to leave when it came to pick up Ryan. I felt bad leaving Kel at the mercy of the clock and the dentist by herself but I knew it had to be done. Kel eventually called me around 5 pm to pick her up. It sounded like it was an ordeal and they had lots of trouble just removing the bad tooth. At least our insurance picked up the tab.
Kel and I stopped at the store on the way home to grab a few things to eat. I talked to Jeremy on the cell about rescheduling our regular Thursday for Tuesday. He was down with that and I’m glad to be able to get one in still this week. So anyway, we grabbed a few things and came home where I cooked a full meal. By the time I was done eating I was ready for bed and out like a light by 7:30. Old age? Ha!
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Oct 19, 2005 9:00:23 GMT -5
Post by Dan on Oct 19, 2005 9:00:23 GMT -5
Some things just work out the way they do. I had planned on doing some recording and writing but Kel came home from work sick. I felt really bad for her and her face was all swollen up from her pulled tooth. I think it might be infected because she was feeling ill in other ways as well. So I nixed the recording plans and decided to cater to my wife, she deserves it after all that she does for me.
Kel had a strange craving for a sundae for lunch so I went out to get her one from the local McDonalds. I haven’t been there in forever and it was kind of weird for me just to drive through. Anyway, she seemed to enjoy it and it took her mind off of her problems for the time being. We spent most of the afternoon resting and watching the tube together.
Jeremy called me around 6 and I headed to his place. We didn’t get any jamming in but we did watch some more What’s Happening which is always a good time and good research for our project. We also had a good stimulating conversation. One of the reasons I enjoy Jeremy’s company so much is that we can have emotional and mentally challenging and stimulating conversations. We tend to get psychological and really look deep into our own psyche.
On the way home I stopped at Subway to get some dinner for Kel and I. While doing this I called up AC and we made plans to grab the Ween tickets. He met me at my place and I placed the order. AC told me that Justin had already bought tickets so that was a bonus. Looks like the 3 of us are going to have some Weenalicious fun in November.
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Oct 21, 2005 19:28:03 GMT -5
Post by Dan on Oct 21, 2005 19:28:03 GMT -5
The last few days are all a blur so I’ll just write about what I can remember.
Wednesday I awoke early and saw the kids off to school and Kel off to work. Soon after my mom showed up and off we went to the Quad Cities to visit with my sister. We stopped and had lunch and looked at a few houses since my mom is in the market right now. They found one they really liked and I think they are going to go for it. We’ll see if their bid gets accepted.
Later that night we went thrift store shopping and I found a Fight Club DVD. I had never seen the movie and it was only $4 so I picked it up. Pretty soon we headed back to my sisters and I was out like a light by 6 pm.
I awoke around 2 am when my sis kicked me out of hers because she was ready to go to bed. I went out to the couch and put in fight club. It was pretty good but I guess the twist way too early and even so I thought it was a fun watch that needs a repeated viewing. I watched a little more TV until my mom woke up. We checked the weather and it looked like rain so mom got nervous about traveling. We decided to grab some breakfast and try to reschedule things with my Aunt and Grandmother.
We tried to reach my Grandma several times that morning but to no avail. We called my Aunt and asked about grandma but she hadn’t heard from her either. 11 am rolled around and still no one had heard from her. This was odd because usually we keep good communication when traveling. My Aunt decided to drive an hour out to grandmas place to see if there was a problem. Thankfully, it was just a simple case of her inability to handle technology and didn’t realize the ringer was off on her phone. It turned out that she couldn’t get any other day off so we decided to get on the ball and just head to Skokie.
The drive was long and the traffic and weather sucked but it was worth it. Seeing my grandma for the fist time since I was a teen was an amazing emotional experience for me. I could see so much of my heritage in her. She really is such a strong an amazing woman whom I respect deeply. I was really taken back by her honesty and caring. We had some great funny moments as well as we could share a good talk on arthritis. I didn’t know that is was in her genes as well.
Grandma took us to Yen Yen which was a childhood favorite of mine. I loved their food so much as a child and a teen that nothing has ever compared. I was very pleased to find out its still that way. I could enjoy it all too since they had a great veggie selection where as back in my younger years it would have been pork and chicken.
It soon became dark and we said our goodbyes to my grandmother and left for my Aunts house. She lives in the same house that they bought since their first born son was born 20 years ago. It looked the same except much nicer. They had many new things and I can tell they are doing very nicely financially. I suppose the real estate biz is a good one. I noticed they had a pic of a million dollar bill with a caption that said “inspiration” on it. It kind of boggled my mind that they were trying to achieve the million mark but it wouldn’t be the first or last in my family to do so. I can’t tell if I enjoy poverty more than obsessing over having a million bucks. It seems like such a great and yet petty achievement.
I was a bit taken back by my uncle. I remember him as such a cool great guy and he still seemed like that to me. It was weird though because now I know about politics a little more and apparently he is a hard core republican, which is odd in itself since my aunt is, in his words “a bleeding heart liberal”. It kind of made me uneasy around him but blood, even by marriage is thicker than money.
My Aunt had made arrangements for us to stay in a hotel paid in full. That was really nice of her and Mom and I plan to do something to return the favor. Having been awake since 2 am I was ready for bed and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow around 10 pm.
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Oct 23, 2005 6:49:57 GMT -5
Post by Dan on Oct 23, 2005 6:49:57 GMT -5
Mom and I woke up and she decided that we should do a little clothes shopping. She ended up buying me a new flannel which I dug, then it was on to my Aunts place.
We got to Fran’s house and hung out for a bit until it was time for lunch. She recommended a restaurant and we decided to go pick something up and bring it back to hang out some more. Unfortunately the food was awful. I could barely get two bits down so I ended up having leftovers from her fridge. My Aunt Fran is trying to get rid of a bunch of stuff to make room for new stuff and kept on offering us furniture and other trinkets. Among the stuff she gave us was a loaf of challah bread which I took. I have fond memories of eating that bread as a child.
After about an hour we decided to get on the road but first we had to stop at Lou Malnati's pizza. My sister wanted us to pick up some of their world famous Chicago style pizza. I got a cheese pie as well.
It was a long car ride home but it was nice to hang out with mom. I don’t see her often enough. Plus we stopped on the way to grab my sister so mom had someone to talk to on the way back to the quad cities. On the way to the Quad Cities I decided to eat some of the bread Fran gave us, it was pretty good until I noticed the bottom of the loaf was covered in mold. Barf… I called her to give her crap about it.
I was dropped off to find the house in chaos, I cant even describe the scene but it was messy. Quickly, I restored order to the house and got things back on track. I had a few gifts for everyone and the kids enjoyed theirs.
Kel came home soon after and I gave her a few gifts and we shared the pizza. I was pretty much ready for bed after that and conked out.
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Oct 23, 2005 7:15:26 GMT -5
Post by Dan on Oct 23, 2005 7:15:26 GMT -5
Kel had to work early for mandatory Saturday overtime but I was already awake so I made sure she was too. While she was gone I decided to clean the house and recruited the kids to help. They weren’t very happy about this but they had plans for later so I used that to our advantage.
Kel came home from work and picked me up to go get the rabbits some food. We got a few other things and came back home to finish the cleaning. Once that was done we made lasagna for the kids and decided to split some nachos from El Ranchero. I ate mostly chips and salsa.
We then took the kids to their friends place and came back in time to meet AC. He had come by to grab some beer he had left over from the previous weekend. We chatted for awhile and then he was off. I started to feel a bit funky around this time. I got real tired and all of the sudden really hot as well. Then I began vomiting. I probably vomited and dry heaved for roughly 40 minutes. It was a bit scary since it was mostly acid and red goo coming out. I was hoping the red was from the salsa and not blood.
All of the vomiting made me exhausted and I decided to hit the sack. Justin called sometime during that black period and I told him I wouldn’t be able to make the movie that we had planned on seeing and I was out again until the morning.
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Oct 24, 2005 15:04:08 GMT -5
Post by Dan on Oct 24, 2005 15:04:08 GMT -5
I awoke early before the sun came up and got online to check the daily stuff. I was surprised to see Adam come online and asked him what was up. He and Mel were getting ready to go get some breakfast at Village Inn and invited me along. I accepted and went to meet them. We had a decent meal and conversation although it did feel slightly awkward at times.
AC asked me for a ride back to his place since Mel was on her way out of town. We went back to his place and listened to Shinola on vinyl and then the Kill Bosby album. I was impressed at first listen though some of the production took a little getting used to. I’m not going to give it any more judgment until I have my own copy to listen to and maul over.
After leaving Adam’s place I came home to get some lunch and do a little house work. I played a little bit of Stubbs on xbox before handing it over to the kids. Kel decided to grab a few z’s so I decided to do some recording. I had always wanted to learn Radio Friendly Unit Shifter by Nirvana so I did. It was fun and it didn’t turn out half bad. Doing that took up a big chunk of the day.
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Oct 25, 2005 22:08:23 GMT -5
Post by Dan on Oct 25, 2005 22:08:23 GMT -5
There isn’t much to write about for Monday. The only thing I did all day was go to the food bank. There wasn’t any food in the house and money is super tight. I was supposed to get some from ebay stuff but the winning bidder decided to send a money order instead of paypal like the auction requested.
The food bank was an interesting place. I found myself moved by the kindness they were giving out there. There were people who seemed ungrateful for the free food they got and the people handing it out still did it with pride and a smile. It made me want to get a job there or at least volunteer some of my time. I haven’t inquired about helping yet but I am considering it.
The food bank gave me 1 bag of food that the kids quickly consumed the bulk of. It not like they don’t eat but they sure act like it at times. Its getting out of hand with Anna nearing 160 lbs. That seems big for her age. She has an obsession that drains us all and I wish I could help her with it.
I spent the rest of the night pretty much just doing nothing. Kind of sucked…
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