30 JUN 2003 - 9.40a
for your entertainment, a slightly blurry picture of the guided by voices setlist from friday, june 27 at the lime spider in akron. i'd like to point out that "psychic pilot" was never played... i think they closed with "shocker" (which is listed in the encore)... and the encore is also wrong (obviously no "shocker", and no "iromnen"... but add "cut-out witch")...

okay. i'll shut up now.

30 JUN 2003 - 7.29a
i finally have time to write about the weekend, leaving out all details of the accident. except there is new accident news: on saturday, tony got in my car and shut the door with some sort of super power force. we heard a loud THUD following the door slam. "what was that?" closers inspection of the cr-v revealed that much of the large dent across the door POPPED OUT. aside from scratches and another small dent, it looks nearly normal. fucking crazy!

so... on thursday, we drove to grand rapids, michigan to see guided by voices (even though we were going to see them in akron the following night). after a short tour of downtown grand rapids, trying to find the club, we found it and had a beverage or two while we waited. the all golden played, sounded great. this club was big-ish, good sound. more waiting. gbv came on, looking great (bob looked REALLY great). bob said they were going to play 11 songs off the new album. 11! a few of which we knew, most of which was the first time hearing for us (unlike the 8 or so people in front of bob who knew every word to every song... internet stealing jerks!). the new songs are GREAT and i can't wait until the album comes out so i know them better.

bob was in super rare form... high energy and fucking funny as hell. i shouldn't even attempt to retell some of his jokes... because there's no way i could have the delivery he did (especially on a blog). we were a little concerned when he took a little stumble at one point... even more concerned when he took an even bigger stumble a little later during the encore. it looked like from where we were standing that he might've cracked his head on the monitor pretty good. yow!

so, there were these girls in grand rapids... at some point they were standing next to tony and i commented on the strippers standing by him. we just kind of laughed and made fun of them. they really wanted to hear "chasing heather crazy" (good luck!) and created a cheer that they repeatedly chanted. thus, we have dubbed them the "chasing heather cheerleaders." this guy in front of me, joe, let them stand in front of him... right in front of the stage... because (his words), "nate likes the bimbos." great.

they never played "chasing heather crazy." thank god. they did, however, play "cut-out witch" because we all know they skipped it in cincinnati at eastertime which sucked ass.

the drive home from grand rapids the next day was pretty uneventful and a lot faster than the drive there. the weather was beautiful (doesn't it always rain on my birthday?) and we made great time. we got home, rushed to the barn, and rushed back home as we were anxiously awaiting eric's arrival from columbus. we waited. and waited. we'd planned on going out to eat once eric got there... but hunger finally got the best of us and we ordered chinese, left a note for eric, and went to pick it up. we returned and there was still no eric. i was a little nervous, thinking eric pulled his "i'm going to go until the last minute, and then i'll change my mind" act all over again. we were getting ready to go when tony said, "i think they're here," and sure enough they were. it was great to see eric again, complete with his shiny new red jeep. he gave me a fabulous gift (money for roller skates!) and his friend sam came along for the show. we left for akron soon after they arrived.

once in akron, tony saw all of his friends. well, almost all of them. friends from out of town, friends he sees often, friends he hasn't seen in forever. they were all there. it was pretty special. his friend mike bought me a drink... and i think cliff bought me a drink later on. thanks to them. before the show tony talked to drummer kevin march, and he told tony that we could have his setlist (even if it wasn't in bob's handwriting) for my birthday. woo! we secured spots at the front of the stage and waited. the all golden played again. paul h showed up. then we waited some more. i drank some water. and gbv came on. they opened with "lethargy." they seemed a lot lower in the energy than the previous night, but then again, the stage was also a lot smaller.

at some point, eric asked me for a pen and wrote something down on a card, which he held up to nate. the card said it was my birthday. nate wished me a happy birthday and told me he liked my glasses. i was excited. then, a couple of songs later, nate said something to bob about it being my birthday. bob asked me how old i was and asked me what my name was and wished me a happy 25th. that ruled! what a good birthday. i got toasts from the band... nate gave me a beer... and i was happy.

oh, another good high point: during the start of "get under it," bob pointed at tony and said, "hey, i know that guy." funny. i guess once you show up at 25 shows, bob starts to recognize you.

now onto some of the low points (but even though they are low, they were still good moments not soon to be forgotten). low point number one. paul h made one giant beer run for the few of us standing up front... he came back with a 6 pack of rolling rock from the bar and while he was trying to pass it to us, some asshole tried to steal some. i mean, this guy was really trying to steal some, so much so that glass was breaking in front of me. that's when tony's friend, doug, who was standing on the side of the stage came to the rescue and acted all bouncer-like and found the asshole and removed him. too funny.

low point number two. there was a girl standing next to eric that was annoying. she was ugly and she was just pissing me off, acting like a hooch. i noticed two girls standing stageside were making fun of her and stuff... i got their attention and started doing it, too. i kind of figured they were with the band, speculating that one of them was nate's girlfriend and that the other (young) girl was bob's. at the end of the show, bob gave his setlist to the blonde girl (his girl), which she tossed to me. actually, now that i'm telling this, i'm failing to see how it's a low point aside from the stupid girl. but, anyhow, during the encores, i talked to sara or sarah or whatever... she's bob's girlfriend and was super nice and super young (yes, definitely younger than me). but she hugged me, wished me a happy birthday and i thanked her for the setlist. then later in the bathroom, i saw doug's girlfriend who i also talked to... but i'll get to that later.

low point number three. the same jerk who tried to steal our beer was back... and getting really pushy and completely obnoxious. i was getting pissed... so tony's friend ken took him out for me. he walked up to the guy and said, "buddy, come on, it's time to go," and escorted him away. no, none of the people mentioned work for the club. they just work for us.

low point number four. this was the start of when things got ugly, i think. the annoying girl jumped on stage to do her hooch act after gbv left the stage for the first time. she took kevin's setlist (i already had bob's, but i was assured kevin's, too) and held it up and acted like a moron. tony got on stage, took it away from her, and put it back by the drums. annoying girl sucks.

low point number five. this is when things really got ugly. the band came back for the encore. they started playing "a salty salute" when all of a sudden, nate stops and removes his guitar. he started swinging at some guy at the side of the stage before he was even off the stage. then the rest of the band stopped playing and things got really scary. everybody was fighting at the side of the stage and since there was no security at this club (the lime spider, very small), it was really a potentially bad situation. during all of the mayhem on the side of the stage, tony jumped on the stage and reclaimed kevin's setlist (which they annoying girl grabbed at and ripped a chunk of it off). i saw ken jump over the stage to get to the action... it was just really ugly and like i said, very potentially bad. tony and i booked. but then a few minutes later, things were okay... and the asshole who started with nate was probably removed... and we returned to the stage (with both setlists) when the band did.

i guess that's it for the low points. but once the band was playing again, i went into the bathroom which is when i met nate's girlfriend. she was very nice and thanked me for hitting the annoying girl (yes, i did hit her at one point when she was at her annoying height... kind of kneeling on the stage, dancing like a hooch in front of nate)... and she kind of filled me in on what the fight was about... something about people from dayton. she was extra concerned that the fight was going to continue after the show outside... and wished that they'd just leave it alone because "the boys need their hands tomorrow night." she suffered a bloody nose in the brawl, but was doing okay.

so, yes, it was a good birthday. i love that band. the rest of the weekend was excellent, as well... thanks to everybody who went out of their way to come to the show... paul h and eric and tony's friends. thanks to gbv for providing so much entertainment and for birthday wishes and beer. thanks to tony for all the nice gifts and being a good ride partner. thanks to david for the great card. yay, birthday.

but, honestly, i am just ready for this one to be over... not because i hate my birthday, but just because i don't know if it could get any better after friday. honestly... best birthday ever. however, i am still accepting gifts and if you want to take me out to dinner, i won't refuse.

28 JUN 2003 - 12.38p
happy belated birthday to me.

yeah, so my car got hit. it was a fucking piece of shit asshole kid that hit me... but his damage was SO much worse than mine. his car was cracked. mine isn't too bad... just a large dent in the passenger side doors. and one of my hubcaps is all scratched and fucked up. other than that, it's nothing major and i'm sure as hell happy i was driving an SUV instead of a car.

so what happened... tony and i were driving through the town of maumee, ohio on our way to michigan. on a four lane, 35mph kind of road, we had just exited the turnpike to pick up the highway to take us into michigan. there was a car stopped in the rightmost lane... i was in the left lane. a car started pulling out from behind the stopped car. i could tell the fuckwad was going to hit me. i resorted to using the horn... that's when he kind of stopped his piece of shit saturn, but then went ahead and hit me, anyway. seriously... there was a brief moment of hesitation, like he was thinking, "hey, you know, why not ruin somebody's day?" and then he went for it.

so, i got out of my car, and the four letter words were flying. i suppose it could have been pretty scary for the receiving end... but shit! he fucking hit my brand new fucking car! piece of shit asshole fucking kid!

but we were okay. as david said, the kid got a ticket, but he never apologized! fucking asshole. i'd like to think the cr-v, while not in the best shape, is just broken in now. it's funny, because slightly before the accident, tony and i were talking about how i would trade my brand new cr-v for my old camry, if someone could take like 30k miles off the camry. i didn't feel the same bond with the cr-v that i did with the camry... but that has totally changed. i know the camry would not have handled getting plowed into by a piece of shit saturn as well as the cr-v. i love the cr-v. best car ever.

i'd like to write about the shows and stuff... grand rapids and my actual birthday show in akron. but i'm waiting for the last of my birthday gifts to arrive... i'll just leave you with saying last night was the best gbv show ever. my birthday was acknowledged by bob. i'm happy some of my friends were there to see it. i'm also happy none of my friends were injured in the brawl. craziest gbv show ever. more later...

26 JUN 2003 - 4.17p
Maumee, Ohio -- next to Detroit now on Meghan's shit list.

So just within hours ago, Meghan and Tony were on their innocent little way to Michigan for tonight's pre-birthday GBV show, and while at an intersection in this sleepy little town some "piece of shit little kid" (in Meghan's words) swiped right into the passenger-side door of Meghan's spanking new nighthawk black pearl CR-V, also fucking up a hubcap or two in the process. It sounds like the scene was ugly, as Meghan got into full-combat "you're a piece of shit little kid" mode with this guy. Tony professed that he would have been scared, at least. Kid just talked away on his cell phone, barely had a word or two with Meghan let alone apologize. Police gave him a ticket, though, and the CR-V thankfully is fully driveable and everyone is okay. So the day will proceed as planned. Now that they're in evil Michigan, let's pray that things don't get even worse for the CR-V.

Meghan also reports that for the low, low price of $7500 plus 15 years in prison, you can kill a road construction worker in the state of Michigan. I'm sure that's a bargain compared to the price of manslaughter in other states.

Meghan just called to ask me to post this. I'm sure she'll have elaborations and corrections to make when she returns tomorrow.

So ... happy birthday!

-- entry by David

26 JUN 2003 - 8.35a
THE DAY BEFORE MY BIRTHDAY!
last night steph took me out for dinner to celebrate my birthday, since she won't be around this weekend. her boyfriend was there, too... the mysterious carl. i loved him. not only is he canadian, but he is very nice AND he rides and is not gay! all kinds of good stuff! i give him a glowing review. good job, steph. best of luck with him... you have my total approval.

last night was also my last workday until monday. woot! my boss gave me some really lovely chocolates from a place in lakewood. i just had a truffle for breakfast. i totally just assumed they were godiva, as they were wrapped in gold... imagine my surprise this morning when i opened the box and they were most definitely not godiva. but they are so much prettier and handmade looking than godiva. the truffle i just had gets a thumbs up. i'm pretty sure it was raspberry (one of my FAVORITE godvia truffle flavors), and it gets points for tasting more like real raspberry than godiva. however, these are slightly smaller than godiva truffles, so it's going to have a lose a point for that.

i should be getting ready to get my horse done so we can head up to grand rapids on the time schedule we planned. wish me a safe trip, etc. i'll see some of you tomorrow (on MY BIRTHDAY!).

25 JUN 2003 - 2.06p
my birthday is getting so close... i already have received two excellent presents: a pair of socks with cute dogs on them and a new cover for my cell phone. the celly cover is powder blue and i love it. so pretty.

tomorrow tony and i are going to grand rapids, michigan. i've heard grand rapids is lovely at this time of year. actually, i haven't heard that at all... but it will be fun to go somewhere new. gbv! gbv!

yeah, so the other day lacey told me we like to scream at people. uhhh... yeah. we do that every chance we get.

i'm going to dry my hair and get my new license.

23 JUN 2003 - 3.09p
it is so great outside! HOT! newt was fabulous... it's amazing the difference in the horse when it's 80 degrees vs. 70 degrees. he loves the hot weather.

last night was paul g h's party. i enjoyed myself thoroughly. big props to him for making it to 25 and providing his good friends with a keg. i saw many people i haven't seen in a while... and that was pleasant as always. good to chat with people... i'm hoping to see many of them at the GBVBD (guided by voices birthday) celebration on friday.

and of course, it isn't a party until the cops show up... and they did. but luckily for us, they were smiths fans and even though paul and bob assured them we were all over 21, they said that even if we weren't legal, they didn't want to know about it! then they gave us a big wink and went on their merry way. bless the parma cops!

22 JUN 2003 - 8.57a
i slept so much last night. i went to bed for a nap around 8p or so, and woke up briefly at 4a for some juice... i went right back to bed and didn't get back up until twenty minutes ago. wow. must've needed sleep, huh?

tonight is paul's party to celebrate 25 years. i will pick up a gift for him at work today... and if any of you are at all able to make the fiesta, i highly suggest it... mainly because it's not at my house and i won't have to do any cleaning. ha, ha.

yeah, so my new obsession is radiohead tickets. i'm not going to go on and on and on... but trust me, i could. poor david had to hear it all yesterday. but i think he's kind of obsessed, too, so it all works out.

i must go to work eventually. no coffee today.

21 JUN 2003 - 10.59a
i can rest easy now. radiohead tickets have been purchased. david and i didn't go as crazy as we expected to, because standing in line (or being the line, i should say) at the grocery store proved to be quite successful for me. we're the second section back, dead center. the seats he purchased at w.a.s.t.e. are still unknown... but he didn't come up with anything better at ticketmaster.com than i did at giant eagle, so he didn't buy any there. i guess we'll just hold off and see if w.a.s.t.e. gives us better seats than i got.

the pavilion tickets sold out fairly quickly. my heart rate has slowed down quite a bit.

21 JUN 2003 - 8.22a
i have never had such anxiety about something that i toss and turn had have dreams, or rather nightmares (!!!), about it all night. this might make me the biggest nerd in history, but i am so freaked out about getting good radiohead tickets. i am so tired right now... i hardly got any sleep... and the sleep i did get just plain sucked. too many weird dreams.

it might have been the poisoned coffee i consumed last night. i'm not sure what was up with that... but i drank a bucket of coffee at work. my heart started racing, which i guess is to be expected since i'm not really a coffee drinker. i couldn't deal with it, though. i called tony on my way home and informed him that i thought i'd puke once back at my house... and i did. i don't think i'll be drinking coffee again for a long time.

so then tony came over with his friend tracy who is in town for this wedding tomorrow. she's his date because i don't really have much to say about the couple getting married. they just seemed to blatantly ignore me a bunch of times... and i'm really not convinced they'd even know my name if put on the spot. so, i passed on the invite. best wishes to them, though. anyhow. tracy is a cool girl. very funny. we all went to some party some friend of tony's from chicago was having... he was in town for like a day or something. i didn't want to go, but i went anyway. big mistake. i was pretty much miserable all night, but i didn't complain or point out how late it was getting. i just wanted to go home more than anything. the people there were all fine, i guess... drunk, etc. i wasn't about to drink because of the vomiting earlier in the evening.

there's only so many times you can hear stories about kent circa 1994 until 2000 or so (i'm not really sure on the years, but i doubt it matters). i mean, there's nothing wrong when college friends get together and talk about college... there's nothing wrong with that at all. but it gets old when you didn't even attend said university and have relived many of these moments multiple times before. "come on, you totally have to remember so-and-so... s/he was nasty... slept with so-and-so." the person listening to this totally does not remember so-and-so... i, on the other hand, have heard about so-and-so so many times at previous gatherings that i could've probably spit out stats regarding where they lived, who they lived with, where they worked, and where they live now.

i'm afraid i'm terminally cranky.

20 JUN 2003 - 10.09a
BIRTHDAY COUNTDOWN: ONE WEEK!!!!
i used to like sonic youth in my younger days. but i saw them once in high school and i determined that i never needed to see them again. i still listened to them for a few years, but that subsided when i stopped doing drugs.

i saw them last night... i would like to say they were opening for wilco, even though it was probably more of a double bill... and they were borrrrrring. they played "bull in the heather" early on... and after that, each song was just a bunch of moaning in the microphone followed by twenty minutes of feedback. i'm not saying that "bull in the heather" is an extraordinary song or anything... but at least it's pleasant to listen to.

wilco was good. i like jeff. i like "punching the hey" in "heavy metal drummer." seeing them made me happy.

so... there's a week until my birthday. i'm looking forward to gbv and presents! i haven't posted my birthday list in a while so i hope the items have been taken care of. i did think of some things i didn't post on the list... mainly horse stuff... but i don't expect anybody to seek that stuff out for me.

less than 24 hours until radiohead tickets go on sale!

19 JUN 2003 - 10.34a
a trip to lacey's last night was fun and exciting, indeed. lacey wins the title as best hostess, best bartender, and queen of the dance dance revolution when she never even set foot on the DDR game pad. all of her dance dance revolution moves where done BEHIND the actual players... but i assure you... she would have won, therefore i am naming her queen.

i have been driving myself batty with the radiohead scavenger hunt. i have 18 words so far... two to go! well, really only one to go... the other word's link isn't working. i've found it fair and square but the link is bad. bah.

in other radiohead news, david and i are already stressing about purchasing tickets on saturday morning for the cleveland show. we're each going to buy five million tickets through every way possible, and keep whichever ones are best. so... if you know anybody who might want some radiohead tickets, send them our way. we'll probably have some extras.

wilco/sonic youth is tonight. i hope i don't have to sit through sonic youth. yawn.

john t. - if you read this, please contact me via email. to all others - if you have not purchased your gbv birthday ticket, i found out the ONLY way to do so in advance is ONLINE. go to ticketweb.com and get your ticket ASAP!!! i will be so sad if certain people aren't there... especially since i'm not having a party this year.

18 JUN 2003 - 10.50a
the karaoke gods were smiling on my friends last night. i should have known it was going to be a good night when the first song that somebody sang was called "beer for my horses." the night only got better... mad props to tessa (the birthday girl), brett, paul, and especially lacey for her wickedly awesome rendition of "these boots are made for walking."

i don't know what else i have to report. i'm getting slightly used to the glasses. things look less and less warped to me as time goes on... i have the most difficulty with unlevel ground and walking on grass or gravel or dirt. that's still pretty scary. other than that, i love them.

i haven't really tried riding with the specs yet. steph and i did go on a hack around the property the other day... and i did wear them. we were riding bareback and we rode through some crazy terrain... and spent a fair amount of time on the horses, in the creek. it was a great ride, relaxing on a beautiful day... but i'm sure i squealed more than once because the glasses were freaking me out... it's a good thing we didn't go any faster than a leisurely walk. no more riding with glasses.

john t. if you read this, please contact me. i'm not sure how to get a hold of you.

15 JUN 2003 - 12.05a
my vision is far from perfect. my trip to the eye doctor the other morning was a riot. my left eye was a champ. my right eye was a sore loser. this was especially evident when my optometrist told me to cover my good eye (left) and asked me what the last line on the chart was that i could read. ugh. i could hardly read any of them.

i lied.

i told her i could read a line almost halfway down the chart. she asked me to read it for her.

"F... L... 4... C... N."

she immediately started laughing. then she informed me there were no numbers on the chart and asked me what line i could really read. i could sort of read the top one. sort of.

so... i was diagnosed with having pretty shitty astigmatism in my right eye. the prescription: glasses. my doctor recommended that i wait on contacts, mainly because my eyes will need some heavy duty adjusting to the specs and will require a rest periodically. she said that once i realize life is better with glasses, i will not want to be without them... then i can have contacts.

later that day, tony and i went shopping for glasses. there was no way i could have done that alone and he was great help. after narrowing down a hundred pairs to two, we picked the better ones, i think. they are very cool and if you haven't seen me with them already, be prepared to be shocked and awed.

the only problem is that they make me want to puke. not the frames, but the lenses. i was warned upon making my purchase that the lens on the right would cause me to see things like "the floor coming at me." woah, that was no joke.

you know those 'magic eye' pictures? the ones that you stare at until your eyes go out of focus and then some sort of thing pops out at you all 3-D like? well, the majority of the time that i'm wearing my new specs, i feel like i'm walking around in a magic eye picture. shrubs come at me, the ground gets all wavy and i feel like i can touch it without bending down. it is so freaky. and everything has this odd slant to the left... table tops, the floor, the ceiling. i first noticed this at work, when i was surprised a magazine wasn't sliding off the edge of the counter. then i remembered that the counter is level. i took off my glasses and sure enough, it was as level as i remembered. i was warned things would be weird... i'm giving it another few days before i call and question this. people pay for drugs that do this to them. maybe i should consider myself lucky?

trippy feelings aside, the first time i put them on, i freaked the fuck out... mainly because i was so surprised at how much clearer everything was. it still freaks me out... the detail i can see in things like grass and trees... not to mention road signs... unfuckingbelievable. things look more real than they ever have. i'm pretty impressed (when i'm not about to hurl because everything should be sliding down the slope to the left, but isn't!).

i was also warned of headaches, which didn't happen full force until today at a baseball game. i couldn't decide if it was better or worse to have the glasses on... and neither won... it was the kind of headache i have when i'm really hung over. the kind that makes me want to stick a corkscrew in my eyes. awful!

maybe i'll have pictures soon. so far, aside from coworkers and barn friends, the only people that have really seen naked "corrected astigmatism" o'malley are tony, lacey, and paul h. they all seem to think the specs are grand, which makes me feel good and like less of a nerd than i feel.

in other news, radiohead... blossom... august 21.

12 JUN 2003 - 9.19a
HAPPY 25th BIRTHDAY to PAUL H!!!!!!!!!
yay, birthday season has begun! hopefully i'll get a chance to schmooze with the birthday boy tonight. i haven't seen him in a while.

i am leaving shortly for an appointment with an eye doctor. almost 25 years of perfect vision... and i'm afraid my eyes are catching up to my age. i'm expecting to leave with a prescription for glasses. nerd!

tickets for gbv grand rapids have been purchased... now we just need to book the hotel. if you don't have your ticket for the june 27 (my birthday) akron show, be advised that the show was "more than half sold out" over a week ago... this news comes from a reliable source.

10 JUN 2003 - 3.32p
too long without an update! well... on friday, tony and i ventured to cedar point for a day of fun and excitement. we arrived slightly before the gates opened, and immediately headed for tony's favorite roller coaster, the millenium force. it's been a few years since i've been to cedar point, and i didn't think this thing looked that big... but it was probably because it is just so small compared to that giant new dragster thing that is broken. i remember when the magnum looked huge and scary, and now it looks tiny and not scary at all... this millenium thing is much bigger than the magnum.

anyhow, we waited in line for a while. i learned that this millenium thing didn't have a chain like roller coasters i was familiar with... no, it has a big cable that comes down and yanks the coaster cars up the big hill. once on the ride, i was not prepared for the speed that we were pulled up the hill... it happened so fast, i never had a chance to adjust to the height and once down the giant hill, i wanted to die. i hated the ride. not because it was scary... i was not scared, i just hated it. every minute of it. proof lies in the picture that was taken of us while on the ride... tony has a fist in the air and a happy, excited face. meghan is clutching the bars for dear life, looking close to vomiting.

once off the horrible ride, we did other fun things... i wasn't sure what to make of the day ahead... but once i was on other rides, i remembered that amusement parks are FUN and that i actually enjoy roller coasters. we rode everything multiple times... i have a newfound fondness for wooden coasters. i especially loved the mean streak... even better in the front car. we did the front car on most of the rides... on the magnum it was funny just because at some point, i said to tony, "i hate this," after he made me ride in the front. he said, "no you don't." and i said, "you're right, i don't." he knows me so well.

i was happy i didn't have to ride that awful millenium thing again. tony was happy that i dragged him on my favorite spinny ride, the chaos. he ended up loving it and we went on it again and again.

upon tony's suggestion, i tried putting my hands up on a roller coaster. i ended up feeling gay, so it didn't last for long.

it was a most excellent day... we walked around for 12+ hours and had a wonderful time. the weather was perfect, aside from some slight rain. reminder for future cedar point trips: do not ride the magnum in the rain... at high speeds, being pelted with rain feels like someone is taking a handful of gravel and throwing it in your face. ouch!

we will go back again this summer. and i want season passes for next summer. we ended up going on international roller coaster nerd day... lots of roller coaster nerds walking around with their roller coaster t-shirts and pins. most of them looked pretty nascar... so i don't think we fit into their clique... but we had such a good time that i think we might have to start our own roller coaster nerd club.

04 JUN 2003 - 11.50a
i miss my puppy.

he had to go back. i wish it wasn't for good, but i'm afraid it is. the more i think about it, it was probably for the best. i was chatting with lacey earlier this morning, and she said something about phoebe being a wonderdog (which is completely true). there is no doubt in my mind that owen was another wonderdog... i think right now there's only room in my life for one wonderdog... i'd be selfish (not that i'm denying that i'm selfish) if i had two. it wouldn't be fair to wonderdog #1 (phoebe). maybe someday... but not right now.

but boy, do i miss him! i'm depressed.

03 JUN 2003 - 1.07a
i have a new puppy. it is past my bedtime and i am still awake because of the new puppy. his name is owen and he is not happy with his sleeping situation. in fact, he is not sleeping at all. earlier today he was quite sleepy. now he is exercising his lungs. phoebe is annoyed. i am tired. owen is very ALIVE.

it's all a long story... but some asshole dumped four of these beautiful baby black lab pups in the hinckley metroparks. i have one of them. whether or not i'm keeping him remains to be seen... phoebe and owen might not get along quite as well as one would think based on that darling picture. she has snapped at him twice already, and growled at him once. in fact, moments after that picture was taken, sleepy baby puppy tried to wiggle his fat ass onto phoebe's couch while phoebe was on it. she would not stand to have him on her couch. blah. i just worry. i know she is possessive of me... and we've always said she's just the kind of dog that needs to be the only dog. i don't know.

it's quiet. i'm going to bed.

01 JUN 2003 - 9.04a
thanks for archiving, david. i love the way my archives are sorted and dated.

if you have an extra hundred bucks lying around and want to spend it on me for my birthday, feel free to buy me this. i encourage you to browse ebay for a while, in search of some kind of cool gift or something... remember that paul h scored the killer belle and sebastian flASSk for me on ebay.

so since the birthday list is archived, i'll bring it back and add to it...

1. the entire season of austin stories on tape.
2. battle royale special edition dvd.
3. minotaur merch from w.a.s.t.e..
4. the new radiohead cd.
5. donkey.
6. roller skates.
7. modest mouse tickets.
8. the beat happening box set.
9. this.

i think that's it for now.

JUN 1 2003 - 12.01a
chrissy's graduation party was tonight. fucking brilliant. i got a great wine buzz, and there was a dj so i dedicated a song to her from her babysitter. good times, for sure.

chrissy's actually graduating on wednesday. i'm semi considering a party for her or something after her for real graduation. oh, high school. it would just be cool for these kids to have somewhere to go post gradutation to celebrate. if you're up for it, please email me. convince me that i should do this for my favorite child.

i was just saying... the day after my high school graduation, brigid and i got up and bought smashing pumpkins tickets for the GUND ARENA. garbage opened.

it's been a few years since i graduated high school.