sure enough…

Ninja Phil!!!, originally uploaded by chion.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chionwolf/sets/72157594216767994/show

scissor beats paper!, originally uploaded by chion.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chionwolf/sets/72157594208364998/show

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, originally uploaded by chion.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chionwolf/sets/72157594201759567/show

oh yeah, and World War 3 has started.

that’s a bummer.

and although i don’t believe in prophecies 100%, wasn’t it said that the beginning of the apocalypse starts in India?

not lookin’ good.

cheers to things like living! 

poor Momo man…

got constipated again… he’d been leaking poo, and as Lauren noted, that means that besides me cleaning up poo (ew), he’s not absorbing nutrients, so that’s no good… so i adjusted his meds, but looks like i adjusted a bit too much.  so!  Constipated again.

just got back from him getting an enima, he took it like a champ, and now he’s happy with a wet, smelly butt.  that’s my boy.

today’s the cookout!  rah!  i’m gonna help G set up the whole thing, pull out my big lawn chair, and chill for the day with some burgers, dogs, kielbasa and beer.  now, if a certain 5′10″ dreadlocked beautiful woman were there, it’d be PERFECT!!!

patience is a virtue, right?  riiiiiiiiiiiight… >:(

peace!

is this better? i was never mean in grade school (for the most part) and i think it’s fair to get my aggression out this way, thankyouverymuch., originally uploaded by chion.

good MORNING!

this is my second day off.  as frustrating as it is to have the 2 busiest days of the week off, i have to admit that i really love it.  having an almost-weekend like the rest of the world!  how cool!

i have to tell you a funny story about my boss that i heard yesterday (currently grateful that i no longer have such a public, easy-to-look-up blog!)…

So if you know anything about my work life, you know my boss is a psychopath.  our delivery man thought she was drunk the other day.  awesome.  she is unpredictable, an exposed nerve, and i’m not sure she actually DOES anything that the company pays her to do…..

she was scheduled yesterday to work 1:30-10.  around 5:30 she tells her assistant manager, Jessica, that she wants to go to the bank (i don’t know what bank is open at 5:30, but whatever), and asks Jessica to stay past her scheduled time, 6.  Jess says no, she has things to do.  Tammy agrees to come back before 6.

By 6:20, Tammy is no where to be seen.  Jessica leaves.  After she gets home, she meets up with a friend, and decides to go for a walk down the road to the ice cream store, where she sees, you guessed it, Tammy, pulling her Saab out of her tanning salon.

yep.  tammy was getting a tan.  on a friday.  with one employee calling out sick.  with two people on the floor on one of our busiest days.  getting a tan.

of course Jessica sent an email to our regional and our region’s head of HR… Most of our staff is cynical at best at anything getting done, but myself, Jessica and Brian are still doing all we can to make sure the RIGHT THING is being done.

can you imagine??  she was getting a TAN.  her face already looks like a baseball glove… yeesh.

so i’ve got a BUSY day ahead of me!  Gotta do a whole lotta laundry, go to WHOLE FOODS (yeeeeeeeeeee!) to get sliced chicken breast and beer (mmmmm)… Gotta go to town hall to pay my car tax and change my voter registration from independent to democrat so i can vote in the primaries (there, ya HAPPY, guy?!  ha)… There’s more but i’m still technically sleeping.

Ooo!  Tonight at Sully’s!  My boy Jimmy is in town with HIS boy, who does hip hop, so tonight at 9 or 10, swing by Sully’s and nod ya head! 

Peace!

i was talking with Lauren about a dream i had last night… I was frantically screaming at current and past authority figures at work, desperately trying to get them to understand that i don’t want to be doing what i do anymore, and i don’t know what it is i want to do and i need help.

more and more lately, i’ve been considering what That Thing i want to do is.  i remind myself that a LOT of people just make up jobs.  either start their own businesses, or create positions within existing companies.  my sign language corporate training idea is still a great idea, still a work in progress… would i love doing it for a long time?  Maybe.

There’s the CT School of Broadcasting, but i still have a lot of questions.  Assuming i get really good at what i learn, what  job opportunities are available to me?  And while i’m totally okay with making somewhat less money, how much less will it be (at first)?  i know i’d be really great at voice-over work, especially after learning how to do it correctly, and how do i get that work after training?

while watching the World Cup, i thought it’d be really fun to be a video camera operator at sporting events.  i’d probably be really good at it.

so, i’m gonna email Hank from the CT School of Broadcasting, and ask these questions.  He was MORE than happy to help me when i was interested before (offered me a scholarship the first time he met me, damn), so that’ll help me get a grasp on that…

After telling James at work about my thoughts on all this, he said, “Well, you’re at that age…”  I hadn’t considered my age, but it makes sense.  Working retail from age 16 until now makes general sense i suppose, but for me, it’s not something i want to tolerate much longer.  i’m almost 26, i want to get GOING on this before i’m saying “i’m 30, i want to get GOING on this!”  My boss, who has a degree, and is a hundred years old, obviously hates her job and wishes she could do more with that…….. unique………. brain of her’s.  I bet a lot of people feel like their brains could be put to better use, and my objective is to find that job.

i want to be PSYCHED to go to work.

i want to come home and tell Lauren about what i came up with at work.  Not just the same stories about entitled customers and abusive bosses.

i want to have fun at work.  i want to make a difference.  i want to see someone i haven’t seen in a while and be proud of what i say i do for a living.

i know some people never find it, and don’t mind the settling-for, safe feeling, but i’m not that kind of people.  “NOKD…”

So we’ll see.  I’ve got to ask more questions, i think.

Speaking of that, everyone must pick up “Hardcore Zen” by Brad Warner.  Just trust me on this, it’s hard as hell to put down, no matter what your beliefs.  Refreshing, even!

OH!!  And remember how Froggy got side-swiped??   Well, the woman who hit me didn’t call in the accident until today or yesterday (3 weeks after the fact) and told her insurance adjuster a “conflicting story” about what happened!!!  I heard this in a message on my voicemail, called back, but office hours were over.

Conflicting fucking STORY!?!?  There were no witnesses (none that pulled over anyway) and i didn’t call the cops (fuck.) so it’s my word against her’s.  Can you believe this!?!?  Unreal.  Not to be negative, but times like these, i realize how wrong i am to always give the human race an assumption of nobility, of honesty, of class… And this sweet little old lady lied so she wouldn’t have to have her insurance rates hightened.

I don’t know what’s going to happen (you’re damn RIGHT i’m calling the insurance company back tomorrow, first thing), but i know where she works and i have her phone number and a voice recorder, so i’m gonna come up with SOMETHING.  If anything, i want her to know that *I* know that she’s a miserable, cowardly old crone.

Also, does anybody know if it’s totally legal to post a picture of her business card?  It’s got her lovely mug on it, too.  That’d just make me salivate.  Let me know.

and note to self and all of you and all of your friends: ALWAYS CALL THE COPS.  Even if it’s a minor accident.  because as miserable as some cops are, at least having a police report will help deter crones from fibbing.

another note to self and all of you and all of your friends: NEVER OPEN THE DOOR IF THE COPS KNOCK ON IT.  This is a reiteration from a few years ago, thought i’d remind everybody.  And! Visit:  flexyourrights.org

time to get into that big bed and pull on some pillows until i fall asleep.

peace…

bunny feet!, originally uploaded by chion.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chionwolf/sets/72157594193585596/show

what an eventful 24 hours… mostly great things, one really sad thing, and five especially sore fingertips…

Yesterday and today were my days off this week.  Yesterday at noon, i went to see possibly my new tattoo artist, Alona.  She was sweet, asked a lot of questions about what i wanted to do, seemed confident about fixing my daisy… she took notes, took pictures, and i’m gonna stop by in a week to see what she comes up with.  If i like it, i’ll be gettin’ more ink at the end of the month!!  And then somehow painfully hide it all from my girlfriend, as it is a surprise.

i love surprising Lauren.

love love love.

So!  After that, i went to Jonatha & Phil’s house.  While Phil was at work, we decided to go to Best Buy and get them that new TV they’d been looking at.  It’s BIG!  It wouldn’t fit in Froggy, so we kept the remote and the receipt, got some grinders and went back to Jonatha’s.

Then!  We played with clay!!!  Just the SMELL of it brought me back to art class in school where i have to say, for a kid, i made some damn good sculpures.  Maybe not AS refined and perfect as some of the other kids, but i was impressed with myself.  Point is, i’d like to see if i can refine it now, as me now.

The project i’m working on (which i ALSO cannot elaborate about since it is, of course, a surprise for my Lady) is simple, and i want it to be just right.  Just Right doesn’t mean perfect, it means Just Right.  So.  This is gonna take a good amount of nights listening to my ipod on shuffle and re-wetting the dry bits of clay caked onto my knuckles… And i can’t wait. 

Back to yesterday!

We played with clay, Jonatha made a Salvador Dali-inspired ash tray which turned out AWESOME.  Phil came home, we presented him with the remote, and they hopped into his SUV which was more suited for a tv in the back than my little focus and picked the thing up.  What fun!  It’s a lovely, big tv.

Here’s the sad part.

The day before this day, their 2 year old dog, Lulu, had gotten spayed.  She was uncomfortable that night, understandably, and during this day, she was super-fragile.  She’d go out to pee, but obviously in pain and also, not eating.  We left her alone so she’d not get stressed and rest it off, made sure she was drinking water, but when it came time to take her out for her nightly pee, she was barely standing.  Phil had her in his arms, and she wouldn’t hold up her head, and became less and less responsive.  i put my finger in the space between her eyes, and she wouldn’t blink… Jonatha tried to clear Lulu’s throat with her fingers when Lulu’s tongue started hanging out, but by the time we rushed into the emergency vet’s office, she was already gone.

They had her for exactly one month.  It was sad.  She was a good girl, and was very loved, and frankly, i’m sure she had the BEST last month of her life.

We’re not sure exactly what the cause of Lulu’s demise was, maybe a complication with her breathing, her bloodsugar, her general system response to the spaying… Answering “Why” never does change anything, as we all know, so in Lulu’s honor i just lit a stick of incense and said goodbye.  Good girl.

This afternoon, i got a text from Jonatha, something about “his name is Banjo”.  And proceeded to send me a picture of their new dog, Banjo.  Everybody copes differently, and Banjo is a happy dog with a new family.  a bit more on this later.
I went to a picnic to celebrate Guy’s birthday (which was yesterday)!!!  Two of Guy’s daughters came by, bringing their kids who were between 6 months (i think) and 5 (i think), and all SUCH characters!!  Lots of love and hamburgers, hot dogs and wine all around. 

THEN!  I drove up to Tolland to go to (…………wait for it………….!) BAND PRACTICE!!!

Three of the members of Brokaw asked me to play with them, and i hadn’t realized until one of them referred to it as “band practice” that a “band” would be considered!  I thought they just wanted to jam out, but i have to admit that feeling like i might be a part of a band, THAT band, really, really thrilled me.

There’s Jeff Chen, our Token Asian Cellist (woohoo!) who is musically Fucking Brilliant.  So brilliant that he’d TOTALLY be entitled to be a cocky bitch, but is just the sweetest, goofiest, wittiest guy.  I really admire, SERIOUSLY admire this guy’s talent and his  musical imagination and expression.

Then there’s Jeff Woods (“Woods”), who plays a mean guitar, has way more tricks up his sleeve than you think he would because he’s pretty quiet… Happy to help me figure out what the HELL i’m supposed to do with a Bm7 chord, and a down-to-earth kinda guy.

And finally, Matt.  The Drummer.  He’s physically pretty intimidating.  The kind of guy my mom would be SO happy to know i’m friends with because if he walks me to my car in a mall parking lot, there’s no idiot out there that’d be stupid enough to try anything with him looming around.  he’s a hundred feet tall.  big guy.  Bald head.  Thick, thick black tattoos all up and down his arms, big head (physically), hands, just an all-around intimidating guy.  Funny thing is, if someone were to try to rob him, he’d probably cry like a little girl and hand the purse over.  He’s the best.

AND!  Matt has a particularly keen ear and interest in fucking with time signatures, which makes my heart race.  Throwing a 4/4 in the middle of a 6/8?  i am SO down with that. AND, he and i are don’t-know-what-they’re-talking-about-and-we-don’t-care buddies when Chen & Woods start talking music theory.  Matt doesn’t have to know it, i don’t WANT to know it, so we just get to lean back and throw up our hands together.  yay!

Then after rehearsing, we had a cookout!!!  I had a perfectly-crispy hot dog and a Red Stripe beer.  “Hooraaay, bee-eer!”  We played for a bit longer, then i left with high hopes of getting back with them all soon…

Off i went, back to Jonatha & Phil’s, to meet the new dog, Banjo.  He’s a cross between some kind of collie and a poodle, and he spent the entire night herding us.  Sweet, sweet, funny puppy, who is obviously having a really great day.

And I am pooped.  and I have so much i want to do!  Put all these pictures up, play the bird, work on my clay project, make my girlfriend somehow materialize into my lap… A LOT to do, such little time.

Slante…