Author: horselover_fat

I take my last final tomorrow (actually in a few hours), and then my summer session will officially be over. I will then have something I haven’t encountered in a while–free time. At least for a couple of weeks. I may even be able to do some catching up with some blog entries.

Just don’t, y’know, hold your breath.

Oh, and my children will be returning from GA Sunday. I’m really pumped (even though I won’t get to have them over till the following week). And the latest I’ve heard is that the ex’s family has put off the move to Kuwait for a year. I think.

Later

Ron.

Seeing if I can get back into this thing. (After Wilbur rearranged all the furniture).

As I write this, it is now 2:30 am. They have to be at the airport at 4:30 am for a flight that leaves at 5:50. As much as I need the sleep (I’ve been up since yestermorning), I’m staying up so I can meet them at the airport and see them off.

The thing is this:

I knew all along that they were going, but didn’t expect it to be this soon. The last I spoke to thier mother about it, she said they hadn’t set on a date or booked a flight. This was Tuesday. Tuesday.

Friday I get a call as I’m getting ready to leave for school: “The kids are leaving tomorrow”. I was (and still am) a little stunned. I thought they would be around a few more weeks and there were things I was planning on doing with them.

And the way the situation went from “I don’t know when they’re going” (Tuesday) to “They’re leaving tomorrow” (Friday) makes me think that she had already planned this and just didn’t tell me. There’s a lot of things I’m not told.

They’re supposed to be spending only a couple weeks there this summer but, again, I’m told that the date of return has not been decided upon yet. I have a feeling that it’s possible that they may stay in GA and thier mother will wind up moving there later. Not definite, but a distinct possibility. Just my guess.

I’m not opposed to the idea of my children living in GA and being raised by thier mother’s family. I just wish they were’n leaving so suddenly.

Fuck.

Ron.

…that’s what I’, thinking about renaming my site. I just haven’t had time to put anything here, other than entries saying “I just haven’t had time to put anything here”.

I think I may have greatly underestimated the effort it would take for me to go to school and work full time. My “windows of oppurtunities” to get things done between work and school are few and far between. Even doing something simple like watching a DVD at home ate into some time that I really should have spent doing homework. And not to mention I’m running a serious sleep defecit.

I was planning on intentionally missing classes tomorrow, but I find out today that there will (or may) be a quiz given in one of them. Guess I’ll skip Friday.

I really gotta go to bed.
Continue reading “Crickets Chirping”

Ok, so I just finished my homework for the night (or as much as I’m going to finish tonight), and I have a little bit of spare time before I have to get some sleep.

So I can either make a (proper) entry, or I can watch Donnie Brasco*. I think this is the only time I’ll be able to watch it all week so I’ll just have to do a journal entry tomorrow.

Oh, and my son’s birthday is tomorrow. He’ll be five.

Ron. (by the way Trey, that shoutbox thing is cool)

*Because Donnie Darko was stolen.

And I will soon. I’ve just been a little busy lately. And I’m extremely tired right now. And sore. I helped someone move today (started very early), then pretty much went straight to work. Now it’s after 4 am and I plan on trying getting up at 8 (there is no try) for classes (holy shit, I have class tomorrow/today). I’m in for a long couple of days and I won’t get much of a breather till Tuesday (my next day off).

So, I’ve been meaning to make an entry, and I will when I have the time.

Ron. (Guesses this counts as an entry)

These pictures were taken right after the concert. I wanted to take pictures during the actual concert, but the security guards were some assholes, and I didn’t think they’d let me take a camera inside. From left: Melissa, Trey, and David.

Someone should ask David where my hand was in this picture. Oh, and I’m the one on the left.

And judging by Trey’s expression, I think we can pretty well guess where Melissa’s hand is in this one.

At least all hands are accounted for here.

It seems that we are driving up a very steep mountain in this picture.

Work it, bay-bee! Work it! Love the camera as much as it loves you!

I told you the signs were confusing.

And we made it safely back to the hotel. Time for some much needed rest. Oh, and a wormhole just happened to open up behind Trey.

David decided to do a little weightlifting before going to sleep.

We had a stunning view of the interstate in all it’s vehicular glory from our balcony.

I’m not complaining though. It was a nice hotel. Here’s a picture of the atrium. We were five floors up.

It also had this faux-Japanese garden thingie, which looked real nice. Too bad you can’t see it very clearly in this picture.

The next morning, Trey challenged me to a duel to see who was quicker on the draw with thier camera…I won.

David, also the next morning, just out of the shower. I tried to catch him unaware, but he was prepared and well-equipped with all anyone ever needs: a towel.

This is us leaving the hotel. I’m trying to think of something cute to say here, but I got nothing. It’s just us leaving the hotel.

This is Reliant stadium. Home of the NFL’s newest franchise, the Houston Texans. It is one of the newest and most luxurious sporting arenas around. It was very expensive. And in our own small way, my travelling companions and I helped pay for it.

This is us arriving at the airport. It was at this point that I decided I really didn’t like airports at all. It was also at this point that I decided this would be a good time and place to throw up.

The Brothers Bennett, giants among men. And payphones.

‘Nuff Said.

Ron.

Dilemma: how do you go about describing an event in a journal when three of the four and one half people who actually read said journal was at said event with you? Do you try to describe the event? Well, they were there too. Do you share what you think about it? Chances are you told them directly afterward, then it becomes redundant.

So I’ll keep this kind of short and just hit a few random points, for the other, um, one and a half members of my readership:

For starters, I really enjoyed the concert (and trip as a whole). There was some good and some bad, but the good outweighed the bad by far. I’ll start with the bad to get it out of the way.

The “Bad”:

The trip to the concert was pretty rough. We had spotty directions, the signs were confusing, the roads were in bad shape and seemed to be under a constant state of construction. Mel did all the heavy lifting (driving that is) through all this and managed to get us there and somehow keep her sanity. Trey and David helped to navigate as well as they could. I just stayed out of the way.

The concert felt too short. Yeah, we missed the opening act and the very, very start of the show. But it was “pinion/terrible lie”, I can live with that. Still, time flew and before you knew it, show was over. I guess that means it was a good show. Maybe I’m being greedy, but I was hoping that, by chance, Trent Reznor would have picked this particular show to perform his entire catalogue. From start to finish. Y’know, for his special fans. Maybe I’m just being greedy…

I wish he would have played some or all of the following songs from the new album: Only, Getting Smaller, Everyday is Exactly the Same, Right Where It Belongs, and Beside You in Time. At least he did The Line Begins to Blur. And Awitha_Teetha, which has become one of my favorites. Sounds great live too, which is a good thing. And he didn’t sing the Collector, which is also a good thing.

I have only one thing to say to the large number of people who had thier camera phones out most of the time: stop it, please stop.

I knew what to expect. I knew too much of what to expect. Guess that’s my fault, what with all the bootlegs I heard and smuggled footage I saw. But being overly familiar with the material kind of diminished the wow factor for me, but not by much.

It was hot and crowded.

The “Good”:

It was hot and crowded.

It was loud. It was really freakin’ loud. The floor I stood was shaking. The rail I leaned on was vibrating. You couldn’t hear yourself scream. Hearing these songs on bootlegs through a pair of earphones is one thing, having the sound-waves assault your entire body is totally different. I wish I had a stereo and speakers that could put out a tenth of that volume. Of course then I’d be evicted.

Since it was a small venue, we had a good clear view of the band and Trent. And there is a lot more of him to see these days. We could see the guitarist (“Twiggy”) go all spastic. We could all the tripping, stumbling, and throwing things. And probably best of all, we got to see Trent rock the tambourine.

Did I mention it was loud?

Pretty much every song in the setlist was a good song, with few “duds”. Still wish he would have played more though.

It was a NIN concert. That, in and of itself, makes it good.

And it was loud.

Aside from the concert. I enjoyed the trip there and back, even though Houston sucks. It was great just riding and talking and laughing with friends. And the inevitable semantic arguments between Trey and David are always highly entertaining. It was good to meet Melissa for real this time. She’s a pretty cool person and it’s too bad I’m just meeting her right before she’s going to be moving off (seems to be a trend lately). I don’t get out often enough and for me this was a big thing, more than just a concert.

Just want to say again: “Thanks, I had fun”.

Ron.

So David left for New York today. Should be there by now. And I gotta admit, it was kind of depressing. More than I thought it would be. I can only imagine how hard it is/was for Trey and thier parents.

The page turns, a new chapter begins, and with change comes new opportunities.

To David, I say:

Keep in touch. Try to visit often. And best of luck.

Good hanging out with you man, hope to do it again sometime.

Ron.

I wanted to make an entry about how I spent the last couple of days. And I’ll get around to that in time. But when I got in the internet, I saw a “headline” that just bugged the hell out of me, so I’ll tackle that first.

First, I’ve got to know, how many INXS fans out there, past or present? Show of hands?

Not too many, I may be the only one with a raised arm. Well here’s the deal for me:

When I was younger, I considered myself a fan of INXS. Maybe not the biggest fan, but enough. I had a couple of their CD’s which, for me, indicates a strong interest. And it always pissed me off when a radio station would stop “Need You Tonight” before the “mediate” addendum(*). And I still think “Listen Like Thieves ” is a really cool album (love the song “Questions”).

Then Mike Huthcens died. And I no longer have any of thier CDs. And I have no plans of ever getting them again. I think if I were just being introduced to thier music right now, I wouldn’t think too much of it. I’d probably think of them as a fabricated band whose commercial succes belies thier mediocre talent, kind of like the modern day “Linkin Park”.

That having been said, I was a fan at one time, and no matter what I may think of them now, I still give them some respect for the role that had while I was forming my musical tastes.

So on some basic level this really pisses me off.

“Reality television” can bite my fucking ass and go to hell.

Ron. (I mean, come on, Dave Navarro??)

(*)Hence the title of this entry, for thos of you who don’t know.