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[Lines]

You know, metric is SO much easier to measure things with, but I'm sure most of the American population's heads would explode if we ever switched over. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing... >.>

Also in my 5th grade math class we used to watch a cartoon from the 70s abou the metric system. Metric Man was a ruler man thing with an afro and a cape. I still remember the theme song, it was such a weird cartoon.

[pwhodges]

I learnt metric and imperial units equally; some of the practicals I did at university (engineering course) even had them mixed up, forcing us to do conversions all the time'  And even the metric system has big variations - the electricity course changed from using cgs metric units to SI units halfway through my time, which was rather a big deal, and involved us all getting new textbooks because all the formulae changed.  But even stranger, there was a period when one of the standard sizes of plasterboard (drywall to you Americans) sold in the UK was 4 feet x 900mm - I kid you not!  Mind you, I measure things like that routinely when doing DIY...

[Tom]

Imperial units don't make any sense, they are to the metric system as The Legend of Zelda series is to Mass Effect trilogy. Why do you guys still use imperial, anyway? Don't you guys use it for science like the rest of the world?

[Patrick]

Because Mass Effect is better.

Dear blag,

Yesterday morning was pretty excellent. I was heading over to check up on a resumé at a brewpub in Berkeley (Triple Rock, it's called), and I hadn't finished my cigarette yet, so I stopped a couple doors down from the place to finish it so as to not offend any of their customers with my Filthy Cigarette Habits. While I was finishing my smoke, a really cute girl came up and asked to bum one. I obliged, lit her up, and we got to talking. She turned out to be super rad in a number of ways. Eventually we exchanged numbers. Nice ego boost!

After that came Resumé Checkup Time. I went in and talked to the same guy I'd spoken to earlier, and he was more enthusiastic about my checking up than anybody else has ever been! They aren't currently hiring but I'm gonna be watching that shit like a fucking hawk. I have plans to enjoy a beer there very soon anyway. I love me some microbrew.

[Tom]

Because Mass Effect is better.

But Mass Effect is the metric system in this metaphor.

[Patrick]

Heh. Didn't realize. Personally I agree with you, but in the case of many gamers I know, such words would be considered heresy. Punishable by being forced to listen to The Circle Song on endless loop. I survived such treatment but only just.

[The Seldom Killer]

Just heard news that one of the most influential people in my life has died. I hadn't seen him in almost a year now but was looking forward to seeing him again next month. When I think back to meeting him some eight years ago, I can see how he helped put my life on the course it is now, leading me to do the things I've achieved, met the love of my life and be where I am now.

I wish I could see him just one more time just to be able to say thank you. You don't always see these things coming or realise the importance of one person until they're gone. I'll try not to regret his passing and to help carry on his work.

[JD]

Because Mass Effect is better.

But Mass Effect is the metric system in this metaphor.

It wasn't a very good metaphor

[JD]

Also whoop seldom killer, that really blows. What happened?

[The Seldom Killer]

An old friend called Barry Mason died while swimming on holiday in Spain.

This is one of the greatest losses to cycling in this country. If you've ever cycled in London then, whether you had heard of him or not, you would have felt the effects of his tireless work to improve safety and security of cyclists and raise the bar for the quality of facilities. I was part of his campaigning group for a while and because of him I got into cycling, saw a side of London that I would never have had a chance to see, became part of a Turner Prize winning art exhibition and so much more. News reports will detail his more tangible work and achievements but stories like mine are so common that it is impossible to put into words the impact that he has had on people and communities across the city and to an extent across the country. Because he never saught the limelight, much of his contribution will never be recognised from those who benefited from him.

He will be missed by thousands, I can only hope that the many more will not lose out for his passing. It is a momentary solace that he died doing something that he loved.

[Lines]

Why do you guys still use imperial, anyway? Don't you guys use it for science like the rest of the world?

They tried this several decades ago. It didn't work. There are too many people in this country and most of them probably never use metric. They teach both in schools and certain professions do need to know both, but forget replacing imperial with metric in the US. I don't see it happening any time soon.

[Zingoleb]

That's because we're fucking AMERICA, and we don't need no fucking limp-wristed metric system fucking up things over here.

Mentioning limp-wristed, I went to the queer pride festival yesterday. Other than the fact I forgot both wallet and phone, it was pretty fantastic. I was with the 'transcouples' booth, which was to provide support for couples wherein at least one is trans (they didn't realize that there might be a couple where both people are trans; I was a pretty big reminder of that one), though the way they wrote it 'transcouples' incidentally looked like 'transcoyotes' to me.

So yeah. I brought home a bunch of beads, two phone numbers, and the sunburn from hell as souvenirs.

edit: there was an anti-gay christian protest. It was amusing. One guy, with a sign, being escorted out by four cops.

[Patrick]

So the girl I met the other day in Berk is totally down to get drinks soon. Made my morning that much brighter. It's nice making friends.

Yesterday was my dad's birthday. We ate at some divey-looking Italian place that actually had amazing food. Like, the difference between the two was by orders of magnitude, I wish I'd thought to take photos. Well worth enduring my dad and stepmom for free Italian food.

Afterward I went to the hotel nearby where my friend works, and he and I kicked it for the last hour or two of his shift. Then we went over to his place and kicked it some more. Shot the shit, listened to music, played Audiosurf, and got baked. Nice way to end an evening.

Today, I'm on Craigslist, scouring it raw until I get a job, just as I've been doing for the last few weeks. Does anybody else have the same difficulty getting responses as I do? I only ever heard back from somebody once, and it was the shit-awful canvassing job that I lost after 3 work days chilling in the broke-ass middle class Berkeley flats.

[Barmymoo]

an anti-gay christian protest

I'd protest against anti-gay christians too.

TSK, I'm sorry to hear your news. At least you can look back on all the things that he achieved and know that he's left an important mark on the world - so many people don't manage that, and it's such a shame.

I've been on a job hunting bonanza lately and I'm really going up and down emotionally over it. Last night we had an awful, three-hour family row with full-scale sobbing, screaming and abuse hurling. I hate those kinds of arguments but I seem to get into them so often at the moment. There hasn't been one as bad as last night's for several years but everyone is getting so stressed with me still being unemployed.

Today I had a job interview for a cafe job which went ok - it's a bit of a hike to get out to the cafe, takes over an hour and costs more than an hour's wages, but it's only 2 days and good hours and I'd take it if I was offered it. I also spent almost two hours in the JobCentre with the world's most inept advisor, filling out form after form only to be told that I needed to come back on Wednesday to make an appointment to come back to see a Personal Advisor to fill out more forms. ARGH. I'm beginning to see how this works - they make it so god-awful trying to claim benefits that you just give up and fall into a depressive slump, at which point they can start blaming you for all society's ills and neatly make you the scapegoat for their own messups.

Also I'm trying to cajole my brother into finding a summer job, or volunteering for something, or just writing a CV would be a good start. He's seventeen; by the time I was his age I had worked four jobs and saved several thousand pounds. I really worry about how he's going to cope when he leaves school, since he's not really considering university and has never done anything work-related. I know it isn't my job to run his life but I wish he would just listen and do something with himself! He's so smart, far smarter than me, and he can be charming and polite and funny and hard-working, all rare qualities in teenaged boys! He's also bloody lazy and totally unmotivated because he's never had to go without anything (he lives with our indulgent and rather profligate father, whilst I live with our much more anxious and spendthrift mother) and also he goes to an awful public school where all the kids have their own Bentleys and half of them already own houses, so the idea of actually having to work for a living is just not normal.

ARGH WHY DO WE HAVE TO LIVE IN A CAPITALIST SOCIETY?

[Tom]

Barmy, this may also be a matter of class. 

I never get sick and I haven't been sick in over 1 1/2 years, real talk. I'm feeling a little better this morning. I will beat this stupid head cold/flu silly with the power of two many codrals (just pseudo) and my limp sore wrists before Wednesday.

[jhocking]

edit: there was an anti-gay christian protest. It was amusing. One guy, with a sign, being escorted out by four cops.

EDIT: pagebreak yessssss

[Tom]

u need Jesus Christ! in yr but!

[Patrick]

I'm just waiting for the start of jokes like "the second coming" and, referring to that awful series of novels, "left behind"

[Barmymoo]

Barmy, this may also be a matter of class. 

I'm confused - how is the fact that I can't find a job because there aren't as many as there were three years ago a matter of class? Am I too bourgeoise or too common? I don't get what you mean.

[Tom]

Oh, sorry for the confusion. I was referring to yr brother.

[Barmymoo]

That makes more sense, although he isn't by any means upper class or anything - he's on a 75% scholarship at his school and my dad, who he lives with, earns minimum wage and his girlfriend is unemployed. But yes, the other kids in his school are upper middle class and maybe some might have upper class family (seems unlikely though, it isn't a very good school, upper class kids go to Eton).

I don't know if I ever told you guys about the time I found myself drinking with a group of old Etonians and one of them couldn't believe that I had actually worked part time in a supermarket during my A-levels. They'd never met anyone who'd done that before.

[bainidhe_dub]

Today, I'm on Craigslist, scouring it raw until I get a job, just as I've been doing for the last few weeks. Does anybody else have the same difficulty getting responses as I do? I only ever heard back from somebody once, and it was the shit-awful canvassing job that I lost after 3 work days chilling in the broke-ass middle class Berkeley flats.

God yes, I think it's a Craigslist Thing. I got two responses from about 15 emails I sent when I was job-hunting in January. When I got my current job and the Craigslist guy was looking for a replacement for me, he got over 15 responses in the first HOUR of posting an ad. You might want to look at CareerBuilder or a temp agency (depending on what you're looking to do) for more serious offers that tend to give more serious consideration because they're not wading through a million unqualified not-even-resumes. But also, you should really be able to find some audio companies around if you want to do that sort of thing.

[valley_parade]

The sushi place next door to my office is having its grand opening today. Half-price sushi from 1-10PM.

My lunch break is 12-12:30.   I want some damn half-priced futomaki!



(note: It's a bit confusing. They've been open for MONTHS, now)

[Dimmukane]

edit: there was an anti-gay christian protest. It was amusing. One guy, with a sign, being escorted out by four cops.

*pagebreak pic*

EDIT: pagebreak yessssss

True story: today my girlfriend got stuck in some slow traffic coming home from work today.  Upon getting closer to where it was moving, it turned out there was some guy driving slow (like 15 under the limit slow) holding a sign that said 'I used to be gay, but god found me yada yada yada meet my wife' and waving flags and shit.  So she pulled up next to them and rolled her window down, politely exchanged hellos, and then yelled 'I LOVE THE TASTE OF PUSSY' and drove off.  They almost got rear-ended.

I love my girlfriend.

[MrBlu]

I'm moving to Taiwan.

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[Patrick]

Damn dude, what happened to Canada? I was hoping to try and visit you when I finally can manage to get up there, hahaha. :B

You might want to look at CareerBuilder

This has already been a huge help, holy damn. Thanks for that!

Dear blag,

Oh man I am so pumped for the wedding reception tomorrow, now that it's almost here. My bestie finally managed to come on board for the wedding reception gig, meaning I don't have to do it alone (meaning also that I don't have to be there without somebody I can turn to for the comfort of familiarity). This also means that we get to give the bride what she wants, which is Beatles covers. We've just worked out the PA, and I met the groom last night and he's totally a rad dude who likes a lot of the same music we like. So we've got a lot going in our favor tomorrow. Stooooooked! Lukas is coming over to rehearse in about an hour or so.

The last two nights, I've been going to the open mics that I've frequented. Last night was my final open mic at the place where I used to run it. Or at least, the last one for a while. I need to shift my focus if I'm going to make anything out of this 'performing' thing. Occasional one-off gigs just don't cut it, and open mic hasn't really gotten me anywhere I want to be. I need to get serious about it, but I think I've got a plan for that.

On Tuesday I've got myself a date (I guess) with the cool girl I met in Berkeley a week ago. She lives in Oakland so we've been emailing back and forth and calling from time to time just to chat and stuff, and it turns out she's rad as fuck and have a lot of interests in common. And what we don't necessarily have in common, we're both curious to learn more about. I'm really looking forward to hanging out with her! We'll see where it goes but I'm optimistic, and I'll be happy whatever the outcome.

I guess that's really everything!

[Patrick]

Wedding got played, band got paid, and fun times were had all damn day and I really can't recall when I've had a better day this year. Fuck. Yes.

[valley_parade]

Hey blog thredds, do those 5 Hour Energy shot thingies work?

I'm just mad tired today. Woke up Sunday feeling quite rough from the night before, and then ran myself silly playing ultimate last night. I'm sore, tired, my legs feel heavy, and my face is all puffy from breaking blood vessels whilst ejecting Saturday Night.
 
And I am expected to meet friends at a bar tonight for some quality drinking and Stanley Cup Finals watching. Right now I have 3 hours of work left and want a nap. Will one of these things keep me going for a few hours?

[nekowafer]

They certainly help me. They make me just a little bit jittery but it goes away. Try taking just half of it first to make sure it doesn't overwhelm you.

[bainidhe_dub]

They work. They make some people feel like their skin is all tingly and weird so yeah, taking half or sipping a little at a time might be better if you haven't had it before. They say there's no (sugar) crash but if I'm already pushing it, I find I'll still pass the fuck out when it wears off.

[Inlander]

Hi guys!

I started a blog! I'm pretty surprised, I never really thought of myself as the blogging type. It's called Noticing Animals. It's about noticing animals. If reading a 1500 word post about aphids and the Melbourne housing crisis sounds like your kind of thing, you can find it here:

http://noticinganimals.blogspot.com/

[celticgeek]

Very nice, Inlander.  Keep up the good work.

[Jimor]

I'm sitting here with 4T worth of hard drives (1 2T and 2 1Ts) plugged into my laptop, and as I'm shuffling files around to get control over what I've digitally accumulated over the years, I find myself in a contemplative mood, so I apologize in advance for how truly bloggish this will probably turn out.

I posted 3 or 4 weeks ago how I wanted to get organized and get a handle on all the projects I want to accomplish. I'm far from where I want to be, but I think I'm at least on the right track. I've gone through most of my stuff, and while I still have too much, I did let go of a lot of things that I know I'll never need or want in the future. Of what's left, it's organized (all my books and CDs are alphabetized) and I have a good idea of what I know I'll want to keep and what will be on the chopping block next time I go through everything.

I took all the clutter on top of shelves, books, desks, tables, floor, etc., and made one big pile. Then I broke it down into toss, keep but store, keep and use, and a "process" pile. The toss stuff got tossed or shredded (I don't need 12-year-old bank statements and paycheck stubs). The keep but store stuff, usually momentos of some kind, got put into boxes and put in the back of the closet or under the bed. I processed the third pile, usually items that needed to be sorted another level for the same kinds of decisions. So I'm left with the stuff I really do use or need access to on a regular basis. I still don't quite have proper room to put it in a nice permanent place, but at least if it's "out" I know which shelf or desk it belongs on and can find what I need without tearing everything apart again.

So while visitors probably don't notice a lot of difference in some things, I now regularly have a floor, and when all the laundry and dishes are done, they actually ALL have a place to go that's out of sight! But the underlying organization is more a mental relief. If I want a particular book or CD, I can go to the exact location on the shelf and pull it off. If I need my 2007 tax return, I know which shoebox under the bed has them all.

On the computer front, what had been holding me back with a lot of my video projects was simply room to store everything and to work. I have about 50G of spare HD on my laptop, and each tape from my video recorder will dump 12G of files. At a music show, I may fill 3 tapes. So to work, I need to shuffle things on and off the laptop regularly, but I was running out of room on the 2nd 1T external drive, and I have at least 10 tapes of backlog to still process (120G). So I bought a 2T drive to add to the mix. I mostly have projects mirrored on the other 2 drives as backup, I don't want to lose stuff if one of them dies. What I'm doing is making the 2T as my main working drive with everything, then I'll back half on one 1T, and half on the other. Really important files (which take far less room than all the video work) will be on all 3. (I know there are technical solutions to regular backup, but part of the mental process is figuring out exactly what I have and how it's organized instead of just cloning drive on top of drive because they keep getting bigger and bigger and it's "easy" to do.)

OK, the boring stuff is out of the way.

What all the above is allowing me to do is go out to shows, shoot some really cool musicians doing their thing, and sharing it with the world via my YouTube channel. As I talk with more and more of them, I get good feedback on what I'm doing, and the circle of people I know and want to work with has expanded tremendously in the last month. At the same time, I'm making progress on getting some other projects up and running. Possibly some music video shoots, finally more episodes of my TV show, a possibility of a full production shoot of a live show, and I'm helping out with a short film as camera operator. I just get the feeling that by the end of the summer, I'll be a lot further along to where I want to be. All while working with a group of absolutely fantastic people, talented artists, and as its turning out, a lot of good friends.

When the disorganization was holding me back, I felt unqualified to go out there and do any of this because in the back of my mind I was always wondering if I'd just end up letting everybody down. It feels really good to know that's not the case and that I can use my skills to help others as they chase their dreams.  

(Off topic addendum, the other day I checked in with my youtube channel with the joke Attack Attack! "I Kissed a Girl" video, and for the last month it's been averaging 3000 views a day and is closing in on 500,000 total views.   )

[Barmymoo]

I'm in awe, I've been skittering around the fact that I need to sort through a box of paper and my laptop hard drive, and there you are reorganising your entire life. Any tips? I usually get to the "everything all over the floor in piles" stage and give up, putting it all back into one big pile and wasting the whole effort.

[pwhodges]

I do that about every eighteen months - it doesn't last, you see.  Entropy.   Also, no part of my past life is good at hiding in boxes, and I find I need one thing out of each one over the next few months.  Perhaps I am just bad at sorting!

[calenlass]

Shane, everyone I know (all four people) who have taken 5-hour energy shots have gotten sick from them. Like, runs, maybe puking, kind of sick. This isn't common though, I guess.

[Jimor]

It's a tough thing to do, May. What usually happens for me is that I'll slowly realize that a whole category of objects are just no longer necessary. A few years ago it was plastic models. I enjoy building them still, but time became an issue, and I ended up with 3 or 4 dozen unbuilt or half built models in their boxes, and the choice was either make the time to finish them, but take that time from new pursuits, or just accept that they were no longer an important hobby to me. So I just packed them all up and donated most to charity, let some kids get joy out them that I won't. I still have several that I finished around, and if I really ever get a hankering to do it again, I can just go buy one and build it. But having all those kits around taking up space was a burden.

Working in a toy store for several years, then a bookstore for a few more gave me a lot of skills in squeezing more stuff into less space. But that's a double-edged sword in one's personal life. I can almost always restack a closet to fit another 10% worth of junk. But it's just as easy to find get rid of 10% of the stuff lying around. And that's all you really need to do once in a while. Take a look at your clothes. If you have 20 shirts, there HAS to be 2 that you could live without.

A lot of the motivation also has come from dealing with my sister. She burned out her brain on drugs, and now has a very strong hoarding tendency, and after watching the TV show Hoarders, and the less extreme show Clean House, I definitely know I want nothing to do with that kind of lifestyle. It's not that I've gone to the other extreme and have a stripped down space with one chair, one table and one bookshelf, but I find it easier and easier to make decisions on what really is important to me, what I merely like to have around if there's room, and what I won't miss.

A way of thinking about how to approach it is something I learned from my video editing experience. What I find as I'm editing 90 minutes of material down to 58 minutes is that I simply can't make the hard choices until I get all the easy choices out of the way first. I do a music show, and we always shoot more songs than will fit. Well, the first criteria is whether or not there was a technical issue with a particular song. If there was, it's gone, and I no longer have to even think about it. When I get down to the last song to cut, then I'll take a lot more time working out how they balance the whole show and work out a flow. The same goes for the objects in our lives. If something is broken, are you REALLY going to fix it? If a dress is torn, are you really going to mend it? Have you used this item at all in the past 2 years?

Just since my previous post, I realized that I do have a category of stuff I no longer really need. I have a "vintage" Atari ST computer, along with a couple boxes of games and disks and manuals. I haven't touched any of it in at least 5 years, and if I really need a spot of nostalgia for it all, there are emulators I can run on my PC. I'll probably also cull a lot of the old PC games I have that only run under Win95. Not everything, since a few might still work, but I spend plenty of time already playing games, and I don't need all of these other ones sitting around waiting for me to never get around to them.

Anyway, more rambling from me, so I'll stop. Hopefully there's at least a little in here that's helpful.

[nekowafer]

I actually truly enjoy organizing things. I do it to some part of my life every week or so, at least. At home we have a file cabinet drawer for important paperwork. In it are hanging files marked with pretty basic labels. Apartment, receipts, coupons, pets, job, finance, health, manuals, and personal. I might be missing one or two but that's most of them. On top of the file cabinet, there is a box that ends up being sort of a catch-all. It has all our mailing stuff in it (envelopes, stamps, tape), plus other random things that we can't figure out where else to put. I generally fill it with all our paperwork if I don't feel like filing - it's "put away" and out of sight, and it's somewhere I can find it later. Every few weeks I will go through the box and file everything. I try to make piles according to the labels, plus a pile of "immediate use" items which will stay in the box and recycle items.

This has helped SO much with all the paperwork. I have a lot of EOBs from being sick recently, so my health file is pretty full - but I keep them in the box for a little while, so if I need something I recently got, it's easier to find. I also keep bills in there so I can follow up on them and such.

When cleaning larger areas or dealing with more stuff, I usually go through and take care of all the trash, dishes, laundry, and paperwork. This is all easy stuff, you know exactly what to do with it. Even if you just stick the paperwork in a pile, it's all together, and can be sorted out later. Like Jimor said, you take care of the easy stuff first. Then I figure out what I have the most of and start organizing that. If it's CDs, I would stack them all and get them out of the way - then you have a smaller pile. Once everything's organized into like-items piles, then you can take your time to go through each pile.

You have to be completely honest with yourself. If you think you'll never use that item again, it needs to go. If you really want to keep it, fine - but put a note on it or something like that and if you don't use it for 6 months, re-evaluate. If you have things that need fixing, put a time limit on them. If you can't get it done within however many months, they have to go. This works especially well with clothing. If I don't wear something for a year, I get rid of it, unless it has sentimental value. Then it goes in a vacuum-pack bag and into the storage area.

I enjoy this stuff so much I've considered becoming a personal organizer.

[valley_parade]

They work. They make some people feel like their skin is all tingly and weird so yeah, taking half or sipping a little at a time might be better if you haven't had it before. They say there's no (sugar) crash but if I'm already pushing it, I find I'll still pass the fuck out when it wears off.

I took the sipping method. No reactions, no throwing up or anything, but I did get it annoyingly late and stayed up until like 2 bugging Zingo about records and listening to Trap Them.

Oh and blog thread, if all goes well in Vancouver tomorrow night, I will be heading to Boston later this week for a Stanley Cup victory parade! Holy shit.

[Zingoleb]

I took the sipping method. No reactions, no throwing up or anything, but I did get it annoyingly late and stayed up until like 2 bugging Zingo about records and listening to Trap Them.

He's not kidding.

[Barmymoo]

Want to come and organise my stuff, either of you?

The irony is that I am actually a very organised person... for other people's stuff. Stage management takes a lot of organisation because you need to know exactly what prop is where, when it is needed, who it is for, where it came from, where it needs to go and so forth. In Paris I was always tidying the kids' bedrooms to be more logical, sorting bookshelves, arranging my employer's handbag (she had the least organised bag I have ever seen, just overflowing with paper and random things, so she was happy to let me get at it!). But my own stuff? It's just either too overwhelming or too full of memories. I hate throwing things away, I even hate deleting emails, never mind if they're circulars or adverts or just plain spam. I want to keep eeeeeeeeeeeeeverything.

[valley_parade]

I took the sipping method. No reactions, no throwing up or anything, but I did get it annoyingly late and stayed up until like 2 bugging Zingo about records and listening to Trap Them.

He's not kidding.

You brought up the rareness, I brought up the NbN 1/100ness.

Suppose I could help out, May. I do tend to keep my records pretty neat. First 12" records, arranged alphabetically by artist, and then chronologically, 12" VAs, then 7"s in the same format, and then split 7"s, alphabetically by the artist on the A-side. I'd like to get some Ikea shelving to make it better than "some crates", but the nearest one is 3 hours away and they don't deliver.

[Barmymoo]

Excellent, organising party at my place?

[valley_parade]

You're covering airfare, right?

[David_Dovey]

You're covering airfare, right?

Hopefully she just covers something off their first record, they really went off the rails after that

[valley_parade]

Hurrrrrrrrr.

[Jimor]

May, one comment before I head out for the day, then probably more tonight. One "problem" is that you're young enough that you don't know what may or may not be important to you later, so to some extent, I think that kind of indecision is natural and not something to worry about yet. But I think you probably do need to take steps to get things under control in other ways.

[pwhodges]

I threw out stuff in my 30s and 40s that I really, really regret not having now in my 60s.  Tough.  What you have to accept is that you can't actually get it right, and when you find something is gone that you now want you must just shrug and move on - either to something else, or to recreating or acquiring what you now miss (if that is even possible).

[valley_parade]

I still need to someday either buy or build a copy of a '73 Fender Mustang to make up for my teenage boneheadedness.

[Patrick]

I'm never going to stop calling you an idiot for that, Shane.

I took the sipping method. No reactions, no throwing up or anything, but I did get it annoyingly late and stayed up until like 2 bugging Zingo about records and listening to Trap Them.

He's not kidding.

That explains why I got a text from you around then. Sorry about not responding. Phone's decided to shit the bed on that front yet again but I wasn't about to call you when I knew it was at least an hour or two past midnight.

My sister is coming to town this weekend, flying all the way from DC! I'm pretty excited to see her. The downside is that it is because my uncle's cancer is getting worse and worse (we have already been aware for several months that it's terminal) and so it's basically my sister's (and likely my) final chance to see him while he is still living.

Still, I wouldn't miss it for the world. I made an awful, awful mistake by not seeing my grandpa for a full year before he passed away, and even though it broke my heart every time I did see him, I regret each and every time I chose to postpone seeing him. Fuck. That. Shit. I will spend time with my favorite uncle even if it breaks my heart and kills me.