Nightcap at the Red & Black

Whole-milk house chai and lots of honey is a good way to warm up and wind down after a long day. I saw my therapist first thing, got refills on herbs at the Chinese clinic, then spent the rest of the day wandering around and playing lots of guitars and amps just because I had nowhere else to be. There's so much more that I could talk about, but I'm sure other people are waiting to use this terminal, and I don't really know where to start anyway.

Two things I learned today: I really like the necks on Martins, and the breakup on Deluxe Reverbs is nice and throaty.

...and now it's time for bed. Sleep well, sweet ones. I'm thinking of you.

Maintain radio silence

Today the office officially disappears, which means that I'm officially out of work, and thereby out of easy internet access. I'd say that I'm looking forward to having a little time off, but I'd be lying.

The next few days are going to be spent getting plans, payments, and people in order before I leave for my brother's wedding in Wyoming on Monday. I'll be there till the end of the month, then I'll make my way back here with a short stop in Seattle.

The good news is that I've got some good employment prospects lined up after that. It's not work that I'm thrilled about, but if all goes according to plan I'll be able to pay my bills and drag myself out of the starving student demographic for the first time, well, ever.

With all the changes going on, I can't say where I'll be after June, and that's a little scary. I keep telling myself that I'm ready for some changes anyway, but these kind of changes weren't exactly what I had in mind...

...

Contact info: If you need to reach me any time soon, call my cell. I probably won't have it on very much, so do leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

...

In other news, I'm looking at amps again. The three main contenders at this moment are a THD Univalve, a Fender Deluxe Reverb reissue (or a Silverface original, if I can find one), or a clone of a Fender 5E3 Deluxe. Not that I have the money, mind you, but I'm still looking. And it'd be kind of fun to build a clone from bits and pieces.

Wednesday already

I'm listening to Ministry on KRUA's webcast. It's an odd music to wake up to.

I'm tired of my guitars. I tried playing them last night: other people's songs, my songs, new songs. It's all the same. Dead, dull, boring.

This will be day 3 on Benadryl. Nasty stuff. I feel like I'm standing beside myself most of the time, and my boss has to ask me questions two or three times before I finally understand.

Pizza for dinner again last night. And breakfast today. I just don't have the interest or energy to cook anything. If I could, I'd just stop eating altogether.

So. damned. exhausted.

List

• Motorcycle: Triumph, Norton, BMW, Honda, even an old hackjob Harley
  
• Taylor acoustic
• Amplifier: 20-65 watts, all-tube, class A/AB
  
• Kayak: longass touring model. Yellow.
• Climbing gear
• Time and skill to use all these things
  

Rushed

I think B said it best:

Levi decided he wasn't going to live in the litterbox, much to the dismay of the other crazy renters in that house.

No kidding. After five days of washing and painting walls; ripping out carpet, pad, and thousands of associated staples and nails; and scrubbing the floor only to find that the place still stank, I left my key with a brief good luck note and got the hell out.

Thirty minutes later they called and yelled at me, then hung up before I could respond. I dutifully drove back to the house to try to make some sort of amends, fully expecting a fistfight. There was more yelling (them, not me) and then the door was slammed.

Lesson learned.

So Bonnie and I scoured town trying to dig up something else, and after a disappointing tour of shitholes all over town, I found a gem of a place right in the middle of Division: it's half residential area and half recording studios/band practice spaces/artist studios, with a huge commercial kitchen and the nicest people I've met in a long time. And it's mine, all mine. Sweet fucking relief.

...

Tonight I've got to go up to REI in the Pearl (or is it the Oyster?) to sign up for an introductory rock climbing class tomorrow night, then back down to Milwaukie to finish cleaning Paul's place and collect the last of my junk.

...and there's more that I'm leaving out, but it's going to be a late night as it is. Batman out.