Deep Roy!

Crysta and I went to see Tim Burton's 'Charlie & the Chocolate Factory' last night.

It was fantastic. I love Tim Burton movies. Of course Danny Elfman's music was awesome as usual. My favorite slice of the Willy Wonka pie was that all of the Oompa-Loompa's were played in perfect deadpan by the same actor, Deep Roy.

We then went to a party for a short while were I found out just how deceptive woman in a group can be.

After we left there we spent hours on a blanket in a cemetery talking. We had some great talks about faith, religion, and beliefs and ideals. We had a very open and intellectual discussion. It was very comforting to know that we can connect so well even though we have very different beliefs.

We spent the remaining hours of darkness at a diner talking over plates of eggs and hash browns.

Notebook of Memories

Look into my past.

Crysta used to carry a notebook with her everywhere she went and had people sign it in case we got famous. She just sent me photos of my pages. Sadly, my handwriting hasn't improved.

Happy Writer?

No one wants a happy musician.

Just like no one wants a happy comedian. It's weird to me. I feel like I've abandoned my normalcy. I'm not upset that I'm gaining happiness as the days go on, it's just a forgotten feeling to me. I have no idea how to write happy songs, or happy thoughts down. I still haven't finished half of my depressed songs yet. What do I do now? It's been something I haven't come across in a long time. She makes me feel great.

Thunderstorm

Thunderstorms definitely excite all kinds of emotions & sensations.

The quiet rumble and clash of a summer thunderstorm is almost eerily peaceful. When the lighting bolts light up the rooms in your power outaged house you can catch a brief view of your surroundings before it is instantly taken away. If you're lucky enough to have someone to share it with you can catch their eyes and get lost for an eternity in that brief second of electrifying intensity.

It's also just as fun to sneak up behind people and scare the crap out of them.

Amazing Pictures.

Daily Does of Imagery

I wish I could do all of this with my camera.

Where art thou Jack Black?

Went to see 'The Wedding Crashers' last night.


Quite amusing. Definitely worth a visit to your local cinema.

Somebodies Getting Married

Went to my cousin Michael's wedding yesterday.

I hadn't been in a catholic church probably since my other cousins wedding. I was told that the church was beautiful. All the statues looking out at you from the altar in disapproval doesn't seem like beauty to me. My mom and I chuckled after communion. Which I was forced into getting by my grandmother. My mom and I sat down and she leaned over to me and said that her brother gave her an odd look and was probably thinking, 'Did she just get communion?'

The reception was a lot of fun and well organized. My grandmother was trying her best to be the center of attention as always. After the first 5 minutes of her yelling to people and making them tell her she looked beautiful I got a drink. It's always a great time and I have feeling of satisfaction watching your family doing the Chicken Dance and other various line dances.

My cousin and his new wife are spectacular. They really are the embodiment of unconditional love. It really is a special feeling seeing two people like that, when you KNOW they will never get divorced. Almost makes you feel like there may be hope for the rest of us.

Crysta.

I've been talking to a very special lady.

We met each other back in 8th or 9th grade. The story isn't complete but from the pieces we remember we use to hang out at our high school football games, even though she went to Oakland Catholic, and occasionally do the adolescent make out in the parking lot. Again the story is hazy, but we think that she went out with someone else and then all of my friends started hating her. So she found me on myspace.com a few weeks ago and we've been talking fairly heavily since.

We hung out all weekend as well, on into to weeeee hours of the morning. Sadly things aren't as easy as they seem.

Strange Powers

I just finished recording one of the two cover songs for an album I'm doing.

The Magnetic Fields 'Book of Love.' I had originally learned it while I was at school to play for my girlfriend. I never really got the chance to play it when I got home and now it's too late. I figured it would aid the healing process to record it. I'm not sure how I got to that conclusion.

I'm not sure about the other cover. I was thinking about doing 'The Gambler.' Although I haven't started on it yet and I do have severe troubles with all the vocals I lay down so that might be a deal breaker. It took me about 20 takes to finally finish 'Book of Love.'

Kennywood

Noah, Matt, & I went to Kennywood last night for Italian Day.

I had a great time. My once a year visit is enough though, it lacks the childhood fascination it once did. Where in 4 hours is quite enough for me now it would never have been enough for 'Little Raymie.' When I was a younger lad I would try and get there as early as I could and stay as late.

I was thinking last night that not a whole lot of cities have their own amusement park that isn't corporate run, or a chain of theme parks. The only one I can really think of is Coney Island. Kennywood is slightly bigger than Coney Island I believe.

I couldn't get my seatbelt buckled properly on the Pittfall, so the attendant came over as I swearing at it. She asked if I was Italian and told me that Italians had the worst mouths. She relayed to me that she had heard more swearing yesterday that any other day of the year.

I lost the battle to my inner fat man when Matt & I took it home on a Super Deluxe Djibouti Funnel Cake. I was trying to hold out, but Noah's Funnel Cake appealed to my fat man. All was lost.

A Warning to All the Fly Hunnies.

I've taken the fight against my inner fat man up a notch.

I've been walking almost everyday for 45 minutes and I just upped it to 50 tonight. Not just pansy meandering either, I'm walking with a purpose. Super Fly Noelle, who is a nutritionist by day and a waitress by night, is supposed to hook me up with some info to help me on my journey as well. So all the fly hunnies best get ready.

Footloose

We went down to The Office last night.

Much to our dismay Alyson wasn't working. She wasn't feeling well and I guess called off. In her stead was the beautiful Noelle. While she is definitely pleasing to look at and seemingly quite intelligent she definitely didn't give us our VIP discount. I think the final tally was $145 as opposed to our normal $35 or less. However the universe has a way of evening out so I'm not overly disappointed.

So Noelle comes over to check on us and then leaves. I immediately lean in to Matt and Noah and said, 'Seriously, I would cut my foot off for her.' Then Matt being on point as usual leans right back in and says 'I'd cut your foot off too. In fact I cut them both off.' Quite enjoyable laugh was had by most. Good form Matt.

Several moments later I had the ingenious idea for a drinking game. We really don't play very many drinking games. I find they tend to get in the way of drinking. It's called Carmen San Diego. Basically we get the Carmen San Diego board game and play as you usually would. However when ever there is a clue to where she is, or someone figures out where she is you had to do a shot of a liquor from the country in which she is hiding. It's a little involved I know, but you get to go on a taste exploration of the globe.

Usurper!

I almost debuted as a professional bouncer tonight.

I was asked last week if I wanted to make $50 by working the door at The Office tonight. Sadly it fell through. From what I understood of the explanation, which wasn't very much, there was a fellow that used to work there and then stopped working there, but now he's back and he usurped my position.

I was reminded of my days working the door at parties we had in Boston. Especially the one with the strippers. 'Sorry guy's, private party.' My favorite line for turning away plastic cupped eyes & jello shot hopefuls wanting for nothing but to enter one of our remarkable parties.

Bundle of Dope

I have all these fleeting ideas of songs barraging my mind.

I've been having trouble getting my thoughts in any semblance of an order and I feel my writing has been suffering severely. Of course my thoughts feed on the person I'm trying desperately to forget. I need to learn how to decathect a little better.

Eric & Ray Present

Never under estimate the power of boredom at work.

Right to left: Chap, Ben, Mike, Lauren, Matt, Me, Alyson, Noah, Eric, Amy, & Laubach

Da Booty

My iPod is about to shuffle off its mortal coil.

I had just made a 'Walking' playlist on it too! I was on my evening constitutional listening to a track off the new Beck album when all the sudden Da Booty (my ipod's name) just stopped playing. So I pulled it out of my pocket to check and see what happened and it seemed fine, so I reselected the track and walked on. When I got to 'Screenwriter's Blues' it did the same thing again. Again, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, except that battery was almost dead.

When I got back in the house and plugged it into my computer a little icon appeared on the screen. It was a spinning CD with a magnifying glass over it. My stomach instantly sank. I thought, 'Oh Da Booty, I didn't even get to say goodbye!' I tried resetting it several times to no avail, then by chance I just tried it one more time and it worked. So now I fear when I unplug it again it will be one step closer to the Robot Devil.

I Started to Cry, Which Started the Whole World Laughing

I've had a very emotional few weeks.

I said goodbye to someone incredibly important to me a few days ago. It nearly killed me. My feelings for her got to be too much to go unrecognized. I felt too weak to deal with her and the world around me after years of being together and suddenly having to be 'just friends.'

Antidepressants save lives. I'm not against medications for helping stabilize moods and personalities. They seemingly helped me whenever I decided to take them. The big problem with them is while I took them they not only controlled my depression but all of my emotions. They turned me numb to everything around me, and I was unable to express my emotions to the people that mattered in my life.

Once I stopped taking the medications the repressed emotions came flooding out and years of unrecognized feelings immediately needed to be realized. Unfortunately it was too late. My numbness toward the world turned the world numb against me.

My mind reels with thoughts of my past mistakes.

Recitivism

My thoughts are with the Londoners. When something like this happens it makes you realize that your individual problems aren't that meaningful. It makes me think of more of the human collective and how ugly human nature can really get. All I can say is England, we know how it feels.

I'm a Patsy for the Man

I shaved the Bro-hawk.

The man is holding me down. I'm truly disappointed. As soon as I was done shaving I felt an infinite sadness growing inside of me. I feel as though I let myself down. However I need to find another job and keep working the one I have. I've become a patsy for the man.

Fire, works.

I seemingly spent the last year and half on a hero's quest.

I definitely learned a lot about myself. I hope it's drawing to a close however. I'm not sure how much longer I can stand it and how much more I want to learn.

Went down to the office Saturday night. Actually saw several people we haven't seen since high school. After the drinking had ended a Laubach, Mike, & I decided to go get some food while the rest took my car home. The pizza shop made me long for Boston. The mindset of being in a small corner pizza place after the bar completely took me back to Supreme's.