Christmas thoughts,


Last weekend I met a man, worked with a man hard up on his luck; how do they say that anyway, is hard up right? Picked him up for work and he was still drunk, in his fifties and seemingly charismatic, overtly outgoing at the least. I worked the day with him from our giddy meeting to his mellow coming down, while I was ferocious with energy and his crash whilst I was drunk with appreciation for the end of the day. Anyway, I choose to temper any evaluation with my mood and he wasn't matching it in anyway and I wasn't feeling bad for him for his hangover - mostly 'cause if I got shit to do I don't choose to put myself in that position......stupid growing up. Regardless, I came to think he was an alright bloke, a raving drunk as I had been forewarned, but still alright. So it came down the pipe this week byway of the chap who'd recommended his services that he'd written a letter to his steady employer, not me or my associates, pasted with magazine photos (you know men in the white coats takin' you away style) and would no longer be allowed on the premises. It struck me that he's a throwaway. Someone who's family reportedly has also received letters of the like and is not loath to him, but wary. He's a guy who if he was in a shelter we'd be happy to make dinner for, but not take home. He's somebody I'd like to help out, but in no way would I stake my professional reputation on. Rough business and it makes me sad in this holiday season that I'm as calloused as the rest of my problematic culture in regards to such individuals........there's some who emulate the late JC's actions better than I do........actions I'll definitely ponder and meditate upon.


Happy Holidays,
Chromeeyes

post script: Jesse if you've found this I'd be pleased to know and I won't change content as a result, plus props(do the kids say that anymore) on the intelligent use of a pseudonym

Currently digging on Deerhunter's Cryptograms and the aught six release from good 'ol Grandaddy - "Just like the fambly cat". Fambly - nice.

Right now I'm dealing with and resolving some past problems, so keep me in your prayers folks - not a big deal really an extension of my February resolutions coming to fruition - which is nice.

I'm working my ideal hours right now, if not just on the ideal days - three thirteens in a row and four straight days off - anyone with anykindofgoodsuggestions about what to fill those days with will be greatly appreciated......today (not to be confused with todash) is organization day. I'm roasting roma tomatoes that have been in my fridge for the better part of two weeks and cleaning brussel sprouts of the same era. I've got a closet too that needs some attention, bought the plastic lidded containers to do the job when I moved in, but never took initiative.

confidential to s_z_h I'll get you the sub forms - your shindig is in the top ten on my priority list.

Peace my friends,
Chromeeyes

Seriously,

All of Chicago goes to bed too early, or is all growed up or.............

peace,
Chromeeyes

Wisconsin AC

Tonight was the first night of the summer for WIAC (driving with the windows down and the heat on full blast-my fav). Anyway, also a first - I called in my first radio station request and got it played - snowden's black eyes on the 89.3 the current compliments of Mrs. Riley.

Rock,
Chromeeyes

Hometown Heros


Here's an article about a couple of folks from my hometown - classic and safe for work.

Bought some new cds - here's the digs:

two weeks ago

Art Brut, It's Complicated - a chap talking over music - not recommended, but it's growing on me

Snowden, Anti-Anti - I'm totally into what they're calling psychedelic rock these days and this disk is epiphantic.

Wolfmother, wolfmother - maybe I'm trying to make up for lost time back in the 80's early 90's, but the stoner rock they put out kinda reminds me of the BOC, and I'm a big fan.

Last Week

Talib Kweli, Eardrum - The disk is almost completely unlistenable and they put the single at the end of the disk - I just can't deal with pop hip hop

MIA, Kala - another installment of MIA's loose definition of music; it's trippy fun if you liked the first one Kala will impress, if not don't bother - I'm of the former persuasion

Aesop Rock, None Shall pass - Since a year after the K-rel introduced me to Aesop Rock I've been a huge fan - nobody, besides maybe Solman Rushdie has a bigger active vocabulary - I'm not yet entertained by the disk, but it'll take months to digest, cure, marinate - so I can't say yet what I think about it.

Yeah, so the K-rel got into town last week and it's been good to have another friendly face in the area. I'm job hunting right now and hopefully I'll find what I'm looking for - we'll see.

OUT,
Chromeeyes

Have you guys heard Snowden's anti-anti? I think its my recent fav followed closely by wolfmother's self-titled disk( a nice throwback that one).

Just coffeein' and such, drop me a line when you get the time.

Later,
Chromeeyes

KITTY!

Check this out. I think it's coo.

outs,
Chromeeyes

This is why I've got to start writing again.

Updated weekend..........

Well, this a-one started with a bloody bang - yo. First my work schedule is real chill - gotta find something to do Monday afternoon and Tuesday night - since the folks I normally chill with are outta town....which leads me to my next issue - I've kinda been flirtin' with this front desk woman at the hotel I work at and HOOHA - she gave me her number whilst I was there last night to check my schedule for the upcoming last weekend I'll be there. Sometimes that wistful shyness I exhibit in awkward social situations pays off. Gotta give her a call today.

For the E-beth's inquiring mind:

I've finally started the art project that I've been jabbering about intermittently for years. There's two stages to it. First I'm working on a series of studies of flame painted on mirrored glass. The idea is to let the "canvas" be part of flame so that the observer is in the midst of the painting. The second bit is kindofalongthesamelines. I've got this idea to start with a human form, maybe a bust in a window sized mirror in which there is a greyed out opaque bust of a person with face portion unpainted..or maybe just the eyes - we'll see how it turns out, but again the mirror will reflect the observer. So, we've got the hollow human form and along with it I want to paint several, several separate portraits in which the form is in a state of decay (think worms, bugs, grubs eating flesh), self-immolating (hence the study of flame before it), in tears, bleeding, covered in greengrowthandvines, etc.....you get the idea. The best part of the whole project is that really the catalyst for it's initiation from mind to constitution is my home decorating shopping excursions in which I've found an outlet for totally affordable framed mirrors which is totally cool because for like $20 or $30 I can buy a canvas and a frame that entirely erasable if I so choose to scrap a project that's not working out. Anyway, that's the gist.

OUTS,
Chromeeyes

Hey,

I watched the season finale of lost last night and shared a bottle of Newton Napa Valley Claret '04 with a friend. Review.

The Claret was terrible; the body was full enough, but too full of the wrong stuff. This overly acidic wine's rich flowery undertones were overwhelmed by it's heavy earthy tanic base. That's what you get with a smut wine though - a highish end blend of melot cabernet savignon, peti verdot, syrah and cabernet franc......conclusively, there's probably some good wine in the mix, but the poor quality ones overpower them for the better part and you feel like you're drinking a real find of a $10 bottle when you bought the bottle for about$15.

Lost was a real kick - one of the best parts of the show is the newness the writers bring to the plot every episode. That aside, I much prefer the pace of the one hour episode to the plodding course of the two hour format. I figure that the material could have been dealt with in an hour and fifteen minutes in the normal flow of the show. Thumbs down to the pace, thumbs up to the twists.

This upcoming weekend is the last weekend I'll be working two jobs - goodbye hotel:hurrah social life. It'll be nice to be able to go out on Saturday night if the opportunity avails me. I'm real sad to leave some of the good folks at the hotel, but last weekend was the epitomy of why I'm leaving, as I'd foreseen two weeks before. Last weekend's schedule: Friday (golf club 10am-11pm), Saturday(golf club 7am-11pmdoozy), Sunday(hotel 7-2, golf club 2:30-11), Monday(hotel 7-1, golf club 1:30-9). Yeah, so by my count that's like 55.5 hours in four days, which I guess is mucho dinero, but just try to find time for a chill, a drink or a date in all that and you'll see my conundrum, hereto resolved(grammer?).

Anyway, yesterday morning I went shopping for home decor (I think I'm pretty much done with that) and art materials (just getting started, but I'm super hyped about that.) I worked a little bit in the afternoon, but the golf event I was putting out got rained out, which is a bummer 'cause what do you do with 60 nystrip steaks you've marked off to oven finish? I'm sure we'll find a way to burn them off on a bbq or someshit, but in retrospect next time I'll push hard to nix prepping protein until it's down to the wire, although it wasn't my call anyway.

Lates,
Chromeeyes

.....of the summer

Last night I decided these things.

1. The whiskey sour is the drink of the summer
2. Sushi rolls are the new uptown cookie - for example neighborly housewarming gifts.
3. I'm not getting a cat
3.1. I really want a cat......or two
4. I need a girlfriend for the summer
5. My new apartment kicks ass because I made it that way.
6. I need to blog more.

Out,
Chromeeyes

I'm totally eating bananna chips right now.

Highly Recommended


1. Mother nature's sense of irony - I threw a cigarette butt out the window yesterday and it blew back in the window and landed on and burned my neck

2. Setting up a new apartment; not once, or twice, but thrice while checking out at various home stores I was complimented by other customers on my taste in decore. My favorite compliment was from a woman my mother's age who asked me, "do you have good taste or watch too much hgtv?" My first thought was what the hell is hgtv - which is good. After further reflection I figured out it was home and garden television, but I ain't got no cable and don't dig the home improvement shows so there ya go.

3. Yankee candle company's sunwashed linen scented candles - nothing covers up stale food and tobacco smells from previous tenants like putting your whole apartment in the clothes dryer with a whole box of dryer sheets.

4. Regis and Kelly while blogging - 'nuff said.

5. Warm weather, open windows and ergo sandles - especially the chaco sandles that I sprang for which have been highly recommended (endlessly in some cases) by my sisters as well as the e-bot/beth/beff/biff.

6. Panzer Dragoon Orta (those of you who play video games will understand)

7. Warm weather and all the pretty girls - seriously every spring...........and the worst part is there's nothing that can really prepare a guy for that first pair of shorts or a halter top in the spring - almost embarassing (guys you know what I mean)

8. The Exile Kiss by G A Effinger - weird peice of sci-fi given to me by k-rel cool stuff

9. Bell's Two Hearted Ale

10. A pot of french press coffee first thing in the morning

11. "New Magnetic Wonder" by The Apples in Stereo


That's about all I've got for now.

Best Regards,
Erasmus

post script: My warmest regards go out to Betsy Grace and her husband to be as of friday.

post post script: Congradulations to Dance Band for their City Pages' Best of the Twin Cities award for best Live Performance

post post post script: I've purchased the necessary postage hardware for care packages for y'alls out of towners - send me your address and I'll send you a cool package. (Rah-Z I know I promised you one already and yours'll be the first to post with aforementioned "lost" articles.

Apartment searching sucks - for real

I'm in the process (right now) of finding a new place - totally nonplussed.

Later,
Chromeeyes

CDs

So yesterday I picked up some new cds.

Neon Bible by the Arcade Fire
Four Winds EP by Bright Eyes
Wincing the Night Away by the Shins

Needless to say the winey angsty music is permeating my skull as we speak. Fortuneately all of it it totally listenable as well.

out,
Chromeeyes

Dude, seriously,

I've got to wear a suit to work tomorrow.

out,
Chromeeyes

Yo,

Tonight at the turf club - Call Me Lightening - bethereorbesquare and shit.

out,
Chromeeyes

Grey Haze

Hey, been a little while, but I've been working through some stuff; mostly it's got to do with shutting folks out and realizing about a week ago that the last six months has been clouded - it's unsettling and I'm getting to the bottom of it. Thanks chicago, portland and portedward crew for your insight.

In other news I've been called a "production machine" by the chef at the hotel and I'm working on a brunch menu for the golf club I work at. The menu isn't hard on it's own; the hard part is veiling really good food so that the customers who just want the normal stuff get something way beyond that.......

I'm still on my excercise regiment and I think I'm getting better and seeing improvement - I took a couple of days of rest and yesterday my usual workout was a far easier thing than I am used to.

I went home to see my folks a couple of days ago and got to see my father's new toy a '67 impala 327 supersport - red, black leather interior. It is really cool to see that my father after sacrificing so much to raise my sisters and I is able, now, to indulge himself.

Anyway - y'all have a great valentine's and I'll talk to ya sooner than later.

Cheers,
Chromeeyes

out of context

yeah....so today at work I was organizing walkinthree and my coworker walks in the door and says, "hey...........oh.........I thought you were tit-job number one" and then he walks out; I didn't havacloo.

and so it goes.......

I just got back from working out again today and it felt good and bad. Work was weird and fine - still getting cudos on my fifteen minute fruit displays - gotta get my camera in there and take some pics for y'all the f&b director there thinks they're bomb to which I say, "well they damnwell betterbee." - the reasons are obvious - I'm working as a garmanger (cold food) banquet cook and my skills are a tad beyond what the hotel normally hires for that position - that being said I've learned much in my stay there - more than I thought I would and in totally different ways; ya know, just stuff about how a hotel runs and food quality expectations and the lack thereof( see a runon word that's totally legit).

I've got two days off in a row the next couple of days - I'm not sure what I'm doing with myself, but I'm going to get breakfast somewhere tomorrow in the am- likely, I'll stop by any number of places with a waitress I've got a secret crush on(I never hit on waitresses, but it's cool to have a pretty one attend to ya anyway) - anybody in?

over and out,
Chromeeyes

Oh yeah and I'm changing my color scheme to supplicate y'all.

over,
Chromeeyes

pumping iron

A high school friend and I have started a regular workout regiment at the y we both belong to. Lifting weights isn't so bad except that there's a strand of muscle like a quarter inch in diameter that apparently has atrophied during my tenure as a cook - a couple of days ago I was pretty sore and didn't warm up until about two in the afternoon:( (dude, I'm such a winy winy sombit)

Anyway, life is much the same as it has been for a while.

Oh yeah and all hail to the orangutan marketing dudes! That's awesome and sad bomb scares from a light bright - sign me up.

OUT,
Chromeeyes

obsession with unconscionable acts of violence involving public transport

Work man........well this hotel job I've got right now temporarily some of my co-workers have this "everybody's out to get me personally" attitude and their expression is "throwing (me/you/us) under the wheels of the bus." Funny - I think it might have started as a kinda funny expression, but these guys are jaded at this point. I like the expression - my addendum to them is to hum the kids song, "the wheels of the bus go round and round."..........and then later.........."the babies on the bus go whah, whah, whah!" - that's the funny part.

Right now I'm chilling just listening to some mpr and typing.

A friend of mine just got one of those Wiis - pretty cool when bowling is fun virtually. I may have to pick one of those up someday.

I've got to get back to chicago sometime soon - unfortuneately a_ron, this upcoming weekend is booked, but as I've found during the course of the last couple of years planning is essential.

Anyway ttfn,
Chromeeyes

..and I like the burger king commercial where they throw the minivan into the dump truck....kule

....and then he says,"Am I Bo Bice? Yes, I am. Well played worthy adversary..........."

nice

Dudes,

So, I'm really into cereal lately - especially the special k with red berries - no pun intended.

Right now I'm watching the new king of the hill - I'm not usually into these sunday night car-toons, but apparently it's transvestite night - first the cop on the simpson's shoots one three times and there's a transvestite loaded king of the hill now too - good shows though tonight. Multitaskin though typing and tv not too bad.

If you haven't seen lady in the water I highly recommend it - usually Mr. Shamalan's into building the mystery up until the end, but this time he gave it away at the start and still managed to craft a real story in a mean way.

I worked a couple of doubles this weekend, which was alright - I can't believe I did that almost every weekend for the better part of a year - not this year - that much I can say for sure; I don't mind working a lot or hard but doing both those things whilst missing the best part of the weekend is kinda dragging - so {kitty just jumped on me and my computer - kitty needs a lesson in personal space}more perogative to find something different.


outs,
Chromeeyes

coming to blows,

K_rel was in town earlier this week and we hit up the triple rock social club for happy hour - burger basket and a pint for $6 - right on. We also almost came to blows outside a record shoppe on accout of me buying both Elliot Smith's self titled and The Pixies' Surfer Rosa..........I think I kept the relative peace by not also picking up Natalie Merchant's Tigerlilly.

over and out,
Erasmus

So , like,

Keeping up to date w/ y'all internet connected persons. Here's the scoop, I got back from new year's festivities to find out that my ex-girl/current roommate is not moving to timbucktoo or where-ever she was getting out of my life to, but instead staying and planning on renting the apartment we share after I move out herself (weird, wierd construction man). Anyway, kinda boo. Got my hair cut - that was right on - the shaggy 70's thing was cool, but no longer. In quazi-related matters I went to the employee christmas party at the hotel I'm employed at and a co-worker and boss who I work with daily didn't recognize me dressed in a suit and with short hair. The one dude, a fellow cook thought I was some corporate guy grilling him for the first five minutes of the conversation, needless to say the discussion lightened up a bit afterward. I've got a policy of not hanging out too long or drinking too hard with co-workers - there's a too-laid-back, a little bit too scattered side of me that comes out in those situations that I just don't need to share with folks who's respect ties into my wage earning capacity; apparently I should have stayed though - apparently as is par for the course too good a time was had by some.

I gota get new comments and stuff up on my blog and I'm really not into editing "the code" right now - so if you've got a comment - well, we'll see if I break down and copy and paste tonight.

On gross and not twelve dozen:
The coffee shop I frequent has a broken paper towel dispenser and has a roll of like kitchen paper towel on the shelf - with other people's fingerprints displayed on the cross-section - ick!

I'm starting the double job mambo this weekend again - not sure how I'm going to hold with the three turn and burns this weekend, but hopefully I can power through it and check out some live music saturday night as well, we'll see.

So that's good for now.

Cordially,
Erasmus

post script - thanks go out again to my beloved chicago crew for the gracious hospitality over the holiday.

Hey,

I'm getting a haircut, I think - the grungy and unkempt look is tired now; any suggestions from the field?

later my friends,
Chromeeyes