Conveniently Misplaced

Just saw this on facebook:

Updated: 7 of your friends joined the group You know your from the ghetto when…. 3:27am

Wow. Thats all I can say.
More updates on the way once I get my comps up.

So it’s been 10 days since my last update. I’ve been busy busy busy with anything and everything.  Here’s what’s up.

My computers are still all out for the most part. My workstations are at Craig’s so I can only get to them when he’s home and I can find an extention cord. My laptop is still in pieces. So I’m stuck with what I can get and where I can find it. So I’ll update when we can.

Besides not having a main computer, I’ve been trying to push forward with this house project. It’s been awesome. We were able to get keys on the 7th and have started moving a few small things in. I’m almost done painting my room. All I have left is the trim and I have to decide if I want some kind of rug or not. Plus I gotta clean the hard wood floor. Abby said she’d do a painting for me as long as I spring for supplies, so there’s a canvas waiting for her to pick up today.

And last Sunday was the Live and Collective Soul concert that I told Gini I’d take her to for her help in getting it. Rebecca and Randy were there too, so it was a lot of fun (unless you ask Gini who just felt completely ignored and was pretty pissed off by the time we got back home. She started letting me have it as soon as Rebecca and Randy took off). I had fun, it was nice to be able to spend time with Rebecca as she’s on a pseudo “house arrest” brought fourth by her mom, of course because of me. No matter, just another thing to overcome I guess.

I’ll post some house pics up on flickr later…IF I can find a comp to do so…

The worst thing about all of this is that I’m having no time to hang out with my friends because i’ve been so busy. And when I do have time, nobody’s around, they’re all out doing something else. I miss my peoples, and once this house thing is settled it should be great because I’ll be right there. It’s always difficult getting to where you want to go.

I, ladies and gentlemen, am nicely burned out for the upcoming holiday. Every night this past week except for last night I’ve been getting home after midnight. It’s all been shows, fireworks, hanging out, or some other random assorted activities. It’s been nuts. So this week I plan on taking it easy.

The weekend was a blast. On Friday I went downtown for the Stars and Stripes Festival in The Clem with Craig, Kayte, Jimmy, Katie, Tomas and probably a few more. I found someone across the way with a Ron Paul Revolution sign so I had to go say hi. When I got there she was holding 2 signs and I asked if she needed someone else to hold one. So for the rest of the night I was walking around with a sign that read “Who Is Ron Paul” on one side and “Ron Paul 2008″ on the other. The response I got from the crowd was overwhelmingly great. Everyone really responded well to Dr. Paul’s message when I told them what he was all about (with the few exceptions, such as the random Canadians or Hillary supporters). I was in a few pictures with people, people would chant as I walked by, and a couple people even shook my hand and said “I love you, dude”. It was cool. I learned first hand how a sign can be a very powerful thing.

At some point I lost my crew in the midst of it all so I was on my own from there on till after the fireworks when I found my brother. The cell networks were overloaded so nobody could make any calls. Then Kristina and Rebecca found us and we all hung out for the rest of the nite till Kristina wanted to head on home. Rebecca was standing next to me when some drunk guy was talking to me about Ron Paul, and she was trying (and doing a very bad job) to not laugh at him. It was hilarious. It was a good night tho, I was happy. By the time the night was over I was depleted, so I joined Tom for some Jimmy Jon’s and headed on home. Downtown was thumpin’ till early in the morning.

Saturday was cool, I went to Kristina’s grad party for a while then made my way downtown Detroit for the Wolfmother concert. My God was it amazing. I managed to weasel my way up to the front row for the show. Chris gave me a handshake in the middle of a song (as I was right in front of him for the whole show), which was pretty gnarly. After doing all their songs as well as a cover of Zep’s Communication Breakdown, Andrew dived into the crowd with his guitar and thn climbed up, out of the crowd and stood in front of one of the big Knights that flank the stage and finished the song from up there. The show ended with them spraying their Coronas on us and then all taking a bow in front of the drumset. It was so cool. All the songs had extended solos and a lot of experimental stuff. Since this is the last show of the tour they really just let loose.

Afterwards Andrew came out and talked to us, he’s a really cool down to earth guy. He talked with us who were outside for a while about touring, how cool Eddie Vedder is, how messed up Ozzie is, how the new White Stripes album is a big disappointment, what kind of record player he should get, and other assorted tales. He signed our tickets and whatnot and left with 2 girls to go get drinks. A true rockstar in every aspect.

Then along came Sunday. Craig was having a BBQ and I invited Rebecca to come with me, she obliged so we went over there (and moved my computers in the process, I now have a lovely and rediculous setup on Craig’s pool table). So we’re all chillin and hangin out when she gets a call and runs down the stairs to get it. It’s her mother. Apparently she didn’t believe Rebecca when she said she was going elsehwere, and the woman actually drove by my house and saw her car there, called her up, and demanded that she go home.

Now, this brings about 3 points.

1.  How in the hell does this woman know where I live? I’d never even seen her before Kristi’s party on Saturday and we’ve never spoken. Yet somehow she knows where I live. That’s kinda weird, considering we’re not even listed in any phonebooks or anything. She must have really had to do her homework here.
2. What does she have against me? Aside from the fact that she’s making my life more difficult than it has to be I have nothing against her. Apparently it’s all because of our age difference, but come on, at least hold a conversation with me and get to know me before you decide that I shouldn’t hang out with your daughter. Maybe that’s just my opinion though.
3. Lastly, honestly: who does this? Who trolls around the neighborhood to check up on their kids? Maybe when they’re 12 or something, but when they’re about to be turning 18 and into what the world considers an “adult”, you have to realize that people will find their own course on their own and you can’t go around chasing them and policing them like you’re the KGB. I suppose if I was a convicted felon (recently freed) with 3 kids (God knows where they are)  living in a trailer (not no fancy doublewide) off the interstate somewhere, I could understand. But it’s not like that. I don’t think i’m a bad person, or the bad influence here. I really don’t. So the fact that someone would want to track down their kid to make sure we weren’t hanging out is just absurd.

Which brings me to today’s all still appropriate word of the day:

fractious \FRAK-shuhs\, adjective:

1. Tending to cause trouble; unruly.
2. Irritable; snappish; cranky.

And there’s my little rant about that. I’m more upset than anything because I wanted to have her there, give her a little taste of what my life is like, meet my friends, etc. And she fit in just fine. Not like it was some weird akward thing where she was happy to go. She would have had a fun night, instead she was forced to stay home. Pure poppycock.

In lighter news, we WILL have full house access on the 7th (Saturday). The keys will be handed over and I plan on starting to paint immediately. I’ve talked things over with my dad as far as what colour tones and such will work out best. So I’m excited. I will be painting through Saturday and on Sunday till I go off to see Live and Collective Soul. This will be the 3rd week in a row i’m going to a show, then i’m cooling it till Counting Crows in Grand Rapids. Gotta break some time, you know?

We’ve all seen the hype surrounding the iPhone and how cool it is. And I won’t doubt that, it’s an amazing little device. However, with that amazingness also comes a contract that means you will be selling your soul to the devil.

Never, in my life, will I give my business to AT&T and their absurd practices. All that over a phone that will cost me at least $60 a month to own. Let’s look at the setup costs here

• $500 for the phone
• $150 to drop my contract with T-Mobile
• $60 (at least) a month for service

So up front, at least $700. And that’s assuming I get no accessories with it. That’s garbage. For $700 I can get a new Glock for that which will last for years, instead of a trendy phone that won’t last 3.

And the most ridiculous thing  about your $60 a month? Only 200 text messages. With T-mobile I can get unlimited text and data with my sidekick for $20 a month.

So let’s review:  iPhone: Nifty and cool.
AT&T and their plans: shitty and not worth it.

I can wait 5 years. Can you?