Elephant Parade-Riding in Your Car

Elephant Parade is another band that I can't seem to get enough of lately...

...where do we begin?

I'm getting pretty good at finding pictures that defy explanation...and simultaneously make me laugh when I need it most.

School is done for a few days. I can get caught up in a few other areas of my life now...at least for the next few weeks.

I sat on the forklift again today...


Background Tune- "Rumble Fish" by Sevendust

absence...

It's been a trying week...and it's not half over yet. Figuratively, I'm compelled to punch kittens, reaching limits within to which I was previously unaware.

Trying to take full-time classes, work full-time at a job that requires more than full-time involvement and remain sane is proving to be quite the challenge for me.

I'm rounding out the final week of classes tomorrow. I took a final last night and discovered that in spite of missing half of the classes due to work obligations, I could essentially fail the final exam and still get a "B". Not the "A" I push myself to achieve, but not bad. The second class is far more of a challenge-I'm treading water with a "B" right now and having just blown a quiz during week 7 with a 65%, I'm a bit concerned about the final exam, which accounts for 25% of my grade. If I blow this final I'm fucked...not only will I be off of the Dean's List (for which I no longer care since I don't know the Dean at my school and I'm fairly certain she doesn't know me...) but I will have wasted precious money taking the class...not to mention the landslide of disappointment I'm bound to bury myself with as a result.

For this struggle alone-I hate my job...I can't seem to find solace among all of the chaos right now and it's eating at me in the corners.

I want to enroll in the next session and get myself that much closer to completion...but the other part of me says to take a break-lest I fail to find a point where I can breathe again. I've been holding my breath for something all my life...but I'm deciding to look beyond the imperfections in others...and, more importantly, in myself. It's high time I cut myself some slack...

...I need a vacation before I turn into one of those people you read about in the newspaper.

Background Tune: "While You Were Sleeping" Elvis Perkins

Ebb and Flow...

There are some days when I'm sitting in my apartment and I think about how great it is that I have this space to myself. I look around at all of the stuff-right where I want it, right where I left it...and then I realize that that's it. There's nothing else to the thought-no action, no poetry...just a bunch of stuff sitting in the last place I left it.

I feel a phase of shedding my 'skin' coming on. Time to lose a few things I don't use or won't have a use for in the near future. I don't know why I do it or what spawns the thought or desire to rid myself of material things...I just lose interest in them and they're cast off. I rarely look back and wonder why I got rid of those things so they can't be too important.

I go through this pseudo-emotional tollbooth at the end of every dating/relationship period. It's neither good nor bad...it just happens. I always find some perspective and land on my feet. It's never awkward or sad-just passing through a gate of sorts...the reptile does not reminisce about the old skin.

"I just want something beautiful" A quote from one of my favorite movies, "Beautiful Girls". It pretty much sums up everything I want out of life...'something' is subjective...be it a life, a partner, a house, a direction, a view, vision or thought. I can find beauty in just about anything...except an empty plastic grocery bag floating in the wind.

I go all over the map once in a while-most times it takes a lot to throw me off my course...but every once in a while, it takes the slightest bump and I'm spinning. I got bumped last week-a couple times from a couple directions but I caught my bearing and kept my eye on the goal. I'm in a good place, emotionally and mentally...I could stand to get off my ass a bit more. Things are looking good-the one truly great thing about life is that I get an opportunity to start all over every day I wake up...and for that, I am grateful.

"I was on your porch..."

"Don't think; feel. It's like a finger pointing to the moon. Don't concentrate on the finger, or you will miss all the heavenly glory."-Bruce Lee

Music never fails me...ever.

My boss decided that he wanted to hear my newly installed stereo system in my car.  For the better part of a week, I spent my lunch (and a few hours after work) taking my car apart and working, one section at a time, to get everything hidden and put the panels back without much disruption.  Once it was all done, my boss and one of my co-workers and I went to my car in the parking lot to listen to it.  The conversation went like this:

Coworker: "Is this one of those stereos that you could use to piss off everyone within two lanes on the road?"
Me: "Yep, pretty much..."
Coworker: "Play something obnoxious and loud"
Me: {start playing '99 Problems' by Jay-Z}
Boss: (in the back seat) "Okay, now play some real music...not some angry black guy talking about how shitty his life is"

I played Jamie Cullum's "All at Sea".

They both agreed that it sounded pretty kick ass (uh....duh!)

Coworker: "Dude, I bet this stereo nags you less than my wife nags me."
Me: "My stereo only makes me smile"
Coworker: "Yeah, thanks for that..." {gets out of the car and goes back into the office}

I love my new stereo.  Just that simple.

Michigan, et. al.

Every time I come to either Detroit, Auburn Hills...or even Windsor, ON I'm reminded of better days. Days when mom and pop diners, stores and shops existed to serve the literal masses of customers in these areas.

I've been here in Auburn Hills, MI for two days...I drove by the Chrysler corporate office compound mid-day today and discovered that I could do donuts in their main parking lot and no one would be the wiser. It's a huge facility...and after reading about the 'clock incident', I wonder where all of those clocks are stored...I'd love to see that room. The ticking must be deafening. In my highly opinionated world, it's both sad and poetic...Chrylser, in its heyday, made some beautiful cars (waaaaayyy back) and engineered some nice feats. The true Hemi engine was a masterpiece.

Since my last trip to the area in April, several of the mom and pop restaurants, diners and stores have closed down...some were doing one hell of a business 6 months ago and now they've got chain link fencing around the perimeter-keeping those who remain out. And that got me to thinking-there are a lot of teens in this town. They work at the remaining gas stations, fast food places and restaurants...and there are a lot of people that want those jobs. Kids that were born during the height of Detroit, when the economy was strong, cars were selling, home prices were on the rise and life was good. It's amazing what fifteen years can do to a town...build it up, only to watch it crumble, one block at a time. It's depressing...no doubt about it.

I'm here to transition the tasks of a guy who's voluntarily leaving the company to pursue another avenue (IT). He's been in the industry for 15 years and he's finally had enough...I had two and a half days to get as much out of him as possible. This guy is flexible, adaptable and knows more than one aspect of more than one job...and that's ultimately what allowed the opportunity to be available to him. We talked today at lunch about how there are so many people in the area-people who've only known, learned and executed one job for over a decade...people who are one paycheck away from living in their car...people who must now swallow their pride and apply for a job at WalMart-and convince the hiring manager, someone who probably went to high school with their kid, to hire them. That's a big fucking crow to choke down in any book...but that's what happens when you put all of your eggs in one basket thinking that basket can never break, fall or be tipped over. How you prepare the ground below is what determines how many eggs you have left when the basket tips...it's never a matter of how it'll tip, but when it'll tip...

I'm working to finish my degree to open up my options list for other industries...the water's getting choppy again and I've still yet to recover from the last boating trip.

At least I know how to swim.

Background Tune: "I alone" --Live

Travel to the wonderful city of...Auburn Hills

I somehow drove half way to Auburn Hills, MI half asleep...I got maybe 5 hours of sleep, hastily packed a bag and jumped in my car while it was still dark outside (5:30am) and got on the road in an attempt to beat the incoming rain storm...no such luck. I wound up driving around a nasty collision on I94 by going South on I80 but found myself confronting the storm on three or four occasions.

By the time I reached Kalamazoo, I had to stop for food, fuel and a stretch. I wish I could have eaten my breakfast standing up...I'd have gladly done so. Just for the record, Cracker Barrel in Kalamazoo has the worst service ever. It took 25 minutes to get my food-and it wasn't what I ordered but I was far too hungry and tired to wait another 10 minutes for them to get it right.

The entire trip took almost 6 hours in total-including one bathroom stop and the breakfast stop (45 minutes alone)...not bad considering the weather...and that I was literally half asleep for the first two hours.

Oh...and if you ever find yourself in Auburn Hills and need a place to stay-check out the Candlewood, that is unless you want a decent internet connection. .14 megabit downloads and .5 megabit uploads...90% of my school work won't download...email works (barely) and the newsfeeds are VERY slow. It's taken two full minutes just to load the home page for weather.com . I have five videos to watch for class...I gave up and emailed my instructor with a screen shot of the internet connection speed test. Worst case scenerio? I get a B in the class. I think I can live with that at this point.

I need to start going to bed earlier.

Where my mind is right now...

All of these are companies that didn't spend quite enough time considering how their online names might appear - and be misread...

1. Who Represents is where you can find the name of the agent that represents any celebrity. Their Web site is
   www.whorepresents.com/
   
   
2. Experts Exchange is a knowledge base where programmers can exchange Advice and views at
   www.expertsexchange.com/
   
   
3. Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island at
   www.penisland.net/
   
   
4. Need a therapist? Try Therapist Finder at
   www.therapistfinder.com/
   
   
5. There's the Italian Power Generator company,
   www.powergenitalia.com/
   
   
6. And don't forget the Mole Station Native Nursery in New South Wales,
   www.molestationnursery.com/
   
   
7. If you're looking for IP computer software, there?s always
   www.ipanywhere.com/
   
   
8. The First Cumming Methodist Church Web site is
   www.cummingfirst.com/
   
   
9. And the designers at Speed of Art await you at their wacky Web site,
   www.speedofart.com/