Well, well, well. It has been about a year since I begun this jaunt into unfamiliar Internet territory — before then, blogging existed in a known but seldom-visited corner of the InterTron. I have lived in this place for one year. I know few of my neighbours, and I doubt that they know me. Our only commonality is our obscene idol, which is known only as “Blog”. It demands sacrifices regularly, gradually consuming the entirety of our minds into its grotesque form.
That being said, it was one year ago (or so) that I examined my socially unpopular pastimes. At the time, I came to the conclusion that nobody should dictate how my leisure time is best spent besides myself. I come back to this issue today for two reasons:
1. I have recently landed a job (my title: toadie) working at a game and hobby store, catering mostly to children and bizarre man-child hybrids such as myself.
2. It makes a good connection with my very first blog (it’s all cycles).
I am still of the opinion that I shouldn’t be worried about what other people think. However, my concerns have shifted — I now wonder if I am making the best use of my time. Sometimes other activities, such as chewing my way through the rest of a forgotten book, seem more productive. In other cases, I feel as if I should be broadening my horizons — perhaps keeping up on my areas of academic interest.
Books often seem more legitimate, and I most definitely do not read enough (novels, that is — I read plenty otherwise — why, I’m reading right now). Making things more complicated is my desire to constantly have a to-do list, even going so far as to have a list of games and books to make my way through. The upshot to seeing leisure as a task is that it feels like you’re getting something done. The downside is that it’s not very relaxing, which is supposed to be the point, no? Even as I write this, the almost satanically-powerful urge to “catch ‘em all” (that’s Pokemon, for all three of you who didn’t catch the reference) is burning into my very soul.
These concerns seem unlikely to go away anytime soon. However, the Summer months are only just beginning. Perhaps working in the games business will push me away — I anticipate that it will only build my knowledge and affection for the subject, however. Regardless, I feel that I must either reconcile these feelings or else make a concerted effort to take up more diverse interests.
In parting, Connor has put up some of his music. He recently moved in with me for the Summer and we’re going to be joining our Voltron-like forces together once more to form some kind of giant musical robot. This can only bode poorly for our neighbours, but it also signals a return to my undying love for the stage, with any luck.
I have heard the new Ted Leo album. Oh yes, I have heard it. I have accomplished this feat through certain underground internets. I apologize to Ted, but I will likely purchase the album when it does finally arrive via legitimate channels. As well, I will be viewing him in concert for the second time, something which is rarely done. Such is the majesty this man exudes, accompanied by his coterie of pharmacists.
Yesterday I finished what might be called an opinion piece on the well-known topic of Marxian theory. In said paper, I attempted something that I have often striven for yet never achieved – I have coined a phrase. The phrase in question became the title of the paper, dragging the initial thesis off course greatly. Despite this, I stand by it as a phrase that could be used in papers, books, etc.
“Diversity of ruin” – it describes the myriad ways in which modern workers are alienated from their means of livelihood.
I would explain in greater detail, but it would be in such terms that neither you nor I would be likely to understand.
Wow, I totally thought telemarketing sucked as a job. Tim Hortons night shift sucks hard too, a lot. Eight hours, 11-7. Not fun. Also, played a show last week to lukewarm reception since the crowd was 90% 13 year old kids who looked at us funny when we tried to actually sing and play guitars instead of screaming and throwing them around our necks. That was fun. Pictures to follow, perchance. Got to see who took them, first.
Also, since we left early, we didn’t get paid. Fuck. I doubt we would have made much anyway though, seeing as how we sold like seven tickets. Fucking Tuesday night shows.
Holy crap — Greg Graffin is releasing a new album and I hadn’t heard about it until today. Adding considering shame to that already shameful fact is that I only heard about it on “the MySpace.” Wow. Needless to say, I’ll be buying it. Sadly, I’ve never been able to find a copy of American Lesion, Greg’s first solo album, which is pretty awesome. He’s the singer for Bad Religion, but these solo folk albums are so fantastic I can’t believe that this isn’t his primary musical career. I love BR as well, and it’s cool that he can do both.
In totally unrelated news, GameFAQs is having a “Best. Series. Ever.” contest. How it works is you decide who people are going to vote for in a series of match-ups, ultimately trying to predict what will be the best series ever. So far, I’m seven for seven. Only 31.49% of people guessing Castlevania would win over Halo, so I’m already doing well. We’ll see if that keeps up. I really don’t know why I’m so excited though — I can’t win anything, since I’m not a US resident. Oh well, thrill of the chase and all that.
Hello everyone, how are you doing today? That is of course a rhetorical question since this is the Internet and this is my place to talk about my day, not yours! Oh man I am so losing patience with trying to indent all my paragraphs, so maybe I won’t anymore. DAMN YOU ENGLISH CLASSES AND IMPLANTING URGES TO INDENT.
Do you remember about that telemarketing job I was talking about recently? Well I also recently quit that very same job. Telemarketing is not for me. $150 however, is for me, for my week of telemarketing. It is sometimes disturbing how fast money can disappear. Over the weekend I seem to have lost about $80 on things.
I actually got away with spending almost zero yesterday at the Toronto Gay Pride Parade. If you were there then I am sure you will agree with me that it was pretty fabulous. I wanted to pick one of my pictures that I took (there were like, 200) and I could have gone for something extravagant with feathers and glitter, but that would be the obvious answer. So I decided on this one, since it seems to have photographic merit on its own.
Okay if you don’t want to see some guy dancing then you might have wanted to close your eyes about two seconds ago. Anyway I am pretty confidant when I say that you are not as awesome as him, and I am not even being sarcastic. My only complaint is the Green Party poster in the background…that is an INCONVENIENT TRUTH har har har oh man I want to see that movie.
Alright one more thing for this post and that is Devo 2.0. Okay so I am not the biggest Devo fan in the world, I just own their Greatest Hits album and that is it. But it is one thing to change “Girl U Want” to “Boy U Want” and another to basically strip all the subtle lyrics and replace them with family-friendly crap. I AM STARTING AN INTERNET PETITION AGAINST DEVO 2.0 WHO IS WITH ME?
Today I started working at a telemarketing agency, selling rodeos over the phone. A tough business really, where one must suffer all manner of rude behaviour. Nevermind that I'm calling people when they're sitting down for dinner, I AM GOING TO KEEP CALLING UNTIL YOU RECOGNIZE. It is kind of an interesting environment — each person has their own technique, refined over countless hours calling cold over and over again. After my first day, I feel that I have begun to form a style of my own, one that is as of yet only mildly effective.
I heard about this job through my friend Connor, whose site can be found here. Impressive, isn't it? Connor also usually runs our site over at a place called MySpace, perhaps you have heard of it. I believe you are more likely to have heard of MySpace if you identify yourself as the denomination of "emo". In fact, you are very likely to have several pictures of yourself and over 100 friends, many of whom you may never have met.
In less responsible days, I started a MySpace of my own — and have constantly been reminded of the error of my ways ever since. It can be found here. YES THAT IS CALLED BLOG CROSS-POLLINATION. Be warned: only view it if you wish to see the comments left to me by innumerable preteen girls who have lied their way onto MySpace in order to stalk anyone who is, as they say, "in a band".
The MySpace Connor somewhat maintains is for this band, which has to date enjoyed good local support. Last year we recorded ten songs, which was a good start. That MySpace is right here, by the way. If you would like to hear a few of the songs we have recorded about Charlton Heston, and some that are not about him, please direct your browser and attention to that link.
Connor, by the way, will be playing General William Guile in our rendition of Street Fighter 2: 2 Extreme. His training in Wadokai Karate will be an asset to him in this respect, in stark contrast with the rest of the cast who have never studied the deadly arts. I will tentatively be playing General M. Bison, or "Vega" as he is called in Japan. I hope to do justice to Raul Julia's masterful performance as the great villain, and also hope that I am able to obtain the appropriate hat to portray the role. I should have more information on SF2:2E in the coming days, so continue to check here for updates.
