This Yellow Taxi Cab In Which I Ride

I wasn't planning on writing about 2009 until 2010, but I'm awake and I can't sleep. I had a rather trying day at work today and have been feeling quite unfulfilled since then. My hope is that unloading some thoughts into this blog-thing will result in enough easing of my mind in order for me to fall asleep. It has now become a ritual on the blog for me to write about the past year on New Year's day. First, however, I re-read the previous New Year's day post and compare and contrast (apparently) last year's self to this year's self. The 2008 post is found here. The first thing I noticed in re-reading the post is that a lot of positives occurred throughout 2008. There were lights at the end of tunnels and I generally seemed to make steps in good directions. One thing that I didn't post about that day, but was on my mind non-the-less, was my relationship with Stephanie. It was about that time that things started to feel not-right. There were many discussio

Being that I celebrated Christmas/my-birthday with my family on the Saturday six days before actual Christmas/my-birthday, the 25th of December was rather uneventful. There were no candles to blow and no wishes to make. There was no out-of-tune and out-of-sync singing of happy birthday . And there were no spankings and/or a pinch-to-grow-an-inch. Especially, there were no hugs. There was very little socializing (I attempted to go to a gathering at a friend's place, but no one else was gathering and so I left so the boyfriend/ex-boyfriend -- she and he couldn't seem to agree -- could be there without the oddity of my random being-there-ness). Even so, I felt mostly fulfilled, as I had received many merry-and/or-happy-birthdays from friends and family via facebook messages, myspace messages, text messages, and phone calls. I also got to spend my birthday (for the first time in my entire life!) doing just exactly what I wanted to. And for this year, I wanted to play a video game t

It has been a very buys last two weeks. I haven't had the time to sit, organize my thoughts, and blog. I'm not quite sure where to start. It really has been that busy and my thoughts are a whirlwind. Two Thursdays ago, I attended Open Mic as usual. It was a good night overall, and I feel as though I did a particularly good job on my Christmas song, Frozen . I also played Endless . After playing I received really wonderful compliments from some people in the audience. One was from, Tom (think), who hosts an open mic in Fultonville at a church once a month. He was quite impressed with Frozen , which made me feel very good. I have to say that it may be one of my most well-written songs as far as the whole package is concerned. On Friday and Saturday, I did some Christmas shopping and started making my black santa hat (yes, I bought materials and sewed a santa hat for myself -- I can be quite crafty). I wrapped gifts for my family and put them underneath my tree. The doing of these

Ho Ho Hosting Caffe Lena's open mic!! Lots of christmas songs. It's freezing cold outside but feels warm in the caffe. Friends and songs. It doesn't get any more christmas spirity than this. Love it!! Ho Ho Hosting

It's not very late on a cold December Sunday. Even so, I am in bed (which is where I spent a good portion of my day) being warm and sleepy. The headache that I have had since this morning is finally subsiding and I feel that I may be able to fall asleep peacefully without being in pain. The comfort of this realization has prompted me to open up blogger and write. You see, it has been a while since I've blogged. Two weeks, as a matter of fact. And I should have a lot to write about. The problem with having a lot to write about is that when you do open blogger a whole bunch of things start to happen: 1) You have no idea where to start 2) You fear that you'll forget to write about something 3) You leave out bits and pieces of things in order to prevent yourself from writing a lot 4) You know it's going to take a while to get it all down, so you give up and leave it as a draft. All such thoughts are going through my head... Still, I haven't blogged in two weeks and I ne

It is now Sunday. Which means I am three days late writing about day six of my vacation and two days late writing about seven five. I'm a bad blogger some times. I have been very busy since being home. There was a gathering Saturday night at a friend's house and I have had to unpack and tidy things up after the unpacking. I picked my cat up on Saturday and slept A LOT. I guess I was partially jet-lagged and partially behind on sleep. I have also been taking care of the sunburn that I had gotten on Thursday and haven't written about yet... Okay. Time for the catch up. I woke up Thursday morning (Day 6 of the Vaca) in the late morning and went straight for the poolside. Of course I put on sun tan lotion and took extra care to make sure I covered my back. In fact, I put on SPF 15 first and then added SPF 30 to my back because I had gotten a little red in some spots. In the next four hours, I laid on my stomach, laid on my back and switched back and forth between the two. I

I don't remember getting a tattoo last night... I do remember getting the word "Light" stamped on my left hand when I walked into a dance club (time out: Yes. I went into a dance club). I attempted to wash "Light" off my hand, but it doesn't seem to want to come off at this time... More on the dance club later. First a catch up. I woke up Wednesday morning and had some breakfast. My plan for the day? Lay by the pool. What did I do? I laid by the pool. First, I went across the street to shop for a beach towel. I had checked out some other places the night before, but didn't find any that weren't either cheaply made or costing more than I wanted to spend.

Today, I saw something that I have never seen in real life before... but first: a catch up. I woke up this morning late again. I love me some sleeping in time. Got dressed, ate breakfast, and packed my stuff. Then I hopped in my lame rental car and headed off toward Ormond Beach (which is a part of Daytona Beach) and my hotel. I felt sad leaving Tif's house. I had a blast catching up and just hanging out. Tif is fun 100 percent of the time! My lame Hyundai Accent became a little less lame when I figured out how to change the EQ on the radio. Whoever had the car before me turned the treble way up and the bass down. WHO TURNS THE BASS DOWN !?!?!?!? No wonder I had to blast the radio just to hear the beat. I fixed the problem and felt a little bit better about driving it. It took me a little less than an hour to get to my hotel. I checked in and brought my stuff up to my room, smelling the salty sea the entire time. Here are some pictures of my room and the view: Aft

I am sleepy. So very sleepy. It's almost 11 and I've just returned from having a great dinner with Tif and her friends near Cocoa Beach. We ate at a bar and grill called (appropriately) Grills . Grills is on the inter coastal waterway (not that you needed to know that) and there was a nice breeze that kept things cool on an otherwise warmish night. Right now, Tif is (seriously) using a nail file (at my suggestion) to fix a tooth crown that broke on her today. And it worked, apparently. So, the moral of the story is: if you ever break your tooth crown, you can use a nail file to smooth out the sharp parts and make your mouth happy. Today's blog posting is soundtracked by the song Cape Canaveral by Conor Oberst. This is because there are a lot of signs around and to Titusville that also direct you to Cape Canaveral, which prompts me to think about -- and sing -- the song. I am listening to it on iTunes right now. This morning, I got a late start. The alarm went off at

I am sitting at my friend Tif's house. We just got home from an adventure at Sea World! We had a fabulous time. Firstly: a catch up. Albany. The plane boarded a little sooner than was planned and there were only like 40 people on it so it boarded fast. We ended up landing about 30 minutes earlier than expected, which was sweet because the line for picking up the rental car was long and took forever. I picked up my car. It's a Hyundai Accent and looks like this:

The Rental. Hyundai Accent.

Dolphin

At Sea World. Watching a whale show. Sitting in the 'soak zone.' having a blast. Remind me to tell you about the roller coasters and getting soaked on the Antlantis ride. Right. Done texting. Back to the show. Shamu

I am sitting in the Albany International Airport wishing I had my guitar. I'm afraid to travel with it, don't want anything to happen to it. Maybe when I get some money I will buy a "travel guitar" for future travels. There is free wi-fi here. Yay! I hope there is the same at my condo. I'm insanely early for my flight... my dad dropped me off and had an appointment to go to for work, so I couldn't get here any later. No problem. I can type. Click-clickity-click-click-click.

Why do we dress up on Halloween? I know why I dress up. Because it's cool to hide yourself and be someone else for a period of time. The more covered up my face is the better. But, seriously, why this tradition? A quick google search gave me this result on the origin of Halloween: This Halloween (or All Hallows' Eve, in its proper name) the streets will fill with children looking for sugar highs, parents dreading dentist bills, teens looking for mischief and the party crowd celebrating at any excuse. But that's not how it started. Halloween is the modern incarnation of the Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced Sah-ween, because Celtic spellings and pronunciations are worlds apart), which was first celebrated about 1000 B.C. Most Celtic European cultures had some sort of commemoration of Samhain on Nov. 1, the Celtic new year. Activities began on Oct. 31, the last day of the old year, the day of the last harvests before frost set in. It was the day that farmers would decide

Halloween. The party I was intending on going to was canceled last minute due to the host being ill. I was lucky enough to find a friend from high school who wanted to go out for a drink. We met at Partner's Pub in Johnstown and chatted and watched the Yankees Games -- even though neither of us could have cared what happened. It was a fun time. Afterwards, we walked to the Miss Johnstown Diner -- the legendary greasy spoon. My friend went home and I started to walk myself home. Then I realized that if I spent a little more time out, I might be good enough to drive home. So, I walked to a different bar: O'Connors. I ran into a friend outside and chatted with her for a moment. Then I went in to see if there was anyone else I knew. I walked toward the back of the crowded bar, weaving in and out of groups of people that were milling about. I found myself face to face with a scantily clad girl. She was very ugly. She took my hat off (the fedora) and put it on her head. She start gyr

It's six o'clock and trick or treat has begun in my town. It's raining and dreary and I'm certain that trick or treaters are soaked and sobbing as they trip over their costumes up people's porches for a fun size candy bar. It would be a hell of a lot cheaper use up less time to just go to the store and buy a bag of candy rather than buying a costume. I'm just thinking logistically. I'm home and most likely will be for the night. A party that I was invited to was canceled due to the host's unsuspected being sick. I'm hoping to go out tonight, but my friends are not. They are staying in because of the late night last night. Last night, was a block party. I dressed up as the Crow (picture in previous post) and hated it. The make up took forever to put on, didn't come out good to begin with, and felt strange on my face. It was hard to wash off and I look creepy in all of the pictures that were taken. (Wait. That last part is a good thing. It was a Ha

This is me on Halloween. Rather its the night before Halloween. I feel somewhat stupid... And i don't like this stiff on my face... Also, there is aparently a joke from South Park about dressing up as The Crow. Still. I'm off to a costume party. And I'm wearing a costume... Draven

I came across this article titled Four Ways to Sweep Him Off His Feet (never mind that I found it in Cosmo magazine, and nevermind why I read it either). What I find intriguing about the article is that it only mentions "four" ways to get a guy -- only four. And that is because it doesn't really take a whole lot. Truth be told, as I read the list I thought to myself, "if I could find a woman who would do one of these things once a month, I would think I found the holy grail." It's true. These are the four things that a woman needs to do. Just four. Only four things. Four. That's all. Seriously. There aren't any more. Something else that I thought was, "why don't they have 'Four Ways to Sweep HER Off HER Feet'?" And then I answered it. If there were only "four" things that a man had to do to win a woman, life would be easy. Simple. Fun. Enjoyable. However, my jaded self is here to tell you that you have to do a lot mor

I'm sitting on the sectional couch, which is my bed, in my living room. Cold Case Files is on TV, but I haven't been watching it since it started. I have no idea what they are invistigating... in fact, what they are doing right now doesn't seem to match up with the story I thought I was watching... anyways, I'm wearing warm clothes (sweater, thick jeans) and there are pillows and blankets on all sides. I'm comfortable. My laptop is on my lap and the gentle clicking sound of the keyboard interrupts the TV show as I type. It's gotten cold out... however, it's colder than it should be this time of year. I love October because things die. Leaves... mostly. And flowers and other plants. I don't love the fact that things die -- don't get me wrong. I love the somber tone that accompanies the death. It's a somer time of year. Regarding Somber: I have been using the term quite a lot lately. I use it to describe my songs, the way I feel at times... I enjo

I'm awake. It's going on midnight. This might not seem very late to some, but to me it's late. I'm typically an early-to-bed/late-to-rise type of guy. Especially when it's a Monday. I decided to give up on trying to talk myself into sleep and logged on the interweb in search of... something... nothing... I forget. I eventually ended up here. I adopted a kitten. Her name is Oreo because she is black and white. She is full of energy and loud "meows." She crawls up things (pant legs, chair legs, stool legs, curtains, walls) and runs from you to the wall to the cat toy back to you to the cat toy to the chair to the wall to the curtain to you to nothing in particular. Repeat multiple times. I have tried to pick her up and settle her down, but have failed. She fights when she gets picked up. I was shown earlier today by a cat enthusiest how to pick her up and prevent her from squirming away. This method has worked for me a little bit since I learned it. I feed t

Wednesday night. Curled up on my couch with six blankets on top of me (no joke! I'm still freezing!) and I'm downloading music. I saw two great live concerts on the HD channel recently and decided I needed to download the songs. The concerts were Coldplay (don't hate me) and Franz Ferdinand. Listening to Franz Ferdinand as the downloads are coming. I'm going to burn a disc so I can play these bands in the car. I need some new drivin' tunes. This past week at open mic was a good one. I played Endless and Wildflowers by Tom Petty. Here is the video that Jeffrey T. took of my song: At this point, I'd like to have a little discussion about rules. There are a lot of rules that we follow as individuals on a daily basis. Most rules protect us from purposely or not-so-purposely inflicting others with injuries, death, or other not-injury-or-death-related things. For example: when driving and the traffic light turns red, one stops -- which prevents one from running into

Today, we say our farewells to a comrade who has served well for many years. We salute your service in a lament, Black Band T-Shirt, for being all that you have been. When I purchased you, Black Band T-Shirt, from the internet store of a favorite band, I held no expectations for you other than to fit. And fit you did. Though, you didn't fit like every other small t-shirt that I owned. Nay. Black Band T-Shirt, your fit was far superior. Across the chest, you were loose in such a way that allowed me full range of motions, but tight enough to give the illusion of slight pecs. In the waist, you fit snuggly allowing others to see and envy my thinness. In the shoulders, you were perfectly taught, without pulling on and stretching the neck-hole like lesser t-shirts. Your sleeves were long enough... but not too long... and that was good. For years, I wore you sparingly and to events in which I wanted to look my best. No other t-shirt that I owned, Black Band T-Shirt, would have been up to

Took this picture earlier while at the diner after playing at the farmer's market. I am rather unshaven... Not sure how long it will stay this way. Thoughts? Questions? Concerns? Your feedback is quite welcome. Beard or No

I played at the Farmer's Market in Gloversville today. It was FREEZING in the shade, which is where I was asked to set up my equipment. I noticed the chill in the air at 8:30 when I got there and thought, "it's a sunny day; it will warm up quick." It didn't warm up AT ALL. I froze the entire two sets. In between, I went and sat in my car, which was warm. However, this turned out to make the returning to the cold shade more difficult. I should have just stayed and played. At one point, I thought, "I'll move around alot while playing and that will keep me warm." It didn't. And I felt rather silly moving about so much. Even so, I did fairly decent with tips and received many good comments and awed looks from children. "When I grow up, I wanna be just like him!! Good looking AND talented! He must get a lot of girls!!!" Kids. They're cute, but delusional. Anyways, previously to me waking up at 7:30 to get to the gig, I slept for a little

Tonight I decided I would take a walk. Once I had my sneakers on and my hoodie zipped up, I decided I would walk some place that had ice cream. That some place turned out to be Stewart's and the ice cream that I got was cookies and cream. On my way home, which was a different way than my way there, I realized something about my town: it feels like a different town when you are walking it than when you are driving it. In fact, I felt like I was in some one else's town and the people in cars that drove by were people who didn't live in my town and who most certainly didn't know me. It was an odd feeling and the ice cream melted quicker than I thought it would. Interestingly enough, I developed my thoughts about being a stranger in my own town after running into a friend and her tiny, cute dog at Stewart's. So strange that you can go from having a conversation with someone you know to feeling like you are some place other than the place that you've lived for the pa

Everyone should be forced to work on Labor Day. Then, we should have every other day of the year off... right? Wouldn't that make more sense? I have a three day weekend because of "Labor" day... Regular everyday stuff confuses me. Currently, I am in Uncommon Grounds on Broadway in Saratoga. Had a late lunch. Wandered around a bit. Read. Played FarmVille on facebook. My plan is to go to Gaffney's at 9 to see Bluesology play. I have a few more hours to read or type or whatever. I had a rather horrid day at work yesterday. It was the first really bad day that I've had since working this job, which I have been working for one month short of a full year. I suppose that it is a good percentage of good days to bad ones. My co-workers were incredibly supportive and stopped what they were doing to lend an ear or some advice on how to deal with the situation that was making my dad horrid. I'm really glad for the support and companionship that was offered. Otherwise, the

I'm at Uncommon Grounds on Sunday. Earlier today, I went to the track. I went with 40 dollars to spend on making bets. I cashed out with 18. So, consider the cost of getting in, the hot dog, the pretzel, the water, and the parade magazine, the whole day was a break-even kind of day. Since I didn't spend anything for five hours worth of entertainment (and excitement: I actually hit TWO superfectas and a trifecta!!! Too bad they were on tiny bets. Rather, I spent a lot on various bets), I've decided to see the Honeycutters play at Caffe Lena tonight. The Honeycutters are based out of South Carolina (I believe) and are fronted by a former Caffe Lena regular, Amanda Platt. Last time I saw Amanda play, she played with the lead guitarist of her band at open mic... maybe... a year and a half ago. She sounded amazing. She well-rounded in her playing and confidence, as oppossed to the rougher and less-confident Amanda that I remembered from open mic's passed. I'm interested

I'm walking in saratoga. And texting at the same tome (time... Damn it). On my way to the track. First and probably last time this year. Stopped off at the hat store. Tried some on. Like my current hat best. Bought a new feather for it though. Sucked the old one up in a vaccuum long ago. Here is a pic of the new feather. The old one had more color to it (red and yellow) but this one will do. Stuck a Feather

I hate ragweed. On my way to work every day, I pass this house where there is some ragweed growing in the side yard. Every day, I silently curse this person and swear to return with a flame thrower... At the moment, my allergies aren't bothering me too much. I took sudafed, allegra, clariton, flonase, and astelin. I was in bad shape at work and decided to take some sick time. That's when I came home and popped the sudafed, took a nap, and am now feeling better. People at work explained that the weather was shifting and that could also be a partial cause to my earlier discomfort. My hope is that I am in decent shape for Saturday's famer's market gig... I haven't been practicing because of the allergy problems I've been having, but I have continued playing at open mic. This past week, I played I'm Alive by Jackson Browne. I will probably play that song again this week because my mom is going to be there and she is a big Jackson Browne fan. Not a lot else to b

On break at work. Cleaning out the camera part of my phone. While in New York City a week and a half ago, i took a quick picture of Mickey Mouse. After snapping the pic, I walked around the corner and was surprised to see... Another Mickey Mouse!! Shouldn't they have gotten together and picked different corners?? Random