My Sad Life in Blog Form

I haven’t posted in quite awhile and I really haven’t got much to say, but I did want to share this drawing I made a couple weks ago. It more or less started as just practicing using an image of a posed figure to draw off of. As I was drawing, I ended up turning it into a pencil sketch of Angel of the X-Men.

I’m usually not much for strictly using pencils. I grew up inking everything I drew in sort of the typical comic book style, so I’m pretty proud of how this turned out. I think this is also my first attempt at drawing wings with any sort of realism.

I saw the coolest T-Shirt ever today at work. This girl came in and I instantly saw the shirt and thought to myself, “Holy shit, are those Blue Barracudas?” It indeed was. The girl wearing the t-shirt also had the kind of 80’s little boy mop-top sort of hairdo and some thick glasses. She may have been actual contestant on the show who had time traveled to present day, but I can’t be sure of that.

I went with Nikki to a Dresden Dolls concert this past Wednesday in Kansas City. Looking back on the experience, I’ve realized how my age is starting to interfere with my concert-going experience. As the date of the show was getting closer and closer, I was starting to dread it more and more. It’s not that I don’t like the Dresden Dolls. I love them. In fact, they’re one of my favorite bands to see perform live. Whenever I see that a band I love is coming to town, I always feel like I have to go to the show rather than I want to. What I’ve realized is that the dread I feel is based on the pain and suffering of the actual concert experience.

Now, this may have nothing to do with my age. The suffering I feel at a concert may be due to the fact that I’m going to somewhat bigger shows now with bands that may not be on the radio, but they do have a big following. What is starting to kill my love for a live show is the fact that I have to stand outside in possibly inclement weather for an hour. I have to listen to the teenagers around me describe why they are the one true fan of the band we are about to enjoy. Once I have gotten into a concert, I am always somehow standing next to those same excited teenagers who are becoming increasingly more annoying. Once the show has started, a man who despite my own tall stature is towering above me and has stepped in front of me.

At this particular show, the weather outside was nice, and the annoying superfans didn’t end up near me until we were inside the “Ranch Bowl-esque” venue. They became increasingly more annoying when they stepped away and Nikki and I took their spot at the front of the stage which angered them. There were also some other superfans who are part of this Dresden Dolls fan club in which they get backstage passes, but felt that since they were in the club, they had the right to push and shove people to get to the front of the crowd. “It’s okay, we’re VIP.”

I don’t think I’m really asking for too much at a show. There are a lot of things the don’t bother me. I expect to be crowded and bumped into a little. I expect (although don’t understand) people to wave their fists or point their fingers to the beat of the song. I expect people to yell “I love you” to the band members, but sometimes this shit gets a little too much. Someone yelled during this show “Amanda Palmer for president!” which is obviously absurd, but whatever. Then a girl next to me yells “Brian Viglione for president!” Okay, basically, that jokes been done….like it was just done using Amanda’s name. A moment later, this same girl yells “Amanda for president!” Yeah, we fucking get it. You like the band. You think they should run the country just like someone else in the crowd. WE GET IT. This same chick also proceeded to try and get the band’s attention a few times while they were in the midst of playing a song. Jesus Christ, that shit is annoying. Why is it that the biggest fans are the ones who seem to be ruining the show?

The show was pretty good, but incredibly long. There was a KC band called “Medicine of Fury” or something like that. They were kind of odd and trippy. Just a drummer, a guitarist and a distorted microphone. I think I needed to be on drugs to have enjoyed that more. Next, there was some belly dancing group which was interesting. Then there was Smoosh who everyone should go check out. It’s made up of three girls who are like twelve years old from Seattle. They rocked. They have a lot of energy, and it’s good music. After them were a couple of pole dancers. It was more art/gymnastics than stripping. They were pretty impressive. Chicks made of solid muscle.

 

 

Finally was the Dresden Dolls who put on a two and a half hour show. They were very excellent. They opened with Pink Floyd’s “In the Flesh” and had a few other covers here and there as well. They didn’t play some of the songs that I would’ve liked to have seen, but they always put on a good show. Brian is always very expressive as he flies on the drum set, and Amanda’s voice is always powerful and emotional. They also make things more interesting by having Brian switch to guitar for a few songs, or adding Smoosh to play a couple songs. By the time the encore came, my body ached so much that I just wanted to go. Every show I go to, I’m wishing I could just skip the encore and leave, but I know I want to see more as well. They played “Half Jack” for their encore which is one of my favorites to see live because it involves a long introduction with some amazing drumming. I also hated it for the same reasons. Just as I am longing to be able to just sit down and relieve my knees and back, they play their longest song.

 

Looking back on the pain and suffering of the show and being awake for nearly 24 hours by the time we were almost out of gas and hoping to find an interstate exit with a gas station, it was well worth it as always. I do know that I’ll be dreading the next show just as much.

Guy at Work: These red peppers are too long.
Me: That’s what your mom said about my penis last night.  I ended up puncturing her kidney.
Guy at Work:  That’s okay.  I punctured your mom’s lung.

I just bought a house on Franklin Avenue near Broadway Methodist Church. Nikki and I moved in about a week ago. We’re still trying to get everything situated and I just finally got some time to get my computer up in it’s mediocre running order.

 
Hooray for never melting snow!! It’s two stories with a mostly finished basement and finished attic. It’s basically a two bedroom house with a tiny room that could be like a nursery type room in the future but is being used as an office for now. The attic could also be a descent bedroom except that you have to go through the master bedroom to get to it. There is also a bit of a bedroom in the basement.We got a lot of space for the money we’re spending. It’s going to end up costing me a couple hundred bucks more a month than what I was paying in rent, but it will be worth it. Right now, we’ve got a lot of snow and ice in our yard and driveway that will never seem to go away due to that we’re in a very shady area in the winter. It’s making the house look pretty dingy and boring so far, but I’m sure I’ll be far more satisfied once the warmer weather gets here.

Once we get a little more situated, I may post more photos if I feel like it.

This past Super Bowl Sunday I was kind of sad that I had to work and miss watching the Puppy Bowl.

As I was passing through the dining room area at work on my way to the bathroom, I overheard a woman say something that I’m almost certain I misheard. The words I picked up through everyone else’s talking was “I thought the elephant penis was only 99 cents.” Now, I’m not really sure what that means. I don’t really know why one would want to buy an elephant’s penis or where you would get one, but I’m pretty sure it would have to cost more than 99 cents.

I think Nintendo should combine Mike Tyson’s Punch Out and Donkey Kong to make Mike Tyson’s Donkey Punch.  I’d buy it.

So I wanted to make a little mention of the shooting at Von Maur at Westroads.  Really, I want to make more of a commentary about the media.  I’ve noticed that the Omaha World Herald has been running a series of short articles called  “My Omaha” or something like that. They interview random people, and they say what Omaha is to them.  The point they make at the beginning of the article is that in other instances of mass shootings, those towns become defined by the shooting.  The article says that we will stand strong and not let this tragedy define Omaha.

When I first saw this,  all I was thinking was that by this point, no one else in the rest of the nation even gives a crap about this shooting.  It’s no longer in the national papers, and no one is even talking about it anymore.  In fact, the only place I’m hearing or seeing anything about this mall shooting in Omaha, Nebraska is in the article about how we will not be defined by this shooting.  Maybe it’s just me but the fact that the newspaper keeps running more and more stuff about this shooting seems like it’s trying to make sure that Omaha will be remembered as the home of the mass mall shooting.

This also reminds me of something else stupid I read in the newspaper.  I think it was a letter to the editor that said we should go out to the mall when it re-opens and we should go to Von Maur when it re-opens and shop and spend money so we can show the world that this killer did not win.  Fucking stupid.  All the kid wanted was to take out a few people, kill himself, and become famous in the process.  I think he accomplished exactly what he wanted.  Shopping at Von Maur is not going to change that.  He won.  In fact, he’s still winning because we keep plastering his name all over the newspapers.

Seriously, I think in the wake of every major tragedy, the dummies just come out and speak their stupid minds everywhere.

Sunday afternoon, I headed out to my car to go off to work. As I was driving down the street, I felt that my car was just not driving that smoothly. I pulled over into a nearby park parking lot which was still fully covered in snow and checked out my tires. Sure enough, my back tire was flat. I called into work to let them know I would be late and fifteen minutes later, I had a spare tire on. I kept in mind that last time I used my spare tire, it was flat when I put it on. This time, it seemed a little low, but nothing substantial. I made it to work fifteen minutes late, but with no other complaints about my cars working condition.

Later that night, I left work to find that my spare tire was nearly completely flat. I drove to a nearby gas station and aired it up. By this time, I pretty much felt I could safely assume that my spare tire did have a slow, but not too slow of a leak. I had already taken out a cash advance from work which was just enough for me to get by, so I didn’t have any money to fix this problem. I decided that even though it wasn’t the safest thing to be driving around on a spare tire with a leak, it was going to have to do until payday.

So for the past few days, I’ve been going through a routine of airing up my tire every time I go to and from work. Finally, I got my paycheck today so I could afford to get my tire fixed. After cashing my check, I had to stop home for a bit. About an hour later, I decided to head out to Sears to get my tire fixed. Once again, my tire was nearly flat, so I drove to the Bucky’s gas station at the end of the viaduct. As I went to air up my tire, I found that in the short distance I had traveled, my tire was now completely deflated. I attached the air hose, but it just made a loud hissing noise and my tire didn’t budge. Apparently, I had gotten paid just in the nick of time. My spare tire was totally shot. I drove my disabled car to the nearest tire place I could find and got a new tire.

All is well now, but if I ever get another flat, I’m fucked.