You Know What I Love?

When my house is silent, and no one is around.  Feels like I have my own place again.  It's nice.  I won't ever knock not having to pay rent by living at home, but it is pretty awesome living without overarching watchfulness.  Right now, I'm lurking that one website that everyone knows but refuses to acknowledge, drinking a local micro-brew/ my favorite beer in the world (only available in Wisconsin to my knowledge, and then only generally around Madison), and watching fishing shows.  I am an avid outdoorsman, even though I don't look the part.  Canoeing and fishing particularly, but also hiking, kayaking, and camping (of course).  We just had a two week cold snap, which was preceded by awesome weather.  But more awesome weather is slowly on the way.  I'm gearing up to buy a fishing license and start using it.  Shaping up to be a pretty good spring.

Why Looking for a Job is a Full-time Job in and of itself

I found the job I've been looking for: a Library Assistant at a local public library.  15 bucks an hour, benefits, not too shabby.  So I re-tooled my resume for the job, am working on a cover letter, and have my dad agree to proof read it for me.  Works out.  Then I'm at the website looking at the job posting.  Not only do they want a resume and  a cover letter, understandable, but they want me to fill out an application.  And some other stuff.  And I can't e-mail or fax it; I can only turn it in via mail or driving the forty minutes to the city hall from my house.

It got me thinking of other jobs I've applied to.  Jobs where I've sent them a copy of my resume off of monster or a similar website.  Then, my actual resume.  Then, I need to register on their website and fill out a huge application.  I get it; they want to weed out the best candidates.  But come the fuck on.  Is it necessary for me to send you the information three times? Three times? What are you looking for? Inconsistencies?  The Library job requires me to fill out forms for drug testing and background checks.  Why not have me do that at the interview? At least give them to opportunity to see if they want to hire me.  But no.  I need to fill out and sign with a witness.  For a job I probably won't get because I'm just barely under-qualified.  So, it takes me about an hour or so per job I apply for.  Why can't I just send a resume, maybe a cover letter, and have them get back to me? Let me know if it's worth it to fill out the rest of this shit for them.  I'll give you a hint: it never seems worth it.

Also, glad everyone enjoyed my drunken posts last night.  It was pretty great.  Me and some friends got good and plastered.  We started a fight club after the show we went to.  Someone called the cops.  We then had to explain to them that we weren't fighting fighting; we were friends "fighting."  One of the cops called us idiots and told us to quote "Call a cab, and get the fuck out of here.  This is literally the dumbest thing I have ever witnessed."  I high fived the other cop around back of the squad car.  He said "You guys are ridiculous.  Don't mind him, he's just a dick.  Have a good night."  We finished our fight club outside of a friend's apartment.  I lost.  But nothing more than a few bruises and a couple of scratches on us.  Then we drank some more.  After that, we passed out, scattered around his apartment.  It was a good night.

Internet doodles

I love webcomics.  Who else loves some mothafuckin' webcomics?

 Also, I'm totally not wearing pants right now

I've been drinking

That's right, drinking.  Went out with a friend who was visiting from Chicago.  It was a swell time.  Saw some bands play: So So Radio, Hacienda, and the Greenhornes.  So So Radio was so so, Hacienda was great, and the Greenhornes would have been great, but the lead guitarist/lead singer just stood there, barely moving.  He kind of ruined the upbeat mood of the band.  Be ashamed.  But yeah, caught up, had some beers, watched some music, had some more beers, made it home, and now I am blogging.  And now I am going to sleep.  Peace.

Here's a sample of hacienda.  They's rockin, yo.

Drunk on Power

I'm watching the 2nd greatest movie trilogy of all time: Back to the Future (Second to the original Star Wars of course).  Probably would draw serious consideration if I was stranded on a desert island, just because I can watch them over and over again.  I think everyone wants to change the present for the future.  It's thoughts like these that keep me up at night.  If I could go back in time to alter my future, what would I change?  Try and motivate a past self to do better?  Try to alter the course of my destiny in a simple way?  Prevent myself from the most major screw ups in my life?  Who knows.  It's not like I can jump in a DeLorean and find out.  Because where I'm going, all I have is roads.

IT'S FRIDAY

Bullshit

So, today I went for a job interview in data entry.  Showed up early, dressed nice, shaved, the whole nine yards.  Go into the interview, and every one of my responses are spot on.  I get the HR rep chuckling with a few well placed jokes, and I could tell that she saw I could do the job.  Then one of the supervisors for the position came in.  Dickbag.  Not a smile from this motherfucker.  He asks about my work history, I do the same song and dance, nothing.  He grills me about my performance record, and just disregards my education focusing on how I was only in a temp job for seven months.  A FUCKING TEMPORARY JOB.  But he finally relents a little, and I think I've got him, until the end of the interview when he says one thing: "We're really looking for someone with experience with Data entry.  That's our prerogative."  I respond with "Yes.  I totally understand that.  But I think that my education may rectify that problem. My English degree focused primarily on writing.  Once I take the performance test, I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised."  He kind of glowers, and then says pretty much the same thing, then leaves.  The HR rep says she let me know.  So, instead of posting in their ad that they're looking for experience, they make it sound like an entry-level position.  I don't think I'm getting the job.  So, on my way back from the interview, I stopped and got a bottle of cheap wine, which I drank tonight.  So I'm drunk, sitting in my basement, watching Season 4 of the Venture Brothers that I borrowed from a friend.  Feels bad man.

Upside, finished my taxes.  Making BANK, but I can't fucking really spend that much of it.  Gonna go get me a GRE prep book so I can go to grad school and get my shit together in life.

On a similar note, I'm currently working on another blog project.  A more specific blog project.  An Awesome project.  So awesome, that the world may not be ready for it.  Stay tuned

A Fucked Up Day

So, this day has been fucking strange.  After a late night playing video games with a friend, I went home to get some sleep.  My bed is broken.  One of the legs on the bed gave way, in a direction that I was sleeping.  So I collapsed into the concrete floor of my basement and hurt my neck, which has been hurting all day.  Fantastic.

The bed thing is not the most fucked up thing to happen today.  This morning, a police officer in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin was shot and killed in a standoff.  Normally, not something I'd pay a incredible amount of attention to, other than sympathetic feelings towards his family.  This is a little different.  His name was Craig Birkholz, and for a year and a half, he was my Residential Adviser at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

I didn't know Craig super well, but I knew him in his capacity as RA and as person.  He was a good guy.  Sometimes strict, enforcing the dorm rules and so on, but he was never a dick about it.  A lot of people were friends with him in the dorm.  He was well liked.  I liked him.  It's really fucked up.  I hadn't seen him since I moved out of the dorm after my Junior year (I spent a year longer in the dorms than I had to, in a single room, because all my friends had moved in with each other and I was the lone man out).  That was in 2007.  I saw him a few times around campus, obviously.  UW-Oshkosh isn't a huge campus; It's really easy to see the same people all the time.  Needless to say, it's fucked up.  Pretty sure I said that already, but I don't know how many times I can stress it.  I could say that I wish I knew him better, but I won't.  My deepest sympathies to his wife.

Here's the full story from Fond du Lac's local paper:
http://www.fdlreporter.com/article/20110320/FON0101/110320041/Fond-du-Lac-police-officer-killed-line-duty?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

Feels bad man

A Good Day is Seemingly Rare in this Day and Age

St. Patrick's day was a success on my end. Got a little tipsy, hung out with a couple of friends, listened to music, and had a good time. Malt liquor may be the greatest invention of all time, mainly for poorfags like me.

But, I have a bit of good news. First, I was contacted today regarding a job offer. Nothing super exciting, just a data entry position for an insurance company. But still, a job is a job, and it will give me a chance to get on decent financial footing for the future.  I've got an interview set up for next Tuesday, so it's a start.

Now, today also brought this little jewel in the mail:

That's right.  Stuff from Google.  High Five.

To finish up my good day yesterday, three things happened.  The first is that a friend of mine who I haven't seen in over a year is returning for a visit, which is pretty awesome.  He's a good guy, and he moved to Chicago after hie and his girlfriend called it quits.  The second is that I have officially burned a bridge between an ex and myself, allowing me a chance at recovery from the fucking scorched earth campaign that was our relationship.  I wish her all the best as she returns to the volatile hellpit that spawned her.  Finally, at number three, the University of Wisconsin Men's Basketball team advanced to the next round in the NCAA tournament.  I'm not a huge sports fan, but the Badger's are my team, so best of luck to them.

As for the construction, look for it next week.  I may also change the format of my blog: instead of a self-deprecating blog of personal failure, I may add something to that.  A return to my original intent perhaps, a blog that is not only autobiographical but a showcase of my attempts at creativity.  We'll see.  Maybe a job will give my life the structure it needs

St. Patty's

As an American of primarily Irish descent, it is apparently my sacred duty to celebrate the exodus of my ancestors from the Emerald Isle with drunken abandon. However, because of my lack of funds, i will be joining two of my also poor friends in an act of solidarity: spending 5 dollars each on malt liquor and getting drunk in the privacy of my friend's apartment. But to be Irish, we will be drinking a beverage with a psuedo-Irish name: Mickey's. So wherever you are, gentle reader, if you have a beverage, hoist it high on this celebration of America's ability to bastardize a culture and turn it into a drunken party. Who was St. Patrick? Who the fuck cares, let's get bombed!

So I'll go ahead and leave my favorite Dropkick Murphys song, because goddamn if I don't know a single Irish artist who's not Thin Lizzy or the Pogues. Or U2, but let's face it, fuck U2.



Oh yeah, I've been busy with a renewed job hunt and the possibility of being out of town for a few days this weekend, so the new designs won't likely go through until next week.

Swans - Song For The Sun

Still working, but here's a classic from the noise rock titans Swans. This song is a unique one by then, less noise, pretty straightforward. Plus, they have a tendency to be very nihilistic. But a great band

Under Construction

I have decided to alter the appearance of my blog, give it a little more Zazz.  It, it just lacks zazz.  So for that, stay tuned.  It'll probably be a few days before a legit post happens, but until then, I'll probably just include some videos and little diversions with pithy comments.

First up is a video of the Boston punk band Street Dogs.  In February, they joined Rage against the Machine's Tom Morello and MC5's Wayne Kramer in playing am acoustic concert in solidarity with the protests in Madison Wisconsin.  This is a video of that concert, with two songs by the Street Dogs, their own "Up the Union" and a cover of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song."  Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q78lYrnkJn8

Wisconsin 2: Electric Boogaloo

Yesterday I took another trip to downtown Madison, Wisconsin to protest around the Capitol, this time with my 17-year-old brother in tow.  Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera, because I wanted to document the goings on for later, and to share with people who haven't seen it first hand.  On the other hand, however, it was the largest protest that has taken place in the past month, with upwards of 100,000 people packing the square around the capitol building.  Signs, chants, music, the whole nine yards.  Earlier in the day, state farmers drove tractors around the square in solidarity with unions as well as to protest the cuts to Badgercare, Wisconsin's publicly subsidized healthcare plan.  Right before we left to get my brother to work, the 14 Democratic party senators who left the state to stall the passage of the bill to further debate and negotiation took the makeshift stage, and began speaking to the crowd.

Either way, it was astounding.  The amount of people out giving a shit about each other and the rights of public workers was amazing.  The bill had passed, but the legal process was far from done.  The Wisconsin Secretary of State has said that he will not approve the bill until March 25th, to give the various inquiries and lawsuits a chance to be reviewed by the courts and the State Attorney General.  Now, there are also petitions to begin the recall process of state senators, 16 in total, 8 democrats (those that left the state), and 8 Republicans (the party that modified the bill to overcome the 3/5 quorum).  There is only one petition I as a voter am able to sign, because they are based on district, and that is for one of democratic senators.  Then again, I support him, so if the recall goes through I'll vote for him in the election.  Thanks to all the people who have commented and read these last couple of posts and showed support for Wisconsin.

However, far be it from me to have my state be the only thing on my mind.  As everyone has now heard, Japan has been rocked by a giant earthquake, either 8.9 or 9.0 depending, and then had to deal with a Tsunami.  I'm not a religious person, so I don't pray, but I really wish the best of luck to the Japanese people during the aftermath of this shitstorm.  I was discussing it with a friend last night, and we came up with a possible idea.  I'm not the most charitable person, and it's pretty fucking clear I could do with a little humility and try and fix my impossibly negative karmic rating, if I believed in Karma, which I don't.  I feel unfulfilled in life now, and we discussed the possibility of going to Japan to volunteer with relief efforts.  It's not like I have a job or anything to stop me from going, but as of now, the relief efforts are purely monetary.  So me and my buddy are keeping our ears to the ground for now, and we'll see what happens.

Wisconsin

I am a Wisconsin citizen.  It's been a crazy month here, and from the looks of it, it's about to get crazier.

I'm liberal.  I disagreed with what Governor Scott Walker was attempting to do to the collective bargaining rights of public workers in Wisconsin.  I supported the 14 Democratic senators that fled the state in order to force Walker to negotiate to reach a bill that everyone was alright with.  I understand that Wisconsin is in financial trouble; the entire Goddamn country is.  But I don't think that targeting public workers is the answer.  Making them pay more for pension and insurance, fine, that doesn't really effect me; it doesn't seem fair, but so be it.  However, these people have the same rights as any other workers in the country, including the right to unionize and collectively bargain.  Yes, we all know that unions have issues, but lets face it: every group has issues.  Some priests embezzle from church congregations, some CEOs rob their employees' pensions, and some union bosses are the same.  But those are only a few bad apples.

Like I said, I'm liberal.  I didn't vote for Scott Walker.  48 percent of Wisconsin voters didn't vote for Scott Walker.  The amount that did hardly makes Walker king of Wisconsin, despite the fact that he believes he did.  This is not a one party system.  America is not a one party system.  Concessions must be made on bills all the time.  The Democratic senators fled Wisconsin to halt the bill and force Walker to negotiate, a desperate act that seemed to be working until now.  Tonight, Republican senators in Wisconsin modified the bill to overcome the 3/5 quorum that stopped the bill from passing.  They passed a bill that stripped public unions of their collective bargaining rights.  By taking the fiscal parts of the bill out, they proved that this was purely political, not to balance the state budget.

The protests in Madison have been peaceful so far.  I fear that this will change.  But tomorrow, I will return to the capitol, and show solidarity with public workers across the state.

The full story of what has happened tonight can be read here:
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_8747fa04-4a74-11e0-8e6b-001cc4c03286.html

HA HA HA!

Depressing?

First off, thanks to the two dozen or so people who are now followers of my blog.  I have returned the favor to most of my knowledge.  If not, let me know and I'll hit you up with a follow.

So apparently my life is depressing.  I never really thought about that until it was pointed out several times in comments.  I guess when your inside of it, it's not super apparent.  But that's ok.  If a group of near-strangers think my life is depressing, that's just more motivation to get off my ass and get some stuff done.  And for one commentator, yes.  My love life isn't in the greatest shape.  Being jobless and near broke doesn't exactly moisten the ladies.

Now, if I didn't need sleep I'd go out and do something, but my state of fatigue is overtaking the sense of excitement I am feeling.  So, I'm going to leave with a song and a promise.  The promise is that next time I post, I'll have something that I did.  The song is one that has been stuck in my head all night: "Civilized Worm" by the Melvins

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH6qzerVPTo

Resurrection

Don't call it a comeback, I just forgot about this thing almost immediately.  Just like everything else I try to work on, I get side-tracked by random shit and just forget to update.  So to kick things off, I'm going to give an itemized list of why my life in unfulfilled:

1.) No job.  Not even a one.  I don't believe that life is determined by your job, but still, most people my age have their shit together by now

2.) No money.  Again, I'm not very materialistic, but I like to be able to buy things, to go out with friends, go see concerts, and get drunk.  Being near broke has stopped that from happening.

3.) Boredom.  I live in a constant state of boredom.  Sure, there are things I can do that cost no money, especially thanks to the internet, but I don't, which segues into my next point:

4.) Lazy.  I am lazy as fuck.

So that's it.  Hopefully, this second attempt to let a small corner of the internet know what goes on in my life works.  Hopefully, I'll be motivated