11.28.2007

doin' the dishes

Be it unbelievable, I am at this moment doing the dishes. They're soaking, actually. That is to say, I am a young single male not yet settled on a particular dish. A dish is a slightly antiquated way of saying attractive young woman. I've only heard my mother say it, who was a wealth of vocabulary to me in her time. Perhaps it's too soon, but I'm attempting to revive "dish" in the hipster vernacular with the pun of doin' dishes. The idea came about when a friend related to a friend that he takes his shirt off when doing the dishes to keep the shirt from getting wet. I responded that I always take my shirt off when doin' a dish, too, for the same reason. The comment was discarded, possibly for the inclusion of the outdated homonym. It didn't take much for the catch phrase, "like noneother" to catch on, once I uttered it around some kids in an urban neighborhood. Maybe this trendsetter's spotlight is waning. Naturally, it took some coaxing of the interests to get to this point of dish doing, tonight. Please read on.

Waiting for phonecalls is an effective method of procrastination. My apartment was a heap of clothes and miscellany, biting at my heels when traipsed. I'd lay a few eggs of correspondence via telephone, and wait for them to hatch. Pointless activities ensued whist it seemed as if important time was being spent. The apartment was temporarily no longer at my throat. Once a party did call back, the red eyes of responsibility toward the mess were thoroughly at bay. While I was waiting, I found myself cleaning my glasses, as I can be found doing at many points when I am trying to avoid doing something. But I had taken the cleaning a step further, popping out each lens. I attempted to clean the gunk hanging out on the underside of the bridgerests... Bridgerests. It kind of sounds like a hip way of saying "breasts" Like, "biotch" or "shizit." I'll have to try that out on someone. In any case, my glasses are half-rimless, so I ran my fingers over each lenses' underwire. Pretty soon, I had a plan. I would begin cleaning my apartment without the help of my glasses, then I'd see what I missed at the end. How zany is that?

At first it was a bit like an image-enhancing effect like you see on emotional talkshows like Montel Williams. Kind of misty, tears-welling blur. I began to clean. There's an even tradeoff in going for a quarter on the floor, and finding it to be a guitar pick; as there is in going for a guitar pick and finding it to be a quarter. I encountered many little notes a friend had written me a while back, and some photos of better times. There were momentos of family, things from people now obscured by the mists. I was wearing a Jennifer Aniston face through much of the cleaning. Ok, Montel and Ms. Aniston; I'll be checking my usage stats for Google hits on those two. Without my glasses, I began to take on some amount of tunnel vision. I became sidetracked with small items, carrying out their destinies. A slip of paper bearing a phone number needed scrawling on the designated paper next to the phone. As my eyes were able to focus better, more little papers in the area came in to view. They were, as well, scrawled. All this, still, should have been done with the aid of my glasses. Decisions of which bits of paper to keep and which to discard should have too, but I was wearing blinders.

What appeared to be drafts of letters or lyrics or other sensitive information were systematically shredded. I've always wanted a shredder, and perhaps I'll ask for the dicing model this Christmas. But, there are manual methods I feel adequate. For those who can identify, and for those who always wanted a sure fire quick and dirty shred, follow these: Take paper in hand, rip once in half, stack, rip once in half, restack, rip once in half, restack, repeat as necessary. The bulk of the cleaning did not involve relocation of papers, however. A friend who did call back stirred my fears more by saying I must start with laundry, and, "Get 'er done." Dealing with paper is at least stimulating. It's like writing a blog while you're doin' a dish__it's having some reading material while you work. I made a few extra phone calls, and I believe I set about cleaning my ears. I found, however, sorting laundry without my glasses on, was an experience. Foul odors, or spring fresh scents were intensified with my near blindness. Relying primarily on my sense of smell, the task was completed expediently.

In many apartments, there might be the tendency for a movie, music, or video game collection to get out of hand. My disarray of compact discs are contained in a chamber below my feet, having converted what wasn't damaged to digital format on my desktop computer. I own three DVDs. All of them are computer games. Most real dishes probably know that these are the top three signs they are dating a nerd. Well, if I was dating someone right now, who knows what I might be cleaning up. My mind is led to the bathroom. No, I have no natural urge at the moment, but it something I've thus far neglected to document. The bathroom has been just that, neglected, for some time. The place doesn't scare me, but I'm afraid it will scare guests. I have faith the water will drain, but I can't always rely on my friends. There's a chance I'll get on my knees and scrub eventually. I just hope I don't walk in on a lady trying to relieve herself in a standing position.

This night cannot go down in history without respect paid to the Coca-Cola corporation. There is an outstanding 20 ounce Diet Coke machine within a two minute walk from my residence. The cold beverage is served at a price of only 75 cents, which is a good fifty percent markdown from many button-bearing bandits in this city. They say caffeine, and most stimulants produce a false sense of alertness. Is that to say narcotics produce a false sense of sleep? Come to think of it, the morning after seems to say it as such. Statistics on the cleanup include 16 intact guitar picks recovered, 2 additional: broken. I've since donned my spectacles and hunted down that nondescript ball of lint I took note of while in a frenzy of recovering a group of ballpoint pens I thought I'd lost. Apparently, my tunnel vision lingers. I've let the dishwater grow cold while slashing and pounding at the keyboard. If I had a dish to do at the moment, in the metaphorical sense, she might be as cold and stagnant as the water. With a metaphorical overtone here, too; I suppose I'll pull the drain, and let the cups and plates settle 'til I run water over them again. Figure that out.

11.06.2007

recarded

It's unusual I start my day in the AM. I work a night shift two days a week at a local television station. It's part-time work, and I am supplemented by the government in exchange for maintaining the remission of a mental illness. I live a socialist lifestyle of rootbeer and cigarettes for the greater part of the week, and assume high responsibility, low impact work, making sure some of the public is entertained for twenty hours. It's a refreshing change to speak with you in this public form. My most recent composition needed be "dumbed down" to a sixth grade level; "dumbed" for lack of better vocabulary. This day, today, that started, for me, in the AM, was a full day. Because of the mental illness, two vials of blood needed be taken from my arm today. I'm unsure if this is more to make sure I am taking my medications as prescribed, or if it's important medically. In any case, I'm unsure which I am supposed to think, and i'm made to think moreso that it's important for me to take my medications.

I received an unexpected visit from a friend today. Really, I should've been expecting it from this spritely lass. For a spell, I would show myself unannounced at her door. She called me on it in an entry such as this, but in the light of a warm memory. Still, it prevented me from doing so again. Today, I printed several short stories of mine that her boyfriend had requested. Even from just the light touches of text I read while collating and stapling the papers, I became infused with the idea to begin writing again. I've been neglecting the pen, down in the dirty of my music artistry, work, and the waste of video game play. During these, I narrate to myself for the day I can record it all. Experience, for me, is made bearable when thought of in the literary sense. Never will I have the time to document enough to purge all traumas I've undergone, but I have to chase that idea.

It's been said, it was a full day. It was full of hypodermic needles, hugs, and some huge expenditures. I won't say how much I dropped, but the average reader could estimate from the description of two gigabytes of random access memory (that's two trillion bytes), a 256 megabyte video card, and nine months back child support. I'll get to the juicy bit about rectifying a child support debt in a moment. But first, I must document the nerd I unleashed in myself at Best Buy.

My previous video card had 32 megabytes of random access memory. If I'm in danger of losing you there, I'll "dumb it down" for you some. The more RAM, and the higher the model number, the better those games that inspire school shootings look to real life. At least, that's my greatest understanding, technically, with a background in electrical engineering no less. From a RAM count of 32 to 256, and from model 200 to 6200, I'm noticing bullet shells flying, expressions of horror on the enemies' faces, less squarish breasts on my female sidekick. Definitely an improvement. Shopping alone at Best Buy, requiring assistance or just a Best Buy experience with one of the experienced staff, is a mixed bag. The man whose practiced raised brow-"Can I help you" who took my side in selecting the optimum components, was honestly jockitch__ish. It's great when you can land a nerdcore employee to help you in a place like Best Buy. I confess, I know a bit more about computer hardware than I let on. Getting in an excited conversation, rather than the obvious issues on expiration 'til obsolete, is the Best Buy experience. I tend not to elbow my nerd cousins too much, so perhaps I'd not have chosen to write of a stellar Best Buy experience. But the guidance was cold. I offered a memory of my first 3D accelerator card as we proceeded to the checkout. He said he'd had the same kind of memory, but it's hard to believe he was sincere; kind of the final blow. I'm happy to say that the card has no defects and the detail is amazing. However, between trips from the computer to the bathroom, I cannot begin to tell you how I appreciate the 3D effect of the cardboard box it came in, as I pass by.

On the forefront of my budget is nine months of back child support. Before judgments are made in the minds of readers unfamiliar with me, please believe me... The family I have mixed with is not one to reckon with. In my defense, there were factors preventing payment to, and even contact with the mother for what now seem like ages. My fervor for computer gaming accrues less damage than my apparent fervor for unprotected sex, but I am much happier to provide this. I feel it is an unwritten sin to regret a child. Sinning is not my only deterent. It was kind of hard to squeeze all of those digits onto the blank on the check. My daughter will be eleven months old on the ninth of November. I made sure to append "11" cents to the rounded-even amount of the check.

I can and will take responsibility for my child. I cannot, however, take full responsibility for indulging in violent video games. I'm remissively ill, mentally, but I think I'm balanced enough to avoid urges to kill real people. Do games waste time? Oh, yes they do; perhaps building small muscle motor skills; but mostly a waste. I can't take full responsibility. My boss, who recently left the company, asked if I played games. At the time, I hadn't set eyes on one in what seemed like ages. He figured that's what I did with all my time. He seemed to think I should be studying the science of television. He'd rant at me about it, making me feel small, every day. But he left, leaving me with the idea to get back into gaming, perhaps somewhat for spite. I thought he was alright, but I thought he hated me. It was Boss' day the day after he left. One of the ladies in the office baked a cake for everyone... Raspberry cake.