Questions by Kit

1. What do you think of your life today as compared to one year ago? Are you happy with where you stand?

I think I am in a much better place than I was last year at this time. I was struggling monetarily and emotionally with a lot of things as well as heading into another Christmas Season in retail. This has definitely been a much better year. I was finally able to travel out west to see a dear friend and I feel like my life is at least moving in a direction that I want to. Yes, I am happy where I am right now, but I am not yet satisfied. I made a lot of progress in this last year, but there is so much more I want to accomplish. I wake up each morning, a little nervous about my life - but in a way, it's a nice thing.

2. What is the weirdest memory that you have from your childhood?

I don't know if this counts as the "weirdest." When I was a kid, around 3'ish, I was playing with my toy cars on the floor. I decided that my cars needed roads, so I got my crayons and proceeded to draw roads on the floor. It seemed like a perfectly logical solution. I, of course, got in big trouble and my dad spanked me. I remember not understanding what I did to get into so much trouble. I was bitter.

3. Are there any instruments you'd like to learn outside of percussion? If so, which ones and why?

Oh, there are lots of instruments that I would like to learn. I think guitar and piano top the list, but I don't think I have the patience and discipline to stick to it. For some reason, percussion comes easy to me, so I've stuck with that.

4. If you could, would you change anything about yourself if given the opportunity? If so, what would you change and why?

Probably be less shy. I can be an awkward conversationalist at times, and I sometimes wish I was smoother in my dialogue. To my credit though, I have been forcing myself to say hi to random people and trying to strike up conversations. These have yielded mixed results, but it is definitely more interesting that way.

5. If you had a band with your friend that played piano, what would it be called?

If??? I am pretty sure that I already do! I am still partial to Camperdown, but I would like my "friend" to be involved in the band naming process.

Stop trying to sell me crappy beer and play the game

I never have been a fan of the NFL. I just cannot get that passionate about a game of mercenaries. That said, I can still find some enjoyment in watching a well played football game. However, television continues to at try and ruin the game by cramming as much advertising it possibly can into one game. This is what I dislike most about trying to watch a football game. Today, I was watching the Dallas/Green Bay game and I witnessed something that was borderline absurd.

As the 1st Quarter was coming to a close, Green Bay completed a pass on a 3rd down play that gave them a first down. Since the quarter came to a close, they went to commercial.

During the break, Dallas challenged the play and the catch was then ruled incomplete. The officials put :20 seconds back on the clock and Green Bay was forced to punt. After the punt, they went to commercial again after the change of possession.

After the second commercial break, Dallas ran a first down play which ran down the remaining time in the quarter, which means they went back to commercial again.

So, in the span of 20 seconds on the game clock, they showed 3 sets of television commercials. I can only take the stupidity of cold-activated Coors Light bottles or Miller-Lite trying to convince me that their shitty beer tastes good for so long.

As I see it, the only people who can possibly benefit from this are people with enlarged prostates and (according to the commercials) need to see their doctor about Avodart.

I Wish This Song Would Last Forever ...

There are certain songs, that whenever I hear one of them, my world stops. I have to listen to every nuance of the song, every note, every lyric, every breath between every word. My temperature rises, yet I still feel that chill down my spine. I feel the emotion building inside me and I debate if I should resist it or embrace it. I want to sink into it, I want to soar, I want every contradictory feeling there can possibly be.

Even though I know many people have felt this way, in this one moment, it belongs to me. It is mine alone - and it is during this time that I most want to share it.

Hit & Run

I really dislike those family decals that people put on the backs of their cars. There is something about them that I find really stupid and annoying. What exactly is the point? To prove to the world what a happy little family you are? I can think of only one reason to ever display these stickers on the back window of your car. That is if you are tallying your successful hit and runs. That should really be the only acceptable circumstance.

Nightmares

Ever have a nightmare then decide to tell somebody about it and then about halfway through the explanation you realize that you're retarded?

-Daniel Tosh

That is precisely what I plan on attempting right now. Last night, for the first time in many years, I actually had a nightmare. Over the years, I have had many dreams that could be considered "scary." I've fought giant lizards, zombies, giant ants, even the devil. I have participated in a fight to the death with swords and matched wits with dinosaurs in a forrest. Even though I felt fear during these dreams, I was always OK in the end and prevailed.

The last time I remember having an nightmare is was in 7th grade after watching Fire in the Sky. At the time, I was obsessed with UFO's and aliens and was constantly reading books about it. From Roswell to the Gulf Breeze sightings, I was a self professed expert in all things extra-terrestrial. However, the scene where the aliens run tests on Travis Walton will forever be etched in my mind as one of the most terrifying things I have ever watched.

As for this dream, it is fairly inconsequential in its own right, full of non sequiturs one would expect during a dream. In it, my brother purchased a new car (my brother did buy a new car yesterday) and drove me around to show it off. It had an in dash DVD player, which consisted of a 13" black and white TV/DVD combo mounted in a hole in the dash.

Apart from that, the majority of the dream took place in a house. There were stories of evil beings that lurked in the shadows, or were even the shadows themselves. Some believed that they were vampires, others said they were something else. One thing everyone agreed on was that they were real. Everyone knew this, but still tried to continue on with their lives, that knowledge always in the back of their mind. We went about our business, while always feeling this ominous presence among us. There was nothing you could do about it, it was a fact of life.

I was exploring the house when I entered an empty room. The house cat scurried under my feet as I passed through the doorway. I watched as the light from the hallway stretched the cat's shadow into the room. The shadow continued to grow, the head growing disproportionally larger than the rest of the body. Then eyes appeared on the head, yellow and vacant, but they seemed slightly misplaced. Too large and too high up on the head. Then a mouth opened in the shadow, revealing a crooked smile of sharp teeth. The shadow, still lacking depth, was no longer confined to the floor or the wall, but started to move toward me.

I felt the blood in my body seemingly heat up and cool down at the same time. Here I was, face to face with the nightmare. I tried to back away, to get out of the room, anything. My limbs were frozen; the harder I tried to move, the less responsive they were. I knew that this was the end for me. I needed to warn the others, to tell them to get away while they still could.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no ..."

I opened my mouth but nothing would come out. My tongue dry, my voice box on mute. Once again, I tried to move backwards out of the room and yell.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no ..."

I could feel my joints creaking - like the Tin Man before Dorothy oiled his joints. The shadow advanced upon me quickly. I put all of my will power into this one last effort. I fell backwards and opened my mouth to yell,

"NO!"

I gasped as my eyes opened. Traces of the whispered "No ..." still lingering on my lips. I lay down in my unfamiliar bed, bathed in the blue glow from my computer monitor. Debussy had long since stopped. I gathered myself ... did that just happened? Did I really just have a nightmare?

Horror stories have never been something that fazed me. I have never been into Stephen King, but I do know for a fact that the book that I am currently reading had a lot to do with the dream. Actually, it is a direct result. I can even pinpoint the passage:

When I was a kid ... at night ... I used to sleep in this big bed in my grandmothe's home. And every night, at midnight, as the bells chimed in the church nearby, I used to see a thing come out from behind a big old armoire. Every night, without fail - it would poke out its black head and long arms and bony shoulders ... an I stare at me ...

It had a jagged mouth, with thin black lips ... and it would look at me, and just ... smile.

from The Strain
by Guillermo del Toro & Chuck Hogan

That being said, it will not stop me from reading more from this book tonight ...