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march thirty first, twenty oh eight and the baseball season has officially started...
march twenty eighth, twenty oh eight in nyc, they even take it one step further. i've always liked how music can transport you back to a place in time and maybe even a mood that you were feeling at one point in your life. when i hear a song by the band chasing gray come up on my ipod, i immediately think of going to see them my freshman year up at a small bar in cornell with mikey-san and justin. and i'm instantly transported back in time. i can even remember the weather (it was a winter night). it's like some kind of involuntary, auditory response that gets triggered. like flicking on a light switch to a random room in your brain or something. granted, there are other senses that can do this (smelling something you haven't smelled in a while or tasting a food that brings you back somewhere), but i almost feel like music has a much stronger effect. and it's officially the weekend. we made it. high-five.
march twenty fifth, twenty oh eight
i had to do it. it's quite the self-indulgent purchase, but what are you gonna do. god bless tax returns... i guess...
march twenty first, twenty oh eight "i think at this point, gov spitzer is about the only elected official with the balls to change anything in this region of new york." he had balls all right, but they were in the wrong region. heyooooo. but seriously, i had high hopes for spitzer. he didn't really accomplish anything, but then again, his tenure fell short. i always liked how he never favored one city or the other up here and would always visit syracuse, rochester, binghamton, watertown, etc... all in the same trip. thankfully, some of his plans are still on the table. it should be noted that i've taken down the "workin' for the man" album (for now). i'll soon be selling the album on cdbaby, myspace, and through this site with old-school mail orders. i'll be re-releasing a more professional version of the album with cover art and such. i would love to be albe to re-mix the album as well, but alas, i carelessly deleted some of the original recordings. i've also just started working on a new yet-to-be-named experimental/electronic album. don't plan on this being finished anytime before the summer though.
march eighteenth, twenty oh eight
march twelfth, twenty oh eight
march fifth, twenty oh eight i've decided i'm going to try and go to at least 3 new falls this spring and summer, including treman and taughannock which are not new, but totally awesome looking. so, as i've complained before, i ran into some money issues this past month. it kinda sucked, but i made it out ok. because of this, i ended up spending like no money at all over these last 2 or 3 weeks, which is really something i need to start doing more often and for months, not for just a few weeks. i would totally love to have my car loan paid off by next year and i think that might actually be possible. plus, looking back over the last 16 months or so, i've really blown a shit ton of money on booze. maybe not so much lately, but def those first 6 months or so after i moved to the area. ya know ya know.
february twenty sixth, twenty oh eight i suppose i will never understand "development" in this city. it's sad, really, with the amount of beautiful architecture that exists around here, people seem to just look past it. it's like they can't even see it. i won't deny that the central new york region can look a little depressing at times (the amount of darkness in the winter, the amount of trash on the roads, being an old industrial city, etc...) but most of the buildings in this region just need some tlc. and in terms of american architecture, you can't find shit like this in other cities. especially on the west coast. go drive around in los angeles and you won't find the amount of buildings that were built before 1900 that you'll find here on the east coast. you can't just demolish anything that's old or looks run-down and then expect that something magical is going to come along and replace it. case and point: the old yates hotel in downtown syracuse. this block has been a surface parking lot for the last 30 years after a building was promised to go there in the 70's. you can't just demolish things in a city and expect the area to prosper on its own. i wonder if this blind-eye of sorts towards architecture comes from the fact that this region is so desperate to turn itself around. it's like they're so desperate to turn a corner that they'll jump on the first ship that comes along, so to speak, regardless of any potentially bad long-term effects. yet all they do is dig themselves deeper and deeper into a more depressing and more unorganized city. it's like they don't realize that the answer for prosperity is right there in front of them. all they have to do is stick up for what has already made it a great city at one point in time and they wouldn't have the problems they keep having. i will never understand how people here can just ignore perfect craftsmanship and beauty that just doesn't happen in today's houses and buildings. i know the ronald mcdonald house organization does a lot for the community and helps those in need, but how about they take a very short drive around the city and take a look at the amount of empty lots there are just within 5 blocks of where the are now and build there. why do they have to destroy something. there's like 1,209,820 empty lots in syracuse right now. it's not like this is manhattan or something where there's no room to build anything. how about this, how about i take the all of the board members of the syracuse common council on a road trip. we'll go to the ithaca commons, north end and back bay of boston, jackson square in new orleans, greenwich village in new york city, and downtown montreal. then i'll make them all write a report and tell me what all of these things have in common, including when were most of the buildings built that are in these neighborhoods, how close are they to the street, how do they intertwine with the neighborhood, how and why are they pedestrian friendly, how is public and private space utilized, etc... because it's very apparent to me now that some of these people still need to be educated on what makes not just a successful building, but a successful region.
february twenty second, twenty oh eight i did like last week's episode, "the ecomonist", up until about the last 30 seconds when it's then revealed that (bad-ass, torturer who has a weakness for the ladies) sayed turns into one of benjamin's pawns. i was really pissed afterwards. morso than i've been about any of the episodes before. by no means is sayed my favorite character, but the "post-island sayed" just went against everything that his character represents. to an extent it added a layer of eeeevil to benjamin, but it also made sayed look like a little bitch, despite the fact that he's been a relative bad-ass the entire 3 to 4 seasons. what i don't like about the current season is the fact of how i've been able to predict both "change of events" that have occurred within the last minute of the last 2 shows. i knew benjamin would be the one who was sayed's boss, and i knew that aaron would be kate's "baby" after she got off the island (i assumed it about half way through the show). the fact that i've been able to predict these things either tells me that i watch the show too much or that the writing is getting shitty. i mean, one of the cool things about season 2 in particular (which i'm currently re-watching) is the fact that you have no idea what the fuck is going on for basically every episode. now it seems that questions are getting answered too quickly and "future-island" versions of the characters are very watered-down, bleak versions of their former "island-selvs". it might play out differently by this season's end or by next season, because when you look at it, they're technically doing 2 seasons right now mashed into one: present-island life and post-island life. whereas in previous seasons it's been present-island life and pre-island life. at any rate, the one thing that i really still do love about lost is the music. it's really some of the best music on tv. then again, i really don't watch much tv aside from food network, seinfeld reruns, and mets games, so my frame-of-reference is pretty small. i've also noticed that john locke kind of looks like my dad with a shaved head.
february fifteenth, twenty oh eight how about a flat screen tv, or a new keyboard, or an iphone, or a ps3, or a new couch, or just stashed it for a rainy day. it sucks, but i suppose it could've been worse. i kinda wish i could not own a car again. not owning a car in boston was a little difficult at times, mainly because your whole schedule depends on the reliability of a bus or a train, and it's completely not under your control, but if i could sell my car and get around easily, i'd do it in a heartbeat. not having to worry about gas prices, repairs, insurance, payments, parking, all that shit eliminated so much stupid clutter. unfortunately, i live in an area that practically requires you to have a car. really, all that needs to happen is centro needs to expand their bus schedule to b'ville (nights and weekends), and syracuse needs to get some sort of car sharing service like zipcar, perhaps a few on campus and a few downtown (if rochester can, why can't syracuse?). speaking of which, i think i'm still a member.
february eleventh, twenty oh eight i've been using the term "quasi" a lot lately (perhaps to the point of overkill?). i'm not really sure why. for example, i'm really psyched about fantasy baseball this year, but this jersey i designed for my team, the venkman zuuls, has unintentionally come out like a quasi-red sox green home jersey.
february sixth, twenty oh eight
 it goes without saying that i'm pretty excited about johan santana playing for the mets this year. it's hard to believe that the team looks the way it does, given how shitty from top to bottom the entire franchise was just 5 years ago. since that time, they've won a division title, added a new manager, a new general manager, have a new tv network, they're getting a new stadium, and have added players like pedro martinez, carlos beltran, carlos delgado, billy wagner, and now santana. i think what makes this newest addition so positive, is that the mets really haven't updated their starting pitching since 2004, when pedro was signed. yet since then, they've been able to have above-.500 teams as they sort of drift along each season with scrub pitchers (remember dae-sung koo?). which is all the more reason why players like oliver perez and john maine should be given much more credit for molding into solid lower-rotation starters and essentially stabilizing the starting pitching over the last 2 years. the team hasn't won anything yet, so i'm trying not to get too excited, but having santana on the team is pretty f-ing awesome. and just 8 days until pitchers and catchers. BOOM! fyi: this has been the week from hell. i'm car-less as my focus crapped out and i'm basically working two jobs with this damn musical that i'm playing bass in. it's chaos.
january twenty ninth, twenty oh eight at the su basketball game the other night, i saw students with "class of 2011" written on the backs of their shirts and my initial thought was: when those guys graduate, i'm going to be 30. it's hard to believe, honestly. then again, when i think back to what i was doing just a year ago, it feels like it was a while ago. so in that retrospect, i guess the last year has gone by fairly slow. so i shouldn't complain about anything. one thing i still don't have to worry about is getting carded. at halftime during the 'cuse/providence game, i booked out of my seat to go be first in the beer line. i gave the girl behind the counter my id and she gave it back to me (obviously verifying that it's a real nys state license), and then some older woman who looked like she worked for the dome came up behind me and asked if i was a student. i said no. and she just stared at me, almost expecting me to crack or laugh or something. she then asks the lady behind the counter if she i.d.'ed me. she said she did and that it's a real license. and then the older lady just stared back at me. i then said "i'm 26. i'm not a student.". i put $5 on the counter, took my dome beer and walked away. i was a little ticked off. she was being kind of b. but in her defense, i was wearing my dynasty shirt, so i suppose i may have looked exactly like a college student... i should've chugged my beer in front of her and then flashed the dynasty sign in her face.
january twenty second, twenty oh eight i think the city could even go one step further. i've never seen so many people get away free with illegal parking as i have in syracuse. for instance, have you ever seen people double park on a city street before? (i.e.: one parallel parked row of cars against the curb and another row blocking them in). i never thought it was even possible, but they do it on sunday mornings in front of the assumption church on the northside. it's very odd looking. another weird-church parking situation is right next to my building. there's technically 4 lanes on east willow street next to st john the evangelist church with no parking on either side, yet for some reason on sundays you can parking there and you wont get a ticket. maybe theres some unwritten laws when it comes to parking and city churches though. i have no idea. either way, it would be nice to see the city crack down on illegal parking (maybe not on church-folks, but during city festivals and such) and enforce the actual parking rules to a) make suburbanites, who typically have more money than city of syracuse residents, to pay-up when they illegally park and to b) generate more money that could be re-directed into sidewalk maintenance, road maintenance, street light maintenance, bridge maintenance, or any of the other maintenance issues that syracuse desperately needs. of course, with this whole thing, there are much deeper issues at stake: how there are way to many surface parking lots in syracuse and not one 24-hour parking garage or enough on-street parking. which then runs into the issue of not enough people actually living in the city and walking (instead of driving from the suburbs) to city events. which then runs into the issue of how easy it is to get from one end of the city to the other, so why bother even living in syracuse. which then runs into the issue of improper civic planning as the city and county both tend to design new buildings and civic structures for cars and commuters and not for residents and pedestrians. which then runs into the issue of how cheap land is here. and on and on. it's an endless cycle, really. i just watched a report on pbs (yes, i still have no cable) on how teenagers today handle their social lives on the internet and the reactions from parents. the program went on to say how it's the biggest generational gap between teenagers and parents since the birth of rock and roll (which i happen to believe). i dove into this subject a few weeks ago, but to take it one step further, i'm kind of glad i didn't grow up with the internet or cell phones being so prevalent during high school. i almost feel like the internet is some uncontrollable, alternate reality with no rules whatsoever. the minute (or millisecond, har har) you give millions of teenagers no rules where they're not punished or supervised in anyway by anybody, chaos will just break out. and it essentially has in websites like myspace and youtube. i hate talking down about the internet, because it's literally one of the greater pieces of technology in human history, but to rip off a quote from spiderman: "with great power comes great responsibility". and right now, there really isn't anybody being held responsible for what's on the internet.
january fifteenth, twenty oh eight as for where i would move, i was initially looking at hanover square, but the rents are a tad out of my price range. so after messing around on a few local websites, i found out that the rents are actually semi-reasonable in armory square (of all places). plus, depending on which building i moved into, i would most likely have double the floor space as i have now (under the assumption that the rent prices stay the same over the next few months). it's a nice area though. and i love walking downtown in the mornings and afternoons, as they have a much cooler vibe during those hours. whereas with my location now, i'm basically next to a highway somewhere between downtown and crackton. and in terms of neighborhoods, i think it's worth the extra however-many-dollars-per-month for a nicer and more civic location. the one or two drawbacks of living in armory would be monthly parking costs and the constant flood of douchebags in generic button-down shirts on friday and saturday nights...
january seventh, twenty oh eight
january fifth, twenty oh eight without jinxing anything, i'm not surprised by the victory by barack obama of the democratic party in iowa the other night. a few months ago, i was messing around on facebook and visiting each candidate's page and you can basically throw your support for him/her if you feel inclined (as long as you have a profile). most of the candidates had a few hundred thousand supporting them, and then there was obama who had a couple million supporting him. which actually says a lot of things. being that facebook is primarily used by young people ages 18-29, that is a key demographic of people to have. especially when you're leaps and bounds above any other candidate. it also says that young people really don't care about skin color, which i find awesome. as for the actual results of iowa, obama not only got the first-time voters and young adult votes, he also got the most female votes (not clinton). we'll see how it plays out though over the next couple of months before we start getting ahead of ourselves. personally, i'd love to see an obama/edwards ticket, but then again, the democratic party might fuck themselves over like they do every 4 years and select clinton. and if that actually happens, i'm withdrawing my support for the democratic party and switching to either independent or green. in fact, i've already had all the paperwork mailed to me ahead of time if such a scenario takes place. is it baseball season yet?
january third, twenty oh eight
december thirtieth, twenty oh seven
2008 resolutions/plans... i think those might be doable.
december twenty seventh, twenty oh seven they would probably never reuse the native american headdress logo, or overhaul their logo and color scheme since they just did that about a year ago, but i think it looks neat if it's modeled after the mets current design.
i've been saying this for about 5 years now, but can we start saying "twenty oh eight" from now on? i understand it's the same amount of syllables as "two thousand eight" but a hundred years ago nobody said "nineteen hundred eight" to describe the year, they just said "nineteen oh eight". the quick change will prevent us from looking like jackasses once "twenty ten" rolls around.
december nineteenth, twenty oh seven by no means do i consider myself a well-traveled connoisseur of bars. my ranking really only consists of bars in the new york area and a few other areas i may have been to along the way. for example, i wasn't 21 when i was in la, so i have no bearing on any good places out there and i have never been to europe, so i can't exactly say that the absolute ice bar in stockholm is one of the best bars i've ever been to, though i'm sure it would be. this may be my last update until after x-mas, as i will be busy until then, so have a holly, jolly christmas.
10) the chapter house - 400 stewart ave ithaca, ny - www.chapterhouseithaca.com - the main thing i like about the chapter house is its authenticity. it has a very ivy-league feel to it, and probably still has the same beer soaked bench-style tables (complete with engravings) as it did back in the 1960's. they also have a pretty decent beer selection, a popcorn machine, and a foosball table. yeah cornell. 9) storytellers - 4861 n jefferson st pulaski, ny - www.pulaskiny.com - sort of a towny-bar on main street, yet in the middle of nowhere. this place is like a grownups' playground. they have every game imaginable: foosball, darts, golden tee, deer hunter, pool tables, shuffleboard, and the piece de resistance - a customized beer pong table. it's hard enough to find foosball and shuffleboard in the same bar, let alone beer pong. 8) boston beer works - 61 brookline ave boston, ma - www.beerworks.net - i've been fortunate enough to go to all 3, and my favorite (by far) is the fenway location. i've never been disappointed with a beer there. you def can't go wrong with the blueberry ale, with blueberries that float up and down as you sip. it's girly, i know. it should be noted that it's basically impossible to get into this place when there's a red sox home game, seeing as how fenway is directly across the street. 7) brenden's - 58 oswego st baldwinsville, ny - no longer there - i'm a sucker for local history, especially when it comes to my own hometown. and there was something cool about hanging out at brenden's that i can't really explain. maybe it was the small-town charm or the fact that they gave you an insanely huge free drink if it was your birthday. whatever it was, brenden's was one of my favorite places to go on a weekday night for a drink with the fellas. i think they basically moved the bar across the street, if i'm not mistaken, but that bar sucks now. also, bonus points for having their own tokens for free drinks. and double bonus points for the owner buying us a round of free drinks on one occasion. 6) hogs and heffers - 95th st and 1st ave new york, ny - uptown location no longer there - ok, so it should first be noted that i was absolutely trashed when i was in this place back in 2002, so my memory is a bit flaky. but from what i remember, as soon as you walk in, scantily clad bartenders are yelling at you over the loud music what kind of a drink do you want. if you're lucky enough to make your way to the bar, there's about 3 or 4 insanely hot girls dancing on it and pouring water all over each other. picture coyote ugly times 100. and yes, there were bras hanging all over the bar. do i really have to keep going? it was totally amazing. i miss this place. single tear. 5) bukowski tavern - 50 dalton st boston, ma - i can't stress enough how important it is to have good music at a bar. my ears can only take so much poison, korn, and hip hop in bars, that a place like bukowski's is really like a blessing. i've never heard a bad song in there as they tend to lean on the indie/unknown variety, which not too many bars have the balls to do day in and day out. it's a very chill atmosphere (inside and out), they have a good beer selection, and the food is good too ($2 for a burger and fries? hell yes). 4) clark's ale house - 122 w jefferson st syracuse, ny - looking for bud light, loud music, and hot chicks dancing? you've entered the wrong place. clark's get's my award for quietest bar, yet not awkwardly quiet. it's very laid back, they have a great beer selection (including $2 genesee cream ale on tap), trivia night, ring toss, darts, cheese plates, pickled eggs, new york state wines, and of course, the totally tasty roast beef sandwich (with optional onions and horseradish sauce). word cotton. word. 3) le saint-sulpice - 680 rue saint denis montreal, qc - this place pretty much kicks ass. i'll try to break this down as simply as i can: 3 floors, 3 bars, canadian beer (labatt bleue), american oldies music (50's and motown), an outdoor patio overlooking a courtyard, a courtyard flooded with people sitting at tables and drinking, and 2 outdoor bars. not to mention, insanely hot quebec girls speaking french. is there a pattern forming here? there seems to be something about good music and hot girls... 2) kitty hoynes irish pub - 301 w fayette st syracuse, ny - www.kittyhoynes.com - undoubtably my favorite bar in 'cuse. i've had a lot of great times in this place and you can't go wrong with irish music in a pub wherever you are. the beer selection is decent and the restaurant should not go unavoided, as they have a pretty good selection of irish-american food. 1) moonshadow tavern - 114 e state st ithaca, ny - www.moonshadowtavern.com - there isn't much more i can say about moonies that i haven't said before. they've kept it pretty simple there. some draft beers (don't overlook saranac black forest), drink specials, tokens for free drinks, a few dart boards, and an awesome happy hour. (free subs and pizza, bitches). i might be putting this as number 1 as sort of a bias, as i had some great times there during my college years, but who gives a shit. number 1. hands down. my favorite bar ever.
best dive bar - jack's reef port of call - 1161 old state route 31 memphis, ny - ok, yes there is a memphis, ny. to give you a frame of reference on how small this town is, i lived in the town next to it and didn't even know it existed until i was about 23 years old. but port of call has got everything you want in a dive bar: ramshackle appearance, cheap beer, and friendly hicks, i mean, locals. be sure not to walk too far away from the place at night. the nearby dirt path to the river seems like a nice spot to get analy raped... best dive bar i've never been to - ionia corners - on warners rd in ionia corners, ny - i only know about this place through friends, but apparently there's a "bar" on your way to jack's reef in a basement of some guy's house. there's nothing on tap, and you can only get cans of beer. do you have any idea how amazing this sounds? i wonder if the guy can legally even sell beer. best shantytown-esque bar - coconuts bar and grill - no real address (somewhere on east coast rd near the junction with benito juarez ave) cozumel, mx - nesting on a high cliff with a great view of the caribbean, this place is about as far away from the main city as you can get. when you're running a bar on no electricity (just on a generator) and serving good food and drinks in the middle of nowhere, that's f-ing bad-ass. best beer selection - sunset grill and tap - 130 brighton ave allston, ma - www.allstonsfinest.com - bust this: 380 microbrews and 112 beers on tap. it actually takes longer to figure out what to drink than what to eat. awesome bar food too. best bar food - blarney stone tavern - 314 avery ave syracuse, ny - as an upstate new york native it's gotta be chicken wings. there's no way around it. best wings ever at the blarney stone. 20 cents a wing on thursdays and during 'cuse basketball games. best sports bar - i have friends who would kick me in the balls for not saying meghan mcmurphy's in liverpool, ny, but i have to give this one to the sports grille - 132 canal st boston, ma - more than 100 tvs with 14 inch flat screens in every booth and access to just about every sports channel. put on whatever game you want and don't worry about anyone switching it while you're watching. i have somewhat of an emotional attachment to this place being that i watched all three 2005 big east tournament games there (when cuse and g-mac made their amazing run) and i was really one of the only people watching and cheering for syracuse basketball at that place for three nights in a row. needless to say, it helped me out of a jam being able to watch those games at that point in time. best view - ava lounge - 210 w 55th st new york, ny - www.avaloungenyc.com - kind of a trendy place, but either way, you just can't beat a nighttime view of manhattan. it just can't be done. best bar game - shuffleboard - george o'dea's pub - 1333 w fayette st syracuse, ny - smack dab in the center of tipperary hill, o'dea's is a good neighborhood bar and is also one of my favorite dive bars to venture off to. runner up: arcade basketball - sullivan's tap - 168 canal st boston, ma - there's something kinda cool about shooting basketball about a block away from the fleet center and essentially next to where larry bird and bill russell once played. smallest bar - the littlest bar - 47 province st boston, ma - no longer there - before it got replaced by condos, this bar was tucked away at the corner of a parking garage. i only went in there once, and decided to leave because it was, well, too small. when you have a maximum capacity of 38, you're running a pretty small place. there it is. if you have a few favorites, write them in the shout box. ya stupid jerks.
december seventeenth, twenty oh seven also, i think my neighbors might think i'm a psychopath. it's usually pretty silent when i work during the day and sometimes i just sporadically yell out things like "oh baxter. you are my little gentleman. i'll take you to foggy london-town!" or "i'ma get get get getchu drunk, getchu love drunk off my hump" etc... etc... so yes, i do need cable tv. anyway, depending on the monetary issues, i may get a new tv after the holidays. the tv i have right now is cool and all, but i need something else. it has a fairly small screen size (something like 14 inches), so i'm leaning towards a 28-inch or 32-inch flat screen. something not insanely huge and something of good quality. we'll see, we'll see. i haven't used my car in like 3 days (since before this storm), so i had a hell of a time digging my car out today after work. i've never seen a car underneath so much snow before. it was like a snow cocoon.
december eleventh, twenty oh seven i was (drunkenly) talking with ed and pete this weekend about how people our age, in particularly those who are now 26, grew up at the exact height of napster, instant messenger, and cell phones. these three outlets of communication essentially exploded during our freshman year of college, which to me was the quintessential time. and i almost feel like we're the last of our generation to have a clear view on what life is like without computers and cell phones. anywhoooo. i've started a list of my top 10 favorite bars, including some other ones of note. i'm just about done with it, but i need the names of a few of the lesser known ones. hopefully i can have this finished up by next week. i'd like to do something like this every month or so. top 10 favorite whatevers. last night, after watching marge vs the monorail, i realized i need to do a top 10 favorite simpsons episodes list. which i'm sure will consist of episodes only in the season 3 to season 8 range. late last night, i got a view from the 20th floor of the state tower building in syracuse. i've never seen a view like that before. being that there are literally no other buildings in the way, i could see all the way to the northern edge of onondaga lake and, of course, the beautiful sight of the christmas tree and the ice skating rink at clinton square. it was really cool to be able to look down from the high, especially at night. who would've thought syracuse had a view.
november twenty ninth, twenty oh seven i'm just sort of drifting along here. i really have no idea what i want to do in life. i thought i did a few years ago when i got out of college, but i don't really know what to do anymore. i joined up with this local group of young people here called "40 below". they do a lot of stuff with fixing up old buildings, volunteering, and getting involved with community action and local politics. we've only had one meeting, but it's been cool thus far. it's nice to see people my own age have an interest in the same things that i do. but aside from that and my band, i don't really have any much else going on. i suppose i don't really have to, but it would be nice to have some sort of 10-year-plan or something. after x-mas, i'd like to seriously start saving money. i've spent a shitload over the last 12 months. i've probably blown though more money in the past 12 months than i have in the previous 5 years. new glasses, new cell phone, new computer, new piano, new dvd player, new digital camera, new car, new apartment, new furniture. a lot of that shit i needed (or wanted) but i probably don't need to spend that amount of money again next year. at least i hope i wouldn't have to. i've had an inclining to buy a house here since i moved back. but the only thing really holding me back is i don't want to be tied down to a mortgage and then feel trapped here. 'cuse is great and all but i really miss living in a bigger city. (there, i said it). doesn't have to be boston necessarily, i just miss being in a bigger environment with new things to do. for people that know me, i know that sounds weird, because i'm usually one to enjoy my own personal small space, but aside from going downtown once every week or so with ze boys, the city itself here is pretty boring. i suppose it might help if i knew people who lived in the actual city. who knoooooooooows. the one big drawback of my current location is the fact that i can't really play loud music. so i haven't really been doing as much practicing, recording, and messing around as i would like to. i'd love to stay at my apartment for at least another year to save up some dough, but we'll see. not being able to practice loudly kinda sux.
november twelfth, twenty oh seven i'm starting to take video files on my camera of everything weird that happens outside of my apartment. i just got the guy that slowly paces up and down east willow street (in the rain at night) yelling "left - left - left - left right left". he sounds a lot like that guy that goes around boston on a bike and yells "alerrrrrrrrt. alerrrrrrrrt. alerrrrrrrrt.". i should have recorded the under-cover drug bust directly below my window from over the summer. that would've been totally awesome to get on video. but alas, i didn't have my camera out. my late fall/winter reading consists of...
i've been contemplating about not owning a car anymore. my lil' bitch ford focus is running perfectly fine (thank god) and it's been nice to take trips whenever i feel like it, after not owning a car for about a year and a half, but is it really necessary for me to have a car at this point in my life? syracuse is a very tough area to not own a car in, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. i've had my car for about 6 months and i'm guessing that i've spent about $5,000 on it thus far (gas, down payment, insurance, car payments, etc...). objectively speaking, why would i spend $5,000 in 6 months on anything unless it meant something drastically important for my life? where have i gotten in the last 6 months that a train, plane, bus, bike, car rental, zipcar, or taxi couldn't have gotten me? it's tough though because it not only takes a huge commitment, but it also takes a lot of self perseverance to be able to deal with the inconveniences of other modes of transportation. some of which are sketchy and/or time strenuous. also, i'd have to deal with the stiffs at the downtown bus station. eeeeeeek. i could be saving so much money right now. seriously, $5,000. i could go to europe for a few weeks with that money. alerrrrrrrrt. alerrrrrrrrt.
november fifth, twenty oh seven
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