:: The Blurst of Times ::

:: 7.31.2004 ::

Well, I had a humorous anecdote to tell today, something that happened that was mildly painful, but could be related in a humorous way. I also had a couple other bits to talk about, things that would be funny in that 'seinfeld-esque' manner where you're complaining, but don't really have a right to be complaining.

This is why I don't have any right to be complaining. This is why I'm double checking all the locks on my door tonight.

That's fucked. Really, really fucked. Unfortunately, I can send no more than condolences...


:: Freddy F. at 11:24 PM [+] ::
:: (1) comments ::

So I started this new bank account and got the complimentary check book full of five different kinds of checks that I can eventually choose from to reorder.  This is a fucking problem.  Apparently the only people who like to write checks are six-year-olds and people who like babies dressed up in flower pots.  If there is anyone out there who would like a $1 check from me and won't judge me based on the paper it is written on and doesn't mind Scooby-Doo, Anne Gedes, fuzzy woodland animals, or floral prints, let me know.  I just don't want my electric company thinking I'm a wuss.

"On candystripe legs spiderman comes.  Softly through the shadow of the evening sun..."

:: Freddy F. at 10:51 PM [+] ::
:: (0) comments ::

I've started keeping a list of things to write about here, since I don't get around to doing it much, then I forget the best stuff I have to write about and all that ends up is some tripe that no one wants to swallow anyway.  But now I got a list, so I will only be writing about the finest tripe you want to swallow.

Let's start with Sports.

Red Sox - Yankees:  Hell of a fight.  If you missed it, I'm sorry because you obviously live in a hole in the ground.  I only wish someone had taken that opportunity to 'accidently' smash Jeter's pretty little face in.

Lance Armstrong: Six in a row, what a champ.  I'd like to be really proud, provided two things. 1) W does not use him or his achievements as an American rallying cry.  2) He does not end up testing positive for illegal performance enhancing steroids.

Speaking of both the Red Sox and steroids - did anyone see John Kerry totally miss the point of an interviewer asking him about steroids at the Sox game sunday?  The announcer was being very light of the situation and John Kerry became very grave and serious and 'platform-ish.'  It really creeped me out.  But hey, look at that vibrance!  How can you not think that's great?

Now Movies.

The Last Man - terrible.  Every moment I spend writing about this is smoking cigarettes - time wasted off an otherwise valuable life.  And now you are getting my textual second-hand smoke as you continue to read this.  Stop.  I'm killing you, wasting your life reading about this horrid movie and what an utter utter drag it was.  Sometimes I think my List is trying to kill me.

Man on the Moon - much much better.  Much.  Doubtlessly restored my faith i n cinema after that other terrible movie I will never mention again.  It was great and I think I learned a lot.

And now Books.

I read Manchild in the Promised Land.  I don't know why.  I'm not even sure why, when, where, or how I came to own it.  I just do and I've been carrying it around for years, so I read it.  It was good.  Not phenominal, but certainly a book you judge more on subject matter and content than on prose or structure.  So it struck me like a Spike Lee movie.  Poingant and telling, but something I feel like I have suspected. 

And I'd like to extend a sincere and heartfelt apology to everyone I accused of stealing my Mike Lin Graphics book.  Aparently I loaned it to my sister.  I'm sure everyone can bury the hatchet on this and I really didn't mean to actually get the lye in your eyes - I swear, I just meant to get it on your shirt. 

To round off the List, Music.

I found a great record store today, full of great records and CD's.  It was great.  And as soon as I get a great paycheck I'll be ready to make some of those records mine.

Speaking of the List - at the end of the school year I copied a bunch of music from other people who had CD's that I wanted.  Actually, it was a shitload of music that I got and it wasn't all stuff I wanted, but more or less stuff I just felt I should have.  However, the brutal irony is that of the fifty albums I gained, only three were on my List.  And all three of those albums are missing tracks and are thus unusable for storing on my computer.  Oh woe is me for crumbling before the digital age.  I'm sure the RIAA will sleep well tonight.

A few other small notes.

You can never be cool if you are wearing your cell phone on a belt clip, unless you are a paramedic or an assassin.  It is not an accessory.  You would not wear your toaster around your neck or the remote control to your TV as a bracelet.  If you are wearing your cell phone on your belt and I see you I will laugh.  If you are wearing a cell phone on your belt while you are at work, I will laugh doubly hard because you know you aren't getting any calls on office time.  And if you are wearing a cell phone on your belt while you are at work and it rings during the vice presidents presentation and you fumble for a good thirty seconds to shut it off while he stops speaking and everyone looks at you, I will laugh doubly doubly hard because you are an ass.

I really miss my acting class.

"I'd rather have a rattlesnake on my nuts, with one fang in each testicle than spend one minute with you..."

:: Freddy F. at 10:30 PM [+] ::
:: (0) comments ::

So tonight I might be going out.  And tonight I might be drinking.

If I go out tonight and I drink: every drink is being toasted up to Katie.  Yea Katie, we always knew you were going to be the one.

Because I'm so damn proud.

"Have I ever told you you're my hero?  You're everything (everything) I wish I could be..."


:: Freddy F. at 6:44 PM [+] ::
:: (1) comments ::

Ahhhhh.  Did I mention I get some Fridays off?  Sweeeeet.

So I'm starting to get a little more settled in.  Hard to beleive that two weeks ago I was wrapping things up in Kansas and had no idea what would lie ahead.  And to be honest, what lie ahead wasn't much as of yet, just a lot of chilling and figuring out how to spend my copious amounts of free time.  Work is acceptable, but far from trying or taxing.  In fact, I spent the last hour or so on Thursday flipping through old project photos just for kicks.  Note to my professional peers: LDD '05 is looking pretty sweet.  I am getting a good hour of reading on the bus everyday and I've made it through six movies thus far with two still waiting to be watched. 

Let's review:

Big Trouble - it was funny.  Tim Allen wasn't, but the overall story was, which I attribute to Dave Barry.  It was a very run-of-the-mill comedy, which is a good way to spend time if you don't think too hard about what you could ahve been doing instead.

Chelsea Walls - I thought it was going to be about old school Hotel Chelsea, not about the cracks that are living there now.  There was a good theme about hedonistic self-destruction and about people who it happens to (Sid Viscious, Dylan Thomas, etc.) and people who try to relive the lives of others (all the characters in the movie).  And it was shot on digital, which somehow makes me feel like I'm watching someone's school project.

Highway - kind of the same as CW, but funnier, easier to understand, and less artsy, but more ridiculous.  Nice to see shots of Seattle again.  Nice to see people steal cars, drop acid, and sell with no adverse side effects.  A nice movie about being above the system, but nothing I could get from a half-a-dozen movies elsewhere.

Harold and Maude - swell, in a wierd kind of way it was a real feel-good kind of movie.  That the relationship extends as far as it does physically was a litttle odd, but it wasn't done up like they would have done it up in a  movie today, so that was alright.  Creepy to begin with, but the score was great, very pleasing film.

Chariots of Fire - I got it for the song, but I watched it for the story.  Which was good.  It brought back the nostalgia of the ol' track days, by which the movie did an excellent job of draggin out the pre-race and flying through the race itself.  I was so inspired, I watched the movie, went out running, and promptly got lost in a strange town at about 10.30 at night.  Too bad the song was done with a drum track and not a real orchestra.

Barton Fink - twisted and not what I expected, especially since I was expecting somewhere in the vicinity of Hudsucker Proxy.  It was good, slow, but effective, and very well played.  It's hard to get the whole "this is an alegory for a larger story" out of a movie only watching it once, but I guess the message is pretty available, so that made it enjoyable, dispite the egregious amounts of blood.

Quick, before I go.  I caught Jeopardy today.  That Ken guy was on there.  He won 75,000 today.  That's an all-time Jeopardy high.  He's got 1,300,000 from them so far and has been on there 38 straight days.  That's almost two months.  This guy's rockin.  I'm an official fan, now.

"Money, is a gas.  Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash..."


:: Freddy F. at 11:26 PM [+] ::
:: (0) comments ::

So I started work today.
 
It went really well.  It was a great day weather-wise.  I executed the mass transit system with precision.  I remembered names, passwords, keycodes, and the important parts of a storm drainage plans.  I was given a free years pass to the AATA, meaning free access to the bus system, saving me roughly a thousand dollars a year.  I had an indepth conversation over luch with a co-worker from Germany - the conversation spanned social, economic, planning, political, domestic, and global issues, and all came back to me saying 'The real issue is that we have to find a way to re-educate the public away from the current culture of consumptive consumerism and manifest destiny to a broader understanding of individual decisions and their global impacts.'  She then said 'We never have this problem in Germany' and I said 'You're preaching to the chior, sista.'  The proceded to spend the rest of the day fixing redlines on plans for a new housing subdivision.
 
And I got health insurance, which may come in handy if I ever get sick like I did yesterday...
 
(... Sidenote: I think I fell victim to 'what goes around comes around.'  Yesterday I woke up with a splitting headache.  Aside from ice cream, I've never had a headache before in my life.  Yesterday, it was so bad, I actually got sick.  Was that a migrane?  Was this my pennance for years of scoffing at people who's migranes fell a little too conveniently on project due dates? Or does this happen a lot that people just get headaches?  It's gone today, but I was sweatin it a little yesterday...)
 
To cap off the day - I'm watching the Cubs/Cards game and a fight is about to break out.  Good for them.  Big rivalry there - fighting for the illustrious National League Central.  Not like I can talk.  I've resigned myself to at least being a part time Tigers fan.  You can hardly help it - I love baseball and they are (literally) the only game in town.  They don't top the Mariners yet, but that hat is getting pretty old and grimy.
 
In music news - I can't seem to get The Cure out of my stereo.  Good ol' Robert Smith - no one writes the intro like he can.
 
"I've been looking so long at these pictures of you, that I almost beleive that they're real..."

:: Freddy F. at 10:19 PM [+] ::
:: (0) comments ::

So, one week later:
 
Here I am in Ann Arbor.  All moved and half settled.  Actually, the apartment is really nice.  I've got myself a entry, a kitchen, a studio, a living room, a music room, a bathroom and a bedroom.  And lots of closets.  Lots.  And cable.  And internet. 
 
Monday I start work.  Big to do about that.  Time to start that cash flow coming back in again.  It's all drawing a little short right now, so that'll be good.
 
I think things are going to be pretty good up here.  I feel like this is some big juncture - some big point where I should have something prophetic to say.  But I don't.  So this bit is boring.
 
Wank.
 
"I wanna take you to overlee.  In a blue world floating endlessly..."

:: Freddy F. at 11:45 PM [+] ::
:: (0) comments ::

So I don't really have time to write. I'm working twelve+ hours a day which is making me very tired, sunburned, and bitten by crawling things. And I haven't been sleeping well, or much, so I need to do that. But:

Tonight I am moving out of studio.

Tonight, I will likely never be in this Studio 106 again. I have spent five years in this building. I have spilt blood, sweat, and a plethora of other body-fluids in this building; lived and died by deadlines, both real and imaginary; made friends, lost friends, broke hearts, and had my heart broken; changed my life, wasted time, done a ton of work and a number of illict drugs. This has been my home for five years and on Saturday I walk away to another part of the world. I know that to some leaving college is a meager experience that requires little more than an occasional toast or catch-up phone call, but I think very few people understand what it meant to be in the Landscape Architecture class of 2004. Or at least what it meant to me.

Tonight I am pulling the plug on a good friend who I have known dearly for years now, and am thinking about how much I had left to do or say or see and that I always told myself I could do it on another day.

Tonight I will be constantly preoccupied with memories of everything that has gone on in the last five years and just relish the nostaglia for a while in a bittersweet concoction of a humid night, a tired body, and weepy songs.

Tonight I have a lump in my throat.

To quote a shadowy figure from my freshman year: "Yeah man, we're gonna burn this fucker to the ground..."
:: Freddy F. at 11:57 PM [+] ::
:: (1) comments ::

In reference to this, I. as a Founder of the Walk Of Peace, will be a key contact for anyone wishing to walk for peace on Sunday, July 4, 2004.

This walk will take place rain or shine (no matter what the Good Doctor says). It will also take place cops or not.

"We said what we had to say. We did what we had to do. We meant every word we said. You can't stop a riot until it's through..."


:: Freddy F. at 10:13 AM [+] ::
:: (1) comments ::

Alright, so it's been a while.

And really, a lot has happened. Like a million things. Especially if you are thinking universally.

First and foremost: I am leaving Manhattan, Kansas on July 10th and relocating to Ann Arbor, Michingan on July 12th, with a slight layover in Omaha. This will mean a lot of big changes, like mostly where I live and thus, my phone number. So if you care to stay in touch with me, I have established a brand-spankin' new 1000 mb email address. That's right, I'm goin' G-Mail. You can get me at [my first name].[my middle initial which is A].[my last name]@gmail.com. See that. I'm beating the spam system. Yeah, they thought that they could get my email address from huge internet scans and send me all kinds of shit about bigger wangs, and hotter chicks, and cheaper mortgages. Fuck you, Spam. Fuck you and the horse you rode into town on, because I beat the system. From this email address, you will always be able to reach me.

To all who are concerned: I believe that early last week I saw Vince Lombardi riding his bike along Claflin. Upon reaching the intersection of Claflin and Denison, I believe I saw Vince Lombardi fall of his bicycle. I believe this because I saw him get up off the ground, look around sheepishly, and then begin riding his bike across Claflin. Where's your altruistic army now, vince, hmmm? Where's your United States to save your NRA-lovin' bitch ass now, vince? Hey Vince, go shave your head one more time, I think I'm seeing a bit of a shadow.

And while I'm just a ranting and raving over here, let's continue with an open letter to the people who make the New York Times Sunday Crossword Puzzle:

Dear People who make the New York Times Sunday Crossword Puzzle:

I would just like to inform you that you are fucking wrong. You hear that: wrong. You fucked up. Or you cheated. That's it isn't it? You fucking cheating sons of bitches, and I caught you it in you crack whore cheating bitches. As an answer to the clue "Neighbor of Neb." the correct answer cannot be "KAS". Kas is not a state. Kas is not the first three letters of a state. Kas isn't anything. If your clue was "Neighbor of Ner." or maybe "Neighbor of Nea" then "KAS" would be acceptable and I would acknowledge defeat and go on to the next puzzle. But no, you snivelling shits, you said "Neighbor of Neb" to which the correct answer is "KAN" But you fucked up, and you messed the crossword puzzle up, and tried to pass it off as a real word. So what else is there PWMNYTSCP? Is there really such this as an epee? What about ogee, or is that a mental concoction as well, you two-faced liars? For years now I have been admitting defeat to a superior intellect of yours, only to see it come crashing down in your faces like an intellectual tower of babel. I hope you relish the shit I've now drug you through.

PS: In an english crossword puzzle, I really think it is only acceptable to have say, 10% of the words in a foreign language. When I see six clues in a row that all require the knowledge of a language more familliar in Europe than in American, I start to think something shady's going on. And to ask for abreviations in foreign languages, well, that's just a little low.

Alright, now that I got that off my chest.

In conclusion I would like to welcome two new members of the Flextiming family. And by the way, Tex, if you think you're going to blog with the big boys and not slide the way of snance, you'd better hammer on that template of yours a bit. [Think: sustainabilty and design]

"As the coolness of the night reflected over the cobblestone roads and silence took over, he said "Do you know who the fuck I am..."
:: Freddy F. at 8:28 PM [+] ::
:: (0) comments ::