Buggin' out, buggin' out, 'in' out, ya buggin' out, buggin' out, buggin' out....

Got a few things to talk about here. The last few weeks have been pretty decent. Had lots of fun stuff happen. Classes will be over in a week, which I'm quite excited about. I got a chance to see two awesome bands in two weeks. Last Wednesday St. Clair and I caught an all acoustic show with a whole bunch of different acts, but there was one main act I was there to see, Jody Shelton and the Falls. Chris Heinz from Root Valdez plays drums for that band, and that band is awesome so I had to go and see them live. They put on a show like noone else. They had flair, pizazz, and most of all, TALENT! They did a number of cover songs, including Hank Williams' Ramblin' Man, which was awesome. What made that night even better was the fact that Colin from Aleda was there. He has a sense of humor unlike anything I've ever seen. He completely ripped on this one singer, who was really talented, but not all that good looking and had weird looking teeth. She got it something awful from Colin. He asked St. Clair if he'd hook up with her, and he said maybe. That was when Colin got out of his seat and started walking towards her acting like he was about to get her number for St. Clair. I wish I could have taken a picture of St. Clair's face when that happened, I've never seen a grimace of fear quite like that before. Overall that was a great night.
The next day it was a trip over to the Lucky Cat to catch QB3. QB3 is a group formed by Chris, Fred G. on guitar and bassist Emek Rave. Talk about some talented ass mofos, man. They tore it up hardcore. They had a guest saxaphonist, Nick Gianni, that dude's got some soul. The crazy part about it was that they hadn't rehearsed anything beforehand, they just got together and played. They even hammered out two songs from their album The Form of Space, "Knee Deep Devotion" and "Electric Monk", both of which came out great! I really have to step my game up on the guitar, and jam with people more. Speaking of which, Fred G's still open for jamming, he also invited St. Clair to come along. That's gonna be AWESOME!!!11 We just have to set up a time to make it happen. I can't wait! The great thing about all of them is that they have a deep respect for all of their fans, they'll just hang out with them after the show like it's nothing. Chris really appreciated me coming out ot see both his shows. I was just glad to make it out to see them.

And now for some serious business. I'll be turning 21 soon, (and by soon I mean hours from now) and I usually take a retrospective look at my life over the past year. Last year, I had a nice big finger for my teenage years, but as for the preceding year, I have no animosities towards it. I enjoyed the hell out of it, even though academically it was the pits. I learned a lot of ups and downs of life, but I also learned to live a little more. I learned a lot about beer. Lots and lots. Hefeweisens and Witbiers are my personal favorites. Now that this birthday is coming up, I won't have to worry about being underage or getting into trouble (like I almost did that one time). So on that note, I bid age 20 a fond farewell, and a great many thank yous for the memories. I will miss it deeply. Now I can move forward to age 21 with high hopes and lots of enthusiasm. I say BRING IT ON!

Eh....

You ever know someone who made you depressed whenever you talk to them? Is it bad that the person I'm referring to is my grandmother? She's the kind of person who holds on to the past (I mean grabs onto it for dear life) and never lets go. When I say the past, I mean back in her childhood. Nothing traumatic or anything, I would understand if something traumatic happened to her and it's affected her. It's like her life is defined by bad memories or memories of things that didn't go her way. This was long before the Alzheimer's traits had set in. Now it's even worse, and she won't let go of the past (or what she percieves happened in the past.) It bothers the hell out of me, I can't imagine how my mother is feeling because all of my grandmother's aggression falls on her. What's sad is that most/all the things that she says my mother has said/done either didn't happen or she took it the wrong way. Another thing that frustrates me is her pessimistic view of EVERYTHING. It's like she can't be happy for anyone. She always sees the downside to things. I told her about my new job, she thinks of the possiblity of me getting robbed while I'm working there. Is happiness even feasible with her? Is it in her vocabulary at all? It's as if she lives and thrives off of negativity, even though we all see that it eats away at her. The sad part is she'll probably never learn to let go if she hasn't learned how at this point in her life.

The frustration is making my head hurt. Writing this down has made me feel better though. I'll be off to work in about a half hour so I can think about happier things, like money, and negotiating work hours, and screwing with the kids that frequent the internet cafe on a daily basis.

So, I think I may have a jorb....

Right now I'm in an internet cafe sitting at the main desk watching over the customers while I'm writing this, enjoying one of the most chill occupations I've ever seen/had. Here's how it all started....

One of my mother's coworkers, Mia, knew of a job opportunity that I would be perfect for. It was for an internet cafe called HaxCafe. Mia's brother in law used to be part owner when it first opened, then after he left, he handed the rights over to the co-owner, Pat, who Mia stayed in touch with. She told him about me, so she set up a time for Pat and I to meet. Friday, I meet Mia and Pat, I talk to Pat, we talk computers, then he shows me around the cafe, learn the ins and outs of it. I met one of the workers, Andrew, and he lets me know how the front desk runs, make sales, etc. I hang around for a few hours to see how things are done and the kind of people I encounter, and I like what I see. Pat tells me to come in on Monday and see how I can handle on my own.

Cut to today, I'm here, taking care of business, the manager, Sean gives me an overview of what I had to do, sets up an employee account for me, and he lets me take it from there. That's what I've been up to since then. I've just been overseeing everything, making sure nobody breaks anything (especially these crazy friggin' kids that come to frag one another after school). Tomorrow I come back and talk to Pat about my hours. I don't know about anyone else, but it looks like I may have a job.



Good news for Mouse, he's hired.

Mia, thank you, thank you, a million times, from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!!

In other news, my U.S. History professor sounds like a black Bob Barker, if you can possibly imagine that.

The End, for now....

Mindless chatter from an Afromaniac.... #3

Gabcast! Mindless chatter from an Afromaniac.... #3

House is a great show....

Just thought you should know that. Anyway, the last few weeks have been on the up and up. Things peaked pretty bad between my mom and grandmother, but after that day things settled down. A lot. My grandmother has been losing her things less often. She's been laughing, fussing less...it's weird. My mom and I are on high alert all the time, but things are good for now. I started summer courses at Medgar Evers College on Monday. I was supposed to be taking two courses, The Growth and Development of the U.S. and State and Local Government. I go to Growth and Development first, the class sounds like it's going to be interesting, and the professor knows his stuff. I go to State and Local Government afterwards...nobody's there. I'm sitting in the class like an asshole for about five minutes, then I go see what's going on. The registrar tells me that the class is cancelled...as in not going to happen. I was a wee bit pissed off. I did get a refund for that class though.

The next day, I go to G&D, we're waiting for a guest speaker since the professor said that there was going to be one. The man comes in, sets himself up, and tells us, "I'm sorry to tell you this, but you guys have been screwed." Apparently the professor from yesterday was reassigned, and the professor today was the last minute replacement. This guy knows his stuff too, but unlike the professor from yesterday, he is well travelled, knows 18 languages (fluently), Masters, Ph.D, the whole nine. I'm gonna like this class.

That's about it for now. Oh yeah, two things. I've been writing down dreams I've been having lately, and I'm gonna put them up on this blog eventually. And I'm going to start a countdown to my birthday since it's this month.

23 more days.