Where you keep your Rolling Stones records,
And a friend of Sacha Distel, yes you do.

Well, I just got done telling my roommate that if her boyfriend moved in with us, I would be leaving. The response? Nothing. I got a question as to what I would do when I left, and that was it.

I knew that fucker was bad for her.

I know I don't usually post links to anything, but I thought that this was a very interesting, if saddening, story. Read it here.

Something strange happened just last night, something that has only happened once or twice in the past ten years of my life. Last night, I had a dream. For ten or eleven years now, I've not even sprang awake in the night knowing I had been dreaming, let alone remember the dream itself. But last night, I awoke, sprang to my sketch pad, and recorded what I saw. When I was younger, I would dream on a regular basis, and had no problems remembering them, but what was striking about this was how it all seemed. It was more like I was watching a movie, with myself as the character being filmed I could see from a first person perspective, but I was also intimately aware of the third person. I know that may not make much sense, but that's how it was. Like I said, I recorded my dream, though, what I am writing below is not pulled from my notebook, it's a hybrid of my memory and my recording.

The dream opened with me driving up to my house, on a bright sunny day, my dog in the seat next to me, a slight breeze blowing through the trees. I jumped out of my truck, the dog following me, and as I walked in the direction of the garage door, it began to open. From the garage, out poured a tidal wave of water, the water seemed to have a blindingly bright light behind it, and I was swept away by the force. The force of the water, or the force of the light, I don't know. For what seemed like days, I struggled in the water, and even though I had my eyes closed, I could see the swirling waters, and that same source of light that seemed to be contained in my garage. Suddenly, I could feel solid ground beneath my feet, and the water drained away, almost as quickly as it had swept me from my feet. I was now standing in an immense field, small swells of land rolling about me like the movement of the sea, all covered in the golden brown grass that seems to fill the fields in the fall. At the very edge of my vision, I could see the treeline of a forest encompassing the field. Josie, my dog, was still with me, though I hadn't been aware of her in the water with me. I turned around, taking in my surroundings, and spotted something in the distance, thrusting out of the nearly flat expanse of grass. Being the only point of distinction in this place, I set out for it, Josie running ahead of me turning back to check that I was still on my way every so often. After walking for a while, it became clear that the object interrupting the otherwise seamless landscape was a tree, though not a tree that could have ever survived here on Earth. It towered above me, being at least ten or twelve stories high, but it's truly otherworldly characteristic was it's canopy. Perfectly level along it's lower edge, and at least four or five times wider than the tree was tall, the canopy was filled with dark green leaves that, after the warm golden color of the grass, almost seemed too vivid to look directly at. Moving under the canopy, I made my way to the trunk, which, while large, was not nearly thick enough to support the weight of the branches and foliage that crowned this massive and ancient behemoth. As I approached, I could see that the bark had a silvery color, almost a metallic sheen. I looked over my shoulder, to find that the dog had fallen behind me, waiting at the edge of the canopy, almost as if she were afraid to go any further, like approaching this king of the forest was a transgression she was not willing to make. Ignoring the dog, I turned around, to find that I had arrived at the trunk, and curiously, I reached forward to touch the strange, silver bark. Before my fingers could touch, roots shot out of the ground, grabbing at my limbs, pulling me down below, into the dark, cold ground.

At this point, a bit of a change of scenery occurred, I was not aware of the roots loosing their hold, but now I was standing, unbound, in a black expanse. The air was cool, though not cold, and the ground beneath my feet was hard, and reflective. There seemed to be a soft localized bit of light following me, and from time to time, motes of what appeared to be dust flitted into the light, unlike dust, though, these specks seemed to suck all of the light into themselves, acting like tiny little black holes. I wandered in this place, hearing only the soft thumping of my boots on the ground for what seemed like an eternity, until I became aware of something reflecting off in the distance. As I drew near, It became apparent that it was a monolith, made of the same material the floor was, jutting from the floor, with no seams, as if it had grown there. At the base of the structure, I could see a person, and as I drew near, I could make out the form of and old woman, seemingly asleep at the base. Like the tree before it, I approached the onyx slab, and reached out to touch it, when I was startled by a voice, the first one I had heard in what seemed to be only a bit longer than an eternity.
"Oh, I wouldn't do that, dearie," rasped the woman, she had a kind, grandmotherly voice, but one that sounded like it hadn't been used in a long, long time. "Trust me, you wouldn't like it."
I cleared my thought, readying my voice for it's first use in... hours? Days, even? I had been wandering in these strange places for so long that I had lost track of time. "Excuse me, but... where are we, what is this?"
The woman's face darkened a bit, and she contemplated the question for a bit, finally settling on an answer. "Why, this is the place where music comes to die!"
On the last words, the woman seemed to take on a different manner, dropping her grandmotherly aspect, and seeming like a crazed old witch. She leapt at me, and as she did, I let my hand, which had been hovering mere inches from the surface of the tower, continue it's motion, brushing the monolith with my fingers. As I did, the surface changed from black to pure, reflective white, spreading from the place I touched it, enveloping the entire structure, and once it had been changed, rocketing out in a circle from the base. The frail old woman screamed and fell to the ground as the landscape changed, and as she crumpled, the sky began to turn from black to white, the line of change starting at the unbroken horizon, and speeding up the skyline. The whole process didn't take more than a few seconds, and when the change in the sky was nearing it's completion, the remaining point of black directly above me flashed with the same brilliance that had illuminated the water so long ago.

And then, I woke up, sweating, shaking with the intensity of the dream. I scrambled to find my notebook, but I found my sketchpad first, and I recorded what I had seen. That's it for now, though now that I have actually posted something, there is a good chance I'll actually do another, I miss writing, and I'm currently working on a short story, maybe I'll put it up here.

Shut the fuck up, and write a blog. Or something like that.

I've not been in much of a blogging mood of late, which is strange, because not only have I not been sleeping of late, but I've also been writing, which usually leads to making blog posts. It's not a lack of material to blog about, but more a problem of time. I have to hoard my god given free minutes these days, and usually I don't feel like blogging after a long day at the office. Ahh, the tedium that is working in PC repair. Since moving home in January, there have been several points of interest.

• Got my old job back.
• Began a rather wonderful relationship with Who (LGC, and the person I went to the movies with)
• Behaved like an asshat and royally messed up said relationship.
• Saw my friend Saint get off the ground to college, and begin to turn his life around.
• Found a rationalization for my lack of blogging stamina.

My hometown is a tiny little speck on the map, a tourist town with some of the finest freshwater sailing in the world, but not very many people know that. In the summer, it's a bustling town full of travelers that apparently forget how to drive the second they put on their sandals and ankle socks. In the winter, however, a much different scene greets the viewer, while beautiful in the winter, the town is also dead. Enter me, fresh from deciding not to push my luck and funds by returning to school this semester, returning home with no prospects for a job. After a few weeks of futile hunting, I decide to pop into The Office to see my good friend Saint. While visiting, I learn that he is leaving for school in a week, and since I'm desperate for a job, I ask Annie to tell the Boss that I'm in town. A few days later, I get asked to come in, and despite the falling out that we had at the end of last summer, Boss hires me back, only four days a week, so I can train Hippie Jesus, who is a rather terrible tech. Fortunately for my monetary status, Hippie Jesus, upon hearing that I was working instead of his hours being increased, left for lunch and never came back. So began the exciting tedium that is my office job.

About a week or so after getting my job back Miny and I were at a small concert in one of the local hotels, and I ran into Who, a one time friend of Merna that had a thing for me while I was still with her. We hung out a few times, and made plans to go to Winter Carnival, Michigan Tech's celebration of snow, ice, and booze(at which no booze was consumed). A grand time was to be had by all.

And indeed it was. Things were going well between the two of us, and having gotten a huge load off of my shoulders by telling all my friends at Tech that I'm bi, we began to actually have a real relationship. We made if through the weekend unscathed, crying, drunk friends calling at 3 A.M. and all, but when we got home, things began to take a turn for the worse. I began to take a look at what we had, and I locked up, screwing up Valentine's day in a fantastic manner, and not recovering gracefully at all. Shortly after the 14th, Who decided that I was just trying to use him, and despite the fact that I would never do such a thing, he was stuck on the idea. Been over a week, and he won't talk to me.

In the middle of all of this, I was keeping up a regular correspondence with Saint, who seemed to be doing well, courses were doing well, and he had dropped drugs except for good ol' caffeine and nicotine. He had been making big strides over the last year, and I was glad that he was doing so well. I was happy for Saint, and was glad that he seemed to have control of his life again.

StickMajor and I have also been hanging out, since she goes to a community college that is only about an hour away, and is home on the weekends. We helped my aunt move, this weekend, and hung out with my cousin, both of which were, in a word, exciting. During said hangings out she mentioned that she had heard Saint and Merna were going out. I knew that the two were good friends, and just passed it off as the small town rumor mill churning along. Not two days later, while talking with The Artist for the first time in God knows when, she also mentioned the pairing. Now, I know that they are both their own people, and have the right to do whomever they wish, but I felt a bit put off. It isn't hard to see why they wouldn't tell me, since one of your best friends being with you ex is usually frowned upon.

Last night, Merna and I were talking online, and instead of dodging the point, I just let her know what I had heard. She admitted, and was relieved that I wasn't pissed at anybody, which, while rational, just further proves that she didn't understand me as well as I used to think she did. We chatted some more, and out of the blue, she asked if I thought Saint would ever cheat on her. Now, Saint did cheat on his last girlfriend, but they had been in a relationship that was, for the most part, superficial, and by that time they hated each other. I reassured her that as long as things were going well, Saint would be true, which I do believe. Merna then segued into a story about how she had 'kinda' pulled a knife on Saint when she heard that he was cheating on her. Turns out that it was one of his ex-girlfriends, who just wanted to fuck up his current relationship.

Now, as concerned as I am about Merna's behavior, at this point I'm more worried about her impact on Saint. He was just beginning to get his life turned around, while Merna just continues to drive hers into the ground. She just got expelled for possession of pot, which is by far the least of what she has been on of late, (Note to my readers: I have no problem with drugs, but there are those that can balance their lives, and those who can't, Merna falls firmly into the second category) as well as having a knife on her during school. Now she wants to move down to school with him, and I worry about the impact that that will have.

It is not all as bad as this space makes it seem. I've been able to see Miny, VeeDub, StckMajor, and some other friends while at home, and winter Carnival was nice, though it made me miss school horribly, but such is the situation. Also, I've got a paid day off today, to attend a security expo/conference/thing hosted by Symentec, the company that owns and produces Norton Anitivirus. It's down in Detroit, gives me a great excuse to see the Fan Club, my two little cousins that are the closest things I will even have to nieces. I'm actually sitting in a lecture about Protecting windows in business settings, which is far more interesting than it sounds (to me, at least.) Sadly, the wireless seems to be broke, so I don't know when I'll be able to post this to Ye Olde Interwebs.

I have more to write, but I think I've worn myself out writing.

11:17
Crap, that reminds me, an explanation for my lack of blogging prowess. This realization came to me not too long ago, and I thank the Yooper for bringing it to my attention. Yooper and I were talking one night, and somewhere in the conversation, we were talking about coffee. The Yooper said to me that I had an 'addiction prone personality,' which pissed me off a bit. Now, I smoke, I drink, and I drink coffee like the worlds supply was running out, but it sounds a lot worse than it actually is. I've smoked for four years now, but there are two points in there where I didn't smoke, both times for a year. I didn't stop because I planned it, because I was worried about it killing me, or any of the other myriad reason one stops, I simply quit because I ran out of cigarettes and didn't bother to by another pack for a year. I drink coffee now, because The Boss pays for it, and because I enjoy the taste, not because of the caffeine. As a matter of fact, I have a very good tolerance for the stuff, I can't rely on caffeine to wake me up or keep me up, because I would have to buy far too much, I actually don't drink coffee while at school, because while I like it, I can't be bothered to spend the money for it. I drink, but only while I'm with friends, last summer I had one Jack and Coke, at a movie night at Merna's. While thinking of this, my blog popped into my head, and I realized that it fit the profile of one of these intermittent addictions perfectly, I tend it for a bit, and then with no good excuse, I stop. Weeks or months later, I'll think of it again, and I return for a bit. I read all of my blogs still, even while not blogging myself. (bloggers, try and guess if I'm reading you for extra fun!) This is a pattern that I see all over my life as I think about it more, and it's strange ot me that I never noticed it before.

I'm finished now, for real this time. As usual, I feel terrible for not being regular with my updates, but I write as I feel fit. I will return, hopefully in not too long.

1:20
It seems wrong to me that none of the actual infosessions I've been in today have working wireless, you would think that the largest IT security company on the planet would provide the IT professionals that it is hosting with internet access to distract them while they are being told to buy every product that Symantec never made. (Note: those of you that don't know, Symantec is famous for buying companies that have good product and rebranding it, not actually developing their own.)

At the least, I met some cool people here, it's nice to have somebody on the same level I am, since The Boss has really fallen behind the times. I've got a few business cards, and one guy who may want to get me a job, which would get me out of home PC repair hell.

Wow this wins most retarded graph ever

2000 --- TIME --- 2006

Really? Time passed? It's a shame he changed the slide before I got to take a picture, it was really funny. A lot funnier than it seems here .

2:03:
Hurray, the last infosession has WiFi!

After all of the excitement that was last night, I was hoping for a nice calm day at work today. The morning was pretty hectic, but nothing that was too unusual. Then, at about 2:30, my dad calls me to say that he is heading down tonight to see my grandpa before his operation. Apparently the catheterization didn't go too well, and the doctors aren't very optimistic about the open heart. So, in about 15 minutes when i get off of work, I am heading downstate with my dad, visiting with grandpa, and then driving back yet tonight, or around 6am tomorrow, so I can be to work on time, as my boss is an ass. Between coming out to everybody last night and this today, my nerves are really shot. If i decide to say 'screw it' and not come back to work tomorrow, I'll probably be out of contact for a few days, so till next time.

Chaps.

Wow. What a fucking night.

I know that I dangled news in front of you and then left for several days, but I promise that I had good reason. Work has been nuts, and my grandpa is going in for yet another open heart operation Friday morning. I'm also trying to figure out how the hell to build Audry 2 for the teen production of "Little Shop of Horrors." I promise to get to a better explanation of who I was with (LGC) later, but for now a quick rundown of tonight. I was talking to LgC, specifically about our plans to head up to Tech to attend the yearly Winter Carnival, which is basically a 5 day excuse to not go to class and drink. It is also a roaring good time, and with Reel Big Fish playing, this year promises to be especially great. I had already decided that I was going to come clean with my friends about being bi when we got there, but I was already freaking out about telling everybody at once, so I told LittleC, who isn't actually at Tech this semester either. LittleC was notably surprised, but also very supportive, and from there I was on a roll. First was Prince of Slackers, the The Yooper, and from there it continued. I came out to seven people, all but one of them being on my list of people to see while up at tech, and other than feeling like I'm about to have a heart attack, I feel a hell of a lot better. It's amazing how well just being honest can feel, and with as much as I don't talk to the people that I'm directly involved with, it always comes as a bit of a surprise. So, several hours after this adventure began, I'm dead tired, in need of a smoke, (and possibly a scotch) and feel like I've had a minor heart attack.

Wow, that paragraph rambled.

Okay, on to the promised explanation. LgC, whose name will be changing once I think of something fitting, is a friend of mine who graduated from my high school a year after I did. He is taking classes at the local community college, and wants to be a physical therapist. He's cute, short(compared to me,) and 1/4 Japanese. I seem to be drawn to people of Asian persuasion for some reason, dunno why. I don't really know what else to say about him right now, but that may have to do with how tired I am right at the moment.

I'm gonna wrap this up on account of sheer exhaustion, and I'll elaborate more at a later date, and hopefully on better nerves.

I'm off to movies? With who? Ooooh, that's my little secret, but here is a hint, he's cute.

The Chapstick non-posting marathon continues unabated, leaving some to wonder how long he can hol- Oh, well, so much for that.

Greetings, almost certainly nobody! I swoop in, once again from nowhere, armed with a recap post of semi-epic proportions! So, let us take a look at the two and a half months of Chapstick news.

Well, on the personal front, Dancer asked me to come to Minnesota for the beginning of Thanksgiving break, but my lack of car left that as a non-option. Dancer and GoodTV have both managed to acquire boyfriends, which is wonderful news, really. I just wish GoodTV hadn't told me that she wanted to be with me, but couldn't because of LittleC. I understand her reasoning, but I think I would have been better off not knowing. She also yelled at me for shaving my head again, apparently she had a crush on my hair, too.

I've talked to Merna a fair bit too, and even tried to resurrect our relationship, which was a bad idea, and fortunately ended as a disaster. In hindsight I think I was mostly doing it to try and keep her out of all the shit she has been into lately. That isn't my place anymore.

Lazy, now officially the Prince of Slackers, and I are also starting an online comic together. Between his art and characters and my... my... well, I'm sure I'll do something to help, we will take the market by storm! More updates and info on that when the project actually launches.

Oh, another small thing, I'm no longer attending Michigan Tech. Due to some family issues and some monetary issues and some (minor) scholastic issues, I am no longer a student. I had originally planned on returning in the fall semester, but with my parents withdrawing financial support, and with me having no real credit, it's not looking like a particularly viable option. Determined to make the most of this, I've decided to do something that I have dreamed about since I was small, and something that I have considered far more seriously in the last few years. I'm looking to move to a city. An honest to god City. If anybody out there lives in one that they would like to put in a good(or bad) word for, either leave a comment or just ask for my email address. Also, if anybody knows of a business or person looking for IT work from a certified operative with some good experience under his belt, I'd appreciate a heads up. =\

I know that this may seem more like a small town kid's daydream, but rest assured I haven't made this decision without heavy consideration or experience. I've had a bit of experience with living in Detroit with some family, so I'm not jumping into this with no clue. I'm currently considering New York as my top pick, and I hope to be decided within a month or so, and ready to move by the fall.

Now, if i could only figure out how to tell my Mom...

Well it's almost 2am, I haven't had a smoke in over 24 hours, and I need to be at work by 9, time to step outside and then head to bed.

Thanks for being here.

Chaps