My Life is a Cartoon

I'm having one of those days where the major things I wanted to accomplish are turning to shit.

Started this morning. Met with designerotter and madisonbear for a bike ride through the Arboretum and down the Capital City Trail. Got about 2/3 of the way through the Arboretum, when we saw the road was barricaded to protect a section that had been resurfaced. To complicate matters was a trio of joggers blocking our path. I was at the head of our pack, and rode off the pavement onto the grass to avoid the joggers. I fishtailed on the wet grass, but managed to keep my balance. Unfortunately, I bent my rear wheel out of shape in the process, and the tire lost pressure. I managed to bend the wheel back into nominal shape, and the three of us limped back to my house. In what I thought was an exercise in creative problem solving I suggested I put my bike away, the three of us could ride in my car back to the bike shop where Ted and Joe had rented their bikes, while carrying their bikes on the bike rack on my car, rent a bike for me, and we'd complete our trek. The ride itself was challenging, yet successful; Ted was dog tired, but happy; Joe was pleased that his work at the gym was paying dividends, and I was proud of Ted for making the ride and of my problem-solving abilities.

I got home and all hell broke loose. My partner was furious. Part of this was based on my tardiness in getting back home and his fear that I had been involved in some terrible accident, another on his confusion over where I could be, especially with my bike in the garage, and finally on his inability to understand the reasoning behind my "creative problem solving". From his perspective, my ride should've ended once the bike was damaged and I got it home; renting a bike for nothing more than pleasure when I already own one struck him as the height of insanity. "Normal people don't do this." Joe and Ted should've been sent on their merry way with my apologies, with promises to complete the trip at a later date. The reasoning is sound, and it would've saved me the cost of a rental. There are certainly other days that we could've done this. On one level, except for not calling home to let my partner know I'd be running late, I don't think I did anything terribly wrong, and the rental fee was not outrageous; on the other, the points he raises are not completely out of line: had I not been so centered on completing the ride with Joe and Ted (Something I had looked forward to for weeks), or had been biking on my own, I'd have simply come back home and taken my bike in for repairs later. As unlikely as a recurrence may be, I won't be making this mistake again!

I decided the best thing to do was to go on to a home project: Painting the garage door. The springs that help raise the garage door run parallel to the tracks on which the door's rollers run. When the door is open, the tension on the springs relax and the springs end up resting on the door. Over time, the paint has worn off in these spots. Before meeting Joe and Ted this morning, I had used a spray cleaner attached to the garden hose to wash the door, and used the time during the bike ride for the door to dry. Either this wasn't an effective cleaning agent, the sponge brush I was using for the edges wasn't clean, or the difference in the textures between the brush and roller is extreme. Either way, the initial coat looks like crap. Where ever I used the brush around the perimeter of the door, it looks dirty, and the coverage over the worn sections is non-existent. It's going to require a second coat, at least, which will have to wait until tomorrow when the roller is dry from my cleaning it. I'm tempted to skip church tomorrow to get the second coat on early, allowing enough time for a third, if it needs it.

I've had better days.

Got my car back last night. While the cost of repairs was over $900, I had a credit card that could handle it, my car's "road safe" and I can feel that the steering is tighter.

Gas is currently down to $2.91 / gal. Wonder how long THAT will last.

I plan on having dinner tonight with designerotter, madisonbear, and the visiting mrdreamjeans.

So far, it's shaping up to be a good day.

I'm trying to be upbeat here, because the story could be far worse....

I took my car in for service during my lunch break, as I got a notice from the dealer that it was due for a 45,000 maintenance check up. They included a couple discount coupons, and since I hadn't taken my car to the dealership for over a year and the brakes were sounding a bit squeaky, I took them up on the offer.

Turns out the brakes were the least of my worries. I got a call from the service manager stating that my car wasn't road safe. The front tie bars had so much play in them, they were ready to fall off; the rear coil springs were both broken and ready to shred the sidewalls of my tires; I had a nail in one of my tires; and yes, the front disk brakes needed work. I'd save some money by having the front and back worked on at once, as it would require only one body alignment, but all the work would take a solid 6 - 8 hours and they wouldn't have it ready until tomorrow afternoon. Total cost $940 - $1000.

Now, you'd think I'd be hitting the roof over this expense, but I've had so little trouble with this car over the past eight years that I figured I was due for a major expense sooner or later. Actually, I'm more nervous about my partner's reaction to all this.

Since my partner was out of town for the day, I decided to bow to LJ peer pressure and took in the movie "Superbad". It was, for me, a bad choice.

I can't blame the acting, the directing, or the quality of the film in general. In fact, I can see why the film is so popular. As so often occurs, the problem was with me.

In a nutshell, the film centers on guys trying to get booze for a senior class party, thus earning them much social cache' among their peers; if the guys get enough liquor into the girls they find desirable, they might actually get laid. BONUS!!

Trouble is, in high school, I wasn't those guys; hell, in college I wasn't those guys. Since my father was an alcoholic (and a mean one when he drank) being around drunk people has never been a turn-on, so actively enabling them by buying booze just doesn't fly. Looking back, I don't think I was invited to more than a half-dozen parties while I was in high school AND college, and knew of none going on during the last month or so of high school. This is not to say there weren't any; I honestly didn't know of any....I was THAT far out of the loop. If I went to the high school depicted in this film, even McLovin would've thought I was a geek.

In short, this was not a story I could relate to, or even wanted to relate to. I honestly thought it rather sad that, as depicted in this film, the overriding goal of one's senior year in high school was to get drunk and laid. However, the teens watching the film seemed to agree wholeheartedly with the film's theme: Booze + sex = Good; Education + grades = a necessary evil, tempered by social opportunities granting access to booze and sex. Obviously, my priorities are screwed up.

The best thing about this film involved the two cops... and yes, Seth Rogan looks hot in a police uniform and handlebar mustache. If this territory wasn't already covered by "Reno 911", I could see a film built around these two characters. As I came out of the cinema, it occurred to me that it was rather odd that a film billed as a comedy required comedy relief. Hmmmmm....pause to chew on that one.

In the end, I came close to walking out on this film. Had it been on TV, I'd have changed the channel after the first five minutes. As it is, I had to step out twice to use the restroom. The cold truth is, urinating made me feel better than this film did, and it was with a conscious effort that I returned to my seat.

Maybe my error was in going to this film alone. Had I gone with friends, I'd have been reacting as much to their reactions to the film, as I would be reacting to it myself.

Met with designerotter for a bike ride this morning. After dodging Uber Athletes preparing for tomorrow's IronMan contest, their support crews and various gawkers all treating the paved bike path like it was the midway at the state fair, we hit more open pavement and made our way through the Arboretum, noting the recently raised water levels brought on by the week-long rains of two weeks ago. While four counties have been declared Federal Disaster Areas, and five more have been declared eligible for federal funding due to the recent flooding, the local wildlife is loving it, and the mosquito population has easily quadrupled. Any time we paused for Joe to take photos, the bugs started feasting; it really paid to keep moving.

This afternoon, my partner and I took in the new movie "Shoot 'Em Up!" OMG, what a riot! Not only is this a testosterone-drenched exhibition of Boys and Their Toys, the stunts (and their aftermath) are so over-the-top, as to produce laughter and chuckling groans of "Oh, no....", as the rules of physics were tossed out the window. Paul Giamatti chews up the scenery as the chief bad guy, delivering his lines with alternating cynicism, gleeful sadism, and vitriol ("GodDAMMit!! Is he that GOOD, or do we SUCK that MUCH??!!" "Guns don't kill people, but they sure help!"). If your sense of humor is particularly dark, you'll thoroughly enjoy "Shoot 'Em Up!".

And people say I don't stay current...

Gas has jumped up to $3.09/gal

Today, the birthday boy is madisonbear!

Let's all wish him the best day ever!!

Edie's cabaret is now in the past. It was nerve-wracking, fun, successful, frustrating, exhilarating, a MAJOR pain in the ass...and I'd do it again in a heartbeat....only better.

Both nights were sold out, which means we'll meet our financial goals. I haven't heard what donations we got over that, but that's pure gravy.

designerotter and his friend Bonnie were in attendance Saturday night, and they enjoyed themselves thoroughly, despite the fact that Edie, Todd, Keith and I all managed to drop at least one line of lyrics in our solo numbers. Such are the hazards of a live show (This also puts me in awe of how those kids on "American Idol" can put on flawless performances week after week, after being introduced to a song only days before.). Sunday night went far smoother, although my mike kept cutting out (Fortunately, my teeny voice carries well), and I managed to drop a different lyric in my solo number. AAaaugh! Sunday's crowd started off a bit more subdued that Saturday's, but they warmed up during the second act...especially this one woman who would NOT shut up after her third Heineken.

This morning I can't stop "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park" from running through my head. Thanks, Bob.

Plans are already in the works for next year's cabaret with Edie. Should be a good time!

As I am sure mrdreamjeans can tell you, nothing in live theatre goes completely according to plan. Such is the case with our upcoming fund raising cabaret with Edie.

We had a rehearsal of the second act Tuesday night at Ken's house, who is one of our musical directors. It seemed to go fairly well, and I had thought we had ironed out most of the rough patches, despite Ian's persistent cough (The poor guy is fighting a lingering chest cold, which was aggravated by Ken's two cats). However, Ken contacted Ed after the rehearsal and let him know that the closing song, "Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain", just isn't working; the 6-part harmony in one section could use a solid month's rehearsal to really lock in and blend, and Ian's and Ed's voices weren't working well together in this number. It's not from lack of trying; some voices work in solos and in large groups, but not in exposed duets.

In short, as of Wednesday, the show has no ending. I'm confident that Ed will come up with something; I've even offered a couple of song suggestions that Edie might use. We'll simply have to see how things are when we meet for Dress Rehearsal on Friday.

One thing is sure: Theatre, even small productions like ours, is never boring.

It's only a week away. Make your reservations at http://www.perfectharmonychorus.org