dag. some memories and whatnot.

last time i updated my livejournal (and, regularly, this blog), i was fresh out the desert and unemployed.

now, i'm engaged and looking at houses for to purchase them and make them mine own.

this month, i've been house sitting. waking up at 5 every morning to an old dog requesting access to the areas of the world in which she can lawfully poop. this has reinforced my belief in doggy doors.

a week ago we looked at houses that had comically large problems. one had a ceiling that was only six feet tall. one was obviously a pre-fab house whose doors would not shut. one was incredible but had no yard and smelled like cat pee. one was incredible, but the owners had neglected to take care of the roof, and the walls were bulging with moisture and we left with headaches from the bad things in the air.

i've been through two jobs. two and a half, if you count the one i was hired for on a wednesday and dismissed from the next afternoon - not because of anything i did, though. budgets.

i like the job i am in a great deal. i do research for a labor union. we are trying to better working conditions in the residential construction industry. we are also trying to end world hunger, destroy cancer, and solve the palestinian-israeli conflict.

when i first started working on union campaigns, my dear friend who has been working on a similar campaign said, "be sure to to take care of your mental health. this job can get really fucking depressing." i accepted her advice, but thought i had the iron will and the detachment to not be bothered. i was wrong.

i started a new band with sean and ben and randy and deacon and i really really enjoy it, but we've only practiced twice and i hope i'm not the only one who really, really enjoys it.

there have been TWO more incarnations of porches, both of which were really fun: stephen stinkbrein on bass, preston j.b. on drums. ray reeves on drums, jason p.w. on geet, ryan mcd on keys, francis on bass.

i am currently in the process of surprising my mother and father, the former of whom is my friend on facebook, but who, as of yet, does NOT read this blog (hence the dirty words).

i just finished "breakfast of champions." it was good, but too... vonnegut-y. cheeky. bluebeard will probably always be my favorite. currently almost done with "the monkey wrench gang." i hated it before i started to pick up on some of the tongue-in-cheek-ness, and i still love/hate it. not surprising, given what i have heard about his views on immigration.

sometimes doing anything good feels so sisyphean. there is such endless innocent need in this world and such great innocent destructive power in humankind. i write "human" there after catching myself writing "mankind" - but i think this is one instance in which mankind may be appropriate.

i lived at the tribe, which was surreal. i saw defiance, ohio play there six years ago. i played my first show with a 4-piece with defiance, ohio there two years ago.

i've been trying to get back into writing prose.

i went on tour with sean and ben, which was, as always, a blast and a half. monsters of snack. they bring out the best and the worst in me. somehow eating mcdonald's and more self-righteous than ever. the wonderful lazy days of driving six hours to hang out and play music for people.

10 days on the road is enough for me, though. anymore and i get all holden caulfield - phony this and phony that. i crave foundations and sacrifice and support.

there is a lot more that has happened that i do not remember that i wish i had written down. at least i've been journaling privately, though.