The North Explained.....

Upon commencement of this collection of random thoughts, a friend of mine remarked that I seemed to have a talent for writing. Kind words indeed. I believe that's exactly what I said to her. And while it is nice to get a pat on the back and a good job (get your mind out of the gutter!), I usually find it difficult to accept compliments. And I'm not doing this for any other reason than the joy of writing. And to make millions of dollars so that I may, one day, put my plans of exterminating mankind into motion.

But don't you worry your pretty little heads about that.

The reason I bring this up?

Part of the discussion centered around the north (where I happen to live). Most folk in the south haven't a sweet clue how things function here.....if they do function at all. Whether we live in igloos (we don't), whether we have electricity (we do) and, of course the most popular, how cold it gets.

The answer?

Cold.

Very Cold.

In truth, there are a plethora of blogs who all discuss life in the north ad nauseum. Each with a different perspective. The cold being a unifying factor. Oh, and there's snow, don't forget the snow.

At some point, I imagine I'll weigh in on the goings on around these parts. For now you'll have to content yourselves with my offerings of cold and snow.

With that said, I encourage you all to make a trek (not here, I don't want to talk to you) to the arctic and experience it for yourself. And depending on the time of year, I also may encourage you to wear a hat.

On a side note......

How awesome is the boss who randomly brings you a ginormous slice of chocolate cake? A little piece of goodness in what has been a pretty damn awesome sauce (and delicious) week.

This Moment Is Mine

Another Monday, another rehearsal at choir, another gorgeous display by my accomplices. I know I've mentioned this before, but it never ceases to amaze.

Currently we go by the name The Choiring Squad. One of our number had the thought that we should alter it to The Other Choir. I think he's got a point! Whenever the topic of choir comes up, folk ask us "Oh, you're in the community choir?". No actually, the other one. The, dare I say it, better one. I believe myself to be educated enough to make that claim. Especially since I've never actually heard the other choir perform. But we're so totally better.

CHOIRING OFF!

Sorry.

It was an interesting weekend. Interesting for the dearth of happenings. I spent the vast majority of it listening to music, cleaning up round the house or both. Having a roommate (currently house sitting), it's not often where I'm left alone for such extended periods. I don't mind as we get along swimmingly. But as I'm often not partial to the company of others, though frequently blessed by it, finally getting my wish presented a challenge. Now what do I do?

Cue the good music.

One of the few times I actually ventured out of the home was for the advancement of this goal. Some of you may not be aware, but I do a weekly radio show. Disseminating metal (and other goodies) to the masses. It was a particular joy this week as we finally got our new equipment in. We had a fundraiser back in December and wound up raising a gob of cash. I do believe we doubled our goal. The station found what they were looking for and now it's all ready to rock.

My point?

I want to thank everyone who participated in, donated, was associated with, whatever, to make this possible. Not only did we gain the means to become a better vessel of community radio, but we had a damn good time doing it.

Speaking of good times......who wants a scotch?

Baby Eating 101

Hopefully that title scared off the more skittish among you.

As for the rest of you, I hope you brought a change of clothing!

For those of you curious, the previous post was not a mistake or some such. 'Twas deliberate on a couple of different fronts. The more obvious of which, me being a cheeky asshole. But you knew that already. The other being the fact that I had nothing I particularly wanted to say to any of you. Certainly there were some goings on. However, I didn't feel particularly compelled to speak on those matters. Simply something you're going to have to learn to accept. Or not. Truth is, I don't give a fuck.

But I'm back! YAY!

Been giving a lot of thought to this thing called life in all it's complicated and demented splendor. What I want. Where I want to be. When. Why. How. Whom with. Oh the joys. And then the thought of a perfect day crossed my mind. Something occurred then that brought a smile to my face. I realized that my perfect day is easily achieved. Well, not so easily as say.....switching on a light. But not so difficult as......surviving the zombie apocalypse. The fact remains though, that there is much to do between now and then. Many adventures to have. And that's the point, isn't it? To embrace this life of ours. To enjoy it. Admittedly, none of us have any concrete idea of what death is. If I had to give an answer, I'd say we're fucking worm food eventually. But the fact remains that we don't know. This life could be the stepping stone on to something far grander than we could ever imagine. Many of us believe it is. Personally.......worm food. Which makes every moment of this blip of an existence matter to me. So, my advice? Even when doing seemingly nothing, do something. 

Wow......

I wasn't expecting my mind to vomit that all over the page.

Anyway.

Halloween is on the horizon. It, for the most part, being a huge crock. For me and mine, it's a delightful excuse to make fools of ourselves and drink together. In all honesty, it really doesn't separate it from any other day.......details. Been thinking that this year I need to wrangle a couple of my Hobbit size friends up and get them to dress as ghosts or some equally obscuring disguise. Then parade them around as my children and get free candy. Though I don't think that anyone in their right mind would believe for a moment that I was entrusted with the care of anything more delicate and needy than a rock. And considering I entitled this very entry about the consumption of infants.....I can't really blame them.

For those of you not in the know. I don't actually eat babies. Or young children. Or people in general. Having said that, I do occasionally get the urge to bludgeon folk with shovels.....

Especially them that refuse to give me candy this coming Halloween.

Tabula Rasa

Thankful?

Thanksgiving. To give thanks. Be thankful. Count ones blessing. Etc.

All over you see people doing so. Via Twitter, Facebook, whatever other social networking crap the world has churned out for us. It made me think (smell the smoke?). What am I thankful for?

A great deal, to be perfectly frank. The usual. My family. My friends who have come to be a second family as a result of the primary being eleventy billion miles away. I know I almost never ever say this to any of you. And if my generally......displeased demeanor were anything to go by, I'm sure most of you feel that I'd likely shank you if given the opportunity of no jail time. So pay close attention cause I'm only going to say this once. I love each and every one of you. And I count myself lucky that you've come into my life.

I'm even thankful for the mishaps, the setbacks, the unmitigated disasters in my life. We've all gone through it and I'm no different. Those who know me best know that things have gotten damn rocky on occasion. C'est la vie. Even in the down times, lessons have been learned and each stumble has made me what I am today. Whether or not that's a good thing is open to debate. Nevertheless, I'm thankful for those lessons.

I'm thankful for good scotch which still hasn't arrived! Get on that.

I'm a lucky man, and more importantly, I know it.

Now enough of this sappy emotional shit. Next post, I'm going to describe the proper technique of baby eating. Bring a change of clothes.

Wheel......wheel.....wheel.......wheel.....

Another night of choir and another absolute delight for the auditory senses. Still no metal *sad face*. I kid of course (mostly) and find myself increasingly enamored with our selection of material. Kudos to our fearless leader!

I wonder if I paid her prodigious compliments in this space she'd be more inclined to do some New Millennium Cyanide Christ. Or start easy with Aztec Two Step. The latter of which is a pretty sweet call and answer......that would likely terrify any audience and half the choir. Maybe it's best I'm not running things.....

I would like to speak more on the music, but it is always fun when the crowd has no idea what's about to come next. It's particularly true with this lot as our fare is decidedly not what you'd normally find. The crew also seems to be populated by lunatics. Though I think my perspective might be skewed. It's far more likely that the rest are normal folk while my section (the bass') are all batshit insane is one form or another. Yeah.....I'm gonna go with that.

On a side note, I'm very disappointed with the lack of scotch being sent from my (who am I kidding?) readers in the south. How am I gonna stay lucid if I don't have any alcholic gasoline coarsing through my system!?

I suppose I could step outside and breath deep, see what the fumes from the garbage fire do for me. Though I think stumbling about the streets, glassy eyed, spouting off the lyrics to Aztec Two Step is a sure way to have two kind officers escort me somewhere walled in and barred for a while.

One phone call? Sure. I'm gonna see if we can have practice here next week. The stuff they brew in the toilet is not bad.

Wait....

Shit.

I'm blind now.