Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Kidnapped by 6 drunk chicks at a Baby Shower...

Saturday night, June 18th, 2011, I went to Jet's Public House in my neighborhood to have a beer and a shot. I had to work on Sunday, so I was not planning on getting drunk, and I just needed to unwind after a hard days work. I ordered my beer and shot and sat there for a few minutes. Shortly after the bartender served me, the jukebox played "Cherry Bomb" by The Runaways. I don't think I have ever heard that in a bar, or at least not lately (past 10 years). There was a group of very obnoxious girls to my right that were very drunk.

As I was sitting there, they began to sing "Talk Dirty to Me" very loud. It was much louder than the jukebox, and it was quite comical. I thought they were just too drunk, and that was that. Near the end of my beer, and after ordering another one, one of the girls, Kara, came up to the bar and asked about the jukebox. The girls wanted it louder and threatened to leave the establishment because the bartender refused to turn it up. Kara, and another girl, argued that they were the last of the patrons in that bar, besides me, and questioned why they would want the bar to be empty. They were threatening to leave and go to another bar. The bartender did not give in to their demands.

Kara tried to explain their side to me, which I just laughed and nodded while these girls began to surround me and ask me questions about my thoughts and opinions of the situation. After that banter had subsided, we began to talk about where we all were from. After about 10 minutes, it turns out that Kara and her sister actually grew up in Mayfair, which is where I stomped around also for a few years on and off. It was Jimmie's neighborhood, and this was back in the early 90s. We realized we knew some of the same people, which then escalated into another situation, the kidnapping of me!

This was a baby shower, and these women were drunk, but they wanted me to come to the next bar with them. They all had wedding rings on, and I was not flirting with them, nor thinking of anything else besides drinking. They insisted that I couldn't be left at the bar by myself and I should go with. I didn't hesitate, and we ended up at The Nil. This happened to be the bar that I told Connie I was married at, which created the downward spiral that ultimately ended that relationship. I was hesitant to go there because Connie does drink there on Saturday nights, but bit the bullet and went anyway.

Upon arriving, I was introduced to one of the women's husband, Mike. He had gone to St. Patrick's but was 2 years behind me. Again, we started to see common names from our past, which is pretty funny considering how small the world actually is, six degrees of separation that is. Mike and the women bought me drinks all night. I was very drunk by the end of the night, and I went home having only bought my first 2 beers and a shot at Jet's.

I congratulated the woman I thought had just had a baby, and she freaked out. One of the girls who coaxed me into coming to The Nil, told me not to worry about it, and that I didn't offend her. The other girl then had an argument with her girlfriend about me calling her fat. I did no such thing, I just said congratulations on the baby. This situation escalated and finally there was a rather long argument between the two women. The other women tried to calm the waters, but nothing worked. I finally stepped in, as a mediator, and said my peace. For future reference, mediation does not work when the mediator is: A. involved in the conflict, B. drunk!

Crissy, the girl I said congratulations to, ended up leaving very pissed off. One by the one girls left. I was left with the two original sisters from Mayfair. Like I said, I got pretty drunk for free, and I stumbled home. I laughed about the entire affair the whole way. 5 AM rolled around rather quickly and I was stuck having to work. The day dragged on, but allowed me to recollect the events, and thus be able to write them down here. This is another Great Adventure, and I kind of like being kidnapped, especially when the drinks are free. Hopefully, those women were able to settle their differences. I was just a strange side-show attraction for them, but everything happens for a reason, and maybe those negative feelings that Crissy has, needed to be brought out into the open so they can be dealt with. It just shouldn't have been done when she was drinking.

I will more than likely never see any of these women again, and if I did, I probably wouldn't remember what they look like. I drank about a hundred dollars in free booze, and got to chat with some interesting people. The thing I have realized is that married life is not for me. I knew this from my own personal experience with it, but after talking with these women and their husbands, it is even more apparent. I see the issues that some of these people have, and I looked into Mike's eyes and saw a fear of what was to come. Most of these women seemed to have bubbly personalities, but you could see the dark sides too. Maybe they got pregnant before they wanted kids. It just seemed like they were all stuck in the rat race, and wished they could be as free as me. I am not judging, just saying!

The sickness!

Yesterday around 3 AM I was awoke by severe stomach pains. I fell back asleep, and by 7 AM my entire body ached. It was/is not a head cold, but more like a stomach virus/bacteria. I am not quite sure what to call it. It reminds me of cotton fever or PAWS. The symptoms were joint pain (every joint in my body, including fingers and toes) and bone pain, mostly in my arms and legs. I had the runs all day yesterday, and felt nauseous a few times throughout the day. By the afternoon, I was moving very slow, as every step I took was a painful reminder of days long gone when my addiction caused my body severe turmoil.

I relocated myself throughout my house at various times. The basement was a good place to be when I was having hot flashes because of the cool dampness that envelops that space in the summer. After the hot flashes would subside, I would get the chills and have to relocate to the backyard where the temperature and humidity would warm me up. It was a cycle that continued throughout the day.

I did manage to go to the bank and to the store to get some liquids, but that took me three times as long as normal. My movements, as stated earlier, were very slow and laboring. I finally understood how my Grandfather Les felt during his cancer battle. There were times he would drop stuff because he was so weak and all his limbs hurt. He used to get so upset with himself because he could no longer function as an independent man. I felt like that yesterday. I mentioned that it felt like cotton fever or withdrawal, and it did. It could be equated to the 2nd of heroin withdrawal. At that point, the 2nd day would be all body pain and the relieving of the bowels. I know it is a disturbing take on the way I was feeling yesterday, but it was the truth. I went and bought some Tylenol PM when I had to go pick up my mother at work. I came close to passing out at the Walgreens and had to have my mother finish the purchase while I slumbered to the car. When she came back to the car with the pills, I opened them and my weakness made me drop the entire bottle upside into the car. It is a bad feeling when you don't have the strength to hold an aspirin bottle.

When I arrived back home, I waddled back into the house, and straight to the basement. I laid there for hours, and then the pills began to work. I started to nod off, and tried to get comfortable for some much needed sleep. I finally drifted off around 9 PM, and then I was awakened by a loud lightning crackle and the thunder that followed. I could hear the rain pouring down outside and my mother came into the basement and asked me if I was awake, which I replied yes I was. She was worried about the sump pump and wanted to know if I should close it so the basement doesn't flood. I told her to call my father and ask him since he knows more about it than I do. I know how to close it, but I wasn't sure if it was needed. The storm seemed to be pretty vicious, as I look outside this morning at sunrise and see tree branches strewn across the backyard and deck.

The Hawaiian plants that I have been growing for my mother seem to be doing well, I guess they enjoy those types of storms. Some of them moved a bit, but they all seem to have grown since yesterday. Maybe it was the nitrogen from the lightning strikes. Well, today I do feel better. I still have the runs, but I think that is just the ending of a wild 24 hours. Thankfully I was off work for two days, because I would not have been able to do my job yesterday. It does suck that I worked seven days in a row, and my days off have to be spent nursing myself back to good health. The joint pain has subsided, not entirely, but I just feel weak and sore. I do have my strength back though, so that is a good sign.

Where did this illness come from? Well, my parents and sister Katie went to a graduation party about 2 weeks ago, and Katie and my father ate some sausage at the party, which caused both of them to become very ill. That illness was passed to my sisters Gwen and Erica, my grandmother, and Katie's fiancee Josh. They were all ill last week, and here I am ill this week. I had just gotten over a head and chest cold a few weeks ago, so I didn't think I would actually get sick. I guess I was wrong. Hopefully, I am the last of the people to catch this. It was a bit more than 24 hours that I have been sick, but I guess there really is a 24 hour flu, which I never really believed in the past.

My sister Gwen had cooked a white bean chili with chicken on Monday night, and I thought for sure she had poisoned me. I didn't say that to her because I didn't want to hurt her feelings, and I am glad I didn't because it wasn't her fault. Well, that is my spiel for the sickness, and I can only hope I am back to 100% tomorrow for work.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Alright, it's not the best job, but it is a job.

I got the call this morning. I start tomorrow at 7 AM. It seems to be a weekend job of sorts, and it is only seasonal, but it will help pay some bills through the summer. I don't know specifically how many hours a week it will be, but I do know I will be working Friday, Saturday, and Sunday this weekend, and probably through the end of summer. It is a delivery job, and it is more than minimum wage, and the best part is I DON'T HAVE TO SELL ANYTHING! Finally, I am feeling like life can return to normal for a little while.

I have been home from Hawai'i for 3 months today. It took exactly 3 months to find a job, I don't know what that means, but I am grateful for it. Alright I have to head to bed, got to get up at 5:30 AM.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

messing around with some new animation program...

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Florida Law requires welfare recipients to pass drug tests...

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If you click on the picture it will take you to the story.  It is a funny story, especially if you are familiar with the writings of William S. Burroughs.  Welfare recipients in Florida would be required to pass drug tests in order to receive their checks...And someone is thinking of this now?  Why not 40 years ago before the welfare programs were busted?  Why not 20 years ago during the crack epidemics?

The ACLU believes this to be a privacy issue, and is going to bat for the welfare recipients that are going to be drug tested.  Now my buddy Shawn brings up a good point, if he has to get drug tested at work to collect his income, why shouldn't it be legal for someone to get drug tested picking up a check from the Feds?  I agree with Shawn 100%.  Now given my personal background, I can attest to a lot of ways people I associated with got around the legalities of a welfare state, and used the loopholes available to pinch a pretty penny from the Feds and the State of Illinois.  I can say, for legal reasons, that I was not involved in any of this, but people do talk.   I refused to accept welfare or public aid, even in the worst of times.

There is, however, an issue with generational welfare.  This is a family receiving welfare benefits, and it being passed down to their children, and eventually their grandchildren.  Now, if these people need help in finding a job, or paying their bills until they do, I am all for assisting them.  If these people are collecting check after check over the course of a 40 year period, then no, there is something wrong with that recipient, or they are doing something wrong and manipulating the system. 

Personally, I would love to see the data on the number of people that are convicted of drug crimes and also receive a welfare check.  That data would help decipher this problem.  Now, I understand the argument is at the discrimination point, where we are persecuting the innocent for a select few that are guilty.  Like I said, show me the data of the drug crimes/welfare recipients in any given state, and then I'll decide if this law is being discriminatory.

Back to the original point, the article states that people failing drug tests would be subject to a year suspension, or they have to go to rehab to reinstate their benefits.  I think this is a great idea.  We live in an entitlement country, where people believe the government should be paying their way.  Fuck that, get off your ass and do something.  Yeah, I am sitting here unemployed at the moment, and yes I am bitching about it, and yes I blame Obama and the GOP at the same time for the poor economy, but I am NOT running to my local Government office and asking for a handout.  I was sick two weeks ago, and should have seen a doctor, but without medical insurance, there is only one place I could have gone, Cook County Hospital, and I would have sat there and waited for hours on end, but hey, I would have gotten free health-care.  NOPE, I didn't even do that.  The government is broke just like me, except they are borrowing from my kids and grandkids (hypothetical of course) at interest rates that are insane.  So why should I increase the amount of money they are spending by asking for a handout?

So, is it fair for a large percentage of Americans to be collecting welfare if they are getting high?  I say no, if they have heavy narcotics in their system, especially cocaine, heroin, meth, etc. they should be cut-off immediately, be given an opportunity for rehab, and then they can try again.  Rehab worked for me, after all the hard core shit I was up to in my teens and 20s, that says a lot.  I have recovered, it took me a long time, but here I am 10 years later, and I still haven't received 1 welfare check.  Yes, I have borrowed money, but at least it is debt on my shoulders.  Imagine if welfare was a borrowing system like my student loans?  That would be an interesting conversation...But the Feds and States should be able to drug test those that receive aid from the government, if you don't want to have your privacy invaded, then don't ask for free money...They should also keep a running tab going, and start a welfare interest rate and a cap on spending.  This might deter people, considering the cap on student loans is 138,000, and the interest rates are fixed.  Put this system in place with the current welfare program, and let's see how many people reach their cap, and are getting high!  Quantitatively, this is a perfect experiment/research project.  I don't have the time to dig through the .Gov sites to find the information I am looking for...Ah well, I guess I will just leave it with this...

There is no Free Lunch!  I am sure you have heard that before, and it only rings so true at this point, so true!

And...It is day 2...

of my quitting smoking...That is not going very well mentally, but at least it is going! Already coughing up some nasty lung-tissue.

Hipsters and Festivals in Chicago...yeah so far they suck

My former business partner Tim called me to do another shoot of some bands at some hipster festival on Sunday. The first shoot we did a few weeks ago I got paid for, and I was hoping to get paid for this one also, but during the drive there I realized that was just a dream of mine. When we arrived Tim pulled his usual disappearing act and expecting me to handle the camera work. At the other shoot I did that, but this one, knowing I wasn't get paid for, fuck that...



Needless to say, the day ended badly. I ended up wasting my day, so I decided to get drunk. Tim didn't like being around me, and he just doesn't understand how my brain works. I need creative control, but also expect to be paid for my time. I am not a lackey. I just don't work well under those conditions. He pulled one more disappearing act, so I just said, fuck all, and became the most obnoxious person I possibly could. It might not have been the best decision, but those who know me well, know that I just cut the strings entirely when I am pissed off.

The crowd was filled with hipsters, and Tim later said some of them didn't like my attitude and supposedly wanted to kick my ass. At this point, I asked, why didn't they? I would have loved a good brawl. I really don't like hipsters. If you don't conform to their non-conformist ways, then you supposedly are everything against what they stand for. I have a problem with a sub-group trying to stand apart from the mainstream, but having rules of sub-group conformity. I am a punk, not a hipster. I create chaos in any forum, I like it. I stand apart from all groups. There have been few people in my life that were able to handle me and my antics.

I sit here and watch Bio-Dome and realize I come from a time long gone. A time when a rock-star could be on his deathbed, but be loved and adored. A non-conformist meant non-conformity. Grunge was cool, and there wasn't a style that you had to conform too to be able to intermingle in the group. The festival was jammed, and I guess this shows me that I am so far removed from that group of people. Maybe I am just that old guy that doesn't get it, but in my mind I am still that Bluto from Animal House, still looking for my Delta house brothers in life. I have found a few, and Roselle was a good time period filled with a bunch of these types of people. I guess they are mostly dead, and I should be too.

I am not dead though am I? So here I stand surrounded by a bunch of imbeciles and it makes me yearn for my past, but at the same time hoping to find a future crowd to accept me for me, and not me for what they want me to be. I didn't realize Tim had become a hipster. He used to be a metal-head, and I think he has chosen his current course because of the band he is in and the people he is choosing to associate with. I may not have much, and sometimes I do drink too much, but don't judge me. I wasn't causing anybody any pain or harm on Sunday. To top it all off, I was invited to do a job and then stiffed for my pay. If a foreman called me up to build a house, and then didn't pay me, I would burn that fucker to the ground!!!

My life has been a 36 year old tornado, and I have wreaked havoc across this great nation. I take responsibility for my actions most of the time, I just wish those that judge me would take responsibility for their actions. That, of course, will never happen. I am heading out of this Chi-ty again, I just can't handle it any longer. I see a lot of talent, but I also see a lot of misdirected energy. In ten years, these people will have their kids, and broken dreams. They will be standing in a puddle of their own piss, surrounded by the chaos they created, yet they won't know how to deal with it. The funny thing is, they might remember me and hope that I am worse off than they are, because maybe it will make them feel better about themselves.

Anyone that was there on Sunday expecting a free-hand out, well Tim seems to love doing shit for free for you ungrateful fucks...call him, and don't worry about me, I will pull-through...As a matter of fact, I am starting now, with a new book and some awesome ideas of re-creating the future path of greatness...I really dislike Hipsters!

Sunday, June 5, 2011

David Wesley Mitchell versus James McAvoy

So I was surfing my FB page and saw a rather comical post.  Has someone ever told you look like someone else?  When I was younger it used to be DiCaprio for me, doesn't hold true anymore with the balding genes taking their toll.
Anyway, this is a fellow thespian/friend of mine; David Wesley Mitchell...Someone said he has that McAvoy look...Just thought I would make this easier for anyone to decide, and make a note about the "You know who you look like..." adage that is so common in our Hollywood-esque society...
Why can't people say, "You know James McAvoy looks like you David?"  That would be more of a compliment, and less of a, "yeah I have heard that before!"  or "Not even close, I am so better looking!"




Friday, June 3, 2011

Today marks the 10 year anniversary of the death of a wonderful woman...

June 3rd, a day that lives in infamy, for myself at least.  10 years ago today Beth passed away and it sent me into a downward spiral over the first 3 years, and then recovered slowly to the present day.  I have realized that my life has become increasingly difficult to manage.  At midnight I did a shot, made a toast to her, and left it alone.  I was in a very bad place this morning, and of course I couldn't get anyone on the phone.

RIP Beth Ann Christensen

I will return to this blog this weekend, but I just wanted to post something for now, on the day.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Just another gem from yours truly...

Hey all, I have been writing some rather wild quips lately, and I figured I should keep track of them...These two are from the past couple of days.  Please remember, these are just play on words with a tinge of emotion, don't read into them too much, plus they are funny to me, so they should be to you too, or at least once you decipher the metaphors/analogies...Good day all.


(This was a response to my buddy Ben's question of how am I doing?  Obviously, how am I NOT doing would have been a better Burkean question...unemployed, almost homeless, and almost broke, 06/02/2011)

It's little rays of sunshine that burn the skin with SPF 110 being applied like gasoline on an open wound infected with gangrene being sterilized with maggots that just happen to be maturing into flies, which have eaten enough 'shrooms to kill a hippie, make that 10 hippies and 1 dog, and all this envelops the acid rain falling from the heavens making me yearn for peace of the afterlife, but only getting hellfire that boils in my stomach like an ulcer on crack-cocaine...so all in all, things are fan-fucking-tastic! You?
(This was written in my Conquer Club clan forum to express to my clan-mates how life is for a Chicago artist, along with an Archer insert to loosen the crowd...)

Tonight I have come to the realization that I am over-qualified to work with idiots, and I don't have enough professional experience to work with drones, AND my psyche is nearing artistic suicide/psychotic behavior levels, couple that with a bad case of the Mondays, even though it is Tuesday and what I am left with is a call girl (called hookers when they're dead) that won't leave and an empty bottle of Jack Daniels right when the liquor store closed 5 minutes ago!!!!