Suburbville

Heh, time. I actually have some. I’ve been running like crazy these past few weeks. (Months?) No time for anything. But it seems like things are opening up a bit. So, of course, I’m thinking “what can I fill this time up with?” What the hell is wrong with me? Can’t I just relax? In a word- NO. My mind is always cooking something up. Lately I’ve been wanting to get back into role playing- I haven’t touched a D&D book in ages. I’ve also been thinking about getting into a band (just for fun mind you). I want to play my basses, race my R/C car, join a gaming group, do a car show, take my bike up to the BMX track, Start playing URU- Ages beyond Myst again……. Lots of stuff. I haven’t been able to do any of this stuff this summer.

I talked to Dan-O yesterday. We discussed the “Show” a bit and the fact that there is no time to do any recording. I still want to though. The desire is still there. Maybe something will shake out soon. Time will tell. (I just can’t take too much time- wait around too much, the bus leaves without you.)

In the meantime, I will catch up on my podcasts.

Be cool everybody.
L8R~ G.

Every year it seams I go through the same thing. Springtime comes and I get the itch. My truck comes out of the garage and I go through the yearly ritual of cleaning and waxing and……. wondering if I should sell it to get something that suits my “inner self” better.

Those of you who know me have seen my truck and would say that it’s nice. And I won’t deny that. I built it with a basic “end product” in mind. It’s kind of a combination of minitruck, sports car, muscle car and hotrod. All things that I love.

Like most guys, I was greatly influenced by my Dad when it comes to cars. The earliest car I can remember of his was a 1971 Hurst Olds Cutlass. The car was BAD. Lime gold metallic with Cragar mags. So my love of muscle cars stems from there. Before the Cutlass, my Dad had a Triumph TR3. I heard MANY stories about the Triumph and the sport scar club that he and his buddies had. (The Fox Valley Touring Club- I still have his club jacket.) So my love of sports cars began. Odd to say the least. The cars are polar opposites. One is all about power and acceleration, the other is all about handling. Next, throw into the mix the enthusiasm for hot rods he had (and still has). He built plastic models- as many car buffs do. He would build traditional rods and customs from the 50’s and 60’s- paying painfully close attention to details like wiring, realistic fabric interiors and actual body modifications like pancaking hoods and chopping tops. So all these are near and dear to me. I would LOVE to own an example of ANY of these types of car.

But there is where my problem is. I don’t know which one is ME. My truck really isn’t any of these, and that would tell most people that THAT is the real me. But the circumstances that surround the build up of the S-10 are kind of telling. I like minitrucks. I wanted to build one ever since I first saw one in 1991. But I built mine for the wrong reason. I built it the way I wanted, but I built it also to try to fit into a local club. Bad move. The club never accepted me, I fell out of touch with the guys that were in the club and the rst is history. I now have a cool truck, but I have a cool truck with a lot of bad memories attached to it.

So it leaves me wondering- what SHOULD I be driving? Every spring I go through this. Every spring I find cars for sale that would be cool as hell to own, but I can’t afford. I end up asking myself- “Do I sell the truck?” “Will I regret it?” I don’t know.

This year I’ve run across a 1956 Chevy wagon: needs work, but runs- and a 1927 “T-Bucket” (one of my all time FAVORITE hot rods.) The chevy is going for $4000- a steal for a car that old and in that good of shape- and the “T” is going for around $9000- a lot of money, but the car needs NOTHING.

It’s just a matter of time. I will eventually find my dream ride, I just need to be patient. Patience….

L8R ya’ll.

Ha ha HA!!!! I totally SUCK at this social media thing. I can’t post to my blog in any consistent frequency. I can’t make time to record a new episode of the podcast with ‘Fish. I guess it just isn’t that important to me. I dunno. I told myself before I started any of this nonsense that I would do it when I had the time. And things have been busy lately. So whatever.

Peace out.

Ya know, when I started this thing I had a vision of what “Suburbville” was to me. I was an “everyplace”. All suburbs everywhere, all communities everywhere. I had this concept of the ideal neighborhood- kinda like where the Cleavers or the Bradys lived. Mid America, U.S.A. And the accompanying idea to go with it- the part that is as yet unrevealed- was that we don’t really know the people who live next to us.
I guess I consider myself the “odd” guy in the neighborhood and that’s why I had this idea. From a distance, I look just like every other late 30’s Dad. Jeans, t-shirt, loafers (yes, I occationally wear loafers- they’re comfy…) corduroy jacket- John Q. Average. But you just go and judge that book by it’s cover. Look closer and you start to notice the “Misfits” deaths head pin on the pocket flap of the jacket, you notice the t-shirt says “Veggie burgers taste better with BACON” in dripping print, you notice the piercings- not to mention the unseen things about me like my PASSION for really violent speed metal and splatter fiction novels that would make most people sick to their stomach. I’ve always been a little off. About three steps to the side of what the rest of society is doing. And that got me thinking- O.K., I’m this way, what sets my neighbors apart? Are they also odd in there own way, or are they just like the rest of the “sheeple” out there? Well of course being the type with the over active imagination, I start making up stuff in my mind. Are the night shift people working nights for a reason? (Vampires?) How many of my neighbors have “unique problems’ that would look right at home on the X-files? How do I know there aren’t practicing witches one block over from here? I don’t. Is there a portal to hell in a basement down around the corner? Who knows. And that’s just it- you don’t know. I guess my vision is like Wisteria Lane on “Desperate Housewives” only WAY more F-ed up.

The thing is, it kind of resembles the real world. What’s more warped- thinking like me with the undead “living” in your backyard -or- finding out you have a convicted pedifile living on your block. Either one would SUCK. But again, that’s the point- the unknown is out there.

Things are rarely what they seem. How well do you know your neighbors?

Have fun out there kids.
G.

So, as most of you know, I listen to podcasts. One of my favorites is Geek Radio Daily. They have a daily 15 min. show and a weekly 1 hour show. If you need a daily dose of geeky-goodness, I highly recommend checking them out. Anyway, last weeks 1 hour show had a main topic entitled “Geek 101- What is a Geek?” The discussion of that topic was… interesting. Ultimately, the outcome of the discussion was that you can be from just about any walk of life with just about any interests and be a geek. But there was a spot in their conversation where they questioned weather or not you can be a “car guy” or a “sports guy” and still be considered a geek. Their conclusion was that certain enthusiasts would be called “geeks” and others (the “theater guy” or the -as the Vicar put it- “art f@g”) would go by there own specialized title.

But here I disagree. Everyone has the ability to “bring the geek” so to speak. It’s all in the execution, the attention to details and the individuals attitude. The “sports guy”- you can be WAY into, say, football. You could know all the stats of all the players, who they’ve played for before their current team and know all the plays ever executed on the field and still not TRUELY be a “geek”. What would earn you “geek cred” in my book would be knowing all the stats AND knowing obcsure things about the teams history, knowing evolution of all the different gear, etc. Likewise, I am a Minitrucker. (Custom compact pickup enthusiast.)

I go out in the garage and wrench on my truck- tools, grease, dirt under the fingernails- the works. But, I am a “car geek”. I can tell you when Chevy stopped making the square bodied S-10s (’93), when the 2nd gen. S-10 got a face lift (’98), I know that for 1 year the S-10 had the “old” mirrors with the “new” front clip (also ‘98), and so on.

But, like I said, it’s in the details. The “sports geek” is into all facets of his or her sport. The football guy might also be a fan of the “Ionath Krakens”- a fictitious far-future football team from Scott Siglers podcast novel “The Rookie” and might wear their Krakens jersey while watching the game. Myself, the “car geek” am into all manner of car culture. Anyone seen “Transformers”? Check it out-

I collected TONS of Transformers when I was a kid. Now I have a BIG one. (Kind of.) See, it’s all in the details.

Keep doin’ what your passionate about out there. ‘Till next time-

L8R.

Damn, it’s hard to be brilliant when you dog-assed tired. Too late again. I’ve been gathering up stuff for a post and for the recording of the first epi of EBL tomarrow, but at this point I’m losing the battle. The Sandman cometh……..

They don’t mean quite so much. (’Cept ya’ get to hang out with your workin’ friends.) -Primus

Yep, I’m un-employed. We ran out of work on both job sites and as of Feb 28 I’ve been “on the bench” with more work in my future in about a month- if all goes well. Soooooo…… I’ve been knocking things off my “honey-do” list daily, been playing with my 2 year old, been getting to know my cat better, been planning things for the spring re-opening of the truck…..been doing lots of stuff- accept making money. It’s kinda relaxing and kinda stressful at the same time. It’s definitely nice to be home to help get the kids up in the morning and get Val off to work on time.

Still, i hope I’m back working soon.

Podcast news- The show is on! Fish and I did a test recording session yesterday and we’re set. Banzai!!!!

Well, I’m outta here. Take care everybody.

G.

Here it is.

Officially announcing the new and open for buisness Earbudlounge.com. As it turns out, I just realized that i said in an earlier post that I would tell you when I have more info on the show…..and I didn’t. I am ashamed….. So here ya go- The Earbud Lounge, a show about music. For more info please visit www.earbudlounge.com.

Now as far as episodes go….I don’t know when epi. 1 will be out. We are already experiencing technical difficulties and are working to sort that out. “Does this bode ill for our intrepid heroes? STAY TUNED to find out!”

Be Cool Y’all!

L8R

Well, here I am. I’ve been working steady since my start as an apprentice and now my company has run out of work. It looks like I’m going to be a full time maid and babysitter for about the next 2 weeks. Both jobs my company is running are on hold waiting for other trades to finish their piece so we can get in there and trim. Time off is good. No pay is BAD. We’ll get by somehow…..

In the meantime- I am going to work on his blog, the new podcast blog, my solo podcast (TBA) and try to cultivate some sanity around our house.

OK- short one for now, gotta go do domain mapping for the podcast site.

L8Rs