a cool rainy day in April

first off kids, here is your national poetry month goodies for the day:

i went through the stack of unpublished poems i have and came up with 25 i'm going to send out. i'm going to try to stagger these submissions throughout the month as i really can't sit at the computer for hours on end anymore. i think i know where i'm going to send the poems, just need to do my double check and make sure i'm not resending something that was previously rejected. ah, paperwork. good times.

the New York Rangers set the franchise record with their 25th road win of the season last night, 3-1. Marty St. Louis FINALLY scored his first but more importantly the Rangers best defenseman and the best one on my fantasy hockey team got blindisded late in the game and left the arena with his arm in a sling. he did travel with the team to Colorado and not back to New York, so i'm going to assume that's a good sign. i really hope is good to go for the rest of the season.

the New York Yankees shit the bed to start the season, losing 6-2. and it never really felt that close. the game was so bad that i rarely turned back to it while watching The Voice and the shows after it. they play again tonight. i'm not going to get pissy until the losing gets to the insane stage. losing twice to a team with a payroll less than the cost of your infield would be at the insane stage.

speaking of The Voice, it was excellent last night. i believe i know who can win the show and probably witnessed the best battle of the season last night:

just amazing. can't wait to see her in the live shows.

woke up in pain this morning as it was already raining and i was up after 3 hours of sleep. the arthritis medicine seems to be working, so maybe i caught it early. and my neck seems to be getting better each day now.

sometime during the Yankees game tonight i'll flip over to watch Legit and Ali G. hopefully the Yankees will be winning when i do so.

that's pretty much all for me today kids. i think i'm going to sneak in a nap before i have to help put the groceries away.

i'll be on here tomorrow sometime. not sure when as i believe i'm going to start sending the poems out tomorrow. wish me luck or tell me to fuck off. they both get the desired effect.

peace my enemies. be well, be creative, be drunk, be destructively good at whatever you want, be warm, be naked, be cheap...

later...

music:

Deer Tick - Goodbye, Dear Friend
The Devil Makes Three - Old Number Seven
INXS - Not Enough Time
JJ Grey & Mofro - This River
Will Hoge - Woman Be Strong
Turnpike Troubadours - Gin, Smoke, Lies
Steve Earle - Colorado Girl
Joanne Shaw Taylor - Blackest Day
Joe Ely - The Road Goes On Forever (Live)
Ryan Bingham - The Weary Kind
Will Hoge - When I Get My Wings

"Great artists suffer for the people." - Marvin Gaye

some swelling, a broken chair, some poems, an amazing goal, and some more bitching...

the best way for me to write this one is in the order it happened. so, away we go...

my left leg was looking pretty bad last night. the swelling wasn't going down and the redness wasn't going away. given my history with blood clots, i believe both my mother and i had the same fear in mind. so, after a good long sleep (for me, 5 hours), i woke up to a leg that wasn't as red or as swollen. so, now the thought is the cut i got last week on it may be infected. good times.

so, i have a little breakfast this morning and go to sit in my chair to read the paper. and sure enough, the fucking chair breaks. it was somewhere around this point that i started writing poems in my head. more on that later. so, it looks like a screw broke on the chair. great. thankfully, it's under warranty, or at least that is the hope at the moment. looks like i might be watching more tv from bed for a little while.

made my second round picks for the NCAA tournament this morning. i went 26-6 in the first round. not bad but certainly not good enough.

while watching some soccer this morning, i decided to go upstairs and write a little. and yes, my fucking morning was covered in it. i typed up the 4 i wrote this afternoon. i like them. i need to write a few more and then i will be sending out some submissions soon.

next up was the Manchester United game. i'll have to give Moyes credit. he went with a lineup with a ton of changes in it and it worked. a solid 2-0 win over West Ham that included a Wayne Rooney goal for the ages. next up on Tuesday is Manchester City. if they somehow get a positive result out of that, my opinion of Moyes will really change. but, i'm not expecting it.

i heard from my good friend in Sweden today. looks like our planned book of his art and my poems has been put on hold, probably forever. but, the both of us have plenty of ideas to get this great work we did out there. so, keep your eyes peeled in the coming weeks for more news on this front.

the New York Rangers played what was basically a playoff game last night in Columbus and won, 3-1. what i loved the most was the fans booed Rick Nash most of the night and those dumb asses actually lit a fire under his ass. he was the power forward i remembered last night, hitting people, starting fights, made d men look foolish, it was great. below are the highlights:

up tonight is the Dayton Flyers chance to make the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1984. a HUGE game against Syracuse in their backyard basically (Buffalo). i've got the same clothes on, i'm eating the same food, etc. i really hope the players know they are playing with house money. no one expects them to win so there is no pressure. and hopefully, sometime around 9 or so tonight, i'll be drinking one sweet victory beer.

going on at the same time is the New York Rangers playing in New Jersey. basically, another playoff game. i'd love to get 2 more points. that would really help the cause. i will be peeking in during commercials and halftime. and if the Dayton game gets out of hand. hopefully, that won't happen.

late tonight, i'll hopefully still be awake to watch ROH. should be yet another really good episode.

that is all for me today. i'll be on here sometime tomorrow, hopefully with good news to share. or, you'll get to read the musings of a beaten man. good times.

hope everyone is well. have a drink on me this evening.

peace and chicken grease...

music:

Beth Orton - Sugaring Season
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - Live from Alabama

"It's good to shut up sometimes." - Marcel Marceau

and here comes a howling wind

it started raining last night, but amazingly i was able to get some sleep. painful, but i got a few hours. the wind really started to kick in this morning. i checked the radar and decided i better get my ass moving. i got the cats fed and got into town before the snow hit. we only had one piece of mail. i made it back home before it started to snow. near white out conditions at times, but, in the end, just a fucking dusting. hopefully this wind now dries everything out before it gets down to the single digits tonight. hopefully this is the last bit of winter for this season. i'm sick of this shit.

i started doing some neck exercises today. just really wanted to stretch the muscles to see if i could make some more progress. they definitely helped so far.

finished my brainstorming this morning and came up with the 10 songs i needed. so, now i just need to get all of other songs my cousin wants downloaded and i'll be good to go. i'm hoping to get this done by the weekend.

the New York Rangers disappointed the shit out of me last night. completely outworked the entire game. if Hank wouldn't have been as good as he was, they would have lost by more. 3-1 loss in a game that really never felt that close. they start a back to back on the road tomorrow. they better have their asses in gear as they are a few more losses away from falling out of a playoff spot.

saw the news today that the New Orleans Saints are going to try to trade away my favorite player, Darren Sproles. i'm not happy about this, but i just hope they send him to a place where he'll have a chance to play and win. he deserves at least that much.

i believe the episodes of Legit and Ali G are new tonight. i'll hopefully be out of the shower in time to watch those. other than that, it's the crap shoot to see if i can stay up to see the late night shows or not. i did a pretty good job last night. i didn't fall asleep until halfway into Late Night. i imagine that was due to my brain overworking to try to understand the Spanish Juanes was singing in his performance last night on The Tonight Show. i got a few words here and there. not bad for not working on it since high school.

i did catch a little of the New York Yankees this afternoon. i was flipping between that and all the NFL free agency news. the Saints got a good safety. here's hoping they do a little more than just that.

that's all for me. i need to get over to iTunes and start doing some pricing. hope this finds everyone well. and warm. and ready for warmer weather. and hopefully not involved in the fire on the west coast or the apartment explosion on the east coast. seeing i know people in both places, this has been one of those afternoons where i wish i could just sleep all of it away.

peace bitches...

music:

Pixies - Come On Pilgrim
Loretta Lynn - Van Lear Rose
Van Morrison - Moondance

"Great things are not accomplished by those who yield to trends and fads and popular opinion." - Jack Kerouac

sometimes all you can do is sleep

i can tell this is a massive weather system getting ready to roll through here as i have been in pain ALL day long. and nearly every 30 minutes or so, i catch myself starting to fall asleep from the pain. the type of pain where the pills don't work anymore. it's just lovely.

so, here is a quick recap of my life in the last 24 hours...

for some reason, 10 PM rolls around anymore and i become a situational narcoleptic. so, i fell asleep last night and missed the ending of wrestling, the local news, and the first 30 minutes or so of The Tonight Show. i woke up with a blanket on me and wondering what the fuck happened. good times.

The Voice last night was pretty good. i believe Adam got the best performer of the night.

Monday Night Raw was pretty good as well. i did enjoy the Daniel Bryan occupy moment. that was interesting to watch. i love how the company gave in to the public pressure and made HHH vs. Daniel Bryan at Wrestlemania with the stipulation that if Bryan wins he gets to be in the main event. that should save that match from being boring as fuck.

a big thanks to YouTube for having all the shit i missed in my slumber.

today has been pretty damn painful. the subscription i won to Maxim started today. so, i suppose that could be a bright spot. i've spent most of the day brainstorming on what songs i'm going to include on my cousin's cd. i figure once i have my 10, i'll download his 30 and get to mixing. hopefully i'll have that done by the weekend.

i've also been in and out of the start of the free agency period in the NFL. i always try to keep track of that for fantasy football purposes.

the New York Rangers play here in a few minutes. Hank will be going for win number 301, which would tie the franchise record. and it would extend the Rangers winning streak. hopefully i am enjoying a victory beer later tonight.

i'll also be flipping to the new episode of The Voice tonight, which should conclude the blind auditions. and some college basketball as well this evening. plenty of league championship games that determine tournament teams are going on.

i believe the thunderstorms are supposed to start around 4 in the morning. and then it is supposed to turn to snow around noon or so. not exactly sure when i'll get out to the cats. i tried to give them enough food to make it for longer than 24 hours. by Thursday morning the temperature is going to be around 4 or so. it was near 65 degrees today. fuck me.

i suppose if the power or the satellite goes out tomorrow, i might try to get some writing done. stumbled upon another site i want to send to.

that's all for me today. hope everyone is well and properly inebriated. not sure when i'll be on here tomorrow. that is pretty much in Mother Nature's gnarly fucking hands.

later...

music:

Alabama Shakes - Boys & Girls
The Pogues - The Very Best of The Pogues

"A promise made is a debt unpaid." - Robert W. Service

i'm starting to really hate the weather

i woke up this morning with the usual amount of back pain. by the middle of the morning, my back was in knots. i checked the weather and noticed we have a major cold front coming through soon. not sure how much snow we're going to get as i'm currently avoiding local news as much as i can. my best guess is around 5 to 8 inches. that'll be fun after 2 days in the 60's. the temperature is supposed to drop almost 50 degrees in the span of a day. fuck me running.

i did manage to stay awake for all of the Sunday night shows i watch. i am really happy i did. True Detective was brilliant last night. it had me on the edge of my seat. they tied up enough loose ends for me not to whine about certain parts left unanswered. i just wonder how many creepy fucks are like that in the swamp. Girls last night had me laughing, mostly because of the horrific acting. plus, throw in a cameo from one of my favorite comedians, Jim Florentine. recipe for a winner. Episodes was actually much better than it has been for weeks. Shameless was great once again. i once again got to see what i missed by not going to college. House of Lies was great once again. overall, a really good night of television.

today has been one of those sleepy Mondays for me. when my back feels like this, i just want to fucking sleep and crawl into a hole. a comfortable hole. a hole with high speed internet as i'm always in the mood for porn even when my back does hurt. find the pleasure in the pain.

tonight will be the usual channel flipping between The Voice and Monday Night Raw. i'm hoping both shows are good. i may sprinkle in some hockey as well as this is the last week of the fantasy regular season. i have sowed up the #1 seed for the playoffs, but that isn't good enough for me. i've spent all this time on it, i might as well win it.

a big thank you to everyone for the comments on my last poem that got published. i do appreciate it.

sorry to cut this short, but i've got a sink full of dishes to do.

hope everyone had a great weekend. hope you're enjoying your pain better than i am.  i'll be on here sometime tomorrow, hopefully long before this fresh hell hits the farm.

be well my enemies...

music:

The 1975 - Self Titled
Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks

"All actors should experience public failure." - Olivia Wilde

i thought this was a day of rest

as soon as i opened up my email a few hours ago, i knew i was going to get really busy very soon. 2 poems accepted, another published, i won $25 at restaurant.com, checking on fantasy hockey scores, all while listening to music and the NASCAR race in the other room.

let us start with last night. my nerve pain only went crazy during the national anthem. i wasn't sure if it was how i had my head or simply the nerve reacting to the guy doing the anthem. at no other point did it bother me. so, i'm taking that as a good sign. Dayton started off slow but was playing great defense. thankfully, that defense stayed for most of the game. Dayton wins 60-48. a very nice night for the seniors. i believe they will be the 5th seed in the A10 tournament. if they can get 1 or 2 wins in that, i truly believe they will be in the tournament for the first time since 2009. i truly enjoyed that victory beer.

i have to admit, i hardly remember anything last night from Saturday Night Live. i do remember the Adam & Eve sketch, that was pretty damn funny. and i do remember the first song The National played, but other than that, nada. i suppose i needed the sleep.

got up pretty early this morning, changed the rest of the clocks and started picking up trash. got that down to the end of the lane after breakfast. saw all but one of the cats today. i'm not sure where A Boy Named Sue has gone. she is notorious for going missing for weeks on end when the weather gets warmer. i suppose being in the 40's is good enough for her.

the New York Rangers played at noon against Detroit. The King started out with the intensity that lets me know, he's ready to have a good game. and so he did. a 3-0 shutout. 2 huge points to go back into second place in the division. the 49th shutout of his career, tying the club record. his 300th victory in the NHL, putting him 1 behind the team record for wins. all in all, a lovely way to start my afternoon.

the rest of my day has been some college basketball and soccer from Italy.

the $25 from restaurant.com came as a bit of a surprise. i won it from one of the survey sites i am a member of. whenever i enter these contests, i never expect to win. i split the $25 into 3 different gift certificates, all to restaurants i have never been to before. i figure sometimes i do need to push myself out of my comfort zone.

i am really looking forward to the Sunday night shows tonight. the season finale of True Detective will be up first. i will know it is great if my sister calls right after and screams holy shit or what the fuck. i am expecting that phone call. Girls is up after that. and then i'll hop on over to Showtime to watch Episodes (some of that will include a piss break i imagine), Shameless, and House of Lies. hopefully i will stay awake for all of them.

oh by the way, i did remember to change the clock in my truck. i'm getting sharper as i get older. must be the pot i smoked in my teens.

that is all for me today. i hope everyone had a lovely weekend. i'll be on here sometime tomorrow. i'm not exactly sure when. one never knows what will be in the po box on any given day. i am waiting on a few things. and i should probably start song shopping on iTunes. so, there is a glimpse into my tomorrow.

peace and chicken grease...

music:

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes - Self Titled
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Push The Sky Away
PJ Harvey - To Bring You My Love

"I like the moment when I break a man's ego." - Bobby Fischer

torture

my cousin asked me to make him a mix cd like i did for his nephew. seeing that i feel like i now know how to use iTunes correctly, today became a lesson in torture. i got the cd out of the way and then proceeded to find all these old songs that reminded me of past girlfriends. talk about a few hours of misery.

i did watch The Big Bang Theory last night. i laughed at the end because i remember doing plenty of great shit for my girlfriends and i got absolutely nothing in return. and by nothing, i mean nothing. i can't imagine why i'm old and bitter.

i must have been in just enough pain after doing the dishes last night that i sat back in my easy chair and next thing i know it is 1 in the morning. thankfully, i was able to fall back asleep rather easily. not exactly used to getting more than 6 hours of sleep. almost felt tired this morning. almost.

the sun has been out all day long. amazingly, it did hit the 50's. so, the snow is slowly turning to mud. my mother realized that when she got out to open the back to unload the groceries. just enough mud to make a fucking disaster inside the house. fun.

the New York Rangers play tonight in Carolina. i'm not going to say it is a must win, but it is pretty damn close to one. they really need the 2 points tonight. i believe they are back to a fully healthy lineup, so that should help. of course, it would also help if Hank gets a few huge stops early and is really on his game.

i suppose after that i'll be hopefully enjoying a victory beer either watching the tree house show or perhaps some basketball.

early tomorrow morning, Manchester United plays. so i will be getting to sleep early tonight. well, early for me. i'll be on here tomorrow after the game, hopefully not bitterly pissed off. if they lose tomorrow, that anger will take me right into the basketball game tomorrow night. i found out they are also doing the hall of fame ceremony tomorrow night at halftime. one of my favorite players ever at Dayton, Keith Waleskowski, is going in. i wear my emotions on my sleeve, so i'll have a tear in my eyes. never mind the fact it will also be Senior Night as well. hopefully they go out with a win.

i spent so much time on iTunes today, i damn near forgot to eat lunch and take my nerve pill. my love for music is quickly entering the disease stage. i suppose that's one of the better ones to have.

hope everyone has a great weekend. be well, be creative, be naughty, be productive, be evil, be better than the piece of shit next to you at the store.

peace and chicken grease bitches...

music:

Drivin' N' Cryin' - Straight to Hell (MP3 Single)
The Goo Goo Dolls - Iris (MP3 Single)
Joe Ely - The Road Goes on Forever (MP3 Single)
Ryan Bingham - Until I'm One With You (MP3 Single)
Stephen Kellogg & the Sixers - Start the Day Early (MP3 Single)
James McMurtry - Cold Dog Soup (MP3 Single)
Edwin McCain - I'll Be (MP3 Single)
Metallica - Beyond Magnetic
Houndmouth - From the Hills Below the City

"Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it." - Salvador Dali

march madness

the weather today has been spooky. got up to 50 degrees, which was great. although i do know that will provide the fuel for the storms coming tomorrow. i made sure to get most of the shit i do on Sundays done today; trash, toilets, the dirty work down in the cellar... i still have the dishes to do but i wanted to give these old bones a break. i feel like this pinched nerve has aged me like 20 years in the last month or so.

the Dayton Flyers started out with a pulse for the first time in 3 games. they only trailed by a point at halftime. and then, for one of the rare times this season, they started the second half on fire. 9 straight points to give them the lead for the rest of the game. a HUGE win, 86-79. that should put them right back on the NCAA bubble.

unfortunately, the New York Rangers couldn't make it a double victory beer afternoon for me. they got outworked, out muscled, and outplayed at times by Philly, losing 4-2. hopefully, they erase that game from their minds pretty damn quickly as they play Boston tomorrow night at home.

i did catch a little of the New York Yankees game today. the main 3 starters all pitched 2 scoreless innings today. a very decent way to start their spring training. 4-0 win today over the Phillies.

my disjointed sleep is continuing. feels like anytime i sit back in my chair, i'm out in 20 minutes. and i had the hardest time falling back asleep in my bed last night. felt like any position i got in, i was in pain. then it becomes this mind fuck battle royale. i believe after 30 minutes or so, my brain blocked the pain for the most part and i was able to fall asleep. of course, 45 minutes later i was up for the day. good times.

hopefully, my old ass can stay awake tonight. after watching some outdoor hockey in Chicago, i'm hoping to watch the new episode of Saturday Night Live tonight with Jim Parsons and Beck. that should be awesome. and, a new episode of ROH tonight as well. if i can make it all the way without falling asleep, i'll be shocked.

i'll be back on here tomorrow sometime, hopefully. this storm is supposed to start early, and i'm hoping to get the cats fed before it gets too bad. i'm really hoping we don't get a ton of ice like it looks like we're going to get. last thing i or my mother needs is the power to go out. and we've had some nasty ice storms in the past here on the farm. if it does freeze over bad, i'll try to get some pictures.

hope everyone is having a decent start to their weekend. and hopefully the weather is better than you expected it to be.

later bitches.

music:

The Gaslight Anthem - Handwritten
Van Halen - OU812
Ashley Monroe - Like a Rose

"There is no good side to celebrity." - Javier Bardem

the calm before the storm

i have spent most of the day looking at weather reports. how this next monster storm is tracking has me a little worried. most every model i've seen has my area getting hours of freezing rain/sleet. that hopefully will be wrong or there is a good chance there will be no fucking power here on the farm. i'd prefer 10 inches of snow to all that freezing rain. hopefully, knock on wood, they are wrong like they usually are.

the New York Rangers played a great game last night, defeating Chicago 2-1. Cam Talbot was great in goal, and should have got the shutout. he had 2 amazing saves in the final seconds to keep the game from going to overtime. they next play in Philly on Saturday.

here's some funny shit from Jimmy Fallon:

i did watch the new episode of The Big Bang Theory last night. always funny. that show is so well written.

as for tonight, i'm sure i'll be bouncing around some basketball and hockey games, all while watching the tree house show most likely and whatever is on the Food Network as well. and probably a healthy dose of Weather Nation as well.

i do know a storm is coming. i can feel it in my bones. i'm amazed i haven't taken another pain pill today. my left arm has been killing me. but, i did have a little fun watching the cats enjoy the sunshine today. we must not have any coyotes on the property anymore as the cats were all over the fucking place today. up in trees, down by the creek, and then they of course shit in unison in the backyard. i imagine there will be some poems from that.

i'll be on here tomorrow in the afternoon most likely. the Dayton Flyers play a MUST WIN game at 11 in the morning. at this rate, with how i feel, there is no chance in hell i'll be going to that game. i believe it is on ESPNU. so, hopefully i'll be enjoying a victory beer while on here tomorrow.

hard to believe it is the end of the month already. hopefully everyone has enjoyed my subtle black history month tributes.

i hope this finds everyone well. hope everyone has a great weekend and hopefully mother nature doesn't fuck any of us in the ass this weekend.

peace and chicken grease...

music:

Marvin Gaye - Compact Command Performances: 15 Greatest Hits
John Coltrane - The Very Best of John Coltrane

"There's a thin line between to laugh with and to laugh at." - Richard Pryor

i have certainly had better days

ok, where to begin? i suppose last night would be the best place to start. mom gets a message on her telephone that there is a tornado warning for our county. i flip over to the local news station and it was quite funny to see the fucker that does the weather scrambling, trying to plug his microphone in, and announcing the warning nearly out of breath. so he brings up the radar and i see that it is basically a mile away from us. the satellite signal goes out. we turn all the computers off and just ride it out. mom is sitting at the table and i'm pacing like an asshole ready to die. i find out this morning that a little baby tornado hit about 2 miles from here. all we had was some small limbs down in the yard. god is such a tease.

i was able to sleep in my bed last night for the first time in forever it seemed. i got a little over 4 hours. i did feel a little pain here and there but not the horrific pain i was feeling a month ago. so, when i woke up this morning, i was in a really good mood. that should have been my first sign.

soon after waking up, i got the shits. mom had to leave to go to Cincy for meetings, so i had the house to myself. so, my hot morning alone was about trips to the bathroom, watching some hockey on tv, doing my laundry, and trying to buy some Bruce Springsteen tickets. i got my laundry done, Sweden won like i wanted, more on the other game in a bit, i eventually took some Imodium, and by the time i got through the Springsteen tickets were sold out. more signs of what was coming.

team USA lost to Canada 1-0. just one damn mistake and that was all it took. so, Finland plays the USA in the who gives a shit game tomorrow morning. that will go right into the Manchester United game in the afternoon. so my Saturday will either be great or just a big pile of shit early on. after the United game, Dayton plays over in Pittsburgh against Duquesne. no tv on that one, so i might be taking out some frustrations screaming at a radio.

Canada plays Sweden for the gold on Sunday. i will be openly rooting for Sweden because i just can't stand the fucking arrogance of Canada when it comes to hockey. that is what makes today so fucking brutal.

i was actually happy that Wayne Rooney signed a long extension with Manchester United today. that should put all the rumors to bed for a few years at least.

i actually drove my truck for the first time since god knows when today. went in town to mail a book and get the mail. was a little tricky driving as my left arm starts to tingle whenever i fully extend it. so, i'll have to change how i drive for the time being. also, i was driving in 50 mph winds. so, that was tons of fun. it was a job just to keep the damn truck on the road. i probably would have done a better job if i was drunk.

i did watch some basketball last night. i was watching the Miami vs. OKC game when LeBron broke his nose on a dunk. i believe last night was his message to the league that Kevin Durant hasn't done shit yet, so hold up the MVP voting. and i did catch overtime of the late game. that was entertaining.

as for tonight, i have no fucking clue what i'm going to be watching. maybe some wrestling, maybe some basketball, maybe the tree house show, maybe reruns of shit i saw years ago, maybe some music, or maybe tonight is the night i just turn on the history channel or military channel and zone out to shit i already know. i do know i have been cussing at these assholes on Jeopardy this week for not knowing shit. it's obvious i didn't really miss anything by not going to college, other than drugs and pussy. i learned more on my own than these fucks at these prestigious universities. plus, any fucker that wears a bow tie should either be supporting a cause or be forced to admit they are a fucking asshole.

can you see i'm in a mood?

i'll be on here tomorrow after my games are over. hopefully sipping on 3 victory beers or the next blog post will be even more bitter than this pile of shit i wrote today.

hope everyone has a great weekend.  peace and chicken grease.

music:

The Staple Singers - Platinum Gospel
B.B. King - Blues Summit
Buddy Guy - Living Proof

"Life doesn't give you all the practice races you need." - Jesse Owens

type quickly before the power goes out

i'm trying to get this done before a fuck you amount of storms comes rolling through here. if you somehow don't see this until hours later, you'll understand.

i got good and bad news from the doctor today. the good, i have shown enough progress that i can continue on the path i am on. he upped the nerve pill a little and gave me more pain pills. the bad, the insurance company says that i have to go through physical therapy and it has to fail me before i can get a MRI. might be the dumbest fucking thing i have heard, but i imagine it is to save them money, not the patient. needless to say, since i have shown progress, physical therapy isn't happening. now, if i haven't shown more progress in a month when i go back to see him, physical therapy will be happening. my big goal for this evening is to try to sleep in a bed for the first time in 3 weeks. my fingers are crossed.

the Dayton Flyers started off colder than shit last night. but, they finally woke up and absolutely took over the game. finished the first half on a 20-4 run that gave them the lead by 6. they went on to win 65-53. another must win on Saturday and they will be right at the door of march madness. when this team is clicking, they are really good. when they aren't, it is bowling shoe ugly.

i got home from the doctor/sports bar/grocery store in time to see the USA women's team lose in OT to Canada in the gold medal game. i was really sick when i found out they blew a 2 goal lead with a little over 3 minutes left in the game. just brutal. hopefully the men have a better fate tomorrow.

my tomorrow will be Olympic hockey and hopefully a victory beer.

the victory beer i had last night put me to fucking sleep better than i have for 3 weeks. here is what i missed on the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon:

now that is some funny shit.

i'll probably be bouncing between basketball games this evening. maybe a little of the Olympics, but i saw most of what i wanted to see live during the day. of course, if the weather is too bad and the satellite signal goes down, i won't be watching shit. then it will be a night listening to the radio. i haven't had one of those in quite some time.

i hope this finds everyone well. hope the weather is less crazy in your neck of the woods.

be well. be creative. be drunk. be naked. be the train at the end of the tunnel of hope.

music:

Sevendust - Animosity
Living Colour - Super Hits
Robert Glasper Experiment - Black Radio

"If someone hits you with an object you should beat the hell out of them." - Charles Barkley

and then there was 4

since i'm not sleeping worth a shit these days, it does provide me the opportunity to watch plenty of the Winter Olympics live. and i did watch most of the 4 hockey games today. i couldn't give a shit about any of the other sports. Sweden took care of Slovenia 5-0. yet another shutout for The King. Finland put a smile on my face, defeating Russia 3-1. the USA beat the Czech Republic 5-2. and Canada was stymied for most of the game, but eventually beat Latvia 2-1. that sets up 2 delicious games on Friday. Sweden vs. Finland, a rematch of the 2006 gold medal game. and the USA vs. Canada, a rematch of the 2010 gold medal game. i will definitely be watching both of those games. plenty of skill and hatred.

i satisfied my itch to write last night by writing 5 new poems. i typed them up while i was enjoying a victory beer this afternoon. i do believe i have a few winners in the batch. i'm hoping to get a few submissions together for next week.

i really didn't watch much last night until the late night talk shows. it was basically just flipping through the channels. that won't be the case tonight. Dayton plays LaSalle at 9 tonight. since my neck isn't cooperating with me at the moment, i won't be going to the game. but, i will be watching on tv. hopefully Dayton comes out on fire since they have been off for a week. it's another MUST win game. they are certainly knocking on the door of march madness this year. they already have more wins this year than last year.

i go back to the doctor at 11 tomorrow morning. i'm hoping the appointment doesn't last too long as i would like to see a good portion of the women's gold medal game in hockey between the USA and Canada. so, i'm hoping it goes we're going to go in this direction, here's a new script for some pain pills and then off to the sports bar. i imagine i will have a MRI in my future. unless the doctor thinks some other course is the better way to go. but since i've been dealing with this for over a month now, i'll assume it is time to take this to the next level. as well as i'm managing the pain, i wouldn't mind not having to deal with it at all.

the farm is in a state of 80 acres of a sloppy fucking mess. the slow melt is definitely on. i don't mind that in the fields, as that will certainly help the crops down the line. but i really wouldn't mind if all the damn snow around the house was gone. since not one inch of this place is flat or level, it's tricky as fuck to walk to the bird feeders or even to the cats. hitting a bump wrong isn't real fun with a bad back. of course, tomorrow night i believe we have some thunderstorms moving through. i think there already is a high wind warning. that should be loads of fucking fun.

that's all for today. i hope everyone is well. i'll be on here sometime tomorrow afternoon with the health update. and hopefully i'll have a good buzz going as well. until then my friends and enemies.

peace

music:

Ray Charles - Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music (Bonus Tracks)
Muddy Waters - Blues Legend
Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Slick Rick - The Art of Storytelling

"The greatest education in the world is watching the masters at work." - Michael Jackson

one sleepy weekend

so i fell asleep last night right before the dunk contest started. i didn't mind that as i really don't care for the dunk contest. i've never been able to dunk. and i'm never going to be able to dunk. what really made me laugh is i fell asleep both times i tried to watch ROH last night. thankfully, i watched it this afternoon. it's always a good time when i get to see Chris Hero wrestle, mostly because he went to the high school 1 town away from me.

i was up early again this morning to watch team USA play men's hockey. i was really hoping they weren't going to be in a fog because of the amazing and draining victory over Russia yesterday. Phil Kessel decided they were going to be focused on Slovenia by scoring 64 seconds into the game. that was the start of a natural hat trick for him and a 5-1 win. that clinches the group and the second seed for the quarterfinals. so, that basically means they are most likely going to face Canada in the semis. i'll get to that mountain when it happens. right now i'm hoping they are focused on playing whoever wins between the Czech Republic and Slovakia. and hopefully they enjoy a couple days off. i like that this team still hasn't played its best game yet. and Ryan McDonagh is becoming the second coming of Brian Leetch. always good to see when the players from the New York Rangers are doing well.

i did watch a little NASCAR qualifying for Daytona today. just enough to satisfy my inner redneck. it's going to be a little crazy to see the #3 on the pole for the Daytona 500. toss in bizarre and emotional as well. it is going to be a circus. but that reminds me, i need to get my NASCAR fantasy team going again.

i took a nice long shower today. it would have been great if my back wouldn't have tightened up during it. that's always fun. i always get the feeling that one of these days my back is going to lock up in a painful position and i'll be home alone. now you know why i don't jerk off in the shower.

i'm looking forward to the Sunday night shows. True Detective has me hooked big time. Shameless is going strong as well this season. Girls is having a much better season than the last one. i would put House of Lies in that category as well. as for Episodes, it is simply so bad it is good in a laughing at them kind of way.

i might watch a little bit of the NBA All-Star game tonight. not a great deal though. it usually turns into a glorified AAU game.

the weather here has been a steady cold blah all day long. no sunshine at all. it is supposed to warm up here by about 30 degrees in a few days. that will turn all this snow into mud pretty damn quick. but, if that allows my pinched nerve and bad back to feel a little better, i'm all for it.

that's all for me today. i hope everyone had a great weekend. hopefully a few of you have decided to not stop the weekend. take it easy and if it's easy, take it again.

be well my friends and enemies. until tomorrow.

music:

Wu-Tang Clan - Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Portugal. The Man - Evil Friends

"A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots." - Marcus Garvey

nothing like getting blindsided in the middle of the night

i believe it was around 2:30 in the morning that i had a horrifically painful cramp in my left calf. that actually woke me up, howling in pain. i took a pain pill and got online. i checked out Google news and probably let out the loudest 'oh fuck no' in my life. Maggie Estep dead at 50. totally crushed me. she was a HUGE influence on my early work. i would read everything she put out. it was just her style and balls out attitude that i loved and wanted my work to be like. of course, i was 19 at the time and hadn't lived enough for my work to be that way. so, i went on YouTube and started to look up her poems and basically have my little moment for one of my favorite poets. 50 is way too fucking young to die.

so the rest of the morning was this haze of trying to sleep while trying to not get completely depressed. i managed to do neither. so, i have basically been running today on about 2 hours of sleep. i'm sure this will all catch up with me as i am undoubtedly taking years off of my life.

thankfully, team USA played some hockey this morning, so i had something for my mind to be distracted with. and the USA did their part, whipping Slovakia 7-1. i didn't expect that and neither did any of the "experts". they play a huge game against Russia Saturday morning. that will be a good test to see how good they really are.

i spent most of the rest of the day watching some hockey and putting ice on my lower back. this winter hasn't beaten the shit out of me. it did warm up a bit here today, but not enough to really start to melt anything. and we're supposed to have some snow in the morning. nothing major but probably enough to fuck up all the morning traffic.

amazingly, i actually got a credit card offer today that was too good to pass up. so, now i'll get cash back as my reward instead of miles since quite frankly, after the blood clots, the bad back, and the pinched nerve in the neck, the last thing i'm thinking of doing is fucking traveling.

the Dayton Flyers killed off an old demon last night with a 76-69 win over Rhode Island. that actually puts them on the bubble again for the NCAA tournament. i really like the way this team is trending. i'd love to see them keep this winning streak going. now, the shitty thing is, i don't think they have lost since i fucked up my neck. and you know exactly what my superstitious ass is thinking...

so, 2 victory beers after a week of nothing. that's helped the pain some.

no clue what i'll be watching tonight. i'm going to try to watch something that doesn't involve the Olympics, Derek Jeter, or sad music. but i'll make no promises.

hope this finds everyone well. for the men reading this, i hope you have got your shit together for tomorrow before you actually read this. and ladies, the same shit goes for you.

be well, be warm, be something greater than the asshole stealing your oxygen in front of you at the store.

music:

Ice Cube - Greatest Hits

"Like everyone else who makes the mistake of getting older, I begin each day with coffee and obituaries." - Bill Cosby

my body feels like it is 80 years old

when i woke up this morning, 3 1/2 hours after i fell asleep, my whole damn body ached. every portion that has any scar tissue on it was aching like i was an addict in need of a fix. and it has been like that all damn day long. it's a struggle to hold my head up to see what the fuck i am typing on the screen. good times.

men's hockey has started in the Winter Olympics so now i am interested. i watched Sweden beat the Czech Republic 4-2 earlier today. always good to see my favorite goalie get a win. i believe team USA plays tomorrow morning.

Manchester United played Arsenal to a 0-0 game. i wish United would have played this kind of defense all of this season. of course, 26th game of the Premier League season, 26th different lineup Moyes has started. there's part of the damn problem.

Dayton plays Rhode Island here in a few in a MUST win type of game. of course, they haven't beat Rhode Island since 2008. that streak has to end tonight if they want to have any chance to play in the postseason.

i did manage to send out the 15 poems this morning. i figured i would do my best to block out the pain to get it done. i want to thank Michele McDannold for the invitation to this project and for allowing me to send the poems as attachments. sorry it took 6 or so emails. i'm a piss poor organizer of this shit. when i hear back on the poems i will pass along the news here on the blog.

so i saw today that Derek Jeter will be retiring after this upcoming season. great, another year of waterworks. maybe they can make the playoffs for The Captain this season, since they couldn't do it for the greatest closer of all time this past season.

do check out episode #90 of the Sam Roberts Show Online. you can find it on iTunes, Stitcher, notsam.com as well as the right hand side of this blog. also, check out the new store at the website.

sorry for being so short today. the pain pills aren't working as well and mother nature has a foot up my ass. hope you enjoy that visual.

until tomorrow...

music:

Charlie Parker - Jazz 'Round Midnight

"Never wound a snake; kill it." - Harriet Tubman

welcome to the world of the bizarre

my neck pain made a reappearance today as i was on the computer this morning. i happened to look to my left and BAM. nothing like having a nerve start to scream. my left arm immediately felt like it was on fire. so, now i fear the pain pills and the nerve pills aren't working as well as the last couple of days since my steroid is starting to wind down. i'm hoping this gets better in the next week, but i'm not exactly hopeful at this point.

so, i didn't send out the poems like i thought i was going to today. instead i tried to just rest and calm my pinched nerve the best way i could. whatever the fuck that is as i haven't found something to completely take the pain away in the 5 weeks i've had this problem. maybe it's longer, the days are starting to run together on me. i did manage to get around 5 hours of sleep overnight. i figure that was why the pain came back. a sign of normalcy and the pain must bring back the bizarre.

speaking of bizarre, i had an english professor tell me today that i am one of her heroes. as i told my mother, i'm pretty sure that is a sign of an impending apocalypse. but i gladly accepted the compliment. not exactly everyday when someone in the academic world of writing compliments one of us fucks that never took one college writing class in our lives.

i fell asleep during the final hour of Monday Night Raw last night. that should sum up what i thought of the show. much more miss than hit. i do love that Cesaro is getting over more and more with the fans. i'm sure the WWE will manage to drop the ball with that as well.

as for this evening, i have no clue what i'm going to be watching. this might turn into an evening of catching up on some podcasts.

hopefully, this is the last night for a little while that the temps will fall below zero again. it's been so damn cold here for so long my brain has basically just turned itself off.

i will try to get on here tomorrow before the Manchester United game that i am dreading. and it doesn't look like i'll be going to the Dayton Flyers game tomorrow night. i don't want to take the chance of letting my adrenaline get the best of me and i end up hurting myself even more.

that's all for me. i can barely keep my neck up to look at the screen to type this anymore.

be well. be warm. to all my friends and fans in the south, just stay indoors. it will eventually melt. not that i can say the same thing for here.

later.

music:

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue

"I think what motivates people is not great hate, but great love for other people." - Huey Newton

what happens if spring never comes?

i woke up this morning after maybe 3 or so hours of sleep and noticed the temps were down to the single digits once again. they just happened to stay there to this afternoon. the weather is certainly wreaking havoc on me. my back was paying the price today. and since it was in pain, that 1 oxy pill had to work for 2 spots. needless to say, i'm not a happy camper today.

i did manage to stay awake for everything i wanted to watch last night. i thought the Beatles special was pretty good. the best performances to me was Ed Sheeran doing "In My Life", mostly because that is my favorite Beatles song of all-time. and the performance of Dave Grohl, Joe Walsh, and Gary Clark Jr. doing "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" brought the house down. i also never look away anytime Annie Lennox is performing. great to see her and Dave Stewart back together for at least one night. overall, a very good 2 1/2 hours of music and nostalgia.

as for the Sunday night shows, True Detective was brilliant once again. i can't come up with the words to do that show justice. it is just fucking damn near perfect. Shameless was great last night as well. i have always loved how that show can go from party to serious in a nano second. and the possible plot twists from last night are endless. Girls made me laugh again, especially with the realization that if you really want to write and make money doing it, you basically have no choice but to sell your soul. House of Lies was good. and Episodes actually made me laugh a few times. probably the vagina with Yoda's voice that did it.

it was a little hard listening to sports talk radio today as the only thing anyone wanted to talk about was the player from Missouri that came out as gay last night. personally, i couldn't give a shit what his sexuality is, it's not my life. what i first thought about was how many homophobic Missouri football fans had a little vomit in the back of their throats when that news came out last night. the one thing i will give credit to this generation, with being so public with everything they do and say and think; they truly are forcing people to face their own hypocrisy. that has to make the world a better place over time. at least i fucking hope so.

after i take a long hot shower, i'll be getting ready to watch Monday Night Raw. i believe Betty White is the guest host tonight. i'm sure that means there will be at least one horrible comedy sketch to endure. i'm hoping the show is better than last week.

other than wrestling, i'll probably watch some college basketball as well. or whatever happens to be on the Food Network.

i haven't really got into the Winter Olympics yet. i imagine when the men's hockey gets going, my intensity will pick up for sure.

that's all for me. i hope everyone had a great weekend. i do hope everyone gets the chance to read the poems i just got published. especially the muse, as that poem about you should put the final nail in what used to be our friendship. and i know if you read it i won't hear from you, as it cuts a little closer to the bone than you ever thought i had the guts to do. i just love when someone doubts me.

be well. stay warm. find the positive in your life and then fuck the shit out of it.

peace.

music:

Outkast - Stankonia
Ben Harper - Welcome to the Cruel World

"Where there is no vision, there is no hope." - George Washington Carver

a weekend ruined

after a few deep breaths, i look back and suppose this is the price we Manchester United fans are having to pay for all the years of glory. today's game ran the entire chart of emotions. happy to see old faces, utterly disappointed to be losing to a team at the bottle of the table, to the utter disgust that the lead was over a hour long, to jubilation when RVP scored, to pure elation when Carrick scores seconds later, to the bottom of hell when Fulham gets a goal in "Fergie" time. 2-2 against that team is beyond unacceptable. i shutter to think what Wednesday is going to look like at Arsenal. if i had a white flag, i'd be waving. i can't see any chance of ending up in 4th place now. the only way United plays in the Champions League next year is by winning it this year. and honestly, the only manager capable of pulling that off this year is sitting in the stands.

the pain will be a bit sharper the rest of the day, i can guarantee that.

i didn't sleep well at all last night. we had a cold front moving through and it was killing my body all night long. i tried to stay up to watch ROH but fell asleep in the middle of it. thankfully, wrestling fans post results to everything on the internet, so at least i know what i missed.

the Dayton Flyers surprised me yesterday with an unlikely win at St. Bonaventure, 72-69. especially when they were trailing by 5 with 4 minutes left or so. that's when i looked over at my mom and said they've got 'em right where they want 'em. when Dayton won, i kept telling her over and over, i told you, i told you... that was a nice victory beer.

not sure how i'm going to manage my Sunday viewing schedule tonight. i want to watch that Beatles special but that means all my regular Sunday shows are going to be shuffled back into the middle of the night. not that i won't be up or anything, i'm simply trying to plan which shows am i going to fall asleep in the middle of. hopefully, if we do end up moving, we get that DIRECTV whole home DVR. that would solve these god damn dilemmas. that being said, there's no fucking way i'm falling asleep during True Detective. i LOVE that show.

i suppose i should go eat lunch as i have pills to take. this is the downside of being a sports fanatic. the lows can get really fucking low, especially when you have a neck and left arm that is killing you slowly. i swear my left thumb is permanently numb. haven't had any damn feeling in it for 2 fucking weeks now. i imagine that will be a poem somewhere down the line.

and speaking of poems, i didn't do the 15 poems like i should have done last night. instead, as the pain was torturing me, i did a little shopping at amazon.com. i decided i was going to buy music from artists i have never bought before. i'm looking forward to hopefully finding some new bands to obsess over. i feel sorry for the fucker that has to fill the order though. i think i hit nearly every genre there is. and thanks to Christmas and my birthday, it didn't cost me a thing.

see all the good shit you have ruined this weekend in my life David Moyes.

i fed the cats this morning in the snow. that wasn't fun. the cats weren't exactly thrilled to see the snow either. i believe we have crossed the 40 inches of snow this winter. we still have a fucking month of this shit to go. hopefully it all melts slowly into the ground and the crops are wonderful this summer because of it. that's really the only good i can make out of this miserable fucking winter.

that's it. i need to eat. enough of my rambling for today. i hope everyone is well. you are surely better off than me.

peace and chicken grease.

music:

Son House - The Original Delta Blues
Howlin' Wolf - The Definitive Collection

"I try to teach my heart not to want things it can't have." - Alice Walker

my life in a frozen hell

i couldn't sleep for shit last night until i jerked off for the first time in weeks. and of course, being the asshole i am, i used the bad arm to do it as i sadly tend to enjoy the pain. that bought me at least 2 hours of sleep. so, i might have got 4 hours last night in total. the right amount if i was 23 or so. sadly, at 38, i'm living more like a guy who smokes pot and naps all day long. i wouldn't mind the pot part, but napping all day long isn't for me.

in between the naps today, i did manage to write 2 poems. i will hopefully type them up this weekend.

the New York Rangers lost 2-1 last night. they had so many chances to win last night but lost the game in the last 2 minutes of the 3rd period. that could end up being some huge lost points. of course, go out and beat Pittsburgh tonight and no one will remember last night.

i spent 45 minutes in the damn cold today feeding the cats and filling the bird feeders. thankfully, there was no wind and i'm smart enough to dress in layers. and i made damn sure to take some oxy before i went out to do that.

i do enjoy this dream/awake stage the pain pills put me in at times. takes me back to my youth and the glorious moments where i really expanded my brain. glory days.

i suppose tonight i'll be watching some of the opening ceremony in Russia for the Winter Olympics, but not that much. there are some hockey games i need to watch and some college hockey i need to watch as well. and that damn tree house show that has become a guilty pleasure to watch on Friday nights. i suppose because i never had one as a kid.

The Big Bang Theory was really good last night. it also reminded me that i haven't had a girlfriend at Valentine's Day in damn near 20 years. money saved i suppose but so much other shit i have missed out on. hello depression.

not sure when i'll be on here tomorrow. probably sometime before Dayton plays tomorrow. maybe i'll make it a morning post while i'm high on pain pills. i do know the women's hockey starts over in Russia in the middle of the night tonight. i know damn well what i'll be watching if i can't sleep tonight. and not in a sexual way you perverts.

that's all for me. be well and stay warm. continue with the good vibes as this is one tough motherfucker of pain i'm trying to beat. and in the words of Ice Cube, today was a good day.

peace and chicken grease...

music:

Various Artists - Millennium Funk Party
TLC - CrazySexyCool

"If you have no critics you'll likely have no success." - Malcolm X

waiting for a storm

well, the assholes that do the weather on the local news can't make up their minds on which dire forecast to predict. are we getting the 10 inches of snow that will stop everything around here or are we getting an ice storm that's going to bring down power lines and freeze all of us to death? if i had to choose, i'll go with the snow. i've lived here long enough to know we'll get neither. but i'm getting my mind ready to battle with my arm just in case.

i've been in a pretty shitty mood all day long. the sun has decided to take the day off. you can just tell it wants to snow so damn bad but nothing is hitting the ground yet. but that doesn't stop it from fucking with my bones. i've been aching all damn day long. doesn't help that i didn't sleep for shit last night. hopefully the next trip to the doctor's office yields better results than this last one.

Monday Night Raw was really hit or miss last night. didn't really help me escape from my pain.

tonight, the New York Rangers are back in action against Colorado. i'd love to see a win mostly just so i can have a victory beer.

other than that, i imagine i'll be watching it snow this evening. if the arm is feeling good enough, maybe i'll try to do something creative. if not, i'll be in my recliner trying to sleep.

a big thank you to Michelle Mattila for her lovely comments about my book, Sofisticated White Trash. that's certainly one way to take my mind away from this shitty day.

well, the pain pills are starting to fade. that's all for me. i hope everyone is well. i hope you don't have a shitty storm coming your way. and i hope your mind isn't consumed with pain.

later.

music:

Al Green - Greatest Hits
Bruno Mars - Unorthodox Jukebox

"Each person must live their life as a model for others." - Rosa Parks