so little sleep... who cares

let me get the negative shit from yesterday out of the way first. the New York Rangers played like shit last night, starting the game off in a fog and never really acting like they gave a shit at all. i'm sure this is exactly how the dads wanted the dad's trip to end. 5-0. i suppose the road winning streak had to end at some point.

Monday Night Raw was pretty good. i'm a little surprised they are going to unify the heavyweight titles at a non-major PPV. i always do enjoy when CM Punk gets on one of his rolls on the mic. and the actual wrestling has been pretty decent here for the last little while.

as the snowflakes were coming down and as i was watching the last little bit of the NFL game, my mother decided to go to bed. that meant, i had to keep my voice down while watching the Dayton Flyers at midnight. yeah right...

Dayton started off the game with the obvious jitters. they fell behind by as much as 16 points in the first half. now, they were playing the #11 team in the country (Gonzaga), but still... thankfully, they went on a little run to get the halftime deficit down to 9. and then, holy shit... they shot an amazing 61% in the second half, made some clutch free throws down the stretch and got a HUGE win. highlights below:

they get to play Baylor tonight on ESPN. another upset and they will be in the finals. fingers are crossed and i have tried to do everything just like i did yesterday... not that i believe in superstitions or anything like that.

the game got over at 2:30 and it took me a good 2 hours before the rush of adrenaline finally was gone. i did get some decent sleep though, almost 5 hours or so.

The Voice last night was really good. i have no fucking clue who will be in the bottom 3 tonight. the talent this year is slightly better than any of the previous seasons. and the performances from Jacquie and Will last night were holy shit amazing. there's no chance those 2 will be leaving tonight. and hats off to Will for having the guts to sing At Last. most men wouldn't dare.

i suppose i should actually start my Christmas shopping soon. as i look at the flat tire on my truck, i suppose it will be all online once again this year.

hope this finds everyone well. my sister is traveling here as i type. thank god there is plenty of wine in the house. it will be needed at some point i imagine.

peace and chicken grease...

music:

Beastie Boys - Solid Gold Hits
Shrug - Whole Hog for the Macho Jesus
Guided By Voices - Bee Thousand
U2 - Rattle and Hum

"I'm an idealist. I don't know where I'm going, but I'm on my way." - Carl Sandburg

at least the corn was gone before the snow started...

i woke up this morning to temps around 28 or so and a light dusting of snow covering the grass and fields. thankfully the corn got harvested before this cold front came barreling through. i believe this may be our best corn yield since i have lived out here. hard to believe that's 16 years now.

i got a really good deal on some wine today. i couldn't pass on 6 bottles for under $60.

i'm still kicking myself over fantasy football this past week. the match i was losing by 11 i ended up losing by 3. that left me a bit sore as the winning points were on my bench. i'll have to make that game up quickly if i'm going to make the playoffs. and i had a horrible week picking games, 7-7. yikes.

i did watch most of The Voice last night. only a handful of the 12 performances were great in my opinion. with that much mediocrity i have no clue who is going to be in the bottom 3 tonight. should make for an interesting show.

i didn't watch much of Monday Night Raw last night. it was taped in Manchester, England so i knew what was going to happen from the live reports online. i did catch portions of the last hour. anytime you have The Shield, The Wyatt Family, CM Punk, and Daniel Bryan involved in something, i'm going to be watching. can't wait to see what all those guys produce.

tonight is a pretty big sports night. a couple of huge early season college basketball games that should be pretty entertaining. and while that is going on, the New York Rangers are playing the Devils tonight. my blood might get a little boiling this evening. hopefully the Rangers can keep the good streak they have been on going with a win over those fuckers this evening.

after i did the dishes this afternoon and watched some porn, i went through the poems and decided on which 16 i'll be sending out here in a few days. probably no later than Friday. my apologies in advance to the editors, etc.

sadly, for the second time, i believe my cat Gizmo 2.0 is once again dead. all the cats (14 of them) were present this morning, minus 2.0, which was what i was expecting since a good number of them have never seen snow before. if that cat shows up again ( i haven't seen it in over a month now, it was gone for 2 or 3 months last time) i will have no choice but to think that cat has evil powers. yes, i've been drinking.

found out today my mother will need surgery in the spring (could be sooner but she doesn't want to miss any basketball games) for the problem in her ears. wasn't thrilled when i saw that 1 of 4 people that have it end up losing their hearing permanently as a result of it.

lastly, i did watch a bit of the Hockey Hall of Fame inductions last night. whenever i decide to actually get a fucking passport, maybe i'll get up to Toronto to actually go to the place this time. i was up there when i was 13 but my father decided going there wasn't worth the time. can't imagine why i have hated that man for the majority of my life.

and on that uplifting note, i bid everyone a fond farewell. hope everyone is doing well or faking it good enough that no one suspects anything.

music:

Hayes Carll - Trouble in Mind
The Allman Brothers Band - At Fillmore East
Ed Sheeran - +
Of Monsters and Men - My Head is an Animal

"I feel like I could be likened to an old hound circling on a rug for the last five years." - Neil Young

now that's a damn cold front

woke up this morning to temps in the 40's. it was in the 80's just the other day. i know we got well over 2 inches of rain yesterday. had a little minor flooding in the lane, but nothing compared to some of the shit we've had before.

after i wrote my post for yesterday, i decided to take a chance and get the trash out early. i figured it was heavy enough that it wouldn't go flying in the oncoming storm. (i was right) i figured since i was going to be out in the rain, i might as well feed the cats. all was fine until i got to the second stall in the big barn. there was my cat Michael Jackson deader than dead. must have died in the last 18 hours or so. so, i went and got a shovel and walked in the rain towards the back of the property. said my goodbye and tossed it down the hill. took the trash down and then had to go change my wet clothes.

i thought i was having a decent day in fantasy football until i noticed one of my opponents changed his starting QB to Tony Romo. sadly, that was the same opponent i was already down 41 points to. my team scored 94. he had three players score 91. needless to say i lost by 40. and if i would have played all the highest scoring players, i still would have lost by 19. tip your hat and move on. as for my other match, i have a slight lead going into tonight. but i don't like my chances. i have the kicker for Atlanta while my opponent has the RB for the Jets. i will hope for the best but know that my chances of winning are slim at best.

i did enjoy that shootout yesterday between Dallas and Denver.

as for the Sunday night shows, Boardwalk Empire was great last night. a very gripping episode from start to finish. i thought the suicide at the end was perfectly shot. Eastbound and Down was absolutely hilarious. you can never go wrong when you have an episode that has kids calling their father a dick licker. Hello Ladies was really disappointing for me last night. i didn't find it funny at all. i suppose i will give the show another week, but if next week stinks that time slot will go back to sports. Homeland was good, not great. but it appears that this episode was used to set up the next one that looks really interesting. hopefully that is the case. Masters of Sex was my biggest disappointment of the night. the first show was so damn good and last night just dragged, start to finish. i'm really hoping next week is a much better episode.

tonight will be the hodgepodge of The Voice, Monday Night Raw, some Monday Night Football and after all that, the New York Rangers are playing out in Los Angeles. i really hope they can get the win tonight. the captain is back in the lineup, that should be a boost. i don't want to start the season on a long losing streak.

in my grogginess this morning (went to bed at 4 AM and was up at 8 AM), i emailed 5 poems to Zygote in My Coffee. when i hear back from Brian i will pass along the verdict.

that's pretty much all for today. oh yeah, another thing, i had an excellent glass of Sauvignon Blanc from France last evening. here is a link to it: http://us.nakedwines.com/wines/villebois-sauvignon-blanc-2012.htm

music:

Ivan & Alyosha - The Cabin Sessions
Guided By Voices - Half Smiles of the Decomposed
Charles Bradley - Victim of Love
Foy Vance - Joy of Nothing

"The work of art is a scream of freedom." - Christo

one of those days where the rain feels like i'm stuck in Florida

it absolutely poured today, on and off. and it was around 80 degrees with humidity around 90%. felt just like the rain in Florida. not exactly the best thing when you're hoping for some dry days to take the corn off and paint the barns. i wouldn't be shocked if we got close to 2 inches today.

i had an interesting day of waiting. waiting for the plumber, waiting for the Fed Ex guy. it's kind of funny, as i remember when i lived out here alone. whenever i wanted someone to call or show up, i always did something else. i'd take a shower and the phone would ring. take a shit and there's a knock on the door. no such luck today.

the plumber showed up around 2 to see what the fuck is up with our water softener. i laughed as none of the shit he brought with him actually worked, so he took a sample of the water and will return sometime. didn't say when, but this is all under warranty, so i don't really care.

the Fed Ex guy finally showed up around 5 with my wine. so i'm enjoying a glass of red while typing this. should be interesting to see how quickly i drink this. i'm not a big wine drinker but just felt i needed to upgrade my alcoholism finally. so expect some ramblings about wine every now and then.

i got a closer look at my cat Michael Jackson last night. looked like a young coyote got him on his right side and has rendered his hind legs useless. i noticed this as the dumb ass was trying to climb underneath my truck. last i saw him he was going under the corn crib. i didn't see him when i fed them today, so i figure he has probably moved on. hopefully no longer in pain.

The Bridge last night was good. it didn't answer many questions but brought forth some more. and a few more twists and a huge plot point for the next season. which will come in 2014.

Duck Dynasty made me laugh, as always.

the New York Rangers play late tonight out in Arizona. hopefully they start the season off good. also, there is some playoff baseball and the NFL this evening. so, after The Big Bang Theory it will be nothing but sports.

hopefully i will get cracking on sending out some poems tomorrow. i don't always like a Friday submissions but i really don't feel like waiting until next week. so, a morning of typing awaits me. unless of course i get the nerve to type around 2 in the morning. who knows.

that's all for now. hope this finds everyone well.

music:

Nine Inch Nails - Hesitation Marks (Deluxe Edition)
The Dirty Guv'nahs - Somewhere Beneath These Southern Skies

"Is this not the true romantic feeling; not to desire to escape life, but to prevent life from escaping you." - Thomas Wolfe

new month same fog

when i woke up this morning you couldn't see the corn, which is less than 50 feet from the house. to say it was foggy would be a huge understatement. i was shocked that i didn't hear about any major accidents or anything. the fog didn't really burn off until 11 am.

had a long, heartbreaking conversation with an old friend this morning. not an easy position for me to be in as i'm basically unable to offer much help and what little i can do isn't being accepted. oh well. hopefully my old friend finds the right spot in the world for themselves. they deserve at least that much.

i enjoyed what i got to see of The Voice last night. i was flipping between baseball and wrestling. but the voices i did get to hear i enjoyed. i'll be paying a little closer attention this evening. emphasis on little.

Monday Night Raw was great last night. kudos to CM Punk for even having me fooled that he injured himself. easy to see why he's my 3rd favorite of all time. all the storylines advanced pretty well going into the ppv this Sunday. they (the creative team) have at the very least kept me interested in what's going on. been awhile since i was at that level.

i did go through some poems this morning and came up with 12 i'll be sending out later this week. i've got 3 places in mind.

a big thank you to Drew Brees for his outstanding performance last night, which allowed me to win both of my fantasy football matches.

the NHL regular season starts this evening. say hello again to the sport i have the most passion about. and if any of my new readers think my rants about baseball are something, wait until the New York Rangers go on a losing streak. only 3 games this evening. i'll be watching bits and pieces, as of course, i have some fantasy players going tonight.

i imagine i will be writing on this again after the Manchester United game tomorrow. hopefully while enjoying a victory beer.

i won a $100 voucher for some wine last night. of course, it was one of those where i had to spend $160 to be able to use the voucher. so, in a week or so, my alcoholism will become a bit more sophisticated.

and speaking of that word, can you think of a better christmas gift than my book Sofisticated White Trash. get your copy today.

plenty of music to get to today. hope this finds everyone well.

music:

Pantera - Far Beyond Driven
Deftones - Deftones
Ben Harper - Welcome to the Cruel World
Ray LaMontagne - Trouble
Tom Waits - Alice

"Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive." - Elbert Hubbard

someone told me i'd be a lousy junkie

a rather odd day. not very warm, not very much sun, but not cold. just dreary enough that i can feel impending rain in my lower back and in my head. i'm going with either old or insane.

found a new kitten today. not sure where A Boy Named Sue was hiding that one, but oh well.

got plenty of feeders out for the birds now. so, i imagine the squirrel population will of course rise. damn thieves.

i'm in a very weird head space at the moment. content yet bordering on depression. not sure which side of the fence my fat ass will fall on. i'm not feeling very creative yet something is saying i should be doing something. i always wonder about my friends on the mind drugs. do i want to go down that road? would i enjoy it? could i convince myself that the "drugged" one is the real me? would they work at all? for the first 36 years i haven't really wanted to know the answer. perhaps a good bottle of wine and Beethoven will solve all the problems i have. that has worked in the past.

oh yeah, so i guess i did wake up to a world after all. that sucks. hopefully the Yankees get healthy and i might actually enjoy my summer. or, maybe my new book comes out and people like it and buy it. that would be a nice change of pace.

or perhaps these zines that have rejected me for years will finally give in and say yes. you know who you are. fuckers.

a nice odd mix of music today. kind of fitting if you ask me.

Radiohead - Kid A
Lou Reed - Rock N Roll Animal
Johnny Cash - Unchained
The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
Guided By Voices - Bee Thousand
Nina Simone - Anthology

"A man begins cutting his wisdom teeth the first time he bites off more than he can chew." - Herb Caen