week? weak

until recently, i was blissfully unaware of the noose draped around my neck. i turned a blind eye to all the indications in the neighborhood: piles of ikea packaging on curbs, longer lines at the cvs, lots of people walking around with name tags. hell, i was considering metaphorically getting out of dodge entirely, to some other metaphorical place that had no metaphorical extradition treaty with the proverbial dodge. but then i decided i would do what i had to do, pay the price, and accept my sentence. no sooner did that happen then i discovered the noose was not only around my neck, but tightening. quickly.
classes begin in a week. i just found out what mine are today. but i can't do anything about them until wednesday. i am not sure if i am going to do anything or what it will be. i'm still kind of adjusting to the fact that i have accepted returning to something i have so much distaste for. it was a narrow thing, i could just as easily have said screw it i guess. i just have a tough time saying that for certain things. like this. things where everyone i know is going to have to know about it. and i didn't really know what else to do i guess. that was probably a contributing factor. i wish i could joke about not wanting to work. honestly, though, i would rather just have a somewhat decent job. even a lousy one doesn't sound that bad. go, do your thing, make a little money, go home, forget about it. plenty of people lead fine existences without graduate degrees, or degrees of any kind really. but for some reason i decided i needed another one, and even though i'm not so sure about that now, i already started, and to me that means i should probably finish. and like i said, i wasn't really sure what else to do. would have been awkward for a while.
so it will be back at it before i know it. i haven't really done much this summer, it seems. then again, it never seems to me that i do all that much in any context. oh well. it has gotten me this far. i did a few things i guess, i could always go back and check old posts. that would probably simply reveal that the things i feel are of note appear to be so only to me. tough to do the truly notable on a thin budget. sometimes that doesn't matter though, like the free show in town the other night. went to go see dr. dog. those guys are great, check 'em out, they have some stuff on archive. psychedelic indie pop type stuff. think tripping daisy/polyphonic spree (lead vocals sound like tim, and the second half of the show featured string and horn sections), flaming lips, my morning jacket circa a few years ago. a fun show, even solo, and a pleasant walk home from rittenhouse.
i actually found out about the show from this neighborhood quasi-bum type guy named omar. i see him pretty frequently and he is unfailingly enthusiastic about almost everything and he usually wants a cigarette, except when he has some he insists i take one. as the band took the stage, i saw this very same dude run up and introduce the band from the central mic. i saw him after the show and thanked him for telling me about it. he looked shocked (and drunk) and exclaimed "it's over!?". this was a couple blocks west of where they even played.
all that aside, after he introduced the band, one of them commented that those were wise words from a wise man. partly tongue in cheek, but partly factual. omar does say the damndest things. pretty observant guy, or at least more so than one would expect. under unfortunate circumstances, i feel like i could be that guy, which is part of the reason i elected to continue in a debt-accruing hell hole. he is completely off-base at all times, but never fails to say something that could be classified as thoughtful, along with a generous helping of absolute bullshit. he has a stopwatch now that he wears about his neck. he says it is to time people on their bullshit, because he can only spend so much time listening to peoples' bullshit, you know? the irony is not lost upon anyone.
in better news, i have enjoyed a nice new beer or two recently. if you get lagunitas, make sure to watch out for sirius, a supposed "hi-gravity" cream ale. very unique character in the beer; familiar flavors delivered in an unconventional manner. medium-bodied, highly viscous, sweet almost but not quite cloying, not entirely unlike common cream soda in fact. but then boom, a fairly legitimate hop kicker comes in and clears out everything else. overall a thoroughly worthwhile beverage experience, try not to miss out as it is a supposed special release.
also had the good fortune to come across rogue's double ipa on tap. wow. maybe there just isn't a hop shortage in oregon. a very very rich iteration of the style, very gratifying. my sister says it smells like armpit. i beg to disagree. find out for yourself and report back.
i have had some pretty good luck these last couple days. or at least what counts as good for me. this included my biggest score ever from a free book pile. typically when i look at a pile of free books, i think hmm, that might be interesting. worth having around. and then i rarely if ever read them. at least no one is throwing them away. there is a whole bookshelf full of my stuff back home, and a lot of it is just books that school wouldn't buy back or books i acquired from free book piles. suffice to say that i have not found anything life-changing in free book piles just yet. yesterday, i found a book i had actually looked for in stores before. like one i was totally willing to buy. one i would certainly read. russel hoban's riddley walker. i have only just started it, but i am probably going to read a lot more later today. if you're not familiar with the book, it is a post-apocalyptic novel written entirely in a posited pidgin form of english, lots of phonetic spelling and such. i may have some questions about spelling conventions in old and middle english.
the other score just happened. i'm at the coffee shop. before i went in i was finishing a smoke and a dozen of the multitude of new penn students around went in before me. i was kind of worried. for some reason, they all left without ordering. this was good enough for me. but then i tried to buy a soda. dude behind the counter, though, is like IRON MAIDEN! YEAH! (i have my maiden shirt on) and he doesn't let me pay for it. it's like a secret club, he says. i guess i can support that. i left the money for the soda in the tip jar, so everyone wins. everyone who is physically present anyway. i'm sure whoever owns the place is doing just fine and is probably not going to miss a single soda. plus not enough people tip at this place in my experience. barista wages are not known for being exorbitant, either.
the internet of course also continues to yield some treasures. those with a taste for some seriously dark humor would be well advised to check out a softer world. kind of a cool concept too; the visual aspect of the comic is one or more photos split up into panels with superimposed text. one person takes the pics, the other writes the words. it appears to work pretty well. the humor reminds me of some dinosaur comics strip, which is not too surprising as the guy who writes the text is friends with the dinosaur comics guy.
given my background being brought up in what i would consider more or less a fairly conservative christian setting, i am surprised i have never heard of jack chick, or his tracts. but now i know. thanks achewood. if you already know of them, well, then you know that they are ridiculous. absolutely ludicrous, really. an embarrassment to respectable christianity in my humble opinion. if you like to laugh your ass off while shaking your head, i would recommend angels?, dark dungeons, and bad bob! for starters. from then on check out stuff on muslims and catholics, and anything "adapted for [insert demographic]". this guy really really doesn't like catholics. i am glad i was not raised to believe that catholics aren't christians. i didn't actually hear anyone make that claim until quite late in life, and it rather shocked me. apparently it is more widespread than i thought. although i guess there is a lot of history of protestants having some pretty not-nice things to say regarding catholics. at any rate, these tracts are completely outrageous. if you were familiar before now, let me know how you were and why i wasn't.