Monday, May. 31, 2004
Memorial Day, posted at 6:42 p.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com I worked every day of the weekend, and was schedule for 5 days and 38 hours this week. I was proud of myself, though. As soon as the manager, who scheduled me, came back from his vacation, I told reminded him that I'm a teacher working parttime and 5 days and 38 hours is simply way too much to be working. It worked, and now I'm only working Wednesday night and Sunday morning (in addition to today's shift). I have a tendency to be passive agressive about these sorts of things, so I'm glad I did it.I did have a bit of fun this weekend, though, spending the night out at L.P. Steamers and then to J. Patrick's for drinks and conversation. At L.P. Steamer's, I had my first experience with Maryland crabs. It was bizarre. In general, I felt like it was too much work for not enough reward, and the whole mallet and crunching of exoskeleton was a bit too much for my bleeding heart, former vegetarian (and current pescetarian) psyche. I think next time I'll just go with a crabcake (something else I've never had). Or have a repeat of the cob of corn I got after the crabs.
J. Patrick's was, as usual, an excellent place for a great conversation, cool Irish music, and charming old man bartenders.
I've been trying to figure out what to do about this wedding situation on June 26. I need a date. I had two options. Unfortunately, one of them got married on Thursday. So, that leaves me with one. But I don't have her number and I don't see her very often. I hope she makes it to our softball practice tomorrow, but, even then, I'm just not sure if a wedding is a good place to ask someone on a date. While I'll admit I've been thinking a lot about her lately, that also could be misreading of signals and I've also heard she's been seeing someone. Sometimes, I feel really hopeless.
I could also go stag to the wedding, because I heard there would be cute single girls there. But I also sort of think that would just be sort of sad, and the only other four people I know there will be couples.
I hate that I'm not better at this. I even know I have it in me, because two years ago I felt like I was getting out there a lot, and having a lot of fun doing it. I don't feel that way anymore. I just have to dump the loser mentality that seems has creeped into my mind and wants to stay.
The good thing is, I feel like the rest of my life is lining up right - finances, job security and position, prospects of home buying, approval of car loan refinancing. It's just socially and fitness-wise where I need to make a comeback.
***
On the way home from work today, the radio played these four songs in a row:
1. "Tipsy" by J. Kwon. How ironic is it that the best drinking song in years is written by a 17 year old? This song has incredible production and beats, and the verses have this sort of repetitive, trancelike edge. (Yup, writing about music is like dancing about architechture.)
2. "Right Thrrre" by Chingy. I guess I like all the rappers who overpronounce their R's in their over-the-top St. Louis accents. This song has been out forever, but it still doesn't make me fail to smile. No, I wouldn't mind hitting that from the back, either.
3. "99 Problems" by Jay-Z. My favorite song off The Black Album. The bombastic, clanging Rick Rubin production grabs you and takes you to the hilarious climax, the interaction with the cop. He ain't passed the bar, but he knows a little bit, enough to know that the cop won't illegally search his shit. This is angry, funny stuff. And, by the way, I don't think a woman would be amongst my list of problems if I had Beyonce, either.
4. "Jesus Walks" by Kanye West. One of the strongest tracks from the best CD of the year. West is on a quest for redemption here, and this is probably the single motif that I connect with most in all of art, whether it's in rap single or in classic novels. This is especially true when the speaker lacks confidence and is questioning himself and others as he goes, which West does here.
I also bought Alanis Morissette's and Juliana Hatfield's new CDs this weekend. Go figure.