Interesting Things

Yes, I will admit it, it IS this first thing that pops into my head. Yes, I am talking about The Sex Lives of Conjoined Twins in The Atlantic. Does that make me a bad person? When you hear about conjoined people, what is the first thing you think of?

I am always in the market for a new set of headphones (Not that I do not love my SkullCandy ones, but...I can always upgrade.), however, headphones can be really expensive. Mashable has a review of $60 headphones that are pretty awesome. These Cheap Headphones Will Knock Your Socks Off.

Middle School/Junior High is the forgotten middle child of education. (I know, because I did not train as a teacher, that I am not allowed to have opinions on how education works. I am just passing this on.) Slate has a piece about a school in Rhode Island that is handling Middle School differently with good results and why it has a tendency to be ignored. The Worst Years of Our Lives: How We Can Make Middle School Less Awful?

Presented Without Comment: Friendship, Dating, Attraction, & Heartbreak (The Hairpin)

Via Kempt: How to Tie a Bow Tie.

I mean, I know you have a smart phone and therefore have access to Untappd (if you do join Untappd, I am ewabbott...just sayin'), but I guess you could use this Moleskin Beer Journal. (Uncrate)

Finally...
Arcade Fire is working on a new album with a release date in sometime 2013. (Pitchfork, Pretty Much Amazing, Vulture)

Bitterness and Bad Romance

Spin (remember Spin, they are still around and their website is interesting, especially for aging Xers) has a list of the 33 Bitterest Songs Ever.

From the List:

25. Lucinda Williams - "Come On"



18. Mr. T Experience - "New Girlfriend"



10. Liz Phair - "Divorce Song"



6. PJ Harvey - "Rid of Me"



What is on your bitter song list?

I do, unsurprisingly, have my own list and 10. is on my list...of course it it.

The Greatest Bar and Other Places of Interest

Sorry, I have been...busy (as well as technologically challenged) for most of the week. It has been interesting being disconnected, but...in the next 36 hours I will be back to almost normal...for me.

Anyway...I am going to go all the way back to last Thursday to start this post.

As you may have gathered, I have not been around. I am currently in an undisclosed location, north of Boston. While I was packing, I was stressing out more than usually, and it seemed like a good idea to drink a four pack of Sugar Free Red Bull, which made sleep damn near impossible. It did leave me time to pack and do laundry and fret and such, and when I finally fell asleep at quarter to five, that two hours of sleep that I felt so good, but then there was Habitat.

Now, being a little bit of a planner, I had asked Teacher Dave for an easier day, and to be done early. As the Ploughman Poet once wrote, "the best laid schemes of mice and men, gang aft agley." It was fine, actually, with the exception of one pickup which was unscheduled and difficult. It was hot and I was gross. Now, I had planned on being able to take a shower before meeting up with HJ77 and that plan was ruined, but I was able to mask my disgustingness but feeding her craft beer (UFO, for those keeping track at home) at McGeary's before I could shower. Teacher Dave was unable to meet up with us, which was disappointing (but they became Facebook friends, which works) and she and I got ready and headed up to Ford's show, which was great. Then we had a quick dinner (full of coconut shrimp, naturally) at DeJohn's, a stop at the afterparty for Ford's show, and then a quick nightcap at McGeary's (where we were unable to meet up with Ms. Lee).

Saturday started out with a trip to the Miss Albany Diner (Scrapple FTW!) and then a side trip out to Schenectady. We ended up getting on the road for Boston around 1:30. It was a great ride. There were sing-alongs to George Michael/Wham! and a mix made on the fly.

Then we arrived in Boston!

(An aside to people who really want resident parking permits in the City of Albany. They make parking extremely difficult sometimes. There has to be a better balance than what Boston is doing, especially around the State House and Common.)

I purchased my ticket for the 6:45 train (with the full knowledge that there was an eleven ten) and we looked for a place to kill a couple of hours. We ended up, for a little bit, at a place called "The Greatest Bar". What makes this place the greatest bar? Is it the plastic pint glasses? Is it the proximity to the Garden? Is it because HJ77's sister likes it there? We do not know. I could not determine the cause of the greatest-ness, so...I guess the greatness must be considered alleged. Anyway, because I was spending time with HJ77, I missed my train, and we did a quick tour of North Boston...including Mike's Pastry. What is so special about this place? Why did we have to wait 45 minutes to get what was being offered inside? Sheeple.

Then...it was time to take the train north. I would say that it was pleasant, but I fell asleep. It was full of drunken fans of some team called the Red Stockings who had beating a team from New York called the Yankees, or as they were saying, the "F***in' New York Yankees" in that adorable accent that they have, at some game that is similar to rounders, as it was explained to me. Quite an experience.

Then I was in Maine...which is the subject of another post...

Quality Time with Dan

Last night, my brother and I were talking about something odd, and Henry Rollins versus Iggy Pop came up, which meant that we were required to watch it. It is a law, I think, or at least a social norm.

After that, we we going back and forth on YouTube watching various Rollins bits. Most of them I have watched before (or seen live (which is an awesome experience and if you have not seen Rollins live you do not know what you are missing)) but there was on that I was unfamiliar with and got Dan laughing really fraking hard.

Here it is:



One of the reasons that I love Rollins is that I do not think his self loathing and lack of confidence is an act. I think it is who he really is and I am fully confident in my belief, much like Rollins, that I am going to be alone forever. You know what, I am cool with that.

And yes, we are looking for the same type...especially if she doesn't like Nickleback.

"What are you reading?"
"Well...I am not much of a reader."
"Well, I am not much of a dinner buyer!"

I won a contest so why not a contest...

Last week, All Over Albany celebrated their third birthday (it was a good week for birthdays) and had a series of drawings. I happened to win on of them.

The prize...drum roll please...

$100 Gift Certificate to the New World Bistro Bar.

So, here is what I am thinking...this is the perfect no pressure date. No one has to worry about the picking up the tab, because the tab is already being taken care of, and it has great food, wonderful beer, and the ambiance is spectacular.

So...win a dinner date with...me.

The problem with this, is how do I select the winner (or loser, come on, let's be honest here, I am fat, bald, boring and incredibly douchey)?

What metric do I use?

More to the point, how to apply?

I am looking for help here, and hopefully, you will be able to provide the questions to be asked and the metric for deciding the winner.

Interesting or not

Meeting someone new is always interesting...

Whether it is a random occurrence or a friend saying that you should meet "X" because you two would get along really well.

I met X today and she was everything that was promised. She was also a little too young.

Not that I am an old, but I am set in my ways, and maybe that is my problem.

Anyway, that is not the point of this...

The point of this is, we had a conversation where we asked a series of get to know you questions and she asked one of the best ones I have ever heard. (In her defense, I started the series of questions with something about "Desert Island Music" and she went from there.)

"You have two minutes to live and you have the means to make a phone call. Who do you call?"

The follow-up to that is "What do you say?" but thankfully, that was unasked.

I know my answer, and I did not have to think about it, though it did cause reflection, but it struck me as interesting.

Who would I want the last person that I ever spoke to to be...

And what would I say?

Would my dying words be a burden or something they would treasure?

It made me think of a number of things. I always tell TEA, my mother, and my father that I love them when I get off the phone with them or when I am leaving because I want them to know that if anything happens, that was the last thing that I said.

It seems trite, but is helps me sleep at night.

So...what would you want the last thing you said to someone to be? Something bitter, something loving or something innocuous?

Let Me Be That Bad Decision

I had to ask someone if our friendship as based on the "one too many beers" decision making process. I wasn't complaining or feeling hurt when I asked, I was just curious.

I like the one too many beers decision making process as it is often honest, and as a sage friend once told me, always do sober what your promised to do drunk.

Danger Signs on a Date

Why?

Dating While Pregnant

Just read it.


Now, here is the issue:

It is not that she wants someone to share her life with while she is pregnant with another man's spawn.

It is that she is mentioning it publicly. Of course she wants to be with someone, especially when she calves like a glacier, but posting it to the Times Union provides horrible optics.

Everyone's priorities are screwed up sometimes, but you pretend that your priorities are in line properly for the sake of your children.

Here is the thing Ms. Padilla, your child (and I see you are publicly rooting for a daughter, I assume you understand that it won't be like Gilmore Girls, and what if you have a son?), will see this.

They will be able to Google your name in about eight years, and they will ask questions.

You have time to figure out your answers.

From the dating files

The weekend previous to my birthday, I had a craptacular Thursday night.

To be honest, it started off well. I made a decent dinner for myself and I was home watching one of my favorite bad films. (For those following along at home, it was "Sliding Doors".)

Around 9:30, I heard a knock on the door that terrified me, and it was someone that I haven't spoken to in a year who came over to tell me basically that I was pathetic, and yes, she may have been correct, and yes, I may have believed her.

Anyway, the following day, I wanted to spend the afternoon at Wolff's with some friends, and I texted or e-mails a number of people. ECS, Johnny B., and JMFJT were the ones that showed up. We drank beer. It was good.

Now, let me tell you some background on JMFJT (as most of you have read about ECS and Johnny B). I met JMFJT at the beginning of the summer and there was a spark there. She is tall, smart, and stunning. She also is snarkier than I am and drinks well. It is like the Flying Spagetti Monster made someone for me using His Noodley Appendages to craft someone perfect. So, why didn't I ask her out then and there?

Let's just say that there were some complications, and as Lemon, Fish, PVH1976, ECS & Squiggles know, I struggled with it. Ultimately deciding that while she was wonderful, I did not deserve someone that wonderful. "Why?", you ask. Because...I know that I suck...plus...complications.

So, back to the weekend before last...

I wanted to go out, surround myself with friends, and drink German beer because I may have been pathetic.

I send out the text and I hear back from JMFJT who asked if I sent the text to the correct person. Joy. This was not looking well. I assured her that yes, I was inviting her. There was an incident from the week before where I told someone something about JMFJT and when she found out about it, she was upset with the person but not with me, yet I felt like a bad person. See above. I know that I suck

Fast forward to 4:30. ECS is there already and JMFJT shows up. I am recounting the beginning of the story about the night before when I was confronted with my patheticness, and JMFJT offers her opinion. (JMFJT is incapable of not sharing her opinion if she has one, and it is one of her many great qualities.) Mostly that the woman from the night before was insane. We have beer, Johnny B. shows up, we have more beer. ECS has to leave. Johnny B. gets called into work, and JMFJT and I decide to go to the Lionheart. We talked, and laughed, and had a great time.

We are having such a great time that I do not want it to end.

And that's when karaoke sounded like a good idea.

The issue with this is that I am covered in fiberglass and dust from Habitat and I need a shower. JMFJT offers a solution that works (going to her place and me showering there while she gets ready so we can kick ass) and we drive down to my house. Well, she drives, because the idea of me behind the wheel of a car after that much beer is shockingly horrible.

As she is parking, she starts talking to me about questions that she had every right to have answered but...because I am pathetic...and because she looked so wonderful...I shut her up.

And that is the story of our first kiss.

You know you want one.

You can get it here.

Remember, Christmas is coming!