That Not So Fresh Feeling

Just a random story from my morning.

I’m leaving my house this morning, packing up all my things, ready to face another Monday at the workplace. I’ve got my laptop packed. My gym bag packed. I throw on my winter coat and hat. I do the pocket check …

Left pocket … wallet … CHECK
Right pocked … iPhone … CHECK

Note: I’m an habitual (a habitual?) pocket checker. I freak out when I’m driving when I notice that my keys aren’t in my pocked. You know, because they’re in the ignition so the car will go Vroom Vroom.

All good. I lumber out the door, pull it shut behind me, and make it down two stairs when I reach for my keys.

They’re not in my pocket.

Nope. They’re on the table. Where I left them. Because I’m a huge dumbass.

Now this is a predicament. My landlord isn’t around. I don’t have a spare key. (Note to self: get spare key). My girlfriend is downtown, at a conference, phone-less.

Also, it’s about 10 degrees out.

This is what is affectionately referred to as being boned.

So, I did what any normal male in this situation would do. I started looking for how to break into my own house.

First trip around the house: none of the easily reachable windows are unlocked (good job by me!). All doors are locked.

Second trip around the house: hey! That window might be unlocked! Except I can’t reach it.

Third trip around the house: I’ll stand on this wobbly trash can. I can reach it! Except the screen is locked in tight. Wait! Is that a screw I see on the ground. I can use this to pry open the screen …. MacGyver-style! Screen is off, windows is open …. hurdle through …. I’m in!

30 minutes, a rip in my jeans, and a bruised ego and I’m in my apartment.

Just in time to see someone walking by looking scared of the guy who just went through the window.

Fantastic.

I try to tell him I live there, but he feigns not being able to hear me and walks off. I call the police to explain what happened. They laugh and understand and wish me a better day. So kudos to the dispatcher. He was nice.

I grab my stuff. Again. Triple checking that I have my keys this time. Off to work … except there goes a police van … down my street … oh poo. I circle around, but thankfully he was just driving by off to somewhere else, not coming to arrest me for breaking into my own apartment.

And that, my friends, is why you always make sure that you practice breaking into houses. You never know when it’ll come in handy.

Aside from working 60+ hours a week, I’ve been lucky enough to go to some pretty cool stuff over the past couple of months.

It started with seeing Ben Folds at The Orpheum.

Actually not one of my favorite Ben Folds’ shows, but it even a bad Ben show is pretty fun. He played his whole new album as his set (followed by an encore of solo and Ben Folds Five stuff), which would normally be ok, except the album hadn’t come out yet.

Next up was the first Dear Leader show in a good while at TT the Bears.

I love me some Dear Leader. It’d been awhile since they’d played together, but it was just like old times.

I also was lucky enough to see Fleet Foxes play in Somerville. Such a great great sound.

Then, I got to go take advantage of my season tickets and see opening night of the Celtics, watching them raise the 17th NBA Championship banner. It was a moment that solidified to me that I’ve always been a bigger Cs fan than a Sox fan (though it’s close). I loved being at opening day in 2005 when the Red Sox raised that first banner in 86 years. Being at the Garden and watching the Celtics raise the first banner in 22 years had a much more significant impact on me. Just the byproduct of growing up with the original Big Three, I guess.

Later, another one my favorite unknownish bands played *their* first show in a while. Stellastarr* rocked out at Great Scott and the gf and I got to watch from about 5 feet away.

Being 5 feet away left me with some temporary hearing issues, which thankfully went away the next night, where we went and saw The Decemberists at The Orpheum, and what might be my favorite show of the year.

A week or so later, we headed over to The Paradise to see an entirely different type of band, as Bang Camaro came and rocked our faces off.

Changing styles yet again, the gf surprised me and took me to see someone I consider quite possibly the greatest pop musician/performer of all time: Brian Wilson. While it’s a bit depressing to see him perform these days, it’s just such a monumental thing to be *seeing Brian Wilson.*

Finally, thanks again to my wonderful gf, we got some upgraded Celtics seats and rather than sitting in section 305 row 11, we sat in section 6 row 3.

And now I’m on vacation. So, expect to read some more from me.

If all of a sudden your blogging client stops being able to send posts to your blog, it’s possible your host turned on mod_security.

Try adding this to your .htaccess file:

	<files xmlrpc.php>
		secfilterengine off
	</files>

(hat tip to http://www.red-sweater.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=269)

I was playing my first Sunday basketball in a few months (we usually stop playing over the summer). I shocked myself a bit, as I wasn’t playing awful (not great, but not nearly as bad as I expected).

About 30 minutes into the game, went up for a rebound and then felt my head jerk to the side and smelled the incredibly distinctive smell of blood. Instinctively, I pulled my hands up to my nose and they were immediately covered in blood. I made it down to the bathroom to clean up, where my nose continued to gush for about 20 minutes.

Even through the swelling, I could tell my nose was broken.

I made it to the hospital where they took care of me and told me “You are right. It’s fractured. We really don’t do much for broken noses any more. If you’d like me to put it back in place, I can try.”

Of course, I said “yes”, and they shoved my nose back into place. The swelling has steadily been going down, but it’s still sore and it’s still a little out of place.

I tried to find a picture to show the before and after. It’s not drastic, but I think it’s noticeable.

BEFORE

AFTER (reversed for some reason)

Note the light down the bridge of my nose. It’s decidedly curved. If you could see my nostrils, you’d note that they’re now angled and aren’t symmetrical.

There you go–want a new nose? Get elbowed in the face.

Well, there goes my life …

So, long time no post.

A bunch of stuff has been going on.

I went on vacation to North Carolina with the girl and it was great.

Then we came back and went to Radiohead with Brett and The Wife. It was also pretty great, though they did not play enough off of The Bends.

Off then to Justin’s wedding, that I was lucky enough to be a part of. And yes, this picture is from me standing there as a groomsman. I have no tact.

As a gift, we got these nifty beer holders.

Hulk Smash!

A few days later, off to my brother’s wedding, where I think I was the tallest member of the wedding party. Or close to it. Which is a rarity. That’s me on the far right.

The wedding was pretty great, particularly my niece and nephew who were adorable.

Somewhere along the line, either in an airport or just during some downtime, I played some poker on my iPhone and did this:

Mixed in there was a bunch of work, which has been better, although it’s been kicking my ass. A good ass kicking, I think, but an ass kicking nonetheless.

I’m hoping to get back in the swing of things. I think I’ve got a post building up about the election and the conventions, but I’m waiting for my thoughts to settle a bit. Maybe something about Google Chrome. Or maybe something about Generation Kill (which I’m currently one episode from finishing). I’ve got a lot to write about–just need to find the time to do so.

On top of all that, over the next few weeks, there’s a whole bunch of shows I’m heading to:
9/16 — Roger Clyne
9/23 — Weezer and Tokyo Police Club
9/26 — Ben Folds
9/27 — Dear Leader
10/6 — Fleet Foxes

Whew.

In about 12 hours I’ll be in the air heading home from what has been a pretty great vacation. Loads of sun (without much burning!), awesome waves, and general relaxation make me happy. Of course it also makes me a bit reticent to head back to work. My only exposure has been the emails flowing to my iPhone, most of which I’ve ignored. We’ll see how I feel on Monday.

I realize this is lame, but I didn’t feel like typing a ton on the iPhone.

Just a quickie while I gather thoughts for a longer post

I need to rid myself of some extraneous electronics. I’m going to throw them up on ebay, I think, but if someone comes across this and wants to buy something, let me know (my email is over there —>).

I’m going to sell:

• an XBox, a couple of controllers, and some games (mostly sports games)
• a Dell Axim x3i PDA (running Windows Mobile 2003, with wireless access and even a fold-up keyboard)
• a less than 9 month old Motorola Q with box and manuals and cable and pretty much everything

If you want something, drop me a note here, on email, or on Twitter.

My iPhone is coming! My iPhone is coming!