This Weeks Hefty Helping of Little Grumblings

The Little Grumblings resume today but now on a weekly basis, instead of a daily one. As always the ones that are not witty I did not write.

• A night of firsts, first dodgeball game, first roller hockey game, and first time I have ever bled while working IM sports.
• Senator Grassley I am fairly sure that AIG workers killing themselves would not help the economy. Though it would help the funeral industry.
• Thanks to Katy & Daniel I think my cat may be one of the most photographed cats on the Internet. I'm waiting for a LOLKatz of her to pop up.
• Some Jens, a book, and the bathtub. But to salvage some manliness I will not be lighting any candles.
• The "Who Stole My Skittles Face" has been unleashed upon the world!
• Restoring my image by going to drink beer from a can at a bar named after a sex-crazed alcoholic author, alone. Manly enough for you?
• Note to self: Do not go drinking before work ever again.
• At this point I think I am ready to cut my losses and just act like the last few days never happened.
• Why is plug and play hardware never fun to play with?
• I'm working 40 hours next week on top of classes. I do not have a day off for at least 2 weeks, possibly indefinitely.
• This computer now has 2.75 TB of space + a 2 TB Time Machine drive. Sure have come a long way from 250 mb.
• I just spilled soda on myself, luckily no one saw me miss my mouth.
• Hey AIG workers I know we sent you those bonus checks but ummmm..... can wehave them back?
• Experiencing one of my favorite parts of Egypt, Egyptian tea with 4 scoops of sugar.
• Nine Inch Nails tix go on sale Wed @ 4 PM! That means dont try robbing my apartment @ 4 PM on Wed, I will be here hitting cmd-r repeatedly!

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What I Am Reading: The Good Citizen

Book. Done. Read. Here.

As the end of the semester is fast approaching which means among other things I have come to my final Capstone book (hooray!) which goes by the name The Good Citizen by Russell J. Dalton. Now sadly I will have to retain some semblance of an argument from this book in order to right the 2 page review I have to write for one of the five books, which I conveniently left until the last book which also happens to be the shortest book weighing in at a scrawny 178 readable pages. It's supposed to tell me what my generation is doing to shape American politics, I'll be the judge of that, I mean where does an old man get off telling me about my generation?

The cover is a play on the famous World War II photo depicting women driving America, for that alone I don't like the cover. Create something don't just rip off a famous picture. That and I have a feeling that he is going to say that gimmicky buttons and writs bands (pictured on the cover) mean something; they don't. Everyone has them so therefor we have become resistant to them, they don't work and if this guy tries to tell me otherwise I'm going to stop reading or at least I will stop taking him seriously.

Notes From a Bar

Yesterday I decided to go to a bar and drink for a couple hours while studying and doing some reading. One problem, yesterday was Saint Patrick's Day and I did not factor that into my plan. So here are the notes I took while sitting there drinking delicious Ballantine from a tall can.

• Who goes to a bar on Saint Patrick's Day and drinks water? Yes I havea problem with how commercial Saint Patricks day is in general but if you are going to celebrate the day by dressing like a Shamrock and going to a bar the least you can do is drink something with alcohol in it.

• That's right, that ID reads Kevin Patrick Doyle and no I am not wearing any green (Though I think the funny look was for the passport I handed her in lieu of my missing Drivers Liscense).

• I am morally opposed to large packs of girls. They are loud, drunk, too well prepared, they cackle and have a weird sense of empowerment in group's larger than 4.

• Why is it that Americans need special days as an excuse to drink and act like children? IF you like to drink and act like an idio then do it, don't hijack an Irish holiday to suit your unfortunate problems. I mean look at me I'm alone, at a bar drinking and complaining about life and I didn't even realize it was a designated drinking day until I got here.

• Is there a more appropriate bar to sit at and drink cheap quality beer while reading a book and complaining about life than a bar modeled after Charles Bukowski?

• Isn't today a work day? How are all these people drinking at 3 in the afternoon? I makes you wonder how Americans espouse the 40 hour work week and how many actually work 40 hours a week? WIth all the cutting out early on fridays, "business lunches", holidays (state approved and not), office parties, sick days, "sick days", and vacation days I wouldn't be surprised if less than half the people who claim to work 40 hours a week actually do.

• It always surprises me how girls take days like Halloween, Saint Patrick's Day, etc. to dress inappropriately and then wonder why men treat them like nothing more than something to stare at.

• "Potato Day" I just heard a toast with those words, I think there is more to Ireland than Potatoes. I bet the Irish government would like you to think otherwise.
  

• I wish my life required me to wear a suit everyday, downside would be I would become a selfish prick.

• Bukowski isn't even fucking Irish, he's German you fools! Get the hell out!

• I should start introducing myself as a writer; simple, and hard to disprove. Again downside would be that I would become a selfish prick.

• Dear Ballantine Executive: The only reason I drink your beer is because my parents let me decipher the riddles you guys put on your bottle caps when I was a child. If your intent with those riddles was to hook children at a young age then you succeeded.

• I hope Saint Patrick realizes that he is one hell of an enabler.

• OMG! (Yes I just did that, digest it and move on) Indiana Jones is here! Background: As you know I work at Borders (no way!), anyway one of our all to frequent customers is a guy who dresses like Indie; every single day of his life. By dresses like I mean hat, jacket, beard, pants, shoes and the archaelogist bag. Well that man is sitting 10 feet away from me.

• One problem with the murals of Bukowski there are not enough Women on them.

• The difference between a pack of girs at a bar and a pack of guys at a bar is with guys all that was discussed was the time and place but with girls it was the time, place, back up place, who to invite, who not to invite, how many drinks to have, how many waters to have, how do we get there, what to wear and is it a girls night or can we try and incorporate a guy or two.

• We have moved from generic Irish musice to the album "London Calling" by The Clash. I knew I liked this bar.

• My waitress doesn't know how to deal with my sitting here drinking alone. I get the sense that she wants to ask me if I'm all right or if I have a drinking problem.

• Not eating all day and then going out for beer and greasy food was a poor choice (And I'm sorry for the all too well known Anchorman line that entered you brain just now, it wasn't my intention).

• Drinking before work was also a poor choice (again sorry), if I'm not slightly boozey by the time I get there then I will be incredibly tired.

• I need to join a drinking club.

• Why don't Women rul the world? Seriously they are better at everything that matters in life. How have they not developed cloning, turned into lesbians and eliminated the male race. Wait, I didn't say any of that.

• Nevermind I did say that because I see what the problem is all women are attracted to assholes and without men they would be lost in trying to find someone who they love that just continually breaks them down emotionally. That's what us men are here for.

• I am not the only person in here drinking while at the same time trying to study. There I feel better.
  

Bookmarks

A good bookmark is hard to come by. By that I mean a good everyday item that can double as a bookmark, not an item that is meant to be a bookmark by design (that's for amateurs). I have had a few different bookmarks over the years from random event tickets to fake credit cards you get in the mail (that always has people worried that I am stupid enough to use my real credit card) to my personal favorite, old commuter train passes.

But as of a couple days ago I have settled on two staple bookmarks for the future, both sentimental picks in their own way.

Leuven-Brussels Train Pass


Or alternatively known as the "Who stole my Skittles picture" by Katy, this laminated piece of paper is written completely in Flemish and complete with one of the best pictures of me ever to be taken of yours truly (courtesy of a very confusing photo machine at the Leuven train station). Besides reminding me multiple times a day of everything Belgian, this card is a great bookmark and I implore all of you who have one like it to use it for such a purpose

Egyptian Doctor Pass


Second is the newly acquired Egyptian doctor pass. Besides saying my name in Arabic script somewhere on there it also wrongfully claims (or at least Egyptians act like it does) that I am a doctor of archaeology and therefore I should be given access to all tombs except the ones that are really expensive and bring the Egyptian government money.

Unfortunately that picture does not scan all that well, the actual photo does not make me look like I am high, it actually makes me look like a sexy peace of man meat in my opinion. Which I mean if I smoked weed would be OK but I don't so now it will just make me look like the stoner I am not. And no I am not a stoner poser.

What I Am Reading: rabbit, run

This book has since been completed in full by the eyes of The Underling submitted here for your perusal is the review.

Calling an audible on this one, originally I was going to read Indecision by Benjamin Kunkel (which I actually started on the plane but stopped after 10 pages) but I have decided to go with John Updike's rabbit run instead.

As you may or may not know John Updike died recently and as the corollary goes, once you die your books become more readable. So it makes sense that I would have a sudden urge to read him.

My whole life I have heard of people talking of this Updike fellow, and besides thinking it funny that he had "Dike" in his name like all teenagers would I also thought only snobby people read him. I thought that because every time I overheard his name it was with an air of superiority and it sounded like to read Updike meant you were in a club of elite readers, a club of snobbery. Now it may come as a surprise but an elitist (your term not mine) such as myself hates elitists in a group setting (which makes me sort of an Über elitist) so I refused to read Updike for that reason.

Since then I know better, just because I bunch of literary assholes read an author it does not mean that they own him. So with his death and on a recommendation by my friend John I decided to pick up rabbit, run and give it a read. I am determined not to turn into an elitist literature spewing snob.

As for the cover; it is on the boring side when it comes to graphics but at the same time I like the simplicity of it. It as if they knew that they were going for a generic cover and decided not to make it more than that, good job Ballantine (which makes me really want some Ballantine Beer, I do believe I will be going to Bukowski's later today for one or two, oh hell I may just have to enjoy myself this afternoon).

Which makes me realize, one of my favorite authors has a bar named after him right down the street from my apartment. Though I knew this bar was down the street I did not connect my love for his works to the bar down the street until just now.

On that note I'm going to go drink, and if I get drunk I blame you the reader.

Today's Hefty Helping of Little Grumblings

As always, the ones that weren't witty, are the ones I didn't write.

• It is taking all my strength not to gorge myself on Cheez-Its at 7:23 in the morning.
• Proven Fact: Cereal has no effect on hunger, left over pasta on the other hand...
• Nothing and I mean NOTHING gets a day started like Band of Brothers OST in the morning.
• Glad to see that even though I was gone for two weeks walks to class are still as cold as ever.
• Reffing some dodgeball this evening. One problem, I don't know how to ref dodgeball.
• Boston traffic has nothing on Cairo traffic.
• I have decided that I am going to walk like an Egyptian from now on. By that I mean bolt across highways, and jaywalk (or rather jayrun).
• Magic Carpet Ride? Big Love wins the Emmy for most eclectic soundtrack.
• Mezze Penne is not conducive to multitasking.
• I wonder how the "Yellow Man" feels about Springsteen's Born in the USA.

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Update:

From now on Little Grumblings will become a Weekly post and not a daily one. Thank you.

Notes from a Plane

• Waiting to see if someone is going to sit next to you or you will be granted two seats for a 13 hour flight are some of the most nerve racking moments of your life.
  

• Must be easy for Charlie Sheen to play a womanizing douche bag in real life and on TV.

• I could get used to having two seats to myself, but I don't think I could get used to the "You're mother didn't raise you right" glares from the old women on the flight

• Declaring that I have come in contact with animals (Donkeys, Dogs, Water Buffalo, Goats, Sheep and Chickens) may have been a poor choice.

• "Fuck you buddy" were the first words I heard when boarding the plane. Must be a New York bound flight. Oh wait it was.
  

• I am far too tall to lie across two seats.

• Is there ever a plane flight that allows smoking? Or is this just the airlines way of driving smokers crazy for 13 hours at a time?

• One of the many downsides of sharing a flight with old people; they turn their headphones into speakers.

• No I don't want to watch Taylor Swift videos I want the fucking live map god damn it!
  

What I Just Read: The Hollow Hope

As you know I am reading this book for my Senior Capstone class, for which I have a short quiz to insure that I read the book. I have 5 of these quizzes, of which I have taken three so far, all of which I have done well on. Here is the thing, he drops the lowest one. Now as you know I have been out of the country for the past two weeks and have done basically nothing school work wise over those two weeks which leads to many things being due in the coming days and since this one can hurt me the least I have decided to take my chances with the quiz without reading the book.

So I will not be reading be The Hollow Hope, but as far as Professor Portz is concerned I read it cover to cover but I just can't seem to absorb the information properly to score well on his quiz.

Some Things

Just a few quick things;

1. I am back from Egypt
2. I put a new set of links up on the left side of the blog title "Upcoming Shows" which are the next bands/musicians I will be seeing. Seeing as how I always have show to go to I figured it would be something interesting to put up there. The name will probably change in the next couple of days, I just can not think of anything right now.
3. I'll write something about Egypt in the coming days, I just have a lot of work hours scheduled and a bunch of school work to catch up on so just bear with me.

Update

Can't believe I forgot this one, was the whole reason I was writing this post in the first place: Because I don't post everyday but the Little Grumblings are released nightly that means occasionally you get back to back posts of Little Grumblings. So to remedy this I have decided to combine any Little Grumblings posts that end up going back to back (2 or more in a row). If you use RSS I apologize that you get so many posts from me, I apologize even more if you have my RSS and follow me on Twitter. Sorry.

What I Just Read: Ham On Rye

Seeing as how I started this book on a plane and finished it before gaining internet access you the readers shall receive one post and one post only pertaining this book and you will not complain about it!

Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski is like all other Bukowski novels, an in depth narration of a specific period of life of Henry Chinaski. If Post Office was about his days working for the US Postal Service, and Women about his drunken late in life sexcapades then Ham on Rye is about Chinaski's less than desireable adolescance.

Though an enjoyable novel on it's on Ham on Rye is best for it's insight into why Chinaski becomes the sex-crazed, poem writing, society hating, lazy, horse betting drunkard that he is in other books. I'd rank it 2nd to Post Office out of the three Bukowski books I have read.

As for the cover, like all Bukowski books, I enjoy it imensly (an opinion Katy and I do not share). Being one of the three republished works, Ham on Rye has a vibratnly colored drawing of what the book is about: a young kid fighting his way to adulthood.