Some Color. Yaay!

While sitting in my gray rectangular work home yesterday I realized I needed to run out to my truck. While walking through the parking lot I walked by a sheriff’s car in our parking lot, which isn’t that odd because there are always cops at the Crown Burger next to our office for lunch and dinner. The rest of his crew cutted moustched friends were parked in the Crown Burger parking, but it was pretty busy so I guess he decided to come park in our lot. The only thing was he parked in our handicap spot while there were plenty of spaces open right next to said handicap spot. There isn’t much that grinds my gears worse than someone who has too much authority or too much money and believes themselves above the rest of us normies, and doesn’t think the same rules apply to them. I mean nobody is going to give this guy a ticket.

On the way back I walked by the cruiser again and thought that I should leave a note on his car, a ticket if you will. I recruited an accomplice and we wrote out the ticket on a purple post-it that said, “This is your ticket for parking in the handicap spot, douche. Sincerely, Everyone.” We walked out the side door and as we walked by the car I slapped it on his driver side window and then proceeded to go in the front door of the office. As we entered we felt that justice had been served. Neither of us had a view out a window that would enable us to observe the officer as he read his ticket. I kept standing up from my desk to look and see if he was coming, but knew I would probably miss him.

About an hour later someone came into my area and said, “Who has purple?” I looked around my cubicle wall and sure enough there was the sheriff, moustache and all, holding the note I left on his window. I took my post-its and put them under my leg. Of course everyone else was pretty confused and asked him what was going on.

“I want to apologize to whoever called me a douche.”

“Someone left a nasty note on your car?”

“Yeah, they called me a douche.” I was laughing pretty dang hard at this point and IM'ing my accomplice.

“Oh man, no one here would do that.”

I think the cop said the D word like 50 times while he was in the office. It tickled me every time.

Apologize? Yeah right. He was pretty pissed and we all know that cops, along with politicians and referees, don’t apologize to people. Even the people who didn’t know what was going on knew that he wanted to confront the person who bruised his giant cop ego.

He then proceeded to walk around the entire office looking for purple post-its and colored pens (I had written it in red pen). Most everyone has purple post-its because those are the ones the office purchased most recently.

“I didn’t realize it was a handicap spot.” Uh-huh. The big freaking blue square with the handicap symbol inside didn’t tip you off, huh? Neither did the post with the same symbol? Yeah right, but still, if the rest of us wouldn’t have realized it we still would have earned a parking ticket.


I was kind of bummed that the people around me didn’t think it was funny as it was, but after the officer left we claimed the note and gave the whole story of him being parked in the handicap spot while there were several open spots nearby. They didn’t realize he was parked there so then it all made sense to them then. They told us if we ever did something like that again we need to let them in on it so they can enjoy it as well. I actually got yelled at because people were scared when he came up to talk to him, but the overall sentiment in the office concerning what we did was pride. Good times.

We sufficiently got our point across. In hindsight, while trying to stick it to the man, maybe calling him a feminine product wasn’t the greatest of ideas, but I was upset, and I am sure had a disabled person needed the spot they would have called him much worse.

Top Five Tunes on Tunes

Learned to let go of the things we can't control. Left em behind and followed rock and roll. We found a new way of life. Forever till the end of time. But never getting old. What are songs for, anyway, without the guts to live your life that way? - The Bouncing Souls

1. Radio, Rancid – Never fell in till I fell in love with you. Never knew what a good time was so I had a good time with you. If you wanna get the feeling and you wanna get it right then the music’s gotta be loud. For when music hits I feel no pain at all. Radio, Radio, Radio. When I got the music I got a place to go.

2. Sing Along Forever, Bouncing Souls - I'm driving listening to my radio, checkin out the airwaves for something to believe in, gimme something to hold true, gimme something to sing about. Gimme a reason to care, I'll sing along forever. Watered-down words covered in song trying to hide the truth That life is beautiful, and life is pain, give it to me straight, touch my heart, I'll sing along forever.

3. For all the unheard, The Bouncing Souls - A guitar strikes a chord hits a misery so hard so bold. Sounding through this world where it's so hard to feel that gold. This is for all the unheard, All the music left behind. All the songs left on the floors in the closets of our minds. Where's the passion gone in our hearts? Lost somewhere in the grind. It's time to bring it back It's time to unwind. Find what we lost. It's time. It's time to bring it back

4. Indestructible, Rancid (and my favorite when I feel weak like this) - And I know I'm indestructible tonight. Playback, rock and roll come and save me. It's a safe bet that you will never ever betray me. And I'll give back everything that you gave me. And I know that no one can ever ever contain me. And I won't get bogged down like some American consumer, nah, I'm dancing now to a whole different drummer. And I'll keep listening to the great Joe Strummer cause through music we can live forever. And I know I'm indestructible tonight.

5. Thank You, The Descendents (speaking of being weak) - I'll listen to you for hours, I'll listen all day. Just keep hitting me the right way. Sing your song in the shower, cause you got a way to say what I can never say right - right on. When I feel weak you make me feel strong. Make me feel strong. I won't say your name, but you know who you are. I'll never be the same again now - no way. I just want to say thank you for playing the way you play. Did you know you're why I go and waste my time at a rock and roll show? You let me know I'm not alone. You make me feel strong, make me feel strong. Feel like nothing's wrong.

Note: This is really more of a top six because I can't narrow it down, but since Soundsystem was just talked about, I left it off this list, thus, making it a top five.

No Title

I will finally be a student again. After a semester off I got registered up at the U yesterday. Nice. So I will be working full-time and will be a full-time student. I have never done the double full-time thing and am kind of nervous, but pretty excited about my classes for the most part. I am taking a fiction workshop, 19th century American literature history class, history of photography, and analysis of argument. Should be rockin.

I will be glad to be back in school again because being a twenty-five year old single Mormon guy is a pretty bland period of life. I find myself just wishing that I had something lighthearted to talk about. A funny experience or idea. Something. Some color in my life. But as it is now, pretty much all I do is sit at my desk at work, which is entirely gray. A lot of the girls I meet are either married or fresh out of high school making it a workout just being in the same room as them. I’m sure they’re nice, but I’m just out of the period of life where I could stand a car full of girls cranking Fergie, bouncing in their seats and screeching the lyrics while I get whipped in the eyes by hair and asked why I am not doing the same.

If I do meet a nice girl I would like to take out, and would like go out with me, I don’t do it because I feel guilty about it, because I have so much stuff I need to deal with first that if something good did end up happening I would feel bad for her because she had no idea what she signed up for (kind of like you do now if you made it this far in this post). This (yes, the third ‘this’ in six words and the second set of paranthesis in one. I’m okay with it) is where “they” or “you” or “whoever” says, “Well then, go take care of it.” And then I say, “Yeah, but. . .” But what? But it’s going to suck, that’s what, and I am tired. I need to try though, so I can stop writing posts like this one and move on to more interesting subjects.

How about I do a Top 5 Tunes on Tunes? That could be fun. Okay, done. Plus, it will get me listening to something a little more upbeat.

To Resist Despair in This World is What it is to Be Free

Today-what can I say? Today sucked. It sucked long, and it sucked hard. I am in the middle of being frustrated mentally, physically, spiritually; I'm frustrated at work, home, not at school because I wasn't able to go this semester, and that is frustrating.

I spent way too much time today not at work applying at the U again even though I was already accepted once and even though it was their fault (in my eyes at least, I can see their point. I will give them that) that I wasn't able to register and had to pay the late fee again, and will again be registering late. I think it would be understandable to be frustrated at my day.

Frustrated, though, may be an understatement. If only I was frustrated; a normal person would be frustrated, but I think it is safe to say that I am completely pissed off in all those above mentioned areas. I won't go too much into my angry character flaw; I just wanted to give you an idea of why I couldn't calm down today and wanted to start tearing cubicles from the walls in a vulgar rampage. Reason for painting this very negative, but honest, image of myself would be so that the calm present version of Jeremy has a little more meaning.

Today sucked until about five o'clock when I realized that the re-release of Operation Ivy's Energy (including tracks from the EP's Hectic and Turn it Around, and released as Operation Ivy) that was supposed to be in June, then in October, then to what I thought was next week was actually today. Now, the day didn't improve dramatically until I had it in my hands, because I was still a little skeptical that I had received the correct information, but alas, it was there on the new releases shelf, and the day improved dramatically once Knowledge started playing on my truck stereo. It was already a horrible week even though I was halfway through Tuesday and this was a very welcome surprise. Honestly, things are fine now. I am totally fine. My heart rate is back to normal, and even though I just finished work at 9:30, I feel like dancing instead of violently self-destructing. I love music. Yes, I do. I love it because it gives back to me. Twelve bucks very well spent.

Try to describe to the limit of my ability:
It's there for a second
Then it's given up what it used to be.
Contained in music somehow more than just sound,
This inspiration coming and twisting things around
Because you always know that it's gonna have to go
You always know that you'll be back in the cold.
Point of departure sublimated in a song
It's always coming to give me that hope for just a second
then it's gone, but!

To resist despair, that second makes you see. . .
To resist despair, because you can't change everything. . .
To resist despair in this world is what it is, what it is to be free.

Sound system gonna bring me back up
One thing that I can depend on.