CHICAGO: If Hepatitis C Were Attacking Your Face Instead of Your Liver You'd Be Doing Something About It

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november 6-10.

otto midnight (otto midnight), Monday, 16 October 2006 15:04 (eighteen years ago) link

What is up, dudes. This weekend I:

--Partied in Oshkosh on Friday night, really overdid and had to play a parade + two sets on Saturday morning with a crushing hangover.

--Made a bacon veggieburger

--Saw horrible, horrible hip-hop band from Mpls and had to leave

--Watched the first half of the Battlestar Metallica mini-series. You're all right it is good stuff.

JordanC (JordanC), Monday, 16 October 2006 15:05 (eighteen years ago) link

I won't be around on Thanksgiving DAY, but I'll be here for the rest of that weekend.

jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 16 October 2006 15:06 (eighteen years ago) link

Also:

--Jesse, sorry for dropping out of chat again last night, my computer crashed as usual.

--Digd0wn will definitely be playing weekends at the Gr33n M1ll just before Xmas AND Fat Tuesday.

JordanC (JordanC), Monday, 16 October 2006 15:07 (eighteen years ago) link

Yeah, I'm thinking maybe Nov 22-26 or something like that. Maybe I can get a jump on the airfare before Thanksgiving strikes.

Laurel (Laurel), Monday, 16 October 2006 15:08 (eighteen years ago) link

I did not give a full weekend report.

On Friday I went to see the Fake Fixxiones rock the house at Alliance. On Saturday I spent the afternoon writing. I also watched Tristam Shandy (clever but not particularly entertaining) and then steeled myself to drive out to the suburbs for the BIG REUNION. Which was: hmmm, kind of fun, but also really weird and somewhat disappointing, too, because for all the people who were there that I was like "OMG that guy" there were twice as many who I wished were there. There were maybe 40-50 overall out of a graduating class of 300-something? But whatever: I got drunk on gin-and-tonics and heard this gaggle of girls say in disbelief, as I was heading outside, "John smokes?" (My goodie-goodie rep hasn't left me.) Then yesterday Kr and I did laundry and then went to see Nina Nastasia (boring, although I think EZ likes her?) and Jose Gonzalez (totally captivating) at the Lakeshore Theater. THE END.

jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 16 October 2006 15:11 (eighteen years ago) link

I'm thinking maybe Nov 22-26

you can have grilled cheese and salsa sandwiches with me for thanksgiving if you're here. or you can go to jenny & jeff's and have a real thanksgiving but whatever.

otto midnight (otto midnight), Monday, 16 October 2006 15:13 (eighteen years ago) link

i'll be around until after christmas!

Armando Grouse (Armando ), Monday, 16 October 2006 15:16 (eighteen years ago) link

I sort of meant to go see Michael Showalter and Michael Ian Black live last night, but I forgot.

JordanC (JordanC), Monday, 16 October 2006 15:16 (eighteen years ago) link

I'm thinking Jenny and Jeff's, if they'll have me.

Also, for some reason, I'm thinking that good ship and true was a bone to be chewed When the gales of November came early. And that it's hard to hold a candle in the cold November rain.

whoop de doodle (kenan), Monday, 16 October 2006 15:17 (eighteen years ago) link

Weirdest thing for me re former classmates: how many of them live in the suburbs still. I mean, I guess I understand if they are a) teachers who want to live close to their school district, or b) if they have kids that they want to put in suburban schools (one girl I had a crush on in 10th grade has already popped out four) -- but I was talking to this guy Eugene who was in my physics class senior year, and he's totally still single and everything, but he was like, "Yeah, I lived in Chicago for a year, at Irving Park and Ashland, but I didn't like it -- too crowded." He runs his own company now, and his office was next to the Holiday Inn the reunion was held at. I just can't imagine why you would choose to live in the suburbs, though. Maybe if going to ethnic restaurants and rock shows and art movies isn't important to you.

jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 16 October 2006 15:18 (eighteen years ago) link

keeee-nan, you better take care
if i find you been creeping round my back stairs.

otto midnight (otto midnight), Monday, 16 October 2006 15:20 (eighteen years ago) link

Although I'm realizing now that it's precisely these suburbanites who were most likely to go to a high-school reunion in the suburbs.

jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 16 October 2006 15:20 (eighteen years ago) link

John, I find that's true a lot. People who grew up in the burbs tend to think of people who move to the city as some kind of insane mavericks. There's always a bit of incredulousness for some reason. "You live in the city? Really?" As if to say, "God! Who could live in all that filth with all those black people?!"

whoop de doodle (kenan), Monday, 16 October 2006 15:22 (eighteen years ago) link

i've never found that to be true kenan.

otto midnight (otto midnight), Monday, 16 October 2006 15:23 (eighteen years ago) link

I guess the thing is, in high school you don't realize your lifestyles and ambitions are SO different from your classmates, when you hang out with them on a daily basis. And maybe they weren't, necessarily, at the time. I didn't necessarily know what I wanted to be doing right after college, and at 17 I think I assumed I would eventually have a typical family-in-the-suburbs life -- after a few years, I determined that this wasn't exactly a priority.

jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 16 October 2006 15:27 (eighteen years ago) link

Forget black people, at my childhood church someone said to me, "You live in, like actually IN New York City? It must be very worldly there, lots of temptation." I think I might actually have answered, "That's exactly why I moved there."

...in high school you don't realize your lifestyles and ambitions are SO different from your classmates...

No, I totally did.

Laurel (Laurel), Monday, 16 October 2006 15:30 (eighteen years ago) link

i've never found that to be true kenan.

Yeah, I don't know that the suburbanites are incredulous that I'm living in the city as much as I'm incredulous that they're not. But most people are pretty boring.

jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 16 October 2006 15:31 (eighteen years ago) link

I love how "worldly" means "corrupt" to Chistians, but to me seems more synonymous with "urbane."

whoop de doodle (kenan), Monday, 16 October 2006 15:41 (eighteen years ago) link

No, I totally did.

I figured someone would say something like this. I dunno. I certainly had desires to be worldly and sophisticated that probably weren't matched by the majority of my peers, but I also really loved the community that high school created, and I liked knowing who everyone was and what they were all about. I mean, the roots of the whole "jaymc's spreadsheet" meme can probably be traced back to when I ran for National Honor Society secretary, and my campaign speech was basically like, "I'll be good at keeping track of our members, because I already know all of your birthdays." (In fact, I surprised a few people the other night by saying things like "...so Jermaine, you'll be 28 in a couple days, won't you?") My friend Adam and I made up bizarre animal-related nicknames for teachers, kids in our classes, people involved in theatre with us -- and I made crossword puzzles where all the answers were inside jokes about such people and wrote a song about some weirdo in my gym class. We were stupidly competitive about our class rank and gossiped endlessly. So I mean, I had a lot of affection for this community, and after a while, you think of yourself as one with it. That's why I didn't even think twice about going to the reunion.

jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 16 October 2006 15:43 (eighteen years ago) link

when i was a sophmore in high school we had to write one of those stupid "where do you see yourself in 10 years" essays for english class. i said i'd be living in chicago and that i couldn't wait to get out of north backwater, massachusetts. i was off by a year or two but it's odd how it worked out.

otto midnight (otto midnight), Monday, 16 October 2006 15:47 (eighteen years ago) link

I had a desire to get the hell out of a small town and move someplace where I wouldn't feel like the cheese who stands alone. That's about it, the rest was pretty much negotiable. I could have ended up as an ivory-tower, never-graduating sort except that I dislike being a student, would rather feel like a productive part of something. I know we've discussed that balance before.

Laurel (Laurel), Monday, 16 October 2006 15:48 (eighteen years ago) link

except that I dislike being a student, would rather feel like a productive part of something.

That's an interesting dichotomy. I supposedly contribute to the world through my job, my band, etc., but don't feel any happier for it than when I was doing my own work and receiving individual praise for it and getting a sense of accomplishment that collaborative endeavors can't match.

jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 16 October 2006 15:53 (eighteen years ago) link

Awesome!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=HpovwbPGEoo

whoop de doodle (kenan), Monday, 16 October 2006 15:58 (eighteen years ago) link

I didn't watch the video, but it makes me want a reuben.

jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 16 October 2006 16:01 (eighteen years ago) link

You sillyhead. Vegetarians can't have reubens.

whoop de doodle (kenan), Monday, 16 October 2006 16:04 (eighteen years ago) link

i think some of you may join me in saying "what the holy fuck? no bell's??!?!?!".

if anyone wants to start making weekly carpool trips to k-zoo let me know.

otto midnight (otto midnight), Monday, 16 October 2006 16:04 (eighteen years ago) link

I knew I was setting that up badly when I wrote it, but was trying to get the post up. No, we've covered this ground before: that I felt like school was a series of arbitrary tasks performed for the satisfaction of someone else (professor), toward a meaningless end (grades and/or pat on the head from one's "elders and betters") and enduring pressure from parents who were paying for my privilege. None of which endeared it to me.

Laurel (Laurel), Monday, 16 October 2006 16:07 (eighteen years ago) link

There's something going on where I don't like feedback, even praise, from anyone except those I'm actually close to. I'd rather do work that is self-evidently either operative or not, that's measured less subjectively. There's more to it, but it's not very interesting.

Laurel (Laurel), Monday, 16 October 2006 16:11 (eighteen years ago) link

Oh man, when I was at Small Bar on Saturday the bartender was talking about the Bell's thing.

danno martinez (danno martinez), Monday, 16 October 2006 16:12 (eighteen years ago) link

1. Whoa, no Bell's? I'm not nearly as over-the-moon about Bell's as some of my fellow Kzoo alums, but I was certainly happy it was available in Chicago. That blows.

2. satisfaction of someone else (professor), toward a meaningless end (grades and/or pat on the head from one's "elders and betters")

Ideally, the satisfaction should be shared by you and the professor, especially in classes you like. And I didn't see grades and pats on the head as meaningless, since they boosted my self-esteem and motivated me to continue doing good work. I would love to feel valued and inspired by my "elders and betters," to have the same kind of mentor I had in Gail Gr1ff1n at this time in my life.

jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 16 October 2006 16:12 (eighteen years ago) link

I could not have been any more different than John in HS. I railed against joining anything or being a part of anything except being friends with certain people. For me HS was something to be endured and I made a big show of "seeing through" the supposed importance of anything that went on there.

Jesse, Monday, 16 October 2006 16:13 (eighteen years ago) link

ditto. see: getting kicked off flag team for aggressively not-smiling.

Armando Grouse (Armando ), Monday, 16 October 2006 16:15 (eighteen years ago) link

I made a big show of "seeing through" the supposed importance of anything that went on there

Oh, I did some of that, too -- I mean, I frequently talked back to teachers that I thought were full of shit (and a lot of them were), but I also bought into the whole "these are the days you'll remember" thing. I was nostalgic for high school the day I graduated.

jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 16 October 2006 16:17 (eighteen years ago) link

railed against joining anything or being a part of anything except being friends with certain people

no one joined anything at our high school. our senior class advisor was this ancient social studies teacher who told us he'd never seen a more apathetic group in his life. we didn't even care enough about each to other to form cliques.

For me HS was something to be endured

same here, it was a prelude to a big nebulous something else. like a four year taxi down a runway. oh, and of course high school also means infidelity and bad lunches but that goes without saying, doesn't it?

otto midnight (otto midnight), Monday, 16 October 2006 16:18 (eighteen years ago) link

infidelity? to what? i had no one to whom i needed to be fidel.

Armando Grouse (Armando ), Monday, 16 October 2006 16:19 (eighteen years ago) link

or fiel.

Armando Grouse (Armando ), Monday, 16 October 2006 16:21 (eighteen years ago) link

Telling, perhaps: I skipped driver's ed on the day of a quiz not to go out and smoke pot behind the school or anything like that but to go to another section of my favorite English teacher's class instead.

jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 16 October 2006 16:22 (eighteen years ago) link

i've never been unfaithful in that sense so i can't answer but yeah, i remember a whoooooooooooooolllle lot of high school drama. kinda funny, a decade and a half later.

otto midnight (otto midnight), Monday, 16 October 2006 16:23 (eighteen years ago) link

john, i'm far from a bully but i just want to slap the shit out of you when i read that.

otto midnight (otto midnight), Monday, 16 October 2006 16:23 (eighteen years ago) link

John is an exception, but when I hear people say that they loved HS and it was the best time of their lives I think something is wrong with them and they are lesser human beings. HS was pinnacle of misery. Or maybe the nadir. I don't know.

I did join band though. That was good. Until they made me march, then I dropped out. Not because I was too uppity to march, but because I was seriously bad at turning corners.

jesse, Monday, 16 October 2006 16:23 (eighteen years ago) link

OH! expost to kevin, but I agree. John could bring out the bully in Mother Theresa.

jesse, Monday, 16 October 2006 16:25 (eighteen years ago) link

John, I don't like to acknowledge that anyone can raise my self-esteem except me, or a relatively small number of people I don't mind admitting to the "trusted" category. I was TOTALLY unprepared, at school or college ages, to give and/or admit that I gave a fuck whether anyone approved. I know, it's a little dumb...but it's a big deal for me, as an adult, to let even silly kinds of praise make me happy! I'm still a stubborn pain in the ass, though.

Laurel (Laurel), Monday, 16 October 2006 16:29 (eighteen years ago) link

HS Pros:
having a mostly good rep with teachers -- this meant I could get away with things
quiz bowl -- mad time off school on their dime
AP courses -- didn't have to see the mouth-breathing idiots in my class as much

HS Cons:
everyone knew my parents -- couldn't get away with everything
mouth-breathing idiots not entirely escapeable
most of my friends being older and graduating 1-2 years before me
growing sense of doom & depression in 12th grade due to having small friend base (silver lining - got even more into punk rock)

There are parts I remember fondly, there are parts I'd rather forget. On the whole, I did it, and now it's over. I'm glad I never went to graduation because there are a lot of people I feel good about saying "fuck off" to and never seeing again.

danno martinez (danno martinez), Monday, 16 October 2006 16:30 (eighteen years ago) link

Also, please note: for lunch I am eating home-made jambalaya with Zatarain's spicy rice, extra veg, shrimp, and chicken Andouille sausages. AWESOME.

Laurel (Laurel), Monday, 16 October 2006 16:31 (eighteen years ago) link

I don't know if it was the best time of my life -- it was so long ago that it's hard to even consider it part of my life -- but I did enjoy it.

The driver's ed situation in more detail: There was supposed to be a two-hour Homecoming assembly at the end of the day, but at about noon it was cancelled because the school had received a threat of gang violence, and everyone was told that we'd remain in our 6th period class for the rest of the day instead. Since 6th period for me was driver's ed, I was like fuck this. (To be fair, I didn't realize that we were going to have a quiz, which I then received a zero on and had to scramble to get my grade back up to an A by the end of the semester, or else I'd probably have reconsidered.) I asked myself where I'd rather be during 6th period, and I thought, Well, EJ has another section of AP English right now. I showed up, explained myself, and she was like, "All right, JC, as long as you know what you're getting yourself into," and the class -- many of whom I was friends with (as opposed to the mouth-breathing sophomores in driver's ed) spent the rest of the day talking about current events and stuff.

(Ha, xpost: Dan and I both used the word "mouth-breathing.")

jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 16 October 2006 16:31 (eighteen years ago) link

I should have mentioned that AP courses kept me away from the mouth-breathing teachers, too.

danno martinez (danno martinez), Monday, 16 October 2006 16:33 (eighteen years ago) link

(Also, when I found out I got the zero on the quiz, I wrote a long, eloquent letter to the principal detailing why I should be given a second chance. He said no, but he commended my writing and made a joke about how I should be his secretary. He was kind of a douche.)

I should have mentioned that AP courses kept me away from the mouth-breathing teachers, too.

Word.

jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 16 October 2006 16:34 (eighteen years ago) link

We didn't have any AP classes, or any weighted classes, or anything more accelerated than standard college prep, so I took the hardest classes I could and then did about as much work as I was interested in. It mostly evened out.

Laurel (Laurel), Monday, 16 October 2006 16:35 (eighteen years ago) link

I mean, the decision I had was: Driver's Ed with dumb-as-a-brick good ol' boy John Cornelius, or English with a teacher to whom I loaned my copy of Raymond Carver's Where I'm Calling From?

jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 16 October 2006 16:37 (eighteen years ago) link


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