It is 53 degrees and partly cloudy in tha mission.
It is 67 degrees and sunny in el cerrito. n bikin ta berkeley is outta tha question.
Church should be gittin started downstairs sometime soon – actually ah thought it was supposed ta kick off at 10 er somethang on sunday. Since it hasn’t ahm prolly annoyin my roommate w/ efforts at severe bass, even tho its too early fer my voice to actually function.
N thars tha drums from downstairs. Happy Sunday!
Today when ah came home from band practice a latino couple was making out in my doorway. CLASSY!
ahm pretty sure thars a latino band playin somewhar on my block – ah ken hear tha I’s n V’s from tha bass, n it has tha same timbre from song ta song. If it weren’t almost midnite on Sunday n ah wasn’t exhausted ahd gae find tha source n have a beer.
Ah did move my headboard away from tha street howevah, n apparently nawt an evenin too soon! Ot also gave me tha confidence needed ta plug in fer 20 minutes just now n play some severe bass. Visions of buskin ran thru my head…..
Friday nite was tha first think13 gig in way too fricken long (late March) n we only gawt 30 minutes so we had ta make them count. On tha up side, it was at tha very swanky Red Devil Lounge, w/ a backstage n everythang. Us n 3 otha bands gawt a half hour, n then thar were two headliners who gawt a bit longah. B/c we are 5 fricken people that are a combination of picky about thar sound n nawt especially skilled at at effective soundchecking, we did nawt git a great mix. Howevah, tha energy was up, n ah had a blast. We revealed a brand-new song, as well as one that had been provin especially difficult to “nail” n gawt pretty close ta nailin it. The Red Devil Lounge also sells 24 oz. Red Stripes fer 6 bux, which is sweet (altho someone fawkin stole mine from tha stage while ah was fiddlin w. tha amp – bollocks!). A late nite of alcohol ensued, but eventually we took our cabs home n said adieu.
Then Saturday mornin Warren Teagarden went ta Reno! It’s about a 4 hour drive n we left w. plenty of time – almost too much. Showed up at Warren’s neice’s place who has 4 kids n a puppy. It was a lil hectic. Eventually made our way down to tha Zephyr in downtown, nestled between porn stores n tattoo parlors – my kind of place! Tha second we gawt thar two locals were “fighting” w/ each otha, throwin a drum skin at tha street n stealin each othas beer. We quickly learned that thar wasn’t much of a PA n crossed our fingers that Trigger Effect would be prepared to help us out – Ah still don’t have an amp!
Trigger Effect were really nice guys who totally had thar shite togetha – they showed up w. a full PA, bass amp, guitar amp, n monstrous drum set in a case (played by a huge Navy guy they called “Animal.”) We figured out what we’d be borrowin n started drinkin – fer free cuz renos good like that.
Tha Teagarden boyz had potentially thar best set – high energy, well-performed songs, n tha small-but-thar crowd seemed pretty intae it all. 3 songs in tha bass amp started smokin – apparently this is a new problem they’ve been havin w. it. ah plugged intae tha PA which sufficed, but tha sound was nawt quite as good aftah that. Nonetheless ah had a total blast on tha supah-tiny stage n Trigger Effect seemed ta really enjoy what were spittin out.
Trigger played some very enjoyable punk/metal w. some green day influence, n had high energy. Thar drummer was a fawkin machine, n by this point in time Teagarden n company was feelin good. A good nite was had by both bands n Reno secured a lil place in my heart – altho ah don’t think ah could live in a valley like that. A local was tellin me how Reno had everythang: nature, hiking, geology, mind shafts, history, skiin n then tha convo went sour when he also told me thar were hills ah could gae ta n shoot autmoatic weapons n that it was completely legal ta carry one in Reno. Yikes. He latah told me ta “nevah stop rockin n ah mean that. Keep on rawkin hard, please.” Ah assured him ah would think about it.
Ah thought it was ovah but instead we ended up at a pool hall until 3 am eventually gittin home n crashin out on some flimsy bunk beds that had pink sheets (we were in tha girls room). A long drive back finished us both off.
Ahm quite sorry ah dont have any pictures of tha good times fer any of you :(. Perhaps next time…..
Of my new digs, rite?
So just ta reiterate – ah live on one of tha busiest streets in tha city, nawt quite at tha busiest intersection thar is, but its nawt small potatoes. This does have its advantages – fer 1, three buses stop rite outside my door that take me directly to werk (ah actually werk on tha same street ah live on, just 28 blocks south), as well as tha UU Church w. tha most young adults. Ahm also a 5 minute walk from tha Light Rail n a 10-15 minute one from tha BART. Ahve biked to n from werk all week in about 25 minutes each way (its a touch faster going to b/c of tha slight hill ah live on – but nuthang even close to tha hill ah used ta live on). Ah also live at tha bottom of Bernal Heights – which is big fawkin hills. Honestly, anutha block er two east n my commute would blow donkey goats. So its convenient as hell – but also loud, busy, n a bit run-down. My biggest concern actually is that ah have a glass front door w. nae grates/etc. Ahm hopin ah ken git some installed – if nawt, its almost definite ah wont stay here all too long. Ah did install a werkin deadbolt on my room – it werks, but its nawt a glove-tight fit exactly.
Ah live w. 3 otha guys (all of whom ah think are gay), but one of them is nevah here (only one weekend out of tha month – altho ah guess he has friends that stay here from time to time), tha otha is barely here (werd is he spends most nites at his boyfriends place and is currently bikin to LA so he wont be around til mid next week at all), n tha otha does sleep here most nites (21 year old, slightly shy, just moved outta his rents n werks front desk at a hotel downtown).
And now – tha pixs!
My living room (which ah think functions more as bike storage): 
(not pictured are various board games ah doubt have evah been played).
my giant kitchen – fully stocked w. pretty much everythang imaginable (except fer a cheese grater – wtf? n an electric kettle – ah bought both today) – 
(thars two bad thangs about tha kitchen – 1)nawt enuff outlets which is a bit scary, n 2)stupid electric stove. Otha then that its tha best room in tha house).
My bedroom, messy n outlookin tha main street itself, but a decent size w. a walk-in closet (a weird one, but ah ken walk in it) – 
AND tha ginormous backyard overrun with weeds – 
Tha big bushes ahm pretty sure are fennel. Tha first buildin in tha foreground is actually nawt on our property, but tha second one is, which is a cool lil enclosure space. Tha yard does extend all tha way back to tha bbq n lawn furniture (n that is astroturf). Most of tha weeds are actually growin outta concrete, so tha potential fer gardenin is nawt quite as great as it seems. Thars also a fallen hammock in thar somewhar.
This will be tha last update fer a couple days as tomorrow nite is friday which has a pretty high-profile n important think13 gig, n then Saturday Warren Teagarden gaes ta Reno. Pretty spiffy, eh?
boy howdy it does (ah promise nawt ta make boy howdy a regular expression) ! Ah moved all my shite today intae my new bedroom – directly above a spanish church w. live bands n full pa. It’s nawt LOUD-loud, but it is audible. Will it be somethang ah eventually cannot stand, er will ah git used ta it? ah dae plan on attendin at least one service…..
ahm back in el cerrito fer one last nite sos ah could clean up n also return tha van, etc. My housemate (who is lame n anti-social…landlady says hes shy, ah think he’s rude) has been in n out of tha kitchen today n yestahday, n despite tha large suffle of activity, boxes around, etc., hasn’t said a word to me. Whats surprising is nawt that he’s refrained from speakin ta me about tha obvious move, is that he’s been in n out of tha kitchen. Ah swear ta gawd, he bought bags of chips from safeway yestahday n two bags of somethang from trader joes. Fer tha first time as long as ahve been here, ahve seen him both bring food intae tha house as well as gae intae tha kitchen! (ah shite you nawt, ahve only seen him gae from his room intae 1)tha laundry room, 2)tha bathroom), n 3)tha front door. Ah have NEVAH seen him in tha kitchen, nor seen any evidence that he keeps food in it.
Perhaps knowin my jerk-ass won’t be around has given him some balls er somethang. ahll admit ahve nawt been shy about loud musick late at nite, singin, n drum playin tha last few days. on drum playin – ahve turned a cornah on drummin (albeit it is a very minute degree of a turn) n ken now sorta play some basick beats that resemble actual drum playin! tha last week ahve been bangin on tha drums downstairs – of kerse, rite before ah move out. Maybe tha church will let me practice on thars……
stay fawkin tuned! Life is about ta turn tha hell up!
Warren Teagarden played to nobody last nite (again) at the fabulous Stork Club in Oakland. We hit tha stage around 11 and played too fast and since no one showed up ah decided ahd reacquaint myself w. an old friend – $2 PBRs. We gawt pretty chummy by tha end of tha nite….
Durin one of tha otha acts, ah went to tha bar n briefly chatted up this girl whod ordered a jagerbomb – mostly out of boredom and it was a little away from tha musick. She was nice, but thar wasn’t any chemistry er attraction – at least on my end. She was pretty touchy pretty quickly, fairly drunk, n w/ a friend who was kinda anti-social. They also stated they were on thar way out soon, nae mattah my band was up ta rawk in about 15 mins. As they were leavin she hugged me, n told me ah should call her, remindin herself ah didn’t have her numbah mid-sentance. She told me ah could have it if ah wanted, so ah sorta shrugged noncommittally n put my hands in my pocket. Now, if she’d asked me fer mine, ah would’ve definitely given it ta her, but ah didn’t feel like gaein through tha motions of takin her numbah while her friend waited fer her outside b/c ah knew ah wouldn’t call her so. So instead ah told her “Ah don’t actually have a pen.” Ahm just smooth like that.
As much fun as ah had w. my old buddy tho, he’s left me w. a bit of a headache this mornin, just like tha jerk he is.
N don’t stop crossin yer fingahs until ah update tonite please!!
