Yup, 200th post. Should that mean anything? Make me reflective? Have me analyzing my progress over the past 3 1/2 years so I can coalesce the vapor of human existence into a viable and meaningful comprehension?
Probably...but it won't. And kudos to those of you who got the reference...
So here's how my weekend went...
It was mildly uneventful, with a few minor exceptions. The weather was just downright frickin' BEAUTIFUL! Saturday started with sleeping in just a tad, checking e-mail & Facebook, and some chores (laundry, dishes, etc.). It seemed like it was going to be a fairly boring weekend. About noon, my roommate, Paulie B., asked that I drive him to Ikea for some "knick-knacery" to deck out the digs in. I had never been to Ikea. I had heard over the years about the wonders of Ikea - the simple and functional design, the rediculously affordable wares, the fun and festive shoping environment - but never made the 1/2 hour trek to the nearest one in Canton. As I walk in the door, expecting some kind of Sam's Club-ish warehouse, I'm greeted to the smell of cinnamon rolls and offered a Sweedish meatball...and I was smitten. Any store that greets be with comforting smells, a friendly smile, AND meat is okay in my book!!
Paulie and I browsed for about 2 hours, finding all SORTS of great furniture, rugs, housewares, and odds-and-ends that would be PERFECT for the House of Pauls, meanwhile I was making my own mental shoppping list for when I eventually move back into my own house. Of course, as I'm dead broke , I simply bought a 6-pack of the cinnamon rolls that had seduce me upon entering, and 2 8-packs of wooden clothes hangers for $3.95 each to start replacing the bent and warped wire ones in my closet. A seemingly insignificant purchase, but for some reason, the quality and price had me squealing like a teeny-bopper at a Jonas Brother concert! My first Ikea purchase!!! It was like a rite of passage.
From there, we head back, I hang my fresh, clean laundry on my new hangers (yay!), and Val stops by in her new ride she bought exclusively for getting herself to California in a couple weeks. We pile the lawnmower into the back and head to her friend Pashka's place so I can mow her lawn. As Pashka was out of town and unavailable to visit, Val decides to head to the Salvation Army for some shopping during their 1/2 clothing sale while I tend to the yard work. I finish quickly and I cool off in the breezy evening and have a nice chat with a friend on the the phone while I wait for Val to pick me up. We then head to help out my ex-wife by mowing her front yard. After I'm done mowing and Aunt Val's done chatting up her niece, we pile back into the new ride and she drops me home to have a peaceful evening at home.
Sunday was productive and peaceful. I woke up and made scrambled eggs and thick-cut bacon for me and the roommate (the place STILL smells like bacon - yummmmmm). As the beautiful day wears on, I helped Paulie vacuum up the varitable RUG of dog hair underneath the washer & dryer, sweep the floors. I notice the neighbor next door edging his sidewalk. I had planned on this as one of my chores for the day, but as he has crept a good 3 feet onto our property with his edging, I couldn't put it off. As I'm slicing into the 1-foot-square patches of turf that had overgrown onto the cement over the past half-decade, my neighbor offers his garbage can for toting the remains to my compost pile. Then, the neighbor across the street offers his wheel barrow! As I finish, my next-door neighbor helps me shovel the dirt & grass and grabs his blower to clear my sidewalk! As I admire my clean and clear sidewalk, I'm suddenly struck with the notion that I have completely awesome neighbors and live in a great town.
After that was done, Paulie, as a gesture of gratitude, takes me out to see the new Transformers movie. I don my Autobot belt buckle and we head to the Star John R. Cineplex. It was fun. A decent enough movie, heavy on mind-blowing special effects and way cool action sequences, but painfully thin on plot or character development. The main character's parents were better developed than anyone else, and have the least screen time. A good popcorn-munching flick, but a bit of a disappointment and PAINFULLY long at nearly 2.5 hours. On the plus-side, it DID have Devastator, Soundwave, & Rampage (who was the only robot that looked even remotely like his original counterpart).
After that, I headed out to Caribou Coffee in Royal Oak for their Open Mic night. I had hoped to have my quartet sing there, but asking 2 days ahead of time was a bit too last-minute - especially for our newly employed bass, who had to work. I showed up with my ukulele a bit late, but James, a Caribou employee, friend, and Blockbuster customer, was glad to have someone else to fill some time, as the roster was kind of light that night. I sat with my sister and we chatted and played on our laptops while we waited for my name to be called. After listening to some good (and not-so-good) guitar players and some mediocre poetry by an octogenarian, I get up there. I hadn't planned ANYTHING, but decided to try Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" - and made a miserable mess of it. The crowd was very forgiving, and I played it up with good humor, gracefully leaving the stage with a witty quip. As the evening progressed, Valerie and I decided to try something together, so we ducked int the alley and tried "Lucky" by Jason Mraz & Cobie Caillet. It sounded decent, so we went up and tried it with the following pallet-cleansing results:
From there, I went home and hit the hay, satisfied with a weekend off great weather, some great fun, and some productivity. This week's packed to the gills with quartet rehearsal, chorus rehearsal, dinner with my baby girl (while my big boy is off at summer camp), work, and who-knows-what for the holiday weekend! As usual, I'll fly by the seat of my pants and make the best of it!
Probably...but it won't. And kudos to those of you who got the reference...
So here's how my weekend went...
It was mildly uneventful, with a few minor exceptions. The weather was just downright frickin' BEAUTIFUL! Saturday started with sleeping in just a tad, checking e-mail & Facebook, and some chores (laundry, dishes, etc.). It seemed like it was going to be a fairly boring weekend. About noon, my roommate, Paulie B., asked that I drive him to Ikea for some "knick-knacery" to deck out the digs in. I had never been to Ikea. I had heard over the years about the wonders of Ikea - the simple and functional design, the rediculously affordable wares, the fun and festive shoping environment - but never made the 1/2 hour trek to the nearest one in Canton. As I walk in the door, expecting some kind of Sam's Club-ish warehouse, I'm greeted to the smell of cinnamon rolls and offered a Sweedish meatball...and I was smitten. Any store that greets be with comforting smells, a friendly smile, AND meat is okay in my book!!
Paulie and I browsed for about 2 hours, finding all SORTS of great furniture, rugs, housewares, and odds-and-ends that would be PERFECT for the House of Pauls, meanwhile I was making my own mental shoppping list for when I eventually move back into my own house. Of course, as I'm dead broke , I simply bought a 6-pack of the cinnamon rolls that had seduce me upon entering, and 2 8-packs of wooden clothes hangers for $3.95 each to start replacing the bent and warped wire ones in my closet. A seemingly insignificant purchase, but for some reason, the quality and price had me squealing like a teeny-bopper at a Jonas Brother concert! My first Ikea purchase!!! It was like a rite of passage.
From there, we head back, I hang my fresh, clean laundry on my new hangers (yay!), and Val stops by in her new ride she bought exclusively for getting herself to California in a couple weeks. We pile the lawnmower into the back and head to her friend Pashka's place so I can mow her lawn. As Pashka was out of town and unavailable to visit, Val decides to head to the Salvation Army for some shopping during their 1/2 clothing sale while I tend to the yard work. I finish quickly and I cool off in the breezy evening and have a nice chat with a friend on the the phone while I wait for Val to pick me up. We then head to help out my ex-wife by mowing her front yard. After I'm done mowing and Aunt Val's done chatting up her niece, we pile back into the new ride and she drops me home to have a peaceful evening at home.
Sunday was productive and peaceful. I woke up and made scrambled eggs and thick-cut bacon for me and the roommate (the place STILL smells like bacon - yummmmmm). As the beautiful day wears on, I helped Paulie vacuum up the varitable RUG of dog hair underneath the washer & dryer, sweep the floors. I notice the neighbor next door edging his sidewalk. I had planned on this as one of my chores for the day, but as he has crept a good 3 feet onto our property with his edging, I couldn't put it off. As I'm slicing into the 1-foot-square patches of turf that had overgrown onto the cement over the past half-decade, my neighbor offers his garbage can for toting the remains to my compost pile. Then, the neighbor across the street offers his wheel barrow! As I finish, my next-door neighbor helps me shovel the dirt & grass and grabs his blower to clear my sidewalk! As I admire my clean and clear sidewalk, I'm suddenly struck with the notion that I have completely awesome neighbors and live in a great town.
After that was done, Paulie, as a gesture of gratitude, takes me out to see the new Transformers movie. I don my Autobot belt buckle and we head to the Star John R. Cineplex. It was fun. A decent enough movie, heavy on mind-blowing special effects and way cool action sequences, but painfully thin on plot or character development. The main character's parents were better developed than anyone else, and have the least screen time. A good popcorn-munching flick, but a bit of a disappointment and PAINFULLY long at nearly 2.5 hours. On the plus-side, it DID have Devastator, Soundwave, & Rampage (who was the only robot that looked even remotely like his original counterpart).
After that, I headed out to Caribou Coffee in Royal Oak for their Open Mic night. I had hoped to have my quartet sing there, but asking 2 days ahead of time was a bit too last-minute - especially for our newly employed bass, who had to work. I showed up with my ukulele a bit late, but James, a Caribou employee, friend, and Blockbuster customer, was glad to have someone else to fill some time, as the roster was kind of light that night. I sat with my sister and we chatted and played on our laptops while we waited for my name to be called. After listening to some good (and not-so-good) guitar players and some mediocre poetry by an octogenarian, I get up there. I hadn't planned ANYTHING, but decided to try Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" - and made a miserable mess of it. The crowd was very forgiving, and I played it up with good humor, gracefully leaving the stage with a witty quip. As the evening progressed, Valerie and I decided to try something together, so we ducked int the alley and tried "Lucky" by Jason Mraz & Cobie Caillet. It sounded decent, so we went up and tried it with the following pallet-cleansing results:
From there, I went home and hit the hay, satisfied with a weekend off great weather, some great fun, and some productivity. This week's packed to the gills with quartet rehearsal, chorus rehearsal, dinner with my baby girl (while my big boy is off at summer camp), work, and who-knows-what for the holiday weekend! As usual, I'll fly by the seat of my pants and make the best of it!
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