Brian's quite remarkable blog of wonder.

this evening i went to the exciting precinct 19 Iowa City presidential caucus. i'd been a casual Kerry supporter up until the last minute when i switched to Dean. i figured that Dean was the only candidate who had the cash to defeat Bush, and whether or not i agreed with his issues (which i mostly do), was kind of irrelevant. and i realized that i think i didn't like Dean only because i'm automatically against the popular things, and that i was only FOR Kerry because he looks like Alan Alda.

yeah, i'm so politically smart. actually, i look at this election as nothing more than Get Rid of Bush '04, so i really don't care who gets the nomination, and i certainly don't agree with pitting democrats against democrats. i think most of the other folks at my caucus felt the same way. there was no mudslinging or anything. it was unity a lot more than it was devisiveness.

tonight my car's odometer hit 100,000 miles. pretty close to its tenth birthday too. it was at 77,000, i think, when i got it. i calculated its average speed since May 2001 (when i got it): 1.01 mph. impressive. the ruthless Japanese efficiency of my car has taken me to eleven U.S. states: Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. since i graduated from high school, that machine has been one of the very, very few constants in my life. long live it.

last night was sort of the pinnacle of depression, but things turned up shortly after i wrote that angsty little note (see previous blog entry). i went to bed and then the phone rang and it was jake and he wanted to chill, and so me and jake and danny and his roommate brandon went out to Hardee's at 2:30 AM. it was foolish and great, and it really made me feel 3,000% better.

so tonight i went to the Cambus holiday party. it wasn't SO great i thought, partially because the bar at which it was held, the Sports Column, frankly kind of sucks. but i think it mostly had to do with the fact that i am inherently not the partying type. also: the party admission included free beer, which is fine if you are able to choke down beer (which i'm really not). but if you want mixed drinks you have to pay the normal price. the high points of the night were these:

1) getting Dave, Steve, and Sara to pose for a picture. we won't get into why this was a high point for me, because the explanation is immense, and you still wouldn't understand.

2) toward the end of the evening, Megan, Dan and I were at a booth and i was drawing this weird-ass picture on a napkin. all kinds of people would show up at our table and sit down and talk to us, and then i would show them the picture i'd drawn and then they would immediately go away. it was hilarious.

i guess only an antisocial person would do things like this and then consider it the high point of their evening. i mean, when you think of "high point" most people probably think of getting laid or winning the kegstand contest. so i think i've come to the conclusion that parties are not my thing. i left at about the time that the whole thing became a big beersoaked lovefest. love isn't my thing, although i really, really wish it were.

so i feel pretty good. i'm glad i'm not fooling myself about things like this.

well the rest of the week has gone to shit. this is the worst i've felt in years. i'm dirt poor, First Student hasn't called me back about the school bus job, and worst of all, my few friends seem to be ignoring/avoiding me. and my roommates are drunk and loud, and i'm probably going to have a lot to clean up in the kitchen tomorrow. i haven't hated my life so much in years.

today has been great. the last few days the temperature has been above freezing and everything has been all melty. it's nice.

also, today i applied for a job as a school bus driver, and it looks like i'm going to get it. the guy was about to set up an appointment for a job interview, but his secretary wasn't there so he said she'll call me. very incouraging.

so i walked out of the place and it was all sunny and melty and i realized that i was finally getting over my cold, and it was very, very good.

I don't actually have a mustache. i did this in Photoshop.

well, 2004 has been a two thousand bore (ho ho ho) so far. partially because it's January and there's nothing to do and it's really cold, and partially because i've been a lazy son of a bitch.

this weekend i got to see Zoe, a high school friend whom i haven't seen in a good long time. it's weird when somebody comes back and they don't wear glasses any more and they look really mature and they look like Jodie Foster.

it snowed a damn lot the other day. it's so, so cold. old man winter is pointing his gnarled, crooked finger directly at Iowa. fortunately, i have some new gloves. i hope i can afford to go skiing this year...

god, these are so fun.

Choose a band/or artist and answer only in song TITLES by that band::	Cake
Are you female or male::	Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps
Describe yourself::	Frank Sinatra
How do some people feel about you::	Friend is a Four Letter Word
How do you feel about yourself::	Open Book
Describe your ex girlfriend/boyfriend::	Never There
Describe your current girlfriend/boyfriend::	Ain't No Good
Describe where you want to be::	Mexico
Describe what you want to be::	Opera Singer
Describe how you live::	Rock and Roll Lifestyle
Describe how you love::	Love You Madly
Share a few words of wisdom::	Jesus Wrote a Blank Check

Bands // Song Titles brought to you by BZOINK!

the year 2003 just ended.

at exactly 0:00:00 on January 1st, 2003, i was among 750,000 people smooshed together in Times Square in New York, the largest city in the USA. yes, and at exactly 23:59:59 on December 31st, 2003, i was celebrating with family in Moulton, Iowa, population 600. the two grandest locations i can think of. 2003 was a grand, grand, grand year.

the year 2003 sent me all over the damn country. wandering around Manhattan in the early days of January, then taking the greyhound back home to Iowa City, then camping in Wisconsin in July, then day tripping to Minneapolis in September, finally taking a train to New Mexico in December, making it home to Iowa just hours before 2003 became 2004. this year also transported me from my parents' house to my own apartment in downtown I. C.

and speaking of transit, a few weeks into 2003 i began training for my third job: driving buses at Cambus. i finally found out what it's like to work at a fun job that pays well.

i think the summer of '03 will set the precedent for future summers to match. not only did i avoid getting really bored, i also got a lot of exercise and heard some great music. this summer i went to concerts of (in chronological order): Dr. John, Blood Sweat and Tears, Charlie Hunter, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Phish (twice), Jethro Tull (KC and the Sunshine Band opened), Cheap Trick, Cake (also with the Detroit Cobras and the Hackensaw Boys), and Umphrey's McGee.

all the good music i was exposed to this year paved the way for my own rock band, Dirty Sixty, to finally start seriously playing. god bless it.

other creative things i did this year: "Friday Shoes," "All About Black Holes" mark 1, arrangements for a Klezmer band that never got together, several other doomed comic projects and finally a return to QPQ.

i'm sure there's a lot more that i should talk about, but i need to go to bed, as i have been awake since 10:00 AM, December 30th, 2003. here's hoping two thousand four will be even better.