Ahem... excuse me.  It appears as if i've lost my voice.  I'm sure that my lack of regular blogging makes that fairly evident.  The infrequency, I can deal with.  However, looking back at the substance behind my scant blogging and being embarassed and sickened, I cannot deal with.

The lack of voice or substance or whatever you want to call it behing my words is due to a million things.  However, lately I've felt an urge to get back into the daily, or almost daily, saddle. So rather than can this whole project that I've worked on more less for five years now, I'm going to give it one more shot.  The blogs will be coming.  And hopefully they will be interesting.

Hope to see ya around more.  Thanks,

Chris.

Technically I suppose you can say I'm employed. Generally, employment consists of regular payment in a paper check or electronically dispersed sum of money. If you're lucky, employment will also consist of health care benefits. My current 'employment' consists of none of those things, short of a few bucks to cover the insanely expensive commute from Jersey to New York everyday. However, I am being paid in "learning". And "experience". I am also getting to "rub elbows" with some influential and important people. I guess the idea is that giving up the above stated generalities of employment will pay off sometime in the future with larger payments in either paper or electronic forms. Despite the exciting work in which I get to do, which I'm not quite ready to reveal up in ye olde blog, it's tough to be working pro bono when there have been multiple offers that allow for pay and benefits in the here and now. *

If you take a look at my blog entry dated October 20, 2003 you will find a pretty accurate and quite pissed-off description of the night I was robbed at knife point. Last week, just over nine months after the incident, I took the witness stand to testify against the four assholes that pulled knives on me and a friend in search of a few bucks. I spent one hour and 45 minutes on the stand. I was cross-examined by four sleezy defense lawyers that had prepared questions intended to confuse my memory of the night. Questions designed to paint a false picture of me wanting to face off with four huge scary looking dudes because I had quite a bit to drink. I think I held my own on the stand... and I'm pretty sure that the few places I slipped up due to the sleezy questioning will be fixed by the bare facts of the case... my 911 call and the police reports... order of events, etc. I don't like to try to knock anyone trying to make a living... and I am sure there are lots of defense lawyers that are truly looking for justice in the world. But I don't know how these four particular people can be OK enough with themselves at day's end to have a decent night's rest. --

Tonight a handful of us will be heading up to the Catskills for a camping weekend and i'm pretty psyched about the whole thing. Of course, when your life consists of balancing time between Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and a pirated copy of Rez for the Dreamcast, anything that involes being outside of these bedroom walls warrants "psychedness". So Boo-ya. Bring on the mosquitos, campfires, and creepy New York state hicks. *

I've put together a handful of mix CD's to listen to on the trip. I've put one together that consists of mostly new music and a few old favorites to round out the collection... here's the tracklisting:

01. Wilco - At Least That's What You Said
02. Interpol - Slow Hands
03. Clinic - Country Mile
04. Mike Park - On That Stage
05. Single Frame Ashtray - The Slip
06. Mirah - Look Up!
07. Secret Machines - Light's On
08. Ramones - Do You Wanna Dance?
09. The Misfits - Bullet
10. Ramones - Needles and Pins
11. The Misfits - Death Comes Ripping
12. Two Lone Swordsmen - Sick When We Kiss
13. Clinic - wdyyb
14. Apollo Sunshine - Blood is Wood
15. Interpol - Not Even Jail
16. Single Frame - Floral Design in a Straight Line
17. The Cure - Before Three
18. Detachment Kit - Music for Strobelights
19. Leonard Cohen - Famous Blue Raincoat

Enjoy your weekend. Happy Summer. --

Go and listen fuckwads. --