Author: John Bollwitt

I can feel the mass quantities of food that I have taken in over the past few days begin to make a home inside the fat cells of my body. Yogurt covered raisins, chocolate covered pretzels, quiche, monster cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies, chocolate bourbon pecan pie, chicken this, vegetarian that, pizza, pizza, and more pizza. Food is apart of my job this week. I’m one who is in charge of bringing in the goodies. I know exactly what I’m getting myself into when I get the arm loads of cardboard containers and put them into the car. When I go to the place of pick up, I swear that I’m not hungry. I dare you to drive that vehicle back and not have your stomach start to speak up. Thank god I’m going running in the morning.

In about a week, I’m heading south. The plans are pretty much finalized. Road trip with Mary and Muffin. As funny as that is to say, the trip is going to be that much better, I can already feel it. On top of that, I get to see Muffin in a play the day before we depart. If I’m not mistaken, it’s a musical. Ok, now I’m laughing and really looking forward to see this thing. I even get to go to the cast party afterwards. I feel so special.

I got Year of the Rabbit! I’m so excited about this one. Ken Andrews is an incredible musician. This is his first band since Failure called it quits. Loving it already. And if you don’t know about it already, check out ON, Andrews’ solo project. So good!

Another guilty pleasure in my life: documentary television. More importantly, those things dealing with history. It always seems to rope me in. For instance, tonight, I watched a special about Nostradamus. To this day, the guy still freaks me out. Granted that in hindsight, anything is possible with his prophecies. Did he predict Hitler? The World Trade Center? The moon landing? On and on. I get a little spooked out about it when I stop to think about it. This is just a taste of my addiction here. Lately, Roman history has been sucking up precious hours of my life. My never ending adventure of feeding my brain goes on.

I surprised myself when I went into the station today. One of the volunteers starting asking questions about the broadcast signals of the two stations. I should mention that we have one station running on AM and the other on FM. Understanding how this all works in the technical sense is something that I have come to understand over years of feverish passion. Today was the first time that I was asked to explain it to some one with slim knowledge of this nearly one hundred year old technology. I think I did pretty well. At least, I surprised myself. I’m no expert, but I think I’m getting pretty close to being a professional.

Muse is a group that has captured my attention lately. I hate getting into the details of how or what they sound like. To me, it’s just good. And might I add, Matthew Bellamy has a tremendous voice.

I think it’s safe for me to say that I am not your average, ordinary “guy.” I do some typical guy things from time to time, but I’m not the burly manly, man type guy. As the heat rises, I can hear the masses gather outside to take advantage of the warm weather. The herds of stupidity are swarming out there. It’s almost as if I should stay inside until they are gone for the summer. Afraid that if I get to close, I will be affected by their lower intelligence. I feel like Gollum. “Stupid, fat hobbits.” I can hear their laughter with the windows open. It’s like nails on a chalk board.

The first, really good thunderstorm blew through town last night. It woke me up, and I was happily surprised. The lightning was the most impressive thing about it all. It didn’t matter if your eyes were open or closed. You knew it was there. Thunder. Wind. Pouring rain. I turned over and fell asleep faster than I could have imagined. Sleeping well has been bit of a struggle these recent months. The storm was what I have been looking forward to. With it brought some of the best sleep ever.

It’s been another rough day, but the week is over. A cut on my hand and some stomach aches, but I’m glad the weekend is here.

If there is one thing I love about warm weather, it is being able to run in it. Getting side aches, burning muscles in my thighs, sweating, loss of breath, and the urge to vomit. It’s great. There’s no other way to be outside. And this is about thirty minutes out of my day. Of course I enjoy doing other things, but there is something to be said about getting out in any way possible. You’re not having fun unless you’re sweating. At the same time, it helps that whole liver thing. It’s a double whammy of personal goodness.

Speaking of working out, fundraising week kicks off this Friday at the station. To you, that means give us your money. To me, that means a wealth of food pouring in for the staff and volunteers for the one week marathon. I will not have to do any grocery shopping, cooking, or pay a single penny for any meals that entire week. Commonly, this time is known as the week that everyone puts on ten pounds. Imagine thanksgiving dinner, three times a day, seven days in a row. Being the youngest single guy by a few years, a lot is tempted to me for clogging up my fridge in terms of leftovers. I know better. I’ll eat it all, or it will grow into a green, penicillin metropolis.

I woke up from a dream this morning about eating an ice cream cone. Upon waking, I found my arm up in the air, as if I were holding said cone. That was odd.

I cannot believe it. I planned this out for the last two months. I put it on my calendar. I hyped up the show to all my friends. I could not wait to see them again. However, that wonderful thing that is my so called memory forgot again. How could I miss the Mates of State show? Being that I drove three hours and fifteen minutes back from my brother’s in the Monday AM, had a hectic, full afternoon at the station, and got wrapped into great conversation with a friend, it can make sense. However, the string of profanities have not ceased since my sudden realization of this fact. Please, oh please… Come back, Mates of State. I will never stand you guys up again.

I had the wild urge to play some dodge ball today. I think it stems from thoughts of Japan. Being a camp counsellor, we had all sorts of great excuses to be, not act, like little kids. And my adventure there has come up a lot in conversation. On top of that, hanging out with my niece and nephew this weekend reminded me how much fun that was, not to mention the fact that at the end of the day, I wasn’t their parents. But yeah… dodge ball…

And it’s getting much, much warmer. Just in time for my trip with Muffin and Mary. And yeah… Frisbee…

To all of you who have been saying that I need some vacation time, you were right. Absolutely, 100% correct. John needed time to let go and have nothing to do for a few days. I work a lot during the week, but even with my time off, I’m productive. I clean the house. I go shopping. I find something to keep me busy. I hoped that to be true in Illinois, but instead I kicked back.

I didn’t get up to IKEA, the Apple Store, or any of the other places I wanted to hit. I spent time with my family. I watched movies. Did some wrestling with the kids. Slept. Sat around. Laughed. It’s like Office Space. I did nothing and it was everything that I hoped it could be.

I also got sick. It happens. What can you do? It gave me more of a chance to spend time with the birthday girl. Julia turned seven. We shopped together and had a good time. Guess that just means that I’ll have to come back soon and hit the city.

Do I have to go back to work tomorrow?

One thing that I deeply enjoy: tax returns. One thing that I don’t: bills. Financing is a great way to snap you into the reality of being an adult. Living on your own is liberating. This is a great way to make you feel older. At the same time, it makes you feel good about the fact that you are taking care of yourself. When it’s all done, you’re rewarded with the sense of it just being done and out of the way. A clearing of the conscious.

So now, I have a better grasp on how much spending money I have to play with! This will be good on my adventure that is tentatively scheduled to begin in a matter of hours. The weather is gorgeous today, perfect for the road trip that I have been hankering for. Won’t be as fun as the one coming up with Muffin, but enjoyable none the less. I have always enjoyed driving. I’ve always wanted to create the perfect driving mix, but it’s always a thought. I never follow through on it. Perhaps when I get that damn iPod.

I’m going to Chicago. Get excited!

Isn’t it sad how we chase that light at the end of the tunnel known as a paycheck? For me, I feel fortunate to be able to do what I love. It makes it all very worth it. The long nights. The bruises. The cuts. The wise crack remarks sent in my direction. You know what I’m talking about. Workplace chatter. Slamming each other through intense, well thought, verbal attack. It’s like an intellectual fist fight. You have to be careful. It’s also how you get nicknames.

I have to buy new bass strings. Some times, I like proper tuning. Other days, I like to drop into D. Most days, I like living in the world of G. I have found that that strings don’t like it when you tune up and down like that. After a while, they kind of fray. Never had that happen before. I’ve busted my share of strings, all four at different times times. Bass strings really pack a punch when they snap back and hit your forearm.

Really gearing up for my trip into the Chicago area this weekend. It’ll be good to get out of town for a few days. In fact, I’m getting told by a lot of people that I need to take some vacation. Fear not, those plans are in full motion. Muffin and I are getting the plans nailed down to go visit Eric. So much that we have our dates picked, mode of transportation, and… that’s about it. Guess we need to do some more planning. This includes a route there from his place. We’ve got some time to think about it, but it wouldn’t be an adventure without some form of not having a clue as to what we are doing. And then there’s NYC. Plans are in the process.

Sunny day, today. I like the sun. I would like more of that, please.

An email I received from Don this morning…

Rebecca died this morning at 4:25 am. She’d been suffering from liver problems and anemia for the past week. Her last act before dying was to wet my bed, proving that she knew best that final rule of comedy-leave them with a joke-and was always a better comedian than me. She was 12 years old.

To know Don is to know that he loved that dalmation. I’ve never owned a pet, but I do understand the pain of loss. Life goes on, and I send all my best wishes.

Holy crap on a stick. Who said it could snow today? I swear, when I find the person who is responsible for this, they’re fired. Five, six, ten inches? This is totally unacceptable. At this time of year, we pride ourselves in the ability of having our days get warmer, sunnier, and pleasant. Actions of which we have witnessed today cannot stand. Some one must be held responsible. I don’t care who it was and how long they’ve been here, but they must face the results of their actions. I have had it up to here with this snow hoo-hah. You should be ashamed of yourself.

And do you ever feel like the world is out to get you? I had that happen to me tonight. It was more like a shooting gallery. As I drove home, the world seemed to jump out at me, left and right, seeing how good my reflexes were. This car would slam on its brakes. That car decided to back out of an ally. This guy decided to push his car door open all the way and get out from his spot on the side of the street. And this girl decides that when making a left turn, yes, yellow means “hurry up before you get the red light of death!” I felt like Tackleberry going through a course in Police Academy. Who is friendly, and who is foe. It was like everyone had some form of death wish. Why does snow do that to people?

My brother turned… older yesterday. A good party, but I ate too much. Good leftovers, too. I ate too much of those as well.