Its that time of year again. One year older and another year closer to 30. I turn the big 2-7 today. Yippee! Thankfully I decided to take not only today off from work, but tomorrow as well. As soon as I manage to drag my ass out of my bed my plans are this. Go grab breakfast at the best place I know of to do so by my parents house, then, go to my parents house and hang out with Keyser all day. Then my dad said he'd buy me dinner, as my mom is working late tonight, then back to my house, where I'm debating picking up some ice cream or something along the way to celebrate. Boring I know. The only thing that I'm a little upset about is that I'm single on my birthday, but honestly, its not the end of the world.

Actually, being single right now is a good thing. I just finished up all of my holiday shopping last night. All online too, didn't have to go to the mall once! Without a girlfriend to shop for I was able to keep it cheap. Just gifts for my parents and brothers. Not bad, eh? Even though last year the bitch (I refuse to even type her name anymore!) set a $100 limit with each other, which was nice.

So thats about it. I think I'm going to hop in the shower soon and get going. A day of watching TV and DVD's and playing the guitar with my pooch awaits!

So we had a good Thanksgiving over here. Wednesday I left work a few hours early, went home, changed and hopped a train into the city to meet up with my cousin and Shari. We all headed up to Seth's place to hang out and grab some dinner. Then Lauren (my cousin) and I headed downtown to the Bowery Ballroom to see the John Mayer Trio. I just have this to say, I want to be able to play guitar like John Mayer can. End of story. The guy is amazing. I was floored by the way his hand was moving most of the time, just thoroughly impressed. The show was great and I'm definitely digging his new musical direction and the music he's creating. I think its gutsy to turn his back on the acoustic, sensitive singer-songwriter genre, where his bread is buttered, and risk alienating his fans by trying the blues. Good stuff though, so I'm not complaining and shall be along for the ride.

The show was a little weird in that it was being filmed for broadcast over aolmusic.com. So there were huge TV cameras in the back, another one on a crane to the side of the stage. They never turned the house lights off so it was kind of weird to see a show with all the lights on. But it was good. And I re-watched some of the webcast the next day and I even think I made it in a shot or two!

We went back to my house after the show and headed to my moms early Thursday morning for Thanksgiving, which was its usual. My mom's aunt, whose husband just died came with her son and that was interesting. I feel bad, as she's not handling it all so well. Its compounded by the fact that she just had surgery to remove a tumor form her abdomen as well. On top of all that she's depressed, anxious and paranoid. A great combination. Her birthday is today and mine is on Monday, so usually we'd sing Happy Birthday at dessert for me and her (on years when she's there), but my mom thought it might upset her, so we skipped out on the singing this year. Aside from that, it was your usual holiday.

I spent Friday being lazy. Randy and I saw the latest Harry Potter movie which was pretty damn good I must say. They're just getting better and better. Can't wait for the next one, or the last book! Last night Seth, Brett and myself and a few other guys hit John Harvards for food and beer (six pitchers worth!) which was a good time. Today I have my guitar lesson, and of course more relaxing. I'm off Monday and Tuesday as well, which is good. I need a break!

That's what I'm most thankful for right now. Almost a week off. My birthday is the Monday after the long Thanksgiving weekend and I'm already down to take it, and the day after, off. So thats like a week without work. There is nothing better. I'm sure I'll be bored out of my skull come Tuesday, but I don't care. I need a break in the worst way.

Nothing of noter or interest going on over here. I'm heading out of work early (since I got here two hours early to do some maintenance to our crappy e-mail server) and then I'm hopping a train into the city to meet up with my cousin and go see the John Mayer Trio. I'm psyched. He's crazy talented and I'm really curious to check out his new blues, as well as see him in a smaller, more intimate venue. Then my cousin and I will be heading back to my house, then off to my mom's in the morning for the usual Thanksgiving feast!

Have I mentioned how glad I am that my birthday is coming up. I need the birthday money in the worst way. Living on your own is a little more expensive than I thought it would be! But, I'm making ends meet and still managing to save some money for a rainy day. I just don't want it to storm so early, so hence the birthday money will be greatly appreciated. Even if its only $100.

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I figured that going to see 11 different concerts in one calendar year wasn't quite enough, so I decided to make it an even 12, one for every month. I got an e-mail from the John Mayer fan club (yes I'm a member, but solely for the ticket presales) saying that he's playing, as the John Mayer Trio (more blues than pop) next week in NYC the day before Thanksgiving. Wanting to really go I started a mad scramble to find someone to go with. Thankfully my cousin that lives in DC will be at her moms in Connecticut that day, so she said she'd love to go and will meet me in the city the day of the show. Should be cool. The stuff I've heard that he's put out with the trio is really good. Like I said, more blues and rock than pop ballads about bodies as wonderlands. Should be a good show. Now if I can only play the guitar like him. I think he's got great talents as a guitar player and doesn't get nearly as much credit as he should in that arena, but thats just me.

Nothing else is really going on. We've found a new roommate. A guy this time, so the balance of males to females will even out, hopefully making things somewhat easier for me. The guy isn't moving in until January, but he gave us a deposit that will cover Decembers rent to hold the place for him. Pretty cool. Now I just have to get the proper legal documents drawn up and its a lock. He seems like a cool guy, and he plays the guitar, so thats a definite bonus in my book. Now I'll have someone to jam with.

Not much on tap for this weekend. Going with my brother tomorrow to Circuit City to ge tmy birthday present, which is Sirius Satellite Radio so I can listen to Howard Stern when he makes the switch. Then its a guitar lesson and work on Sunday. But I need the OT so its all good. Seth will be out on Saturday night and Sunday, so we'll chill and watch a football game or something. Thats about it. I wish I had more to report, but I've been busy as hell at work, so nothing of interest really. Have a great weekend everyone!

OK, just in case you've never read anything on this site before, let me just get this obvious fact out of the way. I'm a huge Pearl Jam fan. Not just huge, but some would say I'm obsessed, and thats cool with me. They're the greatest American rock band thats still around today. This all ties together with the point of this post, but just bear with me.

Pearl Jam first hit the scene big time around the end of my junior high years and before I hit ninth grade. I remember seeing the videos for Alive and Evenflow on MTV, back when they still played videos aside from the one hour of TRL and sometime at 4 AM. I even remember my older brother making fun of the way Eddie Vedder sang. I was pretty much a big fan of theirs through their first three albums, Ten, Vs., and Vitalogy. I kind of lost interest in them around college, but still managed to get all their albums that came out in that period of time, No Code in my freshman year of college, and Yield at the end of my sophomore. It was in 1998, my junior year that I first saw them live with Seth in Jersey and I remember it kicking ass. Didn't really know any of the new stuff they were playing, but I knew the old stuff and it kicked ass.

In 2000 they had another new album out, Binaural and they toured to support it. I caught them at Jones Beach with Seth at the end of August and I remember them thoroughly kicking ass. I also remember asking Seth what every other song was. At some point thereafter I heard that they were going to be releasing on CD every show from that tour on CD, and thought it was the coolest thing in the world. I was sitting at work one day and Rearviewmirror came on and I just remember it instantly resonating with me. From that point on I don't think I listened to anything other than Pearl Jam, including the bootleg of the show I went to. They also released a DVD of that tour, called, ironically enough Touring Band 2000 and while watching it was blown away and inspired. I was about to graduate from college and I was obsessed with learning how to play the guitar from Pearl Jam.

A classmate of mine played and took me to get my first one, a cheap acoustic. I tried to teach myself how to play it, but just couldn't. I tried to get some lessons in Louisiana, which was where I was living at the time, but just never followed through due to circumstances at hand (I hated my job and just got Keyser). So the guitar fell by the wayside. For 4 years.

Back in June I was inspired by who knows what to finally get off my ass, get some lessons and learn how to play. And for the past 5 or 6 months I've found a new love in life. With the electric now in possession I can play a lot more varied styles of music, which is great. When I first bought the acoustic four and a half years ago I told Seth that I didn't care how good I got at it, I just wanted to learn how to play Rearviewmirror, my favorite song of all time. Well I am happy to report, that now I can.

The opening riff I taught myself within the first few weeks, but things like power chords escaped me at the time, especially on an acoustic. I finally was driven to go through the online tabs and figure it out, and the chords in the chorus are simple. Now that my wrist is healed I can practice solo techniques. I've worked out most of the main lead parts of the song and will work out putting it all together. But basically I can play the song, and thats awesome. Thats a major milestone to me. So rock on!

In other news, my date was postponed to a later date, which is unknown. Its cool with me. Other than that, nothing going on. Some guy is coming by later tonight to look at the place and meet Shari and myself. Should be interesting to say the least. Lets hope he works out.

Sorry for the lack of updates, but I feel like this has been one hell of a crazy week. I'm so glad its Friday and the work day is almost over so that I can relax and maybe get back to some kind of semblance of normal. So to recap, here it goes.

Tuesday night I thought we'd found a replacement roommate. Heather came over, took a good look at the place and said she'd wanted in. Only to find out the next day that she's not sure she can afford it. Today she told me that she can't and doesn't want to get in over her head. I totally understand and at least she had the decency to tell us beforehand that she can't afford it, instead of coming to this realization after two months, like some of my roommates. So the departing roommate has a few people coming by on Saturday to look at the place. I won't be around. I'll be at my parents for my guitar lesson, doing laundry and watching the pooch.

My parents will be either in Brooklyn or the city with my mom's aunt, my great aunt. I had to take her into Brooklyn a few weeks ago because her uncle was in the hospital. So I drove my mom in so that she could take control of the situation. Since then they've been going every Sunday to help out as best they can. My great uncle got transferred out of the hospital to a rehab center after a week or so, but was transferred back to the hospital at the beginning of the week, or the end of last week. I'm not sure. My mom called me on Wednesday and told me that unfortunately he passed away. I think the funeral is on Tuesday. Getting old sucks basically and my mom said that at that age (late 70's, early 80's) one you get in the hospital you normally don't get out. My mom's aunt, is also in the hospital as she had a tumor removed from her intestines. Unfortunately the prognosis there isn't too good either. It definitely sucks. Just another reminder to live life while you still got one.

In more upbeat news, I should have a date tonight. I say should because I haven't spoken to the girl all week, so I'm not sure if we're still on. We played phone tag for awhile yesterday and never got a hold of eachother. Hopefully we're still on. I could use some fun after the week I've had. Lets hope!

Only 40 minutes of work left and then a much needed weekend.

Way to get my hopes up. So my friend/my brother's co-worker/my dad's employee, Heather, came by yesterday to look at the place and said she was definitely in. Shari and I got all excited and we even went to grab a drink around the corner to celebrate. I get an e-mail from Heather today saying she's not sure. She can afford it month to month, but she has a coworkers wedding coming up at New Years and thats going to tap her savings dry, as she's in the wedding party and I guess that can be expensive. She's going to talk to her dad to see if he can float her the money. I hope so. I just want this all the be settled.

My other roommate is staying. Or so she claims. Honestly, I have the feeling that once her friend goes she'll soon follow as there won't be anything anchoring her there. I know I wouldn't want to live with three people after my friend bailed on me. We shall see. We have a guy coming in this weekend to look, so hopefully he'll be interested too, take the vacant spot and then when my other roommate leaves, which will just be a matter of time, Heather can take that spot. Lets see how it unfolds.

Holy crap! Thursday night was just what I needed. To say Nine Inch Nails rocked beyond belief is really not doing them justice. Lets just say it was like they tore your ass off and you were lucky if you got it handed it back to you at the end of the evening. That's how good they are. It was easily, next to going to see Pearl Jam in Montreal, the best concert I've been to this year. So yes, they beat U2, Coldplay, Green Day and everyone else to come squarely in second place. Not bad.

The set list was amazing, with of the album getting the most play being the new one, With Teeth. But they still played a lot of the great old tunes, like Terrible Lie, Burn, March of the Pigs, Closer, Something I Can Never Have, Gave Up, Suck, Eraser, Reptile, Wish and of course Hurt. They closed the show by doing a really great rendition of Hurt, followed by the first single off With Teeth, The Hand That Feeds and closed the show with the best rendition of Head Like A Hole I've ever seen.

They finished off the show by completely trashing almost all of their gear. Trent Reznor tossed his guitar about 20 feet into the air with reckless abandon and let it fall down on the stage into who knows how many pieces. The guitarist, who was just insane, and insanely great, knocked over an amp he was using strictly for feedback, stood on the keyboardist keyboards, knocked those over, and then took his guitar, a Black Fender Stratocaster, very similar to mine, except the color and one pickup, and proceeded to smash the shit out of both the keyboard and the guitar. You could see the little white keys go flying and he wasn't satisfied until the guitar was in shambles. He took the body of it and tossed it into the crowd where two girls proceeded to fight over it. Nice tour souvenir! Meanwhile mic stands were thrown into the drum kit, demolishing that. All the while, the bassist, just carefully took off his bass, laid it down gently on the stage and walked away. What a way to end the show!

I haven't really been back to my house since the concert as I had to bring my car for service the morning after the show, so I slept at my parents. I slept there last night too, since I'd have to come back for my guitar lesson anyway. I plan on going back after my lesson to show Heather the place and hopefully she'll be in. I heard, second or third hand of course that the room stealer may have been a little buzzed or drunk the other night when we talked and her decision to have one foot out the door may have been exaggerated. Not like I care. I'd rather have her gone, but if she chooses to stay, things have to change. What I don't know, but honestly, I'd prefer it if she just left and someone cool moved in, but we'll see how it goes.

My wrist is getting better I think. I'm following this crazy regimen that involves anit-inflammatory drugs, grip exercises whenever I can remember to do them, heating it up before playing, wearing this ace bandage like compression thing while playing, icing it down when I'm done and wearing a wrist splint at night. It still hurts at times, depending, but I think its getting better. I hope! I'm still not sure what to do about that guitar for sale on eBay. Still unsold. I'm curious what'll happen if it doesn't sell again. I wonder if the price will drop some more. I went to guitar center and played the exact model thats for sale and it was OK. I played it through the exact amp I have, and it sounded good when I overdrove it, but cleanly, not so much. I may go back at some point this weekend again and have a salesman help me get it to sound good. We shall see. Seth said not to get it. His point, and not to be taken negatively was that I can probably play about 30 minutes of music, do I really need 3 guitars for it? I see the point, but still, you want what you want, you know? We'll see, because I tried out a different guitar, same family, just more expensive and that one I liked a whole lot! Whatever, I need to just get good on the one I have. But we'll see.

Alright, time to jump in the shower and head to Best Buy before my lesson to spend some Reward Zone cash I got in the mail. Free money, I love it!

Tonight I'm going to see what will most likely be the last concert I attend to this year. The eleventh concert of the year. Thats one from almost every month in case math skills escape you! And honestly, I don't think coincidence could've been any better in just what show it is. Considering all the stress thats going on right now with the roommate situation (I'm not really stressed, just pissed, and anxious to be rid of them!) a little relief is just what I need. And you can't spell angry, yet cathartic release, without Nine Inch Nails! I so cannot wait. I haven't seen Trent and company since May of 2000, and they kicked ass then, and I've heard they're kicking even more ass now. Amazing what sobriety can do for a guy right? Last time I saw them Mariyn Manson came out at the end of Starf*ckers, Inc. (A song about him, ironically enough) and they went into the best rendition of Manson's The Beautiful People I've ever heard. I so cannot wait for tonight. I'm gonna scream and yell and feel better when all is said and done.

After the show, I'm going back to my house, grabbing some stuff and heading to my parents for a good chunk of the weekend. I'm getting my car serviced first thing in the morning (way to spend another day off) and the dealership is in their town, so its better to sleep there then wake up super early in Babylon and go. Then I shall relax at home for the rest of the day and night with the dog, once escaping being around the whiniest bitches on Earth. Did I just say that? Wow, where did that come from? In good news, my friend and Randy's co-worker Heather will most likely take one spot in the house. Which we're not sure, but she'll take one, which is cool. Then its just one more that needs to be filled and we can maybe go onto a happy living environment. Please? Can we please?

In other news. I didn't buy the guitar off eBay. I exercised some self restraint. But, the guy selling it relisted it at $40 cheaper. So now I'm tempted all over again. That covers shipping basically. I think tomorrow I'm going to go down to Guitar Center and play a few of the exact model the guy's selling and see how I feel. If I really like it, I'll get the one on eBay as it is a deal. If not, I shall refrain, for now.

Alright, only two and half more hours of work, and then, NINE INCH NAILS! Come on, sing it with me now, "Head like a hole! Black as your soul! I'd rather die then give you control!!!"

Here we go again, and in a big way. Let me just preface this by saying I live with two of the most immature women, or maybe I should say girls, that I have ever met. Thankfully neither of them are Shari, my best friend Seth's girlfriend. Just when I thought my home was a relatively drama free zone, the drama hits you like a ton of bricks! So I come home on Monday night, all psyched to have the next day off to go to the doctor to get my wrist looked at (details on that to follow). I come out of the bathroom and Ali, my attempted room stealing roommate, tells me that Karen, the one who can't remember who I am, has decided that she's moving out. Lovely. Honestly, it doesn't phase me as long as she realizes she can't leave until a replacement is found, as she's still liable for the rent (and I found out today, she's liable for it until the lease is over, even if someone takes her place, nice, right? Of course whoever took her place would pay the rent, but if they don't, I can go after whoever I want for it. Doesn't make sense, but according to a partner here, it does). So Ali, Shari and myself convene to look through Craigslist for some ads for people looking and send out some e-mails. Meanwhile, this is all still secondhand to me, as Karen didn't tell me herself.

I come home last night and once Shari got home from dinner with a friend we were talking, and Karen still hadn't come to talk to me. I went in my room at 8 to watch Bones and House, and Karen finally stopped by my room to talk to me on her way to smoke a cigarette. So we talked and she explained that its because of the money, she can't afford to live there. Gee, wouldn't you take something like that into account before you decide to move in? I mean, I took a look at what I averaged a month in income, what my expenses would be (after some generous debt relief from my dad) and saw whether or not it was something I could afford. She told Shari that she spent too much money last summer going to Greece. Again, my problem? Crappier thing is, she told Shari this at work on Friday, effectively ruining Shari's weekend. Meanwhile, she saw me and hung out with me for a good hour on Friday night and made no mention of it to me, and then told Shari that she hadn't seen me all weekend on Monday. Lie much?

Thankfully my friend Heather, a co-worker of my brothers, and fellow student of my guitar teacher is interested in taking Karen's place. So thats one thing down. Ali, Shari and myself sat down to figure out how we're going to go about getting someone in Karen's place last night, and surprise, surprise, Ali wants nothing to do with the screening process, just the final decision. I'm not surprised, considering she's done little to nothing for the place since we moved in. She may feel otherwise, but I don't, and Shari doesn't, and voiced that last night. Then the two of them got into it, and basically Ali now has one foot out the door as well. Fine with me, don't let the door hit your ass on the way out. Same deal applies though, you don't leave until someone else comes in to take your place.

Maturity, right? From someone younger than me, I'd expect it, and I can sort of see where Karen is coming from, she just doesn't think the place is worth begging and borrowing money for, considering all thats happened, and thats her opinion and she's entitled to it. She's like 25 I think. Ali is 31 and I honestly don't think I've ever seen someone so immature in my life. Shari agrees with me. I'll be glad when they're both gone and we replace them with cool people that stabilize the living environment.

I think Heather defintiely wants in, but I think she'd prefer Ali's room. So what I think we should do is find someone to take Karen's room, and then when Ali is ready to leave, Heather can come in. I'm waiting to hear back from Shari on it. But thats my plan and I think I'm going to stick to it.

So onto my wrist. I have tendonitis, probably from working things in my wrist that I've never worked before. So here's the plan, with very little added to it that I wasn't already doing. Keep taking the drugs, and thankfully my mom scored samples this time around so I don't have to pay $30 for a prescription. Ice it down when I'm done playing, and I think I'm going to apply heat before I play to loosen it up. I bought and plan to use this grip things to strengthen my forearm and wrist, a little proactive thinking on my part. And I have to wear a wrist splint when I sleep to keep it immobile. Fun, but hopefully it'll put me on the road to recovery.

To be filed under the what the hell is wrong with you, you need your head examined category, I'm so close to buying a guitar on eBay. The sale ends (not an auction) in an hour and a half. The thing retails for $950 and is in a discontinued Teal color, and its on sale for $700 with $40 for shipping. Not a bad deal? Right? Don't tempt me.