"A man's got to take a lot of punishment to write a really funny book." --Twain

Tweets

2009-11-14T01:01:48Z

21:47 @gretajams Bill Simmons BS Report podcast on iTunes; 6/29 and 10/21 podcasts; 4 interviews with Klosterman. You're welcome. #
22:00 "Cat in the wall, huh?" --Charlie ALWAYS SUNNY!!!! WOO HOO!!! #
22:30 @scubastevie Mine is worth $5. Ridiculous. My wit is worth at least $7. I'm hilarious...and have many leather bound books. #
22:38 Maker's Mark and Coke. Mexican food. Office. Always Sunny. A Dingus to my left and a hilarious cat to my right. Good times. #
23:10 Dear Indiana Pacers, you rep
resent Indiana basketball while IU gets back on its feet. Please be relevant again. Go Pacers! #
23:14 Onto Chapelle Show DVDs. Great night to make up for a shitty day! #
23:30 @gretajams So how are things? When are you coming back to visit? #
00:10 @gretajams So an Obama-vacay to Wisconsin? I would love to visit Wisconsin. Never been there. Especially if I could get the crew back. #
00:11 @gretajams NY, huh? Interesting. I'm sure Greta would have have plenty of stories in NY. I better at least see
tons of pictures. #

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Tweets

2009-11-13T01:01:53Z

09:16 Hey, it actually feels like fall today. #
11:40 Plus: Free bagels at work today! Minus: No sharp knives to cut them and no toaster to make them toasty. #
11:43 Awkward Conversations at Work: Me (in smalltalk mode): Hey, how are you? Person: My partner's mom is in Hospice. #
12:22 @acroninj Chili. It's a good night for chili. Go get some beans and onion, sip on some whiskey, clean the gun, and revel in being a guy. #

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Tweets

2009-11-12T01:01:27Z

09:32 Big thanks to all of the vets out there every day, but especially today. #
09:36 "The only way to learn is to be unafraid to fail." --Thomas Keller #

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Tweets

2009-11-11T01:01:57Z

13:02 @lisamendyk @acroninj I still find a million things I want online. Damn these American Consumer tendencies! #

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Tweets

2009-11-10T01:01:53Z

14:40 Got back from Austin late Saturday. Sunday was chores. Monday, I'm tired and trying to concentrate. #

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Tweets

2009-11-04T01:01:21Z

20:16 Cleaned quite a bit while listening to Dan Carlin. The man is a genius. #
20:18 "The years passed, mankind became stupider at a frightening rate." --Idiocracy #
23:19 "I've got the ocean blue. I've got a picture of you." --My Morning Jacket #
23:20 It's never easy. #
12:17 Some guy was in stall in the office bathroom. He was blaring hip-hop from his iPod while doing his business. Whatever floats your boat... #
12:17 ...or floats something else. #

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Tweets

2009-11-03T01:01:02Z

09:46 Tired. Not a lot of sleep. But lots of work to do before the business trip to Austin on Wed. Work, work, work. #
11:21 SOTM: "Picture of You" by My Morning Jacket: Sounds raw, both production-wise and emotionally, just like heartbreak. Wonderful song. #
11:30 SOTM: "The Littlest Birds" by Be Good Tanyas: Miranda Reilly sent this to me. Reminds me of Colorado. Great, bluegrassy song. #
15:40 @prinzessjp It's a nation-wide phenomena. #
15:41 @prinzessjp People who comment on any site's
articles are either a) being intentional assholes or b) really, really, really dumb. #
15:42 @prinzessjp It's like "Letters to the Editor" without the time or effort needed to form coherent sentences...or thoughts. :) #

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Tweets

2009-11-02T01:01:23Z

14:10 The Fifth Element is on HBO. Awesome. #

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Tweets

2009-10-31T01:01:20Z

21:15 Rowdy Roddy Piper on Always Sunny? Wonderful. #
11:39 SOTM: "When You Sleep" by Cake: Dirty little ditty from one of my favorite bands. Let them eat Cake, indeed. #

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Tweets

2009-10-30T01:01:55Z

08:34 Some kid that runs every morning to his job at McDonald's totally beat me on foot today over a 1/2 mile stretch. Stupid traffic. #
11:36 SOTM: "Simple Gifts" by Alison Krauss and Yo-Yo Ma: I've loved this song since second grade and it still profoundly affects me. Great cover. #

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Tweets

2009-10-29T01:01:52Z

10:36 SOTM: "Playground Love" by Air: Mellow, enchanting instrumental with a perverted sounding title. #
13:35 @gretajams Big Ups! Fingers crossed. #
13:36 @acroninj That motherfucker is playing hooky. I can feel it. Wanna go burn his house down on Devils Night? #
14:14 SOTM: "Hotel" by Broken Social Scene: It's a pretty sexy tune. Very breathy. #
14:28 Business card for "The Food Company" in the break room. I wonder what industry they're in. Probably dry cleaning. #
14:48 "If you don't know where you're going, how are you going to know when you get there?" --Yogi Berra #

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Tweets

2009-10-28T01:01:53Z

09:19 @gretajams Congrats, Greta! Knock 'em dead! #
09:20 SOTM: "Knot Comes Loose" --My Morning Jacket: Mellow and haunting. Perfect for a rainy Tuesday morning. #
11:06 Did you know: if you have gel inserts in your shoes, airport security will take them away from you? Now you do. Terrorists are gellin'. #
11:59 SOTM: "Blame It on the Tetons" by Modest Mouse. One of my favorite Modest Mouse (and all-time) songs. "Everyone's a building burning..." #
13:05 SOTM: "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" by Vampire Weekend: A bounc
y, energetic, sugary sweet song filling my sails with a second wind. #
15:23 SOTM: "Like Eating Glass" by Bloc Party: This whole album reminds me of driving around Old Louisville on fall day when the sun is setting. #

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Tweets

2009-10-27T01:01:47Z

20:49 @gretajams No. There is nothing shiny about rural Mississippi. Paul Simon was wrong. Actually, it looks like rural Indiana and Kansas and... #
11:18 @prinzessjp Funny. I was thinking the exact same thing about my Monday and week ahead. #
12:19 SOTM: "Impossible Germany" by Wilco: This song just chills my nerves to a hush, which is a usual workday necessity. #
18:00 Watching one of those car chase shows and saw one in Sellersburg! #

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Tweets

2009-10-26T01:02:02Z

18:51 Back safe and sound from the Mississippi Delta. Good times. #
18:53 "When you're a kid, you want to save the world, but then you grow up and realize you're lucky if you can save yourself." --Karissa Dingus #

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Tweets

2009-10-24T01:02:53Z

09:04 Hoping it stops raining before tonight's drive to Mississippi, but looking forward to the wedding! #
14:12 "The will to succeed is important, but what's more important is the will to prepare." --Bob Knight #
14:19 @lisamendyk Someone always has to pick the scab. #

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Tweets

2009-10-23T01:02:53Z

21:40 Whiskey and Coke. Awesomely hilarious episodes of Ghost Hunters. Reruns of How I Met Your Mother. I'm gonna smoke a cigar. Awesome. #
21:43 "When I watch the Karate Kid, I root for the Karate Kid, Johnny from the Cobra Kai dojo. Get your head out of your ass, Lilly." --Barney #
22:45 @acroninj Good man. Did I tell you we went to the Jack Daniel's distillery? It's a good thing you didn't try to pull that off on your own. #
22:52 @acroninj No worries. Good tour, but it's a dry county. No samples. No samples at all. #</l>
22:52 @acroninj Besides, it's free. I'll go back. #
23:11 @gretajams No review of Ghost Hunters? Lame. #
00:01 @gretajams There isn't enough time. On my driver's license, I look like a drug dealer. My passport photo will get me "randomly" stopped. #
08:59 @lisamendyk Amen. Getting cut off is almost a part of my daily routine. #

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Tweets

2009-10-21T01:04:35Z

23:43 Application for part-time blogger position complete. Fingers crossed. #

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Tweets

2009-10-20T01:59:47Z

07:29 @gretajams They stink. #
07:30 I believe the musical equivalent of "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" is listening to Pantera on the drive to work. #
09:57 I've had Van Halen's "Dance the Night Away" stuck in my head for two days. And now so do you. You're welcome. #
11:05 @acroninj Storage shelves for food in the basement? Are you canning? Storing up for 2012 or the zombie apocalypse? #
17:37 Watching crazy ghost shows on A&E. Why do I love this stuff so much? #
18:31 What's tonight? Baked potato bar night! Yum. #

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Back to the Grind

2009-07-06T05:45:20Z

July 6, 2009, monday

12:24 am

I should be asleep, but that would be the closing period on a weekend I’m reluctant to let slip away. I was home, wandering around Louisville and Southern Indiana, surrounded by family and friends, by smiles and laughter and joy. Now I stand on the mental precipice of jumping into tomorrow among the jagged rocks of Development. I’ve set my mind, though. This will end. I will have a new job soon, and while I prefer one at home, I know that a new one anywhere is necessary. It is a requirement for sustained, stable mental health. I’m gearing up for another weekly round, a five day affray of shattered communication and lack of cooperation.

But my mental snapshots will keep me strong: sitting on the deck with my parents, my aunts and uncle, and Karissa, eating Arni’s pizza, enjoying the perfect summer weather; enjoying the Barret Bar with AJ, Todd, Karissa, Melissa, Christal, Rick, Erica, Caleb, Amy, and Matt; going to the Oxmoor Center with Karissa and then driving around Louisville and the Knobs in a gentle rain; chowing down on a perfect home cooked meal of steaks, potatoes, slaw, and corn with the family; playing pool with Jeremy and Karissa at the Mag Bar; and searching through ear X-tacy’s CDs with Todd and Karissa before eating lunch at the Onion Tea House. Even the nap with Cake’s “Where Would I Be?” playing in my ears.

Friday Night!

2009-05-30T22:47:53Z

May 30, 2009
SATURDAY~!

Dear Readers,

I hope all is well in your world. My Friday was wonderful, so you’ll have to excuse my absence. Work rolled by harmlessly, so Brad, Katie, and I headed to the Yazoo Brewery on 12^th and Clinton. The beer was delicious (I drank their freshly brewed Hefeweizen) and the building, an old, 19^th century factory full of exposed brick, was bursting with character. It is true that it’s not in the best part of town. In fact it reminded me of the Patton Oswald bit about the section of San Francisco he lived in, which he called, “at the corner of mug whitey and stab whitey,” but I’ll forgive the risk for that quality of beer.

Katie asked me how I felt about the news that one of my bosses was quitting. I said I didn’t know how I felt since that was the first I’d heard about it. Communication is the key, you see.

When I arrived home, Karissa was already there and we decided to continue the good times by heading downtown. We started out on a rooftop bar called Rippy’s and then walked down to 2^nd Avenue which is closed off and romantically lit on the weekends. After having our fill of the Nashville scene, we drove back to our area of town and played some pool at a local bar before heading home.

God, I love the weekends.

In life,

Karl

Don't Stop!

2009-05-29T03:24:22Z

5/28/2009
Thursday

Dear Readers,

Don’t Stop Believin’. It’s a great song. It’s corny, and hokey, and totally 80’s, but whenever I’m running, it’s one of the first songs I want to hear (right after “The Pretender” by Foo Fighters and “Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne). The exaggerated optimism. The power popping arena rock. The raspy howling of Steve Perry. What’s not to love?

My sentences are all fractured tonight. That paragraph looks like shattered glass. I’m distracted and watching “How I Met Your Mother” and thinking about getting a drink. I haven’t had one in a while and a whiskey and Coke is sounding nice to my pallet.

In life,

Karl

Purr and weave.

2009-05-27T00:09:20Z

May 26, 2009
Tuesday

Dear Readers,

I roughly and begrudgingly fell back into lockstep with the workweek today after the extended vacation. Dawn came much sooner than my body anticipated; so many dreams interrupted; so many things my unconscious mind wanted to show me died at the machine-gun rattling of the alarm clock.

It was a carbon copy day. No news to report.

I walked in the door at a little past four to an eager and lonely cat; his tail upright and curled at the top like a question mark. (“Where have you been?”) He purred and weaved between my strides.

Karissa arrived soon after and made buffalo chicken salads for dinner. I sighed, listened to the rain fall, and enjoyed being home.

In life,

Karl

The War Against the Wall

2009-05-23T16:07:43Z

Last weekend, our 31-year old neighbor died from a massive seizure. He was in good shape, very strong, always working on his 2004 black Chevy Monte Carlo. It’s tragic not only because he was so young and his death so sudden, but also because he was a father to two young children. They were always playing around our building, riding their bikes on nice days. However, that's all I can tell you about him. I didn’t even know his name. I had to skim the obituaries and estimate by age to uncover his identity; luckily the family included a picture.

Then, earlier this week, I was stuck in traffic, air-conditioner blasting, listening to “World War Z,” the Max Brooks’ novel about a zombie epidemic that sweeps across Earth. It’s a fascinating book; written as an oral history gathered from survivors of the War and focused on how people cope with the crisis, how they survived the never-ending onslaught of the undead rather than on the undead themselves. I was struck by one passage because of a personally held belief reinforced by our neighbor’s unexpected death; one survivor was talking about how compartmentalized our lives have become, how we can live so close to people and know nothing about them. As a second-generation American immigrant from Pakistan, he said his parents always lamented the loss of community in this country. I couldn’t concur more.

Eastridge

2008-12-22T17:38:40Z

Soon enough, I’ll be home. When I smell oatmeal fudge brownies baking, taste the bittersweet flavor of a Jack and Coke on my lips, and hear the laughter of long absent voices, I’ll feel warm no matter what the mercury declares. As Kafka wrote of Prague, the little mother with long, deep claws, I feel for Louisville. It’s time to feel the soil on my hands, the dirt under my nails, as I dig deep for some roots and keep digging until I find the rejuvenating spring that feeds this weird, artsy town that’s impossible to define to an outsider.

Eagle

2008-12-22T04:50:44Z

It was cold in Nashville today; cold enough to watch the breath escape your lips like steam from a burst pipe.

It reminded me of Colorado, of being hidden away, high up in the Rockies, among Aspen trees, blizzards and rocky peaks, where a herd of elk or a flock of big horn sheep was an everyday sight. I miss being surrounded by nature. I miss looking up at night skies so clear you could see satellites burning celestial trails across the heavens. How I long to breath that thin air and feel the sting of winter on my cheeks.