Author: robertjames1971

I'm wicked tall.

Stay Focused

I have tomorrow off from work. It’s Halloween. I like taking Halloween off. I don’t have any real reason to take it off, I just like having it off.

I also have a shit load of work to do for a deadline at the end of next week. Like, a literal mountain of paperwork type stuff.

My brain is starting to get into you-have-tomorrow-off-woohoo mode where I am easily distracted by trivial things and lose focus on what I am doing and I start slipping into day off mode early.

I cannot do that today. I cannot. I must not. Too much stuff to do. Too many tasks with a fast approaching deadline. Stay focused, Robert. Keep your nose to that paperwork-grindstone. Don’t let your attention slip!

Oh look, here is a picture of a guitar that I took this morning.

60/365

Huh… uh oh.

The Horror

Last night the Bruins lost to a team that has been playing pretty bad this season so far. They got shut out.

In the World Series, the fucking Yankees, who were trailing 3-0 in the series, beat the Dodgers to stay alive.

Basically, it was the worst pro-sports night imaginable for me.

The horror… the horror… the horror…

Lunch Break

I am just about to wrap up my lunch break on this fine Tuesday-in-the-office. I have a few minutes before the next thing starts so I figured I’d come here and write something… anything…

Unfortunately, I have zero inspiration for any topics at all. Way to have an empty brain, Robert. Ugh.

So… here’s a topic. If the Dodgers win tonight they will complete the sweep of the Yankees and win the World Series. I freakin’ hate The Dodgers with the passion and fury of a thousand burning suns. Fortunately I hate the Yankees even more (with the passion and fury of a million, million burning suns) so that’s actually a good thing. As a lifelong Red Sox fan, watching the Yankees lose is fun for me. Watching them get humiliated by their (former) cross town rivals, The Dodgers, is even more fun. The only thing better would be watching them lose in humiliating fashion to The Red Sox… like they did in 2004. ‘Member that? Yeah, I ‘member!

What else I can I write about… hmmm… oh, here’s a quick topic worth mentioning. My step son, Harry, has been trying to get me to watch Better Call Saul for months now. He’s actually taking a class on the show at UVM and has been rewatching and loving the hell out of it. I told him I would start it this week, and last night I did. One episode down. Who knows how many to go. I did not see the twist at the end of that first episode coming, but when it happened I was all shit-eatin’-grins. I have to work episodes in around the shows that are currently airing, though most of my watch list is ending in the next week. There’s Daryl Dixon (which has been a little disappointing this season but this week’s penultimate season two episode was good) and The Penguin (which is excellent) and Only Murders in the Building (which is always fun) and Agatha All Along (which took a couple of weeks to suck me in but has turned out to be really good) and What We Do in the Shadows (which kicked off with three episodes last week, all of which were excellent). That’s a lot of TV. I’ll get to it all, somehow.

What else, what else… the Bruins have been pretty mediocre to start the season. They play Philly at home tonight and Philly has been pretty bad. Here’s hoping the offense wakes up. Also the defense. Also the goaltending. Yeah, it’s been a long first nine games here in Bruins nation. The same cannot be said for my old school, UMass Lowell. I actually saw a poll last night (I think it was US College Hockey Online’s poll but I’m not sure) that had them break into the top 20 teams in the country. They are 4-1 overall and 1-0 in Hockey East. The spanked Merrimack College last weekend (that’s my brother’s old school. Sorry, John). I should pay closer attention to my alma matter. Did I spell alma matter correctly? Google tells me I did not. It’s alma mater. There. Better.

Okay, folks. Time to go join a conference call or two. Hope you’re all having a good Tuesday afternoon. I hope you all had a good lunch. Hang in there, folks. Talk to you later.

New Music Project Coming Soon

Today is Tuesday October 29th. This coming Friday is November 1st.

A new annual, internet based music project begins on Friday. National Solo Album Month, NaSoAlMo. Write and record an album’s worth of music all within the month of November, and do it all yourself. No collaborations. Just you.

I had a thought about trying to write two songs of approximately 20 minutes in length, like a good Prog Rock nerd. I said two 20 minute songs, not four. What do you think I am, Yes? Sheesh.

Something tells me that once I start rolling on this (assuming I actually start rolling on this) I will just do my usual 10, 2-3 minute rockers and call it a day. We will see how (if) it goes. I’m sure I’ll post about it 20-30 times a day, or some crap like that.

It’s All Down Hill from Here

October 28, 2024… the worst day of the year.

Why?

I had to go out this morning to run a couple of errands. I needed to go to the supermarket to grab something I can cook for dinner tonight. As I was putting on my coat I asked Siri to tell me how the current weather looked. She answered on our bedroom Homepod and said it was snowing.

Bullshit. I looked out the window. Everything was wet, as if we had a little rain not long ago, but there was no snow falling. I felt better about the state of the world in that exact moment, but the seed had been planted. The signs pointed to today being a serious downer.

When I got to the supermarket and got out of my car it happened. I saw the first snowflake of the year. It was followed by a second and a third and maybe a few more, but that was it. In the time it took me to walk from my car to the building it had started and stopped. When I left a few minutes later it had not started again, and it continued to not snow all the way home.

It doesn’t matter though. The first snow flakes have fallen. Winter has truly arrived. It is all down hill from here, folks. It’s all over.