now playing on iTunes/iPod: silence

Labels: bestof, site

I went to Thief River Falls over the weekend to witness my awesome sister play a fifty page work by Tchaikovsky from memory on the piano. however, I came away from my trip with more than just a renewed appreciation for baroque-era classical pieces:

1) TRF is very similar in civic structure to the fictional Tree Hill, NC. there is an extreme high-end upscale contigent, represented in part by the recital I went to in which one of the pianists has already cut a CD and been commissioned to write a play, and a Lucas Scott-inspired 'wrong side of the tracks' that is littered with dirty dirty industry and crappy pressboard houses. of course, as with any rural Midwest town, the epitome of trashiness can be found at the Pamida. I can say, without question, that the Thief River Pamida is the dirtiest, most run-down, and least organized store I have ever seen. I'm pretty sure I caught herpes while in the health section, which lacks an operating pharmacy but curiously has not been retooled to reflect that.

2) 90 minutes of listening to piano is not quite as fun as it sounds. the Knuttila Studio, which staged the recital, is run by a woman who is unfailingly nice but also clearly nuts. she has a quirk when speaking to a gathering of people in which she refers to everyone as 'audience' repeatedly. as in, 'Audience, this is the first blah blah...' forcing me to supress the urge to loudly respond 'That's great, performer.' I fucking hate when people do things like that. if you can't address someone by name, you shouldn't address them directly at all, because it just sounds like you're trying to assert a higher standing over another person. it's like at work; one of my responsibilities is to perform stock checks. almost without exception, the sales staff will get on the horn and be like 'hey warehouse, blah blah blah...' and I reply by calling them 'sales'. doesn't seem to faze them though. once a while, I'll get this exchange:

caller: warehouse?
me: sales?
caller: I'm not sales, I'm MANAGEMENT.

whoops! my mistake, Princess.

3) Twins stadium deal is close to going through. FINALLY. after all that hoopla with the tax committee, the ballpark bill passed through the last House committee last night on its way to the main House and Senate floor and, hopefully, to construction later this year. I really do hope this all happens.

4) about 12-14 years ago, my grandparents went to DC and Virginia on vacation, and on their return gave me a souvenir copy of the Declaration of Independence and a map detailing the Battle of Gettysburg. they were muy cool because they had that fake antique parchment feel to them. also, for the past three months or so, I've been doing an energy drink about two hours before my shift at work ends so I don't crash. this is pretty much essential when constantly running on two hours' sleep. anyhoo, I usually get Mountain Dew Amp, but since they discontinued it in favor of MDX, I switched the more readily available Red Bull. so here's how these two events tie together: to achieve the antique parchment look, my souvenirs had to be soaked in a smelly acid concoction that still permeates those papers to this day. well, my Red Bull today tasted JUST LIKE HOW THEY SMELLED. quite disgusting, and I almost vomited. ahh, teh goodtimes.

that's all for now. later, CHUMPS!

now playing on iPod: Jimmy Eat World 'Sweetness'

Labels: bestof, personal, twins

this lyric is pretty easy to get your head around, as just about everyone can relate to it. it preaches about treasuring the good times you have because they certainly will not last forever. I thought about this today at work; when I was in middle and high school, every fall brought on a new year filled with friends, fun and free time. I had a wonderful core of close friends from my church, and one of our favorite fall activities every Sunday was to play some football on the church lawn. our weekly football games were so big that we started giving names to special games: the Advent Bowl was played after the annual Christmas caroling trip, New Year's Bowl at the rotating New Years Eve party, the Super Bowl Bowl, which went down during the real SB's halftime show, and of course the Thanksgiving Bowl that we had every turkey day at the rotating dessert party. we even used to get together after rainy nights to play tackle football, like the song says, and one year when the street next to the Arby's we always went to was torn up, we'd play there too while we waited for our parents to finish eating. every spring though, someone would graduate from high school and go off to college, and there would be one less guy on the field. by my senior year in high school, we played only sporadically, and now the only game we play is the Thanksgiving Bowl, which is now 15 years old. out of all the things I miss from my high school years, the football is what I miss most. the experience of running in the TD, stripping down to short sleeves and gloves in the coldest weather, breathing the crisp autumn air as you stared down your buddy from across the scrimmage line, and just the feeling of spending a cool Sunday afternoon with your friends. I may never get to do that again, but whenever I see the leaves start to turn and I smell the air, it's almost like I'm back on that lawn. and I wouldn't trade that feeling for the world.

now playing on iTunes: Graham Colton 'Cigarette'

Labels: bestof, personal

well, I was gonna go to the fair today. but instead of that happening, I spent most of my day in and in transit to doctor's offices. curious about the events? let's BREAK IT DOWN

11:03a after being awake and in unbearable pain till 6:30a, I finally fell asleep only to be awakened by the same nauseating aches in my right foot. I decide to call a doctor.

11:46a I get off the phone with MinnHealth. my appointment at 1:45p confirmed, I decide to start getting ready.

12:32p ahh, a nice hot shower. but wait, my foot is in even worse pain now. I look down and my cuticle is hemorrhaging blood. ohhh fuck, this could be BAD.

1:45p at the MinnHealth, the orderly looks with disdain at my homemade dressing. the gauze was a deep red, and in real danger of coming off. the doctor comes in, looks at my toe, writes out two prescriptions, and tells me to get the fuck out of his office and call a podiatrist, pronto.

2:18p I'm at Cub Foods. waiting in line. I just want to fill my prescriptions. for some reason, people love to gawk at some poor fuck wearing beat up sport sandals with his big toe wrapped in bandages. gah, just get me out of here! finally, I got my codeine and antibiotics and jetted like a motherfucker.

2:40p I walk in the door of my house, pick up the phone, and dial the number of the podiatry clinic I was referred to. I ask for an appointment for Friday, only to be told there were no openings till the following Thursday. I politely tell the woman that my doctor said my need was urgent. her reply? 'We can fit you in now. Hurry, the specialist leaves at 4p.'

3:12p I limped my sorry ass in the specialist's office. a cool guy, we made iPod-centered small talk as he prepped me, and while waiting for the anesthetic to go into effect he told me about the 'sweet' guitar he bought at a garage sale the day before. the entire procedure took less than 25 minutes, and I was soon on my way, limping into the sunset.

that leaves me here. I'm drowsy as fuck from the pain killers, but if I go to bed I'll screw my sleep scedule for sure. so instead I'm posting here and checking out Snopes, hoping something cool will happen. ahh, goodtimes.

now playing on iTunes: Josh Kelley 'Home to Me'

Labels: bestof, personal

had my ass an awesome enchilada dish this evening. I followed this with a retreat to the telly for some 'Simpsons'. well surprise of surprises, I fell asleep while watching television. I then proceeded to have what I'm henceforth referring to as the March 2005 'Dream of the Month'. (yes, it will become a regular thing.) here is a cutscene, one of the ones I best remember:

EHREN returns from taking AUSTIN to the Science Museum. He then finds himself in the FOYER of a small house in 1950's suburbia, his persona transformed into a highschooler from that era, chatting with a female resembling Reese Witherspoon in 'Pleasantville'.

GIRL (holding wine bottle and 2 glasses): It's been a long day, Ehren. Care for a drink?
EHREN: Come on, neither of us is old enough to drink. Besides, it's late; I should get you upstairs and into bed.
GIRL (coyly): You're right. I am feeling pretty tired...

Cut to BEDROOM. The only light in the room is coming from the connecting bathroom. GIRL is sitting on her bed, drinking from the wine bottle. EHREN finally obliges and takes a glass, then turns toward the window. GIRL quickly takes off her blouse and turns back the blankets, and asks EHREN to come over.

EHREN: See, doesn't it feel good to be in bed?

GIRL takes the glass from EHREN's hand and tosses it aside, breaking it. She then takes his hand.

GIRL: I'm so cold.
EHREN: I know how to fix that.

EHREN takes the blankets in his hands, and pulls them over GIRL, making sure she is confortable.

EHREN (cheerfully): There you go! Well, I gotta go home now. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?
GIRL (sullenly): Okay...

[end]

wheee!

Now playing on iPod: Something Corporate 'As You Sleep'

Labels: bestof

linkage: BusinessJournal Associated Press Star Tribune

I don't know quite how to feel right now. there's no real way to describe what goes through your head when you realize you're part of a failing enterprise.

I first started at Ultimate back in the summer of 1998, when it was still known here as Audio King. My original goal was to work there for a year, while I got my head on straight and figured out what my post high school path would be. Then I'd quit, most likely go to the U, and move on with my life. Uh, that never happened exactly that way. I ended up investing six years of my life into the Ultimate Electronics employee pool, learning many lessons and making several connections along the way. And now that my future with Ultimate, and the future of the company as a whole, is not only uncertain but also quite possibly limited? That frightens me just a little bit, and also makes me a little sad. The thing that kills me the most is I'm finding about this in the papers, just like the rest of the general public.

I'm at a loss for words.

Now playing on iPod: John Mayer; 'Tracing'

Labels: bestof

...and it was one for the books. how did it start? well, roughly after 11a my cellphone died. that was good times. what else happened? right, the check card thing... so I realized after leaving my 12:45 class that -- whoops, clumsy me -- I forgot my check card on my desk. that was pretty hot. I might have discovered this earlier, but because of all the hours I have had to pick up at work what with the christmas season, I studied straight through lunch. so, when I was leaving school I was pretty fucking hungry. but wait, I can't leave; no cash means no way to get home. guess what? it's telephone time. but it died earlier this morning. so I had to search for a phone. this is when I collided with someone in the hallway. I bend down to help her up and I find myself staring at the most beautiful girl in the history of time and/or space. of course, I lose all ability to talk, later to be [figuratively] teased as she waves goodbye and I sputter out something that probably closely resembled esperanto. so I finally got a ride to work, which was also good times an experience. I get there and am immediately barraged by salespeople, and the day progressively gets worse. because there was no custy traffic to speak of, the sales staff is in a rush to complete as many mundane tasks as possible, which usually causes me to be interrupted to the point where I can't accomplish my own tasks anymore. finally I snapped at a couple guys, got them to leave me alone, and got done what needed to get done so I could finally get home and eat something.... at 10:30p.

as a topper, I'm still wide awake. wheee!

Now playing on iTunes: Wayne; 'All in All"

Labels: bestof

I'm listening to Josh Kelley but that's not even important right now.

What is important is this:



it all started around 5p yesterday when I noticed I wasn't getting new email messages. I found that odd, so I tried to perform some test messages. sure enough, NOTHING made it through. so I authored some emails and sent them out to some of my other email accounts. I got those fine, which struck me as REALLY odd. I was a little miffed, so I hit the sack in hopes of a better tomorrow. Alas, it was not to be....

I woke up this morning with a bright smile on my face. Actually, that isn't true. When I smile I look like a faggot so I generally frown whenever I can. Good times. Anyhoo, I decided after my media class that it was time to check my email. Y'know those songs Strong Bad sings at the beginning of his emails? Like, "Emailemailemailemailemail EMAIL!!!!" Yeah, I silently sang one of those. Only thing is, I DIDN"T GET ANY FUCKING EMAILS. Not even spam!! I thought I'd praise the good Lord Jebus when that happened. Instead I'm cursing a faceless corporation. Did I try to get help from them? Oh, you bet your sweet ass I did. I navigated their helpless FAQ pages for a good 15 minutes before I found a feedback form. While I filled it out I was reassured by the promise of "prompt attention". Mind you, this is at 10a. I shot it off, and whispered to myself that everything was going to be alright. But it was not to be...

At 2p I had not gotten Word 1 from Deathstar Yahoo! so I poked around some more, found the feedback form once again, and sent off another form, and this time in the 'detailed comments' field I wrote up a slightly blistering yet polite description of my problem, and the humble request that they honor their "prompt attention" promise. But it was not to be...

I got home from the salt mines with a bright smile on my face. Actually, that's not true either; at 10p I look like a faggot no matter my facial expression, so I was still sporting my trademark scowl. I hopped on the ol' compy to check the Cards/Astros boxscore then on to My Fucking Yahoo! to see if the email problem had been rectified. Well, surprise of surprises, it hadn't. So, once again, I navigated to the feedback form, scoffed at the hollow promise of response,p prompt or not (oh, I forgot to mention that they hadn't even acknowledged they got my requests for help), and proceeded to write this:

this is the 3rd time I have sent in a feedback form and and haven't received any sort of response from you. I have not been able to receive email for over 24 hours now, even though I can send mail to other addresses. it's frustrating because not only is it the only email address many people have for me, it's also the address in which I do billing and banking, and I also pay a fee to have my own domain affixed to my email. I have tried sending test messages to my address from several accounts, as well as other friends, and none get through, and yes I've checked my junk folder. this situation needs to be rectified now. I was promised a prompt response, not none at all, so I'd like to see you come through and help me to fix this problem.

So, Dear Reader, did that yield a reponse? Well yes and no. If by "response" you mean "robotic automated FAQ" then yes I got one:

From: Yahoo! Mail
Reply-To: Yahoo! Mail
To:

Hello,

Thank you for contacting Yahoo! Customer Care.

This is an automated message that has been sent to you based on the topic you selected from our feedback form. If your answer is not included in this email, please reply with a detailed description of the issue and your request will be reviewed by a Customer Care representative. Very few messages are simply lost in transit. Please make sure that the sender has actually sent the message and is able to send messages successfully to other users. If you still have not received the message, a number of things may have happened:

1. The message arrived for you after you signed in. When you sign in to your Yahoo! Mail account, you are shown a "snapshot" of your account at that moment. If you spend a long period of time either composing or reading a message, then you will not be able to see any new messages that arrived in your account during that time. Only when you load a new snapshot of your Inbox by clicking the "Check Mail" link, clicking the "Reload/Refresh" button on your your browser, or returning to the Welcome screen, will you be alerted to the presence of new messages (Please note that Yahoo! Messenger and News Ticker will alert you of new messages at all times).

2. If you have set up filters, your messages may be arriving in a folder other than your Inbox. To view your filters, click the "Mail Options" link on the top right-hand navigation bar, then click "Filters".

3. The message was not addressed properly. The sender may not have your correct email address or may have accidentally entered an incorrect email address. If you are an international Yahoo! Mail user, the sender may have used the standard "yahoo.com" domain instead of your appropriate address (i.e., "yahoo.co.uk" or "yahoo.fr"). If the address entered was a valid one (belonging to someone), the message intended for you may have been received by someone else. If the address entered was invalid (not owned by anyone), the message should have bounced back to >the sender with an error message. In particular, make sure the sender hasn't addressed the message to an alias of yours that is not your email address. Your Yahoo! Mail account has only one email address, which you chose when you registered, and sending to any other alias on your account (if you have any) will cause the mail to bounce.

4. Check to see if you have set your mail to be forwarded to another email address. To check this, click the "Mail Options" link in the top right-hand navigation bar, then click the "POP Access & Forwarding" link on the Options page. If you are using Auto-Forwarding and you would like to discontinue it, click the radio button for "Web and POP Access", then click "Submit." You can then click the "Back to Options" button to return to the Yahoo! Mail Options page.

5. It is possible (though perhaps unlikely) that the sender's address is on your Blocked Addresses list. The Blocked Addresses feature in Yahoo! Mail allows you to create a list of addresses that you do not want to receive mail from. Mail coming in from one of these senders will neither arrive nor bounce, but will simply be discarded. You can check your Blocked Addresses list by clicking "Mail Options", then "Blocked Addresses".

6. The message was delayed. Most messages are delivered within a few minutes, but messages can sometimes be delayed while in transit due to problems on the sender's mail server, heavy Internet traffic, or routing problems. On rare occasions, delays can last for several hours or more. If you eventually receive the message and would like to know where it was delayed, you can read the full headers of the message to find out.
To configure full headers for a single message, please do the following:
* Open the message you would like to view the headers for.
* Click on the "Full Headers" link, located on the top right-hand side of the message window.
* Your message will then appear with full headers.
Please note: This option will only apply towards the message you have selected to view full headers for. Your selection will not be saved for all messages.
To configure full headers for all messages, do the following:
* Click on the "Mail Options" link, located near the top right-hand >side of the page.
* Click the "General Preferences" link.
* Locate the "Show Headers" heading and select either "Brief" or "All".
* Click the "Save" button to put your new settings into effect.
The top of the message will show expanded headers, including several "Received:" lines, indicating the different machines through which the message passed. Each "Received:" line has a time, and comparing these times will allow you to identify where along the way the message was held up (you may have to correct for time zone changes in doing this).

7. Your account is over the allowed quota. If so, any messages sent to your account will bounce back to the sender with an error message stating, "User is over quota". You will have to delete messages in your account in order to make room for new ones. Yahoo! Mail users now have the option to increase the size of their Yahoo! mailbox. For only $19.99 a year, you can upgrade to a 2gig Yahoo! Mail Plus account. To purchase this service, simply click on "Mail Upgrades" in Yahoo! Mail, then click on "Yahoo! Mail Plus". If you don't have a Yahoo! Wallet, you'll be prompted to set one up.

8. If messages sent to your account are bouncing back with an error >message other than "User is over quota", please forward us a copy of the bounce message so that we can investigate further.

9. Occasionally, interruptions or disruptions in email transmissions over the Internet will render a message undeliverable. While this is very rare, it does happen. Unfortunately, aside from waiting, there is no way to know for certain whether a message has been delayed or whether it has been rendered undeliverable.

In any case, the best solution is to request that the sender send the message again.

Thank you again for contacting Yahoo! Customer Care.

Regards,

Yahoo! Customer Care

Visit our online help pages at:
http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/mail/

Vote for the stars of Yahoo!'s next ad campaign
http://myengine.yahoo.com

Thanks a lot, you fucks. This message could have been summed up with this paraphrase: "Thanks for wasting time filling out specifics of your problems. Obviously you're too stupid to read our FAQ's so here they are. And by the way, while your shit doesn't work, why not try some of the other shitty services we're pimping?" Well that got me mad. Nobody is allowed to talk down to me. Especially some fucking smart-ass bot. Naturally I replied:

it's plainly obvious that I won't be able to get an actual human to read this, but just in case I'm going to respond to all the questions the ARS sent me:

1) I have checked my email several times an hour since I discovered yesterday at 5p central time that I wasn't receiving emails. each time I have clicked 'update' in My Yahoo and 'refresh' in my browser. I have also checked my email on 5 unique computers on 3 unique ISP's. since then, not only have I stopped getting emails at admin@ehrenstemme.com, but also at my primary address, aero_fan_98@hotmail.com.

2) I have very liberal filters that allow just about anything to enter my inbox. however, some spam still gets trapped in there. the funny thing is, since the last time I got an actual email I haven't gotten one piece of spam either, which is remarkable since I see at least 10-15 spam mails a day.

3) message addressing is mot a problem. I moderate a message board which sends me dozens of automated emails a day on threads that require my attention. not once after 5p yesterday have I gotten one piece from that automated mail system. not only that, but test messages I sent myself from entries in my address book did not make it in my inbox.

4) email address forwarding was never enabled because i check my email exclusively in a web browser environment. just in case, i checked the setting, and it was still in default mode.

5) there only 6 addresses in my blocked address list, hardly enough to encompass the entire internet. next...

6) all messages have been delayed for a day? sorry, don't buy it.

7) I have a 100mb limit. approximately 2.8 percent of my limit is used.

8) if I could actually GET messages, maybe I could send you a bounce message. IF that's even the problem, whit it most likely didn't, because none of the emails I sent to my addresses got bounced back.

9) since "interruptions or disruptions in email transmissions" are extremely rare, is it unreasonable that not receiving at least 50 messages constitutes as a major anomaly? further, how do you propose that I ask the sender to resend the message if I don't know they sent me one and they have no way to know that I didn't receive it?

if you have an 800 number I can call to talk to an actual person I'd greatly like to have it, because to wait 12-14 hours for an automated FAQ is absolutely ridiculous.

thanks for your "prompt" attention,

ES

so if you're still with me, that is how far this saga has taken me. I may or may not post on the subject later, depending on how bloody my head is from banging it against my desk....

Labels: bestof

Now playing on iTunes: Josh Kelley; Travelin'

this is Youppi!:


and this is Brad Wilkerson:


Y'know how Tom Hanks said "There's no crying in baseball"? This guy shot that theory down. Last night was indeed a sad night for Expos fans around the world, and what was bittersweet to see was that some of the players shared those sentiments, especially Wilkerson, who broke down on his way off the field into the dugout, and had a difficult time talking to reporters after the game. Infielder Jamey Carroll said in the post-game ceremonies:

"I want to thank everybody in the front office, from the ushers to the security people. I want to try to touch everybody in the clubhouse. I want to let them know that the people that we run into every day have been a part of this thing. Also, I want to touch the fans that have been part of it for 30-something years. We appreciate it, and I appreciate it."

The saddest people of all are, of course, the fans. Over 31,000 showed up for the Olympic Stadium finale, and many openly wept in the stands. Some were vengeful, but most just wanted to say goodbye to Nos Amours (Our Loves when converted from French) and cheer for Canada's team one more time.

Au revoir, boys.

Labels: bestof, twins