Looks like I fell asleep again.

Shit, has it already been six months since I updated this thing? It went by so fast...

So, in case you haven't figured it out yet, not much is going on in my life anymore. But, you know what? I rather like it this way. I'm actually kind of content with coasting through time without incident, and recommend it to anyone who feels overwhelmed by schedules, lists and the like. Get lazy for a little while; never mind when that assignment is due, throw away the PDA. Concentrate all of your energies on blinking and breathing.

Look, I know I'm the last person on the face of the planet who should be giving anyone life advice. I just felt like sharing my contentment with the current situation. It's not like I won the lottery or scored the winning goal; just happy with my life at the moment, no matter how mundane it seems to be.

The job is going well; I haven't tired of listening to music all day yet (although sometimes I get a little dismayed when it's too early in the day and there are too many old folks in the mall to get away with playing the new Mastodon record). The pay hasn't reached call centre proportions yet, and I don't expect that they ever will. But, the way I see it, if I have to shave a few bucks off of my hourly pay to save myself from stressing out in a cubicle, that's an easy investment to make.

Carrie and I are still going strong. We're well over five years into this thing (officially) now and she hasn't left me yet, so I figure she's immune to my... er... quirks. Seriously, I would never have thought five years ago that'd we'd still be together right now. I consider myself very fortunate for having somehow connived my way into her heart and staying there. I guess I'll just keep hanging on for dear life and hope I don't fuck up :) <--- As you'll note, not only do you get the smiley face, but the crudely constructed arrow too. That's why they call me "dork".

Which reminds me, can we bring "dweeb" back? Is that kosher? I'm so totally calling someone a dweeb tomorrow. Carrie, I apologize in advance if it turns out to be you.

I guess I should probably call it a night. And I just realized something; I haven't really bitched about anything at all in this post. Could it be I've gone from Pissing Vinegar to Sipping Herbal Tea? Hmmm... better rectify this.

My fucking back is killing me. That stupid ass pinched nerve that I've talked about a couple of times in the past is back again. Only this time, it's worse. I took two Robaxacet this morning, and two hours later it hurt worse than it ever has before. I won't even bother going to the hospital for it either. My hair has been growing uninterrupted since November 2005, and I'll be damned if I shed these luscious locks on account of some apathetic, punk ass doctor/character judge who'll just mistake me for the guy who hangs out at the junior high school selling cigarettes to his daughter and refuse to so much as take an X-ray, let alone diagnose.

While I'm spitting insults here, exactly how is it that almost two years ago we lost one of the greatest rock/metal musicians in modern history (by which I refer to Dimebag Darrell, in case you already forgot a true legend), and yet Nickelback, Fall Out Boy and countless other suppliers of unoriginal, sugary, watered down tripe have been spared? Do you people realize how many chances we've had to take Chad Kroeger down? Can we send them back to Portugal? Can they stay there forever? And yes, I'm well aware of the fact that I put Fall Out Boy on my Year in Rock compilation last year. I also recall once mixing Hermits wine and chocolate milk; do you think I'm proud of that?

Oh, and I'm officially done with McDonald's. I won't go into the details of what they did to me last time I was there, but suffice to say I was counting up all the things that pissed me off about the visit, and I ran out of fingers. I seriously ran out of fingers. And I've never had my hand caught in a thresher. Anyway, it's been almost two weeks, and the lure of their tasty golden fries hasn't pulled me back. Neither will their Monopoly bullshit. I don't know anyone who's ever won anything beyond a small fry playing that game. The way I see it, I win every time I go to Burger King. I win because they never fuck up my order.

To end it on a positive note, I've heard so many good albums over the past few months, and implore you to check these out sooner rather than later.

Muse: Black Holes and Revelations
With their last release, 2004's "Absolution", they gave us the best Radiohead record since "OK Computer". This time, they're gunning for Queen. And Britney Spears. And the Pet Shop Boys. Sounds fucked up, doesn't it? It is. Sounds like a disaster, doesn't it? It isn't.

The Mars Volta: Amputechture
Chances are, if you're a fan of TMV, you've had this baby in high rotation since July (when it leaked online) even though it was only released a month ago. And, while some call it a step down from "Frances The Mute"... of course it's a step down! "Frances" was a fucking masterwork! The thing is, The Mars Volta's worst album is still better than 90% of band's best albums.

Mastodon: Blood Mountain
"Leaviathan" was an album that struck me so hard, I said that it would be recalled in twenty years as an all time metal masterpiece. It looks like I may stand corrected, because "Blood Mountain" is at least twice as good.

The Hold Steady: Boys and Girls in America
You may have heard some buzz about these guys, or read some glowing reviews from stuffy critics, praising The Hold Steady for their earnest rock and calling this album a potential all time great. You may have said to yourself, "suuuuure, these guys latch onto a band and suck their dicks for a few minutes of ecstacy; then they wipe their mouths and move on to the next one... I'm not getting suckered in by the hype". But, this ain;t no stuffy critic you're dealing with. It's me. I've never steered you wrong. Disregard Fall Out Boy's inclusion on Year in Rock last year. That was some other guy named Willie. I hate Fall Out Boy. I love The Hold Steady. At least until next year... seriously, though, The Hold Steady are nothing like Fall Out Boy. I highly recommend it.

God, it's 2:03 AM, and I open the store tomorrow (with a pinched nerve, no less). Gotta crash, guys, but it's been good catching up.

See you in March.