Minnesota. We had fun. See you in a couple years. Stay sexy.
Love,
Pete.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
Dear Tall Tony and Fuller,
forgive me for not hanging out the other night. I have been working like a Japanese beaver lately, and playing a lot of golf. (i'm getting it while it's free.) Is it still possible to hang out before i leave? are you still in the cities fat one? again, forgive me.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Gas...
prices have been through the roof lately, as i'm sure you obviously already know. I noticed it went down to $3.75 today and i got kind of excited. i remember three years ago Drew, Luke, Mark and myself took a road trip out to California. the price of gas then was around $2.50 in minnesota and most of the way out there. give or take a few cents. i remember when we got to Malibu we found that gas was over $3 a gallon and we were out of our minds that it was that high. Never would i have guessed we would be paying about $4 a gallon for gas.
i've been parinoid about gas lately because of my new truck. which gets pretty good gas milage for a truck. 22 mpg. but it still takes $70 to fill the tank. quite the dent in my wallet. but i was thinking this afternoon how we hate the price of gas. i keep hearing people ask, "how can those big shot oil bastards keep raising the price of gas? aren't they rich enough already?" i myself was one of these people asking that question. (and i do know gas prices are up because a single barrel of oil costs like $120) BUT, aren't we kind of getting what we've been asking for since the whole global warming issue came up a few years ago? i mean, america has been begging people to take the bus/subway/car pool for the last few years. right? when gas was cheaper people drove to work alone, didn't even consider taking the bus or subway. right? well what if that's ACTUALLY the whole idea behind the high gas prices?! what if the government (or oil companies) saw how much Americans were consuming so they decided to do something about it. what if this has been their plan (gradually raising gas prices) the whole time to force more people to be smart about traveling?
so even though it really sucks paying $70 to fill my gas tank, it has certianly forced me to AT LEAST thing of alternative ways to work, and has made me think twice about taking unnecessary trips. it has forced me to make the most of my gas. and i'm sure i'm not the only one. god help us if i am. but this IS kind of what we americans have been asking for, isn't it?!
also, thinking of that same idea, cigarette prices are at an all time high as well. probably to get people to stop smoking. however, i'm not sure that i agree with this. smoking is bad for your health, yes, but still who is anyone to tell me what i can and cannot put into my body? i saw on the news yesterday that in one place (i can't remember where exactly, California somewhere i think) that the price of a pack of cigarettes was $8 a pack. i don't know, i just don't like the idea of somebody else telling me (or strongly suggesting) what is right for me to eat, drink, smoke, etc. if a guy has a hard day at work and wants a smoke, i say have your smoke. but, it is what it is right now, and i bet smokers are at least smoking their cigarettes more slowly, eh?
i've been parinoid about gas lately because of my new truck. which gets pretty good gas milage for a truck. 22 mpg. but it still takes $70 to fill the tank. quite the dent in my wallet. but i was thinking this afternoon how we hate the price of gas. i keep hearing people ask, "how can those big shot oil bastards keep raising the price of gas? aren't they rich enough already?" i myself was one of these people asking that question. (and i do know gas prices are up because a single barrel of oil costs like $120) BUT, aren't we kind of getting what we've been asking for since the whole global warming issue came up a few years ago? i mean, america has been begging people to take the bus/subway/car pool for the last few years. right? when gas was cheaper people drove to work alone, didn't even consider taking the bus or subway. right? well what if that's ACTUALLY the whole idea behind the high gas prices?! what if the government (or oil companies) saw how much Americans were consuming so they decided to do something about it. what if this has been their plan (gradually raising gas prices) the whole time to force more people to be smart about traveling?
so even though it really sucks paying $70 to fill my gas tank, it has certianly forced me to AT LEAST thing of alternative ways to work, and has made me think twice about taking unnecessary trips. it has forced me to make the most of my gas. and i'm sure i'm not the only one. god help us if i am. but this IS kind of what we americans have been asking for, isn't it?!
also, thinking of that same idea, cigarette prices are at an all time high as well. probably to get people to stop smoking. however, i'm not sure that i agree with this. smoking is bad for your health, yes, but still who is anyone to tell me what i can and cannot put into my body? i saw on the news yesterday that in one place (i can't remember where exactly, California somewhere i think) that the price of a pack of cigarettes was $8 a pack. i don't know, i just don't like the idea of somebody else telling me (or strongly suggesting) what is right for me to eat, drink, smoke, etc. if a guy has a hard day at work and wants a smoke, i say have your smoke. but, it is what it is right now, and i bet smokers are at least smoking their cigarettes more slowly, eh?
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Bo Diddley...
passed away a few days ago. Now, i would be a liar if i said i listened to him. I've heard some of his music and i know who he is. if you showed a picture of him to me i could tell you that was Bo Diddley. I know he was a pioneer in rock 'n roll, but i read something the other day that rubbed me the wrong way.
i found this in the New York Times (online) the other day.
"Still, for all his fame, Mr. Diddley felt that his standing as a father of rock ’n’ roll was never properly acknowledged. It frustrated him that he could never earn royalties from the songs of others who had borrowed his beat." (Whole article here)
Now, i don't know about you, but don't you think that mr. diddley should be happy enough that he's even considered "a father of rock 'n' roll?" I mean, i'm sure he worked hard at the music he produced, and if it weren't for him who knows where rock 'n' roll would be today, but to me if i came up with a rock beat that pretty much all of rock followed, i would be flattered, let alone complain about not getting paid for it when another band uses it. when the first musical note was ever played music has progressed. it always has and it always will. there needs to be building blocks for that progression to build off of, and mr. diddley came up with one of those beats. here's what that beat sounds like. i'm sure you've heard it.
Here is U2 using that beat. modified a little of course. or progressed as i like to think of it.
i;m sure somebody could come up with a good argument against me here, but i guess i like when people are humble. ya know, a ... "god, i can't believe the beat i created became SO popular that nearly every rock band uses it in some way. it's unbelievable. just hearing that beat used by others is thank you enough." i don't know, maybe i'm way out of line here. maybe he's right to be pissed about not getting paid for others using his beat. after all he did invent it. but if it weren't for the blues and other music before him, would he have come up with it? the way i see it he progressed the music before him, and his music is being progressed everyday. it's give and take.
i think bo diddley has gained something better than royalties, he will never die. his beat will live on in the music. when people hear U2 or the Beatles or Tool or AC/DC use that beat, that's Bo Diddley.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
It's been one week...
since i've retired from college. it's a change of pace. at school i'd wake up around 10 or 11, now i wake up at 5 and eat lunch at 11. at school i barely worked, now i work more than 8 hours a day ... tomorrow will be my 10th day in a row. at school i was a poor bastard, now i'm making money. at school i had a house full of friends, now i have none. at school i had the V-dub, now i have this. 
at school i had a crum bum of a computer, now i have this
i might have been poor in college, but now i'm in debt. i took out a loan for my truck (it'll be paid off in 5 years) i love the truck. it only had 24,000 miles on it. it's got tinted windows and a sweet radio in it with an ipod hook up. the previous owner put a lot into it and barely drove it. the only downside to it is, obviously, the gas. i'm getting about 20 mpg, which isn't THAT bad, but now that i got my own truck i'm parinoid about the gas. when i'm driving i don't watch how fast i'm going ... i'm watching to see if the gas needle has moved at all. but i knew i wasn't going to get very good gas with a truck, but so far i'm pretty satisfied with the milage i'm getting. big oil can't keep this up for long. (i know i just jinxed it ... damnit sorry.) i'm taking out a loan for grad school (if all goes well it'll be paid off with one true sentence) and the imac was a gift. a beautiful beautiful gift. i can't get over how extraordinary this machine is. i would try to explain the cool stuff it has on here, but you probably already know, and probably more than me, and i wouldn't be able to explain how this stuff works in a million years because when it comes to computers i'm mildly retarted. one feature i must mention however, is the ichat. you just talk at the web cam. no typing, just talking. and it's real time too. i mean no choppy crappy video of the other person. if they move it doesn't take 5 minutes to show the movement. everybody should get ichat. it's phenominal.
now, i used to be a windows user. a faithful one at that. then i started using imac's our school had in the computer lab. i loved them. i mean, i really loved them. borderline obsessed with them. i'm a born again apple user. i say born again because i used apple in 3rd grade. Oregon Trail sure as shit wasn't on windows. neither was that paper air plane game. yeah, you know which one i'm talking about. the one where you had to hit the vents to keep the paper airplane airborne.
i have to mention this as well. (this is pretty out of the blue) every year around this time my brother and i have a beard growing contest. this year was the 3rd annual beard growing contest. the last two years have been pretty close. this year i was humiliated. my brother started growing his beard in the middle of march while we were boarding in UP Michigan. here is the winning beard.
I know it's not a ZZ Top caliber beard, but it was pretty thick. i was impressed and took the loss gracefully. to tell you the truth, i knew i lost long before he came up for my graduation. (that was supposed to be the end of the contest,) but about half way through it he sent me a picture message of it and sent it to me on my cell phone. later that night i trimmed my beard. i know i'm a quitter. it was just too damn good.
at school i had a crum bum of a computer, now i have this
i might have been poor in college, but now i'm in debt. i took out a loan for my truck (it'll be paid off in 5 years) i love the truck. it only had 24,000 miles on it. it's got tinted windows and a sweet radio in it with an ipod hook up. the previous owner put a lot into it and barely drove it. the only downside to it is, obviously, the gas. i'm getting about 20 mpg, which isn't THAT bad, but now that i got my own truck i'm parinoid about the gas. when i'm driving i don't watch how fast i'm going ... i'm watching to see if the gas needle has moved at all. but i knew i wasn't going to get very good gas with a truck, but so far i'm pretty satisfied with the milage i'm getting. big oil can't keep this up for long. (i know i just jinxed it ... damnit sorry.) i'm taking out a loan for grad school (if all goes well it'll be paid off with one true sentence) and the imac was a gift. a beautiful beautiful gift. i can't get over how extraordinary this machine is. i would try to explain the cool stuff it has on here, but you probably already know, and probably more than me, and i wouldn't be able to explain how this stuff works in a million years because when it comes to computers i'm mildly retarted. one feature i must mention however, is the ichat. you just talk at the web cam. no typing, just talking. and it's real time too. i mean no choppy crappy video of the other person. if they move it doesn't take 5 minutes to show the movement. everybody should get ichat. it's phenominal.
now, i used to be a windows user. a faithful one at that. then i started using imac's our school had in the computer lab. i loved them. i mean, i really loved them. borderline obsessed with them. i'm a born again apple user. i say born again because i used apple in 3rd grade. Oregon Trail sure as shit wasn't on windows. neither was that paper air plane game. yeah, you know which one i'm talking about. the one where you had to hit the vents to keep the paper airplane airborne.
i have to mention this as well. (this is pretty out of the blue) every year around this time my brother and i have a beard growing contest. this year was the 3rd annual beard growing contest. the last two years have been pretty close. this year i was humiliated. my brother started growing his beard in the middle of march while we were boarding in UP Michigan. here is the winning beard.
I know it's not a ZZ Top caliber beard, but it was pretty thick. i was impressed and took the loss gracefully. to tell you the truth, i knew i lost long before he came up for my graduation. (that was supposed to be the end of the contest,) but about half way through it he sent me a picture message of it and sent it to me on my cell phone. later that night i trimmed my beard. i know i'm a quitter. it was just too damn good.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Since I've Graduated...
I haven't had much time to sit down and write on this. I graduated last friday, packed up and moved in with my folks on sunday and started working on monday. I got hooked up with a job at a golf course for a couple weeks before i head out east to Vermont. the course is in Somerset, WI (about 30 min. away) i have to be there at six, so that means i wake up at 5. i usually get off work at around 2 or so. today i didn't get a lunch break. i ate a crappy salami sandwich on my mower today. i worked 9 hours straight.
it's been really hard getting used to waking up so early. i don't mind it once i'm up, but when the alarm goes off at 5 i want to shoot myself. but on the plus side i've seen the sun come up every day this week. that's more times than i have in the last 5 years. i like sun rises better. they're more elusive. every one is awake when the sun goes down. i mean, anybody can see a sun set. but (especially in the summer) you have to be up pretty damn early to catch a sun rise. i guess what saying is, mornings are cool, but waking up for them blows.
lets see, what else. there's a good chance i'm getting a new truck this weekend, which rocks. i sold the Vdub when i was up in Bemidji. it sold for $1200. not bad, considering its condition. i'm already sun burned. i've forgotten how bad sun burns suck. well anyway, i'm tired and i can't really think of anything of importance to write. a lame entry, but i figured i had to write something. i'll write something cooler soon...
in the meantime, listen to AC/DC.
it's been really hard getting used to waking up so early. i don't mind it once i'm up, but when the alarm goes off at 5 i want to shoot myself. but on the plus side i've seen the sun come up every day this week. that's more times than i have in the last 5 years. i like sun rises better. they're more elusive. every one is awake when the sun goes down. i mean, anybody can see a sun set. but (especially in the summer) you have to be up pretty damn early to catch a sun rise. i guess what saying is, mornings are cool, but waking up for them blows.
lets see, what else. there's a good chance i'm getting a new truck this weekend, which rocks. i sold the Vdub when i was up in Bemidji. it sold for $1200. not bad, considering its condition. i'm already sun burned. i've forgotten how bad sun burns suck. well anyway, i'm tired and i can't really think of anything of importance to write. a lame entry, but i figured i had to write something. i'll write something cooler soon...
in the meantime, listen to AC/DC.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
that teacher...
everyone has their favorite teacher. the "cool" one. you know the teacher in high school that swore every once in a while, or was an easy A because everyone knew they didn't really give a shit. then there is the college professor that is cool because they're actually down to earth, and they're actually passionate about something, and they bring it to class every day. well, i've never had that teacher, until recently.
i started writing just for kicks and for myself when i came to college just about five years ago now. never did i ever think it was something i wanted to do. i decided to take a few creative writing classes and i liked it so i took some more. when i took all the poetry classes BSU offered i decided to try my luck with some fiction. I took a class with Maureen Gibbon
i just want to explain how fantastic this teacher is. from day one she was the most approachable teacher i had ever had. i wrote some stories i thought to be just so-so at best. one day she told to stay after class and talk to her for a minute. i had no idea what she wanted to talk to me about. i'm a pretty quiet guy in class so i knew i didn't do anything wrong.
MAUREEN: how long have you been writing fiction?
ME: since the beginning of your class.
MAUREEN: you're a writer.
i've had a lot of people call me a lot of things, and i've called myself some things here and there, but never have i been told i was a writer. ever since then she's kind of taken me under her wing. in my whole life i've never had anyone believe in me like she has. of course there are your parents who think everything you do is phenominal. (quick side story on that topic. my folks came to visit a couple weeks back, and i'm taking this painting class. a beginning painting class. i've never painted anything before this so i decided to show my 'rents a few i've done. i swear to god they thought they were the best paintings they had ever seen. there were other students in the art room while i was showing them, and my mom says, "these are the best paintings i've ever seen!! you're so talented Peter!" yes, i was embareassed. they took a picture with me standing by one of my paintings. yes, i was terribly embareassed. i got them out of there before they could do any more damage.)
Anyway, it's cool to have someone believe in you like that. so since she had so much confidence in me, i started to believe her. i started listening to what she was saying about me. i started writing with some confidence. i'll tell you what, confidence in yourself can take you a long way. if it wasn't for maureen gibbon there is no way on god's green earth i'd be headed to vermont for grad school in a month.
i started writing just for kicks and for myself when i came to college just about five years ago now. never did i ever think it was something i wanted to do. i decided to take a few creative writing classes and i liked it so i took some more. when i took all the poetry classes BSU offered i decided to try my luck with some fiction. I took a class with Maureen Gibbon
i just want to explain how fantastic this teacher is. from day one she was the most approachable teacher i had ever had. i wrote some stories i thought to be just so-so at best. one day she told to stay after class and talk to her for a minute. i had no idea what she wanted to talk to me about. i'm a pretty quiet guy in class so i knew i didn't do anything wrong.
MAUREEN: how long have you been writing fiction?
ME: since the beginning of your class.
MAUREEN: you're a writer.
i've had a lot of people call me a lot of things, and i've called myself some things here and there, but never have i been told i was a writer. ever since then she's kind of taken me under her wing. in my whole life i've never had anyone believe in me like she has. of course there are your parents who think everything you do is phenominal. (quick side story on that topic. my folks came to visit a couple weeks back, and i'm taking this painting class. a beginning painting class. i've never painted anything before this so i decided to show my 'rents a few i've done. i swear to god they thought they were the best paintings they had ever seen. there were other students in the art room while i was showing them, and my mom says, "these are the best paintings i've ever seen!! you're so talented Peter!" yes, i was embareassed. they took a picture with me standing by one of my paintings. yes, i was terribly embareassed. i got them out of there before they could do any more damage.)
Anyway, it's cool to have someone believe in you like that. so since she had so much confidence in me, i started to believe her. i started listening to what she was saying about me. i started writing with some confidence. i'll tell you what, confidence in yourself can take you a long way. if it wasn't for maureen gibbon there is no way on god's green earth i'd be headed to vermont for grad school in a month.
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