A short weekend. Friday night, Angela and I hung out, and I fell asleep pretty quick, from my late Thursday night. Saturday, I got a call in the afternoon that a birthday party was happening. I went to that, and had a pretty good time. Again, I always feel slightly awkward standing there not holding a bottle of beer, or similar drink. Anyway, you get to at least have some better conversations with the sobriety. I had a couple of lengthy conversations with a guy I see here and there at the gig we go to every other Thursday, he was a cool character I thought. Then there was the token greaser/punk rock looking guy, who on first look I said �this guy�s going to suck�, it turned out the opposite, he was a good guy as well. Today I went on a brief shopping thing with Dan, yet I didn�t spend a dime, as he paid for lunch.

Actually, the Strokes record isn�t that bad, there, I said it.

I have two or three more weekends at the record store, as we are closing down at the end of January. It�s pretty depressing in there right now. Lot�s of folks I�ve been seeing for years coming in to say goodbye, etc. It will be odd to a) sleep on Saturday mornings, b) pay more money for music. I�ve been there since July of 1987. Yikes! The last time I was unemployed, was in 1984 I think. Am I allowed to retire now?

As much as I say television is evil etc, I think that�s an incorrect statement. Prime time television is wrong, commercials are wrong, and yeah, most of what�s on there is pretty bland, and mind numbing. We got the satellite dish here over the weekend, and boy can I tell you how much I look forward to watching the Independent Film Channel, The Sundance Channel, these random news stations from different countries, the BBC, etc.

I wonder what Otis Redding would do�

I had a good thing happen this week, but let me back up a little. So way back in early 1983, my friend and I needed to buy some pot. We were young burnouts, metal heads. I had just moved into yet another shitty little town, and would skateboard around looking for kids that were like me, long-haired freaks basically. I spotted some kids with long hair and Ozzy, Zeppelin shirts and became friends with them; with similar interest in 70�s rock, and some of the newer (well, new to us) metal stuff like the Scorpions, Ozzy, Iron Maiden, etc, as well as playing Dungeons and Dragons, smoking cigarettes, and generally not being a productive member of teenaged society. I then quickly started meeting girls, getting into drinking, and smoking pot. We would sit around this kid Matt�s basement and get fucked up on the weekends.

So we heard about this kid Peter that hung out at the mall, he was a punk rocker, and could get some pot for us. We met him, I don�t really remember, but I think I ran into him again, and we started hanging out. A month into hanging with him I went to the record shop in the square and bought the Dead Kennedy�s Bleed For Me/Halloween 12 � single. I listened to those two songs over and over. I had already owned the Sex Pistols record my father had given me years before, and a couple of Clash records. I started taping stuff of the radio, and got involved in the Boston Hardcore scene. Pete and I went to shows every weekend, seeing the likes of the Proletariat, the Circle Jerks, Black Flag, the F.U�s, Jerry�s Kids (to this day the best live hardcore band ever), the Subhumans, the Adolescents, Bad Brains, Scream, GG Allin, GBH, JFA, D.O.A, SSD, Husker Du, the Minutemen, Corrosion of Conformity, the Meatmen, and tons of other bands. After a while Peter and I drifted apart for one reason or another. I stayed in the scene for a few years after that, or until bands started playing heavy metal and calling it hardcore music for some reason.

So last week, I get an e-mail from this girl Lisa, who saw my name listed on the classmates.com website. She said Peter was trying to get in touch with me to say hello. She forwarded him m e-mail, and an hour or so later I got an e-mail from him, we chatted for a few, and planned to see each other soon for coffee. He�s a very intelligent guy who I think went to Harvard, or worked there maybe, he�s a great writer now, and is married with a brand new baby. Anyway, it was odd hearing from someone from practically 20 years ago. I�m old then?

I finally updated the presleyrocks diaryland website tonight. I hate club promoters man.

In other news, Dan and I, and maybe Shawn, are going to take a trip to Philadelphia in the spring. This should be fun, I like that city, even if the last time I was there I had a pretty strange string of events happen, nothing bad, but, just some strange thing. I also discovered the joys of the Wolfman�s Brother in Philadelphia.

before & after