standing in Truck House

I'm standing in Truck House staring blankly at where the 'back wall' will go and wondering what I'm going to do to build it. I'm building an insulated box within the box, and every single step is taking an extra hour while I stare at it and wonder how this is going to be accomplished.

Mary has shotgun.

I'm driving the Mazda today. Mary has shotgun. She noted that my watch still beeps at 7:21 - she hasn't seen that in awhile, I guess. I told her I'm keeping track of it again, and she'd be mentioned. "You made the cut" I told her.

Jeopardy on radio

I'm in the back seat of the Mazda. My dad is driving, my mom has shotgun. We're listening to Jeopardy on the radio, and we're headed out to Perkins to eat. We're right at the exit for Avondale / Chatham.

Geico commercial

I'm on the couch watching TV with my parents again. There's a Geico commercial on. I just told my mom that my birthday get-together is going to be this Friday in Philly at Nat's house.

Food on legs

I'm sitting on my parents couch with a bowl of black bean soup on my left leg and a grilled cheese sandwich on my right leg. Action News is on, and there's a football player explaining how he would take down a 7'6" pre-historical skeletal something - if it were still alive and playing football.

Mary Gary Danielle Me

I'm over at Danielle and Gary's again. X-Men is on the tv, and I'm not really watching it. Mary is over here too.

bland mood

I'm laying around and I'm in a pretty bland mood. I'm on my inside bed - the one in the upstairs back room at my parents. The TV is on, and I'm sort of watching Grounded For Life on channel 50. There's a clock radio beside the TV. I noticed that it said 7:21. When I looked at my watch, it was 7:20:54.

Connect Four

I'm sitting over at Danielle and Gary's again. On their couch. Me and Danielle are in the midst of an intense game of Connect 4, and Gary just got home. He's still standing up. And he's wearing a hat that I haven't seen him wear before - an Under Armour hat. At this point I've eaten most of their chips that are left over from their weekly Seniora's dinner, which they get every Monday.

Movies with Mary

I'm sitting in the seat to the right of Mary. We're at Regal Cinemas on 202 in Delaware to see Into The Wild. Chris McCandless just yelled "Hello!" into the abandoned bus, and now he's scoping it out.

back to reality

I'm in Truck House again. I'm standing up, leaning both forearms on what will be the bunk area over the cab. I'm staring blankly at the studs and insulation, wondering how I'm going to go about putting up the OSB sheets of wood that I'm using for the walls. It looks like a complicated mess. I'm throwing it together. I'm expecting that it will look slightly haphazard yet cozy when all is said and done. My watch beeps, and I come back to reality, committing the moment to memory.

in the kitchen

I'm standing in front of the fridge using the built-in filtered water dispenser to get a glass of water. I'm about to eat soup and a grilled cheese sandwich that my mom made, which is sitting on the counter. I have to pee pretty bad, and I'm wondering if I have to pee more often now than I did in the past, and why that might be.

bland rice

I'm sitting at the counter in my parents kitchen with a laptop open in front of me, and a Kathy Griffin show on the TV just to my right. She disgusts me. I went to channel 45 hoping for Top Chef, and I have no excuse for leaving it on. I'm paying more attention to this bowl of rice that I'm almost done eating. It's Uncle Ben's long grain rice that comes in a pouch that only takes 90 seconds in the microwave. It's a little bland, so I put in a little Classico-brand sun dried tomato alfredo sauce, which helps a lot. When my watch beeps, the first thing I think about it how it sucks that I have to mention what's on the TV.

Talking to Gary

I'm sitting on the sectional sofa next to Gary at his place. I'm sitting in the curve. Danielle just went out to get Indian food. I got what Gary's getting, 'cause it sounds great and Indian food kinda confuses me. We're talking about how Gary used to smoke, and who else smokes and how they got started and when or why they quit.

Blogwork

I'm updating the Truck House blog, typing about how I installed most of the insulation today. I was in the middle of a sentence, so the watch got 4 beep-beep cycles off before I found the time to hit a button. Now I'm going to get back to blogwork.

It's beautiful outside

I'm standing toward the back of Truck House with my left hand wrapped in the seatbelt-material webbing loop that is used to pull down the door. My right hand is holding a cell phone. The door is open and I'm hanging outside looking up through the leaves on the tree that has a branch that wants to grow inside the truck. "It's beautiful outside" beep-beep beep-beep. I said it the instant before my watch beeped. It was an observation that has nothing to do with my stunted conversation with Shelly that is just coming to an end. I have some tears on my face, but I'm done crying. I'm happy when my watch beeps because I like getting caught when I least expect it, at a moment that I'm feeling specifically satisfied to just be alive.

October 16th, 2007

I'm sitting on the popizon chair at Danielle and Gary's place in West Chester. Danielle, Jennie, Julia and Dave are sitting on the sectional couch. That list is clockwise if you're on the ceiling. Right before my watch beeps, Julia is talking about a food that she likes from Trader Joes. She's not really talking about it. She states it for a simple fact. It's smoky or smoked something. We're all high. We're all talking. I'm happy to be here with a group of people that should all get together more often. And I am hoping that we do.

October 15th, 2007

I'm in a rehearsal space in the basement below a lawyers office across the street from the 7-11 on High St. in West Chester. The lighting is in chill mode - meaning Christmas tree lights only. I haven't played drums in years, but I'm playing them now. This is Steve Klopp's space. He and his twin brother Matt and visiting from Vermont and sleeping on couches here. We all go way back.

October 14th, 2007

I'm sitting on the toilet and crying a little bit.

October 13th, 2007

I'm sitting in the pavilion at Everhart Park in West Chester with Steve and Matt Klopp. We're drinking and talking. I got a small bottle of wine at work, which we shared, and now I'm following up with a 24oz Mickeys can.

October 12th, 2007

I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that I'm looking at the 'casual encounters' section on Craigslist. I'm sitting here deciding how to word this 7:21 description properly. I have three choices. I could use it as a springboard for a brave and honest admission that I'm a dork and explain why. I could turn the whole thing into some sort of explanatory joke that isn't quite funny. Or I could be vague and wait until 7:21 tomorrow.

See how witty? I did all three. Now that I'm very proud of myself, I'm still not certain that I've completed my mission. First I look at 'strictly platonic' to see if there is anyone who is up for meeting random people who don't live in philly. Then I move on to "W4M" because something could be posted there which could lead to meeting someone to do something. Then I move on to 'casual encounters' half because I'm just curious, and half because I think there's going to be a smoking hot babe who is a real person with no STDs who wants to get crazy with me. In real life. Truthfully, I'm embarrassed because I am a little bit socially desperate and I just got caught looking for friends in a really backwards way.

Why do I ever bother with something like this 7:21 log? I think it's an egotistical thing to get people to like me and think that I'm really awesome. Having a personal website of yourname.com has to have some kind of egotistical motive behind it. I want people to think I'm interesting. So I put this website up about how awesome I am. I'm not completely proud to admit that, and I do mean all this with measurable sincerity.

October 11th, 2007

"I swear it smelled too." He's talking about oil. My dad is sitting across from me at Cafe Gelato in Newark, DE. It's a fancy type of restaurant that can't figure out if it serves ice cream or wine. We're done. My dad has his bi-fold out, bills exposed, and the check is lying prone on the table. A minute ago I asked how much of his navy career was actually spent on a boat at sea. 28 days. The bunks were stacked three high, and he was positioned right above the fuel tanks where he could hear oil sloshing around.

October 10th, 2007

I looked at my watch at 6:56, and knew what was coming. I am at the Outback in Frazier celebrating my dad's birthday, which is tomorrow. However, I either didn't hear my watch, or I robotically turned it off. Present here are Cathy and Karl to my left, in that order - an dad and mom across the table.

October 9th, 2007

Jeopardy - what is asparagus. Elementary school kids are playing. I'm standing, non-committal, in the living room. My dad is there, my mom is taking a glass fusing class. I know it's almost 7:21 while I'm standing there. Slightly later, on my way up to type this information, I wished I was in a hot air balloon or something. I yearn for something better to report. If you yearn for that too, please bear with me.

October 8th, 2007

Once again, I'm sitting at my computer and I see the time creeping up. I'm hoping that 7:21 doesn't get lame because I'm always on my computer, and I always see it coming. I'm currently writing an email to Carrie, who I met from Craigslist, and have been exchanging about 20 emails with. Unspoken, and to my delight, they've all remained under the same original subject thread. As my watch beeps, I'm explaining that nobody ever has to walk on eggshells around me.

October 7th, 2007

I was fully aware that 7:21 was coming for several minutes in advance. I am at my computer in the upstairs back bedroom that I inhabit in my parents house. I am updating my Truck House blog to announce the successful installation of my new entrance door. The door really warms my heart. I'm drinking a little bit of Sherry that I got from work. I watched the 7:21 countdown from 7:20:47, and poised my thumb on the button to stop the alarm when the minute turned. Somehow I missed, and only managed to get it on the second round of "beep-beeps." I can't remember the last time I saw 7:21 coming in advance. I like it much better when it's a surprise. This time I almost decided that I should be doing something truly interesting, since I had a small advance notice. I decided not to. Just updatin' a blog. Nothing too wild.

October 6th, 2007

I'm driving to West Chester in my dad's Mazda with Nat. We're about one second from turning onto Market St. from 52.

October 5th, 2007

I'm sitting on a stool at the counter in the kitchen at my parents' house, where I've been staying for the past three months. Jeopardy is on, and the last question was Renoir. Then my watch beeped. My sister, Cathy, and her husband, Karl, are both over. We're going to have salmon for dinner. I thought that today would be the day that Karl would help me install a door in Truck House. But it's not - hopefully that day is very soon. I'm wearing a black Under Armour shirt that Shelly bought for me for a dollar while she was in Denver. She broke up with me a few days after she gave it to me. I like wearing it because I think it makes me look hot. At this point, I've just finished my second beer. The first was a Saranac IPA, and the second was a Yuengling that I got for free from a 1-800-GOT-JUNK client who might have rebottled something other than Yunengling into the bottles, but I can't be certain. Set up on the deck outside is a telescope that I rescued from work to give to Cathy. I think she was genuinely happy to get it, and we might try to look at something after dinner.

October 4th, 2007

I'm sitting at Perkins with my dad, and I just said something. My watch beeped before he responded. I ordered a broccoli and cheese omlette and asked for lots of broccoli. This omlette isn't on the menu, and broccoli doesn't appear in the 'build your own omlette' ingredients list - but this is the second time I've ordered it with no trouble. It hasn't gotten here yet. I skipped the coffee, and just ordered a water. I've been here many times recently, and this is the first time I haven't ordered coffee. My dad ordered some though. So now he has a whole carafe to himself. Mom goes to Weight Watchers on Thursdays - so it's just me and dad.