Hitting the Pause Button on the Real World

That is what life if. This little adventure is like hitting the pause button on real life. The title is a bit misleading, because I am a fan of the question "When and where does this real world begin and end." But, I'm also a fan of the saying "Hell is the doing the same repetitive task over and over again for eternity." If both what I have equated this too with my pause button thing, and that quote about hell are both true, than this place is really like pausing life and going to hell for a little while. It may give you a chance to think on things, but it won't be pleasant. Although, taking from that what you will, I have been able to get a few thoughts through my head. I know better what I want to do with my life, and because my answer is frightening to me still, I'll keep it to myself. Also, I haven't quite figured out how to accomplish it... or rather how to procure financial backing for this venture. Hell, to be perfectly honest, the things I want out of life, I'm not ready for... and I'm not sure my life is ready for me.

Anyhow, new happenings. My radio show show starts this Wednesday, and that should be exciting, hopefully recordings will come home with me. Umm... Beck rules... David Bowie rules.... I've been playing too much tetris on facebook... uhh... er... uhhhhhhh..... yeah.

Peace Easy, all you Tricks, Johns, and Marks!

A Crimmus Story

It was the day before Christmas, and I got package mail.
Opened both of 'em up and was like "HOLY HELL"
The first one was littered with holiday cheer
The second wasn't actually for me, and I thought that was weird
So I decided that it was time to go get some grub
Cause it was like 4:30, and I was hungry, bub
At dinner I made lewd comments galore
Something about someone being a whore
So back to my room for Fritos and Beer
Even though Speights tastes like piss from reindeer
Then I was chillin' with Rich and food warehouse Ben
Then off to Gallagers and Southern to find my other friends
After refusing to dance and stealing Nolans drink
I said, "I'm going to Midrats for tacos, I think"
After that ran it's course I stole K-Dawgs hookah
Comiserated with Drew and smoked shesha too-sah
Once that was over I headed back to my room
To watch Life Aquatic, but was inturpted by a boom
A bang, a clank, and a clatter
Oh here's a drunk roommate and a drunk girl.......
Shit there goes my night, I'm getting out of here!

So basically now I'm locked out and getting ready to wake someone up on this fine Christmas Eve Night..... even though technically, it's Christmas morning now.

Things I don't Remember

"There were jokes that didn't land, disco dancing neighbors, they were born in mashed potatoes.... how the hell'd we get here..."

"Let me go on like a blister in the sun..."

Man!
This adventure is awesome in a lot of ways. Not every bit of it is so cool, but hell, I never expected to just have fun the whole time I was here.

"Day, after day, I will walk... and I will play.... but the day after today, I will stop and I will start...."

I've rediscovered a lot of music I hadn't listened to in awhile. I've met some cool people, and some not so cool people. I've learned some cool things about science. Not that I could explain most of it, but hell it's still cool. I've grown, and continue to.

You maybe saying, James you keep saying one day you hate it, the next you love it, but what's it really like there?

Well it's like this.

The social structure, as I've said before, is much like high school meets summer camp. Not especially great in concert.
There are these special rules, on a count of this being a US Government facility, and also one of the largest travel hubs on the continent. I know that sounds funny, but not 5 miles away is New Zealand's Scott Base, also I've met Aussies, Kiwis, Italians, Irishmen, Polish peoples, and other non-Americans here. Some are living on base, some at Scott base, some are just passing through. The best thing about my job, as far as the experience of it all, is that it puts me in a unique position to meet literally everyone on base. I don't necessarily get to have in depth conversation with each and every person, but I have had short conversations with many of them, probably the vast majority. I have learned several drinking games just through conversation as well. Take, for example the Kiwi tradition of "Where you from?" which I learned about by wearing my APBC "I'm from Asheville, where the hell you from?" shirt out to the bar, Southern Exposer. Basically, if you say, "'ey where you from?" to a Kiwi, they must cheers you, finish their drink, and then tell you where they are from. They aren't allowed to return the favor. My personal favorite game I was told of, but am very afraid to play, is the Ferris Bueller game. It consists of watching the movie of the same name and drinking whenever the main characters name is said.... recipe for disaster, that is.

The long and the short of it is that this place isn't like anywhere or anything else you could ever experience.  The beer is all a year since it's on can sell by date, looks putrid when poured into a glass, and has gotten worse as the season wears on. I've stopped drinking it entirely. When I was still smoking, the American Spirits were stale and easily broken when attempting to ash, while the Marlboro's and Camel's were only on the cusp of being stale, but all of them were cheap. The chips and candy and most of the food we prepare in the galley is also well past its sell by date, and in some cases its use by date. But it still gets used. The fruit is often beginning to mold. But at the same time, I would wager that there have been almost no food poisoning cases here. That in and of itself makes me more than raise an eyebrow to the FDA and it's policy on expiration dates. There are also rigidly enforced recycling and trash sorting rules, which makes me see just how wasteful Americans are, because it all gets shipped back to the states, every bit of it. From used condoms and rotten food, to tattered cloth, to aluminum cans, to glass, to non-recyclable material.

Anyhow, I'm hungry and it's breakfast time (dinner for me), so I'm off!

The songs of the 50 States Playlist

Here is a playlist dedicated to the 50 States.

• Alabama- Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar) by The Doors
• Alaska-  When it's Spring Time in Alaska (It's 40 Below) by Johnny Horton and Johnny Cash
• Arizona- By the Time I get to Arizona by Public Enemy
• Arkansas- Arkansas Blues by Fats Waller
• California- California Uber Alles by The Dead Kennedys, Going to California by Led Zep and California Love by Tupac
• Colorado- Colorado Kool-Aid by Red Sovine
• Connecticut- I live in Connecticut by Aerosmith
• Delaware- Delaware Slide by George Thorogood and The Destroyers
• Florida- Florida by Modest Mouse
• Georgia- Georgia on My Mind by Ray Charles
• Hawaii- Rocking Chair in Hawii by George Harrison
• Idaho- Private Idaho by The B-52's
• Illinois- Illinois Blues by Alvin Youngblood Hart
• Indiana- Goin' Back to Indiana by The Jackson 5
• Iowa- Iowa by Dar Williams
• Kansas- Going to Kansas by The Mountain Goats
• Kentucky- Kentucky Mud by Nappy Roots
• Louisiana- Red Hot Momma From Louisiana by Parliament Funkadelic
• Maine- Maine by They Might Be Giants
• Maryland- Maryland by Jesus Jones
• Massachusetts- The State of Massachusetts by The Dropkick Murphys 
• Michigan- Michigan Militia by Moxy Fruvous
• Minnesota- Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota by Weird Al Yankovic
• Mississippi- Mississippi Goddamn by Nina Simone
• Missouri- Missouri Loves Company by Ringo Starr
• Montana- Montana by Frank Zappa
• Nebraska- Nebraska by Bruce Springsteen
• Nevada- Sands of Nevada by Mark Knopfler
• New Hampshire- New Hampshire by Sonic Youth
• New Jersey- Jersey Girl by Tom Waits
• New Mexico- New Mexico by Johnny Cash
• New York- New York, New York by Ryan Adams
• North Carolina- (Going to) Carolina in My Mind by James Taylor and Oh my Sweet Carolina by Ryan Adams
• North Dakota- North Dakota by Lyle Lovett
• Ohio- Ohio by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young
• Oklahoma- Oklahoma USA by The Kinks
• Oregon- Oregon Trail by Woody Guthrie
• Pennsylvania- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by Guy Mitchell 
• Rhode Island- Rhode Island Red by Ike and Tina Turner
• South Carolina- South Carolina by The Archers of Loaf
• South Dakota- Deadwood, South Dakota by Nanci Griffith
• Tennessee- Memphis, Tennessee by The Beatles as well as Chuck Berry
• Texas- Texas Flood by Stevie Ray Vaughn
• Utah- Sign in The Window by Bob Dylan
• Vermont- Long Vermont Roads by The Magnetic Fields
• Virginia- Sweet Virginia by The Rolling Stones
• Washington- Spanish Castle Magic by Jimi Hendrix
• West Virginia- Country Roads by John Denver
• Wisconsin- Wisconsin Death Trip by Static X 
• Wyoming- Wyoming by Elton John

So, I tried to stick to the rule of having the song title contain the state name, but for some it was difficult or the song was too awesome to pass up. Also, I would apologize to Wisconsin for the Static X thing, but at the same time, you are to blame for the them to begin with so live with it. Ahhh, time waster fun stuff!

Roots

Things that I miss list:

Night time
Trees
Video Games
Grapes
Food that is in date
Good Beer
Good Pizza... and I never thought I'd crave pizza again
My Fam
My Friends
Rowdy
Rain
The Parkway
Buildings that aren't made of sheet metal
Private Bathrooms
Private Bedrooms
Privacy in general
Animals... they exist here but I can count the number of live animals I've seen on one hand

that's all for now, when more comes to mind, I'll make a new list.

Feeling Unstoppable

Basically just that. I'm not afraid anymore. Not of being alone in a strange place. Not of giant spider monkeys flying in from outer space and dismembering me. There is only one thing that could stop me I think, and I'm not setting myself up for that right now. Also, I'm not giving away my weakness. That'd be like Achilles walking up to you and saying, "Hey, stab me right here. Yeah, in the heel. Do it, something cool will happen!" Sorry kids, not gonna happen. I hope that my new unflappability and this invincible sensation carries over to my basketball game tomorrow night and right on through the rest of the work season, right up to when I leave this icy hell hole and just carries on with me forever. I'm confident it will. I've still got my bones to pick with this whole situation, but ultimately, there is no cause for all this to get under my skin, it's all gonna be out of sight out of mind in a few more weeks. Also, I feel great cause I did, in fact, quit smoking. It's like I feel... lighter.

Also, there are a few constant sources of inspiration that I can't thank enough. You know who you are, and if you don't, you should figure it out.

 

who wants to test me

I'm not sure why that is the title of this post. I did write it, but I'm not sure why. I have put on weight, I haven't had a smoke in a while... I'm not counting the days so I couldn't tell you exactly how long, I need to shave before work says something, I have been out of work for a week with a sinus infection that was accompanied by migraines and a sore throat. I'm not back to 100% yet. I've found a renewed distaste for social vortexes and high school-like social structures. People don't treat others that they haven't had interaction with as adults here, more like insignificant workers in an ant colony. My last week here has been pretty hellacious. I'm not especially happy with my time here as a whole. Have I had some fun, yeah. Am I readily awaiting the end of the season... hell yeah. The only reason I'm here is to put money away at this point. Charge through this shit like Cain Marko.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSuvOVH0aSQ

Diving Head First into A Brick Wall

I prepared my bags with great care. Double checked, triple checked. Everything must be there. I made sure I had everything I would need and still had a few emergency supplies with me incase something were to go wrong. I made sure that I was awake and ready to go that Friday with plenty of time to spare to catch my 4:59 pm flight out of Asheville. That flight should have served as a sign of things to come. At 5:30 pm my plane began boarding that October evening. Since then it seems that nothing has been as it was supposed to on this little adventure of mine. This was billed to be a place where someone could clean out their body of things like cigarettes and alcohol, however selling them a $3 a pack (cheaper than anywhere in the US) and $3-$5 for a sixpack (I don't drink this beer cause it's crap, but I'm making a point) doesn't help anyone who maybe looking to avoid whatever vices they may have. Or is sugar your standard drug of choice, and make no mistake it's addictive and wrecks your body too, so in this meaning it's a drug. Well, come with the slightly below US priced soda and candy and you'll be overjoyed. However, I for one find it pointless for the most part, because, for one the most delicious beverage on base is the "grape juice" which is more like a grape drink because it's mostly not juice, and two other than the raspberry flavored licorice twists by wonka, the candy is all gross cause it's several months, or in some cases years out of date. And still the sheeple smoke (guilty, but down to 2 a day), drink, and ingest large amounts of sugar directly into their fat faces.

Also, this new strange frozen world brought promises of being away from people. As the people who know me best will attest, that I relish my time alone. It's very cathardic and I get time to think. However the simple fact of the matter is that I am in a place with only 1000 people here. Even as I write this I'm being surrounded by people. It's not that I have anything against these people per say, but I need my time to my space. Honestly I don't really care about how their day is or what happened to them in their work center today. I would much rather be able to turn up my jams and read, or watch a movie, or just sit and think. But it seems in order to do that I am required to take a hike, and my knees are not always up for that.

Then there is my job. In a word, shit! Is the pay right... that depends on how you look at it. As a DA I make $392 a week. Based on a 40 week I make $9 something an hour, not so bad, but then take into account that I make that and work 56 hours a week. I have to pay into my health coverage... and as much as I need it, is it worth it. Also, my job is like working in a kitchen ran by half crazy kindergarten teachers. That, maybe a compliment. So at this point, the sum of all things here is that not only is it not all it's cracked up to be, but the only other perk aside from seeing Antarctica is that I have no desire to spend money on most things that are for sell here.

Some soul searching is in order.

Constantly in Sock Gloves

Yeah, so I went on an adventure the other day and forgot my gloves... that's right, I did that. So I used a spare pair of socks that homey Conor had on him. Also seal shoes!

PS- I know it's just a theme league but I'm on a roll, from Antarctica... YEAH!