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Showing posts from January, 2009

Reflections on Charlottesville Nightlife Part 2

Okay, it's really not that bad. It's simply life at night in a town that's had a pretty good track record of making such a thing enjoyable. I wasn't expecting this sudden transformation of my life back to having time to go out and do things after work, but here I am. And, it's okay. It is nothing to be ashamed of. I went out to Fellini's and then Miller's tonight, and I had a good time. There was a duo doing a very jazzy drums and bass. I didn't have much to drink. I had a good time being out. I've always had an ambivalent relationship to going out at night. For one thing, in high school I spent most evenings in front of a computer learning how to work BBS software. In college, I spent most evenings either working for Backstreets Pizza, or at the offices of the Tech Independent trying to put our paper to bed. I've always felt like I should be working. Even now, I've committed all my Friday's to working at Court Square Tavern. But, of cour

Reflections on Charlottesville nightlife

Frankly, I'm an alien these days even though I've lived here for over six years. I don't get this town at all in terms of how it works at night. Now that I am newly single, I am having to learn it. But, really, I will report that I just watched two women get into a cab with an elderly man. When the pair walked into the bar where I was, they spotted him and about an hour later, they all got into a cab together. Two very attractive young women in their early twenties got into a cab with a man in his sixties. He was very intoxicated. Where did they go? Where are they now? This happened. What kind of town do I live in? I'm a family man suddenly transported into what I knew before I was such. Night life in Charlottesville is a lot more rough then we really write about here in the world of the blogs. I'm relearning now that I'm back to basics. I never thought I'd be here again. I thought I was going to be a family man. Now, I have my kids part-time and now what? H

Court Square Tavern Fridays: What was one-time is now regular

Well, that didn't take long. Beginning last week, I'm now the regular waiter at Court Square Tavern on Friday nights. I had not expected this, but waitress who usually does it was ready to give up the shift. So, there we are. Last week's shift was fairly jarring. Everything was the same, yet everything was different. I seem to have lost my articulation hat, but the basics that I truly enjoyed about the job in the past were still there. I get a lot of satisfaction from helping people relax and by making their evenings go a little bit better. I don't know how long I'll be able to do this. My other work comes first, though there aren't likely to be many public meetings on Friday nights. Instead, maybe the Tavern can become known again as a public house where people can come in for a refreshing beverage and some enlightening conversation. That's certainly what I'd be striving for, as I plan on continuing to wait tables in my usual way. The best thing about t

Test of new Yahoo player: And a bone for Joe Sites

I met with music blogger Shaun Harvey who tipped me off to the Yahoo music player which I'm hoping I can experiment with here. I've been looking for an easy embeddable mp3 player for donkey's years, and this could be the ticket. Also, Joe Sites requested I post another Hodads song, so here we are. Two stones with one bird. Listen: Monsignor Travaille (1999) : This was an improv done in Brendan's basement in April of 1999. I had never picked up a saxophone before, and had no business doing an improv. Still, this comes together for about 30 seconds or so. UPDATE: Is it donkey's years, or donkeys' years?

Songs have a shelf life: A running story

My iPod Touch is terminally ill, so I borrowed my roommate's iPod this morning for my run at the gym. I was determined to run 6 miles in under an hour. That was my goal for the day. My routine is taking shape. I run three days a week, lift weights three days a week, and rest on the Saturday. I may be overdoing it, but if I don't go to the gym, I feel incredibly sluggish and unhappy with myself. I can't afford right now to be unhappy with myself. The television screens were filled with glimpses of the Mall in Washington. I feel so disconnected from this historic moment because the recent unpleasantness in my own life in part dates back to Election Night. That's when I first had a glimpse of what I was about to lose. Now, the loss has happened and it will always have happened. There's no turning back. There's just me at the gym six days a week working hard to find the meaning of it all. On the treadmill I have the chance to decide how I'm going to deal with it

Back in the tavern again

This time tomorrow my toes will be trotting the floor at Court Square Tavern, returning to the place where they tapped around the last time my life went through the re-imagining process. The regular waitress is taking a night off so there is an opening. It's been such a long time since I waited tables for a living, and now I find myself in need of a little extra money. It's been three years now since the fire , and the place is radically different. The Tavern reopened about a year and a half ago, and it's just now beginning to find its groove. Service is more consistent. The food menu is more consistent, and there's always a good beer special. The smoke is gone. There's wi-fi in the joint. I'm in good shape. It's going to be weird to be back in the place, clearing tables, taking orders, telling people about beer. I'll talk to dozens of people, so many more than I do in my current job. I don't meet many new people in real life. I'm looking forward

Overcoming the gym fear

It has been a month since Gold's Gym here in Charlottesville has become a new set upon which this life of mine plays out. As I enter this new stage of life, I'm learning new lines in an effort to become a better performer in this play we're all rehearsing. My entire life I've had an amazing fear of exercising in public. Many of my social fears are wrapped up in my inadequate sense of image, and my sense of being inferior and small. My school years were not filled with positive examples of physical fitness. The Campbell County school system didn't really do a good job of introducing me to the importance of staying fit. Last month, it became time to stop making excuses for everything. I had to step up and make something happen or else the show would have gotten very, very dark. Since then, the benefits of exercising nearly every day have transformed the way I feel about myself. I'm down a number of pounds, and my clothes don't really fit anymore. I also have t

Why I like rain

When it rains, Charlottesville becomes England. The sound of the air changes. Everything feels moist. The light is magnificently gray, forcing the greens to pick up the slack. My mind is suddenly transported to the place where my parents grew up and where so much of my interest lies. When it rains, feelings of happiness sustain themselves for a quick moment, my need to travel there is somewhat eased. Happiness shines through right where the universe wants me. The rain is pleasing. Everything could actually be okay. A replenished Earth permeates through the built environment. The cycle of life overpowers the man-made for a few moments at least. The rain drops and consciousness fade aways. The rush of a million drops falling towards the earth and then landing takes precedence over everything else. Every other sound must transform itself or be lost amidst the softness. (photo by Juni )

Wired: Reflecting on hyperactivity and creativity

I'm wired to move fast, both through my chemical make-up as well as my life experience to date. At 35, I have to re-evaluate if that's how I want to be. I made my way through college by working in restaurants, and got myself addicted to the madness of having to balance so many different variables at once. I got addicted to having a busy life, and only felt "happy" by juggling several full plates. at a time. I felt a rush of accomplishment by being able to achieve so much. During my last semester at Virginia Tech, I had five classes, a three-day-a-week internship at WVTF Public Radio, and a job at Backstreets Pizza. Of course, the energy took its toll on the relationship I was in at the time. A year later, I was in New Hampshire with a similar set-up, except I was all alone and could just layer on the projects like a drunk brick mason. However, by 1997 I was back in my hometown of Lynchburg doing one thing and one thing only, working in a factory. I was working 40 ho

Laid bare like the Downtown Mall

This morning I had to drop something by the New Dominion Bookshop for a recording that Elizabeth McCullough was making for the Charlottesville Podcasting Network ( follow on twitter! ). I had rushed together a kit for her to record a woman named Donna Authers talking about her book A Sacred Walk: Dispelling the Fear of Death and Caring for the Dying . We'll post it later on this week. But tonight's entry deals with trying to fix those that will live, at least for the foreseeable future. The bookstore is just down the hill from my office in Court Square. I had planned to stop off at the Blue Ridge Country Store to get a salad. Usually I just retreat back to my desk as quick as I can, but today I became intrigued by the large green walls that have cropped all over on the mall. Yes, the rebricking of the Downtown Mall is under way, but I was surprised by how big of a footprint the project has in these initial days. East Main Street went from normal to construction zone in a matt

Positive aspects: Saturdays with children in Charlottesville

One of the things I enjoy best in the world is putting both kids in our double stroller and walking the mile and a half to Charlottesville's downtown mall . My three-year-old daughter loves to go so much. "Downtown, Daddy! I want to go downtown!" You hear that a lot at the house. There is so much to do and see downtown! And, looking outside the window it appears that today will be a great day to make a tremendous circuit. I reckon we'll head down about 1:30 PM or so. It will take us about 30 minutes to get there. We'll first stop at the Ice Park and watch everyone going around and around. I'll tell my daughter about how she'll be going ice-skating when she's bigger and she'll look up at me with wonder. I'll tell her how she'll start off leaning on a bucket, but that eventually she'll drive the Zamboni. She'll look at up me with a quizzical look and will repeat "Zamboni" with an uplift on the last two syllables to indicate

Positive thoughts: Rediscovering old skills

Today I am going to channel positive thoughts. I find it easier to do this on days when the sky is overcast and gray. I take joy from wintry gloom. This is the last day of work before work gets crazy and I get right back into the swing of covering government meetings. I am going to work on some fun experiments. I am going to try to rediscover some of the talents that I've let lie fallow for a couple of years. Yesterday, I spent two hours recording songs with my kids. Later on this month I'll be posting the results in a podcast on the Charlottesville Podcasting Network. I'm not going to be afraid to experiment and to innovate in the coming year. I miss working with sound. I miss working to make excellent radio. Another thing I'd like to do this year is to get on stage somehow. I'd like to perform in some capacity, either as a singer or as an actor or something. I've always had the bug to do this sort of thing, but I've always convinced myself it wasn't im

Marking 10 years as a vegetarian

It's been ten years since I deliberately ate a piece of meat. It was an appetizer laced with chicken at a pool bar somewhere in Northern Virginia. When 1999 began, I did not quit eating meat in order to satisfy a New Year's resolution. I just simply stopped eating it, and the transition was pretty simple and easy. I've never had a craving that lasted for more than a minute or so. People often ask why I'm a vegetarian. I mostly keep my responses to myself, as I don't really feel the need to justify my choice to myself. I could say that not eating red meat lowers my risk of colon cancer. I could say I find it hard to disassociate the animal from the flesh that it grew. I could tell them about the time I was visiting friends in Maryland and watching them eat crabs repulsed me. I could tell them about my vegetarian roommate Chandran who cooked delicious feasts that opened me to worlds of possibility. I could tell them that I just don't like the taste of dead things.

Thoughts on 2009

So this is 2009, and what have you done? Last night I braved the outside to go to a downtown bar in order to spend the passage of 11:59 with strangers. I had fallen asleep at 7:30 PM and didn't really feel up to braving the elements. However, I did not want to spend the first minute of 2009 alone in my apartment so I went out with my friends. 2009 is going to be a challenging year. I'm basically starting my life over and trying to examine every single way that I do things. I'm trying to pressure myself to not be afraid of tasks that other people find routine. At the heart of all of my problems is a network of fears that has become embedded in every aspect of my behavior. I'm living the results of that personality. So, in 2009 I am going to try to think of everything a little differently. I am reading up on all kinds of things about how people behave in an effort to understand why I am so petrified unless I'm playing the role of journalist. I find it hard to connect