The awesome

Are we really going to take it as seriously as I make it sound? Mm. Not really. That doesn’t change how proud I am of the result.

You can now visit Nebulae Apothecary‘s home on the web. I encourage you to do so!

The art of being struck by the foot of another whilst already laying prone

The alternate title of this post was, “Why can’t we have nice things?”

Or possibly even, “Damn, this sucks.”

Finally just, “!&@#,” was considered.

The genesis of my dismay actually comes from something rather nice. In strokes of absolutely incredible generosity the combined efforts of my classroom teacher and the second grade class netted me eighty dollars in gift cards to Guitar Center. At this point I honestly have just about everything I need in terms of musical instruments, the amp being my last piece, and that fell lovingly in to place this Christmas with an awesome contribution from my father and family. I mean, maybe I could pick up a distortion pedal to be ironic but once I checked with store to make sure repairs could be paid for via gift card I made a point to have a nagging suspicion I had about my acoustic guitar checked out.

That’s how I learned that if my guitar was a car… it’s effectively been totaled.

Scratching, cracking, warping, burning.

The iPhone doesn’t make it abundantly clear but I had noticed small cracks in the finish around the saddle and the saddle itself was rising slightly from its edges. To make matters worse, in the harsh glare of the repair shop, the situation is clearly causing the body to bow out just below the saddle and its even caving in near that top right corner. The humidity is ripping my guitar apart.

It can be repaired. The saddle can be re-glued and fancy innards can be surgically installed. The problem is that the “conservative” estimate I was given sits at least 350 dollars. That would be my best guess as to what my guitar would get in good condition if I was going to try and sell it used (Check that, it’s precise!) and it’s clearly no longer in good condition.

That’s rough.

I thought I was going to have to wrestle over what I was going to do but given I could replace it for the same amount of money or less the cost to repair it seems the way is clear. Enjoy it while it holds itself together until eventually one day it becomes unplayable.

Is there a hospice for guitars?

In the now, in the know

“Comics Week,” as it can now be called, was a fun way to keep coming back to the blog. I was sad when it was gone because my mood was improved that whole week because I knew I had creative goals and deadlines, and that eyeballs, however few, would be tuning into my work. In the perfect vacuum created by my hectic work week and my creative team of, well, me; I was bound to run up into the hard wall of a lack of material eventually. Not that I didn’t have ideas, I will always have stupid ideas. It was a lack of ideas that justified spending my free time on, let’s face it, silly garbage.

LOST ended and I had my thoughts but this Internet thing sure is hard to keep up with. So many blog breakdowns appeared so very quickly after the series finale that adding my buzz to the chorus seems frivolous. Again, like with the comics, if I had something monumental to say I would sit down and put in the time to draft a piece worthy of my efforts and your valuable internet time then I would certainly do so. I’ll say this. My impressions were very much overall positive, the finale was both emotional and entertaining, and the series… well, uh, what he said.

What I began stressing and complaining about in December is now only 7 and 3/4 days away. Flanders Elementary shuts down for the summer June 18th. Then summer begins and I still have no plans. The worst case scenario is locked in for now. I already filled out the paperwork that lets Target have my soul back so they can do with it what they will.

Let’s stop the whining, shall we? Positive story telling: GO. Just wrapped up a real fun weekend with Michelle. We’re still getting used to being Connecticutters but I managed to get my ear to the ground for a couple of events swinging through the casino.

Mohegan Sun puts on free shows in the middle of one of their large slot machine rooms in what is called the Wolf Den. Gloriana, a country pop group that I recognized from an obnoxious promo playing on Target TV screens last August, visited the Den on Friday night. The adventure took us out of our comfort zone because there was ushers for asking questions, strangers for sharing seats, and lines for waiting… with no particular promise of success. Turns out we had perfect timing and got ushered into great seats just 15 minutes after the show began. Perhaps it was the good vibes I was feeling from this good fortune but I found myself really enjoying this group way more than I thought I would. Let’s put it this way, any country group showing off slinky dresses on the girls and frosted blonde hair on the guys does not start me with a favorable impression. (I mean, seriously, did you click the link? Even looking at them now after I have a positive review of this group… they kinda make me want to yak.) Turns out the vocal talents you might think are manufactured on the record come out quite natural on stage.

Gloriana on Stage at the Wolf's Den, Mohegan Sun

Also swinging through the Sun was none other than Conan O’Brien and his Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour. This night was a lot more expensive than free but Michelle and I have been waiting for this show since I first snapped up tickets in response to a Conan tweet late this winter. See? Twitter is good for something. In this case the show decidedly met my expectations- a different sensation than having my expectations exceeded, sure, but not at all a bad thing. The only let down was when the show ended and I had to go back to waiting for Conan to be on my television.

Now you can go back to waiting for something to read on my blog.

“Making the Cut,” Hot young scissor doctors… in love

These things really are totally illegible. Dang.

Fine. Sorry.

Panel 1: Oh, Baby! You’re so crazy- Hiding in the utensil drawer at work

Panel 2: That’s just my serrated side.

Panel 3: There’s some news about the baby…

Panel 4: They’re left handed.

Aaaaand you should be able to read the punch line.

Alright, sweet. That was a fun week. I’m pretty sure I’m all done now.

This comic features a handy translation

I put too much effort into this.

Yep, that 64 Box changed a lot of things

Gritty, real, ripped from the headlines

This was one of my more ambitious ideas for Better Late Than Never skits that never got produced. The concept still makes me laugh.

Another episode of, “Gandalf the Grey: Adjunct Faculty”

A man and his degree have a scintillating conversation

I’m having fun.

Mr. Ahnert fails to teach the 2nd grader

There isn’t a lot of fiction to this, unfortunately.