Leroy's (part 24)

Double O and I went early. I had a cup of chilli, with onions and cheese; Double O ate a chocolate ice cream sundae. We had extra money on the table, thanks to Mary's boyfriend, Matt, and the waitress, the fucking Korean, took it all when we weren't looking and put the remainder ($6.25) into her tip jar. BITCH!!

I had to leave, too tired. Dying tired. I gave Double O a ride home after we both TRIED to write, but it was nothing but frustrating failures. I got to bed and fell asleep 28 hours after I woke up yesterday.

Leroy's (part 23)

Mungo opened both the double doors to Leroy's Family Diner, found a menu and turned to the side orders. A middle aged skinny Korean waitress, Lee, asked, "Just to-go this time?" Mungo said the order would be a sausage pattie. He waited quietly in the booth nearest the till and paid the $4 given to him by his hungry drunk roommate, Julie. Driving it home to her, the smell of the sausage in his passenger seat was slowly driving him mad.
Mungo parked in the driveway, left the car running and went into the Romanzof Half where R.J. had fallen asleep on the kitchen floor. She told him to put the sausage in the fridge and refused to be moved from where she lie. He did as requested and not caring too much for his roommate at the moment, left her as she asked. He returned to Leroy's where he hoped to get some writing done.
Mungo's book, Highway 9, was coming along slowly. He had recently finished past all his old notes and was now writing from raw memory and an outline, albiet, a crazy-detailed outline. Lee was working as the second waitress of the night, it being a weekend graveyard and the bar rush was anticipated to be high volume. The first waitress, PrettyLiz, saw Mungo sitting at his typical counter stool and asked him to move into her section, which he did, finding a seat next to the big screen tv showing old war movies on AMC. He wrote a scene inwhich he teaches his friend, code-named Hannah, how to take pictures with a manual camera, specifically covering the mechanics of depth of field, one of Mungo's favorite aestetic photo phlavors. He related D.o.F to life in a way he first thought to be meaningful, and then realizing it was a lame attempt at depth of literary theme, scribbled it out in the name of good taste.
Four or five hours into his stay at Leroy's PrettyLiz refilled his coffee and dropped off a napkin saying, "Here, you got a note." Mungo read the note which was written in black ball point: "Erik- You are a BOOB. Come sit with us. We have boobs too. Liz." The note was from BlondeLiz who was sitting on Lee's side of Leroy's. Mungo wrote a note back which said, "Liz- Yes, I know you have boobs. I stared at them when you came in. I'll be over after a while, I'm almost done here. -Erik (BOOB)" He handed the napkin to PrettyLiz on her next pass of the counter and went back to do some final revisions of the flash forwards he had outlined to sporadically drop between the multiple chapters of his book. The flash forwards pretained to a road trip he took with Jill the last day they ever saw each other and it was important to have the time line correct, it was quite detailed and filled quite full of errors in it's present state. While reviewing the notes a second note from BlondeLiz came to him which said, "Erik- The time you have to spend with our boobs is severely limited. Get over here! -LizAgain." Mungo decided that his outline could wait, packed up his notes, and joined Roxy and BlondeLiz at their table, choosing to sit on Liz's side of the table.
Roxy shared her food with Mungo, no-doubtedly seeing how hungry he was and certainly knowing that he was broke and unable to buy anything other than coffee, and Mungo at the last half of her Monte Cristo ravonously. When Roxy left, she paid for Mungo's coffee, very sneaky-like. BlondeLiz and Mungo talked, for an hour, about her past and how it has led to her present and how it will be soon affecting her future. Her future is in San Francisco, but Mungo insisted that she not go, her past is too ugly and that her present is far healthier. It was strange advice for him to give, never having spoken to BlondeLiz in such length before hand.
Hamilton Hamilton came in around 6:00 a.m. and was introduced to Mungo. H.H. told Mungo about the 33 states he has visited, that he has been sober for 6 years and his life as a hobo, beach bum, bouncer, and para-trooper is over and has resigned himself to live clean as a drafter, electrician, and general carpendter. Mungo was impressed with his life story and was facinated with the poem Hamilton Hamilton had written about his life.
BlondeLiz told Mungo another facinating story, a disturbing one, and detailed beyond recollection, of Stacy, the day time waitress at Leroy's. It involved a counterfit $20 bill that arrived at the register one night last week and during the backround check of all Leroy's employee's, it was discovered that an 8 year old DUI had gone unresolved on Stacy's end, a warrent was immediately issued for her arrest, and she was apprehended soon after while waiting tables in the middle of the day.
PrettyLiz was relieved from having to pull an 18 hour shift by the owner, Mrs. Wan, and asked Mungo for a ride home, which he agreed to. Before he left he exchanged zilla's with BlondeLiz and told her to call him the next time she had a story to tell.
Driving PrettyLiz home proved to be a continuation of the night's theme, which was story telling, and her stories were fast, broad, and screamingly interesting ones. Exboyfriends, exroommates, cats, houses on fire, and all kinds of other topics. She left $3 in the center console of Mungo's car and said, "See you at work tonight," laughing.
Not knowing what to do with the next few hours before Mungo needed to be at work, he decided to stop back at Leroy's to see if BlondeLiz was still there, talking to whomever would listen. She was not and suddenly, Mungo's night was over. He decided, against his deepest wishes, to return to the Romanzof Half and write to his friends.
At the Half, he discovered no sleeping roommates on the floor and the uneaten sausage in the fridge, quagulated grease sitting solid in one corner of the styrofoam to-go dish.
After writing about his night, Mungo decided to nap for one hour before going to work, though, he's worried he'll over sleep, so he's setting two alarm clocks.

Peace and Love,
Mungo

Song of the day: "Neighborhood 2" - Arcade Fire

Leroy's (part 22)

A miserable experiance last night. The last clues of the TidBits cross-word puzzle were:

FOUR letter word for safe cracker starting with "Y" = Y.E.G.G.
THREE letter word for stern disiplinarian starting with "F" = F.C.C.

After the show at Metro, the cool kids went to Bitoz for a benifit concert. Many of them migrated to Leroy's after the show. I don't have a problem with the mohawks or the baggy clothes or even dirty looks when I stare, but I do have a problem with noise. I think they forgot they were no longer at Bitoz. Double O and I left, too loud for much.

I spent $10 of my last $17 to eat banana fancy cakes and coffee for Double O and I. My lastest $7 is going to have to stretch thinly thinly.

Peace and Love,
Mungo

Quest For The Rest

http://questfortherest.com/

Double O and I just did this page. Thought you boys would enjoy it.

Leroy's (part 21)

Last night at Leroy's I was super super tired. It was my second time there in 18 hours. Arg! Whot! The first time I hung out and gave Liz a ride home. Then I went to work, went to Double O's and we went to Darwin's Theory where we met up with my friend, Kalimah, who told us about the novela she was writing about a gunfighter. We drank two beers, Double O had his Amber and I had my Red Hook IPA, and then we went to Leroy's where I about fell the hell asleep. I managed to squeeze out about two and a half pages of writing, but it was all crap

EXAMPLE: "We played basketball not as a contest of sport, but as a contest of delinquency. He who stayed out latest past curfew was awarded honors that would be carried until the next night." Who gives a dowdy.

Mary was there and I told her I needed help finding a girl. I told her that when a human body has an iron deficiency it craves meat or beans. When the human body is low on blood sugar, we crave fruit or juice or starches. When the human mind is lonely, we crave attention. And I think the reason I'm oogaling over so many girls is because my human mind as an iron deficiency. She told me she has someone, high in iron, for me to meet and the next time we road-trip somewhere, she'll invite her. From Mary's description, there's only one problem with this girl. Her name is Julie.

Peace and Love,
Mungo

PS, I always hated that guy Rooney anyway.

PPS, This is pretty funny: http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/openletters/7brokeintocar.html

The Scoop.... sort of

I quit AWDS for several reasons. 1, I was tired of the bullshit. 2, I saw too many inconsistancies between instructors. 3, I was not matching their "profile" of what they wanted me to do.

The last mission Roney was my instructor. Mungo, you might remember him. The crazy eyed WD up in AK. Well, he told me that I SNPed the mission and the first thing out of my mouth was "That is Fucking Bullshit!" then the "F" bomb was dropped about every 3 seconds after that as I went on a rant saying that I understood his opinion but it was wrong. Not ususally a good thing for a student to do, by the way, but I am Eddie and that is just how I am.

He said that I could fix the problems for the next mission and I told him "There is not going to be another mission, I am done!"

Ahh well, Going to go do some out-processing here today and then hopefully be on my way out tonight.

By the way, I am fine with this decision and no need to worry about the Eddie.

I'm Outta hea

Job Application

I'm going to apply at the Zoo.

Shock

Wow. Eddie, I'm surprised. If you quit on something military-related, especially an "advancement" in your duties, it must have been for severe reasons. I hope that all is well with you. Let us know what's going on and how you're doing as soon as possible!

Peace and Love,
Mungo

The Hammer Drops

I quit AWDS today. I will be out of here probably tomorrow night.

I will write more later when I feel like it.

Leroy's (part 20)

Conversation from Booth 19, Leroy's Family Diner, C St. and Fireweed; 22Feb05; Mungo and Double O
MUNGO: All the girls at work love me.
DOUBLE O: How do you know?
M: When I was leaving yesterday, I heard the cutest voice in the world say, "Bye, Mungo!"
DO: Who was it?
M: The cutest girl in the world, Melissa, the pregnant Melissa. I was surprised she knew 'Mungo' and I said, "Everybody knows, good! Bye!"
DO: Okay, so?
M: I forgot my backpack on the hook upstairs so I put my new stuff in my car and went back. Aaron and Nick came running up the stairs laughing. Aaron said, "Everyone thinks you're quitting." Nick said, "Ya, all the girls are down in customer service talking to Miguel asking him to convince you to stay." Aaron, "They said to The Big M, 'Mungo's quitting' and without missing a beat he said, "Yes, sadly, Mungo's no longer with us." Nick said, "They're all really cryin' for ya down there."
DO: That's hilarious. Did you talk to them?
M: No. Far as I know they still think I quit. It'll be funny when I go back on Thursday.
DO: What new stuff did you get?
M: New Sorel hoodie, Sorel coat, and a pair of $200 Rocky boots that Miguel marked down to $20 for me.
DO: Man.
M: Dude, did I tell ya about my guitar?
DO: No, what's wrong with it?
M: The tuning fork is screwed. Well, unscrewed. Everything's loose and some of the screws have fallen out. I busted a string playing that new song I wrote, Hillary wanted to hear it, and when I tried to restring it, well, I couldn't.
DO: Probably just have to rethread it. I'll take a look at it.
M: No offense, but I think I'll let Kid Kenny take a peak first. See what he thinks. Oh, hey, you wanna go to his show with me on Friday? He's playing an acoustic set at Metro.
DO: Ya! I gotta meet this kid.
M: He's awesome.
DO: I kinda want some onion rings, but I can't.
M: I'm full too. Those were some fat burritos.
DO: Ya they were really good. I shouldn't eaten three of them.
M: Two was enough for me. All them ingredients were 100% natural and organic too.
DO: Really? Are you serious?
M: Couldn't even tell, huh? The beef came from that AlAskA gourmet Meats over there by the Bike Shop on Northern Lights. It was Australian Natural Beer-Drinkin' Beef or something like that. And the cheese was extra aged unpasturized supa good.
DO: Cool man. Here, read my outline, I just rewrote it.
M: It's the same as the old one.
DO: But I rewrote it in this notebook. See if I left anything out.
M: It's good. Hey did you name the bar yet?
DO: Ya, Foghorn Saloon.
M: You know what you should name the bay the Russian crabbers' boat sinks in? You already got the town of Kilmerton named after the Glacier in the mountains and on your little map there you got the run-off going into the bay, just name it Kilmerton Glacier Bay.
DO: Ya, but that's too-
M: Dude. Kilmerton Glacier Bay. K.G.B. Dude, the Russians sink in the K.G.B. That'd be awesome.
DO: I'm doing it.
M: Sweet.
DO: Hey man, I got to go, I'm getting tired. Got a full belly and a beer on top of it.

-Mungo Gives Double O A Ride Home, Returns To Leroy's And Writes Like A Maniac In His Book-

Somewhere around 3:05 a.m. a slightly overweight gentleman, around the age of white comb-over hair and thick glasses, came in and asked where he should sit. PrettyLiz told him to sit where ever he would like, that the world is his open-seating oyster. He sat at the booth he was nearest. I recognized his voice from somewhere, that distintive voice that alluded to a core of pure joy, a high voice, one of age and sincerity. I stood up from the end of the counter, where my notebooks were opened and papers surrounded a cup of coffee and a tall plastic white glass of ice water. I saw and recognized the man. Though I had not seen him in 3 1/2 years and had only talked to him once, I knew him right away. I didn't know his name, so to me, he was The Guy from Stewart's Photography on 4th Ave. I let Liz fix his table up with a menu and water before I approached him.

Conversation from Booth 2, Leroy's Family Diner, C St. and Fireweed; 22Feb05; Mungo and That Guy
MUNGO: Hello, Sir.
THAT GUY: Hello, I'm Bob, what's your name, Young Man?
M: I'm that guy Mungo.
BOB: Pleased to meet you.
M: We've already met. Three years ago, maybe it was four, I was down at Stewart's Photography scoping out chemicals, enlargers, shakers, developing trays- thinking about starting up my own dark room.
B: We've got all that.
M: I know! I bought a shaker, but that's as far as I ever got.
B: That's too bad.
M: You and I ended up talking for about, oh, 3 hours or 4, about old records. Records from the 19th century, the ones first pressed in Berlin. I told you that my mother also collected those and had dozens of them at home.
B: Oh yes, seems to me that they were down south somewhere? Oklahoma was it?
M: Iowa, but ya, that was me.
B: Why don't you sit down.

for the sake of the bro's, I'll just chop this conversation off here... it was over an hour long...
-Mungo And Bob Talked About Records, Digital Cameras, Cats, Cats, And More Cats That Bob Tends At The Shelter-

Later, an old man, who had previously tried to pawn a desk off on me (an old 'military' desk, he said, that was strapped to the roof of his Suberban) asked Liz to ask Mr. Wan if he could take some pictures of the paintings on the wall.

Conversation from the floor, Leroy's Family Diner, C St. and Fireweed; 22Feb05; Mungo, PrettyLiz, and Mr. Desk
PRETTYLIZ: He says it's fine, go ahead.
MR. DESK: Thank you. That's. That's Don Quixote there. The windmill. That's.
MUNGO: On the one over there by the door?
MD: That's Don Quixote.
PL: I never noticed that.
M: I think it's just a guy and a windmill.
MD: Then that's. Huuuuhhhh.... Don What's His Name Quixote.
PL: That's awesome.
MD: It's beautiful and I'm going to take a picture of it for my grandson. God knows his father wouldn't do it for him.
M: I always hated that painting.
MD: Then you've never read about Don Quixote.
M: You mean Miguel de Cervantes 16th century Spanish classic, the pillar of the Western literary canon, and widely regarded as the world's first modern novel, "Don Quixote," no, guess I've never read it. What's it about?
MD: Oh, you should read it then.
PL: Like, yaaa, Erik, you should totally read it 'n' stuff. You'd, like, totally love it. It's about this sorta madman that's also sane and he's like this knight and has this faithful squire guy, Sancho something that follows him around and says, like, all these super smart things 'n' stuff.
MD: See, she's read it. I'm going to take, going to take a picture of this for my grandson.

-Mungo Laughs And Laughs As He Shares The Inside Joke With PrettyLiz-

About 20 minutes before I left Leroy's, a cabby, Cabby Jack, decides that it's high time he starts talking. I have seen him in Leroy's a dozen times before, and he always sits at the counter, never saying much except to order "whatever you're bringin'."

Conversation from the counter, Leroy's Family Diner, C St. and Fireweed; 22Feb05; Mungo and Cabby Jack
CABBY JACK: See this?
MUNGO: Who me, what that?
CJ: Do you know who that is on the cover?
M: Um, lemme guess, the Love Child of Vince Gill and decrepit Elvis?
CJ: Got some mouth, don't you? Well no, wise ass, that's me on the CD cover.
M: You've grown your hair out since, I see.
CJ: That's right. We did a show, it was a benifit for some Gaddangdum Kids without mothers or some shit, and we were voted "Best Benifit in 2001."
M: Well that's real nice.
CJ: Yep, just got the CD in today. What don't you flip it over and see if you know any of them songs on there.
M: "My Girl," "Unchained Melody," that's it.
CJ: Those are great songs though, but what about this one. You know this one?
M: Not right off, I'd have to hear it maybe.
CJ: You.... make me see.... how much... I have.... And I... still tremble when we touch... And oh the look... in your eyes---
M: Sir, seriously, that's not necessary. I'd prefer it if you didn't sing "When We Make Love" to me. Really. Please, just, sit, down.
CJ: Alright, just trying to be friendly.

-Mungo Endured Just About As Much As He Could Handle, But Ultimately Decided It Was Time To Leave For The Night-

Peace and Love,
Mungo

Busy

Been busy. I will get on here soon. Might go to Utah this weekend. Updates to follow.

ST out

Epider and His Shiney Glass Window

There is a photo frame bleeding from the nose, speaking from rotten nostrils of one of the 12 figures contained beneath the glass. Honosty inbetween the dogears speaks for the frame, "Don't forget what's a long time off as a spider wishes to be buried when its time comes." My weekend is the next two days. He lied on his32 inch waist to someone making 6 figures and told him he was swamped so he could not have the appointment. But next time, surpise! Starpalms of jewels, deadend. Epider says, "There is no truth, only you and what you make the truth." They all look the same to me, yary... It's hard to think on my head. What a strange mixture of jellicals. Trajix there's never been a cabity, no secrets nothing there. This is a narsist day screamin' come downstairs, it belongs to the people all the time. That sweet man, how could he come to exist? Did he have a mother and a father and did they spend their oneshot lives together? Epider never told a lie, but I don't know which one he is. He thought we'd never find him. But this isn't the truth, this is a lie. One of the 12 figures beneath the glass is a hub for the collective-consious of the remainded 11. Epider left in the morning believing that they were all alive.

The End.

Fun Weekend

Saturday was nothing exciting other than me winning some cash at the slots and then losing it on Sunday night. Well just some of it anyway.

Sunday, however, ST and I went for a ride on the only day of the weekend it did not rain the whole damn day. I, once again, impressed myself with my jumping ability. Estimate of 47 feet!!! I am suprised I am still alive.

Today has been the work on shit at the ST household. Put up shelves and put in some fucking thing for an I-Pod into the bimmer. That was a bitch, but ST can explain the rest on that one.

Not much else to say... just a nice break from the school over the weekend.

Ways Jesus Saves.

from www.mcsweenys.net

-Suggests drawing names this year for Xmas exchange
-Wicked fastball that few batters can touch
-Has learned to recognize the first signs of choking
-Water into wine
-Attends matinees rather than evening performances
-Last season's goals-against average: 1.36
-Cuts his own hair (but not often)
-Cuts his apostles' hair (but not often)
-Clicks "File," clicks "Save As," types an appropriate title in field, clicks "Save," then prays to God his computer doesn't lose it
-Dying for your sins

3 Days Later

Double O fixed my car! Just needed some new sparkies and leads. I had never replaced them. I haven't been blogging because I haven't been home, not until late at night, and I don't get on the computer when the roomies are asleep. I have a few hours to kill this morning before I go to work. I could blogg my eyes out with all kinds of facinating details of Leroy's and the people associated, but I don't think y'all are interested as much as I am. So I'll just say that the place is still there and the people are still fair.

Gordon and Jen have a 2 year old son named Thor. When they say, "Thor, tell Erik your word," Thor will cross his arms, cock his head to the side and say, "Word."

Oatmeal is at a rolling boil.

Peace and Love,
Mungo

OUTRAGOUS!

That is a terrible suggestion! Stay home? TOO much Leroy's!? An outrage. Simply an outrage.

Pass On the Leroy's

Mungo, maybe you should stay home more often and just relax. Just a thought since you seem to live at ol' Leroy's.

Good luck with the Disco Haus.

ST

Leroy's (part 19); The Higher Brain of the Regular

[note: I have actually been to Leroy's three times since my last Leroy's post, but mostly those were boring. Yesterday I was there twice. I was there once in the morning before I went to work and then again at night with Double O. LEROY'S (PART 19) has nothing to do with my time spent there yesterday morning. That crew is bunkus.]

I left work early, which is something I rarely do. I need all the hours Sportsmen's Warehouse will give me, you see. So, even on the boring nights, I usually stick-out the closing shifts. Abby was left alone for the last hour and a half last night, which she hates (due to a fear, I think, of being alone), when I left because of some higher-brain dysfunction. I lyke spelling words wythe the letter "Y" when it's not appropriate. I also like spelling words with the letter "I" when it replaces the letter "Y." Lyke: "I don't know whi I do such things."

Where was I? Right, the higher brain. I was losing my grip on all things normal and my pleasant and pacient demeanor was tumbling towards anger and violence. I was beginning to feel unwelcome inside my own body and things were not canceling out in the equation. At the exact moment of breakdown a customer asked me to show him our Gore-Tex fishing waders and wanted to know how he could perhaps use a Thermopolis Sorel boot liner (4-layer wool/felt liner rated to -40F/C) to keep his feet warm in the cold cold waters of AlAskA. His innocent inquiry felt like a provocation and I became livid with him. I took the waders off the clothes hanger and hand them to him while I twiddled the hanger in my hand, behind my back. As the man slipped off his shoes to try the neoprene bootie on for size, with the liner on underneath, I imagined myself shoving the hanger down this throat... through his adam's apple. I decided, at that point, that this customer deserved service of a Kinder Quality and politely excused myself in search of a fellow associate. I did not, however, surrender the coat hanger until I was through with my shift an hour later.

I left the War House and drove to Double O's. Along the way, while stopped in parking lots and at red lights, while my little blue Saturn was idling, I noticed a few slight hicups in the engine. They were nothing that said, "We mean buisness," so I didn't take it seriously. I picked Double O up and after climbing the stairs several times to give Lissy hugs and again for kisses and again for high-fives and again for all three, we left his "Duplex of Despondency" and headed across town for Leroy's Family Diner, Famous Since 1968. I had called Double O from work and had asked him to call my parents in Iowa to ask them what the phyciatrist from the Cerro Gordo County Lutheran Services had diagnosed me with when I was 16 years old. I couldn't remember what manner of Chemical was perceived to be imbalanced. Double O had not been able to reach my parents and nor was I. The two of us, now in my LURCHING blue Saturn, ambled down Lake Otis, Dowling, New Seward, Fireweed, and C St discussing my 'hot potato' on no more information than could be rend between the ostensible and unfeigned memories of my teen-aged years.

We bobbed up in the Leroy's parking lot at 7:15 p.m., dropped anchor, and spoke there for the next 40 minutes, during which time we absent mindedly lamped the rain that was falling change neatly over to snow and then cease all-embracingly.

[Did you guys know that "lamp" means "observe"??? I learned that today from reading a book!]

A temporary exposition to my problem, my 'hot-potato,' was surmised by Double O:
"You do not respond to emotional highs and lows the same way other people do, especially when they come so close together. If you feel like you need to starting taking Imipramine again, then do it. I for one do not think pills can solve real problems, but if it helped you before, then they can help you again. But, if you want to start taking the drugs again, why not start with Smarties? No, seriously, go all out. Get yourself one of those little plastic boxes with the days of the week on it so you don't forget to take them, fill it up with Smarties, and then swallow one a day with a glass of water and see if your mind can't trick you into feeling better. And hey, if it doesn't work, I'll eat them. I like Smarties."

We went inside just a few minutes before 8 p.m. After bathroom breaks and fine fettles of coffee, we started in with the newspapers. In one corner booth behind us sat the group of idiot gamers that frequent Leroy's as much as I do. The Three of them are always together. Never are there Four gamers at the table, nor shall the counting of gamers ever be Two, less the counter then proceeds to Three. They were talking History and Geography. Like so:

BRODY: Josh, help us settle a bet. Christopher wanted to know what countries in Europe the Great Wall of China went through and what was the year Reagan tore it down.
JOSH: The Great Wall of China is still mostly intact. Don't you probably mean the Berlin Wall?
CHRISTOPHER: No, Spider_0001 from the forum said it was the Great Wall of China. He's doing a thing for the group meeting next week and he needs to know what graphic decorum would be best.
BRODY: You see, my stance is that the Berlin Wall is just the part of the wall that goes through China.
CHRISTOPHER: And I say that the Great Wall of China was torn down after WWII except for parts of the wall in Europe which Regan tore down in Germany.
JOSH: Let me put on my best geography-teacher hat to try and explain this to you. The Great Wall of China is, in fact, exclusively in Asia.
BRODY: I'm pretty sure you're wrong. What would be so great about tearing down a wall in Germany? It's not even that big of a country.

I'm not sure if Double O heard that particular conversation, but I had a good chortle at their expense. To this day I still laugh when I see idiots putting all their creative powers into something like video games and then debating each other over their game-play.

The two of us were busy cheating at crossword puzzles when Mary came in and we all said Hi. We were simalerly engrossed when Liz came in and gave everyone Valentine's Day Cards. They were the kind that are punched from a larger sheet. It's my bookmark now, I put the Kinko's electronic chip card back in my wallet.

I ordered the Chicken Dinner thinking it was $4.95 but after the food came to the table Double O informed me that I was looking at the Seniors Menu section and I had just paid $8.95 for something I didn't really like. Oops. That kind of thing really sucks when I think about the fact that I only make $8.50 an hour. AN HOUR OF MY LIFE BOUGHT ME THIS SHITTY CHICKEN DINNER. Terrible thoughts. Double O ordered onion rings with ranch and we both drank coffee. I rationed myself at three cups, a good perscription of the black stuff for problems of the Higher Brain Dysfunction... or what I used to call: "Cold Brain Something," when my mind is at it's most logical. The "Warm Brain Something" is my brain's emotive responce to creativity clicking, generally it's Mungo at his Mungoiest.

Then, when we discovered that it was late, 11:30 p.m., I drove Double O back to his half-a-home. The weather was sort of back to normal except the heavy presence of slush and ice everywhere. The knocking of my car became quite irritating and we spent much of the drive testing out D/3/2 gear options holding each at different RPM's and sitting idle. In Double O's Circle of Moose Run I milled around several times with the radio and windows down so Double O's ears could try to deduce the ailment in my engine. At this point the problem is believed to be misfiring spark plugs or, at worst, slipping auto transmission. Tomorrow, after I drop off my application at NAC and talk to a 2nd Bob, I'll have Double O follow me to Jiffy Lube and we'll try to get this mess sorted out. More to come there.

I was just thinking. I love Leroy's. I do. I really love that place. Filled up with so mazy zanny people, staffed by the fray of society. There are different types of Leroy's regulars who visit the counters from time to time. There's the casual eater, who attends perhaps once a month; the regular, who needs no menu and can be seen there at least 5 times a week; the college kids, who come to the Leroy's only when their school's lab is full and the library is closed; and many other types, which I'll leave out for no real reason. From my end of the counter, I have made it a habit to ignore what they are reading or doing or saying to each other, but sometimes it is quite simply impossible to resist a good eavesdrop.

Like the time I stood outside the bathroom and listened to Joe talk to a man who was sleeping in the bathroom. Oh, I love a bit of polite conversation!

Like the guy that wore a sombraro and sang songs in Spanish, they sounded romantic. He had a nice voice but it cracked on high notes.

And then there are the librarians that come in. I'm not sure which library in town they're from, but I'd like to think it's a secret underground library because they're always wearing black. They have the coolest stories.
"The strangest item in the book drop this week was an unlit firecracker," said one.
Said two, "UNLIT?"
Said one,"Patrons putting firecrackers in the library overnight book drop does not happen as often as some people imagine. This is only the second time I've seen one, although it was the first time I had seen one unlit."
Said three, "The first one destroyed seven books and damaged over a dozen others."

But mostly it's the random droppers-in that amuse me the most. Especially when they're foreigners. Two or three days ago there was a woman who was, apparently, very fond of clemintines. She said, "Goddamn, those things are good. In Scotland, where all the clementines are imported from Spain, the season is long gone, it was probably six weeks shorter than in the U.S., unfortunately. But man, you should have seen the crates stacked up in the grocery stores while we had 'em. 'Wall-to-wall treetop-tall,' someone might call it. At one point back in November I used a clementine in a poem (which of course made the poem instantly awesome)and when I read it to my flatmates, well, guess what happened? By the end of the week there were three more clementine poems floating around. I wasn't jealous or anything, because I like poems as much as I like clementines and think there should be more of both of them in the world. I'm just saying, they really are the awesomest thing in The History of Things or awesomeness." And then she said to a four year old boy who was sitting next to her in a booth, "Don't ever let me catch you hanging around with satsumas, cause they ain't nothing but poser bitches."

I love Leroy's. You guys should come one night.

Peace and Love,
Mungo

Double O Is Asleep On My Couch

He brought over another application for NAC today. As I filled it out, he passed out. My laundry is humming along in the next room. In about 15 minutes I'll wake him up and have him follow me to Jiffy Lube. I had a bunch of work done with them 8 days ago. Last night, during a weird night of weather, my car started fluttering, then started burping, then starting lurching all over the place. There is something very wrong with my little Pepsi Can. Hopefully it's just some spark plugs in need of some regapping, but if not, it's probably a problem with the transmission. If that's the case, I'm hosed.

Peace and Love,
Mungo

PS< New Leroy's chapter coming later tonight.

Nice Car

So is the car that I partied with you in the parking lot still the same one you have now? he he he....

ST is testing for TSgt today. I test on March 28th (the very end of the window.)

Well, The Beemer is nice. I won't steal ST's thunder and tell you what the car is like.

Valentines day was un-eventful for me. Another year with no date. Well, last year on V-Day I went on my first date with Elena. Bet y'all hadn't heard that name in a while. Well, I am glad that is over. Actually, I am glad that I don't have a girlfriend right now. At the same time it is kinda depressing. OK, really... I just need to get laid and then I will be fine.

Peace up!

C.S.

Camshaft Sensor

The camshaft sensor went bad on my new car. Hmm. Well, shit. If I had known that I would have just pulled out my extra that I always keep in the truck for just that occasion. Oh well, BMW put a new one in for me and it will be ready at twelve o'clock high. I guess I can keep the spare for another time.

How can I not keep this car now? Just remember this...it's so much damn fun that even when it breaks down it's fun. Hey, what can you say about spontaneous parties in dark parking lots at 9pm? Word up.

I am total snob boy now! WOO WOO!

ST out.

w/o S.A.R. Chasism

Not at all! I thought your story was funny funny! So did everyone else I read it to. I was callin' family all over the lower 48 and calling people up all across town sharing your story. Seriously, I must have read it to, like, 50 people last night. The reason I must have sounded sarcastic was because I was totally dead when I was writing last night.

I have just rose from 13 hours of sleep. Feeling better, but still have a pain in the stomach. I'm going to go to Leroy's this morning and have tea, I think. Or perhaps I'll go to Metro Music. No, Leroy's has Mini Pigs.

Peace and Love,
Mungo

Ya, my grammer sucks!

Is that sarcasm...

Is that sarcasm in your post about the funniness?

By the way, I hear that heroin is a good way to help get over the coffee withdrawls. Just a thought.

ST out

Coffee Pains

Okay. I was talking to Leslie (who she is isn't important) and she said she used to drink dozens of cups of coffee a day at her old job. When she took her new job she had to quit drinking coffee on the job. She got so sick when she quit she would actually vomit from the withdrawls.

(ROOMIEJULIE SAYS "HELLO EVERYONE")

So Leslie's news scared me because I had been approaching 10 cups a day, or more. All the coffee from road-side stands, Leroy's, the free stuff at work, the stuff I boil on the stove. 10 cups or more.

So began the experiment. Mungo will drink no coffee for as long has he can hold out. So far I am working on 50 hrs and 46 minutes. Terrible minutes. Killer hours. My stomach hurts, I have a bad head ache and I'm about to go crazy. I felt like falling face first into the concrete at work.

Peace and Love,
Mungo

Song of the day: "Alec Eiffel" - The Pixies

Funny Story

That's a funny story. Really funny.
So funny.

Finest Cars Built

Beck is hiring a couple of new nurses. Beck is going to give one of them her company car. Beck needs a new car.

Okay, so Beck has always like those fancy little 325i and 330i BMW's. Yeah, like we can afford a car that expensive! Well, maybe looking at used ones would be the way to go. Cool. So we went.

Wouldn't you know that we found a beauty of a BMW. 2002 330i with only 31,000 miles on it. It is pretty much loaded with the sport suspension, leather, 220hp engine, blah blah blah. Also, it is BMW "certified" which is fancy for they looked at it and said it's in great shape. They back up the certified with a warranty that goes to 2008 or 100,000 miles. Good stuff. We haggle over the price a bit and get it to what we think is a fair deal. Okay, lets buy it. I mean this car drives like a dream and it's fast to boot.

Deal is done. Time to go home. Beck jumps in the truck and I get in our new B...M...W. It's about 8 miles to get home and I am chompin at the bit to go. WERE OFF...for about 4 miles until the damn thing just dies and won't start! Yep. The engine just started sputtering and losing power. I managed to get it in to a parking lot where it died and wouldn't start again. Oh boy, was I pissed! Let me tell you.

So, Beck and I high tail it back to the dealer in the truck. Of course, the dealer is closed at 2030 at night but we managed to find one guy still there. After explaining the whole situation to him he is very nice and says simply, "If you want out of your contract, I don't blame you." He even offered to give me a loaner car until they could fix ours or tear up the contract on Monday (they are closed on Sun). Okay, so we drive back to the beautiful asphalt holder that won't start and call BMW's roadside assistance so they can haul it back to the dealer. It is going to be about an hour. We sit in the truck and wait...and stare at our car. We laugh because of the absolutely terrible luck. I form a theory of why it's dead. When they detailed the car they may have washed the engine which may have gotten water in some of the electrical.

We call the house where Eddie and Amy are enjoying some fine KFC. My stomach was dying so Eddie, being the cool guy that he is, jumps in his rocket ship and brings us some chicken. A few minutes later some friends of ours are driving by and they stop off to say hi and laugh at us. Why are they laughing at us, you wonder? Becasue while we were buying our BMW they were buying a Ford Expedition with the same miles on it for about the same price. That is funny. Oh, did I mention that theirs didn't break the hell down? In this parking lot we have Beck, me, Eddie, Aaron with his wife and three little kids. Also there is my truck, Eddie's rocket, Aaron's new Expedition and one broken ass BMW. Funny how the only foreign car is the one NOT running. Anyway, there was also a bucket of KFC which meant we had a party going on in this parking lot at 9pm. WOO WOO. How many other cars can break down and cause a party? Huh? How many? Yeah, that's right, a party.

So a few minutes later the tow truck shows up and the party is over. Oh well.

The dealer will look at the car on Mon. If it is something simple that can be fixed on Mon then I will probably keep it. Otherwise, I will look at some other cars. Stay tuned. Maybe a party will break out at the dealer or something.

ST out.

RoomieJulie and Mungo's Movie Night

RoomieJulie and Mungo had a movie night, tonight! Yeah. We went to the Bear's Tooth and watched "Team America." We laughed and laughed. Eddie, I think you'd like it if you haven't seen it. ST, I KNOW you'd like the bit about the Film Actors Guild (F.A.G.) if you haven't already seen it. Ya. Fuck ya.

Peace and Love,
Mungo

Pooh

We are about to take Ashlee to go see Pooh's Hefalump (sp?) Movie. She is quite excited and can't wait to go. JOY.

ST out

Phone Call'in's

I just talked to Sara Jean Rockstar Weber! Yeah! We haven't spoken to each other by phone, or by mail, or by e-mail, since sometime before Thanksgiving! YESSSSS!

So much has happened with her and with me in that time that it was a strange 'overview' conversation briefly touching on topics for 58 minutes. Bang-ta-da-tang style.

I told her about the RJ situation (I'm using "RJ" now for safety sake) and she had this to say: "That's excessive. If someone is going to get that upset at your coming and going, then they obviously have other problems. I wouldn't even consider it."

It's nice to know that everyone I talk to about this has similar feelings as I do.

THEORY REVISION:
When I said that nothing is important I didn't mean to include morals or family or things like that. I was talking about the things that we do, and even then, I didn't mean to imply that there are no degrees of varying importance to ourselves. The lack of importance comes from a juxoposition of our endeavors when they over lap each other's. No frame of Ultimate Reference exists to judge who's activity is more important that the others. We all have our own Ultimate Reference and that's the self-importance that we invent to make ourselves feel better. Maybe that's more clear.

It's TEN o- FOUURR....

Peace and Love,
Mungo

Mungo might as well be...

...getting some ass if RJ is going to treat you that way! Just kidding.

Okay, funny stuff out of the way.

Listen. I totally understand what you are saying about people making themselves feel important. That is different from things that are important to you. Things that are important to you are what matter in life. Your principles, morals, family, friends and, religion. Not all may apply to everyone but you see what I mean. People may use these things to make themselves FEEL important or to make other people see them as important. Two different things. Okay, okay, I'll get to the point. Don't worry about if what you do is important to others as long as it is important to you. Get it? Write your book because that IS important. Even if it never got published it is still very important to YOU.

Enjoy Alaska and ALL it has to offer. Hike, bike and just take it all in. You won't be able to do that forever. Making the most of those AK summers is really important. Most of the people in the world will never get to live in Heaven on earth (aka. AK). No matter where my life takes me I will NEVER forget my 4 years in AK. It's not just a place, it's an experience.

How cheesey did that sound? I can see it now. Alaskan board of tourism's new slogan.

"It's not just a place, it's an experience!"

Yeah, I'm done.

ST out

Here we go

Ok dude. I understand on what you meant about not altering your life. I can also understand that RJ is just a bitch and needs to be shot or someone needs to rough her up a bit. Tell her to move the fuck out or get out of that place and go be miserable with OO. At least you and him could be miserable together as opposed to both of you just being miserable in seperate places.

Your theory on nothing being important... Well, that just sucks. By the way, I did read the disclosure, but I am going to give my opinion anyway. If you think that nothing is important than you need to re-evaluate your life. I have many important things to me. Important things are what you give your all to and stuff you care about enough to give up other things for. Here are a few of the things that are important to me... My DAUGHTER, My FRIENDS, My FAMILY. Those are the most important things in my life. Most of the other stuff is superficial. Well, the job I have to have just because I need one to not be a bum on the streets. Enough on that subject.

Bubbles... I need to talk to you. You know exactly what about too. Call me. I am at ST's on the weekends, then we can both chat to you.

Mungo... good fuckin' luck dude. If it were me, I would kick her ass or move out. But I couldn't live with someone bitching at me like that all the time (Look at my past) I mean damn, you ain't even married and she treats you like that. LOL.

Later

Exemptions

I haven't seen RoomieJulie in two days. But this morning I got a nasty note. First she tells me that I shouldn't park in the garage when I come home late because it might be waking up the neighbors upstairs and that it IS waking her up. Okay, I'm cool with that. Garage doors make mucho noise, especially in houses with crappy walls. Fine. Last night I came home much earlier than normal... 1:37 a.m. I parked in the driveway and entered the house with my key instead. So, this morning's note says:

"Erik, you can NOT park there. Carolyn cannot get out of her garage."

I don't know where else the fuck she expects me to park. Can't park in the circle... way too much freakin' snow. Can't park a block away, road's too narrow. Can't park two blocks away, it's Northern Lights! I guess I could park in the Earthquake Park parking lot... wait, no worse idea. #1 it's a quarter mile away. #2 That's where I already had a car get broken into.

Eddie, as far as me altering my schedule, I've considered that. If I was home by the time Hillary and RoomieJulie go to bed I'd have to be here before 11 p.m. ...unless it's a night they decide to get stoned and drunk and watch-movies-at-the-top-of-their-lungs. My friend Mary doesn't get off work at the Bear's Tooth until the last movie's over with, and that's usually around 11:30 or 12:00 at night. Our only over-lapping day off is Tuesday... and we used that this week to go to DQ. Liz works the nightshift at Leroy's, I work in the day. My job isn't exactly the kind of job where friends can come in and b/s with me all day. Besides, she doesn't have a car and has to take the bus to work. Her days off are on weekends when I work. Double O's days off are Thursday and Friday. Mine are Tuesday and Wednesday. So that sucks. He works early in the morning until mid afternoon and I work from mid morning until late afternoon to early night. What I'm trying to say is: If I alter my schedule and be home and quiet as a mouse by the time Julie is ready for bed, I'd be forcing my friends to either not see me or limit our time to a two hour time frame everyday. People don't work like that. Why should I put myself through that because Julie has decided when her bed time is.

And here's another thing. Is her college work more important than my social outlet? No. Is my social outlet more important to her college work? No. Nothing we do in this world is more important than anything another person does.... at all. I've been thinking about this a lot lately, actually. The reason I'm so willing to take that stand, is that I'm beginning to think more and more that nothing we do IS important. That the term "Important" was invented by us to make ourselves feel better. ST, don't take this the wrong way, but I think you of all people should understand what I'm saying (not necessarily AGREE as much as UNDERSTAND). Haven't you said before that there are certain things we humans have invented to make ourselves feel better about our lives. [Mungo's note: After reading this section I almost deleted it because I'm not sure I mean it. I'm keeping it in now to remind myself later that not all my ideas are good ones. All I ask is that you not hold this against me in future debates.]

Okay, that theory notwithstanding, I refuse to change my life and my habits for anyone because they TELL me to. I will, however, make mutual concessions for the greater good of a household I live in. For instance, I'll do my e-mail and my blogging at an hour the roomies find reasonable. I will not cook in the kitchen or do dishes when anyone else is asleep. I will not turn the TV on when anyone else is asleep. If I'm watching a movie and someone decides to go to sleep I'll ask if I should turn it down or turn it off. Either will be fine with me if they ask me to (for whatever reasons). What I'm not going to do is let someone in RJ's position run me over with fits of self-importance.

Lastly. I was late all those times due to depression. I can't sleep well when I'm depressed and something inside me self-destructs at any sign of cropping responsibility. I wasn't late because I stayed up late and went to Leroy's. I was at Leroy's late at night because I couldn't sleep and meeting people was making me feel better and it was out of those late nights that I found an outlet for the things bothering me and ultimately allowed me to free myself from the depression causing all the problems I had in that span. Which was more than a few weeks.

Thank you all for your advice. When I see RJ next, we're going to have a civil talk outside of the house. I'll kidnap her and take her somewhere for diner, or coffee. Or both. HEY! I know just the place! She won't want to go though. Not even when my friends wouldn't be there. Why, you ask? They don't serve alcohol at Leroy's. Oooo.... burn!

Peace and Love,
Mungo

Example

An example of why Apple Macintosh rules. At this moment I am rendering a movie. The rendering is going to take over 1.5 hours and while this is going on my processor is being used at over 90%.

"Why does this matter?", you ask? Well, if I had ever tried to use my old PC while it was rendering a movie it would certainly have crashed. Nope, not my handy dandy Mac. It is just purring along while I use it for whatever I want.

Don't get me wrong. I am stressing the machine out a bit. It is normally quiet and makes no noise. At this moment it has decided to rev up it's "smart" fans just a bit to cool off the insides and I can actually hear it...barely. My typing drowns the sound out.

I know that no one may care about all this. BUT I DO! WOO WOO!

Render on, my little Mac...render on.

ST out.

PS. I get to go pick Beck up from the airport in about an hour. I need to get my stank ass in the shower!

Some More Thoughts

So what is up with 007's new baby on the way? How is the baby that you already have? Are you going to stay married? From what it sounds like you should get your ass a divorce for everyone's sake. You, Julie, and the two little ones. Kid's growing up in a home of unhappiness will be unhappy and troubled kids. You need to do what is right for you and your little ones. Don't do what is convenient. I worry about you sometimes.

All the best to you and your family.

ST

Thoughts for Mungo...

Roomie problems: You pay rent. You don't complain about them being loud. You don't invite your friends over to be loud. All you do is come and go. You entertain yourself OUTSIDE of the "half". What do they want from you? Oh...hold on. I know what the problem is...

THEY ARE WOMEN!

Good luck with that.

ST

Suggestions

You know what Mungo. FUCK HER!!! If she wants to bitch about you being up and around when she is not, that is not your problem.

If you are being as considerate as possible then there should not be any problem. Especially if she is loud as hell when you are trying to sleep.

But here is another suggestion. I am guessing that you probably are up at all hours of the morning and sleep during the day. Or at least nap in those times. Why don't YOU try to get a normal sleeping pattern established. Either that, or you just need to get some damn sleep because with what you are saying it does not sound like you are able to get much sleep.

Dude, I would totally understand if you had a night job where you worked through the night. YOU DON'T! Remember that you are the one making the choice to go out at night or early in the morning. There have got to be other times that you can go and hang out with your friends than just after 2 am.

OK Brother, This ain't all on you though. The Chick with issues is RJ. She needs to put in some fucking earplugs or something, because I don't think you would be intentionally inconsiterate. once again... FUCK HER!!!

On a sidenote though, dude, if you keep running around getting no sleep or have a fucked up sleeping pattern, you will start to act more crazy than you already do. Not that I am the poster child for sleeping patterns at this moment since the school makes me do stupid shit so I can pass, but there is a viable reason that I am doing this. (Not that your's ain't, but yours is fun, mine is work.) My time in Korea I got very sleep a lot of the time and it was noticeable. I was also a drunk, but that is besides the point. Could be a reason that you were late for work 3 days in a week too... just a thought.

Eddie

Leroy's (part 18)

I woke up at 4 a.m. for the second day in a row and went to Leroy's where Liz was working on 4 hours of sleep but still jazzed from the Dairy Queen Run. Nothing exciting at all happened and I didn't do much writing, although, I did do some work developing a rather interesting metaphore about dormant branches soaking up the sounds we made in the forest. And looking at it now I see it more as a simile than a metaphore, but even that fails at.....

nevermind.

Roy is back in the kitchen. Roy was the one who lost his trailer last week in a fire. He was talking all kinds of crazy jive from the slide between the counter and the kitchen. I took notes about some of the crap he said like, "Waking up next to those freaks at the St. Francis shelter, ya, nice, good for you, a great life, rather sleep under this dripping hot grill, ya, got a gun, anyone, I know how to use it, like this, time for Roy, Homeless Roy, to check out, can I make bacon, yes I can, Mr. Homeless can do that for you, you shits, because that's why I exist on this Earth..." and so on all night long.

When Liz got off work at 7 a.m. we drove back over to the organic coffee place like I said before and then went to the UAA Consortium and I wrote Introduction to Short Span Bridges of the Mid-West: Notes for an Essay on Effects/Affects from Fore-Thought and Advanced Engieering on Today's Literature (I.S.S.B.M.W:N.E.E.A.F.T.A.E.T.L.) for the Solid Mud Forum blog. Then I dropped her off at her medical appointment and we said goodbye. I went to Metro Music to look for a CD by Arcade Fire, but found nuthin', so my friend Trea ordered it for me and I instead bought the Ani DiFranco's new album, "Knuckle Down." It's wonderful.

Peace and Love,
Mungo

Song of the day: "Manhole" - Ani DiFranco

Biorythem Irregularities at the Romanzof Half

This is the second time I have had to write this blog. I just lost it because of the freaking Google Toolbar pop-up blocker. It blocked the spell checker and when I said, "ALWAYS allow pop ups from this site!" I was navigated away from my text (which, when I say was LONG, you guys know it was) and the back button sent me elsewhere. Starting over.

To summarize: There are feathers being ruffled at the Half. We are on different schedules and I don't like to cause undue stress among my roomies. The only time I get to see my friends is either late at night or early in the morning... so that's what I do. I come and go at those strange times and try to be as quiet as I possibly can, but I still manage to bother the sleep of the two ladies... Specifically RoomieJulie. We had a bit of a spat today about it. On one hand, as a friend and as a roommate, I want to be as considerate as possible to their sleep and to their schedules, to not disturb, say, the good night's sleep they need before class the next day. On the other hand, I don't want to give up my social life, though its content is absurd and its hours are bizarre, because these are my FRIENDS now and I don't want to give them up just because Julie is a light sleeper. On the mutant third hand, RoomieJulie isn't the most considerate person herself. In fact, she wakes me up everyday because she is quite possible, no... without a doubt the most naturally loud person I have known in my 25 1/2 years on the planet Earth. (There were some louder people on Vogontia III, but that was eons ago.) Being loud isn't her fault, exactly (I think she's baked for life with all the dope she smokes) (seriously, permafried), it's just a trait in her character to talk five times as loud as the rest of us when she's on the phone, or talking to Hillary, or talking to herself.

You guys got any suggestions?

Peace and Love,
Mungo

Freaking Nuts

I knew there were some freaks in Idaho...hell, Miranda lives there...but this takes the cake.

Girl gets scalped. OUCH!!!!

Look at the bitch that did it...she even looks crazy.



ST out

soMe PeOPle aRE sO sTUpId

"You might have to go to the hospital..." Those are the words of my supervisor this morning on the phone. I was not put on quarters by the medics at my work yesterday when I paid them a visit. So, since I didn't go to work today, I may have to go all the way to Nellis just so they can say, "Yeah, stay home." That is what the medics told me yesterday. Sometimes people are just so stupid.

I told my supervisor this morning that if I needed to go to the hospital I would. He said that he would call me back. He hasn't called.

A couple of weeks ago another guy in the office was sick and he didn't come to work. No one made him go to the hospital. Some people are so stupid.

ST feeling better.

Words Today

Today, between the two blogs, I have written 3,015 words, not including this post. I'm too cracked out to write anymore.

Soon to come:
Leroy's (part 18)
Lucas the Lost
Northern Air Aviation System (N.A.A.S.) Interview


...but not today!

DQR 0501

Dairy Queen Run 2005, #1
Mary, PrettyLiz (here on simply referred to as "LIZ"), and I got into Mary's little Toyota and left the Leroy's parking lot. The snow was begining to fall, and though we were all woozy from coffee, we were in high spirits.

But we still needed more coffee. We stopped at the Organic Coffee hut on Benson Blvd. (Can anyone explain to me what ORGANIC coffee is?) One of Mary's friends works there. I can't remember her name and I've heard it three times. She's cute and really nice and made a 12 oz carmel latte for Liz, a 16 something or other for Mary, and nothing for me. After spending $3 at Leroy's, I was left with only $7 in my pocket. The snow was falling heavier as we left Anchorage, listening to Beck (for full list of musical artists listened to on the trip, see the Post Script, which I haven't created yet. So, remind me to write it.)

I had to pee so we stopped at Girdwood for bathrooms. The ladies got junk food and drinks. I just wizzed. When we left Girdwood, the snow was falling like that snow storm once. It was a total blizzard man, fat fast furious fresh flakes, babby. Wizzed...

Sitting alone in the back seat of a 3-person road trip sucks balls. Especially when there is loud music and conversation up front. I couldn't hear jack squat, unless there was a silent break in songs, and then I heard really funny stuff taken totally out of context. Stuff like:
MARY: Why was there coffee in the water?
LIZ: No see, he was up on his ladder, white washing the covered bridge, he fell off the top rung, broke three ribs, and vomited all his coffee into the river.

And then the next song would start to play and I'd never hear the end, or begining, of the story. But then that song would end and I'd hear stuff like:
MARY: We climbed that one, no wait, that one, last year.
LIZ: Which one?
MARY: That one.
LIZ: The one right there?
MARY: Ya! It was so crazy, Kale and I had to use roots to climb up most of it because there wasn't a trail. When we got back we....

And then the next song would start, and then end, and I would hear stuff like:
LIZ: Have you ever picked up a hitch-hiker?
MARY: Ya, have you?
LIZ: Ya, I've picked up some really cool people.
MARY: The coolest hitchhiker I've ever had was a guy from the Girdwood Tree House Comunity back up Crow Creek Road. He was 30 and I was 16. He invited me to hang out with the other Tree-House people, and I would have, but-
LIZ: But you were 16! Was it creepy?
MARY: No he was totally cool. I was sad for him when the The Girdwood Yuppies ran the Tree-House people....

And then the next song would start and I took out my camera and took blurry blizzardy black and blight blictures of the bloutainous blenery. We saw a lot of blad eagles and then we were in Soldotna.

When we got to Diary Queen we had to wait at the edge of the parking lot because this crazy maniac pickup snow plow guy was driving drunkenly, whiping around, throwing snow everywhere. Finally he disappeared and we thought we were safe, but then noticed that it looked like DQ was closed. I got out and checked the time and we had 25 minutes before they opened. As I was leaning down to the driver's side door talking to Mary about the 25 minutes we had to wait, the maniac snow plower came bullzing through the lot from the next block over at 30 mph, shooting snow everywhere he had just plowed. He was heading straight for my shins and Mary's car with is tires locked up. He stopped 2 feet away from me. And waved.

We drove over to Sal's Klondike Diner and drank (um... what was it we drank... ??? oh ya!) coffee until Dairy Queen was open. Liz stole a fresh flower from the vase on the table which she concealed in the palm of her hand and later afixed it to her ear. I "stole" a menu, even though on the front of the menu it said, "Please feel free to take a menu when you leave!" But I pretended it hadn't read that part and I very suspiciously stuck it inside my coat and shifted my eyes back and forth.

Dairy Queen opened at 11 a.m. "DAIRY QUEEN!" could be heard from miles as the three of us jumped out of Mary's little Toyota and raced to the front counter. We were the first three customers, but for some reason, our tickets were numbered 216, 217, 218. I therorized that the employee's had pigged out before we arrived.

We ate and got really grossly full. Mary and Liz couldn't finish the fudge from their 'Brownie Attack' and Liz covered the last bit of marshmellow/ice cream/fudge/carmel/nut brownie with katsup and dared me to eat it. She spooned it up.
LIZ: Give you a dollar if you eat it!
MARY: No! I don't wanna look!
MUNGO: Gross.
LIZ: Come on, I bet it'll be good.
MARY: Oh, I'm gonna be sick, I can smell it.
MUNGO: Get that thing away from my lips.
LIZ: Here comes the airplane.
MUNGO: *chomp!*
MARY: Ahhhh! Ohhhhh! Ughhhh!
LIZ: Ha ha ha!
MUNGO: You owe me a dollar. Give me my dollar.
LIZ: No. It was a trick. I said "I bet it'll be good," and it wasn't. You get nothing!
MUNGO: Mary-
MARY: Shut up, don't talk to me!
MUNGO: Mary, can I have some of your Mt. Dew? I need to-
MARY: Yes, here! Don't look at me. AHHHHHHH! I'm gonna be sick.

We got stuck in the parking lot. I volunteered to drive because Mary was seeing fatigue spots at the corner of her eyes and we decided it'd be safer if I drove. We got stuck in the parking lot. Crazy plow guy had left a fat ridge of snow under our tires so I put it in neutral and Mary and I pushed while Liz sat in the back seat. We pushed really hard and once we got the tires over the lump, the car rolled and rolled and rolled and rolled all the way across the parking lot... Liz screaming the whole way. And then we went to the gas station. It was still snowing.

[Mungo's note: Right now, my stomach feels lighter than air. I am starting to get hung over. Too much coffee again and I'm crashing hard. My job interview is in 1 hour 40 minutes. If I take a nap, I'll never wake up. Missing the interview would be a waste of a fantastic opportunity for me and a waste of a shave. I hadn't shaved yet in 2005. God was I ugly an hour ago!]

On our way out of the gas station (Holiday) we saw a hitch-hiker in the distance, at the bottom of the hill that drops the road into Soldotna and raises the road out of Soldotna, depending on which where way you were going. We were heading up and out.
MARY: Do you guys want to pick up a hitch-hiker?
LIZ: Let's get a look at him first.
MARY: He's big, but he's lookin' cool.
LIZ: It's up to you guys.
MUNGO: It's your car, Mary.
LIZ: He is big.
MARY: Well, we've got Erik. Let's stop!
LIZ: Ya, as if a penis can't feel a bullet.
MUNGO: Hey guy, where ya headed?

So we stopped and his name was Lucas and he was heading very close to where my car was parked in Anchorage so we all got introduced and we pulled away from the side of the road, but we got stuck. Mary and Lucas got out and pushed us out of the rut. We got stuck again. So Mary and Lucas pushed us into traffic and jumped in on the roll. It was awsome and we all laughed a million.

Four banging heads headed (heads headed... I need to find new words) thrashed through the Kenai Penisula and landed in a New Seward traffic jam between Huffman and Dowling. We got through it an hour later and dropped Lucas off (SEE FUTURE POST: "Lucas the Lost") and returned to my car parked under 8 inches of snow in the Leroy's parking lot. Mary went into Leroy's to say hello to Jen and we said good-bye to her. Liz and I drove to her house and I dropped her off. Before she went into her apartment, I told her what you'll read later in the Lucas post.

We all had a fun fun fine fun time.

Peace and Love,
Mungo

PS:
The List of Musical Artists
Iron Horse
Modest Mouse
Beck
Modest Mouse
Pinback
Dropkick Murphys
Placebo
Modest Mouse
Interpol
Built to Spill
Unwritten Law
Cibo Motto
Foo Fighters
Dead Kennedys
Hot Hot Heat
Modest Mouse
and Modest Mouse

Leroy's (part 17)

Double O called my house at 4:16 a.m. RoomieJulie woke from her fragile sleep to answer the phone and pass the message. "Double O called and said you were supposed to meet him at Leroy's at 3 a.m." I woke up and drove out there, half dead.

Double O was sitting in a booth, talking to PrettyLiz when I showed up. Liz asked me where Mary was and I asked her why she thought Mary would be with me and Liz didn't know why she asked where Mary was or why she thought Mary would be with me.

Double O and I drank coffee and talked about hiking/biking trips we want to do this summer.
1. Bike to Fairbanks and explore Chena Hot Springs/Take train back
2. Climb Big Pointy and surrounding mountains
3. Hike Devils Pass to Reserection Pass
4. Hike Johnson's Pass to where ever it goes
5. Climb Dark Globe maybe several times
6. Hike McHugh Creek to McHugh Lake
7. Hike that one trail, you know, the one that goes to that place
8. Bike Powerline Pass to Indian

Double O had to leave for work at about 5:35 a.m. and I went back in to work on my book. I wrote about dogs eating chocolate. PrettyLiz and I tried and tried to call Mary (using quarters out of her tip jar to use the pay phone) and finally, at 6:50 a.m. we get ahold of Mary and she drives to Leroy's.

Mary and I drove to the gas station (I took my full coffee mug with me) for gasoline and petro and when we got back to Leroy's (I put my empty coffee mug in the bus cart), PrettyLiz was sitting in my booth looking lost. She was ready to go, her hat on her head, her bag over her shoulder, and her coat heating up up. She didn't know where she went and was hoping we didn't leave without her. We asked her why she thought we would have gone to Dairy Queen without her. She said she didn't know why we would have gone to Diary Queen without her.

We left.

Peace and Love,
Mungo

Free Day

No work for ST today. I woke up at 0520 and felt like poo poo. Took the dogs out then went back to bed. Woke up at 0700 and felt 100 times better. So now I just feel like poo.

I haven't been this sick in years. This sucks. Beck is in Nashville all this week on business so she isn't even here to take care of me. Oh well, I will just get sick again when she gets home.

I feel sort of guilty about not going to work. I could do it but it's not the best idea since my ears won't unplug. That could be a bad thing for me getting to work.

I am off to surf the net. See ya.

ST

PS. Mungo, you gotta tell us about the DQ trip (in under 10 pages if possible!).

UAA Consortium

Sup, fools. I'm at the UAA library with Liz from Leroy's. We've been amping on coffees since 4:30 a.m. and we plan on being here, slammin' more back until 8:30. We've each got our own things planned at that time, but it looks like we're hangin' until late morning. So that's cool.

I'm about to get off this site for now to do some fact-checking for my book. It feels like a good time to do it. I spent my time at Leroy's writing the chapter about the one lane bridge. I'm starting to leave more and more out and using brackets for [notes... do this and do that and write about this and sing this song and talk about your pendulum swings] and then carrying on later in the chapter. It's a cheap way to get through this book faster. Sometimes my notes become so detailed that I'll probably use exactly what I write and just remove the brackets when it comes time to type the book up at the end.

What was I talking about? Oh ya, fact checking. Gonna research steel girders and the population of Osage, IA in November 1997. Also gonna check on the World War 1 red-ball runs on the Imperial Highway. Whoa! Sounds like I got a bitchin' essay coming along. You know the types, the ones with the really long intellectual titles and subtitles. "Winter Axis Steel Girders of the Twentieth Century: How the Imperial Highway's Red-Ball Runs Affected Population Shifts in Northern Iowa, 1910-1997; An Essay of Historical Fiction." Hey! Maybe That's what I'll re-name my book! No more of that lame Highway 9 stuff. And people can abbrev. the title and snazy New York Literary types will refer to the first great Work of the 21st century as "W.A.S.G.T.C: H.I.H.R.B.R.A.P.S.N.I; A.E.H.F" Hells yeah!

Okay. Gonna go roust in the net elsewhere. Later today, I'll update I'll hit'cha wit da Road Trip.

COMING SOON: "Dairy Queen Run 2005, #1; An Intimate Look Into Viceral Memory and Dimension Transportaion; The Roots of Interpersonal Relationships"

Peace and Love,
Mungo

Song of the Day: "All Nite Diner" - Modest Mouse
(Liz wants to make a commercial using that song. I think she's got a fantastic idea.)

Prelude to What's to Come

ST, get unsick soon. That would be, ah ha sieeeeaaaac!
Eddie, get rich quick! And get paid to do it! Glad to hear you're picking up on the info. Pretty soon you'll know as much about shoes as me.

I'm headed off to Leroy's to spend the last 3 hours of Liz's shift with her. For moral support. She has got to be fighting a pretty wicked battle against fatigue by now. She only got 3 hours of sleep after Dairy Queen Run.

More to come when I return. It was a pip of a trip!

Peace and Love,
Mungo

That is some SICK shit

He is not joking. He left his lung on my car floorboard.

My car now has tinted windows. Probably illegal in most states.

OK, So I am studying, right... Either the material is getting easier or I am actually beginning to retain shit that I am studying. I am guessing on the latter of the 2 because this shit ain't easy.

I wish I got college credit for this crap. 5 months of school and not a damn semester hour. But, if I pass I can tell people to lick my balls. If I fail, I will tell people to lick my balls (and then go be a cop.) Although, even if I do pass, it does not necessarilly mean that I will re-enlist.

Thanks for the TDY! It helped me to pay my bills. SEE YA!!! LOL... that would be too funny.

Sick

Sick, not sic.

I feel like crap. Everytime I cough, it's a science experiment.

ST going to bed (at 8pm)

Rise/Set

sunrise: 9:04 a.m. sunset: 5:24 p.m.

It's getting better, but it still sucks. Today I work a 9-5 shift. I won't see much of the sun.

Ear Ring

I just spent the last 15 minutes with my head stuck to my matress. My fitted bed sheet pulled away rom the corners of the matress and left the sort-a rough blue fabric exposed.

Flashback!

On December 20th, 2004, RoomieJulie helped me put my ear rings in.
"Oh, Erik, you've got them in backwards."
"Are you sure?"
"Ya, let me take those out, I'll fix them."
"Okay... YOU'RE the girl, afterall. I'll trust ya."

Flashforward!

Never trust stoners. I had it right. But my ear rings are in backwards now thanks to Julie, and I have known this since the day after she put them in. I keep forgetting to have someone turn them around for me. I cannot do it myself, they're way too tight and I keep pulling through tissue. On the other hand, I get my head stuck to things all the time now because the hinge is on the outside, not protected safely behind my ear lobe. I'm sure I'd still get things stuck once and a while, but ohhhh myyyy goooodnesssss! I about pulled my ear off in my sleep tonight.

It bled.

Gently Sea-Salting my Wounds After Midnight at the Romanzof Half,
Mungo

Super Bowl Shocker!

DENVER BRONCOS WIN THE BIG GAME!
-A.P.
The final result of Super Bowl XXIX was a shock to NFL fans, today, when the Denver Broncos, previously elminated by the Indianapolis Colts (Wild Card Playoff, Jan 9), rushed the field, took the game by force, and defeated both the New England Patriots and the Phillidelphia Eagles.
Mike Shanahan was quoted after the game to say, "We felt we had been shafted by the NFL and this was our way to announce that we are the simply the most dominant force in the National Football Leage." Shortly after the press interview, Shanahan was taken away in handcuffs by large men in black suits. Sources say he is being held in an underground prison, location unknown. Experts are already speculating whether or not the team will return next season.
Many of Denver's star athletes were also taken into custody, sited with excessive zeal.
Bill Belichick, NE Patriots headcoach, was left in awe after watching his team lose the close battle with the Eagles... to the Broncos. Simalerly, Donovan McNabb, Eagles starting quarterback, delt with the upset by pulling his corn rows out and reinstating the 'fro. Both men sharred a hug and vacant tears on the 50 yard line.

Final score of Super Bowl XXIX:
New England: 24
Phillidelphia: 21
Denver: a million more

Leroy's (part 16)

"You like menu?"
"Yes, please, and coffee."
"Okayyy."
"Thanks, I'll have the oatmeal."
"Hey, Kid!"
"Hey, Jeano, what's crackin'?"
"Reading. See you've got the book again. How's the writing?"
"Terrible."
"Keep at it, Kid."
"...if my parents won the lottery, they'd cautiously invest it all in low-risk bonds or something."
"What happened to your parents, man?"
"They're German, dude. First they're all Disko then, once they hit 26, 27, they start investing in low yield options.... and they start buying things that will last them the rest of their lives."
"There's a lot of people from the show here tonight."
"Bitoz was packed. Great show, ya?"
"Oh hey, Erik, didn't see you with your head down!"
"Hey, Sleepy Head!"
"I'm SORRY! Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry I didn't go. I feel really bad."
"You should, Mary!"
"Erik these are my friend, Kale, So-n-so, Amy, Zeek, blah blah blah..."
"Hey."
"Hey."
"What's up? Crazy stash of papers you got there brother."
"What are you doing?"
"Erik is writing a book."
"Mary, are all your friends writing books?"
"There's nothing wrong with that. Hey Liz."
"Hey Mary, hey Erik."
"We were just talking about Soldotna."
"Oh! I wanna go! Lemme count the money with Ms. Wong and I'll be right back out."
"So what was that about barrel cows?"
"Ya, we're going hunting in South America for pigs and barrel cows."
"What? Really? Why?"
"No seriously, we're making a movie though. About it."
"What? Really? Why?"
"Actually the movie is about Kale's hotdog stand on 4th and E St, in that parking lot. And his meat vendor comes in his Acura and sells him this very shady meat and we all chase him around town. We're using the treadmill for the chase scenes. It's great."
"But what about barrel cows?"
"Hey Erik, should I get the crepes or the waffles?"
"Get the crepes."
"I'll have the crepes and coffee please."
"Okayyyy."
"No no, they're up from Utah doing this thing, trying to pass some legislation in Juneau allowing more dividend to enter the state pockets and less to be shelled out to the residents."
"Mary why are you laughing?"
"Dude, you have to know her. She'll be alright. She has these... watch her water glass, grab it before she wets herself... she has these laugh attacks. She's not really laughing. Mary. Focus, buddy."
"Hey what going on there? You quiet this now, this not your house."
"Ms. Wong, shut up will ya? She can't help it. It's a medical thing."
"Jeano, you stop. I warn you last time. This MY restraunt."
"She's getting under control. Look, Mary, your crepes are here."
"Ahh... is my face red? This. This is my life."
"Okay, so when are we going?"
"Mary, are we going to Soldotna on Tuesday or will it just be Liz and I?"
"Yes. I'm totally going. We'll meet up here at 3 a.m. after some naps. Then we'll drink a shit ton of coffee and kidnap Liz when she gets off at 7 a.m."
"Sounds good to me, Liz?"
"Awesome."
"Okay, I have to get going. I'll see y'all later."
"Give me a hug."

Peace and Love,
Mungo

PS,
"Hello, Leroy's, open 24 hours."
"Hey Liz, it's Erik."
"Hey Erik."
"Did I leave my-"
"-your backpack is right here. I just found it."
"Can you hold onto it for me? I'll be back later tonight."
"No problem, it'll be right here."
"Thanks dude."
"No problem, dude."
"Bye."
"Bye."

Mungo's Take on Taxes

I talked to my friend, Timo, the Air Force's premire personellist. He's going to snag the number/address for DFAS so I can give them a forwarding address for my W2. No idea what I'll spend my money on. yes I do. My car loan. 100% of it.

Eddie, this might help you find a good blue soda name.

Peace and Love,
Mungo

Taxes and School

I have had my tax return since about 25 Jan. It is still partly there, but I am finding lots of ways to get rid of it. (Pay off credit card, buy lots-o-shit I don't need but really wanted)

As far as school goes... My academic average is around a 93%. I failed a mission though. That sucked. I have never failed a mission since I have been controlling. I understand why I failed it though. That is what is important. Hell, I knew about half-way through the mission that I fucked it away. After that realization, I kicked ass. go figure.

I have another mission on Monday that I have to pass, otherwise I will be heading up to Utah real soon.

We rode quads today. I don't have a name for mine yet... can't think of a soda name that is blue. We bought headsets. They did not work as well as we wanted to. ST and I have been trying to think of what may cause the issues that would not make them work as well as we expected. There are many possibilities, and we are RADAR people not Radio people. However, we do have limited radio trouble shooting abilities because of the intermingling of RADAR and radio. We will figure out how to make them work better or we will just fuck them up because we got pissed off.

Dueces

Tax Time

Well, we did our taxes and got more back than expected. WOO WOO.

If you haven't done your taxes don't forget to get on it! Turbo Tax online is the way to go in my opinion.

Good luck. We are going to Chili's for dinner. See ya.


ST out.

Gnarly Adventure

It's cool to find a gnarly adventure in the middle of a mellow day. Like the man says, "Mediocre people do execptional things all the time." I'm not saying you're mediocre, it just reminded me of what the Man says. Sheesh, ST, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt your feelings... no, don't leave, I-- Come back ST! You're the greatest! Crap. He's gone.

Oh well. He'll come back. In the mean time... how's it goin' guys? Eddie, how's school? Are you in class with anyone from Tyndall? Bubbles, thanks for inviting me over to watch "Sky Captain" but I didnt' want to leave the house. It's cold and these pajamas are really comfortable. I'm also sorry that you were disappointed that the B-52 or whatever didn't fly as much as you wanted it to.

Oh, hey guys, I think he's coming back. ST! We're over here now, under the mangroves. Come, sit, have a jellyroll. No no no, you're not inturpting. It's cool dude. Double O was just about to tell us how he liked his salad.

Peace and Love,
Mungo

Back in action...

Mellow Yellow is now back from the shop and good as new. Mellow Yellow is the name for my 2004 Sportsman 500HO quad. I just came up with the name and I think that I like it. Anyway, the M.Y. is back from the shop and runs great except that is stalls every now and then when it is just idling. A quick adjustment is all that will be needed.

After I got home with M.Y. Beck, John (Beck's nephew), and I went for a ride. Over all is was a pretty mellow ride (no pun intended). At one point we ended up in a huge flood basin (we went there when Mungo and 00 were here). It was still really muddy from all the rains that have hit Vegas in the past two months. Well, I took Big Red (my 2005 Sportsman 500HO) across the very large mud flats while John and Beck watched. I had it in 4x4 and hauling ass. Mud was literally shooting 20-30 feet in the air behind me. All four wheels were spinning and churning as I made my way across. I made it all the way across. I should have stopped there and gone around the long way to get back.

I laid on the throttle and started hauling ass back across the mud flat. I was basically staying in the same tracks that I made on the way out. About half way back across I hit a soft spot and almost came to a stop. I thought it was all over with me sitting over 100 yards from any dry land. Luckily, my skills kicked in and I feathered the throttle just right to get me on my way again. About 4 feet from "land" IT happened. Big Red gave it everything she had but to no avail. I was stuck. I backed up and tried to get some rocking action going. NOPE. Oh well. I got out my tow rope and hooked it up to both B.R. and M.Y. John hit the gas on Mellow Yellow at the same time I hit it on B.R. Up and out of the mud. WOO WOO!

A sobering thought. It sure would have sucked to get stuck out in the middle of all that mud. There wouldn't have been a way to get it out. I would have had to trudge through all that mud, ride all the way back to the truck with Beck, drive my muddy ass to the store to buy some really long rope, drive my still muddy ass back to the stuck bike THEN trudge back out there to tie the rope on. After all that the truck would have had to be used to pull B.R. out. Let's just be happy I got stuck only 4 feet from dry land!

Big Red had been buried up to the frame but she was free!

Over 40 minutes were spent hosing the quads down when we got home. Mud was everywhere in the street...I am sure my neighbors will love me in the morning when it is all dried up. I guess I will just have to sweep that crap up.

THE END

ST

You need help

Mungo, you might want to seek professional help. Dude, It's a movie. I have known about it for months. So has Eddie. But you know what? I am glad that you have something to look forward to...we all need that.

You are silly.

ST out

Song of the day: Anything by CCR

Im calling you

get off the phone

I have to stop

I need to get right up from this computer and walk away. There are 9 open windows on my screen (not including this one). They're all about "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" movie. I'm reading reviews, checking out art work. It looks SO amazing that I'm shaking. I'm having trouble breathing.

You might find it strange that I'm so suddenly enthrawled about something that you have not had previous insight (into me) of. Um. What? Oh ya, but trust me. I've been a huge fan of this book forever. I can't believe it. I can't... well, just look at this. Play them for me. If I do, I'll never turn back to the way I was on the first half of my life.

Yes, the first half of my life:
July 26th, 1979, 12:12 a.m. - February 4th, 2005, 7:41 p.m.

The Second half of my life:
February 4th, 2005, 7:42 a.m. - February 4th, 2005, 8:11 p.m.

Don't Panic!
Mungo

The coolest coffee mug...

...I have ever seen in my life is here.

you can buy one for $50 here. If you buy me one, I'll love you FOREVER.

"THE" Question

Double O, for answers to your questions and theroy's, I suggest you read Douglas Adams' "The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series. At least the first two books. You're looking for a new book/series to read, and this one is perfect for you, I think. It's funny, it's intelligent, and it poses many of the exact same propositions you have hallucinated at the corners of your eyes.

Here's a spoiler for you. In the book, the answer to "THE" Question of life, the universe, and everything, is 42. That's the answer. A very smart computer took many millions of years to figure that out, so you'd be well off just going with it. The trick to the answer, then, is building a bigger computer, a smarter computer, to figure out what the exact QUESTION to the answer is.

One more bit of advice, for those of you not in the know: We all need to be a lot nicer to mice, for they are the most intelligent life forms on the planet, if not the universe. While we conduct experiments on them, it is the mice collecting data on us.

Peace and Love,
Mungo

PS... in looking for further information on The Guide (or h2g2) I found THIS. Holy crap! Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap.

I had no idea. I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep until May, now. This has been my favorite comedy since I first read it when I was 13. I've read it, maybe, 5 or 6 times. The whole series. Zang.

Little pieces of skin pellets

As i sit here on my computer typing with my contacts on, i see of the corner of my eye a little dancing light a the edge of my bed. I think it is moisture trapped between my contact and eyeball, but could it be a spirt? may be. I have seen a little boy at the edge of my bed before, but thought i was dreaming. which i probably was. but what if my house was haunted by a spirt?.

I have been thinking about the origians of life lately. I still have the strangest feeling that this may be a "second earth" per say. what if that movie "mission to mars" was right. although the movie sucked, there is some possibilities. What if "GOD" was actually a alien race that set up a new place for the lesser intelligent life to carry on. While far away, really far far away, they sat back and watched us progress and just as an experiment see how long it would take us to reach their level of intelligence. it makes me think.

I dont believe that this planet will be around in about 50 more years. it seems that when you have 40 degree tempatures in alaska and below freezing temps in the south, things arn't looking good. not to mention that the increase in natural disasters have increased by about 30% over the last 20 years. I believe it will be a long drawn out process of world destruction. it will be both natural and man-made. I dont think we are the main cause of the end of the world. its just a natual cycle that happens every so often. Im pretty sure of it.

Double O

what I heard...

two roommates with a bud the size of one of Double O's turds between them talking about mammals. we, apparently, have nothing to brag about because we're on an even kiel with all other mammals. there is no difference between me and a donkey, apparently. or me and a lion. or me and any other warm blooded creature. (The conversation included words like "intristic ideosyncracies" and "genetic anymolies" and blah blah.

my only real question was "what makes warm blooded creatures any different than cold blooded creatures. We're all sentient, if that's what matters."

then my only real comment was, "the thing that makes us different than any other creature on earth is that we value our conciousness."

Ta-Dow! That's it. Right there. I ended it. I didn't even smoke.

peace and love,
Mungo

I heard....

Today during my adventures, at a place that doesn't matter, I was listening to two guys talk about some stuff that doesn't really matter either. It was a intense discussion and they were trying to figure out a problem that isn't relavent.

Guy 1, "Look, this isn't rocket science!"
Guy 2, "Actually, it is!"

The funny part is...it really was! HA!

ST out.

Leroy's (part 15)

Switched titling format on ya, hope it doesn't throw ya off too much!

So, after having the be-hayzeus scared out of me by my roommates, I left. I freakin' bolted out of the house, and headed straight to my sanctuary. None of the regulars had arrived yet, I was the first. Joe was in the kitchen though, cookin' up some gnarly eggs or something, and I noticed that he had shaved his burly mustashe. He didn't look quite scarey enough anymore, and I was a touch disappointed.

One of the Korean waitresses poured my coffee and I asked for two menus, expecting Double O any minute. I told her I'd wait for him until I ordered anything. This served a duel purpose.
#1 I wouldn't be joined by a friend in the rude act of E.B.A.O.E.P. (Eating Before Arrival of Expected Party).
#2 I knew I could rely on Double O's erie grasp of time and that he'd show up really late and by then, the Koreans would be gone, and PrettyLiz could take over our table.

11 p.m. came around quickly as I supped the black stuff and re-read what I had written at the library earlier today. (Oh ya, I forgot to mention this. I went to the library and organized my timeline, corrected some continuity snafu's, and wrote another 8 pages or so.) PrettyLiz showed up on cue, as did Jeano the Regular. The Koreans split and us white folk had the place back to ourselves. The way things should be. {holy crap, Mungo, you're losin' it} Time minute-ed on and there continued to be no sign of Double O. I borrowed Liz's phone (the illuminated face said, 'banana phone') and called the man up... and woke the man up. Surprise surprise. "Oops," he said, "musta fallen asleep. Sorry dude, I'm too tired to move now." And so I was left alone at my booth.

That is, until two of PrettyLiz's friends showed up. One of them was named Josh. Liz said, "Josh, that's Erik. You guys would like each other." Now. I don't know for sure about you guys, but saying that kinda stuff makes a guy a little uncomfortable. Josh and I didn't even look each other in the eye the whole night after that. Argha! But his buddy, the one with four or five facial piercings and radical clothing was interested in something I told Liz. Like so: "Hey, dude. I looked up on the internet the name of that band that played on Conan last night. They're Arcade Fire. Huh? What's that now? Ya, dude. They rocked. There were, what Liz? Like 9 people on stage or something. The guys all wore suits and the girls wore skirts. They had two, count 'em, two, violinists, an accordian chick, guitars, horns and multiple percussionists. I think there was also a few guys on stage doing nothing but wrestling with motocross helmets on. Oh ya, and they sounded awsome too. They all sang. It was nuts. Arcade Fire. They're album is called Funeral. Ya man, check 'em out."

Later, Jeano got something stuck in his craw and on an impromptu monologe of his loathing for the owners, drew everyone's attention in the 'straunt as he proceeded to tear thier absent asses a new defication shute. To paraphrase: "In Korea they say, "Ooo, I owna, you bow to me. That doesn't work here. No! You've got these kids, like you," he said pointing to me, "who most of the time just come in here and drink coffee. But, I see, on days like today, you order food. What's that a chilli burger? Looks good. But if they're just sitting around causing no trouble, like I tend to do, they know that if a place starts to fill up it's only polite to vacate their seats and to free up the waitress' time. Wouldn't you kid?" he said asking me. "Of course you would. You know the rules to this gig! But no! These facists have run out most of the regulars now with their bullshit 5-Cup rule and evil glares and hostile service. I'd like to see them try to run me out of here. I'd buy this place right out from under them in a heart beat. I'm thinking about doing it anyway. Ha ha ha! Then nobody could yell at me for walking behind the line and serving my own coffee! Could they! No! This is America, Mrs. Wong! We play cards and drink coffee. That's what we do in America, Mrs. Wong!"

And so on. It was quite the speach.

Liz told Joe the Cook that a group was celebrating a 21st birthday. Joe gave them free cake and asked what time it was. Liz told him it was exactly 2 a.m. Then Joe said he was exactly 47 years and 2 hours old. And Liz asked if it was his birthday. And Joe said that it was. And I ripped a blank page out of the back of my notebook, folded it in half and made him a birthday card.

The front said this:
Happy Day
JOE

The back said this:
Rockin' the grill,
Makin' some cash,
Who cares if you're gray,
Bring back the 'stash!

--Erik the Regular

I wrote up to page 35 in my second notebook. Wrote about my first drive to Hannah's house from Osage, 27 miles, singin songs to myself and making interesting observations about the One tiny town I had to drive through to get there. Then I got there and wrestled with Hannah's dog, Sorrow. I had some interesting lines go in tonight. I feel good about them. Symbolic lines like, "She went inside the house and I was left with Hannah's Sorrow." Hmmm... Too much? Perhaps.

Then the sad news was broadcasted to Joe and I about Roy, the cook from last night. The cook that always gives me free eggs over easy for some reason. PrettyLiz said, "Guys, last night, after you left, Erik... a customer came in and said, 'Hey the trailer park's on fire!' and we went out to see if we could spot the flames. Roy said, 'That looks close to my house,' so he rode his bike over there. He came back, like, 10 minutes later looking sad. He said, 'I lost everything. My cats, my pictures. All my shit's on fire.' Poor Roy had to stay until the next cook could come in." Joe was furious. "Why didn't you guys call me!? I don't live far from here, I would have come in! Jesus that Roy! And you should have called me to, YoungLady."

PrettyLiz wrote up my ticket, bled on it, and I paid and left at 2:30 a.m. On my way out of the Leroy's, blasted by the singular below zero farenheits, Joe stopped me. He was smoking, wearing only his shirt sleeves and golfer checkered pants. Mr. Joe McGruff himself said, "Thanks for the birthday card, man. That was cool." I think I made a friend.

Peace and Love,
Mungo

Song of the day: "La la" - The Polyphonic Spree

--Those are two seperate links. One to a page where you can hear the song (track 4) and the other where you can check out their super cool flash animation intros.