Murphy's Be Damned Law

Recently broken things around my place have been fixed. My parents and older brother came over Sunday and we fixed a leak in the roof near the swamp cooler on my trailer. My step-dad also recently showed me how to unplug my kitchen sink. Monday I hired a man to help me get my furnace running and in the process I, myself, replaced a broken electrical breaker without getting electrocuted. I also took my truck down to a tire center and had a slow, air-leaking tire fixed.

Wednesday my refrigerator died.

Sigh.

"Why, God? Why?"

I stayed up way too late last night. I watched all of the episodes of the second disc of "Desperate Housewives". Earlier yesterday while recuperating on the couch I finished watching all of the third disc of the second season of "CSI-New York". All the while then I was avoiding cleaning the freshly discovered dead refrigerator and trying not to notice that my trailer was getting smellier and smellier. I was too damn sick to have to deal with all of that. I shouted out, "Why, God? Why?"

This morning the refridgerator food is now in the trailer park dumpster. I still need to wipe the refrigerator itself down. I did remember to turn the fridge completely off. Near the area between the freezer and the cooler it was hot and I didn't want a fire to start in there.

I am feeling good enough to go back to work and so I need to go get ready. If I get to the store early enough, perhaps I could get a bite to eat before I start my shift.

Dead Refrigerator

I need to go to bed. It is late. I probably won't sleep well. I ate a take-home tacos dinner I picked up from a nearby restaurant. I ate them late into the evening. When I eat my dinner late in the evening I never sleep well that night. So why do I do it?

I just threw away the entire contents of my refrigerator. My refrigerator just up and died. And I didn't realize this until it was too late and everything spoiled.

I called work and told them I was sick early this morning. And I was sick so don't think I was faking it or imagining it. I felt like I was coming down with the flu. I had a high fever and my body ached in my muscles and joints. At work yesterday I took two Advil and drank some Airborne. Last night I drank some Alka Seltzer Plus. I felt like crap most of the day but surprisingly towards the evening I started feeling better.

Whenever I am sick I need comfort food so it depressed me when I opened my refrigerator earlier today and realized that all the food in it was not fit to eat. And the smell! Really awful. I just shut the door and lied on my couch and avoided dealing with it. That didn't last long because soon the rotten food started stinking up the place.

Revisiting Project #3, the One Where I Am Figuring Out a Way to Keep My Home Clean Moment by Moment

As I am starting to slide back into letting my place get messy, I have to ask myself this question: what is it I need to say to myself to keep me in a constant cleaning mode?

I came up with the following:

“I am cleaning as I go.”

“I don’t want to come back to this mess.”

“I am not thinking about it, I am just doing it.” (Cleaning.)

“Don’t act on that urge to put it off until later. Do it now!”

“Don’t forget: I love cleaning my place up. I love it when my house is all clean and organized.”

“Keeping my place clean and organized should be one of my top priorities.”

“My life runs so much smoother and I am much happier having a clean and organized home.”

“There’s a mess there! Clean it! Now!”

I believe the human brain is like a computer and in it you must feed the correct data to get what you want. I want a clean and organized place, dammit! Maybe if I continuously feed my brain the above data I’ll get what I want.

I’ll keep you informed on whether this works or not.

Work-in-Progress Part 3

This is my art work-in-progress part 3-Self-Portrait: Man with Backwards Baseball Hat. I had planned giving this to my younger sister for her birthday in early October, but it is taking me longer than planned. Who knows? Maybe I'll give it to her for Christmas.

Six Questions Revisited

I need to be answering these types of questions on a more regular basis. They help me do the things I need to do and want to do.

1. Blood Pressure? 129 over 82. It should be 120 over 80 which means it is still a little high. I just went to the doctor on Monday and he upped one of the meds to make the numbers go down. The thing is I’ve yet to take the stronger meds. I have to start tonight when I take my new daily dosage.

2. Did you practice your guitar playing today? Yes, but I only worked on one song. It’s called Breath Me and it was recorded by someone named Sia. I first heard the song while watching the final minutes of the series, Six Feet Under. The combination of the powerful manner in which the series ends and the overwrought emotion of that song; I couldn’t have been any more deeply moved. After that I simply had to find the song on the Internet, download it, and then find the guitar chords to it and learn to play it on my guitar.

3. Where are you on your house-cleaning project? I have completely cleaned the inside of my house. But I’m starting to slack on keeping it that way. I need to go through it again now and deep clean, dusting the furniture and washing the floors and wiping everything down. I haven’t let it slide all that much, but I want to get it back to where it really looks nice again. Then I want to wash the windows and winterize them where the cold can’t get in. And then I need to go outside, and clean the sheds and my truck and work on the yard and landscaping. Oh, I really should wipe sweep off the roof and likewise winterize it. There is a leak around my swamp cooler sometimes when it rains. Wow! There is still so much to do!

4. What loved ones I have contacted lately? I’ve been isolating. I’ve just been going to work and then coming home and hanging out by myself. I’ve been spending the majority of my evening time lying on the couch watching Nip/Tuck-Season 3. I am one of the best customers at the neighborhood movie rental store, and when I found out the latest Nip/Tuck DVD had been released, I requested the store owners gets it for their library. After all, they already had season 1 and season 2. It was just a day or two that passed after my request and I walked into the store and there season 3 was on their new release shelf. Yes, the store owners do spoil me. Yes, they do.

Ah, but characters in DVD television series are not real life loved ones and I do need to contact my real life loved ones more. I did see my parents on Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday was especially fun because my parents and I, along with my older brother, met at the local casino for breakfast. We all had a fun time stuffing our faces and teasing each other and laughing and generally being the loudest people in the joint. When we were through eating, I must state right here, I DID NOT go gamble. It has been 38 days since I flushed my hard earned cash down the gambling toilet. I know this because I have been tracking my bad gambling habit with my calendar. With me being the poor man that I am, the last thing I need to be doing right now is feeding some slot machine with little or no payback in return.

Oh yeah, I did also hang out with my best friend, Sy, and another friend, Chelsea, at McMenamin’s Oregon Hotel Saturday night. The Portland band, Sneakin’ Out, played a set there in a double billing along with the artist, Ashleigh Flynn. It was the first time I heard these artists perform and I will say here I was duly impressed, especially by the musical abilities of Sneakin’ Out. One man played a mandolin, another played a bass acoustic guitar, while the third man played all these different types of instruments he had surrounding himself. These included a pair of bongos, a xylophone, cymbals, drums, chimes, a typewriter(!), a steel tie he wore that he clicked with steel finger attachments, etc.

I was so impressed by it all that I ended up buying two CD’s, one full of Sneakin’ Out instrumental originals, and one where Sneakin’ Out played back up to Ashleigh Flynn’s incredible vocal talent.

The highlight of the evening though was when Sneakin’ Out did their version of the Pink Floyd piece, “Money” from the album, Dark Side of the Moon. Oh. My. God. It was so incredible. You’d simply have to hear it to know what I am talking about. I’ll leave it at that.

5. What art piece have I worked on today? Because I am writing this entry it has propelled me to add to my Self Portrait: Man Wearing Backwards Baseball Cap. I’ll post the latest version of it in an upcoming post.

6. What exercises did I do today? I went to the gym tonight and I worked out on two different exercise machines that aim to exercise your stomach. Plus, I stretched for about 5 to 10 minutes. Plus, I did the usual fifteen minutes on the cross-country machine. Plus, I lifted weights focusing on pumping up my biceps.

Funny-Guy Vendor

The other day I was at the store where I work and I was standing by the back warehouse door scooping up some dirt and throwing it in the garbage. All at once the buzzer alerted me that a vendor was waiting outside to be let in to make a delivery. I decided to have some fun and in a loud falsetto voice I asked, “Who is it?”

There was a hesitation and then I heard, “Land shark.” You’d have to be a fan of the early days of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” to appreciate the joke, and appreciate it I did laughing almost hysterically as I opened the door for the funny-guy vendor.

New Radiator

(Written Friday morning.)

My truck is in the shop. I am riding my bike down there in a short while and picking her up this morning. I had to have her radiator replaced. It will cost me around two hundred and eighty nine dollars. The mechanic said it needed replacing because apparently a rock that I ran over, shot up and pierced it.

I was heading for my younger sister’s place up in the mountains to visit for a day or two last week, when I happened to glance at the water gauge. I was only about fifteen miles into my journey and my truck engine was starting to get hot! I immediately pulled over and called my sister and told her I had to turn around. I was so disappointed. So was my sister. I rarely ever make such a lengthy trip as this, and I really wanted to hang out with her. We’re not only related, but she is one of my very best friends. The main reason I don’t travel to her place all that often is because I over worry that my beat-up old truck is going to run into mechanical problems. And that, my friends, is exactly what happened. Damn!

Ten Things to Do Before I Die (I'm 52 Years Old)

1. Raise money for some charities through what I create artistically and musically.

2. Have the ability to perform a two hour set of songs all by myself in some sort of musical performance.

3. Complete enough art pieces that I can put on an art show.

4. Sell my art online on EBay.

5. Someday own a place again big enough to entertain all my loved ones.

6. Once again own a brand new motor vehicle.

7. Tour Europe.

8. Meet the Great Love of My Life.

9. Write a screenplay and sell it.

10. Act in a movie.

Work-in-Progress Part 2

This is my work-in-progress part 2, Self-Portrait with Backwards Baseball Cap. I need to start working on this more because I think I am going to give a print of it to my younger sister for her upcoming birthday. As you can see the drawing is a long ways off from completion.

Jammin' Birthday

We celebrated a buddy's birthday at a recent jam session. One of the ladies baked a cake, and I brought some ice cream. I also bought him a backpack for his music suppies and a notebook to keep his songs in.

Six Questions

Questions to ask myself about stuff I want to do at least 10 minutes daily:

1. What is your blood pressure? 138 over 86. A blood pressure reading below 120 over 80 is considered normal. This means I am going to have to keep checking my blood pressure for the next two weeks. If it stays in the high numbers, I'm going to have to show my doctor these numbers. Most likely he'll then probably want to up my meds, and that's a real pisser because as it is I'm already taking two pills for it.)

2. Did you practice your guitar playing today? Why yes I did. What did you work on? I am learning an instrumental piece called The Fiddler's Contest from the book, Celtic Airs, Jigs, Hornpipes, &Reels by Stephen Grossman. Don't be too impressed. I am very green at trying to perform this new-to-me type of guitar playing. If I want to get any good at this, I'm going to have to practice more than just one 10 minute interval a day.

3. Where are you on your house-cleaning project? I am still cleaning my art studio. Because I want to enter some text here saying I have made improvements in this room, I just went and spent over 20 minutes in there (that's over two 10 minute intervals!) What I still need to do: remove some paint stains off my art desk, sweep, put together my art bag, organize my drawers, sort through and organize my canvases and various art pieces, hang a bulletin board, move a stereo speaker across the room, etc.

4. What loved ones did I contact today? I called Younger Sis. I had thought about visiting her today up on the mountain where her family and she lives, but her son is recovering from an operation and I figure she needs to devote her undivided attention to him. (I can't go into any great detail about his operation because that's my sis and her family's personal business.)

I also returned a call to one of my best friends, Sy. The news with him is he is possibly buying two new airplanes. He already owns one as it is, and has another one in a kit yet to be put together. Sy has been trying to get me to go flying with him, and I've yet to accept his offer. I jokingly tell him I've been with him when he drives fast in his sports car. Why should I trust how he flies a plane? But actually the truth is that I am thoroughly scared shitless when it comes to the idea of flying in little planes.

5. What art piece did I work on? That would be my self-portrait drawing. I have it taped up on my bathroom mirror and I draw on it whenever the mood strikes me. I'm using the beginning version of it for my profile picture here on this blog. I plan to scan it again soon to my computer and upload the updated version to this site and replace the older one. I'll keep doing this until the art piece is done.

6. What were today's ab exercises? I have a book I recently purchased called Men's Health: Amazing Abs. I lied on the floor and did two exercises out of that. One exercise was called The Traditional Crunch, and the other was called Pulse-Ups.

Ten Minute Quickies

"You certainly have one hour a day even if you divide it in six ten minute periods. What can you do in ten minutes? In ten minutes you can do some exercises and get your circulation moving again. You can write a letter to a friend, make three phone calls, get out some bills, or play a quick game of handball." -Ari Kiev in A Stategy for Daily
Living.

What I'd like to be doing daily in ten minute intervals:

1. I'd like to check my blood pressure. (My doctor wants me to do this.)

2. I'd like to practice a particular piece on my guitar.

3. I'd like to work on my house-cleaning project in one particular area
for AT LEAST ten minutes.

4. I'd like to spend time contacting my loved ones whether it be by
phone or email.

5. I'd like to work on a particular drawing.

6. I'd like to write a blog entry.

7. I'd like to be working on my abs daily in addition to what I do at
the gym (every other day.)

My Attitude of Gratitude - Good News About My Kids, etc.

1. Sonny now has a decent paying job. It is a mixed blessing though. My son will be fighting forest fires for a living.

2. Dot was accepted into law school. After a two years wait my daughter finally received the acceptance letter she so desired, and right now as I write this she most likely is attending some law class.

3. My brother gave me an old lap top he never uses. It’s a little bit outdated and heavier than the newer models, but it seems to still have plenty of memory left. Hey, it’ll work for me!

4. After two weeks, I finally retrieved my cell phone from my sister with whom I absent-mindedly left it with when I visited her at the beach. I haven’t had my cell phone all that long and how I ever existed without it, I can’t imagine.

5. I am still keeping my place clean from day to day. I’ve let no messes pile up! And I made a dent in cleaning up the disaster area known as my art studio.

Project #4-Clean My Art Studio!

"It may be that at first you can devote only one hour a day to the activity that really matters to you, but one hour a day can really add up. One hour a day will mean 7 hours a week, 365 hours a year, 3650 hours in ten years. You can accomplish much in that period of time: taking a course, writing a book, painting a portrait. You certainly have one hour a day even if you divide it in six ten minute periods. What can you do in ten minutes? In ten minutes you can do some exercises and get your circulation moving again. You can write a letter to a friend, make three phone calls, get out some bills, or play a quick game of handball." Ari Kiev in A Stategy for Daily Living.

In my mission to clean my place from top to bottom, I haven't been able to clean in my art studio. I think it is has to do with the fact that I am overwhelmed by all that I need to do. It is such a mess I don't know where to start.

Nevertheless, I have still managed to keep the other areas I've cleaned up from falling back into disarray.

I'm quite proud of this, slob that I normally am.

But now it is time to get past the art studio cleaning standstill. It is a big project and I need to chunk it down into little ten-minutes-at-a-time steps for me to take. (Please note: in an imperfect world, not all these steps will take exactly ten minutes.)

I will now list the first step: go stand in the studio doorway and figure out the next several steps.

The second step: figure out a place where you want your stereo to go. (My brother gave me an old stereo he was getting rid of. It plays records! I can play my old records I have held on to for years, even after the record player I owned in my younger days had bit the dust.)

The third step: Make a path to the corner of the room you have chosen, clearing out the blocking debris.

The fourth step: Move the stereo stand into the studio and set the stereo system up.

The fifth step: Retrieve the records from the living room entertainment center and take them into your studio and place them on the stand.

Because it has been so hard for me to clean my art studio, I am going to make it Project #4 of my monitored projects. I'll keep you informed on how I do.

Jazz Night

I have edited some pictures from last month and it is about time I uploaded them. A friend of mine invited me to listen to a jazz singer at a local cafe and eat a fancy pants dinner.

This is the outside of Nick's Italian Cafe. If you are ever in McMinnville, Oregon, you should eat there. There's all kinds of excellent food there to devour, including 7-course meals that go on for hours, and once you are done eating you have to be carted out in a gurney because you are so stuffed with food and too happy to move.


Jazz Night is held ever so often in the back of Nick's. I think it is by invitation only. I am a friend of a friend of Nick's, and so I was privileged to tag along. The above picture is an overall view of cafe patrons enjoying themselves.


These are the people I went to Jazz Night with, all friends I jam with music-wise on a weekly basis, not at Nick's, but at a private home.


"Look up, everyone, and pose," I told them.


Of course, I had to go trade places with one of the gang, and have her take the picture, so I could be included too. I don't like the shot of me though.


The cello player in the trio that performed.


The keyboard player.


The jazz singer, Shirley Nanette. If you ever learn of her performing somewhere and you like jazzy type music, treat yourself to her show. You won't be disappointed.


Shirley Nanette in the background at the bar taking a break.

Mr. Interview: The First Three Monitored Projects

Mr. Interview: So tell me Harley, where are you at with your monitored projects?

Harley: First, let me review what they are so far.

Mr. Interview: Okay.

Harley: Project 1: Learn How to Add Pictures to My Blog.

Project 2: Completely Clean My Home.

Project 3: Figure Out a Way to Keep My Home Clean Moment by Moment.

Mr. Interview: So NOW tell me, Harley, where are you at with your monitored projects?

Harley: Project 1 was a mental bitch to figure out because I started by trying to upload my profile picture.

Mr. Interview: This wasn’t an easy thing to do?

Harley: No, it wasn’t. But I finally figured it out by going here and here. I won’t bore you with the details. But then I tried to upload a picture to a blog entry, and I tried and tried and tried and tried, but the damn picture wouldn’t upload no matter what! Finally I went back to here and here and I learned that my Internet Explorer doesn’t always cooperate with the Blogger site where my blog is now located. I ended up having to download a brand-new-for-me browser, The Mozilla Firefox, and then tried uploading the picture through it, and it worked like a charm.

Mr. Interview: So now you can say Project #1 has been completed.

Harley: Yes, I can, though it wasn’t an easy road to travel down.

Mr. Interview: How about Project #2. Where are you at on that?

Harley: Ah, the one where I must completely clean my home. I’ve been working on that. I’ve cleaned my kitchen, my living room, my bathroom, my office, and my patio. But I haven’t cleaned these different areas up to the point that I want them. Right now I am simply making them presentable and non-embarrassing for me if anybody should happen to drop by unannounced. These areas look good, way better than I had been keeping them, and they are staying that way due to some intense, concentrated efforts on my part. Plus, I almost have my laundry all caught up.

The next areas I want to clean are my studio and my big shed and my little shed. Plus I plan to spiff up my beat-up old truck somewhat. And then do some yard work.

And then I want to go back to where I started and go through my trailer, sheds, truck and yard again continuously improving on I have here. And then do it again and again until I am satisfied. Which I think will never actually happen, because it is a non-ending day to day process.

Mr. Interview: So the same time you are working on Project #2, you are also working on Project #3. How are you able to keep your place clean?

Harley: By adopting a mindset that the messes I make must be cleaned up right after I make them. Plus, I try not to make big messes in the first place. It is a visual thing with me. I tell myself my place must look good at all times. If it doesn’t I must do what it takes to make it look good the first chance I get.

And I’m trying to adopt a few new rules to live by, such as there is to be no dirty dishes in my sink, and I must make my bed first thing in the morning after I climb out of it.

Mr. Interview: And this is working for you?

Harley: Yes! At least for the time being. I hope my newfound cleanliness lasts. I can’t believe how much happier I am living like this.

Mr. Interview: Good for you.

Harley: Yes, good for me.

A Frackin' Great Show

I just watched the finale episode of this series:

I just have to say, I frackin' love this show! (Frack is the word the Battlestar Galactia creators have their characters substitute for the other "f" word in order to get by the television sensors, and if they can use that word so can I.) Right now I'm in the middle of watching the bonus features on the DVD I rented, and even though I'm late in returning it to the rental store, I frackin' don't care. I'm not frackin' returning it until I've seen every frackin' thing that the frackin' DVD has to offer.

And joy of all joys, by coincidence or as a gift from the gods (Battlestar Galactia Cylons and the Battlestar Galactia humans believe in the gods) just as I'm finishing up Season One of the series, Season Two has just been released! That makes me so frackin' happy! I frackin' can't wait to start watching a whole frackin' new set of episodes.

What the frack! I am frackin' using the word frack way too much. If I keep it up you might want to tell me to frack off. I then in turn might turn around and yell back, "Frack you!"

Anyhoo, if you haven't watched the updated version of Battlestar Galactia, do so. I highly recommend it. Great characters, great acting, great storylines, great sets, great special effects.

An Attitude of Gratitude-Aug.13, 2006

1. I am grateful that I am cleaning and organizing my place (finally) and I have been keeping it clean and organized! I love living like this!

2. I am grateful that despite my ADD I was actually able to read a book all the way through: The Beach House by James Patterson and Peter De Jonge; a good book, by the way, although a little bit far fetched.

3. I am grateful for the local library. Yesterday I visited there, one of my favorite places in the whole wide world, and checked out the following:

· 3 Art in America Magazines and 1 Architectural Digest;
· the book, The Summons by John Grisham;
· 3 DVD’s: Spinal Tap, Lovesick, and the first season of the television series, Arrested Development;
· and 6 CD’s: k.d. lang’s Hymns of the 49th Parallel, Patti Labelle’s Classic Moments, Paul Simon’s You’re the One, Linda Ronstadt’s Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind (featuring Aaron Neville), and 2 Tracy Chapman’s, Crossroads and New Beginnings.

4. I am grateful my son has not moved in with me yet, and I am able to stick to my guns and stick with the tough love stance that he needs to make it on his own no matter what. After all, he is 25 years old, and he is the one that needs to be taking care of himself, not me.

5. I am grateful that someone decided to remake the series, Battlestar Galactia. Have you seen it? It has been redone in such a great manner. Quick! Rush out and rent/buy Season One! If you are a science fiction freak like me, you won’t regret it.

Project #2-Completely Clean My Home; Project #3-Figure Out a Way To Keep It Clean Moment by Moment

I have come to the realization that I am hindered greatly by the constant messiness of my home. It is depressing being surrounded by all this chaos. It holds me back from moving on to bigger and better things. I feel when my home is unorganized my mind and life are too.

On my days off work, I always feel like I need to stay home and clean. Loved ones want my attention, and I am constantly putting them off because of that need to stay home and clean. And then when I stay home to clean, I usually get distracted and don't do it.

As for entertaining loved ones at my place, you might as well forget that idea. I am too ashamed of my place to invite anybody over.

This is definately no way to live. That's why the next two projects I am monitoring here on this blog have to do with cleaning. Project #2 is to completely clean up my trailer, and Project #3 is to figure out a way to keep it cleaned up on a daily, moment-to-moment basis.

Project 1: Learn How to Add Pictures to My Blog

So here I am at my new home on the web. And I need to fix place up. It needs decorating, baby. I need to make the place mine. So that's going to have to be done in a series of projects here.

The first thing I need to do is add a profile picture to my blog.

Pictures are nice; yes, in deedy. I need to hang some pictures on my blog walls. And to do that it looks like I'll need a Flickr account to upload said pictures and then transfer them from the Flickr site to this site.

Music to Wake Up a Sluggish Brain

I woke up and immediately made a strong, strong cup of coffee. I then went online to YouTube see if I could find some Sheena Easton videos and found a bunch of them to watch, which I did. I heard her at work the other day and wanted to hear some more.

Man, Sheena is pretty. And sexy. And what a vocal range. She can thrill me right down to my bonemarrow.

Listening to music before I go to work is a great way to start the day. It gets my sluggish brain vibrating. Pumped up. Pulsating.

Yesterday the two songs that got me going then was "State of Independence" by Donna Summer, and a live version of "Little Feat" by Greg Brown. Such opposite styles of music, and yet the songs seemed to make me happy all day long.

I have to work today; a Sunday, dammit. The weekend! I have to work all weekend long! And yet I am going to do my damnedest to made today a really great day.

The Big Switcheroo

I'm going to have to switch to from my other blog host to this host because this host looks like it has more to offer. The main reason I am switching though is because I can imbed Haloscan and anybody can comment on my posts. Back at my other host, Vox, you, the visitor, likewise have to have your own Vox blog there in order to make comments on what I have to say and offer on my old blog. Otherwise, I can't get any feedback from you. That sucks.

So here I am again starting anew once more. Wish me luck with this site.