Thursday night I slept decently, but woke up around 4:00 and had trouble resting until it was time to get up. Frustrating.
I got out of bed a little before the start of my workday and drove to Subway for breakfast. Footlong turkey on wheat. I had a $2 reward to burn before Monday. Used to save the rewards up until I had enough for a free footlong, but that’s when I was eating there two or three times a week.
Work was so much less stressful than it’s been, now that I’ve got that bear of an assignment turned in. I posted an article, edited some letters, interviewed a donor (this is a good one — I look forward to sharing), edited a photo for someone else, and wrote some social media posts that didn’t go up yet.
Too tired Friday night to do anything fun (or meaningful). I did a couple of crossword puzzles (poorly), read more of the news than usual, did a little fantasy football research, and watched the new Borat movie. It’s funny in a super clever, super awkward, fairly gross way. I was impressed with how Sacha Baron Cohen uses his stunts to catch normal people being kind, though. Most unexpected.
Oh, I also spun the new Armored Saint album, and it’s reeeeally good.
People get nostalgic for olden days, but sometimes they are horribly misguided. With schooling for sure — we know so much more today about learning differences, when some decades ago we would label some students “slow” and put them in non-college prep track.
You know what else sucked when I was growing up, that doesn’t suck now? When I was fourteen, I read heavy metal magazines, where I learned about bands like Metallica, Armored Saint, Anthrax, Kix, Keel, and Cirith Ungol. I saw the records at Tower, but I couldn’t afford to buy stuff unheard, and there was nowhere to hear these bands.
Metallica and Anthrax were big enough that if you paid attention, you’d hear them on movie soundtracks at the cinema, or sometimes on MTV, but there were so many bands who sounded cool who you could never hear. I’m still making up for a lot of lost listening, and I’m in my fifties.
Anyway. Finally getting into Armored Saint. I’m already super familiar with the lead singer, John Bush, who was for a time the lead singer in Anthrax. Until last night I had no idea Armored Saint was a musically decent band. Since Bush contributes a lot of songwriting, it makes sense that this Armored Saint album reminds of a less thrashy Anthrax.
The songs are interesting, and the musicians have a good sound. The album is very well produced, too, which of course enhances my listening. This is almost surely a top-ten album of the year for me. And I’m looking forward to exploring more of the band’s discography.
Ali texted me really late (for her). We shared a lot about our work situations, and a little bit about racial healthcare disparities. Sylvia texted and we talked a little about exercise and food. Vicky sent me more info about some of her MLM meetings. Crush Girl and I shared briefly about stuff I won’t describe.
Need this weekend a bit more than most. Here’s to it.
If you’re having trouble finding people to connect with, I hope you’ll leave a comment. Don’t go through these days alone.