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Right.
So... I'm back in the US. Still trying to figure that out all the way. Quite excited to see the family and pets again, in addition to my own bass and stereo, and actually sleeping in a bed with sheets for the first time in months (true story).
Spent most of the weekend down at Vassar for Founder's Day. I stayed at Alan's house and watched an ungodly amount of drugs disappear into people's mouths (for my part, I kept it simple with booze, pot, and whippets) including, but not limited to, ether, LSD, and ecstasy. Hey, it's Founder's Day. Honor thy Matthew Vassar. It was a little on the damp side, but that really didn't deter too much from the experience - nice temperature and a Woodstock vibe as hundreds of people ran around and slid in the mud (or, in my case, were tackled by Brandon and Wilburn and made to eat said mud). Saw nearly everybody out and about, which was great. Erica Fox has turned into a completely different person, as she was "wasted!" (her words) when I ran into her, and then came to smoke up on the hill, and Mike Cuocci was as chilled out as ever and went on to get arrested for something and released shortly after. All in all, a good experience, and I maintained a nice level of sociable intoxication.
Sunday, by contrast, was really beautiful. Mike and I went for brunch at a diner on Rt. 9, then I went to watch Alan and Wesley and Ellie run through some stage combat - American version looks quite different from British for some reason, or maybe it was just the way they were choreographing it - less aggression with the dagger and less moving overall. (Also, I tried to find Margo or Neil, but could do neither, which means that my internship is STILL up in the air. I am entirely tired of not knowing where I'll be or what I'll be doing this summer, and living with my mom is not gonna help at all.) Drove back up for Gretchen's birthday dinner - this was a big year, one kid at 21, the other at 18 - and finally got to play with the new Springfield, which, to my dismay, had some entirely unnecessary bluing added to it by the very guy who was supposed to take OFF all the farb markings. I suppose discoloring all the screws, the rear sight, and the band locks (plus putting his own stamp on the back) evens out for new cartouches and the Armi-Sport logo being taken off? Fuck sakes. Other than that, though, it's really quite a nice looking piece of hardware.
I spent today bouncing around Clifton Park finding ingredients for a period de-bluing recipe (linseed oil and turpentine mixed with something called rottenstone) and managed all right, though turpentine is hard to find and rottenstone is apparently impossible. I made up the mixture and used some fine grade sandpaper and elbow grease, and lo and behold, off came the bluing. I've gotten it all except for one butt plate screw and the hard-to-reach parts of the sight, which I'll clean up once I can find this mystery stuff. During the course of defarbing the defarb, I took the entire thing apart and put it all back together, an amazingly simple process. Even the back of the lockplate was uncluttered and efficient, a very Spartan weapon, I think. Less Spartan is the pellet gun, which finally got its scope remounted today. Bottles and cans, beware - I'm back with long range accuracy. Booyakasha.
There's a really major gap developing where Not Getting Lost/Murdered In London was. I don't really have much to occupy my time with, which is a pretty major red flag on the Geoff Does Alright front. Evil forebodings and a good dose of irrational nervousness. Gotta love it. I am going to continue without medication and see what happens. Previous times, I would just flee back to it, but how am I gonna learn anything that way? I hate taking it, so it's high time to learn to deal with it.
(I say this now. We'll see what's going on in a week or two. Besides the Dresden Dolls, which is going to be awesome anyway.)
Time for some bass practice, methinks.
The big wheel keeps on turning
On a simple line day by day
The earth spins on its axis
One man struggle while another relaxes
There's a hole in my soul like a cavity
Seems like the world is out to gather just by gravity
The wheel keeps turning, the sky's rearranging
Look my son, the weather is changing
I'd like to feel that you could be free
Look up at the blue skies beneath a new tree
Sometime again
You'll turn green and the sea turns red
My son, I said, the power of axis over my head
The big wheel keeps on turning
On a simple line day by day
The earth spins on its axis
One man struggle while another relaxes...
Yes close your eyes and hold me tight
And I'll show you sunset sometime again
So... I'm back in the US. Still trying to figure that out all the way. Quite excited to see the family and pets again, in addition to my own bass and stereo, and actually sleeping in a bed with sheets for the first time in months (true story).
Spent most of the weekend down at Vassar for Founder's Day. I stayed at Alan's house and watched an ungodly amount of drugs disappear into people's mouths (for my part, I kept it simple with booze, pot, and whippets) including, but not limited to, ether, LSD, and ecstasy. Hey, it's Founder's Day. Honor thy Matthew Vassar. It was a little on the damp side, but that really didn't deter too much from the experience - nice temperature and a Woodstock vibe as hundreds of people ran around and slid in the mud (or, in my case, were tackled by Brandon and Wilburn and made to eat said mud). Saw nearly everybody out and about, which was great. Erica Fox has turned into a completely different person, as she was "wasted!" (her words) when I ran into her, and then came to smoke up on the hill, and Mike Cuocci was as chilled out as ever and went on to get arrested for something and released shortly after. All in all, a good experience, and I maintained a nice level of sociable intoxication.
Sunday, by contrast, was really beautiful. Mike and I went for brunch at a diner on Rt. 9, then I went to watch Alan and Wesley and Ellie run through some stage combat - American version looks quite different from British for some reason, or maybe it was just the way they were choreographing it - less aggression with the dagger and less moving overall. (Also, I tried to find Margo or Neil, but could do neither, which means that my internship is STILL up in the air. I am entirely tired of not knowing where I'll be or what I'll be doing this summer, and living with my mom is not gonna help at all.) Drove back up for Gretchen's birthday dinner - this was a big year, one kid at 21, the other at 18 - and finally got to play with the new Springfield, which, to my dismay, had some entirely unnecessary bluing added to it by the very guy who was supposed to take OFF all the farb markings. I suppose discoloring all the screws, the rear sight, and the band locks (plus putting his own stamp on the back) evens out for new cartouches and the Armi-Sport logo being taken off? Fuck sakes. Other than that, though, it's really quite a nice looking piece of hardware.
I spent today bouncing around Clifton Park finding ingredients for a period de-bluing recipe (linseed oil and turpentine mixed with something called rottenstone) and managed all right, though turpentine is hard to find and rottenstone is apparently impossible. I made up the mixture and used some fine grade sandpaper and elbow grease, and lo and behold, off came the bluing. I've gotten it all except for one butt plate screw and the hard-to-reach parts of the sight, which I'll clean up once I can find this mystery stuff. During the course of defarbing the defarb, I took the entire thing apart and put it all back together, an amazingly simple process. Even the back of the lockplate was uncluttered and efficient, a very Spartan weapon, I think. Less Spartan is the pellet gun, which finally got its scope remounted today. Bottles and cans, beware - I'm back with long range accuracy. Booyakasha.
There's a really major gap developing where Not Getting Lost/Murdered In London was. I don't really have much to occupy my time with, which is a pretty major red flag on the Geoff Does Alright front. Evil forebodings and a good dose of irrational nervousness. Gotta love it. I am going to continue without medication and see what happens. Previous times, I would just flee back to it, but how am I gonna learn anything that way? I hate taking it, so it's high time to learn to deal with it.
(I say this now. We'll see what's going on in a week or two. Besides the Dresden Dolls, which is going to be awesome anyway.)
Time for some bass practice, methinks.
On a simple line day by day
The earth spins on its axis
One man struggle while another relaxes
There's a hole in my soul like a cavity
Seems like the world is out to gather just by gravity
The wheel keeps turning, the sky's rearranging
Look my son, the weather is changing
I'd like to feel that you could be free
Look up at the blue skies beneath a new tree
Sometime again
You'll turn green and the sea turns red
My son, I said, the power of axis over my head
The big wheel keeps on turning
On a simple line day by day
The earth spins on its axis
One man struggle while another relaxes...
Yes close your eyes and hold me tight
And I'll show you sunset sometime again
