I suppose I am about due for an update
Haven't been posting here much, but I thought I would recap some interesting items of my recent past.
First, I was in a major car accident on October 13. I left my job to run to Publix to pick up my regular sub sandwich dinner, and was "t-boned" while taking a left by a driver who ran through a stoplight. This took place at 5 points. I was turning left onto Edgewood, and the other driver was headed North on Marietta Street. After in inital crash, which sent my car onto the sidewalk by the corner restaraunt there, the other driver (a black male about my age) exited his car and immediately started exclaiming, "Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!" My thought at that time was, "Goddamn right shit; you just ran a light and hit me." Both cars were seriously damaged, and although mine was hit on the passenger side doors, it would not start and is currently still in impound.
I was not seriously injured, but did have some back problems - this probably due in no small part to the spinal fracture I sustained at the beginning of the year which has still given me some problems. I was taken to the hospital by an ambulance, given some pain killers and valium (oooo.... dark temptress from my more reckless past, once again we meet) The subsequent visit to my spinal doktors indicated no additional major problems, but I am again expected to wear a back brace (although nothing compared to the PVC monster I was in before) and again endure physical therapy.
Several days afterwards, I discovered I had been charged with "failure to yield" and was determined to be at fault in the accident. This was of course, total bullshit, but given that no witness statements were taken, I can understand that the police would say this. However, I am not willing to stand by and allow this to happen, and have already secured an expensive lawyer (are there even cheap ones?) and will be going to court Monday.
I expect to win the case. The primary reason I have this confidence is because the other driver was arrested after the accident for lying about his identity, and was additionally discovered to have 2 fake driver's licences on him. So in court it boils down to the word of a criminal versus a gainfully employed honor student with no moving violations in 5 years, who also lives, works, and goes to school in the immediate vicinity of the accident, and who has made that particular left turn upwards of 1,000 times with no problems.
Still, the situation in general sucks, as I have no car, physical problems, and am being forced to spend (so far) over $1000 to deal with this issue. So it goes...
This past weekend I was in NYC for the CMI show. anndr0id and I flew up and stayed with some friends there for about 3 days. The show itself was awesome. I am very much into that sort of dark ambient music, and these were some of my favorite bands in a rare and very limited tour (hence my going 2500 miles for the closest show). I got to meet and spend time with Peter Andersson of Deutsch Nepal which was a very special thing for me, as he is probably my favorite artist of the past 2 years, and who I credit for saving my appreciation of music in general, and who to a degree inspired me to do my radio show. It is inspiring for me to see people like him who essentially make no money from his music and has a regular job and life, but who commands an extremely loyal fan base, and does so much out of sheer love of the work and music.
Aside from the actual show, the rest of the trip was good and relaxing. It is very easy to have a great vacation when travelling with a beautiful woman who loves you, and this was no exception.
The rest of this week has been fairly calm; just busy with schoolwork and such. Some highlights in that department were getting high A's on both my empirical philosophy and interpersonal communications midterms, and feeling very good about my performance on my formal logic exam, although I have not yet recieved my grade.
Today I had a very interesting event, in that I got a fan letter sent to me at the station for my show.I feel like there are quite a few people who appreciate the show, but it actually isn't that common for me to get direct feedback on it, so this was nice. But even more significant was that the author of the letter is being held in a federal detention center in south Georgia. He told me that listening to the program was the highlight of each week for him, and that he was very grateful that he could tune in and enjoy it. He made comments about certain things I had played that he particularly enjoyed, and made a number of requests that I will enthusiastically play.
It might seem a tad odd to be so appreciative of a letter from an inmate, but it was personally important for a few reasons. For one, it is just extremely validating to have someone just say, "Man, I fucking love your show." Being a DJ and producer, hearing that always feels SO FUCKING GOOD, and his letter was really a quintessence of someone saying that to me.
Additionally, I can really empathize with this guy. Having spent a substantial period incarcerated at one time in my life, I understand how EMPTY and DEHUMANIZING it can be for a person of strong spirit and mind. When I was there, I often wrote to people that the most valuable thing in detention was something to do - stimulus. It makes me feel very proud and very inspired that I can provide that for this person. To me, it doesn't matter why he is there, or wot kind of person he even is. Being in a detention center is FUCKING SHIT, and there is a part of my heart that will always go out to people in jail. This is why I am known to throw my packet of cigarettes to prison road-work crews when I pass them on the highway (and I encourage anyone reading this to do the same whenever possible. You can always afford the $4 it would cost for another pack, and someone picking up that pack you tossed will feel as though a shard of blessing has found him in his dark place)
PRISONERS DESERVE JOY ALSO - JOHNNY CASH KNEW THIS, AND SO SHOULD YOU.
I certainly plan to write him back and include wotever "care package" type stuff I can, so if anyone has anything they would like to donate or include (stickers, artwork, words, etc.), I would consider it a personal favor for you to deliver it to me to forward on to him.
First, I was in a major car accident on October 13. I left my job to run to Publix to pick up my regular sub sandwich dinner, and was "t-boned" while taking a left by a driver who ran through a stoplight. This took place at 5 points. I was turning left onto Edgewood, and the other driver was headed North on Marietta Street. After in inital crash, which sent my car onto the sidewalk by the corner restaraunt there, the other driver (a black male about my age) exited his car and immediately started exclaiming, "Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!" My thought at that time was, "Goddamn right shit; you just ran a light and hit me." Both cars were seriously damaged, and although mine was hit on the passenger side doors, it would not start and is currently still in impound.
I was not seriously injured, but did have some back problems - this probably due in no small part to the spinal fracture I sustained at the beginning of the year which has still given me some problems. I was taken to the hospital by an ambulance, given some pain killers and valium (oooo.... dark temptress from my more reckless past, once again we meet) The subsequent visit to my spinal doktors indicated no additional major problems, but I am again expected to wear a back brace (although nothing compared to the PVC monster I was in before) and again endure physical therapy.
Several days afterwards, I discovered I had been charged with "failure to yield" and was determined to be at fault in the accident. This was of course, total bullshit, but given that no witness statements were taken, I can understand that the police would say this. However, I am not willing to stand by and allow this to happen, and have already secured an expensive lawyer (are there even cheap ones?) and will be going to court Monday.
I expect to win the case. The primary reason I have this confidence is because the other driver was arrested after the accident for lying about his identity, and was additionally discovered to have 2 fake driver's licences on him. So in court it boils down to the word of a criminal versus a gainfully employed honor student with no moving violations in 5 years, who also lives, works, and goes to school in the immediate vicinity of the accident, and who has made that particular left turn upwards of 1,000 times with no problems.
Still, the situation in general sucks, as I have no car, physical problems, and am being forced to spend (so far) over $1000 to deal with this issue. So it goes...
This past weekend I was in NYC for the CMI show. anndr0id and I flew up and stayed with some friends there for about 3 days. The show itself was awesome. I am very much into that sort of dark ambient music, and these were some of my favorite bands in a rare and very limited tour (hence my going 2500 miles for the closest show). I got to meet and spend time with Peter Andersson of Deutsch Nepal which was a very special thing for me, as he is probably my favorite artist of the past 2 years, and who I credit for saving my appreciation of music in general, and who to a degree inspired me to do my radio show. It is inspiring for me to see people like him who essentially make no money from his music and has a regular job and life, but who commands an extremely loyal fan base, and does so much out of sheer love of the work and music.
Aside from the actual show, the rest of the trip was good and relaxing. It is very easy to have a great vacation when travelling with a beautiful woman who loves you, and this was no exception.
The rest of this week has been fairly calm; just busy with schoolwork and such. Some highlights in that department were getting high A's on both my empirical philosophy and interpersonal communications midterms, and feeling very good about my performance on my formal logic exam, although I have not yet recieved my grade.
Today I had a very interesting event, in that I got a fan letter sent to me at the station for my show.I feel like there are quite a few people who appreciate the show, but it actually isn't that common for me to get direct feedback on it, so this was nice. But even more significant was that the author of the letter is being held in a federal detention center in south Georgia. He told me that listening to the program was the highlight of each week for him, and that he was very grateful that he could tune in and enjoy it. He made comments about certain things I had played that he particularly enjoyed, and made a number of requests that I will enthusiastically play.
It might seem a tad odd to be so appreciative of a letter from an inmate, but it was personally important for a few reasons. For one, it is just extremely validating to have someone just say, "Man, I fucking love your show." Being a DJ and producer, hearing that always feels SO FUCKING GOOD, and his letter was really a quintessence of someone saying that to me.
Additionally, I can really empathize with this guy. Having spent a substantial period incarcerated at one time in my life, I understand how EMPTY and DEHUMANIZING it can be for a person of strong spirit and mind. When I was there, I often wrote to people that the most valuable thing in detention was something to do - stimulus. It makes me feel very proud and very inspired that I can provide that for this person. To me, it doesn't matter why he is there, or wot kind of person he even is. Being in a detention center is FUCKING SHIT, and there is a part of my heart that will always go out to people in jail. This is why I am known to throw my packet of cigarettes to prison road-work crews when I pass them on the highway (and I encourage anyone reading this to do the same whenever possible. You can always afford the $4 it would cost for another pack, and someone picking up that pack you tossed will feel as though a shard of blessing has found him in his dark place)
PRISONERS DESERVE JOY ALSO - JOHNNY CASH KNEW THIS, AND SO SHOULD YOU.
I certainly plan to write him back and include wotever "care package" type stuff I can, so if anyone has anything they would like to donate or include (stickers, artwork, words, etc.), I would consider it a personal favor for you to deliver it to me to forward on to him.