Mind Vomit by the ikss ~ a journal
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In an effort to fill you in on band shenanigans and because I've already used up my daily allotment of "writing time" with this nonsense, following is an Email Eavesdrop.
I can�t believe what a frustrating endeavor this is turning out to be � and I haven�t even sung with the fucking band yet!
If Lou wasn�t counting on me to sing with them next month, I would have just washed my hands of the whole thing like last week. If I don�t sing with them next month, though, they won�t be able to do the gig and they�ll be out the money � something they all need.
-----Original Message-----
From: mark
Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2004 8:38 AM
To: Sondra; Barb; Karen; Katie; Sarah
Subject:
Hi all,
I just wanted to let everyone know that Mark Allen got student of the month! It's cool because he and Noah just started at their new school in Feb. The good news is the annoying "My child" bumper sticker will be on his Mom's car, not mine. The bad news is I can't get the "My kid can beat up your honor student" sticker I always wanted.
Love to all, Mark
-----Original Message-----
From: Barbara
Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2004 9:09 AM
To: Karen
Subject: (no subject)
Hi-
That was nice of Mark to send an email, huh? He probably felt guilty for not being there on Sunday.
I really don't think I'll go see Hai*. I just can't see myself doing it. Let me know if you for sure go and if I feel young all of a sudden, I may show up. I really doubt it though. Not feeling real young right now. (You know what I mean)
Have fun tonight! Are you looking forward to it? I'll call you tomorrow so yu can give me the scoop.
Have a good day,
b
-----Original Message-----
From: Karen
Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2004 10:10 AM
To: Barbara
Subject: (no subject)
Well, it turns out I�m a big doofus and the Formosa Caf� thing isn�t until NEXT Thursday! So my incredibly busy week? Turns out it ain�t so busy after all.
Are you having a better day today?
I talked to Cathy last night. She seems in good spirits, which is cool. I think she may go hiking with some of the Outdoors Club people this weekend. She had just seen Jeri and Jeri was trying to talk her in to going Friday night *(to a restaurant/bar to see friends of mine who are playing in a band there). I told Cathy to call me if she was gonna go. I have to go now, because Jeri and her boyfriend are going to meet me there. Plus, I feel bad about not seeing Hai for so long. Jeri says she�s not gonna stay late anyway, because they have to go to a wedding on Saturday.
Yeah, that was nice of Mark. I emailed him back and gave him Alissa�s email address, since I noticed she wasn�t included.
I just got off the phone with Lou. He said he doesn�t want me to give (restaurant/bar) a CD yet (I reminded him I don�t even have one to give them anyway) and he wants me to hold off on booking any gigs. I guess he and Tony and Robert are all going to sit down and talk this over. He�s afraid if I do book the gigs, Tony will now end up wanting to play more and he�ll end up in three different bands.
That�s all understandable. However...I kind of let loose on him, although I didn�t really make any sense because I wasn�t thinking clearly (cuz I don�t really know how I think about all of this, yet). I wasn�t too mean to him or anything, but I told him I�d already decided I wasn�t gonna do anything with all of this and was not going to ask him again for the CDs because I basically felt like I was being jerked around. I also told him I found it rather insulting that I seem to be his last choice for everything. You know � well, IF Tony isn�t gonna do it and then IF Mike can�t do it...meanwhile, I just sit around and wait for everyone and rearrange my schedule to accommodate them. I know that�s not really what it is � I am last on the list because Tony and Mike already know all of the songs (plus, they both play guitar). But here I�ve been all nice and supportive from the beginning, offering to help get them gigs and whatever. Then he asks me to sing with them and ever since even that keeps changing.
He initially asked me to fill in on May 14-15. Then he called me later and said he�d get me CDs and to go ahead and start booking them places and wherever I book the gig I�ll sing with the band and screw Tony because he only wants to play once/month and only at that one bar by his house. He gave me their song list and asked me to give him one with an additional 15-20 songs on it. I went over his list and told him which ones I could sing, then I gave him my list. He was supposed to put a CD together of the songs I need to learn, plus give me (the band-with-the-incredibly-stupid-name�s) CDs so I can start booking (which, by the way, I�d offered to do after (the band-with-the-incredibly-stupid-name�s) very first gig. It had nothing to do with me singing).
So the next time I talk to him, the story had changed to � I was gonna fill in on May 14-15 IF Mike couldn�t do it. So he had asked Mike already and was waiting for him to decide whether or not he could make it (and we all know how timely Mike is in getting back to people). And then he�s telling me most of the songs on my list aren�t gonna work for the May gig and he wants me to sing a bunch of bullshit I don�t want to sing. I understand catering to that audience, but I wasn�t putting my list together for THAT audience. That�s one gig.
And still � no CDs. I reminded him once, then I also told him on Monday that I would be going to (restaurant/bar) on Friday night and that would be the perfect opportunity for me to talk to the booking guy there and give him a CD.
And this is not to mention the cancelled rehearsal and party for Saturday. I know that wasn�t his fault, but he didn�t even tell me it was cancelled until I called him at 3:00 Tuesday afternoon. I�m trying to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he must have just found out about it.
This is also not to mention the Sondra-insanity factor (I talked to her yesterday and she was being weird. I think she�s still mad at me from when I wouldn�t listen to her bullshit last week and hung up on her).
So now it turns out I am only singing with the band on May 15 because Mike can do it on the 14th.
I�m just gonna do this gig on May 15th and that�s it. Frankly, right now I don�t even know if I want to sing any songs with them at the end of the month. He wants me to do one set just to �get my feet wet� but there�s already gonna be drama because of Mike�s stupid girlfriend�s issues with me. At the very least, there are just going to be massive negative vibes floating around. Do I really want to deal with that in order to sing with this band for one night next month? I just told Lou I�d think about it. We�re supposed to rehearse on Sunday afternoon (without the Hunky Drummer, it turns out, so at least I don�t have to deal with that noise), so I�ll make up my mind before then.
I dunno. Right now I�m just irritated. I�m sure I�ll simmer down.
The good news is � I actually went to the market last night and bought groceries!!! I now have a kitchen full of healthy food, which is fabulous.
Regards,
Karen
~~~
And now...Back to Politics:
Excerpts from this week�s California Democratic Newsletter:
Dems Questions Secret Funding for Iraq
After Bob Woodward's new book "Plan of Attack" said that the Bush administration financed its secret preparations by diverting money Congress earmarked for Afghanistan, Democrats have demanded an explanation. Alamo Rep. Ellen Tauscher, member of the House Armed Services Committee, has called for an investigation, reports the Los Angeles Times, calling it "deeply irresponsible of the White House to secretly reprogram funds allocated by Congress." House leader Nancy Pelosi released a statement that said, "For months, Democrats have been concerned that operations in Iraq were being conducted at the expense of the war on terrorism in Afghanistan. Despite repeated requests, no comprehensive accounting of money spent has been provided by the Bush Administration. Now we may know one reason why."
note from the ikss: Um...not only is it �irresponsible,� it�s also illegal. The President needs approval from Congress to divert funds in this manner. In truth, this is an impeachable offense. I have mixed feelings about whether or not impeachment should be pursued during a time of war, though, although many in my party are calling for it, of course. Much as my personal feelings may want to see Bush go, I think we should wait until after he is rightly voted out of office, then go after him in a court of law for this and his many other offenses. Besides...if we impeach him, we�d have Dick Cheney as our President. *shiver*
I would just like to point out yet again, though, that this President is the one who keeps saying we�re �fighting a war on terror� (or Tara, although I have yet to figure out what �Gone with the Wind� has to do with any of this) and yet he is concentrating on Iraq, rather than Afghanistan and thus Ossama bin Laden and al Qaeda � you know, the people who are actually responsible not only for the Sept. 11 acts of terrorism, but for a number of others which came before.
Waxman Presses Bush About Secret Saudi Gas Deal
Responding to reports that the Bush Administration has cut a deal with Saudi Arabia to lower gas prices in time for the November election, Rep. Henry Waxman of Los Angeles has sent a letter (PDF) asking for an explanation, reports Associated Press. "Our nation's economy is too important to suffer from high gasoline prices to suit the political timing of any presidential re-election campaign," said Waxman.
~~~
BUSH STILL HAS NOT EXPLAINED TIES TO SAUDI ARABIA
Four days after esteemed journalist Bob Woodward revealed new ties between President Bush and the Saudi Arabian government, the president has yet to directly address the charges. According to Woodward, Saudi Arabia issued a "pledge" to Bush to "increase [oil] production several million barrels a day" over the summer "as we get closer to the election" (1).
Last month, Saudi Arabia led the fight within OPEC to cut production and raise gas prices in America to record levels (2). However, since Woodward's charges became public, the president has not answered whether that earlier move by the Saudis was part of a deliberate effort to raise prices now so that prices could then be lowered closer to the election.
The new allegations once again put President Bush's close ties to the Saudis front and center. Despite the Saudi government's potential ties to terrorists and 9/11 (3), the president still calls the Saudis "our friend" (4) and Vice President Cheney continues to dote on the royal family (5). As CBS News reports, Bush has "personal and deep financial ties with the Saudi royal family" (6). Author and journalist Craig Unger, who wrote House of Bush, House of Saud, documents $1.4 billion that has "made its way" from the Saudi royal family to "entities tied" to the Bush family.
Sources:
1. "Saudi Envoy Promised Bush a Drop in Oil Prices Ahead of Election", Bloomberg News, 04/09/2004.
2. "Saudi envoy plays nice with White House on oil supply", USA Today, 04/02/2004.
3. "Saudi Government Provided Aid to 9/11 Hijackers, Sources Say", Los Angeles Times, 08/02/2003.
4. President Bush Vows to Bring Terrorists to Justice, 05/16/2003.
5. White House Photo Gallery
6. "The Tangled Web Of U.S.-Saudi Ties", CBS News, 04/20/2004.
Visit Misleader.org for more about Bush Administration distortion
~~~
And this is old, but it�s very important. Better late than never, I guess:
From MoveOn.org:
Salon.com has just broken a major story detailing how the Pentagon created a special office to manipulate intelligence data on Iraq and WMDs. It's written by Karen Kwiatkowski, a military offer who was part of this unit, telling us the inside story in her own words.
Click here to read the full story.
The Salon story makes it even clearer than before that the Bush administration deliberately misled us in the run-up to the war in Iraq a year ago. The problem was not bad intelligence -- it was deliberate distortion of the facts.
~~~
Word of the Day for Thursday April 22, 2004
commodious kuh-MOH-dee-us, adjective:
Comfortably or conveniently spacious; roomy; as, a commodious house.
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