New Years yadda bloody yadda

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I was working on this as a blog for my my space page and realized that it would fit in well here as well, so enjoy.

So 2007 is almost over! So what?

Just kidding, folks. As you already know, the year is pretty much over and we have a new one on the way. With it, many see a new chance to wipe the slate clean and put aside the problems of the past. Others make resolutions they may intend to follow but fall short of and abandon long before the year ends. Either way it's a change for many of us.

As for me, I'm personally glad 2007 is pretty much gone. It was a blah year for me and I really hope things are better in 2k8. Nothing serious wrong went down with me,
but nothing really great happened either. Now before you leave this and go on to something more upbeat, let me explain.

When the year started I was reeling over the end of a friendship - at least I thought
it was a friendship. It finally caved in over the holidays and managed to really darken my Christmas season. I'll describe this in a little more detail later on. From there it was mainly work when it happened (unfortunately, a merger at the paying job meant that there was more down time than I planned on) and not much else.

Don't get me wrong, there were some good times as well. A venue I tried to make it
to when I can (the late lamented No Coast) was a respite for me amidst the bullshit with some killer shows (a couple of examples: I Object, the second to last show of Los Loco Motives) and some good company. I learned who my friends actually were and went to some other cool shows. A ships passing situation made things a little easier to swallow. However, it was hard to get perspective given the black cloud the year
started on.

Needless to say I don't exactly have fond memories of the past 12 months. In fact, I think I existed more than lived the past year. I realize it was necessary to go through this shit to see the other side but it still sucks.

As I head to 2008 you may wonder what my hopes for the New Year are? There are the big things (world peace, a move from the currentidiocy in our system to something
more humane and a lot saner, etc) that some may find issue with.
However, if nothing else, I just hope that the people I care and give a shit about are happy, doing well, and creating (if they are so inclined). I know it's not a revolutionary concept but it's how I feel right now.

As for the former friend, this is someone I met a while back and was actually interested in possibly getting involved with. That blew up in my face and a troubled and flawed attempt at being friends (at least I thought it was) emerged from the ashes. While a lot of the pain from the incident had faded some of it still lingered. Then I came across a text file of some emails from her I thought I deleted. At first it seemed things weren't so bad, then I saw the pattern emerge by the end of her replies and my emails: she told me once she felt she would never get to know me yet when I had free time to possibly hang out (and thus get to know each other) she blew me off each goddamn time). I knew any chance of friendship was on life support, but realizing itmight've never been there in the first place cleared a lot of cobwebs and helped heal a lot of festering wounds. It should've ended a long fucking time ago.
With that mostly in the past I hope to embrace 2008 with open arms and hope
things get better. Meeting new people and having new experiences might
be good for me. Will it actually be better than last year? I have no
idea but things change and sometimesal you can do is hope for the best, do what you can, and see how the ride turns out (yeah, I know it sound hella cliche but it's true). Other than that, we're just in the crsshairs waiting for things to go down.

With that in mind, I want to wish everyone reading this an excellent New
Years and hope that everything works out better than you wanted it to.
Peace!

The Return of The Dawn of the Never Ending Campaign of the Forced Pregnancy Movment

Missouri is becoming a prime example of how scary a place can get when certain people refuse to listen to reason. First, Gov. Blunt (the man who wishes he was Shrub) initiaties a ridiculous task force on the effects of abortion that doesn't allow anybody who's pro choice on it, and now this.

The latest bill the forced pregnancy movement (most are them aren't really pro life so let's stop callign them that) is trying to put abortion rights as a ballot initiative.

This initiative, like the ones offered in most states, seems to be based on an idea that a woman who seeks an abortion doesn't know what she's doing and needs to be protected from herself. There's something that pisses me off about a group of people who think over the half the world's population aren't intelligent enough to make decisions regarding reproductive freedom and their own bodies.

For a group of people who often like to claim they want to get the government off our back, they sure seem hellbent on putting it everywhere else. Absolutely disgusting.

New Issue Finally Done

It gives me a great amount of both pride and relief to note that the 15th
anniversary issue of The Trouble
With Normal is finally complete. It's a double issue (we
list it in the chronology as issues#85/86) that has some new material
but also, for the first time in our history, reprints some older
articles and has some snippets of past interviews that we found
interesting. I should have it at the stores around this weekend. Yeah,
we had to have a higher price for this double issue, but I think it's
worth it. I just hope readers appreciate the spirit and effort of the
work overall (at 80 pages it's our largest issue yet).

As for
getting it done. I'm glad it's done. I just wish I didn't have to be a
shut in all damn weekend to finally do it. I need to work on my
procrastination.

R.I.P. Lance Hahn

We're sad to report that Lance Hahn, vocalist and guitarist for the lgendary punk bands Cringer and J Church died from complications of kidney disease in Austin, TX on October 21, 2007. While I never got to meet him or see his bands play, his records and the ideals that underscored his written work in fanzines as well as his music was a great influence on me and what my work would become. He will be missed. Our condolences to his family, friends, and fellow fans.

R.I.P. Mikey Offender

We at TTWN just found out that Mikey "Offender" Donaldson, former bassists for the Offenders, The Dicks, Sister Double Happiness etc, currently (and original) bassist for hardcore legends MDC has died in Barcelona, Spain.

MO TRAP Law update

A now an update regarding a couple of posts down. Since the July posting of the protest regarding the TRAP law in MO, which would have required abortion clinics in Missouri to meet the same standards as emergency rooms (a situation that would require most of them to stop performing the procedure), the law has been blocked from going into effect by a Federal judge for several months. A reprieve, but far from the end of the road on this - unfortunately. Still, it's a pleasant step forwards in my opinion

Issue 84 News

The new issue of TTWN is finally available. Check the website for records reviews and contact information. The link is to the right. Hope this helps.

MO's Governor - Accurate Protrayal

On Friday July 13, 2007 Planned Parenthood in Columbia held a rally on the corners of Broadway and Providence downtown to protest MO Gov. Blunt's signing of the TRAP bill into law. The bill, which requires extensive renovations to abortion clinics by instantly classifying them as ambulatory surgery centers, could make the PP clinic in St. Louis the only abortion provider in the state. It also bars those affiliated with abortion providers from teaching or providing materials for sex ed programs. Needless to say I had to check it out - and took my camera along. When I came across this, I knew this was what had to go into the website.

The only thing better would be if this was an effigy.

R.I.P. Kelly Johnson

Sorry I haven't been on the blog for a bit but things have been busy. We were about ready to post something else when we learned that Kelly Johnson, original lead guitarist for British new wave of heavy metal legends Girlschool died on July 15 after a six year battle with cancer of the spine. Our condolences to her family and friends.

Summer Daze or et al

Yes, we all know it's summer. While most of us were busy with what we have to do to survive, I was wondering about things. While looking for things, I came across this article on how what summer means changes with age.

If interested, give it a read and comment on it if you feel like it.

I Can't Recall

By now, most of you have either watched or read or heard about Atty. General Alberto Gonzalez' testimony to the Senate over the attorney firings (the latest scandal in an administration where scandals appear to be used to cover up scandals) and his role in regards to them. He claimed that he was in charge but didn't have a particular role in the firings. In light of the emails that Congress originally got and the possibly (up to 5 million) emails deleted on private RNC accounts, there appears to be more here than meets the eye by any standard. The most telling is one phrase that seemed to sum up Gonzalez' testimony, and his alleged inability to recall details - I can't recall.

"I can't recall" by said by Gonzalez over 70 times in the course of his testimony over events that happened as recently as six months ago. Over 70 times? This guy is the top federal judicial official in the U.S. and he claims he doesn't know what's going on in his own department. By the end of his testimony, little was revealed and Gonzalez managed to alienate both sides of our one party system (with several Republican Senators wanting his fired as a result). This was what he spent several weeks practicing? What the fuck?

Like many people, I think he was covering for soemone. It doesn't take Stephen Hawking to realize that one doesn't keep his job at such a position without knowing something about what's going down. Whether he's the fall guy for Rove or Cheney or Bush himself may be uncertain, but something's up in the White House that needs to be known.

However, in an administration where scandals come fast and furious, it's an uphill battle to get any information, especially for the media. From the attorney scandal to the Walter Reed hospital scandal to the war itself, Bush and company seem to be in backlash mode, trying to cover their tracks while attacking those who want to know what's going on. Add to this the returning blowback of the possible coverup regarding the death of Pat Tillman and things get strange. Sometimes it really appears, like i mentioned earlier, that they seem to create scandals to cover up the previous scandals.

Still, we have to give Alberto credit for popularizing a new catch phrase. Thanks to Alberto, everybody who screws up at their job is going to say "I can't recall" when called on it. It's a good thing Gonzalez isn't a doctor or a surgeon, that would really be scary. As for his testimony, how the hell can this guy not know what was going on? What does he actually know? Where would it lead?

We may never know the answers to that. However, here's hoping we find out before it's too late.

Tuesday Afternoon Birthday Greetings

I know, another ho hum blog entry. I wasn't really going to do one today but I also have a couple of friends who's birthday is today (one of which has his present delayed, but he'll get it eventually). Just wanted to wish David Confusion, my long time collaborator a happy birthday. Also wanted to wish my friend Mike a good one as well.

Yeah, this isn't as important as the war, national debt, or any number of personal crises' but it's a start. Happy birthday and hope all is well to the friends mentioned above.

April, 22, 2007

I really don't know where to begin on this so I'll start with the basic introductory thing: this is my new blog. As is already mentioned, I do a print zine called The Trouble With Normal. This blog is meant to supplement the zine (and the website for it), not replace it. Whether there'll be a lot of posts on it is hard to say since, like most blogs, it all depends on time of day, mood, whether the person doing the damn thing has anything they want to say, etc. However, I'll try to make this something you'd be interested in - or at least as much as I can depending on how much is actually going on in my life. You know the rest. Links for the TTWN website and the old blog are on the links list if you're interested.