i have a headache...what's new? emily worries about them, but i think that it's the scratched up lenses on my glasses. i absolutely hate wearing contacts; at least the disposable ones that i've been buying for the last two years. i've worn contacts for almost seventeen years now, and even when i used to wear them for weeks at a time (lazy high school days) they didn't make my eyes feel tired like these do. of course that effect is only amplified in smoke-filled rooms. when wearing, i never leave home without re-wetting drops. anyway, yeah ---i hate contacts.

so what to do tonight? i guess we'll rent a movie, stay in with the kids, chinese take-out actually sounds good...although i don't really enjoy any of the chinese food in our area. it just all tastes that same. it's almost as bad as ordering "stir-fry" from, like, say a truck stop. if you haven't had the pleasure of ordering something like that from such a place, don't. the best chinese restaurant near here is in paducah, ky, about an hour away, called chong's. it's incredible, so i highly recommend.

the friday five!

1. What was the last song you heard?probably the last one that clean ray played last night...which i was at the bar talking. and then there was all of the busy music over the mains after the show. i'd say the last one that i really payed attention to was i think a built to spill song while we were setting up. i'm pretty sure it was them, because it sounded like doug marsh's voice anyway.

2. What were the last two movies you saw?i think i said it this past week: mean machine & my big fat greek wedding.

3. What were the last three things you purchased?cd labels, a disposable camera, hp glossy photo paper.

4. What four things do you need to do this weekend?have fun, have fun, have fun, have fun.

5. Who are the last five people you talked to?in order from last ---my dad, emily, jesse from the plus, the door guy at the hangar, robbie stokes.

february twenty-seventh will always be a sad anniversary now for me. i can't believe that fred rogers is no longer with us. it's amazing how sad this is for me. the last time i felt like this was when charles m. schulz passed. i hate losing childhood icons. i'm reminded too much of mortality...as much as near relations passing. i know it's the effect that television and the media has on us...an imprinting on our psyche, if you will, but i seriously feel that our deepest emotions, those rooted in our childhood, are for our generation (at the least) inevitably connected with television. i don't feel that is horribly superficial in any way. i mean, sincere feelings of any extremity have reasons for being as they are a part of our human condition, and their associations are just as true, no matter what they are ---they are not false. and to be tied to something that is simple and joyful is a wonderful thing i believe, and that's what makes for the best childhood memories. that is the connection for me. i mourn the loss of something simple, since nothing seems simple any more. i miss that.

my first post.

i think i'll enjoy blogging. why? i feel that i almost do it anyway. it seems like all of the online bulletin boards that i post at have slowly died to where no one posts any longer. i still post, but now no one really reads. i'm sure the same will happen here, but here i can post without trying to stay true to forum or thread. this will be my supreme area to scream, complain, rejoice or whatever about everything that's exclusively happening to me.

so who am i? my name is derek and i live in a small town called marion, located in southern illinois, a little less than 6 hours south of chicago. i love living here, unlike most people that i come in contact with. however, at this time i'm not going to go into detail about marion.

i'll turn 30 this summer, i'm married, and have two kids, allie who is 7 and rohan who is 2, and was born on my birthday.

i'll keep it simply like that. if any one even reads any of this, you can learn more about me as this blog grows.

for now,

cheers.