Meanwhile

7/1/20219/9/2021 Chas.Leave a comment

Several weeks ago, I submitted an entry in Asheville Community Theatre’s Graphic Design Project. They were looking for four graphic designers to do logo treatments for each show of their upcoming 2020-2021 season. The season consists of Clue, Fight Girl Battle World, The Giver, and [title of show]. I found out last week that I was selected as one of the four and had our first meeting this past Tuesday. Exciting! The point person assigned a show to each designer and I ended up with [title of show]. This show and Clue are going to be the hardest to work on as both already have very recognizable logos that get used pretty much anytime these shows are staged. [title of show] also has the added handicap of being stylized by being done in all lowercase letters that are enclosed in brackets.

Anyhoo. I am super excited to be working on this! Hopefully, I can come up with something suitably graphic and slightly different from what’s been done before.

Here’s the group of happy designers after our first meeting …

In a sure sign that my brain is totally fucked up, I have spent the last two nights having dreams about buying or losing out on buying the Record Store Day 2021 release of Garbage’s No Gods No Masters that was released on June 12th. It has a variant cover (different coloring) and vinyl color (translucent pink) and was limited to 2,700 units. Needless to say, I took this as a sign and found a copy online this morning, and ordered it. I mean … it’s not like I have this on neon green vinyl and deluxe CD already. Sheesh.

Stick a Fork in Me

6/22/20216/29/2021 Chas.Leave a comment

Life is still … plodding along. But there have been some distractions along the way.

Yes. I bought a kiddie pool. And, yes. It’s for me. When the temps get hot, you will be able to find me laying drunk in the cool, cool water. I have already warned the neighbors.

Yes! It’s the limited edition release of StudioCanal’s 4K restoration of Basic Instinct. The timing couldn’t be better since my Lionsgate Blu-ray from 2007 has shit the bed and won’t play past the first promo trailer on the disc. This is seriously one of my favorite movies. It’s so perfectly trashy and awesome.

Yes. I finally fixed the bottom step (that was rotting to pieces) off the back deck. The price of lumber had been making me delay this task. So, I got crafty and found some old lumber from a picnic table I dismantled a few months ago. Quick work with a hand saw and a few nails means a sturdy new step is now in place! And, yes. I was dumb and didn’t take a “before” picture.

The tracklisting on No Gods No Masters, the new Garbage album, is slightly different on the vinyl versus the CD. Aren’t you happy that you now know this useless bit of information?

And now for the “I’m Done” portion of this post …

It’s always great to see your design work lifted and then solely credited to another person. This really made my eye twitch when I saw it last Friday. Granted, the person that is credited did drop new photos into this design, but they in no way should get the sole credit and all the kudos they were getting in the comment section of this post.

I quit working at this theater last summer because I was overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated. Nobody there could ever seem to remember I was on staff even though they had no problem piling extra design work on me anytime they needed it. It really sucked. So, I quit. Fast forward a year and they still can’t seem to remember the work I did or the time and energy I put into it … and it still REALLY SUCKS.

Crushing!

6/15/20216/15/2021 Chas.Leave a comment

Absolutely crushing on No Gods No Masters, the new album by Garbage. So fucking good! Give it a listen below.

Unmotivated!

6/10/2021 Chas.Leave a comment

As evidenced by the lack of daily or even weekly posts, I have NO MOTIVATION!

Though I, apparently, do have a knack for breaking the “extreme impact” glass screen protector on my iPhone. I have cracked TWO of them within 8 months. Thank goodness it came with a (limited) lifetime warranty. Free replacements are the best.

Otherwise, life is plodding along. Sleep. Treadmill. Shower. Work (on weekdays). Sit Around and stare at the TV or sit around and stare at the walls. Rinse. Repeat.

I suspect that I am dealing with some level of depression since I sit around doing nothing most of the time, and I don’t seem to have any motivation to do anything about sitting around doing nothing. I thought I had the winter blues, but the arrival of summer hasn’t really changed anything.

Oh well.

And for some weird reason, Facebook’s advertising algorithm thinks I really need to shave my back. I get this kind of ad showing up all the damn time in my news feed.

Motivation!

5/20/2021 Chas.Leave a comment

Doo, Doo, Doo …

5/12/20215/12/2021 Chas.Leave a comment

New jockstrap colors are in the house …

Cellblock13 Tight End Robin's Egg Blue Jockstrap

Cellblock13 Tight End Burgundy Jockstrap

Too bad one doesn’t automatically look like this just by putting one of these on.

Events and Things

5/11/20215/12/2021 Chas.Leave a comment

Here are some things that have been going on.

We welcomed a 12-year-old Italian Greyhound named Chip into the family. He’s totally derpy and we love him so much. What we don’t love are his bad teeth, stank breath caused by said bad teeth, and his occasional desire to pee on the back of the sofa or trash can in the kitchen. Oh well. Bowser seems to tolerate his presence and it looks like Chip will have a good home.

Vaccinated friends can hang out (thanks CDC guidance)! So, Michelle and I got together a few Saturdays ago and drank too much beer. What a fun night that was. The next morning was not so much fun. Yay, hangovers.

Finally made it back to Biltmore to tour the house and walk the grounds. I timed it badly for the gardens though. There was nothing blooming in the walled garden and the azaleas were past their peak. Bummer. But the flower arrangements in the house were spectacular as always.

We went and Alex in his new band, The Deathbots, when they played an outdoor patio show at The Grey Eagle last week. The band was quite awesome and we got to actually see other humans in a public setting. Whoo!

I bought lottery tickets! But don’t get too excited about the numbers showing. I didn’t win a damn thing. Maybe next time …

Worked For It

4/30/20214/30/2021 Chas.Leave a comment

The weekend is FINALLY here! Thank God. Work has gotten slow again and that makes for long, drawn-out work weeks that never seem to want to end.

At least there are some fun plans on tap for the weekend!
– Firepitting tonight with Shortlegs and Co.
– Tasty Boojum Brewing beer and food with Michelle tomorrow night
– Visiting Biltmore on Sunday for the first time since October

Hopefully, David is cool that I am all “fuck you I am off to do fun things without you.” Ha, ha.

And … the big news for the day is that I finally have the Arrow Video Battle Royale 4K UHD Limited Edition in my greedy, consumerist hands. This set is a BEAST!

Bored [Soap Edition]

4/27/20215/12/2021 Chas.Leave a comment

I’m bored. It doesn’t seem like vaccinated life is much different than pandemic life. We are still mostly just sitting around the house and staring at the television and at each other. Blah!

So, what do you do when you are bored? You order fun and exciting new bath soaps! The super homoerotic advertising played absolutely no role in the decision to do this.

Wood Barrel Bourbon Soap from Dr. Squatch

Happenings

4/20/2021 Chas.Leave a comment

So, about a week and a half ago, I got my second COVID vaccination shot. Yay! The next day, I was down for the count and spent all day on the sofa under a quilt feeling like crap with aches, chills, and fever. Boo!

Thankfully, the after-effects only lasted one day and I was feeling great the next day.

In a few days, I will be fully vaccinated and it will be time to party with all my vaccinated friends! Ha, ha.

Krispy Kreme had OREO-themed donuts for a limited time and we just had to have them … even though it’s 30 miles to the closest KK. But, damn! That Cookies and Creme filling was quite tasty. No worries about diabetes here!

I unexpectedly ended up in Charleston this past weekend. I initially didn’t want to go, but I am so glad a did. There was great weather and great food and drinks … including a Fried Chicken Biscuit from Callie’s Hot Little Biscuit. Yum! Charleston is such a cool city. I need to win the Powerball so I can buy a place downtown.

Defeated

4/6/2021 Chas.2 Comments

Out of the 17 designs I submitted to the client (all of which could have been used for this project), only ONE was approved for printing. Now I feel like a no-talent piece of shit who should just go flip burgers at McDonald’s.

Movies and Music

4/5/20214/5/2021 Chas.Leave a comment

Well. Life is slowly chugging along. There is still lots of just hanging around the house for the moment. Spring is finally underway here. So thankful for warmer temps! David is now fully vaccinated and I have one more shot left to go before I am. I am really looking forward to being able to hang with friends and have some limited movie gatherings. Yay!

We did brave the elements and went and saw Godzilla Vs. Kong in an actual movie theater this past Friday. Lordy, I have missed movie theaters.

The movie itself was fine. The plot was nonsensical at times but big monsters destroyed a lot of shit … so I was pretty happy with it. Plus, Alexander Skarsgård is so pretty. *Sigh* I still think Godzilla (2014) is the best of the MonsterVerse films.

Meanwhile, John Grant and Garbage have both announced new albums. Yay!

John Grant’s Boy from Michigan drops June 25th. I *might* have pre-ordered the limited edition, deluxe vinyl.

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Garbage’s No Gods No Masters drop on June 11th. I *might* have snagged the Deluxe CD + Neon Green Vinyl Limited Edition with Signed Print before it sold out. Whoo!