jd yates

Here comes week 2 of Nick’s “If… Project”.

The questions are a bit better this time around, though the slight repetition is mildly annoying. I’m told they get better…

If you could have lived through any war in history (without actually fighting in it), which would it be?

Though I feel like I’ve lived through plenty of wars already for my taste, and the fact that history is not nearly my forte, I suppose that having to make the choice I’d live through the Anglo-Spanish war during the Spanish Inquisition. Witnessing the fortitude of the English despite the religious persecution of the Spanish and others sounds inspiring. Plus, I belong in a royal court, IJS.

If you could eliminate any one type of insect permanently from the earth, what would you get rid of?

Most certainly the mosquito. The buzz around annoyingly, procreate in cesspools, cause irritating and itchy red bumps, and spread disease in developing countries. All those cons coupled with the fact that they serve no discernible purpose in the food chain and have zero evolutionary significance, I think we can afford to lose them. But if I need to make some sort of global warming related argument to garner support for my opinion, I’m sure I could manage it.

If you had to eliminate a single type of animal forevermore, which would you choose?

Have to side with Nick on this one, so as not to repeat myself. Cockroaches suck my soul out. Knowing that they would survive a nuclear holocaust makes them that much more infuriating. Kill ‘em.

If you could have an elegant dinner alone with anyone presently alive, whether you know them or not, who would you want it to be?

How fun would it be to have dinner with Stephen Colbert? I have to value (and respect) anyone who can simultaneously speak intelligently (on many topics) and not take himself terribly seriously. Which is to say nothing of his fabulously dry sense of humour. I have a feeling I wouldn’t accomplish any actual eating for being in stitches throughout the entire meal.

And that’s week 2. Leave comments.

First half highlights:

-Avery has all but confirmed my long held suspicion that he’s extremely hypertensive. Dude, take a chill pill (xanax?).
-Cubes thinks us lowly fans aren’t quite energetic enough. Sorry, Mark. I blame last night’s bottle(s) of champagne.
-Half time show consists of gymnasts with jump ropes. This is really the best we can put together for the playoffs?
-Keegan should start a series of nerf ceiling pictures. AAC is my first candidate suggestion.
-Hair of the dog really is the only viable hangover cure.

Second half… Second beer.

-This beats the hell out of iSeries homework, but I’m gonna regret it later.
-The guy sitting to my left is a douche wagon of the highest order. Drunk, loud, obscene, likely homophobic, and hyper-critical of the game. Dear AAC, recommend installing douche-meters at all ticket sales points and adoption of strict no-douche sales policies. Thanks.
-Have enjoyed several less than decisive leads thus far.
-Avery’s talking to a camera… God help us.
-15 point lead! Super sweet.
-A couple of acne faced high school kids behind us are chanting MVP after Dirk’s 83rd 3 pointer. Tend to agree. I bet we also agree on the cinematic significance of Hannah Montana. IJS.
-Cubes is still looking bent out of shape over our enthusiasm. (My aunt agrees with him. I’m being actively chastised for my BlackBerry use.) Wondering what he wants us to do?
-Thinking Zac Crain would look quite Dirk-esque if he shaved ever. In the way that a Dirk bobble-head looks Dirk-esque.
-We have the best seats, ever.
-Where do I get one of those t-shirt launcher things? And what are the chances that it could be retro-fitted to launch other objects, such as…?
-3 minute mark. Must put down phone .

WIN!

Dallas 97 – New Orleans 87

Solid work tonight, boys. 32 points from Dirk, and 22 from Jet, according to my last count. Jason Kidd impressed me once or twice, which makes me feel a bit better about this playoff season than I have recently. Most. Fun. Ever.

Now back to bed… Byron tomorrow.

To Jon: Told you I was lucky!

Anyone who knows me knows that music is a huge part of my life. I pride myself on a vast and various library of songs and albums. I have music playing somewhere around me at almost all times of every day, and it’s possibly the only thing that keeps me tangibly connected to my own emotional state most of the time. Blaring my latest favorite in the car can change my mood, over five minutes, from completely depressed to perfectly happy. Or bring me back to some of my most emotional moments. I believe that there’s a perfect song to relate to every moment and every feeling. So naturally, as I’m considering writing a series of blogs on some of my favorite things (and having recently gone through a breakup, myself), songs for the moment seems like a great place to start. I set out to put together a top 10 list of songs that I like to listen to before, during, and after a breakup, because every one has at least one song that takes them back to that place. Maybe you got hurt, or perhaps had to cut things off for whatever reason, or your feelings were unrequited… Anyway, the list quickly grew beyond 10, but I just couldn’t see any place to trim it down, and I’m sure there’s more, so feel free to submit your favorite(s) in the comments.

Top 10 Breakup Songs, re-order as you see fit:

Your House – Alanis Morissette

You Had Me – Joss Stone (For Greg)

Probably Wouldn’t Be This Way – Leann Rimes

You Oughta Know – Alanis Morisette

Never Again – Kelly Clarkson

Split Screen Sadness – John Mayer

Back to Black – Amy Winehouse

Not Big – Lily Allen (For Skinner)

Devils and Angels – Toby Lightman

Lonely No More – Rob Thomas

Cheers Darlin’ – Damien Rice

Cold Shoulder – Adele

Wasting My Time – Boomkat

All By Myself – Celine Dion

Soul Back – Butterfly Boucher

Secretly – Skunk Anansie

All You Want – Dido (This one is good for just about everyone I’ve dated, haha.)

I highly encourage everyone to buy these songs, they’re great (and in most cases part of equally great albums). Not all of them are depressing breakup songs… some are uplifting, some are angry, some will make you laugh (Not Big)… I can *almost* guarantee that you’ll enjoy every song on this list, so hit iTunes, stat!

I spent all day yesterday out at my mom’s place in (for lack of a better word) the country (sticks, hills, boonies… what? Give me a break.) We did the whole ‘animals’ thing for a few hours, which is fun. And there were groceries to be had, also cool. Came home so completely exhausted that I didn’t even make it all the way through the Stars game (4-1, go Stars! Mavs what?) before a commercial-length resting of my eyes turned into the realization that fighting my bed for the sake of being that guy is futile. I didn’t even look at my watch, or set an alarm (much less blog). As soon as my head hit the pillow I was out cold. Which would have been great, had I slept well. An increasingly frequent occurrence that I attribute to the roller-coaster temperature changes of the last 8 weeks and my strangely inexplicable allergies.

Cut to today… I have to fill in for likely hungover cashiers at the restaurant (not feeling much better, myself) and sit through another hour of anecdotes from my psych professor. After which I found myself a comfortable spot on the patio and read for an hour. The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene, that I’ve been trying to get through for nearly a year. I hate that it’s so rare that I have time or energy to read for pleasure anymore.

After all the de-stressing activities of the last 24 hours I’m finding it really hard to force myself to work on this iSeries class I’m taking (that and this humid heat that has overtaken my house). It’s nothing I ever wanted to learn, or will ever use, and I’m wishing I’d dropped it when that was still an option. At any rate, I’d better get back to it, as I’ve got weeks to catch up on (read: my excuse for not writing a real entry tonight).

P.s. Keegan was kind enough to post some cool pictures from the Good Records party over the weekend. Here’s me.

And now, for seemingly educated basketball commentary… this giant black guy!

Who is this unknown, and completely uninformed pair of tits regurgitating
cue cards? And how does KTXA get Mavs broadcast rights… ever, much less during the playoffs?

– several hours later –

My outrage over the Mavericks is only multiplied by our embarassing loss after leading for a full 2/3 of the game.

In other news…

I had a rather enjoyable day! After meeting some truly quality folks for lunch (also, quality. Twisted Root Burgers rocks my face off). They then dragged me to the 10th anniversary bash for Good Records. Basically a 12+ hour celebration of indy music and triumph over the establishment. It was fantastic. Though that’s not a word I’d use to describe a couple of the bands, about as many were at least decent. Plus, there were kegs and a guy on the side of the building operating a grill with burgers, etc… I didn’t partake of either, having had my fill of fries and my first beer at Twisted Root, but others seemed to be enjoying it. Armhole was present, selling freshly pressed t-shirts and odd looking sunglasses. And there were even free sno-cones available! I really enjoyed seeing an independent record and music store succeed. This place sold hand over fist all day, I’m sure. The people watching was phenomenal the entire time. From families, to high school kids, to the most ecelctic group of lower Greenville residents that are apparently contractually obligated to show up at these things. They were great (and even nice!). Also, Keegan got some fantastic shots of the festivities (some including me, the greatness of which is still pending).

I spent a few hours at the restaurant after that writing a thorough critique of the staff, instead of taking the psych exam I needed to. Consumed a vat of our amazing queso, naturally. Then made my way back to lower Greenville to a friend’s house for a small get together (ongoing).

Sounds like I might have to rescue Val from some social disaster. I’m sure this will shape up to be as interesting an evening as all the others before it.

And with that, I should make my way back to the party… They have no idea why I’m sitting on the kitchen floor making sweet textual love to my BlackBerry. Cheers!

JD

I forgot how cool Mockingbird Station is. I should really hang out here more often. I even seriously considered riding the train here tonight, unfortunately it doesn’t run as late as I’m quite likely to continue drinking.

I’m standing on the balcony patio at Trinity Hall, overlooking most of the Station. Its not packed like I would expect most of Uptown (specifically West Village) to be, which is nice.

On my second beer (a super slow night for me, as most know), and I’ve just ordered an irish car bomb, my first in 2 years. I’m possibly nuts…. Quite possibly, in fact. Anyone who’s heard the first car bomb story will agree.

Damn that was good…. This does not bode well.

Alright, car bomb and 2 beers down, my fingers are frigid. Thinking I should wrap this up before I get too much more inebriated. Also, much harder to write long entries from they Berry than I’d like it to be. Looking forward to a great rest of the evening. The company is fantastic (happy birthday Sara!) And the booze is flowing…. Cheers! Slante! Salud!… or something.

JD

In recent months I’ve been presented with several opportunities to relocate. All of which were at least a bit tempting. I’ve wanted to get out of this city for a long time, not because I don’t like it here (I preach the superiority of Dallas over every other urban area at least 3 times a week), but because it’s usual, it’s ordinary, and I think I would enjoy the challenge of learning a new place from the inside out… without all the leg-ups and mulligans I’ve had the benefit of over the years. I imagine there’s a great amount of gratification to be had from creating a life that is one’s own. With the framework that I have here, such a life has proven illusionary.

There are several issues that arise from these propositions…

Having never made a major move before, I have to wonder (at the very least, logistically) how is it done? The good news is that as a result of my recent move and then subsequent divorce last year I was divested of most of my physical assets. Upon inventory, that which I am left with falls into one of several categories: Clothing, Digital (the most critical, and easily transported), and Things I wouldn’t mind getting rid of. This realization simplifies things greatly. Even to the point that a cross-country move boils down to selling or storing a few pieces and fedex-ing a handful of boxes to my destination. Sweet! All that’s left is my car… Which I love, but as far as I’m concerned I could send off to any Carmax and be happy to receive a check.

The second major problem that arises is what to do about school. Having never settled on a particular direction in the first place keeps my options pretty open, and leaves me on about equal footing at most of my potential destinations. Acceptance, transference, and budget are as much issues elsewhere as they are here.

The final issue (that bears discussion) is my family and friends. How upset will I be to leave behind my roots and the relationships I’ve become attached to here? The sad truth is that I’d be devastated. But I have to think that despite my seeming inability to find travel funds when I’m here, I’d figure out some way to make it back to see my family, and with enough frequency to maintain all the important relationships I’ve developed over the years, many of whom are moving on themselves. Which is to say nothing of what I’m sure would be an overwhelming number of constructive and fulfilling relationships that could come from being injected into a completely new environment. And there’s always Facebook… or whatever.

In other news: I think I’m gaining weight, and I still don’t have my Byron tickets. Look for coverage on these troubling topics in upcoming posts.

Day 2 of the month of blogging almost didn’t happen… but hell or high-water I was getting this thing published. Note to self: Write a couple of things tomorrow for disaster-recovery.

Now, in response to Nick’s “If…”, the premise is a book that asks it’s reader to answer a new set of four questions everyday. These are the first day’s questions:

If you were to be granted one wish, what would it be?

The capacity for Faith. Faith in myself, faith in my family and friends, faith in other people and the world at large.. even faith in a higher power, if it was appropriate. The Faith to be happy with my life, and to stop worrying about whether or not everything’s going to implode in the next minute. Faith to know that no matter what, someone loves me, and faith enough to be able to love properly in return.

If you could spend one whole night alone with anyone in the world who is currently alive, who would you select?

Jason Fried, CEO of 37signals. There has to be a ton I could learn from the guy behind the coolest company, running some of the best designed and most functional web applications on the internet, who also helped to develop the most semantic and powerful programming language and framework currently available. Think of it as a development shop with the atmosphere of Google and Apple’s penchant for releasing market-relevant, intuitive, lick-able, and simple-meets-powerful products. I’d absorb all I could, and at the end of the night probably ask him for a job.

If you could spend one whole night alone with anyone in history, who would you choose?

I’m not sure if this falls outside the scope of the question, but I would put together a room full of the greatest physicists, scientists, and thinkers ever to grace the face of the planet. Einstein, Hawking, DaVinci, Newton, Planck, Bohr, Heisenberg, Edward Witten, and Brian Greene among others. I’d then ask them to reconcile gravity with a quantum universe and sit back and watch.

If you could physically transport yourself to any place in the world at this moment, where would you go?

At first glance: Anywhere with a third-world economy, an easily spoken language, miles of unadulterated beaches, and plenty of small-business opportunities for semi-educated white guys.

Upon further inspection: The question doesn’t provide the opportunity for a return trip, so remote islands are either a lot more desirable or a lot less… I can’t decide. In reality, though, I’d have to say Sydney. The mix of big city, beaches, climate, culture, business, English, and friends is too appealing to ignore.

I have resolved to set a new standard (and record) for this blog. Whether it be a full entry or simply a mildly interesting thought about my day, I will post something new every day for the next month. Starting today. I’ve realized, over the last few weeks, that my response to people that ask “What’s new?” has gotten increasingly bland, and the hope is that this will encourage me to find and appreciate something interesting around me amidst what has become my monotonous day-to-day:

A quick update, for those I haven’t seen recently: I’m nearing the end of my first semester back at school. Unfortunately it doesn’t really feel like progress, as most of the credits don’t apply to my major and/or won’t transfer. However, I will nearly have all I need to move to a real school, so that’s the upside. I’ve been riding the train to school, which makes me feel very urban… and green (says my gas guzzling $65/tank SUV). As far as work goes, I’ve taken over most of the restaurants marketing (and thereby design) efforts. It’s fun and has me learning some new things, which is nice… and makes me wish I had a real budget.

Those two things are kind of running my life. In other news, boys still suck. I’ve made some great new friends over the last month. Assimilated some truly incredible music into my library (Roisin Murphy, Adele, Chris Biano, Marc Broussard, Eric Hutchinson, James Morrison, Paramore, Sara Bareilles, Yael Naim… to name a few). Am in dire need of a new computer. And a new car. Have discovered and become addicted to Twitter. Also, I’ve made next to no progress on my New Year’s resolutions, which is probably a good direction in which to wrap up this entry,

Some folks may remember my rather (unrealistically) lengthy Resolution list. I don’t make a habit of writing them, as I’m quite likely to simply be disappointed when I don’t keep any. But this year I thought what-the-H… It can’t hurt to set a few goals. So I did, and those of them that I can remember (there was wine involved) are as follows:

1. Learn to play the guitar (primary issue with this is that I don’t own a guitar).

2. Re-learn to play the flute (Cue the gay jokes. Also, don’t own a flute).

3. Learn Japanese (because romance languages are below me).

4. Pick up Ruby, AJAX, and Objective-C for Xcode.

5. Drink less (check… mostly).

6. Travel more.

7. Write more (almost check).

There was originally a few more, but I did some prioritizing and organizing and this is more than enough. Having written them now, I think I’ll feel a little more tied to making something happen. New computer in the next 60 or so days will make the programming bits a lot easier, as will having Andrew’s help. However, I still haven’t figured out how to get around the issue of lack of instruments to play. They’re bloody expensive! Wish me luck… and of course, anyone who has expertise with any of these things step up! I’ll need all the help I can get!

Next entry will likely be a response to this . Get excited.

Also, I’ve learned some CSS this semester, so look forward to some customization (finally!!!) on the site in the (hopefully near) future.

And follow my Twitter-ings!!!