BREAKING NEWS: (Draplindustries Factory Floor AP)

Customers of the Month: October

It is reported, with much joy and honor, that Evan Rose and Aaron James Draplin were recently awarded with the highly-acclaimed "Customer of the Month" status by the good people of Wahoo's Fish Tacos of San Clemente, California. These are large shoes to fill, and even larger plates to clean off. This title comes with it many duties and benefits. All it takes is a simple, "I'll take The Usual." at the counter and our favorites plate combinations are processed and served piping hot. These sophisticated codes keep daily operations streamlined. "Loc Status" never knew such good representatives. Chicken Bowl, white beans, extra flour tortilla and a Coke, etc. The honorees were invited to the grand opening of the new Costa Mesa store.

IN OTHER NEWS: (Draplindustries Factory Floor AP)

Yesterday was a good day.

It started with a jaunt north into the "Inland Empire*," up towards Ponoma. The little downtown section is an amazing antique shop network…two blocks of shop after shop. I'm sure at one time they were thriving businesses, but now, just remnants of times gone by, selling items from those old days. (*Mile after mile of sprawling suburbs.)

We kicked that downtown's ass.

(That is our little refrain after conquering the street fair/flea market/antique shop. Once finished, we stop on the way out and triumphantly state, "We kicked this ______'s ass." ) I remember Rose screaming something along the lines of that as we were leaving the Rose Bowl Flea Market a couple months back. People didn't understand. We did.

After many stops seeking treasures and snatching images of the amazing liquor signs, we made out way into Hollyweird for a little frolic. Amazing scene. Creepy scene. What do people do for fun? Go out? Stay in? Where is the "hip" spot? Where is the "un-hip" but "hip" spot? We had to wonder in that neck of the woods. The place is known for its nitelife. (Think Sunset Strip back in the 80's or something for a second.) Upon Dalgart's advice we enjoyed a quick one at the Burgundy Room. No big whup.

We made our way back to the Orange County soon after. Treasures in tow, we reveled in our small victories of "item of interest" rescues.

Good day for new tunes.

Made a little trip down to Lou's records in Encinitas tonight and picked up the following pile:

01. Jay Farrar - Sebastopol (Instant DDC Top Ten)>
02. Varnaline - Songs In A Northern Key
03. Rebecca Gates - Rby Series
04. Big Star - #1 Record/Radio City
05. The White Stripes - De Stijl
06. Unwound - Leaves Turn Inside You
07. Ryan Adams - Gold
08. Spiritualized - Let It Come Down
09. Lanterna - Elm Street
10. Tight Bros From Way back When - Lend You A Hand>
11. Kill Creek - Colors Of Home
12. Superchunk - Here's To Shutting Up

Goodnight. I'm gonna go dig some tunes.

Card Optimism

I can smell that freedom right around the corner. Just a faint whiff.

Currently, I'm pinned down by a couple monthly payments to "the man" or whatever you'd like to call him. Back in my school daze, I did a real number on my credit card, or, added up a real number on my credit card. My Minneapolis time. I'd like to blame the neighborhood record stores on my daily routes...yeah, those bastards. Those establisments led to my demise. That and the occasional plane ticket or load of groceries. Then I got out here in Cali-ville things got real ugly. Y'know, waiting for the prodigal "first paycheck" to show up and so on sort of stuff. Combined with Melissa getting on her feet, the jacked prices and such, that number swelled.

And this fight has been a good one, and I have done a fair amount of "going without" in order to rectify the balance. I have been making healthy payments religiously all this time. I'd just like to announce that the official "fessing up" to the card and the so on is right around the corner. Action is underway. Godspeed to the invoices, and double godspeed to the checks coming back on the reciprocal.

Once these things are fessed up, I can start making amends to move back home. Then and only then. Until then, I gotta focus, accept good freelance gigs and deliver good solutions. All this extra work adds to the big picture" "Setting me free."

Right around the corner.

An Ugly Week

Saturday in the office, chipping away at the freelance stuff. Slowly, slowly this stuff is getting wrapped up. That credit card debt is startin' to sweat. His days are numbered.

Ugly week. I'm sure everyone felt the shockwaves sooner or later. I found myself sort of pacing all week long. Didn't get too much done on the mag or on special projects. Mad and confused and hurt. Too many questions. Too many larger wonderings. What next? Why? Who? Why? Why? Why?

The news is numbing. The 25-hour-a-day coverage is fascinating...one big documentary doesn't stop. I'm concerned and I watch the coverage, and find myself getting addicted to it. Strangely comforting to be involved from my couch. Sad. History unfolding in front of us.

Little uneasy when I see people up in arms. Last night we went down to a bar in Encinitas. I went for one reason and one reason only, to back a friend up. That's it. Safe rides to and fro, strength in numbers sorta stuff. I was sickened by the crowd. Happy, beautiful, bored youngsters sipping drinks and laughing. It didn't seem appropriate. Business as usual? Not for me. A security guard led us all out onto the street for a quick vigil. Laughs and comments just seemed so trite. Then some cat who served in the military somewhere along the way jumped up and rattled off a spiel about how we were gonna bomb 'em and Go America and this and that. People yelled cheers. I have a hard time sharing in the fervor.

This thing is going to get ugly. I hope we do the right thing.

The Day After

I went home "early" last night at 6pm. Funny how that feels early to me. Lame. Ususally stay late to fight it out on the screen.

Utterly transfixed by the coverage on the tube. Analyzed the shocking images, the questionable data, the horrifying accounts...most troubling for me were the personal accounts from people directly involved in the exodus out of the WTC. My thinker can't comprehend that sort of fear.

We are all involved. That is all there is too it. But, for someone on ground zero in NYC, I can't imagine the terror they experienced yesterday. A lot of heroic people on that island yesterday, and even today.

Went to bed early, quiet, lonely. Wanted to be home in Michigan with my parents or in my old apartment in Minneapolis around friends.

Sadness

I'm disgusted in the actions that took place this morning. Breaks my heart.

Yet Another Cipper Account

Another week gone by. Real mellow one as far as "putting out pages" goes. Nice to take a break from the cycle. Issue 3 of 7 is done and gone and out of our hands. 3 down, 4 to go, and they get smaller and mellower from here on out.

Each event or change of pace in my daily events often generate a response along the lines of, "What the fuck am I doing here." Real tired of this place.

This morning as I jumped on the freeway I almost stopped in my tracks at the sight of the sea of traffic that lay ahead of me. Bumper to bumper as far as the eye could see. Same thing happened to me last week. The saturday freeway scene damn near made me whip a u-turn. Sure, the Labor Day Weekend mass exodus has something to do with it, but, 30 minutes of stop-n-go for my 8 measely miles down to the office?....tends to make a man want to pack it up and split.

So yeah, here's another chipper account from the battlefields of "beautiful" Southern California. Wish I had more positive notes to pass on.