Maybe now they'll shut-up

WOOOOOO HOOOOOO.... every week or so this really stupid telemarketing company calls me. Seriously, sometimes as many as three times a week.

" Hello Daveed. Congratualteens you habe won a prize from Monarch Marketing"



Now, I could put my name on a list and say "no calls" but, there is a certain amoung of joy I get out of screwing with these people. Monarch though has gone above and beyond. I'v eput them on hold while I made dinner. I have played sound track files of construction going on in my house...so loud...that I was able to yell at them over the phone. I have had the operators spell out everything they were saying due to bad connections. I have screamed " FINALLY, IM A WINNER!!" Upon there first statement and dropped the phone to disconnect me...on an on and on and on... ad nauseum... seriously. It's amazing.



Today... I figured out the magic phrase....



I tell them I make UNDER 50 grand a year....

He politely said...my confirmation of prized would be in the mail... no time share pitch..no " but...but ...but..." Just.. " Really ? "

and then... kind of a " ummmm gotta go " speech.





BEAUTIFUL !!



just wanted to make ether note of it....

Sigh.....................

Hmmmm...Arrrggghhh....sigh.... ahem....aaaiieeeyyyaaahhhh. These are a few of my favorite e-sounds.



One of the things that aren't my favorite e-things, is internet dating. Yes, internet dating.

Here is how it goes LATELY.



I see someone that matches pretty much what I look for, for a future mate. Yes, a future mate. We pay 20-30 dollars to be on the durn site, I'm not on-line for serial dating. If I wanted to just date randomly, I would do that. I am dating on-line to cut out a lot of that crap you find out about a person on the first date... i.e. " Ummmm wow, you're a Wiccan." Nice. I have nothing against Wiccans. On the whole, usually very nice people. Not future mate material however.

So... I am on-line looking for " her".



So...... I email. One in fifty responds. Fifty takes me about three months, or more. I am somewhat picky. There are a LOT of people on-line. So.... now... if she responds, I have hope. Sometimes, we go for about a week of emails. Then occasionally , we meet.



Sometimes, I lose them via email..for reasons I never understand.



THEN.... let me step back.... WE MEET.



Now, meeting is a chore sometimes. From time to time, you can immediately think, "Nope, not the one." But, sometimes...very rarely... you both look at each other and there is a ... not a spark....too early for a spark.... but a ummmm, glint.

a tiny tiny glint. I wish I knew what made those glints, but still no clue.



Even better, she seems to be interested.



Lets recap. 1 email response after three months of trying. One meet out of three tries... ( thats a few more months ) and then voila... maybe a "glint"



Now ya see, glints make me happy. And, if they respond in kind, then I tend to proceed.

And here is where I screw up. I think.



If two people are interested in each other.... DON'T THEY TRY TO KEEP IN TOUCH ?? DON'T THEY TRY TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT EACH OTHER ???



I just had a "glint" respond positively... say she was interested...even did the.." Im out of town next week, but lets get together next week.." ....things. Then disappeared.



When someone stops emailing, as emailing is safer.... and less intrusive, you are stuck with two options. One: don't email let it run its course. tick ..tick...tick....



or two: Email her and say, "Hey, you okay ?"



no response......



no response....





then.. she wrote... " yeah.. but life is busy." That would be fine... there is no interest. BUT THEN !! She adds.... " next week"....



when you get nothing after that... if you email... the following week....







she responds with....





" you are trying to hard... Im not interested."





It must be me...but I can't figure out why...why.... if they are on a site...they don't want to connect.....



any suggestions...?



aaaeeeiiyyaahhhhhh !

Arrghh

It is now ..as I said..insane. I have gained yet another evening of work. It is non-ending and with a busy summer like this, of course, I start it out getting slightly ill. Allergies. Doesn't help that I am yet again allergic to my cat. The same cat that tends to sleep on my face. This is not good. It's killing me and today I step on a plane. Arrgghh. So my head will explode I am sure..
Then I go listen to trashcans banging. lol... but ..when it all ends. A trip from my sponsor below...and to see my family. Hitting nearly all corners of the US.




On the road ! Orlando is the number one tourist destination in the world. Most of them stay in one of 100,000 hotel rooms and visit 7 major theme parks. The current population of Orlando is approximately 185,000 and the Metro-Orlando population is over 1,500,000. Orlando continues to be one of the fastest growing communities in Florida as well as the United States. Orlando is a great environment to enjoy your leasure time and raise a family. Central Florida offers a wide range of life styles for all ages. You can enjoy homes in the neighborhoods of Thorton Park, Lake Eola Heights, Lake Lawsona, Lake Cherokee, and Lake Copeland. Downtown is trendy with diversity of restaurants, retailers, discos, and bars all within walking distance. With close access to beautiful Lake Eola, you can enjoy festivals, outdoor concerts, or a gondola ride on the Lake. But why visit when you can live there ? Buyers Broker of Florida only and always represents the best interest of the homebuyer, never the seller. As full time Buyer Agents they understand contracts, house values, options, negotiations, 1031's, creative thinking, and will do their absolute best to negotiate the most favorable terms only for you the buyer. If you need a friendly partner who knows what they are doing, that you can trust all the time try Orlando Vacation Home Rental

How cool is this....

Okay, so as predicted work has become insane, and it my not go as well as hoped.
The schedules should mesh, but the prep time isnt doing as well. The shows are great, but rehearsal isnt or rather wasn't planned. Overlapping schedules arent working in my favor and I hope it doesnt blow the whole deal..time will tell. I am however planning a great vacation at the end of summer in the lovely state of Maine. I just want to lay back a bit and unwind, cause right now, I'm getting pretty wound. Trying to remember to occassionally zen out and relax, but , it doesnt always work out...the trick ..actually the important thing to remember is, you have to.
So..I will. Or perhaps explode. ;-)

Insanity.....

So, here is where it stands. Insanity. Pure and simple. I am in Pasadena, Texas. I am beating on trashcans with two guys, one is new to the group, one, not having worked with us for years. And, I am planning a trip to New York whil I am here to put the show in up there. I am in the midst of rehearsals for a show I have done before at Disney and awaiting news of what will happen to me in the show at Universal. I am also hosting a show two days a week on Citiwalk, and acquired a new job of columnist at a local paper. Not to mention running a weekly podcast for which I star in, write for and produce, I also gather the music for it. excuse me, my head just exploded. Att least I have some money...arrgghh

And let the rain begin..cause it's already pouring !

Summer insanity begins. Ready ? Five days a week at lovely Disneyland, living in the enchanted forest with six other little men... On Friday and Saturday.. my days "off" ..I will be at Universal Studios talking about movies during the day...then at night, emceeing on citwalk ...My drum shows continue to tour, and a summer show at a NY theme park...How cool is that.. ? But the coolest news... Im officially... OFFICIALLY a journalist ! Tolucan Times has hired me as a photographer, with my own column...and... a man on the street column as well...
I am seriously stoked. Three months of total insanity !! YIPPEEEEE!!!

and now this.. :



I was thinking of sending roses to my mom. Mainly because when I ask she will always say, send roses . So I will, but mom, did ya know you can cook with flowers !
Sue Lawrence from Scotsman.com reminds us that for hundreds of years, petals and whole flowers have been used in the kitchen. The Romans added lavender to honey and used marigolds for their colour and flavour. I've seen recipes contain nasturtiums, borage and lavender. But before you just start cooking away, please, make sure that the flowers are unsprayed, then carefully expel any wildlife by giving them a good shake or a wipe with kitchen paper Probably the most versatile edible flower is the nasturtium. Shred its young leaves into salads or add them to sandwiches with cream cheese. Snip off the whole flowers from the stems and add them to vegetables, fish or pasta. Their pungent, peppery taste is also the perfect match for mild-tasting ingredients such as avocados. Scotherbs (www.scotherbs.co.uk) sells edible flowers as well as fresh pestos and salsas

Here's a great dish ! NASTURTIUM AND AVOCADO TAGLIATELLE . Serves four 350g dried tagliatelle olive oil 2 ripe avocados, peeled and stoned juice of 1 large lime 2 tbsp crème fraîche 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper 20 nasturtium flowers Cook the tagliatelle and drain thoroughly. Pour in a good drizzle of olive oil, add some salt and pepper and toss through. While the pasta is cooking, chop the avocados and place in a food processor with the lime juice, crème fraîche and cayenne pepper. Blend well, then season to taste. While the pasta is still piping hot, toss the avocado mixture with the pasta. Add most of the flowers, reserving the best for a garnish, and toss the pasta again, until thoroughly mixed. Serve at once, sprinkling with the remaining nasturtiums. CARROT CAKE WITH THYME FLOWERS This is my adaptation of the famous carrot cake at Cape Town’s Mount Nelson Hotel. For the cake 4 large free-range eggs 400g golden caster sugar 175ml sunflower oil 250g self-raising flour, sifted 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda 1 tsp ground cinnamon 450g grated carrots (peeled weight) 90g chopped walnuts For the frosting 200g light cream cheese 50g butter, softened 3 tsp orange flower water 100g golden caster sugar handful of thyme flowers Whip the eggs and sugar until pale and creamy, then slowly add the oil (on low speed if using a mixer). Fold in the flour, bicarbonate of soda, a pinch of salt and the cinnamon, then fold in the carrot and nuts. Once combined, tip the mixture into a deep 24cm springform cake tin (buttered) and bake in a preheated oven (180¼C/350¼F/gas 4) for an hour and 15 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cover loosely with foil for the last 20 minutes or so. Place the cake on a wire rack and release the sides of the tin. Leave it to cool completely before placing on a serving plate. Beat the cream cheese and butter together and then beat in the flower water and sugar. Once the mixture is smooth, spread it over the cake and decorate with thyme flowers.

Feeling claustrophobic....

So much happening, in a very small amount of time, and yet...still dealing with so little cash.
My drum team Repercussion... at trashcandrummers.com and trashcandrummers.blogspot.com are getting ready for our trip to Texas. So many of my drummers are busy this time of year, it got down to the wire...so I am sure that's gonna cost a pretty penny on air fair. I am meeting with a publisher next Wednesday, so I am putting my photo portfolio together, and that's interesting in and of itself. I have a drum show that is going to New York for the summer and, that plan is very odd, but I've decided to relax until the client makes his move, but we are almost suited up for that. I go into rehearsals for my summer gig in less than a week, and, just picked up another gig on my days off for the summer...so how is it I am broke ? lol... rains it pours... etc etc...

So... all my gear in my van and ready to go. Check this out :

I found a new van and truck accessories website. BuyAutoTruckAccessories.com. They sell Truck Racks . It's incredibly quick and easy. And if you know my life you know I have a lot of stuff I carry in my van. These guys are my new source for all of my needs. They've got SUV, van and truck accessories.Just give them your vehicle year, make and model and they do the rest! . They offer only the best quality products. They also offer great tips and safety suggestions throughout the site. They’ve truly assembled a site full of high-quality, professional-grade truck accessories from proven and reputable manufacturers and even have links to product specifications and installation instructions.

Which also reminds me : Those things that were originally used by the forestry and farming industries to mark trees and cattle are called Paintball Guns . The early ones had poor range and mediocre accuracy and some had to be modified to prevent injury to humans. But they have evolved.Today they have greater speed, accuracy, and air efficiency and are lighter and smaller. Which of course led to tournament paintball, where having a gun that is easily maneuvered is very important. Which is how I found Zephyrpaintball.com . They've got low prices, great customer service and fast shipping and paintball guns from all the top manufacturers. and match competitors prices on all in stock.

Someone really needs to make some changes. On top of the usual gigs that I pull down, I occasionally become a substitute teacher. Yes. I teach children. Now, just in case certain people stumble across this site, I can't be too specific, but, holy cow, children in the district in which I sub are getting away with murder. Possibly literally. Disrespectful, loud, obnoxious. Now, I'm not talking your typical evil child stuff... cause Lord knows I gave my subs a hard time, but, I have literally had my life threatened. One girl today came back in the room after school and made movements that appeared to be an attempt to physically threaten me. She was in sixth grade ! And, she brought a friend. This is not the first time I have been approached in such a manner. I even had a KID tell me that the school was "ghetto." He explained that if they didn't like teachers or subs, they would "key" the cars, follow the teachers home, hurt them, kidnap them etc. The administration is even aware of the problem. You can watch the security patrol the halls and nail kids. I can't even go into how obvious it is that the have dealt with these kids before....

Mom .. Dad... teach your kids respect. It's not too late. Before the get hurt or due time... seriously, do SOMETHING. And, please tell them to leave the IPods and PSP's at home... yeah.. it's a little bit of a distraction.

And now this... I can tell the bad kids by using Fish finders and they should all buy me mothers day gifts because as a teacher, I'm quite a mother. But don't ask me ask an Orlando Realtor

Another day off.

The trouble with me taking a day off, is that it means, in about a week, almost exactly, I come up short in cash. My new fill job is driving me nuts as , well, it pays once a month. As a freelancer, I am usually paid almost immediately. I have signed a contract that pretty much excludes me from pursuing a lot of work right now, so that is maddening. On the plus side, I have signed a contract. When it rains it pours. My art is getting more interesting, as at least during my days off I am able to explore more opportunities with that. SO, that in itself is amusing. And, I continue to make money where I can. Trashcandrummers.com has been updated. Youregettingsleepy.com has not...so much.
But in typical april fools day fashion, I am considering wedding reception ideas . But, seriously don't forget Mom... send some Mothers Day Flowers
And so it goes.

-Mad

Another one.....

For those of you that know me, know that I love watching professional wrestling. I have a friend whose brother is a ref for them, I work at Universal where Ivory hails from and, I had the opportunity to meet several of them throughout my life. So, I am always kind of thrilled in a sort of childlike way..... when... I get to meet them and WORK with them. This Wednesday, was just such a day. Chris " The Masterpiece" Masters, and, Cover of Playboy this month, Candice Michelle. It was awesome. Though I have yet to receive any proof of me WITH them from my many photographer friends... I have pics I took of them myself. Both of them totally fun to work with, and apparently I came within inches of being placedin the Masterlock.... which no doubt ..would have killed me....

Tune into Saturday Night's Main Event on NBC... check your local listings for times....and watch these two superstars doing what they do best.


And now it's time for me to visit my Orlando Vacation Rental see ya there.