Rant about dumbfuck people who don't listen

I am sick and tired of people who do not listen when I speak. When I tell you the four requirements to take out a loan, don't give me three of them and expect that I'll give you the loan on the understanding that you'll bring me that fourth piece of information when you feel like it. That is not how this works.

Also, when I ask you to provide further information for me to process your loan, you can either comply politely, or get the fuck out. The more attitude you give me, the less willing I am to help you. If your bank statement shows that your account has been overdrawn for more than 60 days straight, I am going to need a letter or document from the bank showing that your account is still open. Most banks can close your account if it has been overdrawn for 30 days straight, so I'm just ensuring that you are not trying to take out a loan on an account that is closed and that I cannot collect on should it get sent to the bank.

If I ask for something and say that you need to have it with you to originate a loan, you better have it with you. Don't sass me, don't say you'll provide it later, don't give me any fucking attitude about it, or I will find a way to turn you down for this loan. I don't have to play nice if you won't do me the same courtesy.

I've been on a major Peter Gabriel kick of late

There are few performers to whom I can listen to their entire body of work over and over. One is, of course, The Beatles. Everyone loves The Beatles, sometimes to the point where everyone hates them, if that makes sense. Another is Genesis, which leads me to my latest musical obsession: Peter Gabriel. I've been obsessed for a while, don't get me wrong. When I was a kid, like a lot of people, I really dug "Sledgehammer" and "Big Time," probably because the videos were just so iconic and back then music and videos went hand in hand.

But in college, I picked up Shaking The Tree, which is one of Gabriel's greatest hits compilations. One of the first songs that struck me on the CD was "San Jacinto." It absolutely haunted me; it's a song that resonates as both quite simple yet alarmingly complex. "Red Rain," "Mercy Street," and the chilling "Family Snapshot" also captured my interest. At that time, his albums were being remastered and re-released on CD, so I grabbed them when I could. A whole new musical world was opened to me. I even used his song about Steven Biko in a class presentation about South Africa and apartheid.

I also credit my love of Gabriel, and of early Genesis, to my friend Matt. He was incredibly generous and gave me copies of every Genesis CD from the Gabriel years. He also took me to see a Genesis tribute band called The Musical Box, when they performed in entirety The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway. It was intense and thrilling, although I recall the drive home being long and exhausting. But it was another door opening to me.

I finally got around to uploading all my Gabriel CDs to iTunes, revisiting them after a few years. His first album still has shades of his work with Genesis tinging the edges, but it shows a wide variety of styles. His second album is not as accessible, which may be partially due to the album's producer, Robert Fripp of King Crimson. It's a lot of weird. But on his third album, he completely comes into his own. It's cohesion in audible form. His fourth, known as Security in the U.S., works very well as a follow-up to the previous album. So, his most commercially recognizable record, may sound like a sell-out to some fans, but it has some highlights aside from the singles. Us is a harder album to enjoy from start to finish, probably just for serious fans only (like his second album). Up is remarkably good and marks a return to his earlier sound.

Right now I'm listening to his live album from 1982. I would have loved to have seen him perform back then. He is one of those rare artists who sounds as good on stage as he does in the studio. A lot of people pass him off as just another artist from the 1980s, but his music is timeless to me. It sounds just as fresh as it probably did to people listening for the first time in the late 1970s and early 1980s. If people ever ask me for music recommendations, I tell them they have to own his third album. It's the perfect launch into a remarkable musical artist.

Wisdom from alt.slack

"I like friends who have enough respect for me to keep their goddamned distance."

That comes from Rev. Susie The Floozie's ex-husband.

I like that. A lot.

Good news bad news

The good news: the bite splint I have to get to prevent me from grinding my teeth down to nothing at night while I sleep is only going to cost me $134 instead of the $400 I originally thought.

The bad news: my car needed $800 more worth of repairs, this time to replace the struts entirely, as well as the rear brakes and some other minor tweaking. This on top of $700 from fixing the HVAC system and the power steering just over a month ago. I don't think the car is worth $1500, but I can't afford a new car payment at the time. Too bad it doesn't qualify for that government trade-in program, or I'd be all over that like flies on rice.

R.I.P. John Hughes

So part of my formative years is gone. John Hughes, writer-director of such 1980s classics as The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off (among so many others) has died of a heart attack. I will definitely be honoring his memory tonight by watching one of my favorite films he wrote, Uncle Buck.

Rest in peace, Mr. Hughes. Thanks for having a lot more understanding of teenagers and their social structures and how outcast they could feel within those structures than anyone else in modern entertainment. It really meant a lot.

I sleep a lot

The last two evenings, I've come home from work and slept for two and three hours. That wouldn't be so bad if I were home at five in the evening, but I get home around seven. Sleeping until ten, just to go to bed an hour later, doesn't seem quite healthy to me. The last time I did this, that I can remember, is when I was a teenager. I would come home from school at about three, sleep until seven, eat dinner, then go back to bed about an hour later. But teenagers need more sleep, because they are growing and changing.

Anyhow...it's just weird. If I plan on napping, I think I better set an alarm.

Three strange things I've recently remembered

One: I once went to a house party for Arbonne, and the girl who was selling the products told us that we should all be having three poops a day because each time we eat, it should push the previous meal out of our bodies. Thankfully, two medical professionals were on the scene to correct this poor girl.

Two: A former schoolmate of mine went missing shortly after we were out of high school. I think they found his body days later. It was as if he'd gone out walking along the creek, in the woods, and just died.

Three: My brother and I videotaped the neighbor kid and his friends smashing up some electronics in the driveway. While this alone wasn't particularly funny, the fact that we were listening to Genesis' "No Son Of Mine" and that their movements seemed to sync up with the song made it hilarious.