Set-Up, Knock-Down

Very draining last couple of weeks, but it could always be worse. Job is not very satisfying right now and may be reaching a ultimatum stage soon. The kids were very trying this weekend; great some of the time, but also very defiant. We did have fun doing an "experiment" with baking soda and vinegar last night, a volcano in a bottle. You hope that they remember a few of these things and forget when you raised your voice.

Friday is usually my unwind-from-the-week night, after the kids are in bed, so I just ended up watching Robert Wise's The Set-Up, which is a really great boxing melodrama I regret passing up over the years. I then watched the commentary with Wise and Scorsese and fell asleep about halfway through. Technically, I was well-rested, but still lounged around this morning, because the weather is cool now and it feels good to be i nbed. Learned at my son's soccer game that a female friend is trying to fix me up, which...well, why not? I also made a vow to speak to the cute mail carrier today, and did, though I stopped short of asking her out. Maybe next time.

Generally I look forward to the Saturday nights I drop the kids off as much as the ones I keep them all night, but I'm a little bit out of sorts right now, about 10:00 p.m. with nothing I really feel like doing. I don't feel like drinking, which is good, and I'm a bit tired of writing, having finally finished my revisions for the essay I mentioned before. Something tells me one more revision might be required, but if so, I don't think it will be a major one.

Great Bono interview in Rolling Stone. I can easily get down on his silliness and posturing, but I really regained my respect and appreciation for the guy here. It was actually kind of inspiring, and I realize that Bono pretty well fits how I see my own self-expression. That is, I think we all have these light and dark, selfless and selfish, kind and mean, angry and forgiving sides. Some have criticized me or questioned me for being so open with this blog, and they're right to the extent that I should be careful mentioning other people without their permission, but I also think that part of me trying to be what I want to be is to be unafraid to express anything I'm feeling or thinking or anything that's happened. I don't know what value it is to anyone else, nor do I think it's deep--it's probably closer to an involuntary act like sweating, or maybe something you can control a little bit more, like urination. You have to get the poisons out

And still, you're never completely open or free of self-editing. I mean, I know that "get the poisons out" is the way to end that, because it's the most dramatic.

Good listens: Animal Collective - Feels. Not so much songs as these trippy rounds. A bit like a sillier, more whimsical Arcade Fire. I presume "Feels" refers to Brian Wilson, who called his Pet Sounds stuff "feels" rather than songs, sort of musical moods.

Danger Doom is a team-up disc between rapper MF Doom and producer Danger Mouse, and it features much of the Adult Swim voices. It's not just a gimmick, though; this is a solid hip-hop disc and Doom has a great flow, plus there are guest shots by Ghostface and Talib Kweli.

I have very cool news as well, but it won't be revealed until December.