ad astra!

As a little aside, to lift my spirits…

Guys + Guitars + Tattoos = HOT

(sometimes it’s good to be totally high school)

Yesterday I was supposed to be in Grand Rapids to spend time with my family as we gather around my Grandpa’s death bed, but I never got myself out the door. I’ve been hit with one of the worst colds I’ve had in awhile. Fuck Airborne and fuck Cold Eeze, fuck Sudafed fuck Tylenol fuck Motrin fuck Alka Seltzer Plus… nothing’s made me feel better… so I slept on and off most of Saturday, woke up at noon this morning and headed to Grand Rapids. My Aunt Kathy is making a rare appearance, and I also saw my Aunt Carole and my brother and Uncle Chuck (and Grandma of course). My grandpa is near death, which makes it the second time I’ve experienced such a thing.

I’m not afraid of death, or dying, or seeing death, or anything like that. It’s just awful and draining waiting for someone to pass away.

I’m taking an Ambien and going to bed.

My Grandpa Honton is ready to pass away this weekend, so I’ll be in Grand Rapids.

My Grandpa Pellerito died in October. I wasn’t as close to him as I was Grandpa Honton.

With my father absent for a lot of my childhood, it was with my Grandpa Honton we ended up doing a lot of little kid things with. We used to sit for hours in the dark watching slides and home movies, and in the summertime he taught us how to fish. He also taught us how to play solitaire and cribbage. He even fooled us into believing he invented Candy Land for us.

Both my Grandpas will be missed greatly.

For $25 out of my FSA I got my balls felt up today.

Also, in hindsight, it’s probably not a great idea to have a whole six pack the night before going to the doctor’s. Especially when the doctor orders a urinalysis. Oh well. Maybe they’ll find some urine in there along with the beer.

Other than that, I’m fine.

Tall Brandon
Originally uploaded by Paul Pellerito.

My life is brilliant.

My life is brilliant.
My love is pure.
I saw an angel.
Of that I’m sure.
She smiled at me on the subway.
She was with another man.
But I won’t lose no sleep on that,
‘Cause I’ve got a plan.

You’re beautiful. You’re beautiful.
You’re beautiful, it’s true.
I saw your face in a crowded place,
And I don’t know what to do,
‘Cause I’ll never be with you.

Yeah, she caught my eye,
As we walked on by.
She could see from my face that I was,
Fucking high,
And I don’t think that I’ll see her again,
But we shared a moment that will last till the end.

You’re beautiful. You’re beautiful.
You’re beautiful, it’s true.
I saw you face in a crowded place,
And I don’t know what to do,
‘Cause I’ll never be with you.

You’re beautiful. You’re beautiful.
You’re beautiful, it’s true.
There must be an angel with a smile on her face,
When she thought up that I should be with you.
But it’s time to face the truth,
I will never be with you.

(Sorry Josh)

Black & Tan
Originally uploaded by Paul Pellerito.

Pour one part Bass & Co. Pale Ale into a pint glass, pour one part Guinness over the back side of a spoon atop of Bass Ale. Let settle for 1 minute. Enjoy.

I totally stole this from Joel who stole this from Augusten Burroughs.

I have nothing to say about Valentine’s Day that Augusten Burroughs didn’t say last year in PaperMagazine.

Valentine’s Day is Satan’s gift to single people It’s the one day of the year when you do not dare leave your apartment and go to a restaurant, because they will seat you alone in the back near the bathrooms.  It’s also the one day of the year when chocolate sends you into a rage, especially the ones with the fucking cream centers.  I have always spent Valentine’s Day alone in my apartment with a vat of Chow Fun, watching TV-which, naturally, is a scene in all romantic comedies ever made, the kind that make you want to stab your eyes out with chop-sticks.  In my experience, the only possible way to survive this grisly day as a single person is to take NyQuil, read Marry Me by John Updike and then wait until February 15, when the world is right again. 

Move over, Gay Games! The Gayest Games start Friday! The 2006 Winter Olympics are due to kick off real soon. I mean, c’mon… you can’t get more gay than Figure Skating. And what’s up with Curling? Anything that involves that much sweeping is inherently homosexual.

I of course will be watching Short Track Speed Skating with an eye on Official Olympic Hottie Apollo Anton Ohno! Let the games begin!

Charter is down. So i’ve been testing Opera Mini, and it rocks! Get it for your mobile at mini.opera.com

–

Mobile Email from a Cingular Wireless Customer http://www.cingular.com

Comfort food
Originally uploaded by Paul Pellerito.

Tonight I made some comfort food, and it turned out great, just like it always does.

Here’s the meatloaf recipe I grew up with:

1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef or turkey
3/4 cup Quaker� Oats(quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup catsup
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasonings

Heat oven to 350�F. Combine all ingredients in large bowl; mix lightly but thoroughly. Shape meatloaf mixture into 10×6-inch loaf on rack of broiler pan.
Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until meatloaf is to medium doneness (160�F for beef, 170�F for turkey), until not pink in center and juices show no pink color. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing. Cover and refrigerate leftovers promptly and use within 2 days, or wrap airtight and freeze up to 3 months.

Meatloaf sandwiches tomorrow!

Tall Brandon
Originally uploaded by Paul Pellerito.

Going back to crushing… here are 5 songs I listen to and think about Tall Brandon:

1. Maybe – Kaskade
2. You’re Beautiful – James Blunt
3. In Silence – Casey Stratton
4. Here I Am – Kaskade
5. Strange & Beautiful (I’ll Put A Spell On You) – Aqualung

From In Silence:
“Nothing has worked out before
Why should it work this time?”

I’ve resampled the CaseyTones so they make smaller files. The audio is just a little bit duller, but it’s hard to tell even on my phone. But they take up less space. The high quality tones remain linked in the previous post, but if you’re short on memory you might want these ones, which are still better quality than the tones the major carriers sell for $3 a pop.

LoFi Ringtones
• The Hardest Part (Took Stock)
• In Silence (Piano Intro)
• In Silence (Worked Out)
• Opaline (All Your Fault)
• Opaline
• The Wasteland (Wailing)
• When The End Arrives (No One Said)
• I Promise Love (We Were Lost)
• I Promise Love (Final Voices)
• Still Life (I Knew You Were Coming)

Get ‘em while they’re hot!

Please note: These are mp3 ringtones compatible with mp3 enabled phones.
If you don’t know how to get them on your phone, chances are I probably don’t know how either.

Also, please note that these tones are for personal, non-commercial use only. I’ve made them with the hopes that you’ll spread Casey’s music every time your phone rings. Also of note is that everything on this site, included both sets of ringtones, is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License. This gives you the freedom to copy and redistribute my content as long as you adhere to the license, which is to say give me credit and don’t alter it in any way.

That being said, Casey Stratton provides the beautiful music that’s the basis for these tones. If you like what you hear, you can download some full songs or buy a CD.

I’ve made some Casey Stratton Ring Tones!

• The Hardest Part (Took Stock)
• In Silence (Piano Intro)
• In Silence (Worked Out)
• Opaline (All Your Fault)
• Opaline
• The Wasteland (Wailing)
• When The End Arrives (No One Said)
• I Promise Love (We Were Lost)
• I Promise Love (Final Voices)
• Still Life (I Knew You Were Coming)

Get ‘em while they’re hot!
Please note: These are mp3 ringtones compatible with mp3 enabled phones.
If you don’t know how to get them on your phone, chances are I probably don’t know how either.

William informed me that this site generates a popup when it loads. I assure you, dear readers, that it’s entirely unintentional and somehow someone must’ve slipped it into a comment or something. I will find it and kill it. But in the meantime I’m putting a bounty out. Anyone who can find a comment that generates a window with a URI of

http://ilead.itrack.it/clients/extas.aspx?
cid=5153&sid=28279&wid=5374&swid=AdS410100&targetpage=popup
&openpopup=0&rescale=1&kid=219050&bid=805578&dat=410100

Found it! Now winners!

I still recommend using either a browser with built-in popup blocker such as:
Safari for Mac OS X
Shiira for Mac OS X
Firefox (turn popup blocking on!)
Opera
or get the Google Pack for Windows which includes Firefox and the Google Toolbar (with popup blocker) for IE and a bunch of other great software.