One: Explode out of the gates.

You know, I really did think I'd get to noon last month.

I don't know what's up with me lately, other than I simply cannot muster up the energy to update SWP on as nearly a regular basis as I used to. It isn't that I don't feel like complaining about life, it's just I'm so drained that I can hardly justify sitting down at the keyboard and trying to hammer it out. As a consequence I tend to talk at length to myself (or to the dog) when I'm at home about how much life suxx0rz, the way I normally would SWP. I ought to cut that out. There might be people out there who need my shit to get through their own days.

The weekend was kinda flipped around, with a family gathering on Saturday night and coffee with Amanda on Sunday morning. Having seen my brother's new coat I decided perhaps the time had come to get my own. Amanda was thrilled at this prospect because she had unaffectionately nicknamed my coat the "hobo coat." It has attained a similar mythological presence amongst my friends - Cary called it simply "The Scott Williams coat." Chris Ferg once sympathetically tried to assure me he didn't think it was all that sketchy.

Anyway, after recapping all of her various wedding planning updates (most often the lead-off topic for our conversations these days, followed by her work and then whatever I've got,) we went and poked around the usual stores, with the unusual advent that I actually intended to buy something. I didn't really know what I want, but I did know what I didn't want, which is a bright-coloured ski jacket, or anything with a furry hood. So we wound up at Danier leather, where they were advertising 50% off just about everything, which sounded sweet, and leather jackets are cool. The one caveat is that 50% off a leather jacket is still really goddamn expensive especially to a guy without an income. Hrm. I was getting despondent when Manda dragged me on into H&M, a store where I vowed never to return to after one very uncomfortable shopping experience about 3 years ago.

Well, that's where we found it.

I was skeptical at first. It was a good fit and a nice style, but it didn't really look all that warm. Amanda advocated it though, and insisted I try it. I had to admit I did like it, and in the end, bought it with the expectation that if it was not warm enough I could just return it, since I'd know within the month. That day was not the best test case since it was over 0. I figured I would wear my hoodie under it (as I had with hobocoat anyway) and possibly not shovel the driveway or anything too much in it. A few days later and many degrees colder, the new coat has held up its end, so it looks like the old guy is officially in semi-retirement, to be called into action only when direly necessary.

B. went to see Taken last night so it was just me and dad for dinner. He had recently converted three out of four of the old Spring Valley Lip Syncs to DVD, so we spent the evening perusing those. What that is, is back when we'd spend every summer camping at the trailer in Mount Forest (Spring Valley Park,) one of the annual activities was the Lip Sync, where people would, you know, get dressed up in costumes and do routines and stuff, mostly to old pop songs and such. They used to get brought out on a regular (even constant) basis to make the family sit through, usually feeling like a real drudge just to see the one or two segments that involved a family member of ours. Eric did it the most, three times, most notably as part of a Sonny and Cher bit with a girl who was in heels about two feet taller than him (he was like eleven at the time.) That year, my brother Brando and I did School's Out, which was basically us just us goofing around with prop guitars for three minutes, in rocker-type attire. The idea that B. would've ever gotten up on stage for any purpose is by now completely unbelievable, but it was a different time. The next year, (which we don't have on DVD... yet) saw Eric and I team with our friend Jon and another kid, Rob, to do Gump, Weird Al's spoof of Lump, where Jon was dressed as the title character and had a bench and everything. It was fun. But the highlights were always the Rutherfords, Brian and Crystal, siblings who had a knack for coming up with impressive, lively dance routines (Love Shack, Dance with Me Henry) that were way more fun to see than anything else presented. Sadly, Brian is no longer with us.

It's February. This month is no fun. Already I have to start considering where I'm gonna be at in March. Very busy, is where. Very stressed.

The future just don't look so bright these days.

Keep on rockin'
-Scott