Saturday, October 05, 2002
Hey, guess what? They won't rent you a car when your license is expired. Go figure.
So here I am in NY without a rental car. I better get used to those trains. I'm in Pelham right now in my cousin's positively gorgeous house in the woods. When I finally do buy my house, I'm gonna hire her as my decorator. She isn't here, so I have the place to myself. Party! Woo! Gonna have a kegger. Course, I have no one to invite so I'll have to trash the place myself.
Jim Parisi
Friday, October 04, 2002
I was reading some recent posts to this blog, and came across my note about how the last few years have been the best time of my life. However, if you've been keeping up with recent events in the life of TMJ, you know that the road hasn't been quite so smooth in the last few weeks. But as I think about that post, even with all the recent slings and arrows (and spears and bullets and shrapnel and cannonballs), I still could argue that I have more of everything good in my life. Unfortunately, I just have a whole lot less of what was best.
Jim Parisi
Somebody just won a $100 billion dollar judgement after suing Phillip Morris. You know, as much as I hate tobacco companies for peddling death, I really can't condone suing them into submission. Like the stuff they sell, it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Anyone with 1/10 a brain can tell that smoke isn't good for you after just one puff . Everyone born within the last 50 years knows that if you smoke, it's eventually gonna kill you. If you willingly chose to smoke, if you subsequently get addicted, and if you consequently die, it's your responsibility. And fundamentally, your fault. And you can't blame the advertising. I saw just as many Joe Camel adds as the next guy and I'm not taking a drag right now. If we were all such mindless sheep, we would all be wearing the same clothes and driving the same cars and living in the same houses....wait a sec. Never mind. Still, smoking is a choice. The addiction and emphysema may not be. But lighting that first one up certainly is.
Jim Parisi
Thursday, October 03, 2002
Uploaded some new pics. Some from my belated birthday evening. Others are submissions for Heather's positively brilliant Mirror Project.
Jim Parisi
I think I am going to New York this weekend. I have a two day training gig in Poughkeepsie next week, and instead of blowing a whole work day on an airplane, I think I might head out this weekend instead. Stay at my cousin's place. Do some carousing in the city if Rieko is around. I haven't been back in what seems like a year. I'd love to do some climbing in the Shawnagunks if it doesn't rain on me again. Everytime I have brought my gear, New England has brought rain. As of right now, the weather looks pretty grim for climbing (50-50 at best), and Rieko doesn't seem to be around. Still, I think I'm going to go anyway. If only for the pizza.
Jim Parisi
Done.
Jim Parisi
Wednesday, October 02, 2002
I'm feeling tired. I'm tired of feeling alone. Tired of feeling on edge. Tired of feeling stretched and frayed and insecure and careful all the time. I'm tired of tiptoeing. I'm tired of work. I'm tired of processes and procedures that don't work and people who don't know how to work with them or around them. I'm tired of not knowing. Tired of knowing too much and tired of wishing I didn't know after all. I'm tired of the dark. Tired of the light. I'm tired of the same old thing and tired of constantly longing and looking for something more. I'm tired of being unsatisfied. Tired of want. I'm tired of getting hurt. Tired of hurting the people I care about the most. Tired of getting punched in the stomach. I'm tired of pulling my own punches. I'm tired of being let down. Tired of the feeling that the only person I can truly rely on is myself. And mostly I'm tired of finding out that I can't even rely on me. And right now, I'm tired of whining so much about being tired. I think somebody needs a nap.
(Sorry about that. Been bingeing on negativity this afternoon. Had to purge)
Jim Parisi
The crew.
Jim Parisi
Tuesday, October 01, 2002
When it rains...
Last week I got a speeding ticket in a double fine zone with an expired license and no front license plate. A day after spending a ridiculous $175 to find out there was nothing wrong with my car at the service center. Today a young woman backed her boyfriend's GMC into the hood of my car. My best customer just got fired. My climbing partner is recovering from surgery for the next six weeks. My knee hurts. Hell, both knees hurt. I have carpal tunnel. A headache. Acne. Insomnia. Male pattern baldness. I haven't had sex in weeks. I'm still single. And I'm cold right now!
Ahhhh....I feel better. We now return you to your regularly scheduled Jimbo.
Jim Parisi
Is it just me or does the whole concept of "Urban Outfitters" seem strangely ironic? It's a massive corporate retail conglomerate that sells anti-establishment clothing and merchandise. A chain desperate to look like and sell like a boutique. Only bigger. And cheaper. And more convenient. Chalk up another win for big business.
And speaking of Urban Outfitters, have you ever given serious consideration to most of the clothing they sell? Sure it looks cool now, but in three weeks you will inevitably wonder why the hell you felt comfortable being seen in public wearing a green Transformers t-shirt with a pork pie hat and red Adidas sneakers. I think every generation has fashion regret. Some more than others. I think that despite the recent surge of popularity, most of the people who grew up in the 70's look back at the giant bell bottoms and polyester and think, "dear God, did I really do so many drugs?" In the 80's we had mullets. I cringe when I see the pictures today. And shoulder pads. And day-glow spandex. Ugh. Hey kids of the nineties? Guess what? Those super cool blue jeans you wore around your ass? The pair with the pant legs frayed from dragging along the ground? You are bound to burn all evidence of those one day. Have fun explaining those to your kids. Makes me wonder what will happen when body art falls out of fashion. Invest now in companies that sell medical equipment my friends. Cause in five years a whole lot of 35 year olds are gonna be positively desperate for laser tattoo removal.
Jim Parisi
Monday, September 30, 2002
My roommates are pissed at me. I bought five bags of different flavored M&Ms and put them out in a container on the bar. Regular, peanut, almond, crispy, peanutbutter. It's all out there, ready to melt in your mouth, not in your hand. They are helpless to the siren call of chocolate. Every time they come upstairs they walk away with an extra 500 calories of sweet candy coated goodness and a fresh new layer of Vogue induced guilt. I'm an evil, evil man.
Jim Parisi
Sunday, September 29, 2002
Have you ever been working out quietly at the gym when someone sat down on the machine next to you with a case of BO so bad that you had to stop working out for the nausea? I have witnessed people with a stench more repulsive than a Chinatown dumpster in the summertime. I spent an entire workout with my head turned and buried in my own armpit cause the guy who randomly chose the bike next to mine had an odor that would gag a starving hyena. Sadly, I doubt this is a hygiene issue. I bet this guy bathes normally like the rest of us. Hell, I spent five days hiking through the wilderness in a third world country and no one in my party smelled as bad as this guy. And he probably showered that morning. It's gotta be a bio-chemistry thing. Which makes me wonder just what he was eating. Was he living on a diet of rotting asparagus, hard-boiled eggs, garlic bread and coffee grounds? Maybe it's some bionic pheromone that works with women who have no nasal cavity. Either way, I have sympathy for the guy. I just hope he doesn't sit next to me again. I'm also glad I don't have the same hygiene hurdles to overcome. And if I ever do get that ripe, be a dear, and hose me down right where I stand.
Jim Parisi
A friend of mine said to me the other day, "So, you are 31 now. Know what's next? 40!" Ugh.
Jim Parisi
