So spoke Fritz tonight, at a table in Benihana Encino. Nothing like optimism, i thought. But then again, he was right. We were talking about our jobs, and the internet, and how the two are almost interchangeable. And how we're both at the wrong age. Too young to be a player, too old to be a true geek. Too young to earn the executive Big Bucks, too old to earn a chance at the executive Big Bucks...

And so it goes. (thanks kv)

Slightly Drunk, a Squeeze song ... "Slightly drunk once again, all alone with my friend, thought I'd write to you ..."

Or something like that ...

Fritz and I caught up at Benihana ... I told him about the breakup, I gave him an LA Lakers keychain for his nephew, a trinket given to me at the Staples Center as I attended the team's inauguaral game at the new arena. It's something a barely pre-adolescent boy can appreciate a helluva lot more than me. Sometimes I wonder if I can truly appreciate anything at all, but while I sit here and wonder, I should at least make some little kid happy, right?

From Benihana we went to a dive bar in Tarzana, the kind of place where they still let you smoke despite the law against lighting up indoors in California. Two pool tables, a jukebox, industrial grey carpeting, and a persistent lineup of sorry alcoholics at the bar, myself included tonight. Fritz and I chatted some more about life, creativity, and how the two don't seem to mix these days...

I cruised the 101 to the Marlboro Man's recording studio in North Hollywood, where I watched a ZZTop bearded octogenerian record a better tune than I could ever hope to write myself, the kind of song that entraps you within its groove, unconsciously enticing you to move every part of your body to the persistent rhythm. And all I could wonder was: why can't I write songs like that?

Thank heavens for Glenlivet.

I'm just praying the band gets to practice tomorrow night.

The band ... I haven't written much about it in here, which could be considered strange considering the band is what's keeping me going of late. And considering that we haven't played together in over two weeks, that's pretty impressive.

(I will not use the word "consider" any more in this entry)

The band. Groaning Mona. I'm reluctant to link the website here, since I'm in charge of it and I haven't updated it in over a month. There's still an advertisement for our last gig up there, and the sound samples, ugh ... they're the same old shit we recorded six month ago, after we had been together for all of three weeks. The songs sound so much better now, but we have no new recordings. As for what's up there now, it was recorded on the equivalent of a walkman condenser mike dropped in the middle of the room.

But we got some good new sounds from the gig on 12/2, and it's only a matter of time before I stop being lazy and upload them. As for now, you can find the old shit (and it is complete shit in my opinion, at least compared to what we're doing now) at http://www,groaningmona.com and please forgive the outdatedness of the whole thing if you do decide to pay it a visit. It's my fault and no-one else's.

Yes, amaebi is my band stage name as well. Funny thing, that.

A funk.

What the fuck is a funk?

What the funk is a fuck?

That makes no sense, I know, but I just wanted to see how it looks.

Wordplay. It's my website, and I can do whatever the hell I want here. Right?