Below are the 14 most recent journal entries recorded in Peter Jourdan's LiveJournal:

Saturday, March 6th, 2004
10:08 pm	The Listless Analytical Mind of Springtime In a swoon of wine and and IMs with none other than godawful, I remembered that old Mott the Hoople song "Sea Diver." All, I can say, in the midst of 2000 Chilean wine, is 'fucking brilliant." And I'd forgotten that feeling for awhile. That feeling is a certain numbness associated with wine. That and I had a menthol cigarette tonight. I haven't officially smoked for 8.5 weeks now, although I've have 4 cigarettes in that time. Tonight is one of those times. In addition to bottles of endlessly flowing wines leading to increased productivity in the writing front, there i also the addition of Morrissey's "My Love Life" to my MP3 collection, and that song alone is worthy of a few fags. Matt T's grandfather just died. I'm not sure what this means in the grand scheme of things, but I do know that of my good friends on the entire planet four of them are turning thirty in the calendar year of 2004, and Matt [and me] is one of them. I think we need to take a cruise to Belize, or Cancun, or somewhere .... that would be like if David Copperfield had bent Uriah Heep over the counter and taken him from behind - it would be THAT cool and that disgusting to think about at once. And I think that would be a really good way to summarize the first thirty (we never thought we'd make it this far!) years of my life. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, January 16th, 2004
11:35 am	The Great 2004 Smoke-Out I intended to stop smoking after L.A., but then I was in the Salt Lake City airport and they had them at the news shop, so I bought a pack. My last pack? It's been 8 days since my last cigarette- so far so good. I'll always remember my last smoke, Thursday, January 8th at 6:04 pm driving from Staples to Cub Foods. Hopefully my last, anyways. In order to facilitate this lifestyle change, I decided I needed to resist all the things that make me want to smoke. Those are: waking up, coffee, alcohol, driving, food, thinking, reading, watching movies in which people smoke, and, of course, all other things I might regret. Of those, I decided to start with one, and then work from there. I no longer think. (Comment on this)
Monday, January 5th, 2004
12:44 pm	Adventures in L.A. It's been a long while and time once again for my annual post from Los Angeles. I wasn't even going to come this year, but it had been a long, cold, wet winter in Iowa, so at the last minute I found a flight out. Hey, this makes it four years ago on Christmas. This year was a bit different. For starters, I had to fly into Ontario. Everyone in my family thought I had made a mistake and was flying to Ontario, Canada instead of Ontario, CA. To be honest, I wouldn't have been surprised if my plane didn't alight in Toronto or Windsor or anywhere else, but the warm winds of Chino were blowing down upon me as I landed and walked out of the plane. Then, of course, Delta lost my luggage which meant, amongst other things, wearing the same pants for about four days. Also the Christmas gifts were delayed in arriving out here. And the Christmas cookies. My mother wasn't concerned that I had no pants, or books, or anything else, but she was quite concerned as to whether the cookies had been crushed. They were a bit, but still a refreshing break from Tecate and 2 Dollar Charles wine. L.A. is about the same as it always is - a bit cooler this year and some new 'favorite' bars to explore. The bag of books I brought which I really needed to go over remain unopened in the middle room. This year, the BBC series "The Office" became the new "Twin Peaks" for television viewing - thankfully, depending on how you look at it, a bit less demanding on viewing time. Bathing has become popular again, with me at least, after an infusion of new bath salts from ericpoptone and some Blueberry Champagne Body Butter courtesy of Delta. Tomorrow I fly back - it's below zero at home now, so it's time to enjoy winter in its proper form. Snow and ice and hats and all that. At least the hats will hide my lack of black hair, of which I seem to be in the vast minority here in the L.A. bars. (Comment on this)
Friday, January 31st, 2003
10:21 pm	Woking? So I was having a good bath with "Night Blooming Jasmine" which is really good and reminded me of 11th grade laser tag tourneys under immense pine trees in Afton, Minnesota. Now I'm applying for my first job job in about 4 years so I've gotten the portfolio, resume, and letter of intro ready in about 12 hours. Wish I had more time. Oh well, I think I've taught half the people who are interviewing me. Anyway, it's been a good experience, I think, even though it's taken a bottle and a half of wine to come to fruition. Tonight's bath: 3 parts Green Clover and Aloe from Bath and Body Works 2 parts Aromatherapy Spa from Bath and Body Works 2 Balls Spirit of the Vine-Boysenberry from Target 7 Candles Rose Soap (new as of this bath) End results were good if not great. The "Bath Time" mp3 track is coming along despite far too obvious suggestions from Eric et al. (Comment on this)
Sunday, January 19th, 2003
1:43 am	In the midst of the gathering gloom. I thought about T'Lanas tonight for the first time in awhile and I miss them. I think the main cause is that I haven't seen a girl in anything other than jeans since I was in L.A. and you could always count on the T'Lanas to appear in something other than jeans. I did have another run in with the Lemon Girl and things were wild and crazy, but then all ceased and returned to the normal life of me going to work and bathing, and it turned out there was some good out there in the world. I also thought of another 'her,' who I realised is actually featured (well her breast is) in my little icon on this screen but then I remembered I didn't know where she was, who she was, or frankly, what she was, so I remain, as I was. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, January 17th, 2003
11:50 pm	Smells and Swells I've made it through my first week of teaching two classes, at least one every day for the last week. I'm so exhausted even my $50 spent at Bath and Body Works for the most expensive bath of my life didn't help. I'll never complain about teachers and what they do again (not that I ever really did since both my parents were teachers and I saw what they went through -- so the circle of life continues on with me.) As for the good news, the Captain now has his own apartment, the first time he's lived on his own since '94 and it's only 4 blocks away. I also bought a new corkscrew that cost me about $30 but I am now as excited to open a bottle of wine as I am to drink that wine. After that bath, the best of baths, I've never smelled better in my life, I reckon. I just wish "she" was here to share in the smells. She'd enjoy them. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, January 11th, 2003
2:16 am	Bowling and Drinks Ryno and I went Blackout bowling tonight. The benefit was we got to gaze at 16 year old girls bowling. The downside was we had to put up with the obnoxious boys as well (and we were the ones drinking.) I've been searching for the new winter drink, just as last year was the winter of vodka cranberries, but unless memory fails me, we did have a winter last year, and we haven't had one yet this year. The whole idea of the winter drink is that which you clutch as you sit before the roaring fire gazing out into a vast white wilderness of falling snows. If you haven't experienced that then you haven't had a true winter drink. It's especially good if you are in some sort of A-frame chalet. Anyway, so far I've just been drinking wine, so there is thus far no definitive winter drink of 2002-2003. Thus far there is no definitive winter either, however. I got some new bath products from Amy for Christmas. She knew of my love of bathing and then went shopping. Sadly, she didn't know of my fear of sponges. So I now have some sort of back sponge on a stick which isn't too bad - I think it might be Swedish. It's those colorful squishy ones I fear, although I fear Band-Aids far more. If anyone knows of any good songs to play while bathing, feel free to list them. It is my number one hobby, and so far I have "Bath" by the The Divine Comedy. I need more. Songs involving "rub-a-dub-dub" or similar choruses need not apply. I do really like orange shirts, but they just don't go with red shoes very well. (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, January 8th, 2003
10:03 pm	Bathing in IA I'm back at home again after a long journey of watching TV and drinking Tecate. Before I even made it into my apartment I went by Whiskey River to see if The Captain was there and sure enough he was, but this time they weren't having a sing-along to Piano Man like 4 years ago when I almost left for good (needed to run home and check the answering machine and still haven't left yet...) It's been a warm and balmy 50+ here, and people keep talking about those "Santa Ana winds" as if they don't know I brought them with me. While this may be a bit warm for me, it does make midnight smoke breaks with the recently discovered (by the Captain) stash of '97 Cabernet more pleasant. But it's good to be at the place I call home. The Lutheran church down the street is having a potluck dinner which is something you don't see in L.A. I also have some new lavender bath oil (no kidding) which I aim to try, although the day before I left I was convinced I had discovered the Elixer of Life such as that which 18th century alchemists tried to find. It was a combination of certain bath lotions, oils, candles, and more and it was the possibly the greatest feeling ever achieved. I had to finally get out and go have a smoke. Sadly, I forgot to write down the recipe. Oh well, gotta go bathe... (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, January 28th, 2002
11:48 pm	The Warm Weekend It doesn't get to be 65 degrees two days in row in January in Iowa very often (it might have in 1912 or something), so we took full advantage. The Captain was grilling on Saturday so we all met up there and had something to eat while sitting outside in shirtsleeves. After dark it began cooling off so we wandered over the Boheme for a pint which was really three pitchers. Then Ryan-O, who is bartending and running the Martini Experience every Thursday came back to my place and we worked on the menu and just talked about Martinis (and drank some too) until 5 am. We have a lot of really good ones and some that are pretty unique, being our own concoctions. This winter I am prefering the few vodka based martinis over the gin ones just for the sake of it being winter, but sometimes the gin prevails. Sunday the Captain called early (he had been at my house til 5 too, writing a paper and drinking massive amounts of vodka-cranberries) saying he and his roommate were firing up the smoker. It was another gorgeous day, and we spent it on the patio watching the smoker slowly cook the ribs and halibut and played a few matches of croquet. The Captain won the first and would have the second except he accidentally killed himself by running through a wicket while poison. We think it might have been on purpose since it was dark and no one could really see what he was doing by that point, but that's not really the Captain's style. After an enormous dinner we had bowling league and beat a really good team meaning we're now in first by a mile and I had a really good series of games, despite the afternoon's PBRs. So now I remember I'm actually in school and need to get back to it. Thankfully it's 25 degrees again so it's easier to stay inside. (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, January 24th, 2002
12:08 am	New ShPants Today was a pretty good day. First, I got some new pants in the mail so today I actually changed clothes 4 times and wore different pants to work, class, workout (more on that later), and the bar. I went to class after a reasonably productive morning at work and when I got there I learned class was cancelled because Deb's kids were sick so I started reading the stuff I needed to read for my night class. Kelsey was reading hers too and said "lets go to the fieldhouse and read while working out!" So I did. I "bicycled" 8 miles then walked up stairs for 15 minutes and then did some tricep machine. Back to class after a quick stop for a 7 layer burrito to restore lost calories. Kelsey told the class how I was stetching so fine and checking myself in the mirror while doing the triceps. It's true I could hardly move my right arm in class, but after another quick stop at home to change pants again I learned I could lift a pint glass quite handily. Somewhere in between I learned the following things: 1) I had been given a $500 scholarship from some group in Des Moines which I applied for in November about 10 minutes before the deadline and had forgotten all about. 2) there might be a new law limiting telemarketing which might mean less job opportunities for Pringle Tooks but saves me some trouble, 3) the Cyclones, who are decent at best almost beat #2 Kansas in MBB, and 4) Iowa might have a tighter gun law soon which can only be good. So, overall, not a bad day. Current Mood: giddy Current Music: The Jam - Down in the Tubestation at Midnight (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2002
8:34 pm	The Captain and the Cologne The Captain got his own sister Shirley today. I need to go help him learn how to play her since he's not sure how to turn her on. I suspect within a few weeks I'll wake up to hear the sound of the Boo Radleys blaring through two tiny ibook speakers only to find the Captain sitting outside my bedroom window haxoring off my wireless internet browsing the world wide web. School is on. I need to do my projects in Macromedia Director for one class. What a pain in the ass! Oh well. I guess I need some hugs to get through this. My friend Jocelyn's mom brought some cologne back from Italy for me. She said she saw it in some store in Venice or something and it just screamed my name. I'm not sure what this means, but one day at work I was walking throught the customer service area and some guy was proofing a job and I could smell him from about 15 feet away and I thought 'how pleasant - I should get into that.' So here I go, or at least, the next time I see her mom and she gives me the cologne, well, then there I go. I don't know if it's good or bad cologne based on previous gifts she's brought me, but I guess it's worth a try for me to join the ranks of over-scented, pleasant-smelling men. Jocelyn didn't like the Lord of the Rings though, so I'm not sure if I can see her again. Current Mood: Huggable Current Music: Ocean Colour Scene - It's My Shadow (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, January 21st, 2002
12:35 am	Dreams of Iowa City I'm thinking about not eating meat for awhile. I did it once for nearly a year but then I just started again for no apparent reason except for the fact that I really like to get cheap Chinese food at one of the many establishments in town that serve it for about $3.00 and that provides about all I can eat. The problem is, I really don't like tofu so I was always having problems figuring out what to order. When I cook at home it's no problem as I can just whip up a hot dish using garden burgers. I'm not sure why I think I should do this now, but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with that place in Colombus Junction that served bits of a cow's face and I saw a pile of it on the grill. Fake chicken patties are OK in my mind but no one serves them when I go out to eat so I end up with an order of fried onion rings and the desire for some cheap Cashew Chicken. I'm back from Iowa City. It was pretty good. I'm not sure when I'll be back unless it's for the Mountain Goats' show in March. The drink of this winter is officially Vodka and Cranberry juice. I'm not sure how that happened but it has. A twist of lemon always helps for those who are so inclined to follow suit. Driving back from Iowa City with first Godspeed You Black Emperor! and then John Vanderslice blaring at 22 through the Chevy Super Nova's factory speakers, I had brief visions of what living in Iowa City might be like, in regards to when I'm done here, and in the end I said to myself "fuck it and move on," and really I think I will. As in, it would be OK to go to the Hamburg every morning for breakfast and then somehow end up at the Chill 'N' Grill, and I might actually get used to it, but it's probably time to try Albequerque, for example. Current Mood: rock on Current Music: Roxy Music - If There is Something (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, January 13th, 2002
12:59 pm	Des Moines and back again There's a new bar in Des Moines called the Royal Mile just down from Java Joes where late and quaint 4th St. Grocery used to be. I guess it's Scottish although they really don't differentiate between the different nations of UK. It's pretty good. All James, all the time on the stereo (at least last night) and the bar was packed with people who were not just your typical puffing postfrat Des Moiners. The beer selection is by far the best on tap in Des Moines. I gulped Fullers ESB all night while Goth Brendan alternated between Fullers Porter and Boddingtons and some sort of Scotch. Later, at Java Joes, there's a girl serving coffee with blond, ratty hair and lot of piecings and tatoos visible. She's actually from Pleasantville and knew (or knew of) the brothers Brightwell. She's young though and actually graduated from high school with a young Zubrod. Sadly, I can't recall her name but it's really not that important. I asked if she liked the Sno-Cone Hut and she had been there a few times. Me too, I said. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, January 11th, 2002
11:33 pm	back in the Middle West After returning from nearly two weeks in L.A. I thought I might find time to relax, but it turns out a few people here missed me and we've spent the last 5 nights out on the town in apparent revelry. The captain has, as usual, been at the forefront of my debauchery. Monday: Motown night - we thought we might have a few vodka and cranberries. We had 4 PINTS (of vodka, essentially) each. After this things became a bit of a blur so I don't have many interesting stories, but I'm sure others have some. The next morning the chair at my computer was covered in some liquid that seemed clear and odorless. So the mystery is, what the hell was that and where did it come from? I think this will remain a mystery just like how I somehow mysteriously broke a dresser drawer one night. (I didn't piss myself - I checked, and I wouldn't do that anyhow..) Tuesday: ????? Wednesday: Wandered up to the Boheme in search of the Captain and others. We were supposed to meet up for a bit of bowling but by 9 pm I couldn't find anyone. Some of them were on a pub crawl, turns out. Hung out at the Boheme for a pint of Bass, then six pints of Harp. By the end of the night both the Captain and Ryan O had shown up. The Captain was grinding with some girl who we think joined the coast guard 2 months ago. She's either AWOL or very good at spinning webs of lies. The Captain is unlikely to recall his grindings so it's best not to mention them. Thursday: Wandered off to Boone to bowl. The Captain was doing well so I thought I shouldn't let him beat me since I recruited him to the team. He didn't. I got a season high 189 and it was Cosmic Bowling which in Boone, IA means you get to hear an entire ACDC album. That was OK by us since it followed Kid Rock. Wandered up to Thumbs later and had a few, won some pool games and fantasized about a summer Ames Croquet League. Friday: I'm tired. I think I'll do laundry. Who goes out on Fridays anymore anyway? Current Mood: tired Current Music: Divine Comedy - Lost Property (1 Comment |Comment on this)