Patrick Says

Eddie Vedder is way cooler than you.

I was thinking about my musical tastes the other day and how they’ve changed the last couple years. I’d say my tastes have moved in a direction I’m not altogether happy with.

As recently as three years ago, if you had asked what I like to listen to, I would have said rock without a second thought. Anything with a heap of guitar and drum. My favorites were stuff Pearl Jam and R.E.M. and new stuff included Linkin Park and Evanescence. I was all about the rock.

Lately, I’ve been stuck listening to terrestrial radio and it’s hampering my musical growth. That’s mostly due to the fact that I don’t listen as much to alternative music sources like Pandora or even subscription based services like Rdio, which I use to love. Nowadays, it’s whatever is on the radio and unfortunately, pop tends to dominate the station on the car stereo.

I guess I just need to make a concerted effort to expose myself to new stuff. Heck, even new albums bu artists I’ve liked in the past would be a step in the right direction. My kids know the words to a Kesha song. They need to know the words to a Pearl Jam song.

Am I right, peeps? Let me know in the comments!

The other day, some friends and I were discussing getting old. The subject had come around to these ‘Young Leadership’ kinds of groups and how they usually end at around 40. And of course, advertisers always play to that 18-40 demographic. Whether they’re selling stuff to help when you’re cleaning leather or selling a body spray that supposedly attracts women, it’s like life ends at 40.

Which is where this idea came from.

I’m not taking aging well. Getting old, for me, sucks. I hate it. So from now on, when people ask how old I am, I’m going to give them my new method of counting age: dead+2. Since forty is dead to everyone, may as well have some fun with it. So, 42 becomes dead+2. In October, I’ll turn dead+3.

If you’re over 40, feel free to use this system as well.
Just be sure to give me credit.

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

You know how much I love Apple.

My work had me staying in a downtown hotel with my family this weekend. As part of that work, on Saturday night, I ran the movie night for the group. At 10pm, we were done and heading back up to the room. As we’re passing through the lobby on the way to our room, there are a lot of people as Saturday night in downtown Saint Louis can be a bit of a party time.

Catching my eye are at least three women in teensy, tiny glittery dresses going from place to place. Little tiny dresses. Seriously, tiny. It was surreal with my two boys in their pajamas and me pushing my wife in her wheelchair past people who probably are just getting started with what I’m sure will be an interesting night.

I sometimes forget that there are people who live in a completely different world than the one I live in. My life consists on Scout meetings, picking up prescriptions and hammering out documents and PowerPoints and learning about web conferencing services. Hers was probably a completely different experience. I’m not saying better or worse. Just different worlds. That’s all.

I always think it’s funny when musicians put song lyrics relating to their girlfriends in their songs. Either current girlfriends or past girlfriends. It’s funny because music is generally timeless and thirty years from now, no one will have any idea who you were singing about. For example, Gym Class Heroes has a song getting a lot of airplay called ‘Stereo Hearts’ which features the following lyric:

Furthermore, I apologize for skipping any tracks,
It’s just the last girl that played me left a couple cracks,
I used to used to used to used to,
now I’m over that,
Cause holding grudges over love is ancient artifacts.

I kind of assumed that was about Katy Perry, but maybe it isn’t. Who knows? I mean, if I was banging Katy Perry and she dumped me, I’d write two albums of songs. Heck, I’d write an album of songs about banging Katy Perry while we were dating. One song would just be me with a triangle singing ‘I’m banging Katy Perry and you aren’t’ over and over. Just saying.

Anyway, take care of your ladies and don’t put them in your songs, fellas. Go buy them something. Here’s some good gift ideas for girlfriends right now.

Later.