The Daily Rick

How many New Year's Eves have I been through like this? Where I'm getting ready for the night ahead without really knowing what the hell it is I'm doing? Almost 930pm. Two and a half hours from the year 2004 and I haven't a clue where I'll be then. I hope I'm having fun. I hope I'm a little drunk. And I hope to be kissing my girlfriend.

Inked 2 pages of the comic today. I'm a man possessed.

Did you know that car washes close whenever the fuck they want? And more importantly, whenever the fuck you want to get your car washed? Two days in a row I've been washed out (so to speak). My tires and rims are starting to look like asteroids soaked in tar.

So Sunday was cool. The little lady and I had ourselves a little spontaneous trip to the happiest place on Earth. No, not Las Vegas...Disneyland! I love this place. Yeah, it's run by an evil corporate monster, but fuck it. I get within 10 miles of Disneyland and I just start smiling like a retard with a bag full of sugar. The place was crowded as hell. As crowded as I've ever seen it in 15..20 years, in fact. The park actually stopped selling tickets at one point due to over-crowding. We had to spend 4 hours in California Adventure before they'd let us into the real park. Still, we had a blast. I can't not love being in that park.

Today, I penciled 7 pages for a comic book story. Unprecedented shit for me. Best part was, it's pretty much a spontaneous story. I wonder if this is the way to go. Screw outlines. Damn any sort of planning. Just fill up on caffeine and let the Sanfords fly. We'll see if the inking and lettering goes as well. Fingers crossed.

I'm back home after a fun little Christmas. It's the year my 2 year old niece is completely conscious of the Christmas experience so it was a helluva good time watching her tear into wrapped presents whether they were hers or not. I don't know if she'll ever remember the day, but if I were her I would hope so. Sometimes, it doesn't really get much better than Christmas when you're 2. It's pretty cool being a grown-up (relatively) and watching it happen, too. All in all, a very quiet day full of running around and eating too much.

I did miss my girl though. The last time I visited my sister's place was with her and the spot next to me on the guest bed was noticeably empty. I'm anxious to see her. I hate the feeling and yet I don't want it to go away. I'm hoping it'll be that way for a long time.

Last night I read a hundred pages of a book called The Time Traveler's Wife. If you know me, all you gotta do is put the words "time traveler" in the title of whatever the hell it is you're trying to sell and I'll buy it. I'm a time travel nut. And, so far, this book's pretty good. It's a love story, to be sure, but with enough unexplained (so far) time traveling to keep my interest. So far, it's been a very sweet story. The dust jacket promises tragedy and stuff later. I'm sure the author's gonna do her best to try and make me cry. Challenge: accepted.

It's two days before Jesus' birthday and I haven't gotten him a thing. I managed to get a lot of other people stuff though, even if times are a little tougher than usual due to my not having a job and stuff. Still, I'm having a great time. Damn the little problems that seem to spring up unexpectedly around this time. It's still a blast. And even better to have someone to share it with.

We decided not to get a Christmas tree after some marathon procrastinating. Only a couple days left and we're not even gonna be here for most of it.

I got the reaffirmation I needed to fall asleep last night. It was good. I still live with an uncertainty I'm not used to at all, but I'll take it. The good stuff's worth it.

"Deep feelings, I'm keeping, still dreaming
Now, my secrets out
Deep, distant and pure..."

-from Kill Rhythm by Catherine Wheel.

Here are lyrics to a song I love. I feel exactly the opposite of it.

SO LIKE CANDY
Elvis Costello

Here lies the powder and perfume
The pretty clothes are scattered 'round the room
And it's so like Candy

Here lies the lipstick and the face
The coloured tablets keep it all in place
And it's so like Candy
So like Candy

CHORUS
What did I do to make her go
Why must she be the one
That I have to love
So like Candy

Here lies a picture of a girl
Her arms are tight around that lucky guy
And it's so like Candy

And in her eyes a certain look
I thought I'd seen the last of long ago
And it's so like Candy
So like Candy

CHORUS

I remember the day that picture was taken
We were so happy then
But that's so like Candy
She seemed so sweet to me I was mistaken
Oh no not that again
But that's so like Candy
She just can't face the day
So she turns and melts away

Here lie the records that she scratched
And on the sleeve I find a note attached
And it's so like Candy
"My Darling Dear it's such a waste"
She couldn't say "goodbye", but "I admire your taste"
And it's so like Candy
So like Candy

"Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone?
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot."

-from Big Yellow Taxi, Joni Mitchell.

I love living in a big city. I was born in one, and I think it's just in me to live in metropolitan areas. But sometimes, I just wanna be surrounded by trees or something; to not hear the highway from anywhere I may be standing. Driving around the city today, trying to get my Christmas bearings straight, I just felt overwhelmed by the concrete-ness of it all. Bricks, asphalt, walls, signs. And the latest blight: cell phone antennas made to look like trees. Fuckin' things look like they're made of Duplo blocks that got caught in a green trash bag wind storm. Something just all wrong about that.

And yet, I look at something like that fake tree, and I'm driving something that's belching god knows what into the air as I'm holding a cell phone in my hand. Yeah, I don't know what I'm complaining about either.

I saw Joni Mitchell once. She drives cars, too. So I guess we're all hypocrits.

I've been watching this rad series on the History Channel called Empires of Industry. They just covered Howard Hughes, the du Ponts, and the beer barons. Hot damn...the world still needs beer barons. Where did they go? We need another prohibition, if only to bring back the beer barons. Maybe for, like, a month. And then I'd write them letters, just so I can write: "Dear Baron Busch" or "Dear Baron Coors" or "Dear Baron St. Paulie's Girl" and I'd babble on about how drunk I was on illegal booze and how eternally grateful I was for their sweet, sweet mommy & daddy juice. A man can dream, can he not?

Two weeks and 2 days. I live the good life.

"I want a girl to make a mess
To do no wrong she must confess
And then perhaps hitch up her dress..."

-from Spooky Girlfriend, EC.

Is a fashion magazine supposed to make you feel dumb?

I was reading an old issue of British GQ that I purchased from eBay. It had a cover story on my man Elvis Costello regarding his then new album Brutal Youth, a favorite of mine. So we're humming along and, being a super-fan, these articles tend to all read alike so I'm glossing over well-covered territory. Suddenly, I come to a word I've never heard before in my life: peripatetically. What the hell? He made that up! So I go and look it up. Here are the main definitions according to dictionary.com:

peripatetic-
1. Walking about or from place to place; traveling on foot.
2. Peripatetic Of or relating to the philosophy or teaching methods of Aristotle, who conducted discussions while walking about in the Lyceum of ancient Athens.

I'm not even sure the writer was using the word correctly, but hell..it sure did the job. That of making me feel like a retard.

"I'm certain as a lost dog
Pondering a sign post."

-from I Want To Vanish, EC.

It's about 4 months or so until the Hellboy movie is released. I had a tiny anxiety attack about it today. Not an "oh shit" kinda thing, but one of excitement, of sheer geekiness. I know that next year I'll be spending my weight in gold on merchandising for this fucking movie. There goes my South African Kruggerand investments.

Last night was interesting and mildly nerve-racking. We'll experience these little earthquakes in our lives now and again, but the important thing is to let a lot of good words follow the bad words. Some bad words may have been spoken last night. It was an impulsive moment. Like buying a hat with a red feather in it. But I think we settled matters. Today, she put her head on my shoulder as we walked and, fucking hell, it felt good. Better than usual. If a chunk of icy airplane waste nails me while I'm walking to get the mail today, that's how I'll remember her.

Today I found out that my partner in idiocy also has an e-journal. I love reading his bullshit. And now, there's more of it to read.

Life is good.

"I climb the walls of my mind just
Like I'm climbing on a jungle gym
I am more than content with
The state of mind I am in
'Cause I am crazy just like you."

-from Crazy, Barenaked Ladies.

Still
-Elvis Costello, from North.

These few lines I'll devote
To a marvellous girl covered up with my coat
Pull it up to your chin
I'll hold you until the day will begin

Still
Lying in the shadows this new flame will cast

Upon everything we carry from the past
You were made of every love and each regret
Up until the day we met

There are no words that I'm afraid to hear
Unless they are "Goodbye, my dear"

Still
I was moving very fast
But in one place
Now you speak my name and set my pulse to race
Sometimes words may tumble out but can't eclipse
The feeling when you press your fingers to my lips

I want to kiss you in a rush
And whisper things to make you blush
And you say, "Darling, hush
Hush
Still, still"

Online surveys often blow. Here's one a pal sent me that I liked.

Pick a band and answer the questions using their song titles:

Band: Elvis Costello (and sometimes, the Attractions).

1. Are you male or female?: "Man Out Of Time"
2. Describe yourself: "Brilliant Mistake"
3. How do some people feel about you?: "God's Comic"
4. Describe your girlfriend/boyfriend/interest: "Party Girl"
5. How do you feel about yourself?: "Less Than Zero"
6. Where would you rather be?: "London's Brilliant Parade"
7. Describe what you want to be?: "I Want To Vanish"
8. Describe how you live: "Living In Paradise"
9. Describe how you love: "High Fidelity"
10. Share a few words of wisdom: "Tramp The Dirt Down"

Hm...now that I look at it, this survey would make a pretty good mix cd.

"Tell me you love me. Come back and haunt me. Oh, what a rush to the start.." -Coldplay's The Scientist.

Who can argue with a beautiful day? I can. I would have really liked to be with a certain someone today, but as we all know, life is what it is.

I bought a battery for her today. I hope she likes it.