princess calamari

Tomorrow morning, around 7am, because that's when I shoot out of bed when I've been drinking--all sweaty and miserable and burdened by a serious case of the shits--I'll wonder why I needed to drink those rum and sevens so fast. Moreso, I'll wonder why I felt the need to walk 10 blocks for the worst pizza in the universe. But for right now, I'm actually happy I went out.

This publicist convinced me to go check out this band. Not that I needed much convincing, but today was a shitty day. I felt grumpy and gassy and I really wanted to kill someone--really, anyone who had a question for me. I rolled in around noon after spending the morning on the phone with the IRS, and I'm sick of being broke and having to explain that to the government. I owe them $250 still for unpaid taxes for 2004. I owed over $1000 that year because I was an "independent contractor" at the time. In my lifetime, I've never once received a single paycheck for that much money.

By 2pm, I knew I'd have to go out tonight. The publicist really wanted me to see this band. She put me on the list, which felt weird because the venue is about three blocks from my house. They're called Giant Squid, and they're from Austin, TX. She sent me to their MySpace page, and I liked what I heard, enough to get me out of the house. Of course, I was only at the house for about 10 minutes. I got home from work at 9:30. Microwaved some pasta and tomato sauce I'd made on Sunday, and headed right out, pretty much. My roommates were astonished to see me. I was astonished that the front porch had been washed clean of spider webs and other refuse. My roommate A said he'd done it a week ago. I love my house. But that might be because my time here is so rare.

Giant Squid was so good they reminded me why I do what I do. There are so many bands so many people will never get a chance to hear, and some of them actually don't suck (but an overwhelming majority of them do). I have the opportunity to hear just about all of them, but unfortunately, I almost never have the time. Giant Squid is fronted by a husband/wife duo and they play really mind altering rock music. The two of them sound great together, but the guitars needed to be louder. They were giving away a free CD with a song or two on it, but I didn't take it because the full-length will be at my desk in a couple days. Instead, I bought a shirt, because I'd gotten in for free, and I didn't want to be greedy. I wouldn't know from experience, but it's got to be a tough hustle to be on the road in a van, playing shows in shitty towns like this one when no one knows who the fuck you are. And nevermind the price of gas. the shirt is pretty awesome. It's got a squid on it and a funky design. I love squids, though I'd never want to be eaten by one. The wife handed me a free sticker with my T-shirt. Way to make me feel guilty.