L&T of Skyler B – Episode…. Man, I am Done with Episode Titles

Yeah, shocking… I know. It was a great running gag, but I just no longer feel the need to keep it running.

So, I know you’ve all been on pins and needles waiting to find out what’s going on with “Skyler and the Hunt for a New Car” and your waiting will not go unrewarded… When I actually get the car, you will all be front and center at finding out what the story is. But, well… a few things got in the way the past few days and I wasn’t even able to leave the house and look at cars.

Today, however, I actually went to Hastings, NE and took a look at the car of my dreams… And test drove it… to the songs of Stone Temple Pilots (“Interstate Love Song” to be exact) and let me tell you… I will own this car.

But until I do, that’s all I want to talk about it.

Otherwise, I’m almost ready to leave home again and head to Drake to move in for my fourth time. I’m not going to have any help moving in, so for the most part I’m going to have to fill my car with essentials (I just mistyped “with” as “whit” and I don’t know why I’m sharing that, but…. yeah ok moving on now…) and hope I can survive off of that until my parents can cart the rest of my junk to me.

That’s next Tuesday. Then on Wednesday I have to help move in the new students so they can start their new lives as Drake students. Oh joy! I’m sure I will only make one of them regret coming to Drake.

Then I have about a week of nothing before my fourth and final year. I’ve made mistakes in my schooling in the past, but now I’m going to go forth and correct them in eight-ish months.

Or fail.

Either way, at least I’ll be able to say “I tried.”

Unless I fail, then my folks will kill me and I’ll never say anything again.

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Added April 25, 2017
I should have taken that semester off from school. That I didn’t is one of the greatest rough patches in my life, to date. Only a small collection of really awful periods of time, and that’s one of them.
I kinda with Young Skyler would have kept the post titles going because I found them enjoyable, but I get it, I get it.

L&T of Skyler B – Episode 46: Car Talk (or: CAR-LLING ALL CARS!)

I got a lot of puns, and so little time.

After years and years of driving my car and hating it for the trouble its been worth… I’m finally taking it in to trade it in for something else. Something better. Something that won’t have transmission problems, will have a working stereo, will not die on me at random in parking lots across America, won’t blow hot air at my face that melts my eyes out of their sockets, etc.

I’ve got my eyes (which haven’t melted, yet) on this 2005 Chevy Cobalt. It’s yellow. I have been in love with yellow cars for years. Since before I’ve been driving.

I’ve never been into cars, I only really feel a need to have one to get me from A to B and back again. But to have a yellow car… and a sporty one at that? I’m close to changing my mind.

Its a bit out of my price range, but I plan on driving it anyhow. I will do just about everything in my power to get the vehicle back here.

Regardless, I will come home with a new car tomorrow and then have a new car for when I go back to Drake. It will rock.

I will be so mad, though, if I come home with my old car. Like you wouldn’t believe. This is a two part episode, though… I will post part two after I bring my car home.

It will be awesome (I hope)!

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Added April 25, 2017
“Car-lling” — UGGGHH….
I got that yellow car. It is one of the more thrilling, exciting things in my life. I loved that car. I’d still drive it, to this day, if I had it. God bless that car.

L&T of Skyler B – Episode 45: Water (or: Submerged)

I haven’t been swimming in over 12 years. After a time, I became self-conscious about my thin torso and stopped going. By the time I got over that, I felt I was too old to go to the child-filled public pool here in Harvard, NE.

Then I went to college and I never really went again.

Today I went to some Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital (where my father works) picnic at a water park and, well… I went swimming.

I’d purchased a new suit and towel prior at Wal-Mart and then I dove in. I did every stroke I could remember, and it was thrilling.

The difference in gravity, the weightlessness of being underwater, the blue world down below… And going off the boards! Oh my lord, how I’d forgotten! To swim, to dive, to dive down deep down to save my head (Heart lyrics. Oooh, barracuda!)… It all came back to me in an instant.

I at once felt both at peace and nostalgic in the water. I felt like I was ten years younger, at least. Swimming, I remembered how long I used to be able to hold my breath, how fast I could swim, how deep down I could go, and everything… And today I learned that I’ve become far worse at all these things in the decade+ I haven’t been swimming.

So, I’m going to take it up, again. That’s right. Not only am I lifting weights now, but I’m also swimming on a regular basis.

Yeah, I’m awesome.

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Added April 25, 2017
SPOILER ALERT: No, Young Skyler didn’t keep up swimming. He didn’t keep up lifting, either.
Young Skyler is a collection of disappointments.

L&T of Skyler B – Episode 44: Nostalgia (or: Blogging is Cool?)

Sometimes there is simply no place for me to vent about my extreme issues. This is typically good, though, since… as a worrier of great magnitude, being unable to vent gives me ample time to reflect on my issues and deal with then in a far more normal and healthy manner. This is different than what I almost always like to do, which is to simply call upon my old ‘talking diary’ (who was actually a good friend of mine over MSN messenger, not one of those prepubescent toy journal things girls used to have, although I’m not sure if they made talking ones or if I’m simply wishing they had) and vent and rant and rant and vent for hours.

These days, my diary… she’s gone, has moved on. And while I’m sometimes sad about this fact, it just means that I have to find a new outlet for my pent up frustrations about life, school, girls, friends, trouble, family, school, life, and school.

Back in high school, pre-talking diary, my most often used resource was my old Xanga page. If you could go back and read some of the things I wrote about, you’d probably short circuit. Anything was fair game, back in those days.

Now I not only find myself without my diary, but blogging is – for the most part – simply not about that, anymore. Now I talk about what I’ve been up to, what movies I’ve seen, how many brownies I’ve eaten, etc. I can’t share my thoughts on the world at large and all the people and problems within it because those people and those problems and that world has easy access to it, and can judge or mistake or read too much into the things I write.

For instance, I am really dying to talk about a person I know’s apparent recent life choice and how funny I think their poor decision making skills and timing are. But I can’t. That person could read and might misinterpret it. So, the blog is out.

And I re-learned recently (I keep forgetting this fact, for some reason) that my friends sometimes share things with people, and since ever since high school all my friends have somehow known all my other friends through strange connections, I can’t share my thoughts with a new ‘talking diary’, which is both maddening and comforting, because it’d suck if my thoughts got back to the person in question.

At times like these, when I can’t sleep… and I can’t think… and I can’t focus or concentrate or anything… I’d like to listen to music. Or play through Half-Life 2. Or watch an Indiana Jones movie. Or something… but everyone is sleeping and I’ve got a haircut in the morning and work tomorrow night and the ever looming stress of people and things and the world hanging above my head at all times.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, this isn’t a post about anything in particular. It’s a post about how it can’t be. And why my blog is usually filled with jokes or non-sequiturs or puns or anecdotes, instead of important life events that happen to me or people I know.

I need to sleep. I need to listen to Hooverphonic. I need to get better at playing guitar. I need to get out of summer and into school, where my life can get back on a track… of any sort.

Sorry for the lengthy, over-worded post about stuff you won’t care about.

I just felt the need to vent a little.

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Added April 25, 2017
“Sorry for the lengthy, over-worded post about stuff you won’t care about.”  – this could be the ending of nearly half of the posts you’ll find in this archive, any that are over two paragraphs long.
I wonder what friend had made what poor choice? I’ll never know, at this point.
I do like when Young Skyler reflects on blogging as a whole because it gives me room to evaluate his evaluation. He is starting to hit the nail on the head, one he’ll cover more fully in later years when discussing the ‘privacy’ of a blog vs the ‘window dressing’ of a blog and which is more accurately depicting the very nature of a blog. But he’s not quite there, yet.

L&T of Skyler B – Episode 43: Goodbye, July (or: Goodbye, Summer)

So I am almost free.
I have a final to take. Then I have to work. Then, for the most part… summer can begin to end.
The start of this summer was a stress test on me. After my lackluster performance during my second semester last year, I thought for sure things were going to just go downhill until I hit a bottom. I knew they would, actually. Which is sad. And pathetic.
May ended out pretty “OK”, I suppose. I was just fearing the months ahead. Pete was home, Zak was home… mom was home… dad was working all the time, still is, actually. We played and wrote music, Pete and I played Mario 64 with near-religious dedication, I saw movies… it was fun.
Then came June. What. A. Sonuvabitch. Long, work-loaded, class-filled, boring-boring-boring, very little fun…. STRESSED-OUT!
July was worse. Mainly because I figured, if fate and destiny were gonna screw me over, they’d wait until the last possible minute. So, every day was a long, drawn out pain in the ass. Work dragged, classes and tests seemed huge and hard, everything seemed to mock me… Even going to Des Moines for the 4th seemed to be a misleading blessing of some kind, because all it really did was add new worries and doubts that weren’t there before.
But now that we’ve reached the month’s end, and I’ve got all my stuff to go back to Drake filled out and sent in, I’ve just printed off my two-weeks notice for work, my class ends tomorrow, and in one week I’ll be coming back from my second summer-trip to Des Moines, this time heading to Iowa City to see a concert. A REVEREND HORNET HEAT CONCERT! It’ll be a psychobilly freakout, is what it’ll be.
Then I’ll head back home and ride the rails into the Fall semester…
Where I can stress out over the little question of:
“OH GOD HOW WILL I MANAGE TO NOT GRADUATE?!
OH BOY!

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Added April 25, 2017
When Young Skyler slips into a kind of depression he really just lets himself go, huh? Not that this is surprising at this point, but man. What an idiot.
Most of his stress – like my own – is based entirely around not doing things right the first time, being impatient, and being lazy. I’m better about it than he is, for the most part, but that is absolutely not saying much of anything.

L&T of Skyler B – Episode 42: The Final Countdown (or: El Countdown de la Finale)

No, not the song of the same name by the band Europe, this is the final 31 days of my summer vacation, wrapped up into a nice countdown.

31-22:
-These are the only days left I have in my Accounting class at CCC, in Hastings, NE. I have four tests left, although the final one is a comprehensive exam, and since I’m doing well so far, I assume this means I will do well on this. This is, however, assuming that I know what I’m talking about.

21-20:
-I don’t typically work on Wed/Thurs, but the next bit explains what is going on, here.

17-16:
-I will be heading to Des Moines for a little bit of respite, taking the days off from work (more accurately: changing the days I work to the Wed/Thurs prior to the weekend) to enjoy a concert and hopefully some good company before heading back for the final half-month of my summer at home.

15:
-Turning in my 2-Weeks notice at work; This is always fun because, since I’ve left this job three times already, I simply use the same old resignation letter, change some names and dates, and viola! Instant “Get out of Jail” free card! This time, however, I will be turning it in late, under the pretenses of “I would have turned it in on time, but I was on vacation and forgot!” The oldest trick in the book…

14-5:
-My last days of work forever at Hamilton Telecommunications (I hope and pray). Tearful goodbyes, warm hugs, well-wishes of Godspeed…. None of these things will happen as I leave the building, forever.

4-1:
-My final days of summer, all before I head back to Drake University for some volunteer work (Hey, I get to move in early and help spread the Lit Society’s name around a bit? Heck, you don’t gotta ask me twice!) and some smooth sailing into the first semester of the end of my college career.

0:
-August 21, 2007: What will the future hold in store for you?

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Added April 25, 2017
I barely remember taking that class at CCC, I remember taking the college math course in the summer before senior year much more accurately. Oh well.
Also? I have absolutely zero memory of that Reverend Horton Heat show in Iowa City aside from the fact that I saw it, period. Memory and time are strange things.
Same story? I know I did that “help freshmen move in” thing but I absolutely don’t have any memories of doing it. All to impress a lady, ladies and gentlemen.

L&T of Skyler B – Episode 41: A Terrible Truth (or: How I Spent My Weekend)

So I guess it’s time for another one of these, eh? How’re you all doing? If you could only answer while I’m writing this post, then we could have a talk. A talk about…

Weekends.

You see, since my work week is a touch more stupid than most people’s, my weekends actually take place on Wednesday and Thursday, instead of your average Sat/Sun business, like most people experience.

Since this means I can’t hang out with anyone during MY weekends, I have to stay indoors. Also, as a side note, I have to study for tests that I take every three days, so I couldn’t go out anyhow.

So, tomorrow, being my last day of the weekend, I figure (after I get back from shopping in the morning) I’ll study a whole lot, then actually continue work on my photo project I started. I wanted 15-19 pictures, total. I have 4. And one of them is overly crummy. Then maybe – just maybe – I’ll study some more, actually work out (I skipped today… I feel so bad), and maybe watch some of this show called “Home Movies” which is so good I don’t feel I can adequately describe it to you.

See, if you could talk to me now, I’d ask you how you were going to spend your coming weekend. But we can’t have a discussion, can we?

A few last notes:
-I want to trade my car in;
-I’m high off a kind of hot, liquid Jell-O made with about 4 cups of sugar
-Wishing I was done with so many things so I could start so many more
-Drawing more crude stick figure comics at work is great
-Going to bed, now.

G’night.

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Added April 25, 2017
I still draw crude stick figure comics! And the Jell-O thing was this syrup my mom used to make for us when we were kids and it is at once both delicious and disgusting.
I kinda wanna trade Button in, these days, but at the same time I feel like I really should just run her into the ground. She’s served me well for almost a decade, at this point, so getting rid of her seems like a foolish move. I dunno.
Home Movies is a show I don’t know I can adequately describe, not succinctly. Give me time to show you four episodes and I’ll have made my point.

L&T of Skyler B – Episode 40: Joo Lie (or: Watchin’ Frasier on DVD)

I haven’t been very active this summer. But I’m 22 and getting old, so I suppose this is acceptable.

But I’ve been writing (still) and I suppose I’ve just started working out, lifting and doing situps and stuff. And I’ve been hard at work wi…

Oh, working out? Yeah, I suppose I should share; I’ve started lifting with my younger brother for the past week. I’m going to keep it up for the rest of the summer and (I hope) into the school year. The reason for doing this? It’s far too simple to even explain. I’m really just going through some stuff and figuring out that I’m not an overly healthy individual. So I’m working out, now. I’m also learning how to study again, for the first time, so…

I don’t know, I really don’t have much to say. I’m excited for summer to be over so I can get out of work and this house. Not that I hate the house, mind you, but I just feel like I’m running in circles doing nothing. And this job, despite the good pay and the fun I have and the friends I make… it always causes me to get at least a little depressed. And that’s not cool.

So…

Come one, school. Let’s GRADUATE!

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Added April 25, 2017
Yeah, Hamilton used to make me so sad. It was a death zone, more or less. But that’s what happens when you’re in a literal box with bright overhead lights and little sun through non-existent windows. Glad things have changed…?
I should get back into some kind of shape other than “round”.

L&T of Skyler B – Episode 39: The (Temporary) End of Everbody Stills (or: No More Write)

I have been forced to quit writing my current story. By the main character’s insecurities, anxieties, and apparent social disorders.

When I left him last, Everbody was on a men’s room toilet, attempting to relieve the tension and anxiety he assumed he could rid through his… well, end. But he discovered that there was a problem with this.

Everbody, at this point in the story, has found the object he’s been looking for his entire life, the one thing that makes him complete (or so he thinks). He’d thought he’d found it multiple times before, but had failed each and every time.

Now that the real deal is in front of him, within his grasp, he is shut down mentally, emotionally, and sometimes physically as a result.

To quote Everbody (and the section’s title), he is simply “Not Ready” yet.I hadn’t ever anticipated that this would happen to him, at all. I know how the story ends. This CAN’T happen in that ending. But I can’t NOT persue it, the concept of his continuing discoveries is too great to pass up. I thought I could make a choice, take time off from the story and examine the pros and cons of each possible answer.

But I was wrong.

It turns out that Everbody can never be the same after this, no matter what. Even if I try to take it out, from this point on in his life, Everbody will be affected by his discovery in the bathroom that day, with his pants down around his ankles. That he is too scared, anxious, and self-concious to simply reach out and grasp what he’s always wanted. This holds him there, in that bathroom, until he and I can figure out what his next move should be.

Not WILL be. Should be. I’m not going to ruin this for him.

I’ve got my own life to ru(i)n.

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Added April 25, 2017
Almost 100% certain that this post has shown up at least one other place so I won’t say much, here, aside from the fact that I’m still blasting this Gorillaz “Humanz” album and it is incredible, even the weakest tracks are growing on me.
Not the place for this commentary? I don’t care.

L&T of Skyler B – Episode 38: Summer Daze (or: Vacations!)

So in five days I will turn 22. This is nothing, to me. I seem to no longer really care so much for my own birthdays. It isn’t that I’m not excited to continue growing up (note: not so excited, though), but I just don’t feel the joy building inside me like I used to when I was a kid, or – to a much lesser extent – even a year ago. Oh well.

I’ve been working fairly nonstop all summer, and now I’m taking an Acct. course for the credits to help with my Marketing Minor at Drake. This has been eating up a lot of my free time as of late, keeping me fairly busy. Add to that the extensive writing I’ve been doing, as well as reading the entire Bret Easton Ellis library and watching episodes of Frasier on DVD (with my photo project to boot), and I’ve been very busy.

This past week at work I nearly shut down; I was bored, I didn’t feel it was worth the time, and it was simply a chore to do (which, I’m to understand, is the definition of “work” anyhow). I was tired all the time… I needed a vacation.

Now I’m (sorta) on it.

Last night I attended a Roger Waters concert, which was awesome. If you don’t know who that is, chances are you’ve heard him but didn’t realize it. Roger is the bass player for Pink Floyd and has a great solo career. I saw him in Omaha last night and he played the entire length of Dark Side of the Moon (the album) on stage, plus some stuff off The Wall and his own material.

It was amazing.

The seats were awesome, the music was great (Roger’s guitar players were awesome, especially the guy that NAILED all of Gilmour’s guitar licks), and Roger’s voice was on pitch the entire time. Also, he made fun of and bashed Bush quite a bit, which was awesome.

Then, today, I went and saw Knocked Up (4.8 out of 5) and Sicko (4 out of 5) for my older brother, Dr. Pete Bartels‘ birthday. It was cool.

Now I’m home, ready to go to work for two days, take and Acct test, then continue my vacation with a 4th of July shindig in Des Moines with friends, as well as working on getting the Drake Lit Society up and running to… better standards than before.

Then its back home for work, classes, and less sleep again.

I’m excited.

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Added April 21, 2017
By “work on the Lit Society” what I really mean to say is “try to get together with its president”.
I’m not a huge fan of Roger Waters, anymore. Like, I’ve seen him twice, saw him do Dark Side and The Wall at different shows and these days I’m pretty much OK with not needing any additional stuff in my life, from him.
I love that Young Skyler gave Knocked Up an arbitrary score with no context. Like, its just a high rated score out of the blue with nothing to back it up. Great work, man.