posting a short blog like this but...

Thank God my car is running good again and I, Mark Urich, fixed it myself with some help from Robert Urich, Shannon Juarez, and the late night security guard at The Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

No expensive trips to the shop for now.

Lately I've felt like sleeping all the time. I have no energy to do anything. I get this migraine that comes and goes. Getting through a day's work is just painful. All I want to do is watch some tv and fall asleep, which is what I did most of the weekend. Staying the night in my car in the Salk parking lot last night probably didn't help.

Going to the stand up thing on Friday was cool. I am also glad we got to see Link going into the Hard Rock Cafe while we walked around downtown. We bumped into Meredith Melchior, PJ Web, and Garrett Shields. As soon as we got back to Jeff's I fell asleep while everyone cleaned up the band equipment in preparation of Jeff's parent's return. Thanks for moving my drums guys. That night I also had a dream about Lori Vick.

Saturday I napped at my parent's house all day. Their house is much hotter than mine and I was not happy with waking up every half hour because I was starting to sweat. That night we saw The Wall at the Ken for their midnight show. I hate what the internet has done to our society. I've never been in theater filled with such rude people. It seemed like some people's goal for the night was to throw out the wittiest comments they could and try and get laughs out of others. It was extremely annoying and I know Chris was not pleased.

Sunday I slept all day, taking breaks from sleep to play with my kittens whom I have been somewhat neglecting lately. They enjoyed all the attention.

I am enjoying Mew's new album more and more as I listen to it. There's still a few songs I don't really care for but nothing I am completely repulsed by. I am excited to finally see them again after more than 3 years.

My car is still having problems with misfiring yet I am forced to drive it because my parents are back and I can no longer use their cars. I met a nice security guard at Salk this morning around 1am who has a very similar car to mine and he was giving me all kinds of tips on things to fix/replace to make the car perform better. He could not stop gushing about how much he loves his car and how great these cars are, more so than the newer ones. I took his advice and said good night, forgetting to grab his name before I left. So thank you anonymous Salk security guard for your help.

Joseph Flores, Jeff Micklos, and I, Mark Urich leave for San Francisco on Friday.

I need a new show to watch because I've already been through The Office and Arrested Development so many times that I've got them memorized and Scrubs bores me after the first 2 seasons.

The End

I am currently at Jeff's house.
Joe is playing beautiful guitar parts with his bow.
Jeff is recording/effecting them I think.
Chris is fixing titles in his music collection.
Ants are invading the house.

My family left on the 14th for vacation in Hawaii. They stayed in Honalulu for a couple days and are now in Kauai. I was invited to go along but I'd have to pay for myself, so I declined, although it would have been an amazing vacation. The night before they left I was hugging my mom goodbye and with a smile on her face she said, "I'm glad you're not... sad you're not coming." Freudian slip? I thought it was really funny. Anyways, they get back on the 24th and I have to take care of their dog and guinea pigs until they get back. AND I have a house to go to whenever I want that has cable, internet, free food, video games, and a trampoline. Awesome.

In 2 weeks from yesterday Joe, Jeff, and I will be leaving for San Francisco. I'm really excited because I've never been before and everyone seems to like it so much.

Jeff's family is also gone starting last Thursday until the 24th so we're kinda having perpetual band practice until then. We've already written some great stuff, I'm happy to be in a band again.

On Friday I bought tickets to see Mew play with NIN at the Hollywood Palladium in LA for $65 each. After I bought tickets there was rumor of Mew playing a solo show in LA the day before for like $20. So I'm kinda bummed about that because I can't even sell my tickets for the NIN to someone else due to their strict anti-scalping policy. So if anyone wants to go Up to LA on September 1st and/or 2nd to see Mew, I will be there both days.

I've listened to the new album a few times and I like it. It isn't as good as And the Glass Handed Kites but it isn't bad. There's a few great songs and a couple ok songs. All worth listening to though. I'm gonna wait until its official release before I write a review of it though.

But for the real story... my favorite teacher:
Mark Gabler
He was my high school biology teacher and is a family friend. I also really liked him cause we shared the same first name. Apparently my aunt Jan claims to have set him and his wife up but I don't know if it's true. He's basically the reason I went into biology and more specifically into research. When he taught he was so animated about everything and always made us laugh with his strange noises and impressions of organisms. I remember being so proud when I received my score for the AP Biology test and also when I get hired at Salk that I sent him emails to let him know how I was doing. I wish I could have more teachers like him, teachers that I can see more as mentors and not just professors.

Today I did absolutely nothing for most of the day. I wanted to get out of my house and go to the beach, or go swimming, or do something but every time I got up I was lured back to sleep by an unfinished dream or had the energy sucked out of me by the heat. It was a beautiful day and I am kinda disappointed I missed out on so much of it. However, laying around and doing nothing all day felt great.

While I was asleep I had two of the worst nightmares I've ever had. They ranked up there with Attack of the Warewolf Army and T-rex Temper Tantrum. I was frightened awake from the first one and luckily didn't fall back into it when I returned to sleep. Unfortunately I returned to sleep to find myself in another nightmare. This one felt so real that I could have sworn I was awake. I even woke up from that nightmare to find myself still in it, which had my mind convinced it was real. When I woke up for real I was so convinced that I would find myself in the dream still that I repeated all my actions from the dream to see if they were true. At the first sign of inconsistency I realized it didn't happen and was entirely relieved. It was not a good morning. The dreams that followed later in the day went much better.

After I slept all day Jeff, Chris, Joe and I played some baseball at Rancho Elementary. We all hit home runs, Chris knocked one out of the park.

Edit: I forgot to mention I did get to go swimming today for 5 mins in Jeff's pool and it felt amazing. I don't understand why we don't use it more often.

AND I just set my new personal record for a Rubik's cube at 3 minutes and 15 seconds.

My mom's birthday. It always bums me out a little because I'd like to spend time with friends and watch fireworks or go drinking or do something crazy but I am obligated to hang out with the family.

I wasn't really feeling the excitement for Independence Day this year. Even while watching the fireworks I remember people ooohing and ahhhing and me thinking to myself, "That wasn't that cool." I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I were really close, or at least inside Disneyland. We watched the fireworks from the pool level of the Paradise Pier Hotel and they were exploding off in the distance above some trees. It looked nice but I didn't get to feel the BOOM from the big ones, that's my favorite, when you can feel it in your chest and it somewhat hurts your ears.

Yesterday I played a game of indoor soccer with Kassey, her boyfriend, his brother, their mom, and some family friends of theirs. It was the most difficult thing I've ever done. Indoor is nothing like normal soccer. The field is smaller and there's only half the amount of people on the field so you are constantly running. I was gasping for air after 2 minutes and light headed after 5. It was a great experience and I'm probably going to join their team as an alternate and play with them each Sunday. It made me realize how out of shape I am and is good motivation to start running again, especially now that my knee has healed.

Then I went swimming at my grandparent's house to cool down. First I sat with them and wasted some time while we watched the Padres lose in the 13th inning. I swam with my grandpa for a bit and then picked some avocados from their tree and left. I really wish I had a pool, it feels so good when it's so hot out. I guess I'll just have to use other people's.

Muse really opened up to me for the first time last night. I was laying down watching tv and he was walking back and forth across me purring and wanting me to pet him while he was needing on me. I like him now that he is coming out of his shell.

My week off was nice but now it's time to get back to work. I wish I could just have the whole summer off to do whatever I wanted. At least I can take time off to do trips to June Lake and San Francisco.