craiggott's Journal

NOT A JOKE
I bought a goat today!!

If you are stuck on MLK Jr Way in Seattle, RUN!
You know the joke, if you go to any city and the street is named Martin Luther King Jr. Way it will be the most ghetto street in that city?

Well, MLK Jr. Way South in Seattle is no different. It might be the most ghetto. I work as the community outreach specialist for a general contractor building a transit system right in the middle of the street of MLK Jr. Way S. in Seattle. I get to hang around the sites and talk to the people and the workers. They have the best stories. There was a guy selling the socks he was wearing for some beer money. The people smoking weed in front of the drug rehab center. The woman offering her “services” to one of the workers. The Pho restaurant storing grease in big iron drums 10 feet from their front entrance. Then there is of course the shootings, drug busts and chop shops. There was even a family that was burying a dead body in their back yard. No joke. Every day brings a new story. As the summer gets warmer, the freaks come out and it’s going to get CRAZY.

One guy wanted a job. He smelled of Mad Dog 20/20. He then wanted two chicken wings. He showed me his tool belt and hard hat. Then he said I didn’t like African Americans and hit on my co-worker. There is also converted mini-Uhauls that someone turned into a BBQ pit. They drive it around and sell ribs. The guy wears a chef hat and then has a mini-van following him that sells gear like rocawear and pele pele out of the back. It’s Great.

I've been on my new project for a almost two months. This week has been my first quiet week. Usually I'm out in the field with my hard hat and safety vest trying to talk to people who are angrey. This week has been a lot of sitting in the office working on logs and emails. Nothing too exciting, but shit will hit the fan once again and again and again. Construction is exciting, but it's not something I want to do for the rest of my life. It doesn't matter how much money they offer. Right now I don't want to be caught in a certain career. I'm way too young for that. Every move so far has been right, so as long as I do what makes me happy and what in the end is going to be best for my career then I'll be ok.

B-ball and sun burns
PISTA basketball tournament was dope. My team lost our first and second game, which meant we were done quick. I'm kind of glad we didn't go far because after the second game my knee hurt bad. My team consisted of 3 filipino dudes and me. Friends forever man. At 6'1, 180 I was the biggest guy on my team. While waiting to play all the hudge 6'7, 240 pound guys come in and we just laughed. Some dude who plays or played in Europe walks by and we laugh some more. Hey, we are there to have fun. We know we have no chance, but the one chance we did have was to stick together and that's what we did. We almost won our second game. My friend and I went into this dude's face, funny thing was he had nobody on his team backing him up. I think he got scared. All of us being busy we don't play anymore and fatigue set in and we lost, but we stuck together and that's all that matters.

So what did I learn from the weekend... Stick together. It's the best thing you can do and even if you don't win, you still end up feeling better and learning more than the people that beat you.

party!
I got to party with white people on Saturday! I tagged along with my friend who works in the advertising industry to a birthday party with people from his old work. So, it was a bunch of advertising hot shots. Let me tell you white people know how to party. It starts with the drinking. They get fucked up! I mean falling on the floor fucked up. White people just don't dance either, they get up on chairs and shit and get down! Oh and if you put some arrested development or some hot in herrrrrre, the white people go fucking bannanas! I think they also like any little john or usher too. They are mad fun though. I'm gonna have to get back into PR or advertising before I'm too old so I can party it up too. They are fun and social, it's great!

ballin out of control
I just finished playing ball. I heard the an African American kid say, "Oh once a black man comes people don't want to play. What? Those guys left because they have been playing for 3 hours and are in their 30s. Know your shit before you say garbage like that. Know that those guys do good work for the community and yes have contact and help African Americans every day who need help. Can't stand ignorant people. Oh we ended up losing by one point to this kid and his friends. Should have won, but couldn't hit a shot down the stretch.

Always know that the worst ball player on the court will be the most ghetto and talk the most shit. I've done research on this. It's true. So TRUE.

colds and car washes
Last Saturday a friend and I went up North to check out a friend’s car wash to raise money to help send girls to college. The car wash was pretty busy so we decided to pitch in and give a little money and have a coke. So after a couple of hours and some donations to the cause we decided to go, knowing that we did something good and helped out the cause.

On Sunday I woke up and I had a scratchy throat and was stuffed up. I’m thinking how did I get a cold at the start of summer. Then I realized, it must have been the couple of hours at the car wash. I’m guessing it was either the coke or the some dirty buffing sponges. Oh well. The car wash will get you every time.

creeps and geeks.
Once I was in then mall shopping for some supplies for these kids I use to work with. We were creating a map of their neighborhood so they needed so craft stuff. So I’m walking around looking and stuff and this woman comes up to me and asks me if I am being represented by anyone at this time, do I have an agent. I looked at her, got real scared and asked her what she was talking about. So she says, “I’m from so and so modeling and I was wondering if you’d like to come down and take some pictures to be a model. I was like, I don’t think so, that’s kind of not my thing. So she keeps badgering me for like 10 minutes. Saying bull shit like oh you have a real unique look (which means you look ethnic, but not too ethnic), you are tall, great smile. All a bunch of BS. So she gives me her card and tells me to stop by the office.

So I’m curious. I stop by she greets me and I see some other people there. It was the weirdest group of people I ever saw. It was like those cool kids in high school, who were popular, but kind of stupid. You know the ones that were really into how they looked and shit. Well, anyway, they all come up to you gushing about your look and all that crap. I guess, if you are really into yourself, it’s cool. It’s defitley an ego booster. So after a while, I come out and damn that shit creeped me out. Those people were so damn creepy, fake and just not real. It felt kind of dirty.

So yeah, all these creepy dudes with cameras telling these girls they can be models, it’s creepy man. Ok, unless you are 5’8 and above you aint going to be a real model, unless you don’t want to wear any clothes. It’s a real lame way of trying to be popular.

money
Today marks one year at my current job. Actually, I think I started on the 27 of last year, but close enough. I don’t know if I should ask or be getting a raise. This is my first real, real job out of college. So I’m not yet sure how things work.

I graduated college a two months after my 23 birthday. From 23 – 24 I did the occasional temp job and the rest of the time soul searched, which is just a BS way of saying unemployed. Then from 24 – 25 I did AmeriCorps. AmeriCorps is a job don’t get me wrong. It was the best experience of my life, but you really are not getting paid. Well you are, but it’s only like $680 a month, which comes out to about $4.80 an hour. But, you learn about yourself and to appreciate what you have.

From 25 to present, I’m at a good job that will lead me to I hope big things later on. I will get to work on big money projects and actually be able to put my degree to work. I don’t take things too serious and I know if it comes, it comes. No worries.

I’ve either had cramps today or pulled a muscle, I don’t know which.

gucci power
The Mr. and Mrs. Gucci wedding was off the hook. I'm estimating around 400 people. It was good times seeing old friends, current friends, partners in crime, future partners in crime and being around people who are like a second family. There were so many people there I didn't get to talk to or say hi to some of the people I wanted to say Hi to. With so many people, mostly Filipino, everybody seemed to blend in with one another.

I need to learn to pace myself as far as drinks are concerned. I was kind of drunk before any of the festivities go off. We left at like 11, but apparently they didn't get out of there until 1:30. Crazy.

Big time wedding, it's how you should go out. Going out like a gangster.

Oh it was 80 today. I don't know if some of these girls were going back to work, but a group were in clubbin gear. It aint that hot

not a kid, not yet a grown up
Went to Versper lounge last night. Had fun, good times. At around 12:30 I started getting sleepy. It was in the middle of the work week, and I realized damn, I can't hang anymore with late night work week partying. We stayed for another hour, but damn it I turned into old man and started yawning.

Just last summer I was out 2 times during the work week until at least 1:00. Taking up North late night trips. Now, it's gotta be in bed by 11:00.

I went to work today, 45 minutes late. I slept for only 4 hours because the stupid red bull I drank at 8 the night before never wore off. Couldn't concentrate, got very little done. After the work day was done, got in my car, couldn't give a shit if it was sunny and nice. Got home, went straight to my room, changed and went to sleep. Just woke up. 5 hour naps are the best.

There are certain things I'm really, really good at. Number one is napping, number two is pulling my groin. It's talent.

jump rope for heart
I tried to jump rope today for 10 minutes. Couldn't do it. I just did 200 jumps and then rested for 30 seconds. Did this for about 5 minutes. Jumping rope is hard!!!! I can force myself to run forever, but I don't think I could jump rope forever. It's not as hard as swimming, but pretty hard. I want to start swimming. That will be my summer thing, swim at least once a week.

Ring, not that kind
Two people meeting to eat lunch. Sit down say hi, hello. Cell phone rings. Other person’s cell phone rings. Next the blackberry vibrates. Other person cell phone rings. Two people having lunch together and not talking to each other, but instead talking to their cell phones.

From the way they were dressed and looked I don’t think anyone was closing any business deals or getting a call for an important meeting. Just a guess. You usually don’t wear a sweat suit and you usually don’t cake on the make up and wear a halter top if you are pulling big things.

So relax, put the blackberry and cell phones away. Eat lunch. Talk to one another. You are not that popular.

y selfish to trying to protect themselves or somebody. It may sound or feel like a good idea at the time, but it never works out because you think the person will never find out, but they do. There are ways, channels, techniques. If you do this, you have to realize that things will never be the same. Friendships, while not broken at the time, will be strained. It will never be the same. Friendships will turn to acquaintances. It happens. Most of the time things just need to take their natural course without people butting in and making things worse. But taking it to a point where it never needed to be taken in the first place is a decision and with some decisions it comes with consequences. Funny, people do some weird things.

adina howard is better than you
Came pretty close to telling somebody to shut the fuck up yesterday. I guess this lady got something to work on a spreadsheet so she started saying oh my God. The bad thing is she didn’t quit. She said oh my God at least 30 times for something like 3 minutes straight. This is not an exaggeration. For three minutes! Straight……It kept getting louder and louder. If you are going to say that for that long there better be some sex going on.

Ate lunch at Kau Kau. BBQ is so good because it’s just the right mix of fat, meat and sweet. The rice is all right, got to get the carbs in. I eat there at least once a week. I’ve been going there since I was a kid. We’d always go after Mariner games when they were in the Kingdome.

Adina Howard came out with a new album! Gotta go get that one.

bump and grind
Today as I walked to lunch I saw some guy grinding, and I mean grinding his junk on some woman. I think they were both drunk because they had some brown paper bags by them. Anyway, he keeps on doing this, like grabbing her, then grinding on her then pushing her away. I’m like damn, should I go help. Then, you know what happened? She starts grabbing him and grinding on him. They do this for about 30 more seconds and then stop to sip on the good stuff, an Old English 40 oz

There is this other guy who stands outside of the building and twirls a stick. He usually wears cowboy boots, acid washed jeans, and has a mullet. I guess it’s not really a mullet, but it looks like one from a far. I think he twirls that stick all day long because he’s there when I get here and he’s still there when I leave. Strange.…

clowns
Clowns are creepy! That's why McDonalds is semi creepy.

You know how clowns take off their make up after shows?

Tears

Bill Hung
William Hung is an ass. He thinks he actually got to where he was by hard work. The truth is he got his 15 minutes because he has a thick accent and he kind of looks retarded. It's no different than when they use to have white people doing black face back in the day. At it's core it's just making fun of a boater with an accent. I still say he is retarded.

You know who I really feel bad for... All those Asian kids in elementary school who are asked every day if they are related to William Hung, or know him. Plus all those kids asking them to sing she bangs. Oh damn, game over.

hurts and burps
I played basketball for the 2nd time in two weeks. This is a record for me. I haven’t been playing. I use to play a lot, but not anymore. I twisted my ankle pretty bad and well, that’s the end of that. I think I sprained my shoulder. It hurts and I can’t really raise it above my head.

It’s strange; I use to play in high school against some pretty damn good players. A couple even made it to the NBA. I never got hurt. Well, I almost tore my Achilles once, but that was a freak accident. Now that I’m playing against, well to be honest people who don’t know how to play I seem to pick up all these little injuries. Bumps and bruises. I’ve never really liked playing against people shorter than me. Anybody under 5’10, I don’t like playing against, especially if they have a little man complex or just plain don’t know how to play. They always go after your legs. I don’t mind if people hit me up top. From the stomach up hit me all you want, I don’t care. You go after my legs, it’s on. I don’t like that. That’s how I bruised my tailbone.

I work by myself most of the time which is fine. Nobody cares what I do and I can listen to my Ipod all day. I guess the only thing bad, is I don’t meet anybody new and there really isn’t anyone to talk to. I’m the youngest by far. I’ll say at least 5 years, maybe more. So I don’t have much in common with anyone. I don’t knit or have kids going to college, so shit, I don’t have anything to talk about. I make a mean chocolate chip cookie so I think that’s a start.

Play ball
I work near the China Town in Downtown Seattle, which is about a half mile from Safeco Field, where the Seattle Mariners play. Today there were a lot of white people in China town at lunch time buying chicken Teriyaki. That can only mean one thing, it’s opening day for the Seattle Mariners!

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