April 1998 Musings of the Gus

I rediscover my artistic talents while somehow remaining on unemployment.

• 01: April Fools Microwave - Another online journal-keeper donates a microwave oven to our cause.

• 02: free to create - Without a need to fulfill social obligations, I continue to paint pictures.

• 03: evening with a maniac - I spend the evening away from my housemates with a manic Chinese girl.

• 04: Viking Party - Wacky Jen pulls some strings and we drink lots of free vodka with business students.

• 05: recovering from Viking excesses - We get up late, watch teevee, and I do that artist thing.

• 06: stalkee - Manic Michelle keeps popping by all day long, causing us concern.

• 07: unemployment benefits continue - After an interview with a stern-looking Virginia Employment Commision official, I am still to receive unemployment checks.

• 08: first serious job interview - I feel like a fake throughout.

• 09: they get beer - Jessika takes the gutter punks and semi-goths on a bus-based beer run, while I deal with Michelle the Manic Chinese Girl.

• 10: computer dumpster diving with the Dart - Jessika, Deya and I take the Dodge Dart on a dumpster diving mission, then we watch a foreign film.

• 11: complex socializing - We go places and see lots of people, and lots of people visit us.

• 12: soapstone quarries - An Easter Sunday barbecue in a region devoured years ago by soapstone quarries.

• 13: taxed - I discover that I actually owe money this year.

• 14: a hole called 29 North - I go there on my continued job search.

• 15: Nellie appearance phenomenon - Also, Deya gets rats and Matthew reports that his eye is permanently damaged.

• 16: first opening sale - I actually sell a painting, but then I go into blackout.

• 17: Triplet Party - Ping pong, KC, and wishing for funkicide.

• 18: contentious over pseudoscience - Jessika is disturbed to find I have no faith in homeopathy and ear candles.

• 19: rose coloured heart resonant gelatinous energy bubble - We go to a kooky new age ritual in the Shenandoah Valley.

• 20: four twenty, 1998 - We go to a lake in pursuit of festivities on a major counter-cultural holiday.

• 21: Charlottesville's Dogwood Festival - We go to the Dogwood Festival and ride the rides for free.

• 22: over-accessoritis - Nikolai has me do a website for a band he'll be joining named Busride.

• 23: Todd the horse guy - I get to see his studio and paintings, which are never shown in this runty little backwater.

• 24: tea party - Jessika, fixing tea for Wacky Jen, tells me to fix my own tea if I want some.

• 25: commandeered wheelchairs - We ride around on equipment for the differently abled at Lowes Hardware. Also, a Union of a Man and Woman interview.

• 26: Swedish bus-ride - We ride in a recently fixed-up bus on Deya's parents' place. Also, we drink Red Lady 21 wine.

• 27: feeding hungry friends - Without refreshments at the Quaker's Steve Weiner memorial, we're forced to fix our own food.

• 28: nag nag nag - Successful dumpster diving and Jessika's irritating nagging all in a day.

• 29: $2 beer and no atmosphere - We go to the Jewish Mother for cheap beer and have a fairly miserable time.

• 30: anti-social non-tusser - Jessika, Wacky Jen and the gutterpunks drink tussin, but I stay home.