my duty

just a couple of months ago when I was doing some shows, i got an e-mail from my brother saying that I had an official looking document from Oaklans County and he thinks it's jury duty. I had never been summoned before for jury duty. even when I was in college, and I could be excused from it, I still was never able to pull that veto out and use it. he held it up through the envelope and read the phone number to call. and it turned out to be coming up very soon after I got back into town, so I pushed it back, and it was just this past tuesday. I had to wake up a bit earlier than usual, and be there at 8:30. I know the working people will tell me, that's not early! I wake up at 5am every morning and sit in traffic for an hour.

well I had no traffic. and I was a couple minutes ahead of schedule so I picked up my favorite #3 combo at dunkin donuts, with cream in the coffee and a blueberry muffin, 'cos I'm a huge eater. I rolled in, and had to take my belt off at the security checkpoint, which sucked, cos my beltloops were really tight on this particular pair of jeans. I think they're my express jeans. you know the ones I bought last time I went shopping like two years ago... i went with my little sis, she helped me to decide what's hip or not. anyway, that's another story.

so I walked in and found the jury room, and there were so many people, and it's kind of cool, because you have to assume that no one there knows anyone else in the room. yet, after a few minutes, people found their little table-mate and struck up a conversation, or over at the coffee makers. that was a hot spot. I of course had my own coffee, but I warmed it up with some fresh stuff when it got cold. then I realized that I might possibly be sitting there from 8:30-5pm. so I went to grab my laptop, and that meant the security checkpoint again, so I had to take off my belt again, and re-route it... but no big deal. I wrote a verse to this new song I've been working on called "you you you" and I actually was able to draw some inspiration from looking around the room at all of the faces.

I was a bit let down that I never even got called to even be screened for a possible jury. I figure, I had nothing going on that day, and I wouldn't have minded sitting around and actually experiencing it for once. but no big deal. they let us go just before 12 which was kind of a shock, and I just packed up and was on my way... jury duty was not an imposition. although I was quite amused to see everyone in the room clap and cheer when the announcement was made that our freedom had been granted...

this experience also reminded me of an old "Friends" episode when Chandler was interviewing for a job, and it went very well, and the interviewer told him so. then as he was walking out, he said that he usually says things that are pretty stupid, or juvenile, and he was so surprised he didn't blow it in there... then at the last moment, he said something like: "I almost couldn't contain myself when you said 'duty.'" and the potential boss was puzzled. chandler said, "come on... duty... dooty... dooty... get it? you know... poop" then he left...

I served my duty, and am proud to have done so...

god bless the west wing on Bravo... marathon on mondays...

JJA

Spring

finally the spring weather is here... and finally I got off my ass and decided to type in a little entry for the journal. basically, I've been taking advantage of some time in MI, working on house that I'll soon be moving into. it looked like hell when we first checked it out, but it was relatively clean. then we trashed it by ripping a lot of it out, and now it's worse. but i guess that's just the price you have to pay to improve on something... it's pretty cool when I think about the potential of the house, and it's a nice area, and i alreay plotted out a nice 1/5 mile running route.

other than that I got to go to opening day for the detroit tigers which was exciting since it was the most beautiful day of the year at the time, and the Tigers won by like 10 runs... there was an extraordinary amount of whiskey and hot dogs consumed that day, but I got to serve up some of my patented chili-cheese chip dip, and my own salsa con queso. me and that cheese. I just can't get away from it when it comes to superbowl parties, or tailgating. I fee that urge to contribute. and it's usually a big hit. maybe I'll do a homemade specialty dips tour sometime in the future. I might have to make extra, cos I've been writing some new tunes, and I might be travelling with a band in the future... who knows when...

i wish i could afford to tour in the summertime, but it's just not really that productive when I've done it in the past... i miss the road. even though my taurus has been in need of some repairs. my goal was to get a van this summer so I might need to order a new personalized plate. any ideas? just e-mail them to me. maximum of 7 digits...

soak it up

JA