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NicKolassaloKciN
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Interests: I like to listen to heavy metal. All kinds are good, but thrash metal is the best. So, here's a list of bands:
AC/DC; Anthrax; At The Gates; Black Sabbath; Blood Brothers (yes they made it on the list); The Casualties; Children of Bodom; Death Angel; Deep Purple; D.R.I.; F-Minus; Guns n' Roses; The Haunted; Iron Maiden; Jag Panzer; King Diamond; Led Zeppelin; Napalm Death; The Nekromantix; Yngwie Malmsteen; Megadeth; Metallica; Ozzy Osbourne; Rainbow; Joe Satriani; Slayer; Testament; 3 Inches of Blood; Steve Vai; Venom; The Virus; Yes
I guess that's like a recent listening list. Not an all time list. Whatever you listen to, I probably hate. hahaa
Message: message me
Member Since:
12/9/2004
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Day One:
Today was quite eventful, but the whole thing has
such a putrifying aftertaste. I'll try not to depress you to tears by
stewing on the negatives. Woke up around 8 am. I walked sownstairs and
saw the back door cracked open, so I figured dad was out back or
something. I reached the bottom of the stairs, walked outside - still
no dad. I walked around the side of the house and decided to just go in
the side door. I opened the door and there he is sitting in the living
room. I had walked right past him. Twice. This event was a prelude to
the mood of the entire day. Walking in a haze. We lazily procrastinated
hauling items from storage to the house by watching a couple Three
Stooges episodes and falling into some other small distractions.
Finally we pulled together the energy to get in the truck and drive to
Maryland Heights. We picked up a few items and were on our way back
home. When we started to unload the truck, dad was like, "Hold on,
gotta take a break for a pop first." Taking a break before we started?
I was dumbstruck at his lax behavior, but sound myself sucking down a
Dr. Pepper right along with him. Not like this was easy work or
anything - we had some heavy stuff: a 1940's Magnavox record player the
size of you, my Brit dresser, and a few other desks, crates of records,
etc. We brought three loads together and I stayed home while he picked
up the fourth so I could get ready for work. I was carrying something
in when I heard my phone go off in the kitchen. It was Erin Schussler
on the phone asking if I could work from 2:30 - 4 at the Heights. I was
like sure, no prob... but for some reason (just like Chris Kottemann,
remember?) she interjects, "I'll pay you $20!!" I was like, "umm...
ok?" So I packed up my stuff and I was off to work. I told Erin she
really didn't need to pay me, but she insisted as she was also paying
that one whiny guard... oh yeah, his name is Brian McCarthy... $20. I
later found out he got paid for 15 minutes on stand and 45 down! At 4 I
was off to MFAC. Only one thing of real interest happened. A woman went
down the speed slide and bonked her head on the side of the slide right
at the bottom. I was sitting at the second stand on rec when it
happened. Rob was at the bottom of the slide and asked her if she was
alright. She said she thought she was and sat on the side of the pool.
I immediately suggested a concussion - it was the same thing that had
happened to Bridget. Not more than ten minutes later she was sitting on
the bench outside the guardroom holding her head in pain and calling
for an ambulance. The paramedics arrived, put her on a stretcher, and
she was off to the hospital. The rest of the night kind of droned on
until lifeguards started showing up for the meeting. The meeting
covered several topics: 1. Bridget has been fired. 2. Tuesday Midwest
Pool Management is coming to evaluate the pool. 3. We will never
receive overtime pay. Like I said in the beginning, I won't elaborate
on these unless either you want to know or some other relevant
development occurs. [OK so we found out why Bridget got fired. The
reason was when you apply for worker's comp. you have to take a drug
test. Bridget failed. Surprise! the end] After the meeting I skipped
out on inservice and headed home to crash into be to prepare for a 4:30
am arisal on Monday. Ugh. You're gone but one day and St. Louis falls
apart at the seams. Come back!
Day Two: Harry Potter all day long with a small dose of Christ... and Anti-Christ too!
4:34
am. Not much that can be said about a time like that that isn't
completely obvious. Dark. Depressing. Got up and drove to work. I had
time to pick up a Frappucino and a couple granola bars along the way.
Once again, Allen sent me up first so he could get off at 11:00. He had
to go to his other job in Chesterfield. The morning seemed to fly by
and the hour up seemed longer than the hour down this time. I had lunch
around 11:30 when the afternoon guards showed up. Each of us was
scheduled all day - including me. I forgot I had told Chris Kottemann I
was working for her from 4 - close, but everyone seemed relieved when I
told them she wouldn't be coming in. The guards there were Meaghan
Haddenhorst, Brian Riley, Rebekah Whatsherfaceimastupidbaptist, Jeremy
Crafton, and Michelle came in around 4. There was like no one there
until around 5:30 when we lost Rebekah to MFAC and had to open the
slide so our 15 up/hour down became 30 up/30 down. Still things chugged
along smoothly until Michelle decided we needed a third stand at 7 and
so we were 45 up/15 down. The whole day the guard room was closed
because the floor had been painted. Everything that touched the floor -
the first-aid bench, the table, the medicine cabinet, etc. were all
piled up in the back corner of the concessions area. This became a
comfortable hideout because, much to our surprise, the Recration Room
door was unlocked. The Rec Room is air-conditioned, so we set up some
big fans on chairs and had our own AC system all day long. Meaghan and
I are both reading the first Harry Potter at the same time. She reads
at a much higher pace than I do, so it's been a challenge between the
two of us to see who gets to the end first. The book's going well and
now I understand all the stuff you were talking about in the coffee
shop the other day... what's the name of that place again? I can never
remember. Anyways, few other things of importance happened today. I
went to Mr. Wizard's and asked if they were hiring and some girl there
wanted me to work day shifts. I tried to learn to juggle road cones
(you know, the big orange ones?) but they're a bit harder than balls. I
went home after work and crashed around 10:30. The end. Oh wait, and if
you're wondering what "a small dose of Christ" is all about, Rebekah
started preaching some crazy shit today. She says that Harry Potter is
evil and based on "real witchcraft and wizardry," something her church
doesn't condone. She also says she won't dance (though I saw her
looking like a COMPLETE TOOL SHED at the top of slide doing the
electric slide or something... NOT KIDDING!), play cards, and she's
saving her first kiss for her husband. Apparently she was really
getting into it with Meaghan (who's a Catholic) talking about how
Catholics are so loose with their religion and they're all a bunch of
sinners. Can you say, "fundamentalist fanaticism?!" DIE DIE DIE! Oh
Nick, you're going to hell. The end for real this time...
Day Three:
Yawwwwn. Goddamnit. I do not
want to do this. Five more minutes. Yawwwwn. Oh my God I hate life.
This accurately embodies the events and my sentiments toward this and
every morning. Woke up for practice and barely made it to the pool in
time. I got there and stretched out with the team then we headed to the
lockers to change into our suits. I got in there and couldn't find my
suits in my bag. I was so pissed - could I have driven all the way over
here for nothing?! So I walked out to my car and buried underneath my
skateboard was one raggedy old speedo, so I went in and put it on. I
got back on the pool deck and coach was already pissed, "I just saw you
out here! Where did you run off to?! You're always the last one in the
water... My name's Dave and I'm a huge douche bag...blah blah.." The
practice was like 80% breaststroke - 400 kick, 300 swim, 6 x 100 swim,
400 pull etc... all breast! Not that I mind a good breaststroke
workout, (it is my stroke, after all...) but we do like NO breast for
like three weeks and then we have like 4000 meters in one day. That's
what leads to knee problems. Practice took forever - we were out around
9:00. I took Gigi home then rushed out for Starbucks before Jacob was
supposed to come over for band practice. I had an iced caramel
macchiatto and hurried home to get back before 11. 11 came and went and
I started to get sleepy so I took a nap on the couch. The doorbell
rang, waking me up around 12:15. One hour and fifteen minutes late!
Well, I did my best not to say anything and we just got down to work.
The whole practice seemed to be third try - we get everything right not
on the first, second, but the third try. Anyways, we got through the
songs and decided to work on our instrumentals. One of the songs only
has one guitar so I thought it might be neat to add a second guitar in
some parts. As we worked in the second guiater, the parts only got more
and more complicated. In the end, the song still only has one guitar -
all that time wasted. Argh. We wrapped up practice and it was time to
head to work. Got to work and there were two notices on the board: 1.
Tonite is National Night Out Against Crime. Everyone is staying until
9. 2. Teresa told Midwest we don't need their help and we have the best
pool in the world. [Funny thing is, they still came the next day even
though everyone was back to being relaxed and bad lifeguards, they
ended up saying they didn't even want the place. WTF?!] There was
normal rotation til 5 when everyone had to leave and come back in so
they could get free coupans for snacks, drinks, and raffle items. There
was a DJ and later a shitty local band that had this really fat guy as
their singer. It was hilarious - the police chief was like, "Later we
have one of the greatest rock bands to come out of Maplewood here to
play for you - the Green Onyx Band! ... what's that? er, I meant the
BLACK Onyx Band!" And you wouldn't believe it! I got in the pool three
times that night. I also skateboarded over to Aldi's and bout a bunch
of cookies for the guards. Work ended, went home, Scruffster called.
And went to sleep. fin.
Day Four:
Woke up late and had to clean
my room cause the cleaning lady was coming over. (Bit ironic, no?) Had
time to shower and have some chocolate chip bananabread before I left
for band practice. Practice was at Jon's house. He and I talked before
and then (OMG!) Jacob and Drew showed up like 15 min late. Drew is our
new bass player. This kid is so crazy. He walks down the stairs that
lead to the practice space clad in pajama pants, Birkenstocks, and a
worn-out Stewart Family Reunion shirt and yells, "SHRAPNEL!!" We played
through everything and Drew got a good start on a couple of songs and
before we knew it, it was three o'clock and time to go to the Heights.
Had time to pick up some Quizno's before hand. Petie, Meaghan (for like
the fourth day in a row), Stevie, and Brianna were all there. Nothing
special happened. We got out early and mom and dad called me to join
them at Schlafly's Bottleworks. The food is OK I guess. Left with Gigi
and we rocked out to some Led Zeppelin on the way home and stuff. Got
on le computer and wrote some emails and cruised around on stlpnk. Got
an email from space. hahahaha! <3 <3 Wow, this is super short. I
guess I went through it all in adaze. Ugh.. 10 more days.
Day Five:
Here's
something I don't understand about human nature: when you do something
you didn't think you could or would do there is usually a great feeling
of self-worth and accomplishment that accompanies. There aren't that
many things that can give you this kind of feeling. For example, let's
say you have been up for about 24 hours and you have a book that needs
to be read and you just can't see yourself making it through the text.
"Let's give it a try," you tell yourself, and so you do and you push
through the fatigue and the distractions and at 4 in the morning you
finish and you feel completely awake and ready to do it all again! So
when it comes to challenges in life, what is it that takes over and
tells us, "No no no!"? This is the dillemma I face every morning when I
have to get up for swimming. Each time I complete a 3-hour workout I am
met with a feeling of euphoria that lasts through the day. I know
working out releses endorphins that make you feel good. So does eating
a chocolate bar. My question is why does the prospect of releasing
endorphins so easily override the possibility of gaining weight when
the question is whether or not to eat a Snicker's bar, however it holds
no weight when the question is between getting out of bed at 5:15 or
8:15. Well, this time I managed to get out. This morning was distance
freestyle and stroke. I did pretty well, though it took a while to to
get going. Somehow I managed to pull something in my neck suring the
free set and it was hurting all day long. Really could have used one of
Jill's massages, but Claire Schuler at work was giving Lindsay one and
so I told her to save her strength for those who actually need it...
like me! She tried her best, but it wasn't that great. haha. Worked
3:45 - close outside. Nothing special. I was on comp for the first time
since the new rotation dealy. It was OK I guess. Since there was hardly
anyone there, the other rotation had 15 up/45 down and they even let a
couple people go home. Cane home after work and crashed in bed by 10:30
to get ready for work at 4:30 tomorrow. Florida. Florida. Florida >
Missouri.
Day Six:
Woke up for work at 4:30 and headed over to
the Heights. I rotated first so I could make a trip to Starbucks at
6:30. I went down there and Steph, the barista, was like, "Hey Nick!
White mocha with caramel drizzle?" "...yeah" But I also got Allen a
surprise. Picked us both up a piece of coffee cake and I was on my way.
I was so close to finishing Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone I
decided ot pick up the second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of
Secrets. When I got back to the pool I hammered down the last 40 pages
and that was that. I was so determined to finish, I kept reading while
"on stand" during aqua fitness. Got paid at 10:00... YES! It was a full
75 hours and I took it right to the bank. Picked up a sandwich for
lunch and returned to the pool. Rose and Jeremy were there. Rose was
just hanging out, but Jeremy would be working all day. Othere people
that were there were Davey and Brianna. Work passed and I shopped for
cameras and blah blah. The End.
Day Seven and Eight:
OK, so I
got a little side tracked on Saturday by our unexpected visitor, Greg.
More about that when we get there. First ting in the morning was to go
work out. Did a nice upperbody workout complete with: Lat pulldown,
Tricep Extension, Front Extension, Side Extension, Tricep Rais,
Shoulder Press, Push-ups, Bench Press, Pull-ups, and ... Hot Tub! Then
I went and bought my new camera! It's a Kodak 5.2 Megapixel digital...
super cool! I was so excited... Took it home and was put to work with
dad. We had to pick up and lay down 50 pieces of sod in the yard and
build a stepping stone walkway by the retaining walls. There were 32
stones in the path and after 2 hours of work we had three set in the
ground. Progress. We worked til about six and I grilled some pork chops
and potatoes for dinner. We had to eat quick because our new neighbor
Greg was coming over to help set up our PA and jam. This guy shows up
and from the get go he's pretty obnoxious; a loud personality witha
Miller Lite in his hand and a hold in his pants. He did have some good
ideas about the design, but about every 10 minutes he was like, "Hey
Nick, go grab me another beer!" This guy put away 8 beers in less than
2 hours... LOADED! By the time we got everything up and running he
couldn't even play bass anymore. This was about the time Jill called.
What a relief! So yeah what I meant by "helping out dad" was protecting
our equipment! I go down there and this guy is stumbling around with a
1957 Fender Precision bass worth like thousands. By this time we were
like, "OK Time to GO!" So we head upstairs and we go for the side door,
turn around and he's disappeared! We were looking around for him and I
found him passed out on our couch in the piano room! We get him up and
walk him outside and he's trying to tell me some story. He starts
leaning on my shoulder, getting closer and closer to me, losing his
balance. I freaked out and was like, "Get OFF!" and elbowed him right
in the ribs at which point he stumbled backwards and fell on the stairs
on our front porch. He got up and tried to brush it off and after a
little more droning he's like, "H'ok, see you guys lahhter," and
stumbled off to his house. My dad and I couldn't believe what had just
happened. As I went to bed I heard dad telling mom how incredible this
guy was. What a kook! Sunday I got up late. Mom made "omlettes" for
breakfast (eggs, potatoes, salsa... not in the shape of an omlette...
more of a scramble?) Finally got started on the dresser. I worked on
the dresser til 2 when it was time to get ready for work. I got a
little side-tracked (again.) and found this great program Corel Painter
IX online and got a free version of it... and then made lots of
pictures. It makes cool stuff but it's kinda cheating. Work was just
plain old plain old. The guard party was afterward, but I didn't stay.
Apparently most people weren't there for the pool party either because
Micah was having a party at his house afterward. WHATEVER. So I went
home and watched the Godfather and hit the sack. The end.
Day Nine:
Woke
up at 4:30 am and tore the sheets off, walked briskly to the bathroom
and hastily brushed my teeth. Ran down stairs and rooted through mom's
purse for some cash. I was doing everything in turbo mode hoping the
energetic attitude would ellcit real energy from my body! Got in the
car and drove like a madman to the Heights. Stopped at the Shell
station and got a Frappuccino: caffiene = energy! Got to work and
slugged sown my drink and ate a granola bar. I was the first there so I
unlocked everything, checked chems, heated the sauna, etc. all before
Allen got there. Allen shows up and went up first for a change. While
on break, I'm ready to do cartwheels around the building. 6:30 rolls
around and I climb onto stand and DIE! All energy was instantly
drained. The hour passed quickkly, however, which leads me to wonder,
was I asleep? Probably. The bext break Allen gave me some money to go
get him some coffee cake and so I did, investing some of his change
into a magazine titled Poets & Writers. I thought it might be
interesting and contain short stories and poems from aspiring writers,
but found it was actually a profile type publication designed to put
you to sleep. From this magazine I have reaffirmed my stance ona well
known rumor that surrounds the literati: writers are a bunch of drunks!
This one author has been trying to write a novel his entire career, but
has thus far only completed short stories which have been compiled into
several publications, most notably his Why Dogs Chase Cars. Well,
finally he has completed his first novel which he has titled,
appropriately, Novel. The main character's name is... guess... Novel.
Anyways, the author admits he was drunk the whole time he wrote it and
this is apparent by the sheer absurdity of the plot. I'll let you read
the article and you can decide for yourself. Not to sway your opinion
about authors, but one last comment, AUTHORS ARE A BUNCH OF ACOHOLIC
BOOZEBAGS! with computers and way too much time. Who get grants for
income. Bastards! So I got back to the pool and BJ was there. Great.
Tuned him out for a while, then before I knew it, it was 11:45. We had
one stand up for a while, but then the Facility Design School came and
we had to put up three. Oh yeah, that's what made the first 6 hours go
by so quickly. In prep for FDS, Matt had Allen and I wash all the
windows, clean out the guard room, clean out behind the slide, and
clean the pump room. So breaks weren't really breaks. Made it through
to 4 and I was ready to get out! I had all my stuff packes and I was
ready to go when Pat was like, "You're subbing outside for Charlie."
FUCK! I went to the outside pool and jumped off the top of the slide
and died. hahaa. the end.
Day 12 and Thirteen:
I am a tired
human being. The title of this journal well sums my sentiments toward
existence: Chronicle of a Life Lived Out. The dresser is done. My
cousins will have gone. A lot of things on my mind. srlkgjlsrkgjlsrk
Thanks for the poetry. | | |
| I think I'm done with Xanga for a while. I got a new site, but you'll
have to find it yourself. Anyways, thanks for all the comments or for
at least coming to the page every once in a while. Maybe I will reopen
later, and if I do I'll tell you. Goodbye for now.
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| Monday... got up at five, went to practice. This morning we ran approx. four miles in the rain. Swimming was backstroke for the most part. I hate backstroke drills, I just kinda sink and my body is totally uncoordinated. It's pretty frustrating. I can't tell where I am in the lane and so I kinda swerve all over the lane until I run into something. Today I ran into the hydralift and the corner of the stair entrance pretty hard and, as always, I had a couple fifty run-ins with the lane lines. I've got some nasty bruises on my back, but no pain no gain, right? I guess it's getting better everyday, and that's what coach has been saying too. I don't know if he really means it or if he's just figured out that I don't do well with people that tell me I can't do something. If you didn't already know this about me, when someone tells me I can't do something I don't get pumped and I don't get determined, I just think, "fuck you, asshole..." and that's the end of it. Am I embarassed of the thought of failure? Probably. So then I went to Marley's house to pick up my guitar and my bike that I had left there. It was good to see her this morning, I really want one more good time to hang out with her before she leaves for Arizona, besides, she has to get her birthday presents... right? I took a shower when I got home and my hair was clean, but I fixed that right away. I just got out a ton of products and started putting shit in. Anything. Random. Wax, hairspray, gel(s), mousse...etc. The wax stuff smelled really good when I put it on, but I blowdried it, and it started to smell like cooking cotton candy. I got scared and put down the blowdryer before my hair like caught on fire or something... haha. So yeah, my hair was big today. I was proud. I got weird looks from patrons at the pool and people in Walgreens, but they just don't get it. Fucking fuckers. Went to Penn Station for lunch. I had the chicken terriyaki and it was good, as usual, but I ate it way too fast and felt crumby afterwards. Work was from 11:45 to 8:30 but the storms let us out at 7:30. There was some pretty exciting stuff that happened there, I guess.
OK so I wrote all that last night... I was too tired to finish it.. see you all <3
Nickolas | | |
| I'm starving. It is 6:34 pm and today the only thing I have eaten was a
bunch of Mike n' Ike's and drank a white chocolate mocha. Starving.
Seeing Julian yesterday was great. You look great dude... hope summer
classes go well for you and things with Lindsay are cleared up. I
worked another six and a half hours today. The shift was fucking hell;
fourty five up fifteen down for the whole shift. Found my REAL journal
today. It mysteriously showed up on top of my printer along with the AC
adapter that powers my docking station that I've been missing. I wonder
who read it, how thoroughly it was read, and how estranged they will
become. haha. I'm going to cook a couple pizzas for dinner tonite. I
guess that's as soon as I get off the computer. Sorry to everyone that
reads this that I haven't updated very often lately... I just haven't
had the time. Band practice yesterday was the best it's ever been. I'm
so excited about how the music is turning out. What I'm not excited
about is the fucking attendence. Jacob if you read this you better
fucking be there because there's no one as good as you for thrash
rhythm! And besides... it's fun stuff. By the way, Chelsi - thanks for
continuing to check my page... even though it is super boring and super
not updated... haha. We still need to go to a show - and there's lots
coming up next week. Scary Kids Scaring Kids Monday... Warped Tour
Teusday... or Wednesday the NEKROMANTIX! YESSSS. I fucking love them.
Psychobilly at it's finest. Time for pizza.
gobble. gobble. gobble.
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| It's Thursday afternoon, which means right now it's like Fridddday.
Yes, bitches, Friday. That means it's party time and time to stay out
late and forget about the pool for a couple of fractions of a second,
right? Fucking hell, who am I kidding... Satuday morning I will wake up
at 5:00 am to throw myself into yet another agonizing workout. My life
is over. Where's a bridge when you need one?
This girl at work, Jill, made me a bracelet the other day - so she got
some ice cream in return... But everyone else knows the way to my heart
is... where else? Through my four cow stomachs of course. Yes, ladies,
if you want to win over Nickolas all you have to do is put on your
baking hat and cook me up something good. hahaha I'm so shallow. But
yeah, what I meant to say in all of this was thanks, Jill.
So how about that weather, eh? I left my sunroof open today, so yeah.
You know what happens when you do that... it MONSOONS. My stereo is
like toast now. Shit shit shit. Two days in a row my shift is cut
short, but maybe it's for the best, since I'll break 40 this time.
Forty hours at the pool. That doesn't include swimming, so tack on
another 18 or so. HELLLA.
OK yah that's what's up, all. HOLLLA
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