The Fall Of The Author

betweenyouandus @ 2004-11-29T18:02:00

2004-11-29T23:02:47Z

Dear Livejournal,

I sprained my ankle yesterday. It hurt really bad. I had to call off work because of it. Hopefully its better before i go skating tomorrow. Wish me luck.

betweenyouandus @ 2004-11-25T03:42:00

2004-11-25T08:42:08Z

Some people don't like bumper stickers. But I do. I like bumper stickers. To me, they're like a shortcut. A shortcut that says "lets never hang out."

The High n' Tight

2004-11-20T20:38:55Z

Dear Livejournal,

I cut my hair. A haircut you could set your watch to. Yeah, what a sellout.

lets take it back to '79

2004-11-20T08:48:06Z

Dear Livejournal,

I've decided to cut my hair. For real this time. Updates later.

Love,
Joe.

Wu-Tang clan ain't nuthin ta fuck wit.

No one is guaranteed tomorrow, yesterday was borrowed.

2004-11-19T09:22:05Z

If anyone hasn't heard this song I'm listening to, they need to. Now. Talk to me and I'll hook you up, its hard to find. Seriously. Even if you don't like hip hop, you'll like it.

Just found this on my own myspace page...

2004-11-08T08:24:24Z

So i figured i'd share it with the rest of the world. Dont like it? Tough shit!

I believe the money I make belongs to me and my family, not some governmental stooge with a bad comb-over who wants to give it away to crack addicts for squirting out babies.

Guns do not make you a killer. I think killing makes you a killer. You can kill someone with a baseball bat or a car, but no one is trying to ban you from driving to the ball game.

I think that if you feel homosexuality is wrong, it is not a phobia, it is an opinion. I don't think being a minority makes you a victim of anything except numbers.

The only things I can think of that are truly discriminatory are things like the United Negro College Fund, Jet Magazine, Black Entertainment Television,and Miss Black America. Try to have things like the United Caucasian College Fund, Cloud Magazine, White Entertainment Television, or Miss White America and see what happens. Jesse Jackson will be knocking down your door.

I have the right "NOT" to be tolerant of others because they are different,weird, or tick me off.
When 70% of the people who get arrested are black, in cities where 70%of the population is black, that is not racial profiling, it is the law of statistics.

I know what sex is, and there are not varying degrees of it. If I received sex from one of my subordinates in my office, it wouldn't be a private matter or my personal business. It would be "FIRED" immediately!

I believe that if you are selling me a milk shake, a pack of cigarettes, a newspaper or a hotel room, you must do it in English! As a matter of fact, if you want to be an American citizen you should have to speak English!.

My father and grandfather should not have died in vain so you can leave the countries you were born in to come over and disrespect ours.

I think the police should have every right to shoot your sorry ass if you threaten them after they tell you to stop. If you can't understand the order"freeze" or "stop" in English, see the above lines.

I feel much safer letting a machine with no political affiliation recount votes when needed. I know what the definition of lying is.

I don't think just because you were not born in this country, you are qualified for any special loan programs, government sponsored bank loans or tax breaks, etc., so you can open a hotel, coffee shop, trinket store, or any other business.

We did not go to the aid of certain foreign countries and risk our lives in wars to defend their freedoms so that decades later they could come over here and tell us our constitution is a living document and open to their interpretations.

I don't hate the rich. I don't pity the poor. I know wrestling is fake, but so are movies and television, and that doesn't stop you from watching them. I believe a self-righteous liberal or conservative with a cause is more dangerous than a Hell's Angel with an attitude.

I think Bill Gates has every right to keep every penny he made and continue to make more. If it ticks you off, go and invent the next operating system that's better and put your name on the building. Ask your buddy that invented the Internet to help you..

It doesn't take a whole village to raise a child right, but it does take a parent to stand up to the kid and smack his/her little ass when necessary and say "NO".

I am sick of "Political Correctness" and of all the suck ups that go along with it. I know a lot of black people, and not a single one of them was born in Africa, so how can they be "African Americans"?
Besides, Africa is a continent. I don't go around saying I am a European-American because my great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather was from Europe. I am proud to be from America and no where else.

And if you don't like my point of view, tough!
GET OVER IT!!! WAKE UP WHILE YOU STILL HAVE A COUNTRY TO WAKE UP TO.

Politics.

2004-11-04T07:18:26Z

As a precursor to this entry, I want to let everyone know that I voted for John Kerry.

But...

You political zealots need to take a step back and realize that the world isnt going to end because George Bush is president for 4 more years. I myself was on the verge of becoming one of these spastic political nazis. But I composed myself and remebered that Michael Moore documentaries aren't gospel, but rather propoganda. Am i disappointed that Kerry didnt win? Sure. i did think he was the better man for the job. but we need to work on not being gung-ho about castrating the president. he did make his share of mistakes, and very major mistakes at that (more reason why i voted kerry), but for gods sake, stop FORCING your ideas on everyone like they're the cold, hard truth. at least be a little bit reasonable. and the next time i hear "bush ruined the economy and made gas prices high" i'm going to explode. Bush has little to no control over what the economy is like in the present. look a few years down the road to see what effect, if any, he had on the economy. no single person has control over the economy. he isnt sitting in the oval office every day with the economy of one of the largest, most powerful nations in the world attatched to strings like a marrionette and pulling them strategically and purposely ruining the the country. ridiculous i tell you. i'm pretty sure a lot of people just like to throw the word "economy" into political discussions to make themselves look like they know whats going on. and as far as gas prices go, they have NOTHING to do with george bush. nothing. if you want to bitch about gas prices and blame them on someone, blame saudi leaders. blame OPEC. its a supply- demand system. they know america doesnt want to tap into our oil reserves in alaska, so they have us by the balls so to speak. they know there's a high demand, so they give us less oil, and keep the price per barrel high. where does the president of the UNITED STATES (and i use the term "united" loosely, which is sad), fit into that equation? so please, dont come to me with either of those excuses for hating him anymore. again, i'm not all about george bush, but come on people, he isnt satan. i dont agree with how he went about post-9/11 actions, and i stick by that. i do agree that Saddam Hussein needed to be dealt with, but i dont think it had anything to do with 9/11, which is why i disagree with the war in a sense. but i dont exactly want his genitals on a silver platter like a lot of you.

i know some people will hate me for this. a lot of people will comment with thousand-page rants about how they're right and i'm wrong. but should you do this, you're only further proving yourself a polital zealot who doesnt accept any opinion that isnt theirs. so please, you can discuss it in a calm, rational manner if you'd like, but dont force your hippie garbage on me. i've heard it all, and i'm not listening anymore.

God Bless the United States of America, the best country on earth. (I urge any of you to find a better one, really.)
and just to spite all of you punk rock kids that buy mass-produced t-shirts with a picture of bush that say "not my president," and in all fairness, since he did win the election fair and square this time, George W. Bush IS my president, and he's yours too as long as you're an american citizen.

JOE? TOUR 2004!!!!

2004-09-09T17:16:16Z

The Plan: Joe and Joe are invading the living rooms of unexpecting kids across the country while carrying out escapades of their own along the way possibly endagering the lives of any person or animal (not as tough as them) along the way. Okay okay, so the real deal. Joe and I have decided to embark on a once in a lifetime journey to the golden state itself, California. Along the way we hope to become better friends, learn more about ourselves, and most importantly, have the time of our lives.

Help: Although we would love to sound badass and literally invade the homes of unexpecting kids, we dont roll that way. Instead, we are asking anyone with a heart or that wants to have an awesome time hanging out with two kids from Ohio to lend us their living room floor, basement floor, or a couch if you chose to let us live like kings. We dont require food or anything from you like that, however; if you have food you dont see yourselves eating, we would take it off your hands like it's gold to us.

How: If you want to help us out, or think you know someone that would want to help us out, PLEASE, e-mail either of us or contact us via AIM or on Myspace.

To Further Complicate Things: If you play in a band, or put on shows in your town and have one scheduled the day we are coming through, we would love to attend it and check out the bands ourselves. Furthermore, if you just plain want to play tour guide for a day and have anything fun and most importantly, free, in your town that you think we would want to check out, we would be forever grateful to you for doing so.

Below are the list of dates and towns that we plan to go to. Once again I can't tell you enough how much it would mean to us if you were to help us out. We are poor kids that dont feel like sleeping in a car everynight because we arent of age nor do we have the money to rent a hotel. (We can vote, we can be drafted, but we cant get a hotel...odd.)

We are also always looking for ways to make this a little cheaper on our wallets as well, so if you have any suggestions on ways to raise money on the road please let us know, we are also always up for returning the favor if you are ever passing through Toledo, OH.

Please check back for more info or feel free to contact us in any of the following ways:

Joe V.
finchrock322@hotmail.com
AIM - OurOwnBlackHeart
Myspace: http://profiles.myspace.com/users/3634477
LiveJournal: http://www.livejournal.com/~betweenyouandus

Joe L.
payforglory@yahoo.com
AIM- PayForGlory
Myspace: http://profiles.myspace.com/users/3528997
LiveJournal: http://www.livejournal.com/~payforglory

Day 0: Toledo, OH
Day 1: Chicago, IL
Day 2: St. Louis, MO
Day 3: Little Rock, AR
Day 4: Dallas, TX
Day 5: Houston, TX
Day 6: San Antonio, TX
Day 7/8: El Paso, TX
Day 9: Tucson, AZ
Day 10: San Diego, CA
Day 11: Los Angeles, CA
Day 12: Santa Cruz, CA
Day 13: San Jose, CA
Day 14: Berkeley, CA
Day 15: San Francisco, CA
Day 16: Reno, NV
Day 17: Salt Lake City, UT
Day 18: Denver, CO
Day 19: Omaha, NE
Day 20: Davenport, IA
Day 21: Chicago, IL
Day 22: Toledo, OH

Again, any help that you can provide would be amazing, and we hope to see you all sometime in the coming months.

Re-trace the steps as if we forgot.

2004-09-08T07:01:55Z

I want to leave here and never come back. I wish I could gather up what friends I have left and move somewhere. Like California. Or New York City. Regardless I want out. I've had enough of all this shit. Someone save me.

Maybe you can help me... I am looking for someone to dance with

2004-08-31T23:14:16Z

WHY DO I LIKE HEAD AUTOMATICA?!?! HOLY SHIT THIS IS AMAZING!!!!!!

I am just full of funny shit.

2004-08-26T21:26:45Z

I normally hate bumper stickers, but i would definetely sport that.

Rich people who flaunt their money are asswipes. case and point^^

bored... had to find humor at the expense of others...

2004-08-22T07:36:50Z

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! YES!!!

dont bother keeping your heavy breathing down.

2004-08-21T09:33:30Z

I am so never leaving the office again. just downloaded a nintendo emulator with every nintendo game ever made. if you want to pry me away, call me. but good luck. oh my god i'm not gonna sleep for days.

I will now bring new meaning to the word 'alone'...

2004-08-20T07:03:41Z

5... 4... 3... 2... 1......
Game Over.

So twist the knife, fashion me counter-clockwise...

2004-08-17T08:06:22Z

Warped Tour kicked ass. A lot. Hit The Lights did really really good. Even better than usual. Underoath is fucking nuts. I want their CD real bad. Hidden In Plain View was sweet. Taking Back Sunday was great. Me and Joe passing out free shit to strangers was great too. We kicked ass. And wow, Good Charlotte is a fucking joke. They were terrible and they should be shot out of a cannon into a brick wall. Especially for making that one faggoty song about girls and cars and money. I really hate those assholes. And no its not envy. If I were any one of those retards and saw myself being that big of a douchebag I would end it all. it was pretty funny looking around and seeing anyone who knew anything about music laughing at them, and all the retarded 14 year old girls rushing toward the crowd. That was the most entertaining part of their set I guess.

This all of the sudden turned into a rant about how shitty Good Charlotte is. I apologize.

Anyway, I felt like I was going to pass out of die of heat exhaustion the whole day. That part kinda sucked, but overall it was a great time. Worth every cent that I didn't pay.

p.s. If you like Good Charlotte and you're angry about my rampage.... tough shit. I'm right and you aren't.

Nothing seems important anymore.

2004-08-14T05:55:22Z

I've been struggling with the strangest feeling lately. One I've never really felt before. I've spent countless nights trying to pinpoint what it is. Tonight I finally realized what was wrong. Complete and total apathy for everything. The subject says it all, really. Absolutely nothing thrills me or gets me going like it used to. Why? I have no idea. But it scares me. I can hardly feel anything anymore. Which, in a certain sense, might be a good thing. Because if i took everything as hard as I usually do, then the whole moving/ parents getting divorced soon/ dad in the hospital last week/ women thing would've killed me by now. So much shit has happened in my life this summer, and yet I can't make myself feel anything. I have no idea what to do. I'd almost rather feel the pain of everything just to know I'm still alive. I feel completely dead inside and I don't know that there's anything I can do about it. I need something... someone.. anything to get me out of where I am right now. I used to be such a heart-on-my-sleeve kind of guy who cared so much and had so much passion and feeling (be it good or bad) about almost everyone. Now I just... it isn't there anymore. It feels like someone robbed my insides and left nothing but an empty house. Does anyone know what I'm talking about here? Does this make any sense? Please somebody help me. I need to be pulled out of this proverbial empty well before I'm too far gone. Apathy is worse than pain to me. This is bad. I hope this isn't just mindless psychobabble to all of you, because I have no idea how to handle this.

Thank you disaster, for bringing me this accident.

2004-08-13T20:41:51Z

Everyone come see the Weakend tonight ay Missi's. They're better than oxygen.

And all the things that you never ever told me...

2004-08-11T07:32:36Z

"In all honesty, I think Joe VanderHorst is ________."

Go on. Give me your best shot. All of you. I can handle it.

And plus I'm always bored, so I'd like to read your responses.

Why can't you just be happy?

2004-08-08T00:41:37Z

I'm back. I one again have the internet at my house. It was a rough ordeal, but I made it out alive. Barely. I guess nothing about the last month or so has mattered, and if it did, either I don't want to talk about it or you don't want to hear about it. So I'm done for now. Give me a warm welcome back to the Livejournal community. I am a fucking dork for saying that just now.

Tonight Won't Make A Difference

2004-07-30T04:32:30Z

Its been a while.
Some things have happened.
I got a job at Kroger.
I've managed to distance myself from all but about 5 people. So yeah... I totally love myself for that one.
Some things are still the same.
I'm still lazy.
She still lives too far away.
And she still opts to take her time.
So I'm pretty much in shambles as far as women go.
Anywho, life keeps on chuggin' along without the internet or TV. But just barely. I need something important to happen.
God this was pointless.
Leave me love notes about this post.

P.S. I know its a sensitive subject, but please keep the Hartmann family in your thoughts and prayers.

betweenyouandus @ 2004-06-30T12:31:00

2004-06-30T16:31:53Z

Well folks, i won't be online for a while, that means no updates for a while. leave me whole lots of love for when i come back.
bye for now

I won't ever make another promise...

2004-06-28T07:03:11Z

This weekend kicked so much ass it defies description. Friday were the Hit the Lights and Emery/ Silverstein shows. Those were both rrrrealll good. Emery was incredible. I loved it. And also, hanging out with Joe and going to a show with him was fun as shit. Just like old times. Good shit.
Saturday Mike ransacked my house at 9am and drug me to his campsite in Indiana, and i stayed there til about 5 or so and got home at 7. Man it was great to get away from shit and have a good time with an old friend. I finally got to go out on a boat again. I havent been on a boat since my family had one when i was like 10. i got to go tubing and jump out a few times going like 40. it was awesome. very very awesome.
But now i'm back in Toledo, and i've got some things to say to some people:

Kate: You never cease to amaze me, really. I'm going to keep trying to get through to you and make you realize just how great you are, even if it kills me. I won't give up on you, kiddo. Hang in there. You're great no matter what you think. You just have to promise to not give up on me in the process. I really do love you. I dont just say that because its the thing to do, i really really really mean it. I just wish we felt the same way about each other and the whole situation...

Caiti: Thank you. For listening to me. And just... Thanks for everything. I rarely thank you, but should. you completely kick ass.

Joe: Our pirate story is flawless. We will get to use it soon. Hang the fuck in there, playa.

Brenda: You are a very important person to me. Whether there's a consistent flow of conversation or not, you're always deep in my thoughts. So if i ever dont call you or something, dont think its because i dont like you or whatever, because that so isnt the case. Right now just kind of sucks for me, and i dont want you thinking its something about you or something you did. its totally my fault if that ever happens. you mean so much to me, and you dont understand that. but dont forget it. its the truth. we'll hang out someday. i just know it. <33

Dan: just keep being you, man. we have too much fun together, and i love that. you're one of the best friends i've ever had, and i really appreciate it.

I love my friends.

Our father who art in heaven, save me from the wreck I'm about to drown in

2004-06-21T07:15:11Z

My sister's wedding was this weekend in the upper peninsula of Michigan. 8 hour drive. Not fun. But other than that I got drunk and sang karaoke at a bar. Enough said.

We got a new house. About 4 minutes from where I live now. The house is awesome. I can't wait to move in. Wheni do, some people should come over to help christen it.

Girls continue to be a black mark in my life. They do nothing but confuse and hurt the hell out of me. Being rejected and helpless has put me back to square one on the "What the Hell Should I Do About Women" board game. Somebody roll the dice...

and it feels just like falling in love again

2004-06-10T02:59:07Z

yesterday... yesterday was a good day. but today..... today was a better day. the subject line is a big hint as to why. man is my head going a million miles an hour.

i dont really feel like elaborating, because i'm tired, but just know that this is a very big deal to me, and thats all i want to say about that for tonight.

how it was, and should be...

on a far less serious note, i bought a sweet ass fall out boy shirt, studded belt, and the new warped tour comp today.
+10 scene points.

And I'll be holding my breath with the best intentions...

2004-06-06T22:39:06Z

Two days. Six new CD's:
Cursive - The Ugly Organ
Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism
Fall Out Boy - My Heart Will Always Be The B-Side To My Tounge
Midtown - The Sacrifice Of Life EP
Northstar - Is This Thing Loaded?
Northstar - Pollyanna

Now to listen to them all.

In other, more important news, I graduated from high school. Officially. Diploma-In-Hand. Never too see 90% of those asswipes ever again. I'm glad its over. I want to hang out with people this summer. Its my last summer of chilishness and carelessness. I want to make it count. Somebody help me out.