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While Peasprout is away on his vacation, we here at the Peasprout Dept. of Blogging will be checking in with him periodically and reporting back to you concerning his activities.

He has currently been sighted sitting at an outdoor table in front of the New York Public Library, sipping coffee with a beautiful woman. It looks as though he is using his laptop, but it’s hard to tell. We have just received confirmation that the woman is in fact Fizzy. We’ll send an agent to speak to them, and have the details of the conversation ready to be posted soon.

—

It turns out they were discussing where to eat dinner tonight.

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In the comments section of my last post I promised a commenter that I would write about a Frank Sinatra song today. Choosing one Sinatra song about which to write took some time. My initial thought was to go with Summer Wind, as that was the song I’d traditionally play for my roadies and security agents before the start of a fraternity party. We all knew the rest of the night would be upbeat pop and rock music, so something a bit more mellow from Ol’ Blue Eyes made for a nice buffer before the onslaught of drunken revelers came charging into the venue. While Summer Wind is certainly a fine song, and would have made for an interesting blog, I’ve instead opted to go with:

Currently Playing: Frank Sinatra – The Way You Look Tonight

Now, after a few years together, I imagine most couples start bandying about the idea of a wedding, and this is by no means any sort of official announcement, but yeah, Sue (Fizzy) and I have whiled away some of childhood’s happy hour by imagining what our wedding may be like, were we ever to have one. The Way You Look Tonight has been mentioned more than once as a potential “first dance” song. I don’t think I’ve ever DJ’ed a wedding at which this was the first dance, which is something of a surprise to me; I think it makes for a great one. It’s fast enough to avoid having to stand doing the rotating-hug-dance in front of all one’s friends and relatives, but it isn’t so fast as to leave one breathless by the end. It’s also romantic, and evocative of many ideas associated with one’s wedding day– looking one’s best, a memorable night, being in love, and so forth.

One evening not long ago, Fizzy and I were sauntering through San Francisco’s Union Square after a romantic dinner at some cozy eatery, and this song began playing through the park’s loudspeakers; it completed the evening. We danced to it right there in the park, amidst a mixture of stares of both incredulity and admiration from what few people were out and about at that hour, but we felt anonymous enough and didn’t mind. A few people clapped when we finished, and it definitely made for a grand topper to an already wonderful evening. Moreover, it cemented this song in our minds– we finally had an “our song.”

Today’s Question: What will/ did you dance to first at your wedding?

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I never care much to read blog entries that chronicle someone’s day in a blow-by-blow fashion. I do enjoy amusing anecdotes from a day, to be sure, but the “I did this, then I did this, then I did this” entries don’t hold my interest. Nonetheless, today’s entry is going to be in that vein, but in a more general way, as more then a few people have asked me of late: “Peasprout, what is your typical day like?”

Well, since you asked, it goes a little something like this…

I wake up at about 10:30 am or so. I make my morning commute to work, which is really just walking from the bedroom into the office. Sometimes there may be some traffic– perhaps I left some clothing on the floor– but I usually make it to work in a timely manner.

For the next three or four hours I make and answer phone calls, either touching base about pending events or convincing potential clients to hire me, and respond to e-mails. Every now and then I fax something, and sometimes even prepare letters to send by post.

At around 2:00 I shower, dress, and head out into the world. I head down Telegraph or Shattuck and eat lunch someplace while reading the day’s newspaper. The highlight of lunch is working the New York Times crossword puzzle. Sometimes I eat gelato after lunch.

After lunch, I walk about a mile or so to Ver Brugge, a local butcher, where I buy meat to cook for dinner. I then walk what must be another mile and a half to the Berkeley Bowl, my favorite market, where the produce section boggles the mind. Finally, I walk yet another mile home. By now it’s around 5:00, and time to start cooking.

My girlfriend and I dine together most nights. After dinner, who knows what we’ll do. We see a lot of movies, play a lot of Scrabble, and generally do fun things. Sometimes we just kind of do nothing together, but it seems like something just ‘cuz it’s us; even when we’re together doing nothing it beats a trip to Disneyland. Basically, I have the world’s most wonderful girlfriend. She’s also my best friend, and hands down the most remarkable person I’ve ever known. I bet if you met her you’d think the same thing.

Of course, I relish my “me” time, in which I read, write, play basketball, or hang out with friends. A lot of that time comes later in the evening, for Fizzy sleeps earlier than I do. I’m definitely a night person. I do a lot of reading, writing, DVD watching, and work-related tasks after midnight, and don’t go to bed until perhaps 3:00 am.

And that’s pretty much my day. Not much, really. And you can see why I don’t bore you with a daily recounting of said events: I’d have no readers.

Today’s Question: What is your typical day?

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Blogging is a funny thing. You post your thoughts, ideas, and sometimes even personal feelings, and bare your soul to the world. Strangers surf in at random, and in some small way they become a part of your life.

Realistically, none of us knows much about any of the people whose journals we read regularly, though we learn little details here and there, and in some ways bond with one another.

Many people use their blog as an outlet for heartbreak. I am currently blessed with a wonderful relationship, one that I feel confident will last a lifetime, but I can still relate, and even empathize, with the sorrow of others. It’s an awful feeling when someone you care about is gone. I’ve never been through a bad break-up, but I have had my share of heartbreaks, not to mention heavy crushes that didn’t pan out. It can take a long time for the pain to subside, and some of it never really goes away; rather, it becomes a part of who you are. You take it with you, and learn from it, and in time you’re a more complete person with a much better idea of who you really are, and what you really want. With luck, one day you find the right person, and suddenly it was all worthwhile.

So if you’re in the middle of something new and difficult, it may be the end of the familiar, but it’s also the beginning of something unknown. The past is comforting, but it’s the future we live to see. Just don’t be afraid to cry in the meantime.

Today’s Question: Who or what last made you cry?

I last cried when my father passed away. I no longer cry, though I miss him no less than before.

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I realize that no one who lives in California, especially Northern California, and even more especially the Bay Area ought ever to be caught complaining about the weather, but, I mean to say– today was a really warm day. I am wishing for December, and imagining a white Christmas. As such, I am playing Christmas music.

Currently Playing: Dean Martin – Baby It’s Cold Outside

The song is not working. It’s 3:30 am, and it’s still altogether too warm. I almost wish it really *would* snow. Of course, were it ever to snow in Berkeley I’d almost certainly be the first to complain about how cold the weather is.

This is a pretty adorable song. Sure there may be slight overtones of sexism and date rape, but hey– it was 1944, and if we all learned last time that the 1950s were awesome, how amazing must the ’40s have been? Plus it’s Dean Martin; he can seduce me any old time, and I ain’t even gay.

Today’s Question: Make a wish. What is your wish?

Obviously were I granted a wish right now I’d not wish for snow; but what would I wish? I’m honestly not sure. At the risk of sounding panglossian, my life right now is exactly what I want it to be. I suppose I could go all high road on you and wish for world peace or a World Series win for the Cubs, but on a personal level? I’m blessed with so much more in life than I probably deserve as is, a wish would be gilding the lily.

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I was sitting at my desk, wondering what to write, when this song came on:

Currently Playing: Duke Ellington – Satin Doll

“Satin Doll” transports me back in time to my days DJ’ing college parties. A typical such party would end at 2:00 am, after which I had to pay the security, bartenders, and other vendors. Then I had to pack up my sound system and stash it in its rented storage space. By the time I was done with everything, it would often be close to four in the morning.

Now, I never played any Duke Ellington at those parties; rather, “Satin Doll” was on the jukebox at King Diner, a 24-hour hamburger stand in San Francisco, where I would sometimes go to unwind after a night of work. I’d sit in that diner and drink a cup of coffee, and maybe eat a burger, and at some point I’d invariably drop a quarter into the jukebox. As soon as the first tinkling piano keys filled the diner, a feeling of calm would wash over me. For three minutes, I felt transported fifty years back into time.

DJ’ing is a lot lonelier than you’d think. I may have been the center of attention at the parties, but I was also the only person present who was sober, working, and dateless. After everyone else rode home on the buses, it was just me and the big city. Sitting in King Diner, watching the cashed out souls shambling down Mission Street, I’d contemplate my lot in life, as around me night gave way to day.

I often used to wonder about love. I had no idea what it meant to be “in love,” or how I would know if I were, and was more than half-convinced I would never find out. Sometimes I would think about whatever crush I currently had, and lament my “don’t date sorority girls” rule, when that crush happened to be on a Gamma Phi Beta. The rest of the time I’d spend asking myself if my chosen profession was what I really wanted to do with the rest of my life, or if I should be preparing myself for something better, or at the very least different. Then, because most of those parties took place on Thursday nights, I’d head back to Berkeley to catch an hour or two of sleep before going to school.

Things have changed since those days. I’m out of school, and working on different sorts of events that seldom require such late nights. I’m happily in love with the girl of my dreams, and while my job may not be quite the world-changing, fulfilling profession I once dreamed I’d have, it pays the bills and affords me enough free time to indulge my more intellectual and philanthropic pursuits. In short, life is good; but “Satin Doll” still puts me in a thoughtful mood.

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Today marks three happy years with my Fizzy Pop. I hope the next three, and the next thirty, and all the rest are just as happy. I love you Fizzy…

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Fizzy and I will celebrate our anniversary a couple days late this year. We are going to Pop Scene, a night club, to see The Dandy Warhols perform. We are both pretty fond of this band, and are looking forward to hearing them play live for the first time.

Currently Playing: The Dandy Warhols – Bohemian Like You

If you don’t know the band, a good place to start listening to them is their Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia album. My favorite song of the bunch is “Bohemian Like You,” a super-catchy, danceable track. They are hard for me to categorize, but I guess I’d compare them to the Pixies, but maybe with a bit of a ’60s psychedelic edge to their music. Whatever they’re doing, I like it, and I hope you will, too.

The lead singer has a great sounding voice. I don’t mean so much the way he hits the notes, but the actual sound of his voice. It just works well for the sort of songs he sings. My favorite parts of this song are the places in which he does his woo-hoo’s and hey’s.

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Peasprout isn’t a very descriptive moniker, so I’m going to say a bit about myself. This introduction seems long overdue already, as I’ve put up a few blogs without saying a proper hello.

I’m Peasprout; everyone asks me, “why Peasprout?” I don’t have a very good answer. It isn’t a childhood nickname, nor is it my favorite food, although I do enjoy eating peasprouts. It’s my nickname here, and nearly everywhere online, for a few reasons. First, it’s kind of cute, and I like cute and silly things. Second, I happened to be eating peasprouts when I had to choose a nickname somewhere, and it seemed like a good choice. And finally, the nickname is always available. No one else ever seems to choose peasprout, so I can be Peasprout nearly everywhere.

Now then, what else is worth knowing about me? I live in Berkeley, CA with my girlfriend Fizzy. Her name is actually Sue, but we all call her Fizzy. I’ll likely use the names interchangeably here, so get used to both. We’re best friends as well as bf/gf, so I imagine she’ll figure prominently into most blogs I write. I’m trying to convince her to start a blog of her own, but so far no interest. Details concerning future Fizzy blogs as events warrant.

I earn my board and keep as an event planner. I sometimes work as a DJ, but less often these days as the event planning business grows.

In my spare time I read a lot, play Scrabble, and enjoy playing cards. I like movies and old theaters, play basketball, and am hugely inspired by music. My favorite band is Pulp. Suede, The Smiths, Joy Division and David Bowie are also favorites of mine. Lately I have been listening to the White Stripes, Death Cab for Cutie, Brian Jonestown Massacre, and Flaming Lips. I am going to force myself to stop now, for once I get started on music, it can be difficult to get me to shut up.

If that last paragraph made me sound at all trendy or hip or plugged in, don’t be fooled. I am usually the last to know about anything. But once I find something I like, I am likely to immerse myself into it.

That’s about all I can think to share right now. Glad to meetya.

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Weee! One of the commenters on a previous entry, PsychoHippy, had this neat thing on her page…you pick song lyrics to answer questions about yourself. Here’s my own version:

To start, pick a band or singer you know really well. Got one? Good. Who is it?

Who else? Suede! Well, I guess the who else could be Pulp. Or Joy Division? Bowie! George Michael? LOL! For kicks, I actually TRIED to do one with his lyrics, but it didn’t come out right. But then again, how could it? So I went with Suede.

Now the fun (and challenging) part. Answer the following questions using only that band/singer’s lyrics. Ready? Go for it!

Are you male or female?

Modern boys, modern boys
Hand in hand
Sick of the fear
Chasing away all the hungry years
We’re the modern boys

Describe yourself.

So steal me a savage, subservient son
Get him shacked-up, bloodied-up and sucking on a gun
I want the style of a woman, the kiss of a man

How do some people feel about you?

Filmstar, propping up the bar, driving in a car, it looks so easy,
Filmstar, propping up the bar, driving in a car tonight,
Filmstar, giving it class, living it fast, it looks so easy,
Filmstar, giving it class, living it fast tonight.

How do you feel about yourself?

Maybe, maybe it’s the clothes we wear,
The tasteless bracelets and the dye in our hair,
Maybe it’s our kookiness,
Or maybe, maybe it’s our nowhere towns,
Our nothing places and our cellophane sounds,
Maybe it’s our looseness,

But we’re trash, you and me

Describe your girlfriend/boyfriend/love interest.

She walks in beauty like the night
Discarding her clothes in the plastic flowers
Pornographic and tragic in black and white

Say something to him/her.

Oh it’s bigger than the universe
It’s bigger than the universe
It’s bigger than the two of us
Oh it’s bigger than you and me

We got a love between us and it’s like electricity

Where would you rather be?

Oh and I’m never alone now
Now I’m with her

Describe where you live.

Chic thug stuttered through a stereo dream
A fifty knuckle shuffle heavy metal machine
The tears of suburbia drowned the land

Describe how you live.

Here they come gone 7am
Getting satellite and Sky getting cable,
Bills and Bens and their mums and their friends
Who just really, really want to be loved,
Uncle Teds and their legendary vests
Helping out around the disabled,
From the flats and the maisonettes
They’re reminding us there’s things to be done.

But you and me, all we want to be is lazy

Describe how you love.

Won’t someone give me some fun
(And as the skin flies all around us)
We kiss in his room to a popular tune
Oh, real drowners
Slow down, slow down, you’re taking me over
And so we drown, sir we drown
Stop takin’ me over

Share a few words of wisdom.

I don’t care if you’re black or blue
Me and the stars stay up for you
I don’t care who’s wrong or right

_____________

All done. Don’t read all kinds of stuff into that. It’s just me choosing lyrics, not writing them.