Guess it had to happen eventually...

11:30 PM: Take shower.
11:45 PM: Get into bed (new 540 thread count sheets yay!). Play Puzzle Quest for DS.
12:08 AM: Joined in bed by Brian. Put away DS and snuggle down for night.
12:15 AM (estimated): Fall asleep.
01:49 AM: Jolted out of sleep by thumping and muffled screams coming from upstairs.
01:50 AM: Thumping stops, screaming and yelling continues.
02:05 AM: Yelling seems to die down some. Angry voices still heard, along with heavy footsteps.
02:12 AM: Angry voices replaced with hysterical crying. Am having uncomfortable flashbacks to childhood.

So...I guess it was only a matter of time before we eventually got neighbors that woke us up fighting in the middle of the night. *sigh* I miss Jeremy & Candy, our previous upstairs neighbors. Sure, they gave off vibes of "oppressively wholesome", but at least they were quiet, and fun to talk to. We had some college-age folk move in a few months ago, and they're mostly okay (some noise from games/wrestling/whatever but it's mostly kept to a reasonable hour). In their defense, this is the first time this has happened. But sheesh. These apartments are actually fairly well insulated - they must be being awfully darn loud.

(For the record, yes, I am listening for sounds of physical violence, and am perfectly prepared to call the police if such occur. But it sounds like it's gone from the angry stage to the hysterical crying stage, and unfortunately police are unlikely to intervene in cases of merely emotional/mental abuse. Maybe we need a Crisis Relationship Counseling Squad to take care of things like this? I feel bad for them, but I lived through the whole trying-very-hard-to-sleep-while-people-are-arguing-loudly thing once already. Don't really want to repeat it.)

Guess it had to happen eventually...

11:30 PM: Take shower.
11:45 PM: Get into bed (new 540 thread count sheets yay!). Play Puzzle Quest for DS.
12:08 AM: Joined in bed by Brian. Put away DS and snuggle down for night.
12:15 AM (estimated): Fall asleep.
01:49 AM: Jolted out of sleep by thumping and muffled screams coming from upstairs.
01:50 AM: Thumping stops, screaming and yelling continues.
02:05 AM: Yelling seems to die down some. Angry voices still heard, along with heavy footsteps.
02:12 AM: Angry voices replaced with hysterical crying. Am having uncomfortable flashbacks to childhood.

So...I guess it was only a matter of time before we eventually got neighbors that woke us up fighting in the middle of the night. *sigh* I miss Jeremy & Candy, our previous upstairs neighbors. Sure, they gave off vibes of "oppressively wholesome", but at least they were quiet, and fun to talk to. We had some college-age folk move in a few months ago, and they're mostly okay (some noise from games/wrestling/whatever but it's mostly kept to a reasonable hour). In their defense, this is the first time this has happened. But sheesh. These apartments are actually fairly well insulated - they must be being awfully darn loud.

(For the record, yes, I am listening for sounds of physical violence, and am perfectly prepared to call the police if such occur. But it sounds like it's gone from the angry stage to the hysterical crying stage, and unfortunately police are unlikely to intervene in cases of merely emotional/mental abuse. Maybe we need a Crisis Relationship Counseling Squad to take care of things like this? I feel bad for them, but I lived through the whole trying-very-hard-to-sleep-while-people-are-arguing-loudly thing once already. Don't really want to repeat it.)

I really need to think "What Would Man-In-Hat Do?" more often...

Couple Arguing at 2:00 AM
Director: Unknown as of press time
Cast: Occupants of Upstairs Apartment
Improvised Performance
Running Time: Approximately 60 minutes
Warning: Contains language, adult situations, moderate sexual content and simulated elephant herd.

Rating: ***1/2 (out of ****)
Reviewed by: Occupants of Downstairs Apartment


Last night had already been a pretty fun weeknight by the time bedtime rolled around. It being Thursday, we had invited some friends over to play Rock Band, and for several hours we enjoyed pretending to some sort of musical ability conjoined with superstardom. But eventually any night’s entertainment, no matter how sublime, must end; and come the end of the evening, we reluctantly put away our “instruments”, bid our friends farewell, and prepared for bed.

Imagine our surprise and delight, then, when we were jolted awake at approximately 1:45 AM by an improvised performance from our upstairs neighbors! More entertainment, apparently created just for us, and available without even leaving our warm, comfortable bed! We immediately began listening to the raised voices, not wishing to miss any of the performance. Fortunately, the volume was more than sufficient to carry through the floor and into our bedroom.

On the whole, it was a fairly impressive satire of the usual tropes so often seen in such domestic disturbances. The various elements and stages were all clearly present: the exchange of bellows on both the male and female sides, followed by the apparent “giving up” of the involved man while the woman continued her shouting, followed by the loud and hysterical crying from the woman as shouting proved ineffective at provoking the desired reaction, followed by evident softening from the man as things subsided into a more civil tone.

At this point, we admit to believing the performance to be over, and starting to go back to sleep – only to be jolted awake again by the equally loud sounds of conciliatory lovemaking. Unfortunately, this was probably the weakest aspect of the act; while we admire the participants’ enthusiasm in emulating the hysterically funny sounds often present in such activities, the woman’s part in particular sounded a bit forced and inauthentic, which detracted from the humor somewhat. Perhaps a bit more practice is in order?

Still, it was an impressive act overall; with a bit of refinement we would heartily recommend taking it on tour to other locations. Definitely one you can’t miss hearing when it comes to your area!

----------

Any suggestions/comments for making it wittier before I post this on their door this afternoon would be appreciated.

I really need to think "What Would Man-In-Hat Do?" more often...

Couple Arguing at 2:00 AM
Director: Unknown as of press time
Cast: Occupants of Upstairs Apartment
Improvised Performance
Running Time: Approximately 60 minutes
Warning: Contains language, adult situations, moderate sexual content and simulated elephant herd.

Rating: ***1/2 (out of ****)
Reviewed by: Occupants of Downstairs Apartment


Last night had already been a pretty fun weeknight by the time bedtime rolled around. It being Thursday, we had invited some friends over to play Rock Band, and for several hours we enjoyed pretending to some sort of musical ability conjoined with superstardom. But eventually any night’s entertainment, no matter how sublime, must end; and come the end of the evening, we reluctantly put away our “instruments”, bid our friends farewell, and prepared for bed.

Imagine our surprise and delight, then, when we were jolted awake at approximately 1:45 AM by an improvised performance from our upstairs neighbors! More entertainment, apparently created just for us, and available without even leaving our warm, comfortable bed! We immediately began listening to the raised voices, not wishing to miss any of the performance. Fortunately, the volume was more than sufficient to carry through the floor and into our bedroom.

On the whole, it was a fairly impressive satire of the usual tropes so often seen in such domestic disturbances. The various elements and stages were all clearly present: the exchange of bellows on both the male and female sides, followed by the apparent “giving up” of the involved man while the woman continued her shouting, followed by the loud and hysterical crying from the woman as shouting proved ineffective at provoking the desired reaction, followed by evident softening from the man as things subsided into a more civil tone.

At this point, we admit to believing the performance to be over, and starting to go back to sleep – only to be jolted awake again by the equally loud sounds of conciliatory lovemaking. Unfortunately, this was probably the weakest aspect of the act; while we admire the participants’ enthusiasm in emulating the hysterically funny sounds often present in such activities, the woman’s part in particular sounded a bit forced and inauthentic, which detracted from the humor somewhat. Perhaps a bit more practice is in order?

Still, it was an impressive act overall; with a bit of refinement we would heartily recommend taking it on tour to other locations. Definitely one you can’t miss hearing when it comes to your area!

----------

Any suggestions/comments for making it wittier before I post this on their door this afternoon would be appreciated.

Sad news

It was just yesterday that I learned that Dan Fogelberg died a couple weeks ago of prostate cancer. I'm a bit surprised that I didn't hear the news at the time, but then, perhaps it's not so surprising - I rarely go looking for news of celebrities, and that time I was wrapped up in getting The Reindeer Monologues off the ground. And Fogelberg's never been the sort of musician who'd have the details of his life splashed across MSN's front page.

I was surprised at how sad I felt on reading the news. Even though I was never what you'd call a big follower of his - I own one of his "best of" albums and that's pretty much it - his music was a staple of my childhood. I grew up with parents who were into the 70's folk resurgence/soft rock movement, and Dan Fogelberg was one of their favorite artists. And while I doubt I'll ever qualify as a rabid fan, "Longer" and "Same Old Lang Syne" will always hold happy memories for me.

On that note, I think it's kind of neat that one of popular music's long-standing mysteries has been resolved - the "lover" Dan describes meeting in "Same Old Lang Syne" has come forward and confirmed that the chance meeting was, in fact, a real event, with just a couple of changes for poetic license (her eyes are in fact green, but "blue" was much easier to rhyme). Apparently it's been one of her treasured memories for decades, but she kept mum about the incident out of respect for Dan's privacy.

Rest well, Dan, and thank you for sharing your music with us - I'm sure many other people have fond memories of it as well. We'll miss you.

Sad news

It was just yesterday that I learned that Dan Fogelberg died a couple weeks ago of prostate cancer. I'm a bit surprised that I didn't hear the news at the time, but then, perhaps it's not so surprising - I rarely go looking for news of celebrities, and that time I was wrapped up in getting The Reindeer Monologues off the ground. And Fogelberg's never been the sort of musician who'd have the details of his life splashed across MSN's front page.

I was surprised at how sad I felt on reading the news. Even though I was never what you'd call a big follower of his - I own one of his "best of" albums and that's pretty much it - his music was a staple of my childhood. I grew up with parents who were into the 70's folk resurgence/soft rock movement, and Dan Fogelberg was one of their favorite artists. And while I doubt I'll ever qualify as a rabid fan, "Longer" and "Same Old Lang Syne" will always hold happy memories for me.

On that note, I think it's kind of neat that one of popular music's long-standing mysteries has been resolved - the "lover" Dan describes meeting in "Same Old Lang Syne" has come forward and confirmed that the chance meeting was, in fact, a real event, with just a couple of changes for poetic license (her eyes are in fact green, but "blue" was much easier to rhyme). Apparently it's been one of her treasured memories for decades, but she kept mum about the incident out of respect for Dan's privacy.

Rest well, Dan, and thank you for sharing your music with us - I'm sure many other people have fond memories of it as well. We'll miss you.