Jim Varagona

>I went downtown to Kellie O’toole’s to drink and watch the Cards clinch on Saturday with my gal and her friend. I was wearing my “I’m Rick James’ Ghost, Bitch!” t-shirt from T-shirt Hell , which instantly got some looks as I entered the bar. Within 10 minutes of being there, as I was approaching the bar for a drink, a woman came up to me. She remarked how sweet she thought my shirt was and how her husband (who was standing right there) would like it for his birthday. She offered to buy it off my back. He whispered in my ear that she had money, so aim high. We went back and forth, but settled on $50. Besides, I only paid $25 for it. Luckily she only had 20’s, so she gave me $60 for it. I took her “hubby”‘s shirt off his back. She walked away and he explained that she was married, but not to him. She sure liked his nuts though. He even managed to talk her into giving me another $20 because he felt like a cheap whore for being worth less to her. My only mistake was not setting the cash aside. I usually don’t bring much to the bars. I spent most of the $80 there. And I come to find out that T-Shirt Hell retired that shirt. What can you do? It was still one of the best times I’ve had in a drinking establishment in recent memory. Then again, sometimes you don’t go out remembering much.

This is a great opportunity to push T-Shirt Hell though. Someone may approach you for your uniquely abbrasive shirt and offer twice what you paid for it. Or you could buy some fun shirts from my Cafe Press store and do the same, because millions want “Matt Blunt Sucks Ass” t-shirts. They just don’t know it yet.

>“Chain Gang, Alabama (1956)” by Gordon Parks

Damn, I feel like I’ve been working on a chain gang. Since March, I have been working for a fertilizer company (the big one), merchandising their products. And since this is the end of their season, I jumped ship. I now have been working for a retail servicing firm for almost a week now. Let me tell you, when you see those elaborate Christmas displays at big box stores, appreciate it more, because someone worked on that for 16 hours straight. The pay is good, but assembling Christmas trees and hauling lit up displays of Santa and his reindeer can be taxing (no pun intended). This is my college education at use. At least I am getting toned for my nuptials.

> About a month ago, I submitted 4 or 5 experimental video pieces I made last year for school to Post Video Art, a website that features experimental videos. Today, I noticed that 1 made it so far. “Blowie the Spacemonkey,” which is a short clip involving a blowfish and television feedback, made the cut. You have to scroll down the list of entries to #139. Enjoy.

>Yes…I copied and pasted most of this…at least use a credit card and gimme a buck…

I recently accepted the challenge of walking in the American Diabetes Association’s America’s Walk for Diabetes fund-raising event on October 15, 2005, at Maryville University. I am taking part in this event because I believe in and support the Association’s mission: to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes…and I have lived with Type 1 Diabetes myself for almost 13 years.

You, too, can help by supporting my fund-raising efforts with a generous contribution, or even $1, if that’s all you can give. Your tax-deductible gift will make a difference to more than 18 million Americans who are affected by diabetes and another 40 million who are at risk for developing diabetes. It is faster and easier than ever to support this great cause – you can make your donation online by simply clicking the link at the bottom of this message.

More information on the American Diabetes Association, its programs, and diabetes in general can be found at the Association’s Web site, www.diabetes.org. To find out more information on our America’s Walk for Diabetes, please visit walk.diabetes.org.

Whatever you can give will help! I greatly appreciate your support and will keep you posted on my progress.

To donate online, click here.

>So Tom Cruise knocked up Katie Holmes. Let’s hope the kid has the spunk and energy of his pappy, who recently showed off his skillz jumping on couches on Oprah and spouting the truth about Psychology to Matt Lauer on the Today Show.

Conan O’Brien is optimistic about the child’s looks…

It actually looks a bit like Maria Shriver, don’t ya think?

>From November of 2001 to January of this year, I was employed at the only Target store in the city of St. Louis (strictly in the city). It was unique for the people that would frequent there, who lived in the neighborhood or hopped off of the bus line. I am a people watcher, so the environment was perfect for me.

Late last year, they decided to demolish old T#0051 and build a brand spankin’ new Target in its place to reward the residents for being loyal shoppers. Management asked me to make a video for employees to remember the place and the people. I worked for the final two months on what became “T51: The Eve of Destruction,” an hour long documentary exploring employees’ and customers’ emotions in the final weeks. It turned out quite well, earning me a pretty penny through the store, and an “A” for a documentary production class. People like Jack Francis and high pitched Andrew became legends from it to people who hadn’t even worked at the store. Because of the success of “T51: EOD,” I decided to make merchandise for my Cafepress store featuring T51 related graphics, mainly for the workers to have another memento. Apparently some were not happy with that. Needless to say, I wasn’t invited back to the new facility.

Jack Francis with his mug.

Now T#1515 stands where old T#0051 once stood. It is an amazing structure with underground parking, which is unheard of in the city. Once inside, you would swear you were in an exquisite county store. I will admit my feelings going in to the store were of bitterness, like baker’s chocolate. On Thursday though, I began a new job, and I am at ease. As Tom Petty sings, “It’s time to move on/ time to get goin’.” Everything changes, and people move on, and so I shall.

T#1515 (photo taken by Steve Patterson from his blog “Urban Review”)

And as Andrew says at the end of “T51: EOD”…”Goodbye. See you later. Aloha to you.”

>A disturbing thing happened to me today. I went to the opening festivities of the new Target #1515 in my ‘hood, which I could have worked at, but we’ll save that for a different blog. Anyway, as I mosied around the new, huge Target complex, I noticed a couple of teenage girls following me. Normally, I would take that as a good sign. Maybe they think I look like a celebrity, like Danny Devito. Now he is sexy. After the fourth different time I noticed them staring at me, they approached me and asked, “Are you the Z 107.7 $10,000 fugitive?” What could I say?

“Yes, and you’re the winner,” I said as I shook her limp hand. She really looked like she was going to faint. When she asked if I was serious, I had to say no. I didn’t even know what the hell she was talking about. I don’t listen to that pop music kids listen to these days, and Z 107.7FM is YOUR HIT MUSIC STATION in St. Louis.

Well, they walked away disappointed, and I was left puzzled. I think I would rather have them think I was Danny Devito. He made a great Penguin, and I kind of sound like the Penguin.

A few minutes later, an older woman ran up to me and asked, “Are you the Z 107.7 $10,000 fugitive?” I snapped back with a quick, “NO!”

Has the whole world gone mad??!

Damn, stupid radio promotions can really mess with people’s heads. And then they have to mess with mine. Bastards. Save me Danny Devito.

>

(Matt, Myself, and my sister Sara at my HS graduation in 1999)

WG usually affects middle aged folks, but can affect people of all ages, such as my brother. He had flu-like symptoms for a short period of time, but the pediatricians did not think to investigate it further and left it at that. Around the beginning of February he began coughing up decent amounts of blood, which the pediatrician dismissed as a severe part of the flu. He laid on the couch all day, coughing up blood for a few days until my mother took him to the hospital. Even the doctors there weren’t too sure of what was going on. By the time they figured it out, it was pretty much too late. The auto-immune disease had been tearing up his kidney and lungs for a while, hence the blood. He was hooked up to more machines than I have ever seen in a hospital room, and he stayed in an induced coma for 2 weeks and died on February 21, 2000.

The other symptoms that seem so insignificant that he experienced were nose bleeds, which even I had often as a child, and joint pain, which actually was once misdiagnosed as a simple twist of the ankle for Matt. The other symptoms are fever, fatigue, malaise, loss of appetite, weight loss, night sweats, changes in color of urine, and weakness. Nothing on that list is huge enough for someone to even consider such a horrible disease, but together or even a few may help point to some form of Vasculitis, such as WG. The WG Association even states that one third of patients may have no symptoms at the onset of the disease. How scary is that?

Granted WG only affects 1 in every 20,000 to 30,000 people, but if you’ve seen what it can do, you pay attention for signs out of fear. People can live with WG if it is caught early enough, so it’s important for doctors and others know at least a little about this disease. For more info., the press release from the WG Association follows below, or go to their website at http://www.wgassociation.org.

Wegener’s Granulomatosis Awareness Week
The week of October 2-8, 2005 has been designated as “Wegener’s Granulomatosis Awareness Week throughout the world.

Wegener’s granulomatosis (WG) is a chronic, autoimmune, vasculitis disease that affects about 1 in 20,000 to1 in 30,000 people. The disease strikes people of all ages.

There is no known cause of Wegener’s; but it is not contagious, and there is no evidence it is hereditary. The disease affects the sinuses, lungs, kidneys and other body organs. About 90% of patients have symptoms of a ‘cold’, ‘runny nose’ or ‘sinusitis’ that fail to respond to the usual therapeutic measures. Other symptoms may include inflammation of the eyes, hearing problems, pleuritis, rash, fever, lack of energy, weight loss, fatigue, arthritic pain, night sweats and blood in urine.

Diagnosis of the disease is made by the ANCA blood test, tissue biopsy or other laboratory findings. Early diagnosis is key to preventing permanent organ damage. Wegener’s can be fatal if not treated.

The Wegener’s Granulomatosis Association is an international non-profit organization with over 5,000 members in 58 countries. The group offers support and comfort to Wegener’s patients and family members through education, awareness and research.
For more information on the disease please call 1-800-277-9474 or visit the group’s website: http://www.wgassociation.org

> I never thought I would ever blare the voice of George W. Bush on my computer speakers or on my car stereo. That is until I found www.thepartyparty.com. RX, the pseudonym of the guy that runs the site, remixes Presidential speeches and other media sources to phat beats like samples of “My Generation” and “Sympathy for the Devil” to make some crazy stuff. My favorite tracks are “Dick Is A Killer” and “My Name Is RX.” He also has T-shirts and CDs available.

RX isn’t the only one in on this craze. If you go to DIYMEDIA.net’s collage section, they have a smorgasboard of other interpretation’s of political speeches and whatnot. A personal favorite of mine there is a nice take on Michael Moore’s Oscar Acceptance speech for Bowling for Columbine…you know, the “Shame on you Mr. Bush” one. So I can now say I am a fan of the President, at least his music.

>

A portrait of the artist as a young man.

We went all out. The mic stand was a tripod.

He played some original stuff and covers of Phish, the Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, and the Rolling Stones.

The crowd got into it, or maybe that was the booze talkin’.

Birthday boy Charlie enjoying the tunes.

Dan rocking it out with the birthday boy’s sister.

For more info. on Dan Roth, who may be the next Dylan, contact me at jim@diabetoboy.com.

Special thanks to Juniper Grill in the Soulard neighborhood of St. Louis, MO, who hosted the party.