Get Lucky

Three quick things:
1.) I’m done! Hell yeah! I get grades on Jan. 2nd but I think everything went well.
2.) I Am Legend was really good, as was The Golden Compass and Margot At The Wedding
3.) Spending your break working harder than you did at school is not cool…

More soon. I may have more time to do this when I take a whole week off work and school. In other words, I’ll be bored and have nothing to do. That always makes me want to complain…

Things that top my Christmas list:
A trip to Paris
A raise
A 4.0 GPA
Financial solvency

Strangely the most likely is the first…

Listening to “Amylase” by Cajun Dance Party (Check them out, its worth it)

Misery Business

Things to do in the next two weeks, in chronological order:

1.) Go to last Medieval History class
2.) Go to last Cinema & Colonialism Class
3.) Have birthday dinner with my mom (pt. 1)
4.) Research French History Paper
5.) Meet with T.A.
6.) Write French History Paper
7.) Have Birthday dinner with my mom (pt. 2)
8.) Write Law Exam Final Paper
9.) Proofread French History Paper
10.) – 15.) Study for Exams
16.) Sleep at some point
17.) Take French History Exam and turn in paper
18.) Take Medieval History Exam with notes…again.
19.) Try and enjoy the weekend!
20.) Have a crappy weekend studying for Cinema & Colonialism class
21.) Take Cinema & Colonialism Exam
22.) Finish my semester without having a nervous breakdown (fingers crossed)
23.) Be abandoned by my girlfriend for two weeks
24.) Work my tail off for three days at the office
25.) Breath a sigh of relief when Friday comes and I get a whole week off to do absolutely nothing.
26.) Realize that the week I thought I had to do nothing will in fact be spent fighting the hordes of shoppers who have also left their present buying for the last minute.


Bah-fucking-humbug! I hate Christmas! Sure there’s stuff which is great but I don’t need any of it. There’s family, but I don’t really like mine. And of course the wonderful feeling of goodwill and peace towards men, which actually makes me feel like a hypocrite for being an asshole the rest of the year and is almost entirely a load of shit anyway. Plus I’m always sick of Christmas carols a month before the 25th since it seems to be the law that everyone put up decorations and “get into the spirit” (of consumerism) by mid November. I heard on the radio that the stress men feel shopping during the holidays is akin to the stress a police officer feels while working crowd control during a full scale riot. I think that’s why I feel this way. Maybe I should try doing my shopping online this year…

Merry Christmas to all my readers! I’ll try and post something else soon that has a nicer slant to it.

And yes, the title of this post is a Paramore song. What? You wanna fight about it?!?

Let's Dance To Joy Division

I should be writing a paper but instead I thought that I would talk at ether. How is everyone? Did you have a nice Thanksgiving? I did. There was a chance of Hippy-inflected tofurkey but I dodged the bullet and made it through Thursday full and soy-free. I got to sit next to my aunt's nephew (which would be me but its the other side of the family). He's a philosophy doctoral student at City College in New York. I was enthralled/babbling to him most of the night. He was nice to me, when I misspoke about analytic philosophy he didn't correct me. I thought that was decent of him.

Anyway, Friday I went down to Salisbury to visit the Grandparents an the horde of people I'm technically related to. It was surprisingly painless. I actually had a good time. My cousins are all in their teens now, mostly in high school. I'm able to carry on conversations with them. Like I had an hour conversation with on about the merits of California weed versus East Coast. With another I got to talk Second wave Ska, which wierded me out. He even had the Two-Tone comp, which I thought would impress him. More proof that I was inherently lame in high school. I thought people got cool once the went off the college. Eh... Then I had a thirty minute lecture from the eldest cousin, now going to school in New York, about absurdist theater and the benefit one can derive from reading Becket while tripping. They are all a lot more interesting than I am.

There was also Guitar Hero III. More on that in a moment. We wet to see the Mist at about 10:30, which I thought was a little late, and only served as more proof that I'm a geezer. The movie was good. I thought Thank-You-For-Smoking-guy and Mystic-River-lady did great jobs. The ending was a little predictable and the monsters all looked like 3D Jim Henson puppets from The Dark Crystal but all in all I would recommend it to Stephen King fans. We left a day early and got back in the early evening on Saturday. I got to hang with Nando for a bit that night and watch his favorite show-- Dexter, a Showtime (I think) series on a serial killer. Its honestly one of the more interesting shows on T.V. I've seen this season (even if I am watching last season's episodes). The protagonist is a serial killer, and you manage to empathize with him. Its sort of a bizarre felling to root for the homicidal maniac but it works. Another "Greg-recommended" production.

I bought Guitar Hero 3 a little while back. I have been playing less routinely that when I purchased the others, mainly because of papers and whatnot at school, but it is a great game. I have a few complaints about the changes in look but on the whole its a solid release from the Guitar Hero franchise. The characters you can choose from are a bit of a let down. My favorite, Pandora, a white belt-wearing, leather jumpsuit clad, hardcore indie chick was dropped from the game. And Johnny Napalm, the punk guitarist, now looks like a Casualties casualty. Not that he didn't before but it’s accentuated by the lack of shirt and Mohawk-to-body ratio that exceeds the bonding properties of even the toughest mouse. Aside from a few graphic missteps the songs are top notch. Getting to play "Bulls On Parade" by Rage Against The Machine, "My Name Is Jonas" by Weezer, "Anarchy In The U.K." as re-recorded by the remaining Sex Pistols (since the master tape has been lost) are only a few of the highlights. I could go on and on but I'll shift gears a little now.

Not a lot mind you... I need to get an XBox 360, or barring that a PS3. I don't really want either of these systems, they aren't bad but I have lots of friends who have the XBox and from everything I've heard the PS3 is not a great console, but I still need to buy one. "Why," you ask? Because of a little game called Rock Band. The makers of the original Guitar Hero teamed up with MTV to create a full band experience, with drums, bass and guitar and karaoke vocals. It comes out for PS2, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't get released for my console of choice until December 11th or something. I can wait. Don't think I'm that childish. My main reason for wanting the XBox 360 version is the downloadable content. You can actually download full albums to play in the game. The two that kick off the Rock Band release are Nevermind by Nirvana and The Who's Next by the Who. I love Nirvana but being able to play every track of The Who's Next would be... well, to put it plainly, kick ass.

Since my last post I've had a one year anniversary. Elizabeth and I are great, for those who dot know. I think she, Shah and Nando are the only ones who read this, its really only you Shah, since she knows and Nando gets told most everything important. While assembling her anniversary mix-tape (mix-CD, whatever, tape sounds better) I happened upon a couple of new bands worth checking out. Cut Off Your Hands, The Wombats and The Moths! top my list of new favorites. The Wombats, in particular, are in heavy rotation. I'll cut this short, since I really do have to get this paper done but I want to leave you with what might be the greatest summation of what I fell like every time I think my life is going horribly awry. Or at least once someone stops me from hyperventilating and cracks a joke about how silly I'm being. At that point this is the song that should be playing in the movie version of my life:

I'm back in Liverpool
and everything seems the same
but I worked something out last night
that changed this little boy's brain
a small piece of advice that took 22 years in the make
and i will break it for you now
please learn from my mistakes
please learn from my mistakes

let's dance to joy division
and celebrate the irony
everything is going wrong
but we're so happy

let's dance to joy division
and raise our glass to the ceiling
'cos this could all go so wrong
but we're just so happy
yeah, we're so happy

so if you're ever feeling down
grab your purse and take a taxi
to the darkest side of town
that's where we'll be
and we will wait for you
and lead you through the dancefloor
up to the dj booth
you know what to ask for
you know what to ask for

go ask for joy division
and celebrate the irony
everything is going wrong
but we're so happy

go ask for joy divison
and raise your glass to the ceiling
cos this could all go so wrong
but we're so happy
so happy

so let the love tear us apart
I found the cure for a broken heart
let it tear us apart

let it tear us apart

let's dance to joy division
and raise our glass to the ceiling
cos this could all go so wrong
but we're so happy
yeah, we're so happy

so happy, yeah, we're so happy
so happy, yeah, we're so happy
- "Let's Dance To Joy Division"
by The Wombats

Big Casino

If I were an ancient Roman I would be siked right now. While walking to class this morning I passed by a hawk feeding of a pigeon. It was right there on the grass, maybe four feet from the path. The Roman loved their omens and I don’t think they would have passed up the chance to read way too much into this. They would either be siked or terrified about the coming week. I’m not superstitious but I really hope I’m the hawk.

Midterms went well. I mean, I’ve only gotten one back but it was good. I’m judging the rest on this standard. Well see how that pans out. In other life affirming news I found my glasses. Back to being a hipster douche bag. Hooray!

My weekend was nice. Elizabeth was in Miami so I had it to myself for the most part. Boring school stuff on Friday, then out for a bit with Nando. Saturday was Panos’ belated birthday party at Clyde’s in Tower Oaks. I had oysters and Blue Moon. Both were satisfactory. My parents were away this weekend so I took care of the muppet. She survived, even though when they’re away she wont eat anything…

The new Jimmy Eat World Album is really good. I would say as good as the last one, which is not quite as good as "Bleed America" and three rungs down from "Clarity." Or at least that's my scientific opinion.

I need to get out to Baltimore and see people, and St. Mary’s. I also need to write three papers and clone myself. Maybe next week?

Until then I’ll leave you with this:
“Aquila fortuna iuvat”
-Fortune favors the hawks.

The Reckoner

The new Radiohead is surprisingly good. The album has a very different quality to it than previous releases by the fugly-turned-popular dwarf that is Thom Yorke. In all honesty, I am both a Radiohead fan but its just too easy to make fun of them… It is, shockingly consumable, and possibly a stroke marketing genius, both of which may alienate your average Radiohead fan, but you have to take chances in the music industry! The bittersweet pop confection (and I mean that as the highest praise) is just ten songs but all of them are at least decent. Highlights include the heart-wrenching “All I Need Is You,” an evolved live favorite, “Nude” and “The Reckoner” a masterpiece in my mind and sublime in its simplicity. God its like you can’t fucking avoid using hyperbole like that when you talk about these guys. I didn’t even mean for this to come off as a pro-Radioead paragraph. I guess I like what the New York Times said about the album (though it might have been Pitchfork); “While In Rainbows like Radiohead coming back to earth, it isn’t anything to be afraid of.” And if that doesn’t convince you: its free!

Exams start up this week (yes, the title does have a double meaning and you’re right, I’m not really that clever). I’ve got my first one in about six hours. Its in Cinema and Colonialism. The things I’ve learned about in Cinema and Colonialism are as follows:

1.) Apocalypse Now! isn’t about the Vietnam war. It’s actually about suicide.
2.) The Searchers isn’t about miscegenation so much as it is about the Other and why we must become the Other to be American.
3.) King Kong is not about a big monkey, its about how lame the Smithsonian is and why Vaudeville is responsible for the Animal Planet
4.) Beau Geste isn’t about honor but rather domestic spaces and why they often don’t work when presided over by crazy Russians in search of jewels.
5.) Gunga Din is what you think its about, only in a bad way.

Thanks for letting me review with you!

After that is my Medieval History final. She is giving us the essay topic today in class (the exam is next Wednesday) and we are allowed to bring in a piece of paper with notes on it… They didn’t even make it this easy in high school.

Lastly: I had something stuck in my head yesterday. I’ve recently finished Killing Yourself To Live by Chuck Klosterman and he uses the Who lyric “the kids are alright” a few times in the course of the work. I tend to disagree with that sentiment but never the less I liked the way he used it in the book. Well, while sitting in the library yesterday a young girl asked if she could borrow a pen. I told her sure. Why a young girl was in a college library I am not sure but there were others there also. I suspect it was some sort of class trip or something. Anywho… when she returned it to me she must have seen what I was writing in a notebook and told me very nicely that I had spelled Manichean wrong. I got two things out of this: the first is that nine-year-old girls can kick my ass in spelling and that “the kids are alright.”

Screaming At The Wall (?)

So I had a great day in class yesterday. We discussed King Kong and how museums are the Patriarchal West’s version of the dominate gaze directed to indigenous people, how the camera is actually a gun and that Naturalism is the direct descendant of Vaudeville. My mind was suitably blown. My girlfriend remains unimpressed.

Anyway, this is by way of telling you that the funk may have passed. We’ll see. I have to move my office this weekend but I did get a new wardrobe out of it, so I can’t complain too much. Thanks mom!

I was browsing the Facebook this morning and I saw the status feature of a friend of mine that piqued my interest. It said that he was close to Denise Kucinich on politicalcompass.com. I figured I’d give it a shot and answer as honestly as I could. Now my political evolution has taken some turns in the past few years, but I wasn’t quiet ready for the results. I started my political formation while attending Catholic Boys school to receive religious formation. So I was a little on the conservative side of things. As Junior year approached however I saw myself more as a Moderate. I wanted to hear both parties and attempt a reasoned and informed vote (once I could that is). Upon entering college and, I won’t lie, watching a crap-ton of The West Wing I suppose I styled myself as fully fledged Old Left Democrat. Strong on Defense but with compassion and a fiscal budget that while not balanced would provide “essential services”…whatever that means. More recently I’ve stopped actually finding my voice in any politician really. Biden is close on the war but otherwise nobody really encapsulates by wishes for government.

After taking the test this morning I know why: there isn’t too much ink about people farther left economically than Mike Gavel and on the scale of power I fall somewhere more libertarian than the Dalai Lama…

I know what you’re thinking: Greg’s a fucking pinko-commie bastard. Well I’ll stop you right there. You see Stalin is actually quiet the Authoritarian and Marx is probably more left economically so you’d be wrong! Gandhi and I are close too. I’m just a bleeding heart Emo kid. Nothing to really worry about.

Listening to Brahms (who apparently was quite the Conservative according the website)

I Think Your Train Is Leaving

Settling in. At long last. Sort of. Maybe I’m just getting used to doing everything last minute again. I seem to have a lot of time when I don’t need it and never enough when I do. I waste so much of my day in waiting around for things to start you would almost think it was some sort of profound metaphor for my life…or something.

Musically I’ve been dull. My life’s playlist has gone something like this for the past two months with slight variation:
1.) New Romance by Pretty Girls Make Graves
It’s a good piece of rock-pop-synth but lyrically dull to the point of distraction. Its also been out for ages and the band has broken up. This in and of itself means nothing but I want something to listen to that will either let me go to a concert or at least have hope of hearing songs at said concert.
2.) The Jam – Best Of Compilation
I love the Jam, their mod, British, from the early eighties and they play great punky rock-pop but there is something in the later compositions that reminds me that everyone eventually gets lazy and tired and that trying to break out of that in one fell swoop never fucking works. Just listen to “Going Underground” side by side with “Tales Of The Riverbank.”
3.) JR Ewing – Maelstrom
They were Swedish hardcore band and are now some sort of AFI like pop group. This is not why I dislike them, on the contrary, that could entice me to like them even more. No, the reason that Maelstrom seems bereft to me these days is the track called Pitch Black Blonde. It’s the best on the album, by far I think. Mike and I have agreed that it goes up there with Party of Helicopters’ “Brutal Enigma.” The song’s crescendo is so close to sublime that its maddening. You can taste the sonic release that might occur in that build up. The anticipation is almost sexual. But when the notes grow too big to contain and the song seems to give you the pay off to all that build up it just doesn’t satisfy.

Movies have also been somewhat drear of late. Across the Universe was entertaining but hacky in too many places to make it great or even all the way good. You have the most (socially) tumultuous decade in the century as your subject matter and the Beatles for your soundtrack and you tell a simple, albeit sweet, love story? Bobby did better, which I also saw not too long ago. It was good but disjointed. I can’t think of any other way to tell that kind of narrative but it seemed like Emilio Estevez was trying to keep too many balls in the air and ended up producing a tone that I liked quite a lot but hollow characters. Hot Fuzz was funny. The Searchers was depressing and good. I can’t wait for Darjeeling Limited to come out. Wes Andersen better come through. That movie alone could probably cure this mood. And I’m still waiting for Control. That’s it for movies.

Socially: Elizabeth’s birthday was fun, and six flags was great once I opened my eyes on the roller coasters. I do not, as many could imagine, scream like a little girl. Its more of a dignified grimace and a look of abject horror that I alternate in affecting. I’ve hung out with Nando some, which has been good. I worked on a weekend for the first time in a log time. I think that’s about it.

School is school and work is work. I don’t know why I’m feeling so existentially adrift but I am. Not all the time. Just in the four and a half hour between Law class and Medieval History when I should be doing something productive but never do.

Alright that’s enough. Go back to your lives.

PS I almost forgot, in music there has been one miracle: Mike and I found a copy of the live recording of Indian Summer that’s so impossible to find. The quality is shit but the experience is rather comforting. Indian Summer isn’t really the Band to get you out of a funk though…

You're Lucky To Be Alive

I feel worn and slightly frayed around the edges.
Overwhelmed isn’t quite it.
Both it and its opposite together might come closer.
If that’s possible.
Tenacity must in the end give way… to what though?
My vote is sleep but I’m open to suggestions.
Maybe another semester and I’ll decide to let myself breath.
The most disappointing thought in all of this:
No time to reminisce during the Spirit of Autumn holiday season.
That’s when I get the most reminiscing done!
Poor me, woe is me. Pity party for one, please.
Fuck it.
Back to the trenches.

New Romance

Today is my first day at UMD. In fact as we speak (as I speak anyway) I’m sitting in the hallway of the Francis Scott Key Building writing this from my brand-spanking new Mac book. So far the orientation stuff has been a headache but hopefully that will be over soon. I couldn’t get into an orientation group, as they were all full by the time Maryland decided to let me in (suckers…) and no orientation means no registering for classes. Right, its sort of a big deal. I got into two history classes unofficially but I’ll deal with all of that on Friday.

Classes should be good. The Medieval World (which is the second to last lower level class I’ll ever have to take, that only took four years!) and Old Regime France which is taught by a professor who’s name is Donald Sutherland. Unfortunately I’m pretty sure it’s not the Donald Sutherland of “Kelly’s Heroes” fame. I hope I’ll be able to get into a Lit. class and either more history or whatever else I need.

The new laptop is super-sweet. I’m in love. I take it with me everywhere. His name is Mortimer. I never thought wireless internet could be so easy. And the photo booth is providing Elizabeth with endless entertainment. I’ve still got to fix my router at home but I think I’ll even be able to use it in my room.

So besides school and technology upgrades my house got struck by lightning (I wasn’t there but the tree that got hit looks pretty scared), I have a new title at work (“Homeland Security Liaison”) which, I’ll grant you, I invented and it sounds way cooler than what I actually do (which is put information into a database) but still…how awesome does that sound?

Numerous concerts are coming up that I want to go to so anyone in the mood should call.
The Editors @ 9:30 Club Sept. 4
Metric @ 9:30 Club Sept. 20
Jose Gonzales @ 9:30 Club Oct. 2
Spoon @ 9:30 Club Oct. 22 & 23 (which I think is sold out…)
Yo La Tengo @ Birchmere Oct. 23
Kenna (with She Wants Revenge for some reason) @ Black Cat Oct. 27
Stiff Little Fingers @ Black Cat Nov. 15
The Locust @ Ottobar Nov. 21

So, that’s about it. I’ll hopefully be deliriously busy from now until…oh I don’t know, Graduation. Or there about. Since I like being early and get bored easily I’ll probably keep you updated on any academic revelations from the early Dark Ages in Europe. I’m sure you’re all thrilled.

Listening to “Love Will Tear Us Apart” by Jose Gonzales (Really good cover) and “Holy Names” by Pretty Girls Make Graves (New Romance is one of my new favorite albums)

Heart & Soul

Yesterday, at age 57, Tony Wilson died. From Joy Division to the Buzzcocks to his club the Hacienda he was an important part of the Manchester post-punk scene, hell for a while he was the Manchester post-punk scene, and an infamous but loveable character. He once said that one “either makes money or history.” I’ve always loved that quote.

He will be missed.

Listening to my Factory Records Mix in honor of the dearly departed.

I Wanna Rock

While reading an article in the New York times about the video game world's annual preview and business summit the author of the piece used the word "wiivelution." I laughed so hard I almost fell out of my chair. It was way better than my off-handed use of "wiiality" or the wider spread use of "wiiysics" by some of the people I know that use the Nintendo wii.

Also in video game news the MTV game "Rock Band" where they have taken the basic concept of "Guitar Hero" and expanded it to not just the guitar but bass, vocals and drums!

Oh, and Tuesday (or possibly the 24th depending on the website you go to) will make the release of Guitar Hero 2 Encore: Rock The 80's. The new game will feature the songs like "Turning Japanese" by The Vapors, "I Ran (So Far Away) by Flock Of Seagulls and Hold On Loosely by .38 Special. Don't worry I've already pre-ordered my copy.

Sorry to geek out but I was too excited...

In other news: this past Thursday my speech teacher asked me if my sideburns were paste on and then told me that red-heads were not to be trusted... so I'm having a great time at school too.

Baltimore on Friday was great. I got to see everybody up there, which hasn't happened in a while. We went to Frasier’s and I got to talk about Mathematical Logic and Russell’s theory of Analytic Philosophy with D. I haven't gotten past saying those words without the person I'm talking to falling asleep.

Listening to "The Eton Rifles" by The Jam

More Than Meets The Eye

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. The new job is great, the school stuff is good. But this is why I wanted to resume my verbal leavings into the Internets:

http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2007/7/9weaver.html

I love it!

The movie was great too. I've seen it twice and will probably see it again. Micheal Bay is maybe the greatest being ever in the history of existence in the universe. I could be overstating a little but not much.

For those new to the blog that last paragraph can be explained away by the fact that shiny moving parts and robots reduce me to little more than a seven-year-old...

Listening for my car to start speaking in radio stations or the booming voice of freedom.

If I Were President...

In the brief update section of this post:
+ School is good. Fake college shall officially be a thing of the past
+ Tomorrow is my last day at work! I’ll be starting at a new company soon, which is sort of exciting and sort of intimidating.
+ Shah has come and gone and I miss him dearly. We a great time going to bars, making a random road trip to the beach and “raising hell, causing chaos and eating.” I can’t wait till next time.

This weekend will be full of friends and activity. Thursday, after work, I’ll be carousing with co-workers in celebration of them finally getting rid of me. Friday is the pre-party celebration for Mr. Haresign’s big 2-1. Saturday will contain the majesty of The Power Cosmic, and Dave’s graduation celebration / farewell party. I am not sure one day can handle both to be honest. I between I’d like to see a few friends I’ve been neglecting and of course sleep…just a little.

Last night after I decided that I could not read anymore for school and was done with pressing responsibilities I decided to turn on the boob tube. In doing so I saw two of the most amazing things. The first was a commercial for Old Spice in which Bruce Campbell of “Army of Darkness” fame sang Duran Duran’s hungry like the wolf with only a piano to accompany him (which he played) while a bevy of beauties surrounded him. On top of it all the song was in a lounge act style. Needless to say I was highly entertained and nearly spat out the sandwich I was eating at the time.

The second occurred while I was watching the Colbert Report. It concerned Tommy Chong and his appearance on Fox News (I believe). They had him on a news program to discuss Paris Hilton and her recent incarceration. Chong defended Hilton and cited Mel Gibson’s “shenanigans” last year as evidence for a vindictive court. The entire segment was very other-worldly. He even managed to fluster the news anchor and make himself look quite capable. Colbert re-aired the interview and had the man himself on the show to explain himself. When asked directly if he was high his response was simply: “Of course!” with and almost befuddled expression on his face as if to ask Stephen why he would expect anything less. (I’m sure you can youtube it or whatever…)

Moving out of the realm of pop culture into the more seedy and morally murkier domain of politics—it is only a short 17 months until the general elections! You know what that means…

That’s right, I become a news junky! And for the first time since 1928 both the Rebulican and Democratic parties have no presidential incumbent. This is the stuff that dreams (and possibly money, but I’ll get to that later) are made of. While some may grip that the candidates are wasting the peoples time, their money and interrupting valuble T.V. time with their nonsense, I love it. The sniping, the scandal and everything in between. Joel Achenbach wrote a somewhat derogatory Op.Ed. in Sunday’s Washington Post. In it he called this “red meat season,” referencing the blood thirsty sport that high level politics has become. I agree with Mr. Achenbach. Completely in fact. I just think that it’s similar to the Roman Coliseum. We get to watch combat in suits instead of armor, the gladiators using words and not swords. The game is no less deadly though. I defeat early on or a fundraising snafu can spell disaster. And the greatest part about the whole thing? Instead of slaves fighting for our entertainment it is the Emperor himself….and I guess that no one has to actually die.

Call me cynical or crazy or whatever but this is my favorite time of every four years. So what about my money comment, you ask? Well I propose a pool (for whatever, even just the honor of it) in which the Primaries, Caucuses and yes, November 5th itself for a sort of March Madness-esque bracket system (similar to Amy’s system on the West Wing, if anyone is that big of a nerd?). The Republican hopefuls on one side and the Democratic candidates on the other, one could even work in the Congressional, Senatorial and Gubernatorial races along with various referendums and mayoral elections. Although that would maybe require a lot of research into a lot of places no one really cares about. Anyway, the first Primaries are on January 14th. In order to keep utter destruction of one’s brackets to at least a theoretical minimum I think the deadline for predictions should be at the end of the summer. Say August 31st. I’d love to hear suggestions and I hope I can make up a form sometime in the next few weeks.

Gotta Get A Hold Of Myself

I had what I hope to be the first class of my final semester at fake college today. I am, as you might imagine, ecstatic and entirely in fear for my life. I expect this coming summer to be boring as hell and tedious beyond belief. This is the schedule:

May 29 – June 5 Environmental Biology from 9:00am to 10:45am (Mon. - Thur.)

May 30 – July 25 Math 101 from 6:00pm to 9:15pm (Mon. & Wed.) : Essentially the math everybody took their senior year of high school, they call it math 101 because Math 99 apparently sounds pejorative. I receive no credit for said class and even passed my senior year of Math but still have to take it. But I’m not at all bitter…

July 9 – August 12 (I think) Intro to Human Communication 8:00am – 9:10 am (Mon. – Thur.): I hate the name of this class. It suggests that I’ve never been introduced and therefore know nothing about Human communication. I have been. While I may be unable to get a coherent sentence out every time, and my syntax can be arcane I have been “Introduced to Human Communication.” In fact we are so well acquainted that I’ve been using it as a tool to interact with people since the age of about 3! Anyway, it’s a speech class so I’ll have to brush up on my West Wing come Independence Day weekend, which strikes me as rather appropriate.

And with the same dates as the above class I’ll be taking Math 110 – College Mathematics from 9:30 to 10:45 (Mon. – Thur.) I have no problem taking this. Really, I don’t! Or I hope that by repeating this phrase over and over again I’ll make myself okay with it. God I hate Math…

So before all of this gets too hairy I need to finish my application to C.P. sometime this week, but hopefully by next fall I’ll be living it up in essentially the same position I’ve been in for the past two years or so only with a longer commute and more people to fight over parking spaces with. Honestly, I can’t wait!

In other news:

Shah is here! We’ve been going to bars and whatnot since he got here on Thursday last week and it has been amazing. I missed out on a bit of the weekend though as I slept late and was hung-over, then had family obligations to fulfill.

I saw both Pirates of the Caribbean 3 and 28 Weeks Later. I highly recommend both if you are in the mood for some mindless entertainment, especially 28 Weeks Later. Ha ha, get it? Zombies?

I’ll soon be switching jobs as I’m being replaced by someone who has, you know, qualifications and all. I’ve got my next thing pretty much lined up and I think it should actually be better, pay-wise anyway. I can’t seem to get a job in the field in which I’m passionate about and also can’t seem to get out of the investment region of the business world.

After seeing 28 Weeks Later I can’t seem to stop having dreams about Zombies. They aren’t that scary but they are quite vivid. They have also mainly revolved around me becoming a Zombie by the end of the dream right before I wake up. I seem strangely fine with it though- in the dream, that is. I have a sneaking suspicion this could mean something. I’d rather not open that door though, if you know what I mean.

Listening to this woman desperately try to page someone on the intercom system at work who is obviously out of the office. Its pretty funny.

Ain't That A Kick In The Head?

To recap the madness:

School is finished and grades are in (almost all of them anyway):
Biology: A
Music: A
Health: B (fuck that shit)
Philosophy: Still out

The birthday was good:
Elizabeth came up to surprise me on Wednesday!
Dinner with her and folks at French restaurant of my dreams.
Spiderman with Nando at The Uptown: kinda sucked but I think it was the constantly booing crowd.

St. Mary’s that weekend (which was the weekend before last) was nice. Bought booze for the first time, partied a little (nothing too out of hand surprisingly) and then back to DC for a day to finish one last thing at school.

Graduation and Senior week were fun. A little sad that I wont be going down there as much in the coming semester and all. Went to the Door. Crowded, watery beer, took for ever to get said beer. So I had a great time! The ceremony was very nice. The speaker (Steny Hoyer, the House Majority Leader) was succinct and nice although he was using song lyrics to make comparisons to his generation and ours in regards to social change. In that portion of the speech he quoted Dylan’s “Blowing In The Wind” for his and then “Waiting For The World To Change” by John Mayer for ours. I was mildly offended to say the least. Then he quoted Martina McBride saying that “if (we) have the chance to sit it out or dance (he) hoped that we would dance.” Riiiiiight. But it seemed sincere for a politician so I’ll just give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that his speechwriter is older than he is and therefore just as out of touch.

This week I’ll be working. I need to move all the amazing amount of stuff in my car to Elizabeth’s new apartment, buy books for school (which starts at the end of the month) and in general have no summer vacation to speak of. Hooray! Eh…I’d be bored otherwise.

Coughing Up Tweed

Things to do today:

1.) Take a bio test on taxonomy, evolution and ecology
2.) Review for Lab test on chickens and their development
3.) Review for Health test on drug abuse, alcoholism and violence prevention/safety (easy…)
4.) Review for Philosophy test on Hinduism, Islam, Daoism and Afro-centrism
5.) Give Presentation on Joy Division in Music History
6.) Wash my car
7.) Go spend Borders gift card on books by people named either Michel Foucault or Jacques Derrida
8.) Cash my pay check and pay my credit card bill
9.) Not go crazy…

Yeah, should be fun. Monkey-loads of fun. Actually I am looking forward to talking about Ian Curtis for eight minutes.

Back In The USSR

Finals are around the corner, graduation looms for many people I know and deadlines seem to race out of nowhere and hit me over the head in blunt object fashion. That is my excuse for not posting anything for much of the month of April. Take it or leave it.

I’ve got very little news to report, other than I’ll be turning 21 on Thursday and that sounds exciting, at least in a theoretical way. Besides the final stage of legal adulthood (except of the car rental thing) I’ve been working, schooling, SMCing and other adverbs used with high frequency on this blog.

New Music abounds. I’ve gotten into a fair amount of new bands and artists thanks in part to my way-more-hip-than-me girlfriend. On this list of things I think you should check out: Peter, Bjorn & John. While one of their songs may appear in Target commercials (I think its Target) they really are quite something. Listless melody that reminds one of just how comfy beds are and pretty little harmonies give Writer’s Bloc a great feel. My personal favorites are “Amsterdam” and “Objects Of My Affection.” Also scoring high in the “Greg’s rotation of songs” leader board are “Anti, Anti” by Snowden, “Roberta C.” by Casiotones For The Painfully Alone (even if you don’t like the song the band name could make you fall in love with them), “House Fire” by Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin and “Bad Education” by Tilly & The Wall (which makes me want to tango until I graduate). There are many more but for now those are the big ones. I am of course indebted to Elizabeth for being cooler than me.

In other music news I watched The Smiths documentary entitled “The Smiths: Under Review.” Clever. It was great, interviews, live performance footage, in short everything a nerd could want. The sound tech, who obviously had a crush on everything about the Smiths, was definitely one of the highlights. Highly recommended.

In the movie universe I recently saw A Scanner Darkly (based off a Philip K. Dick story) which was brilliant. The animation wasn’t exactly my cup of tea but it grew on me and Robert Downey Jr. playing Keanu’s cracked out, paranoid/delusional roommate was worth the price of the rental (which was, by the by, paid for by someone else).

I’m staring down the barrel of a long To Do List and a rather full social calendar in the coming weeks but I’ll attempt to be a better blogger. I feel like I have more stuff to talk about but for the life of me can’t remember what those things are. Anyway have fun for now and congrats to the Australian cricket team for wining the World Cup (even though there are about 2 people of US citizenry who can legitimately claim any understanding of the sport, and I can’t count myself among their number). Its also Walgurgis Night for many Northern and Central European countries. As I understand it involves singing songs, staying up all night and heralding the coming of spring (which in much of northern Europe at this point in April could be years away). Also today mark’s the 62nd anniversary of Adolf Hitler’s death. I think you’ll all join me in saying “what a fucker that ass-hat was.”

Listening to Hateful of Hollow by The Smiths and wondering why I wasn’t born 20 years earlier…

The Chandelier Swing

God…it has been a blur for the past, oh I dunno, it has to be going on about six months now. I complain a lot on this thing but I really shouldn’t. I have an amazing and rewarding life that gets busy and keeps me occupied. Since August I’ve gotten myself back on track at school, have managed to find an amazing girlfriend, see friends, work and be merry. This is starting to sound like some kind of anniversary post or retrospective or something. Since the anniversary was back in February and I hate those long winded count-your-blessings diatribes I’ll simply say that I miss those of you who read this and that I don’t talk to enough. To those that I do talk to a lot: thank you for allowing me to babble at you…incessantly.

I wanted to do a post about some of the new and new-to-me albums that I’ve been listening to but I have to go home so I can go out and celebrate my dad’s 54 birthday tonight. We’re going to a French place that has absolutely fantastic food. My mom and dad are friends with the owners and they have assumed that I’m 21. That means Pinot Noir and would make most people cry, Johnnie Walker Blue and a bottle of Taittinger that could be the most expensive thing that I’ve ever had the pleasure to consume.

Birthday Dinner at expensive French restaurant: $120 per person

Bottle of perfectly chilled 1996 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs: $800

Having your parents pay for it all: Priceless…for me.

Listening to The Story Of Yo La Tango by Yo La Tengo

The Kids Are Alright

What a week, and some change. I’ve been busy, but that’s boring (or so I have been told). I’ll keep this light.

I saw the Namesake last weekend. It was an interesting movie, Kal Pen does manage a dramatic role fairly well. Better than people might have expected anyway. The story takes a few turns that you wouldn’t have guessed from the trailers. Elizabeth was apprehensive about going to see it, as it does look awfully sappy from the commercials, but we were both entertained. I would say wait for DVD if you aren’t a big fan of immigrant stories and the relations between the mother culture and America’s melting pot…

I also saw This Film is not yet rated. I had no idea how the system worked but after seeing the documentary (about the MPAA ratings board, if you were unaware) I couldn’t believe all the crazy restrictions that they put on films. There are a far number of cheesy moments, the undercover PI in particular, but it was certainly an eye opener.

I’ve been out of my general TV watching orbit but after having a “pan-nerdom” conversation with Nando over Spring Break I think I’m going to have to check out Battle Star Galactica and Babylon 5. There will also be numerous comic book purchases in the future. On my list: the fancy 300 reissue (for the movie I guess, yeah, it suckered me in…), the rest of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, Miller’s The Watchmen, Fables (sort of a fractured fairy-tales comic) and Hellblazer. I will forever be broke…

Pan-nerdom would refer to things dealing with all layers and subject that could be classified as nerdy. Including the original definition: a circus freak who bits off chickens heads…Just in case any of you wondering.

The weekend is a drive down with mike to SMC, a weekend of theme parties (and only slightly entertaining theme parties at that), study and maybe a little catch-u on reading. Oh and cuddling…don’t judge me!

Listening to Eleanor Rigby by The Beatles and Baba O’Reily by the Who
(I was feeling the British invasion today, next up the Kinks and probably Joy Division)

Julius Caesar Had It Coming

Happy Ides of March every body! On this day I always like to thank my lucky stars that I am not a roman general who upon a successful victory in Gaul was made a Tyrant only to be stabbed by one he trusted and thought loyal. Augustus was a more interesting figure. I’m glad he won the civil war that followed and not Cassius.

Okay, I swear that’s the last post about death. Yesh! Three in a row. Although only Matt (if he still reads this) and Nando (cause I think he still does) I think would have bothered to translate the Latin in that last post…

Also happy Hungarian Day to all the Danube dwelling Bulgars out there.

Laudis Offerimus

"Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Te decet hymnus Deus, in Sion, et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem. Exaudi orationem meam; ad te omnis caro veniet. Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.""

More Than A Feeling

Both comedian Richard Jeni and musician Brad Delp (of Boston Fame) died over the weekend.

I thought a lot of both of them. I’m sorry to see them go. Jeni’s comedy was amazing and dry. Seeing him do a Christopher Walken impression had be on the floor I laughed so hard. Boston is one of those bands that everyone knows and no one was really allowed to like (in my generation) until everything 70s was cool once again (sideburns, tracksuits, classic rock).

While I am prone to the same cultural pitfalls and do think the 70s is yet again cool, Boston has always been a band I’ve liked. My dad was a fan back in the day, being the only thing outside funk, jazz and Journey that he listened to during that decade.

There isn’t anything more to this, really. I just woke up today and saw the news, and was saddened by it.

Looks Like Tomorrow (Part 2... I guess)

Most of the people who currently frequent my life, a much diminished circle I might add, have been thinking (one might say over thinking) the future. The “ifs,” “ands,” and “now-whats?” of life could interest me less when it comes to my own internal strife and day to day thought processes. For the moment anyway.

And that isn’t to belittle the people agonizing over, admittedly, important forks in the road. I just don’t really care about tomorrow all that much. It isn’t my normal apathy either. It just always shows up, and while never perfect, tomorrow tends be okay. Some of them better than others, some worse. In the end it evens out.

Today and yesterday always seem a lot more relevant to me. How you got to where you are and (most importantly) where you are right now are slightly more pressing concerns. You can’t discount tomorrow entirely. That would be foolhardy. There just isn’t a lot to do about it until it happens. You can work towards it, but after all is said and done the work and the struggle/journey/other cliché are what you admire and the where-you-are (in tomorrow theoretically…) gets a bit lost for all the agony and anticipation. I have begun (maybe a little) to enjoy the scenery on the way to wherever the hell I’m going.

But all that’s probably why I’m a History major (note the capital H) and a lazy fucker so much of the time. You should all go about you’re daily lives with globes firmly affixed to shoulders. I think I might walk outside and feel the snow on my face. After all I’ve shrugged the future and at present work is a little slow.

Dark Was The Night (Cold Was The Ground)

Been a while…

Iowa was wonderful despite airport headaches and what was dubbed the “Storm of the Decade” in the Midwest. I think things went well. I haven’t heard otherwise so I’m going to continue to assume that I was my normal self (you know…a personable person both charming and witty).

While I haven’t actually gotten any of my tests back from round 1 I feel good about the world of academia at the moment. Or at least my standing as it correlates to everyone else.

There are other things to mention. I’m almost sure of it, but for now I’ll just leave it at that and ponder cryptic phrases as relates to other peoples blogs…

I Want You To Want Me

This will explain it all:

I want you to want me.
I need you to need me.
I'd love you to love me.
I'm beggin' you to beg me.

I want you to want me.
I need you to need me.
I'd love you to love me.
I'll shine up the old brown shoes, put on a brand-new shirt.
I'll get home early from work if you say that you love me.

Didn't I, didn't I, didn't I see you cryin'?
Oh, didn't I, didn't I, didn't I see you cryin'?
Feelin' all alone without a friend, you know you feel like dyin'.
Oh, didn't I, didn't I, didn't I see you cryin'?

I want you to want me.
I need you to need me.
I'd love you to love me.
I'm beggin' you to beg me.
I'll shine up the old brown shoes, put on a brand-new shirt.
I'll get home early from work if you say that you love me.

Didn't I, didn't I, didn't I see you cryin'?
Oh, didn't I, didn't I, didn't I see you cryin'?
Feelin' all alone without a friend, you know you feel like dyin'.
Oh, didn't I, didn't I, didn't I see you cryin'?
Feelin' all alone without a friend, you know you feel like dyin'.
Oh, didn't I, didn't I, didn't I see you cryin'?

I want you to want me.
I need you to need me.
I'd love you to love me.
I'm beggin' you to beg me.
I want you to want me.
I want you to want me.
I want you to want me.
I want you to want me.

Private World

I love elevators. They are a terribly interesting look at how uncomfortable everyone is with one another. I’ve been observing this phenomenon for a while now and I have discovered that there are a few rules to riding an elevator.

1.) If there are only two people on an elevator they must be as far apart as humanly possible.
2.) I rule number one is broken there is usually a glare or a cough from the person who entered first.
3.) If three or more people ride see Rule 1
4.) The only acceptable places to look while riding an elevator are at the door, your shoes, or the lights at the top.
5.) If you break rule 4 see consequences from Rule 2
6.) If you get on with someone you know (say from your office there are only two possible outcomes, either the conversation is halted abruptly when one or both of you leave the elevator or there is an awkward silence that sets in after the normal pleasantries are exchanged.
7.) If you find yourself in a conversation in an elevator and someone else gets on the conversation is either ended or carried on with only vague references to what you where talking about a moment ago.
8.) In all likelihood you will try and push the same button at the same time as the creepy guy from Accounting…

So that is what I’ve gathered.

Beyond those inane observations life is good. I am not sick ( I think) as my last post may have lead some to believe. I’m headed down to St. Mary’s to do the valentines thing this afternoon, and school is working out oddly well, as I got out of my Bio Exam and a Philosophy exam due to snow and ice. This is the same ice that has transmuted into some sort of cement or adamantium that trapped my car this morning. I tried everything, eventually resorting to a hammer and chisel which still didn’t work. It is still stuck. Thank god my family has 75 cars! Okay, we don’t actually have 75 but there seem to be way too many most of the time.

That’s all for now, hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

Listening to A Mind Of Her Own by Pedro The Lion

Object Of My Affection

I apparently jumped the gun on my anniversary edition. The actual first post was the 18th. Oh well.

I think I have a fever. I want to leave work really badly but I didn’t drive (fucking snow) and the Development division is bitch slapping me around with work. I haven’t been able to see straight at all today (but people keep saying that it has been horrible for a while now). I can’t get sick. I can’t get sick. I can’t get sick.

Hope everyone enjoys the day off in DC. Me and the Federal workforce will continue to slug through. Government doesn’t take off, neither does real estate. Even if all the essential support businesses are out. This leads to more work for me and less work for everyone else. I got a pizza lunch out of it though. Due to the fever however it has just made me queasy…

It’s Valentine’s Day for most people. Mine isn’t until Friday. This is a mixed blessing since I still need to do some gifting before then…

That’s about it.

Oh, one more thing:

I love you Ib.

After The Curtain

It has been an entire year. I honestly can’t believe it. I feel like I should have more to say, but I don’t. I’ve enjoyed my blog. There hasn’t been much of interest in its posts but sometimes there doesn’t need to be point. High minded posts can be reserved for Washington Post writers and friends of mine that are smarter than me. “My Morning Of Forced Leisure” is here only to give those who care (or are morbidly fascinated) a window into my life or at least some of my life. I could talk about how I’ve come a long way in that year. How the person writing today is entirely different from the person who signed up for Blogger 365 days ago. But honestly that would be way more boring than the normal post topics.
I guess I’ll thank my loyal readers and continue on, endeavoring to make you laugh every once in a while, keep you informed as I see fit, and tell you what I think about whatever it is that comes across my path. Here is to another year of you all wasting precious seconds reading about boxes from work and what I’m listening to.

Listening to Postcards From Italy by Beirut

Plainsong

Quite a week:

I meet the new generation of emo.

Realized weather is subjective.

Had a wonderful Friday night.

I'm going out to a Tex-Mex dinner and then a movie (Smokin' Aces)
That should be fun. I'll have to tell you how it is...

Next week is basically the same. Ah, routine how I adore and loath you.

Listening to T.V. On The Radio

The Perils Of Believing In Round Squares

Being called “insightful and very intelligent” at least six times in one class period has gone to my head…

Also being able to baffle a teacher with wit and guile. I’ve always prided myself on my ability to defend against predators with said wit and guile, but its nice to know that academia (by which I mean this one particular professor) thinks I am funny…nay, a laugh riot. His works not mine. Oh, I did this by making fun of jam bands.

And I have suddenly realized that the bar is now set way too high. I’m not actually that bright or funny…shit!

This troubles me as well:

“Science is clearly one of the most profound methods that humans have yet devised for discovering truth, while religion remains the single greatest force for generating meaning. Truth and meaning, science and religion; but we still cannot figure out how to get the two of them together in a fashion that both find acceptable... if some sort of reconciliation between science and religion is not forthcoming, the future of humanity is, at best, precarious.”
-Ken Wilber

Wilber is a Buddhist and a psychologist. I usually find both troubling. Not in a bad way. They just make me ponder things that get in the way of everything else I have to do.

That was the quote of the day on wikiquote…I love the “wikiverse.”

The Impression That I Get

As I enter week #2 of school there are a few things I want to share with you all. And by "you all" I mean of course the three people who read this.
1.) Health class is the biggest joke in the universe. Of this I am convinced. One of my major projects is a "health family tree." Yeah...it seems like I'll be okay for that one.
2.) Biology is actually interesting. I saw a rotifer today (which is a multicellular organism that feeds off debris in pond water, if you were interested)
3.) Philosophy should be interesting. The teacher simplifies everything and wrote the text book we use (read: he's a bit full of himself). Otherwise the students are at least engaging the material. This is a very rare occurance in fake college.
4.) Pop Music History is sweet. But I knew it would be. I got to write a paper about the history of Emo last night :)

In another vein: the weekend was great. Elizabeth and I went to see The Prestige. A seconf viewing has me sure that it is the only movie about magic that will ever mean anything. There was a 90s party that was okay. Now I'm working and sleepy. I am looking forward to making various mixes in the near future and the obligatory artwork that goes along with it.

Listening to Les Masquerade by Icollide
(And I know the post title is lame, its okay...so am I)

How Wheeling Feels

So the craziness has begun. The new semester has started and I'm one class through. Granted, that class (which was suposed to last from 8-9:50) was only about 20 minutes long. I'm sort of excited to be a real (read full time) student again. There will be a lot of work but then again I'm never so happy as when I can't think I'm so busy...and able to complian about it.

This weekend was nice. I finished work on Thursday and met Elizabeth to shop and shop and shop. When the dust had finally setteled I found myself with two new pairs of jeans, a new shirt (with french cuffs, aren't you proud Shah?), a baby blue t shirt (cause I apperntly don't like color) and Bert Russel's History Of Western Philosophy (which is amazing).

Besides the materialistic part of my weekend I got to see Pan's Labyrinth and Children of Men. Both were very good. Pan's Labyrinth was visualy stunning. And while sterotypical of modern Spanish cinema (e.g. broad christian overtones, all about the civil war and, you know, in spanish) it was endearing and very differnt. I guess an adult fairy-tale would be though. Children Of Men was intense. I went in thinking that it would be a techno-thriller with an interesting take on setting. It was to a certian extent but it managed more than just that. I walked out trying to figure out whether it was a good idea to have kids or not. Any movie those message is conveluted enough to, at the end, have its still be up for debate is one I'd see again.

There was also dinner at Sushi in Tenley. That was nice. The Coach provided. Now I owe him a ridiculous dinner and a 21 birthday to rival all others...great.

Well back to the real world. I'm sure I'll have more to say after my classes.

Listening to the Joan of Arc album A Portable Model Of

Baby Britain

I was reading my horoscope earlier and it said that people might perceive me as having an “embarrassment of riches.” Also it told me that I could not make a bad decision today. Lastly I was informed that I should stick to my gut. Good to know, if you ask me. Life as a Taurus seems to be coming up 7 today.

Now I don’t normally read my horoscope but today I just happened to glance at it on my yahoo homepage. Now here is why I mention this: David Beckham is having horrible luck and he is a Taurus too, Just like me. He has just signed with the Los Angeles Galaxy. It was one of the largest sports contracts to date. And he wants to live in America. This all sounds good, right?

Wrong.

David Beckham is making the same mistake. Pele did the same thing in the Seventies. He tried to make soccer more popular in the US and now so is the “Beckster.” It just isn’t going to happen. I feel bad about it and all (as soccer is the only sport that I have watched with any regularity… ever) but there just isn’t a market for the world’s most popular game here in the states.

“Why?” you might ask There are many reasons: no time for commercials, the fact that we already have a number of major sports to follow, nobody in the states over the age of about 14 is considered “good at it.” The whole endeavor is doomed to fail. And as one of the most famous personalities in the sport gets ready to put on the Galaxy jersey and play his “futbol,” I pity him a bit. He will lose the few fans abroad he still has (soccer fans, that is, since he is considered by many to be overrated) and spiral downward into obscurity in a land where his passion and, indeed, his entire career are made fun of, not watched, and in some cases down right hated.

So while Beckham may have a hot wife and a brand spankin’ new house in the Hills he has made some pretty awful decisions lately. So I’m going to keep an eye out, and if anybody was going to offer me a multi-million dollar soccer contract I think I’m going to have to pass.

I'm A Loner Dottie, A Rebel

I don’t feel too bad. I got all my work done. It feels good actually. Damn good.

I’ll never learn any lessons if I continue to skate by at the last minute.

Or maybe I’m just that good? I doubt this.

To Do Today
1.) Face the friendship music; breaking hearts and taking names…even if I don’t want to.
2.) School
3.) Work, which should be crazy. My boss wants me to send things all day and work for another department. Cool…
4.) Smile at my baby

Listening to I Am The World Trade Center’s album The Cover Up (they sound a lot more inflammatory than they are, the name was around before)

Jackals, False Grails: The Lonesome Era

Meaningless work accomplished. I’ve recorded all of the reference information from our reference files into a computer file, checked and double checked every line and printed them out on nice paper to send with each box of reference files to the great big filing cabinet in the sky: our off site storage warehouse. If this strikes you as one of the most redundant things ever then you are not alone. It serves no purpose. And yet it will be done by two other people all over again before it reaches its final resting place on a dusty shelf in a climate controlled warehouse in the middle of nowhere. All this effort to preserve the fact that a company ordered a wall moved ¼ of an inch in 1999 and spent $300 to do it. That could be important in the near future but I was thinking slightly more long term. When our civilization is dust and the long forgotten, what will archeologists think of us? A culture is remembered for the artifacts that we leave behind. Our material possessions survive long beyond our meager scope of years. And when these future beings uncover this warehouse they will find construction files. Boxes upon boxes. Rows upon rows. It will of course strike them as a treasure trove of information. They’re archeologists and therefore all nerds, I know my mom was an archeology major. But the average person will hear this and wonder about a time when all that mattered was the recording and re-recording of data concerning the length of grommets and the placement of lighting grids. All that remains of us will be the meaningless archives of apparently very boring people who built stuff on occasion. All I’m really saying here is: my time would have been better spent designing a pyramid or something…

Bigger Cages, Longer Chains

I was walking around campus yesterday I saw this girl.

She was wearing a shirt that said:

“Capitalism Stole My Virginity, And I Want It Back”

Of course, a reference to The International Noise Conspiracy.

The shirt was homemade and I do love that band.

But all I could think was:

“Your chaos ain’t me,

No matter what the shirt says

And I hate to break you little heart:

But chaos definitely ain’t you”

I mean she was wearing Uggs…

Staring At The Sun

This weekend was the longest I’ve had in a while and it was still over too quickly. Saturday I attended my first gallery opening. It was a lot of fun, even if the only substantive conversations I managed to strike up were about my t shirt.

The rest of the weekend was blissfully clam and relaxing. Now I’m back in the real world where I need to write a bunch more before Thursday and I’m still not quite mentally prepared for my next semester to start up. On the upside my final in sociology is a take home that I got today and isn’t due till the end of the week. Oh, fake college…Coffee with Harry tonight will only add to this feeling of procrastination. But at least I have a plan, right?

I spent a lot of last night looking for IKEA furniture to redecorate my room. This was in hindsight a bad idea. I mentally bought about a thousand dollars worth of white Swedish furniture in my head. Now I’m going to have to buy it all in real life too. I just hope my rationalization works on my parents so they’ll pay for it.

I’ve got work and school for until Thursday and then I get to pretend to be a hipster homemaker until Tuesday. These two long weekends in a row are going to spoil me rotten.

Listening to TV On The Radio and wishing I was a wolf.

The Chandelier Swing

Two things real quick, as I sort of slept late / got a lot of work done last night and feel justified in doing so.

1. I think I want to be a cynical satirist when I grow up.

2. I woke today to this thought:

"I don't feel that it is necessary to know exactly what I am. The main interest in life and work is to become someone else that you were not in the beginning. If you knew when you began a book what you would say at the end, do you think that you would have the courage to write it? What is true for writing and for a love relationship is true also for life. The game is worthwhile insofar as we don't know what will be the end. My field is the history of thought. Man is a thinking being."
--Truth, Power, Self: An Interview with Michel Foucault - October 25th, 1982.

Thanks…thanks for reminding me I still have to read Russel and about thirty other books. But any day that starts off the post-struturalist way is going to be interesting. You never know who will show up, and I’m just talking about yourself here.

Listeing to M.I.A. and wondering why all music doesn’t involve samples of videogame violence these days.

A Distorted Reality Is Now Neccesary To Be Free

So I rocked my midterm. And did not enough reading…that is going to be made up tonight.

Last night was fantastic. Elizabeth and Carrey came up/down and we dined and then played Trivial Pursuit until the early hours. I won. No big deal. It was sort of expected…

So I’ve never felt more like shit until I listened to the lyrics of “Patriarch On A Vespa.” But gender socialization has been a theme for the last few days, I just dislike the prevalence of it in subcultures that I frequent or want to…Emo being maybe the worst offender of them all. Sexuality stereotyping like whoa!

Oh by the way; my love/hate relationship with fake college is bordering closer to love right now. I can get away with reading stuff like this for class. Oh the wonder of the social “sciences.” Ha!

“And it's very likely you will say, "well, the larger thesis is somewhat underdeveloped, but there is this point early in the story where he takes a woman to Ithaca for no real reason, and it initially seems innocuous, but - as you keep reading - you sort of see how this behaviour is a self-perpetuating problem that keeps reappearing over and over again." In all probability, you will also complain about the author's reliance on self-indulgent, postmodern self-awareness, which will prompt the person you're conversing with to criticize the influence of Dave Eggers on the memoir-writing genre. Then your cell phone will ring, and you will agree to meet someone for brunch.”

-Chuck Klosterman

P.S. Don’t you just love the title? Its still a song. Elliott Smith. Of course.

Fingers In The Factories

Oh God, I an get on facebook from work! No good can come of this, or at least no work. None at all. Hooray!

Oh by the way, slave-like reading and writing is about to commence until next Thursday. So you know, feel free to distract me at will. I’ll need the diversions

Okay, back to looking at profiles…I mean archiving.

Listening to the Editors album (Why do I love contrapuntal guitars?)

I'll Believe In Anything

Back from St. Mary’s. It was really nice, but too short by half. Indian food, reality TV, astronaut ice cream. What more does a man need? Oh, right…to stop living with his parents! Oh and also let it be known that the weekend was “luscious” and that I “handled it.”

I need to work on brevity and frequency with this hunk of cyber-space trash…

Sociology is fun. Even if its only 3 weeks. Yeah, I started last Tuesday and my midterm is this Wednesday. Shit…

I really need to read more. I can’t seem to finish a book to save my life these days. All I do is start them, or so it would seem. Also, I think I’m probably going to fall prey to the “black crack” of vinyl buying. So much for trying to live by Orchid lyrics.

Shah will be here on May 23rd. This is some of the best news I’ve had in ages. That is actually not true, I’ve had a lot of good news lately but I am insanely happy none the less.

Okay, school time and work time.

Listening to Teen Angst by M83