joined on 11/10/03
last updated 12/08/05
-
Music for Egon Schiele - Rachels
-
Desola - Organum
-
Godspeed You Black Emperor
-
Cripple Crow - Devendra Banhart
-
Wings of Joy - The Cranes
-
Hopscotch - Julio Cortazar
July 18, 2005
I want to turn this guy into a kite so's I can fly him around the Albany Bulb.
All.
Night (that was a subversive statement containing subversive syntax).
Long.
July 10, 2005
On the endless yards of broken film reels that make up my experiences of Rain, there live the most magical moments of my youth. Random frames flicker light into my thoughts like night-blooming jasmine riding the cricket songs of nighttime summers.
I will always, always feel a little less lonely and a little more nostalgic and a bit more giddy knowing that Rain is someone who has graced me with his world.
September 22, 2004
One day Rain drove all over town and bought up all the orange dye he could find. He dyed everything he owned orange. Rain took photographs of it all. After a month he went to the market and traded everything orange for all new things. He only kept one pair of long-underwear. With a smile he said, “I prefer them this color. I will be like a coy in the deep pool.”
|
My wife found this paragraph in a reference book specific to buyers and collectors of books:
"UNCUT is probably the most overworked word in the cataloguer's vocabulary, and it has come to exert a mesmeric - and not entirely healthy - effect on the novice collector. He will not, of course, share the delusion which provides such ready (but blank) ammunition to outsiders hostile to bibliophily, viz. that uncut is the same thing as unopened, with the corollary that collectors prefer their books not only unread but unreadable. For UNOPENED means that the leaves have not been severed by the paper-knife from their neighbors. But unless the functional significance of uncut edges is properly understood, a rational preference for them IN THEIR PLACE can all too easily degenerate into DECKLE-FETISHISM."
Deckle-Fetishism? What the fuck?!?
As a friend states, "I can see you going home with your beer and your 10 watt lightbulb to rub the edges of the book pages".
This may be my favorite paragraph I've EVER read...
Thu, December 1, 2005 - 9:43 PM
permalink -
4 comments
Well, it's that time again. The slight bite of cold in the air and the lack of tourists on the street always act as harbingers of Fall/Winter here in Santa Cruz. (As a side note: It's always saddened me that, here in this beach town, the "changing of the seasons" is done in name only. There's, in reality, the season where it rains a little and there's the season where it's sunny. No true Fall or Spring to speak of...) Every year, like clockwork, November rolls around and I find myself ritualistically reliving habits and patterns I developed at age 16 or 17.
I become isolated. I rebuy the music that I listened to in 1987 and happily mope around the house with it blaring in the background. (Year after year, I sell this music as soon as the world warms up.) My house becomes smoky with Nag Champa incense. I have the urge to sit on the porch with a clove cigarette, an urge I won't give into because my desire to be healthy and a good role model for my kids is much stronger than my relish for Nostalgia. I stay up later. I write more. I think about old friends and I think about calling them up, out of the blue, at 3 a.m. and asking them if they want to go on a late night walk to the wharf or along the cliffs. I switch from beer and whiskey to wine and vodka. I grow my hair. I let the night take over the house and leave the lights off longer. I burn more candles. I feel the need to go dancing. I take more time to appreciate nature. I care less about the news of the world and focus more on the world inside the 4 walls I rent.
In fact, I become less numb. Every November, I develop a rejuvinated sense of hope. I become dreamier and more idealistic.
I'm making a promise to myself to hold onto Fall this year and to not let these regressions disipate with the heat of the July sun.
Hold me to it.
Mon, November 7, 2005 - 9:04 AM
permalink -
1 comment
I've had a saddness that's been building up inside of me for a few years now and cell phones are the root of it.
Today, I watched a guy, riding down the street on one of those motorized skateboards, pull a ringing cell phone out of his special "cell phone pocket" ,that many shorts are now made with, and he answered the call and then almost lost control and fell into oncoming traffic. If Darwin was right, then the cell phone will be as strong a contributing factor to the extinction of certain members of the species as the ability to swim, forage for food or run quickly.
Kids always get the brunt of the abuse that's heaped on a society that needs things quicker than now. I work with individuals who have never known a world without remote controls, microwavable food, computers that can access anything you need to know instantly or cell phone. But, adults fall prey to the temptation of extreme convenience too. It's just easy to scapegoat the kids.
What really makes me sad though is NOT the convenience factor. What gets me is that now people NEVER have to spend time alone with themselves and their thoughts.
I remember walking 2 miles to school, as a kid (an NO, this is NOT one of those "when I was a kid I had to walk through a blizzard without shoes every day" stories). I'd idle away the time playing little games with myself. Counting steps. Making up stories about the people that lived in all the houses I passed. Using a stick as a sword to vanquish the evil weedy monsters and other plants that happened to be unfortunate to lay withing my path. I floated sticks down gutters on rainy days. I played the "step on a crack, break your mother's back" game. etc.
Today, I see young kids walking to school talking on cell phones. They just can't wait that extra 20 minutes to talk to their friends. They walk, hand to ear, eyes to the ground, barely aware of what's going on around them. If they looked up, just for a second, they'd see me sadly watching them thinking of all the youth, freetime, experience and LIFE that they're missing. If I could, I'd send them a text message with a plea from the Universe to just stop trying to fill all that "boring" time and to just enjoy the simpleness of their lives before Time catches up and fucks it all up...
Mon, September 12, 2005 - 7:05 PM
permalink -
4 comments
I'm at the point where it's clear that I've almost burned through my reserves in my current hometown. A few years back, I would have come to this realization and been gone in a matter or months, weeks or even hours. But, now I'm playing the part of "responsible adult" who also has billing as "parent of two children" so planning is in order. Thinking things out in a timely, patient and rational fashion. This all goes against my instinctual grain but I'm in a different stage now and am adjusting to the circumstances.
So, tonight my helpful mother-in-law sends me a link to real estate in Vancouver, Washington. First, let me say that of all the places that I find alluring in the Northwest, Vancouver, WA. doesn't even make the top 100. BUT, I appreciated the energy and effort she spent so I open the link and the photos appear and after hearing my exclamation of "holy shit!" followed by near hysterical laughter my wife comes into the room and joins my bemused slideshow of house after house that all seem suited for suicide. I pointed out to her, "now as we go through these shots of bedrooms, basements, weed infested back yards, just imaging my corpse hanging dead center in the shot. Not hard to imagine, huh?"
No, I think I'll take it slow. We're in no real hurry and there's no sense of desperation hovering over us. Vancouver, Washington: I'll say a prayer for your residents before going to bed tonight...
Sun, September 4, 2005 - 9:45 PM
permalink -
5 comments
so, tonight, just by chance, both kids happened to fall asleep before 8 and my wife is at work so i am sitting in my dusk darkened livingroom facing that rare gem that is, "the long evening by myself. i decide that i'm going to try and recreate a scenario from 1991 in which i open a bottle of wine grab whatever cheeses, fruit, meat and bread i can find in the icebox, spread it out on the floor and sit in the dim livingroom, which darkens as the sun fades and then is barely illuminated by a smattering of red xmas lights in the far corner. i put old records on the turntable and eat my "bohemian dinner" with gusto. after everything but a few crumbs is consumed, i wash it down with the dregs of the wine and then, to break the mood, the phone rings. for some reason, i instinctually turn on the overhead lights (which create a moment of primal, but dealable, terror and shock to my system and mood) and then answer the insistent phone. it, as almost always, is someone who i don't have anything to say to and who also has nothing to say. what follows is a few moments of painful awkwardness and then i use the usual excuse, "the baby needs me" and hang up. i use the fact that the mood is gone and the lights are on to go to the kitchen to clean up. on the counter lay packages full of whatever i couldn't fit onto my decadent fingerfood platter and what i see gives me the chills... everything is covered in a thin, fine mold. somehow, the dim room and the red lighting gave away nothing of this extra little detail that my meal included. as i type this, i feel psychosomatic twinges of nausea and fever. at least, i hope the symptoms are imaginary...
we'll see what the evening brings.
Life Lession #16: Never look back. Let the past be just that and eat in the light... atmosphere be damned!
Tue, August 9, 2005 - 9:21 PM
permalink -
1 comment
ABC For Book Collectors
(blog entry)
My wife found this paragraph in a reference book specific to buyers and collectors of books:
"UNCUT is probably the most overworked word in the cataloguer's vocabulary, and it has come to exert a mesmeric - and not entirely healthy - effect on ...
read more
The Season of Regression
(blog entry)
Well, it's that time again. The slight bite of cold in the air and the lack of tourists on the street always act as harbingers of Fall/Winter here in Santa Cruz. (As a side note: It's always saddened me that, here in this beach town, the "changing...
read more
The Culture of NOW
(blog entry)
I've had a saddness that's been building up inside of me for a few years now and cell phones are the root of it.
Today, I watched a guy, riding down the street on one of those motorized skateboards, pull a ringing cell phone out of his special ...
read more
Portrait of a Dead Man
(blog entry)
I'm at the point where it's clear that I've almost burned through my reserves in my current hometown. A few years back, I would have come to this realization and been gone in a matter or months, weeks or even hours. But, now I'm playing the part o...
read more
total bummer...
(blog entry)
so, tonight, just by chance, both kids happened to fall asleep before 8 and my wife is at work so i am sitting in my dusk darkened livingroom facing that rare gem that is, "the long evening by myself. i decide that i'm going to try and recreate a ...
read more
Another blow against Cynicism
(blog entry)
This weekend my friends Rosie and Tom got married. I had worked a long day to end out a long week and I had said I'd drop by the reception after work. Truthfully, I entertained thoughts of going home, taking a shower, calling my wife (who didn't h...
read more
note to self:
(blog entry)
i have to remember that whenever i feel so overwhelmed with disgust at what we do to one another, to our world, to ourselves... that i keep on going and do so joyfully for crazy little monkies like my nutty children.
Focus on the inner concentr...
read more
No more accepting "New Words". I won't take it anymore!
(blog entry)
In a similar way that we have begun to name new models of cars with made-up names (ie: the Maxima, the Solara, Escalade, etc.) we have begun as a society to create new words that explode into popularity like viruses. This goes beyond slang. "Blog"...
read more
They just don't make crazy people like they used to...
(blog entry)
Back in 1989, I worked at a small burrito shop that only employed kids who one would never assume, "yeah, when I think of a burrito shop employee, that guy/gal fits the mold...". It was built on a small cement island in the middle of a bus depot a...
read more
Staircse in Santa Cruz
( services » other )
"You can't go wrong."
I think you can't go wrong with theresa and tim at Staircase in Santa Cruz. Both are patient, talented and are nice people to talk to while you're "under the gun".
I'm sure they've got portfolio's up on the Staircase website. Check 'em out...
read more
recommendation posted on Mon, March 1, 2004 - 9:00 PM
Bro Prints in Santa Cruz
( local favorites » shops )
"it may be cost effective for you to buy through a print distributor"
depending on the amount of shirts you're screening up, it may be cost effective for you to buy through a print distributor like Bro Prints here in Santa Cruz. Look 'em up and I'm thinkin' that they'll set you up...
recommendation posted on Mon, December 1, 2003 - 9:46 PM
bicycle touring,
Bamboo,
Bicycle Commuting,
Bicycle!,
Bike,
bitter buddhists,
bons voyages!,
BUDDHA DHARMA,
Culture Jamming,
Dodgers Fans,
Fixed Gear,
Gardening101,
green thumb,
haiku,
Hockey,
LA Dodgers,
Linguistics,
Literacy Nerds,
Non-secular Buddhism,
Old Skool Track Bike Lovers,
Plantaholics Anonymous,
Red Sox Nation,
Russian Lit,
Succulent Plants,
vermont,
"No one wants to hear what you dreamt about unless you dreamt about them..."
-Built to Spill
|
