Prior Confessions

Take Note

KayOSweaver — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 04:43:25 GMT

I'm now using http://personalmutations.wordpress.com for all of my egocentric blogging needs. It offers me more flexibility and control and I can feed it to all my various online hangouts with ease by setting up RSS feeds. Unfortunately Tribe it seems isn't smart enough to forward my RSS updates to my notices so none of you know that if I don't tell you. My feed is available on my homepage, but you won't see it updated on your Tribe, you'll have to remember to check it yourself. If you're that interested in my life you should just subscribe using an RSS aggregator. Blah blah blah.

He Said, She Implied

KayOSweaver — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 14:55:54 GMT

I thought it would be fun and/or instructive to go over the notable flirting events of Wednesday night analyzing what when wrong and what would have been an action leading to better results. I can't believe I let a super sexy massage therapist get away. Someone smack me. Girl - "I'm a massage therapist." What I did: I said "Well in that case." and turned my back towards her but quickly turned back. What I should have done: Follow my gut, turn around like I did but insist she check out my back - after all it is a bit sore. ;) Girl - "I'm not interested in porn. Don't get me wrong, I love sex, I think its beautiful." What I did: I tried to "understand" her lack of interest in porn, something like "So you think porn cheapens it?" What I should have done: TALK ABOUT SEX. Jesus man. "What do you like about it?" "How do you like it?" She just opened up the goddamn door and I went the other way. At another table where three sisters. When I arrived on the scene there was a guy chatting one of them up, then he left the table. I turned around and asked her how she'd rank him 1-10. She said 5. Then I asked the other two and got two nines, but then one of the girls said she was biased because he was the boyfriend of sister #3. Sister #1 - "How about you? How would you rate yourself?" Damn clever trap <cough> I mean test. I think I failed in my response; Me - "Hmmm. My favourite number is seven." Me - "So you're all sisters? Do you all live together?" Sister #1 - "You believe whatever you want." These girls were keen to play, but I couldn't get my head into the game. I had nuthin. So... thoughts? Recommendations? This is going to be an ongoing process of training. Help me out here.

Thank you for Porno

KayOSweaver — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 18:56:58 GMT

So last night I'm at the pub to hear a band I recently did some film work for play. I'm sitting at the bar and there's a drop dead sexy girl sitting there talking to some guy (and tossing me a glance over his shoulder once in a while). This girl is a 9 (yes ladies we really do rank your appearance on a 1-10 scale - please don't be offended). Old Kay would have just sat there sipping his beer, new and improved eligible bachelor Kay took the opportunity to practice some of his trademark charm, which has gotten rather rusty over the years... The guy who was talking to her left behind his coat so I approached her saying, "It looks like you've been relegated to guard duty." Things went from there, I found out she was a massage therapist (hot damn) and as soon as I sat down next to her she noticed my Respect Porno (http://www.respect-porno.org/) button at which point I launched into the "pornographers are people too, when you pirate porno you're taking money from these hard working people, are you a porno pirate?" She said she never watched porno - ever. She did say she enjoyed sex, thought it was beautiful, all that. Then I made the mistake of trying to defend myself from her perception that I was a pornographer. It went downhill from there. Why? Because I worried. Because I tried to fix something that I perceived as a problem and by so doing attracted attention to it. Telling her I was a filmmaker or trying to explain the film (see the website above) to a drunk girl wasn't going to improve my cause. Looking back I now know how I could have saved it, indeed prevented it from becoming an issue at all, and that's why I'm thankful. That experience improved my flirting skills and I'll do better next time. So I'm thankful, for that and the other flirting fuck ups I had that night. If you don't fall down, you're not learning anything. http://www.respect-porno.org/

Sun on my face

KayOSweaver — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 03:01:20 GMT

That's what I'm thankful for today. Sun on my face. It was such a glorious day I went for a nice long walk just taking it all in. Okay enough of that bullshit. Here's what's really got my spirits up. I added a phone number to my cell Saturday night. A girl's. A girl in a band. Ahh yes I was a charming son of a bitch. Not only was I flirting with her, but Funkstar showed up and started flirting with me too. Ha ha. And the girl that was too beautiful and too quiet for me to muster up the courage to talk to Saturday night? I bumped into her randomly Sunday afternoon and chatted her up a bit. I'm thankful because I've got deadly game. So Triple-B is still too chicken shit to hang out with me. Who cares? My dance card is filling up nicely.

Tinkerer

KayOSweaver — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 01:45:22 GMT

I've always been an inventor at heart - but I suck at math, so it never seemed like a viable career option. Even so I love the idea of tinkering, retrofitting and altering technology. I've been toying with the idea of a flashlight that could project a slide for a while now, but today the muse really took over and set me on a course of invention for the afternoon. The result. Proof of concept for stage 1. Locked in my windowless bathroom I experimented with an LED flashlight, an old slide from Rome's tourism board and a variety of lenses. The result? I managed to project the Coliseum onto my bathroom door. Now that I've proven the concept all that's left is the final implementation. My first flashlight will be an LED powered slide projector, but once that's accomplished I have grander plans. Some quick math tells me that the LCD display on an iPod Nano is almost exactly the same size as a 35mm film frame. Pull that out, put some high powered lighting behind it and a 35mm lens in front of it and you've got a portable digital projector, even a video projector if I install iPodLinux. Hot. I have a Burning Man project.

Fatigue is a valid excuse

KayOSweaver — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 04:18:27 GMT

I'm just too friggin' tired. Sure its a cop out. Well fine. Deal with it. I'm piking out. Kris Demeanor is playing at the Marquee Room tonight. He's one of my all time favorite live musicians and even though he's based in Calgary he doesn't play here that often, alway touring or involved in some other artistic endeavor. Anyways... In an effort to financially recover from my month of reckless travel in January I've been busting my butt at the airport, putting in ridiculous hours in order to get cheques that I consider acceptable. Long story short I worked a late shift Thursday, a long shift today, I have an 0800 start to look forward to tomorrow and I'm bagged. Wow, what a horrible pun, I've probably touched a thousand bags in the past two days... But it isn't just the hours. The last two days I've been leading the bag room, which is the most mind numbing, onerous, tiring and banal place in the entire airport. It hurts my brain and my body. It hurts it bad. To make matters worse today I had a driver with an attitude problem. This I suppose was a needed lesson in leadership, how to deal with insubordinate little shitfucks. Since I became a lead I've had to deal with incompetence and inexperience, but this is the first time I've had to deal with a bad attitude. Its frustrating to know that someone could do better but is willfully choosing not to. Probably there was some youthful rebellion involved along with some pushing of my buttons to see how I'd react. Reacting is tricky. On the one hand there's a job to do and a position to defend so you can't cut them any slack, they need to know who's in charge. Yet at the same time you can't be petty or mean, otherwise you undercut your own authority. Besides, a good leader inspires their underlings they don't scare the crap out of them. Sure it works for a while, but eventually they'll hang your sorry ass from a pole at a rural gas station and chuck rocks at you. Not pretty. So I was stern, but fair. My favorite line after my driver gave me some lip on the radio was; "That's my decision, not yours." Simple, authoritative, to the point. The other lead next to me mumbled something about "That cocksucker..." So yeah, not going to the show. Fortunately he's doing two. Next week's I won't have to work the next day, so I can, as one of the songs goes, Party All Night!

House Party for Josh Wolf

KayOSweaver — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 03:08:01 GMT

As some of you may know from my previous blog entry Josh Wolf is an independent journalist/video blogger who is in federal prison in California for refusing to hand over video tapes to the US government relating to a G8 protest in 2005. The following is a recent interview with Josh, his lawyer and a producer from Frontline. The state of journalism in the U.S. is frightening. This is important to watch. http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/12/1540208

Learning from a game

KayOSweaver — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 18:06:27 GMT

Here's a great article from screenwriter John August talking about what he learned from his World of Warcraft addiction. Decent advice for life methinks. http://johnaugust.com/archives/2007/seven-things-warcraft

Long Haul

KayOSweaver — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 19:30:47 GMT

Tomorrow is going to be a brutally long day. I'm not looking forward to it, but I need the money and the experience, so it must be. I start at 0800 and work through 2215. That's over 14 hours at the airport. Except for an hour and a half changeover in the middle of the day I'm crew chiefing the whole time too. Great. Well, I knew training for crew chief would make me more valuable, now I pay. But the company pays too. I'll reap a couple of hours of overtime tomorrow on top of my meagre crew chief bonus. I spent A LOT of money in January so this is something I need to do until film & video work starts picking up again. Besides, I need to keep myself busy. Winter can be such a depressing time if you're not busy. I have a lot to think about in terms of career, school, moving, and my personal life. I feel like I'm on the right course, but its a sticky yucky transition phase I'm in right now. Its that familiar running in place feeling I had in the months leading up to my trip to Australia. I know things are coming, but they're not here yet and it burns at my soul to be stuck here. As I see it the best thing to do is to make money, prepare myself for the future and have fun. Waiting is pointless unless you're doing something with your time, so I intend to fill it with things that will help me in the future. Sometimes that means having a beer to unwind. Mmmm. Chambly Noire...

Its my first day!

KayOSweaver — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 04:59:21 GMT

First day on the ramp in an orange crew chief vest. Not a baptism by fire, but a baptism by snow, snow and searing hot, sticky green and orange glycol. Tastes like... My driver was Fresh, a graduate from the last crew chief class, but the other two were mysteries to me - new recruits with something to prove. Or perhaps not. Not only did they come from different pods, but I think they belonged to different species of pea. One of the two was the consummate stoner, goatee, slightly vacant eyes and a passion for video games. He wore his sunglasses ALL THE TIME indoors and out. The other was clean shaven and straight laced. As we walked out to get our equipment from storage he told me about the polygraph test he took on the weekend for admission into the Calgary Police Department. Our first flight came in late, exasperated by maintenance deciding to park their truck on the stop line for the aircraft. We pushed that one late. Okay. Relax, we can do this. Our next flight came in hot on the heels of the last and at the last minute, guess what? Tail swap. We brought it in and terminated it, then waited to find out what to do with it while maintenance poured over it like bees over a brown bear. Finally we were told to go to another gate and bring in another aircraft - about a minute before it arrived. No time to prepare it sat on the line for a couple of minutes while we hurried frantically to get organized. Of the six flights I led today only two left on time. The snow made it impossible to pull carts, snow plows kept getting in the way, planes were de-icing which always adds five to ten minutes to your turn and by the time you're done your next plane is waiting to come into the gate. Pandamonium. While none of the delays were really attributable to me (blame weather and mechanical problems) it still bothered me. I should've been able to cut a few minutes here and there by being more organized, but then that's experience. For my first day on the job I think I did okay. Goddam cold though. Out of ten and a half hours today I think I spent about eight of them outdoors in the -20 and snow. Not the best day on record - but then we've been spoiled by warm weather. The hammer had to fall somewhere. It just happened to be on my watch. And so, it begins...

Wait

KayOSweaver — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 03:56:07 GMT

Saying that you're going to wait for something may just be the dumbest goddam thing you can do. What's the point? Really? You KNOW what you're going to do, you're only modifying the time. Saying "I'm going to wait for this." is like saying "I'm going to fill the time between now and then with pointless dribbel." Goddam brilliance that is. Sure, everything has its time and if your timing is off you can fuck shit up. But rarely have I ever done well by waiting. What's my motto again? "Never do tomorrow what you could do today." well fuck. Not doin' too well on that account now am I? Why did I decide to wait in the first place? That was wayback when it didn't seem like an issue, when seventeen days from now was indistinguishable from seventeen years or seventeen seconds. Well now seventeen days feels like a goddam eternity and I'm starting to go nuts. Waiting is bullshit, but doing things in their proper order is something altogether different. If I fill the time between now and then with something worthwhile, something that will perhaps prepare and enhance the things I'm waiting for. Well that's time well spent. So time to put myself to task. Get those things done. Build that foundation, do the research, make the preparations to do it right this time around. No more fuckups. No more bullshit. Use your time wisely, you only get so much of it.

phobe?

KayOSweaver — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 02:43:10 GMT

Why do I frequently appear so cynical about technology? Am I a technophobe? Do I hate machines and science? Progress? No, no I'm simply doing what I do best. Being the devil's advocate. Taoism is about balance. Nothing too light or too dark. Nothing too hard or too soft. We pass from the heat of summer to the cold of winter and back again, endlessly in cycles. Discordianism teaches the same thing, that sometimes order is taken too far and chaos needs to be introduced. Eris is the Goddess of chaos, confusion, trickery, but aren't those things important? To help us to put on the breaks when tunnel vision takes over and we accelerate too fast in one direction without looking to the sides? Nobody is singing the song of caution or contemplation when it comes to science and technology except those who sing the song of irrational religious extremism. Why isn't there a middle ground? A place where we can sit a while and contemplate where we are, what our place and purpose might be? Admitting that we don't know everything and asking ourselves if maybe we have more to learn and figure out. Companies and governments spend millions of dollars on science and technology, after that investment there's no question that it must be used, damn the consequences. They put so much into it they selfishly demand results, right now, the instant results are possible, without looking into the future and seeing where that might ultimately lead. Our lives become the trial run, and if it fails, there will be no alternatives, not when the laboratory is the whole world. So I'm cynical, because nobody else is. If things were reversed, if we were content to sit in thatch huts around manuere fires even though we understood electricity and gas, well I'd be the first to go out and build those engines of industry. I just always have to root for the underdog. That's the nature of the trickster. You can't be part of the herd, you have to reside outside of it, even if the herd is turned on to some amazing things...

A Good Flick

KayOSweaver — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 05:02:07 GMT

A good flick is no different than a well prepared martini or a flawless play in football. Curious metaphors. He's finally gone mad. No. Listen. I think one of the essential problems with rushed productions like the news and crummy movies of the week is the choppiness of it all. Its like a meal at Denny's, just toss a bunch of pre-prepared components together from the freezer or the deep friar and call it a meal. It gets the job done, but its nothing special, its just grub. "The medium is the massage." A good martini should just slide down your throat like a silk lover, rolling off your tongue depositing its swirls and eddies of subtlety without betraying its character. You shouldn't be tasting the individual components so much as a crafted concoction, a perfect libatious alloy impossible to imagine as separate pieces. When you no longer see the cuts, no longer hear the mood music, when you forget that you're watching a movie or a video - that's when the true magic manifests. Or... or... or... when the cuts, the sound, the lighting calls attention to itself, speaks so loudly that you can't ignore it, and yet the things it shouts are exactly the things being experienced by the characters, the very issues at stake in the show. If the protagonist is overloaded, overload the audience. Put the technique in service to the story, its themes and emotions. Don't just document using the old archaic language that has been spoken before. Elevate and express in whatever way is appropriate. How to do this? Notice the things you don't notice. The scene change that was so subtle, so perfectly executed that you didn't see it. When the lights blind you and the soundtrack blares, ask yourself why. How does it make you feel? True film and television isn't a trade, its a craft. So much potential...

Passion

KayOSweaver — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 06:24:34 GMT

My passion, is the methodology of story. I realise this after watching the final season of Babylon 5 in the space of a week, and looking at Nox's passion which is, in broad terms Web 2.0. Its important for me to realize this for a very simple reason. So that I know my place and feel pride in what I am good at. I can't keep up with the Internet. I associate with a lot of web geeks so its easy to feel left behind. Its easy for me to feel naive about politics when around some of my more political friends, and yet... I know how to light a scene to create a certain mental and emotional response in a viewer. I know how a tiny difference in framing can mean the difference between confidence and fear. I understand how an inflection, or a single change of words can change the entire connotation of a moment. I pay attention to these things. I am fascinated by them. I craft them. This is my passion, and my talent. I'm not likely to figure out the next big Internet trend. I don't know what the solution to political problems are. But I have something else equally important. Those people who create the technology, who make the political decisions, indeed everyone who has a job, a family, a place in society, all of those people are taught and moulded by stories. Stories are the system by which we transmit our values, our morals and our beliefs. As a story teller, it is my job to challenge, teach and reflect. I am an idealist, and the idealist is not satisfied with anything but saving the world. To me, touching hearts and minds through words and images, through epic tales and delicate vignettes - that is the most powerful thing I can do. Inspire heroes. That is the objective of all true art...

Today is a Good Day

KayOSweaver — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 01:43:51 GMT

Frankly I'm pretty surprised how good it felt to put on that orange vest. Shiny, obnoxious orange. Nothing but a piece of uniform. Cheap fabric and some 3M scotchlite. Big friggin' deal. But... I seriously felt a foot taller when I put it on. A symbol of authority. A symbol of respect. RESPECT! DON'T MESS WITH ME FUCKERS! Ha ha! Yes. I am now a crew chief, no longer a lowly TAC agent, pit bitch, driver extraordinaire. No, no, no. I'm a goddam motherfucking crew chief betch! I didn't think it would be this cool. Suddenly I feel like I'm back on equal footing with all those peers who went chief before me. And why? Christ. I've been here three years. THREE YEARS! Not until now did I take the plunge. Then again I'm different, the conditions at work are different. Maybe it wouldn't have been good earlier, or maybe it would have. Who gives a rat's ass? I'm here. Pow. Its reinvigorated some enthusiasm for the job to be honest. I care again. I'm willing to push for things to be made right. I have more power, more responsibility and more at stake. I want this to work. The complacency has melted away. At least for now. What probably excites me most is being in a leadership position. I'm in charge of that flight, that crew. The skills I'm going to develop and the confidence I gain will serve me well in my future endeavours. What better training for running the show on a film or TV set then running the show at the airport around $45 million aircraft with super serious time factors? Its the perfect training ground for me, even if its only for the next four, five, six months. On top of that I got word today that my proposal to produce a TAC video has been approved. Not only that but I've been asked to do an above the wing video as well. Shit. A contract with one of the most respected companies in the country. Now that's portfolio material. It'll be great experience and I'm sure I'll make something that blows anything else they've seen out of the water. I'm not just some monkey with a camera. I'm a goddam creative director of photography with vision. This is going to be the most epic industrial video you've ever seen. It'll put *It Only Takes a Second to shame. There's potential to do work for Nox's Web 2.0 startup on the horizon as well. The promotional video for the speedskater Kyle Parrot is underway. People have expressed interest in working on a UE TV show. Chriz and I are always talking about new projects for the CBC, Current.tv and others. And really I'm not pursuing video work very aggressively - I should be. So things are pretty hot right now. I'm actually quite happy with how things are shaping up careerwise. I think that by this time next year I'll be on pretty firm ground but there's always new horizons to seek out. Now... I'm tired. TV/beer/nap time. * See http://www.cine-magic.com/foundfootagefest.html

All Nighter

KayOSweaver — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 10:18:40 GMT

I've reached the point where I'm tired, but I mustn't sleep because I have only an hour before I need to leave to catch the bus to the airport so I can fly home. I'm so tired. We did so much today. Hugenormous props to Flame for putting up with, perhaps even enjoying my company these last few days, and props to Kyle for taking me down the Labyrinth when nobody else could be bothered. Minneapolis/St. Paul has been a blast and I'm sort of sorry to go. It reminds me so much of the glory days with the Cave Clan in Sydney, only a fuckload colder. This is real Urban Exploration, dangerous, irreverant, outrageous, daring, fun. Dirty geek joy. I love it. Mustn't sleep, but I've got shit all to do but surf the net, read, listen to music. Just can't sleep. Not even a nap. Goddam a nap sounds so good. I'm going to pass out instantly on the plane...

I Want to Take Your Picture

KayOSweaver — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 21:36:57 GMT

Stand in front of my lens Open up your heart Show it in your face Your inimitable grace Make love to the camera By proxy me Show me the confidence What a woman can be I want you to see A piece of what I see When I look at you Everything you can be So let me take your picture Let me take your hand Within the bounds of this frame Pixellated wonderland

Now What?

KayOSweaver — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 01:05:11 GMT

Situations in life can be altogether too confusing sometimes. Just when you think you've laid out a foolproof course of action for a complicated situation something changes and turns it all upside down. I promised myself that I would give my estranged friend the distance both she and I need to move on and figure out what to do with our lives in terms of each other. Time they say heals all wounds, or at least lends some objective perspective on things. Then a business opportunity pops up that would involve the two of us interacting. Synchronicity with this person is really starting to piss me off. My gut says don't. I'm sure all my friends will say don't. I shouldn't. But I want to. I mean it lines itself up so nicely its almost disgusting. My friend's company needs a videographer in Toronto from the 17th through the 19th. I'm flying into Toronto on the 17th after my trip to Florida with North. What's another couple of days? Especially if they'll pay me the cost of flight and housing despite the fact that I can manage both on my own for much less. Really what are the chances that I'd have a trip to Toronto already planned? How the hell are you supposed to ignore things like this? It only confirms my feeling that we're heading towards some kind of inevitability. Like we've passed the event horizon of a black hole and everything before the confrontation with singularity is just pointless thrashing in the gravitational pool. I'm the sort when confronted with this kind of thing that aims the bow at the heart of the beast and goes full bellows. What's the point in running from apparent fate? Maybe Freud would call it a death wish. Maybe I'm just too stupid to be afraid. I promise to wait at least 24 hours before taking any action. Hopefully that'll keep me out of trouble.

Wikileaks

KayOSweaver — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 02:07:01 GMT

This is an interesting idea. A kind of global whistle blower program. Any journalist worth their salt should be watching this carefully. http://www.wikileaks.org/

High Resolutions

KayOSweaver — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 01:58:10 GMT

One week into the new year - I failed at one of my resolutions already, reinforcing the need for another. Today I was going to go to Capoeira class, getting back into the routine of training once a week. I enjoy Capoeira, it gives me a great workout, discipline, improves flexibility, improves my self esteem and it's just friggin' cool. I didn't go because of a case of anxiety about going someplace where I don't really know anyone. Believe it or not I do suffer from sometimes debilitating social anxiety. Its at its worst just before I go into a situation where I'll be amongst people I don't know. Once I'm there I'm generally okay and can even thrive as last night proved. Last night I went to a local Couch Surfing event (www.couchsurfing.com) - bowling and then a pub. Lots of people I've never met in my life, but I was talkative, fun, uninhibited. It went so well for two reasons. One I just trust Couch Surfers because I've had so many good experiences with them. Two I went with a context in mind, a context of being a fun, outgoing, confident guy. That's the real key I think. I failed to come up with a conscious context for going to Capoeira tonight, and as a result it was relatively easy to sabotage myself in order to avoid the social anxiety. One of my resolutions was to come up with a context for everything important that I set out to do in life so that I know why I'm doing it and how to approach it. Doing that makes things so much clearer. Things are going well so far for 2007. I've had some good experiences already and by the looks of it many more good things are in store. I feel very much in control of my life. 2006 put many wheels in motion, 2007 is all about acceleration.

Thanks Blue Collar Job

KayOSweaver — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 05:04:22 GMT

Thanks to my manual labour job for my six pack. Perhaps not visible every day, but there never the less. Thank you for the increased muscle tone, strength and endurance. Its pretty cool. I'll have to work out lots when I switch to a less physical job someday in order to maintain it. Getting paid to workout isn't so bad.

Quirky?

KayOSweaver — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 22:57:48 GMT

I have developed a twitch in my right eye. One might think of it as a charming personality quirk. Personally I want it to go away. Ideas?

Promotion

KayOSweaver — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 03:15:45 GMT

"Your application for crew chief has been accepted." Wow. Cool. Yes its only a one dollar raise. Yes it means more work. Yes it means more responsibility. Its still cool. It'll look good on the 'ol resume and it'll feel good to have more challenges, more responsibility. Its another set of skills and experience I didn't have before. That in itself will be nice. And though it shouldn't matter the increased status will be good as well. I'm one of the last from my era to go chief. It'll be nice to be wearing the orange vest along with the rest of them. So let's not downplay something that seems insignificant. Its pretty awesome. Fourth day of the new year and things are going just fine...

American Muslim

KayOSweaver — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 03:25:10 GMT

I was originally only going to send this to a couple of people, but then I realized just how important it was - it should be shared. http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/45882/

Trite wisdom

KayOSweaver — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 09:41:34 GMT

A line from The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift goes something like this; "You can judge a man by the kind of people he choses as friends." Trite. Yet... It hit me smack dab between the eyes. For the past year I've been lamenting the failure of a friendship that I really wanted to work out. But if it had worked out, what would it have made me? I would be friends with someone who lacks confidence, someone who lies, someone who manipulates and lashes out when hurt. Is that the kind of mirror I want? True friends send you a text message from halfway across the country to wish you a happy new years. True friends help you move furniture out of your apartment. True friends will drive you to a party in your car so that you can have fun without worrying about driving. Duh. I don't give a fuck what your interests are, your economic background, your culture or your politics. All I care about is your attitude towards life and the morals that keep you upright. That's what fucking matters.