What Does Happy Sound Like?

I HEAR MR. SOFTEE!

Of course, next week it's going to start to irritate the living hell out of me, but for now it's all good.

Fuck Fuckity Fuck Fuck Fuck

So my iPod died yesterday while I was sitting at Bethesda Fountain. Froze up, so I reset it. Plugged it in today to try to restore it; up pops the sad iPod icon and my computer refuses to detect it. I'm pretty sure it's just a problem with the hard drive; I can hear it whirring and then clicking to a stop. Goddamn it. I guess I should have taken my younger brother's word for it when he said it wasn't working right. Fuck. FuckfuckfuckfuckFUCK. And of course today's Friday so I'll have to wait the weekend before anything can even start to happen. Oh well, guess I'll just have to suck it up and get used to hearing all the morons around me again.

To Europe I Go!

You Belong in Milan

Stylish and sophisticated, you want to enjoy a truly European life - away from tourists! Milan fits you perfectly. Great shopping, high quality food, lots of culture... with very little hype.

What European City Do You Belong In?

Yay Books

1. The Complete Poems, Anne Sexton
2. On the Road, Jack Kerouac
3. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby
4. Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami
5. Sideways, Rex Pickett
6. The Shipping News, Annie Proulx
7. Le Morte D'Arthur, Sir Thomas Malory
8. Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh
9. The Sonnets, William Shakespeare
10. To The Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
11. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
12. A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, Yiyun Li
13. interpreter of maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri
14. The Neverending Story, Michael Ende
15. Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf
16. Norwegian Wood, Haruki Murakami
17. Blink, Malcolm Gladwell
18. The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Thomas Friedman
19. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell
20. the namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri
21. Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro
22. seven types of ambiguity, Eliot Perlman
23. Unhooked Generation, Jillian Straus

So, I will indeed be having an opinion to express over here. I've got about 60 pages to go, and here are my first impressions:

1) People are stupid.
2) People are really stupid.
3) My God, people are stupid.

There's a couple things in there I find a bit off-putting (her take on the Sex and the City ep where Carrie finds the ring in Aidan's bag, for example), but they're pretty nit-picky. I almost wish I had been taking notes as I was reading (Jesus, can I GET nerdier?), but alas, I was not, and so I will have to try to cobble my thoughts together as best as I can. It's also possible that I was mis-reading things my first time through, and if I go back and re-read a bit closer the arguments will make a bit more sense. We'll see, I suppose. It's not a bad book, I do agree with her main premises, but some of the other stuff I think is a bit on the silly side.

Envy Me!

People Envy Your Compassion

You have a kind heart and an unusual empathy for all living creatures. You tend to absorb others' happiness and pain. People envy your compassion, and more importantly, the connections it helps you build. And compassionate as you are, you feel for them.

What Do People Envy About You?

Does anyone really envy anyone their compassion? I mean, if you weren't a compassionate person, wouldn't you think someone who was was a sucker or a bleeding heart?

Downtime

Ah...the first day this week I've been able to sleep in. Plenty of domestic crap to take care of today, though: laundry and grocery run. Oh, and I should probably go work out, too. Also hoping to finish my book today, and am considering picking up this so I can chat with all the cool kids about it over here.

What the Hell Is This?

One of my horoscopes for today:

You might change your mind about your romantic type. If you are usually attracted to a specific kind of person, you could discover that your desires are changing. For instance, if you have only dated blondes in the past, you might develop an interest in dating brunettes. Or if you usually spend time with people who are shorter than you are, you could become attracted to someone more statuesque.

Why not just send me an e-mail saying, "YOU ARE A SUPERFICIAL BASTARD"? Jesus.

The Cosmos Responds

Play on! So my director pulls me aside at the start of rehearsal tonight and walks me through the schedule he'd planned out, and asks me if I'm ok with it. Half of my Mondays are free, meaning I'll be able to make most of my Greek Myth classes (sweet!). Thursdays I start at 8 mostly, which means I can go to the start of that class and leave like a half hour early (hopefully). So schedule-wise, it's probably about as good as I'll ever get.

So how do I feel about the play now? Well...a bit mixed still, to be honest. We ran one scene tonight, and I realized something partway through. The way the director described what he was going to try to do with the scene, the three actors are all actually the interior monologue of one photographed individual. So I actually had an explanation that made sense to me, though it was pretty abstract (I think the abstractness is/was unavoidable, though). Because a photograph is an image of a person, preserved; but what if there's some truth to the concept that a part of your soul is captured in a photograph? Maybe that portion of the soul could exist in some sort of limbo, outside of time and space as we know it, and maybe not so much outside of time as existing fully in time, with past, present and future all existing simultaneously. It's weird, I know. But it's a weird show, dammit! So anyways, I had this idea kinda percolating, and I'd cast myself (as the youngest-looking of the 3 actors) as the youngest version of this young samurai, struggling to fit his perception of proper etiquette and what he has been taught that it means to be samurai.

No, I haven't gotten to the realization yet, sorry; I know this is kind of involved. So we're reading through the scene and I'm kind of overlaying this onto it, and the director gives me a note. So I ask him to clarify a bit, mentioning that I have kind of a characterization that I'd put into the scene, and he says he's not all that interested in it.

We did this thing while I was at AMDA called a rhythm poem, this amorphous, abstract vocal/movement exercise. That's what I've decided Sundown is, or will be, for me. It's been several years since I've worked on the technical side of vocal production; this is my chance to get back to that. I think the play is going to be extremely aesthetic with practically no story, but since the director and subject matter is Japanese, there might be a lot of interesting stuff going on.

Yes, I am making lemonade.

Karma Smiles on Me?

So in rehearsal today the director pulls me aside during a break and we have a little chat about my availability for rehearsals and such. See, I have class from 6-10 on Mondays and 6-8 on Thursdays, which would cut into rehearsals every weekday from 6-10. So basically, he was asking how many classes I'd be comfortable missing, because he was worried it might not really work out. At this point I'm doing cartwheels in my head, but I have to kind of hedge because during the audition process (before I got my hands on the full script) I mentioned I'd be open to missing some of those classes (which I would be). So I was honest, and I said I wouldn't want to miss two classes in a row; ie, having missed this week, I'd want to go to class next week, and then I'd be ok with skipping the next week. He kind of hummed and hawwed, I blabbered some bullshit about how I wanted to be fair to him and the other performers (true bullshit, however), and how I'd respect his decision.

So maybe the universe is sending me exactly what I want deep down. I'm pretty happy with my actions, and I've decided that whatever he decides will be my cosmic message; if he wants to make it work, I'll give this avant-garde wacky play my best (and only invite people after giving them an extreme disclaimer). If he decides to try to find someone else, I'm going to rush out and donate a pile of money to the first 10 homeless people I see.

Commenting Fun

I was going to post this as a comment on Nice Guys Finish Last, but (like many of the comments I set out to type and eventually delete due to length), it was starting to get way too long, so I figured I'd just post it over here and then link over to it so it might be a bit better formatted for reading instead of squished into the little comment box.

Do women judge men on their looks? Of course they do. Do men judge women on theirs? Of course they do. I don't really buy the "Men are interested in exteriors, women in interiors," argument because it has more to do with the individual in question and their priorities. Humans are animals, and an animal's first attraction to (or lack thereof) and judgements of each other are always physical, no matter what the specific set of characteristics is that a given animal finds attractive. Would I dismiss someone based on how they dressed? Not outright, but the way you dress can make the difference between someone thinking you're cute and striking up a conversation and passing by.

Now...coming to style. More than almost anything else, I think style is an incredibly personal thing. In many ways, it has more to do with how you carry yourself than what you're actually wearing. The biggest mistake most guys (and some girls) make, in my opinion, is not buying stuff that fits properly (which contributes to looking slobby, as opposed to stylishly casual). Understand that buying big, baggy clothing doesn't hide any perceived body issues you might have (over/underweight); in fact, it exacerbates it, as it falls unflatteringly if you're overweight and makes you look even smaller if you're underweight. Probably 7 out of 10 or more of the guys I see walking down the street in jeans could stand to go down a waist size or two. I remember reading this article in some magazine (I think it was a gay-oriented magazine, actually) a few months ago talking about the rise in designer jeans, jeans that cost $250 and up, and the author noted how straight guys would check length and how the crotch looked, but completely ignore how the jeans made their ass look, resulting in them buying jeans which bunched up in the back and generally did nothing for whatever junk they might have had (and if you think women don't check out men's asses, you either haven't asked or your friends are liars). Obviously this isn't a scientific survey or study or anything, but next time you're walking around, keep an eye out and see how many guys walking around are swimming in their pants (not counting people who are going for that look).

I don't really know what else to say; I mean, it sounds so egotistical to say, "I have style." I take care of myself, I put effort into my look, but my sense of style does not appeal to everyone. Guess what, though: that's ok. Don't think that you absolutely have to run out and buy suit pants and button-ups galore; honestly, though I l-o-v-e getting niced up in a suit, there is nothing I abhor more in the city than all the bougie motherfuckers running around in their khakis or slacks and button-ups, all thinking they're hot shit, looking like carbon copies of each other and complete morons. Seriously, they're worse than hipsters. As an aside, there's also an interesting backlash starting against the metrosexual man (at least among the girls I know), but that might be a topic for another post. Ask yourself, who do you want to be, and who is attracted to the kinds of guys that dress that way? Do you really want some superficial hipster bitch who thinks Paris Hilton is someone to be emulated? Or a trophy girlfriend who's only interested in the size of your bankroll?

Take some time, read some books, grab some GQ issues and learn the ropes of style. There's nothing wrong with jeans and a t-shirt, you see it in ads all the time. What sets the people in those ads aside from Joe Blow on the street is how the shit fits. Granted, they're models and are paid because someone considers them attractive or distinctive, but if you want to look like that, hit the gym like everyone else (or become a coke/heroin addict...heh). Girls have to do it, so I see no reason why guys shouldn't. Once you've got the basics down, don't be afraid to take chances or to follow your personal tastes. Do you, and quit worrying so much about what others think; you can't please everyone all the time, after all. So fuck em.

Super Hopeful

The new Superman is coming. And, like Batman Begins, all I have to say is this:

It better be good.

Perhaps it is dorky and retarded, but there is something about Superman that gets me; maybe it's the idealism, the purity of who he is and what he represents. Come to think of it, maybe Superman is every nerdy kid's dream; every kid who grows up awkward and geeky probably imagines, at some point or another, being some sort of Stupendous Man alter-ego. I really really really hope they use the John Williams theme at some point or another - not necessarily over the opening credits, but if they used it the first time Superman is fully revealed (like they did in Smallville, which I am somewhat ashamed to admit watching from time to time), that would be a guaranteed chills-down-spine moment for at least one Asian audience member. I'd write more but I gotta run; damn you, 8 am call times. Damn you to hell.

An Actor's Dilemma

So I had my first Sundown rehearsal today, and finally got my hands on the script.

It's weird. So weird, in fact, that I'm not totally sure if I want to do it.

There are aspects of it that are sort of neat. And I think the director will be depending a lot on music and movement elements to really make it come together, which could be both fun and neat. But on the whole, I just wonder: what's the point of it? I don't know that I'll ever be a fan of experimental, avant-garde theater. I find it mildly pretentious, pointless and generally silly. So what's the story? There isn't one, really. Without story there isn't really character, for while you can have characters without a story (see: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas), you can't really have a story without characters (see: practically every crappy Hollywood big budget movie).

Perhaps this is extremely un-artist-y of me to say, but there comes a point in your acting career when you say: I've had enough of doing projects to gain experience. If I'm not getting paid and the project doesn't really interest me, what am I really gaining by being in it? Connections, I suppose; also, since I think I was recommended/mentioned to these people by a connection from a previous show I did, quitting the show might reflect badly on her (unless I came up with one doozy of a karma-killing lie to get out of it), and might make her more hesitant to mention me in the future. Then again, neither this project nor the previous one she had recommended me for were paid, so maybe I wouldn't be losing all that much.

And then (if you'll pardon my descent into hokiness), there's my horoscope:

Be careful that people whom you have to deal with at this time represent themselves truthfully. Others will probably try to deceive you and if they do, the results could be even more discouraging. Don't let your desire to have things your way cloud your ability to see what is really happening, especially with people. At the same time don't become involved in any devious action yourself. You are not likely to be especially lucky at such schemes, and you may not want to face the consequences in the future. During this time you may also have to face the unpleasant consequences of past actions that you would rather avoid. You will be greatly tempted to turn your back and pretend that they didn't happen. You may even be tempted to take refuge in drugs or alcohol, but this is not the proper course. (emphasis added)

Well...shit. At the very least I suppose I'll sleep on it. Also, have you ever been waiting for a phone call and eagerly picked it up when you noticed it ringing only to find that it was someone you didn't really want to talk to? Yeah, I hate that.

Since it's late and I've been up far too long today and need to get up even earlier tomorrow for more shooting fun and my mind is going all over the place and wow this is a long sentence, here are the lyrics to the song I've most recently become obsessed with:

Annie's Song, John Denver (don't laugh)
You fill up my senses like a night in the forest.
Like a mountain in spring-time
like a walk in the rain
like a storm in the desert
like a sleepy blue ocean
You fill up my senses, come fill me again.

Come let me love you, let me give my life to you
Let me drown in your laughter, let me die in your arms.
Let me lay down beside you, let me always be with you.
Come let me love you, come love me again.

Might try and write something around that, but I'm a bit worried it might become too derivative. Those lines are already so beautiful as it is anyways, I don't think I could improve on them.

Bias? What Bias?

I give you exhibit A, from CNN.com:



And now, the very same story, from Drudge Report:



I honestly wish I knew how people/pundits can sit with a straight face and say that global warming is a "scare" or "faulty science" or a "theory." Whenever I see those people in a debate, I wish the people opposing them would do one, very simple exercise. Take a picture of Mount Kilimanjaro in say, 1950. Then take one of it now and hold them up side by side. Then ask said talking head to explain WHERE THE FUCK THE SNOW WENT. That's it.

The full TIME story can be found over here, by the way. It's interesting to note that one of the side-effects of global warming mentioned is a slowing of the Gulf Stream; exactly what's mentioned in The Day After Tomorrow, which is quite possibly the most entertainingly bad movie ever made.

Getting..., Pt. 2

So...just spoke to the director. Feeling a little bit better; cleared up e-mail addy (I was hoping that was what the problem was), asked him about the schedule and he said this week was going to be a bit more informal, partially because everyone's schedules were wonky (I presume I contributed no small amount to this, but c'est la vie), but also because of how he wants to try to create a sense of ensemble, to get everyone (or as many people as he can get together at once, I guess) together in a room and...I don't know. Improv games? Read from the script? Karaoke? I suppose I shall find out when I get there, as a much wiser bear than I once said.

Getting a Little More Nervous

So after talking to the director/writer of Sundown the other day, today I am filled with a slowly growing sense of dread. I still have yet to receive a script; I don't even think it's complete. I don't know what my rehearsal schedule is for this week, much less beyond that; he wants me to come down tomorrow (skipping a class, which is partially my fault as I told him I didn't mind missing this class from time to time even though I am a little irritated because it's Greek Myth and I've been enjoying it) to "meet the rest of the cast," which is fine, I dig that, but WHAT THE FUCK. Why don't I have a script? Why haven't you told me exactly when you need me to be somewhere for rehearsal and where to go, for the next couple of days if not the whole period leading up to performance? What the hell is going on?

Perhaps I am overreacting, perhaps everything will turn out fine in the end. It is difficult, however, to remain rational when being faced with the prospect of getting up on a stage in 4 weeks and making a complete ass of yourself. I have been fortunate enough to have worked with relatively professional people to this date; like my friends, I have my share of horror stories (like the time I had to bang a chair on a ceiling, and the director asked me to do it a certain way, so I did it his way...and then the seat of the chair detached and did a swan dive on my face, splitting my lip open quite neatly. Actually, to be precise, it was my teeth that split my lip, resulting in a cute little v-shaped divot. But I digress.), but they tend to be the exception rather than the rule. Morty's can be somewhat last-minute from time to time but having worked with them for a while now I know we can manage. These people I have not worked with before, they don't speak english as a first language and I am, to quote the vernacular, shitting myself.

Slightly Embarassed

So the movie's ending and Somewhere Over the Rainbow is playing...and I'm embarassed that I ever thought this was Harry Connick, Jr. It sounds nothing like him, and I should know since I have a recording of him singing this.

Lazy Saturday

I've been content to loll around the house all day, reading and sleeping, sleeping and reading. Currently watching You've Got Mail, a movie I've always found cute even if it does propagate Hollywood's idealized version of love and romance. It's also got a kickin soundtrack, though for some odd reason I always thought it was Harry Connick, Jr that sang most of the standards; apparently it's some guy named Harry Nilsson. This also reminds me that I've been meaning to watch the original version for some time now. I'm also reminded of the fact that every time I see a store that's closed, I think of this movie; that line (it actually just got said) about how, "People say change is a good thing, but all they really mean is that something you didn't want to happen at all has happened," or something to similar effect. Every time I pass a closed store, I think about the person who owned that store, how it represented some part of their dreams, their hopes; what happened to them? Did they move up in scale? Or did they have to face a reality they had been trying to hold off with all their strength, raging against the dying of the light until they were left with no other choices?

But getting back to love; is idealized, Hollywood love really all that bad? To be sure, life is not perfect, nor is it even clean and easy. But are there not (or should there not be) fleeting moments in our lives when it can be, moments which can be as pure and simple as any movie?

No, you know what, forget that. I've always hated the fact that things that are, if nothing else, staggeringly real are always referred back to movies; that they were, "just like in the movies." Life is better than any movie.

Maybe that makes me an idealist. Yeah; yeah. I guess it probably does. I'm ok with that.

Blogthings + Astrology = OMG FUN FOR ME

Heh.

Your True Love Is a Scorpio

Why you'll love a Scorpio: Strong and sexy, Scorpio will overpower you into falling in love (before you even realize it!). You'll love being swept away by Scorpio - into a world of insane passion. Why a Scorpio will love you: You don't mind letting your Scorpio take the reigns, as long as you know you're truly cared for. Loyal and devoted, you would never do anything to set off insanely jealous Scorpio.

What Sign Is Your True Love?

So, Who Am I?

Interesting story over here. I find it fascinating that even people who have been living their whole lives in a single country can stir debate about identity. What does it mean to be Taiwanese? I guess you can ask that of any country (I still don't know what the hell it means to be Canadian, South Park Movie be damned), but in a country (and I hope I don't get bombed by China for calling it that, but having been to both China and Taiwan...right now they're clearly separate countries) of Taiwan's history it is fascinating to see the pulls of different influences. Oh, and incidentally, that park that's mentioned, Chiang-Kai Shek Memorial Park? It's ENORMOUS. Picture Central Park. Now picture it with much smaller, jungle-type trees that are selectively placed in little walking gardens instead of allowed to grow willy-nilly and with the Lincoln Memorial in the middle (that's what that structure in the far background of the picture is, this huge building with a statue of him in it. Chiang-Kai Shek, not Lincoln; that'd just be weird). Some more pictures can be found over here.

On a side note, I've been told that it's incredibly rude not to be linking to the bloggers I read. Starting today, I shall endeavor to correct that.

A Thought

I've enjoying seven types of ambiguity, and this one little bit has triggered something in me. You always read and experience so many instances where there are gulfs between people, where after a period of time the anger or hurt has calcified into resentment or contempt.

My thought is this: how much damage is done between friends, lovers or family members because one person was doing what they thought was best for the other person; trying to protect that person, to help them, to guide them? Who are we to judge what another person needs most? And yet it's unavoidable. But you don't talk about these things, you never sit and say, I really wish I/we could xyz, but I'm trying to be xyz for you. And so we go round and round, inferring motivations from actions and acting in turn and having our intentions guessed at by others. Does it ever end? Can it ever end? How many things have I done wrong, how many people have I hurt and how many things have I denied myself by being so morally "superior"?

And yet I reject the polar opposite, the willy-nilly gratification of every whim that flies through my mind. Perhaps that is a justification, perhaps I tell myself it's wrong to act a certain way because I lack the confidence or the ability to, so I justify it in my mind by saying that's ok, it's wrong to act that way anyways. Maybe it's all just fear and self-flagellation. I am afraid of so much, and yet I am not afraid to be vulnerable, to be open and to ask people to take me for who I am at that moment, whatever the hell that is. I will give and I will take, I am not perfect; if anything I'm probably much more selfish and needy than I realize. I wish...I don't know what I wish.

Another Book Bites the Dust

1. The Complete Poems, Anne Sexton
2. On the Road, Jack Kerouac
3. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby
4. Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami
5. Sideways, Rex Pickett
6. The Shipping News, Annie Proulx
7. Le Morte D'Arthur, Sir Thomas Malory
8. Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh
9. The Sonnets, William Shakespeare
10. To The Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
11. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
12. A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, Yiyun Li
13. interpreter of maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri
14. The Neverending Story, Michael Ende
15. Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf
16. Norwegian Wood, Haruki Murakami
17. Blink, Malcolm Gladwell
18. The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Thomas Friedman
19. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell
20. the namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri
21. Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro
22. seven types of ambiguity, Eliot Perlman

Ok...One Last Thing

What the hell is this?

"Going to a bar is not an opportunity to go get drunk," TABC Capt. David Alexander said. "It's to have a good time but not to get drunk."

Man...Texas SUCKS.

Hooray, New Silly Shit

Just caught this before I had to take off:

You Should Be a Film Writer

You don't just create compelling stories, you see them as clearly as a movie in your mind. You have a knack for details and dialogue. You can really make a character come to life. Chances are, you enjoy creating all types of stories. The joy is in the storytelling. And nothing would please you more than millions of people seeing your story on the big screen!

What Type of Writer Should You Be?

Why is Jodie Foster Brilliant?

Because she recognizes this (link to this story over here):

"I do tend to play strong women," she tells the room. "I play different kinds of strong women. I've played dumb blondes, I've played morally bankrupt strong women, I've played good girls, I've played strait-laced straight arrows, I've played wild women, yet they're always strong, and I honestly sometimes feel that's my . . .," she pauses, as a few scribes crane their heads and call out quietly, "calling card?" "strength?," words she ignores and says instead, ". . . Achilles heel, as an actress. I don't really know how to play weak characters. I think if I played a weak character you wouldn't believe me. I think it's the thing I can't get rid of." (emphasis added)

It's somewhat counter-intuitive, I suppose, the idea that your strengths can be your weaknesses, and vice versa; but if you really think about it, it makes a lot of sense. Areas that you are strong in, that you have a natural aptitude in, you also have a tendency to ignore in your training because you can always manage through a combination of natural talent and work. Your weak spots, however, are the areas that you're aware of (hopefully) and always working on.

The difficulty for actors is that when you start getting cast in roles, chances are you're always going to be cast a certain way; because of your look, your sound, your abilities. The majority of actors are like this, playing the same essential character over and over. And that's great, it's possible to have a fantastic career and play a lot of brilliant roles doing that. It's also possible to become a one-note joke. I don't know that there's any real way to avoid it, barring unusual genius and/or weirdness (Kevin Kline, Johnny Depp and Val Kilmer all come to mind); not if you want to get paid, at least. And I guess, to a certain extent, that's what it always comes down to.

Crapping IPod, Pt. 2

So of course, just when I start thinking about getting a new iPod, I notice this story on cnn.com. Can I wait till June? I'm already waiting for the new stupid RAZR to come out so I can ditch my chunky Sony Ericsson for it. I want a feast, goddamnit; I want a bean feast. Creme buns and donuts and fruitcakes with no nuts, so good you could go nuts, give it to me now!...yadda yadda yadda. I hate life.

Crapping IPod

So my iPod has recently started to crap out on me. I should preface this by saying that it isn't really MY iPod per se, it was originally my younger brother's. I had an older version, and the last time I was home I noticed he'd stopped using his iPod, and had switched to a Toshiba Gigabeat. I asked him about the iPod and he said it'd stopped working, but when I plugged it in it worked fine, so I asked if I could have it (since it was newer than mine, with the cool click wheel) and he said sure.

Fast forward to now, and it's started to randomly freeze when I attempt to upload songs. Every time it locks up like that (and I suppose it could be just taking a REALLY long time to upload a song, but I don't think that's the case) I have to reset it manually and then restore the software using the iPod updater, which deletes all the songs on it. The end result is that I currently have a grand total of 16 songs on my iPod, a quick little playlist that I threw together and which I think actually took me 2 or 3 attempts before I managed to get it all on.

So now I'm thinking hey, maybe it's time for a new iPod. But then, should I get a Nano? Or a plain regular one? Would I really watch the videos if I had the capability? The availability of Daily Show episodes is tempting, but I'm that irritating guy who laughs at inappropriate times in movie theaters and tends to have borderline obnoxious/uncontrollable laughter, so maybe it wouldn't be the wisest choice. But 4 gigs is kinda sucky; my full library is a touch over 6 and I don't even have all that much compared to some people I know. Nanos are sexy, though. Skinny and white, just the way I like my women.

Yes, I'm kidding.

Whee

1. The Complete Poems, Anne Sexton
2. On the Road, Jack Kerouac
3. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby
4. Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami
5. Sideways, Rex Pickett
6. The Shipping News, Annie Proulx
7. Le Morte D'Arthur, Sir Thomas Malory
8. Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh
9. The Sonnets, William Shakespeare
10. To The Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
11. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
12. A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, Yiyun Li
13. interpreter of maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri
14. The Neverending Story, Michael Ende
15. Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf
16. Norwegian Wood, Haruki Murakami
17. Blink, Malcolm Gladwell
18. The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Thomas Friedman
19. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell
20. the namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri
21. Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro

namesake was excellent; a great story about the immigrant experience and the relationships between first and second generations. There's a lot in there that really spoke to me, on a level that I haven't experienced much since reading Joy Luck Club. Ishiguro is best known for The Remains of the Day, which I might go pick up if I end up liking this one.

Last Night

I had a dream last night that we were walking hand in hand under a lavender canopy of feathered leaves, woven together like our fingers: separate individuals up close but one when viewed from afar. Our fingers entwined, we laughed and laughed; oh, how we laughed, and it was easy, so easy. The crows heckled us. "Love is a struggle, love is a battle, love is a ring, love is a bird and a plane and a Superman," but we walked on, paying them no mind. You promised me nothing, and I pledged you nothing in return; and in that space, that space with no promises and no expectations, we found each other, for generosity can only be displayed where there is freedom to deny it. And so we walked on under the trees, through shade and sun, promising nothing to each other and receiving everything.

Another One Bites the Dust

1. The Complete Poems, Anne Sexton
2. On the Road, Jack Kerouac
3. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby
4. Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami
5. Sideways, Rex Pickett
6. The Shipping News, Annie Proulx
7. Le Morte D'Arthur, Sir Thomas Malory
8. Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh
9. The Sonnets, William Shakespeare
10. To The Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
11. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
12. A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, Yiyun Li
13. interpreter of maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri
14. The Neverending Story, Michael Ende
15. Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf
16. Norwegian Wood, Haruki Murakami
17. Blink, Malcolm Gladwell
18. The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Thomas Friedman
19. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell
20. the namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri

Tipping Point was interesting in that really nerdy way, like Blink. Highly recommend them both to anyone interested in how modern science thinks the human mind and society work; Gladwell's not a scientist, and it shows because his writing is extremely accessible.

World Wide Suicide

So Pearl Jam released their new single today or yesterday or sometime; you can listen to it for free off their myspace page, and apparently you can download it off their website, but I couldn't find that link. People on iTunes are mostly jizzing (pardon the French) all over themselves, but personally I'm pretty unimpressed. The lyrics are supposedly deep and anti-Iraq War but I can barely make any of them out, and the riffs aren't good or catchy enough for me to listen to it repeatedly to figure out what the hell's being said. I guess I'll just stick with Ten and the assorted other singles I have from when they really rocked. It's too bad; I really wanted to like it, seeing as how Pearl Jam is the only influential band from the grunge era still together that I know of.

Interesting Tidbits

From The Tipping Point:

A few years ago, for example, Wegner set up a memory test with 59 couples, all of whom had been dating for at least three months. Half of the couples were allowed to stay together, and half were split up, and given a new partner whom they didn't know. Weger then asked all the pairs to read 64 sentences, each with an underlined word, like "Midori is a Japanese melon liqueur." Five minutes after looking at all the statements, the pair were asked to write down as many as they could remember. Sure enough, the pairs who knew each other remembered substantially more items than those who didn't know each other. Wegner argues that when people know each other well, they create an implicit joint memory system - a transactive memory system - which is based on an understanding about who is best suited to remember what kinds of things. "Relationship development is often understood as a process of mutual self-disclosure," he writes. "Although it is probably more romantic to cast this process as one of interpersonal revelation and acceptance, it can also be appreciated as a necessary precursor to transactive memory." Transactive memory is part of what intimacy means. In fact, Wegner argues, it is the loss of this kind of joint memory that helps to make divorce so painful. "Divorced people who suffer depression and complain of cognitive dysfunction may be expressing the loss of their external memory systems," he writes. "They were once able to discuss their experiences to reach a shared understanding...They once could count on access to a wide range of storage in their partner, and this, too, is gone...The loss of transactive memory feels like losing a part of one's own mind."

Wouldn't it be sad/funny if the only reason why people got married was so they could have someone around to remember where the car keys were? Speaking of which, there's a funny little line in an excellent article in this month's GQ about this group of voluntary virgins, "who've formed an online chat group called 'I'm Going to Have Crazy Sex Once I'm Married'".

Boy, are THOSE guys in for a surprise. Here's how the article ends:

So do Jake and Silas and the Corps. Their awkward orgies of mutual confession, their comical maskings of naughty magazine covers, and their demoralizing lapses into porn viewing and self-abuse suggest that they're truly struggling, truly fighting, and that they've actually seen the enemy's face - in the bathroom mirror, possibly. It's impossible not to wish such scrappers well. They deserve to succeed. They deserve to get their Mistys and all the postponed great orgasms she can give them.

But for the Chads of the movement, the airy theorists and humorless purists, I don't know what I wish. Humbling come-uppances, perhaps, when they finally climb into their idealized marriage beds and discover the world is made of flesh, not words, and that their partners are human women, not quasi Eves. "Take me, it's time," their virgin brides will urge them, and after the grooms have consumated the act, maybe their ladies will also say something like this to them: "You mean that's all? That's it? That thirty seconds? That's what we've been waiting all our lives for?"

That's when the serious battle will begin.

A-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-men.

The Universe Scoffs At Me

This can be a time of very successful energetic activity, if you proceed cautiously enough. You may be infected with an unjustified optimism that anything you do today will "turn to gold." It may, but it won't happen by luck. It will happen through intelligent planning and foresight, which are available to you under this influence if you make a conscious effort to take advantage of them. You act for the future under this influence, because you are more concerned with what can be done than with what is. Therefore this is a good time for furthering new projects. But do not overextend yourself and go beyond your resources, which is another temptation now. Also your fondness for taking risks can lead to accidents at this time, so be careful. You are not unlucky, you are just somewhat impulsive. (emphasis added)

Uhhh...so I guess...maybe that $80 spent at B&N yesterday wasn't such a great idea? And just as an aside, does anyone else hate people who call it, "Barnes and Nobles"? Or is that just me? I mean, you never hear people say they're going to Walmarts, or K-marts, or Starbuckses, so why Barnes and Nobles? And it's even odder because it's a freakin bookstore; I mean, it's a repository of the English language and you can't even say the name properly? Yeesh.

Barnes & Noble is My Pusher

1. The Complete Poems, Anne Sexton
2. On the Road, Jack Kerouac
3. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby
4. Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami
5. Sideways, Rex Pickett
6. The Shipping News, Annie Proulx
7. Le Morte D'Arthur, Sir Thomas Malory
8. Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh
9. The Sonnets, William Shakespeare
10. To The Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
11. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
12. A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, Yiyun Li
13. interpreter of maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri
14. The Neverending Story, Michael Ende
15. Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf
16. Norwegian Wood, Haruki Murakami
17. Blink, Malcolm Gladwell
18. The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Thomas Friedman
19. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell

One book turned into two in the new paperback section...then I started the long walk to the register, and by the time I got there I had two more in my hands. Sigh. At least this should keep me out of there for a week or two, though.

I'm a Goofy Goober, Yeah

...because I think this video is awesome.

West Siiide

Posting this here so I can find it easily tomorrow when I hit Kinko's to print it out.

Life Ain't Fair

So I was all set to get showered and out of here, and then someone hopped in ahead of me, so I figured I'd post yet AGAIN. One of the interesting things mentioned in The Lexus and the Olive Tree is a voluntary association created to be a watchdog that companies can join, in order to be able to prove to consumers that their products were manufactured in a labor-friendly environment: the Fair Labor Association. The list of companies who have chosen to join is quite neat; all those shoe manufacturers (no New Balance, though they have their own supplier code of conduct that stresses no child labor and such), and stuff made in China for H&M. I just think stuff like this is neat, and really shows the positive side of globalization and the internet; all this information is out there, it's just up to individuals to take the time to find it so they can utilize it.

Another Update

Man, it's a posting whirlwind up in this joint. Anyways, I've been cast in a play, Sundown. I don't have a whole lot of details right now; actually, I don't even have a script. That website pretty much sums up everything I know about the production. It's sort of funny that I ended up getting cast because I felt horrible about the auditions; as I said here, I was horribly unprepared and generally didn't feel like I did much with the sides. It'll be nice to get back onstage, though; the last play I did was a bit ago, last Thanksgiving.

And One More Thing They Can't Do Right

Clicky.

Airport security? Who needs it! We're fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them over here, remember? Just like England!

Go Go Gadget Bushies!

Click.

It's nice to know that they're making sure the big bad gays can't get classified information. Look out! They might steal the secret FBI fall catalogue!

I mean, come on now; THIS is what they're spending their time doing? Why the fuck does this administration waste so much time on retarded-ass shit like this while the ports remain unsecure, government spending is going through the roof and genocides continue around the world?

Bush says let history judge his presidency? I say bring it on.

Choices

Rattling down the tunnel, swaying side to side, the fool sitting across the aisle removes his teeth and turns them into a hand puppet. "You have to let go to hold on," the hand tells him. The fool slumps over, the teeth falling from his hand and rattling around on the floor, out of sight but not out of mind. And then he's falling, falling while the wind whistles and roars its tribal refrain. Her face. He can feel her next to him, her arm touching his, and wonders if it's deliberate or accidental, if she would melt away if he tried to touch her, and all he can think of is his greatest fear: that what could be might not ever be, that he will be found wanting and will swerve at the last minute, avoiding her now and forever while she fades away into the night.

Sort of a funny story behind this little blurb; I had the second half of it that I'd scribbled down earlier in the night, but I didn't quite know how to start it. Then, when I got on the 3 train to come home, there was this lady with a beer can in one hand and her dentures in the other. And then, as Stephen King says in On Writing, pow!

Oh, and in case you're wondering, she didn't actually drop them. She did drop the beer can she was holding, though.

Well...Shit

1. The Complete Poems, Anne Sexton
2. On the Road, Jack Kerouac
3. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby
4. Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami
5. Sideways, Rex Pickett
6. The Shipping News, Annie Proulx
7. Le Morte D'Arthur, Sir Thomas Malory
8. Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh
9. The Sonnets, William Shakespeare
10. To The Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
11. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
12. A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, Yiyun Li
13. interpreter of maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri
14. The Neverending Story, Michael Ende
15. Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf
16. Norwegian Wood, Haruki Murakami
17. Blink, Malcolm Gladwell
18. The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Thomas Friedman

Looks like I might be making another trip to Barnes and Noble a lot sooner than I thought I would have to. There was a lot of fascinating things in Blink; one that I actually want to try (but am a bit apprehensive about) is an Implicit Association Test (IAT), a version of which can apparently be found here. One interesting passage talks about a pair of facial expression researchers who found a correlation between their actual emotions and the facial expressions they were making; that while facial expressions are typically considered to be the effect of emotions, the reverse is also true: that is, facial expressions, properly made, can trigger an emotional response. I just find that fascinating, and not really surprising, given that study from a bit ago noting that people who smile more are generally healthier than those who smile less, or they live longer, or whatever it was. Personally, I tend to be a pretty smiley person, and also a pretty unstressed person (you know those Scientology people who sit at the tables and ask if you're stressed? NOT ME!), so I guess that bodes pretty well for me.

Speaking of Scientology, I finally managed to watch the Scientology episode of South Part on YouTube. "Tom Cruise, John Travolta still will not come out of the closet!" Brilliant. I have a virulent hate for that "In the Closet" song of R. Kelly's, though. It's just so atonal and it goes on forEVer and I wonder if the point of it is that he was sitting around, wondering how long he could get people to sit and listen to a song so horrible it could only have been written as part of a bet that he could just make the stupidest crap up and people would sit and listen to it for like 20 minutes because it's by the dude who sang "I Believe I Can Fly." Ugh. I also find Trey Parker and Matt Stone's response to Isaac Hayes quitting the show pretty spot on.

Things Never Go As Planned...

1. The Complete Poems, Anne Sexton
2. On the Road, Jack Kerouac
3. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby
4. Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami
5. Sideways, Rex Pickett
6. The Shipping News, Annie Proulx
7. Le Morte D'Arthur, Sir Thomas Malory
8. Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh
9. The Sonnets, William Shakespeare
10. To The Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
11. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
12. A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, Yiyun Li
13. interpreter of maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri
14. The Neverending Story, Michael Ende
15. Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf
16. Norwegian Wood, Haruki Murakami
17. Blink, Malcolm Gladwell

I'm not totally sure if non-fiction is supposed to qualify, but seeing as how this is my booklist, I'll stick it on there. I've been cast in a play called Sundown that's supposed to start rehearsals in a week or so and will go up at the end of April; more on that as I find out more details - at this point I'm not even 100% sure who I'm playing or how big of a role it is, since, as the site seems to suggest, it's an interdisciplinary play (I read that to mean "experimental and possibly a bit on the weird side").

Bamf

1. The Complete Poems, Anne Sexton
2. On the Road, Jack Kerouac
3. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby
4. Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami
5. Sideways, Rex Pickett
6. The Shipping News, Annie Proulx
7. Le Morte D'Arthur, Sir Thomas Malory
8. Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh
9. The Sonnets, William Shakespeare
10. To The Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
11. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
12. A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, Yiyun Li
13. interpreter of maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri
14. The Neverending Story, Michael Ende
15. Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf
16. Norwegian Wood, Haruki Murakami

Good read. Of course, now I need a new book yet again, but that can be remedied with a couple free hours, which I just happen to have today. Thinking I might go a bit older with my next selection, but I'll have to see if anything else jumps out at me.

An Interesting Take

From Norwegian Wood:

"Never mind," I said. "Both of us have a lot of feelings we need to get out in the open. So if you want to take those feelings and smash somebody with them, smash me. Then we can understand each other better."

"So if you understand me better, what then?"

"You don't get it, do you?" I said. "It's not a question of 'what then.' Some people get a kick out of reading railroad timetables and that's all they do all day. Some people make huge model boats of out matchsticks. So what's wrong if there happens to be one guy in the world who enjoys trying to understand you?"

"Kind of like a hobby?" she said, amused.

"Sure, I guess you could call it a hobby. Most normal people would call it friendship or love or something, but if you want to call it a hobby, that's O.K., too."

Little Suit People

Interesting story over here about Eton and what is essentially a two-tier education system. I think the most telling quotes are these:

"The advantage of a private education is that even if you are not that bright, you can get on much better," said a father who sent his three children to private schools.

A study by the Sutton Trust educational charity shows that in 2004 over 66 percent of barristers at top chambers and about 75 percent of judges attended independent, or private, schools.

Nearly a third of the country's lawmakers, including Prime Minister Tony Blair and Cameron, were privately educated."

and, at the end of the article:

"The most affluent, articulate and influential people in society will do what they always do on education -- having made their private arrangements, they will stand aloof," said Walden.

In general, that first line in the first quote really sums up education for me. For the most part, how intelligent you are or the quality of the school are simply not that important; what matters is the little piece of paper with the school's name on it, sort of a membership card into that exclusive club. Is it probable that such a high percentage of kids who went to Eton are actually that much more intelligent than their peers in public school systems? Of course not. It is probable, however, that their parents are richer, have more connections and generally enjoy a higher socio-economic status than the majority of the populace.

I spent a lot of time in private schools myself (of course, Canada doesn't really have anything on Eton's level), and what's actually interesting about my experience was that most of the kids going there were not ultra-rich. Come to think of it, that could be because no-one in Canada is ultra-rich, but whatever. Anyways, most of the kids who went to my school had parents who were successful, yes, but who had worked for that; frequently with both parents working. I can't really say why they (the parents) chose to send their kids to private school; that's not really the sort of thing you ask your friends when you're 16. I can say that my parents believed it would set me up better for life; that the opportunities would be more varied and more beneficial than the public school experience.

I think the good thing about private schools (at least, the one I went to) is that they force a certain level of committment on you. In public schools, I think it's relatively easy to sneak through, to not draw attention, do your time and escape with relatively little pain. Private schools, with smaller enrollments and class sizes, tend to be predicated on the idea of fashioning a "whole" person, forcing academics, extra-curriculars and athletics down your throat whether you want them or not. I think you can get the same quality of education in the public system as you can in the private, you just need to work a bit harder for it; nothing is handed to you, and that also assumes that the resources are the same, since private schools typically have more money to spend on computer labs, sports facilities and whatnot. Perhaps that's a more useful lesson for life.

Come to think of it, the one thing that's stuck with me the most from my schooling is the thing that the school I went to has since abandoned; a knowledge of deportment. When I started going there it was a private school still strongly influenced by the English model; you stood when teachers came in the room, called them "Sir" and "Ma'am," attended morning chapel and generally had all the nasty little habits kids have ground out of you. It's a little loser-y (well, maybe it's a lot loser-y), but I like that about myself, and am sort of thankful that I had that experience.

Snow Globe

The music plays, a soft reminder of days gone past; days of sun and warmth, when you put your head on my lap and we watched the time drift by. Days when we could lose ourselves in our private little world. You have gone now, but I feel you all around me, inside of me; you've left footprints all over my soul and have moved on, and I am here, where I was, where I am, where I will be. Snow falls, glittering in the morning's unfeeling rays. I feel them whispering against my upturned face, like your fingers reaching out from the past, each snowflake a person's life; falling, falling, and then melting back into the air from whence it came. Where do snowflakes go when they die? Or can it be that they never do, that they only change forms to be reborn again and again, living each life like their one and only, oblivious to the truth? I think about that and feel myself drifting, falling, tumbling through time and wondering where I shall drip.

Yar

Pirates are cool. Caught bits of that Blackbeard special on National Geographic last night. I wonder when the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie is due to come out? Should be soon, right? ...hm, apparently not; according to the site it's due out July 7th. Hope it's good, though chances are it won't be.

And now, for something completely different:

Your Values Profile

Loyalty: You value loyalty a fair amount. You're loyal to your friends... to a point. But if they cross you, you will reconsider your loyalties. Staying true to others is important to you, but you also stay true to yourself. Honesty: You don't really value honesty. You do value getting your way, no matter what. And if a little lying is required to do that, no problem. A few white lies never hurt anyone (at least, that's what you tell yourself!) Generosity: You value generosity a fair amount. You are all about giving, as long as there's some give and take. Supportive and kind, you don't mind helping out a friend in need. But you know when you've given too much. You have no problem saying "no"! Humility: You value humility a fair amount. You tend to be an easy going, humble person. But occasionally your ego takes over. You have a slight competitive streak - and the need to be the best. Tolerance: You value tolerance highly. Not only do you enjoy the company of those very different from you... You do all that you can to seek it out interesting and unique friends. You think there are many truths in life, and you're open to many of them.

The Five Factor Values Test

Tao Lin E-Book

Had been meaning to read through these and finally got around to it. My personal favorite:

a poem written by a bear
let me go eat some salmon
why are there coke cans in the river
what if i wore a bullet proof vest during hunting season
i’m a bear; i walk in the forest and look at the river and the river is cold
i saw campers today and they ran away and i was alone and i destroyed their tent
let me go scratch my paw on a tree
let me go eat a salmon
last night i cried onto my salmon
the salmon was sad but it still wanted to live
it wanted to swim and be sad and i ate it under moonlight
i saw a moose scream the other day
it screamed quietly under a tree
i felt embarrassed and sad and i thought, ‘oh, no; oh god, oh my god’
sometimes i climb a tree and sit there and sing very quietly
sometimes i want to go to a shopping mall and chase the humans and claw them
i’ll ride the moose into the shopping mall and ram the humans
the moose and i will ride the escalator and i will hug the moose and the moose and i will cry
i will eat the moose
i don’t care
i will scream and throw the bubblegum machine from the second floor to the first floor
i felt compassion for the salmon and now i don’t care anymore
i’ll walk into a parking lot and chase a large human and hug the human and cry
i’ll walk into a house at night and push the humans off the bed
i’ll stare at the bed and i’ll feel fake

I don't know if it's supposed to, but it actually makes me kind of chuckle; bits of it are just so absurd. Maybe I'm weird? Well, I know I'm weird, so I guess this could be just further confirmation.

And the Books Keep Rolling In

Huzzah!

1. The Complete Poems, Anne Sexton
2. On the Road, Jack Kerouac
3. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby
4. Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami
5. Sideways, Rex Pickett
6. The Shipping News, Annie Proulx
7. Le Morte D'Arthur, Sir Thomas Malory
8. Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh
9. The Sonnets, William Shakespeare
10. To The Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
11. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
12. A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, Yiyun Li
13. interpreter of maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri
14. The Neverending Story, Michael Ende
15. Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf
16. Norwegian Wood, Haruki Murakami

Mrs. Dalloway was incredible; you know how in recent years it's become somewhat fashionable to make movies with 4-5 main characters, with the narrative switching between them all and showing the interconnections in their lives? That's what Virgina Woolf was doing in 1925. Fucking brilliant. Norwegian Wood I wasn't planning on buying but I was looking for a new book, just browsing aimlessly through the fiction section when I saw it; figured I'd check it out. I wonder how many books have been written with Beatles songs as titles? So far I've got two, this one and Eleanor Rigby; wouldn't it be cool if you could, like, reconstruct the albums with books on your bookshelf?

Yourspace?

So yeah, I have kind of a weird hangup about myspace. Let me preface this by saying it's not just because I have a pitifully small amount of "friends". I swear.

I think the biggest issue I have is that the mentality createed by myspace is that of a retarded otter. It's hey, look at me, aren't I fun and coOL AND EXCITING AND CRAZY AND I SWEARTOGODIAMSOMUCHFUNTOKNOWYOUWISHYOUKNEWMEHAHAHAHAHAHA etc etc etc. When did people become such attention whores? Or have they always been, and it's just the advent of the internet and myspace that has allowed it to blossom forth? I guess if it's the latter, that might explain the reality tv explosion as well, and why people continue to go out for them. Anyways, for whatever reason, people feel the need to plaster their pages with wallpapers that make it impossible to read their text, multiple (typically crappy) songs/music videos and other assorted gewgaws that generally make me want to punch a hole in my computer screen before I remember that would only hurt me and then transfer that aggression to the person who made the myspace page. And look, this guy agrees with me!

I just feel like it encourages people to pretend they're totally awesome friends with EVERYone, when in reality sometimes you're not. And what's so wrong about that? What's so wrong about admitting that there are some people you're acquainted with that you don't know very well? Does it make you (well, me, I guess) a bad person because I have a few people I consider myself very close to and a pile of people I might have known for a while but whom I wouldn't classify as "friends"? Or maybe it has more to do with my personality and the way I approach friendship, and maybe I shouldn't be so quick to dismiss these people who see it differently. There certainly does seem to be a lot of them. Maybe they're on to something, maybe I should spend the next hour before I head out posting random, "omfg ur hot" comments and asking every cute girl to add me as a friend.

Yea-a-a-ah, that's what I thought.

It Ain't Easy Bein Green

This one seems a bit hokey to me, but whatever:

You Are Olive Green

You are the most real of all the green shades. You're always true to yourself. For you, authenticity and honesty are very important... both in others and yourself. You are grounded and secure. It takes a lot to shake you. People see you as dependable, probably the most dependable person they know.

What Color Green Are You?

Fallen Angel

Well, here it is, the first post from my iBook. I feel vaguely dirty, and yet, looking at this sexy little piece of machinery (and the packaging; Good Lord, the packaging!), I feel an inner peace akin to enlightenment. What adventures will I have, learning how to transfer my PC prowess to the realm of Apple? I can hardly wait. Or, to add a topical, cultural reference (well, relatively), I Can't Hardly Wait.

Wow, the Mac's making me snootier already.

Yikes

So a power blackout fried my comp, which is why I haven't posted anything in a while. Updated book list looks like this:

1. The Complete Poems, Anne Sexton
2. On the Road, Jack Kerouac
3. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby
4. Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami
5. Sideways, Rex Pickett
6. The Shipping News, Annie Proulx
7. Le Morte D'Arthur, Sir Thomas Malory
8. Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh
9. The Sonnets, William Shakespeare
10. To The Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
11. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
12. A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, Yiyun Li
13. interpreter of maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri
14. The Neverending Story, Michael Ende
15. Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf

Looking to pick up a replacement in a week or so. Lotta other crap going on. Had a rehearsal for a Pan Asian Rep reading on Monday and have another tomorrow; the event itself (it's actually a fund raiser/reading) is next week Monday. It was nice getting up and singing with a live piano again; it's been too long since I've done that. Should really hit some voice lessons when I have the cash/time. Just got called last night to audition for some play tomorrow; they got my number through one of the people that was in the first Pan Asian show I did - this is actually the second time I've gotten a call through her, which is pretty awesome. Don't really have any other details about the show though, and I hope they don't want me to do a monologue because I don't have one prepared. Also seem to be all out of headshots. Sigh. Yet another thing to deal with when I have money again.

Been working on a piece of fiction but it's nowhere near done; I'm not even sure if I like what I have down so far, but I've been kicking the core image around in my head for a while and definitely want to get something out about it. Something to play with, especially with the weather getting nicer; just plop myself down by Bethesda and see what comes out, I suppose. Anyhoo, off to class I go.

Reading Fun

1. The Complete Poems, Anne Sexton
2. On the Road, Jack Kerouac
3. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby
4. Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami
5. Sideways, Rex Pickett
6. The Shipping News, Annie Proulx
7. Le Morte D'Arthur, Sir Thomas Malory
8. Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh
9. The Sonnets, William Shakespeare
10. To The Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
11. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
12. A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, Yiyun Li
13. interpreter of maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri
14. The Neverending Story, Michael Ende

interpreter was good, but I actually liked the stories from Thousand Years better. I'd be interested in checking out Lahiri's novel. Really enjoying Neverending Story; I'm about halfway through, though I should probably slow down since I have no money to buy more books for a month or so. Anyways, here's a neat little bit that you wouldn't think to find in a kid's book:

"I wish everything would stay like this forever," he said.
"This moment is forever," she replied.

Do I Have to Turn in My New Yorker Card Now?

You Are Boston

Both modern and old school, you never forget your roots. Well educated and a little snobby, you demand the best. And quite frankly, you think you are the best. Famous people from the Boston area: Conan O'Brien, Ben Affleck, New Kids on the Block

What American City Are You?

:(