geek summer

I think the problem lately is I've been trying too hard to be an adult (whatever that means) and not giving in to the old geekdom. All this anxiety over Housing and Career and Money blah BLAH blah BLAH....I mean, I'm childless and 30something, what do I really care about all that stuff? That's so not keeping it real. It feels like a pretentious front. A masquerade, if you will. Liked a mid-sized sedan that is really a robot from another planet. That was my weak segue into saying that I'm really thrilled about this new Transformers movie coming out. I'm pleased that there is a Skrull conspiracy going on in Marvel Comics. I am cautiously excited the original creators are remaking Neon Genesis Evangelion into a tetrology of new feature animes, because as we all know, the only thing better than a trilogy is a motherf-in' tetrology.

It's nerdy little otaku enthusiasms like these that have kept me going in the past, and there's really no reason to give up on them now. It has not been a good year, but it could get better.

Prayer

Poor you on a plastic bed
with so many painkillers
and full recollection

Yeah you in a cul de sac
almost to Ontario,
close to home, far from the bar

Brave you in a Vegas hospital
sad and strong, sucking in new life,
after all that gambling
it is a relief to see you sleep.

going to vegas....

....tomorrow, to visit ailing co-worker. Going to try not to gamble at all, leaving the question, what else do you do in Vegas? I'm not sure. There seems to be a De La Soul show at the Hard Rock, which sounds promising. Also probably some sort of exhorbitant steak will be involved.

lucky

A co-worker friend got in a pretty bad accident last week. Thankfully she survived, but she was seriously injured. I'm writing this not to gossip, just to say that it's the kind of thing that puts it all into perspective. All my complaining about moodswings, career, bills, the X-Men movie franchise, and bad grammar really doesn't mean shit. Having food to eat and a basically healthy body are indulgences of the very lucky. Because bad things are always happening to good people.

kindergarten cafeteria utopia

All I have to say today is that my condo-mate is hosting two Chilean friends at our place, and in the spirit of spoiling them with true American food, she made home-made Sloppy Joes, which were PHENOMENALLY DELICIOUS. Meaty, saucy, chunky with corn and onions and cheese and bell peppers on a soft toasty bun....just like they used to have in the school cafeteria....and just as they are served, I'm sure, in the eternal amber-hued mess hall of the Hereafter.

damn it!

The question for the day is, is sexual frustration really going to help the writing/artistic career? Or is libido one of those things that must be tended to before the deeply-felt writing can begin?

The first person (as if anyone reads this) to mention Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs gets hit with a brick.

So if Burt Bacharach is writing protest songs...

....(which he is, on his new album) doesn't that mean that the situation is worse than it ever has been? I mean, the guy is like 80, and has been writing songs about love and raindrops for his whole life. He's lived through all the wars and all the administrations of the past century, but Only Now feels so compelled by the dire state of the country that he would, in his own words, write a song about it.

Where have all the protest songs gone anyway? I mean the ones that we all know, not just scattered fan bases.

The corollary thought is, there is an Old Wisdom that assures us, "Sure, things seem bad right now, but it has always been thus, and you are only now of the age to acknowledge it." Or, put another way, "In MY day, we had to walk to school, through the snow, six miles, uphill, both ways..." etc. It's this cozening thought which urges us to put things in perspective, and not act like such a victim of society.

It occurs to me that this Old Wisdom might, too, be a part of the vast right-wing corporate conspiracy. Because perhaps things have been bad before, but they were never so bad that Burt Bacharach felt he had to take a break from writing love songs and comment on it. It's to the bad guys' advantage when people say, "they're bad, true, but they're no worse than the past bad administrations, and certainly no worse than (...blank...)"

It's something else when qualitative information suggests that "Actually, even in comparison to other regimes, THESE Current Bastards ARE the most evil conniving vicious bunch of Bastards to EVER HOLD POWER."

2 Gig or 4 Gig?

A short play, based on conversations had and overheard.

GUY 1: Nano, eh? 2 gig or 4 gig?
GUY 2: 2 gig.
GUY 1: They have 8 gig too.
GUY 2: I know.
GUY 1: I have the 60 gig video Ipod.
GUY 2: Good.
GUY 1: But it doesn't work! I try the AutoFill, it never works. I have to buy a new computer.
GUY 2: I have to buy a new computer too.
GUY 1: Also, not enough space! I downloaded a movie, but I can't watch the movie over and over again! So I have to take it off so I can download a new movie. That's how they get you.
GUY 2: "They?"
GUY 1: I know one guy, he was lost in the jungle with no food. His Ipod saved his life!
GUY 2: How?
GUY 1: I don't know. I think, software, or something.
GUY 2: I see.
GUY 1: Maybe you should upgrade to 12 gigs.
GUY 2: I hope. Someday.

Pause.

GUY 1: Nice weather today.
GUY 2: Could you please GO AWAY? I'm trying to listen to my Ipod!

The End.

i don't mind being blue....

...what pisses me off is being blue and in the same day receiving 10 MySpace friend invites from fake hot babe profiles who like computers and don't want kids.

It feels like rubbing salt in the wound, somehow.