THOUGHTS OF THE DAY

THOUGHTS OF THE DAY
I wonder which came first the can or the can opener.

What is so special about a No. 2 pencil?

IPOD! YOU POD! I SCREAM FOR IPOD!

IPOD! YOU POD! I SCREAM FOR IPOD!

I've had a serious relationship with my iPod, Bartleby, for the past two years. Trinity, my iPod mini, joined the family for my birthday. But today two new iPods were released. The special edition U2 black iPod and the Photo Ipod.


I can't stop raving about my iPod. It revolutionized the way I listen to music. I can't go anywhere without it. I take it to the mall. I take it to the gym. I don't think I would've lost all that way without my iPod, that's how important this little device has been to me. I have ordered the 60BG Photo iPod, and I know that's going to revolutionize the way I share and carry my pictures and photographs. I just love it.

CHECKS AND BALANCES

CHECKS AND BALANCES
With the election being a week away, I think it has time to talk a little bit about politics. The great thing about the American Democratic process is that it has checks and balances, with power being spread equally to the three branches of government, legislative, executive, and judicial. The past two years Republicans have held power in both the legislative and executive branches, the judicial branch is currently being controlled by a slight margine of 5-4 by liberal judges. It is well-known that one or possibly two of those liberal judges will retire within the next few years. If George Bush wins, he has the right to appoint whomever he wants (if approved by the legislative branch) to put on the bench. Thus for the first time in American history all three branches of the government would be controlled by one party. And that's where the democratic process could stall at a halt. So please choose wisely next week...

HOOKING UP AT THE MALL

HOOKING UP AT THE MALL
Going to the mall can sometimes be an adventure. I really don't mind being approached by someone asking for my phone number, even if its a gay guy; it's kinda flattering. But when a straight guy approaches you, and asks for your phone number so that maybe you can party with them next weekend, that is strange.

I was minding my own little business as I went up the escalator. The mall was kinda full and there was a hispanic lady holding up her stroller above me, so I was trying to give her some space. Then this young Asian guy, probably not any older than 23, strikes a conversation with me about parties and stuff. I kinda gave him recommendations of bars and clubs to check out in Hollywood. By the end of the short escalator ride he asks for my phone number, which struck me odd, because our conversation was not even longer one minute. Then he swears to me that he is not gay and not wanting to hook up with me, but just thought that we could party together. I told him I don't think so, and he quickly apologized for asking and taking up my time, and left the other way. The whole thing happened so quick, it really caught me off guard.

MY FAVORITE CANADIAN TWIN LESBIANS

I have been listening to Tegan and Sara for a couple of years now. I first heard of them when they did SXSW in Austin, TX, and they just had an amazing, yet powerfully playfull voice that I got all their CD's. Their latest album "So Jealous" features an amazing growth for these two wonderful singers. Anchored by the guitar play of Tegan Quin and the synth-vocals of Sara Quin, the girls create a furiously honest and original indie pop. They're playing at the El Rey next month, I can't wait to see them. First Death Cab, now Tegan and Sara, next month is going to be amazing for live music.

RANDOM L.A. DECOM MOMENT


CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: I Know I Know I Know (Tegan And Sara), Sparrows Over Birmingham (Josh Rouse), Be Mine (David Gray), Saint Simon (The Shins), In My Life (Chantal Kreviazuk), Weak Become Heroes (The Streets), Rain City (Turin Brakes), Last Thing (Diana Anaid), Length of Love (Interpol), and Feel And Triple (Stereolab).

WAR, WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR?

WAR, WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR?
"...but when he (the people's champion) has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader." -- Plato

That quote has resonated with me for a long time. In time of war leaders are needed to lead a nation, and in time of peace there is no need of a centralized leader. War has a way of unifying a country and its people, but it also masks the real problems faced by society. War is a sensitive subject, I better shut my trap before the guv'ment shuts down my blog....

AUTUMN TACTICS
The bad thing about falling in love is getting your heart broken; and the bad thing about getting your heart broken is not being able to fall in love again.

It's beginning to look a lot like autumn around here. Autumn is my favorite season. I just love how brown, green, and orange slowly create this wonderful landscape. Although in SoCal, the seasons are a little bit more subtle and less pronounced than in other places in the midwest or east coast. I love its smells. It just makes me want to cuddle up in bed, read a book, listen to music, or watch a good movie.

DETOXICITY
The past few months have been frenzied and intense, and I feel the need to detoxify myself. I have arranged to visit a spa next weekend, and get a much needed massage and rest. I have been drinking a lot of water and cranberry juice. I know my body has gone through a beating, and its time to give it some TLC.

MORE DECOMPRESSION PICTURES

FINALLY DECOMPRESSED

FINALLY DECOMPRESSED

There is something about Burning Man and the people that participate in it that makes me feel all warm and tingly inside. I can only compare to a few things in life, and mostly has to do with love. An innocent kind of love. I feel safe whenever I am in the friendly arms of a fellow burner. Perhaps its a false sense of being or awareness, but its nice to let my inhibitions loose every once in a while.

L.A. Decompression began as a soft whimper, but eventually grew into an giant monstrosity wrecking havoc around downtown L.A. I arrived at L.A. Decom slightly hungover from celebrating Erika's birthday the previous night. Most of the camps were already set up and were ready for business, Tabula Rasa was also ready. There weren't a lot of people there yet, which was actually great because I had a chance to meet up with all my burner friends.

It was so wonderful to see Sis, Michelle, Amanda, and Daryl again. I hadn't seen them since we left Black Rock City, and just seeing them chillin' and hangin' out in our tents. It was as if we had never left the BRC at all. Seeing all the playa dust still clinging on to the rugs and tents was a little emotional. Chris and I got playafied by simply rolling our bodies on the tent.



I met Krissy in Burning Man; I remember her well because she had a soft English accent, and for some reason I kept calling her Pussy, instead of Krissy the whole entire night; luckily for me she didn't mind that monicker. She was a Temple Guardian at BM, but I had met her at Lush, I don't quiet remebered anything else other than that. But when we met up at Decom, we were both instantly connected into our happy place again. We spent most of the afternoon strolling through all the camps and installations, drinking, and dancing at each of the mini-clubs that were there. There were various points throughout the day where we lost each other, but for whatever reason, we ended up always meeting at the most obscure and random places. It was so bizarre that I just decided to hitch my wagon on her trailer, and we merrily meandered through all the insanity that was occurring around us.



I also spent a lot of the time at "You Better Vote" Camp, which surprisingly had a lot of French people there who couldn't even vote in the upcoming elections. I saw a lot of irony there. I handed about 100 copies of my chapbook, and although most people were too drunk or high to really read it and give me any critical feedback, everyone seemed to be very positive about it.

Krissy and I went to see the fire dancers, then made our way to an amazing set by Mutaytor. We were invited to the after-party at the some nearby lofts, so Krissy and I pretty much walked around with a bottle of Jagermeister and Vodka until we were pretty sloshed. We were drinking in front of fire marshalls, police officers, and undercover cops, somehow they didn't feel threatened by our drunkeness. When it began to ran, I just stood outside, took off my shirt and just danced in the rain.



The after-party was pretty insane. There were all these secret rooms that we discovered along the way. And I was half-naked half the time, and fully-clothed the rest the time. It was all randomly innocent. And it just made perfect sense for some odd reason.



L.A. Decompression provided the appopriate closure for the beautiful experience I had at the Black Rock City. The man will still burn within me; but I feel I have reached a threshold, and its time to move forward. There are still a million things to do, and a million people to meet. The world is my oyster, and I can't wait to dive in...

TINY VESSELS
This is the moment that you know
That you told her that you loved her but you don't.
You touch her skin and then you think
That she is beautiful but she don't mean a thing to me.
Yeah, she is beautiful but she don't mean a thing to me.

I spent two weeks in Silverlake
The California sun cascading down my face
There was a girl with light brown streaks
And she was beautiful but she didn't mean a thing to me.
Yeah she was beautiful but she didn't mean a thing to me.

Wanted to believe in all the words that i was speaking
As we moved together in the dark
And all the friends that i was telling
And all the playful misspellings
And every bite i gave you left a mark

Tiny vessels oozed into your neck
And formed the bruises
That you said you didn't want to fade
But they did and so did i that day

All i see are dark grey clouds
In the distance moving closer with every hour
So when you ask "was something wrong?"
That i think "you're damn right there is but we can't talk about it now.
No, we can't talk about it now."

So one last touch and then you'll go
And we'll pretend that it meant something so much more
But it was vile, and it was cheap
And you are beautiful but you don't mean a thing to me
Yeah you are beautiful but you don't mean a thing to me

- Death Cab For Cutie

CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: Dry Your Eyes (The Streets), Such Great Heights (Postal Service), Lightness (Death Cab For Cutie), My Culture (1 Giant Leap), Margerine Melodie (Stereolab), Bit Even Jail (Interpol), Arizona Pt. 1 (Chicane), Sparrows Over Birmingham (Josh Rouse), Rain City (Turin Brakes), Laughing City (Eisley), and Just Friends (Gavin DeGraw).

FORGIVENESS

FORGIVENESS
FORGIVENESS (\For*give"ness\) 1. The act of forgiving; the state of being forgiven; as, the forgiveness of sin or of injuries. 2. Disposition to pardon; willingness to forgive. 3. compassionate feelings that support a willingness to forgive. 4. the act of excusing a mistake or offense.

Learning to forgive someone can be a difficult thing, fear, pain, and pride usually stops us from absolving the wrongs that someone has done unto us. I learned to forgive over the weekend, and it felt refreshingly wonderful and emancipating. Forgiveness is a selfless act, that takes a lot of pride swallowing, but once you are able to get over its hump the rewards can be fruitful and wonderous.

CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: Vertigo (U2), Wandering Star (Portishead), Honey (Hernan Cattaneo), Lightness (Death Cab For Cutie), Emily (Keane), and Slow Hands (Interpol).

DECOMPRESSION

DECOMPRESSION

I can't believe next weekend is the L.A. Decompression. Although I am feeling a little bit more like myself, I still find it difficult to assess my experiences at Burning Man. It's going to be so wonderful to meet some of my playa friends, I miss all of them. I think about them a lot. I will be handing out about 100 copies of my chapbook.

If you aren't able to attend the L.A. Decompression, and you would like a chapbook, please e-mail me, I'll send one over.

October is going to be anther wicked month, Oktoberfest tomorrow, Monster Massive on Halloween, and Death Cab For Cutie on the first week of November. I am definitely going to hell for this month.

VOTERGASM!! WHY NOT?

Vote or die!! Hell no! Vote then have sex? hell yeah! Michelle Collins is on a campaign to get voters to vote and have sex afterwards. She is on a mission to induce 250,000 orgasms on Election Day. Visit the site and pledge to withold sex from non-voters, and if you love your country enough, to have sex with a voter on election night. This is democracy at it's best. I can't imagine our forefathers would have it any other way.

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO CHRIS ROCK

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO CHRIS ROCK
"Never go to clubs with metal detectors. Sure it feels safe inside. But what about all those niggas waiting outside with guns? They know you ain't got one."

"If a woman tells you she's twenty and looks sixteen, she's twelve. If she tells you she's twenty-six and looks twenty-six, she's damn near fourty."

"When men hide their porno stuff, they really hide it. A man becomes Batman. It's not behind the speaker, not behind the dresser, not under the couch. You pull at a book on the bookcase, the whole fucking wall slides to the left, and you descend two flights of stairs into The Porno Pit."

"If someone pays you minimum wage, it's their way of telling you that if they could pay you less, they would."

TIME MANAGEMENT
This whole week and weekend is going to be crazy (so what's new?). But believe it or not, I still manage to run my customary 5 miles a day, and read and write every night. I have been in an excellent writing comfort zone since Burning Man, and I am trying to get as much out of it as I can.

I am always amazed as how other people aren't able to manage their time as well. Every day my plate is full, and yet I manage to squeeze everything in and things get done. Yet I know people who don't seem to have as much things to do, and yet they struggle to be on time and accomplish things. I've always valued time management, I used a day planner when I was in elementary school. I learned at an early age that you can do more with your life if you manage it well. If I am anal retentive about something in life, its my time management.



I want to see Federico Aubele this Friday. Just an amazing singer/DJ from Argentina. The way he blends latin sounds of Argentina with Jamaican dub is so soulful and pleasant. He was produced by the Thievery Corporation, and is just an amazing performer. Problem is nobody has heard of him. Anyone out there in the default world want to join me?

AM I SUPPOSED TO HAVE THIS MUCH FUN?

AM I REALLY SUPPOSED TO HAVE THIS MUCH FUN
I had a wicked fun weekend, but I'm not quiet too sure that I should be having this much fun. Perhaps its that catholic guilt from catholic school that still gnaws at me after all these years. I got a lot accomplished, and met some interesting people. I had a lot of fun on Saturday night. I met some interesting people. I am trying to be as vague as possible. I've been meeting a lot of wonderful and interesting people lately, I don't know if its because of my post-Burning Man haze or if by luck I am actually just meeting interesting people. And trust me meeting fun and interesting people in Los Angeles is just about as rare as finding a $2 Bill.

"AVRIL LAVIGNE IS SO PUNK ROCK!!"

For the first time in months, I actually had to go buy something at the local mall. I hate the mall. The people are bland. The products are dated. It's always cold, and it's too damn bright. So as I managed to weave my way through scores of strollers, obnoxious kids, and giggling teeny-boppers, I ended up at the Hot Topic store. I've haven't been to a Hot Topic store in quiet some time, but I was rummaging through their piles of band t-shirts, when I overheard a couple of "punk girls" discussing how "Avril Lavigne is so punk rock." They were so heated in their debate about whether Avril Lavigne is more punk rock than Hilary Duff. These girls were probably around 16, and had piercings, fish net stockings, black lipstick, and they were punked out to the extreme. I almost choked when I heard them mention Avril and Hilary as punk rock gods. So this is what MTV has done with our generation? I blame Good Charlotte, Green Day, Sum-41, and other pop-punk bands. Thanks guys, you just killed punk.