Fa la la la laaaa la blah blah blah…

Merry Christmas!  And whatnot.

"Frah-gee-lay. It must be Italian."

So, holidays are here.  Or passing.  I……don’t really have anything to say.  I thought I might post a rousing update tonight, but now that I’m typing, I’m thinking that is widely impossible.  Here’s hoping there’s more to write about in 2012!  And, that I finally get my act/life together!   One more picture, because it kills me with it’s awesomeness:

you wish you had one of these

Sappy Sappiness…

Today is just another day of my continued routine of studying at the local coffee shop/bakehouse, but because my recent studying protocol necessitates the use of my computer, I, of course, have been distracted by the lure of the internet’s social networking capabilities.  Further, I really miss everyone, so today’s distractions have proved especially counterproductive.  Thus, I thought I’d take a quick moment out of my studying to write a short, semi-apologetic post.

As most of you know, I have my qualifying exams at the end of August and defend the first week of September.  While most of the summer has been okay simply because my days have been so dictated by preparing for exams that I’ve had little time to focus for very long on anything else, as the dreaded days are approaching, I’ve been vacillating between focused determination, panic, and resentment.  Today added another emotional state, that of sadness.  :(

Really, I just miss all of you (which can be further evidenced by my listening today to all of the party playlists I still have from the various house parties we threw back in the day). 

The many flavors of the coming apocalypse(s)…

You know, I figure there’s no time like when you’re sitting in a bath tub waiting for the power to go out to write a blog post. So, here we are.  It feels like it was only last summer when I was in a similar situation.  Oh wait.  It was.  Zing!

Bath Tub Apocalypse

Thoughts on finding life in the death of another…

I have a few things to update you all on regarding normal life, but those words are yet unwritten.  Until then, feel free to head over to my other blog, www.fortherevolution.wordpress.com where I posted some thoughts on the recent death/murder/assassination/killing of Osama Bin Laden: On missed opportunities and the art of self-deception

Other people’s lives are more interesting because they ain’t mine…

“He knew he was close to completing and so that’s what he was doing: getting me to describe things to him, so they’d really sink in, so that maybe during those sleepless nights, with the drugs and the pain and the exhaustion, the line would blur between what were my memories and what were his.”

I’m procrastinating again and have consumed something like 29 ounces of old coffee today.  I suppose that’s why you’re getting a new blog post after some 4 months or so.  And, I’ve started this one with a quote – never done that before.  The audacity is astounding.  Anyhow, apparently I’m supposed to be writing a paper that isn’t due until December.  Because, you know, that’s coming up quick.  That was sarcasm.  Sorry if I’m a bit off today.  The coffee’s not working like it did yesterday.

Because this blog is exciting. Like a firework.

It’s spring break, or really the ghost of something like it, and I’ve been mostly wasting the days sleeping and watching television shows that are entirely unnecessary.  Well, that and working.  It hasn’t been terrible, but it’s also not

A question regarding the practices of the elderly and then some boring drivel on past and present life…

Oh,  you guys, I am watching Jeopardy right now.  Like an old person.  Speaking of old people, I noticed my parents keep sitting in the family room with a blanket over their legs.  Just their legs.  So I was debating whether or not that is a hallmark of an old person.  Movies always portray old people sitting in recliners with blankets over their legs, right?

random photo from the old days

So, posting has been infrequent, to say the least.  Sorry about that.  I am always making these resolutions to post more and make photo albums on facebook with pictures from the last FOUR years and other semi-productive things that normal people seem to manage just fine but I feel like are major tasks that require inordinate amounts of energy.  And then fail at all of them.  Anyhow, I am not dead, in case anyone thought that.  I am, however, not using contractions as much as before (Thanks, science writing!)

Quickly, a rundown of my life this last semester:

Allergic to life, obviously…

I know, I know…it’s been a really long time.  So, I figured it was about time for some sort of an update to ensure that I’m not actually dead or no longer your friend.  (Also, I am sincerely sorry to the many (most) of you with whom I have not been in touch.  I can’t believe it’s been over a year since I was in DC.  Honestly, it sometimes evades comprehension entirely.  So many good things and bad things for so many people – I hope that all has been as it should and, if not, is righting itself as we speak, er, I type.)  Apart from that, however, I will preface this post with the acknowledgment that many people have lives and problems much, much worse than mine (upward social comparisons, the hallmark of mentally healthy individuals).  And yet, I am about to embark on letting you in on a bit of how my life has been less than satisfactory as of late.

First, the positives.  Summer was…fine.  Being home for most of August was wonderful and right before heading to Portland, my mom came out to Indiana to help me move into a new apartment.  I definitely like this new living space better than my old one; it’s bigger with a place for (almost) everything, I can use an oven again, and it feels homier (friends have even said so).  So, that’s one less thing to worry about this year.

We’re, what, about half way through the semester now?  It’s going very quickly.  I’ve managed to mostly focus on my work without hating each day too much, so that’s better, I guess.  It’s weird to say that not feeling happy is a step up from before, but I guess it’s true.  Some of you have heard me (or read on here about me) complaining about my advisor and my work situation and Indiana in general over the last year.  Well, those, I suppose, were very much understatements on my part.  Not that I want to overstate the whole situation either, but…hmm.  Let’s go about it this way:

Dispatches from the Bathtub: Clusterfuck of Sound

Dispatch 2: Clusterfuck of Sound

June 15, 2010

Let’s really tackle this thing today, huh?

When you’re sitting in a bathtub (for the second day in a row) listening to the national weather channel make those weird noises and machine voices telling you that, while you might not be, you probably are in imminent danger of being sucked into a swirling cloud of wind; and you’re hearing wailing alarms permeate outside as if the Russians are bombing and its 1957 and ambulance sirens streaking the air because surely everyone and their mother are trapped under debris or a house or a bridge; and you only have four senses at your disposal because there are no windows so you can only see the storm and its possibilities with your ears and your skin; and you’re sweating because your heart is sort of racing out of fear and humiliation at said fear, but, also because it’s fucking hot because it’s summer and humid, and again, there are no windows and you closed the door to the bathroom because maybe a 1 lb piece of shoddy wood on hinges will protect you from flying shards of shit, and because you have that towel wrapped around your shoulders and over your head because now there are three tornadoes somewhere in the vicinity and some expert somewhere said terry cloth will protect you and you’re putting all of your faith in that; and the floor sort of rumbles from what could be the thunder or the twister or your neighbors doing laundry, and the lights flicker in a way that keeps you on edge and uncertain; and you think briefly that this reminds you of the end of the world, just like that time at the beach on the 4^th of July and you were surrounded by seriously giant pits of fire and flames flickered and licked the air and explosions went off all around your head and you thought briefly that it reminded you of hell; and you find yourself clinging physically and metaphorically to a compilation of book reviews written by Nick Hornby, as if he were your friend there to console you and have a beer with you while you wait out the storm together, except he chose that inopportune time to review all nonfiction books in which all of the characters die at the end and you feel a bit let down and freaked out; and then the internet kicks out and it goes silent as you’re cut off from the outside world of information and weather updates, and you have no idea if it’s safe to come out yet because the silence is startling for someone who always has something on in the background and is slightly more ominous than the previous all-consuming noise…

…and then you realize that this is what your evening will look like for the next week or two (or summer.  I don’t know the depths of Indiana’s suckage.) and you think, Fuck.

“Huh. Sure.”: A list about lists…

Alright, so I know this is a totally random post with zero updates on anything significant, but I’ve been reading worthless internet sites today (or, as Tim says I call them, my friends) and came across this site by way of The Onion’s AV Club Q&A.  Beloit College (whatever that is) creates a Mindset list that enumerates things that entering college students will have missed out on.  While I found many (though not all) interesting, despite their odd calculation of birth year – I’m pretty sure most people don’t enter college at the age of 22, but whatever – when I looked up my entering class year of 2002 list I came across enough missteps to conjure some doubts about the list (or, maybe, my recollection of childhood?)  Curious for those of you who were also born in 1983 – or, according to them, 1980 – or after, also remember these things I’m apparently not supposed to know about.

#1-15: These first few are probably accurate, but I’m confident that we had an Atari (#12) in my house and I was old enough to play with it.  While I haven’t played Pong (that I can remember), I have heard of it, and I definitely played Pac-Man and even Frogger (#15).

#14: While I didn’t own a record player, my family did, and I grew up listening to records.  This is likely due to my parents having a good sound system growing up.  But, I also must say, I do now own a record player (of course, while it was just pre-mainstream enough to cost way too much money, it was still second-wave ownership.  How grossly wannabe hipster did that sound?  Ugh.)

#17: Okay, I feel VERY strongly about this one, mostly because I was an OCD kid that separated colors and ranked them despite their being equivalent in taste.  I distinctly remember beige M&Ms and remember when they introduced the blue M&M (rocked my world) and, later, introduced the green M&M (whose cartoon embodiment was a female).  I don’t, however, think I remember there not being red M&Ms.  Mind-blowing, I know.

(Most of) #18-25 in rapid succession: I’ve heard of an 8-track and even seen one (almost bought one, actually, at a rummage sale because I’m lame music nostalgic like that); who the hell knows when the CD was introduced, but I was still using cassettes into Junior High to record live radio; I specifically remember being peeved that stamps went up to 32 cents; I had a b&w tv in my room, didn’t have cable, and remember no remote controls because my sister called me into her room to change the channel on the tv for her even though I was in a different room and she was less than 2 feet from the tv.

#27: I had Barbie roller skates.  Enough said.

#31: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a football player?

#42 and #43: I was there for the McDonald’s styrofoam containers (and gross gelatinous globs of mayonnaise) and MTV with music videos (they still played them in the 90s…that’s how I found out about Radiohead).

All the rest…I can’t tell if it was the avid watching of reruns and exposure to pop culture of yore because of older siblings and parents that makes it all familiar, or it actually being there when I was young.  Whatever.  This has way too much detail, but hopefully you look at the list and think, “Huh.  Sure.”

P.S. The AV Club’s list of things that make them feel old is a better list, in my opinion, especially the one about the Hand Clapper (“Clap On, Clap Off!”) commercial.  Also creepy: Remembering pre-internet, pre-debit card, pre-discman/mp3 player, pre-dvd, pre-paying for food on airplanes, pre-reality tv days.  And getting stoked to go to the video store.  Wild.

A Little “Yeah, Whatever”…

Staying up a bit later than I had planned (because I really needed to get a little further in my new John Brandon book, Arkansas), meant that I was awake for the coming of the late night storms.  After last week’s experiences in the bathtub, I braced myself for a long night.  Though the storms were really nothing, I probably wouldn’t have been able to sleep anyway, what with the constant flashing of lightning, loud rumbling of thunder, alien-like blinking of the multitude of fireflies that somehow made their way into my apartment last night, and my constant checking to ensure a severe weather warning hadn’t been issued, so I went ahead and waited until 4:30 AM to fall asleep.  Needless to say, I’m a bit tired and have decided I deserve to spend my Saturday however the hell I want to.  Apparently, when I woke up, that meant reading Pitchfork’s many best of lists, watching Pitchfork TV, and drinking a diet coke.  So, here we are, and here are some thoughts by way of recommendations.