Desomnia in Drull

July 2009 - November 2010

2011-12-19T15:46:00.000-08:00

concerned. always seems to leave Queen Anne by cab. concerned but powerless. needs a long vacation far away from everyone. armed with explosives. someones listening in. Earthquake premonitions. stole a cola from the company fridge. this is torture. Inside the city itself the situation was becoming critical as supplies became exhausted and disease started to spread through the congested and physically weaken population. expect the best, accept the worst. we should go to Mars. need to pull myself together. I should find a way out. Leaving Queen Anne and not in a cab for once. big decisions are always hard to make. its all building to something i cant explain - yet. beginning to understand the fine line between fate and free will. into the inferno. all non essential functions have ceased, body going into survival mode. Lakeside. Slept wonderfully till i got stung by a bee. begging for the past. wearing pants, but running late. 4 5 9. Bought a flesh colored Christ that glows in the dark. loves that its raining. everything I touch turns to shit right now. on the way home from what should be home. sensations of digesting glass. I am my own wife. west side. There are many benefits to never saying what you really want to. just the way it is. very pleased with myself. considering life as a diamond trader. back to wishing I could be an asshole. can feel the rain coming. i put cheese in my hood what of it. might start commuting with a flame thrower. starting to think about West Seattle again. it wasn't a rock. The packing has begun. throats a little red, I'd better spray it. Loves that it seems like the past but cant help stressing over the future. in need of an unmonitored outlet. the coffee is very strong. perfect sites. King of the Lepers. I bet Nepal is nice this time of year. 5 days. Just got accused of being a part of the "Establishment". what happened? God bless the rains here in Washington. Goodbye Lucile. it's always a good day when I wake up from a dream that no one has died in. doesn't sell to the public. sometimes the Rhinoceroses wish they were watusis. brain pain. no idea what to do today...guess I'll go feed the fish. I'm ready. extremely volatile. Just started reading Ulysses. Master of the pumpkin. Guy on the bus points at a picture of pumpkins in the paper, turns to me and asks "do we eat this?" I really wish I had a giraffe. am I wrong to do what I do? "yeah sometimes you give me things to deal with and I give them back to you, that's my way of dealing with it". Did you know that January is "National Get A Colonic Month"? in a very strange place. Saturday morning cartoons are strange. nutty nougat - it does exist. Lost in a toy store. Process it. what happened? yes there is such a place, don't you know it's true? Aries wear hats, not to cover for baldness...but because we don't have a tail. Back from mass. Time to take on the Cyclops. Seven, 7 or VII? What do you say in a cover letter to an editor that openly admits to not reading them? Flow. Kickin it woodland style. "Oh, you're calling from the States, aye?" I'm nearly hit by a car everyday without fail one of these times its actually going to happen. if a doctor told me my heart was going to explode and I was going to die, I'd ask for a different doctor. I guess fascism isn't the answer. if you're looking for some semblance of order and reason in Little Saigon you're in the wrong place. might have an addiction to puzzles. are they drinking in the hospital? I really don't understand why people "follow" my twitter account, it's all nonsense. west coast. Saving the duwamish. remember "Ski Free"? damn the post office. oh sweet rejection. What is going on with the Fins? ill give you 2 sheeps and a brick for that ore. I don't recommend eating the house plants - they're poisonous. this morning the 7 smells of stale coffee, buttered popcorn and urine. Well that was surprisingly expensive. "excuse me, are you a brewer?" rush rush rush busy bee busy bee gets the wax and I'm sleeping with the termites. thinking about Julius Ceasar. every door in my apartment was ajar. Gonna play the basketball. So the intense shadow boxing at the bus stop was strange but not nearly as strange as the jumping shadow uppercut that followed. this goes well beyond vampirism. when death call I'm good I got call ID. Peppercorns, say it with me "Peppercorns". I wish it were raining. Cougars are a good thing. I need me a fishing pole. the bathroom smells like bacon. I'm ready. Seattle, oregon coast, redwoods, mt shasta, crater lake, seattle? Getting to white center shouldn't be this difficult. I think it's time to start drinking paint. There's a whole bottle of absinthe at my house and today is testing my will power. Back on land. Um, excuse me, there's something in my teeth. I'm satisfied with that ending. you gotta cook the devil out. Dear Pacific Ocean- good to see you again, it's been far too long. Encountered a bear on the highway. I always love a good shanty. Going to see a big hole filled with water on top of a mountain. "Home" is the most disturbing this I've seen in a long time. I think tomorrow might be the day. I feel naked. Wu-Tang will show me the way. apparently I'm irritable today - nothing personal. Wooden chicken. What do you think a "battle otter" looks like? Onzcwera a ga ina my aklweypboa rtda isa f uzcklwed!!!! I was hoping for skanks. Home turf. Heading to SODO for a little studio time. Infected - the system is down. Off to see Palin. Ugh I feel disgusting. So many butterflies. Kinda thinking my boss might be drunk. Why don't I live on farm yet? Well, here goes nothing. "I'm with the government and I'm here to help you." Wasted attempts to contact the tree have been fruitless. I don't want to be "that guy", I never want to be "that guy". Is frog butter in dairy or hygiene? Wrong turn in richland ended up at hanford. "With a big enough drill you can get through anything". Found the source. No the bar does not come with the apartment, that's mine! One turkey isn't enough. I'm really hoping for tacos.

October 2007-June 2009

2011-12-19T13:25:00.000-08:00

waiting for a miracle. fermenting the dream. going to find out what happens when you mix nyquil with sudafed. still drunk from last night. wants another flesh colored Christ that glows in the dark. working out the demons. running from demons. about to cause a scene. waiting for a miracle. ready to drink blood. concerned about the Polar Bears. thinking about moving far far way....again. convinced that being here is some kind of spiritual surrender. waiting for a miracle. smells like hops. walking in line. wants to know everything there is to know about growing cereal grains. can see through time...it doesn't look good. "have you ever realized that no one is better than anyone else in the world, and in the act of realizing it, you feel better than everyone else?" trying to make you late. The terms are interchangeable. stalled trying to shift out of first. eating eggs. starting to feel better. waiting for a miracle. judged by Reckoner. worried. the mob. the walrus. late. angered the volcano and is now feeling the pain. not losing Hope. very pleased. in dire need of Puzzle Fighter. demands a salmon offering!!! somewhere between SDR and RGA. apathetic. 4 foot long salmon. calling on everyone to step up and help your fellow man, don't just look the other way. on the brink. grinding for the children. sandy. connected. waiting for a miracle. by the power of science. saturated with beef. the irresponsible president. industrious. still thinking about stencils. drinking vodka. going in through the mouth. wishes he was mechanized. think about the power stone. discontinued. still recovering. no longer imagining what could have been, but instead realizing what is. about to start throwing boots. securing the area. praying for rain. fed up with the snow. enchanted by the creepy eyes. cannot be free of all of the evils in this town. looking for rainy day women. paying the pizza guy in dimes and nickels. didn't sign up for any of this. speaks with his fists. spending the night with Lucile. preparing for change. knows, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars. frostbitten by the fog. post modern. waitin on the 7. going to start buying cottage cheese in larger containers. Not sure why but I've been told to do so, so I will. contains less than 1% juice. never stops. "it's like God took our picture, before he kills us". lost myself. doesn't care if it hurts. mismatched socks. fork + brain = easier? thinking about Antarctica. needs to get an all white suit. judged. unbelievable cynical. God bless the 7. on a road shaped like a figure 8. The Sylvan Screen...if you don't know you should. offended. is. racing pigeons, that is all. where's my honey? uses pig by-products in his designs. solo, but not alone. just fucked himself up bad. seeking medical attention. there should be more pillows at work. might be sleeping with a mouse. suffering from urban overload. all alone and talking to myself. digging it so deep I'm hitting bedrock. west side. pining for days past. cover your eyes. needs to come up with $1K for a suit...I could be the phantom. has dreams that frighten me awake. back where i belong. et cetera, et cetera. celibate. boo guns, yeah dogs! "brains on the wall". do you think that the increased use of the symbol ♥ is a direct result of america's fear of the word love? doesn't talk to terrorists. Heat advisory in effect - vigilante. store was closed, no spikes today - vigilante pending. long like livestock. had a great night and didn't even see the show. had a great night and didn't even see the show. can't decide: seven pennies or two pennies and a nickel. psychologically healthy. will not accept failure as the only option. To=the. can still smell the camp fires. did not speak its name. wearing a lot of brown today. apocalypse dream. I guess that I just don't know. sometimes I guess it's too much to hope for the little things. dripping in apathy. some good times rust others shimmer forever. uncertain how to move forward.

I guess it's clear when I stopped waiting for that miracle.

This is why I love the internet

2011-12-12T08:51:00.001-08:00

This makes me smile with my heart

2011-11-23T08:48:00.001-08:00

I like how it's not only saying "don't let anything get you down" but also "someone else has been there and understands"

‎"Are you blind? --- Perhaps you need a baptism of pepper spray in your eyes to restore your vision."

2011-11-17T08:41:00.001-08:00

As many of you probably know at this point Tuesday evening there was an unfortunate confrontation between Occupy Seattle protesters and the Seattle Police Department. In the altercation a pregnant woman, an 84 year old woman and a priest were all victims of pepper sprays. Here is the statement released by Rev. Rich Lang of University Temple United Methodist Church:

A PASTORAL LAMENT FOR MY COUNTRY

America, America, my country ‘tis of thee,

Sweet land of liberty

Of thee I sing

America, oh America

America the Beautiful has fallen.

You could feel the tension and raw energy crinkling throughout the air as the marchers once again began their journey into downtown Seattle. The Occupy Movement is the prophetic voice of God calling out to the nation to “repent” and turn from its ways of corruption. Those who camp are a rag-tag, motley crew made up of mostly young adults, mostly unemployed, almost all of whom are alienated and cast out of America’s promise of liberty and justice for all. They are our canaries, the first fruits being devoured by the Beast of Empire.

The police were once conceived to be a citizen force created to serve and protect the public. Today however, the police have been militarized and view the populace as enemy combatants, as threats to their well being. The police, like our Armed Forces, are well trained, disciplined and exceptionally talented. They follow a chain of command and are increasingly apprenticed into a culture of institutional conformity. Because America has always affirmed the right of dissent, the role of the police is to keep the peace. They are trained to enter the protesting arena as unfeeling protectors of property and people. What has changed in our time is that the police are entering the arena of protest as agents of provocation. They push and shove at will, they ride their bicycles up the backs of protesters, they engage in verbal abuse. Their commanders allow this breach of discipline. Their comrades silently condone the bullying. The police become the agitators encouraging violence. It is as if they are spoiling for a fight --- a fight mind you against the citizenry, against the youth, the unemployed, and those who are trying to return America back to its promise, and dare I say it, return America to its covenant with God, “we hold these truths to be self evident …”

On Tuesday night a small group of the rag-tag campers of Seattle’s Occupy Movement left their camp to protest the destruction inflicted upon the Wall Street Occupy site. Throughout the march I, as a Pastor in full clergy alb, stole and cross, acted as a peacekeeper placing myself between the police line and the Occupy Movement. On four occasions I stepped between verbal battles between the police and the protesters. The point being that it was evident to all who I was and what my role was in this non-violent march of the few escorted by the many.

The incident was minor in nature. A girl, dressed in Anarchist black waving the Anarchist black flag was plastered side by side with an officer on the bike. They were jawboning each other. At one point her flag was thrust in his direction --- a provocation yes – threatening?—no. The officer grabbed the flag and in the pulling, pulled down the girl. Her friends reacted jumping in to pull her away from the officer. It was at this point that the first wave of pepper spray went off.

Point --- one might think the officer acted within reason, that the officer was suddenly threatened. But with what? By whom? The friends of the offender were grabbing for the girl, they were not grabbing at the police. Basically the officer, and his comrades, were trigger happy as if they couldn’t wait for just this moment. And so the spray went forth.

I leapt to the front and tried to place myself between the parties --- with spray in the air the protesters were also fleeing. Separation between the police line and the protesters was clearly visible … there was certainly no threat of the “mob” suddenly rampaging into the well armed police. The separation had occurred (as can be clearly seen on the video captured by King 5 News). But the spray continued. I walked between the lines, I was alone, I was in full clergy dress, everyone knew who I was and what I was --- with the protesters fleeing and the police line holding --- with my back to the police and my hands waving the protesters to get back --- alone in full alb, stole and cross --- six officers turned their spray on me thoroughly soaking my alb and then one officer hit me full throttle in the face.

I praise the courage and compassion, the discipline and the decency of the Occupy Movement. Out of the rag-tag mob came help, grabbing my hands, leading me (I was blind by then) to the wall and administering care and concern for my well being. The protesters were assembled around all the wounded, and maintained the discipline of nonviolence (granted the nonviolence was in behavior but not language). And they were not afraid. The spraying had been a baptism sealing them into the security of knowing that their prophecy of repentance was indeed the Spirit-Word through them --- it is as if they did not prophecy their very bones would melt within them. Against the wall in increasing pain and burning I realized I was in the midst of church.

The police, on the other hand, were afraid. Their quick use of chemical warfare reveals how cowardly they are. The unwillingness of their commanders to maintain discipline reveals how incompetent they are becoming --- the only tool in their bag is brutality and like a drunken raging father beating wife and kids, the police have increasingly disgraced themselves. Step by step they are being shaped into the front face of fascism, the emerging police state that protects the property interests of the Marie Antionette’s who have seized control of our government, commerce, media, military and increasingly the Church itself.

My question to my clergy colleagues is this: Where are you? How much longer can you preach without practice? How dare you remain protected in your sanctuary while your people (the rag-tag mob of the least, last and lost whom Jesus loved) are slaughtered doing that which God has commissioned you to do (prophecy!). Where are you? Who have you become in this age of baptism by pepper spray? Do you not know how much power you have to stop our national descent into chaos? Don’t you realize that the world is your parish and right before your eyes the Spirit of God is doing a new thing? Can’t you hear that God’s judgment is upon the land? God is against the thieves that bankrupted our nation. God is against the armies of the Beast who pillage other lands in our name, and turn and destroy our people on our own soil. Are you blind? --- Perhaps you need a baptism of pepper spray in your eyes to restore your vision.

And to the police I say this --- there are always the brutal ones in our midst. As colleagues you have the moral responsibility to police your own. If your commanders order you to brutalize your people you have a Higher Command that says, “disarm yourself, turn away from your sin, renounce the orders of unrighteousness.” And in doing so, cross the line, come over and join us because we are the winning side of history. And we welcome your repentance and heal you of your shame.

And to the church, beloved church I say, you cannot sing the hymns of faith if you are too afraid to live that faith. In Amos it says to silence your sacred assemblies and let JUSTICE burst forth. Our nation, with the nations of the world, are under an assault of tyranny and treason of the 1% against creation itself. You may not worship God until and unless you care for the image of God living in those tents and prophesying on your behalf. Once the Powers sweep the Tents away, if you dare to lift your voice even a peep, you too will be swept away. But the destiny of the church, the Body of Christ, is not one of quiet passivity and fear, our destiny is to bear witness having no fear of the Cross because even now we have crossed over into resurrection.

Rev. Rich Lang

University Temple United Methodist Church

Back in 1999 I was in a very similar place during the WTO protests in Seattle. I was photographing the situation for my college news paper and in an effort to get the best possible pictures I found myself in the middle of 4th and Pike, near a set of burning dumpsters, police fortified to the south, protesters to the north, when the canisters were deployed. The gas consumed everything. It was only a matter of moments before my eyes burned with a fury I've never felt before and I was blind. I stumbled around, unable to see who or what I might run into, when I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders. I turned towards the person when suddenly a rush of water came over my face and I could see again. I looked at the man in front of me, searching for the right words, they never came. I said something like, "thank you so much." All he replied was, "we've got to stick together."

It was because of this memory that Rev. Lang's account really hit home for me. I can't thing of a more appropriate description of the event than to call it a baptism.

Things are getting desperate out there and it's only a matter of time before we can't ignore it any longer. As Lang said so well, "They are our canaries, the first fruits being devoured by the Beast of Empire." This is only the beginning and now that it has taken this path I'm not sure there is any stopping it. There will be more stand offs and more people will be victimized defending their right to speech. Don't just look away because it's unpleasant.

Photo: SeattlePI.com, Joshua Trujillo / AP

Just in case you're wondering

2011-11-04T14:22:00.000-07:00

Here's what I do with my free time now. Say what you will but it has provided me with seemingly endless laughter:

Milestones

2011-10-25T15:06:00.000-07:00

So I've finally made it to the halfway point in my current project. I'm not sure why I'm excited about that. It's only halfway to a rough draft that i'm sure will get revised 2-20 times over. So to say I'm halfway isn't really accurate. I'm more like 17%, maybe. I like milestones though. It makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something.

Here's a little excerpt:

Thewhole month of November was a blur. I spent the days working any odd jobs Icould find and when I couldn’t find anything I went and sat around at the LaborReady. It wasn’t glamorous by any means, but I’d been able to keep paying mybills and working a couple times a week with John gave me an amble tab at thebar.

Allmonth long my sister had been calling me. I never called her back because Iknew what she’d say. “It’d be really great if you came out for Thanksgiving.Both your father and I would appreciate seeing you. I’ll even come pick you upif you want.” It was the same thing every year and for the past 5 years I’djust ignored her calls but when the day finally came I decided to go.

I guess that’s one of thestrange things about holidays. As much as you can say you hate the holidayswhen it comes down to it what you really hate is the idea of being alone forthem. And while she’d have been morethan happy to drive across town to pick me up, I opted to take the long ridenorth on the 358.

Nowwhen people talk about the roughest buses in Seattle two are always mentionedbefore the rest, the 7 and the 358, and it’s usually a tossup as to which isactually worse. I’d say the major difference is that the 358 has less gangviolence and more prostitution. Personally I’d rather deal with some ghettopunk running his mouth behind me than some cheap skank trying to rub up on mycrotch. But that might just be me.

Beingas it was a holiday nothing was moving quickly. While the bus would usuallycome every ten to fifteen minutes it came once an hour. And with just my luckI’d missed the transfer by 5 minutes. After cursing the driver of my first busfor not going through a yellow light that very well could have been thedifference in me having to waste an hour downtown or not, I walked down toPioneer Square hoping that at least a convenience store would be open.

Iwalked the length of downtown without encountering a single person on thesidewalk and only occasionally seeing a car drive by. All of the litter of thework week blew aimlessly in the cool breeze coming off the sound but no signsremained of those who caused it. Pigeons ruled this world.

Pioneer Square was just as emptyexcept for the occasional huddle of junkies or other types whose actions denythem the luxury of family. I went in the direction that these groups seemed tobe more prevalent, hoping that meant something was open nearby. Sure enough after a couple blocks I cameacross the Save Way Grocer.

Save Way was one of the moreinteresting places in the city. It was too large to be considered a minimartbut too small to be a grocery store. They stocked most of the basics that you’dfind at a major grocery, however most of the products had spent so much time onthe shelves their labels had faded away and dust coated the tops of thepackaging. The only things that kept them in business were cigarettes and beer,and that’s all I needed of them.

The only problem that I havewith the place is that they have a strict policy of not selling single beersand since the city prohibits the sale of 40 ouncers in the neighborhood I hadto buy a six-pack. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem, but my family abhorsalcohol and as much as I’d say I couldn’t care less what they think of me, Inever drank in their presence. Family dynamics are a funny thing.

When I got out onto the sidewalkthere was a circus of people loitering outside panhandling for anything theycould come across. A man asked me for a beer and I offered to sell him half ofwhat I’d just bought. He was happy to fork over the three dollars. I guesssometimes things do work out in my favor.

I drank the other three beersquickly as I walked back up through the city. I avoided the main streets,knowing very well there weren’t any cops. But there was something more settlingabout the dark alleyways. I never felt comfortable on the wide sidewalkswhether they were scattered with people or completely devoid of life.

As I walked in the shadow of theskyscrapers I came across a young woman hiding behind a dumpster furiouslytrying to get a flame from a lighter that lacked the fuel necessary. I tried towalk loudly so as not to startle her, but she was so focused on her missionthat I was within a few feet of her by the time she notice and she jumped interror.

“I’m not doing anything wrong!Get away from me!”

“Chill out lady, I don’t carewhat you’re doing.”

Andwith those few words her demeanor changed completely.

“Heydo you have a lighter? Mine isn’t working. I think something’s wrong. I don’tknow what it could be. I just bought this lighter yesterday. It was workingfine this morning but now it doesn’t. I just bought it yesterday. I meanshouldn’t a lighter last more…”

If Ididn’t stop her she could have gone on forever, “yeah I’ve got one.”

Ihanded her the lighter thinking that she just needed to light a cigarette,instead she pulled out a long piece of glass with a bubble at the end. “Whatdid I just get myself into,” I thought to myself. She held the flame under theglass and began to rock it gently back and forth. After a few seconds the whitesubstance inside burst into gas and began rapidly escaping into her lungs. Thelighter after being used for so long became extremely hot and she dropped it intoa nearby puddle out of shock as she continued to inhale deeply. As soon as shehad stopped inhaling she exhaled a cloud of thick white smoke that smeltnoxious like a hospital.

Shefumbled twice as she tried to pick up the lighter before I just grabbed itmyself.

“Thanksso much. I really needed that. You wanna hit?”

“Idon’t even know what you’re smoking in that thing, but I think not.”

“Thisshit here is the best glass in Seattle. Get you high for days.”

“YeahI think I’m good on that.”

Duringour exchange the drug was obviously taking over her. She began to fidget moreand more and her eyes dilated into large onyx discs. Her motions all seemed to be in fast forwardas she gathered all her belongings.

“Sowhere are we off too?” she said as if it were the only logical question.

“Eh,well I’ve got a bus to catch; I’m not sure what you’re doing.”

“What!You’re just going to abandon me here after you get me all fucked up?”

Istarted walking away backwards. “Look lady, I didn’t get you to do anything.You just asked me for a lighter.”

Shejogged a few steps to catch up, “Well what am I supposed to do now?”

“Idon’t know, hadn’t you thought about that before you did your thing backthere?”

“Iwasn’t thinking about anything but getting a lighter.”

Aswe crossed Seneca I started to walk faster, she had not problems keeping up.

“Wellyou can’t follow me around all day. I’ve got things I have to do.”

“Whatkind of things?”

“Things.Why don’t you just wander around the square?”

“Ohthere’s nothing but junkies down there.” I had to bite my tongue. “They justwant to use you until your shits gone and then bail. I don’t want that.”

“Whatabout the U District. I’m sure there’s plenty of people there your age.”

“Huh,never been. How do I get there?”

“Justhop on one of the 70’s. I’ll show you, it’s really easy.”

Overthe walk I told her of places to go while she’s out there; south campus, theAve, anywhere that I wasn’t going to be. By the end she seemed excited to begoing someplace new. We made it to the stop at University just as the 72 waspulling in.

“Wellthis is your chariot.”

Shewaved as she boarded the bus. “Thanks!”

I wondered briefly if I’d ever see her ever again, but was interrupted by thebraking hiss of the 358.

"It's like being dragged into a black hole full of bees."

2011-10-20T15:19:00.000-07:00

I was thinking to myself how great 13 is. That is all.

2011-10-06T14:28:00.001-07:00

An open letter to the Occupy Movements of the Pacific Northwest

2011-10-06T08:55:00.000-07:00

With the arrests made across the country, and specifically here in Seattle, the Occupy Movement is starting to get the media attention it deserves, however it is still plagued by a lack of direct vision. There is now a proposed list of demands on the Occupy Wall Street website. I like that they're trying to get a cohesive message out, but unfortunately this fails miserably at best.

After reading through the list, which at times is blatantly contradictory, I realized that all of these demands are unattainable within our current system of government. Given the political divisions that exists and the external money influencing the process it is impossible to move forward with even the most basic of these demands. Demand #2 is a perfect example of that, we all remember how the healthcare debate played out in Washington DC.

Now those of you in the Seattle movement are beginning to work on your own set of demands, which I fully support. The demands of the people in the Northwest are sure to be different than those on the east coast or elsewhere in the country. Of all the ideas you are discussing there is one strangely absent that could essentially solve all of them with one single blow, succession.

All of my long time followers of this blog know that I am a strong advocate for an independent Cascadian state and I believe now is the perfect time to ask "Why not?" The unrest at the heart of the current protests is very real, yet our government still does nothing. How long are we going to tolerate it?

This is the perfect opportunity to take this movement and give it a clear and solid direction that has the power to make life better for all of us. Now I understand that this ideaseems crazy and even downright frightening. How could we possibly transitionourselves out of the union and create our own system of governance being thatwe’ve become so entrenched in our current place? I’m not saying that itsomething that would be easy, however the benefits far outweigh the risks.

So instead of occupying our cities, let's liberate them. We seem to have forgotten that our cities are already occupied, and that's the problem.

- "The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion." Albert Camus

Things are confusing

2011-10-05T10:48:00.000-07:00

I realized last night that I miss real conversation. Sure I have conversations all the time, but they always seem to be trivial in nature. Even the ones that attempt to get into something more meaningful fizzle in the end to incoherent rambling, not always my fault but sometimes it is. I'm starting to think that the internet is heralding the end of the conversation...

I wish there was more media coverage of the Occupy Wall Street protests. I'm not exactly sure what is going on with the whole thing. I have yet to see a clear vision these people are hoping for. I'm starting to think that there isn't one...

Work is about to get stupid again. We're losing a sales person again and not replacing them. History does in fact repeat itself...

Oh yeah, the Gorillaz announcement was about a singles collection to commemorate 10 years...

In the end, you'll never find

2011-10-04T13:43:00.000-07:00

People for Puget Sound / Duwamish Alive have an event coming up. I'll be there. Will you?...

Yesterday at lunch I was sitting there thinking and an idea started to form in my head: "The true value in a society is not how large the economy or how many arms stand ready for battle; it is in the fundamental ideals that those people hold and to what extremes they will go to defend those values, be it from outside forces or corruption within." There were a lot of other things floating around in that thought process, but none of them clarified like that one did...

There's been some buzz going on with @MurdocGorillaz. I'm hoping this means that there's a new album in the works. However I'm a little concerned about "Gorillaz are TEN. Ten years old, eh? T.E.N. What’s that stand for? The End is Nigh…!" I'm not sure I can handle the Gorillaz breaking up just yet...

I follow this chicken on facebook. It bring me much amusement and it makes learning fun! And knowledge is power!!!

Here are some picture of my time at South Point, this might have been my favorite part about Hawaii:

Pleasant dreams but please don't sleep too long

2011-10-03T10:59:00.000-07:00

Had some crazy dreams last night. I don't fully remember any of them...

At one point I was on an engineered shore of a river. There were large concrete structures built all along the riverbed, littered with various sized wading pools that would drain and then be refilled by incoming tides. I believe it was some type of estuary. A number of us were lounging in one of the lower pools that happened to also be heated when a large amount of water came rushing from upstream. At first everyone was calm because it seemed just like the flows that would refill the pools. However when it was noticed that it was coming in the wrong direction and beginning to swell to enormous proportions people got concerned. They were fleeing in every which direction. Everyone I was with, including myself, just remained in the pool as the water crashed all around us. I think I kicked Wes...

I'm really disappointed in football right now. Hawks tried hard, I'll give them that, but they never should have allowed themselves to fall into such a big hole. Dawgs are starting to look really good, but of course no love from the BCS. I should be used to these things by now...

I was also back at my old house, in the garage to be specific. I was cleaning everything up because I had to move in there. Now I've lived in there before without sleeping, but this time there was definitely something more to be concerned about. I spent a lot of time sanding an old desk. There was a lot of old furniture that I was refurbishing. Saw dust was everywhere. Someone started to drive up the driveway. I panicked. I didn't know what to do. I took a box spring and barricaded it up against the door frame that didn't have a door and hid underneath the mattress. I think I kicked Wes again...

80s party went well. About what I expected. Now it's time to get everything moving for Halloween. October 29th. It's going to be a good one for sure. I've decided to go with a more industrial take on my costume idea. I still have one question to figure out though. What exactly does someone wear while they're being completely violated by HVAC hosing? Time will tell...

Everything you need is right here

"It's alphabetical by date"

2011-09-28T11:07:00.000-07:00

I don't care what Reno thinks, Seattle is the biggest small town in America. It's a crazy interwoven web we weave here. Can help but wonder if this really is the promised land and we're all working in the same Karass. It's probably just coincidence...

If you're not already familiar with Lights from Space you should check them out. Decent local band that plays lots of shows in the area and they're always worth seeing...

It's a New Wave kind of day...

For those of you who haven't seen yet:

I'll spare you all the one on Michael Vick's head. It's not really safe for life...

When I woke up this morning I had the phrase "One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them," stuck in my head. I'm not sure why, but my first reaction was to search my room for some kind of ring as it continually looped in my head. There was no ring to be found. I have no idea what I'd been dreaming...

We're having an 80s theme party this Saturday. I'm not exactly sure what that means. I've been trying to figure out what it means to "dress 80s" but I can't seem to wrap my brain around it. I figure I'll just end up ignoring the theme or coming up with something extremely lame. That's just how I roll...

Purple Monkey Dishwasher

2011-09-27T09:12:00.000-07:00

I used to read the news a lot. It was nice to feel like I was informed about what was going on. I quit reading the news for the most part a few weeks back. It all just got to be too depressing. With the internet and cable news channels it seems that the media is more just trying to create sensational stories than actually trying to inform. A perfect example is this whole nonsense about the satellite falling to earth. It probably happened just like Homer Simpson had foreseen the landing of Bart's Comet, "What's everyone so worked up about? So there's a comet -- big deal. It'll burn up in our atmosphere and what's ever left will be no bigger than a chihuahua's head." Let's all start combing the Pacific for a chihuahua head...

I have a mohawk now. Have had one for a while now, July I guess is when I did it originally. It was only intended to be around for a weekend. It's been growing on me though. However it's demise is already scheduled. I'll try to get a good pic of it before it goes away to share with all of you beautiful people...

I'm listening to Hole right now. At first I was doing it for the lulz but I'm actually kind of enjoying it. Go figure...

And you thought I'd gone away forever

2011-09-26T10:30:00.000-07:00

You wouldn't be so lucky...

Lots of things to catch up on I guess. Instead of doing that I'm just going to forget all that nonsense and move on. Well I'm sure I'll mention some stuff that happened, but I'm not going to itemize the whole summer for you. It's been a solid two months since the last post and even longer since I actually kept up on this. Wanna fight about? Didn't think so...

Sometimes when I want to include a picture in a blog post I'll just google image the title of the post. Here's a couple of things that came up today:

I went to the Huskies game on Saturday (GO DAWGS!!!!) and saw a rather strange thing. They had three students lined up on sidelines and during one of the commercial breaks each of these students was handed a small bear of honey. Then they were timed to see who could drink the most honey in 30 seconds. I was very disappointed when they actually started drinking the honey and not rubbing it all over themselves...

I really want to include a picture with that last blurb, but I'm not sure it's safe to google "rubbing honey on self" while I'm at work. Okay I did it anyways. No results found unless you remove the quotes and then it doesn't even make sense...

We were going to read Infinite Jest in a book club. That all kind of fell through, however I decided to keep reading. It's getting pretty confusing, but I think I'm following along. If anyone else is reading it let me know. I'm sure we could come up with some great conversation.

I'd also like to congratulate all the other winners at yesterday's chili cook off. I may not have taken Best in Show, but I'm glad to have at least been on top of my category. EAT MORE CHILI!!!!

I stole this photo from Joseph. I'm hoping he doesn't mind too much.

While I was in Hawaii (yeah, I went to Hawaii, wanna fight about it?) we got a chance to tour the Puʻu ʻŌʻō Lava Tubes (sorry can't find a link, but I assure you it exists). It's pretty exclusive. They only allow 12 people a week to see the lava tube. The entire thing is perfectly pristine, so they restrict the area to ensure it's beauty. I have to say it was unreal. The variety of formations that exist there was awesome. I've been to a good number of caves now, but I think this one takes the cake. So if any of you are going to be going out there let me know and I'll hook ya up with the details. Well worth the time. It's also so underground I wouldn't be offended if someone photo shopped hipster glasses onto my face.

International Significance

2011-08-02T13:18:00.000-07:00

Will you blog this for me? Your blog has international significance right?
What is this about?
Did you watch it?
Yes
OK I was told that it needs no explanation

All of the Likes!

2011-08-01T17:54:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, The Fat Kids suck. Be that as it may, they still need to get some "likes" on this video. So how about y'all give em all of the likes? ALL OF THE LIKES!!!!!!!

If nothing else it will help to get them out of the studio and out of my life. Yes, that'll do nicely.

...but these are encyclopedias

2011-07-25T10:16:00.000-07:00

Well I was going to make this a post about my Haiku Ninja. You know the one. I've mentioned him before. He hides in the darkest depths of the internet and strikes only when the moment is ripe. He's kind of my hero.

Then I was going to make this a post about how lately it seems like there's spit in the honey, piss in the milk and the eye has turned away. However I haven't died yet, so it can't be that bad.

I've been meaning to do a post for a while about the benefits of being a responsible member of society. There are far too many residents and not enough citizens. But that's still for another time.

I've got this project I did a long time ago. I never felt like it was really worth mentioning, still isn't but I'm going to. It all appears in reverse. I think that's fitting though.

How people react to the weather says a lot about them on a much deeper level than the small talk suggests.

No picture.

2011-07-19T08:27:00.001-07:00

I had a dream last night. Many different people were in it. If you were one of those people could you please contact me. I'd like to know what really happened.

Deja Vu

2011-06-11T21:40:00.000-07:00

I've seen this in person before. I'm not going to name names. You now who you are.

Also, you should check out this site, internet k-hole, great stuff.

I love giraffes too

2011-06-09T11:31:00.000-07:00

Maybe not that much though.

God Bless the 7

2011-06-06T13:30:00.000-07:00

So I'm on the 7 coming back from lunch and this guy next to me asks if he can use my cell phone. Now I never let anyone use my phone I don't know after one time I did and dudes parole officer called me for days afterwards. So I politely say no. Now two stops later a bunch of people get on the bus. Did I mention I'm sharing a seat with this guy? I'm on the aisle side. Now these people get on, and he seems to know all of them. I don't exactly understand why, because everything was jovial, but he pulled a blade on one of his friends. He then says, "hey man, can I use your phone, this guy (puts the knife right up in my face) won't let me use his." I slightly taken back before I say, "are you threatening to knife me on the bus?" To which he replies, "oh no, I'd never." I then promptly moved to a different seat on the bus. It's something to blog about if nothing else.

"Thank God that wasn't real"

2011-06-03T08:35:00.000-07:00

I don't know how else to say this so I'm just going to copy the chat dialog from my explaining it a moment ago:

I had the most fucked up dream last night

it all seemed so real that when I woke up I actually said out loud, "thank god that wasn't real"

Aliens had invaded

and they were snatchin' people up and destroying the place

Durango got blasted with a rocket

blown to smithereens

we kept wondering if he was really dead

or just taken somewhere else

but the explosion led us to believe he was no more, so it goes

They kept trying to abduct Wes, but we hid him in a closet

a magic closet of sorts

Then we met these guys who had this giant suitcase labeled "rations"

so we fought them for it and won

however when we opened it up it was empty

and the guys we attacked were all tied up, and they seemed to have troll faces

not real ones, but just the slight hint, you know, like that Solo pic

we all ended up in this lounge like thing

there was like 30 people there

we were all forming a resistance faction

but all the liquor was gone

except for a 1/2 gal of Rum

which you happily passed to me

and i mixed with diet dr pepper

Then I woke up.

Wes goes to Folk Life!

2011-06-01T12:08:00.000-07:00

I could write about what all happened while we were there, but it was pretty standard. Lots of dirty hippies that aren't really hippies, more just confused teenagers grasping for any sense of counter culture that might exist. If you've ever been you know exactly what I'm talking about. We also went down to the beach by the sculpture park. Good times.

Wes kickin' it with MNom

"Come on honey, let's go look at the birdie"

Seattle Dog

Wes made a friend!

YAAAAAY!!!!

Yuck! However, I have no idea what he put in his mouth

Hecka Good

2011-05-26T15:25:00.001-07:00

This Rev Stone seems to know what's up.

It's that kind of day.

2011-05-26T14:05:00.003-07:00

The Sixth Light

2011-05-23T09:37:00.000-07:00

Well the rapture has come and gone, and I think most of us are still here. That doesn't mean that Saturday was without it's apocalyptic undertones...

~~(Note: I've got more pictures to add, but you'll have to wait for that)~~

I woke up from a nap on Saturday to realize that I had missed my second opportunity to indulge on some BBQ (Thank again Angeleana for Friday, sorry I flaked). I was wandering around the studio with Wes when good ol' Jonny D asked for a little help cleaning up. I could have shrugged him off and gone back to playing video games, but I was well rested and felt like I should try to be somewhat productive, oh how I was wrong.

The cool thing is that there are fiber optic wire behind logo and
lettering that gives an awesome effect when functioning properly.

After a little vacuuming and trash gathering I notice that our Rainier light was in a less than desirable location. I took the initiative and moved it across the room where it would not only be near an outlet but also be able to cast its glorious aurora over the great room. I plugged the light in and switched the switch to the on position. Begin Armageddon. You see when I switched that little switch not only did the Rainier light not illuminate but all the power in the unit went dead. No big deal right? Just flip the breaker and continue on. Not so easy. Apparently this Rainier light has spent some time dealing in the dark arts and when it gained access to power it sent some sort of surge through the system killing the power for 3 blocks.

A slight panic set in. In the three years of its operation the studio has never lost power. Even when everyone else lost power. We didn't even know where to start. My first instinct was, "don't worry, it'll come back in a few minutes. This can't take that long to fix." So Jonny and I started wandering about to see if we could figure out how large of an outage we were dealing with. TKim got back from the store and started to help us find flash lights and candles. Finally we decided that it was lighter outside and that we should just kick in on the tracks for a while.

There were a couple of conversations with neighboring businesses and random contemporaries, each person giving their own account of the situation. I held my tongue about the Rainier light. I didn't need to draw any unnecessary attention to myself. This is when Wes started to freak out a bit. He couldn't understand why we were spending so much time on the street corner. Neither could I for that matter and suggested that we all go to a bar. I stumbled in the darkness for a bit, getting the dog up in his room and searching for a few items I might need, when JW arrived on the scene. He was all worked up from his trip home to Olympia and I'm not sure exactly how it all worked out but we ended up drinking faux-Jager bombs.

Now the plan was to go to West 5, a nice little cocktail bar in the West Seattle Junction. West Seattle and SODO couldn't be closer, but because of numerous construction projects they seem an eternity apart. In the chaos of closed road, detours and general conversational merriment we got off track and ended up north on the viaduct. The Owl was packed with Sounders fans so we dipped down to the waterfront and popped into Red Robin. I don't usually consider restaurants when I'm looking for a bar, however it was exactly what we were looking for, empty. After a couple margaritas we headed out hoping to return to a fully illuminated space.

We wouldn't be so lucky. Now multiple trucks were arriving on the scene. They all seemed to think that it was only a short matter of time before we'd be back up and running so instead of running off to hide in White Center we busted out the candles in full force and decided to wait it out. Let it be known that it is extremely difficult to light a space with 30 foot ceilings with just candles. The greatest idea that we had was to rig up a mic stand with a flash light pointed at the disco ball. Yes, even when we don't have power, we still get down with the disco.

Soon enough it was officially late night and still no power. Jonny and I drank all the beer. And all the whiskey. And all the Scotch. TKim went to bed and we couldn't buy more beer for another 2 hours. So it went the way it always does - Absinthe. Oh yes, the green fairy. Now anyone who has a bit of respect for Absinthe knows better than to take chugs straight off the bottle, Jonny is not one of these people. I however decided that I should mix mine with apple juice. Not my best idea, but not my worst either. The conversation slammed against the silent walls. I should point out at this point that never have I experienced silence like this before. Now I've been into caves and heard the sound of nothing before, however it's supposed to be silent there, it's not supposed to be silent in the middle of SODO. It made the whole situation very eerie and borderline scary at times. Who was to say that Dracula hadn't decided to drop in? Or that a group of ravenous zombies wasn't just down the hall slowly making their way towards us? Live together, die alone.

Rambling words

Now it was just past 6 am. We were back from the Shell with more beer. There was no telling how long this binge could go on for. And then...light. Not for us, but near us. The building had power. Then one of our lights had power. Finally it was all back up and running. It's this slow progression that has convinced me that the Rainier light was the cause. This led us to only one reasonable explanation.

25 years ago Rainier Brewery, in a collaborative effort with the CIA and Department of Defense, developed a way to take out entire blocks simply by pressing a button. Only five of these were made, or so it was thought. Shortly after the initial release the FBI found out about the lights uncanny ability and they quickly moved to contain the problem. They found "all" five of the signs: one in Tacoma, one in Hillsboro, one in Butte, one in Forks and finally one in St Croix being used by some children there as third base marker. After bringing the five signs together the FBI smashed them to bits, put them in a bucket, filled it with cement and dropped in the Pacific ocean not far from Wake Island. However there were six lights. I'm a little concerned. It's only a matter of time until the FBI finds us, or even worse the CIA or DoD. Needless to say I'm going to be finding a new place for the light. It's not safe here anymore.

There are three morals to this story. #1 Never, I repeat NEVER plug in the Rainier light. #2 When strange things happen create even stranger explanations for them, because you're probably right. #3 It's a far better idea to sleep through a late night power outage than to drink through it.

2011-05-19T18:41:00.001-07:00

Nothing is safe here

2011-05-13T10:17:00.000-07:00

We're all going to die in eight days. Or we're not all going to die in eight days. I for one welcome the coming of our new overlord and would like to remind him that I can be very useful in rounding up others to work in the underground salt mines. As long as I get something nice out of the deal. 100 virgins would do nicely. Or the ability to control the weather. Yes, that's what I want. And a new blanket.

2011-05-06T11:12:00.001-07:00

There are nights that I dream about this girl.

Hey eyes are hypnotic

2011-05-04T14:20:00.000-07:00

I'm just going to leave this right here

2011-04-28T14:55:00.001-07:00

The most adorable thing in the world

2011-04-26T21:54:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure exactly how it came up, but it did. We all agree that this lil girl dressed as Chun Li is hands down the most adorable thing ever. There isn't really even any contest here.

The picture of me is cute and all. But it would have been way better if I was dressed as Boba Fett.

Prosperous is a funny word.

2011-04-26T11:18:00.000-07:00

Say it out loud and think about it. Pra-spur-us. Heh...

Well shit. If I don't get my act together this April of 2011 might be the month with the least number of posts since I got serious about this whole blog thing. I can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but either way it makes me feel like I should say something more...

I went to Las Vegas. It was a birthday party for NESF. Not really a birthday party, but kind of like one. We did all kinds of things that I'd like to tell you about however if I did I would violate the policy of "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" and I don't really want to have the Las Vegas Tourism Bureau, Gambling Commission and other various state organizations coming after me for breaking the rules. I will tell you that I saw Love. It was amazing. I'd never seen a show in Vegas before and I was very impressed. Seats were right up front too. Nobody got arrested either. Good stuff...

My dog poops outside now. Exciting isn't it? Well it is for me.

I need to find a place to purchase old (and some new) arcade games for cheap. I really need a Big Buck Hunter Pro in the warehouse. Snow Bros would be another one I could use. Maybe the original Simpson's arcade game. I think it'd be pretty cool to have an arcade at home...

Pangford has come and gone. I'm trying to figure out a more grandiose post to do about the whole experience. But if that doesn't materialize, know that he was here...

Oh yeah! One other thing that I'll tell you about Vegas. The credit card machine in the cabs run advertisements to you while you ride. Just like TV...

I really want to teach Wes how to do the Stanky Paw. We aren't having much luck, but some minimal progress has been made. Who am I kidding, the only "progress" has been him jumping around chaotically. I should still video tape it....

This is what I looked like 28 years and 22 days ago:

Yeah, I know, adorable

Alive

2011-04-26T10:55:00.000-07:00

This morning when I got to work I decided that my gtalk status needed to change. I thought to myself "I need something that's reassuring that life is good" I thought for a few minutes and went with "Alive", because in the end what's greater than being alive? Apparently few people share my thought process on this one.

Almost immediately I got a series of messages asking if I was okay, was I dead before and things of the like. Every one seemed to think that there was some horrible tragedy or near death experience in my life that led to my use of this individual word. I was chatting with NESF for a few minutes about this when he made the comment, "This is an interesting phenomena. Using the word alive on its own rarely sounds reassuring." I couldn't help but wonder why that is.

I have to stop for just a second here. This cup of coffee I'm drinking is amazing. Sorry about that, but I thought you'd all really want to know.

Isn't being alive the greatest part about our existence? If we weren't alive we wouldn't be at all. However by using the word "alive" by itself I think that we immediately take it as a comparison. If someone is alive they are not dead, and if they're going as far as to say that they're alive, they must have had an encounter with the possibility of not being alive.

I guess what this all breaks down to is death. Merely mentioning the word alive brings with it the idea of dead or death. It doesn't have to. But now I'm just rambling, as if this were something more earlier on. Here's some tube videos:

"What you have heard is true"

2011-04-08T11:38:00.000-07:00

It's National Poetry Month. Here's a reading of one of my personal favorites.

Wesley Green the Brown (sometimes Emo) Dog

2011-04-04T12:51:00.000-07:00

But we just call him Wes.

In case you haven't already determined, I got a pup! He's awesome. Still fairly timid, but he's getting better each day. I brought him home on Friday. At first he was SUPER emo, when I put the harness on him he just laid on the ground and didn't move for 10 minutes until I took it off. Since then he's been adjusting nicely. We still have a lot of work with the house training, but that was to be expected. He's only 5 months old. His birthday was October 27th, 2010. My birthday is today. As such I'm not working. Just hanging about with the dog and later this evening I'm going to meet up with some peoples for games and drinks. Hopefully Wes is a little more comfortable with me leaving this time around. We'll have to wait and see.

2011-03-28T09:56:00.000-07:00

When I talk to people in other parts of the country I regularly make a point to mention it's raining in Seattle, even when it's not, just to perpetuate the stereotype.

Entertain me

2011-03-25T13:18:00.000-07:00

I asked to be entertained. I was sent a number of links. This is by far the best one. Plant on plant action. Tree porn. Yes, I said tree porn. Oh it's so good.

If it weren't for magnets none of us would be here.

2011-03-23T14:49:00.000-07:00

I'm going to get a dog. It's decided. I got the go ahead from the roommates and now all I have to do is find one. Leaning towards a lab mix of some sort. Maybe pit or husky mix. I don't want a little yapper that's for sure. I'll be sure to keep you all posted as things progress...

My body is still a little sore. I spent the weekend helping people move. I've had numerous people tell me that I'm crazy for committing to help on back to back days. I guess the way I see it is that it's a small price to pay for having the great people in my life that I do...

I'm doing the MS Walk again this year. If you're feeling generous you should sponsor me. It's a good cause...

Sorry, no pictures this time around...

Now I think I'll leave you with an excerpt of a thing I'm working on. As with a good number of my "projects" Some of what you read actually happened, most it didn't. I'm not sure if this will ever be finished, but it is what it is:

“I can’t believe that this is where you grew up,” John said. “I mean, nothing against you, but other than the neighborhood this is a great place.”

And it really was. Once we reached the porch it’s full beauty came into view. The house sat atop a 200 foot cliff that looked out onto Puget Sound and Vashon Island. On clear days you could see the Olympic Mountains in all their glory rising above the water on the horizon. I didn’t think much about it, but upon seeing it again I realized how much I missed it.

“How’d your folks afford a place like this anyways?”

“They bought it a long time ago, when things cost less. What exactly are we working on?”

“Oh that wall back down the driveway. We’ve just got to fill in a couple parts. Shouldn’t take us long at all if you want to walk around for a bit first.”

“Yeah I would like that actually.”

“Alright, I’m going to gather up some tools.”

John wandered down to the old shed on the south side of the property. The door never locked so the only thing we ever used it for was storing rusty old tools, they hadn’t changed that policy. Back in middle school some friends and I were trying to clean it up and came across a couple bottles of wine. My parents never drank so it was a complete mystery as to where they came from. We couldn’t find a cork screw and had to get creative opening the bottles. Once we’d worked it enough to just push the cork through we drank all night long out in a corner of the yard. My dad never said anything about it, but I think he knew.

I walked over and sat down next to a fig tree. I always thought it was the best view on the property. A couple of Madrone trees had grown tall enough to block a portion of the view. I thought about going to cut them down. I thought about cutting down the fig tree. I thought about burning the house to the ground. I thought about a lot of things, but before I could do any of them I was interrupted.

“Sean? Sean is that you?”
I’d recognize that voice anywhere.

“Mrs. Bloomer, how are you?”

“Oh Sean, I can’t believe it’s you. It’s been so long.”

“It has been. I’m a little surprised that you still live here.”

“Well I wasn’t about to be chased out of my home by a few no-good-ians.”

“I’m glad to hear you haven’t changed your stubborn ways.”

We both smiled from opposite side of the fence.

“What brings you out here, Sean?”

“Well actually I’m here to do some work. My buddy’s brother just bought the place.”

“That’s so good to hear. It’s pained me to see this house fall into the state that it has. You used to take such better care of it. Would you like to come over for some coffee, maybe a cookie?”

When I was still in elementary school I’d go to Mrs. Bloomer’s house every day after class for a cookie. She lived alone and didn’t seem to have much in the way of family, but she always had an excess of baked goods around the house so the neighborhood kids gravitated to her house like bears to honey.

“That’d be nice, give me just a second I’ll be right around.”

I walked down the driveway and told John I’d be right back. He was listening to some music through headphones and I wasn’t sure if he understood what I said, but waved me along either way.

Mrs Bloomer’s was the last house on the dead end. There were large evergreen trees that concealed the entire building except a quaint garage. There was a short chain link fence that did little more than keep her dachshunds from running free.

It wasn’t till I reached the kitchen that I realized she already had company and it stopped me dead in my tracks. It was the old woman from the bowling alley.

“Sean, this is my friend Eleanor.”

“It’s a pleasure meeting you again, Sean.”

The look on my face must have expressed my total confusion. Mrs Bloomer moved closer to me, “Is everything alright Sean?”

Eleanor stood up and said, “Oh I’m sure he’s fine Florence, just a bit surprised to find me here.”

“Oh, you already know each other?” Mrs Bloomer said with excitement.

Finally composing myself enough to speak I said, “I guess you could say that.”

“Well, here dear, have a seat. The coffee is almost ready. So how is it that you two met?”

I looked at Eleanor and immediately could hear her voice in my head, “Don’t involve her with our problems.”

Startled I shifted uncomfortably in my seat and she began again, “Tell her that we met bowling. She doesn’t need to worry herself with our situation.”

Not knowing what else to do I said aloud, “Actually I met, was it Eleanor here, bowling a short while ago. We shared a drink before I met with some friends. How do you know each other?”

Eleanor invaded my mind once again, “Good. I won’t explain this all now, but I will in time.”

Then she spoke for us all to hear, “Oh Florence and I have been friends for a very long time. I actually remember coming to visit her back when you were young.”

Mrs. Bloomer sat a plate of cookies on the table and said, “Always looking for cookies. I guess some things don’t ever change.”

I smiled, “I guess not.”

We made small talk for a little while about where I was living and what I was doing. She briefly asked about my family, but respected my position when I didn’t want to get into that. After about 20 minutes I decided that I needed to get to work.

“It was a pleasure seeing you again Mrs Bloomer. And you as well Eleanor.”

“Oh I’m just tickled to get to see you all grown up.” Mrs Bloomer said while giving me a hug.

“Likewise Sean, I’m sure that we’ll be seeing each older again.” She said before returning to her form of silent communication, “Very soon.”

“Yes, well I really do need to get back to work. I’ll stop by again if I’m in the neighborhood.”

"It might be impractical to seek out a new romance"

2011-03-23T09:17:00.000-07:00

"We won't know the actual if we never take the chance"

New TVOTR video. Can't wait for this album. If only it were a week earlier, however I'm willing to accept a late birthday present as long as it's TVOTR

It's better than bad, it's good!

2011-03-21T15:07:00.000-07:00

I spent some quality time moving a couple cords of wood this weekend. Today I was reminded of this Ren and Stimpy sketch. I have to say, it's not as fun as they made it out to be.

Requiem for a Coffee Mug

2011-03-16T11:23:00.000-07:00

It's finally happened. I knew this day would come, but naively hoped it never would. My coffee mug is broken. You remember the one. It was perfect in every way. I'm really distraught about this right now. It's like I lost a friend. For years it's been a permanent fixture in my life. I can say with certainty I've never put my lips on anything as many times as I had with that coffee mug. I don't know what to do with myself now. I'm currently drinking out of a ceramic mug with my companies logo and every drink is like a dagger in my heart. The worst part is that no matter how hard I look I doubt I'll ever find another as good as what I had. I have to end this before I start crying. I just need to try to remember the good times.

A ceremony will be held by the tracks this evening at 5:30. Feel free to come by and pay your respects. The service won't be long since I have a previously scheduled engagement with Girl Talk.

At least people like this have a support group

2011-03-10T11:56:00.001-08:00

Cottage Trust

2011-03-07T14:10:00.000-08:00

Okay there's been a lot of uproar recently about some comments that I made. The statements that I'm speaking of appeared on Twitter and Facebook around 1pm this afternoon and went as follows: "I find it hard to trust anyone who doesn't like cottage cheese". Now I don't deny what I've said, which is why I've chosen to repeat it here. However I'm noticing a number of people took this statement to mean I don't trust anyone who doesn't like cottage cheese and this couldn't be further from the truth. While a persons dislike of cottage cheese causes suspicion in my mind it doesn't cloud my vision to the point of blind hatred and mistrust. I understand that my words were chosen poorly and for that I apologize. I didn't mean to offend anyone with my careless internet musings. I will do my best in the future to ensure that all types of cheese lovers are trusted equally. However, with that being said, I'd like to make one thing clear, if you don't like cheese (any kind of cheese), I don't trust you at all.

I hope that this clears up any confusion and I trust that you'll make the right decision this November.

This might be...

2011-02-24T20:08:00.000-08:00

...the best music video I've ever seen.

You turn me on too

2011-02-14T21:26:00.001-08:00

Mubarak: That bitch is done

2011-02-11T09:46:00.000-08:00

Hopefully you all realize now this isn't just a little unrest and things are going to settle down and return to normal. My heart goes out to the people of Egypt, their courage and determination should be an inspiration to all of us.

Here's a collection of quotes I've seen over the last couple weeks that I think are apt:

"Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor, it must be demanded by the oppressed"
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved."
- Franklin D. Roosevelt

"The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion."
-Albert Camus

"Man is free at the moment he wishes to be."

-Voltaire.

When other people start blogging it makes me feel like I should do it more

2011-02-10T08:44:00.000-08:00

Friend of mine out in Maine started up a blog the other day. You all should check it out. Good stuff.

In the same vein, here's a pic I took of the sunset along the Oregon coast last May. I actually wish I was there right now.

In our time apart

2011-02-09T10:19:00.000-08:00

Many things have happened.

First up we had Swirly's birthday party. Great success. We did a theme, Heroes vs Villains. Won't be doing a theme party for a long while (too much prep) but it turned out really well. Here's some shots:

Snake Bite and Medusa

Ice Man

Black Out and Cheney

This pretty much explains it all

Just so that everyone is clear. I support the people of Egypt 100%. It pleases me to see that things are changing, however not quickly enough.

Booked the trip to Vegas for the middle of April. Insanity is bound to ensue.

There's a new blog. SODO Slander. Set it up to document the happenings around the space. You should check it out. One of the first post is the video I promised months ago of my directorial debut "The Bathroom Tapes" (albeit a wasted debut). More nonsense to come.

I'm sure there's more but that's all for now...

2011-02-02T14:59:00.001-08:00

Olivia in the morning

2011-01-22T10:33:00.000-08:00

I've completed my standard Radiohead frenzy on a Saturday morning and moved into the realm of Olivia Tremor Control. Embrace it.

I really wish I could explain to you what happened tonight

2011-01-19T23:47:00.000-08:00

Work...8...18...Pagliacci...Manny...Floyd...Ninkasi...Buffalo Safari...Ninakasi...Kudo Safari...fate...whiskey...life...fate...life...whiskey...life...Joseph...home...then this:

Why are you still awake?

2011-01-15T04:06:00.000-08:00

Why am I still awake. Oh yeah, sandwich. Nom.

Damn

2011-01-12T20:17:00.000-08:00

"Did you have to abstract me so much?"

2011-01-12T13:16:00.000-08:00

I got a clean water science test kit for Christmas. Last night we tested it out. Got some Sodo sludge and put it through the process. It's actually worked! Now it says not to drink the water, and you don't have to tell me twice. Who know's what kinds of parasites are living in there. However it did get out all the mud.

"Blood Libel"? Seriously? Last time I checked no one accused Palin of sacrificing Christians to make matzos. Or maybe that's exactly what is going on and she's the only one aware of it. It's probably that she just has no idea the historical context of the words that she's using and instead of extinguishing a potential problem for her presidential candidacy she just soaked the whole thing in gasoline. Well done Sarah. No one could do it quiet like you...

I've spent the last week listening to a Rhianna station on Pandora. It has led me to an appreciation for Lady Gaga. She's not as horrible as I once thought. Oh yeah, and I'd eat the meat after she wore it. What of it?...

It's a scene in Australia. This video is amazing and terrifying:

The ever elusive "Hawaiian Zebra"

2011-01-11T13:05:00.000-08:00

This creature was spotted in Seattle at the end of October. If you see it in your neighborhood please call the authorities immediately. It should be considered drunk and highly dangerous.

Bet against them, get your stack took

2011-01-11T10:39:00.000-08:00

To my Buzz people, follow this link, everyone else just watch the video embedded.

What you can say and what you should

2011-01-10T14:38:00.000-08:00

I want to start this off by sending my deepest condolences to the victims and their families in the recent Arizona shooting. This is a horrific event that never should have happened and there is nothing that we can do to bring these people back. What we need to do now is learn from it so that we can hope to prevent it from happening in the future.

There's a lot of talk about what role political pundits have played in the tragedy and this is something that I want to address. Long have I believed that the rhetoric that has been toss around is dangerously inflammatory. In an effort to highlight the second amendment right to bear arms, and the constitution as a whole, many conservative and tea party voices have taken to a more militant tone in the last two years. (Here's a good link that breaks it all down chronologically.) The most well known of which being Sarah Palin's quote, "Don't retreat, reload," and she even went as far as to target specific members of congress and mark their districts with cross hairs. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' district was one of those in the sights.

I'm not trying to say that Palin or anyone else is directly responsible for the events that occurred, however I think it's narrow minded to think the gunman wasn't influenced by these words. Here in America we have the right to say whatever we want however that doesn't mean that we should. For instance I could go downtown Seattle and start screaming the most offensive racial slurs out there, but does that mean that I should? No! Or maybe I should just hang out around hospitals taunting people because their loved ones are sick? No! And the same goes for suggesting that people arm themselves with weapons instead of ballots.

As Uncle Ben said, "With great power comes great responsibility". If we are to preserve our freedom of speech we need to start thinking about the ramifications of our statements. Don't go around calling for people to take up arms against congressmen and women you're opposed to and then get surprised when someone actually does it. Instead think about what you're saying before you start screaming it on cable news networks from coast to coast.

Buddha said, "Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world." Unfortunately the reverse is true and when our words are full of hatred and malice we change our world too. It's up to us which world we live in. Lets keep what we say true and kind.

For those of you that don't know

2011-01-06T18:56:00.000-08:00

I'm a huge fan of Rihanna. Oh baby.

Top Five Albums of 2010

2011-01-06T09:41:00.000-08:00

Sorry this is a little behind schedule, but that's just how it is. I'm not doing 10, I'm only doing 5. I'm also not going to explain myself. I've been working on this for too long and can't seem to find the words. This frustration led me to decide to just post the list and move on. I'm done with 2010. A bunch of these I've already given my two cents on as well and went through and hyper linked to the previous posts. And without further ado...

Honorable Mentions

Gil Scott-Heron - I'm New Here
The Black Keys - Brothers
Eminem - Recovery
Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon Part II: The Legend of the Rager
Arcade Fire - Suburbs

#5 of Montreal - False Priest

#4 Gorillaz - Plastic Beach

#3 Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty

#2 Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

#1 Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest

Good bye 2010. You were good. You were bad. But mostly you just were.

I won't rest till I buy your land

2010-12-31T03:14:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow you're going to get my top 10 albums of 2010, which is really today, it's very late. In anticipation I've decided to give you a little treat. #1 song of the year:

If you don't agree comment or I don't really care

The Nativity 21st Century Style.

2010-12-23T10:52:00.000-08:00

"It's all of you who make it great"

2010-12-20T12:49:00.000-08:00

The Ho Ho Ho-down was a success again this year. I want to thank everyone for coming out because as the title says, it's all of you who make it great. I also want to give a special thanks to my wonderful sister for capturing all of the Santa pics. You're amazing at what you do. Any interested in checking out more of her work you can find her blog here!

There's a stale donut on my desk

2010-12-16T11:47:00.000-08:00

I didn't ask for it. I don't want it. But there it sits...

I think I might be getting sick. This is very bad news, since I've got a large number of people to entertain come Saturday. Luckily I've got a bunch of the decorating already finished. Check it:

I'm actually probably getting sick from being up too late working on all this nonsense. Or maybe it's from the multiple walks to Home Depot, usually in torrential rain. Either way I have to figure out a sure fire way to fight this thing. First things first - pho...

I really want my warehouse-mates to do a cover of the Bed Intruder song on Saturday. Hopefully it happens. I'm thinking something acoustic like these guys put together:

Sometimes I'm a bird or candy or a butterfly or an elephant or a frosted pint glass full of 4 Loko...

We need MORE holiday music! MORE festiveness!!!!

2010-12-13T11:34:00.000-08:00

It doesn't seem like we're going to be playing holiday music at work this year. I've been listening to it at home for weeks now. Starting today I'm bumping it at my desk till I go on vacation. I figure someone needed to man up and get festive on this.

What's in store?

2010-12-06T14:27:00.000-08:00

Somehow a conversation about getting a pet dinosaur led to strange danger led to Architecture in Helsinki. That led me to this video:

Which led me to a great Youtube comment...
BattleCatX: This video makes me feel like I took an SNES cartridge, ground it up into fine pieces and snorted it.. it's sweet!

And now this blog post has led you through all of it as well.

This is where I want to be right now

2010-12-03T15:11:00.000-08:00

Double tragedy: Big Red's last stand and Washroom deluge

2010-12-03T09:25:00.000-08:00

Last night began as any other early December Thursday could, but suddenly took a turn for the tragic. I met with some peoples up at the Redwood on Capitol to watch Thursday night football. The beer was flowing, the game was competitive and merriment abounded. After the Eagles victory we decided to head back down to Sodo for a little Catan to top off the evening. It was a decent game, which is to say that I won, but then everything went wrong...

Big Red's Last Stand:
At some point during the game I'd set an old friend by my side. Many know him by one of two names, Ben or Big Red. Big Red has been a part of the scene for nearly a decade now.

It was in the late spring of 2001 that he came into my life. A friend of mine and I went out to the Ave and I can't remember all the finite details but in the end my friend found Big Red. When we were bringing Ben back to the dorms there was a conversation about how to conceal him from those that might want to cause him harm. "[he's] a vase for my mother" was the cover story.

As the school year came to a close Ben had to find a new home. He couldn't just live in the dormitory closet all summer. So I took Ben with me. We had some crazy times that summer and eventually we both ended up in Federal Way. After some time stuck in treefingers we both returned to the U District and lived on the hillside off 22nd and then again in the house on 15th. He'd become apart of the group.

When I moved to Alki so did Big Red and then again to the apartment on Avalon. We were nearly inseparable. He went everywhere I went until I left West Seattle. At that time there were others who needed Ben more than I did and as Mr Bergstrom would say, "that's the problem with being middle-class, anybody who really cares will abandon you for those who need it more."

I lost track of Big Red for some time. I alway knew he was around but we didn't see each other for some time. He had a couple of minor accidents and was out of commission for a while. When I started spending more time in Sodo I came to find that he was there too! He had a couple of broken limbs but nothing a trip to the market couldn't solve. In a few weeks we were back in business.

However he wasn't the same. At some point he fractured his torso and had to be treated with a degree of delicacy. Now during the game of Catan I had Big Red next to me, a true right hand man. Upon claiming victory I exclaimed and, in a moment worthy of Pangford, Big Red toppled to his doom. There were shards of red glass littered around like bloodied body parts on a battle field. I was in total shock. It wasn't completely unexpected but that didn't make the situation any less tragic. Just as I was about to settle into mourning it got worse...

Washroom Deluge:
I was about to step outside and reminisce about my old friend when I hear someone yell, "water!" I look down the studio hallway and sure enough inches of water were spewing from the laundry room. It had already consumed three passage ways by the time I made it to the source. The waste water hose from the washer had become dislodged from the drainage pipe and was spewing murky water at an unprecedented rate.

I got the hose back into the pipe and we shut down the washer to prevent further chaos, but the damage was already done. Every towel available was in motion, sopping up as much as possible and then being rung out only to start again. People were screaming for help as they continued to try to stop any water from making it's way into the great room. Luckily a blanket was on the couch nearby and we were able to use it as a dam to stop the river.

For about an hour we fought the rising tide, which wasn't rising much since we stopped the flow, but you get the idea. We'd won the battle with minimal damage. It was hard fought but we won.

When the panic subsided I remember the loss from early and decided there was nothing more I could do but simply go to bed. As I laid in my bed I couldn't help but think, "the gods have punished us." Now I just have to figure out why and atone for our failings.

Any of you with good memories of Big Red or the Deluge hit em up in the comments I'd love to hear your take on it all.

Is she offering?

2010-11-30T10:59:00.000-08:00

I want a confetti canon

2010-11-27T13:04:00.001-08:00

(thanks to NESF for the find)

I'm just a wee lad

2010-11-24T11:24:00.001-08:00

Old People are Great

2010-11-24T10:06:00.001-08:00

Kid Cudi / Kanye West Reviews

2010-11-23T10:23:00.000-08:00

So instead of doing what everyone else seems to be doing, talking about snOMG, I'm gonna talk about music.

During the packing I got discourage and decided that some new music was needed to motivate me. So I cruised down to Sonic Boom and picked up the new Kid Cudi album "Man on the Moon Part 2: The Legend of Mr Rager." Solid album. It's much darker than his debut release, like any good second installment in a trilogy is. The beats are solid and Cudi's flows are spot on. The addition of Mary J Blige on a couple of tracks came out really well as did the track with Cee-Lo, but Kid Cudi seems to be his best when left alone. Highlights on the album include "Mr Rager", "REVOFEV" and "These Worries". I'm going to give this one an 8.7

Yesterday I got to work and started reading some reviews of Kanye West's "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" and all I could think was, can it really be that good? I mean Pitchfork gave it a perfect 10, the first time for a new release since Kid A. (CORRECTION: Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was the most recent to receive a 10.0) Could Kanye really put out an album to rival Radiohead? Well the answer is no, however that being said it's still a really good album. The first time I listened to it I didn't get the full picture of what was going on. It took listening to it during my snow commute last night to get the total impact. The sound that he's created is dense to say the least, but not in a bad way. Really the only down side is that some of the tracks seem to go on a minute or two too long which makes it a bit redundant at times. I was very pleased to hear some good Kanye again. He hasn't really done anything worthwhile since Late Registration and I was hopeful that he'd come out with something solid and I wasn't disappointed. Highlights on the album include "Power", "Blame Game" and "All of the Lights" (I love anything with Rihanna). Gonna have to up my original rating from 8.9 to 9.4

Moving on down

2010-11-17T12:03:00.000-08:00

So I guess I should mention that I'm moving. This weekend actually. I haven't mentioned it before because there was sort of delicate situation involved. However it's all out in the open now. The new spot is kind of a 180 from where I was. Instead of the quiet residential streets of Ballard I'm going to be mobbin' the nitty gritty streets of SODO.

There are numerous reasons for the change. First and foremost THE RENT IS TOO DAMN HIGH!!! I'm going to be cutting my living expenses by more than half. Yeah I won't have as much personal space like in my apartment, but in the end it wasn't worth the cost. I'm also going to have a set of room mates again. I'm kind of looking forward to that actually. The last room mate scene had a sour ending but all in all I miss living with people. It's nice to have someone real to talk to when you get home, not just text on a screen.

There are a couple of other major selling points. The place has a full recording studio so I'll be able to start working on some recording. I just have to learn how to use the equipment and then it's on. Hopefully it won't be too long after the move that I'll have something to post for you all. I did mention I'm starting a hip-hop project right? Either way, I am. There's also ample space to start brewing again. I'll have to purchase everything again, but it would be nice to get back to the fermenting. I miss the smell of yeast and hops.

So if you ever find yourself down near "Slander" (that'd be Sixth and Lander) hit me up and we'll do it proper. And by proper I mean we'll bust out the burn barrel and start a nice little fire by the tracks while we drink malt liquor and cook cans of chili over an open flame. Ha, I'm just messin' with y'all...or am I?

"But mommy I want it!"

2010-11-16T10:07:00.000-08:00

I really want to eat Thanksgiving dinner right now. Actually I wanted it yesterday and I didn't get it. I don't think I'll get it today either. I guess that just means it will be that much better when the time comes. My sister also makes a great turkey dinner spread, this isn't hers, but next time around I'll be sure to have a picture of it.

I don't much care for yams though. You hear that sister, NO YAMS!!!! Well I'm not going to deny anyone else yams, but you can replace mine with more stuffing and green bean casserole....mmmmm casserole *drool*.

I'll do something nice for the first person to correctly identify the origin of this blog title. Hit it up in the comments.

"Raisin' up outta this gangsta shit"

2010-11-10T09:11:00.000-08:00

I was riding the 7 downtown last night and overheard a conversation between two younger men. One was probably about 15 years old and the other couldn't have been more than 20. They were going back and forth about mutual acquaintances, who had a baby, who was in jail, etc, before the older guy asked, "You still going to class." The younger boy mumbled, "yeah kinda." This opened the flood gates. The older guy started laying it down with things like, "The only way you're raisin' up outta this gangsta shit is with an education", "Stay in class, you best believe that", "my mama told me and I'm'a keep telling you - school is where its at", and "All those fools who wanna be bangers you know where they end up? Dead or in jail. Is that what you want? Not me." After the younger guy got off the bus I decided to talk to this guy a little. Turns out he's a sophomore at the University of Washington. You'd never have guessed from his attire and demeanor. He was wearing pants that covered his knees not his ass and a giant puffy coat. He told me about how he was majoring in political science, "learning all that gov'ment shit" and how next quarter he was going to take his first international studies course. In the end he hopes to run for public office and start making a difference for all the people he grew up with, not just the kid from earlier. It wasn't until I got off of the bus that I realized I'd never even asked him his name. So to whoever you are, keep on doing what you're doing. It's people like you that will make our future better than our past.

"I'm not a witch, I'm a potato eater"

2010-11-08T20:36:00.001-08:00

Strange news from the other side of the planet

2010-11-08T16:52:00.000-08:00

I was in contact with the ever elusive Pangford today. Here's a transcript of the conversation. I hope that you all find it as entertaining as I did:

< Desomniac >

< Pangford >

I want to tell  my story caught on the beach but I've now built so much pressure that I feel I have to call out the combination of both the Welsh and Scottish guy in the office to direct a story half way to Ireland in the old stone coble pub with wise man fisherman style telling

what to do ! shit

this weekend I was able to view the same women cuter off all her hair, shove it in her mouth clasp her hands to the sky and submerge herself in seran wrap

LOL LOL what the fuck are you talking about!?!?!??!

after that I saw her stuff a bottle of baby powder in her mouth, blow it out and engulf herself in 100 % pure honey

I'm not shitting you

wow

do you have pictures?

well the hair cutting wrapping part was recently video taped of her inside a mall but infront of the full wall projection she continued with the battle among herself and her stalkings, the baby powder mouth feeder, and the honey

she is this interesting 40year old french artist I met this weekend

and she related the cutting of her hair to the remembrance  of post world war 2

when her father told her the story of how in their home town the locals gathered all the known prostitutes and french women who were believed to have slept with german soldiers 

then in the town center they cut off their hair

I though it was relating to a similar belief my hindi friend told me about entering a temple and offering your most beautiful natural possession and I asked her and she told me and she then gave me a jar of honey

good day sir, I must leave for work

did you rub it all over yourself?

do i get you for christmas?

i hope hope hope so

My buddy does and I will get them for you

pictures i'm referring to

sweet "sow" pork

with half bowl of rice

"flied lice you plick"

bye bye

later

Start over - again

2010-11-06T17:45:00.001-07:00

I'm sure I've blogged this before, but it seems fitting right now.

SCIENCE!!!

2010-11-06T11:03:00.000-07:00

About to head out for the Life Science Research Weekend at the Pacific Science Center. Hopefully it's good. YAY SCIENCE!!!! I'll post some pics when I get back. Oh yeah, I also have to do a post about last weekend. Maybe I'll do that at some point too.

2010-11-02T11:43:00.000-07:00

Since I can't vote in person any more (which really pisses me off) this digital sticker will have to do.

I remember

2010-11-01T09:41:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is election day. I hope that you all remember to vote. Watch this clip first and it might also help you remember a couple of other things.

I'm not dead yet

2010-10-28T16:28:00.000-07:00

Just don't have much to say to you all.

Prop 19 and the aftermath

2010-10-19T19:17:00.000-07:00

Now I don't live in California however as a fellow West Coast resident I want to say a few things about Prop 19.

First off, I support Prop 19 100%. I have long wondered why we don't legalize the use of marijuana if for no other reason that the tax revenue. I read an article a couple years back that said marijuana was the 5th largest "cash crop" in Washington state, just ahead of cherries. That could represent a substantial amount of tax revenue, especially here in Washington where "sin taxes" are the norm.

It makes sense that California is the first to take it on because they're having even more budget problems than we are and let's be serious here: Humboldt County. 'Nuff said. So I encourage everyone in California to vote YES ON PROP 19!!!!

That being I said I want you all to understand what is going to happen. When Prop 19 passes the federal government is going to sue the state of California. Now before you get all pissed off about how when you voted for Obama you never thought he would do such a thing. He has no other choice. The fact is that Prop 19 violates the federal governments authority. It's the same reason that they sued Arizona over SB1070 (Immigration).

However by voting yes on 19 you're sending a strong message to the country that the time for marijuana reform is now. While the law is being argued through the various courts it may be enough pressure to convince the Californian representatives to start pushing for a national bill, allowing the states to self regulate their own marijuana policy. It'd be hard to lose the votes for that one. Democrats in blue states will support it if only to defer the problem to local politicians. Republican, especially Tea Party candidates, are consistently arguing for smaller federal presence and more state control. So unless they want to pull a 180 on one of their core believes they're going to have to support the reform. Then Prop 19 stands and every other state is going to have a referendum vote on the issue. Everyone wins.

Now this would be a best case scenario and what it really requires is that first you pass the law. Then when it passes and the government steps in, write your senate. Write your congressmen. Write everyone you can. This is where those of us in other states join your battle. So I encourage anyone out there in California to get out and approve Prop 19 now because we've got your back later.

Hi are you one of those...

2010-10-16T02:09:00.000-07:00

Late Night Show

2010-10-15T01:30:00.000-07:00

Soak us in animal blood

The meaning of life?

2010-10-11T12:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was 10/10/10. If you translate that into binary you get the number 42. So it could be argued that yesterday was the meaning of life. That is if you believe Douglas Adams was right. And that binary is the true language. And that the Gregorian calendar is in fact the true measure of time. And that for some reason this time it happened was somehow more significant than the last. Mostly it comes down to whether you're willing to put enough faith in so many things that are mere creations of man. It wasn't a bad day by any means, but it wasn't the best either. I guess that it could have been the meaning of life, in the sense that any given day could be...

Chili Cook Off was good times. Ray and Jen did a great job of hosting the event. I hope that it is the beginning of many successful cook offs to come. My quest for the winning chili failed yet again, but there's always next year...

Life's kind of complicated right now, but I don't really want to get into that. So instead I'll leave you with a little Deerhunter...

Happy 70th Birthday John Lennon

2010-10-08T09:37:00.000-07:00

Crazy to think he would have turned 70 this year. In honor of the occasion I've compiled these videos for you all. Hope you enjoy.

Long walks, blogs and solitary confinement

2010-10-05T10:31:00.000-07:00

Last night I was walking downtown to catch the bus home and for some reason decided to try just walking all the way home. I went down along the waterfront, through Elliot Bay Park, cut over to 15th just before Interbay, over the Ballard Bridge, up Ballard Avenue, and finally made it to the final march up 24th. The whole time I kept convincing myself that I wouldn't make it the whole way. "I'll just make it to the end of the park and then catch the bus." "I'll just go to the bridge and catch the bus" And so on. I'm actually very pleased with myself for making it the whole way. I google mapped my course and it worked out to be 8.4 miles. It told me there are other shorter ways to go, so I might have to try another route while the weather is still good...

For those of you who haven't noticed Joseph is back to blogging! YAAAAY!!! I really enjoy his blog. Great photography and always an interesting little blurb. Check it out if you haven't yet...

Lil Wayne is in solitary for listening to an unauthorized music device. I think it's fitting that it's his true love that got him put in the hole. Still need to get his new album. Haven't read many reviews but a coworker recommended it. FREE WEEZY!!!

I can't believe that the chili cook off is this weekend. I don't think I'm going to be much of a contender, unless P decides to do a joint entry. Then I'd be guaranteed a victory. He's never lost....

Speakin' of Lil Wayne, here's the new video for the track he did with Eminem:

Can you smell the Fragrance?

2010-10-04T12:32:00.000-07:00

Great weekend all around.

Friday night I went over to P's for some pizza and a bottle of Jameson. It wasn't long before we ended up going over to Sully's. I took some pictures, but apparently I'd had a few too many ales and none of them turned out too well. What I really wanted was a picture of the bartender, because she's the best reason to go there. Not only was she unbelievably beautiful but really friendly, up until I asked if I could take her picture. At least I asked right?

One of the things we talked about at the bar was going up to Bellingham and doing a little hike. I woke up Saturday around 12 and it was about an hour later that P showed up at my place. Kaz called just in time and we swooped him up too.

The ride up was pleasant. P was a little aggressive, but it led to some comical events. The main reason for going to Bellingham was because P wanted to get some soap. So we hit up Otion only to find they didn't have what he was looking for.

So we bombed south on the Chuckanutt Drive, great views, to Larrabee State Park. Now I chose this hike because it was under 5 miles and I didn't want to destroy my body since I'm pretty out of shape. I should have paid more attention to the elevation gain. We went up 1000 feet in about 1.5 miles. It destroyed me, but I did it. Strange thing, on the way up we found a shoe in the wilderness:

The lake was pretty cool. The water was so still that the trees reflected perfectly on the surface.

There were also some GIANT rock formation, these pictures really don't do them justice

We had decided to skip the viewpoint on the way up, hoping that it would be more spectacular on the way back since the sun would be closer to the horizon. We were right. Here's the view of Samish Bay, Lummi Island, and some of the San Juans.

After the hike we stopped by Angel of the Winds for some food and the end of the Huskies game (GO DAWGS!!!).

Major shout out to P and Kaz for the great company.

2010-10-02T03:12:00.000-07:00

2010-10-01T18:55:00.001-07:00

I'm excited, can you tell?

"Don't say I've changed because, man, of course I have"

2010-10-01T11:43:00.000-07:00

I was out at a bar last night with an old friend. And as usual we got into some great conversation. During our back and forth he made the comment: "You've changed. You used to be so carefree about life." This led to a lengthly discussion, but even more thinking after the fact.

It's true I have changed. In my younger days I didn't worry about anything. I lived life for the moment. When I was 19 I had decided that I wanted to have 20 years of life experience in 2, mostly because I'd determined I wasn't going to life past 30 (I wasn't suicidal just convinced fate had a tragic end in my future), and I feel that in many ways I accomplished that goal.

One of the first things that changed about me after this was my relationship with the idea of death. I'm not exactly sure how or when it happened, but I no longer believed I was destine for an early grave. I think that this is largely attributed to the overwhelming amount of reading I did on the subject of religion, spirituality and specifically gnostic texts.

Through their study I was able to realize that while God/fate/whatever you want to call it can be cruel it's overall reason for being is to bring about good. And not good like a candy bar tastes good, good in way that we can't describe with our faulted human languages. I'll still make an attempt to. It's more in the sense that there is a perfection that coats everything like an thin dusting of snow that is often difficult to see, if possible at all, but is always there.

I actually used this concept in titling this blog, as Desomnia is a portmanteau of desolate and amnesia that I use to describe the life outlook of trying to forget the unfortunate or ugly parts of life. And Drull is a desolate and forbodding sense of forgiveness, or the good that I spoke of early. I struggled for a long time to find a way to express this idea and in the end there weren't any words for it yet so I found words. And it went far beyond just a blog title and became a sort of ethos for my life.

This is where the most substantial change came from. Where as before I had a very loose idea about life and it's grander implication I was able to live my life without caring about anything. As I developed these ideas I found myself becoming more and more grounded in them. That's not to say that I lost my free spirit, but instead of letting it run wild it has a rooted foundation that I find allows me to grow more and more as time passes.

It's easier to just go with the wind when you're younger, as you get older you have to decide which gusts will guide your life. However I still allow myself to be shaped by the winds of fate much like the trees that grow along the Oregon shores.

Now I'm not really sure where I'm going with all of this. Mostly just thought it might help me to try to express these ideas and hence better understand them myself. Especially since I'm about to throw myself at the will of fate yet again. Lets hope it all goes well.

The things we find nostalgic

2010-09-30T14:06:00.000-07:00

Back in High School one of my classmates had this cartoon on his binder. It always made me laugh. It still does.

I want one

2010-09-30T11:03:00.000-07:00

Okapi: the only living relative of the Giraffe

There's only one way to salvage this day

2010-09-24T12:29:00.001-07:00

Reformatting

2010-09-23T10:38:00.000-07:00

So as you probably noticed I did some reformatting this morning along with adding a new banner pic. I'm interested to hear what you think. Better? Worse? Let me know.

RIP Jack Horkheimer

2010-09-23T09:21:00.000-07:00

I was at home last night watching a little Red Green Show. Now Red's on between 10 and 11 on channel 12 and after each episode they play the short "Jack Horkheimer: Star Gazer". I was shocked last night to see that it wasn't Jack! Jack passed away last month. This is a tragic loss to the astronomy community and to star gazers, young and old, around the country. The new guy just isn't the same but I'm hopeful that in time he will come to be. It's hard to best Jack though. So to Mr Horkheimer, I bid you farewell and wherever you are I'm sure that you'll "keep looking up".