Originally uploaded by joaquin!!!
i got my inbox down to 16 messages!
now i slumber...
miércoles, junio 4
martes, junio 3
Gin & Platonic
during simpler times
Thursday night, a friend casually turned to me and said in passing, "You know that [so-and-so] has a massive crush on you, right?" There was a pause in the rhythm of my step causing me to stumble just a little bit. Hopefully an unnoticeable little bit, a reaction to the surprise. I was planning to set up [so-and-so] with one of my good friends... Then I thought that the last time I've actually hung out with [so-and-so], I didn't particularly act "flirty" and they didn't particularly hang out with me after that. A little bummed out feeling made my stomach turn: I thought this person was really into my humor and musical taste, not how I might taste. (Take that as you will.) I was disappointed to know that [so-and-so's] kindness and attention had ulterior motives.
Did you know that "ulterior motives" doesn't necessarily have a negative connotation? It simply means "going beyond what is openly said or shown and especially what is proper"But I was also flattered. However, flattery doesn't make up for the lack of attraction.
Prior to this little exchange of knowledge, I have spent the last couple weeks trying to super-glue back together a 2-year-long friendship of mine with a very nice man who caught the wrong idea. Basically, I accepted a really amazing and expensive birthday gift from very nice man - thinking it was just that: A really amazing and expensive birthday gift. Turns out Adam and Paula and just about the rest of you were right: Nothing comes for free. In accepting this gift, it was assumed that I was interested in a romantic entanglement with very nice man . Yeah, assumed to everyone but me. Due to the gift being very expensive, and to add insult to injury - non-refundable - we've suffered emotional minor cuts and bruises because of this miscommunication. Yes, in hindsight, it was very naïve of me to assume that very nice man was just being a very nice man, but I tend to be a generous person and have given extravagant gifts in the past, with zero exchange expected. So perhaps my view of the meaning of gifts is skewed?
Similarly, I've had two friends who don't even know each other, have this problem. One has had a purely sexual
Don't get me wrong - I like to be liked. I just don't like to be tricked. It's tiresome to hear the "I've liked you for so long..." speech. I've accepted that I'm a little stand-offish and therefore not the easiest to approach. And yeah, I know that people grow to adore others. Don't be a grower and not a shower. Be both! Are we to read between every line?! Does every breath, blink, and word - even the conjunction ones - have an underlying meaning? I truly hope not. I'm trying not to lose my faith in men and women truly being just friends, you know - on the imaginary planet of Platopia. Sure, everyone likes sex, it's fun, and a lot of things revolve around it. But the more time passes, the more I classify Person X as "friend" and not "roll-around-the-bed-mate." Can't speak for everyone else, but I
To put the shoe on the other foot (another funny American expression*) I actually basically had to ask someone to hang out with me as friends today because he is a member of the opposite sex. I don't think I would have had to take that extra step of clarification if he was a she. And in doing so, I believe to have made things "weird" with a special dash of awkward and he hasn't responded to me since. Uh boy, I feel stupid. Like I've digressed into the elementary days of ringing your play mate's doorbell and innocently asking, "Hi! Can Fernando play?" This of course was prior to the days when Fernando got "cooties" - naturally.
- As a 'thank you' for reading these rather lengthy, very peculiar and uncharacteristic rants of late, here's an accompaniment:
- Joan of Arc - Gin & Platonic (from "How Memory Works")
- The White Stripes - We're Going To Be Friends (from "White Blood Cells")
- The Kinks - Young & Innocent Days (from "Decline And Fall Of The British Empire")
- Pulp - Babies (from "His 'N' Hers")
- Mystery Palace - Two-Way Stranger (from "Flags Forward")
- Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs - Different Drum (from "Under The Covers, Volume 1)
- Pink Fairies - I Wish I Was A Girl (from "Kings Of Oblivion")
- Blur - On Your Own (Crouch End Broadway Mix) (from "Bustin' + Dronin'")
domingo, junio 1
The scariest movie I've ever seen.
See picture here: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3189/2541355119_4794603071_b.jpg
Stolen from Dave Schumacher's flickr
Jules (aka Legs) and I saw Sex & The City, the movie... It was the scariest movie I've ever seen. Two people, a "perfectly" couple, decide to get married so that sharing an apartment won't be weird/she won't get screwed over if anything happens that leads to splitting up. No one mentions common-law marriage laws?
Then with the commitment ceremony our darling main character, Carrie, gets carried away and forgets that the relationship is about TWO people not her + 200. Then she gets super bummed when he feels dissed and leaves her at the altar, beats him up with her humongous bouquet of flowers, leaves for THEIR honeymoon in Mexico with her friends and feels sorry for herself for the next half year BEFORE hearing him out. Totally stupid.
A relationship is between two people remember? Unless you're in a threesome or into polygamy, and even then that shit needs to stay within the people having the relations. Nothing good ever comes out of getting the whole village involved.
Carrie Bradshaw - a role model for females? Only in fashion. Outside of that - I think not and I say nay. Though it took me six seasons, I realized that the character of Carrie Bradshaw is nuts. She is way too demanding, expectant, and borderline delusional of what love should be. All these women out there taking her lead make me feel sorry for the hundreds and hundreds of men out there that have women in their lives who are huge fans of S&TC. (Especially the kind that actually liken themselves to one of the characters.) Is this why at 40 years old, she went unmarried?
This movie is going to breed even more suburban annoyance!
Scary:
REMEMBER KIDS - IT IS JUST A MOVIE!!
See full post w/ pics here: http://celestronica.blogspot.com/2008/06/scariest-movie-ive-ever-seen.html
***Why did facebook notes stop importing the images? Bullshit! This is!
LCD Soundsystem's "North American Scum"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieT_lf9wK28
This song still feels great this morning.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2V_ZT-nyOs&NR=1
& this one could have well been the soundtrack to Thursday night...
Lost (season finale) and Lost (really)
This afternoon Paul Tao and I were sitting outside of Chango, counting hipsters and making party plans. Our conversation weaved in-and-out of flatmate cleanliness to non-love lives, and birth days that are more like a Julie Delpy film (starring that guy you always see at Edendale on week nights) than a happy birth-day.
The aforementioned trip to the neighborhood coffee house and conversation lead me to two things:
Infused with a double espresso in the mid-afternoon, I got home and began cleaning my house. But not cleaning in a "tidy-up" sort of way. I was cleaning in a I've-done-speed-and-am-tweaking-out sort of way. I hoovered and mopped and swiffered; Dusted, cleaned the windows inside and outside (which entails taking the glass off of one pane when you're on the 2nd floor), I even cleaned the inside of the microwave and the inside of the dishwasher. *Insert pukey face here* My cat, Wubbe, is confused. Nothing smells like him right now. Not even the window pane, nothing on the floor. He is sleeping on the edge of the ottoman the way you would if you were sharing a bed with a distant relative of the opposite sex. I covered the couch with sheets to that his summer shedding can be doctored easily by throwing the sheets in the wash instead of vacuuming each section of the couch under-and-over for two hours. By the time I retire tonight, he'll be well on his way to rubbing his scent on the blankets and tomorrow we'll joyfully have more summer shedding to deal with. But truth be told, I got so OCD with the cleaning today that I didn't even begin to work on my bath, work, bed room or porch. I'm saving that joy for tomorrow.
Before I begin on the second part of what this afternoon's coffee stop led me to - let's talk about Lost for a second. (I'm spending my Saturday night at home, enjoying a newly nearly spotless common area watching the season finale drinking Sake2Me and eating Bewitching Yellow Curry from Leela Thai.) Counting on that you are familiar with the story line and the characters; Don't worry this has no spoilers that are too important... But are we really supposed to believe that Juliette's hair is all of a sudden THAT blonde naturally (look at her eyebrows...? Obviously bottle-blonde, right?!), I mean - since the last episode? Did the Dharma people also supply hair dye or bleach in their drops to the island? Whatever happened to Desmond's psychic abilities? He can't forsee which wire will make which go boom? I'm 52 minutes in and am somewhat disappointed. I could care less whether Locke or Ben or that army-dude G.I. Joe get offed. I miss the hobbit that used to be in the show that talked about his band the whole time. Or at least I miss when he did that.
Second place I was led: The last few weeks have been quite strange ones. Cut Copy's tour came to a close and The Presets tour started right up. Adam actually is on vacation - like a proper vacation; He had dinner with one of my besties in Memphis last night. Could this possibly inspire me to do this 'holiday' thing myself?! (Yes.) My flat mate Jeff got married. I went from exploring my roommate options, to kind of deciding that I really don't need one - and if this means that I can't have HBO and Showtime, I will survive.
I'm really not home enough to watch television anyway. I think I watch more TV when I'm staying at Paula's in NYC than at my own house - partially because her gorgeous flat-screen makes these shows look like I shot them on my own DV camera.I've also met a lot of new people in the last few weeks, and have seen a few people that I've not seen in a long while: beautiful kind faces that I wish I could see more of and faces that I don't believe even enjoy my company therefore leaving me suspicious. I've taken a couple chances of making a complete [augghhh-bleghhhh] out of myself and made good on saying "hey we should hang out some time" with a handful of people. On the other hand, I've been rather surprised by the decisions, retorts, and/or non-actions of those who until recently I've held in very high regard. People never cease to amaze. I'm a little chafed, even though I'm not quite sure why in the world I am even surprised. This leaves me with a strange neither-here-nor-there limbo: disappointed, but with new faith. After all, it is when Spring turns into Summer - it is the time to fall for people old and new - even if it is only for one week at a time.
Next week: New York City, again! I will bloody make it to the MoMA this time. It's not like I have an admission to pay, so I just need to get my ass there. I was promised a Central Park picnic lunch, and a corny romantic carriage ride to make up for some birth day drama and mistaken intentions (or perhaps not mistaken).
Things to look forward to:
Remember when I used to write about songs? Yeah, I miss that too.
sábado, mayo 31
200 Guitarists Wanted for Premiere at Lincoln Center
From Joshua Easton's flickr
Wordless Music: 800 Years of Minimalism - The Spiritual Transcendent
Friday, August 15, 2008 7:00 PM
Damrosch Park Bandshell
Lincoln Center Out of Doors - free, no tickets required
In 2005, the New York composer Rhys Chatham was commissioned by the city of Paris to write a piece of music. The result was A Crimson Grail, a work for 400 electric guitars, which premiered at the basilica of Sacré-Coeur for La Nuit Blanche, an all-night arts festival. For its first U.S. performance, the work has been extensively revised by the composer for an outdoor performance at Lincoln Center's Damrosch Park, to suit the dynamics of the park's outdoor acoustic. A Crimson Grail will call on the talents of 200 guitarists (including 16 electric bassists), who will be selected from an applicant pool drawing on the many talents of musicians in New York City and beyond.
More info on this event here
Requirements to be one of the 200 guitarists listed here
Click here to apply
taken from penmachine's flickr
can someone make me one of these?
miércoles, mayo 28
One of our favorite girls, Sam Maloney, stopped by the office for our BBQ and had a quick chat with The Presets & Cut Copy... See the episode of her show "All Access" on Mania TV here.
domingo, mayo 25
real quick...
courtesy of englishrussia.com
...so I'm about to get ready for my flatmate's marriage ceremony. (& my business partner, Adam, is off in Tennessee at a wedding as well.) I really need a double espresso. Going to be wearing my standard party dress and heading straight for The Shortstop afterwards for some dancing. (See previous post.) The whole concept of marriage really freaks me out. Almost did it twice and after reminiscing about how my good friends Carrie and Jenn took the plunge, being at their weddings... & who was I kidding thinking that I could do that too? All that kind of preparation seems like it isn't for me. Picking out your "colors" and deciding which of your friends you'll choose to parade down the aisle... Pressure! Wedding showers, bridal showers, bachelor-ette parties (the ones I've seen come with penis cakes and penis tipped straws), bachelor parties, rehearsal dinners... there are SO many little parties to go with the big day... Why not just throw parties? Do they know this all ends in having to share your bed for the "rest of your life"? Isn't that just a little daunting?
No no no... Yes. I still deem myself a romantic - but I suppose I associate romance with that that is uncommon and not included in your everyday. And I really like sleeping alone sprawled out on my bed. Even if I'm not a tall person, even a California King size bed ain't big enough for a multiple-roll over. Plus, there's very little romance in constantly cleaning up after each other... Reminds me, I really MUST do laundry.
I'm not saying that this commitment stuff isn't great, but it's perhaps not for everyone. Marriage has become so complex, and the rules keep getting more elaborate. Now you're supposed to get an engagement ring the price of 3 months' salary. That's just the engagement ring! And then you have to upgrade every 5 years or something. Sure, if you're still with someone five years after he/she steals the sheets every night, and farts, or snores (this is all after it's not cute or endearing anymore) - then YES - you deserve a medal. But how about a trip to Scandinavia to rekindle the flame as opposed to another rock? (The last I saw my cousin Marie she had so many upgrades on her small slender finger that it looked ridiculous, and more like a ball-and-chain than a symbol of love and commitment.) I truly believe that one can be with another without signing papers for the government to recognize you as a unit.
Ps - I'm so glad that California now recognizes same-sex marriage. Makes me proud of my state!
All this stated, I did almost do it twice. I mean, I did accept the proposals each time, and picked out rings, and all that hoo-haa. I might not have been that far from it before. But I think being that close to it taught me that love and commitment itself should supersede the 3-month salary ring etc. That a physical representation of your love for another is all good & fine - but to place a price on it is rather silly to me. However, this is all dependent upon your personal experience and thoughts on the matter. Everyone should have love - whether you can 'afford' it or not. The important thing is longevity of the bond you share with that person, no? Kudos to those of you brave enough to take the plunge!
I'm off to toast another union...
Suscribirse a:
Entradas (Atom)
© 2009-2010 celeste tabora