intellectual properties

string theory

an often overlooked positive aspect of those who are “high strung”

is that they feel more vibrations than those with lax strings.

i feel the metal in the table quiver;

in fact, i swear i can see it on a bright summer day.

waves of energy hit me like a rainbow of infinite gradients,

coming from you, from everything -

the long deep loud tones rumble through,

the high tight quick ones are difficult to grasp;  you have to concentrate.

easy to overwhelm,

the cacophony so blurred, a tornado of offerings, a loss of control

leads to overload. freakout. shutdown.

but sometimes sitting on the edge of a riverbank,

the rush of cold water over rocks stirring a cold wind along the surface,

feeling every rustle of green leaves

and the every-so-slight changes in sunlight temperature coming through the sky,

it is revealed as a gift.

tiny posts that somehow evolved into live-blogging american idol

• there are certain songs that when i hear them on the radio, in my head it gets replaced with the high school marching band/jazz band version (i was in band from grade 6-12, was 1st clarinet and played sax also).  i am not enjoying the HS jazz band version of China Grove in my head right now.

• i still listen to “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley all the time.  that song makes me so happy.

• last night i resuffered the dream that i wasn’t passing calculus again (IRL i got an A), and this time (the nth time) i noted that the lack of achievement in that respect directly correlated to lack of hooking up with the boy i had a crush on, who is also usually in the dream.

• when we were in europe, there was, in Prague, a clash with some local street vendors over a purchase. someone made a deal they shouldn’t have, and then they tried to force jay into paying more for it afterward.  i got very nervous and freaked out and sort of ran away, especially when more appeared out of the shadows and we were obviously outnumbered. i slipped into another shop and then down the street while J&J worked it out.  i was randomly thinking about this last night and in retrospect, i should have probably stood with them, as most men will not do anything to a woman, and the situation probably wouldn’t have escalated and then dragged out the way it did. especially not on a crowded tourist street. if i would have been the one to forcefully say “WE ARE LEAVING RIGHT NOW”, what would they have done? or maybe that’s a stupid idea.  more to the point is the fact that i run away when scared.

• we are going to see Ezra Furman and the Harpoons again soon.  I can’t recommend this band enough. i am way more into Ezra than Lady Gaga (even though this little piece of Gaga reporting is awesome).

• WARNING: i am currently typing this while watching the American Idol finale, so there are going to be tweet-like comments interjected into this otherwise totally cohesive blog post.

• last night i watched the Biggest Loser finale.  i have watched the whole season.  i enjoy this show.  it teaches people things that are hard to learn.  losing weight is hard.  nutrition is not complicated, but it isn’t necessarily intuitive either. i was really rooting for Cheri to win. oh well. footnote: i think Australia’s Biggest Loser is better (which you can, um, find somewhere on the internet), particularly because of the mini-nutrition seminars . and motivating yourself to exercise?  that’s a whole other animal.  i like BHJ’s approach.

• i also watched the last 1/4 of the Dancing with the Stars finale.  i’ve only seen about 1/20th of this season. it’s not that i’m not impressed;  it’s just superfluous.  as is this American Idol thing.

• this AT&T ad with the orange silky looking things is very rip-off of Christo.  oh, wait!  there at the end of the ad there is some fine print that says Christo had nothing to do with it.  interesting.

• who sold David Bowie’s music to Lincoln commercials?  fuck.

• this ad where the girl eats KFC on the bus to help her ignore the loud talking cellphone guy?  i’d be just as annoyed if someone sat next to me eating a bucket of KFC.

• oh, Xtina! hot.
• oh, wait. this is boring.
• where was i?

• ok, so on April 30 i went to the ER with neck/shoulder pain and then on May 4 jay crashed really hard on his mountain bike. we are both currently recovering and doing mostly well, although we do both complain like a couple of senior citizens about aches and pains. i am repeating this as a way to explain all of the television watching referred to above. there’s not a lot to do when you’re on painkillers.

• i really don’t care that Simon Cowell is leaving American Idol.  i’d rather see Billy Idol in his seat anyway.

• tonight we went for momos at the Cafe Tibet on University in Berkeley. and then i had an incredible eggplant dish, although next time i’d rather have the wild rice than that weird cinnabon-textured bread ball thing. never had a momo?  they’re little steamed tibetan dumplings filled with all kinds of delicious things. you’re missing out.

• fruit, vegetables, yogurt, eggs, cheese, beans, lentils, rice, nuts, coffee, wine.  all as organic as possible. moderate: soy/tofu/fake meats, popcorn, tater tots. avoid: bread, pasta, sweets. never: meat or fish. that is basically my diet.

• what is this, YACHT ROCK IDOL??
• this should stop…..

• this dreadlocked Idol finalist reminds me: not long after we first moved to California, i went out in L.A. wearing baby blue corduroys and phish t-shirt in matching baby blue. we got made fun of by some LA bimbo at the door of a club. i was indignant.  do you ever look back at photos or remember versions of yourself and wonder who that person was?

• this Idol finale is watching people sell out in real time.  it’s terribly sad.

• ok i will admit i still have a soft spot for bret michaels.  esp after Apprentice.

• despite being laid up for a couple of weeks, both jay and i have been trying to get back in shape. that’s a weird term, “in shape”, but you know what i mean.  to feel better. to live longer. to look hotter. me, since December, him, the past several months (i don’t know exactly). i haven’t lost much weight (i don’t think i had much to lose, but let’s not discuss that here, ok?) but jay has.  my boyfriend looks hot.  the larger point is that when you start really paying attention to your body it’s fascinating, all the fluctuations in energy,hunger, weight, satiation.  it’s easy to get obsessed.  the funny thing is it’s also easy to fall off the wagon.

• 2 dudes from Foreigner were on a local program last night singing “Feels Like the First Time” acoustic.  i was pretty impressed, actually . it was way better than this Chicago number on Idol.

• oh! yes, jeez i knew i was forgetting something.  saturday night i went on a bus party for a friend’s birthday.  the rest of that story is fairly unpublishable. except at the end we all sang “Don’t Stop Believing” really loud from the shores of Treasure Island while some people did gymnastics in their underwear on a wet lawn. i am not making that up.

• sunday was the 4th annual False Profit “Spring Training” outdoor party-picnic in the oakland hills.  i was there for 9 hours. it was super fun.  neva and i had a great time. aforementioned hot boyfriend also played a killer set.  lucky girl.

• in wanderlust news, i have the following in mind between now and mid-September: Utah, Chicago, Chile, Peru, Burning Man, Bali. we shall see how many come to pass.

• i guess i can just come totally clean now and admit i’ve also been watching the 2010 Giro d’Italia.  i feel like there’s nothing lazier than laying in bed watching other people do sports.  the bike races intrigue me though, and there aren’t tons of really annoying commentators or guys with light pens or beer commercials.  it’s very simple: ride bike fastest.  through incredible scenery. i like that.

• dude, Paula Abdul is totally wasted. i also can’t believe what she is wearing.  who made that atrocity? and it’s like NEON fuschia too.  file under: “i was high when i got dressed”.

• i heard a punk rock version of Billy Joel’s “my life” on KALX yesterday, and it was great. i wish i had looked to see who it was, actually. on the contrary, these group sing-a-longs in Idol make me want to hurl. i can’t believe this isn’t over yet.

• Janet’s surrogate is looking good. except it sounds a lot more like Michael than Janet.

• Obama was here in SF yesterday, and even here in the “bluest city in the nation” there was a whole crowd of protesters, everyone from central valley tea partiers screaming (with good cause) about the state budget debacle to environmentalists wanting to know what Obama was doing fundraising when the entire Gulf Coast is in a state of emergency. retort: you need Dems in office to deal with oil reform. i have no idea who you need in office to fix California.

• some days i feel highly dysfunctional on a lot of levels.  today was one of those days.  this blog post is making me feel better.

• i have no investment into which one of these humans win idol.  oh, wait….well now that it’s announced i guess i was sort of rooting for the girl.

• and that is probably the most i will blog in a while.

the end.

god never speaks in his own voice

- Ezra Furman & the Harpoons , “I dreamed of Moses”
http://www.last.fm/music/Ezra%2BFurman%2B%2526%2BThe%2BHarpoons/Banging+Down+The+Doors

I dreamed of Moses
He wanted to put my hair into cornrows
I said, I thought you were born way before
Those came into fashion

He said, Don’t be silly
Your dreams never follow the chronology of history
And the purpose of dreams is still quite a mystery
Even to me

So I pulled up a lawn chair
Took of my sword and shield and I laid ‘em right down there
He braided my hair in the shade of a bare branch
Of a beautiful sycamore tree

You people are singing to me
‘Cause God never speaks in his own voice, you see
You people are singing to me
And your song says what it says

I was born for singing
At the top of my lungs over church bells ringing
And bringing confusion to those disillusioned
By fighting against the mainstream

We were born for dying
Short time to prepare for long time in the sky and
No matter what you believe you must admit
Some things are not like they seem

Continue reading »

QOTD

God gave you brains so that you could think, and it’s about time you started doing that.

–from an amazing letter written by the mother of a gay child published in a Vermont newspaper, which i highly encourage you to read (@titaniumdreads)

Filed in culture and random linkage, QOTD | Comment (0)

acknowledging the lack thereof

QOTD

This is the true joy in life: Being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one, being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

–George Bernard Shaw

through hoops

IMG_2151, originally uploaded by Antonio Gomez.

me & antonio @ HowWeird Street Faire 2010

alignment

i am.
i mean:
i know.
i think too much about it.
i do.

and all of the things….

who are you next once you’ve metamorphosed a dozen times already?

i went to yoga tonight and my mind was racing during meditation
but i think it was OK;
i thought a lot about things that make me feel good
as i twisted my body into alignment.

even the fact that it (everything) is so much harder now at 33 than it was at 23:
i had an ok reflection on that.
mostly: you can come back, baby -
rock and roll never forgets.

raincheck

i shared this last week, so maybe you’ve already read it, but it tickles me in numerous ways, perhaps because i’ve gone to bed early the last TWO friday and saturday nights, so i’m reposting it here for posterity.

Please can we not go to the party? The reason I ask is because I am not feeling very well. There’s something wrong with my head. Or my stomach. Or my arm. It’s kind of an all over body ache, the sort of thing that probably would not show up on any sort of medical exam, but which I am confident is quite contagious. To be safe, I think we should probably just stay home.

I know you are excited to go to the party. You enjoy getting dressed up and drinking good wine and making conversation with all of our friends, many of whom we have not seen for a long time. They are great people one and all. They are without exception terrific, and I am proud to consider them my friends. At the same time, I do not need to see any of them ever again.

I find that a lot of socializing is simply a way of communicating that we like each other. When we stand around the party sloshing our wine around and catching up with each other, essentially we are just saying “I like you” over and over again. All social conversation can be reduced in this way. You say, “I like you.” I respond, “I like you, too.” Then, after that person is out of earshot, we talk to other people about how much we dislike the first person.

Think about how good staying home will be for the environment…

–Michael Ian Black, for McSweeney’s

and it goes on, brilliantly.

QOTD

“…because the secret difference between winners and losers is a cool certainty that feels meant and a doubt that loses before it even begins….because the secret of lightness and speed is joy.”

–B. Hockey J., in yet another post that makes being a parent seem glorious.