11.30.2005

Live

mind is awash with swirling thoughts. things i should be doing going undone again. life skips. ups and downs all the time. where do i find meaning? in a film essay? a broadcast package? a note on my guitar? search for a way to make sense of this senselessness.

hold out for a few more days. push the quietly rising fear back down. find solace in the silence.

pay the rent. eat the food. sleep.

live.

11.29.2005

Ernie Balls Rock My World

get your mind out of the gutter, sickos...they are guitar strings. i finally mustered up enough courage to twiddle around with sera and replace her strings. now it's like my fingertips are pressing down onto soft, fluffy clouds. it truly is heavenly. anyway, just thought i'd throw that out there and maybe a picture as well.




Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!

so i'm sitting at the train station with my mom in the car, waiting for my train back to los angeles and listening to the radio when i realized something. the monster truck rally voice is good for advertising certain things, such as say, a monster truck rally. however, when used in conjunction with other products...well, let's just say it doesn't work so well. the liquor barn in clovis, which in itself is an interesting way to go, put together a little radio advertisement that went a little something like this, imagining, of course, that this is all in that loud, deep and tough demolition derby voice: 'buy your spirits at the liquor barn. we have vodka, bourbon, whisky, scotch.' now, i was okay with it up to this point, because, these are "hard" liquors, so i suppose they deserve a "hard" voiceover. but then i hear: 'we have cabernet, sauvignon blanc and merlot. come satisfy all your liquor needs at the liquor barn in clovis.' maybe we differ on this subject, but to me wine isn't the sort of "grab you by the balls and kick your teeth in" alcohol like perhaps a bottle of whiskey.





"buy some goddamn pinot...

...i fuckin' dare ya!"




it appears these next few weeks may be a little hectic to say the least. we'll see how much time i can manage to waste by posting on this blog.

11.22.2005

Ereiam J.H.

if you haven't seen the movie brazil, do so now.

maqsigkmm...if you can figure that out, all power to you because now you know one of my darkest secrets.

i may have landed a summer internship at the los angeles times. i'm definitely in the running for a fact checking position with the magazine section. even if i don't get it, just the fact that my professor, who works at the times, asked me to apply is great. sorry, i'm going to gloat for a few minutes...

11.21.2005

Memory

so i was thinking, while i was watching eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, not lost in translation like i said in my last blog, about memory and all that. i realized that there are so many memories about little things that i forget. it could be a simple memory like riding my bike to class one day and noticing how the sky was a certain shade of gray. anyway, i decided to make a memory that i would remember forever...or at least try to. i'm going to sit here for fifteen minutes and just think about writing this post. i'm thinking that if i sit here and concentrate on it hard enough, hopefully i can remember how i feel at this moment when i'm seventy or something like that. so if you want, just sit there for fifteen minutes after you read this post, so one day, when we are old and gray, we can talk about this moment in our lives that we both remember.

11.20.2005

Reggie Won the Heisman Last Night

i think it is safe to say that the people in charge of scheduling football games here at usc won't be inviting fresno state back for another round in the coliseum for quite some time. my voice is nonexistent today thanks to the chaos that was last night's game. reggie bush single-handedly carried the team to victory in a battle that was marked by so many ups and downs that left me hoarse and barely able to stumble home in exhaustion.

well, since i don't have much else to say, i'm going to get drunk and watch lost in translation. yes, on a sunday. don't judge me.

11.18.2005

Behold! My First Post That Starts With a "B"

i stayed up until five in the morning finishing those articles. actually, i finished two and was halfway through the third when i decided to collapse and sleep off the aftereffects of seven cups of coffee. then i revived myself at eleven to finish the bad boy off. a thoroughly productive night.

if my neighbor turns up dead, i'm going to to know who did it. i just walked by the apartment next to mine on the way back from the laundry room (i am in desperate need of clean socks and underwear) and i heard language that would make ozzy osbourne blush. and it was audible through the door. and our apartments have some pretty thick doors.

i have a good feeling about this weekend. i don't know why, i just do. alright, back to folding.

11.17.2005

It's a Be-a-u-tiful Morning

i started my homework at 12:41 a.m. or is that p.m. i can never figure out the whole 12:00 situation, whether it is morning or afternoon. whatever, you know what i mean. i just finished, and it is officially 1:06. not the most rigorous night of bookwork ever. but hey, i'm still cranking out a nice post for you guys here.

okay, let me tell you about the joke that is my online journalism production class. no offense to the professors who teach these classes...somehow i doubt news of my disapproving post on the subject will reach them...but mine is the most worthless two hours a week i have ever spent. not to mention it happens to fall at 8 o'clock in the morning. i really have to give it up for classes in which i spend more time looking at my email and facebook than at the professor. i learned this kind of stuff back when i was five and my mom brought our first computer home. we had to start it up the old fashioned way, from ms-dos. these young kids these days don't know how easy they have it. anyway, that's a topic for another day. so, we are learning about how to edit photos in photo shop and execute simple html commands like making text bold or underlined. the sad thing is...a lot of people in my class are having a tough go of it. there really should be a competency exam that we can take on the first day, and if we pass we don't have to go to any more classes and we get an automatic a+.

ever
since i learned how to put pictures up on this thing, i've gone a little crazy with it. so here is something to stare at and a little quotage to tickle the noggin.

btw, i believe this is a potato carved to resemble a two-piece bathing suit...correct me if i'm wrong. the french phrase underneath the photo translates to 'not here.'

quote: "an idealist is one who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup." -H. L. Mencken

11.16.2005

I Had a Great Idea, But I Forgot It

i got an extension on my three articles and found out i'm actually getting paid for them, so give me a 'booyah' for that. i still haven't finished one of them yet, so give me a Debbie Downer 'wah wah wah' for that.

i swear i had something really meaningful to write in this post. i remember sitting in my modernist film discussion section last night thinking about this great idea i had for a post. well, you are just going to have to settle for my usual shallow drivel.

i don't really care about the old guys and the nakedness in the locker room thing. all i want to know is why they somehow manage to gather in front of my locker every time i come in from the pool. always trying to bend down far enough to pull their baggy underwear over their feet. it's not like my locker is a buffet-style restaurant or a window with a view of a duck pond.

- "my word, ethel, i could sit here all day if
we weren't going to hometown buffet later."

11.15.2005

And You Think It's Just a Game

i've realized that while i would be upset about any loss our football team suffers, the last team i want to beat us is fresno state. that would undoubtedly unleash a fury of cacophonic phone calls from fresno residents who were formerly known as my friends and colleagues. you can be sure that riots would ensue as the red wave tried to charge the field, which, as we all know, is guarded by the highly professional los angeles police department. i'm sure there are few moments of sheer bliss in the life of a cop more enjoyable than a couple of free shots with the blunt end of a nightstick to the cranium of a smart-ass college student. then these beaten, bruised and now truly "red" wavers would return to the peace and quiet of fresno with tales of violence and degradation from the heart of south central. it may be worthy to point out at this moment a few incidents involving the student section in bulldog stadium, which coincidentally is located directly behind the visiting team's bench. i believe one of them involved the use of a phillips head screwdriver as an aerial projectile. yet we can all be assured that hypocrisy runs rampant among most football fanatics. the violence experienced at the coliseum in the event of a bulldog victory would not be described as an isolated incident like the airborne implement of former mention, but rather a series of brutal, premeditated malefactions emblematic of a community deep in the throes of savagery. just for the sheer protection of our image as a peaceful populace, we must crush this wave of red that threatens to blanket us with claims of debauchery. so fight on, noble trojans. our societal esteem rests in your hands.

How You Gonna Keep Me Down on the Farm?

well, i got a nice little tour of the l.a. times courtesy of my copy editing professor. yea, i'm definitely working there. it's going to happen. they have two weight rooms, a basketball court and a sound-proofed music practice room. they have a test kitchen in which they try out all their recipes for the food section...and then they give out the food to the employees. i might mention that they've done wine and whisky tasting in the past. i think i may be able to live in that building and never come out again.

i'm well on my way to collecting the complete
happy hollisters series. i loved those books as a kid and i'm glad i'll be able to have them for mine, if that ever ends up happening.

three more weeks of this madness and i'll be in relaxation mode for quite some time.


11.13.2005

My Head Hurts (Not From Drinking)

yea, so i have a head cold with some nice chills and an overall aching body. perfect time for me to feel so weak i can barely type these letters. it just shows my commitment to you guys. so we did good against cal and i'm ready for the red wave to come to los angeles. it shall be a good time. it feels like this semester is going by really quickly, but somehow the end still seems so far away. i just want to finish these three articles, my film paper and my last broadcast package and go home and sleep for a year.

sorry i wasn't much fun this weekend, girls. i'll be back with a vengeance next time around. but now i can hear my eyelids slamming shut. woosh, bang. woosh, bang. enjoy this hot picture while i try to recover...


11.11.2005

What Have I Gotten Myself Into?

i have three 500-1,000 word stories to write for early next week. and i offered to do them. i don't even need to do them. sometimes i astonish myself. unbelievable.

santa monica tonight!

11.10.2005

Ruminations

life is funny.

I Thought Halloween Was Over

holy hell. did anyone else see nicole richie on jay leno tonight? unbelievable. i can't even describe it, i'm going to have to show you:

nicole
before

nicole
now

when did she drop everything but her skin? i couldn't watch it anymore, it was like watching one of those documentaries on some impoverished country with images of deathly thin natives.

11.09.2005

I Have This Idea For a Post...It's About Nothing

ahh, the classic days of seinfeld, where have they gone? now those ancient memories rest in faded glory, brought out only for an hour or so on tbs.

sometimes i wonder what would happen if i just didn't try at all. it seems like things keep falling into my lap. here is the story for all you confused little readers of mine: ten hours ago i was in the deepest pit of despair and discouragement over the progress of my broadcast journalism project. the assignment was to basically create a 1:45 minute news package like any you might see on television news. at this point, i had horrible b-roll, no interviews, no standup and a weak, faltering script. ten hours ago. and then the clouds rolled in and unleashed a steady drizzle on my day. luckily, that wasn't a metaphor for the situation i found myself in, but just the weather here in "sunny" los angeles. somehow i managed to pull together a couple of interviews, shoot my standup, revise and tighten my script and edit the whole piece together with hours to spare.

i spent those few hours watching seinfeld. the one where the whole episode is in reverse and you see the story unfold backwards. yea, that one where they go to india for that wedding and that guy wishes that kramer would drop dead. and we see the faults inherent in elaine's "vault of secrets." vault faults you might say.

and now for a completely nothing thought: "I believe I know how to synergize exponentially. I simply have to recontextualize vertically rather than to benchmark intuitively."

here's hoping your life is as stressfree as mine is at this moment.

11.06.2005

We're Up! Weak! Set!

man, it was a good weekend of waterpolo here at USC. saturday we played #3 stanford and pulled out an 8-7 overtime win. that was a great battle. then sunday we played #5 pepperdine and took off to an early 5-1 at half and won it easily.

watching the trojans play against pepperdine was like watching a well-oiled machine at work. everything was smooth and the plays were run to perfection. i could see how every movement contributed to the possession. it was excellent. and zatovic once again dominated the pool.

it was the opposite for the pepperdine team. they didn't seem to have a lot of direction on their offensive possessions. the ball wasn't moving around much and they didn't seem to have their head in the game. i felt their resident olympian, jesse smith, was more than disappointing. he scored a few goals on nice one-on-one plays, but he didn't lead the team like i expected him to, like ormsby did for ucla or azevedo for stanford when the trojans played them in the past.

smith was majored in the third quarter and what followed was a display of immaturity and selfishness. he walked away from the pool and out of my sight. the ref had to pause the game so the pepperdine coach could go get him and bring him back to the bench. then he sat there looking all huffy and pissed off while his team struggled on. during timeouts and the final break before the fourth quarter, he remained on the bench while his team gathered around the coach. it was such a display of childishness. i couldn't believe it. he is supposed to be a national team member and he was acting like a spoiled child. i understand that a few calls didn't go the way he wanted, but i felt he was acting like he was too big for the game and the refs. it was just disappointing to watch one of the supposed leaders of united states waterpolo act that way.

quote: "I still believe that peace and plenty and happiness can be worked out some way. I am a fool." -Kurt Vonnegut, Jailbird

11.04.2005

Just Another Old Guy

i don't see why people are getting so bent out of shape over what bill cosby has been saying on his little speaking tour. it's what old people from a different generation do. so he thinks black kids don't talk right and they are wasting the freedom that his generation fought so hard for during the civil rights movement of the 60s. i'm sure many of his ideas are valid and many of them are a complete crock. who cares if he thinks naming your kid keyjuan or shaniqua is bad.

it's what old people do. they bitch and complain about society falling apart with these new generations of crazy kids. what do you think older people were saying when he was doing standup in the 70s and movies like uptown saturday night? sure, i'll grant you that he's getting more attention because of his status in society. i'm sure if he were just some guy off the street no one would even pay him any attention. and so what if he wants to critique society, and specifically the culture that he stems from? would we care this much if james caan spoke out against punk rockers and how their dark clothing and unkempt hair was a negative influence on society? give me a break.

it's sad to think that when someone like bill cosby speaks out against some ills that he sees in society, we shoot him down for being a cynical critic. now i'm not advocating or denying anything that he says, i'm just saying it's stupid to get so worked up about this whole thing. if there is something to get worked up about, it should be something like this or this. i could write a whole book on that last one. these people scare the shit out of me.

11.03.2005

Stop the World, I Want to Get Off

this is going to be a fun couple of days. i have an OJR article due by around noon, a french test and a huge broadcast package to put together for next week. as much as i love the core (sarcasm, people) i could really do without the broadcast background. just not my thing. this OJR article should be pretty easy though. i basically have all the pieces, i just need to put them together.

i don't know if any of you few readers caught this little gem of reality television, but i had the unfortunate opportunity to watch trading spouses or wife swap or whatever that show fox has on where the switch the mothers of two families. i really suggest you look it up. actually, just go here and watch the video (sorry if they took it down already, i don't have the time or motivation to make sure all my links are still live). it makes me realize how glad i am to have grown up with such a great family. and i used to think my ex-girlfriend's mom was bad. and it scares me that there are people out there like her. and it scares me even more that there are enough of them to elect a president like the one we have right now. (shudder).

it seems like i always let work pile up until it looms over me and i feel that panic of an approaching deadline. that's the only time i can do quality work. i guess that bodes well for my career choice. i'd make a terrible author. must have pressure. and i somehow manage to not let it stress me out. incredible.