I wonder how many of those people had families with children or babies? Let's kill a bunch of fathers who are also sons. Not only is it morally justifiable, but it won't have any far-reaching repercussions.
"The Falcon is a stop-animation/steampunk film that takes place on an old wooden photo album and is entirely composed of macro-photographed hardware pieces from vintage, antique cameras that have been carefully disassembled, for that true analog experience in pure 100% digital Shamptonian definition. The film features music from ESL Music ESL artist Thunderball, with sound design by Bret Johnson. From A.gfa to Z.eiss, and whatever your format, The Falcon has a perspective for everyone."
This..is actually a cool way to go after dying to me for some reason.
I saw my goby today! He seems to be doing well, though he has decided never to leave the cover of the driftwood. I also saw my everglades pygmy sunfish.
I am kind of in love with Regina Spektor's song "Blue Lips". Every Day Saturday Morning is the blog of an abortion clinic escort. These people tolerate everything from verbal abuse to actual violence in order to protect women in what is usually already a horrible and harrowing time.
I want a Chapman Stick now. What is a Chapman stick?
An interesting article from Wired about scarcity vrs abundance planning.
"This is the power of waste. When scarce resources become abundant, smart people treat them differently, exploiting them rather than conserving them. It feels wrong, but done right it can change the world."
"The way to get from what the mathematicians call a local maximum to the global maximum is to explore a lot of fruitless minima along the way. It's wasteful, in a sense, but it can pay off in the end."
This feels like the correct way to treat waste vrs. what some American consumers has been doing. Of course, this would also require constantly monitoring trends and identifying the correct variables, though in any marketing projections the ability to model is kind of just a little bit central. What about perhaps literally applying these principals to trash?
Boing Boing columnist Cory Doctorow wrote a column. I find it interesting that he mentions the fact that conspiracy theories are "pure gold for science fiction writers". Both conspiracy theorists and sci fi authors have the task of taking a fictional premise and making it sound convincingly real. The only true difference is the heading both are sold under. In fact, L. Ron Hubbard blurs this line significantly, though his creation is under the more general heading of religion. The implication of this column is that ideas are the true genius in the world today. I disagree, as I think the fact that people have created so many DIY inventions is a testament to ingenuity on their parts. It's not necessarily some simple thing to create a fictional invention. Quite simply, it just shows that there are a lot of mechanically gifted people out there, but that is no reason to knock the talent. This also makes me feel like building something, but I have work to do. When I was a kid, I loved Star Wars. I didn't talk about the movies to my friends or engage in any fan activity besides imagining myself as a Jedi(don't you dare comment), but the concept of a universal "force" and the notion of peace through control were both extremely appealing to me. My dad and I had frank discussions about Buddhism, which I had only known about marginally before, and the rest is history. A lot of discussion can be had comparing East and West literature/theology and the societies that produced them.
But this is not what I am going to talk about.
During this period I suddenly acquired a taste for tunics. A recent article in io9 which I am too lazy to find discussed how fashion has started borrowing from science fiction. Thanks to recent shifts in fashion it is now becoming easier and easier to dress like a Jedi or Cyber Goth without having everyone around you suddenly converge into a mob of beating-the-passerby. How long before we start actually looking like a mashup of science fiction characters?
I've always wanted to wear a cloak because I read one too many fantasy novels as a kid. The problem with cloaks is that since the invention of the jacket, they are much less functionally useful. That has never stopped fashion, though. Cloaks are awesome. Imagine one with a ton of useless contemporary buckles. Don't add any fake pockets, though, because those enrage me.
Of course, I'll most likely stick to my "uniform" of khaki pants and wifebeaters/tshirts. But still, you should listen to me fashion industry!
I'm thinking about moving this blog to either Wordpress or Tumblr. Put simply, Blogger is not as good as Livejournal when I used to use it three years ago. I had a blog for a short span of time on Wordpress and was very happy with the site; I still have to check out Tumblr. My only concern is losing readership, though I don't think it would be difficult to click a link. Tumblr strikes me as more of a Twitter with pictures.
Paul Duffeild wrote an article on how the illustration of comics is done. Every time I see one of these I am amazed and impressed. I am so impatient when it comes to drawing that after a few hours I get tired and leave the piece to sketch out a new one, though things like this inspire me to expand my artistic talents.
It would be awesome if a comic with a plot was done purely with photographs.
The new Disney World President-Bots are too lifelike! It scares me.
Warren Ellis suggested that 3G IPhone users need a sticker saying "IT'S OK: I'M DOING SCIENCE". I think I need a shirt that says that.
He also linked to this song, which if you like electronic music and theramins you need to go listen to right now. I really enjoyed it, though I think the trumpets need more practice. I am having a hard time turning this album off. IT IS SO GOOD. It is rare that I like music so much!
In a way it's strange that the people who create things like this are just normal people with a passion and talent. It almost seems as though it would make more sense if for a moment Orpheus came down and possessed them. I genuinely believe that we all of a place like this locked inside of ourselves, a personal Oprheus waiting to come out and connect us to that higher place of euphoria. I've never visited the Salton Sea but I want to.
"I thought, I wrote, I conquered" -Me, thinking about a slightly pretentious hypothetical situation
Amanda Palmer is at the Troubador on Thursday! Tickets are only $20.
Oh my God, this exists. Is it an actual organization or a home for Stepford Wives? On one hand, the list of recent events
"Many of our projects and special events offer leadership positions and challenging opportunities. Some of our most recent projects include our Blood Drive, our Annual Benefit Dinner, Dances, Christmas on Third Avenue Event, Spring Brunch Card Party, La Cadena Fashion Show, Table Setting Contest, and Tea Parties."
suggests the latter, but Amanda is performing for them, which suggests the former. Will I go to the show? Uh, maybe.
Apparently I have an allergy to something? What I thought was pink eye was diagnosed to be irritation. What do I have an allergy to? I had to go and buy eye drops.
I spent a lot of time reading The Customer is Not Always Right today, thanks to Tedrick. The anecdotes are hilarious! Here is a sample from the first page:
"
Me: “Hello, I’m calling about a bill your [credit card] that you haven’t paid in two months.”
Customer: “I don’t even have this card.”
Me: “Well, is this your address?” *asks address*
Customer: “Yes.”
Me: “And is this your correct phone number?” *asks phone number*
Customer: “Yes.”
Me: “May I verify the last four digits of your social?”
Customer: “Yes, it’s ****.”
Me: “Okay, that’s what we have. Were your last charges at [dentist] and with your phone company on [date]?”
Customer: “Why, yes, I did go there on those dates.”
Me: “So, you used this card.”
Customer: “No, I cut up this card. I don’t have it anymore.”
Me: “Well, the account is still open and you’re still responsible for the money you owe.”
Customer: “No, I cut up the card! I don’t owe anything!”
Me: “You have a balance of $2000 on the card. Even when you cut the card up, you still owe what you spent.”
Customer: “Really?!” "
Image credit: JUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images. The girl is a sex worker in South Korea, but the image and women herself are so delicatley lovely and thought-provoking that I had to post them here.
I like this article because the physicist featured works at UCSD. Also, it gives me a headache when I think about my future in research.
Scubatube.org is a Youtube-like site dedicated to Scuba videos. Dnatube.com is a Youtube-like site dedicated to scientific videos. I forsee time-wasting in my future. Or would it really be time wasting? Ah, the existential questions.
Tiny Master of Tomorrow have a sound very comparable to Karen O's. And I support them because at 13 and 15 who didn't want to magically learn to play guitar, write about all the schmucking around you and then get complemented by David Bowie? Then again, I didn't know who David Bowie was. Another thanks goes out to the Chrisman for that one.
Mom found my blog and read it a bunch while procrastinating. Thankfully, I'm pretty sure that she doesn't know the URL.
On Jezebel, some people were discussing how much they hated Avril Lavigne's(sp?) video for her song "Girlfriend". I won't bother embedding it because the song is horrible and nobody here would most likely view the it anyways. I'm talking about it because I watched the video yesterday and it's still bothering me today. Basically, the song begins:
"I don't like your girlfriend I think you need a new one I could be your girlfriend..."
Profound, eh? But Avril is so very cruel throughout the entire video to the other girl. We see nothing particularly wrong with the girlfriend besides the fact that she's dressed preppily. She's nice to her boyfriend and has a wardrobe that deliberately makes her less pretty than Avril in the video, who's dressed like an average high school punk. Throughout the video, Avril is dancing against the guy, takes off his jacket, and finally pushes him into a bathroom stall. Avril also knocks his girlfriend on the head with a ball on a miniature golf course, which makes her fall into a pool of water. Seriously, if a guy still likes you after you do that to his girlfriend or almost anyone, he is probably kind of a douche. Also, the fact that he sort of encourages Avril's attentions while still being with his girlfriend? Douche.
Some people have problems with the word "homewrecker". For me, it depends on the circumstances. If a guy or a girl pursues someone who's in a relationship, he or she is one. Seriously, if the guy is a decent guy or the girl is a decent girl he or she would break up with his or her SO before getting together with you. If you're being selfish it may suck more than the alternative, but it's the right thing to do if you're trying to be monogamous. If you don't want to be monogamous, don't be in a monogamous relationship. Sometimes things just happen, though, and the other person turns out to be a much better match. I don't think there is any reason to shame anyone in that case. It kind of sucks for everyone involved.
If either you or your loved ones have to go through the heartbreak of a late abortion or you want to show an acquaintance the stark reality of the procedure or see it for yourself, visit the website "A Heartbreaking Choice". And believe me, the stories will completely break your heart.
I like this song, which is vaguely reminiscent of what would happen if you mixed Bjork and Delerium together and drugged the singer.
This song sounds has the same sort of energy and beat that VNV nation likes to utilize, though it's a bunch of women chanting. I've just come to realize that I have a pretty out-there taste in music. What do these guys and The Rolling Stones have in common?
PS I found out recently I really like The Rolling Stones.
This is in-between Siouxe and the Banshees and Bauhaus. Though the video made me crack up because it's so old school.
I have to check out all of these bands more.
Flight of the Conchords: "Bowie in Space"
"Receiving transmission from Bowie's nipple antennae."
You know what I've noticed? Usually the people who claim that nerds secretly long to be included in the popular crowd are not nerds. Sure, these wannabe-peoples may exist, but most "nerds" are pretty damn happy the way they are.
Another song by a pop queen that I grudgingly like is Katy Perry's "Hot n' cold", though I only like it when it's paired with the video. I dislike Kathy Perry herself because she sang that song "I Kissed a Girl and I Liked it". Nothing better than slutty faux lesbianism! A lot of actual lesbians dislike the song as it perpetuates the stereotype that lesbians are actually girls you have threesomes with.
Apparently some girls do legitimately PMS. We learn new things....
I slept most of today since my medication backfired on me. Next week is finals week.
Another thing that I want to do over summer vacation is screen or block printing.
As you all know, I read Jezebel. While I do not agree with/am not interested in everything on the site, it can certainly be intelligent and sensitive to cultural issues. I like, for example, that it recognizes that many of the "scientific" tests geared towards proving "all women like muscular men" and similar conclusions generally contain a set of females encultured the same way, meaning that a general theory cannot be formulated from their results. What's strange, though, is what happens when discussions on the site turn to issues involving weight and its portrayal in the media.
I am a size zero. Don't ask me why they named that size the way they did, because I do not know. The reason I am a size zero is predominantly genetics, though I also didn't eat a lot of candy (or really anything) as a child. I certainly didn't give myself my metabolism, though.
Every day I read about how unrealistic my body size is. Now, I am not in favor of marketing size zero as an ideal which everybody should aspire to fit, and in fact agree that this is a dangerous thing to do. I think that there are plenty of different body types and every single one should be represented as long as the individual is healthy, as I've stated before on this blog. I've met girls skinnier than I am who complained about needing to loose weight, which scares me.
But it's also completely unfair to represent small people as unrealistic, because I exist, surprise! I am not a skinny weight-obsessed b*tch who spends her time putting others down. Also, clothing sizes keep getting bigger in an effort to play into people's insecurities with their bodies. The fashion industry markets to skinny people, but does not like to manufacturer clothing which they can actually wear.
We interrupt this rant: "You make light of algebra now, but when you're all grown up and your friends are making logarithm jokes at cocktail parties, you won't have a clue as to what everybody's laughing at."- Mr. Dewey
This is my life, except I am in on the joke. Oh my. Also, I never watched those shows.
Anyways, it seems like a cultural assumption that I wield some sort of power from being skinny. Yes, I was born in the right place at the right time in terms of fashion, but I didn't create the zeitgeist. So when we talk about the recognition of "real women's bodies", could we include me, instead of banishing my body type to fashion shows, anorexics, bulimics, and freaks?*
Today I had lunch with Anthony and met his friend. Anthony then proceeded to give half his house away to me and the other half to his friend. I am touched by his generosity, and am sad that he's doing this because he's going back to Rio. *Anorexics and bulimics aren't freaks.
For me, personal space is a necessity. I am one of those people who may appear messy, but are actually very organized. I have a folder with my medical records, household manuals, etc sorted into neat files and my shirts are all organized according to type. There just are a bunch of books on the floor and I tend to not hang up my clothes right away.
I've learned to let go of certain things. When we first moved into our house in Winnetka I started stealing books from downstairs and buying others, all of which accumulated in stacks along the side of the wall. My parents finally decided to buy me a bookcase, so I organized the non-fiction books by topic and the fiction books by date published. The fiction books took a very long time to sort, probably four or five hours at the least, and I could never keep their order straight(though when my mom used to throw books back on the shelves it resulted in several screaming matches). I now know the general area where a book is supposed to be and the structure is too much to keep track of, so I've stopped being as exacting about it. The same thing happened with my stuffed animals. I know you're mocking me now, but I will take your mental words with a quiet dignity. Wait, I already used that joke recently. I'm cornered! The moral of the story is to not use a system that requires being more organized than you wish to be.
I tend to create a "nest" where I spend most of my time. Why do I call it a nest? Usually it is in a narrow space on the floor that rapidly accumulates books, artwork, and various other random papers. I tend to have another "nest" on a couch. These two places are where I spend 95% of my time at home. No nest of mine has ever been on a desk. I don't use desks, and I don't particularly understand why, though the big black chair next to mine tends to make me fall asleep. I like the floor.
Flight of the Conchords-"What is Wrong with the World Today"
"There's people on the street getting diseases from monkeys Yeah that's what I said, their getting diseases from monkeys Whys this happening, please, whose been touching these monkeys Leave these poor sick monkeys alone There sick, they've got problems enough as it is"
I stopped by the Betta section today in Petsmart. There was a purple boy, a color I have never seen before in real life on a Betta. After finals I'm going to clean out the three gallon and put a Betta in it or something. Also, part of my dream last night involved choosing between a water dragon and a friendly salamander, but I decided to buy these small fish living in a "sustainable environment" they would obviously be dead in a week from.
Chris and I would always stop by the Bettas together in Petsmart. I would look at them and he would go "lo-ove", as if I was going to buy one, and I would get angry with him because I thought he thought I lacked the self control to keep myself from getting one. Why can't it be "I love you, you love me" instead of "I love you, you love me, but we're really not right for each other so no amount of trying is ever going to make this work"?
We tried, we really did, and now it's time to try with other people. Or lock ourselves up in seclusion, which is what my preference is for the moment.
I feel sort of strange for liking the following two songs. The first is "So What" by Pink, which I've mentioned here before. It's extremely catchy, and Pink uses it as an opportunity to sing her heart(break) out. I can't embed the video, so click here to listen. While I've never particularly been a fan of Pink's music, she seems like a genuine enough musician, whatever that means. I don't have anything against her.
The second song, Jai ho, is more complicated. While I loved "Slumdog Millionaire", this song is a feat with The Pussycat Dolls. I hate this group because instead of actually making good music, they writhe around on stage going "Don't you wish your girlfriend was a skank like me?"*
*not the actual lyrics
And no, I'm not jealous of them. If I thought being a skank was cool, I'd be a skank. And if your boyfriend would leave you for a skank, dump him and re-evaluate your priorities. Unless...that makes you happy(?!).
So anyways, while the singer gyrates around, the voice synthesizer she's singing into makes her voice decent and this was obviously not arranged by them. And I like this song. Again, I can't embed the video directly, so here you go.
The above photograph does not reflect how I feel in any way. I just thought it was very evocative. Photocredit: ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images
I'm still drifting between denial and reality at the moment. I wrote a lot of this entry yesterday before the breakup and want to publish the content.
I was invited to an "erotic party" over Facebook, which is a first. No, I'm not going, just noting this because of amusement.
The top three mistakes in my writing are: 1.) Forgetting words. I'm not quite sure why this happens, though I suspect that it's because my mind thinks faster than my fingers can type. 2.) Extraneous commas 3)Repeating words.
"The real question was why no one ever seemed to figure this grim scenario out on her own, just by looking at you. This was enraging in and of itself - the fact that severe depression, much as it might be treated as an illness, didn't send out clear signals for others to pick up on; it did its deadly dismantling work under cover of normalcy. The psychological pain was agonizing, but there was no way of proving it, no bleeding wounds to point to." -Daphne Merkin
Depression is a disease that our culture fails to recognize. Bringing in a note about being sick from stomach flu will help people excuse a lapse in productivity but equivalently crippling mental issues will inspire no sympathy from many. This is not an overall rule, as I've actually encountered many sympathetic and kind people, but there is still a feeling of judgment which encourages silence rather than reaching out for help. Therapy is seen as either for the weak or shallow and pills a part of our feel-good culture. Are there some people who will prescribe medication without a second thought and therapists who are ineffectual? Absolutely, but this overall stereotype of the psychological and psychiatric professions is horribly detrimental to those in need of help. Mental illness is not a choice and those affected can still be sane, competent and smart people, as I would like to consider myself to be. I still blame myself for things I did under the influence of this disease, although for me it actually is easier to accept blame in some ways than to admit that it is something which I can't or couldn't control. Therein lies another problem, as the line between the disease and the patient can be difficult for the patient themselves to recognize, let alone others. This fact only beneficial to disease out of all those involved.
After reading this Wikipedia article on Francis Bacon I am wondering what a movie about his life would be like. Also, I wonder what regular names in our day will go on to become swear words, food items, or some other oddity.
