w4m

Sorry I had to leave so suddenly.

I feel ridiculous doing this, but

you are very tall with dark hair and the most beautiful eyes I've seen.

Definitely THE MOST BEAUTIFUL eyes I have ever had the pleasure of staring into.

I felt like I could have gotten lost in your eyes.

I can only imagine how strong you are.

...your pants were sooo tight.

Something happened that changed things.

You should have, at that one moment, told me you loved me.

And then I left and you disappeared.

I cannot get you out of my head! You are soooo hot!

I am not sure what else to do because I fell asleep thinking about your eyes last night.

I hope to hear from you.....

don't be shy.

As many times as I blink I'll think of you!

Gold

I've been using Google music beta for a while now and it's been enjoyable, mainly because I finally have my music collection more or less consolidated into one location (although I have some issues with the UI. But that's another story).

Over a period of a few days, Google sucked my music files from my work and home computers and stored them on its magic servers. However, in the process of uploading there were a few hiccups, due (I imagine) to slight inconsistencies in file names. Usually minor things like songs being listed more than once or albums being split up into multiple parts. I've gradually discovered the mistakes in the process of listening to my music.

Today though I made a wondrous and beautiful discovery. Hoping to listen to "Sylvia Plath," one of the better Ryan Adams songs, I looked up the album it appears on, Gold. In a twist of accidental genius, Google music had combined the Ryan Adams album with the Bob Marley & the Wailers album of the same name. My initial mild annoyance gave way to delight when I realized I could listen to the album as one continuous work of disparate musical genius.

Imagine: Gold starts off with the rollicking "New York, New York," as always, then chills it down with "Stir it Up." Just as you're getting into the groove, that buzzsaw-harmonica from "Firecracker" lights you up again. It's a giddily jarring experience. Another particularly great transition is from "Get Up, Stand Up" to "La Cienega Just Smiled."

Unfortunately, both Golds are far too long and rambling, and when combined they result in an album that will take up half your afternoon. I admit I couldn't make it through the whole thing. But I'll leave you with the final three tracks of the album*. If you don't know the songs, look them up and listen to them in this order, and enjoy your state of bliss.

16(a). "Exodus"

16(b). "Goodnight, Hollywod Blvd"

17. "Jammin'"

*Okay, technically these are the final three tracks of the first disc of the album. I understand that the Bob Marley Gold has a second disc. And I also understand that there is a second bonus disc for the Ryan Adams one. But in my hypothetical universe, only the first discs from each album will be utilized to create the ultimate Gold.

Down & Out

It's late June 2011 in Chicago, which means it's 64 degrees and cloudy outside.

My goal this summer is to read three George Orwell books. Up until about a month ago I had only read Keep the Aspidistra Flying, which I loved, and Animal Farm, which was just about exactly what I expected - neither here nor there, and perhaps more culturally relevant as a symbol than as a work of literature.

I've heard great things about Orwell the nonfiction writer, so a few weeks ago I began Down and Out in Paris and London. After finishing it last night, I have mixed feelings. Orwell as a writer is impressive and does a particularly good job of removing traces of his ego from the book while simultaneously managing to make a few cutting observations and recommendations about the problem of the underclass. And when he does decide to make indictments on society, his words cut right to the point and still appear startlingly relevant even today, 80 years later and across the Atlantic. My problem with the book is that there are too few of these moments. Much of the book is simple narrative, detailing the events of workhouses and the squalid hotel kitchens of Paris. Perhaps to an upper-class Londoner reading in the 1930s the details would elicit shock, but as a desensitized 21st century reader, even disgusting set pieces like overflowing chamber pots seem run-of-the-mill.

My next Orwell book will be Homage to Catalonia, which I'll start right after I finish the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy.

Fun Fact: I only recently learned that Orwell's given name was Eric Blair. I went to school back in Ninety Six with a kid named Eric Blair, a kid who never struck me as even remotely literary. Eric, if you ever read this, please tell me you were aware of your namesake back in first grade and only acted the fool in other to rebel against your parents' wishes that you live up to your moniker.

There Are Some Things We Can All Agree On

When I was a kid, I loved dinosaurs. I think maybe I've blogged or written about it somewhere before. Anyway, dinosaurs were like the chief driving force in my life for several years, like when I was about age 4 to 10 or so. Going to see Jurassic Park in a theater was a religious experience for me.

I grew up in a Southern Baptist church. My mom always got this magazine called Home Life, which was about preserving the sanctity of the Christian Home or something like that. On several occasions mom would save articles from Home Life to show me, and on at least one occasion, these articles were about dinosaurs. Apparently there is some disagreement between theologians and scientists as to when dinosaurs actually lived and became extinct. There are many (or at least some) Christian-type folks who believe that dinosaurs walked the Earth when people did, and that there are instances in the Bible where dinosaurs appear. For example, they point to books like Job 41, which talks about a "leviathan" whose "back has rows of shields tightly sealed together," which I don't know about you but that sounds an awful lot like a dinosaur to me. The whole reason for this dinosaur theory, I believe, is to discredit carbon dating and "prove" that God exists, as if somehow proving the world is only 6,000 years old would confirm it was divinely wrought.

Of course, scientists disagree, explaining that, based on clear fossil evidence, dinosaurs died out millions of years ago, well before homo sapiens appeared. Leave it to the heathen scientists to put a stop to our fun.

So anyway, the point: there is one thing that I know scientists and Christians can agree on. I know they agree on this because every person I have ever talked to about this matter has agreed. What is it that we all agree on?

Dinosaurs are fucking awesome.

Regardless of when dinosaurs might have existed, we can all agree that dinosaurs are epic, and we can at least have a rad discussion about who would win a fight between a stegosaurus and a triceratops. In the end, it doesn't matter so much whether God made dinosaurs or dinosaurs made themselves.

Edit: fixed typos, expanded 2nd & last paragraphs, and added awesome Dinotopia picture.

Is this real life?

There is a certain female student, JM, who I have this year in my class again. She is now a senior and the class she's in now is more or less a study hall with other seniors that is meant to provide them with an opportunity to work.

Last year, she was one of my worst students. She had a bad attitude, would always try and talk back to me, and would pretty much attempt to do whatever she wanted to do. It's not that she wasn't smart. She was one of the smarter students I had, and this was what made things difficult. JM would turn other students against me, and sour the mood of the whole class.

This year she's completely different. She is one of my best students. JM will actually quiet the class down if they are being loud. Today she came up to me and showed her progress report because she was proud of her GPA. This girl is nice to me. I am almost afraid of her because I expect her to turn on me at any minute (almost).

I haven't really done anything to warrant this change in her attitude other than to be relentlessly nice. I have helped her out with papers and showed her tricks on the computer. Really, I've always liked her in a way, as I do most students, and I enjoy seeing them succeed.

Today, JM invited me to come to her debate event this Saturday. I can't overstress how much this girl's attitude towards me has changed. I used to think she literally hated me; now I'm beginning to think she may actually like me.

Is this what it's like to parent a teenager?

Why Do People Read?

1. to get out of the real world

2. to learn about the way people or animals act

3. to enjoy using their mind

Mirrors

Last night I dreamt I was in a house with a girl that kept morphing identities (Which is not unusual in my dreams. It's probably the same for you). We were standing together and looking into a mirror. When we looked at the mirror from just the right angle, we caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a zombie-girl and I was filled with fear. This happened several times in the dream, and then the third time we looked into the mirror we saw what appeared to be a hipster owl (see picture).

I left the room and went into another bedroom, where my mom presented me with a wooden carving of another hipster owl. She told me she'd found it within the curtains that covered her room's window.

Immediately I woke up, terrified. It's been some time since a dream frightened me so badly it woke me up. My vision settled on the mirror that hangs on the inside of my bedroom door. I could see the reflection of my curtains and the light from the alleyway outside my window. Against all logic, I was afraid.