low

It's been a while since I posted.

The job hunt has not been going well. All I've been able to come up with is a job at the airp0rt, selling CDs. The pay isn't great and the hours suck. And while all of my friends are going home for the holidays and taking trips to the beach, I'm stuck here working on both Christmas Eve and Day. It's quite depressing.

So everybody have fun for me on your holidays, will ya?

Sometimes what seemed like the easy road turns out to be the hardest road, and you long for that other fork, the one where the potential seemed frightening and wrought with hard work, but endless. Maybe one day things will get easy or at least more clear...

Playing Catch-Up & Barbershop Man Fest

It feels like every time I post something on here I'm playing catch-up, and more often than not, letting pictures do the talking for me. So why bother? I guess the inner-writer in me keeps me compelled to continue. I guess I feel like it's not worth posting unless I've done something post-worthy, and being on the job hunt trying to not go anywhere or spend money tends to lead to rather uneventful times.

BUT, here's a few pics from my birthday bash from a couple of weekends back. It was a GREAT time, I freakin' loved it.

Marshall, Blunck, and Silly-Lookin' Mark

Ben drinks beer, hears no evil while Jason is entertained by Blunck

Radha, Emilie, and Matt later in evening

So in the meantime I've just been job hunting and taking short temp assignments which can be frustrating and nerve-wracking, but in the meantime, Jason and I play guitar hero and Llana and I hang out and have fun, so that's something.

Man Fest!

So it's Saturday and Llana and I decide to look for something to do, being tired of usual derisions and being sick still, wanting something to get out of the house for is all we can think about, so I look on good ole Austin360.com and find that Bird's Barbershop is hosting "Man Fest," a free event with live bands, skits, and free alcohol and food. The manliness part comes in with the Lumberjack photo booth and arm wrestling contests and such. Oh, and they were giving out free stick-on mustaches to everyone, which was strange and funny. Here's some pics of this highly entertaining affair.

Never been here before, but I might after such a cool event

Mustache rides from everyone tonight!

Lumberjack photos with stump & flannel

More Manliness: A Good Ole Fashioned Shoe Shinin'

The mustachioed girls looked fierce, I dared not...

Llana enjoying the free draft beer

Camo lady + baby + weiner dog-in-a-bag=AWESOME

Golden Bear performing a manly set

So all in all a fun event and good way to spend a bit of the evening. Later that night we went and saw...

So it's true that I don't get out the theater much to see movies, but this is one of the most intriguing movies I've seen in a long time. Such a unique way to portray the strange journey of a legend. The cinematography, the performances, the semi-coherent, semi-arty nonsense, all of it blended into such a marvelous swirl of cinema magic. Plus one has to love a movie that throws in little extra bits for the die-hard fans, using Dylan lyrics as lines in the script, seeing him typing on a type writer what would later be "Like A Rolling Stone," and then typing excerpts from his bizarre book Tarantula. All these bits thrilled me and made it that much more of an in-depth experience. I especially recommend this film to any fan of Dylan, and even to those who aren't very familiar, for the art of a film it is, and I wouldn't be surprised if it turned you into a bigger fan, or made you decide to finally, "see what that Dylan fellow is all about."

Today was a lazy day of the Sunday Maria's Taco Xpress tradition, and then a relaxing stroll through Zilker Park and laying around reading in the sun. A great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

This week, let's see what I can do about the whole job situation...

Spirit Journey Formation Anniversary

Today is that day. The one that brings joy, fear, and contemplation: the birthday.

As if there wasn't plenty of opportunities to reflect on life in my daily routine I have to endure a day of these thoughts washing over me with the subtlety of a sledgehammer to the face. I must look back at this past year, "25" and think about what worked, what didn't and what to do for the next year.

This was a rollercoaster of a year. Some of the highest highs and lowest lows of my entire life. I won't detail them here, because most of you already know. But dealing with these has been so difficult and a test of my patience, peace of mind, and the capacity of my heart. Let's look towards the future and what I can do better in the coming year, because if I think about it all too much I'll cry. Which makes me just want to announce for the record, yes I know I am dramatic, yes I know I'm overly emotional. It's just part of me. I can't change it to any great extent. That's just me. Love it or leave. Emo-ness and all.

In this next year, first and foremost I want to take the time and effort to let everybody in my life know how much I love them and how much they mean to me. These things are always assumed and taken for granted, and nobody deserves this. If you care about someone, tell them. If they do something nice for you, thank them, whether it be in words or returned favors. Let's all take care of each other and let one another just how much love there is. Don't let a single person slip away or grow cold just because you didn't take time to pay attention to the little things and be the most caring person you could be. And in keeping in spirit of this, I would just like to say a big thank you to Kim for making my last birthday really fun and special. That means a lot to me.

Health is another thing, and I know it sounds terribly cliche to talk about it, but it's true. The body's only going to get weaker and metabolism slower. Now's the time to start taking care of myself, eating better and exercising regularly. I started this in the past few weeks, and I hope to continue it. Because not only do I feel better, but I will eventually lose a little weight and be more tone, and that would be awesome.

The other important thing for this year is to pursue my dreams and desires to the fullest. Life's not getting any longer, and the opportunities are not getting more plentiful. As Ryan Adams says, "If you want any flowers, you've got to get your seeds into the ground." So that's what I'm going to try to do. Plant the seeds of success, whether that be through meeting more film people, taking some informal classes on some high-end software, or continue writing. Now is the time to go for it. I've been off to a good start this year. Marshall and I have completed two feature-length scripts and are working on a short currently. This is progress, and it should continue, full strength. Never should the desire to just laze around, drink, or play video games come before making my dreams happen. I've spent enough of my early to mid-20s just playing like the thoughtless grasshopper in summer. True I've gained some grit and survival skills in the past two years that have helped me grow immensely inside, but I still didn't have my eye on the prize, wasn't feeling that metaphorical "fire" under me, except in brief moments when some of those around me would pump me up, and show that they believed in me. God, if only I had started taking all of this serious earlier, things could have been so different, or at least got rolling earlier. Because now I feel I am coming to the sink or swim point, whether I decide to continue wallowing in just "getting-by" or really go for it and carve out a respectable existence for myself. I feel like I still have so much to do and say, so much to think and dream.

These are just a couple of things I had to put down on "paper." I suppose part of me believes that if I put it in writing then it will be more material and substantial. And it's not the most elegantly written thing in the world, but I just needed to spit this out to all of you, and myself. Let you know where I'm at mentally on this day, because most people ask you on your birthday, "how do you feel? do you feel any older?" Do I still feel young? I guess. Do I feel a little old? Yup. So this is how I feel.

To end things on a funny note, here's the lyrics to Shake's new birthday song from Aqua Teen Hunger Force because he hated the traditional birthday song. It was played by Zakk Wylde and was crazy. Enjoy!

"Spirit Journey Formation Anniversary"

Deep within the womb of time,
a creature thus be born
The seed of life is united with
the egg of tyranny
Gestates forth from within the womb of life
for three-quarter and nigh a year
The creature thus be born!
The creature thus be formed!
And ye of years ... bells will chime!
When the heavens open up
and drink from the silver cup
The creature thus be born!
And blow the magic horn!
To alert the spirit deep within the cycle of life.
The creature has begun it's journey deep forlorn,
upon this day which he be formed
In the sea of mucus the spirit rides down from the mountain
and unites with the creature in the womb
A holy union, dark mortality, until the dark mortality
breaks the chain of life
The creature thus be born
And every year raineth down the celebratory tears
A celebration of the years
from mere mortal sky

Coffee + Sleep Deprivation

The need for escape feels overwhelming. This burning desire to transcend the confines of my physical being and mental capacity pervades every thought I have as I sit here and mindlessly type these numbers for this job that doesn't matter in a building that does nothing more than give the wrong people money and make them feel important. This is not my world. Not the one I claim to be my own. The one where I would dearly love to lay my head would be a much more open one--expanisve. it would strentch for days with infinite sky. Free of limitation and necessity. In such a place one could exist in peace and pursue the thoughts and activites that they knew were meant for them, the things they felt in their inner-being. It would certainly not be what someone else thought one was capable of, putting a cap on your mobility and creativity. I feel it's this way in the which the world grinds along that makes people dead inside, to be brow beaten by someone else's expectations, void of ideas to dream for themselves, to reach into the infinite possibilities waiting for anyone with enough desire and grit.

Perhaps it's the coffee and that makes my mind work overtime, racing with a million thoughts a minute, unable to control my words or my thoughts, let alone concentrate on this menial task before me. This environment can be stifiling and depressing at times, but one must just say, "This is not me. When I am elsewhere, they will still be here." A while ago the inner adventurer, dreamer was fully unlocked by the right mind and heart, and it's impossible to go back to accepting what life gives with only a faint hope of happiness once one has tasted the possibilities and lived life lean and wild, ready for anything this world threw at you, whether you knew you were ready for it or not.

If sheer imagination and mental power alone could shake the foundations of this earth, I feel as if they would right now, under the weight of racing fragments of fury and thought that bounce inside my skull. I see myself not as what greets me in the mirror, but in ideal, thoughts, and feelings--an existence of intesity riding the crest of large and lethal golden wave. Sometimes I'm at the top with a beautiful ocean view, wind in my hair and face, smiling and letting the experience wash over me, and other times I have been cast ashore by this wave, clammering in the sandy shore, violently swimming back out towards the waves, hoping to catch it again, not knowing how long I must paddle until I find it again. This is the time when arms tire and the mind weakens, but if I just remain fixed on those times when I was madly dancing atop the wave, strength returns to my arms and new determination fills the mind. It feels as if the next chance to catch the tide is fast approacing whether I am prepared or not. Is that it just a few miles out, or is that my mind playing tricks on me? Only time will reveal the truth and in the meantime I must continue on as if it is just a few knots away.

Trying to Level Off...

So I wanted to report when I had some good news, or things were at least stable. Doesn't seem like that's happening any time soon, so I'll just go ahead and give a quick update.

I'm living in an apartment with Chris, and it's an awesome apartment. I really like it. So that's a good thing.

I've had two jobs, but don't have them anymore for various reasons, which is upsetting. So now I'm looking for work again, which I completely deplore. So if anybody's got any job leads, please let me know.

Aside from job concerns, I've had trouble sleeping. I'm always exhausted and never sleep a good, consistent amount and it's really caused trouble. I just can't sleep. I guess I should look into getting some sleep-aid or something.

Ryan Adams played Houston on Thursday night and it was awesome. At times there were extended jams, and there was a lot of joking around between Ryan, the band, and the audience (though for the most part the crowd were assholes). He even played a couple of minutes of "Freebird" which was hilarious. It was a fantastic show, and if anybody gets the chance to see him, I highly recommend it. Sober Ryan puts on a great, consistent performance now.

Yesterday I went to a film meet-up where I was the only one there other than the person that organized it (well, aside from a crazy old lady carrying a little dog who stopped in for a while). But that was ok, she was a really awesome, driven person and we've committed to trying to pull together a short film by the end of the year, which is exciting. Besides, one incredibly driven, determined person is worth 5 people with a vague, "yeah, let's do something."

Last night I went on a blind date from that website crazyblindate.com, and that was pretty cool/interesting. I'm all up for trying new things and meeting new people. Afterwards I went and saw Man Man, who were simply incredible. The amount of energy they put into each and every show is astounding. It was so much fun and I danced my ass off, leaving the place wringing with sweat. But that's how a good concert should be.

It's finally getting slightly cooler (AKA not sweat-pouring heat), so I'm going to take advantage of it and go to the park. If it's a nice day where you are, try to enjoy it and have fun.

Maybe next time I'll have some better news and some pictures. Until then...

ACL Fest: Day 3

As a whole the day was better than Saturday, but nothing all weekend compared to the glory of Muse.

Yo La Tengo:

Not interesting enough to photo


The National:

The Alligator Boxers



Common:

I never told you to put down your hands...



Bloc Party:

Hella Rockin' Show


Regina Spektor:

She was glad to be there, astonished by the crowd




Wilco & My Morning Jacket:

Sounded ok, but not close enough to care

I'd rather get a good spot for...

The Decemberists:

La-duh-dah-da-dah, duh-da-da, duh-da-da-da-da-da-daaa..

"The Island"

"16 Military Wives"

Bob Dylan:
Croaking Legend and festival finish

ACL Fest: Day 2

To try to speed things up and try to live not so much in the past, I'll just post pictures from the other 2 days of ACL Fest. But rest assured it was a fantastic weekend my Gentle Viewers.

Augustana:
A Horrible Concoction of Saves The Day meets Goo Goo Dolls

Cold War Kids:
Better than expected; the song "St. John" is amazing

Andrew Bird:
Mesmerizing, and the best whistler in rock to boot!

Damien Rice:
Fuzzed-out delicateness

"Delicate"

Waiting...
And waiting for...

Muse:
Face-Melting Rock Supremacy

"Take A Bow"

ACL Fest: Day 1

So here we are, recapping a crazy weekend of music. I'll do my best to hit the highs and lows, but for some of it I will rely on pictures, b/c we know how the old saying goes.

I was going to get there around 12:30 so I could catch Jesse Malin, but that did not happen. I stayed up too late partying the night before and just couldn't get up at a decent hour. I finally got out there around 3:30 just in time for...

Blonde Redhead

Theirs is a music better set in a dark club with moody lighting to catchy all of the subtlety and atmospherics of their performance. But considering the circumstances, I think they did a great job, playing more upbeat songs for most part and kept my attention for their entire set, but this comes from a pretty big fan, not a casual fan who would have preferred to see String Cheese Incident or something. You could tell the heat was really getting to Kazu, she looked tired and had circles under her eyes. She definitely seems like she's not used to doing festival gigs in scorching heat, but she pulled through like a champ rotating between bass and keyboard, the latter which looked like a giant black rocking horse! Her and the rest of the band romped through old and new songs alike, including "In Particular," "Equus," "Falling Man," and "The Dress." It was a great way to start my festival day.

Then came a period of wandering and sampling the various offerings. First we went to check out M.I.A. which I've listened to a couple of times and really dig it. Like a more world beat oriented Lady Sovereign or something. Well, the beats were steady and it was a grooving set, but she and her sidekick were ridiculous to watch on stage one was dressed in semi-traditional African gear but we garish colors and M.I.A. herself was in a neon pink jumpsuit. They looked like Star Search '88 contests jumping around the stage in those get ups. So the silliness of it overwhelmed me and my friends so we decided to cut out early to check out LCD Soundsystem. So I've listened to these guys in passing, and all I remember was a repetitive beat and the guy saying, "Daft Punk is playing at my house, MY HOUSE!" He did that for the whole song. They aren't good enough for using the trick of the band who they evoked. Unfortunately the vague recollection I had of this band proved to be about all they did. Some large ridiculous man was on stage shouting, not even singing, about not being British, and then had a song that was almost 10 minutes long where the only words were, "yeah yeah yeah!" It was sort of annoying and I wish I had stayed at M.I.A. and learned to ignore the wardrobe and groove to that, not this drivel. It reminds of the way people talked highly of the Happy Mondays, but it was really just some fat bastard yelling and mumbling about nothing. But the migration wasn't for naught, because then right behind me began...

Queens of the Stone Age

It was either seeing these guys or Spoon, and unlike the unsubstantiated logic of the stooges at NPR, it was a no-brainer for me. Spoon are wonderful and their new album is fantastic, but they are very hit and miss in concert, while Queens of the Stone Age are sure thing, full of hard rocking and thrashing grooves.

It was a great set full of well known songs and crowd pleasures, but material from Rated R was strangely absent, which is a shame, because I would have loved to hear "Monster in the Parasol" or "Lost Art of Keeping a Secret." Fortunately their set was comprised in large of songs from still their best work Songs for the Deaf. Here's a list of songs they played: "Go With The Flow," "You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar, But I Feel Like a Millionaire," "Song for the Dead," "In My Head," "Burn The Witch," "No One Knows," and new songs "Turnin' On The Screw," "Mexicola," "3's and 7's," and personal favorite "I Wanna Make It Wit Chu."

It was very satisfying to see them, as always. They always put on a great show, Josh Homme is generally in a great mood and encouraging everyone to "get laid," and you can dance around to it in a head banging sort of way. What's not to like?

Afterwards we made the trek across the park to stake out a good spot for the main event...

Björk

Something to keep in mind here: she's one of my absolute favorites, and as such has been near the top of my "Must-See In Concert" list. With completing my goals of seeing Page/Plant, Radiohead, Tool, and others of my favorites, she was about the only one left, other than Nick Cave and David Bowie. So even though expectations were high, I was just very excited at the thought of seeing her at all.

She entered the stage wearing a bright gold leotard and dress with her forehead painted in bright neon colors, followed by her women's brass section dressed in matching neon and face paint. Then came the guys doing electronics which looked less like instruments or even drum beat machines and more like something you'd find aboard a ship in Lost In Space. There were crazy volume bars that changed with the touch of their fingers or electric looking flat board where circular objects were moved around to produce certain tones. It was very surreal.

She opened up with one of the most upbeat songs from her new album "Innocence" and it really started things off right, getting everyone jumping around feeling good. Why she didn't continue in a similar vein, I don't know. Instead she kept the set mostly atmospheric and languid, preferring to deliver slow-burning ballads and subdued versions of songs. There was the occasional upbeat song, and "Pluto" rocked really hard.

But regardless, it was hard to deny her pixie-like charming and soaring voice. One of the speakers even caught fire while she was backstage! She came back out and said, "Did you see that? Our speaker caught fire! But we don't care, we're going to play anyway." It was adorable.

So I did get to groove and jig around a little bit to her set, and was in awe the whole time, seeing one of the truly great musicians and performers of our generation. Thank you Björk, you've made this fan's dream come true.

Björk's set included:

Innocence
Hunter
Joga
Pagan Poetry
Hidden Place
Immature
5 Years
Cover Me
Anchor Song
I Miss You
Hyper Ballad
The Pleasure Is Mine
Army of Me
Pluto
Declare Independence

Björk - "Joga"


Björk - "Declare Independence"

Sorry for the Delay

Wow. It's been a really long time Gentle Viewers! Sorry about that, life has been busy and transitory. So I'll be brief and for the most part let the pictures do the talking, cuz y'know, pictures are worth lots of words and all that rot.

So, it feels like so long ago already, but yes, I left Seattle. After my job ended I enjoyed my last few days in Seattle, because the weather was nice and there was plenty to do. The best was the day I spent at the Experience Music Project and the Science Fiction Museum. All in all Seattle had its low points, but it was all around a beneficial experience. It helped me to grow as a person and experience different lifestyles and environments. Plus, I became a coffee snob while I was there. Oh well, what can you do. Truth be told, I do miss the city a little. I hope to return to you someday Seattle.


So then I returned to Angleton for a seemingly extended stay, but first thing when I arrived my parents and I set off on a cruise around the Caribbean! I'll mostly just let the pictures do the talking.

Jamaica

Sunset Beach Resort, all-inclusive resort we spent the day at

The swim-up bar

Visited by "liquid sunshine"

Montego Bay: Harassment a-plenty!

Grand Cayman Island

Me and the peg-legged turtle ^_^

Near the shore

Tasty, with free internet!

Cock of the Bakery

Yo ho, and a bottle of rum

Blinded by the Light

Grand Cayman Snorkeling

View from the boat

Our snorkel boat, water view

A multi-colored reef, some fishies too

Lots o' little fishies, payin' me no mind

I love this little blue guy

Follow me to Sting Ray City

We're surrounded!

Many a tourist visited the lively rays


Give it a kiss for luck!

Cozumel

Monster of a cruise ship in Cozumel harbor

Entrance to the horse riding ranch/Mayan ruins

Bilingual info for all at the ranch

Bonita y Tranquilo

Surveying our steeds


Our guide and some posteriors

Ruinas Mayas

Gun boats under the banner

Just reflections of the sky

Around The Ship

Galveston Harbor from the ship. Hi Elissa!

Crazy multi-floored inside of the boat

Singing some Ryan Adams @ karaoke

P.I.M.P.

So after the cruise I hung out at my parents' house and spent plenty of time with my grandma. But after that I had to go to my job training...

Chicago

Downtown from an orb's perspective

The orb's looking at me!

Modern spitty arty

So then after that I journeyed to Austin to begin my camp summer, which is now over. 8 weeks. 8 weeks of non-stop tech camp, teach some good kids, some spoiled brats that I basically babysat. 8 weeks of poor living conditions in the dorm, and food so terrible in the cafeteria that I on so many occasions that I lost count I felt ill and bloated. Glad to be rid of that.

Hangin' around

On the positive, I did have some really good times, and make some great new friends, like Jake from Ohio, Weston from Colorado, and Hemanth from Corpus (but originally India!). We had some great times during the job, and some even better times going downtown, smoking, drinking, etc. Oh, and now that the summer is over, I can reveal that when we were making plans for drinking and kids were around we would call it Mario Kart. Such as, "I can't wait, as soon as I leave tonight, I'm going to Mario Kart until I pass out!" So it was funny to us, maybe not so much to you, but it made it fun feeling like we had a secret code.

Leading the chillens in "shout-outs!"

Omar the badass web dude/musician and one of my more "interesting" students

So now the summer camp is over, and now is a time to relax a little, catch up on my sleep, and my video gaming. But more importantly than that, it's time to find a job, and with that, a place to live. Big ups to my sis and Mark for helping me out this summer with a place to stay, and I don't want to stay too much longer and wear out my welcome. I want to get a place for myself. Right now Jake, Fabian, and I are wanting to get a place together, but they don't want to make the big move Austin without finding a job first. But they better hurry, because I don't want to be a couch bum for much longer! May the Gods of employment shine down upon them and help them achieve their goal of finding a job and being able to stay in Austin. You know me, I'll be around...

Whew! That's it! After a whole summer, months, and working on the one blog posting on and off for like 2 weeks, it's finally done. I promise it will be a lot less time until the next one.