Yay! Friday is coming and going along with ridiculously pleasurable weather (as touched upon in the last blog). Lately, I have ingested far too much sugar and need to curb this addiction before it gets completely out of hand.
In the coming weeks, we soon will escape the confines of this place! Time to (re-)write a poem written a few days ago. It might be shitty, I don't know. It definitely has emo all over it but since when has that been a bad thing? Oh yeah, since like 1997.
I have her hair clip
Sitting on an alarm clock
Reading a still godly hour
It sits curved
Underneath a glowing lamp
Glowing ever so fiercely
Enough to illuminate her
Hair clip
And to cast shadows almost everywhere else
I have her hair clip
All mock forestry where it isn't chipped
And the metal's probably getting hot now
Under this illumined lamp
But the window's open again
And I'm only feeling cold
She left this hair clip
Gleaming now, clean now
Hanging on my black jacket's lapel
And I noticed it when I walked
Down the hall, happily
And the next time I made that returning sojourn
Bitter, again
After being sweet or indiscreet (or inscrutable) for so long
And that's that. Live long and prosper and go listen to the Microphones. I am looking forward to Bryant's Real Centennial and other peoples' too.
Luv,
Jason C
Today New York had 65+ degree weather and I had a class usually held at 9:30 in the AM cancelled. So, after a healthy dose of sleeping in and general tomfoolery, I decided to partake in God's gift to man (aka Springtime). Not wanting to just sit in the park and read, I decided I'd walk as long and as far as I could, or at the very least, to Brooklyn.
And thusly, off I went down Broadway until I reached the Hudson(?) and the Staten Island Ferry. Off to my left, I could see the Brooklyn Bridge, massive and looming as well as some other bridge that trains rumbled over, rusty, turquoise, massive and looming. I had only been over the bridge back and forth once and that time with a guide so it took me nearly half an hour (an estimate) to reach the pedestrian section of the Bridge.
By this time, my legs had started to hurt a bit. I had brought along some music to keep me company and it did its job quite admirably. Crossing over the bridge, I proceeded to literally lose myself in Brooklyn looking for the Promenade which I had visited said time before. Well, I never found it. Instead, I found trouble. Or what my racist, racist mind deemed trouble.
In short, I found myself in an area with only Latinos and African Americans and then Kanye came on through shuffle on my iPod with the gaudy headphones. Needless to say, I felt like an idiot. Oh, and very, very frightened. So, what do I do but get even more lost when I turn around! (PS, I'm wearing my trademark short, white shorts throughout this entire endeavor and a t-shirt that reads "Nebraska, 1999" from my Odyssey of the Mind days).
Finally, after circling around "The Watchtower" a few times (some massive Jehovah's Witness center and PS, this may lead to a final understanding of why Jay-Z insists on going by Hova[h]), I found a park closeby to the Hudson(?) and, needing to clear the rocks out of my shoes (I went barefoot for some unknown reason and the chafing shows), sat down and did so. I then proceeded to sit on some rocks and look out at the river and write a short bit. Here is what came out. (I think Modest Mouse was playing PS).
"There's a train rumbling overhead on an overheated March afternoon. A coincidental crucifix sits on a sea of pebbles mixed amongst boulders alongside the Hudson River. A young black man receives his daughter from his Latina mother-in-law. His wife points and snaps as other children throw pebbles into the river. Parents and children alike and a pretty young Latin woman in a green t-shirt with two shaggy dogs, collies or retrievers, perhaps, has disappeared from the benches a few hundred feet away, behind a flimsy fence, black and wiry, hung up on metal posts, protecting newly planted grass. It's getting late and I have to leave this borough. It'll be a long walk back. If I can find my/the way."
So there's that. And now, still a bit sticky from old and new sweat, I desire to clean myself.
Luv,
Jason C
(PS Go listen to Ghostface Killah, old and new solo albums. He is probably the most underappreciated rapper ever. I don't understand it. Also, he scares me but loves me at the same time. And Cate Bud suggested Aesop Rock too.)
I saw Digital on my way back from class today and he had stubble and a scooter which made me happy. We discussed things for a slight bit and then realized we almost had a class together but missed each other by one week. Another strange coincidence in the cosmic order of things.
The weather here still feels cold even though 58 sounds warm. With only four more laundry excursions to go before the year ends (barring any unforeseen clothing catastrophes a la the "Cockroach Conundrum" of November or so), I wait in gleeful anticipation for the current load to finish.
I've started writing for fun again and it feels extremely strange. Joelio will hopefully help me through the process and other random people throughout. If you want to read anything, let me know. Maybe I'll post something later.
Love to every one of you.
Jason C
Today I'm wearing red, white and blue. It's almost 60 degrees out. Guess what color shorts I'll wear. I love you all.
#17.
That's the name of a playlist and project. If anyone else wants to partake, I think that'd result in some positive vibes!
I slept in a girl's arms and she slept in mine last night and everything was alright.
Here's the Real Centennial: (as of March 25, 2006)
1. "She Don't Use Jelly" - The Flaming Lips
2. "Mogwai Fear Satan" - Mogwai
3. "Grounded" - Pavement
4. "Ellen and Ben" - The Dismemberment Plan
5. "Make Me A Chevy" - The Promise Ring
6. "NYC" - Interpol
7. "Superpowers" - The Dismemberment Plan
8. "Gravity Rides Everything" - Modest Mouse
9. "Roses" - Kanye West
10. "Modern Romance" - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
11. "Naked As We Came" - Iron & Wine
12. "Never Ending Math Equation" - Modest Mouse
13. "Lover's Spit" - Broken Social Scene
14. "Grey Ice Water" - Modest Mouse
15. "Our Way To Fall" - Yo La Tengo
16. "3rd Planet" - Modest Mouse
17. "Heard 'Em Say" - Kanye West ft. Adam Levine
18. "Storm (First Movement)" - Godspeed You Black Emperor
19. "Fling" - Built to Spill
20. "Exit Music (For A Film)" - Radiohead
21. "Playground Love" - Air
22. "R U Still in 2 It" - Mogwai
23. "Medication" - Modest Mouse
24. "Shady Lane" - Pavement
25. "Ms. Jackson" - Outkast
26. "Last Great American Whale" - Lou Reed
27. "Highschool Lover" - Air
28. "Scatterbrain. (As Dead as Leaves.)" - Radiohead
29. "One With the Freaks" - The Notwist
30. "Baby Blue Sedan" - Modest Mouse
31. "Tracy" - Mogwai
32. "You and Me" - Archers of Loaf
33. "Following Through" - The Dismemberment Plan
34. "Swimmers" - Broken Social Scene
35. "Drive Slow" - Kanye West ft. Paul Wall & GLC
36. "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" - Wilco
37. "A Life of Arctic Sounds" - Modest Mouse
38. "Casimir Pulaski Day" - Sufjan Stevens
39. "Scatterbrain (Four Tet Remix)" - Radiohead
40. "Major Leagues" - Pavement
41. "Speed of Sound" - Chris Bell
42. "Workin' On Leavin' The Livin'" - Modest Mouse
43. "Sleepwalkin'" - Modest Mouse
44. "Stephanie Says" - The Velvet Underground
45. "Sidewalk" - Built to Spill
46. "Twin Falls" - Built to Spill
47. "Ocean Breathes Salty" - Modest Mouse
48. "One Chance" - Modest Mouse
49. "Masters" - Schneider TM
50. "Sometimes" - My Bloody Valentine
51. "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" - Radiohead
52. "In The Mouth Of A Desert" - Pavement
53. "I Am Not Batman" - Mogwai
54. "Photobooth" - Death Cab For Cutie
55. "Yes! I Am A Long Way From Home" - Mogwai
56. "I Can See It (But I Can't Feel It)" - My Bloody Valentine
57. "Edit the Sad Parts" - Modest Mouse
58. "Red & Blue Jeans" - The Promise Ring
59. "Chumming the Ocean" - Archers of Loaf
60. "Raspberry Rush" - The Promise Ring
61. "Touch The Sky" - Kanye West ft. Lupe Fiasco
62. "Blue Light" - Bloc Party
63. "Hymn Of The Big Wheel" - Massive Attack
64. "Hey Mama" - Kanye West
65. "Paper Thin Walls" - Modest Mouse
66. "Pink Moon" - Nick Drake
67. "Reservations" - Wilco
68. "The New" - Interpol
69. "All My Friends" - Broken Social Scene
70. "Say Yes" - Elliott Smith
71. "Brick" - Ben Folds Five
72. "Addiction" - Kanye West
73. "Walk on the Wild Side" - Lou Reed
74. "Chewin' the Apple of Your Eye" - The Flaming Lips
75. "So Here We Are" - Bloc Party
76. "Smile Around the Face" - Four Tet
77. "Poor Places" - Wilco
78. "Whenever You Breathe Out, I Breathe In (Positive Negative)" - Modest Mouse
79. "Crayon" - Manitoba
80. "Climbing Up The Walls" - Radiohead
81. "Back and Forth" - The Dismemberment Plan
82. "Blame It On The Tetons" - Modest Mouse
83. "Fat" - Archers Of Loaf
84. "Fillmore Jive" - Pavement
85. "Stop Breathin'" - Pavement
86. "Soft As Snow (But Warm Inside)" - My Bloody Valentine
87. "I'm Still Your Fag" - Broken Social Scene
88. "Her Disappearing Theme" - Broken Social Scene
89. "Plumb Line" - Archers Of Loaf
90. "Family Business" - Kanye West
91. "Every Time She Turns Round It's Magic" - Manitoba
92. "California One/Youth and Beauty Brigade" - The Decemberists
93. "High and Dry" - Radiohead
94. "Keep Ya Head Up" - Tupac
95. "Other People's Lives" - Modest Mouse
96. "Another Morning" - American Music Club
97. "How To Disappear Completely" - Radiohead
98. "Slow Worm" - Archers Of Loaf
99. "Milkman" - Aphex Twin
100. "Close to Me" - The Dismemberment Plan
101. "Secret Knowledge of Backroads" - Pavement
102. "Untitled" - Interpol
103. "Light 3000" - Schneider TM
104. "Unravel" - Björk
105. "This Is Not What You Had Planned" - The Wrens
106. "Tulips" - Bloc Party
107. "Frogtoise" - Schneider TM
108. "Girl/Boy Song" - Aphex Twin
109. "No Surprises" - Radiohead
110. "Motion Picture Soundtrack" - Radiohead
111. "Zürich Is Stained" - Pavement
112. "The Good Times Are Killing Me" - Modest Mouse
113. "Maps" - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
114. "My Ship" - Miles Davis
115. "Angel" - Massive Attack
116. "Here" - Pavement
117. "Through The Wire" - Kanye West
118. "Maybe" - N.E.R.D(.)
119. "Car" - Built to Spill
120. "Float On" - Modest Mouse
121. "Might" - Archers Of Loaf
122. "Damage" - Yo La Tengo
123. "Ashes of American Flags" - Wilco
124. "Home" - Six Organs Of Admittance
125. "To Here Knows When" - My Bloody Valentine
126. "Fake Plastic Trees" - Radiohead
127. "Ibi Dreams of Pavement (A Better Day)" - Broken Social Scene
128. "Broke" - Modest Mouse
129. "Pink Chimneys" - The Promise Ring
130. "Toast" - Archers Of Loaf
131. "Time Bomb" - The Dismemberment Plan
132. "All Night Diner" - Modest Mouse
133. "The House That Guilt Built" - The Wrens
134. "This Modern Love" - Bloc Party
135. "Thirteen" - Big Star
136. "Black Cadillacs" - Modest Mouse
137. "A New England" - Billy Bragg
138. "Y Control" - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
139. "Web in Front" - Archers Of Loaf
140. "Skull" - Sebadoh
141. "Thirteen (Big Star Original)" - Elliott Smith
142. "You Never Should" - My Bloody Valentine
143. "Gold Soundz" - Pavement
144. "Gone" - Kanye West ft. Consequence and Cam'ron
145. "Flim (Aphex Twin Original)" - The Bad Plus
146. "Track These Days" - Nico
147. "Happy" - The Wrens
148. "Shampoo Suicide" - Broken Social Scene
149. "In 3's" - The Beastie Boys
150. "Sparkplug Minuet" - Mark Mothersbaugh
151. "Interstate 8" - Modest Mouse
152. "...and Carrot Rope" - Pavement
153. "La Femme d'Argent" - Air
154. "Circa 1762 (Peel Session 1)" - Pavement
155. "Thirteen (Big Star Original)" Elliott Smith
155. "Nothing Feels Good" - The Promise Ring
156. "Strings of Nashville" - Pavement
157. "Flim" - Aphex Twin
158. "Raining Babies" - The Flaming Lips
159. "The Body Breaks" - Devendra Banhart
160. "True Love Waits" - Radiohead
The reason the Real Centennial has 160 songs is because I kept adding and adding. Everybody probably has their own Real Centennial and I think it'd be fun to share. If you have any questions about any of the songs or want to hear them, I'll send them to you. I just plopped down my Top 25 Most Played in iTunes first and took out one of them that accidentally got in there, and then started adding. The only full album on there, "Building Nothing Out Of Something" probably should have a few less tracks on there. Thanks to Joelio, Sissonian and Sleepy Steve for providing some of these tunes. And like the internet for the rest.
So if this was like a recipe, it'd go like:
1. Add 160 songs you can listen to at any time in any order.
2. Make a playlist entitled "The Real Centennial".
3. Hit shuffle in "The Real Centennial".
4. Move those songs into a new playlist entitled "Play Off This.".
5. Re-order songs with extreme discretion (if need be).
6. Have fun and shit.
Go watch "Audition" and then pee yourself in horror.
I love you all.
Luv,
Jason C
Hiiiiiiii. I'm back in New York City after having a relaxing break at home in which I saw a few crazy people and also Sleepy Steve. And also, I'm finding it hard to believe that in five more weeks, I will have returned to Omaha for a few months and (supposedly) have a year of wisdom and knowledge under my belt.
Recently, I've (re-)discovered the enjoyment reading for pleasure provides. As well as using parentheses to add (some semblance of) complexity into writing. Maybe because I'm reading about people doing massive amounts of LSD and it is written accordingly (Tom Wolfe's 'The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test') the reading seems more joyous. Or maybe because the reading I usually have to do involves court cases detailing how the man keeps us (people of color) down (Constitution and People of Color).
So, in conclusion, spring is coming! Omaha is soon! Kill whitey! And so on and so forth. Maybe I'll try turning over a new leaf too and blogging more. God knows most people wouldn't want another black name in this world. But I don't know if red's all that much better. I'll grow a new leaf. A red leaf! Goodbye and I love you all. Maybe.