perpetual memory loss

I really like Kurt Vonnegut and when he’s on he’s one of the best and funniest satirists. When he’s not on… well it gets to be tough to read. Slapstick is definitely one of those books where he pulls a Fonzy and jumps the shark. The novel is about a pair of twins (boy, girl) who are super geniuses but only when they are next to each other. They also have some weird maybe platonic maybe incestuous relationship. They also look like neanderthals and their family thinks they are retarded for the first 16 or so years of their life. The son ends up becoming the President of a declining US and ends up narrating the novel from a dilapidated Empire State Building in a mostly deserted New York City.

I found the novel weird, cumbersome, semi-boring, and not sharp or funny like some of his other novels. In the end the fact that it took me only a few hours to read made me stick through until the end. If it was a long novel I would’ve just moved on to something better. I found the introduction to be better than the actual novel so this book is definitely for Vonnegut über fans only.

Anyways I’m two books behind on my reviews, plus I have my new Blu-ray player to review and Star Wars Blu-ray. So stay tuned for a multitude of reviews plus my long developing post on religion.

Apparently, this is the thing to do now with the anniversary so close. So I will jump in and add my two-cents to the cacophony of 9/11 essays (two particularly good ones are Andrew Sullivan’s and Christopher Hitchens‘ love ‘em or hate ‘em they will make you think). However, in order to properly formulate 9/11 I have to go back a few more years to set the stage for where I was personally at that time. In 1999 I was working at a television studio, doing something that I thought I liked. I hoped that it would turn into something more. Well surprise, surprise things didn’t quite go as a I wanted. Being that I was young and dumb I only exacerbated the situation and proceeded to burn some of the first bridges in my young professional career. I didn’t give a fuck though. I was young and feeling cooped up and I badly needed a change–or so I told myself. So towards the end of 1999 I moved on to a construction supplies delivery job which I half-heartedly worked at (sometimes when I was tired I’d just pull over in a housing community and take a nap). When I got bored with that job I quit. Then my brother started talking about going into the Marine Corps. As he discussed it with me it planted the idea in my head which over the course of the next few months sat dormant in my head but just percolated subconsciously biding its time. About mid-2000 my brother was accepted to Naval flight school in Pensacola, Fl. A fairly difficult school to get into especially when your grades aren’t the best and you’re not a legacy kid. It was about that time that he decided he didn’t want to join up anymore. It was also about that time when I decided I did and I voiced my desire to my family.

I think it’s too harsh to say it was met with outright derision but there was a large amount of skepticism from my father and brother. I mean I was the less athletic brother, I was lazier, and avoided hard work like the plague. But their jokes just strengthened my resolve. I wanted to join not only to prove them wrong (and my ‘friends’ weren’t any more supportive, their mockery was even more infuriating) but because this burgeoning desire to serve my country. I’m not exactly sure where this all came from but I have my suspicions, and I think a large portion of this desire came from my reading list as an adolescent, which ran heavy on titles with Epic poems like Beowulf, The Illiad, The Odyssey and with a different kind of epic like The  Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. It was definitely a confluence of events though as all these ideas and feelings came together at the same time. Add to that the mockery from a lot of the people close to me and my resolution was set. If there is anything about me that’s true it’s that I a stubborn son of a b.

So I quit my job and went to work at UPS part-time and the rest of my time was spent running and working out. I quit drinking (seriously I’m not lying) and even though I didn’t eat a lot of junk food I quit eating the little that I did. My singular focus was to continue my regiment throughout the winter and go to boot camp in March. But alas, the best laid plans…, as it turned out I never made it to March. Instead, after some poking and prodding from my recruiter, and finally being given some more financial incentives I left at the end of January 2001.

Continue reading

Here I am living in Washington DC.  If you asked me 6 months ago what my life would be like I would have told you that I would still be living in NY working some crummy job to make ends meet.  However things didn’t work out that way and instead of working a crummy job to support myself in NY I now live in crummy DC (it’s not really that crummy) and have a good job (albeit I don’t work enough).   So what have I learned this past month, well quite a few things actually.

1. DC has the worst subway system ever (well maybe not the worst but it still kind of blows).  I think it was designed by a bunch of people who had no idea how to design a subway, and didn’t believe in the need to design with an eye towards future needs (more on this later though in an upcoming pet peeves post).

2. Holy shit it’s humid as fuck here and this is a mild (MILD they said hah!) summer.

3.  The transition from student to working stiff has been painless and (gasp!) I actually like my job and look forward to going to work (double gasp!).  For the last four plus years I have done nothing but go to school, drink, do homework, drink, and at times sleep.  It’s was rough but work (or the real world as some people call it) is so much easier.  I work my shift then I’m off to do whatever I want (drink) without worrying about some paper I have to write.  It’s fantastic.  For the first time in years my free time is actually my free time.

4.  The Natinals stink.

5. My new neighborhood (Capitol Hill) is one of the coolest neighborhoods I have ever lived in.  There are a shit ton of bars, restaurants, and I’m close to everything.  There’s 4 parks nearby and the neighborhoods are gorgeous and everything is within walking distance.  The only thing that could make this neighborhood better is if it was in NY or Mr. Burns built his little sun blocking thing-a-majig here–because it’s hot as fuck here.

6. Just like people in NY, people in DC liberally sprinkle the word “literally” throughout their conversations constantly even though it’s not needed.  Example: “I went to the grocery store and there were literally dozens of different kinds of cereal on the shelves.”  Because if you just told me there were dozens of different kinds of cereal at the grocery store I totally wouldn’t believe you unless you added in literally.

7. People are very courteous here.  The first time I rode the subway I was flabbergasted that people actually waited for other people to exit the subway cars before they entered. WTF I am so not used to that.  I am used to fighting my way onto a train whilst others are fighting their way off, and then being punked by a spunky latin mom and her stroller.  Now whilst the courtesy thing looks orderly and seems nice I don’t think it is more effective than everyone just scrambling in and out like roaches when the lights come on.

8. Living a mile away from the Capitol and two miles from the White House is not as cool as it sounds.

9. I have a lot of work ahead of me.  So far I have noticed that there are not a whole lot of Coors Light drinkers here in DC.  That means it time for me to get my hands dirty preaching the good work and converting all these lost sheep roaming the hills of the Capitol.  I’ve done it before and as Pete Coors is my witness I will do it again.

10. This city is growing on me like a fungus.  I am really starting to like it here, but I still miss NY.  And I think I always will because it was the only place I have ever lived that I didn’t want to leave and, since I was a little chitlin living at home, it was the only place that has felt like home to me in a long, long time.

So that’s just a quick summary of a few things that I have learned (or in the case of the Natinals has been brutally reinforced) since I have moved to DC.  New posts should be coming along fairly regularly now since I have started settling and the worst part of moving is now over.  Look forward to random posts, nerdy posts, and drunken posts in the not too distant future.

I have some big changes coming up in my life over the next few months and I have been planning it all out trying to make sure that my transition from school to the job market goes as smoothly as possible in this crazy economic climate.  However, things are quickly unraveling.  Today, for example, was my big comprehensive final that I need to pass in order to graduate.  Well I did a little research found out all the ins & outs and created a strategy.  I decided to pick the three classes that went together–Colonial America 1600-1690, Colonial America 1690-1765, and American Revolution.  I figured I would study for those three classes write one enormous essay split it into three parts and then BAM! I’d be pretty much done.  Sounds like a good idea right?  Nope total fail.  You see even though they told me I would have a choice from all the classes I had taken they lied.  They threw me a nasty 12-6 curve ball and gave me a partial list of classes.  Once I read the questions and saw that my plan had gone awry my mind went blank and I stared at the computer blinking for the next 10 minutes.  I then looked to see if any of my current classes were on there since they were still fresh in my mind–negative on that point too.  (Funny thing was that the other person from the history department that took the test at the same time had all three of the questions that we had studied for plus questions from all his current classes.)   In anguish I looked over the list of questions again and saw that there were two questions I had studied for and the rest I hadn’t.  Most of the remaining questions were terrible and way too ambitious–on the teachers part–for me to answer cogently in an essay with the limited time I had.  So I decided to answer the Civil War question even though I really don’t remember much from the class.  Well to make a long story less long I somehow grinded out an essay (not very good ones mind you) for each question.  Some of you may say well that’s your fault for not studying for all of your classes, but while that may be true, I had a good strategy and the thought of studying for 10 classes over the last 2 years didn’t sound very appealing or a productive use of my time.  I figured better to know a few really well than all of them not very well at all.  Oh well I’ll find out soon enough it I scraped by.  So that was the first plan that went wrong.

My next plan was to spend this next week holed up in my hovel working on homework in an attempt to get ahead on my semesters workload–I have three research essays that I don’t have topics for never mind the books.  Novel idea for me since I always procrastinate and end up slammed at the end of the semester and well that is starting to get really old.  Besides along with my regular workload I have extra research work to do for teachers, I have to find a job, and a new place to live.  So it would definitely be a good idea to take this break to get ahead on everything so I’m not living in a box in a few months.  Well as luck would have it JetBlue was having some kind of blow out on tickets to Vegas.  I found a round trip ticket for $225 (how crazy cheap is that?) and decided to take advantage of it.  So there goes my plan of not procrastinating and putting my nose to the grindstone and getting some much needed work done.  Now I guess I can look forward to a long stressful last couple months of this semester.  I’m sure this will be an epic week in Vegas, and it’s a break that I do need, but keep your fingers crossed that it all works out and you don’t see me teaming up with a midget and dancing to Thriller in the subway.

Last night I finally got to see Jimmy Eat World live in concert.  After all these years of being a fan of them, and constantly missing out on their shows, I finally made one.  First off I will always be grateful to neverbesocial for introducing me to Jimmy Eat World back in those halcyon Phoenix days.  (Actually I have to thank him for introducing me to quite a few of my favorite bands.  He has been a sort of musical Gandalf guiding me through the perilous path of new music.  Although I still can’t stand Mates of State or Portugal the Man, but hey whatever I can’t be expected to like everything he does.)  Anyways I got to the show earlier than I did for The Black Keys a few weeks ago, but despite that, there was still a huge line–over a block long–by the time I got there.  The people at Terminal 5, however, kept the line moving quickly and I was able to get inside before I froze completely to death.

Once inside I went back up to my spot on the third floor railing, grabbed an empanada, a couple beers, and got ready for the show.  I can’t tell you how excited I was for this show.  I have been looking forward to seeing JEW for a long time now and the fact that my first concert was going to be the Clarity tour only added to my exhilaration–as Clarity is one of my all-time favorite albums.  So I suffered through the opening act–they actually were not that bad, but I just didn’t feel like waiting any longer to see JEW.  A little bit after 9:00 JEW came out to the rousing cheers of the crowd and commenced to playing Clarity in it’s entirety–including Goodbye Sky Harbor.  It was a fantastic show and they sounded great, and considering this was their first show on the tour, I expect that as the tour rolls on they will tighten up their sound even more.  After they finished playing Clarity they left so they could take part in the obligatory encore–bands really need to stop doing that as it’s pretty contrived–and then they came back out and played some of their b-sides and then finished off the show with Work, Pain, The Middle, and Sweetness.  The crowd went absolutely ape-shit for Sweetness and it really is the best song to finish the show to as everyone left completely pumped after that song.  Well there is not really much more for me to say that the pics and videos can’t say on their own.  So enjoy the pics and videos.  (By the way Jimmy Eat World if you all are upset about me posting these pics and videos online just twitter me to take it down.  No need to release the hounds.)

Continue reading

It only took me a year and a half but I finally made it to MoMA.  I got there an hour and a half before closing time so it was a condensed visit, but it was worth the $12 entry fee.  We were told to hit up Marlene Dumas: Measuring Your Own Grave special exhibit so we went to the 6th floor to check her out first–especially since we were told she was controversial.  I have to say I really enjoyed her exhibit.  To sum it up her work is dark and sexual.  She likes painting bushy vagina’s, women spreading their ass cheeks, fucked up looking babies, death, and head shots.  Some of my faves were a sequence of paintings she did with people being hung, a portrait she did of a snake, and a dead lady.  Her exhibit ends on February 16 so if you are going to be in NY between now and then you should check it out.

Here is a video of her exhibit.  If you don’t want to watch the whole thing here are some good spots to check out: crazy babies 1:40 and 5:10, weird pregnant lady 2:15, snake portrait 6:00, and pron shot 6:40.  Unfortunately, they didn’t show the paintings of the hanging which for some odd reason were my favorites.

Continue reading

Yesterday turned out to be quite the adventure.  It was supposed to be just an easy night out on the town watching The Black Keys.  I left my apartment and after a long train ride and a long walk I made it to Terminal 5 at about 7:30.  As I stood in line waiting to get frisked I pulled out all the crap in my pockets so the process would go quicker.  Of course I get frisked by a beast of a women (how come it’s socially ok for a female to frisk a male but not vice-versa?) who decided to take some liberties with her frisking by grabbing my ass a few times. Wtf is up with shit like this happening to me (if you are new refer to this post here)?

Immediately after that weirdness I went to the bar and started crushing beers like my life depended on it.  I milled around for a bit and then decided that since I had my camera on me I would stake out a good spot upstairs to watch the show.  I ended up on the third floor railing with a good view of the stage, and bonus I was spitting distance from the bar.  My plan was to get nice and loaded during the opening bands and then to slow down or quit drinking once the Keys came on stage.  As usually plans went awry and I kept pounding all night long.  (I really think it was the last four Sierra Nevadas that did me in.)  This was the third time I have seen them live and as always the show was epic.  (No show will ever be as good as the first time I saw them in Cali at Brick by Brick just because of the extraordinary lengths I went through to go to that show, and because of the amount of laws–military and civilian–that I broke just by going to it.)  Since I took a bunch of pictures and videos of the show I will let them speak for the epicness of the show instead of babbling on and on.

After the show I hooked myself up with a new t-shirt and I got it for $10 instead of the usual $20.  I think that was because I was incredibly drunk and the dude who was running the counter just wanted to get rid of me.  Once I left Terminal 5 it took me forever to get home as I was chatting on the phone and ended up walking a few miles past my subway stop, then I fell asleep on the E-train (again), and it wasn’t until after 4 that I ended up stumbling home.  All in all it was a good night with all the mandatory ingredients for a good night: live music, beer, stumbling around NYC, and falling asleep on the train.  Anytime that happens it is definitely good night.  Pictures and videos (sorry they are a bit wobbly, I blame the beer) after the fold, enjoy.

Continue reading

In honor of the Governor’s hair-brained scheme to put taxes on iTunes downloads (and possibly other DLC), and a host of other dumb taxes, I am posting this SNL skit about him.  I mean there is a $15.4 billion budget gap.  So raising taxes on small stuff like digital content and soda is a bit like McCain’s claims that if we vetoed all ear-marks we would magically have a budget surplus.  15.4 billion is a big number and means that there is inefficiency in your government, so fix that shit first, and that most (if not all) of the gap is going to have to be made up with broad reforms to the way things are done on a daily basis in government.  Proposals like this just piss people off because they know that instead of looking in the mirror you are just trying to squeeze some more money out of everyday people.  One more thing if you appoint Caroline Kennedy as Hillary’s replacement then you should be impeached, because she has the same amount of experience as Sarah Palin.

Updated – 4:38

Ok here is a commentary from Paterson explaining why he wants to raise taxes on sugary drinks.  Basically it boils down to taxing a substance like soda in the hopes of preventing people from drinking an excess of soda, and hopefully to curb the rising rates of childhood obesity.  Now in theory I shouldn’t care because I rarely ever drink soda, but I do have a huge problem with this.  This is just another instance of the government stepping in and taking on a role that does not belong to them.  Since when is it the governments job to tell people what to eat and drink.  It takes away the responsibilty from the parents and essentially absovles them of being shitty parents.  The government should be finding a way to put responsibility and blame back on the parents instead of taking more upon itself.

Another point I want to make is the taxing of iTunes and possibly other digital downloads.  This is a terrible idea also because the government and corporations have been fighting to get digital piracy under control, and they have been making success over the last few years–specifically with iTunes.  However, start throwing extra taxes on these legitimate downloads and it will have the same effect as the Coercive and Townshend Acts did, namely drive people back to piracy.  Dumb ideas, government needs to look in the mirror and start trimming the fat off of some of their programs, and they need to modernize and get hip with the digital age.

Once again one of my comments is going to be the headline contest over at Overheard in New York.  If you didn’t win last time you should give it a go this time.  Anyways here’s the quote:

Student #1: I don’t know why that bitch has such a big ego, she’s fucking ugly.
Student #2: Yeah, I know, but she thinks she’s Paris Hilton or some shit.
Student #1: She’s probably getting fucked by some loser.

There you have it funny stuff; now go on over to the contest page and give it your best shot.  Contest ends on Thursday.

I am finally done with this semester and not a moment too soon.  I barely made it, but luckily I only have one more left, which is going to make this break even more hectic. So here is my list of things that I need/want to accomplish before the break is over:

First things first I have to start looking for a job so that hopefully I can slide right into something once I graduate.  Unfortunately, that means that I have to fix my resume, write a cover letter, and all that trash.  All the stuff that I hate doing.  Preferably I would like to stay in New York so hopefully I find something good, despite the state of the economy.  So if anyone out there has the scoop on a job in history, libraries, or publishing let me know.

I also have to start looking for a new apartment, hopefully something closer to the city, because my roommates and I all graduate at the same time and we are all moving.  Hopefully I will be able to find something closer to the city and at a price where I don’t need a roommate.  I’m tired of living with roommates.

Next I want to read a few books over the holiday season.  I’m not sure what to read though.  I have a few books lying around that I haven’t read yet: Paradiso, Purgatorio, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, or Paradise Lost.  However, I would like to maybe read some more Hemingway, Steinbeck, Dostoyevsky, or Fitzgerald.  I’m thinking that maybe I should try and expand my horizons some so I am looking for some tips on new books to read.  The Liskid has already suggested Upton Sinclair’s Oil!, Balzac’s Pere Goriot, and Proust.  With that being said, my loyal readers, check out my goodreads page or some of my book reviews to see what type of books I have already read and am into, and then send me your suggestions that are either similar to what I like or might help me expand my horizons.

So there in long form is my to-do list for the break.  I have until Jan. 21 so any book, job, or apartment suggestions will be most appreciated.