cali dreamin

I've been "trying" to get into the habit of writing down my dreams when I wake up. There's definitely an art to it and I can't say I'm very good yet, but every so often I awake from a deep sleep in a groggy limbo-state that allows me to, albeit somewhat retardedly, jot down the details of whatever happened so clearly just before. Obstacles include not finding a paper or pen in time, falling back to sleep, going to the bathroom, and just generally not remembering/ caring.

Rereading the ones I've written is always exciting and fresh and totally fucking batshit goofy. In a way it's kind of like trapping thoughts from one world and bringing them into another. Like fireflies. OOOH...


NEW BLAKECITY.COM CONTEST

Hey readers, draw a picture of this dream I had. Click to enlarge. Translation follows.



"DREAM" (lol dreams are always in italics)

"TWO GIRLS CLIMB UP A SKYSCRAPER with a complex harness/ metal bungee system,
Where they have suction cups on their hands.
When one jumps off the topfloor bungee line (?)
the cord snaps and she goes flying into the water.
Somehow both ?...

There is a boat nearby with scuba and safety equipment but it has no paddles.

Michael Cera is in another boat, wearing strap sandals and socks.
He has little sympathy."

Please spend as little time as possible. Best picture wins a cookie.

---------------


Also here is a song I have been listening to all day. For anyone who likes Burial or dubstep or just a dark, intense/mellow (?), trippy sort of Rap-jam, here is Pinch. Let it soak in.

Pinch - Brighter Day (ft. Jukali)

sandiego and new york shitty

(Note: This post was supposed to come a week or so ago. For posterity's sake I'll put it up unedited)

Back in New York city!

(just me and my girl in the citay)

It's been a really nice almost-week here, and I've gotten the chance to relax and settle down with some cold hard venting, a Christmas party, Super Mario Galaxy, book-buying, Edamame Hummus, and pickup bball.




I saw this guy on the subway. He played a decent version of "All Along the Watchtower", after getting off to a particularly shaky start. What a microphone rig though! All into an amp in his backpack. In addition to witnessing this, I also: watched/ate/waved my face in pretty snow that fell like ripped cotton, pulled my hamstring slipping on ice, ate samosas, and saw former roomate Michael Brink and Bjork on the street within the same 24 hours. NEW YORK SITY!

No, in all seriousness, it's been a positive couple of days, but I am scared crapless by the amount of shit in front of me and the inevitable stress and anxiety that creating work tends to bring. I wish stuff would come easy sometimes. I wish that I could intuitively crank out 10 pages a day or set my mind on an idea that I could follow through on, or even have fun FINISHING something. Unfortunately, the masochist in me not only knows this isn't going to happen, but is silently preparing myself for the struggle to come, rather than finding ways of making things more manageable. SIGH



I just want to go back here for a little while. Just a little while.








Winter Break was quite fun.



God why are some Blink-182 songs so sad? I've really fallen in love with this band, in the utmost, completely unironic sincerity, over the last six months. They really provide some genuine insight into the joys and failures of young love, as well as singing about Sombreros and Star Wars. They're far less immature and crass than their image suggests, and as I was never really into/ allowed to listen to them as a kid, there's not an excess of nostalgia in my appreciation; these albums are very good and complete on their own, even to a 20 year old kid in an era long after pop punk mattered.



This one, the last song off Dude Ranch, is particularly sobering.

Blink-182 - "I'm Sorry"

"Don't bide your time
'cause it is almost over
and I know you're down
I'll see you around

And I know it hurts
but you're just getting older
and I know you'll win
you'll do it once again"

merry christmas and die!

this is a picture of me on christmas day, 1999 or so. In a few hours I will open presents in the same room.





FUCK YEA!!! I AINT NO GODDAMNED SON OF A BITCH!


What did you get for xmas!?!

THESE ARE TWO SONGS THAT MAKE ME FEEL REALLY BADASS!!! HAVE A FUCKIN COOL XMAS (emphasis on X)!!




I'M CUSSIN YALL

"Finals" are upon me and this week is busy. The 1 year anniversary of BLAKECITY has come and gone and I forgot about it. Oh well. Nic Cage remembered BLAKECITY'S birthday though and dressed up for the occasion.



I've been listening to a lot of Bruce Springsteen and Orange Juice (great!) and some new music too. I'm excited to post my end of the year lists because I love lists and I think I've been pretty up to date on material, so I'll be able to actually talk about stuff with some sort of confidence. Movies too. Not books though, I go through those like molasses. Suttree over break (fingers crossed).




Speaking of books, I saw Twilight the other day (sidenote; apparently after 11 on weeknights there is no one taking tickets at the theater[??]), which, as a film, is a preposterous mess that stumbles through so many levels of seriousness and cheese that it can hardly contain itself. That being said, it's one of the more interesting movies of the year and so much fun to watch. I've never seen a movie take place in between the staring eyes of two people more than in Catherine Hardwicke's mindfuckingly exaggerated shot-reverse-shot staring contest.



There are a lot of good movies out too. Che comes out this week in its 4 hour cut, as well as Gran Torino and some other stuff. Wendy and Lucy comes out this week too, which is as essential as any film is this year, in my mind. I saw it at the NYFF and... wow. Really amazing stuff.




Not to mention the new Punisher film which has received some surprisingly positive reviews from friends, and Transporter 3, whose trailer blew my mind.

I also saw Benjamin Button tonight, which was disappointing.

ANYWAYSSSS

Back to work, world. Stuff to show eventually, I suppose.






Home in less than a week. Here's a gem from the olden days.

One of my favorite things to do--

Okay, embarrassing. I'll start over.
Something I do on occasion, when traipsing around the internet or the various printed media, is save the pictures that I like and find interesting. I put them all in a big folder on my desktop, and sometimes when I feel sad I look at the pictures and smile. Some aren't funny and some don't age well, but more often than not they are worth the .4 second look every couple of months.

I have decided that when I have nothing substantial to post here (as is often the case), I'll just whip out a thing or two from the archives, so as not to let the swampy waters of Blakecity stagnate and attract disease-carrying pests. (hmm, good doodle idea there...)

Anyways, here are some of said pictures.

1989 PHS Yearbook (via ebay)



A bat flew into the stands during a Texas Rangers game. Click to enlarge/ explore.



Eskimo women skinning a Beluga Whale.



Book jacket for Outer Dark, written by a very young Cormac McCarthy.


Still frame from an episode of Frisky Dingo, the Adult Swim Show (episode 1.12, "Penultimate Fighting")