mechanical birds
8 days into my stay here deep in the tricuspid valve of america's heartland, kansas city.
life here is good. oh so terribly sleepy compared to my life in jamlando. spending days sitting out on our sun beaten porch with a murakami book, a guitar, and a couple of cups of chai vs. all the ruckus of living with six other kids, our motley myriad of honorary roommates, and all the crazy stuff that goes on every night. hits me like a bracing slap across the temples, but maybe that's a good thing. time to think, time to gain perspective on it all. i feel (and look) a thousand times better by now, all this asceticism wrt cigarettes, alcohol, & the rock and roll lifestyle has its upside. & i've finally managed to drive a stake through the heart of my nosferatu inspired sleep schedule of living each day one night at a time.
still, all of you are missed so much. old friends, new friends, the countless people i wish i'd had more time to spend with before i left. you never notice the tiniest details that make you smile until they are gone. i took so much for granted, became so moody & antisocial & detached in the last month before i left from sheer exhaust and a thousand other reasons i can't get into; i'm sorry to anyone who's had to deal with me in that state or anyone who's known me short enough of a time such that it's all they've seen. i'd give near anything to have a few of you up here for just a night. a singalong, a dance party, a rooftop, a midnight conversation.
i know i never update anymore & have been terrible at keeping in touch with people, but it's mostly just been the way i've felt lately, triumph of books over bytes, rooftops and porches over phone calls. that and our apartment being hit by lightning, catapaulting us back into the 18th century for four days without power & ac, then finding out it toasted my computer in the progress. and a sixty-seven page term paper due at the end of the term. blimey.
i've completely fell in love with a college town about forty-five minutes away from here... lawrence, kansas. amazing little coffee shops with college kids + profs hanging out and debating politics, lit, last night's episode of queer eye for the straight guy, etc. dusty used bookstores you can lose yourself in for hours. a used cd store with the biggest selection i've seen since plan 9 in richmond. moving units for 4$! electric six for 5$! random local stores with metal robots & amazing shoes.
last time i went back was for a black cross/these arms are snakes show at a local bar. ended up meeting some cool kids i'll probably keep in touch with, and although i saw these arms are snakes open for the blood brothers two weeks before & didn't think too much of them, they blew me away. maybe because it was such a small stage, such a tiny show, but everything just clicked into place; sound, lights, everything. nice guys too, as i found out taking shots of 'lemon goodness' (don't ask me what was in them, they were a buck each) with them at the bar. (okay, this night was my one break from the no drinking/smoking rule.) black cross was great, too.
after hanging around for a while, i started walking back to my car, taking the long route because i really had nowhere to be, and it was such a perfect night out. ended up walking past a guy with a guitar playing a guitar... a few steps later, the notes registered, and i realized: 'wait, i know that song,' and turned back around. hung out with the kid for the next four hours, filling the night air with 'custom concern', 'bowl of oranges', 'where is my mind', 'trailer trash', 'make war', 'communist daughter', and on and on. met a bunch of random kids wandering the street, hobos fresh from dumpstering pastries offering us food, outcasts from the freshly closed bars practically collapsing nearby, our captive audience. eventually a string broke, we talked into the night of everything & nothing until i eventually got back in my car and struggled against the weight of the night's siren song to stay awake before making it back and collapsing into my bed. such a good night.
also, the road there/back is part of THE OREGON TRAIL. there are signs everywhere and even some cheesy wooden cutout buffalo on a cliff at one point. all i needed was my wife to die of tuberculosis, a thief to steal one of my oxen, some buckshot to bring down those lumber buffalo, and some gravestones to make fun of other kids on & i would have been seven again.
thanks to being around my parents so much, my accent is back in full effect & i'm peppering my speech with 'innit's like there's no tomorrow. on the subject, bbc america::the office. bleedin' hil-arious. gets my stamp of approval.
black eyes + q and not u, cursive + blood brothers (again), and enon are coming to orlando in the near future. true.
also! 'ODB ON PAROLE.' VH1 @ 10pm tonight. !!!. cuz is a misunderstood genius. watch it or you totally lose.
life here is good. oh so terribly sleepy compared to my life in jamlando. spending days sitting out on our sun beaten porch with a murakami book, a guitar, and a couple of cups of chai vs. all the ruckus of living with six other kids, our motley myriad of honorary roommates, and all the crazy stuff that goes on every night. hits me like a bracing slap across the temples, but maybe that's a good thing. time to think, time to gain perspective on it all. i feel (and look) a thousand times better by now, all this asceticism wrt cigarettes, alcohol, & the rock and roll lifestyle has its upside. & i've finally managed to drive a stake through the heart of my nosferatu inspired sleep schedule of living each day one night at a time.
still, all of you are missed so much. old friends, new friends, the countless people i wish i'd had more time to spend with before i left. you never notice the tiniest details that make you smile until they are gone. i took so much for granted, became so moody & antisocial & detached in the last month before i left from sheer exhaust and a thousand other reasons i can't get into; i'm sorry to anyone who's had to deal with me in that state or anyone who's known me short enough of a time such that it's all they've seen. i'd give near anything to have a few of you up here for just a night. a singalong, a dance party, a rooftop, a midnight conversation.
i know i never update anymore & have been terrible at keeping in touch with people, but it's mostly just been the way i've felt lately, triumph of books over bytes, rooftops and porches over phone calls. that and our apartment being hit by lightning, catapaulting us back into the 18th century for four days without power & ac, then finding out it toasted my computer in the progress. and a sixty-seven page term paper due at the end of the term. blimey.
i've completely fell in love with a college town about forty-five minutes away from here... lawrence, kansas. amazing little coffee shops with college kids + profs hanging out and debating politics, lit, last night's episode of queer eye for the straight guy, etc. dusty used bookstores you can lose yourself in for hours. a used cd store with the biggest selection i've seen since plan 9 in richmond. moving units for 4$! electric six for 5$! random local stores with metal robots & amazing shoes.
last time i went back was for a black cross/these arms are snakes show at a local bar. ended up meeting some cool kids i'll probably keep in touch with, and although i saw these arms are snakes open for the blood brothers two weeks before & didn't think too much of them, they blew me away. maybe because it was such a small stage, such a tiny show, but everything just clicked into place; sound, lights, everything. nice guys too, as i found out taking shots of 'lemon goodness' (don't ask me what was in them, they were a buck each) with them at the bar. (okay, this night was my one break from the no drinking/smoking rule.) black cross was great, too.
after hanging around for a while, i started walking back to my car, taking the long route because i really had nowhere to be, and it was such a perfect night out. ended up walking past a guy with a guitar playing a guitar... a few steps later, the notes registered, and i realized: 'wait, i know that song,' and turned back around. hung out with the kid for the next four hours, filling the night air with 'custom concern', 'bowl of oranges', 'where is my mind', 'trailer trash', 'make war', 'communist daughter', and on and on. met a bunch of random kids wandering the street, hobos fresh from dumpstering pastries offering us food, outcasts from the freshly closed bars practically collapsing nearby, our captive audience. eventually a string broke, we talked into the night of everything & nothing until i eventually got back in my car and struggled against the weight of the night's siren song to stay awake before making it back and collapsing into my bed. such a good night.
also, the road there/back is part of THE OREGON TRAIL. there are signs everywhere and even some cheesy wooden cutout buffalo on a cliff at one point. all i needed was my wife to die of tuberculosis, a thief to steal one of my oxen, some buckshot to bring down those lumber buffalo, and some gravestones to make fun of other kids on & i would have been seven again.
thanks to being around my parents so much, my accent is back in full effect & i'm peppering my speech with 'innit's like there's no tomorrow. on the subject, bbc america::the office. bleedin' hil-arious. gets my stamp of approval.
black eyes + q and not u, cursive + blood brothers (again), and enon are coming to orlando in the near future. true.
also! 'ODB ON PAROLE.' VH1 @ 10pm tonight. !!!. cuz is a misunderstood genius. watch it or you totally lose.