Monday, September 30, 2002
 i've just gotten a photo posted in the galleries at escaperail.com, which is a site completely dedicated to photographs of fire escapes. unfortunately, the photos there aren't indexed (they're displayed randomly in sets of 10), so i can't link to my picture specifically, but it looks a little like this one. believe it or not, fire escapes make for wonderful photo subjects, all shapes and lines and shadows... anyway, it's worth taking a look around - there are some really great images over there. (update: if you go to the "browse" page, mine is the 3rd picture in set 6.)Friday, September 27, 2002
ok, i've got my computer back online again, we'll see how long it lasts this time... i'm afraid to restart the thing... from the "what you see is not necessarily what you see file": as a graphic designer i pride myself a bit on my sense of color, and i even think i've got a descent grasp of the basics of color theory. i've read itten and albers. i know that colors can do strange things, depending on where they are in relation to each other, and how they're lit. but i didn't believe this optical illusion was true until i opened the image in photoshop and tested it myself, and, well, there's no denying it. 0,0,42. i mean, if you can't trust your senses, where does that put you? Thursday, September 26, 2002
well, hurricane isidore turned out to be nothing much, not even an official hurricane - it blew through early this morning without doing much damage, and causing just enough flooding to keep people off the roads and off of work for one more day... which has made for a big extended weekend for everyone in new orleans... the storm also brough some nice, cool, breezy, overcast weather, which has been wonderful. still no word on the job front - not a big surprise, seeing as the whole city's been on hold all week - and still haven't fixed my network card, so still updating infrequently for a few more days... just watched the season premieres of friends and will & grace. friends was the typical annoyingly suspenseful game of "who's the idiot now?" and will & grace was typically funny (and debra messing typically beautiful) - harry connick jr. guest starred, and for once he uses his real, normal voice, and talks like a normal person, and not with the silly fake southern/new orleans/cajun accent he sometimes puts on in movies and interviews. that always bothers me, that the guy thinks he's got to package himself as some kind of new orleans caricature. makes my high school look bad, too. dem' dere' jesuit priests taughted us bettah dan' dat, i garontee, cher! Monday, September 23, 2002
argh! more problems with my network card, can't get online to post from home, and it's killing me... my interview went really well on friday, hopefully that will turn into a real job within a week or so... watched the premiere of joss whedon's firefly with simeon and anne: not my kinda thing - all the worst parts of the original star trek mixed with all the worst parts of buffy... i also saw steven soderberghs's latest, full frontal, which i really liked - a movie within a movie within a movie within a movie. much fun. oh, yeah, and new orleans is playing russian roulette with hurricane isidore... i love pre-hurricane weather - it's already cool and windy and threatening... it always reminds me of the line in "the night before christmas": as dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, when they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky ... Thursday, September 19, 2002
how did it get to be thursday? i've been busy working on a website job that went over well with the client today, and i've got an interview for a real-live graphic design position tomorrow; outside of that things have been kind of slow around here. a few random thoughts from the week: • helped my dad and my sister film and edit their video audition for the amazing race, which was a good opportunity to play with premiere 6.0 and learn something about video editing. fun. • nice to see that jonno and james are both back online. • have to get my hands on a copy of the new sopranos episode. • another must download: junior senior's "move your feet" video, by shynola. the video is hilarious and the song is annoyingly catchy. Sunday, September 15, 2002
it's been a weird night. i went to see a show at the mermaid, by myself, which isn't uncommon. it was a really great alt-country line up: the weary boys, and gingersol, and minibar. all three have gotten pretty good press in the indie and alt-country media, and i've known about and liked (and had mp3s) of all of them for at least a couple of years now. so i expected a normal turnout for the new orleans alt-country crowd that usually goes to shows at the mermaid, twenty or thirty people at least. i was the only person there. it was me, three bands, and four people who worked at the bar. that's it. just me. and the funny thing is that all three bands played full sets - no encores or anything, but they played. for me. (and probably due to some contractual obligations with the bar, or for practice, or whatever.) but all three bands were great, they all took the attitude that fuck the lack of an audience, they were going to have fun - and all three performances were top-notch. but then, how often do you get your own personal concert? then i stopped at the grocery on the way home for some late-night shopping. also not uncommon. what was interesting was that the couple ahead of me in the checkout line bought fourteen cans of pressurized whipped cream and a bottle of wine. hmmm. never seen that particular grocery selection before, but then, this was 2 am. whatever. now i'm going to watch the superfriends and fall asleep. Thursday, September 12, 2002
i swear, i hate online quizzes. but this one was hard to pass up, and the result too  I'm the badass burgundy patent Doc Marten... I'm cool as hell, I'm deep, and maybe a little dark Which Doc Marten are you? (though actually, my favorite shoes in the world are my doc martens's oversized black suede loafers. )
i did something last night that i'd been trying to convince myself to do for several months - i went to a poetry reading, at the neutral ground, and read two of my own poems. and one by everette maddox, who's one of my favorite new orleans poets. i haven't written any poetry, to speak of, in several years, and the poems i read last night i wrote in college. i first found out about this poetry night a few months ago, and thought, my old poetry is better than this! i could do that! every wednesday night since, i've felt the urge to go back there and try it, though i've never been one to read my work aloud. and so, finally, i did. i had forgotten, though, the red-faced adrenaline rush that i get when i do anything public-speaking-like - though i've done a lot of it, it still happens every time... and though my poetry may not be so great, it was worth it just for that rush... also, thanks to a link on coudal, i'm currently unable to stop listening to / watching the video for "way you walk" by pappas fritas. i love rotoscope animation, it's so fluid and lifelike - video, simplified to just the basic lines. and the song's pretty catchy, too. Wednesday, September 11, 2002
...and i thought i could get through today without crying. heh.  i found this piece of paper last november when i went to new york. i was walking in lower manhattan, near ground zero and i literally caught it floating in the air, perhaps dislodged from some ledge by the wind, or kicked up by the cleaning process in the neighborhood, still underway nearly three months after the fact. it is a relic, it is real, it is my tangible connection to this day last year. i can't believe it's been a year, as i remember my thoughts and actions that morning as if they were yesterday. i remember waking up unusually early that morning and already having been awake for hours when my mom called and told me to turn on the television; i remember trying unsuccessfully to get to cnn.com; leaving my apartment that morning just after the first tower fell, needing to be with other people to share the horror, to have someone else confirm that yes, this was happening. driving to charles' house in time to watch the second tower come down with charles and christine and laura. walking out to my car, how the street was unnaturally quiet and bright; how the shadows seemed longer and darker than they should have been; how there were crows, big and black and sinister, in the parking lot. my friend jen was reading my archives from last september yesterday, and sent me this note: "just looking at entries from a year ago, blue butter to primal fear in 3 days, that about sums it up." well, pretty much. i think all we can do at this point is remember. and reflect. and not take anything or anyone for granted.
** heineken? fuck that shit! pabst! blue! ribbon!! ** watched blue velvet tonight at mythique, with simeon's girlfriend anne, because she had never seen it before and he didn't feel like going out. i think it's my favorite lynch film, though i don't know if i could tell you why. after (and during) the movie we had a nice long talk about relationships and crushes and ex-es and things like that; it's always interesting to hear girls' points of view on these things... while i was at mythique, certain circumstances reminded me of one of the great secrets guyhood, sorry ladies: there is really nothing in the world quite like pissing into a urinal full of ice. a unique and strangely satisfying experience. can i get an amen? Monday, September 09, 2002
the heat broke this weekend. it's still humid, it's still in the nineties, but there's the beginning of a chill in the air - an urgency to the breeze that says, summer's over, it's downhill from here. ahhh. took photographs today in jackson square, at the 'sit in' protesting the removal of the benches that used to be there. see, for those of you who don't know new orleans, jackson square is the centerpiece of the french quarter - you might even call it the heart of new orleans, the most new orleans place in new orleans, it's the space between st. louis cathedral and cafe du monde and the river. anyway, there's a pedestrian mall in front of the cathedral, and there used to be benches there, big, long, nice metal benches - where for time immemorial, jazz musicians, tarot readers, tourists, and the occasional homeless person would rest their weary legs or even take naps. since many city government types see "homeless" as a bad word, and smelly, something clearly had to be done to protect the delicate noses of our precious tourists! so the city counsel and the former mayor took the benches away for "repairs" this summer and decided not to put them back, leaving people in the square with standing room only... really a pity, i think. the 'sit in' rally had a great turn out, and certainly made a good point - the benches do need to come back, they were a good thing and it's just not the same without them. for some reason, the powers that be in this city ( with the possible exception of the new mayor) seem to think it's a good idea to make life more difficult for all the personalities who make the streets of the french quarter come alive - the street musicians, the tap dancing kids, the tarot readers and even the mimes... Saturday, September 07, 2002
*sigh* home too early on a friday night. and too late to go back out. and nobody to play with, or to watch a movie with me, or even talk to. and only a book to curl up with. thought it was fun at first, but after only two months, i'm already tired of being single. *sigh* Wednesday, September 04, 2002
in an attempt to justify my existence of late, here are a few thoughts, in no order whatsoever: 1. hansen's snowbliz closed for the season last sunday. no more yummy snowballs until next year: there are no shortcuts to quality. 2. i made a t-shirt today. or more precisely, i made iron-ons from explodingdog.com images and ironed them on a t-shirt that had previously been made by a nine-year old girl in an indonesian sweatshop. ok, well, i hope not. but it does look pretty cool. 3. despite countless mosquito bites this summer, and living in the state with the worst epidemic of the stuff, i have to my knowledge thus far failed to contract the west nile virus. 4. moment of silence *----------* for the forty cats and couple of dogs that died last friday in the fire on magazine street, not too far from here, which the news today reports turns out to be arson... whatever sorry fucker did that just made a particularly painful room reservation in hell, full of pissed off cats & rabid dogs... 5. my grandfather is a dirty old man. i knew this. but today i sat politely and listened as he recounted in graphic detail various sex scenes in the romance novels he reads voraciously. i was previously - and blissfully - unaware of an apparent term of art known as "the pleasure finger." alas, no longer. oh, and why does my grandfather read romance novels? because he's finished the whole spy/mystery section of the library. no shit. (and for the sex scenes, i'm guessing.) 6. the tolerance and forbearance from violent fits of vomiting exhibited above makes me a pretty damn good grandson as far as i'm concerned. or something. 7. i've been reading lots lately myself (no romance novels, thank you): coraline, catfish and mandala; popbot and league of extraordinary gentlemen. and other less interesting stuff. 8. i'm practicing contact juggling again. i've always enjoyed it, and i'm not terrible at the basics, but to do it well takes a dexterity and control i've yet to build. someday, maybe, with enough practice. 9. i've decided to learn tai-chi. i'm attracted to the contemplative aspect of it, the attention to each movement, the deliberateness. slow i can do; graceful tends to be another story. again, maybe with practice. 10. been running a lot, to where i actually like doing it... need to join a gym and get back to weight training. i miss it. and swimming too, eventually. that will be the day. 11. two word record reviews of girl-band albums: new sleater-kinney: fuck yeah. new neko case: nice enough. new beth orton: background music. 12. new celebrity crush: clea duvall. the trailer to "thirteen conversations about one thing" looks really good. 13. watched "the kid stays in the picture", about paramount producer robert evans, with joe on sunday night. not a bad film, as self-aggrandizing auto-biopics go. it made me want to watch several paramount films i've never seen, so on monday night i watched "rosemary's baby". very good movie. 14. i think i'm getting pretty good at being me again, at long last... despite my current lack of the two essentials - a job & a girl (see the overwhelmingly positive entry below) - i am actually happy lately, really deep down happy and excited at the possibilities that lie ahead. Sunday, September 01, 2002
strange, i didn't think it had been that long since i last wrote... anyway, things are okay-er than last week, at least as far as my attitude goes. here's hoping september brings better days than august did. what it all comes down to, though, is that i'm doing the right thing, i'm on the right track - i just need to stay on it, and follow where it leads - even if that's out of town. at first, i thought that was a choice i was making, but now it seems like it's not optional - if i want to do what i want to do, i think that elsewhere is where i need to look, since i'm not getting much response here at all. kills me though, because i thought i could make it work, you know?
on top of all that, i'm realizing that, if i slow down enough to let myself feel it, i'm pretty lonely these days - single and all, and with my previous circle of friends moving away and fading into obscurity - even as much as i've been trying to find new social scenes, new places to fit in, new relationships - it seems to be working about as well as my job search. no outright rejections, just aloof silence and polite friendliness. eh. story of my life. "self-confidence issues" for 1000, alex? |