#57. Dirty Animals, White Stripes, Conan O'Brien, U2

"Dirty Animals" went over relatively well. There was a lot of silence regarding it, so I can't really say how exactly it was regarded...I don't know how obvious this is, but Conan O'Brien has the best theme music out of the late night yucksters. It's also good to see him supporting the White Stripes this week. When I find me some money, I'll be getting their White Blood Cells and most recent Elephant albums. I've heard nothing but good. Also, very soon I'll be the proud owner of every official U2 album. Unless I'm horribly mistaken, and then the case will be that my semirelentless hunt for the lot will continue...

#56. Boomtown, Renaming Movies

Thanks to the season finale of Boomtown, I was able to keep up my streak of not seeing the last hour of The Ten Commandments. Speaking of which, if a movie can spend so much time not featuring its titular subject, I propose several name changes to past Hollywood features:

Citizen Kane to "Rosebud"
Star Wars to "Death Star Trench"
The Usual Suspects to "The Real Keyser Söze"

#55. Invasion of the World Featuring the Ballad of Joe Starbucks

I think I have my favorite password for this site. No, I'm not going to say what it is. I just thought the thought was prescient. It was on my mind. Aren't you glad I have this site? I'm sure you are. What is it that I talk about, anyway? Absolutely nothing, and not in the good Seinfeldian way either. That is, unless you consider me a sufficiently wacky character. Then perhaps there is some worth to this intermittent babbling. Wouldn't that be reassuring?

If they were to elect a Big Man Blogger (or what have you), I suppose I'd have to do a lot of bribing...

I'm on the cusp of writing a story entitled "Invasion of the World Featuring the Ballad of Joe Starbucks." Previous to this, I have finished writing "Bizarro Lives," a wacky tale of Yoshimi the Japanese Immigrant Who Reads Horoscopes, and all I have to do is make sure nothing terribly obvious is wrong with it. They feed on that sort of thing, you know.

#54. Blogger's Crossroads

Should I keep this going or what? And what is this "or what?" option anyway? These are questions that do not lose me any sleep.

#53. I Blog

Would I AM someday become I BLOG if some nut tried hard enough to put that out there?

#52. Hannibal Lecter

Yah, so I haven't seen Manhunter or Red Dragon (or Hannibal or all of The Silence of the Lambs), so I'm free of the bias one way or another. So many say that Manhunter is the best Lecter film out of the lot, but then there's always a tendency to say the earliest of a lot is the best (haven't noticed that?). I'm wondering what I would think.

#51. Bizarro Lives, Dirty Animals, The Impressionist

The percolation for "Bizarro Lives" is encouraging. This is another story developed around the same time as "Dirty Animals," but a much different story, something I strive to do. If it comes forth as easily as "Dirty Animals," which was eventually finished later on the 3rd, I'll be a happy man. It's exciting when this sort of thing happens. Then it's on to editing another story, "The Impressionist," which was taken to be too offbeat in its original form. I hate going back to work on stories, but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.

#50. Dirty Animals

There's no greater feeling for a writer than when he's on a roll. I've written at this typing most of a short story that's been cooking for the better part of a year, and all in a single day. I'm pleased with myself. The title of the piece is the very enticing "Dirty Animals."

#49. Shit

Yah, I'll put up with the shit for a bit longer. This time it'll be on my terms...

#48. Blacklisting

Have you ever said to yourself, fuck it, this just isn't worth it? I'm contemplating this about an area in my life. I've put up with a lot of passive abuse, a lot of "black listing," and frankly, it's getting to the point where I won't be able to talk myself out of not walking away again. Here's to you, who made it possible. That's all.

#47. Alan Ruck

By the way, Alan Ruck should have had a bigger career after Bueller. Too bad...

#46. Feris Bueller's Day Off

I'm watching Ferris Bueller's Day Off for the first time, and while it isn't quite as good as it's been said to be, it is also a pretty good flick. That's all.

#45. For Shame...

Oh, and shame on him for not noticing...

#44. Michael Moore

This just in: Michael Moore lives in a fictitious world.

43. Words of Wisdom (Somewhere)

It's very hard to come up with words of wisdom when you aren't feeling very wise at the moment, but still want to write something here. So here's what I have to say: [insert something here].

#42. Ambition

What is ambition, anyway? Is it something elusive, or too much to expect? It's something we all have, whether we realize it or not, and it comes in all sizes. Getting up in the morning is an ambition, just as going to bed at night is. It's also setting goals, in whatever form they come and however distant they are. I've had a singular ambition, a singular goal for some time now, and by some standards I would appear to be less along the way than I could. I say to that, bullocks. There's no such thing as behind. That's what I've got to say today.

#41. The Seven Day Theory Statement, Part 2

Pretentious shit, huh? It was fun writing it.

#40. The Seven Day Theory Statement

That was The Seven Day Theory.

#39. The Seven Day Theory, Part 7

We took our little
rest.

Stepping out of the heated
incognito
the rest was an awakening
there had been
misconceptions
misunderstandings
we needed to set
the record straight
and to do so
we pressed the reset button

it wasn't going to be sudden
and it was going to be
painful
but in the end
or perhaps a new beginning
there would be
a new understanding
a new conception
a clean slate

the slate was going to stay the same
we knew that
to erase the acknowledged
would be
counterproductive
all we will have gained
lost
scattered along the plains of oblivion

when we took our rest
we closed our eyes
and saw with greater clarity
a new conviction our beacon
cutting through the misty wet fury
with precision
blind but not unattentive
aware
for perhaps the first time

who saw this day
rushing forward like a steed
riderless but still motivated
a destination always in sight
but sometimes prevented?
expectations nearly left us
failures
small ones and big ones
conscious ones and unconscious ones
prideful and hypocritical
all this we saw when we closed
our eyes
for a rest


reciprocal
intentional
metaphysical
a splendid metamorphosis

we took all
that we now saw
and prepared to use it
there was a new day before us
insipid as the day we emerged
today
yesterday
tomorrow.

We took a rest
and moved on.

#38. The Seven Day Theory, Part 6

Alone?
I was not.

I looked to my right
to whom I
journeyed with
contempt
envy
jealousy
seethed within me
what right had this
person
this other
to share my path?
none
they should know
none but melancholy
I alone deserve this
it is mine
all my own
I breed hatred
despair lurks within
woe to the inhabitants of this plain
look upon me
you coward
I am the lord of creation
it's lone bastion
right of the rite
written
sacred writ
I am therefore it is mine
and I will not die
will never surrender
a fortress built around me
Ego its name and decree
I am swallowed
isolated
my own solitude
there is no pity here
look away
look away
look away
what needs are not found?
what lusts unsatisfied?
what whims go unfulfilled?
what delusions
do I not need?
all of them!
I need!
all of them
sustain me
nourish me
swaddle me
defend me
there is no truth
but melancholy
I lay fallow
my companion
lost
myself
lost
I reach
and find nothing
all is
lost
I have myself.

Alone?
I was.