7" of Separation

A terrible inability to sleep runs in my family.

So begin the results.

Phew. I’m stuck in the middle of a terribly busy few weeks. Between my parents visiting over spring break, friends visiting the week after, a couple of killer weeks of reading for theory class, two papers and a film project, I’ve been consumed.

Not to mention getting ready to actually be married, which includes long talks, more long talks, a few more talks and then some fights.

At this point, it’s all an auto-pilot daze.

Thank God for cats, and videos of cats posted on Youtube:

More updates to come. I’m not neglecting the blog. All I want to do is write blog posts, but I’m never to the point where I have time to write anything substantial. Hang with me.

I was just looking over my last few posts, and I fear I might be coming off as a bit pretentious, talking about media theory and whatnot. So, just to be safe, here’s a snoring cat:

Also, it seems Twilight sold some three million DVDs in one day. I noticed that the company set up midnight release party events, which sort of defeats the purpose of being a nerd for something. The company shouldn’t need to set these things up. Nerds, like bananas, are better organic.

But the ol’ corporate-try-to-hard did help sell DVDs. Now, about 90 percent of those are going to end up on ebay within the year, as groups of girls everywhere figure out that only one of them needs to own the movie.

Yeah, that’s right. I’m passing judgment on the Twilight movie. Bring it.

I saw these two posters walking along Bedford in the burg today:

I liked them.

…

I’ve been reading a collection of essays on German Marxism and Ernst Bloch has been harping on Georg Lukacs for a number of reason, one being a misunderstanding of the importance of Expressionism to the development of the Nazi fascist regime. But, I’ve been getting lost a little because I’m not up on my Expressionists much.

So, on my way home from the coffee shop, I dropped into Spoonbill and Sugartown bookstore to see if I could a) find a book on Expressionism, hopefully with “expressionism” in the title somewhere so I could spot it on the shelf, and b) flip through what I was sure would be and expensive book without buying it. I looked all over with no success.

About to give up, I figured I’d check the sale rack to see what was there and guess what! Of all things, there on the $5 shelf was “Expressionism: A German Intuition, 1905-1920.”

Five bucks.

Granted, it’s the gallery guide to a Guggenheim exhibit from 1980. But for $5 I get a couple of essays and over 300 pages of art prints.

I’m so up on Heckel and Nolde now.

Bring it, Ernst Bloch.

…

Anyway, I never imagined I would find the exact thing I wanted and be able to buy it for $5.

It made my day.

I should be reading Ngugi Wa Thiong’o’s Decolonising the Mind but I instead find myself watching Celebrity Apprentice.

It has both Joan and Melissa Rivers. As well as Andrew Dice Clay and Dennis Rodman. Also, a model from Deal or No Deal.

Celebrity everyone. This is celebrity.

I’ve been getting back into new music after taking a year or two off. The move is the result of my friend Josh and I starting to feel old and out of touch — quarter life crisis!

Anywho, here are a few of the acts I’ve come across lately:

I’m a sucker for female vocals, and Nite Jewel loops hers though electronics until they’re dripping with groove. The music is little more than airy disco synth and some chill beats.

This next lady performs as Danielle Ate the Sandwich, and she’s from Fort Collins, Colorado. She’s priceless with her ukulele.

Another new lady that’s been soothing my mornings is She Keeps Bees. A bonus, she’s from my part of Brooklyn. She reminds me of early Cat Power with a little more Sleater-Kinny attitude.

Mirah has a new album coming out, and I’m pretty excited about it. Plus, I felt I didn’t have enough chick rock in this pots. Here’s ‘Mt. St. Helens’ live at Evergreen College in Washington state.

A dude! My buddy Thom introduced me to Scott Walker, or reintroduced me, as his ‘30th Century Man’ was in Life Aquatic.

This Lemon Pipers song came on today at the coffee shop. Classic.

I wish I had video of J.T. IV, a dude who locked himself in his basement and turned out some of the best punk 1980 had to offer. However, there isn’t any online. A Chicago public access show did play his track ‘Waiting for CTA’ while a certain type of people danced to it. (Those people being the type to get on local access dance shows.)

Okay, that was a strange one. This next one is too. I like to end with a bang.

Omar Souleyman is a really big pop star in Syria. I bought his CD the other day and when it’s not making my ears bleed, it’s rocking my world. As you’ll see in the following video, ladies really dig him too, even when he’s lip syncing.

I’m so close to being done with my paper. So close. Yet, here I am doing a blog.

I don’t even have anything to say really. Hum, here goes…

Since we last talked, I’ve settled in nicely to my new schedule of reading in the coffee shop, spending all afternoon on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday there. I discovered on Friday, that the coffee is, in fact, bottomless, and I think this will lead to new happiness next week.

Ellyn and I just sort of bummed around the city yesterday. We checked out the Chelsea Flea Market in the morning. It’s always fun to stroll through the market, but it always feels like cheating for me to buy anything there. All the old paper and neat knick-knacks are over priced and the pickings are too easy. I need a challenge when it comes to tracking down junk. While at the market, I had a moment of George Costanza pride, finding a great public restroom in Gracious Home at 25th and 6th.

After the market, we went to Strand, which is NYC’s largest bookstore. It sucks. It is no Powells. My complaints are many.

Before heading back out to the burg, we stopped by this great cheese market and got tons of fresh cheese at amazing prices. I think we got five or six pounds of specialty cheese for $13. The evening ended with a few drinks at the Trash bar and a veggie burger at Lodge resturant before heading home and watching Annie Hall.

A good day.

Great procrastination.

Which brings me full circle. I just need to write a conclusion. I just don’t want to.

I believe I survived a bought of bronchitis over the last two weeks. It hit me hard, mostly in the sinus reagion. Queen and David Bowies “Under Pressure” comes to mind. The sickness had me down and out, as it took forever for me to feel well. Also, after two straight, full weeks in a drug-induced stupor, it began to feel as if I was just dead to everything. The unbearable chill of winter in New York must have also played a part in my intellectual dysfunction.

All this led up to somewhat of a rebirth yesterday. I got sick of feeling dead and useless. I just decided against the feeling and went on with life as I thought it should go. This translates to taking my Lyotard reading for class, along with a yellow pad, down to a coffee shop called Blackbird. Officially, it’s a parlor, meaning I think I can sit there all day and read philosophy. Anyway, the act of getting out and settling into a studious lifestyle, embracing a hipster ideal, felt reinvigorating. Cliche? Sure. But therapeutic, no doubt.

While I could list complaints about Grad school, I’ll avoid it. Something about taking out loans to fund an education makes me feel entitled to a certain amount of bitching. But never mind that. I’ll leave it at this:

I’m enjoying my program, and in the long run, I believe it was the right choice to pursue this degree at this point in my life. I love the readings so far and enjoy the creative aspect of my practice courses. The foundation of the program is strong. It’s execution? A bit sloppy. But, overall, I’m happy with it.

Ellyn and I took a trip to the Lower East Side and the Bowery on Saturday. Our first stop — The Doughnut Plant.

We saw a few celebrities, a standard for any New York outing.

I always love walking through the different ethnic market districts in the city, and the weather was perfect as we walked through a Chinese shopping district. I liked the fresh ginger.

Taking advantage of our student discounts, we moseyed on over to the New Museum, where ellyn pretended to see something for the sake of this picture.

For the sake of this picture, she just sat and looked beautiful.

Sometimes, you just have to spray paint “Yoink” on a building.

After the New Museum, we swung around the block to one of my favorite galleries, Lehmann Maupin.

Before heading to a performance of Chris Scharb’s “Twilight and Ghost Stories” with some good friends, we had a beer or two at the little German bistro, Loreley. The place holds a special spot in my heart, as it’s right next door to the hotel I stayed at during my first visit to NYC back in college. I had just got back from Berlin before heading out to New York for a conference, and it seems God wanted me to know where I could get a true Hefeweizen then and six years down the line.

More to come concerning my new adventures at school, I’m just to tired to get into it all now.