On Thursday Jen and I were leaving work and some fellows with cornrows selling poorly done “graffiti paintings” declared us “hipsters!” after we walked past them. Cripes. I have no qualms being a part of the hipster camp, but for some slob on the mean streets of SoHo (across the street from the Apple store) to go out of his way to make me feel bad for wearing a completely normal (blue jeans, plaid Abercrombie dress shirt, gray shoes) outfit is just so ridiculous. No scarf, kerchef, Ray Bans, dunks, or anything! They must keep real busy calling out every hipster that walks by. I gave them a very pointed middle finger and told them to “get a job.” They said something back, but I didn’t hear what it was… I’m just glad I said something. What if they walked past me and I said “gangstas!”? Right. I wouldn’t do that because I’m a classy hipster. That afternoon we took a train up to Beacon and it was really nice to walk around in the woods and drink a couple of Coronas while looking at the Hudson River. Picturesque enough?

Friday I made spaghetti, cleaned the bathroom, and organized the closet!

Saturday I bought an ELO record and walked around Williamsburg. It was intense. When I got home I answered the phone which derailed my attempt to stay in all weekend. Met Aug and Jeff at the David Byrne thing. The line for the actual show was too long, so I just went straight to the reception. Of note: David Byrne waits in line for his hot dog like everyone else. Then the Hoveys had an over the top party including more beer.

Film
China: A Century of Revolution: Disc 2 & 3. Hard living.
The Savages. Depressing, funny.
Gangs of New York. Good.
The Taming of the Shrew. Gibberish.

2 Saturday’s ago Jessica had a lovely garden party. Drinks, friends, family, kids running about, Park Slope…you get it. The next night I met up with Marcus Oakley. I hadn’t seen him in person for about 4 years I think, that didn’t seem to matter, we had some beers and a great time. Talking with him was so great because there was very little “catching up” and a lot of what is currently on my mind type of talk. He joined the gang for dinner and that was that.

Monday I took off for LA. I knew beforehand that I’d pretty much be doing the exact same stuff that I do here in NY while I was out there, but I figured why not since I had a free plane ticket coming to me and a place to crash out there.

Got to the airport and of course my flight was late meaning I’d miss my connecting flight to LA. I struck a deal and flew on to KC for the night, meeting Brooke, the Blumes and others at the Cure concert there. Caught the last half hour of the show, went out for a couple beers, raided Blume’s fridge and talked into the night. Woke up on Tuesday and fiddled around and waited too long to call a cab. Turns out it takes 40 min to pick you up there. So I made it to the airport 10 minutes prior to takeoff… Luckily KC is about the easiest airport in the world to get through so I made it no problem.

Gino picked me up in the black PT Cruiser we’d be cruising in all week. “It’s a rental!” The whole week was a pile on of creating a glossary’s worth of inside jokes, farting, pushing each other to the limit, with the occasional cultural / tourist event included. Highlights included: new LACMA wing, visiting the AMMO office, climbing Ryan Mountain in Joshua Tree, Venice Beach, the Getty, Dodgers v. Cardinals game, majestic views, and live music. We went to some fancy bars (Green Door), some bars we loved (Little Joy, Jumbo’s), and some not so great bars. Drank too much coffee every day, visited the taco trucks most nights, had some amazing Mexican food at Alegria on Sunset, and a million little plates of food in Koreatown. I did my best to avoid geography conversation (NY vs. LA, what do you like about NY? LA? etc…), but it was inevitable and people just don’t drop it. We eventually just took on this super arrogant persona and said everything in NY was dope and everything in LA was wack. I am not sure many people got the joke. All in all a great trip, though I hope my next travel adventure is more along the lines of a quiet cabin by a lake.

The intense hanging out time reinforced my hopes of setting a long weekend retreat / lock-in with the idea that something tangible would come of it.

Today at work we received a shipment of the book series I helped on and I’m totally happy with how everything turned out. Went and checked the location of the new office and man I am ready to get in there. Lots more space, crazy views of the Trade Center site and that old cemetery / church, weird mix of people walking around, beer and candy store connected to the building.

Sent off the final necessities for The Artist’s Guide Vol 2. Should be coming out in July sometime. Again, feet were dragged longer than they should have been on our part, but maybe that’s just the way it should be. I should probably start thinking about financial backing for issue 3 now… but I’ll just wait until something comes up.

Current Interests
Drawing
Recipes
Games
Reading
Making Music

People I Think Read my Web Log
Lane
Jake
Sam
Kelly
Brock
Aug
Jen
Miranda

Defining
Class Clown vs. the Class Comedian?
The Village Idiot vs. Uninhibited Person Without Regrets?

May 10 — Brunch w the Bwick gang. Went to this Deitch Party in LIC (too early to be the party it wanted to be), then a real life loft party.

May 11 — Mike had a BBQ, I brought Black Velvets. We all played some dominoes.

Some other stuff happened. But no one else is blogging. So forget it.

Film
China: A Century of Revolution: Disc 1: China in Revolution. — Imperialists beat out by Nationalist & Communists. Sadistic Japanese attacks.

Beautiful People. British, pretty good.

Un Coeur en Hiver (A Heart in Winter). French, beautiful french actress (Emmanuelle Béart).

An oldie:

Wednesday I bought those shoes I’d been eyeing. They’re canvas and it’s been rainy, so I’ll keep them in the box ’til the sun shines. Then met Mike for dinner at M Shang. We hadn’t gotten our asian restaurant fix, so we got a drink at Bozu, then LL. I was walking home and ran into an old roommate and got a drink with him… My anti-social campaign is off to a bad start so far.

Thursday after work Kelly and I boarded the uptown 6 train to check out an art opening. I was speaking to the artist about something kind of important and the stupid old gallery owner just walked right in front of me and was all “hey meet these boring old rich people.” Then we left. I headed straight to poker at Jeff’s. Waited on Nato, Aug, DMP, and Perry to arrive. Another good game. Somehow I ended up winning the pot. $45! (10 of which was mine to start) I sort of have survivor’s remorse about it. I can find a way to blow it in a social way for the next game I’m sure. Aug and I walked home in the rain. On Gates Avenue I saw the most staggeringist drunk I’d ever seen. He seriously looked like he was a marionette hobbling down the street. Arms and legs jerking about and wobbling all over the sidewalk. He was hugging the wall of this school for the block I followed him, and when he reached the corner and the building ended… yep, you guessed it —he fell flat splat on the ground. He was wearing white sweat pants.

Friday I spent most of the day fiddling around, getting groceries that kind of thing. I put a big pot of beans on and realized 2 hours later that I hadn’t turned the heat on. I fell asleep in the early evening watching a boring movie.

Saturday I arrived at HQBK for KR’s bday party. All day birthday party. We drank and ate and drank and sat around on the floor and left her apartment cluttered with empty bottles. Then to Savala’s for drinks and some big news from Greg. Mike and I split and got a cab to the city to meet peeps and dance and stumble around.

Sunday I laid around all day waiting for Karyn’s big birthday dinner. Everyone had a nice time. Good food and people (except for the burger I hear). Jeff, Karyn and I had one more beer and I took the long way home. Stopped and looked at all the candles and scrawled notes for the kid who was stabbed on my block this week. Yikes.

Film
Picnic at Hanging Rock. Australian, I thought it was boring. The synopsis on the netflix enveloped kind of spoiled it.

Frankenstein. 1931. Super old and goofy looking by today’s standards. Started to watch Bride of Frankenstein but abandoned.

The Spirit of the Beehive. 1973. Spanish, about a girl who after seeing the 1931 Frankenstein movie becomes obsessed with finding the spirit of the monster. Beautifully shots that somehow remind me of Tom Bonauro’s work.

Velvet Goldmine. I was kind of interested in figuring out who represents who, but overall I couldn’t get over the some of the contrived conventions used.

Thursday went to dinner and an opening and a person’s birthday drinks with Jen and Austin. Then stopped by the sake bar for 2 beers. Was home pretty early.

Friday I went to the sake bar right after work. Small gang of friends ended up meeting me there, then we headed to some rooftop party / gallery opening near the bridge. It started raining so we ended up in apartment 3H. Some stranger just invited us in. We kept inviting more and more people, til our host was slightly outnumbered. Then we headed to the always gross BCC bar.

Saturday I meant to get a bunch of stuff done, but ended up laying around all day. Met with Mike and Aug and went to Daddy’s for beers. Dave Johnny joined us. Aug left us. We went to the sake bar for a party to see the chef off back to his native New Zealand. There was a moment when I was sitting there (for the third consecutive night) where I had thought — “what am I doing?” At that point I thought reminded myself that I need to point myself in a new direction once and a while.

Sunday I contemplated my life and wished I had tv or the internet.

Monday I tried to draw all day. Iron Chef Jeff called and invited me over to listen to the radio and eat swamp stew. I’m not sure I was great company as hadn’t left my apartment for nearly 40 hours.

Tuesday I finally received my package of shirts and zines from French! I can’t even guess where it’s been over the last 2 months. Also recovered 2 issues of the Wamego Times, my tax refunds, and a credit card application (ignored). I didn’t receive a netflix I was expecting, I’ve never had so many disappear as I have since I moved to Bushwick. Somebody somewhere is enjoying some boring foreign film I ordered.

Film
Head featuring The Monkees. Awful.
Knowing You Knowing Me with Alan Partridge. Great.
King Corn. Interesting.
Wedding Crashers (with commentary from Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson on). Yeah, I was bored.

Anticipating
New Shoes Purchase
Bike Purchase
California Trip
Potential Camping

Queries
Who am I?
What am I doing?
Who are you?

Got my hand in the air.

Started off last week resuming weird sleep patterns. Crash early in the evening, wake for a few hours in the middle of the night, second sleep early morning. This happened last Tue and Wed. This Tues was the opposite, where I slept during the time I’m usually awake in the middle of the night (midnight – 5am). So yesterday (Wed) I crashed early, and now I’m typing this as during my middle of the night wake as it transitions into Thurs,,,

Of course my weekend behavior doesn’t help much. Last weekend was a whirlwind:

Thursday I had people over (Jen, Willow, Aug, Dan, Aug’s friend) to my place for snacks before this rock / comedy / live talk show. We had a good time and I laughed hard. Half the crowd was pretty confused and I thought it was all the better for that reason. The music portion was provided by Dan Deacon. We all jumped around.

Friday was the first really perfect day of Spring. I bought some jeans, ordered new contacts, got a haircut, went to Minca w/ Mike, went the sake bar, and saw Suckers at Cake Shop.

Saturday I baked some cornbread, went to DMP & Molly’s BBQ, went to Huckleberry Bar, BCC, Sweet Ups, and Legion.

Sunday I went to Jeff’s for brunch. We drank Black Velvets, then beers all day, then we walked over to Aug & Willow’s. I was planning on going home, but I called Jess and met her and Brian Spink’s sister for a drink at the new Trophy Bar. After that, I heard some live music coming from Bembe, so I popped in there and watched this afro-funk band.

Monday I was so beat from going crazy I stayed in bed most of the day.

Tuesday I saw Tim & Eric Awesome Tour with Aug, Jenny and Dan. It was pretty fun, but overall it was kind of like watching TV for 2 hours with a crowded room of spastics. The opener, DJ Dougg Pound was pretty great.

Work is starting to pick up again. There is some momentum building with the return of the boss finally in sight. I feel stressed with my side projects weighing down on me. The thing is there’s only 2 of them, and if I would just sit down and do them, they’d be out of my life.

Film
No Country for Old Men. Finally saw it. Liked.
Samurai Spy. Tried to watch 2x, couldn’t stay awake.
Cleo from 5 to 7. Finished after 3 attempts. Nice Paris street shots.
High and Low. Realized I’d seen it before. Still good.

Recipe
Hickory Bill’s (Easy) Cornbread

2 boxes Jiffy corn muffin mix
2 eggs
some soy milk
1 can creamed corn

Roughly mix ingredients in 9×9 pan. Bake 15–20 min. until top is brown.

To See
CGQ show at Guggenheim
Whitney Biennial
Show at Apex Art
Marcel Dzama show

Last Monday was the big game, like I said before we watched at Mike’s, then went to Legion for a few celebratory beers amongst those who care not for sports.

Me: “Hey! You follow basketball?” (points at KU shirt)
Bartender (with bleached blonde hair, piercings, and other rockabilly traits): shrugs.

Tuesday I had a craving for a burger, thanks to the beers from the night before. So we ate dinner at this place on Ave C. Had a couple beers.

Wednesday I cooked food and watched DVDs.

Thursday was Big Game Stag Night at Jeff’s. 7 guys playing poker with only one guy really knowing the rules. I made cheat sheets. We played cards, drank beers, and waited nearly 3 hours for pizza to be delivered. Jeff won. This concept of “the pot” is interesting to me. Incrementally it grows throughout the night and someone walks away with all of it. If we broke it back down it would be basically valueless. Anyhow, I enjoyed myself. On the way home I popped into a nearby bar I’d been meaning to check out. Interesting mix of people in there, bad music though.

Saturday I toodled around. Bought a big piece of paper and some colorful inks. Scrambled and rushed to Grand Central to meet the gang and catch the 5:25 train to Beacon. We checked out Dan and Aug’s art, strolled Main St., drank booze, ate bad nachos and headed back. I almost accidently went back to Brooklyn before I realized that I needed go out all night in the city.

Was super lazy on Sunday and meant to go see a movie, but ended up Indian food.

This Monday I met the fellas for some beers. I just knew that after being holed up all day in my apt, I’d end up staying out later that I should for a school night. I did.

Film
I’m Alan Partridge, Season 1 (British TV Series, at times makes Larry David seem sane, unfortunate laugh track)

Ratatouille (fun)

In the Valley of Elah (Iraq movie)

Knife in the Water (Crisp, B&W, Polish)

Cleo from 5 to 7 (fell asleep)

Joe Dirt (watched on tv just for the part where names off fireworks)

Phew! Basketball is over. We got all the marbles. I watched the game at Mike’s, high definition ftw.

Probably my favorite thing about KU ball is the rock chalk chant in Allen Fieldhouse. It’s eerie, tribal, and literally sends a chill up my spine. It’s also kind of ridiculous.

Learn and Listen.

Also of note: The team will be welcomed back to Lawrence at approximately 3 p.m. Tuesday for a celebration at Memorial Stadium, rain or shine… A U.S. Army UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter may fly over Memorial Stadium as part of the celebration.

Was on the wagon for most of the week. Mostly because I’m trying not to spend any money. It’s kinda funny to think of it as a fast. A spending diet. Made it all week with only going out to dinner one time. Saturday morning I had a craving that could only be satisfied with Biscuits and Gravy. The first event that night was seeing Nato’s friend Aaron give a presentation on his art/activist group The Center for Tactical Magic. Then I darted down the street to watch the big game. The bar was like a time warp back to L town circa 2001. All the art school kids that have since moved to Williamsburg were there wearing probably the only Kansas shirt they own and hooting and hollering while watching their first game of the season (that’s practically the case for me). After a rousing victory the gang headed over to Black Betty to rejoin the art talk people and do a little dancing. Afterwards I was kinda boozy walking around and ended up at Savalas in the middle of Lauren’s bday party. Danced a little more and wandered a little more after that. Got home really late, but felt well all day lazy Sunday.

I need to get a new drivers license. And a social security card… Hey, here’s a flimsy piece of paper. Hold on to it for the rest of your life ok? What a pain.

Film
Wall Street. (not as good as I’d remembered, Charlie Sheen?)
Clean, Shaven. (too disturbing, couldn’t finish)
The Bicycle Thief. (good, weird kid!)
Robots. (fell asleep)

Final Four Dispatches
Mark:
“Ridn drtyalrdy alrdy! I arrived about 330am drove thru the missouri nite, youknowhowido!”

“Exemplary anticipatory nrg out here.”

“This place is up for grabs!”

“Goodmorning, just removed my eyemask & roused myself her in the econolodge—guessin I can’t drive thru the Missouri nite, drink alle day, scarf down a burritoking & then recover the way we used to—or maybe just the last part…”

“I just picked up a KU headband, I love the midwest.”

Sam:
“I was struggling but we found a port. 8th St Taproom.”

“I saw 2 people hump on a car”

“I’ve also seen a lot of people in wheelchairs.”

Darren:
“COLLEGE!!!”

Dave:
“Do it up!”

“Get em dag gum”

Mike K:
“It’s KU crazy in here!”

Mike O’B:
“This game is over” —Billy packer @ the 7:32 mark of the 1st half of the KU-UNC game, as Roy Williams applies lipstick.

Probably the highlight of my week is when I realize it’s Wednesday and there will be a new episode of Best Show up. “Whuuuuuuuuuuut?”

Prices are going up! It seems like everywhere you look prices are creeping up a little bit here and there. But I’m not getting paid anymore. What gives?

And, what’s the deal with rude people? Can we get some please and thank yous people? Is everyone mad that a pair of jeans cost $155 and a dang slice of pizza is $3?

Another thing — where is my package from London? My buddy Rich sent me a box of zines and t-shirts about a month ago and it hasn’t arrived? Where do these packages go?

I can’t touch my toes! I want to. I’m too scared to do yoga in public.

Taxes: Not done.

Recent Plays