So tell me, what's your secret?

I've always been a big fan of Nick Swardson. For some reason this struck me as great.
Plus, it's inspiring.

In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.

I finally got to leave NYC.
Granted it wasn't too far out, but it was far out enough to remind myself that there is other things to do outside of the city.

We got lost a couple of times, but it was the good kind of lost, the kind of lost where you don't mind becuase of the company your with and actually getting to do something.
We drove up to Rockefeller State Park Preserve through a lot of historic upstate New York (Sleepy Hollow was most awesome.)
The Preserve for the most part was empty. We passed a few joggers, but other than that it was eerily quiet. We delved off the path here and there, mostly because I wanted to walk through a large field. We talked a lot about living in the city, and about growing up far away from NYC and the whole transition thing. It's weird being up there in the woods and the lake and then the next minute back waiting for the Q train. It was fun though, a good break. I saw a family of Turkey.

Now I'm working overtime practically every day this month in order to move. I found one place in Bushwick, but after looking at the apartment I decide that I could do a lot better. I mean, considering I live in a Yellow House situation right now, I'm always looking. I can't take living with seven people anymore. How could Jacob and Micah do this?

I made pancakes this morning, so I'm going to see if they were worth it.

Did IQs just drop sharply while I was away?

I just slept for 16 hours.
I have to buy Sigur Ros tickets next week.

O Valencia

What a great concept...
What a shitty video.

I'm moving soon. Out of Bushwick (unfortunately). I saw a place in Prospect Heights today that was amazing.

Haaapy Anniversaary, Happy Happy Happy Anniversaaarrrry.

Yesterday was Fountain House's 60th Anniversary Block Party. During the whole thing I could only think of the anniversary song from Welcome To The Dollhouse.
We had crepes, and indian food, and the usual Manhattan block party fare. Oh and the added bonus of sexy Frederick's of Hollywood sexy lingerie booth! Amazing. Truly. Why the hell would you come to a block party to buy satin teddy's. Bizarre.
But overall a good time. Afterwards L'Abri and I walked across the Williamsburg Bridge and then hit up Amy's for a bit. We found tiny furniture on Leonard Street that made me feel bad if there were real Littles living in Brooklyn.

I had no idea you had that much fire in you — skyrockets pinwheels, roman candles.

This makes me feel very Woody Allenish:



It's a student play adapting Haruki Murakami's short story "On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning". It's in Murakami's The Elephant Vanishes.

I just finished watching Doug Benson's documentary Super High Me. 30 days without pot. 3o days of non-stop smoking.
I'm going to S'mac!

Where was the holocaust?

Chris and I bought a couple of 40's last night (King Cobra, Ballantine) and popped in my latest Netflix, Cannibal Holocaust.
There was very little cannibalism and no holocaust at all. Please, do yourself a favor and just go rent a some other grindhouse movie.

I'm almost finished with
The Devil's Highway. It really hits home for me. It's very gruesome, very real. It's propelled me to start collecting information for people who are immigrants and also suffer from mental illness. There's a lot of different organizations here in NYC, there just not really collected anywhere. I got the go ahead from the supervisors, so that's my homework for the next few months. I'll post about my findings as I go along.

What the hell happened to the weather? I was all geared up to go see Vampire Weekend yesterday at Central Park, and after being balls humid all day it just rains all night.

I was blinded by that....Zephyr.

Simultaneously the worst and most "you're gonna love..." movie: The Piano Teacher.



And because I love Mastodon and Bowling...

After a foolish action comes remorse.

I sure said the wrong thing right then. I drank a bottle of wine and rode around the trains for a while, realizing I'm just fucking myself over again.

So, the pesky problem with living in Brooklyn, sometimes, is people breaking into your apartment. Or getting mugged. Or both.
My apartment in Bushwick isn't in the greatest location, but it's quite aways from the hubub of Knickerbocker or Myrtle. I'm sort of positioned between the JMZ and the L. There's a lot of construction on my street, but that's usually during the daylight hours, and they're pretty quick. The sound of grinding metal bothered me at first, but now it's just become background noise.
Well- first earlier this week someone tried to break in by breaking the lock to the back door of my apartment. The upstairs neighbor (Gene) brought it to my attention. Someone had kicked/smashed the lock. It was a pretty good job, real forceful. Gene was more pissed I think (He's been living there since the 1960's... I figured maybe he's dealt with this
before).
Anyway, so the initial wave of shock went over us, we called the landlord, his response: "maybe this week or next. Real busy." While the people above me have been robbed a couple of times already were extremely pissed.
So, we set up a block with some stolen 2x4's from the construction sites and felt a wee bit more secure.
So, fucking last night around 4:30am I hear a banging from the back (my room's near the back) and run out of my room. My roomates and various stragglers from last night's party are in the living room and also run out. There's the burglar (maybe the same guy?) trying to beat the door again! He clearly sees us, and keeps at it. Neal walks to the back door and starts yelling at him, they sort of argue, and then the guy disappears into the shadows of all the abandoned buildings. Fuck.
Be amazed at my paint drawing skills. The red circled area is where the guy keeps on trying to get in. I didn't circle the front door because that's been kicked in for a while now.

So, now I'm looking again for an apartment. I think the guys are going to stay, but I don't want to deal with it. Plus our plumbing is bad. So there. I'm trying to move again.

I have an appointment with someone down in Park Slope tonight. Hope it works out.

This is a man we are talking about, right?

I always wondered what it'd be like to be in a family that had a monthly newsletter. Like those coffee chat pages you get at diners, one side about random family "Did You Know..." trivia and the other with Historical family events. The middle is a few paragraphs of current happenings, where everyone is, new jobs.
Alas, we are not that family.
Last night my Dad inadvertantly told me that my younger brother, the middle one, is getting married. His exact words were "You're brother's getting married... I just hope that you're doing alright."
I'm excited for my brother. I think this is awesome. I think being a brother-in-law affords me to drop it at parties, like a business card. I'll hand someone the subtle off-white card with a flick of my wrist, an in black italics it'll read brother-in-law in fine Impact (I'll request Impact font).
I imagine it was a big decision for him. The men in my family are a bit reserved, so express anything permenance or sentimentality to us is a HUGE step. I think it's a good direction he's going in. I'm very proud of him. Although he's a man of few words, I'm going to try and ring him up and coax something out of him. I've never been the older brother to give advice or steer either one of my brothers in one direction or another, but maybe I should.
Commiting to another person is a battle of blood and glory. It's very fine tuned in my opinion. To be able to get someone, or at least to be able to overlook their faults is a action not unlike the focus of some sixth-century Samurai. I can count the number of major relationships on less than five fingers, and each time the thought has crossed my mind. I'm not sure if I have my brother's conviction, but the times are always changing. I treat the institution of marraige like the a sword of Damoclese type situation.
I've never considered myself a commitmentphobe...

New purchases:
Takk...- Sigur Rós
Here Come the 123's- They Might Be Giants (the song Triops Have Three Eyes is especially hard hitting. I have a history with the prehistoric creatures)

My laptop at home may or may not be out of commission, due to an explosion. More on that later.