Monday, October 17, 2011

I'm 50 Feet Away From Them

About 10 days ago I drove to Minneapolis. One of the first things I did was see the comedian Jim Gaffigan perform at the State Theater. He was amazing, as always. Watching him, I got that familiar feeling I get when I see a comedian or band that I really admire: that feeling of, they're in the same room as me. I get kind of blown away at the idea that entertainers travel around and I get to be 50 feet from them or 10 feet or in the case of Jim Gaffigan, probably over 100 feet, and I get to watch in-person what they do that I admire. That's pretty cool, and it seems good to still get that childlike awe at it happening.

Cool things from the last couple weeks:
*Found a Wayne's World book at the library book sale, and it was free.
*Made my solo karaoke debut with an off-key performance of "Amish Paradise" by Weird Al Yankovic.

Some pictures:



Sunday, October 2, 2011

Who Owned This Before?

I'm re-reading one of my favorite books, a used copy I bought a few years ago. The first time I read it, I got it from the KU library. It seemed like almost every page had stains on it, as if some person who read it had been eating pizza the entire time. Sometimes I wonder, when I'm zoning out while reading, who previously owned the book I'm reading (if it's a used copy) or who has also read this particular library copy. Who are these people? What are they doing now? What did this book mean to them, if anything? The same goes with clothes I buy from thrift stores. What places have these clothes seen? Did the person get compliments when they wore these? Where are these people now? I think that's why I like buying things that were previously owned by someone else. It's like a life cycle. And when I'm done, I can pass it off to someone else. We'll never meet, but it's neat to think objects can live on.

Watching/Listening Lately:
*Mitch Hedberg
*It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
*The Beach Boys
*A Place In The Sun

Some photos:




Saturday, September 17, 2011

Dorms

I haven't written in this in a year and a half. Lately I've been wanting to again, but haven't been sure what to write. Well here goes:

I'm in the middle of reading Jonathan Franzen's The Discomfort Zone, a collection of essays about his life. In one he said his brother went to the University of Kansas and lived in Ellsworth Hall, which is exactly where I lived. I remember the single greatest thing about our room that impressed the very few visitors we had was our bathroom. Other rooms had bathrooms too, but for some reason my roommate Vince and I got a room with a handicapped-accessible bathroom, despite neither of us being handicapped in anyway. So, our bathroom was huge. I sometimes studied in there, using the sink as a desk, and also wrote songs in there, strumming an acoustic guitar and writing down chord progressions.

Lately I've written a few articles about dorms for a website I write stuff for. When I lived in the dorms, I hated it. Outside of my roommate, I just didn't really fit in with the other people there, the people who would run up and down the halls at 4:00 a.m., yelling and slamming into doors. But now, as I look back on that year living in Ellsworth, I do look back with some fondness almost, or at least I'm able to enjoy the fun things from that time. I also wish I would've done it better, that I had left our room more and made friends with the other people on the floor, instead of just staying in our room so much of the time.

But maybe that all shows how I've changed since then, how I used to be a guy sometimes hiding behind doors, and now I want to be outside, be in "it" and be a part of what's going on.


What I've Been Listening To Lately:
*Au Revoir Simone
*Fourth of July
*The National
*Lana Del Ray
*Twin Sister
*WTF w/ Marc Maron Podcast

Watching Lately:
*Childrens' Hospital
*I Confess
*Beginners
*The Future

Reading Lately:
*A Visit From The Goon Squad
*Breakfast At Tiffany's
*The Motel Life
*Juno: The Shooting Script

Some Pictures: