Hey, Dude! Whoa! Like, Dude, Surf’s Up, Dude! Dude…DUDE!!
I am not quite sure which is worse to encounter on a rainy Saturday morning brunch with friends: watching an antsy little girl struggle to eat a piece of toast, or to sit and listen to some hippies say the words “dude” and “like” about 50,000 times in a half-hour. When I finished my brunch with Bob, I’d have to go with the hippy dudes and dude(ettes) that occupied the table next to us after the family with the overactive little girls left. At least, the girl was too busy eating a piece of toast to be challenging anyone with their amazing vocabulary skills.
But, I did learn something new today that I didn’t know before, some words of wisdom for all of us to ponder. Apparently, the success rate for surfers is based solely on their appearances. If you look like you could catch some good waves, chances are you really won’t catch them after all. However, if you don’t look like you could get the good waves, then you will actually do well. Hmmm….I would’ve thought that it’s the other way around. If you looked the part, you’d know what to do and would be skilled at it. For example, I never would imagine that I’d be any good at surfing. First of all, I don’t dress like Matthew McConaughey. Also, I can’t swim. Therefore, I’d be terrible at surfing. But, if you applied this dude’s wisdom, I would actually be good at surfing. That doesn’t make any sense to me.
I wanted to turn to the guy and say “Whoa, dude. Let’s catch some waves, man!”
Current listening:
Ongoing blog project – Progress Report Part 1
I took a mental health day from work after working overtime for the past couple weeks. So, today I am using this extra time off to work on my ongoing blog project, which is to merge all previous attempts at blogging over the last few years together into one place. Well, actually, it’s two places for the time being. Since I like elements of both Blogger and WordPress, I have opted to use both for the time being to see which one I prefer to use. This is a work-in-progress and will take some time to complete but we will see what the end results might be.
Current listening:
Decisions, decisions, decisions
So, the debate rages on (solely in my head, that is) in the “where I do I want to go from here with the blog” category. I like blogging overall, but haven’t had much motivation to really keep up with blogging. I am beginning to wonder whether or not I want to continue to pay for the domain name and the web hosting when I can do the same thing for free. Besides, I am not very good at the whole web design thing. My work life has been insanely crazy over the last few months, which has left exhausted creatively by the end of most workdays. That results in a complete lack of motivation towards keeping the blog.
So, with all these meandering thoughts in mind, I have opted towards no longer keeping this domain name and instead have decided to continue my blogging over to the free version of WordPress (wordpress.com). So, what I am going to be doing over the next few weeks is to recreate the entire existence of my blogging life (over the course of the last few years and the several different sites I’ve used and kept during that time) to two new spaces that will ultimately be mirrors of each other. Because I like both WordPress and Blogger, I am keeping an address for each platform. The new location(s) for this blog will be:
Blogger: isol35noise.blogspot.com
WordPress: isol35noise.wordpress.com
Since both of these sites are in the “work-in-progress” state of things, there will be noticeable differences in the posting of entries for the time being until they are in sync with each other. So, you might find surprises in each site. Why do I want to use both sites? Well, as I said earlier, I like both platforms for different reasons and want to experiment with both before I decide to go with one or the other.
As I always say, stay tuned.
A Historical Moment 8 Years in the Making
Just when I was beginning to wonder whether or not I will survive the horrible Bush Administration, Inauguration Day 2009 has arrived. I can not begin to explain who RELIEVED I am that Bush is finally out of there. Thank Barack!
Today is the day that Barack Obama became America’s 44th President of the United States. Despite some nonsense from one of the token Republicans in the office (clearly annoyed that other people are rejoicing and not working), I enjoyed watching a few moments of this historical event. Now, the fun part (well, not really) begins. Obama has several challenges ahead of him, facilitating the recovery process of cleaning up the many mistakes of the Bush Administration, i.e. the war on Iraq, the economic crisis, healing the wounds or partisan politics, etc. I sincerely hope that things will get better from here.
A Love Letter to Ann Coulter
This is the funniest thing I’ve seen in a while. AC would be foolish not to accept the offer.
Calm
I am relieved to say that we are now in 2009, although, I can’t completely write off 2008 as being a bad year. Actually, good things happened in 2008. For one, I finally met a guy in the fickle city of Seattle that is actually not full of shit. As a matter of fact, he’s actually really nice and not full of himself. He also doesn’t dress like an androgynous hipster with zero musical taste.
I also had a great time in NYC and actually attended all three nights of the noisefest known as No Fun Fest.
Work-wise, I also got promoted to Paralegal, which is exciting. I’m just waiting for news of what my raise will entail. Granted, I am still filing and have gained even more work than I already had. I can’t keep it all straight, but I am slowly moving up. I don’t expect it to all happen overnight. I will take time, but I do have new challenges awaiting me. We will have to see what happens from here.
I just hope that 2009 proves to be even better. I anticipate that it is going to be better. I hope to attend the Nurse with Wound show in San Francisco which is the end of March. Also, I just might head on back to NYC for another round of No Fun Fest, allowing me a chance to see Merzbow again, after missing them two years ago due to my misplaced fear of Brooklyn at night. There are also rumors of some Throbbing Gristle tour action as well as the possible first ever US live performance of Black Sun Productions. I have also been really really really wanting to attend Sonar in Barcelona, Spain. That would be great – spendy, but great, nonetheless. I am keeping my fingers crossed (come on, raise at work, I need you now.)
That is a lot to attempt to do in 2009.
Coming back to today, 1.5.2009, I’ve decided (on the advice of Bob, my boyfriend) to try something different. Year after year, I make huge plans for the upcoming year culminating in a novella-length list of New Year’s resolutions, most (well, actually, ALL) of which are never successful. This time, however, I am trying something new. Instead, I created a one-word description that encompasses a broader course of action which I hope to accomplish in the upcoming year. This year, the word is “calm.”
What does the “concept” of calm entail? Well, first of all, I consistently feel like I am always in a hurry, whether it’s due to me walking too fast or rushing through basic tasks. In that respect, I want to slow down. Also, I tend to take on too much (i.e. packing too much crap in my book-bag and not using 95 percent of that crap, or make too many goals or unrealistically overwhelming myself with too much to do) at one time. Instead, I am going to take things one day at a time and realize that I am merely human and can only do so much at one time.
Finally, I stress too much all the time. I want to learn to take deeper breaths and more frequent moments of relaxation. I want to slow down my walking pace and take better care of myself. A big area of improvement I hope to make involves the way I handle stress and uncomfortable situations at the workplace or in my social life. I am going to slow down and not stress out about the stuff that I can’t control. Some things are out of my hands. I can’t always do anything about them. I gotta learn to mellow out A LOT. Don’t sweat the small stuff. I just can’t allow that stuff to get to me. I can’t internalize other people’s issues and problems. What I can do is adjust how I handle drama or stressful situations.
I hope that all these intended improvements ultimately result in a calm, peaceful, and reinvigorated 2009.
Stay tuned to see what happens.
2009 begins
Hello, blog. Long time no see.
Welcome to 2009!
Sorry I’ve been away so long. Between Seattle’s White Xmas, the return of Grace Jones’ fabulous hat collection, excessive Chelsea Lately roundtable viewings, and all the time spent with my bf, I haven’t written anything in a while. Hell, I even flirted with starting a second blog (365 for Jhonn) which was neglected. I have tried repeatedly to reinvigorate my blogging experiences, but have failed miserably.
Then, 2008 ended (CNN’s broadcast of Kathy Griffin’s spicy language on NYE aside), bringing us screeching into 2009.
I want to start anew. I want to be better at blogging. I swear. I want to write more on this thing. I hope to bring in readers (maybe). F—, I’d be happy if two or three people sign on and read this thing. I mean, 2 or 3 is better than zero, that’s for sure.
I am here to prove that I can regularly update this crazy thing. I will prove it. Watch me!
In Memoriam: Jhonn Balance (COIL) 2/16/62 to 11/13/04
I remember where I was when the news broke to me that Jhonn Balance, much beloved singer and co-founder of the experimental music band, Coil, passed away. Approximately three weeks after I returned to Seattle, I was walking down Broadway contemplating what awaited me the following day, which was to be my first day of work at my new job (which is still my current job) when the text message came. My ex-boyfriend from Chicago, Erik, sent me a text: “Jhonn Balance died,” or something to that effect. I stopped dead in my tracks when the news entered my brain. I paused for a minute, wondering if he was serious or not.
The world of music lost a beautiful soul 4 years ago today. Experimental music has not been the same since that day. Jhonn’s passing was a major turning point in my perceptions of life and death. Life became precious that day, not to be taken lightly or taken for granted. I realized the importance of living every day of your life without compromise, without reservation, and with resolve. Coil played a huge role in awakening my musical awareness as well as acknowledging, accepting and embracing my sexual identity. I am eternally grateful for Coil’s existence in my universe and the amazing musical gifts they left for all of us along the way. I miss them dearly, but their music stays with us and Jhonn’s soul breathes through us.
A while ago, I contemplated creating a project of some sort as a tribute to Coil and Jhonn’s memory. However, an extended creative drought (along with my own self-doubt) at the time prevented this project from ever getting started. Recently, I resurrected the idea of writing a piece (potentially a book-length piece) dedicated to Jhonn. So, I’ve decided to start a new blog devoted to conceptualizing and collecting sources of inspiration for the project, which I will collect and develop over the next year. The 365 for Jhonn blog will start today with the 4 year anniversary of Jhonn’s death and develop this blog over the next 365 days until November 13, 2009, which marks the 5 year anniversary.
365 for Jhonn can be found:
WordPress version
Mac version (Coming Soon)
R.I.P. Jhonn
