so if there is a triad of teenage boys going down the street, with the front one on a scooter and two walking behind, is the front guy the coolest one cause he gets the wheels, kind of like a general on horseback with infantry behind? or is he the loser that the other two are making ride out ahead of them, kind of like a human shield in case they get attacked by a rival band of kids? i couldn’t really tell but it seemed like they should have all just been walking, those scooters are pretty stupid.

since my blogging has been all too centered around how much activity i cram into every weekend lately (a maximo park show, a beer pong barbeque, 10 games of beach volleyball and a kung fu movie night? how does he do it?), i won’t spend time on that. it’s not interesting unless you’re someone who normally would be there for all the fun and are checking in to see what you missed. if so, sorry, but i’m sure there’s just as much fun on the horizon.

instead how about how fun it is to finally have something to awkwardly report when your mother uncomfortably asks how your love life is going? there are so many issues to wrestle with there it can’t help but be fun. if there’s nothing going on, of course, you can just confess that no, “i’ve mostly been hanging out with my friends and just having fun, and catching up on reading and movies…” which is true i’m sure, but also seems to always have a twinge of defeat, as if you both know that that’s not quite enough but neither wants to admit it.

it’s even more fun when the question comes right around the formative stages of something actually worth sharing, because so many quick decisions have to be made — is this one worth talking about (yet)? should i hold off until it’s more solidified? am i just getting her (and my own) hopes up? how honest should i really be about the sordid details of how it happened? will the girl be okay with the fact that now my mother knows this is happening? should i tell the girl i told her? what terms are okay to use to describe this situation at this point? and this is all in a couple seconds, maybe more if you pretend your cell phone wasn’t getting reception at that exact moment.

not that any of that really matters against spending two whole days with someone so cute and fun, but it is a lot funnier to write about than the much cornier things that’ve been on my mind most of this weekend.

labor day weekend was so full and good i feel like i’m still living in it’s shadow. luckily another weekend is fast approaching to allow me to break free and right my rudders. four day weekends have that ability to throw off your flow when it comes to trying to sit back down and be a good worker again.

and can i just say that i am so proud to be the owner of a nice new tent. not only did it do an admirable job in the beautiful sequoia national forest on sunday (seriously, what a great park! i saw the third largest tree on earth, and am saving the largest — also there — for my next visit), but it means i can camp again at a moment’s notice. the resultant sense of power gives me a headrush.

[oh yeah, to see some pics josh took of the trip, check out his page.

this snippet was the best thing i’ve seen in a while to file under the ‘why we blog’ category, whether it be diaristic or journalistic or ficticious, from a very good longer piece on why god why discussing why more published writers don’t have web presence (yo, klosterman, i’m looking at you):

And then, in the very long term, we can try to get rid of this bullshit idea that success in writing means you’ve sold a million books. Break down the wall and show that writing stories is just a simple act performed by humans. It’s not some magical ability possessed by a select chosen few who deserve millions of dollars for doing it. Everyone can tell stories, and everyone should. People who have websites get that, and so do the people who read them.

and in that spirit, i blog on. caught a movie screening last night of a rough version of a movie written, directed, shot, acted, and pretty much everything else by a few of my friends which i was also told not to talk about. instead let me just say how cool it is to have friends with the drive and creativity to even do that kind of thing. if someone told me to ‘go make a feature film, right now’, i’m pretty sure i’d laugh, then make a flailing attempt, and fail to do something that was funny to anyone other than me. or maybe not… [begins screenplay: scene opens on a wide open road in the desert…]

oh and am i ever looking forward to my three day, which turned recently into a four day with the urging of my boss, weekend. we’re talking beach, camping, and possibly some frolicking of some kind? definitely some beer. wouldn’t mind catching a movie, possibly starring steve carrell. and all the while continuing to rock out to this decemberists cd which is both unbelievable and the new album to beat for best of 2005. i’m calling it right now, good luck music industry at large (and sorry kanye — don’t worry, you’ll still probably make top 10 despite what james says). i’m also calling the next song they should make a video out of after the sweet rushmore-esque ’16 military wives’, and it really ought to be we both go down together, the labor day pay day song.

i have grown to love my balcony lately. it’s a nice place to sit for a moment to be outside while still being at home. add to that the fact that since mine overlooks a major thoroughfare in a big residential neighborhood, in any five minute escape to its perch, i’m guaranteed to see at least one interesting thing. tonight i saw a guy driving a car that looked right out of a video game where you get to add unnecessarily large spoilers to your fast imported car with a loud engine. i also saw two guys riding scooters together in the same lane. both were badass in their own way.

in that same eventful session i also saw a short parable scene play out. a sexy jogger girl in a red tanktop approached the stoplight and had to wait to cross and continue her run. while she hopped in place to keep her heart rate up, a much less sexy girl in a black tshirt came jogging up behind her. i anticipated the awkward moment they would share waiting together, but the light changed and they crossed at the same time. naturally, the sexy fit one took off with gusto, being trim and quick. the one in black held back, i could tell, and even crossed the parallel street on the other side so they wouldn’t have to share the same path. off they went on their separate exercise routines.

i laughed because i relate entirely to the second jogging girl. i fully respect anyone trying to improve themselves, but even though we want to be that girl in red, in fact are pushing ourselves with that goal in mind, the last thing we need is a constant reminder through it all of how much farther we have to go. and that skinny bitch probably doesn’t even have to try half as hard as we do.

so that ellis reading was slightly less fun than the klosterman one mostly because ellis is more intense and less talkative and funny, but still it was a relief in a way to see that in person he isn’t some creepy maniac who might just be writing about the murders he truly wishes he could commit in real life. of course, reading my new signed copy of lunar park might sway my opinion more in the opposite direction since he wrote himself as the main character… but mostly i’m just hoping that i’m not as disappointed with it as dom said i would be. i take it as a bad sign though that the back cover of the dust jacket only has blurbs about his other books and not this one. is that supposed to convey a ‘you’ll just have to find out yourself!’ message of mystery, instead of a ‘no one really dug this book enough to praise it’ one? because if so, i am not yet convinced.

sunset junction was pretty enjoyable saturday, even if the first few hours were a bit hot and the first few bands a bit boring. i really like carnival atmospheres though because as jessica said, people are just walking around in good moods, not in a hurry, just enjoying the day. of course, another fun part was because as josh said, ‘there were some real freaky-deaky people out there’, which was even better. they ranged nicely from the sexy fashion do’s to the nearly nauseating fashion don’t’s, which made it all the more fun to just sit on a curb with a smoothie people-watching. the rilo kiley set was pretty good too even if we couldn’t see very well, and seeing the walkmen fumble amongst technical difficulties was pretty funny, especially when they singer threw his gum at the sound guy off stage right. not sure if he actually hit him or not but boy was he acting like a spoiled rockstar.

lastly: did anyone else subject themselves to the mtv video music awards last night? sure, the stage was the most elaborate and expensive looking thing in awards show history, but am i wrong in thinking that p. diddy — i’m sorry, just saying ‘diddy’ is somehow even more juvenile than his prior nickname, and i just can’t bring myself to do it — was also the most boring host in award show history? he’s constantly pausing like we’re hanging on his every word when in fact we’re sitting here wishing he would say ANYTHING funny, interesting, or even relevant. seriously, worst delivery ever, and i’m not even sure if they bothered giving him any jokes to work with. it was difficult for me to watch, and i had the help of tivo to make it seem shorter, which is sad. how could it possibly be that crappy? or am i just disconnected from today’s youth and pining for some of the 90’s craziness mtv award shows used to be famous for?

Ellis: not very scary.

i am one cultured indie cat this week. last night i went to a chuck klosterman reading for his book killing yourself to live out in westwood for some major hipster points, tonight i’m headed out to pasadena for a bret easton ellis reading for lunar park, and this weekend is sunset junction in silverlake for a rilo kiley concert. hot damn is LA happening this weekend.

the klosterman reading last night was excellent. true, i haven’t read this new book yet (got me a signed copy to flip through now though). but i adored sex, drugs, and cocoa puffs, and his frenetic and semi-encyclopedic ability to ramble on pop culture’s reflections of life translates exactly to his live presence. he just talks and talks without stopping or even pausing, and this is one clever, insightful guy. guess he deserves to be senior editor of magazines, thrice-published author and contributor extraordinaire at the ripe age of 33 with that kind of wit.

the scene there was cool too because it was only maybe 30 or 40 people tops and i felt like we were so elite in our bookish music nerdiness. not in that snobby or reclusive way of high fidelity clerks, really — after all, i did get a pretty girl to go with me (and more importantly, leave with me) — but in an intimate group of culture appreciators kind of way. plus kumar from the recent eponymous white castle film was there too; harold must have been working late.

other LA kids can still catch him if you hurry, he’s doing other readings tonight and monday. everyone else, i’d say grab the book because he made it sound glorious with his description: “one part journalism on my trip to the locations of various famous rock and roll deaths. one part my wrestling with a decision between two women i was in love with who i had resolved to choose by the end of this three week road trip. and one part exploration of what it would be like to live those three weeks constantly making an effort to be fully conscious of my own mortality.” nice.

that saying about things staying in vegas is kinda pointless if you ask me. isn’t the reason you do crazy shit in an indulgent environment so that you can brag about it afterward? sure, it might not be smart to record them all to print on a publicly available (and search engine indexable) forum, but boy were there fun times last week. for my own memory though i will jot down some notes to be fondly recalled later, only in super secret code so no one else can understand.

rmmbr whn yr bss bght y tht lpdnc nd ths tqla shts? nd whn y gt bck t th htl nd GV a lpdnc t yr fml cwrkr? hly sht tht ws fnny.

but more importantly i think i made about a hundred bucks playing cheap roulette tables and drinking free beers. do i know how to do it or what?

other funny things since last i wrote:
— shaun of the dead and stella. both utterly ingenious, i have to say.
— a kite at the beach in the form of a paratrooper with a little plastic man hanging from it.
— a topless fat guy in purple shorts jogging.
— josh’s story about his two-hour battle versus an army of fed-ex customer service representatives. he lost.
— this guy dancing to clap your hands say yeah. so going to be me when they come in october.
— this story about scott stapp from creed getting his ass totally played by a bunch of funny college students.

(credit for both those last two go to james, who just started an mp3 blog and who is also radical. now i’m going to check out his radical mp3’s.

i am getting somewhat sucked in by the hbo hype machine i think. being an enormous sopranos fan, lover of curb, and follower of entourage, i can’t help but start getting brainwashed into the mindset that hbo original series are the future of television. i’ve had dozens of people tell me how much i’d love six feet under and now it’s in my netflix queue patiently waiting to be adored. and now i’m falling prey to the blood-soaked promo posters for rome that line my commute. (not literally bloodsoaked, obviously. that would be terrifying. but i do appreciate their willingness to depict ‘the streets running red with blood’ so publicly).

here’s the problem though: i’m excited about a new series and setting the tivo to record it, and i don’t even think i’ll like it. i thought gladiator was boring and i didn’t even try going to see troy or alexander. in fact i can’t think of anything ancient-timey that i really like, except maybe a general fond rememberance for childhood viewings of jason and the argonauts on cable. and academic respect due to epic poetry i guess. so shouldn’t my awareness of having been brainwashed into dedicating more of my life to hbo programming be enough to keep me from bothering?

well, maybe my sub-subconscious is secretly hoping this will be the time they get the period right. i know consciously i’m just hoping there is some plato or aristotle character in there to be all high-and-mighty about how he’s smarter than everyone and should be running the place, in between debaucherous nights spent ‘educating’ young boys. (YES i know that was greece, i’m just saying, can’t there be an oscar wilde in the cast?)

oh and also, i’m off to vegas tonight for some corporate frivolity. wish me luck at the tables, cause if the right numbers come up i could turn an easy profit seeing as how i’ll have no expenses.