Author: brian

it is time, on the eve of the anniversary of the birth of two.points.collapsing, to post a very special birthday edition of the song of the week. if you go ahead and listen it should be apparent pretty early on what makes it special as well as appropriate for the occasion. also, it happens to be my favorite song in the world. no fooling, there actually is one song that i like more than any other song i’ve ever heard; and this is it. feel free to disagree — i’m well aware that everyone else is not me, and have spent years reconciling myself to that fact. nonetheless, you should still enjoy comin’ home, by my favorite band, hum.

and: today, by the way, is a wonderful day, because sometimes it really hits you what being in love actually means to you.

[now hearing this: the stereo – rewind + record, which came out this week, which i just got today, which i’ve only heard half of and only once, and which i will therefore not attempt a review of just yet. but i do love the stereo.]

one of the best responses to get from something terribly witty you said is, at least to me, a slightly furrowed brow along with the question “are you quoting something or did you make that up just now?”. or at least it is if what you said in fact wasn’t a quote from something, and despite being made up on the fly was found witty by your conversational partner. i guess the tone of the question could imply that he or she was just hoping you were quoting someone so they wouldn’t have to think you’d come up with something so stupid on your own; but when it’s the other way around, and you’re given the rewarding look of someone who’s impressed with your verbal grace — as meager as it may be — that’s just a very purely good feeling.

it’s getting harder and harder as i get older to have moments like that. when i just feel smart in an unqualified way, like i did when i was younger. back then it was a lot easier to be at the top of my class, to win a spelling bee, to get the highest test grade, or other signs we are told at that age mean we are good and bright young children. now i’ve learned there are probably plenty of people who are more able and/or ambitious and will do better than me consistently in these quantifiable measures, as well as people who, like myself, have plenty of ability but have realized there are much better ways to spend energies then trying to get a perfect exam score.

thus the old measure of self-worth is more or less devalued. and now it’s little things like a single person raising an eyebrow at my remarks that make me smile inwardly and tell myself i’m still as sharp as i used to be, even if my stock of trophies and honors certificates has drastically decreased.

[now hearing this: waterfall fountain outside the window in my ears, but still the hey mercedes ep in my head.]

yes, i just realized i forgot to post a link up and left for the song of the week, so i did that now, for what it’s worth. you know, in case you were scrambling trying to find out what in the world deserved my highest honor this week.

of course, i might end up changing it tomorrow if i stick to the schedule (for once), so then what will it have mattered?

[now hearing this: promo copy of hey mercedes’ the weekend ep that a vagrant intern/friend of mine was super-nice enough to donate to my fandom. boy am i lucky; and happy with this cd. sure, one out of four is from the full-length — but “save a life” is a terrific song, and let’s say there was a bonus track, i bet that’d be really good too. i hate spoiling surprises though.]

holy hotcakes, have you seen the new two towers trailer yet? hot jumpin’ hobbits does that thing make me look forward to december. it’s as if the lord of the rings trilogy is everything star wars wishes it could be these days in terms of grand sweeping story and great use of computers for scenery and action. i’m a stiff supporter of star wars too, but even i can admit that these movies are really outpacing lucas these days. oh man, is this gonna be good.

and only six months away.

[now hearing this: super furry animals, playing now in my head but not out loud in any way. blasted office.]

the great big collapsing birthday is coming up on saturday, and i almost forgot to realize that fact in time. now i can plan a big party, with my laptop as the guest of honor and my typing fingers as keynote speakers (get it?). and root beer floats. just because.

actually how about just the root beer floats and no lame blog party. everyone, please spare me the embarrassment of going back to read the initial entries, because i truly value the small scraps of respect i may have tricked you into having for me.

[now hearing this: trailer for the dangerous lives of alter boys, which i’m hoping to go see in a few hours.]

ugh. the morning after, so to speak. i think on occasions where you have a really fantastic weekend, you should be entitled to invoke some sort of buffer day, or even half-day, for the purpose of slowly coming down from your weekend high, so that the drive to work at quarter past eight early the next morning doesn’t send you into a deep and murky funk, not unlike the one i’m sinking into right now.

it’s so dark and swampy too, so it might be hard to get out. if i could just go to sleep and let it pass.

the precise problem, too, is that i know full well if i were just not at work right now i’d be perfectly cheerful. and if i were in bed looking up at the clock, then thinking, “you know, i think i’ll just roll over and sleep for another hour or so . . .” i would be in bliss.

weekend. road trip. friends returned from semester abroad. lovely.

so i left work at three on friday, darted home as quickly as the freeway traffic would allow me (not very), and we were off. a backpack, a pillow and a sleeping bag and it’s time to go to san jose. or mountain view, technically, but close enough. since former roommate/future housemate mike just returned to the states from scotland not more than a couple weeks ago, and we hadn’t seen him since december, it was the perfect plan. and it went smashingly too. probably the best weekend of the summer so far.

the six and a half hour drive was pleasant and filled with good tunes, the mandatory stops at flying j (truck-stop to end all truck-stops) and in-n-out were great, and once we rolled in at 11:30 the fun only just started. zany cruising around town, minority report at 1am, which i thought was pretty damn good, and sleep until noon. saturday led to a UHF viewing, lots of four-player halo on the xbox — which is outstanding, if you like shooting at your friends in virtual worlds — then a drive to the white-trash carnival known as the santa cruz boardwalk where we payed $3.60 to ride the nation’s 7th oldest roller coaster, “the giant dipper”; where i got covered in powdered sugar sharing a funnel cake; where i took the title in mini-golf (no one would bet anything on the game beforehand even though i kept pressing for “loser buys dinner” — which would have made it much more exciting and which sucks for me since i ended up winning); and where i had to fork over 6 bucks after losing an air-hockey rematch 7 to 6. i’d like to point out however, that i won the first round by a larger margin, thank you very much.

today we just woke up and played more video games, watched dj q-bert’s wave twisters on dvd, then drove home. i can’t say what a great weekend this was. just so much laughing with the four of us up north, and the great feeling of driving fast with good music and buddies on a sunny weekend. i wish i had more friends in mid-range other cities to drive to, but i guess this will have to do for a while. my wallet and my teeth will thank me at least, because i spend too much money and consume too much sugury soda and candy on road trips. my teeth hurt and i’m wiped, so it’s time to kick back and watch the animated clerks dvd for a bit, then hit the hay.

[now hearing this: badly drawn boy – about a boy soundtrack. really good stuff — laid back without being boring, which isn’t always an easy mark to hit.]

i haven’t switched this off in over two weeks, so it’s about time to change out the song of the week, i’d say, wouldn’t you?

well i have been a little lax in my new-music-seeking lately. mostly i’ve been picking up stuff i should have bought a long time ago, and listening to all the great cd’s i’d bought this spring. every once in a while you kind of have to let your brain catch up with all the new music you’re trying to soak up with it. this is one of those times.

i did download this great super furry animals song though, which i remember seeing a killer video for, and which i have been singing to myself lately in an unflattering manner. i just don’t have the gift. listen to the real thing though, it’s much better.

despite the fact that i really like my coworkers here, sometimes liking someone can’t prevent you from inwardly thinking they’re stupid. an example?

coworker is sitting at the desk/cubicle next to mine. coworker accidentally deleted everything in a very important table related to the company website. he freaked out and started mumbling curses to himself, and called one of the company tech-helper guys to explain the problem.

at this point he said, on the phone, after the guy must have asked him if he could call back in a couple minutes:

coworker: okay, call me back, because i literally just peed my pants just now when i did that.

oh dear. is it possible to still like someone you can’t help thinking is really dumb in a lot of ways? my brain (and my integrity) says no, dumb people are unacceptable, but part of me just says, “whatever. he’s a nice guy.”

and of course there’s another part who is glad there are people much dumber than me out there otherwise i wouldn’t look so damn smart in comparison, which is something i probably hold more dearly than i would like to really think about.

i’m really really looking excited about the fact that minority report is coming out this weekend. initially it looked interesting, but not that attractive to me. but since then i’ve seen some really good trailers, read a few exceedingly positive reviews, and found out — although i can’t believe i hadn’t heard this earlier — that it’s based on a story by the same writer that wrote the story that inspired blade runner. yeah, so they also made a movie out of one of his stories that goes by the name total recall, but still, BLADE RUNNER!…

now keep in mind, this is even in the face of spielberg’s absolutely outrageous offense that you can buy on DVD under the name A.I. holy god was that a pile of shit film. i was so excited about that one, being a former kubrick project, and being about androids, and it was the worst film i saw all last year with no doubt. it was so very, very bad! i’ve been somewhat tempted for the months leading up to minority report to try to hold my grudge against his past transgression and not see this new one just because that movie was so godawful. but now i’ve decided that i can’t resist and i’ve forgiven him. i guess i’m just a really sweet and kind individual with a lot of love to give.

and i’m sorry, but i am not currently available for dates; my love is reserved, apparently, for one special lady and steven spielberg.

[now hearing this: dj q-bert – wave twisters.]