October 2010
2 posts
Cripes
If my posts are going to be this far apart, I oughta pick a theme without a date stamp so I can at least maintain the illusion of timeliness.
May 2010
2 posts
Going for the record, I guess
I seem to be in a perpetual competition with myself (the most dangerous competitor of all!) to see how long I can go without posting before I make some exploratory poke at a decent return.
Poke. Poke.
February 2010
9 posts
First it went fwwosh, then it went ffffroooom!...
Usually, when I think I’ve got worries (Noboooody knows the trouble I’ve seen! / Nobooooody knows my soooooroooow), something happens to knock a little perspective into me.
In this case, “something” was a car, parked in Beverly Hills, spouting flames eight or ten feet into the night air for no discernible reason (though in my professional opinion*, somebody had torched...
Seeking advice, commiseration, cooler heads to...
For every official action (for instance, filing an insurance claim when a dipshit whips, beyond cavalier, through an illegal left turn, causing a nasty little crash), there is an officially sanctioned Way To Go About Things. So what does one do when the officials who are responsible for enforcing (on pain of being ignored, talked down to, and delayed) this Way To Go About Things throw their own...
windycitygirl:
Mmm cinnamon roll for dinner. Just because I technically am an adult doesn’t mean I have to act like one.
There are times when I point to things like this and say “My friend, ladies and gentlemen” with a slow shake of the head and times when I say the same thing in a Groucho voice, smile and give a thumbs up. As I was thinking, only moments before seeing this post,...
Grumble grumble harumph
Based on my written output (on-/offline) one might think I’d awoken one morning from uneasy dreams to find myself transformed into a perfect grump. It’s beyond my understanding, other than as some sudden-onset writing-induced clinical misanthropy.
Weary
I’ve grown so tired of the self-righteous condemnation of anybody who does not express (in every public forum available) loud, strong opinions about the real, significant problems that are currently facing our world. To those who are so quick to demand that everybody else stand in line to be handed a guilt trip on a silver platter, we should say the same thing that I say to the folks who...
Cloud watching. Distance staring.
Having driven away from my home for a productive afternoon of reading and writing, I find that I have left both my notebook and my readin’ book behind. I am now faced with the prospect of an utterly unproductive four hours, unless one considers the fine arts of thumb twiddling and shoe gazing to be (somehow! some way!) a valuable use of spare time.
Living conditions!
The hole in the ground that, this time last year, had only just been dug has been filled quite suddenly with a twelve story building. Like a delicate flower, it must need loads of direct sunlight to keep growing (thirteen stories? fourteen stories?), for it seems to have stolen all of mine.
Now I make do by turning on all of my lamps and overhead lights in the middle of the day and pretending...
Nature vs. nurture
I’ve been informed that I am a jackass for doing more writing in my handy little notebook than on the internet lately, and have been ordered by a very grumpy person to quit being such a hopeless recluse.
It’s an attempt I’ve made before, to mixed results.
November 2009
21 posts
Oh right. Mrs.
A bit of Ms./Mrs. confusion has brought to mind something that I am usually able to (blissfully) ignore. That is, despite my age, I don’t know if I will ever be able to react to news of my friends and peers getting married with anything less than childish bewilderment.
It shouldn’t be such a strange thing anymore. Fresh out of high school, when those few friends who just sort of...
Who wants an honest to goodness letter?
I should know, by now, that visits home bring with them a certain melancholy, a specific longing for communication and connection that I find inexplicable. They also bring loads of spare time.
So, letters. If I know you, if I don’t, just tell me how to send you something. jb (at) jbmulholland.com.
Update: This is lovely! I’m already getting responses, and I’m thrilled to have...
But nothing looks quite the same, somehow
Surrounded by my old, childish things, every song is poignant, every darkness deep, every moment filled with nostalgia for the moment before.
I won’t believe that these are not universal sensations.
Zeal
Thanks to a shuttle driver who obeyed neither the laws of California nor the those of common sense, I am stuck at the airport ninety minutes ahead of schedule, waiting for the Continental check-in desks to open.
On the bright side, I have snagged the most comfortable leanin’ pillar in the area. Take that, schmucks who have to stand without assistance.
Signs and portents
On the eve of my vacation departure, I learned that my building managers (who were always terrific) have been suddenly replaced. Their unit is empty, and a new manager will be moving in within a matter of days. The circumstances are unexplained, and, therefore, strange to me.
I put more stock in omens than I like to admit, so I am not sure what to make of this. Especially considering that it...
Book 10: Until I Find You
fiftytwobooks:
Author: John Irving
Dates read: November 3, 2009 - November 19, 2009 (17 days)
Pages: 820
Whew, finally done! Thanks to the cushion of extra days I had before I started this book, I’m only a day behind schedule now even though I spent 17 days on this novel. And for anyone keeping track, this is the second John Irving book I’ve read as part of my resolution, making him the...
Attempting to understand my outrage at the two... →
It’s possible (likely) that you’ve already seen this on Boing Boing or another of the many sites that have picked up the story, so I’ll let you follow the title link for all of the details. But the gist of it is this: Two library employees in Kentucky kept a book (an Alan Moore graphic novel, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume IV: The Black Dossier) out of circulation...
Scratch it from the dictionaries, wipe it from the...
Stigma seems to be the word that everybody jumps to these days when they feel like they’re being attacked, regardless of context.
Another year of defensive Tyra guests and poorly educated cable news pundits and we’ll have a completely meaningless word on our hands.
The proposal: heading somewhere brand new
Though I’ve outgrown many things, the road trip remains an unassailably romantic notion, the aimless road trip exponentially more so.
One of these nights, I plan to take off for parts unknown, drive for four or five hours, watch the sun rise over my dashboard, eat breakfast in some remote town, then drive myself home and sleep the afternoon away.
It occurs to me that, while it would be a...
windycitygirl:
me: I see your tumble.
James: You do? Do you raise me a tumble?
That being said, I chose to beat the horse rather than mourning its death.
“Get it, Jen? Get it? It’s a poker joke.”
“Get it?”
Yeah. She got it.
Crowd mentality
Ah yes, gentleman with the loud, attention grabbing laugh. We were laughing with you the first few times your barking rape-whistle cackle brought the evening’s proceedings to a halt. But how speedy the transition from with to at! How eager we became to distance ourselves from you!
And let us not speak of your sucking up. (Or rather, let us, but quickly and quietly, so we can have done with...
Watchwindycitygirl:
A little video of me feeding my squirrel friend, Frank, who’s been coming around several times a day for treats now that the weather’s a little cooler. Every time he appears on my porch or balcony looking for me, it makes my day!
Frank has also learned that leaping from the railing to the rattling security bars on the window is an effective way to get a cracker.
The travel process, codified
With my Thanksgiving plans (flight, airport shuttle, etc.) firmly in place, I am now able to focus my energy on trip preparation, which is one of my favorite things. But how much prep can possibly go into a direct flight from LA to Columbus, OH? How much lead time do I actually need for a trip that is two weeks away?
Lots, and all of it.
First I need to decide what book(s) I’ll be taking...
At the risk of repeating myself
Some time ago, I disappeared from the internet for a while and resurfaced so briefly that you’d have missed it if you blinked. It seemed I was a bit more burned out on the internet than I’d thought.
Reclaiming my digital life has been a slower process than I’d expected. I dipped my toe back into Facebook (which, it turns out, I am still weary of), stopped following a boatload...
September 2009
1 post
I like this show more every week
More and more, I marvel at what The Colony is doing. Somehow, within the confines of what is, basically, a complex reality show, they’ve managed to incorporate every post-apocalyptic trope in a way that makes tired material feel fresh again.
They’ve hit wasteland raiders and creepy music from rebuilt phonographs, building an escape vehicle in the hopes of some generic greener pasture...
August 2009
7 posts
Discussing a horrible fashion fusion James saw at...
windycitygirl:
Me: The thing is, I can picture him wearing a cargo kilt, and I’m still attracted to him. James laughs. Me: There’s something wrong with me! James: Yes there is. Me: Very wrong.
I believe they are called utilikilts. And more specifically, we were discussing the camouflage utilikilt. The mind boggles.
Justifying my obsessions
When I think about writing but don’t know what to write, my mind always goes to the subject of sleep. I’m certain I’ve discussed it before (here, with friends, in letters, etc.), but cannot stop myself from returning to it again and again.
I am eternally ready to alter my sleep schedule, to chug coffee and stay up all night just for the experience of being the only light in an...
Still here, where I left it all
Some weeks ago, I got sick, buried myself in my blankets, and emerged days and days later, recovered. Like all men returning to civilization after a lonely sabbatical, I was (at least temporarily) changed.
I was suddenly disinterested in the computer, in movies, in any number of items and activities that were staples of my daily life. I was not reading more, I was not putting greater effort into...
Misery to the nth degree
I seem to have been stricken with some god-awful cold or flu bug that has me shivering in the mornings, sweating in the evenings, and curled up on the couch watching The IT Crowd in the afternoons. My food intake for today consisted of a quarter-cup of fried rice (this is a generous estimation) and a bowl of Campbell’s Chunky Chicken & Dumpling soup. Also, innumerable Sudafed pills.
I...
Or, how to fill every hour of every day for the...
I have never been able to love a thing without wanting to involve myself with it, and I do not understand people who can. As I become more interested in photography, I want to take photos. As I listen to music, I want to play guitar. As I go to improv show after improv show, I want to perform. The barrier between spectator and participant seems imaginary, just some arbitrary thing that each person...
Because wakefulness is overrated
Whenever I wake up groggy, unsatisfied and craving more slumber, I consider adopting a polyphasic sleep schedule. On paper, it sounds ideal. Spend a few weeks training my body to drop directly in REM sleep and boom, bang, suddenly I’m a dynamo of productivity, wasting only a few hours (scattered throughout my day in the form of short naps) unconscious.
I usually wise up quick, though....
July 2009
28 posts
Watchgeorgiaisyourfriend:
jonahray:
A little kid reacts to the WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE trailer. Too scary for kids my ass. This is gonna be awesome.
So odd that both Spike Jonez and Wes Anderson are making kids movies around the same time.
Okay but here’s the thing: that’s no ordinary kid, and it’s really sad that I recognized him immediately, but that’s Gram, who is the son of one of the...
Just now added to my must-do-in-life list: hug...
(via windycitygirl)
——-
A good, solid goal, I’d say.
Springsteen To Play Entire 'Born To Run' Album At... →
yourkitchensink:
well, now i’m jealous of chicago.
The list of things I wouldn’t give to see a full performance of one of the greatest albums of all time is very, very, very small.
Last post in the United States (probably)
ledenes:
I’m leaving for the airport in a matter of minutes now for my flight to Japan. It’s been a pretty crazy week, packing up my whole life’s worth of stuff to put either in a suitcase or in storage, but somehow I managed to get everything done and here I am!
I’m SO excited for this year, but I’m SO dreading the flight. I hate flying. I really want this next part to be over with and for...
The stories we keep to ourselves
Bored, restless, I read articles on the internet about things that I already know. Today, it’s Ray Bradbury. Your normal Wikipedia article does a serviceable job on any subject. It provides a baseline of common information, of public stories and readily traded tales.
The more I read about a subject I am familiar with, the more I encounter the same snippets and facts and anecdotes, the...
On being a nice (stupid) guy at UCB
My friend Jen and I were nearly first in line for a late show at UCB last night (the last show of the night, UCB Gets You Laid). Technically, we were first in line, as we were the first ones to stand in front of the door, by the curb, where the (unmarked) line always forms. This is no kind of accomplishment, and I am not bragging, just providing the information necessary to understand why I felt...