Doors Open on the Left Side

Te amo, Coronado

2011-12-13T15:54:00.006-06:00

Driving to lunch there was a white car in front of us with a sticker that read "J'aime Coronado."

D: Jaime Coronado? What's that? What Mexican put that up?
Me: It means I love Coronado.
D: That's what Jaime means in Spanish? I thought it was a name.
Me: It's French.
D: Oh.

This is a party and we have to dance

2009-08-20T20:55:00.006-05:00

Y esto dice así: Cumbia!

El Instituto Mexicano del Sonido (IMS), or Mexican Institute of Sound, played small show at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts for the opening of their Wallworks exhibition the weekend I was visting. A friend of mine was invited and so there I was. I can't even seem to remember if a lot of people showed up to the museum party. But there was definitely less than 100 people watching the show.

None of the people I was hanging out with seemed very enthused about checking out the band, so after missing the first 10 minutes, I ran off on my own to the front of the stage in usual tils style. The venue, whatever open space of the YBCA I was in, was rather large, and I was surrounded by a few dozen people while the rest hung around at the back. I don't quite feel like writing about the actual performance, but it was rather fun. They were all wearing mariachi pants, which added quite well to the music's comedic element. Camilo Lara, lead singer and IMS mastermind, kept inciting the crowd to dance and joking that the band was from a tiny, unknown town in Mexico. They're from Mexico City.

IMS is one part Pastilina Mosh, one part Nortec Collective and a splash of LCD Soundsystem. I know this might sound totally horrendous, but I love it when I get to hang out with Mexicans, and there was a few watching the show next to me. And that's all I have to say for now.

Oh yeah, and I love San Francisco and it melts my tin heart.

DJ & producer Camilo Lara.

Y otra vez el mismo.

The DJ dude?

The rest of the band sat out while Lara sang "Te Quiero Mucho" on stage. The title gives it away. Lara said it was about his ex-girlfriend. He repeated TQM at least 60 times. Ha. Way creative.

Pants! Fancy Pants!

& of course: my lame video

Also, I found this video on the YouTube. It's pretty cool, and it's where the title of this blog entry comes from.

Sorry about the different sizes. I'm not that good with the Youtube, or the internets or the HTML codes.

Pupusa Heaven

2009-08-20T14:28:00.002-05:00

1:38 AM Man, i want some pupusas now

Did you have them in San Fran?

are they plentiful there?

1:39 AM There are a total of two restaurants that serve pupusas in Austin

And only one is truly a Salvadoran restaurant

1:40 AM the other sells them on some blended-cuisine menu or something.

me:

yes

pupusas are plentiful!

Beverly: nice! I thought it was only LA. I should move to California

1:43 AM me:

apparently there are
327,000

in sf.

Beverly:

NO!

really?

me: according to some data from 05

lol

i think so

Beverly: Wait, Salvadorans?

1:44 AM me: yes

lol

i think so

Beverly: or pupuserias?

me: LOL!

no!

human beings
me: from el salvador!Beverly: lol, that's what I thought you meant

lol

Beverly: too funny

me: lol

1:45 AM that would be an intense amount of pupuserias!

lol

me: for god's sake beverly!
Beverly: It'd be Pupusa heaven.

El Paraíso

2009-08-04T19:41:00.003-05:00

T: I'm sorry I was jealous.
A: It's not like I noticed or cared.

(Laughter ensues for a minute)

T: Wow, you really are a dick.

(Laughter ensues for 5 minutes)

This guy tried to be all sly...

2009-07-02T00:26:00.002-05:00

I always get super excited when my friends do awesome stuff:

AMC:

oh, you want to see something really cool??

me: of course!

10:17 PM AMC: http://www.yahoo.com/

me: ummm. yahoo?

AMC: you'll see four links in the featured section

me: uh huh

and then?

are you THERE?

10:18 PM AMC: click on 13 year old trades ipod for antique walkman

me: awwwwwwwww

AMC: CLICK IT!

Click it indeed!!!

Story: http://tinyurl.com/m4fh2z.
Photo with proof: http://bit.ly/13Xuk7

Fun with comments

2009-05-19T23:27:00.003-05:00

I'm obsessed with reading reader comments posted on news stories or blog posts or whatever. I spend hours going through pages and pages of sometimes hateful comments.

Today I read a story on art installations on San Francisco's BART.

Who Said Taking the Train was Boring? Swinging on San Francisco's BART

It's just a few pictures of people on swings that randomly appeared on some BART trains. I found some of the comments of this story so funny they deserved a post.

Strangerisms....

Comment 1: Three cheers for gorilla installations!

Comment 2: Gorilla installations? I think you meant Guerilla. I'm really glad there are no 800 lb. mountain gorillas on the BART trains. I live 2900 miles away, but the last thing I want to see on the news is "California Train riders have their arms torn off by angry ape."

Hashisms: more heartbreak

2009-04-30T16:10:00.002-05:00

me: when are we going to have a love child?

Hash: i have seven

i just don't like to talk about it

3:07 PM me: well you need an 8th

with me

Hash: noope

3:08 PM i'm talking to a girl right now

she's cool

3:09 PM me: sweet. congratulations

i'm happy for you.

i was jk about our love child. jajaja. so you don't have to worry. you haven't broken my heart

Hash: i know

it's impossible to break a heart of stone, anyway

(part of my chronicle of ultra silly online conversations)

Got some hearts that I'll be breaking

2009-04-28T23:44:00.007-05:00

I'm going to break up with somebody with this song. It's awesome! The video is pretty sweet too.

'Just Ain't Gonna Work Out' by Mayer Hawthorne:

Benisms: influenza porcina

2009-04-28T22:51:00.008-05:00

Thalia

i wasn't scared... but then i read this on the cdc: In September 1988, a previously healthy 32-year-old pregnant woman was hospitalized for pneumonia and died 8 days later.

9:48pmBen

what's the difference? why were you scared before?

9:48pmThalia

cos she was previously healthy!

9:48pmBen

not scared

9:48pmThalia

and i was banking on my good immune system

to save me

9:49pmBen

well yeah, duh...one day you're good, the next day you die. that's how death works. hahaha

Bevisms: Souvenirs

2009-04-28T00:44:00.002-05:00

me: wheres he from originally?

11:37 PM Beverly: Oaxaca

me: has he been to tex?

how the fuck did he end up all the way in mo?

Beverly: LOL

11:38 PM Good question

He must have passed through it

I mean, how else do you get into the U.S.?

California, I guess

Arizona

Nevermind

there are obviously other options

But, seems like it'd be hard to bypass all of Texas to get to CoMo

11:39 PM me: LOL

omg. you are so funny

Beverly: lol

me: obviously there are other options

Beverly: LOL

11:40 PM You and your status messgaes. They entertain me

I momentarily forgot Mexico bordered other states, lol

11:41 PM New Mexico

That's it though. I pulled up a map on google images

11:42 PM Any person that made the trek from Latin America into the U.S. has got balls, dude

me: for sure

Beverly: You know you've found yourself a good man

me: hardcore balls

For the sake of blogging anything at all

2009-04-27T01:05:00.004-05:00

These days I don't have much human interaction, but back in the day when I had a real reporter job I would observe all sorts of fun stuff walking down the hallways at work. People would say the most random, funny things.

Here's one of those convos (Sorry if you don't speak Spanish):

Guy #1: (Scoff) Hmm.
Como eres chistoso

Guy #2: ¡Tu mami, maricón!

Capucine strikes again ...

2009-04-04T21:32:00.000-05:00

The cutest child in the world.

Tongue twister from Capucha on Vimeo.

David Simon keeps on doing all sorts of cool things!

2009-03-24T13:56:00.002-05:00

On March 1, David Simon wrote this magical (jajaja) op-ed piece for the Washington Post about journalism/the crime beat in Baltimore. I read it a long time ago, but it barely dawned on me to post it here. Journalism is so necessary! I do not have the faintest idea what will happen after the demise of all these newspapers. I was shocked when I heard about the Rocky and the possible closing of the SF Chron.

Anyway!!

I love this man!

In Baltimore, No One Left to Press the Police

"Delays of even 24 hours? Nope, not acceptable. Requiring written notification from the newspaper? No, the judge would explain. Even ordinary citizens have a right to those reports. And woe to any fool who tried to suggest to His Honor that he would need a 30-day state Public Information Act request for something as basic as a face sheet or an arrest log.
"What do you need the thirty days for?" the judge once asked a police spokesman on speakerphone.

"We may need to redact sensitive information," the spokesman offered.

"You can't redact anything. Do you hear me? Everything in an initial incident report is public. If the report has been filed by the officer, then give it to the reporter tonight or face contempt charges tomorrow."

To be a police reporter in such a climate was to be a prince of the city, and to be a citizen of such a city was to know that you were not residing in a police state. But no longer -- not in Baltimore and, I am guessing, not in any city where print journalism spent the 1980s and '90s taking profits and then, in the decade that followed, impaling itself on the Internet."

Please read!

Marelynnism: The state of the nation

2009-01-16T18:16:00.000-06:00

2:00 PM that totally blows

america is ending

me: lol

it might be

2:02 PM marelynn: so what are you thoughts on the 2012 date of the world ending?

2:04 PM me: ben swears it's true

2:05 PM marelynn: hahahahaha

Deerhunter in Dallas

2008-12-23T23:58:00.002-06:00

The Loft has really cool wooden floors. Dallas, I will miss you so.

Maddow is my hero

2008-12-12T09:46:00.002-06:00

Dear Tony

2008-12-10T00:27:00.001-06:00

I have no questions for you.

Promise!

Who knew Mccain was so funny!

2008-10-16T21:30:00.002-05:00

John Mccain speaking at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner

He still had some more funnies later... I'll replace the video when I find one.

Gato Poder!

2008-10-13T22:05:00.003-05:00

It was dark... no one was there... I thought Cat Power was a pretty big act. I guess she's not... at least in Dallas!

Lord help the poor & needy -- Cat Power -- Palladium.

Ps, Karl Lagerfeld was spotted in the audience.

Cha no aji

2008-09-25T22:19:00.002-05:00

The Taste of Tea: a Japanese film by Katsuhito Ishii.

I highly recommend it if you have patience, a few hours and are a sucker for that type of movie that makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Austin.......

2008-07-13T00:21:00.003-05:00

Is overrated! But I know some wonderful human beings that live there. I spent my fourth of July weekend in ATX. Barton Springs + Marelynn = good times. These are the friends are strangers I spend my time with:

B.G.

Miguel Briones. Check out his music at
http://www.myspace.com/miguelantonybriones

Carlos

Stranger

The King Playing with the Queen

2008-07-13T00:12:00.001-05:00

The Nasher is pretty cool.

Max Ernst

Spider

2008-07-10T23:43:00.003-05:00

I found another Calder at the Nasher Sculpture Museum in Dallas. (!!!)

I fell in love with this guy in D.C.

On the wild side...

2008-07-01T17:01:00.002-05:00

Some of my vast adventures with JMK in D.C. included finding places paaaaaaarrrty. Left to our own devices, we apparently found the sketchiest places in the city.

Our first misadventure began with the entire SHFW crew. We made our way to a so called Platinum Club in the Chinatown area because one of the crew members was still only 20. After repeatedly being harassed while we waited in line, we decided a $20 cover was just too much. So we left and never saw the inside of the club despite our youngest crew member’s insistence that it looked like a really interesting place and that we should return. Tragedy befell Platinum a few weeks later when there was a fatal shooting outside its doors.

Then, looking to experience the Dupont party life, we made our way to Club Five due to my friend iPA’s suggestions. Club Five “has been temporarily shut down while authorities investigate a Memorial Day weekend stabbing.”

Chinnn!

The two clubs we sort of went to are the two clubs that were shut down by recent D.C. crackdowns. We sure do know how to pick ‘em!

Read the story on the WaPo Web site. Thanks for the story, JMK.

Marelynnisms: Sex

2008-06-26T12:06:00.001-05:00

marelynn:
jajajaa

it is possible

sex isn't everything

which is hard for me to understand

but it is what i hear

lol

I'm famous!

2008-06-24T22:35:00.003-05:00

Not really! But I do share a name with a German bookstore. Well, it was in Vienna too. Not sure where else!

I know the coolest people

2008-06-24T21:28:00.002-05:00

Age Likely to Be Key Factor in Presidential Campaign

by Linda Wertheimer

How could he have known that she was only 15?

2008-06-18T21:20:00.004-05:00

They were all 15.

I'm too old for this.

I always thought I'd tap out of reasonable concert age at 27. I never wanted to be one of those 40-somethings still rocking out with a pompadour at a Morrissey show. Not that there's anything terribly wrong with a 45-year-old wearing tight jeans, a leather jacket and a wife beater during summer in El Paso, I just didn't want to be that.

Anyway, my concert-going ways decidedly ended on Sunday when I watched Rilo Kiley at the Palladium. I started listening to Rilo back in, oh, 2003 or so. I didn't realize how much of a teeny bopper band they were until I saw them for the second time. Even though their latest album (Under the Black Light) made me barf a little, (you can't listen past song six, seriously) I still had a soft spot for Jenny & Blake and didn't want to pass up the opportunity to check out the venue again. The show was a terrible, terrible experience, though not really because of the band's performance.

I had the misfortune of standing in front of probably the most annoying bitches in Dallas. Is it really necessary to belt every song? I understand if you're close to the stage at a show it more than likely means you're a fan, thus you'll probably sing to some of the songs. Singing is acceptable; singing so loud so you can hear yourself crooning along is not.

No, I don't want to hear your rendition of The Frug while the real band is performing another song. The Frug sucks ass anyway. I do not want to hear your conversation about how much you love Jenny, but hate Blake, and your awesome list of trivia you looked up on Wikipedia before you came to the show. I do not want to hear you yell obscenities at the guitarist while he's telling the crowd a quirky anecdote. Grrrrrrrrr. It really made me angry. I wanted to turn around and punch them in the face, or at the very least rip their ovaries out. I will eat your babies, bitch! I didn't though, because I am an adult. I could have just moved out of the way, but I wanted to try and get some pictures. I failed at getting decent pictures thoug. I was too far, it was too dark, and my camera sucks too hard.

I don't think the show was much better in Austin either. I had a friend tell me he was surrounded by 12-year-olds making out the entire show. Booo. Sad times indeed.

The actual performance was just OK. I don't know why it wasn't fabulous. But I just wasn't blown away. Unlike Jose Gonzalez who gets better every time I see him, I was just a little underwhelmed with Rilo Kiley. But then again, there were mostly adults at the Jose show in DC. I forgot I have video from there. I'll have to post it one day. It's three months overdue. Rilo Kiley was cute, I guess. But they cut one of my favorite songs, Spectacular Views, short. Oh well. Such is life. The only thing I was happy about is that they played a lot of older songs.

So, I'm not a photog, but since I hate reporting, I guess I gotta start somewhere. Once I pay off my Best Buy debt, I'll charge it up all over again for a decent point and shoot and a starter SLR and maybe even a camcorder! For now, here are the blurry pictures, and video from Rilo Kiley:

I think Dream World is the best song on Under the Black Light. There's very few songs you can actually listen to.

Can you hear the teenagers singing? Yeah. I've said this before, but sorry my camera craps out at about 3 mins. =(

Set list:

It's a snack pack, yo

2008-06-14T12:22:00.007-05:00

A little hobby of mine is to go to shows far away from home, take crappy pictures, even more crappy video, and then post them on this here blog. My first show I checked during my three month Dallas intern stint was RZA as Bobby Digital at The Loft in Dallas. The Loft is the second floor of the Palladium Ballroom. It's a small venue, so I think you're almost guaranteed an awesome show if the act is any good. How was the RZA?? Fucking phenomenal. I don't really even know anything about RZA, other than, you know, the whole Wu-Tang thing, Jarmusch & Tarantino scores and I have listened to Birth of a Prince. Anyone who samples Billie Holiday is OK in my book.

The show was somewhat of a surreal experience. Being one of the few women at the show at all, much less at the front of the stage, I became somewhat of a mockery target. I'm sure I was the only girl who went alone. I'm not sure if I was being hit on, just being made of fun, or if the dudes giving me grief were just on drugs. I'm leaning toward drugs. Anyway, it was my first hip-hop show, I guess, if you want to call it that.

The belt buckle from one of the dudes in the Black Knights (I think). There was a whole little face under there!

Stone Mecca. Opened for the RZA & played with him for his set.

Trying to pull a BT and take feet pictures.

Guitarist from Stone Mecca.

Bobby!

I don't know what was going on here, but I thought it looked kinda funny.

Wooing one of the few ladies at the show.

The show was a good 1 and a half, maybe 2 hours a long. He talked about Wu-Tang non-stop and even did an extra song, Something I Want -- his collaboration with Vincent Gallo. The few videos I took and the track list can be found on the post below. I do have some Stone Mecca videos I will post later on.

Next show is Rilo Kiley at the Palladium. Stay tuned!

Yeaapp!

2008-06-14T12:04:00.004-05:00

My first show as a Dallas transient was the RZA. I took some crappy video. Enjoy.

The track list:

Digi Intro
Long Time COming
Drama
Str8 Off The Block
Digisnacks
The Grunge
We Pop
Grits
Fast Cars
Glock o Pop
Love Jones
Must Be Bobby
Brooklyn Babies
Drink Smoke Fuck
Suicide
Nowhere 2 Run
Wu Tang 1 Fuck With
Reunited
Duck Season
Try Yi Yi Yi
4th Chamber
Tearz
Shimmy Shimmy Ya
Don't Be Afraid
Creep
No Regrets
U Can't Stop Me
& somewhere in there Something I Want (For Real)

Digi Intro

Drama

Grits

Something I Want (for real)

When Machetes Attack

2008-06-13T11:12:00.003-05:00

No seriously. This is sad.

Please RSVP for goodie bags

2008-06-11T21:39:00.004-05:00

Being a DMN intern (sort of) comes with perks.

Yup, that's DMN chapstick. WTF?

This & That

2008-06-10T20:12:00.006-05:00

The view from the top level of the TXCN parking lot.

We went to a Rangers game last Thursday. I forgot who they were playing already, but I've never had better seats at a professional sporting event. Working for the media owns! The Rangers won. I've yet to see a pro football game. Next time. For sure.

The fools I hang out with.

Journalism sans grammar

2008-04-12T23:45:00.000-05:00

Half the news room vanished at Scripps this Spring. Some left because of illness, others retired or got better job offers. For the lowly interns it meant free goodbye luncheons.

During one of these famous lunches, Kevin Diaz, the chief correspondent for the Minnesota Star Tribune Washington Bureau, said something that renewed my interest in becoming a journalist.

“I’m not a grammarian,” he said. I just write. Other people fix it.

I am often overcome by self-doubt and insecurities about my writing and reporting abilities, but those three sentences changed my outlook. Kevin Diaz, you’re my hero.

I am not a grammarian. I’ll just write, talk, listen, explore. Other people can fix it for me.

Start Spreading the News

2008-04-05T01:20:00.003-05:00

I'm leaving today.

Goodbye D.C. (Hello EP)

I don't live here anymore:

If I can make there, I'll make it anywhere.

Marelynnisms: MySpace

2008-04-03T16:19:00.000-05:00

marelynn: lol
abandon his watch
jajajaja
over TOP EIGHT on MYSPACE
lol
calm down
calm down

The Friendly Squirrel

2008-04-03T14:27:00.007-05:00

At one point during Vincent's Washington, D.C., vacation, we ran into a friendly one-eyed squirrel. He was pretty bad ass. He was kind of gray and obviously weathered, but squirrels are a rare sight in EP, so seeing this little guy come up to us was bitchin'. I wanted to keep him!

Hello, Vincent!

Goodbye, Vincent.

I tried to take a picture with him too, but he ran to the other side of the tree. Sad times. So here's me and a tree.

I wish I wasn't so whiny! I will keep my mouth shut next video.

Second to Moscow

2008-04-03T13:49:00.007-05:00

Wheaton! At 588 feet, the Wheaton Station escalator on D.C.'s red line is the longest in the Western Hemisphere.

I also found this video on youtube. Jonna and I tried to make one of our own, but we failed. This one I thought was pretty good. There are some real dramatic ones out there. Woodley is pretty hardcore too, Wheaton is even more so! Enjoy.

Equus

2008-04-03T11:50:00.002-05:00

At Laurel Park...

Marelynnisms: No Pants

2008-04-01T21:37:00.004-05:00

This might make no sense to anyone, but Marelynn and I have some of the most ridiculous Gmail chat conversations ever. I shall begin my chronicling.

Mj: He has socks but no pants?
amazing!
The fact that he has a blog is so odd to me
I have no pants
but i have a blog.

UTEP

2008-03-21T22:06:00.002-05:00

In other news, my green UTEP sweatshirt caused quite a commotion on Columbia Street today. I’m exaggerating, but three people pointed it out, and I even had a conversation with someone about UTEP playing in the big dance.
It’s silly, but it makes me really proud to be from EP. El Paso is badass. We are badass. Sure, it has its problems, but there’s no other place I’d rather be from. Not even San Fran.

The end of an era

2008-03-21T21:32:00.001-05:00

Sucio, Sucia, Chachito, Grisel, iPA

This is probably my favorite picture of all time. It is perfection. This picture, these people, made me who I am now. I'll never stop being nostalgic about what thus far I consider to be the happiest time in my life. I remember staying up all night talking about Comandate Marcos, and Grisel possibly running away with his caravana; Dark rooms, white rabbit, sitting indian style in a circle, apple sour vodka--my life better than I had ever imagined. Other than Drew (perfection all on his own), who is missing from the picture, there's no other three people that I have shared more with in my adult life (post 22-years). Perfection... perfection.

Sophia

2008-03-20T22:27:00.002-05:00

I am convinced Sophia Loren seduced the entire world because of her breasts. At least that's what the biography I'm reading about her suggests. Her features somewhat bird-like to me, but I can't help but like her either way. One so be so lucky as to have those boobs at 70.

Target

2008-03-20T22:12:00.000-05:00

The new Target inside DC city limits opened in Columbia Heights a few weeks ago. The two story wonder has an escalator for carts alone. Need to get from floor to floor? Load your cart on the cart escalator wedged between the human ones. Target is my favorite place.

From Follows Function

2008-03-20T20:54:00.003-05:00

I meant to write a lot of things about my lone weekend, but as always I lose focus. I have four days of work left. A pending obit on Sophia Loren (she’s not dead yet) and a story idea given to me by the second coolest lady at the bureau (Lisa; Laurie is first). To be honest I just want to go home. Sometimes I don’t know what I could sacrifice for a career. The list is shrinking. I wish Ivan & Marjon were my fellow interns in DC. If that was the case, I think I would have never gone home.

But anyway, this weekend all did was wander down to the national mall both days. There’s an ass ton of museums. Too many to really go through even if you lived here for a year. The first was the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum of Modern Art, and the second was the National Gallery of Art. Both were pretty bad ass, I think, but I like those wacky contemporary museums better. Only because I don’t know enough about art to appreciate the good stuff.

"Criollo" by Edgar Orlaineta. Mexico.
At first I didn't even notice the bicycle attached to the back, but seeing a Breuer homage made me happy. One day I will own a Wassily chair. To be honest, I don't even know that much about Bauhaus, but the little that I do know brings fond memories about my past.

Alexander Calder

This weekend I also fell in love with Alexander Calder. His mobiles were in the Hirshhorn and the National Gallery of Art. The Hirshhorn had a small exhibit, but the latter had giant mobiles on the ground level of the east wing. Even the shadows cast by his mobiles were interesting.

On Saturday when I was sitting on the steps of the gallery, this couple asked me if I would take a photo of them with the capitol building in the background. We got to chit chat, and turns out they're FROM EL PASO!!!! It really made my day. Out of all of the people in the universe that could have walked by the steps of the national gallery of art, at all times, on every weekend, the ones that talk to me are from home. I love it EP. It saves every time I need it to.

EP Friends!

This one is long enough already. The end!

La Oscuridad

2008-03-11T10:43:00.001-05:00

So we had a several hour localized blackout last night and it really scared me. I had visions of death, like usual. Not quite violent, just me lying under a pile of rubbish unable to warn my family of my impending death since I couldn't get signal in the building, or call someone I really really love and confess my undying devotion. (I don't know who that phone call would be to yet. With my luck, I'm sure they wouldn't answer).

I only have one window in my apartment which light occasionally seeps into. Since the power around the neighborhood was also down, my room was pitch black. All I had was my cell phone to brighten my way. Anyway, I just went to bed. I am convinced that I have some sort of magnetic energy that disables alarm clocks on cell phones. It didn't ring. It never rings. Unless, I managed to get through pressing snooze six times and I just don't remember. Thankfully, I woke up on my own at 8:30 a.m. --just enough time to continue lying in bed, brush my teeth, and run to work. On another note, I've noticed that I start a lot of my sentences with so.

Last night we also attended a Kalb Report session with Christiane Amanpour.

I guess that was supposed to be the interesting part of the evening, but I lost focus towards the end and was more entertained by the map Jonna was drawing. I think we forgot about Kansas. Maybe. Maybe not. Amanpour was cool, but it made me realize even more that I'm not about the news. I would never put my life in danger, nor my family's life in danger to get a story out. I certainly respect the people who do, but it's just not in me. A noble profession? Meh. I want to write about funny entertaining things. So what if I'm a hedonist? So what! I want sunshine, culture, happiness, travel, music, Mexicans. War?? Leave that to the noblest of journalists to cover, not me.

I had survived a war, but a banal love story almost killed me

2008-03-09T22:03:00.000-05:00

I took a mini excursion to the monuments with Jonna today. I was too lazy to walk or wait an hour catching metros to get back home. Damn you, WMATA. Why must you always be sharing tracks on weekends? WMATA has single handedly ruined every weekend since President’s Day. The cab we caught home was the best ever though. EVER.

The driver was Eritrean and he had the most awesome menagerie covering every inch of the rear deck of his car. I went into stealth mode and tried to take a couple snapshots of the zoo in all its glory. I managed to get one.

Then I went down to Open City and bought takeout lunch. I hate not knowing how to cook anything but rice. I miss my mommie’s food. Open city is nice. Though I am a roll solo at shows and movies expert, I still have restaurants to conquer.

After lunch I got depressingly bored, so I went to see Persepolis at E Street Cinema.

I really liked it. The animation was really awesome, the score/soundtrack was great, and the writing was witty. The opening sequence seemed woodcutish to me. My favorite line was “I had survived a war. But a banal love story almost killed me.” I’m a sucker for banal love stories. But I’m sure you can read all about Persepolis somewhere else.

On the way out I could hear the score to There Will Be Blood playing in another theater. I wanted to sneak back in to catch any part of the movie. I should have.

Tomorrow I go back to work. Sigh. Not looking forward to it. Oh well. At least WMATA will stop acting a fool, and I can shop at Target. Oh, Target. You will return my sanity. I know it!

Saturate

2008-03-09T16:36:00.000-05:00

[St.] Vincent: I hope your open light is blinking still

2008-03-08T22:48:00.001-06:00

Annie Clark has to be one of the most adorable singers I've ever seen. Her giant eyes and curly brown hair made me want to hug her, if not be her. No wonder she had a pack of dirty scene kids in awe of her every move. One dirty scene kid in particular, who pushed his way in front of me to drool a little closer, smelled like weed and licorice wrapped in cellophane. Don't ask, but that's what I smelled. It was not pleasant.

Annie Clark was somewhat reminiscent of Regina Spektor, but less dorky, and less sweet. I was still excited to see them though. I like the intimacy of small shows. And sorry, Jonna, about the front and center and deafness thing! I tend to want to be in the front row to every show I go to. I'm greedy like that.

I didn't get to hear Paris is Burning, which bummed me out a little, but she did play a bad ass cover of Dig A Pony which I have been obsessing over ever since.

Here are some clips. Same warning about the three minute mark applies.

Dig A Pony

Jesus Saves, I Spend

Wet, cold, American internship

2008-03-08T22:34:00.001-06:00

Since my party outings are limited – I still haven’t quite gotten comfortable with the idea of going to a bar alone (I envy people who can), I decided to find some shows to go to in our nation’s capital. Though I could have been going to a lot more, fuck you Justice and Wilco for selling out, the three shows I have been to have been well worth it.

The first was Michael Ian Black & Michael Showalter. It was too long ago for me to remember really what happened, but it was at this historic synagogue close to Chinatown with a beautiful blue and gold dome inside.

I think I liked Michael Showalter better than Mr. Black. My recent addiction to Facebook Scrabulous made Showalter’s closing skit on Scrabble funnier than it probably was.

Anyway, it was my second weekend in the city, and it felt good to laugh again. I missed Drew though. I know he would have thought it was just as funny as I did. We both have that ridiculous yet cynical sense of humor, albeit, his is even more disturbing than mine.

Here are three clips that I took:

Michael Ian Black reading from his new book, My Custom Van:

Michael Showalter's Scrabble bit in two pieces:

Michael Showalter Scrabble bit
Uploaded by thaliairai

Michael Showalter Scrabble bit (2)
Uploaded by thaliairai

By the way, at about 3 minutes, my digital camera acts a fool and scrambles the sound on whatever it's recording, and the audio is always out of sync. Sorry. My next investment will be for a better camera. Maybe even a camcorder. Hmmm...

The fast track

2008-03-07T23:39:00.001-06:00

[So Jonna's blog inspired me to want to keep this blog thing up for real. At the very least, it will keep me writing. Because since I was in 4th grade, all I've ever wanted to do was write. Cheesy, I know. I'm not even that good. Or rather, I'm not good. I don't know the mechanics of English grammar, nor I am eloquently detailed. I just like to rant, and I'm occasionally I'm funny.]

This is Jonna! She's cool!

------
So this next three weeks I have to experience D.C. on the fast track.

I was telling Ben the other day that to me, everything is matter of time. Though I knew this internship for me was bittersweet from the beginning (leaving what I thought was a hopeful relationship, but I was wrong, and returning to a field of work that exhausted and made me hate my life for a year) I always tried to tell myself that no matter what I was living in D.C. free of charge. Who else gets that?
It just always seems that opportunities come up when I don't want to leave El Paso and I don't what to leave whatever I have going on at the moment. When I have everything to lose and change means sacrificing the small shred of sanity and normalcy and happiness I'd managed to keep in my life for more than 30 seconds. Why is it that every time I feel anxious to do anything and go anywhere... I'm trapped? No place to go. Stuck in the fucking dirt box that El Paso can be sometimes.
But anyway... back to the time thing. It's all a matter of time. You have to have a certain amount of familiarity and comfort to feel content in life. Internships are kind of shitty in that sense, since by the time you feel like you're finally getting the hang of things, and you stop missing home and come to grips with your solitude, it's time to move on again.
Two months is really too short. In three weeks I'll be back in El Paso. But it's taken me this long to feel like I could really make it here, that I could be successful. That I could survive in a city that can seem so cold and brash. I just needed more time.
Before this I was too gripped with insecurity and nostalgia and fear and frustration and disillusionment and the whole fucking world crumbling in front of me, that it took me seven weeks to simply regain myself identity. It would probably take me seven more to feel comfortable at work. Maybe three more to muster up the courage to ask some real questions. What can I say, I'm a slow person. I have short stumpy legs. I can't help it.

By the way, ever since Daniel & David (their graphic design talk) and InDesign, I think things without pictures of boring. Who wants to read a giant block of text?? NOBODY! So here's a picture of Jonna and Jenn at Mr. Chen's Organic Chinese Cuisine. Mmmm... Mr. Chen's. There will be a Mr. Chen's video, in which I sound like a total retard, posted shortly.

The Ludovico Technique

2008-02-29T15:51:00.001-06:00

I cannot remember what I liked about journalism.

Sometimes I think I'd rather sit catatonically staring at a blank computer screen for eight hours a day than pick up a phone to call a source. When I do make phone calls, which is not often, I have to coax myself through the process. Rethink my questions, write out a script and try to not let the nausea overcome me.

I'm not sure when it changed, or when even thinking about the news made me want to vomit. I have a physical reaction to reporting. Its effect on my mental stability is jarring.

I'm exhausted and I lack focus. I burst into tears at random. I procrastinate until the very last second. I go to the restroom at least 30 times a day just to prevent atrophy. I daydream about sleep and even death. I fancy what throwing myself into a metro train would do for the news. Even though it happens at least once a year here. Maybe I should have noticed this pattern when Marjon and I wanted to drown ourselves in the Concho River. We thought it was San Angelo, and maybe for her it was, but for me it's this atrocious career choice called journalism.

I even envied a plant duster in our building's lobby. She was a young woman wearing purple shorts and a utility belt with clunky white tennis shoes. Blond haired tied in a messy ponytail. Not even her frumpy uniform was enough to dissuade me. I didn't ask or verify because I hate asking questions. It looked as if her job was to dust plants in lobbies and offices across the city. At least it's what I romanticized it was. What I'd give to have that job -- walking all over Downtown D.C. dusting plants. No responsibility, no pressure, no deadlines, no computer, no insanity. Yes, I'd rather dust plants than report the news.

I didn't even want to look at my byline when it finally went up on the wire. It wasn't even my story once it ran. They should have just added "TL contributed to the reporting of this story" along with the contact information. I read it once and only once. I couldn't bear to reread.

I wonder what conditioning I was subjected to in order to shudder in fear and disgust at the news process. Maybe it was watching the entire photography staff walk out and quit on production night. Maybe it was feeling ridiculed by the quality of the paper I was responsible for, and being singled out in class for the same reason. Someone even said it was the shittiest college newspaper they had ever read. And he had read a lot, he said.

My eyes were pried open as I sat hunched over for an entire semester of people slinging bullshit at me. Instead of violent rape scenes, the projector in front of me was cut with scenes of All The President's Men, printing presses, pens, notebooks, and microphones; the sound of camera shutters, answering machines, and the clicking of keyboards. Even images of those cute little paperboys with oversized hats make me gag.

I wonder if Pavlov ever poisoned any of his dogs. Being editor in chief was my food poisoning. I can't go near the news without being instantly debilitated into a pile of mush.

The Ludovico Technique has worked on me. I am ready to be back in society as a person, a student, a bum, a slacker, a bitch, a lover, a mistress, a mistake, a human, a writer, a typist, a paper cutter, a delivery girl, a clothes folder, a plant duster, as anything. ANYTHING. Just for god's sake, please, not a news reporter.

A little EP in DC

2008-02-17T23:15:00.001-06:00

I could recognize that hideous sculpture anywhere. I have to admit, I've never been more excited to see Luis Jimenez' work. I'd roll right past it at the UTEP library. Tacky purple hues and protruding yellow bulbs never did it for me. Although I was rooting for crazy eyes Elisa on Project Runway, I never thought there was anything all that special about Jimenez until I saw this "Cowboy" outside of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. I ran up to it and wanted to tell the people around me that I was from El Paso, and Luis Jimenez was, too. I smiled. "Luis Jimenez, born El Paso, Texas."
Maybe El Paso is really phenomenal. Outside the NATIONAL museum has to mean something, right? Oh, El Paso -- I have missed you.