mellama

Time for my once-a-year-post!

2011-09-14T20:00:00.000-07:00

Rocks! I love the patterns in rocks, the colors and the textures. Stripes and mineral veins, chunks missing as a result of erosion and the elements, looking strangely out of place where they sit. If you listen long enough, any rock will talk to you.

The top picture is in Apple Valley, CA, on the way to my Grandmother's house.
The last three are on St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. A couple hours after we had left this exact spot, a water spout formed connecting the water to the sky.

The importance of a beautiful altar

2010-12-10T17:15:00.000-08:00

It has been one year since Ye Olde Magick Cat passed away, and I still think of her daily! The Furry Log, Little Owl, Sausage Horse, Fucker McGee (lovingly, of course), Mini Monster, Moo-Moo, Pie, Mau-Mau, and many others that I can't think of right now. She had so many personalities and characters, most of which we made up about her. She would just look up at us and blink, as if to say "Shut up already, I'm trying to sleep here!". I love The Magick Cat, forever and always. See you on the other side lil Sweetie!

My case against boring music

2010-11-12T17:29:00.000-08:00

Or more like my personal fight against all boring music. If you are a musician, your music should not be boring, period. People may not like your music and this is OK, it's probably not boring. It's probably so far from boring that the people who don't like your music just don't get it. What I don't get is how people can actually like music that is boring (I can understand the making part because we all have desires to create shit, but liking it is a whole other story). I won't name any bands here that I find horrendously boring because that's just mean, but those who know me probably know my top three most-hated-because-they're-so-god-damned-boring bands. Obviously none of the bands mentioned in my previous post. Anyways, this one particular band is well-liked/respected/loved and every time I hear their music I find so many points of boringness that I cannot comprehend why they're so well liked. Guitars are doing just what they're supposed to be doing, no out-of-the-ordinary chords, no distortion, no weird parts to the songs. Vocals are mellow and offer nothing for the soul, nothing imaginative or secretive. Lyrics, oh god, this is probably the first thing I notice about boring music. Musicians are tearing open their soul for you to look at when they make music. For the boring musician I feel really sad for them, "This is your soul? Really?" There's no tragedy or loss, just made up suffering I'm afraid. I don't want to hear music from someone that had a happy, upper-class childhood. Give me the good stuff, artists with drug and alcohol problems, abused, angry at the world, put down by the world, rising up to say "Listen to this shit I created- it'll make your ears bleed!"

Music is very important to me, don't be lazy by making it boring. If you're going to tear open your soul then go that extra little bit to make your music as interesting as you fucking can. Thanks.

Why I love Deerhunter and all that they do musically

2010-11-09T11:25:00.000-08:00

Droning, melodic, spaciness. Sometimes, oftentimes, their music is so beautiful that it makes me want to cry (in a good way of course). Voices, guitars, electo-funness, all of it is so appealing to my brain. Lockett Pundt sings with the voice of God. Amazing. I still can't stop listening to them. Thankfully, they have a ton of downloads (mostly Atlas Sound, but some awesome Lotus Plaza live and Deerhunter demos) on their blog- THIS MAKES ME SO HAPPY!!!

Soundtracks for this year

2010-11-03T22:06:00.000-07:00

So far, all of Deerhunter's albums. I'm not going to pick one, I can't. They are all that good!

Black Keys- Brother (yet again, I think all of their albums have been on rotating repeat with Deerhunter).

Flaming Lips- Embryonic

Atlas Sound

Lotus Plaza

Beach House

The Big Pink

Shabazz Palaces

Hmm, I feel like I'm forgetting someone...

Now I'll try to pick specific songs

Grandaddy- At my post, She-deleter, Our dying brains

A Hawk and A Hacksaw- In the river

Admiral Radley- Red curbs, GNDN

Pontiak- White hands, Sun on sun

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists- Ballad of the sin eater

Chokolate- Fire water

Malachai- Fading world, Warriors

Dandy Warhols- Everyone is totally insane

Ted Leo & Pharmacists- Ballad of sin eaters

Deerhunter- Desire lines, Neither of us, uncertainly

Murder City Devils- Idle hands

TV on the Radio- Dirty whirl

RAIN MACHINE!!

Windsor for the Derby- Gathering

That's it for now.

Why is it that whenever I sit down to write something here I've completely forgotten the awesomeness I was thinking about in the shower? Dang.

I need to put up some new pictures soon. I'm also going to figure out how to post video. When I was driving this morning the sky looked really beautiful in all its grayness. Then there was a flock (?) of pigeons which made me think of TV on the Radio's video for "Dreams". I need to double-check that, I think that's the right song. Anyways, it made the morning drive nice.

The Magick Cat: 7/19/1989- 12/20/2009

2010-01-29T22:32:00.000-08:00

Terry's adventures continue!

2009-02-01T13:02:00.000-08:00

After leaving Mel's work, Terry did some sightseeing.
He checked out the local parks and relaxed in the sun.
Then Terry got hungry and ate two Grande burritos!
He was stuffed (no pun intended!) so he went to the local coffee shop.
There he ran into Todd and helped him out with a few tough accounting problems.

The adventures of Terry! (one)

2009-01-19T22:03:00.000-08:00

Terry awoke from a nap to find that Sarah and Eric had left.
He looked for them outside
Down the stairs, by the car
Around the outside of the house
Down the driveway
Out in the street

And at Mel's work.

FUCK YEAH!

2008-11-05T19:33:00.000-08:00

After eight long years, finally, something is good and right in the world! Thank you, MR. PRESIDENT!!!!

Fantastic!

2008-08-11T23:12:00.000-07:00

These are just a few pictures from last year's hikes. I've taken forever to post them anywhere, so why not here and now? Yes. With T's recovery from the Achilles injury coming along slowly we won't be going on many hikes this year (insert sad face). At least I can enjoy the photos! We did manage one hike pre-injury the day after Solstice (and we were totally hung-over, fucking awesome). That was a quick but gorgeous hike over in the Mount Baker area. I'm really liking the hikes by Mount Baker, I think it's a bit closer than Rainier and with the trails over there on the wild side due to storms, Baker is a better option.

On another note, most likely T and I are going to visit Ms. Heston in MO for Thanksgiving! Gotta buy tickets soon, but it will be well worth it- I miss that lady!

Happy August everyone!

2008-04-15T00:12:00.000-07:00

The Daibutsu in Nokogiri-yama.

2008-04-01T21:16:00.000-07:00

This Friday we leave for Japan! I am very excited about this, it's just a few years too late (going to Japan would have TOTALLY helped out my grade in school). Oh well, it will still be super-fun and I have been amazed at what Japanese I do remember.

On another note, Sarah just left and she'll be moving to Missouri in Fall to embark on her journey towards a PHD!!!! Yay! In the meantime, I am finishing up the box wine she bought and contemplating the hawk I watched in downtown yesterday. I'm always surprised by the amount of wildlife I see in this city, but then it makes sense too. But my point about this is that we are where we should be, even when we don't really like it, there's something that's in our favor about where we are at these moments. Mine was in downtown watching a hawk tease all the other birds while he was all "Oh, are you trying to get me, I'm in control here, I've got the huge talons, I can eat any one of you whenever I want. Yeah."

And that's what goes on in my mind when I wait for the bus. In the end, it makes me feel better about working at a dumb job because it's just a step to something better. That's right Sarah, it's just a step to better things!

2007-07-30T13:09:00.000-07:00

Well, this is a record for me- four posts in one month. I thought I would just put up a few pictures I like. I was trying to find a good one of M.C., but it seems that I often put up her pictures. So instead, I bring you three pictures from Tucson- including a chair from Sarah's backyard. I think the last one here, the one of the mountians, is just slightly out of focus to make it look like a painting. Fantastic. Cheers.

2007-07-27T13:58:00.000-07:00

I always wonder what my dreams are trying to tell me. I don't believe the boring bullshit that "dreams are just repeated images we see during the day". Fuck you. You have no imagination or soul if you believe that. I like to think that my mind is open to messages from other people, (places, things), no matter where they are or what sort of state they're in, that if they need to tell me something then they will do so any way possible. Back to dreams, I think dreams are there for a reason: to remind oneself of things forgotten, to tell us important information, and to help us to be better people (like "quit being a selfish asshole and just be nicer to everyone"). I don't know, just ideas and stuff. On multiple occasions I've had dreams about things that were yet to come true, sometimes it has been something really small, sometimes a big deal, but it involved people I didn't know and time was involved so there was no controliing of situations. Last night though, my dreams involved reflections and I woke up again thinking of David Lynch and how he uses people's reflections of themselves as openings for the real or unreal, but he also leaves you wondering what is reality in the movie or in life. My dream involved seeing my reflection in someones eyes, very closely, and it was really weird. I was just doing that to Magick Cat's eyes the other day and was surprised when I saw my reflection very clearly in her eyes. Then I also thought of my "Butterfly Mirror" poem and I wonder if I'm turning into the M.C....

2007-07-26T13:56:00.000-07:00

I thought that this photo was a very interesting one. No particular reason for it today (no, today is not a Pagan holiday or anything). I just thought it was kind of funny. This is on the outside of the old Bon Marche/ new Macy's building in downtown. Who knows what the building was used for before Bon Marche, but I wonder what the intention was of the architect who decided that this design fit well with shopping. Very curious. I'll bet that it is related somehow to the Masons, they always have bizarre and intricate symbols on their buildings.

2007-07-18T12:01:00.000-07:00

I have been watching a lot of David Lynch stuff lately. This picture reminds me of a scene from one of his movies because he uses a lot of red and blue contrasting shots. So far, I've only noticed this in "Fire Walk With Me" and in "Blue Velvet". T and I are making our way through his flicks (after, of course, watching all of the Twin Peaks episodes) so next up will either be "Eraserhead" or "Lost Highway". When we had finished watching all 29 episodes of Twin Peaks, I realized that I found this TV show to be perfect. Absolutely perfect. How? Well, it just is. Lost is awesome and all, but it definitely has flaws, Twin Peaks however, rolls with its own flaws resultant from sindicated television and fucks shit up! It makes fun of things, it makes fun of itself, it teases the viewer and it rewards the viewer. Also, it stars Kyle MacLachlan, what more could you ask for?

2007-06-06T17:04:00.000-07:00

Hello! I am done with school. I figured that I should post something so that "the people" do not worry about me, hee hee! Well, now that school is done I will have all the time in the world to write a bunch of dumb crap on Thee Blog. Anyways, we'll see how much time I devote to this here thing, probably not much since I would rather be out in the garden if it weren't for the rain. I'm not complaining- don't you worry. The more it rains that means the less I have to water the plants, I just don't want it to rain this Saturday! Perhaps I should download some photos before my computer freaks out... thanks for reading, Suckas!!!!

Well

2007-04-15T08:22:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning at six because I was extremely hungry and because I hadn't had any coffee for about two weeks. Now I feel awake for the first time in these last two weeks. I swear, if I never drank coffee again, I would just be asleep for the rest of my life. Anyways, Hooray for coffee and Hooray for food. I'm going to go get myself a Green Tea muffin-yum! I know there was some other reason that I decided to write something this morning, but I cannot remember at all. I've had some very cool dreams the last few nights, but I think there was something else. Oh well, y'all are going to have to wonder what on earth I was thinking this morning. Perhaps it was the light of early morning sun flickering through the trees, and Magick Cat and I watched the sunrise together. Perhaps it was my memories of Tucson and the smell of the night air full of citrus blossoms- fucking amazing by the way. Maybe the first cup of coffee this morning woke up my mind in its entirety and I had way too many thoughts buzzing around. Maybe it's the way I feel all fuzzy inside when my favorite Blue Jay comes around and curiously looks at me hoping for a nut, which of course I give to him. I wish I could snap my fingers and have my garden be full and healthy and attended to. There is so much to do in the garden, maybe I can find some free time soon.

Well folks, that is all for now, thanks for reading and come back again real soon.

2007-03-13T23:04:00.000-07:00

Butterfly Mirror

Two wings that beat in
unison with mine
Looking at my face
I'm really only
staring straight at yours
Yet you look like me
Has my face turned to
pair of monarch wings
Or you- finally
have turned to me?

There's a poem for you all. I don't usually write poems, so if anybody says ANYTHING about it I'll totally delete yer ass! OK, if anyone says anything MEAN, then I'll delete yer ass. Fun time in Tucson in about two days- Yee Haw!!! Git ready Sarah, Mike, and Kitty!

Artichoke

2007-02-23T12:10:00.000-08:00

This is a much better picture of the artichoke from last year, after it fully "bloomed". I can't wait to get into the garden this year. Just the other day I dead-headed plants that have been waiting all winter for me to do so. Whoops! Spring officially begins in three more weeks!

Brick street

2007-02-19T17:50:00.000-08:00

This is a brick street in New Orleans. I was there in January. If you can see this picture close enough you may be able to make out the water underneath the bricks, sort of seeping out. There wasn't any rain that day, or for at least a couple days prior. I find this interesting because the water seeping out of the street here is probably a result of New Orleans being below sea level, like six feet I think. Perhaps boring to you, but I think it's cool that there are little things like this that make you realize that you're not really standing on solid ground!

2007-02-19T17:33:00.000-08:00

Once again, I bring you another turtle picture. Poof!

2007-01-24T20:28:00.000-08:00

"Azaleas" by Kim Sowol

When you go away
Sick of seeing me,
I shall let you go, gently, no words.

From Mount Yak in Yongbyon
An armful of azaleas
I shall gather and scatter on your path.

Step by step away
On the flowers lying before you,
Tread softly, deeply, and go.

When you go away,
Sick of seeing me,
though I die; No, I shall not shed a tear.

Today I found out that one of my favorite teachers, Professor Scott Swaner, passed away on December 20th. He's the one that introduced me to some amazing Korean poets such as Kim Sowol, Hwang Jiwoo, and Yi Sang.

Here's a poem by Kang Un'Gyo that may be a sort of response poem to Kim Sowol's.

"Azalea"

A single teardrop
out of the sea of tears I wept without you knowing,
the darkest crimson sadness
sank deep, deep into the earth and
rose again in April.

A clump of blood someone's thrown away
lying in this riverbed, that riverbed
blown clean, clean year-round
to the smell of yesterday's sky
to the smell of sunlight I awoke.

Azaleas, azaleas.
Azaleas everywhere.

These next two poems are by Hanu and someone else, but the second is sometimes also credited to Hanu, perhaps Im Che. I forget though. Hanu was a female entertainer from sometime between the mid 16th and 17th century in Korea. Her name means "cold rain". Enjoy.

Some said the northern window was bright,
so I started out without rain gear.
But it snows in the mountain,
and cold rain falls in the field.
Today I am wet with cold rain,
so I wish to freeze to sleep.

****

Why should you freeze to sleep?
for what reason should you be cold?
A pillow with mandarin-duck design and
kingfisher-pattern quilt,
how could you freeze tonight?
Since you came, wet with cold rain,
won't you melt in bed with me?

Those are two of my favorite poems, ever. I gotta find correct the name of the author of the second poem.
Yi Sang, one of my most favorite authors ever (yes, even Richard Brautigan comes after him) died at the youg age of 27 while Scott (I guess it's alright to stop saying Professor Swaner?) was only 38. Pancreatic cancer. He was deeply devoted to poetry. Here's his blog: www.donotgogentle.blogspot.com -it's pretty fucking amazing. And here's a poem for ya'll by Yi Sang.

"Poem No. X: Butterfly"

In the tattered wallpaper I see a butterfly dying. Secret
mouthpiece bearing endless traffic to and from the other
world. One day in the mirror I see on my beard a butterfly
dying. Wings collapsed in exhaustion the butterfly eats
the meager dew that collects glistening from my exhaled
breath. If I die while blocking the mouthpiece off with my
palm the butterfly too as if starting up after resting shall
fly away. Never do I let any of this leak out.

That's it for now. If you want you can read a little more here, it's Professor Swaner's obituary:
http://www.legacy.com/saltlaketribune/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=85805480

More thoughts, but just not enough words to say them. Life is short, isn't it?

2006-11-17T14:04:00.000-08:00

This is it folks. This is what I've been doing in my spare time aside from homework, but wait- it IS homework!!! I've got one more guy that is not quite finished and then I have to write a 10-15 page paper on what this is all about!!! I really don't know what I'm doing, but I pretend that I do. The idea about my guys here is the evolutionary process, except for the crow, he was just for fun. But notice the order, from simple organisms to more complex- Space Cat being the highest and most complex organism. Yes, we can all aspire to be like Space Cat, it's kind of like reaching enlightenment. Yep, it's kind of like being inside Space Cat's brain, I like it there, pretty cozy, good sound system, yummy treats and good alcohol. I like it here, you might also...

2006-11-04T20:56:00.000-08:00

So, I tried to post something new on Halloween but my computer didn't like it very much. Too complex, I guess. Anyways, this is just a short photo essay of what I've been doing the last month or two. And really quickly- Monkeys, Midterms, Tomato Sauce, and Rain.
You get to figure that shit out yourself! Later suckers!!!

2006-10-06T15:47:00.000-07:00

Well, I think that summer is officially over. This here is one of my favorite Dahlia color combos. School is back in session, so that means no more posts for a while because I will be very busy! The Hummingbirds keep coming around to feast on my fine mixture of imitation nectar (organic sugar-water), red salvia (I think that's the correct name, I just call it sage), and a few other tasty flowers. I think those little guys are so cute, sometimes they hover in front of the kitchen window watching me watch them! Fun! That's it for now suckers, I've got some more important shit to do!

2006-08-13T14:55:00.000-07:00

Today, Ms. Sarah left for Tuscon. We both tried not to cry in front of the other but I totally cried when I got home. I'm glad she called me from the road though. Ms. Specialness is going to do the things she needs to do- such as write a book. "Yo Sarah, you'd better write that thing or I'll stop being your friend!!!" Ha ha haaa. Just kidding, but you really do need to write something. If anyone else actually reads this here blog and is interested is what Ms. Special-Pants is writing then look a little to the left-hand side and click on "Sarahheston" (that's her blog). However, I will be first in line to purchase that shit when it's done- yo. (Sorry, I didn't mean shit as in your book is shit, you know what I mean!) I'm glad that Ms. Brave Pioneer left this town because it will push me to leave sooner than later. One day I will have to quit complaining and just do something.
Well, Sarah, good luck and all that, I'll be calling you constantly, especially when "Project" in on!

2006-07-25T21:39:00.000-07:00

This is an artichoke that Ingrid gave me. I gave her a bunch of tomato plants and she gave me her first artichoke- inedible, just decorative. Which is fine, it was very cool-looking to begin with and then it started blooming the purple hair-stuff in the center. I love plants and vegetables that seem to have minds of their own! But here it sits in my kitchen windowsill making the other flowers jealous. I even found a little spider living in it, he had caught a moth too! Hooray for nature. I can't wait for the tomatoes! And just for the record, I love this heat.
Happy summer!

2006-07-21T14:37:00.000-07:00

This is how most of my weekends this summer have begun- a nice cup of coffee in the sun in the backyard. I love summer, there's a strange sense of ultimate relaxation about it. Maybe it's because I'm not going to school this summer. Maybe it's because of the slight bit of extra money from my part-time job this summer. Maybe it's because the plants and flowers love the summer and everything is growing like crazy and smells totally delicious. I think all of these things have a part in the making of a wonderful summer. One of these days I will actually do some hiking too.

2006-05-31T22:15:00.000-07:00

In response to Ms. Heston's prodding, I finally make a new post. Sorry. I get busy and stuff and I forget that my own blog exists. My deepest apologies. However, if anyone has been so anxious to read what I have to say, then perhaps you should check my Anthropology class E-Posts. Some hot stuff there! So yeah, I'm "working on a paper" right now, no really.

Take a good look at The Magick Cat's expression here. I absolutely love it. It's kind of bored and kind of angry too. Fantastic!

Hopefuuly I'll have some fun dreams or jokes to tell ya'll soon, but as of now, just drinking beer on a rainy Wednesday.

Time for something 2006-ish

2006-01-22T14:12:00.000-08:00

Yep, this is about how I feel right now. Except there isn't a big bright sun smiling down upon me. I wish I had a pet turtle. Turtles are super neat little guys. Just look at the little guy there, he is so cute. Later, after I had taken this picture, this tiny child came up and freaked out when he saw the turtle, like I thought he was goung to jump into the water to get him. The turtle just jumped into the water and swam away. It was kind of like watching an alligator because you could see his little nose poking up from underneath. TURTLES ARE SO CUTE! Dammit! Happy late new year, ya'll!

2005-12-03T11:46:00.000-08:00

So, look at this picture, ponder a moment, and now imagine flying over this cliff and the water and everything is bright, the water a little more blue, you even have the wind in your hair and maybe slightly afraid that you might fall, and you're hanging on to Todd and smiling 'cause you're flying. That was my dream the other night. I've been reading Natsume Soseki's Ten Nights of Dreams and i think he's been causing me to have really cool dreams. Weeeeee!

I should be doing homework right now

2005-10-07T13:28:00.000-07:00

So, I know I haven't been here for a bit but here is a great picture that is my interpretation of "Summer". In other words, what I did this summer was garden and hang out with The Magick Cat-all day long. Quite nice actually. Sucks to you folks who had to work!!!
Seriously though, I only worked for two weeks at the very end of summer, so I really did just garden all day and hang out with the cat. Now I have a fuck-load of homework and all I really want to do is garden- get my winter veggies ready and stuff. But Halloween is upon us soon, maybe I should think about squash soups and souffles (not that I know anything about souffle, I just wanted to write that!) Hmmm, I love my cat.

2005-07-30T15:01:00.000-07:00

2005-07-30T14:56:00.000-07:00

2005-07-30T14:42:00.000-07:00

This is what I do. I take pictures. I take pictures of stuff that I like- my cat, flowers, things that I enjoy looking at again and again. I don't care if you don't like my pictures because this isn't for you! The tree in this picture is from a "snow storm" in Seattle a couple years ago. I like this one because it looks like it could have been taken anywhere, I like that about snow.

2005-07-30T14:22:00.000-07:00

This is The Magick Cat. In this picture she is pondering the leafless elderberry bush. I belong to the Church of The Magick Cat.

WHAT THE F............

2005-07-29T15:08:00.000-07:00

I did not just create a blog.