Almost out of here...

After 26 years in this damn city, I am finally moving! Not going too far, but it's definitely a new place to explore. Goodbye San Jose.

I'm so sleepy

some odds and ends..

I got my first low grade on a paper (85%), but it was only cause of my bad grammar. (Which is okay, cause at least my thesis was good!) That's what happens when I wait until the day before to complete a 6 or so page paper, which is happening more often then not. I once had a professor tell me I should looking into ESL (English as a second language) writing labs. ouch.

a customer at work "You know what happens when you get older? you realize that everyone is full of shit. See the Iraq War and War in Afghanistan?"

after watching the horrendous Food, Inc. I started to think that I really should watch what I eat. Today my coworker did a run to McDonalds and I ate a hormone inflated McChicken. The fries were honestly stale and chalky. I also got laughed at for ordering an orange juice with my McDonalds meal. I figured after all the beers and bad stuff I ingested yesterday.. I think I needed a bad meal to do me over.


I put in $4 bucks (3 bills and change) in my gas tank and the gas light didn't turn off.



the end.

Darryl's really pushing the 3 star reviews or something.
(edit: the movie was gnar, but well done! if you read omnivore's dilemma it seems to be really similar in content)



For those that don't want to read Pollan's big adult book, there's a young reader's edition that I picked up which is cheaper, has less text, but more pictures! a little dumbed down , but good!)

Did I also mention that those loud mouthed know it alls (see 2nd blog down) also had a thing against hemingway? maybe that's why I felt inclined to punch 'em in their wannabe literary chinky faces.



A biography of his time spent in paris, it talks about his friends, the likes of G. Stein, E. Pound, Joyce, and Fitzgerald. Here he is 25, hasn't been recognized as a writer yet (sun also rises was just in the works).. he's poor, but happy. Some nice insight into the personalities of some classic writers. After this I understand that Fitzgerald is a controlling, asshole of a drunk, but there's a part called "a matter of measurements" where he feels inadequate and confides with hemingway about this..cause his wife said his curve and size couldn't make any woman happy. wanky!

Okay..so if you are ever with a friend in a cafe... mind the people studying around you. If you have to be such a narcissist (where you must talk so everyone can hear you) and like to talk about people, watch what you say..cause I really think the things a person says about others is a reflection of what they really are and trying to hide... i.e. hipsters who talk shit about hipsters. Have you realized only hipsters really use that word?

I HATE that word.

the end.

Current State of Living v.2

loud mouth know it alls in a coffee shop.

How obnoxious are little asian hipsters who "don't like new york, more specifically brooklyn because there are too many hipsters, but love san francisco because 'even though they crunch granola' they are more 'real'."

yea she has the droopy forever 21 beanie, skinny jeans in her boots, and everything.

Just get over yourself and shut the fuck up.

I am a bad book clubber

It sounded like a good read...
I honestly didn't read through every chapter, cause I didn't care for a lot of the things he was saying. Some of the shorts sounded like an a narrative of the episodes I have seen on tv. I am a huge Bourdain fan..I've read kitchen confidential and cook's tour, which were great, but I realize that these were the pieces that didn't make it in any other publication, other than this book and therefor fell short. He is self-actualized in this book, which is a huge problem. He sounds like a rich tourist trying to act cultured that's telling others not to do the touristy things.

hrmph. I did like some of the shorts, especially his rants about the pesky customer and how all the restaurant workers remember, his visit to Brazil, old Manhattan, and his 4 friends.. aka his fav novels (one which was Down and Out in Paris and London ...I knew Bourdain wrote too much like Orwell at times.!!!) I did go through every chapter and picked what I actually wanted to read through. I realize that maybe I actually had enough of this guy where his food writing and traveling has become uninteresting-ly predictable.

Sorry Julia... I failed.

the librarian of all librarians

I have been sitting on this book awhile.. it's apparently some of his most famous stories, and I have to admit with library school, it's not necessarily an appealing read because it's very demanding. Once you're engulfed in one of his stories, you find it to be profound and so unique... kind of dream like with a some mysticism. Some of the more memorable ones:

Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius- Uqbar is a place he discovers as a result of tracing the origins of an encyclopedia

The Circular Ruins - a man and his dreams

The Babylon Lottery

The Library of Babel

Funes, the Memprious - a man who suddenly regains a memory beyond belief -a young man with an old soul

Death and the Compass

The Secret Miracle - a man has a death sentence and asks God to prolong his life a year longer so he can finish his story...the year is granted, but it's right before his execution and only in his own mind

what day is it?

"I just let it roll. Like a hot turd down a hill."




I haven't read this guy in awhile, cause I think I was happy - well happier, but I feel tired and anti social. I guess that is what retail does to you, especially when customers need the author of this book and can't find the section for that book and then feed ISBN the cat chicken nuggets while I'm the only one who knows that human food makes him barf...so now I'm in the mood for this.
This is one of the last things he wrote before he died, which is mainly a journal he kept about his daily happenings and ramblings. He's 71 and is self-actualized; not afraid of death; hates dealing with people, but keeps on writing, gambling, and drinking..pretty much what he always does, knows it, and still doesn't give a shit. He knew that when he was dead people would love him and they do. I know its Bukowski, and this isn't all very new... but something about his senile character shows a bit of honest wisdom that only comes with age. (a bit meaning a whole bunch).

R. Crumb does the illustrations for this too.


This is exactly what I needed....

100th Post (a blog about a blog)

I didn't realize how long I've had this blog and how many entries I had until I spent 1.5 hours tagging all my posts. I really just wanted that sweet cloud of words, but what I found out in the process is the next book I read would be my 100TH post! well who fucking cares. No, not all my posts are about that...

well before this I used to keep another personal blog, which I am not entirely proud of and it hasn't been updated since March of 2008. (remember xanga?) I have to mention that I have also had the thing since December 2003. I guess people write blogs because
1. they are narcissists
2. can't verbally express themselves (in an emotional sense)
3. have a bad memory
4. lack a social life outside of/cut off from technological means

but beyond all that, we have them to look back on and see how much we've changed for the better or worse. Looking back, I think I've become a nicer person.

See this was my old profile:


I think I've cleaned up nicely.

The END.

oh..and of you never seen the damn thing before, its linked somewhere in all this.

This guy resonates with me. Maybe its cause he was a sociologist (a focus in information retrieval!) and really picks at the lives of people... not necessarily their personalities, but their tendencies in their routines, how their minds work, and records every detail of the things that they have. I guess those things can say a lot about us. This is his first novel and it's somewhat sad...more so melancholy because it's as if you are watching this couple strive for happiness in the way that is so meaningless, which is through old 'valuable' things, appearance, experiences, freedom, but for the most part fantasizing of getting rich the easy way to have this ideal lifestyle. They never do get rich, but they never go hungry or homeless either. They know they can only have money if they give up their freedom to the grind, but they consistently give up the stable income because they feel suffocated and constrained.

What's sad is that these characters remind me somewhat of the routines that I have.. I can't give up my books, my coffee, and itch to get away and not be a part of the rat race. Yep it's that damn bohemian way of life... which sucks and I hate to use that damn word, but I think that's what a big part of our generation is.. well at least for the ones that decide not to rush in and get married, be corporate, and have babies in suburban neighborhoods. But I think it is meaningless when it becomes an endless routine and you don't have good friends, love what you do, or don't contribute anything to society. I think that this couple are merely wanderers..seeking happiness amongst things and nothing else. That is what's sad.

Yea... not a childrens book for once.

Man I had such a great spiel about this book, but then I fell asleep. Not a good sign I guess.

This book takes place in a Panem, which is a post apocalyptic society of what used to be North America. The Capitol hosts these annual hunger games, where a boy and girl from each district is chosen at random to kill each other, until only one person stands. The last person standing gets fame and pretty much doesn't have to starve ever again.

The premise is one of the best things about this. The Capitol is the richest and most powerful, they are big brother and no one can speak against them without retaliation. Each district has its own industrial 'crop', and as a result there is a large gap between the rich and poor. Then there's the mutations of animals/people and biochemical weapons. The hunger games was a way to punish Panem for their uprising many years back against the Capitol. Hrmm... maybe she's on to something.

Katniss, the lead character, is from the poorest district, and she pretty much does everything right. (not in an annoying way) She is smart and it's all realistic in the sense of the 'what would you do in this situation'. The characters are great, the games are good.....

but shit... how obnoxious the writing is. I get that she's trying to make a voice, but this narrator/ first person thought process is horrible.
like. I have an itch on my ankle that I need to scratch. I pull up my pant leg then pull down my sock to scratch it. I have been spotted. I need to run, but I need to scratch my itch.

The love story is a bit much too.. not as bad as Pavel made it sound, but enough to roll your eyes at times.

This one is the best one yet.. really. The only thing I don't understand is why they would release the thing in the fall, rather than before summer...but I guess because its a journal, so we're supposed to be reading about greg's summer?

My favorite thing about this is that all his mishaps remind me of me.. like when greg forgets about a library book so he hides it and never returns to the library because he's scared of what they would do when he can't pay the fine...