Granola and television

Stolen from Megan's Myspace:

I once saw a message at a church that said, "Busy souls don't have time to be busy bodies." I really don't agree. I'm a wanna-be chef that lives the life of granola bars and TV dinners on the go; I'm an artist that sketches in the edges of her notebook in the middle of class; I practice everything in the shower... from radio tunes to conversations to speeches. I wish to be the best friend I can... however I live the life of email and text messaging...

[And] yet I think happiness is not something you can make... or look for. Its just something you are. I am [the] one with my soul every second of every minute of every day.

Erebus cover me

So I get home and realize that I'm not sure I can go to sleep.

Right now I'm eating Cool-Whip from the bowl, drinking green tea, and listening to Beautiful Things (Andain) for about the fifth time since 5:50.
__________

Got up early, found something's missing: my only name. No one else sees but I got stuck, and soon forever came. Stopped pushing on for just a second, then nothing's changed. Who am I this time, where's my name? I guess it crept away.

No one's calling for me at the door; and unpredictable won't bother anymore; and silently gets harder to ignore.

Get me up, wake me up; dreams are filling this trace of blame. Frozen still I thought I could stop, Now who's gonna wait.

[Full]
__________

I really like this song; it's exactly how I've been feeling this weekend. I know Monday's going to be a really bad day, but I've done nowhere near what I should have done to prepare for the assault. Sometimes I wish that I could just "hand over the reins" of this life to someone who knows what they're doing; maybe they could get it all fixed up and return it sometime.

You know, when you draw a picture from life, the image is composed of strokes made solely in relation to other strokes, mimicking the relation of isolated elements of your perception. Now if you get caught up in a single element or area and work it to completion, you find that it's harder and sometimes well-nigh impossible to construct any further accurate relationships.

It seems that this applies to life as well: if you work solely on a single element of your life, it gets increasingly more difficult to place this element in relation to others. Specifically an example: if the highest degree of control and balance is perfected upon one's self, it proves difficult to practice control over more external portions of one's life.
__________

[Previously written]

As a child we have all the answers. Each of us is an oracle in his own right, the greatest purveyor of knowledge this world has known. Granted this feat is made simpler by the fact that things are purely black or white in youth; the gray area opens, then, as we age and slowly swallows us, a careful digestion of preconceptions and immature, ill-gotten notions.

What if one day I wake up from this dream and begin to forget this world? Will I experience regret for not accomplishing anything or taking enough chances or will I simply pass from this plane with no recollection?

A Gezunt Dir in Pupik

So it's been a bit... musically eclectic... inside Greg's head today.

I awoke to-

• Hava nagila, hava nagila
  Hava nagila, venis mecha
  
  Hava neranena, hava neranena
  Hava, hava, neranena
  
  [I'm not Jewish, so spelling's nothing more than a rough approximation]

Then in art it switched to-

• 'Gypsies, tramps, and thieves,'
  We'd hear it from the people of the town:
  They'd call us 'gypsies, tramps, and thieves,'
  But every night all the men would come around
  and lay their money down
  [This prompted my recommendation that Tessa, Myself, and Jared dress up one day as a gypsy, a tramp, and a thief, respectively]

After lunch I got some funk-

• [Spoken portion of Maggot Brain]
  "Mother Earth is pregnant for the third time,
  for y'all have knocked her up.
  I have tasted the maggots in the mind of the universe;
  I was not offended,
  for I knew I had to rise above it all
  or drown in my own shit."
• Ow, we want the funk;
  Give up the funk.
  Ow, we need the funk;
  We gotta have that funk

And since I've been sitting here writing-

• We run;
  We hide;
  We wait and want
  the good life.
  Aw sure,
  You're right:
  This ain't
  the good life.
  Ahhhhhh, elegantly wasted.
  Ahhhhhh, elegantly wasted.

And now I'll frolic off to watch some annoying-ass presentations in EcoEvo lab...

(Oh yeah... it's official: Jared and I are in Front Street next year.)

Abercrombie Barbies

Finals06
Originally uploaded by exiguousopificer.

Well I finally did my finals schedule and realized that I have none in the afternoon. *sigh*

I went with Dad and Leslie to Juanita's last night... Theory of a Deadman, Hinder, and Faktion were there. Basically there were two types of people in attendance:

• Little girls with low-cut shirts, dark tans/white highlights, and high heels.
• College-age jocks in tight-fitting polos, ripped jeans, and white sneakers.

Anyway, before I start bitching about cookie-cutter people... a few thoughts for a slightly melancholy mood:

• Reumers ("Everything Happens for a Reason")
  [Incidentally, also reported to be the author of a poem included in the book the perks of being a wallflower [sic]. Rather long to include here, so here's a link.]
• "All our young lives we search for someone to love: someone who makes us complete. We choose partners and change partners; we dance to a song of heartbreak and hope, all the while wondering if somewhere, somehow, there's someone perfect who might be searching for us."
  [from The Wonder Years]

I pinch.

Go to this website:

Element

...and click on the first commercial at the bottom left (The Crab).

It cracks me up.

Assume the fetal position.

lostpersons
Originally uploaded by exiguousopificer.

I'm in a really weird mood today...

I flushed my 600+ song playlist and made a new one. It includes-

• Ray Charles - Why, Georgia
• Eva Cassidy - Songbird (Blame that on Tessa)
• Joni Mitchell - Both Sides, Now; All I Want; Free Man in Paris; California; Hejira
• Cyndi Lauper - True Colors
• Happy Hardcore - Discoland
• The Rakes - All Too Human
• Gary Jules - Mad World;
• Azure Ray - Dragonfly; November
• Dan Fogelberg - Isle au Haut
• Graham Colton Band - Cellophane Girl; Cigarette
• Elliot Smith - Miss Misery
• Joss Stone - Some Kind of Wonderful; Fell in Love With a Boy
• The Postal Service - Such Great Heights

Today was the very last Organic lab, and that excites me. Still two tests remaining, however, and that doesn't.

• Goodwin (written): "Maybe I won't talk today."
  [And he didn't for the first twenty minutes]
• Goodwin (written): "Erethay Ouyay Ogay"
• Goodwin: "I forgot to ask that you stay when you're done with your melting point to check out of both your drawers. That is, if you've nothing more pressing to do, like open heart surgery."
  Gary: "Well I have a friend that was really looking forward to playing this video game..." Goodwin: "Well that's important... I guess I'm most surprised, though, by the whole 'having a friend' part."

Campolo decided that rather than making us do a literature review and final exam, we'll do a book review, something I fully expected. That excites me. Additionally, those four absences that should have brought my final grade down by eight percentage points have somehow been reduced to a single absence (two point reduction).

• Lombardi: "I think I'm going to flunk his butt... I'm sorry, that was rude, wasn't it? Flunk his tail." (Then gives Foster a hug)

Regardless of the fact that this picture has fairly obviously been retouched (I wonder what the sign originally said), I like it nonetheless.

"Haven't you people ever heard of... closing the goddamn door?"

Thursday night David, Jordan, and I went to the Factory and hung out with Shane, Victor, Jon-Jon, and everybody.

Friday night the two of us went with Scott to Backstreet. Basically I learned that eleven miles over the speed limit on Cantrell isn't considered reason for a ticket if you've got a police ID...

Saturday we took Kamrin back to Little Rock and watched some movies...

I decided today that I want to drive an ice-cream truck when I grow up.

Highlights from lunch:

• "For an asian girl, she got a big ol' penis."
• "Don't make me stab you this early in the damn day."

And now I'll frolic off to do shitty Organic...

Cup 'a tea? How's y'er Mum?

Ugh. I am currently in a bad mood for a reason I'll not discuss here. ;(

Our presentation went well in EcoEvo. Certainly not as badly as I expected.

I think for dinner tonight I want a ridiculously-sized salad with innumerable toppings.

I've come to the conclusion that most people seem to live their lives in one of two ways: with either accurate, hand-wrought precision or rapid, automated approximation. I prefer the former, but it seems that more and more steer toward the latter... Goes back to whether quantity or quality should be the priority...

I started an explanation of that, but that's gonna' be way too long; so I guess I'll go tan instead.

Testosterone Boys and Harlequin Girls

I recently finished eating a bowl of Cool-Whip and making a bugel out of chocolate.

I've skipped class more in the past month than I think I have the entire three semesters prior. That's a bad sign... I'm not even halfway there yet. I'm so ready to be out of this place.

On a lighter note, some teacher quotes...

• Goodwin: "I'm a big fan of insects... I didn't say incest."
• [NOTE: The following should be considered a valid reason for hating one's life]
  Goodwin: "According to my watch, class is over, but according to Cingular, we have two minutes. That's why I start class by my watch and end class by Cingular.

I FINALLY got some laundry done today. If I hadn't, I would seriously have been going to Art naked (Come to think of it, that may be interesting, considering I'm working on a self-portrait).

How big?

Special Edition of The World at Large, featuring Overheard at Hendrix (just for Tessa):

• Socccer Guy #1: Nine and a half?
  Soccer Guy #2: Yeah, I saw it, because we used to... [couldn't hear remainder]

WANTED: Tank of gas for one of my kidneys.

Well, I took Jo down yesterday to see Dad for Easter... His new girlfriend seems nice.

I am heartbroken... It took $34.00 to top off my truck. I remember a time when $12.00 equalled a full tank and some change. Damn.

Jordan and I went to Backstreet last night and hung out with Shane.

• Jordan: "Everybody all over my husband..can't have *nothing* nice!"
• Shane: "It was like a retarded Easter Bunny."

Latest E&M update...

• Campolo: "Don't you have the right to pluck that people seed up and say, 'No germination in my carpet!'?"
• "[Adult ribs might be too big; someone would notice. But you could use kids. ] I'm not saying kill children... I'm saying grow the ribs separately and then eat them.
  Random student: "Babyback ribs!"
  
  

"I don't have to be me 'til Monday..."

Steve Azar
Originally uploaded by exiguousopificer.

Oh, the weekend I've had.

Friday night went quite well, and we got Neil married off again. There was the chance for some serious family drama, but it blew over. Highlights included-

• LeeAnn: "They're out of Coke."
  Nancy: "They're out of Coke? Well they sure haven't run out of alcohol!"
• My mother doing the Cha-Cha Slide.

Afterwards I went and hung out with Megan for a while; she's in the process of packing and moving, so it was quite interesting... We talked about all kinds of things, including but not limited to the following topics (in no particular order):

• Oil paint
• Exes
• Maturity
• Grammar
• School
• Work
• The utter ridiculousness of humanity.
• ...and The Puss: Kismet.

Perhaps some of these may stir especially thoughtful future postings.

Saturday I woke up late because my alarm clock was never "sprung forward." The next twelve hours were spent at StarDaze, however, and overall I had a good time. I came to several conclusions:

• It's kind of funny to see all the people who were "pretty" in high-school turn ugly;
• It's kind of surprising to see the ugly people turn pretty;
• And it's really scary when these same people have four kids.

Additionally:

• I could *so* see myself partying with my Mom. Is that bad?
• I really enjoy being an active member of my community; why don't I do it more often?

Most Importantly:

• I think the discomfort I feel when I'm not behind a camera has its origins in my aversion to social interaction. Perhaps that's why I enjoy photography- merely a mode of satisfying a personality flaw. It's much easier to be a constant observer, after all, rather than practice active participation. And after a while, that same camera makes you virtually invisible...able to witness and capture almost anything without notice.

And Finally:

• Maybe I use bullets too much in my blog...

In closing, the headliner for tonight was Steve Azar (Country...). Talking about one of his songs, he said something that I thought was really important. My paraphrase:

• There are so many times that we look at and around ourselves and think that our life is made up of the things we put in it: work, going to the gym, soccer practice, softball practice, ballet recital, partying, homework... Instead, we should label these things as they are: merely items that we have placed in our life to fill it. These may change how we appear to others (and sometimes ourselves), but they do not change the individual life that each of us leads behind it all.

Oh yeah... HAPPY EASTER!

Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo

So drawing-board construction has officially completed. A few bits of finishing to the front and it will be in full working order.

Chaela and I are contemplating the possibilities of ritual suicide at this point in the school year.

We went to the final night of bowling last night...

• Vicki to Jordan: "I wish my daughter was as good to me as you are to your mother."
• Kamrin: "I bought you a fucking card!"
• Vicki: "Bitch, I birthed you! I've still got the fucking stretch marks!"

EcoEvo lab yesterday started out pretty shitty (think a couple hours of hiking into the woods), but Dr. T bought us all Sonic on the way back, so she scored some points there.

I'm currently packing up my shit to make the journey home for StarDaze. I'm also trying to take a little extra to make the final move home a bit easier.

And in case you didn't know... Dove Milk Chocolate Truffle Eggs are absolutely orgasmic.

A moment of silence for those we have lost...

*Taco-Bell at 2:30 in the morning*
[Greg pulls up to drive-thru]
Woman: Hi, Welcome to Taco-Bell. Right now we're out of chicken, sour cream, and gorditas; can I take your order?
Greg: *sigh*

Well construction is in progress of the drawing-board of the century...

I eventually logged around eleven hours finalizing my schedule for next year. I hate that it's got to be so damned complicated!

Jordan and I went to Easy Street tonight to see Kamrin...

God, I have a headache.

Sunburned - Happy = Greg

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. This week The World at Large features Texas Tessa's Sparkly Hour in syndicate!

• "I feel shitty.
  Oh, so shitty.
  I can hardly believe I'm alive.
  I'm so shitty.
  Yada Yada,
  Blah blah blah,
  I feel like shit. "
  (© 2006 - Beastly-T, inc.)

Very appropriate for today.

So let's see... Around 6:00 this morning I went to Wal-Mart. While there I saw this stuff called Coca-Cola Blak and bought it. "Carbonated Fusion Beverage," my ass; think one part Coke to two parts black coffee. Shitty.

I could not locate a drawing board in art today, so my prof said to use one from another- just take their art off and tack it to the wall. I turned my back for 3.427 seconds to place it on the wall and upon turning around found that my pristine, smooth, flawlessly-straight drawing board had magically morphed into a thin, flimsy, warped piece of shitty balsa wood. Now do I really have to shed some blood in the drawing room? Shitty + 1.

So on the way back from art, I parked my truck (yes, in one of Hendrix's fire zones, so-named not because they would be of use to a fire-truck, but simply to piss me off) for lunch. I was in the cafeteria for a grand total of nine minutes and returned to my truck to find that I had gotten a $20 ticket EXACTLY ONE MINUTE after I parked. Shitty x 2.

And now I get to finish scheduling classes for next term. Shitty^3.

Choosy moms choose me.

Trying to set up my schedule for next year make me want to swallow razor-blades. And broken glass. And rock salt.

Using an online generator, we came up with the following slogans. Please note that an unlisted name does not indicate insignificance on your part or forgetfulness on my part; instead it merely means that we could only obtain shitty slogans from that name. Thank you.

• “We’ll leave the Jared on for you.”
• “Get in my Tessa.”
• “Greg: The Other White Meat.”
• “Happiness is a Cigar Called Jordan (B).”
• “Lee- Australian for Beer.”
• “Unzip an Ulf.”
• “A Day Without Fiser is Like a Day Without Sunshine.”
• “Think Once, Think Twice, Think Peter.”
• “Storm Keeps Going and Going.”
• “Better Ingredients, Better Sara.”
• “Come See the Softer Side of Megan (H).”
• “Double the Pleasure, Double the Ferrer.
• “Wayne (C)- M’m! M’m! Good!”
• “I Wish I Were a Chris (T) Weiner.”
• “The Sweet You Can Eat Between Meals Without Ruining Your Megan (M).”
• “You can’t top an Ami.”
• “Leggo My Marissa!”
• “Break Me Off a Piece of that Chris (C)!”

"Suddenly I become part of your past..."

Well I'm back to the grind... *sigh*

Scott, Jordan, and I left Friday right after Organic for Eureka Springs... Once there we went and ate, did some driving, then got some... hotel/hot tub time while Scott went out (seeing as how Jordan and I are young things, not yet 21).

Saturday was mostly spent shopping... Highlights included-

• Bong Ja An, the asian dress-shop owner eating popcorn
• Leo, the enormous cat in the art gallery
  (Bob, think: Ginger + 3 inches taller + 3 inches on each side wider + 4 inches longer = Big... Freakin'... Ass... Cat)
• Playing skee-ball with machines that would give you 0 points when you hit the 50 (and winning a stylish green glow-in-the-dark ring)
• Sonic sign proclaiming "Rasberry Tea" (Note: rasPberry = correct)

And now I'm back, taking a break in-between assignments.

Announcement: StarDaze in Star City this weekend. This means that I will be spending approximately twenty-five hours on the courthouse lawn. Wouldn't really have a problem with that, though, if my @!#$&% camera was operational. Oh well...

*Growl*

It is 2:58 in the morning... and I am hungry as hell. I'm serious. And my battery is dying, so this will be short.

"Oh, girls just wanna' have fun..."

Second daytime blog in a row... Damn, I'm getting good.

So last night was the first time that I've slept in my bed in the two and a half weeks since we got back from spring break. I forgot how "cushy" it was... ;)

I got out of my Organic exam today at 12:00, walked back home in the rain, curled into the fetal position on the futon, and covered myself with my chenille throw. For three and a half hours. It was fucking AMAZING! I haven't gotten to take a nap in way too long.

• Foster at dinner: "Hey Greg, you like having that corndog in your mouth?"
  ^--Or something like that...
  Jared, Tessa, Lee: "NO! Don't make any sexually suggestive comments to Greg!"
  Foster:[...]
  Foster: "Hey Greg, can you deepthroat a corndog?"
  [I did. And he left.]
• Mom's Voicemail: "Hey, it's me... It is now... 1:23 on April 5, 2006... You know how I am with numbers... I knew you'd appreciate it..."

I need a haircut like 'Whoa Bad.'

• Campolo: "So one day Biology said, 'Hey, I know how we can protect these babies... let's make 'em cute; they just get thrown away when they're ugly!'"
  Random person: "Short people are cute, too..." [class laughter]
  Campolo: "You're funny, you know that? And they are... for a few years."
  [Campolo is several inches shorter than I am, roughly 5' 3", 4" probably]

"And the man in the back said, 'everyone attack'..."

Wow... I guess this will be the first blog by daylight in a while!

So we're beginning our three week charcoal landscapes today, and of course I had to choose a site way out in BFE, past the last building, looking directly into the sun. During the [seemingly] eternal walk back, my prof asked me what my major was. Learning that it was Biology, he then asked if I had thought about minoring in art. "You should really think about it; you're good at it," he said.

Now I have no intention of doing such a thing, but I think sometimes we forget to tell other people when they're doing a good job. So in response to this, to those who I know for a fact read this...

You are doing a great job at:

• ...being absolutely wonderful, Jordan.
• ...wearing cute-as-hell clothes, Tessa.
• ...being a bad influence, Bobbly.
• ...keepin' the ladies in line, Megan. (Think about it)
• ...somersaulting in hooker boots, Chris.

So yeah, maybe they're a bit facetious... Tell you what: you wanna' know what I think of you, ask!

And I now anticipate at least ten hours of studying for Organic tomorrow... Can you say orgasmic bliss?

Manic Monday

So I went to bed at five this morning (Monday) and woke up at six to write a paper for my 8 a.m. And sure enough, I arrive "promptly" at 8:11 to find that class is cancelled. The part that really gets me is that Campolo sent an email last week telling us that... "if [he] is more than five minutes late one day this week, assume class is cancelled." Now I understand a family member's death is important, but it's not a last-minute emergency that prohibits you from emailing someone the night before, telling them that they can keep their sorry, lazy ass in bed for an extra four hours. I am bitter; it is also evident that I am cold and heartless.

So to make myself feel better, I slept through my 10:00, bringing about a day of 1 class for 3, a state of utter "Tessa-ness."

This evening the Monday group converged on Frances Drive and had spaghetti and watched Life as a House. Impressive as it is, Gigi and Steven were the only criers this week.

• Sam, Life as a House: "Do you have any idea what it's like to jack-off in an armoire?"
• Imagine: Gigi shuffling her feet, chasing "Toto" around the couch.
• Random Hendrix freshman: "I really think I used to have a third arm."
• Megan: "Yeah, we literally flapped our fluffy asses all the way there."

I think I may go to sleep right now and still get about five hours in... *mwah*

Oh yeah... found a very interesting artist: Erwin Olaf

p.s. I've not seen a more graceful "Hooker-boot Somersault" in all my years. Honest.

"I've been really tryin', baby..."

My weekend...

Begun not so well at all, has ended on a high note; details are unnecessary.

In other news, Megan and Chris came up Saturday afternoon. We had intentions of having "lupper" [© 2006 - Megan, Lunch/supper combo] at Casa Viva, "Little Rock's Favorite Mexican Restaurant." Well, apparently someone lied, 'cause the place is closed permanently.

Meeting at Park Plaza was traumatizing; I parked at one end and walked to the entire other end because I'm an idiot. We'll blame it on a breakdown in communication:

• Me: "Are you standing on the parking deck?"
  Megan: "No, we're not. We're in front of... [Name] Towers."
  Me: "I know where you are. You're on the parking deck."
  Megan: "No, we're outside of women's clothing."
  Me: "Yeah, you're over the parking deck."
  Megan: "Here, talk to Chris; I have to go pee."

Who would have guessed that they weren’t on the parking deck?

Jordan and I waged war against a fly before heading for his show at the Factory... We won.
Fantastic performance, of course, nothing but compliments! While there, Chris made a new friend! (Altogether now, "Awwwwww.")

Later, in Martin 401:

• Megan: "Cover-stealer!"

I made my first Denny's trip around 3:00-4:00 Sunday morning... This included...

• Singing "I Feel Pretty" from West Side Story
• Discussing Megan's penchant for cattle prods [Okay, so I made that one up]
• Waitress: "She's got white stuff all over hers, too!" [Oh, she knew...]
• Marvin Gaye’s Let's Get it On playing over the speaker system

I made my second Denny's trip around 1:00 that afternoon... a band of heathens amidst the churchgoers. I wore leather and lace.

• Somersaults in heels... enough said.
• Chris: "I thought that was a drag queen for a second." [In reference to an old woman in a wig]
• Megan: "I love old women in the bathroom." [...]

And my third and final Denny's trip was made at approximately 5:06 p.m.

• Waiter: "I bet you want your brother back, don't you?"
• Waiter: "I really need a cigarette."

Altogether I was able to log seven hours… Is that bad?

And finally... wrapping up my weekend in the shopping center behind McDonald's...

• Jordan: "Now this isn't going to change our sex life!"