A perceptive moment from an unlikely source…

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My brother, as those who have met him know, is probably not the most emotionally-attuned or insightful of folks. This is his personality and there is really not much to be done to change that. All discussions of it end in “Well, that’s just Nate” including those that involve him as a first-party.

So, this morning on our normally awkward, conversation-less drive in to campus, I nearly fell out of his truck when he turned and said “Nick, I think you might be the man in the box.” and then returned to his non-talking.

I’m the man in the box
Buried in my shit
Won’t you come and save me, save me

[CHORUS]

Feed my eyes, can you sew them shut?
Jesus Christ, deny your maker
He who tries, will be wasted
Feed my eyes now you’ve sewn them shut

I’m the dog who gets beat
Shove my nose in shit
Won’t you come and save me, save me

[CHORUS x2]

“Man in the Box” by Alice in Chains

I’ve never actually listened to these lyrics so you can imagine my shock when not only had Nate listened, but actually made the leap to an interpretation of meaning. Very interesting.

I hope they can’t see me…

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As some of you know, Tigg has been pissing all over my furniture. Or “wetting” as Shirley the Cat Lady so couthly put it. I gave her a week to take the antibiotic that the vet prescribed and let her chill in the bathroom. Unfortunately (depending on how you look at it), she decided to wet on my bed this morning, her second day out of solitary. So…back to Shirley’s she went. Graciously, I was offered another cat in exchange – good thing I kept the receipt.

Therefore, I give you Clyde. He is enormous and only seven months old. Apparently, though, he doesn’t realize he’s the epitome of feline studliness because he’s been hiding since three o’clock today. “Hiding,” that is. Oh, Clyde…

Random thought…

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Self-titled albums: thoughts? I’m of the opinion that they are like a ‘get out of jail free’ card in Monopoly. Something you receive and can hold on to until just the right time. Like when you are abominably stumped as to what to name your record. For instance, The Cure’s most recent album is self-titled. After decades of doing this music thing, they decided that now is the time to call a disc “The Cure?” How unusual.

I know this is pretty much drivel, but it felt like it was of GREAT IMPORTANCE.

In other news, Dave took my phone today with promises of making her a star. He took photos of her to use in some capacity. Tasteful photos? I suppose she’ll need a name other than Nokia 6131. Something with a little more ring to it (no pun intended, though I’ll still take credit.) She kinda looks like she’s wearing a tuxedo, so I was thinking k.d. with intentional lowercase-ness. But maybe something more original? Ideas?

Emo-est Point East of the Mississippi?

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And all you see is where else you could be when you’re at home
And out on the street are so many possibilities to not be alone

The flames and smoke climbed out of every window
And disappeared with everything that you held dear
But you shed not a single tear for the things that you didn’t need
Cause you knew you were finally free

“Your Heart is an Empty Room” by Death Cab for Cutie

The scene: Me, lying on my bed, listening to Death Cab…knitting…as the rain comes down…and my cat naps beside me.

Could this be any more emo? I don’t think so.

It’s a contemplative kind of day here in my apartment. I’m all done with everything I had listed for the weekend. Freelance is finished, the plants are watered, the laundry is clean and away. Floorplans for Hannah’s new kitchen are drawn, a pick up is scheduled for my computer and my phone is finally working with Gmail’s mobile app. So now what do I do?

No one is around. Even Nate’s away, having gone home for the weekend. I could drive to State College and see what Mike’s up to, but I like to pretend that I don’t need that town for just a few days. And it’s really wet. And frigid.

Not that it’s EVER any warmer in here.

Will I ever get out of this place? The job I had applied for in Pittsburgh didn’t work out. I know, honestly (thanks for the reminder, Dusty) that I don’t really want to live there. But it’s not here. At this point, that’s all I can really hope for. Just to not be here.

I think it’s most frustrating that this is all my life goal has been reduced to for the time being…

Here’s a fun game for you to play at home…

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It’s called “Nick’s Evening.” To play:

  1. Drink four cups of coffee.

  2. Drive five miles.

  3. Drive five miles back.

  4. Eat dinner.

  5. Print this photo then drive five miles.

  6. Stare at the above photo for two hours.

  7. Drive five miles back, again. Throw $43 out of the window on the way.

  8. Optional: stab yourself in the eyes.

This game is also called “Going for a routine oil change at PepBoys.”

Phone Call: The Script

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[phone ringing in handset]

[half ring and sound of recipient’s handset being fumbled]

Rob: “Connecting Point Computers, this is Rob.”

Me: “Hello, I was calling regarding my MacBook Pro. I left you a message yesterday and…”

Rob: “Yesterday? Yesterday was Sunday.”

Me: “Yes, I left a mess…”

Rob: “We don’t work on Sundays.”

Me: “I know, that’s why I left a message.” [awkward pause] “There was an option for voicemail?”

Rob: “We wouldn’t have checked that. We don’t check our messages.”

Rob (as an afterthought): “We’re too busy.”

Me: “Interesting. Anyway, I’m calling because Apple told me to get in touch with you regarding my MacBook Pro. I have a reference number with my case notes if you’d li…”

Rob: “We don’t need that. Doesn’t matter. You just have to bring the computer in and we’ll tell you what’s wrong with it.”

Me: “Wow. Well, that’s actually what I’m trying to do. I need to see if you can repair it in house or if you’ll ship it out.”

Rob: “What’s wrong with it?”

Me: “So you’d like to know what’s in my case notes, then? Okay, well the latch is a bit sticky, there is a sputtering noise in the lower right corner (like a fan?) and there is a high pitched buzzing in the upper left.”

Rob: “So there’s three things wrong with it. We only fix one. Otherwise, we have to send it out. You’ll have to come in.”

Me: “Will I be treated with this amazing level of customer service when I arrive because this is probably the rudest phone call I’ve experienced in awhile?”

Rob: “Yes, we will be treating you with excellent…”

[handset clicks onto receiver]

Bonus: This should have been my first clue. Marvel at the web design principles of a bygone era: 1997.

Grainy images of art…

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Well, for year two in a row, I put some art on display at Webster’s Bookstore & Café in State College. As you can tell by the girl in the foreground, the inhabitants of the sitting area were totally thrilled to see me coming with a hammer in hand. Perhaps their coffee soothed the pain of my bothering them enough for at least one to bother looking?

Wait! What’s this:

Anyway, they’ll be up all month long (until 9 December) so please feel free to make a visit if you are in town.

She’s crafty…

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  • Comments Off on She’s crafty…

While playing Scrabble tonight with Mike and Jane, Tigg stole the letter “T” from the word “train.” We didn’t immediately notice.

My cat is a genius.

V for Vendetta and other things…

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I just finished the film mentioned in this post’s title, so do forgive me if I’m in a strange mood as I write. You see, it’s left me feeling more than a bit like blowing something into very tiny pieces. That and my last 36 hours or so. To recap:

  1. Arriving home from an otherwise lovely weekend (and that was a real weekend, not my normal Friday/Saturday variety), I received a note from my landlord. This note stated that the pervasive smell of pot has been bothering my neighbours and since it’s been ’emanating’ from my apartment, could I please cease? Being as I’ve not smoked pot in said home, I was rather perplexed and not just slightly offended. Especially since mention was made of calling in the police. Update: the pothead is actually the man at the end of my hall and this can be chalked up to a misunderstanding x12.
  2. At work today, all computers I interacted with decided that they were, in fact, not computing. This carried throughout the entire time I was present, even spilling curs-ed behaviour into the lives of my clients. Thank you, computer gods, high atop your steel and glass temples in Sunny Cupertino.
  3. I have an ever-increasing sense of being utterly trapped under the weight of my own usefulness. This is intentionally vague. Apologies.
  4. While cooking dinner (because, yes, I did eventually make it home) two born again nut jobs decided that they were going to interrupt my cooking to preach at me about how important their finding of Jesus was. Despite the fact that finding Jesus in Puritan-America is hardly a task requiring any major type of search party, they seemed convinced that this was something of utmost import. Therefore, I must be informed about it. Also, oddly, I was instructed to pray for them. Clearly, asking the self-defined agnostic for his prayers is the way to go.

And that, friends, is where we are now. Incidentally, I give V for Vendetta four whole stars! Go, movie, go.

4 stars

Review: The Prestige

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I will tell you right now that anything involving the Thin White Duke is already an instant hit with me. Case in point: I actually think The Labyrinth was a great film and not just a bizarre relic of 1980s cokedoutness.

You remind me of the baby
What baby? The baby with the power
What power? Power of voodoo
Who do? You do
Do what? Remind me of the baby

I mean, come on! Look at him:

< /tangent>

All of that said, David Bowie plays Nikola Tesla for like fifteen minutes in The Prestige, which I saw last night. With the stakes raised by his cameo, did the rest of the movie deliver?

Yes. Er…I think so. It was beautifully costumed and really well acted, this I know for sure. Everytime I think about the film I really want to say I loved it but something holds me back. To me, it was really a story about villainous scoundrels and that should spell a success in my head, right? But it doesn’t. I’m left feeling like something didn’t quite make sense.

I don’t want to spoil the ending here or really any of the story. That being said, though, I had the plot twists figured out a good twenty minutes before the climax. Leaving the audience feeling deflated when they realize that things were exactly as they thought is not a good way to make fans. PERHAPS, THOUGH, this is the whole point?! I’m putting this idea together now as I type, so bear with me:

In the film, the characters are constantly coming back to this idea that the magician becomes nothing when the audience learns the mundanity of his methods; that we don’t actually want to know even when we are trying to figure it out. Perhaps Christopher Nolan (director) was trying to make us feel like his characters(‘ audiences)?

Regardless, don’t do that. Seriously, Mr. Nolan…if that’s what you actually did. Thank you.

Verdict: See it in the theatre. Rent it to watch with a friend that hasn’t. Don’t buy this DVD because you’ll watch it maybe three times. ¡Tres estrellas!

3 stars