Dave Woods...you will be missed up in the 'Ham

OK. David, I don't know where else I'm going to getting educated on Hardcore, Grindcore, Metal, and the merging of those genres...and not just the hard stuff, which seems to be a misconception about your tastes. See, to anyone who reads this (Dave you might be the only one), Dave is more than just a gruff metal-head. He's got some soft, indie shit that makes me look like a freshman in indie-rock. You are responsible for the likes of The Weakerthans, Earth, Dino Jr, among so many others...I used to hate bringing a record in I was SURE you had never heard, and you say, "Oh, yeah, this ones is legit." But I snuck a few in there, and I'm ashamed to say it was stuff that was unreleased or a friend's band...and sometimes, sigh, even new braille tape stuff...But Dave's knowledge doesn't stop at music. The guy has a pretty extensive knowledge of Lit and Film. He told me to see Le Trou, he bought me Bukowski, and together we had numerous convos...one of the only things making work OK. Now you are gone, and while I like most the people at work, I'm afraid it won't be the same...hell, I'm dreading tomm. But I'll see you soon, and we got unfinished business... Love you, dude.

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OK. I've been "hitting the gym" and I feel good. I forgot what it felt like to workout. I like it.

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I want to read The Yiddish Police Union...but I don't have the time. I also want to read Anansi Boys, and Middlesex, and After Dark...but I can't. I have piles of poetry collections to read, and I haven't even ordered some of the books I really HAVE TO read.

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The knew Knight Rider makes me want to puke. I haven't even seen the show, just the trailer. Ugh. Why can't there be a law against remakes? Even the good ones are problematic: they give the bad ones an example. I can't think of any examples...but here's some criteria if you want to make a film based on an older film.

1) If must alter its plot in some way. (New Ending...preferably darker and abstract)
2) It must extrapolate on a story thread that the last film didn't follow
3) It must have a different title than the first
4) The write must not be allowed to use the previous script or film as a guide. They must know the film and rewrite it, as if it was their own...from memory...maybe notes, but not an outline.

OK. I'm just kidding. But Seriously, when TV shows start getting remade we need to examine our expectations for entertainment and someone must be scolded. I don't know who. Maybe the producer? Maybe the Exec who green-lit it? Maybe everyone who signed on? Maybe the viewer? I don't know. Maybe no one...maybe I should just shut the fuck up and stop bitching.

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I blogged about wedding stuff: http://efixlovesjyoung.nearlyweds.com check it out if you want.

OK. Weddings. Movies. And Manuscipts.

First things first. I am getting married. I can't believe I haven't posted about that yet! Jeez. So, I asked Emily to marry me and she said, yes, and i totally tricked her. I think she knew something was up, and I'm fairly certain she knew I was going to propose soon, but didn't know when. Anyway, I'm gonna blog about it for our little wedding blog/website...so, I'll put a link up to that later, if you're interested. But I am getting married then moving away for college, and yadayada...

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So, I just got a ton of notes back for my thesis from my mentor, Kate Trueblood. I gotta say, I was very pleased with her reaction to the poems, but not so pleased with her reaction to the narrative. I'm sure she took some of it too literally, but I'm also sure that I've kept things too hidden and complicated. I took her notes and started looking at the book different, and started to rewrite some of the early and later poems to sort of "pack it in." I do understand that a reader might get lost, but I feel like most of the book is just a lot of reference to, talking about, or even alluding to a place or person or whatever. A lot of it is the road and parts of america passing by...but enough of that...i got work to do.

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I just saw Gran Torino. Eastwood is the man. Some say he can't act. Fuck them, he's good. And while the other acting was so-so (way mumblecore-ish) and the cinematography wasn't anything to write home about, the light was pretty great and the story was pretty good (sort of good will hunting kind of stuff), and with the exception of the Christ pose at the end--when you see it you'll know what I mean--the flick was really good, and actually really, really funny.

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I just watched Talk to her again. Almodovar is my hero. 'nuff said.

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Stop talking about it. Go buy a book. And buy it local (or at least indie).

Thursday

I'm tired. But can't seem to get to that stage when the bed seems like the best choice of the moment...in fact, my mind is racing and all i want to do is work on stuff i'm supposed to work on...

i got a pile of notes and suggestions for my thesis...some i think are great, some i think are wrong...but i'm not gonna be stubborn and i'm gonna take these notes and really see how they work...i also got new ideas for "the story thief" well, not that new, but more rounded out (i don't know if that's what i mean)...i also got a great idea for switching pov for a middle section that might help take the story another direction, something darker...but i'm not sure.

ok that's all i got for now...got a lot to do.

oh, and i'm in love with dinosaur jr. and the band earth. yeah, i know, i'm late, but whatever...i love these bands...

The break is almost over...

So, I'm on book 3 of the Twilight Saga--I know, laugh it up. But seriously, these books are so compulsive and this Meyer's writer can tell a story, though her writing is pretty bad...I won't go into it, but if you've read them you'll know what I mean. This will not stop me from reading them...I'm still going! It's nice to be reading these while I'm on break. Relaxing. Watching Arrested Development, Seinfeld, and Cheers...

I've also been reading, Andrew Hudgins and I just peeked at some James Wright, and TS Eliot.

As of now, I'm taking a break from my thesis To the Chapel of Light and have been working on a a new project called To Capsian City. This is about people leaving their homes to find fame and fortune in Caspian City, but the book also tracks a murder and two lovers fleeing from the scene. This part of the book, goes to the actually planning, the murder, the town's reaction, the lover's flee to Caspian, and their arrest and trial...I've got a lot of stuff and right now, I'm just putting, as my dad says, "Like things if like spots." Right now everything is just scattered cause I'm writing and writing, but I'm excited to go back to Chapel and school...where I will be working mostly on The Story Thief and film theory, with thesis in between.

Enough for now. I'm gonna go eat some Mac and Cheese...