So I'm dating a lady. She is older than me by 15 years. She has also only dated other ladies till now. We have been hanging out with each for a around two months or so, but made it official on the 26th of December. I actually had asked her out probably a month and a half before then and she turned me down. I think she might've been scared or just logical, thinking that it wouldn't work. But then on the 26th she asked if I wanted to more serious. Hm. I like her a lot, she's into good music, she's smart, funny and she's calm. She's kind of a loner in the same ways that I am. Unafraid to go to the movies or out to eat by herself. She has a cat named pumpkin. She's already met my family and a bunch of my friends.

The dreams I had were interesting. At one point I was in a lesbian-exclusive strip club (do those exist?) and saw my lady and didn't know how to approach her. I didn't want to embarrass her or something by showing everyone that she was with a guy. And then I knocked down a guy who made fun of her and then other guys tried to start with me. Later in the dream I went on this not-so-fun adventure where I had to outrun people, fight and stuff. When I got back to my lady, she was upset at me for leaving her alone. I tried to tell her how I had to go and that I was sorry, but she was stand-offish. I tried telling her, out of all the thing I was doing, what was most important was getting back to her.

These dreams have ties to:

The great comic I just read "Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth"
Thoughts I've been having
Websites I've been on
A phone that a customer left in the store
My new relationship (obviously)

The top 20 artists/acts that I listened to on my computer in 2009:

1 Neurosis - 409
2 Enslaved - 346
3 Queens of the Stone Age - 330
4 Coil - 305
5 Tomahawk - 278
6 Clint Mansell - 260
7 Andrew W.K. - 250
8 Ceremony - 243
9 Pendulum - 236
10 Rosetta - 231
11 Daft Punk - 228
12 Toroidh - 204
12 Nine Inch Nails - 204
14 Liars - 201
15 The Green Evening Requiem - 200
16 Arvo Pärt - 193
17 Gojira - 183
18 Jesu - 170
18 Converge - 170
20 The Beach Boys - 167

!

I haven't written here in exactly a month. Whoops!

I bought a Gamecube! I play SSBM all the time!

My sister and my nephew were here a few days. I like both of them a lot.

New (to me) music I've been listening to:

Converge: Axe to Fall = AAAAAAHHHHHHHH. This music is VICIOUS.
The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble: Here be Dragons = It's weird, dark jazz (uhduh) like their previous album, but also with hints of Jesu and Ulver. Awesome.
Brian Eno: Ambient 1 - Music For Airports = Prettttyyyy

I've seen some movies (in a theater):

The Men Who Stare at Goats - Fun and interesting with 4 great actors.

The Messenger - Loved it! Ben foster is a very good actor. Also there was a Pelican AND a David Bowie song in it.

2012 - BOOM and good acting.

Fantastic Mr. Fox - A Wes Anderson movie with puppets. I liked it.

Brazil - GUH. So glad I got to see this on a big screen.

The Missing Person - A really quiet and subtle movie. I was surprised I liked it as much as I did. I went to see it because Michael Shannon was the star and he's probably my favorite living actor. Also John Ventimiglia was in the movie, you know, Artie Bucco from The Sopranos! And Frank Wood, who plays Greg in Flight of the Conchords.

Michael Jackson's This is It - Pretty much like a concert + some behind the scenes footage. kind of a lazy movie.

Where the Wild Things Are - SO GOOD, made me cry!

A Serious Man - The Coens are filmmakers not of this world. How can they be so consistently amazing?

Paranormal Activity - Scared me and that says something. Atrocious acting though.

Zombieland - Fun, but I didn't love it as much as everyone else.

Good Hair - Interesting! And I dig how Chris Rock narrated, he didn't try to convince you of anything, just tried to lighten the mood once in a while.

Gentlemen Broncos - Funny, but this directors style of choice seems to be "be as tacky as possible, this is funny!", eh.

Antichrist - I uh. great acting, some gorgeous shots. Regarding what happened on screen, I uh...I have no idea.

What else, what else...not much really. Still working at Whole foods, still doing THE PODCAST, still living.

About our newly elected governor of New Jersey:

On November 1, it was revealed that Christie had used a clip from an episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus in a campaign video without seeking permission from the copyright holders. Michael Palin, who appeared in the clip said: "I'm surprised that a former U.S. Attorney isn't aware of his copyright infringement when he uses our material without permission. He's clearly made a terrible mistake." Terry Jones said he and the other Pythons were considering suing Christie for copyright infringement: "It is totally outrageous that a former US Attorney knows so little about the law that he thinks he can rip off people." Within an hour, the video was removed and the Christie campaign was said to be in "damage control".

He seems like an ass. So did the other two main candidates.

Talk about vivid dreams!

First was that I was with a friend at a movie theater. He went into one of the auditoriums and left me waiting for an hour, which made me mad. Then we went into my car with another friend where I told him I was pissed and he grabbed a bottle full of all sorts of liquids and said, "I'm gonna drink whatever's in this!" in a manner like saying, "I'm gonna hit my head against this wall!". Then we talked about suicide.

The next was I was at something like Gentrify Brooklyn, the sketch/stand-up/improv show I do tech for, only I was doing improv. There were four of us, a lady being a man, another lady being the wife, someone being a kid and I was a kittie! And we all had remote controls. So I was on my hands and knees with the remote in my mouth. I don't think the improv we did was that great. Then I talked to one of the people there about the show next week and what equipment they were gonna use (1 amp).

And finally, I was in a place like Central Park talking to a friend, who tried kissing me and I said, "What are you doing?". She seemed bummed, so I tried hugging her and what not, but she walked away. Then I noticed that there was a sort of protest (people were holding signs, but everyone was quiet and not moving) so I had a sign that said, "Dear, don't forget to call 411." which was apparently funny and when people saw it they laughed,

So I started running with it up a hill and then up a bunch of very large rocks you see on mountains. I get to the top and look over the cliff and see a river. Some people walk up the rock too and I start asking them if they know about "the sirens of Mount Olympus", and then I realized I was confusing my Greek mythology. But I started telling them, and then I heard eerie singing and some people started apparently walking on water. But I noticed that the water was just frozen. Then a dog was with them! And he came up to us and started barking angrily and trying to bite.

THEN A FUCKING 13 FT. GORILLA SHOWED UP TRYING TO HIT AND GRAB ME. It eventually got me and was punching me and stuff and I was about to die. It grabbed the two other guys as I ran away though. Then there was like a fade to black effect.

The next day, I show up to work pretty much unscathed. My job is at a children's book store I think. The other two guys who were getting hit by the gorilla work there too and were really fucked up. One had one eye get very small and the one bigger so you thought he was a cyclops until you noticed the one. Then a lady there was wearing very revealing clothes and we were about to do a podcast.

THE END.

I love metal. I bet every one of you know this.

I was talking to someone who doesn't listen to metal at all about the genre, about why I liked it. It boils down to the feelings it inspires that is very hard to get from any other music or art form really. The music is fueled on aggression, a lot of the time from anger, but not always.

"Extreme" metal exemplifies this. Do you know what I mean by that term? Metal that pushes you even further into some sort of aggressive abyss. Metal that is too metal for some.

But when I hear that riff, or that scream, or whatever it is and it just hits me in the face, there's no feeling like it. It can give you a momentary high.

Bands that do this for me:

Enslaved
Ulver
Akercocke
Emperor
Converge
Hypocrisy
Lykathea Aflame
Neurosis
Old Man Gloom
Pig Destroyer
Rosetta
Windir
Woe
Strapping Young Lad

So last night makes six!

Life progresses on. Or decomposes depending on your view of time. Not much is new with me. Still watching movies. Awesome and I saw "Toy Story 1 & 2" in 3D today. I had never seen 2 before! The whole Jessie/Emily story made me super sad. Great movies. Saw another trailer for "Where The Wild Things are, super stoked for that.

After Comic Book Club finished, I stayed at the theater to see a show the wife of one of CBC's hosts (Pete) directed. It was two women, each doing character pieces alone. Both were great and hilarious. But a character the first woman did really hit me. She's talking to a guy she just met after they've gone back to his or her place. He asks her what she wants (sexually). She starts telling him, and then begins divulging what she wants out of life in specific detail. It was really crushing in how what she said was what I wanted or what I wanted to give to someone. Being single kind of sucks.

Looking forward to the weekend. Hanging with a coworker Friday morning/afternoon, then probably seeing some movie in NYC and then doing lights/sound for the fucking great sketch/stand up show GENTRIFY BROOKLYN. Then on Saturday night I'm going to hang out with my best Pennsylvania buds Evan and Shannon.

I fucking love pizza.

Still working at Whole Foods. So that's good. Still doing the podcast. http://wearefriendspodcast.blogspot.com/

What movies have I seen in theaters lately, hm:

Crude
Big Fan
Ponyo
2001: A Space Odyssey
The Final Destination
Extract
The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard
The Informant!
9
Cold Souls

I'm eating goldfish! I bought a huge carton of them!

Might see Mono/Maserati tomorrow. We'll see.

Need to go get ready for work!

Friends are important to me. Having them, and specifically having the ones that I have. They're unique.

But man, sometimes I just don't know what to do.

Today I went into NYC, saw Mike, and saw a movie called "Still Walking". The lead was played by Hiroshi Abe, who is also in "Survive Style 5+", which is probably my favorite movie of all time. It was about family and took place over 24 hours. It was really great.

Then, I went to Brooklyn to do lights and sound for the "Gentrify Brooklyn" sketch/stand-up comedy show.  This makes me have two tech gigs now, the other being "Comic Book Club".  I was nervous and the mics weren't working, but overall it was fine.  Hopefully these two gigs will help me actually become ok at doing this.  Maybe one day I can be paid for it.

Things might be happening for me in a few aspects.  We'll see.

Alive and well.

I have been sneezing so much!

I've seen:

District 9 - Really liked it. Wasn't as deep or subtle as I thought it was gonna be, but still hit the mark really well.
Inglourious Basterds - Super fun! Eli Roth is a good actor! Crazy ending! And Christoph Waltz as Col. Hans Landa was amaaaazing.
World's Greatest Dad - Depressing, but wow was it true to life on a certain reaction people to someone dying. Bobcat fucking nailed it.

All were great.

Reread "The Cat Inside" by William Burroughs, loved it again. Am reading Kafka's short stories now. Reread "The Metamorphosis". There is so much meaning in that story, jeez.

Work is fine.

I chipped 4 teeth at a waterpark! What happened was I did this thing called "The Tarzan Swing" where you swing on a rope and fall into water. I apparently hit the water so hard I slammed my teeth together and two pairs of teeth that are vertically parallel chipped. It's ok, no pain at least. Will need to see the dentist soon though.

I don't like having to have "talks" with friends. It shouldn't have to happen! Ugh.

In other news, I finally found a good pair of Ray Ban knock offs. :]

uh?!

My location keeps detecting that I'm in Canada, Ottawa. Incorrect!

I know the feeling.
It is the real thing.

In other news, I've finally created my own mantra. And it isn't a lyric by Faith No More.

"I am not my [insert problem/fault here].
It is what is inside and what I do that defines me.
My intentions and my actions."

It actually helps me focus.

Close your eyes, look deep inside.

Animals have been a theme in my life recently.

Our cat Chubbs was put down today. He had some sort of kidney disease. He stopped eating and drinking water.

My mom's really torn up. He was her cat (after my sister gave him to us), not so much mine. He annoyed me a lot, but he was great. So much personality. He was aware he had no claws so when you picked him up he'd put his arm around your neck.

I'll miss him.

So I saw a movie called "The Cove" today. To be brief, it's about a town in Japan that slaughters around 23,000 dolphins a year for meat and "pest" control.

It was unbelievably saddening. There is a scene where a dolphin, bleeding to death, is gasping for air. It comes out of the water, and back down. Up and out, and down. Then it doesn't come back up again. It has no idea why it's dying. All it can do is panic.

I cry at movies all the time, I cry at trailers to movies. But this movie got to the point where I was shaking.

Most of you know I'm a vegetarian. After coming out of this movie, I thought about that, and our relationship with animals as a society or as a species. We haven't really evolved yet I think, not to the point we think we have. We're still killing animals for food. We know we can survive without that, people do it all the time.

I know many people, billions, do not have that choice. They need meat, what little they can get, for nutrition. But for those of us who can afford it, why are we still eating animals? I don't know.

I also don't want this to be seen as an attack on any omnivores. What I eat is my choice, and the same goes for you. I don't believe in infallible rights and wrongs. I believe in freedom and thought. This is my opinion. I don't like thinking about animals being eaten.

Am I a hypocrite? I eat dairy, I eat eggs. Maybe. I'm going to do some thinking on that.

But beyond all that, what about animals not eaten for food, or eaten for food much. Wolves, bears, dolphins, elk, tigers, elephants, etc. Animals that are killed for glory and their skin. Animals that are killed because it seems that man needs to show how big its dick is. Look at me, I have things that will create a hole in you. You will die, your young will starve and eventually your species will disappear. Hunting for sport sickens me.

I'm not sure I believe in karma or vengeance, but this type of killing makes me want to.

Yesterday my mom and I went into NYC. We went to MoMA which I now realize is one of my favorite places to go in New York. I wrote down the titles/names of the artists of the pieces I really liked. We only got through one floor in like an hour and 45 minutes. And what's the deal of tourists taking pictures of/with the paintings?

Then we got Chinese food at Suze's in the Village, which again and again proves to be the best Chinese food place I go to. I had sweet and sour tofu.

Then she went home and I hung out in Washington Square Park for a bit and doodled while a bunch of teen girls danced in the fountain. It was equal parts cute and self-aware lameness.

Then I walked to the Landmark Sunshine theater and saw a midnight screening of True Romance. I love that movie, but man did Tony Scott stylistically rip off his brother (Ridley), specifically Blade Runner. That or Ridley coached him through this movie. Still great though.

On the 7th and 8th, I'm going to be working on a short film directed by a former classmate. I'll get to see him plus another classmate and get to work on a movie, so I'm looking forward to it.

WE ARE 138 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8!!!!

So I've been working at Whole Foods for the past month or so. It's fine, tedious though. The people I work with all are cool people, or at least nice to me. Dash also works there and we get confused for each other constantly.

I've seen in theaters:

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
-Gorgeous, but there didn't seem to be any plot at all. Very uninspired. I love watching great English actors act though (Broadbent, Rickman, Smith, et al).

A Clockwork Orange (there was a screening at the IFC Center)
-GREAT, DUH.

Orphan
-Weak in all ways, directing, writing, editing, music, cinematography. The acting was ok sometimes. TERRIBLE ending. Also very derivative.

Blood Simple (there was a screening at the IFC Center)
-I had only seen the first 15 minutes of this before (The Coens' first!) and I loved this a LOT. It was such a clever story, and it was funny and the music was great and and and.

The Way We Get By
-Made me cry like a lil baby. About three elderly troop greeters and their lives.

Citizen Kane (there was a screening at the Brooklyn Lyceum)
-The story really clicked with me for this viewing. New found love for this movie.

Whatever Works
Funny and neat. Woody Allen takes chances, whether anyone notices or not.

Bruno
-Hilarious.

I reread Scott Pilgrim and I still love it. Anyone who likes comics or manga should read it. Actually, everyone should read it.

What else, what else.

The podcast is doing fine, as is the blog. We sure would like more listeners though. http://wearefriendspodcast.blogspot.com/

I bought a used gamecube at a thrift store! I just need some cables, controllers and games.

Comic Book Club is still great. I love doing it and I love hanging with the guys. Everyone please check them out: http://www.popcultureshock.com/cbclub/

I've seen "Gentrify Brookln" three times, which is an improv show hosted by improv groups M.A.D. and Sidecar. Sidecar includes Justin from Comic Book Club, plus Alden and Matt, two very cool dudes. Every time I've gone, I've laughed my butt off. It is also at the Brooklyn Lyceum.

I've been reading B.P.R.D., which was an offshoot of Hellboy that became it's very own thing. All the main characters of Hellboy are in it (Liz, Abe, Johann, etc) except for Hellboy himself. It's an incredible comic, just as good as the main title.

:]