Messages

"Oh, fuck," says he, "I've done it properly now, haven't I? I'm seriously broken. I would go to the hospital if only I weren't running late for work already." And he's afraid because he can no longer trust his senses to accurately report reality to him and maybe this is forever because it is certainly going on a lot longer than he is comfortable with but it wears off over the course of the day.

Which is when he starts to remember the details of the 'lives' he 'experienced' that didn't make sense to him and still do not.

I know this feeling. 

to the lot.  Thanks for posting. 

You're a kickass writer, btw.  Yes, you avoided the psychobabble-GAWDIZA-DRUG-WEB-talk.   

ditto what nigel said.

YOU COULD BREAK THIS CITY. All you need to do is practice. Practice, and one day you too could be the spectacular porcelain-cracking wonderboy of brilliant, mad, deranged and perverted prophecy, burning and razing nations with a breath and pausing only briefly to sing "I Am Henry the Eighth I Am" to the screams of a thousand dessicated rabid Tusconite savages. Isn't that motivation enough?! Fine then. Wallow in your shit, and feed on it, and twist in on yourself like origami. And when the lights go out, you'll be the first they throw in the fire. Because you're a freak. You know it, and they know it. They can smell it on you. YOU WALK NOT IN A LAND OF GODS BUT IN A LAND OF HIDEOUS TWISTED APES. GIVE EM HELL.

Great beginning for whatever it is you're getting into!  I hope you keep writing.

- one of the lurkers

["Extremely Close and Incredibly Slow"]

Call for papers:

The Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (ASCA) invites proposals for papers and artistic contributions around the topic "Extremely Close and Incredibly Slow" for its annual international workshop and conference.

I can't make it, but if your school or work chips in for conference funding / professional development, the deadline for your 300 word proposal and bio is in 3 days.  Conference is March 28th.

Cool idea, cram.

(they're also looking for "Extremely Close and Incredibly Slow" 'performances'...)

This work is something that shows visible change over the course of your workday.  Plus, it's repetitive, so it's meditative.  Last thing - it'll give you a routine time when you *have* to get up, shit-shower-shave, and be out the door, which a bunch of human brains seem to respond well to.

This is the course of action I have been pursuing because it has also been what has worked for me in the past. Unfortunately finding work out here has turned into a waiting game lasting a lot longer then I anticipated. Its a bizarre thing that I am looking for work more as a means to get out of the house and interacting with people then as a means of making money.

This might be exactly the wrong thing, but how about focusing on finding people to interact with on a weekly basis?  I don't know what your sitch is in LA, whether you moved there with a net, knowing a few people or you're starting flat out bare bones.  But if it's more the latter and people is what you need [warning - moar unsolicited advice] find a community centre and join something free or close to it that doesn't sound terrible.  Friends come through experience, but lack of human interaction makes slugs of us.  Finding people and work first, but separately, will take more time off from the writing that you feel like you should be doing but aren't.  And there's a sentence to shake a fist at!

In the same subcontracting years, I joined a women's self defence course ("wen-do"!  awesome, yes?) for IRL people contact.  I highly recommend something similar.  And community centres are generally good places to get grounded and possibly find folks up for off-line shenanigans.   It takes no hunting - just a search engine and a visit to a building.

Job market generally sucks right now.  Much luck to you.

1/4 cup Thai garlic pepper sauce

I have to try making your chicken next month.  :droolz:

Saute apples and onions together.

Yes. Really.

Confirmed.

I like them sauteed with curry.

Thirded.


Not eccentric, but I put gotchu jang (korean hot sauce - like jalapeno sauce, but fermented or a bit sour) in soups and rice.  Works plain as a dip too, or you can mix it with equal parts mayo, ketchup, soy sauce, sesame oil and a bit of ginger and garlic to make korean take-away chicken dipping sauce.  Is nommy and kinda funky.

I've loved reading these!  Thanks for posting them here, TGG.

[tl;dr]

(EDIT - Nigel just posted when I hit preview.   Really excellent advice!  This is just an alternate route.)


short story - what Telarus said, but get someone to pay you for it. 

My suggestion is to hook yourself up with a cleaning gig.  For the sake of this post, I'm assuming you haven't had this work yet. 

If you've got contacts, subcontract if you can, but signing on with a cleaning company works alright, too (just watch your ass/soul*).  You could substitute landscaping, house painting, small repairs or whatever else for cleaning.  Because you have times where you can't work on your stuff, you will want to work on it more.  The (possibly crap) idea is that you currently have too much access.

This work is something that shows visible change over the course of your workday.  Plus, it's repetitive, so it's meditative.  Last thing - it'll give you a routine time when you *have* to get up, shit-shower-shave, and be out the door, which a bunch of human brains seem to respond well to.

This sounds ridiculously specific because it's exactly what I did back in 2003-7 (all the jobs listed above, subcontracted).  Walking into a mouldy, buggy, trashcan of an apartment and walking out having everything shine - I can't entirely express what this did for my brainspace.  Maybe, How we benefit from spring cleaning times eleventy.  Or it could always have been the bleach.  Speaking of which, it also cut down the amount of time I had to smoke and increased the amount of time I spent exercising (Telarus' point).  Which is only useful information if you remember that your brain likes oxygen and good circulation. 

tl;dr - You could get a job that has nothing to do with writing.  The time you spend not being able to write will motivate you to write differently than you currently do.  If you have to drug yourself to write, maybe you don't want to be writing this stuff (in this way, at this particular time, under these circumstances, etc).  At the very least, not having access to time to write might give you space to figure out what's sapping your motivation.

[/preachy]

* ancient philosophers understood well that the soul of a body is located in the ass. hence the interchangeability of the two warnings: watch your ass & guard your soul.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIcqb9hHQ3E

OH HELL FUCKING YES.

FUCKING YES.

I'm pretty sure that's the most honest, truthful thing I've seen on any news network ever.

BUMP for talking head gets it right.  I don't want this link to get buried yet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N8c1t1QTDI

- Itaewon's the "foreigner's market" area of Seoul that formed around the U.S. army base.  If you need Jello, a lady of the night or some Kraft Dinner, for the past 15 years Itaewon is where you'd go.

http://www.crackshackormansion.com/index.html

This is a game where you check out a picture of a house in Vancouver and guess whether it's a crack house or a million dollar mansion.  I got 6/16 and thought you spags might want to play too.  If there's a youtube links-like thread for this stuff, I'll move it.

Found this game while asking jeeves about an apartment I visited today.  And no, crack whore was not one of my search terms. 

Life-type stuff:  I have 15 days to find a new place and almost everything's looking perfect.  Fun fact - This morning, I saw an ad from someone who lives down the road renting out their bachelor basement apartment for $999 plus utilities.  Over a thousand dollars for the privilege of living in some douche's mouldy carpeted dugout?  "No couples or pets"?  WELCOME TO TORONTO! 

So how'd you score?

(no crack whores were harmed in the making of this thread.  my apologies to anyone who was offended just now by the use of derogatory vernacular to describe Entrepreneurial Crack Choosers.)

Posting ITT

1/2 worried what the penance for a lapsed discordian might be... 

Dale Ernhardt.

That's what happens when you leave The Church^TM.

I admit it -- had to search engine this guy.   

Well played, good doktor.  Pics shall be posted.

[2011 World Knowledge Forum]

Not sure if       or   

Sarah Palin, former Governor of Alaska and the Republican Party's frontline female politician, will be making her very first visit to South Korea to attend the 2011 World Knowledge Forum (WKF 2011).

Palin first entered mainstream politics when she was named the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election. Ever since, Palin has been the figurehead of grassroots conservative politics also known as the Tea Party Movement, which has been opening new scopes in US politics.

During the WKF, Sarah Palin will give a US leadership perspective on how to lead the world out of the latest crisis.

http://board.mk.co.kr/view.php?id=wkf2011_news_e&no=17&c=0

Then again, I can't take this too seriously.  According to wikipedia, it's the same forum that decided it's theme in 2008 should be Collabonomics.

Posting ITT

1/2 worried what the penance for a lapsed discordian might be... 

To young Canadians: All my life I have worked to make things better. Hope and optimism have defined my political career, and I continue to be hopeful and optimistic about Canada. Young people have been a great source of inspiration for me. I have met and talked with so many of you about your dreams, your frustrations, and your ideas for change. More and more, you are engaging in politics because you want to change things for the better. Many of you have placed your trust in our party. As my time in political life draws to a close I want to share with you my belief in your power to change this country and this world. There are great challenges before you, from the overwhelming nature of climate change to the unfairness of an economy that excludes so many from our collective wealth, and the changes necessary to build a more inclusive and generous Canada. I believe in you. Your energy, your vision, your passion for justice are exactly what this country needs today. You need to be at the heart of our economy, our political life, and our plans for the present and the future.

And finally, to all Canadians: Canada is a great country, one of the hopes of the world. We can be a better one – a country of greater equality, justice, and opportunity. We can build a prosperous economy and a society that shares its benefits more fairly. We can look after our seniors. We can offer better futures for our children. We can do our part to save the world's environment. We can restore our good name in the world. We can do all of these things because we finally have a party system at the national level where there are real choices; where your vote matters; where working for change can actually bring about change. In the months and years to come, New Democrats will put a compelling new alternative to you. My colleagues in our party are an impressive, committed team. Give them a careful hearing; consider the alternatives; and consider that we can be a better, fairer, more equal country by working together. Don't let them tell you it can't be done.

My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll change the world.

http://www.ndp.ca/letter-to-canadians-from-jack-layton

RIP, ye Great and Powerful Mustachio!

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/08/22/layton-obituary.html?ref=rss

Well then. Now that the only leftist politician with the balls to stand up to Harper is dead and his replacement is being subjected to a largely-successful smear campaign, we're pretty much in the same boat as America, aren't we?

Even though I know you're trolling.  Damnnabbit.  I just can't not bite.  What's up with that 

There're plenty of people with "the balls to stand up to Harper."  First and foremost, Olivia Chow, but there's also great beastly unwashed socialist hordes just stamping at the ground ready to shoulder in.  Get cher popcorn!  S'gonna be HAWSUM!

I hadn't noticed a smear campaign against what's her chops who's been appointed interrum leader.  I assumed there'd be some nasty digging about to find whether she said a dirty word in grade 9, gave money to the wrong NGO or had any embarrassing party pics on facebook and from what you wrote, I'm guessing that's what's going on.  Plus ca change.  How do we decide if/when a smear campaign's been successful, though?  I don't even know her name without checking, much (much) less what the professional poli-bloggers, retweeters and whatnot have decided her faults are in the past week. 

I've been really distracted, honestly.  Thinking about all the cool kids I want to run for mayor someday - or whatever the equivalent of 'mayor' will be come 2040.  Drinking cans of spiked orange crush with my fellow filthy hippies in front of Olivia's office in Kensington market.  My partner's gone and lined up with the other couple hundred people downtown to talk at the dead man in the box.  I saw a bunch of orange posters in windows with that last bit "love is better than anger, etc" on my way home.

The folks who will try to turn this into a political opportunity to damage Harper's opposition are nothing but boring and classless.  You can't bring down people who are the SPAWN OF MOTHERFUCKING TOMMY DOUGLAS and MADE CANADA'S HEALTHCARE SYSTEM! 

What's a 'largely successful smear campaign'?  Got some airtime on cbc?  Are they filling up with comment sections?  500 likes?  Is she on her second husband?  Was she once a liberal supporter?  :all iz lost!!!:

Of course, you're probably right and the headline on Monday morning will read that while a great chunk of Canada was mourning, the mass media amplification machine got Ms What'sHerFace jailed for spitting or inhaling.  That's why it's called polololotics!

tl;dr - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGu682FUDsQ