True to form, this time I will not press delete no matter how bad whatever I write is. Or if I end sentences with dangling verbs. Or if I dangle verbs. “Oh, dude it’s sick,” says Barry. “What is that?” asks Hart. “Chelan?” The bros are at work. Hart is wearing a black and red flannel shirt. Barry is wearing a black and red flannel hat. I don’t think they’re cognizant of this fact.
I, for my part, am sitting on the couch listening to “New Soul” by that chick who may or may not be from Israel. My Instant Messenger icon is jumping up and down telling me there’s a new message from the Mexican girl I’m talking to online. I decided today that I need to marry a Mexican girl, mostly so my Spanish gets better. I want to speak as good as native speakers, which means I need to be speaking a lot more Spanish than I currently speak. And the only way I can think of to do this, short of bussing tables at Ivar’s, is to marry a Mexican girl. Or a Colombian girl. Colombian girls are gorgeous.
“I’ve been to Hollywood, I’ve been to Redwood,” sings Neil Young. I wonder if he actually went to Redwood? Is he referring to Redwood National Park. Who cares.
“Oh shit, it’s snowing” says Barry now. “Ooh, it’s getting warm next Wednesday.” Then he starts to sing along to “Heart of Gold,” about a half an octave out of tune. He and Hart are looking at pictures of various boardriders on his new computer, which apparently measures 27″ from corner to corner. “Mark, what’s up for this weekend?” he asks me now. I don’t respond, and he doesn’t notice. Barry has the attention span of a lemming.
Tomorrow is the last day of school, and I am so relieved. I am going to miss my students, but I am also very ready for it to be over. Instead of writing this blog I should be planning how they’re going to review for the final tomorrow, but I can’t bring myself to do it. I don’t want to do it. My motivation is waning, just as I know theirs is. All of our motivation is waning. As a teacher, it is my responsibility to elevate this level of motivation, but all I can really think about right now is how after tomorrow afternoon I won’t have to be in a classroom for more than three weeks. Three weeks! So like I said, motivation is waning. The end is in sight, and it’s making it hard to concentrate on the present.
It’s still fucking cold outside. Fucking freezing. But I’m getting used to it. It’s all a question of what you’re used to. Like this song “Short Skirts” by Felix da Housecat. It’s fucking horrible. and now Barry just started playing something on his computer. It a goddamn madhouse in here. I can’t concentrate. This song is horrible. But it’s making me concentrate on the present, because the only thing I can think about is how badly I want it to be over. Maybe slight discomfort is the key to Zen. Maybe I’m a genius.
This entry was written by , posted on December 11, 2009 at 12:50 am, filed under Stream of Consciousness Thursdays and tagged snowboarding, spanish, university of washington, uw, winter break, zen. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
It’s been almost a week since I’ve written anything on here, and one curious thing has happened: I’ve stopped drinking. Coincidence? Probably, due to the fact that another curious thing has happened: school work is getting gnarly.
For my Mexican Cinema class I have to write a 12-15 page paper – in Spanish. I have never written a 12-15 page paper, even in English. Now granted, I don’t think this will be that hard. When I was in high school the prospect of writing a 12-15 page paper would have made me laugh and get right down to work on the plagiarism. But now a 12-15 page paper doesn’t seem that bad, especially due to the fact that my paper probably won’t be that good.
Happy Thanksgiving! The weather outside is beautiful. Grey, low-lying clouds. A nice little drizzle that says, “Fuck you for living in Seattle.” It’s all wonderful.
I go in spurts with music listening, and luckily lately I’ve “discovered” some great new songs. First, there’s “Lucha de gigantes,” by Nacha Pop (epic). Then there’s a Swedish trio called Detektivbyrån who makes music largely using an accordion and a xylophone (also epic). Finally, I’ve been listening to Vampire Weekend a lot again lately. I don’t care what any hipster asshole says, Vampire Weekend’s album Vampire Weekend is amazing. You can listen from it start to finish and every song is good. The songs do not get old.
But I digress.
The end of the quarter is looming low on the horizon. However, it’s difficult to see the end of the end of the quarter because it’s obscured by clouds.
This stream of consciousness session is over because my roommate has lumbered into the living room talking about how well he slept last night. It’s time to seize the day.
This entry was written by , posted on November 26, 2009 at 12:30 pm, filed under Stream of Consciousness Thursdays. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
I have a confession to make: I’m slightly depressed. I don’t know whether it’s the weather or because last night I didn’t drink heavily enough, but I’m a little down in the dumps. Maybe it’s Seasonal Affective Disorder. It probably is. I haven’t seen the sun in like two weeks. Hawaii?
The good thing is I’m not that depressed. In the true sense of the word, I’m not even depressed at all. I’m just kind of bummed. Lethargic. I’m ready for this quarter to be over and I’m ready for winter break and I’m ready to go to Barrow but I’m also ready to see the sun. How do I see the sun? I originally planned for winter break to go do down to the LA area and Palm Springs to visit some buddies. But then I booked the ticket to Barrow. So now, instead of sipping a cocktail poolside in the desert I’ll be running from a polar bear with my eyelids frostbit shut.
This quarter has gone by so fast. We’re already in week 8. Week 8! I can’t believe it. Week 9 doesn’t really count because it’s Thanksgiving, and then week 11 doesn’t count because it’s the last week, so basically we have one week of school left before I’m lounging at the Bark and Marry in my boxers with a trail of crumbled Tostitos littering my chest. Either that or a stream of Session or New Belgium Trippel. I guess it will depend on how badly I need to combat this supposed “depression.”
(Brief and 100% necessary pause to flip the bratwursts I’m currently cooking on the stove).
The best thing about the last few weeks: I can skateboard again. I’m not 100% (I can only really skate switch and nollie), but I can skateboard again. And it’s fucking great. Some of you thought I might “grow out” of skateboarding. You were wrong. There is nothing to grow out of. I love skateboarding. It is my favorite sport, and I think it’s the best sport there is. Last night in the parking lot of the Wells Fargo on the corner of 45th and 15th I had the time of my life for more than an hour. In a parking garage. With what other sport can you go to a parking lot and have the time of your life (actually, I can think of a few, like indoor hockey, but that’s lame)? It was pure bliss, and I am elated to be able to skateboard again. If you can skateboard, and you would like to skateboard with me, get in touch immediately. If you don’t skateboard, you should either A) take it up, B) start being friends with people who do. You might become cool by osmosis.
This entry was written by , posted on November 19, 2009 at 10:24 pm, filed under Stream of Consciousness Thursdays, The Bark and Marry. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
It is freeeeeezing. Freeeeezing. That’s the problem with Seattle: When it’s cloudy, it’s warm; when it’s sunny, it’s cold as balls.
Right now I’m sitting on my couch wrapped in a fleece listening to Mozart’s “Requiem” and looking out the window towards the curve on I-5 at about mile 165. The traffic is flowing at a steady pace to the south but crawling towards the north. Apparently God has decided to punish people heading towards Marysville. I don’t blame him.
I have reached Week 7 in Fall Quarter at the University of Washington. It has been a great quarter in many ways, but I am excited for it to be over. I want to go to Barrow. I want to do the things that I dream of. Do you know what I dream of? The other day I told my students all my dream: That one day I want to have a travel show on the Discovery Show. I also told my friend Kevin and his wife Melissa. “Aren’t there a lot of people that want to have travel shows on the Discovery Channel?” they responded. Assholes.
It’s cold, but at least it’s sunny. I can’t stand the rain. When it rains I turn into a zombie, wandering between class muttering epithets and consuming vast quantitites of dairy in hopes of making up for the vitamin D deficiency I know I surely must be exeperiencing. But today the sun is just starting to peak over Capitol HIll and shine into the sleepy neighborhood of Eastlake. I have just listened to Travis Tritt’s “It’s a Great Day to be Alive,” and for the most part I completely agree with him. Even though with school right now I feel slightly overwhelmed pretty much all of the time and just wish it was Friday afternoon (though I have no social life and if it WAS Friday afternoon I would be bitching about how I have nothing to do), I do think it is a great day to be alive. I am not hungover. I have warm clothes to wear. I just ate Cheerios with banana and milk. I have not brushed my teeth.
Another thing I am really excited about is what I am going to do this summer. I think I am going to do a 5-week intensive French course in Quebec City, Quebec. I am so excited about this possibility. I need to speak French better. I also need to speak Spanish better, but I NEED to speak French better. I also need to speak Korean better, but I NEED to speak French better. French is so fucking cool, and I’ve decided that Quebecois French, though it sounds like a duck getting throttled, is even cooler. Everyone goes to study French in France. But no one goes to Quebec. But Quebec is beautiful. And Quebecoise girls…..
I don’t know what I’m going to do with my life. I haven’t the faintest fucking clue. That’s about all I do know right now. But I’m completely OK with that. I’m not in a hurry. I’m having a good time. I’m learning. I’m being nice to people. And I’m pretty sure that’s the most important part (all of it, not just being nice). One day I’ll figure it out. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but MAY-BE tomorrow.
This entry was written by , posted on November 12, 2009 at 11:28 am, filed under Stream of Consciousness Thursdays, Travels. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.