School of Seven Bells – I L U – Official Video from Vagrant Records on Vimeo.
Tag: life or something like it
Nov 23 2010
I L U
Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2010/11/i-l-u/
Nov 20 2010
Escape from LA!
I’ve been in LA for over three years now. It kind of blows my mind that I’ve been here this long. I don’t hate LA, I’ve actually come to enjoy parts of LA quite a lot. One of the things I don’t like though is the cost of living here. One of the big reasons I’m still here, is that I haven’t been able to afford to move. I haven’t been able to save as much as I’d like to have since I’ve been here. Part of that is my own fault, spending money on things I don’t necessarily need and not prioritizing savings as well as I should. But part of it, is that I just haven’t had a lot left over after paying rent and bills either.
In the end, this has contributed to a feeling of being trapped here in LA. I don’t like that feeling. So I’m making it a goal to do something about it. The first step was to reexamine my budget and make some changes to prioritize savings more than I’ve done in the past. The second thing I did was open an account on SmartyPig. SmartyPig is essentially an online bank that offers savings accounts. While I already have a savings account with my local credit union and with ING Direct, and could have easily just used that to build up a “moving fund,” SmartyPig has a little different focus. It is a goal focused savings account. You set up specific goals and the time line you want to complete them in. What sets it apart from just your standard account is that it interacts in your social networks. I’ve connected my goal to my Facebook account, so everytime I add money to my account, it’ll post something on my facebook wall. I’ve also created a widget that I included on my blogs sidebar. The widget shows the percentage of progress I’ve made towards my goal. The other thing that is nice, is its easy for friends or family to contribute to that goal if they so choose.
The goal I created is this:
My goal is to save up $2500 by June 30, 2011. This is based on what I estimate it would cost me to move back to Portland. My lease is up at the end of July, so I’d like to have this fund in place by the time I’d need to put in 30 days notice. I’d still need to get a job lined up, but just having this money set aside for this purpose will take a lot of pressure off of me. I won’t feel as trapped here in LA.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2010/11/escape-from-la/
Dec 17 2008
Sketch 50
The year winds down, and so do the activities. A couple of my friends left town for the holidays over the weekend. So a few less partners in crime are around. I’ve also been trying to be frugal in my spending to compensate for the unpaid week next week (gotta love temp work).
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about where I am in life. How many of my friends, who are younger than me, seem to be much further along in life. They’ve got good jobs that they love or graduate degrees. They’ve got homes. Are married. Heck, some are even divorced (not that it is a good thing). But even then, they’ve experience marriage and the love that drove them to it in the first place.
It all seems so far away to me.
Its hard being 32 and not really having anything figured out.
I’m leaving for Oregon Friday, right after work. It’ll be nice to be home for the week. Catch up with some friends and family. I’m taking two days to drive up, planning on stopping somewhere around Sacramento late Friday night and finishing up the drive on Saturday. Saturday night is the annual Santa Pub Crawl in Eugene. It’ll be a cold crawl this year as the temps are predicted to be below freezing, with possible snow showers. No matter how cold it is, it’ll be a nice welcome home.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2008/12/sketch-50/
Oct 03 2008
Synecdoche, New York
Last night I went to a screening of the new Charlie Kaufman film, Synecdoche, New York
Like his prior work, its a bit strange, but also amusing. Originally conceived as a “horror film” for Sony, this is what Kaufman came up with. A story about a theater director so afraid of death that he is misses life and the good parts of it. I thought it was a fascinating film, and fit perfectly alongside the rest of Kaufman’s work.
My friend went with me said “near the end, I just wanted it to be over already.” Not because it wasn’t an enjoyable movie, but just because it was getting long. What I just realized though, is perhaps this was a good thing. This is a film about living and dying after all. For some people at the end of life, you wish for it just to be over, the suffering of pain, loneliness, whatever. But for whatever reason they linger on, in pain, alone until finally the warm light embraces them.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2008/10/synecdoche-new-york/
Aug 27 2008
Towelhead (the movie)
Last night I went to an advance screening of the movie Towelhead. The movie is directed and adapted by Alan Ball from the novel by Alicia Erian. The story is about a young Arab-American girl, coming of age during the time of the first Gulf War, in Texas.
The movie was pretty amazing. It was uncomfortable, funny, hopeful and disturbing at various times. I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised coming from Alan Ball, who didn’t shy away with uncomfortable topics in American Beauty or Six Feet Under. I was actually kinda bummed that I wasn’t able to stick around for the Q & A session after the screening (it was late).
Its going to be interesting when this film is actually released. From looking at the official website for the movie, it looks like they are going to be doing a bunch of screenings around the country before its wider release. Of course the title of the movie is going to be controversial. The film makers (and original author) address this a bit on the website, which I quote beneath the cut. I encourage ya’ll to see this movie when you can, its the best movie I’ve seen all summer.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2008/08/towelhead-the-movie/
Jul 08 2008
The Wackness
It’s the summer of 1994 and Luke has just graduated from high school. He deals weed to make money. He likes his shrink’s step-daughter. He pays his shrink with weed. A twist on the classic coming of age movie.
I saw The Wackness at the Arclight last night. It definitely brought back some memories, as I am around the same age (graduated in 95, originally class of 94).
The soundtrack is great…definitely a reminder of the times…rap that’s pre- Biggie vs. Tupac.
In the movie Olivia (the step-daughter), tells Luke that he needs to wake up. Stop looking at only “the wackness” of life (the negative) and just focus on “the dopeness” (the positive), like she does.
I think its a good point…but we need to make sure not to be extremely in either direction. Yeah, its not healthy to focus just on the wackness…but likewise its not healthy to focus just on the dopeness. Both exist…and both need to be dealt with.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2008/07/the-wackness/
Jun 18 2008
Hallie update
I just heard from my little sister about her dog Hallie’s head xray (mentioned in this entry).
There was nothing abnormal on the xrays, and the blood tests came back negative. So they don’t really know why her eyes rolled back and why she was lethargic. My dad says she seems to be doing better the past week though.
So good news for sure.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2008/06/hallie-update/
Jun 16 2008
Sketch 24
Posting early this week, because I have a friend visiting for a week starting tomorrow.
It’s been a pretty slow week event wise. Mainly I’ve just been job searching.
I did ride my bike to Pasadena last week, which was a significant ride for my out of shape self. I did cheat and take the Metro train home. Baby steps with the getting into shape.
I’m slowly starting to get in the swing of cooking again. Tonight, I’m going to make my first attempt at homemade pasta. We’ll see how things turn out…but it’ll be fun just to try. I’m liking getting back into cooking…and who knows…maybe I’ll even start blogging about it soon like my friend Nicole at Pinch My Salt.
For those of you reading this in a feed reader…I tweaked my design a little bit over the weekend. There are more tweaks to come, so check out the actual site every once in awhile and let me know what you think.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2008/06/sketch-24/
Jun 12 2008
Sketch 23
I don’t have much to talk about this week, which is why I’m late posting my weekly update.
I’m still looking for a new job. I got laid-off at the coffee shop, because we just weren’t busy enough. It will be a long tough summer I imagine for Rich. I hope he survives because it is the best cup of coffee near USC.
I’ve been sending off resumes every day, still haven’t had much of anything biting though. I’m starting to get a little concerned.
My little sister, who lives in NYC and works as nanny, is going to Dubai with the family she works for on Sunday. They are staying at the Burj Al Arab for three nights. Rooms there start at $1,500 a night. It is a whole different world my sister lives in.
I got some sad news from my youngest sister yesterday. Her dog, Hallie, needs a head x-ray to check for a brain tumor. Hallie got blood work done yesterday, and has the appointment for the x-ray next Wednesday. Apparently her eyes have been rolling back in her head when she’s been walking and she’s slowed down in general a lot in the last few weeks. I hope it isn’t as bad as it sounds it might be. Hallie is such a wonderful dog, so loving. If it is serious, it will be a big loss for both my sister and parents. Here is a picture of her from a few years ago:
Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2008/06/sketch-23/
Jun 03 2008
Sketch 22
I had a great weekend.
Friday night, I went out with my housemate and a few of her friends to The Mint to see Mama’s Cookin’. The band is friends with one of Kathryn’s (the housemate) friends. It was nice to get out and see some live music. If only the second band would have been any good (they needed a bit of practice). We got there a little before Mama’s Cookin’ was set to go on…so we also caught a bit of Janeane Garofalo’s stand up act. She had some funny bits…but seemed to be phoning it in a bit.
Saturday was my friend Frank’s 30th Birthday. The festivities started off with a BBQ at the park in front of their apartment. After a few hours at the park, the party moved to an art gallery on La Brea. This part was a surprise for Frank. There we had wine, champagne and a little dance party. We only had the art gallery space until 11pm, so once that rolled around we tried to figure out somewhere else to go. We ended up at a place on Melrose, but they were booked with private parties…so we couldn’t get into the section where the dancing was going on. Some of the folks were hungry, so I suggested we check out Kitchen 24, a new 24-hour diner on Caheunga in Hollywood. It’s on the same block as quite a few of the trendy clubs in Hollywood. Kitchen 24 had only been open for a few days at this point…so they are still working out some issues (about half of their menu was unavailable), but the food we did have was pretty cool. The best part was the place has a DJ booth and when the DJ came on around 2am, our group started an impromptu dance party. We eventially got about half of the folks in the diner dancing with us. I think we may have been the first group to jump up and start dancing…cuz the staff was taking pictures with their iPhones, etc.
On Sunday, one of my friends and I headed over to Manhattan Beach. We just hung out on the beach and talked for about four hours. It was nice and relaxing, though I didn’t quite get enough coverage on the sunscreen, and am now paying for it with a quite red back. Oh well.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2008/06/sketch-22/
