[i]
This is an open and unfiltered diary-style journal
on the life of James Robert Smith.
This blog will contain sometimes graphic experiences (both beautiful and ugly),
sometimes stark insight, and all honest and factual documentation of dreams, diet, activity, and thoughts.
Tuesday May 11 2010
[i]Monday May 10 2010
[i]Sunday May 9 2010
[i]
[ii]Saturday May 8 2010
[i]
Friday May 7 2010
[i]Thursday May 6 2010
[i]
Wednesday May 5 2010
[i]
Tuesday May 4 2010
[i]
Monday May 3 2010
[i]
Sunday May 2 2010
[i]Saturday May 1 2010
[i]
Friday April 30 2010
[i]
DREAM: At work in China Wok waiting for orders to be done so I can deliver them. There are five orders ready to go but I think there are only four ready. My boss fails to tell me about the fifth one. I grab all the bags and run to the van. I place all the orders in the back. Margot wants to drive. “Absolutely not!” I’m worried my boss will see her. She gets pouty about me not letting her drive. I take the wheel and put it in reverse. A cop car is coming by. I misjudge how close I am and almost hit him. “I’m so sick of cop cars!” Then, for some reason, I can’t get the van out of reverse gear and the van gradually rolls down a hill. The brakes aren’t working at all. “This is just great!” I start slamming as hard as I can on the brake pedal breaking some of the plastic attached to it. Other parts on the dashboard break as I keep hitting them out of anger. “Yeah, lets just break everything!” There’s nothing I can do because the slope we’re on isn’t leveling out. ☼☼☼☼☼ I’m with a big group of guys. We’re trying to set a car on fire. It’s the blue firebird my Mom used to drive a long time ago. We all have lighters and keep trying to light different objects on fire and throw them into the car. Nothing seems to work. Someone in authority walks by warning us, “Your efforts are useless because it can’t be done.” ☼☼☼☼☼ In the 1623 house. I’m in the kitchen doing something. Phil is on the far right edge of the red couch talking to me. Rocky is laying to the left of him while she uses Facebook chat on Phil’s laptop. The chat beep sounds off interrupting something Phil says to me. “Rocky, can you turn that down? I can’t hear Phil.” All of sudden, Rocky gets upset and starts yelling, going on about this and that. It doesn’t make sense. All I asked her to do was turn it down. Eventually, she wants to fight and gets up in my face. I try to keep my cool. She starts kissing me on my head and shoulders. All of a sudden, everything’s resolved. Josiah walks in. Apparently, he had been there the whole time. I feel a little uncomfortable because of what Rocky just did. ☼☼☼☼☼ Walking around in a backyard that’s supposed to be my Dad’s but looks just like my neighbor’s. There’s a lot of junk piled around. I assume it is Kenneth’s. I creep into the next yard over out of curiosity. I’m with Phil and we have a shopping cart full of stuff. Two girls approach us. I start talking to one of them. “That’s my Dad’s house. I used to live with him in North Carolina, like in the country...the boondocks.” I look back deep into their yard. I see a few tree houses built high in the treetops. “Yeah we used hang out in the woods making clubhouses and starting fires.” It’s windy outside. I watch as the trees sway to the right and left as if they were dancing to the rhythm of the wind.
3 p.m. I wake up.
I walk into the living room. Brianna and Phil are watching Drugstore Cowboy (1989).
Breakfast: Hot Cream of Wheat with Vanilla, Brown Sugar, and Milk. Orange Mango Juice. Zinc and Alfalfa.
Phil and I move some mattresses into the van to sell tomorrow.
Lunch: Grilled Cheese with Tomato. Salt N Vinegar Chips. Strawberry Yogurt. Green Tea.
Work at China Wok.
Dinner: Leftover Chicken and Rice with Fried Zucchini and Squash. PBR.
SHOW N TELL at the house.
French Toast and Milk.
Alex Bailey and I play each other in foosball. He wins the single ball game, and the double ball game. I win the triple ball game.
Just a lot of words…
Sometimes I feel I’m not meant to love anyone.
Goodnight around 7 a.m.
Thursday April 29 2010
[i]
DREAM: In a town house. There’s a white cat. For some reason I think it’s a good idea to decapitate his head with a kitchen knife. The cat struggles a little bit. I notice a little blood come out. It’s alarming to me so I stop cutting even though there is only a sliver left to do. Later, I come back to the cat and his head is back in place but it doesn’t look stable. Mickey Rourke, from the movie The Wrestler (2008) walks through the door. He picks up the cat and starts petting him harshly. He’s a big muscular man so I’m unsettled by this. I warn him not to rub too hard. The cat seems to be okay.
3:30 p.m. I get up. I regret not getting up earlier when I had the chance. Too much sleep.
Breakfast: Egg and Cheese Burrito. Toast with Blackcurrant Jam. Orange Mango Juice. Zinc and Alfalfa.
I ride my bike to Big Lots, Kmart, Target, and Trader Joe’s.
Waiting in line at Kmart, I observe a Jamaican family in front of me. The woman, who is huskier and bigger than the man, carries the groceries, as the kids play around the bottom level of the magazine rack. The man sifts through the magazines. He stops and stares at a beautiful half naked Caucasian girl on the cover of a tattoo issue. He holds his gaze for quite a while as the kids continue playing and the wife still waiting in line. He doesn’t seem ashamed in the least bit or concerned with anyone around him. He studies her pose then snaps out of it and scolds one of the kids, “Put that back now. We’re not getting that.” The line moves. The clerk checks out all the items. It’s his turn as he swipes the credit card.
People are watching footage in the living room that Phil filmed on his camera.
Lunch: Toasted Tuna Salad Sandwich with Lettuce and Tomato. Baked Salt N Vinegar Chips. Banana. Green Tea.
Practice at the storage unit with Chad and Chris. We work out a punchy new song.
Dinner: Baked Cream of Mushroom Chicken with Onions. Fried Zucchini and Squash. Coke.
I share the Fried Zucchini and Squash with Margot, Art, Brianna, and Ryan.
Margot and I watch New York, I Love You (2009).
Yogurt with Peaches and Honey.
How good it feels to relieve that sexual itch.
I go to the storage unit again to practice.
Saltine Crackers.
Sleep around 7 a.m.
Wednesday April 28 2010
[i]
DREAM: I’m cruising down the street in a Kmart shopping cart – hanging onto the back pushing with one leg like a skateboard. I’ve got my purple book bag, a grey beanbag, and few other small things inside it. I am able to go quite fast zooming through a neighborhood that looks similar to the kind of place I would deliver Chinese food to in waking life. I finally reach a court. There’s a big dumping area with a bunch of really cool furniture people have thrown out. I see a lot of abnormally large fish tanks, hamster tanks and birdcages. I find a green jogger jacket on the sidewalk with an iPhone in the side pocket. I pick it up and James Graves steps out of his apartment. He claims he’s missing his jacket. I realize I have it and give it to him. A few black kids with their parents and uncles sit outside their front door. I had left my shopping cart near them. As I’m getting all my stuff together I see a few garbage bags. I feel responsible to throw them away. One of the black boys is sitting right next to it on the greasy curb. I touch him slightly on the shoulder to warn him of the leaky bag, “Watch out.” He doesn’t seem to care. I saddle up on my shopping cart – put on these blue 80’s style sunglasses and dart off. I do a wheelie and lift myself up over one of the grass medians within the court. I can hear the black family making comments about how odd I look with the shopping cart. Down the road, I stroll into a house – some kind of church gathering – strangers. I’ve ditched the shopping cart and I’m making my way through the crowd. I’m getting strange looks from everyone. One beautiful girl, slightly taller than me, approaches me. Or maybe I approach her. We make small talk. I tell her I need to use the bathroom. She shows me this room near the entrance built with a white wall that goes about as high as your neck – so sitting on the toilet would be quite visible to everyone. I ask her if there is another bathroom because that would make me uncomfortable. Another girl that is with her seems annoyed and expresses to me that this is the only restroom for me. “Hold on. I think there is something else. Follow me.” I follow the beautiful girl back further in the house to another potential bathroom.
Around 2:30 p.m. I wake up.
Breakfast: Hot Oat Bran Cereal with Cinnamon, Blueberries, Brown Sugar, and Milk. Orange Mango Juice. Zinc and Alfalfa.
Songwriting.
TED Talks about a woman who rowed the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean.
Lunch: Grilled Cheese with Tomato. Salt N Vinegar Chips. Green Tea.
Writing at the storage unit.
Stretching and exercising. Apocalypse Now (1979).
Dinner: Sinigang Rice Dish with Onions, Peppers, Mushrooms, and Shrimp. String Beans. Garlic Bread. Chocolate.
Phil, Carlton, and his friend Leo are at the house creating things on paper with markers and ribbons and magazine clippings.
Phil adds some raw kidney beans to his dish thinking they were cooked. He gets paranoid about it. We try to reassure him he won’t die but probably have diarrhea.
Leo tells us about a few of his former roommates from Richmond who got on Judge Judy and staged a cat-killing case. They got free plane trips and hotel accommodations for two days in L.A. And they got paid $700 to be on the show.
Foosball with Art.
I go through my collection of stickers over the years and decorate my electric guitar.
I watch a documentary on Hasil Adkins, King of Psychobilly.
On the phone with Margot.
A bowl of Raisin Bran Cereal with Granola.
Learning Russian on Rosetta Stone.
Shower then sleep around 5:30 a.m.
DREAM INSIGHT:
Shopping carts: We have a few shopping carts here in my yard. I'm planning on making a bike trailer with one of them.
The furniture and other things near the dumpster area: I usually keep an eye out for discarded things like that while I'm driving around delivering Chinese food.
Picking up the trash bags: I sometimes feel obligated to clean up and pick up around the house because I feel like it won't get done otherwise.
iPhone in the jacket: 80% of the people I know own iPhones.
Comments and strange looks from people: Sometimes I feel self-conscience.
Bathroom situation: I value privacy. And also I needed to pee when I woke up.
Tuesday April 27 2010
[i]
DREAM: A man walks into a bedroom with a gun pointing at a guy with thick black glasses and full brown hair who’s sitting at a computer. I’m observing all this from a distance. I’m supposed to be the guy at the computer. All of sudden, my perspective is the point of view of the man with the gun. He turns to the left and then to the right where the guy with glasses is sitting with a girl on the other side of the room. I start to imagine what it would feel like to get shot with a gun – the pain of being shot in the chest. I have to make a choice to volunteer to get shot instead of the girl. Flashbacks to a scene on a bus with a lot of people – the same guy walks in wanting to shoot someone. I’m hiding in the back. I have to make a decision whether to get shot or cower down and let somebody else get shot.
2:20 p.m. I get out of bed.
Breakfast: Egg and Cheese Burrito. Apple Butter Toast. Orange Mango Juice. Zinc and Alfalfa.
I sell a chair to a veteran local that does professional photography. He has photos in a few different travel magazines. He tells Josiah, Rocky, and I about his 9/11 experience on a roof. He shows us a photo he took before the second plane hit. He also tells us about a band he used to be a part of in Virginia Beach called Krocadile Tears. He comments on 1623 and tells us of a similar pad he used to live in on 24th street when he was younger that turned into a squatting house and eventually into apartment or condo housing.
I go to Big Lots, CHKD Thrift Store, and Target.
Lunch: Toasted Peanut Butter and Strawberry Jelly. Baked Lay’s. Blueberries and Yogurt. Green Tea.
As I’m cleaning the dishes, Phil parades through the door announcing something about The Spanish Inquisition. He had been gone for a little more than a week and now the prodigal son returns home.
Travel talk.
Some thoughts from Phil: The left brain is artificing itself into machines – We now have more opportunity to use our right brain – Our individual vocabulary is growing smaller because of our dependency on machines doing our communication for us – A battle between left and right.
Phil: “Well I just got out of the shower and I’ve come to some conclusions on things.”
I catch up with my Mom on the phone.
“i read a lot, and imitate as practice. But as the Tropicalists would say, we are all cultural cannibals. we eat up the works of others, digest, and in the consummation we end up with something completely new -- painted by what we know, but not the same as our influences (Oswald de Andrade "Manifesto Antropofago").”
- taken from Renee’s formspring.
Stretching. Exercising. Apocalypse Now (1979).
Dinner: Sinigang Rice Dish with Onions, Peppers, Mushrooms, and Shrimp. String Beans. Garlic Bread.
Iced Coffee with Tapioca Pearls and Soymilk.
A few hours at the storage unit writing, playing, and having a good time with music.
Zinfandel.
Sleep around 6 a.m.
Monday April 26 2010
[i]Sunday April 25 2010
[i]
9:20 a.m. CST I wake up to my cell phone alarm.
Breakfast: Coffee with Cream and Sugar. Banana. Milk.
We catch the 10:55am flight to Minneapolis. Reading and napping. Deep Fargo accents. The violinist from Could Cult joins one of the seats next to us.
Lunch: A Fancy Grilled Cheese with Red Peppers and Tomatoes. Salad Greens. Honest Ade Orange Mango with Mangosteen.
Flight to New York.
I do that thing where you go to sleep and your body jolts yourself awake. Then you feel embarrassed because you think everybody saw you. I pretend to be still sleeping and slurp up the slight drool coming off my lips.
I eat the complimentary cookie.
Flight to Norfolk.
I eat Baked Lay’s, Dried Edamame, and Chocolate Chip Cookies with Cranberry Juice.
Our flight attendant resembles my Mom when she was younger. Same face, hair, eyes, eyebrows, and similar smile. Sometimes I imagine going back in time - before I was born – before my mother became a mother. I could see her in a different light – when she was young and innocent – watch her live and dream. Maybe I would try to meet her. Would she recognize her future son? Would she see her blood in me?
Becca picks me up from the airport.
We take a walk around her neighborhood – the night air is fresh, breezy, and warm.
People’s windows and curtains are open.
One home had no grass in their lawn but instead, cactus, tall weeds, and other exotic plants.
I explain to her the story of Pandorum and the theory of an earth-like planet existing somewhere in deep space.
In the kitchen, her Dad has the Discovery Channel on TV. It’s a show where Stephen Hawking is discussing the possibilities of time travel and life on extra solar planets – coincidental.
I eat a bowl of Frosted Mini-Wheats Cereal.
Another TV show – on TLC called Hoarding: Buried Alive – involves therapists coming into the homes of pack rats/hoarders and helping them with their obsessive compulsiveness to save everything. The people on this show are an extreme representation of America’s consumption problem and how we fill our voids with the affection for material things.
I eat an Egg and a Banana.
Two pieces of Toast.
Sleep around 4 a.m. EST.