I LOVE

Monday March 15 2010

[i]

3pm I get up. I see that Ambrotious has been sleeping next to me for most of the night. He nuzzles my face and swoops his head underneath my hand begging for affection. He’s the sweetest thing.

DREAM: I’m on some kind of mission in Hawaii. I’m in a car that’s parked right along the shore of a beach facing towards land. Next to me is another car in the same position with a black guy and a white girl. As we’re waiting for something I see the waves bring the water right up to the car so it’s level with the window (windows are open). I’m concerned that as the waves continue, water will get inside the car. I tell my associates in the other car, “Did you know this is the smallest island in Hawaii?” I look at the tall green cliffs in front of us and the big rocks on the shore. All of it is so beautiful and surreal, even the clear blue sky. All of a sudden, a tsunami wave starts to tower in slow motion behind us. But my perspective is from the side so I can see the cars with us inside them. The tsunami is taller than the cliffs and it looks almost like a white brick wall rather than water. I start my engine and wait for the water to suck backwards. That way when I accelerate the waves will give my car momentum and push it forward. The associates don’t think it’s a good idea.

Breakfast: Hot Oat Bran with Cinnamon and Blueberries, Orange Mango Juice, Zinc and Vitamin E.

Phil and I go to Big Lots, CHKD and JCOC Thrift Store, and Trader Joe’s.

Lunch: Grilled Cheese Sandwich, Salt N Vinegar Chips with Avocado, Green Tea.

Roommate spats about a printer ensue. As usual, we get frustrated with each other and then level it out in the end. It’s comforting to have this assurance: when two people are willing to work disagreements out no matter what happens, then a friendship is set for life.

Chris and I practice a song at the storage unit with Chad on bass guitar. I’m happy with the way it’s sounding.

I eat a Black Bean and Vegetable Burrito and a Banana.

I drive to Waffle House with the intention of meeting Becca for our traditional Mondays. She informs me she is working late and needs to pick someone up from the airport. I order a cup of Coffee and use the opportunity to catch up on my reading of Notebooks of a Naked Youth. Quote: “I now fully realise that the world doesn’t really exist, but is only created in our own sorry, miserable, misguided heads.” An unrecognizable oldies song plays on the jukebox. It immediately sparks youthful emotions inside me. I think about what it feels like to be in love with someone. Just as happy as it makes me feel, I also become depressed about all the burdens I place on myself regarding the future and my musical/artistic endeavors. The most important thing for me is my on going pursuit to be productive and create (or rather discover) beauty in all its forms. And there are so many.------- Becca finally walks in with her friend from work. We have to hurry and order some food to go. We pick up her roommate, Jason, from the airport who just came back from Israel. I talk to Jason about his travel experience. Back at her house we indulge in our Waffles we ordered earlier. We conduct make shift counseling sessions with each other and share a few significant stories from the past weekend. She explains how my body movement reminds her of those fan-powered Gumby-like streamers that businesses will put outside in front of their stores.

At home, I snack on some Veggie Chips.

I clean my teeth and sleep around 6am.

[i] The Tiki Gods. Mark Bryan.

Sunday March 14 2010

[i]

I get up sometime in the early afternoon feeling a little frustrated from lack of sleep. But soon I forget my troubles and concerns because I remember I uploaded Tokyo’s new EP last night. It feels good to have Swan Queen finally out: http://tokyo.bandcamp.com/

Breakfast: Hot Oat Bran Cereal with Cinnamon and Blueberries, Immune Defense.

I stretch and clean up the house some more with Emily.

Lunch: Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Tomato, Salt N Vinegar Chips, Green Tea.

Work at China Wok.

I exercise and attempt to watch Drugstore Cowboy [1989].

Dinner: Red Kidney Beans and Rice with Mushrooms, Onions, and Broccoli.

I get online and try to promote Swan Queen to everyone I can.

I play the guitar and work out some new songs.

I eat one of Emily’s Berger Cookies from Maryland with a cup of Coffee.

I watch the rest of Fellini’s 8½ [1963].

I clean my teeth and go to sleep around 5am.

[i] Album artwork for Tokyo’s Swan Queen by Martina Cecilia.

Saturday March 13 2010

[i]

1:37pm I wake up.

DREAM: I’m in this big town house with Aaron Lachman and a lot of other guys. We’re supposed to be hanging out and playing board games. John Bray is in his room hanging out with his own friends. He looks like a guy named Jim I used to know a long time ago when I was little. Aaron and I are irritated he doesn’t come out of his room.

Breakfast: Hot Oat Bran with Cinnamon and Blueberries, Mango Orange Juice, Zinc and Vitamin E.

Chris and I work on my song at the storage unit.

Lunch: Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Tomato, Salt N Vinegar Chips, Banana, Green Tea.

Work at China Wok. One of my bosses, Kevin, is leaving for New York tonight on the China Bus. He doesn’t like Virginia Beach. I stretch while waiting for orders to come and Kevin talks to me about meditation and Buddhism. He tells me that every year he goes to upstate New York for a month long prayer session. He shows me a video online of this unique rainbow that encircles the front of a temple.

Apparently, when a Buddhist Master dies, their body will sometimes manifest itself as a circular rainbow in front of a temple.

Dinner: Vegetable Lo Mein.

Becca finishes part two of cutting my hair.

Emily’s Going Away Party at the house: Fun. Fun. Fun. Fun. Fun. Fun. But not at some point. It hits the fan, like for real for real. Alcohol takes people and dumps them into a pit of despair and self-pity. I hate hate hate being around this. I am not perfect. I know this. I am wrong. I do wrong. I make wrong. However I try to play fair. I try to be fair. I try try try to be a friend. I am not perfect. Did I mention that? Be respectful. That’s all I ask of people. That’s all I want. I want you to understand what I think and why I think. I want to understand what you think and why you think. I really do. It should be understood. Right? Make sense? Okay. Something may be wrong with me. I see all these social anxieties in others. I should stop and look at my own inadequacies. Nothing is really wrong though. Nothing at all. Yeah. The bigger picture and all. Just take a long look at it. All these insignificant problems everybody makes up in their minds, it doesn’t effect anything in the realm of reality. But then again is there even a reality? Of course not. All we have is our own perspective. That’s the only real thing to anyone.

I take a walk around the block and smoke an Indonesian Sampoerna. I look up at the night sky and breath in the fresh chill air. I think about how I want to fly up into the blackness and become one with all I see.

A few people are lingering around the house in deep discussions.

I clean up around the house.

I clean my teeth.

I sleep around 6:20am.

[i] The Depression by Phil Gray.

Friday March 12 2010

[i]

Around 2pm I wake up to Ambrotious cuddling with me again. I hear the jet noise of course and the muffled sound of Kenneth’s voice in the backyard next door.

DREAM: Nighttime. I’m driving down curvy and hilly roads. Leaves are swirling low on the asphalt. I stop at a restaurant similar to Kelly’s Tavern or Applebee’s. I need to blow my nose. I walk in with a blue mug I borrowed from somebody. I grab a blue shopping cart with two level compartments near the entrance. I walk to the restroom area where there are two bathrooms, one for women and one for men. Also, there is a small bathroom booth you can use with a neon sign reading, XLZ. It’s similar to a photo booth and has three video screens with live feed from the view inside. It’s supposed to be risqué so horny guys can watch girls pee or something. I see video screens in front of the men and women’s bathroom too. I’m nervous as I run into the men’s with the blue shopping cart and the blue mug. I set the blue mug on a toilet seat in the corner and grab a few damp paper towels to blow my nose with. A guy walks in brushing by my back on purpose and says, “Tighten up dude”, referring that I tighten up my buttocks. I laugh a little so he knows I’m not offended. He starts using the urinal and smiles. He leaves and keeps the door open so his friends can see what I’m doing. I blow my nose obnoxiously in their direction making loud trumpet-like noises. All of them react with dumbfounded faces as if I’m a disgusting little nerd. I look over at the toilet seat and the mug is gone. I feel bad for losing someone’s mug. I start pushing the shopping cart out towards the entrance of the restaurant and an employee stops me. I immediately act concerned and ask him where the cart is supposed to go. Initially I was going to take it with me. But I assure the employee I was only looking to put it in the right place. ☼☼☼☼☼ Myspace has this new thing where you can create a special profile page with a song of your choice in the music player and give it to your friends as a gift. It’s called “Anti-Ambussy”. Erlin makes one for Phil. I’m looking at the page and it’s grey in color with some weird photo of an abstract version of the Statue of Liberty as the profile picture. The song in the player is by some obscure punk band from the 70’s.

Breakfast: Hot Cream of Wheat Cereal, Immune Defense.

I stretch and play the guitar.

Lunch: Grilled Cheese with Tomato, Salt N Vinegar Chips, Green Tea.

A rainy day at China Wok. I stop at Trader Joe’s for some groceries.

I eat some of Emily’s homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies. Mmm.

I exercise. Dancing. www.chatroulette.com.

I make Mushroom and Onion Chicken with Spinach and Rice for dinner, and share with Phil and Wesley.

I continue writing songs on the guitar.

A lot of people come over to watch Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo [2008]. I watch most of it. The world Miyazaki creates in his animated films is surreal.

I eat a few slices of Pizza with a cup of Coffee.

More writing.

Cadbury Egg.

I clean my teeth and go to sleep around 5:30am.

[i] Burak Arikan.

Thursday March 11 2010

[i]

Around 1:30pm I wake up to Ambrotious nuzzling my face. Eventually he lies down next to my arm. For a while I lay in bed staring at his cat smile. It seems to be a permanent curved line showing his never-changing satisfaction with things.

Dream: I’m walking the streets of a grey and dirty city. I’m watching myself explore the city. Now I am inside an apartment with intricately designed rooms and stair conjunctions. In the washer and dryer room close to the door, my Dad walks in with a few bars of soap and some water. He suggests this is the best way to clean something that is stained. ☼☼☼☼☼ I’m with a group of people. We were all chosen to battle through a level from the video game DOOM. All of it is familiar to me but only in the dream. At one point half of us, about 7, have to pack into a small box-like elevator. It’s about the size of a closet. I have to choose whether to stay behind and go through the rest of the level with the other group of people who aren’t very interesting or know what they’re doing. So I cram into the box elevator with the other 7. The door shuts and it’s hard to breath. There’s a fat man taking up a lot of room and my face is being flattened on his belly. I move him to the side. The whole time I know what is going to happen next. The lights go black and the elevator perimeter becomes a brown transparent screen. It moves up into a dark forest. A disgusting creature with big eyes and snarling teeth surrounds us. Some of us have guns, including me, and we have to shoot at the monster just enough for us to pass through to the next level. It’s getting harder to breath and everybody is getting claustrophobic. Finally, a hatch at the top opens up and we pile out of there scrambling for fresh air. ☼☼☼☼☼ Vina is in my room but it looks different. On the TV, a movie just ended and the credits are rolling. She tells me the reason she’s in America is to be interviewed by a few schools so she can study here in the states. Tomorrow she will go to Atlanta, Georgia. I am surprised to see her here. Her hair looks short as if she just got a haircut.

Breakfast: Hot Oat Bran with Cinnamon and Blueberries, Mango Orange Juice, Zinc and Vitamin E.

I stretch to The XX.

Lunch: Peanut Butter Toast, Baked Lay’s, Banana, Green Tea.

Phil brings over a friend that he met through www.chatroulette.com after they play tennis somewhere. We have a conversation about animals and their thought process.

Phil rides around with me while I work my shift at China Wok. We talk about how girls are territorial and guys try to conquer territory. We discuss our sexual frustrations and also how Rocky is like a mother bird. At one of the stops, a lady gives us a dresser.

Dinner: Phil and I eat Vegetable Lo Mein together.

More work on a song.

I eat three Blueberry Muffins with Cream Cheese Icing and two Cups of Coffee while I watch some of Federico Fellini’s 8½ [1963].

I continue working on some music.

I eat Edamame Soybeans with Crackers.

Smashing Pumpkins is auditioning for a new bassist and keyboardist. I put together an email to send to them. Hmm…

I shower and clean my teeth.

Read then sleep around 6am.

[i] Me smashing pumpkin. Image by a friend.

Wednesday March 10 2010

[i]

2:22pm I get out of bed.

I’ve been using earplugs when I sleep at night as to prevent the sounds of my roommate disturbing me when she gets up early. So far it helps but I think it’s causing me to not remember my dreams as much. I sleep harder as opposed to without earplugs because I shut out the sleeping environment around me and submerse my mind deeper into dreamland, which seems to be a great idea. However, when I wake up I experience a stronger shock awakening.

Breakfast: Two Mini-Bagels with Cream Cheese, Mango Orange Juice, Zinc.

I stretch. The Hype Machine is glitched today.

Lunch: Grilled Cheese with Tomato, Salt n Vinegar Chips, Green Tea.

I work out some songs on guitar in a new tuning.

Eric Godsey, Gabe Niles, and I meet up at the storage unit and practice a set for a party coming up at the end of March. Eric and I play two different drum kits while Gabe deejays.

Dinner: Pasta with Green Peppers and Onions, Phil’s homemade Sourdough Bread, and a Pilsner.

Foosball with Art: I win 2. Art wins 1. Then Elliot, Emily, and Wesley join in.

I continue learning Russian on Rosetta Stone.

Blueberry Muffins and a cup of Coffee.

I go back to the storage unit to finish writing a song. Productive.

I eat Edamame Soybeans, Crackers, and Applesauce with Cinnamon.

I watch the third film in Tokyo! [2008]. I absolutely loved it.

I clean my teeth and go to sleep around 6am.

[i] Trample by Phil Gray.

Tuesday March 9 2010

[i]

1:47pm I get out of bed.

Dream: My mom and I are running along the side of a muddy hill surrounded by a lake. It’s very hard because we keep sliding down closer to the water. I hear two men shout out from the other side of the lake instructing us on how to get around and avoid the water. My mom grabs hold of a ledge, hands with a tight grip, her feet dangling, the ground far below. I’m watching from the side as the two men try to guide her so she doesn’t fall. It’s hard for her to maneuver to the other side.

Breakfast: Hot Oat Bran Cereal with Cinnamon and Blueberries, Orange Juice, Zinc and Vitamin E. I like it when the blueberries pop and the blue juice flows.

I grab my long board. Phil grabs his bike. We head to Office Depot to get Iron Transfer Paper but I lose Phil along the way. He goes to the beach I guess.

Lunch: Grilled Cheese with Tomato, Baked Salt n Vinegar Chips with Avocado, Green Tea.

Chris and I work out a new song of mine at the storage unit. I’m really excited about how it sounds.

I eat a Banana.

I watch The Marx Brothers while I eat Stir Fry Ramen with Broccoli, Corn, Onions, and Carrots for dinner.

I print one of Phil’s artwork onto a t-shirt.

Blueberry Muffins.

I organize all the artwork around the house and scan them into the computer.

I clean my teeth.

I read a little of Notebooks of a Naked Youth and go to sleep around 6am.

[i] Spirals by Phil Gray.

Monday March 8 2010

[i]

Around 2:30pm I wake up.

Dream: In a field. A cave filled with soft purple and green cilia. Surrounded by a muddy moat. I have to get in there and retrieve Becca. A brown fat cow-like monster flying around preventing me from going inside. I’m a monster myself. ☼☼☼☼☼ Margot and I are waiting inside Becca’s house but it looks different. I’m supposed to pick up Becca to meet for some reason. Margot is discussing how upset she is. I accuse her of being jealous. I look around the house for Becca while Margot continues to explain herself to me. I check her room but someone else has moved in it. I keep checking other rooms and unfamiliar people appear. I get frustrated by the situation because Becca is nowhere to be found and Margot is upset.

Breakfast: Hot Oat Bran Cereal with Cinnamon and Blueberries, Orange Juice, Zinc and Vitamin E.

Phil and I go to Big Lots, CHKD Thrift Store, Trader Joe’s, and Target.

Lunch: Grilled Cheese with Tomato, Baked Salt N Vinegar Chips with Avocado, Green Tea.

I delegate Art and Phil to help pick up and vacuum the living room while I thoroughly clean the bathroom. It becomes so clean somebody could lick the bathroom and probably be cured of all diseases.

I stretch and dance. Then Phil and I lip sing and perform on www.chatroulette.com.

Phil and I make a Pizza from scratch. I eat a few slices and a small Salad with a Banana.

I pick up Becca from work to go to Waffle House. Before the weekly ritual begins, we go for a ten-minute run around the neighborhood. While running, I explain to her how hard it is to prevent myself from farting because my body is jumping up and down. At the restaurant, I eat a Waffle with two cups of Coffee. We recap the past week’s events and revelations. She gives me Part 1 of a haircut because her clippers aren’t available. Laughter, acting, and music on Pandora. I exemplify different characters in the kitchen. I notice how easy it is for me to be other people, making fun of personalities. Caffeine causes me to feel incredibly hungry so she feeds me two slices of Salmon Egg and Broccoli Quiche, Saltine Crackers, and Chocolate Oreos. I sense something new, something unique about this visit. On another plane. It’s comfortable. It’s warm. But I don’t want to interfere.

Listening to Oldies music like Bobby Davis (“Dream Lover”), Manfred Man (“There she was just a walkin’ down the street singin’ do wah diddy diddy dum diddy doo”), The Archies (“Sugar Sugar”). I think about how the simplicity of Love was glorified in the 50’s. I miss those child-like feelings of attraction. The music puts me in a happy state of being. It’s therapeutic.

I shower and clean my teeth.

Sleep at 6:30am.

[i] Seagull Rattail. Image by Becca.

Sunday March 7 2010

[i]

About 3pm I wake up to my head hurting. So many dreams and so many situations. It’s hard to remember.

Breakfast: Hot Oat Bran with Cinnamon and Blueberries, Orange Juice, Zinc and Vitamin E.

I stretch. I long board around the neighborhood and find a box of lamps.

Lunch: Toasted Peanut Butter and Strawberry Jelly Sandwich, Baked Lay’s, Pomegranate Juice.

Work at China Wok.

While eating Vegetable Lo Mein for dinner, Phil and I meet some French musicians on www.chatroulette.com and share songs.

I use the back piece that holds up a picture frame to replace one of the players on the foosball table.

Phil and I eat Ice Cream Sandwiches.

I learn some Russian on Rosetta Stone.

I eat Edamame Soybeans.

I make something. (see above photo)

Art and I play foosball: I win 3. Art wins 1.

Kyle, Phil, and I are entertained by throwing Sonic toys up at the ceiling fan. We put Sonic stickers on Ambrotious and watch as he limps around like he’s wounded. It’s a funny sight to see. I adore him.

I eat a small mug of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and a bowl of Popcorn as I watch some of Tokyo! [2008].

I clean my teeth, settle down and finish watching the movie

Seep around 5:30am.

[i] Art piece by me.

Saturday March 6 2010

[i]

2:55pm I open my eyes. I slept really hard. Deep dreams.

Dream: I’m sitting in my van parked outside an apartment complex where Mike Joyner lives. I see Mike walking towards my van. I’m in the back struggling to change my pants. I have no underwear on and he comes right up to the van. I’m half naked. He seems confused and a little threatened by me being here. I open the back door and we chat. I explain my reason for parking here was because I just had a meeting across the street. Scott Huls is there all of a sudden. Mike offers us these special cigarettes that look just like over-sized pencils. They’re green and blue. You’re supposed to stroke them to make them soft before you light it up. I take a puff of Scott’s pencil through the eraser. I decline to have my own.

Breakfast: Hot Oat Bran with Cinnamon and Blueberries, Orange Juice, Zinc and Vitamin B Complex.

I test three TVs I found yesterday, keep one of them, and give the other two to Kenneth.

I stretch to Beethoven.

Lunch: Grilled Cheese with Tomato, Baked Lay’s, Banana, Red and White Pomegranate Tea.

Work at China Wok.

A big church group marches into the restaurant from a charter bus.

Youth group nostalgia.

I can see the boy I’d be best buds with.

I can see the cute unobtainable girl I’d have a crush on.

I see the prissy one, dumb and pretty.

I see the jock/hero, muscular and proud.

All of them, good hearts trapped in a fundamentalist bubble.

Dinner: Red Beans and Rice, Snow Peas, Buttery Lime Mushrooms by Rocky, and Green Tea Ginger Ale.

I prepare Tokyo’s new EP for iTunes and Bandcamp.

Art and I play NBA Jam: I win 3. Art wins 0.

Art and I play Foosball: I win 2. Art wins 1.

Ambrotious draws blood from two noses. Poor JP. Poor Phil. I’ve noticed an amount of bitterness building up in Phil towards Ambrotious over the past week he’s been staying at the house. I hope they can find a common ground soon.

I eat a Cinnamon Bun.

I get fed up and search for the cat’s claw clippers. Instead I use my nail clippers to trim down Ambrotious’s knives. Hopefully this helps protect other people from his ferociousness.

Uuugghhh.

I shower then cool down with an Apricot Ale.

Sleep around 6:20am.

[i] Photo by Bryan Schutmaat.

Friday March 5 2010

[i]

1:22 pm I get up.

Not much ingredients for breakfast so I run to Big Lots and get Paper Towels, Bagels, and Green Tea Ginger Ales. Then to Trader Joe’s for Bananas, Milk, Blueberries, Salt N Vinegar Chips, and two Dollar Beers. I get Rachel Foulke as a cashier again.

“Hey, how you doin?”

Dream: A big U-haul truck. All of the Mae crew. Loading equipment out: amps, drums, guitars, keyboards. All of it looks unfamiliar. Jacob is setting up drums. There’s talk about how long it has been since the band has played together. I give Dave a friendly side hug with both of my arms. There are two people helping us unload. All around us is a huge parking lot with lots of steep hills and cars. I get angry because I forgot my long board. I try to get Jacob’s attention, “Look! This place would be perfect for long boarding.”

Breakfast: Banana, Mini-Bagel with Butter and Apple Butter Spread, Orange Juice, Zinc and Vitamin E.

Music on the painted guitar.

I stretch and exercise while listening to Deerhunter and The Little Ones.

Lunch: Grilled Cheese with Tomato, Baked Lay’s, Red and White Pomegranate Tea.

Work at China Wok. Slow, then furiously busy.

Red Beans and Rice with Broccoli.

Elliott and I take a look at all my drum pieces at the storage unit. He’s going to help fix up my kick drums.

JP shows up at the house unexpectedly. Finally he eats one of the red velvet cupcakes Emily made for him. We chat. We make sounds. We drink tea.

Phil breaks out his Sumi ink and watercolor paint set. JP works on a portrait of Phil. I make something of my own (see above photo).

Art and I play foosball: I win 4. He wins 1.

Conversations on the phone. I feel exasperated and tired. You want me to do something. Energy at a loss. What’s the solution? Make a move? I don’t have feelings? I’m 25 years old and I’m not the commonality. Maybe something’s wrong with me. I’m sorry for your pain. I really am, even if I don’t seem to care. I can only be what my body and brain allow me to be. Maybe next time I’ll be sexually frustrated.

I clean my teeth, then read some of Notebooks of a Naked Youth.

Sleep hopefully around 5:45am.

[i] F. Painting by me.

Thursday March 4 2010

[i]

I stumble out of bed around 12:47pm.

Dream: An airplane, not flying but jumping up and down through a sector in a city where people work. I’m riding in this airplane and see offices, through the windows, men and women shuffling papers and running around cubicles, typing, on the phone. I’m afraid we might hit the side of a wall or crash but I trust the system. Men with poles and flags waving down the airplane to make a stop. All of us get out. In a man’s kitchen searching for water. He directs me to the freezer where I see 4 glass water jars, all of them in different shapes and flavors of water. One is shaped like a penis and contains pepper water. I can see the pepper settled at the bottom. One is shaped like a swan and contains limewater. And the other two are unrecognizable abstract shapes. I take a drink from the penis jar.

Breakfast: Hot Cream of Wheat Cereal, Orange Juice, Zinc.

Phil and I deliver the dresser for $60 and stop by his dad’s house to pick up a few of his things including his mattress for us to sell.

Lunch: Toasted Peanut Butter and Strawberry Jelly Sandwich and a half, Baked Lay’s, Pomegranate Red and White Tea.

While working at China Wok, I set up a meeting through Phil to sell a mattress for $50. Business is slow at work. Kevin, my boss, shows me his American coin and bill collection. When I get home, Elliott, Wes, and Phil are already on www.chatroulette.com chatting with random strangers. We sell a mattress to two jovial ladies for $50.

Dinner: Vegetable Lo Mein, two slices of Fruit Tart.

I play Art, Phil, and Kyle King in a few games of Foosball. There are wins and there are losses.

I figure out how to get rid of those dumb horizontal lines (de-interlacing) that show up in videos you post on Facebook or Youtube using Sony Vegas Movie Studio.

I make French Fries and Edamame Soybeans and drink a German beer from Trader Joe’s.

I play some songs on the painted guitar.

I edit the video from the last Show N Tell.

I clean my teeth and shower.

Sleep around 6am.

[i] A Perfect Horizon. Bas Princen.

Wednesday March 3 2010

[i]

1pm. I wake up to Phil knocking on my room door to tell me a buyer is here to pick up the coffee table. I sell it for $50.

I have a hard time remembering my dreams from last night.

Breakfast: Toasted Bagel with Butter and Apple Butter Spread. Coffee with Cream and Sugar.

I stretch. I jump. I dance. I play. The cat watches from his tower. Rachmaninoff? Rubenstein? No, lets put on Mozart. Joey hates Mozart but I like Mozart. He’s comical and romantic.

Phil and I get on www.chatroulette.com and talk with a guy from West Mass.

Phil and I go to the JCOC Thrift Store and purchase some VHS tapes (3 for a dollar), Sports Authority for a pack of foosballs, and Trader Joe’s for a tomato, some bananas, and a few beers on clearance. Our cashier, Rachel Foulke, we invite to Show N Tell in March.

Dinner: Salmon Cakes, Broccoli and Cheddar, Brown Rice.

I play Art in Foosball. I win 4. He wins 1.

Phil and I talk with two girls on www.chatroulette.com from Norway who are in a band: http://nrk.no/urort/Kontakt/3Against1/default.aspx#top

Everybody chimes in on the chat and it gets interesting.

Josiah and Emily find the Jonas Brothers on Chat Roulette, which turns out to be a fake.

I start playing the painted guitar in the kitchen. Josiah, Renee, and Phil join in by banging on the dryer and tapping mason jars and bouncing ping pong balls and sweeping and chanting. It is a beautiful musical moment.

Becca comes over with Alex in search for her wallet she lost last Saturday night.

I eat a Banana, an Orange, and a Red Velvet Cupcake.

Waterworld [1995].

I clean my teeth. Sleep at 5:20am.

[i] Image by me.

Tuesday March 2 2010

[i]

I wake up at 1:45pm. Where is Phil?

Dream: Felix comes to me with a blueprint of the album artwork for the new Tokyo EP. It’s the same artwork idea Peter Lawrence has been showing me in waking life. He tells me he had been using Peter Lawrence to communicate back and forth with me about it. It didn’t make sense to me why he would do that.

Breakfast: Hot Oat Bran Cereal with Cinnamon and Blueberries, Orange Juice, Zinc and Vitamin E.

I sell a mattress for $40.

Lunch: Toasted Peanut Butter and Strawberry Jelly Sandwich, Baked Lay’s, and Pomegranate Juice.

I attempt to clean the mattress Phil and I found last night. We clean other miscellaneous things to put up on Craigslist.

We sell a mattress set for $50.

Elliot drives Josiah, Phil, and I to Tortilla West to surprise Carlos Vela for his 21^st birthday. I eat two Black Bean Tacos and a side of Sautéed Spinach.

Back at the house, we sell the Mini-Fridge for $60.

Emma Sherbak comes over, an old friend. It’s been quite a long time since I’ve seen her. I eat a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Josiah, Rocky, Phil, and I hang out; half watching Moulin Rouge while Emily bakes Red Velvet Cupcakes for JP. We find out Emily will not be seeing JP in Williamsburg tomorrow so consequentially the cupcakes will be for us to enjoy.

I play Art in NBA Jam. This is something we haven’t done in almost a week. I win 3. Art wins 2.

I eat half of a Cinnamon Bun and an Orange while talking on the phone with another old friend, Juliana Best. We talk about traveling and narcolepsy.

I clean my teeth and shower.

Sleep at 5:30am.

[i] Image by me.

Monday March 1 2010

[i]

I wake up around 11:40am. My eyes are heavy and I’m still tired but I can’t stop thinking. So I get out of bed.

Beauty wants retribution. Beauty wants dedication but won’t give you edification. Beauty is perfect. Beauty is a rollercoaster. Beauty is nothing without you. Without you, Beauty doesn’t know it is beautiful.

Dream: I’m in my house but the rooms are a little bigger. I’m waiting for Aaron to finish tracking bass for the new Tokyo EP in another room. My RD-700 keyboard is sitting behind some things on a shelf in my room. It’s finally my turn to track keyboards. ☼☼☼☼☼ I’m following Danny Rogers and Tyler Yowell in murky green water by a pier. This is the only way to get to this particular place they wanted to do interviews for the Tokyo DVD. There are specific things I have to put my feet on to get out of the water and around this pier. I can feel my feet touch metal and wood under the water. We finally get out onto the shore. We’re at the entrance to a zoo or something. I see a hump in a pond beside me that looks like an alligator. All of sudden, it’s real and it charges after me. I start to runaway and the alligator runs and lunges forward and almost chomps down on my legs. I try to fly but only end up jumping really high, enough to escape. I get far away and I see the alligator stuck in some kind of entrapment in the river. ☼☼☼☼☼ Danny is asking me questions for the interviews. I keep giving him really vague answers. He walks away kind of fed up. I ask one of the guys filming, “Is he okay?”

Breakfast: Bagel with Butter and Pumpkin Butter Spread, Coffee with Cream and Sugar. I love the smell of coffee beans.

I stretch and exercise by running around and chasing Ambrotious.

Lunch: Grilled Cheese with Tomato, Miscellaneous Chips and Snacks, Honey Green Tea.

A quick note: In some instances, when you read a “we”, this refers to Phil and myself.

Phil and I clean and make repairs on the mattresses we found yesterday and sell one of them for $50. We take a trip to Big Lots to get toilet paper and bread, to Taylor’s Do-It Center for screws to fix the foosball table, to the CHKD Thrift Store to get Field of Dreams [1989] on VHS, and to Kmart to look for a foosball but find they do not sell them there.

I come to understand whenever Phil and I get together, we become two fireflies in a giant mason jar lighting up spontaneously with ideas and feeding on this energy around the center forming an explosion of creativity.

We start our business together called “PhillyRob’s Used Mattress Ranch” or “PhillyRob’s Used Mattress Orchard”. There is a list of options.

We stop by Earth Sound Studios to get the final masters for the new Tokyo EP because there were a few glitches from the last time.

We stop at Panera in Greenbrier. We convince the cashier that we are from the FDA and are inspecting for food quality and service. And then admit it’s a joke. Then I explain how I conduct mystery shops sometimes at Panera and that I could be doing one at this moment. We then admit it’s a joke again. I eat a Pick Two: Greek Salad with French Onion Soup and Sweet Tea. We ponder over some reasons why Ian Swoveland sends out his daily texts to everyone, “what are you up to tonight?”

We head over to Waffle House where I usually meet with Becca for our traditional Monday Night Waffle House Meetings. This time Phil joins and also Alex Ostman. We talk about many things including current philosophical theories on the cycle of Man. We’re entertained by “The Kid Informative” who always comes in with his Grandpa. He constantly explains all of these long-winded stories and ideas while his Grandpa sits there listening patiently and sometimes mumbling a response or two. I eat a Waffle of course.

Phil and I get lost on the way to pick up his laptop from his Dad’s house. Elliott had called us earlier about a curbside alert in front of his house. We go check it out and pick up a Grill, a Mini-Fridge and Freezer, an Air Humidifier, a few Chairs, and a Box of Miscellaneous Food and Kitchenware. We search around near the Oceanfront and find another Mattress and a few Pillows.

Back at the house I eat a Bag of Popcorn, half of a Cinnamon Bun, and a Budweiser (found in the Mini-Fridge).

I clean my teeth and try to go to sleep a little early at 4:30am.

[i] Phil and I. Image by Becca Joy.

Sunday February 28 2010

[i]

I wake up at 3pm to my head hurting.

Dream: An unfamiliar girl in an unfamiliar bedroom is trying to have sex with me. She shows me a video on her laptop documenting all the guys she’s ever slept with. There are about 20 of them. The video plays as if you were just viewing her life in all these particular situations. One of the guys looks familiar to me. At the end of the video I see a tally grid on the screen and she marks me off but reassures me that she likes me.

I clean up around the house.

Breakfast: Hot Oat Bran Cereal with Cinnamon and Blueberries, Orange Juice, Zinc and Vitamin B.

Phil Gray joins me in the passenger seat while I work my shift at China Wok. While delivering, we find a few mattresses in good condition by a dumpster. We eat Peanut Butter and Strawberry Jelly Sandwiches, some Salt N Vinegar Chips, some Lentil N Potato Curls (we notice these remind us of Quaker’s Rice Snacks), and Honey Green Tea. Driving down Potters Road, the moon startles us up in the night sky. It’s big and orange, and looks menacing. It’s a beautiful moment.

After work is over, Phil and I decide to continue junk hunting. We come up with this idea to create a communication system for junk hunters where you can send out a message using Twitter telling the location of particular items and also giving it a rating using a 5 star rating system. We stop at a house off Virginia Beach Blvd to pick up a mattress and find Kenneth, my landlord’s son, sifting through a pile of stuff with a gargantuan flashlight. It’s a funny sight to see if you know Kenneth like we do. Another lady is there collecting things. She tells us the reason for the pile of junk is because a woman overdosed on painkillers in the house and the house was being cleaned out. Elliott tells us over the phone that we’re near the end of the fiscal year and that we’re likely to find people throwing out a lot of things. While we’re picking up a dresser in the Waterfront area, a lady walks up to us and offers to give us her microwave. We see a cop searching through a bag of papers by a dumpster close by. He looks at us with disdain.

Total Junk Finds: 2 Brown Vintage Leather Chairs, 1 Wooden Floor Chair, 1 Foosball Table, 1 Dresser, 1 Boogie board, 1 Microwave, 1 Table Umbrella, 1 Wooden End Shelf, 4 Mattresses (2 with Box Springs), 1 Bag of Popcorn, and 1 Small Empty Box from Unicomp with Really Funny Pictures of Cats Playing a Keyboard in Space.

Dinner: DiGiorno Pizza with Sparkling Raspberry Green Tea.

Emily, Margot, Phil, and I do some dumpster diving at Trader Joe’s.

Total Dumpster Finds: 1 Bag of Oranges, 1 Bag of Limes, 1 Bag of Snow Peas, 1 Granola Fruit Tart Pie, 2 Boxes of Frozen French Toast, 1 Box of Kashi Cereal, 1 Container of Brown Rice, and 13 Bottles of Pomegranate Juice. Yum!

I put together the foosball table in the attic.

I eat a few slices of Granola Fruit Tart with Milk.

I clean my teeth and shower.

Sleep around 6:30am.

[i] Cat Keyboard Box. Photo by me.

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