These pictures were taken about 30 seconds apart. That's how quickly he can fall asleep.
Watching:
Lately Ryan and I have been on a teen comedy tv series kick. Here are the top three shows we've watched together over the past few months.
The Hard Times of RJ Berger - Nerd has big penis, wants to get with popular girl. Hilarity ensues.
The Inbetweeners (American Version) -New guy at school meets three friends, they try and get laid a bunch. Hilarity ensues.
Awkward- Awkward girl loses virginity to popular guy, other popular guy likes her. The cheerleaders are bitches. Hilarity ensues.
These are all pretty stupid and basically only talk about sex (in more vulgar language than you'd expect for MTV), but they're a fun way to pass the time. Do you know of any other teen comedy (NOT TEEN DRAMA) shows we're missing out on?
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Reading:
I went through a bit of a slump, reading-wise. Probably because of all the television shows we were watching. But I'm back on the horse. I'm back using my e-reader again to borrow library books. I almost forgot how great it is to lose myself in the written word.
Two books I've read recently are:
The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott. Honestly don't waste your time. It seems like it's going to be great. I mean, in the first few chapters the freaking characters board the Titanic! But, like I said to Ryan last night, "Well, I better get back to my book, I have to find out if the wedding dress will get beaded in time for the runway show." and then later "Aw man, my Titanic book turned into a lame romance novel." I found the characters really shallow and the whole Titanic sinking part was really glossed over. It had potential but in the end? Meh. I may as well have read one of the Shopaholic books.
The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje. It's funny that I unwittingly embarked on a series of nautical-themed books but here we are. (See what I did there?) Anyway, it's set in the 1950s and is a story about an 11 year old boy sent aboard a ship crossing the Indian Ocean completely alone. The book describes his unlikely friendships with other passengers, contains a few mysteries and a whole lot of interesting characters and stunning settings and descriptions. It's a really cool little book. I definitely recommend it.
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Listening to:
Atoms For Peace, Thom Yorke's new band.
I like the little rat at the bottom right.
Their new album Amok sounds, in my undiscerning ears, just like Radiohead but with more electronic sounds. I've adopted it as my official bus reading soundtrack; it's happy but still drowns out the din.
A while ago I also downloaded a few bands off a list I saw online of Kurt Cobain's favorite bands, and Beat Happening is on there. They're so bad they're good. For example, this cute song:
And I have to say this is my favorite song right now.
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Dreaming about:
I'm not meaning to harp on it but I can't stop imagining what would happen if I won a place in that blog exchange. It's fun to fantasize about. I think out of anywhere I'd most like to go to Berlin, but seriously I'd be stoked about going anywhere. I used to be a card-carrying member of Hostelling International and completely trust their judgement on what 'fun activities' they would send us out to do.
In just one week I was bumped from 27th place to 94th in the top 100 . If you haven't voted for me yet I would really really really appreciate your help. /begging
Oh and I literally dreamed that the moon exploded and the world was about to end. My thought, just before the moon fragments hit the earth, was "Oh well, nothing I can do about it now." and I calmly accepted my fate, staring at the sky from a car window.
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Working on:
I tried writing out the (true) story of my sister and I in Tepoztlan, Mexico last week. I put a couple good hours into it, but the more details I remembered of the trip the more I question myself. Why was each of these scenarios so confusing? Why didn't I take the time to learn about the place we had gone? We were there for a month, what was the sister's name? (Aurelia, I just remembered.) Why did I feel it was such a bad weird trip? These people shuttled us around to some amazing places.
I found myself so disappointed in the 22 year old me I was writing about that I had to stop. So I think either the plan is to change some key details for the finished product, or find a way to write it from the perspective of the girl I was, rather than by me looking back nearly ten years later. It is a funny story, I swear. If only I can get it right.
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New tattoos:
Ryan has been chipping away at his backpiece (by Colin Wiley, the same guy who tattooed my chest) for a couple years now, and there is finally an end in sight. He still has more dragon scales to fix (there's a cover up in there), a lot of background to do and (sigh) his entire left butt-cheek needs a lot of work. But other than that ... well check it out! It's getting there. Not that you can tell anything by this blurry-ass photo.
I also got a tattoo just yesterday, from my friend Kyle Carter. Sidenote on this guy, he gets so many friend requests on Facebook per day recently he gives up accepting them before he can get through them all. It's ridiculous. Ah, popularity. What must that be like?
Anyway back to me, I was inspired by an instagram post Rochelle made about the USA's WWII Ghost Army. You've probably heard of them before. They were basically a bunch of artists who were recruited to create illusions (such as creating inflatable tanks, acting in various settings, creating illusions of large convoys and all kinds of creative endeavors) to fool the Germans into thinking they were surrounded or outnumbered. They were awesome. There's actually a documentary about them that broadcasts in May on PBS, so keep your eyes open for that.
Their logo is just too cool. Because I didn't exactly want a US Army tattoo, cool ghost or not, I asked Kyle to trade out the lightning bolts for blood drops. Now I can say he's "a blood-summoning ghost" if anyone asks.
It's just a tiny little space filler but I really love it.
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And that's about it for me. What's new with you?
