Acid Rain


It never stopped raining.  The acidity could be tasted in the air, a corrosive odor that stung the nostrils and burned any throat that inhaled it.  Smiling faces on television, paid of course, claimed the phenomenon as no substantial threat and that everything was under control, urging families to stay indoors until the stormed passed.

Centuries upon centuries of neglect ensured that it never would. 

As acid rain riddled holes into thin rooftops the public grew wary of faces on screens reiterating the same message.

  “Everything is under control… stay inside… no reason to worry.”

The occasional riot would erupt in various locations, the majority raging in America.  Sulfur tainted clouds grew thicker and darker, settling over the earth like a suffocated blanket.  Attempts were made to purge the single, massive entity hovering above the earth but all endeavors proved futile. 

Government order practically evaporated.  Once great cities fell to ruin, the structures that were once revered eaten away by poison water.

            It’s been raining for thirty-two years.

My Definition Trumps Yours

To my friends:

You're the tupperware to my leftovers,
The shoes on my feet.
You're the clean patch on my Spring snow slush,
And the elbow for my sneezes.
You're the music in my elevator
(It relieves the expectation to make conversation)
You're the steroid shot for my poison oak rash,
So thanks for hypothetically scratching my back.
In short:
You're my buddy.




Peach

It's Autumn, so it's time to bust out my peachy playlist.

Peach
1. Alias - Well Water Black
2. Analecta - And Your Very Flesh Shall Be a Great Poem
3. Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles)
4. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
5. Beach House - 10 Mile Stereo
6. Beach House - Take Care
7. Bon Iver - Michicant
8. Bright Eyes - Lover I Don't Have to Love
9. Campbell The Band - Quickly Growing Old
10. Explosions in the Sky - Where Do You Go Home To?
11. The Goo Goo Dolls - Here Is Gone
12. Good Old War - That's Some Dream
13. Imogen Heap - Canvas 
14. Jon Foreman - Southbound Train
15. Jónsi - Go Do
16. Jónsi - Tornado
17. Just Jack - Starz In Their Eyes
18. Little People - Start Shootin'
19. Moby - Flying Foxes
20. The Republic Tigers - Buildings & Mountains
21. The Shins - Caring Is Creepy
22. The Shins - Your Algebra
23. Sia - Somewhere We'll Be Found
24. Sigur Rós - Hoppipolla
25. Sufjan Stevens - The Dress Looks Nice On You

Bring Us An End to Summer


It’s cold, and we slip our lithe arms into noisy sweaters and our chilled feet slide perfectly into those long-forgotten pair of boots as if meeting an old friend after a great expanse of time.  Layers upon layers of cloths separate us from others around us, but we don’t mind the distance, because it gives us a chance for warmer greetings and heartfelt handshakes.  




I Sure Hope You're Doing Something Productive!

Proving I'm a dork with September's first blog update.



I get stressed out.  
So I make lists. 
 Some of them are very helpful,
 Some of them turn out like this.


In no particular order, a list of the Anime I've seen or am in the process of watching and a few of my naïve opinions about them.

Anime

~ Pokemon
Well, duh.  Everyone watched this.  

~ Digimon Adventures
I went through the series about three times on Cartoon Network.  Thank you re-runs.

~ Fullmetal Alchemist
The first major Anime I ever watched, and loved.  It remains to be my favorite series.

~ Fullmetal Alchemist:  Brotherhood
This was like eating a candy-bar, becoming sad because the candy-bar was gone, then finding another one under the seat cushion. 

~ Inuyasha
Kind of stupid, but entertaining nonetheless.

~ Samurai Champloo
Who knew Samurais could beatbox?

~ Trigun
Classic = The Best 

~ Cowboy Bebop
Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV
Need I say more?  

~ Death Note
In the Manga, Ryuk laughs like this:  "Hyuk, Hyuk, Hyuk."

~ Naruto
It's a good series if you skip the fillers and watch it subbed.  I like Pakkun.

~ Naruto Shippuden
Like Naruto, but taller.  I still like Pakkun.

~ Natsume Yuujinchou
Reminds me a lot of Spirited Away, so naturally I love it.

~ Blue Exorcist
Still in it's baby steps as an anime, but so far it has not disappointed.  Yeah, it's a bit dark, but I think it's worth it.

~ D.Gray Man
I lovelovelovelovelovelovelovelovelove this series.  It's mucho bueno.

~ Afro Samurai
-Explosion of expletives and blood-

~ Wolf's Rain
Yeah.  I went through a hardcore wolf phase.

~ Deadman Wonderland
Sad.  Violent.  Addictive.

~ Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles
Manga's better, but it's still worth it because of Fai D. Fluorite. :D




There are so many more, but these are the ones that have stuck with me.  I prefer to read Manga rather than watch the Anime, but still.  There's something thrilling about seeing your favorite Manga moving.

There's your major dose of nerd from me.


SEE YOU SPACE COWBOY...


The Bed Is On The South Side of The Room


"I don't use drugs, my dreams are frightening enough."
M.C Escher

I've been dreaming a lot recently.  

It's like a chain at night, one leading to the next that eventually fades into another.  I don't what sparked this sudden midnight movement; possibly how much I just lay and think before drifting off.  Or maybe it's the music I listen to before going to bed.  My prime suspect is the Summer Ho-hum.

I usually don't mind dreams.  They give me the inspiration to climb out from the deadly wedge of writer's block, but with so many dreams a night I find myself getting confused a lot.  I almost called a friend at three in the morning to ask them to give me my wallet back because of a dream.

Over the past two weeks I've dreamt about the apocalypse, ghosts, an underground city, a maze, and even Anime.  They're so strange, and I wonder why they are that way.  I've heard a lot of people talk about their dreams, and they sound normal.  None of mine have ever made sense.  Some are so vivid everything's in neon, while others are blurry as if I fell asleep with glasses on.  I usually dream in the omniscient point of view, but it's not uncommon for it to suddenly switch into first.  Completely irrelevant people will show up, then disappear.

If God's trying to speak to me through my dreams, I'm not getting the message.


Can You Dig It?

A few of my favorite 70's Jive

Bogue
An unrealistic or offensive idea
"That's so bogue, man..."

Far Out
Cool
"You are far out, man..."

To The Max!
The best it can be
"Take it to the max, man..."

Catch You On The Flip-side
See you later
"I'll catch you on the flip-side, man.."

Cheese-Eater
A suck-up
"Grady's such a cheese-eater, man..."

Chill
Relax
"You got to chill, man..."

Feel Tha Funk
Get down wit da boogie
"Feel tha funk, man..."

Ace
Groovy person
"You're such an ace, man..."

Bad
Good
"That is one bad shirt, man..."

Squirt
Cool 
"That's so squirt, man..."

Ponder. Ponder.

Our vision is muddled and disoriented; accumulating everything into a mass and then painting people with the wrong colors.  If we could recognize personalities as two separate units and then color those units, what would they be like?  Now, I understand that human morality and integrity have an array of branches, but, let me, if only for a moment, simplify everything.  Integrity and selflessness are white, while ignorance and selfishness are black.  If such an image is possible, than what are the shades of those around you?  Everyone I see now is gray.  They had been white before.  How did this happen?

When I first meet someone I have the fault of always giving them the benefit of the doubt.  This is how I've been for a very long time and I don't believe it will ever change.  I treat them like an empty canvas, acting kindly, introducing myself, and pretending to be a friend.  Slowly or abruptly, the other person's color will be corrupted with black from my own personal judgment or their actions around me.  The black will never be washed away, only added to.  God's grace is the only thing that can clear my eyes to the beautiful personalities around me.  I need to wash a lot of gray canvases.

Jesus gave it all
All to Him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow

Kiwi

So, I'm hanging out with some of my cool beans friends tonight, so I made this squirt playlist.  I suggest you listen to these songs with the volume cranked and the car windows down.

Dancing is a must.

Kiwi

1. The Black And White Years - Up!
2. Cee Lo Green - Forget You
3. Deadmau5 - Ghosts 'n' Stuff
4. Friendly Fires - Skeleton Boy
5. Katy Perry - E.T (feat. Kanye West)
6. La Roux - In For The Kill
7. Mike Posner - Please Don't Go
8. Neon Trees - Animal
9. Paper Tongues - Higher
10. Passion Pit - Sleepyhead
11. Sam Sparro - Black & Gold
12. Shiny Toy Guns - Major Tom
13. Spinnerette - Baptized By Fire
14. Two Door Cinema Club - Something Good Can Work
15. White Town - Your Woman


Of Sunny Days and Peanut Allergies

Are you aware that March 4th is the only day of the year that gives you a command?

Think about it.

But I digress, quite aware that we're further into March than the aforementioned date.  Missouri is breaking free from Winter and just a few days ago it was warm enough to comfortably wear shorts and a tanktop.  I was out of my uniform only minutes after the last bell of the school day and dancing around outside barefoot with a few good friends, completely ecstatic at the wonderful weather.  For the rest of the evening a friend and I drove around town with the windows down, playing dance music obnoxiously loud.  It was a breath of fresh air, like we were finally free to do more than sit inside all day and wait for the snow to go away.  I hate Winters in the Midwest, they always last too long in my opinion and they make me feel trapped. In a way, when the weather warms up so do my moods.  It's funny how cold, gray days can make a dreary and antisocial person out of me.

So, with all of the lovely occurances this week has brought I guess you could reason that life has been fairly good to me.

Wrong.

Tragedy scraped its black hands across my life last night.  It brought me to the realization that

I...

Am allergic to Nutella......

Curse thee peanut allergies!  Curse thee!

I almost cried when I saw rashes on my arms. 

Suppose it's time I find another spread to obssess over.

Liminality (Two)


Another snippet from my developing story.  Enjoy, and no sticky fingers or I'll send my hounds after you.


------------------------------


  "Good morning."  Fingers of light crept behind his closed eyelids, prying them open to reveal a blurry face peering back into his, an overenthusiastic smile plastered on it cheaply.  Dark brown eyes stared at him curiously, a hand tightly gripping his shoulder to cause the discomfort that had wakened him.  He pulled his head up from the ground slowly.  The tangy taste of salt permeated his mouth and sand gripped onto his face and hair, grating against his teeth as he worked his jaw.  "At least, I think it's morning."  The silhouette's voice was masculine and simple, the tone you would hear in daily conversations, but it was still foreign to the drowsy boy.  The hand moved from his shoulder to brush the sandy bangs from his forehead, fingers frigid against his already cold skin.  When he opened his mouth to protest the touch only air slipped past his lips, as if his vocal cords had been burnt away. 

  Water, breathing water, was lapping at his feet, dragging its way across his legs and lower torso.  The gray light that had opened his eyes was streaming out from behind a thick layer of dark storm clouds that shed their liquid burden across the desolate beach.  The touch against his forehead dissipated and he relaxed into the ground, hand curling around the sand to mold a handful of the substance beneath his raw fingers.  The drowsy boy closed his eyelids.







Ego

I

Tend to live in my head

Really like Nutella

Prefer to be barefoot

Like smiling

Am allergic to cashews

Never finish a story

Try to be positive

Always wear hemp bracelets

Laugh a lot

Tend to be really loud

Wear Converse that are falling apart

Am not gorgeous

Am not ugly

Am a Child of God

And proud.


Indie-Freak



Let me start by saying that my transition into Indie was not a recent one but rather a very gradual movement I've been making over the past few years.  I was never really raised mainstream child, but I wasn't raised Indie either.  I didn't care what I listened to as long as it wasn't country and I didn't care what movies I watched as long as they weren't chick-fliks.  I just cruised along in my own little boat of homeschooling completely unaware of any peer pressure for the first twelve years of my life.  Sure, my loud personality was (and still is) easily defined but I never had a preference in movies or music. I just didn't care.

My first dip into Indie began after I started caring about what I listened to and watched.  I didn't like most of what was being played on the radio anymore because it was all so redundant and honestly, kind of shallow.  I didn't like most of the movies I watched because I'd seen it all before.  It was like the copy-cat had a litter of copy-kittens and they were now running my generation.  I'd seen the "mainstream" world, and I didn't like it.  Being an individual means being different, a solitary personality that is truly defined your own by what you like, what you do, and what you live for.  I didn't like mainstream, so I didn't listen to it and peer pressure never changed my mind.

Indie : Independent

Independent, not a follower.  The indie band does it because they love it.  The indie filmmaker does it because it's they're passion.  They want to be defined as someone who tried something different.  Sounds like how I've always wanted to be defined.

Plus, you have to respect a person who can make something amazing out of so little.  Think about it.  When a Hollywood film is being made and they come across an issue they throw money at it.  When an Indie film is being made and they come across an issue, they have to find a way around it, which forces creativity and doing something new and different.  Sometimes that creativity can bomb, and other times that creativity is the indie filmmakers best friend.

If this rant was inspired because Sundance is in the air, I don't know.  Indie is not for everyone, even I haven't made the full transition.  But it is something different, and I like that.

Liminality

This is just a small excerpt from a story of mine I'm planning on converting into a script-format.  It's unfinished (obviously) but I'd thought I'd share the prologue.

--

Fingers curled in apprehension.  Lips pulled pin straight and eyes half-lidded, drowsy almost.  Fourteen centuries with your legs crossed and no one to speak to, look to, listen to.  You perched yourself on a hilltop and said you would never come down, who knew that we would forget about you.  On my sixteenth birthday you became conscious and watched from that hilltop.  Every day, observing the world.  You wanted it, so you decided to make one for yourself.  In that fine line between life and unconsciousness you created Liminality, became it.  When I turned twenty-three you snatched me up, told me your name, then cast me into your empty world.  I had to create this place from scratch, buildings, mountains, forests, and an ocean that expands for a lifetime.  You didn't think I could do it, but yet you took more people, snatching them away in their sleep.  You filled this stagnant hole in your being; filled this place then shut the door.

We can't go back, so this is home now.  The cities, projects I could never finish, slowly fell apart.  The ocean turned black and the sky melted, pouring down acid rain.  Clouds, coal gray, covered the white sun from our view; drenching us in a permanent gray twilight.  The ocean lapped at the shores with its viscous liquid, strewing the bones of animals that could not survive it across our shores.  The buildings I had been so proud of were now dilapidated and useless and the mountains became the home for the monstrosities of Liminality, so we left them alone.  I was thirty-seven when I died.  Died alone.  I held onto the belief that this place could be fixed, and I grasp it even now in death.  Those stuck here have lost hope, but I still haven't.  I refuse to admit that you won.

Seasonal Playlists

How often do you listen to music?  If you're anything like me pretty much every day.  Seymour, my iPod and best friend has been in my pocket for the past few hours on shuffle and seldom am I content with the music he plays but today I suppose he's in a good mood, like me.  I realized after a few songs that most of my playlists are seasonal.  For example:  I always listen to Coldplay and Death Cab for Cutie when it's raining (Spring mostly).  I don't know why, but if water isn't falling from the sky in some form of precipitation I just don't really appreciate those bands.  I can listen to them, but I don't pay attention to the words, ya' know?

It's a beautiful Winter's day today, one of the warmer ones that come before spring and I'm on my bed listening to Jónsi, an artist I prefer listening to in Winter and Spring rather than Summer and Fall.  I get nostalgic over a lot of things such as weather, smells, and places but I think music is really what makes me reminiscent about past good times and that's why I prefer to listen to it during certain seasons.


In an awfully cliche way, good music makes good memories.