November 21, 2004

October 22, 2004

  • So Democrats really are smarter… (i stole this from someone)

    Saw this in last week’s “Economist” and found it amusing. The source is “IQ and the Wealth of Nations” by Richard Lynn and Tatu Vanhanen. Take this with a grain of salt of course.

    Here are the top 10 states in the IQ department and how they voted:

    1. Connecticut (113) – G
    2. Massachusetts (111) – G
    2. New Jersey (111) – G
    4. New York (109) – G
    5. Rhode Island (107) – G
    6. Hawaii (106) – G
    7. Maryland (105) – G
    7. New Hampshire (105) – B (the only Bush state up here)
    9. Illinois (104) – G
    10 Delaware (103) – G
    Here are the bottom 10 states in the IQ department and how they voted:
    40. Alabama (90) – B
    40. Louisiana (90) – B
    40. Montana (90) – B
    40. Oklahoma (90) – B
    40. S. Dakota (90) – B
    46. S. Carolina (89) – B
    46. Wyoming (89) – B
    48. Idaho (87) – B
    48. Utah (87) – B
    50. Mississippi (85) – B

September 18, 2004

  • MORE CLEANING OUT SHIT……


     


    I came across something else I wrote….prob around september/october/nov/dec of 2001………


    here it is:


    I was on the bus the other day…and I saw some city workers doing construction work on the raods….and I was thinking to myself, “why the hell are they doing that?” (with the whole anthrax thing and war going on) We might all be dead tomorrow.  I’ve been thinking about death a lot lately, and how it’s a fate that we will all come to.  So…I was thinking about that on the bus that day…and I came to an interesting conclusion.  It’s something we all do.  It’s called “Pretending that we’ll be here tomorrow”….Because, in truth, nobody knows.  For all I know, I might be dead tomorrow.


    I try to live my life well, so that I’d have no regrets, but….it’s hard to live life as if each day were your last….cuz if it were, I know I probably would be doing something different, not like studying for a test….not like I do that anyway…but if it were my last day, I certainly would not be found studying then.  But nobody ever thinks like that.  Everyone assumes that they’ll be here tomorrow.  In some ways, you have no choice.  No choice but to assume that you’ll be here tomorrow.  But one day, you won’t be here.  One day, you will cease to exist as you do today.  Whether or not you believe in heaven or hell, life after death, or any of that stuff…one day you will not occupy the earth.  EVER!  and that fact scares me more than anything.  I don’t know why.  Fear of the unknown maybe.  Fear that I’ll go somewhere else thats going to suck…or worse….fear that I’ll go nowhere.  In other words, fear that this is it.  The end.  The last Hurrah.  Yeah, that scares me.


     


    It was just something I scribbled down on 2 small pieces of paper when I was at my grandmother’s house one night late at night….and was doing some quiet thinking alone……thinking…see, that’s the shit that fucks with your head :)   I read somewhere once that older people who’ve enjoyed their life—they had no regrets, lived their life to the fullest….etc, etc…..they say that they are at peace with death when they know that they are about to die.  I wonder if that’s really true…..

September 17, 2004

  • I recently got a new bed (fullsize baby!) and was cleaning out some old shit to make room for this monstrous piece of sex….aka “where the magic happens” for all you homies that watch Cribs on MTV…..


    anyway, I came across this poem thingy that I wrote in high school….I kinda like it so i’m gonna post it.


     


    It could happen


     


    We could live in a perfect world


    A world with no crime, hunger, or cold.


     


    A world where everyone grew healthy and old


    A world where everyone had a hand to hold.


     


    Imagine a world so great


    A world without anger, a world without hate.


     


    A place full of love, happiness and joy


    Where every little child had a favorite toy.


     


    I imagine this place is far away.


    A place where every person had a say


    Where families were together, home to stay.


     


    Our world today could never be so great


    Because of a terrible word—it’s called fate.


     


    What happens to you, you cannot control


    This means your mind, your body and soul.


     


    People are dying, people go hungry, people are killed.


    In the world today, this is what it is filled.


     


    The world can be good, the world can be great


    But our world has less love, and more hate.


     


    The time to solve our problems is now.


    The only question in my mind is how.


     


    Together anything is possible.


    It could happen.


     

September 11, 2004

  • Matt Nathanson was asked by a college newspaper to write an essay on “How to be cool in your first year of college”……I am only going to post the last paragrah, because I found it to be the most…….cool (for lack of a better word).


    here’s what he said:


    …but i, for one, think that you should focus your energy on more substantial stuff. college is the beginning. a new start. cool is detatched and out of touch. cool is self concious. cool is overrated. it’s up to you to be more than that… be present, be aware, be unhip, be daring and confident and alive. i think that’s the better way to spend your time. for real.


    http://www.mattnathanson.com/journal/index.php


     

September 9, 2004

  • so some girl on hot or not replied to me…..she said i seemed “down to earth”…and asked where i live and how tall i am, cuz she’s tall…5 9″……here’s the letter i sent her:

    Hey Gillian,
     
    how’s it going?  Sorry it took me a while to get back to ya, but I was in a car accident on tues. night and i’ve been kinda occupied w/ things like emergency rooms, car insurance, and oh yeah, my neck and my back….isn’t having a car so much fun!?!??!  to think, i should have been in florida this week, but my flight was canceled (wonderful hurricanes)…so if i was there in FL….well, u get the point…..
     
    down to earth, yes…..but i have to warn you, i’m a little *crazy*…..now, i never said that crazy was a bad thing, in fact, i think it’s good to be a little crazy…….
     
    how tall am i?  uhmmm, i’d say 5 9″  and i live on the border of queens/long island…..i’m in the city a lot, and one of my best friends is gay, so i know exactly where chelsea is  :)
     
    i’m not too big into the whole online thing, i think it’s a waste of time…..if u wanna meet up one day, that’d be cool….oh yeah, email me your # or something……mine is xxx.xxx.xxx….if u happen to call me, (i hate having to tell everyone i give my # this to)…..if u happen to call me, i have a totally obnoxiously loud voicemail (it’s BLASTING) so watch your ears…and it’s not me on the voicemail recording  :)   
     
    OKAY.  so to recap:   I’m:
     
    1. slightly crazy.
    2. not living in chelsea = poor.
    3. have someone else’s voice on my voicemail message = WACKO.
    4. a bad driver.
    5. a wise-ass
     
    #4 is actually the only false one.  i’m an amazing driver…..i just drive a little…..crazy????
     
    if i havn’t scared you away yet….which actually is kind of my intentions….i dont usually tell people this….but i’ll tell you cuz……well, just cuz……but it’s kind of a test…….i like scaring people away……initially at first anyway……..actually NO….nevermind that….i dont like scaring people away, but i like to TRY to scare them away…..sound crazy??  well, anyone who is friends w/ me or who has had feelings for me…….all those people are/were/will be special because they did/can tolerate someone who, honestly, is a bit off of his rocker.  i like it that way though.  and hopefully you do too. :)   so if this email has at all scared you away, then it served it’s purpose, because it will have essentially saved us both time
     
    have fun,
     
    mark
     
    ps.  did i mention that i’m poor?
     
     

September 5, 2004

August 26, 2004



  • When “Before Sunrise” came out in 1995, I was 18 years old and had scant dating experience. The story about two young strangers who meet on a euro-train and spend the night together exploring Vienna was amazing to me. It helped, of course, that Ethan Hawke was exceedingly easy on the eyes. But truly, it was the concept of their love story that kept me thinking about the movie long after it was over.

    Admittedly, I am not much of a chick-flick kind of gal, but I make a big exception for “Before Sunrise.” Driven completely by dialogue, there was something oddly natural and genuine about the way Jesse and Celine’s relationship grew. Unlike most romantic dramas, there was nothing formulaic or planned. The couple does not end up together. There is no happy ending. Nobody dies. Much like “Lost in Translation,” the entire movie is based upon the chance encounter of two strangers and the effect they have on each other.

    I heard recently that a sequel to “Before Sunrise” will soon be out in theaters this summer–“Before Sunset”. I rarely get excited about movies, but this is one that I have been secretly hoping would be made for years. “Before Sunrise” ends in a manner that left me begging for more. What happened? Did they meet up as promised 6 months later?




    “Before Sunset” takes place 9 years after Jesse and Celine met. Again, they have only a brief time together–just one afternoon in Paris–before Jesse has to hop on a plane back to the United States. Set in real time, the movie relies heavily on dialogue to explore the effect of age and maturity on how the characters view life, love, each other.




    “Before Sunrise” forced me to think about the impact that one person can have on you. The possibility that you can forge such a life-changing connection with someone after just mere hours of knowing them. As an 18 year old, I believed such a possibility whole-heartedly. My younger self viewed love as romantic, powerful, and all-defying. But at 27, I’m not sure if I can hold on to such idealized notions of love. I don’t know if I can throw caution to the wind and let myself fall blindly into the warm arms of love–knowing fully that it can’t and won’t last.

    I wonder how the older and, quite possibly, more jaded characters in “Before Sunset” will deal with their second encounter. With the lust of youth fading, will they again get caught up in the moment and let their hearts go? Or will the everyday obligations of family, present relationships, and practicality get in the way?

    “What if you had a second chance with the one that got away?”

     

    —i didn’t write this post, but i liked it, so i’m stealing it 

     

    in case you havn’t seen either movie…they are BOTH supposed to be amazing movies.

     


     


     

August 25, 2004

  • 7 days until Florida


    18 days until Matt Nathanson Rep Party.


    exactly 1 month until…….


    1.     Birmingham, Al


    2.     Atlanta, GA


    3.     St. Louis, MO


    4.     Madison, WI


    5.     Ann Arbor, MI


    6.     Chicago, IL 


    7.     New York (maybe)


    I havn’t worked out the exact details yet…kind of because i’m scared that if I actually sit down and figure out the costs/miles/time driving, etc, etc…..that I’m not gonna want to go anymore……


    oh well.  fuck it.  let’s figure it out.


    1.     16 hours, 10 minutes.  985 miles.  fuck.


    2.     2 hours, 30 minutes.   149 miles.


    3.     8 hours, 55 minutes.   561 miles.  FUCK.


    4.     5 hours, 39 minutes.   368 miles.  FUCK me so hard.


    5.     6 hours, 13 minutes.   391 miles.  god dammit to hell~!!!


    6.     3 hours, 53 minutes.  242 miles. 


    7.     12 hours, 32 minutes.  812 miles.


    does that make any sense!???   We’re gonna drive EAST only to have to go back WEST almost 4 hours BACK towards chicago…..that’s F***ing insane.   let’s get a calculator.


    TOTAL MILES….3500 MILES…….that’s MORE than from NY to california…which is 3000 miles…


    Total time………….56 hours…..put differently, it’s the equivalent of driving 3 hours a day for 18 days.  except i’ll be doing it in approximately………


    that’s approximately 10 days……240 hours……that’s about 25% of my time. (driving)


    Okay….now here’s where i start to have a heart attack.


    $$$$…..let’s say my car get’s 30 miles/gallon…..that’s 117 gallons of gas that i’ll need….let’s assume i’ll be paying 2.10 gallon (i have no clue what it is…i paid 2.29 the other day in NY) ….that’s 250 dollars in gas alone.   alright, now i’m starting to feel the need to vomit.   i’d rather not think about all the other costs……..

August 21, 2004

  • The horoscope to end all horoscopes…


    Okay, so I just got home a few minutes ago, and after making a phone call, getting some milk, getting undressed, kissing my cat Molly, checking email, seeing how much my stock tanked again today, ….yes, in THAT order….I did what I sometimes do before bed (or in the morning)…..yes, I checked my horoscope.  Now, I must say—there have been days in my life when my horoscope is so on target that it’s scary……and yeah, i realize that a horsoscope for a given sign on any particular day could apply to almost any person on the face of the earth………


    that being said, my horoscope today was frighteningly (yes, that’s a real word…I looked it up to make sure) accurate.  It says:


    Even if your feelings, rather than your thoughts, are leading you into action now, there is a down-to-earth practicality to what you need to do. You are ready to make change, but it must be for a good reason. The best justification for anything you do is your own values. If you can say, “I’m doing this because I believe in it” then you are doing exactly what you should be at this time in your life.


    Maybe it’s not so accurate so much as I really like the message behind what it says.


    I wanted to write a lot more, but I got sidetracked by masturbation….was that too much info?      Anyway, it’s past 3 am now…gotta get ready for bed.