Flippy - I Rant, You Read
Friday, June 29, 2007
My Writing Skills Are Rusty. My Reading Skills Are Not.
Here, go read this website. I promise you will enjoy it. It’s short. It’s creative. It’ll make you want to buy Miranda July’s book. Promise. I haven’t read it yet, but I will. Soon. I wish we had a library nearby. But no, our lovely citizens voted against putting a grand library in our amazing new, biggest of the city, bitchin’ new park. However, a couple of years later, the illiterates were overruled by the teeming masses - the city government. Thankfully. Phew. Duh, what morons vote against a library? Anyway, it won’t be done for years and years. Heck, our part of town doesn’t even have a bookstore. Was there a vote on bookstores too, and no one told me? The world would be a better place if more people spent some time alone, reading. Thinking. Books are good. Television is good, but books are quiet and peaceful good. Solitary, but with someone else good. Reading is FUN-da-mental. RIF.org - they still exist, even though I’m not sure anyone remembers “Reading is fundamental”, except for people over 40.
Next entry: Bush Is Such A Scumbag Previous entry: Idiot of the Day - Isaiah Washington
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I think you nailed it exactly. Only morons vote against libraries
(I just watched You and Me and Everyone We Know a few weeks ago and started getting into Miranda July. She’s pretty awesome)
Jack\'s Raging Mommy on 06/29 at 06:58 PM -
Dude! Amanda Palmer wrote about you on her blog! Well, she answered a question of yours, but still!
Jack's Raging Mommy on 06/29 at 07:07 PM -
Dude! What did she write? I’m behind on my blog reading these days and haven’t been back to Amanda’s blog since a few days after the concert here. I’d been reading her blog from the beginning, which was kind of cool, because it was watching someone’s career trajectory in progress. Plus, I like her honesty. She’s got that Rosie O’Donnell, screw ‘em if they don’t like the real me attitude about her blog. Although, Rosie hasn’t always been this publicly honest. We had a heart-to-heart about that once in IMs. I think I may have been a tad unfair, but I’ve never known the weird show biz pressure they put on people to stay in the closet. When I was closeted, it was only because I was scared to come out to my family, not because I cared what the rest of the world thought. The rest of the world can bite me.
Anyway, back to what I was saying about reading Amanda’s blog - but, then, I started feeling cruddy when my bladder acted up, and I couldn’t sit still as long. It makes it hard to pay attention for more than a few minutes at a time, so I was trying to use those minutes for working. I have, however, been listening to Amanda. Every so often, out of nowhere, one of The Dresden Dolls songs will pop into my head, apropos of nothing. I’m not a lyric rememberer (that’s Leigh-Ann’s forte), but snippets of Backstabber, Coin-Operated Boy, Shores of California pop into my head, kind of haphazardly.
Ah yes, the morons voting against libraries thing. You know, it’s been a couple of years now, and I’m still not over that damned vote. If I’d had any idea that these middle class and upper middle class plus (there are some expensive homes around here) people would not vote for BOOKS, I would’ve been making a fuss about it before the election, when it could’ve done some good. I had no idea how incredibly stupid people could be, that they would vote against educating themselves, their children, their neighbors, etc. Or hell, even if they don’t want to use a library, don’t they think it’s a good idea of one just EXISTS? If I could, I’d buy new books every single day. There’s always something new I want to read, and it’s hard to fathom that other people aren’t like that. For instance, two of my three brothers. My dad. My nieces and nephews. I think I have two nephews who like to read, but one of them even seem to be embarrassed to admit it. The hell? What kind of world is it where someone is embarrassed about reading? RIF, man, RIF. I know you’re a lot younger than I am - do you remember seeing any “Reading is FUNdamental” commercials?
on 06/29 at 07:48 PM -
She was answering questions that people had posed to her, and this was the first one:
#1. Is it really weird to be meeting all those hoards of fans after shows? You and Brian were really nice, but I couldn’t comprehend what that feels like. I thought for a second I stared too long at you and we made eyecontact for a nano second (I think?) and I felt REALLY creepy. Like I looked like the creepy old lady in line.
no. it’s not weird. not weirder than anything else. it feels like what it looks like. imagine having a birthday party every day for an hour and you get an idea. i love when people get all emotional. it makes me feel like i’m doing something right. it makes me a little sad when people feel they have to pre-amble with “i know you hear this a million times a day, but....” or “i don’t want to sound like a creepy stalker fan-boy, but....”. it’s like, you and me, two people talking. you do you think i am? i LOVE THIS SHIT! i also completely relate to being on the other side. when i was around 16, i waited in line to meet edward ka-spel after a legendary pink dots show at axis in boston. my heart was racing like mad and i couldn’t believe i was about to be face to face with the man who had written the soundtrack to my life and who had changed my whole musical mental landscape. i breathed and breathed deeper and rehearsed what i was going to say so i wouldn’t waste his time or sound like an idiot. it was my turn and i looked straight at him and said “i hope that someday i will write music as beautiful as you do.” and he smiled at me and was so kind and human, and talked to me and signed my whatever. and i’ll never forget that interaction, ever. so i give that back every time i meet someone. the only thing that bums me out is when people don’t make eye contact and don’t seem like they actually want a connection. the other day, some guy was actually ON HIS PHONE and just handed his ticket to me and brian for an autograph without stopping to look at us, talk to us, or even say hello to us. we were like, what’s the point, dude?
It doesn’t mention you specifically, but I remember the wording from your post with the pics and you mentioned she’d read it. I’m not mistaken am I?
Jack's Raging Mommy on 06/29 at 08:07 PM -
Actually, now that I think of it, she started by saying “someone” sent her a list of questions, so it might be that they were all you, not just the first one. Did you ask her about being an object of desire and where she gets her confidence too?
Jack's Raging Mommy on 06/29 at 08:24 PM -
No, that wasn’t me. Leigh-Ann and I weren’t in line, and didn’t meet Amanda & Brian. Leigh-Ann did take a picture of two fans posing with Amanda, so that they had a chance of getting a decent picture out of it, since both pictures were being taken with phones. Plus, while I sometimes feel old, it’s not how I would feel in line waiting to meet a band that impressed me. My first gf was a musician (with a number of annoying little groupies), and I generally believe that most musicians would respect someone waiting to see them, no matter what their age, when the person really enjoyed their music. We came out to see them to see what they were wearing, because we couldn’t see their clothes on the stage...and the arena wasn’t using monitors. We saw them, noted that Brian must be a very confident guy to roam around in his underwear, took the picture, then toddled off to the bathroom and to get a pretzel w/ cheese, our favorite arena snack.
I’m shy, and in general, won’t try to meet strangers. We did wait in line to meet Charlotte Martin because we got our cd signed (http://flickr.com/photos/flippyo/21045512/in/set-446373/), and she seemed so sad (she cried) on stage that we felt kind of motherly and wanted to see if she was okay. She was sweet, held Leigh-Ann’s hand, and told her that she was having relationship troubles. And she sniffled a little bit.
on 06/29 at 08:27 PM -
LOL. None of the questions were from me. I asked her about the after-party, and I think that was about it. She answered back the next morning.
on 06/29 at 08:29 PM -
Maybe you don’t have a library but you guys have that really cool bookstore - The Reading Room? The one that’s in the shopping mall between Mandalay Bay and Luxor...it’s small, but I loved having the chance to support the little independent bookseller.
Helly on 06/30 at 07:46 AM -
ohmygod. Las Vegas really is just a giant theme park.
Glad you’re getting the library.laurie on 07/01 at 06:47 AM -
I loved that website! Her sense of humor totally reminded me of you and would have even if I hadn’t followed the link from here. I want to get her book.
Nancy on 07/02 at 05:14 AM
