saturday, march 30, 2008 6:56 PM CST

chateau west, frontenac
west dundee, illinois   

It's been a while. I've been sort of busy trying to ressurect obviate from the ground up. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about this site, though.

I've become really inspired by a paraphrase of a Mike Watt quote that I read in the booklet for We Jam Econo, a fantastic documentary on the Minutemen - a fantastic band who's career got cut way too short in the 80's. Anyways, these words just stood out on the page.

"....That D. Boon's bassist and best friend, Mike Watt, still plays bass, writes music, and tours the country in a Ford Econoline van; and that Mike Watt ends his gigs with the exhortation to "start your own band, paint your own picture, write your own book"--twenty years after his friend's death broke his heart--and that Mike Watt continues to champion this D.I.Y. punk philosophy while many other punks have burnt out, grown soft, or given up; and that Mike Watt (I imagine) perseveres in part to honor his brilliant friend's brief life and the possibilities bequeathed to future musicians, artists, activists, punks and outsiders--is one of the greatest American success stories of all time."

I am going to remember that with any project I work on going forward. I came to the realization long ago that I'm not going to get a lot of help with these projects going forward, so it's all up to me.

That's all I've got for today. Just don't sit on your ass and watch the days go by. Use your time for doing something useful or creative. Leave a mark.

wednesday, march 12, 2008 8:31 PM CST

lake shore drive, lakeview/wrigleyville
chicago, illinois   

"Jim" by Jamie Lidell is a classic soul record at heart. It's eons ahead of his last record, "Multiply"..That's all I really know about him. His voice is unapologetically white, but it's so.. new, and fresh.. and weird. I don't know. I love the disc. It's great.

Didn't think I had any homework tonight, but turns out I had this little industry news thing to do. Got it done.. Gonna wait a little bit to watch a little of Human Giant.

I have been half assedly trying to lose a bit of poundage, so I got skinny cow ice cream bars instead of the real thing. They are good. Not too fattening. Weight is a constant issue in my life.

I gotsta get paid. I love Do The Right Thing.

How about that Eliot Spitzer?

RSS or not? How about a little CSS? You tell me.

Alright, I'm gonna continue watching SportsCenter on repeat and listen to this record.

sunday, march 9, 2008 10:58 PM CST

chateau west, frontenac
west dundee, illinois   

Been a month. Slight facelift. Sorry, been busy. Not doing much, just trying to get through hell winter. Saw DBT's on Feb 28. Pretty cool. Felice Brothers.. not bad either. Bon Iver is key. New Jamie Lidell is good too. Hold Steady on April 11. I can't wait. Will be a good release. I'm trying to get through school right now, which is always a challenge. I never have money when I'm at school. Kinda sucks. We'll see what happens. Kinda tired and daylight savings time is starting again. I hate it. It disrupts my flow. Give me something to do? Please? Okay. Maybe. Still need to see Mountain Goats. Fiddling with iPhone quite a bit lately. I wish I had a plan for it. Eh.

Favorite jam right now.. "Beat Control" by Tilly and the Wall. Check it out.

sunday, february 10, 2008 10:58 PM CST

chateau west, frontenac
west dundee, illinois   

How do you stay honest with yourself? I'm not really sure. I'm spending most of my time trying to figure that out. I'm unhappy about everything - the way I feel about myself - both mentally and physically, and all the things going on around me. How do I become a better person? Why am I having such a hard time putting all the pieces together? Why can't I just be satisfied? Excuse me for the emo-bullshit ranting, but I need to do it. I'm kind of losing it, I think. It's sad and it's strange I just don't know how to fix any of it. I'm out of gas. Out of creativity. Out of it all. I think the right word for it is:

despondent |diˈspändənt|
adjective
in low spirits from loss of hope or courage.

Of course, it's my nature to retain a bit of optimism, so I'm sure I'll get out of it. Fucking winter.

Drive-By Truckers in MILW on February 28. Any takers?

monday, february 4, 2008 12:00 AM CST

lake shore drive, lakeview/wrigleyville
chicago, illinois   

The semester's started, and now I'm finally feeling that things are in the right place (school wise). I was in spot where things were really shaky for a while, but that's over. I think it helps that I've staggered my days off and my work days, so everything's pretty evenly spaced out now. Having two jobs has made little purchases much more affordable. I'm trying to spend my money on things that are going to improve my quality of life instead of blowing it all on food. I'm still buying a lot of food - don't get me wrong - but I think I'm a little more careful. I think I'm controlling my spending a little more now, and that helps - especially now that I have bills to pay. Springtime needs to get here a little sooner. This seasonal depression shit is starting to get really annoying. Springtime will surely bring out tour dates for at least three of the four of these bands,...

Bands I Still Need to See Live

Radiohead

Drive By Truckers

The Mountain Goats

White Stripes

tuesday, january 22, 2008 9:20 PM CST

state street, university center
chicago, illinois   

Heath Ledger died today. It's shocking when someone that young dies - well, you hear that every time something like this happens. With an actor of that caliber, it's even more shocking. I still cant believe it. There is something I feel eerily similar to his death and that of John Lennon's. Perhaps it's that they both died in New York City and considerable media presence outside of where their residences. It's a dark day in Hollywood and I wonder how this is going to affect "The Dark Knight", due July 18th.

In Other news, here's some cool stuff I found on the sidewalk in Wicker Park yesterday.

sunday, january 20, 2008 1:15 AM CST

chateau west, frontenac
west dundee, illinois   

I've let myself down. I really worked hard to reach a particular physical goal, and I kind of let go of it after a while, and now I feel really digusting. I need to find a catalyst to get out of this rut I'm in right now. I think it's time to leave town again. Hopefully we can throw this Toronto thing together - that would be really cool. I have to work early tomorrow and I think I should probably go to bed, but I started to feel bad that I didn't update this thing in the past couple of days. I've gotten some new music lately, so that's good. It's all kind of wintery, slushy stuff though. Not time for springtime music just yet. Okay. Time to wrap it up and back to the Chi tomorrow.

tuesday, january 15, 2008 4:06 PM CST

lake shore drive, lakeview/wrigleyville
chicago, illinois   

Came back downtown yesterday. Got bored at home. Big Apple product introductions today. MacBook Air, Time Capsule, Apple TV, iPhone and iPod touch updates. Did the iPhone update. Can customize the home screen. Kinda cool, but I like all my stuff where it is. I'm weird like that. I want to watch a movie but I cannot find either of my remotes. I'm thinking they are either in the car or at home. Bah.

Wait...there's a TV in the other room.

monday, january 14, 2008 2:20 PM CST

chateau west, frontenac
west dundee, illinois   

How do I write anything here without sounding incredibly dramatic? I don't know if it's at all possible. I'm sort of frustrated about how I've been writing. I'm out of practice and very lazy. My trip did a lot to kind of restore my spirit - but i think I'm still a little bitter about - well, just about everything. I usually try to follow a sentence like that with something positive, but I'm not going to this time. On the car ride home from work last night, I was listening to Animal Collective, and felt this deep emotional connection with the album. I can barely process what they are singing about, but the way the vocal meshed with the instrumentation really got to me.

It's good to feel like that.

thursday, january 10, 2008 10:54 AM EST

strawberry fields, central park
new york city, new york   

I am at Strawberry Fields in Central Park right now, next to the Dakota building. Finally, I get to write in a place i've wanted for so long. There are some hippie types here that have been playing since I got here. Music is playing, people are reflecting. It's a pleasant environment. Even Adam is somewhat serene. There's a really delicate flower pattern on the Lennon mosaic. This guy here calls himself the "Mayor of Strawberry Fields" and says he has been doing this on and off for fourteen years, and steady for the past five. It's really nice. Pleasant place to be. I like this city a lot. It's nice, but I don't know how comfy I'd be to live here. This dude is giving his speech again. He kicks ass. He just told everyone "Welcome to the Jungle". I am infinitely greatful I got to come here and hope to again sometime soon.