It was pretty good.

Akemi and I ate it while watching MOON, which was also pretty good. It started off a bit shaky, as if they were going for some cheesy mid-2000s technology-horror vibe (think The Ring), but it quickly straightened out into a thoughtful and entertaining journey to the center of the human condition. The feel good event of the summer. Okay, that was phony, but I swear I really liked the film. A guy stranded in space with a robot — what’s not to like? If you squint hard enough, one of his meals even looks like pizza. I am going to be writing a short science-fiction story before the summer is through, and it will deal with some similar topics. I won’t offer any spoilers for either the film or my little deal, but of course, like most interesting things, they both discuss death and stuff. (In a poetic way, not like some cheesy horror movie or something.)

I just read this very good interview with Jim from Pennywise, who recently left that band after about 20 years to start a new one. He seems to be right there with everyone who criticized Pennywise for sounding the same for so long, but his words suggest a problem that artists face once they find something that people like. Being successful is fun (probably), so do you try to recreate the magic you’ve just found? Or do you continue to push forward toward something else? There’s no shame in being comfortable; some of the best artists find a style and stick with it, using their career to explore the limits of their “voice.” In fact, if these Limited Edition prints sell out, I’ll happily go sand all the paint off of another car as soon as I can. But until then, I’m going to give that sci-fi story a shot.

I think it’s best to stay busy, experimental, and open. I know for my work that even though the forms may range widely, it’s pretty clear it’s all coming from the same place (my brain). Same thing goes for my pal Joe Winter, who was a grad student at UCSD while I was an undergrad. Everything he does is “different,” but completely traceable from one work to the next. And completely awesome.

I’ve been talking so much about my car and stuff lately that I haven’t really gone in to much detail about the food I’ve been eating. Yesterday there was basically nothing in our fridge but I still managed to make a passable dinner:

Desolation Bowl ingredients list:

-rice
-deli sliced turkey
-spinach
-tomatoes
-soy sauce
-hot sauce
-salt
-pepper

Cook the rice, fry the other stuff, mix together. Have a few bites and then decide that the little bit of cheddar cheese left in the fridge couldn’t hurt. Grate it on top, stir, and eat.

So today I went to the grocery store and came home with $156 of food, some of it particularly odd. I was starving when I got there, which is always a scary thing to do. Why? Because your receipt ends up with things on it like prune juice, Tuna Helper, and four frozen pizzas. Looking forward to the day when I have to scour the fridge for whatever’s left from this trip…

What is the deal with toasted sandwiches? Somewhere along the line I started believing that one could not make a truly great sandwich without first toasting the bread. Now, at my current domicile, we have not a toasting device and I have fallen back in love with plain old bread. Not to say each approach hasn’t its merits, but I think right now, where I’m at with my life, un-toasted is it, boys.

Why Not Toast:
-quicker
-no mouth-roof scratches
-more consistent textural experience (unless it’s a cracker sandwich)
-fewer carcinogens

Why Toast:
-structurally sound sandwich design
-more rigid condiment spreading area
-warm is always nice

I went to bed at 4am last night after a productive evening. No big deal, I don’t have work today. But one important thing to note is that when you stay up until 4am, you probably have gone about 8 hours since your last substantial meal. And for me, that is an eternity. Of course, it’s also hard to justify grilling up some cheese at such an hour when you have sleeping roommates and also no desire to walk downstairs, let alone prepare a snack. As a general rule, when staying up that late, I go to bed hungry.

And dream about food, all night long. Last night was particularly glorious, as I found myself the proud owner of two massive San Diego taco shop burritos. Just full of everything greasy and delicious that you can fit into a tortilla the size of a pizza. In my dream, I ate one of these burritos and then — seriously — cuddled up and fell asleep with the other burrito in my arms. Its warmth and aroma kept me safe and happy all night. It was like home.

Today I woke up cold and alone. When consciousness returned, I felt momentary excitement, thinking I had a burrito in the fridge waiting for me. Instead I sit chewing on bitter defeat, also known as peanut butter and jelly.

Today I did a bunch of stuff, including eating food and walking around. I took my car in for an oil change and general inspection, which turned out pretty well. There are only about $500 worth of “recommended repairs” that I had to ignore this time. I found this portion of the inspection sheet to be particularly amusing:

I just wonder how much the mechanic was chuckling when we was circling “Y” for those items. At least there was no Y/N field for “Power Windows Broken,” “Power Lock on Driver’s Side Faulty,” “Volume Control on Stereo Malfunctioning,” and, my favorite, “Idiot Driver Who Thinks He’s Going to Make it to Chicago in This Thing.” Also, my car actually has a manual transmission. Seems that in all his detailed inspection of my car’s shortcomings, Jose missed that.

proof that the above was not a racist comment

I started writing another song, too, while I waited; I might call this one “Downtime”:

look to sky
think of god
where is he?
war is nigh
pizza’s cold
fight or flee

sun shines dark
night looms in
shadows cast
tossed and turned
bad dreams live
day has passed

gallows hang
wait for man
robot death
horizon
moon is bright
air is fresh

———————————

I’m home for a short visit this weekend. There are two senses I use most when I am up here in Martinez: taste (for eating) and sight (for television) and yesterday was no different. WARNING: This is one of those posts that you should only read if you are totally bored.

Sights and Tastes of March 5, 2009 in the East Bay:
-Lots of imitation Cheez-ITs from Trader Joe’s upon landing in Oakland.
-Grandma’s 90th birthday lunch at the Claremont Hotel in Berkeley. I ate a bowl of carrot ginger soup (tasted like carrots), half of my grandma’s crab/shrimp croissant sandwich (tasted like tuna), and a huge Cobb salad with chicken (tasted like chicken).
-I also used my vision to look at the lovely view out west of the SF Bay.
-I used it again on a non-TV viewing experience as we took a drive up through Tilden Park to “Inspiration Point,” which got me pretty excited to take a nap. It was very pretty and peaceful up there.
-Napped in the car and again at Grandma’s house.
-Woke up for more eating — snacked on some fake Cheez-ITs en route to Captain Blyther’s in Benicia where I ate some clam chowder, two crab cakes, and garlic mashed potatoes.
-Got home, changed in to pajamas and watched a bunch of shit on TV while eating Corn Pops and more fake cheese crackers. Fell asleep feeling totally fat and awesome.

Letterman last night was pretty good — Top Ten reasons to watch the World Baseball Classic, “which is open to all nations/territories of the world; not to be confused with the Fall Classic, also known as the World Series, which is only open to teams in North America.”

His guest for the night was TV’s Jon Stewart, who was funny. Luckily he was a 2-segment guest because the entire first half of the interview was one of those lame “let’s talk about our kids” sessions I hate so much. Jon and Dave are funny enough to make it interesting, but I was happy to hear them talk about hosting the Oscars (“deep down people like us think it’s kinda stupid, which is why we aren’t good hosts”) and other stuff that isn’t as boring as how smart their damn kids are and how fast they grow up. If I wanted to do that, I’d go out to dinner with my family, which I already did that night.

It was a good day.

Today I have eaten a foot-long Italian B.M.T. (that stands for Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit, not Buncha Meat is Tasty — remember, it’s Subway, get it?) and a bag of Sun Chips. I just listened to the first 35 minutes of “Dark Side of the Brain” and tonight I will eat a burrito and go see Watchmen. Home Sweet Home!

UPDATE: I just took a nap and will be eating pizza instead of a burrito.