NOTICE TO ALL

Never grow up. Being an adult is lame-o.

My parents were here for what seemed like five minutes. I'm consoling myself with the thought that I'll be home in two and a half weeks.

I am currently stalled, devoid of motivation to do anything other than listen to music and print photos. Even the printing thing is a stretch. Please tell me that I'm being ridiculous.

My cats shed more than any cat I've ever had. Also, they poop way too much.

no babies

I went for a run yesterday. I was lying (laying? fuck!) on my bed, listening to Sleater-Kinney, and I thought to myself "this would be so much better if I were moving." So I got dressed, found my running shoes (underneath my skates!), and went for a run through the park. It was sort of raining, which made the stupid heat much easier to deal with, and I really actually enjoyed it.

I also saw Knocked Up last night. I realized a few things--

1. I love Paul Rudd. Also, Seth Rogan. So much.

2. I will see any movie that involves either Paul Rudd and/or Seth Rogan. Or! Even better--a Paul Rudd/Seth Rogan buddy comedy!

3. I still do not want to have babies, ever.

4. Even with Paul Rudd and/or Seth Rogan.


I've decided that I need to play hockey next season. I desperately need to get into shape before the winter, so I guess it's good that I suddenly want to go running.

this week

1. I went out drinking twice; both times were lovely. I went to the Packers bar last night, and it was awesome (obviously).

2. Double or Nothing was pretty amazing. I hate to be all sincere about it, but I haven't been affected by a book like I have by it in awhile. It didn't make me all emotional or anything, but it made me think about what a novel is, what fiction is about, more than anything has in awhile. I guess I'm not supposed to call it experimental; but it pushes the boundaries of what a novel is supposed to be. It doesn't really have a plot, except it sort of does, and it's impossible to tell where the lines are between the author and narrator and protagonist. It is a weird strange awesome book.

3. Next on my reading list: Ficciones, The Plague, Slaughterhouse Five, finishing that other book about Prague that I started in MKE.

4. I'm watching Hearts and Minds, a documentary about the Vietnam War. If I do in fact focus on US History when I go back to grad school, it's going to be a depressing 2-3 years.

5. I'm currently avoiding several responsibilities. I need to deal with them this weekend, but I am (amazingly) not very anxious about it. I will finish things when I can finish them.

6. I went on a bike ride, in New York, on my bike that I fixed BY MYSELF. I am clearly mega-awesome.

OH MY FUCKING HATE

IT IS 4:30 IN THE MORNING; STOP PLAYING YOUR STUPID CAR RADIO AT STUPID FULL VOLUME.

all right then. he stopped, just now. apparently my passive-aggressiveness worked!

mixed bag

The coffee guy gave me free coffee yesterday (AGAIN). I have to assume this means he wants me, right?

After I picked up my free coffee, I went to work, suddenly felt mega sick, and went home. I slept for approximately eleventy million hours, and now I feel much better.

Free coffee! Maybe he'll give me free coffee again today. For future reference, if you ever want to seduce me: give me free coffee, and lots of it. Also! Have an air conditioner.

Double or Nothing is so good, so much better than I was expecting. More details when I finish it.

Everything in my apartment is covered with a thin layer of cat hair. Apparently cats shed? Stupid cats.

disc golf

Let me tell you something about disc golf--I suck ass at disc golf. There was definitely a time when I could throw a frisbee, and that time is not now, because I am terrible at the disc golfing. I did get to spend a lot of time in a sunny, sunny park while figuring out the extent of my terribleness, so at least there's that. (According to Firefox spell check, 'terribleness' is a real word, which doesn't seem right somehow.)

I'm flying back to New York tonight, which is lame times a million. Well, the bars open until 4am, the 24 hour delis, the museums, the beautiful old buildings, the history, the mad amounts of diverse people, the stores, etc, are obviously not lame. But I have to go back to work and back to all the responsibilities that I've been avoiding for the past week, and I'm not really "about" that.

Books purchased and/or borrowed this week:
The Plague - Camus
Ficciones - Jorge Luis Borges
Double or Nothing - Raymond Federman
Commies, Crooks, Gypsies, and Poets - Jan Novak

NOT self-centered

I reread that last thing I wrote, and wow, do I talk about myself a lot or what? Yeah, this is a blog, blah blah blah, shut up! I am not completely self-absorbed, and this blog is not (just) about my endlessly fascinating life.

Anyway! Here's a list of things that are cool.

1. Partisan. Lovely people, lovely music.

2. Milwaukee!!

3. El Topo. So weird, so good.

4. Riverwest!!

5. Sonic Typewriter. Noise band! You know you want it.

6. Dear Astronaut. But you knew that already, right?

6. Riding bikes!

(This is starting to seem a little sad. "I love riding bikes, woo!!!")


Anyway. I rode my bike to the library with Frank and Scott, and I am way more out of shape than I realized, but I made it all the way there AND all the way back. Then I drank a lot of beer, which will definitely help the out of shape thing. That was the night of the Propagandhi show, the awesomeness of which I doubt I could even begin to explain. I twisted my ankle at the show, and I'll just let you believe that it happened while I was slam-dancing or whatever, and not when I tripped five minutes after arriving. The point here is that Propagandhi is awesome, and you should listen to them right now.

(Why do I feel like everyone already knows this? Possibly because I'm generally at least five years behind the times.)

Milwaukee time has not all been fun time, but the non-fun time isn't nearly as interesting or fit for public consumption. Everything happens that's meant to happen, and other boring clichés. I think mostly this visit solidified my love for Milwaukee. I give up. Wooooo!! Milwaukee!!! Everyone care about Milwaukee!!!1!

mmmore milwaukee!!

Sooo yeah, "Milwaukee." Heard of it?

I went to another show last night, after going to an awesome cookout. Boca Burger makes a pretty good vegetarian bratwurst. There was so much good food, and I drank other people's good beer for half the night while I waited for my Hamm's to get cold. Related: Hamm's doesn't exactly taste like piss, but it is so much better when it's cold.

The show was fun; it was at The Pub, which is a weird little bar. The owner told me I could have a job there anytime I wanted after I drank whiskey straight from the bottle (he didn't have a shot glass for me, was the reason for that, I guess). It was Jameson, but he poured it in my mouth, and it felt a little too "Girls Gone Wild" to actually enjoy it. Also, Jeb told me that the owner has a terrible memory, so he probably won't remember that he promised me a job. Moral of the story? Do not let weird bartenders pour liquor in your mouth, even if it is free Jameson.

Seriously though, I drank liquor for the first time in awhile and the second time this year, and it's still a terrible idea. Remind me of that next time we go drinking.

coffee coffee milwaukee!!!

Holy shit, you guys!

Okay, I don't know where to go from there. I'm in Milwaukee, at a non-Starbucks cafe with free wireless, which is not nearly as exciting as where Kira and Max are, but I'm totally okay with that. For reals!

Going to see Propagandhi tonight. I bought tickets before I'd actually heard any of their songs, but I figured Jeb and his friends are going, and I'm all about tagging along with my cousin and his friends, as they are far cooler than me. Plus I figure Jeb has reliably awesome taste in music, so this Propagandhi thing would be awesome. Guess what? It is! They have a song called "And we thought nation-states were a bad idea," so really, how could I not like them? Plus I don't listen to nearly enough loud fast music lately.

Oh! I went to a Dear Astronaut practice last night, and let me tell you, they are fixing to take over the world. You'd best go buy some of their musics RIGHT NOW before it sells out and you'll miss your chance to buy their early work, and then how are you gonna be like "oh, I liked them before they got megafamous"? I recommend The Dark Forest and that's only 60% because I'm thanked in the liner notes (famous by association!!!).

So I'm on my second coffee of the day, and now that I think about it I haven't really eaten anything today, woops!

Ways In Which I Will Stay Cool This Summer and Also Not Think About How Kira isn't Here to Hate the Hot Weather with Me.

* museums. There are so many, most of which I've never been to!
* movies. Discount movie tickets + AC = Good Time for Marina
* iced coffee. I will have a pitcher of it in the fridge at all times, all summer.
* and also, coffee ice cubes! I will be over-caffeinated ALL SUMMER.
* City Island
* bookstores. Bookstores have AC.
* the library! They have AC and also books and stuff.
* more museums. Seriously, I am ashamed to tell you how few museums I've visited.
* visiting Wisconsin. I'm using all of my vacation days and then some to visit Wisconsin twice this summer. No, seriously. Home for my birthday and Milwaukee next week.
* Milwaukee!!! There will be a nice breeze off Lake Michigan, right?
* crashing on other people's couches. That will totally get me through the "so hot I think I'm going to die" nights. Some of my friends must have AC.
* working! I'll just work all the time.
* taking pictures. Hot air be damned, I'll take millions of pictures of New York!
* reading all of Kira's books. whee!
* watching all of Kira's movies! At the library, with my laptop and the headphones and the A/C.

Suggestions?