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Saturday, November 22nd, 2008
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12:41 pm - stolen from phil, i guess.
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2008 retrospective.
The good: - Since around this time last year, I've managed to work myself into the strict habit of writing for at least one hour a day. I can never get anything done if I'm at my apartment, so I make a daily trip down to westcott and throw away around ten bucks on coffee every week. It's money I could probably put towards lots of better things, but I think that it is well worth it. This year, I have written four stories, plus I have two or three more in various stages of completion. Also, I finall started a novel. I have it on hold right now while I work on grad school applications, but I have started it and I'm happy with it. It's coming together much easier than previous attempts. I'm not turning back.
- I made a lot of music. Over winter break last year, I recorded three songs for "Sometimes Things Are Okay," the second Dandelions album. I've since finished six more songs, burned shit loads of copies, and hand-sewn cases for them. I also wrote and played lot of music with my band, Deer Park Elementary. We put together a short live EP, "Live At The Westcott," and have played a good amount of shows in several cities across New York State. D.P.E. has organized shows here in Syracuse, both at my apartment and at the local community center. We've made a lot of new friends by playing in places like Rochester and Fredonia. It's been amazing.
- I'm applying to grad school. It's caused me so much stress and cost me so much time (not to mention money. Do you know that the application fee alone for Brooklyn College is $125?!?!?!), but it's a big step forward, I think. I might be setting my sights a little high: I'm applying to a lot of top schools like Brown, Cornell, and Syracuse. But we'll see how all of that turns out in a few months.
- I made a lot of friends! I have met so many new people this year. A lot of them are from Rochester, people I've met through playing shows. A lot of them are around here, people I've met via my girlfriend and her sister. A lot of them I've met through writing.
- Sort of a footnote to the whole writing thing: I started a writing workshop with a few friends from my classes in the spring. We meet every week to work stuff out with each other. And get this: we have started a new literary magazine for the university. The one that exists already is really pretty looking, but is pretty shitty content-wise. Lots of crappy student poetry. We're changing all of that. The first issue should be out within the next few weeks.
- I still haven't fucked up anything with regards to having a girlfriend! In a few more days, we will have been together for one year. Things are chooglin' along pretty strongly!
- I spend so much less time on the internet! Have you noticed? I dropped facebook like the bad habit that it is, I hardly ever write in this old thing anymore, and I generally limit AIM time to the evenings when I am working on other stuff.
- I've been drinking a lot less. Part of me wants to put this on the bas list too though, because I kind of feel like I haven't had nearly as many adventures, and, sadly, this might have something to do with it. What can I say - I like drinking!
The bad:
- Not only did I keep working the shitty job that I already had, but I got a second, even shittier job to supplement. I am working six days a week, four of which are for minimum wage. Every time I step into the Post Standard, I want to die. It makes me hate myself. And the bookstore...That place is just a piece of shit. Fuck that job. With all my time spent working on grad school applications lately though, I haven't even been able to think about looking for anything new. And with student loans coming back to give me a rough toothy, I can't just quit either of them.
- I don't spend any time with my friends anymore. Like I said, I've been working six days a week, and I hardly have any free time, ever. When I do have free time, all of my friends are usually in class and I'm just at my apartment by myself. And when everyone is hanging out. I'm either at work or I am writing or doing grad school applications. I feel like it's kind of strained a lot of my relationships. I really miss everyone.
- I don't read as much as I should. Again, it's a matter of free time and working too much. While I used to be able to read all the time at the Post Standard, they've been cracking down on that a lot and I always get yelled at for it now. Same with the bookstore. I'm not in school anymore, so there's nobody forcing me to read. I don't have those nice moments when I'm just sitting around, waiting for class to start, or riding the bus up to campus. I still try to read as much as I can, but it's been taking me months just to get through single books.
- I kind of feel like I've fallen into some creative pits. Not in the sense that I haven't been creating things. But, I haven't been doing many "new" things. Most of what I'm writing is the same kind of egdey, teenage suburban-gothic type stuff that I like to do. Being in a folk-rock kind of band, I don't play guitar like I used to. I kind of just keep strumming the same I, IV, and V chords over and over again. Things have just been feeling kind of stale lately. I need some fucking sonic freak-outs! Maybe when everyone leaves for break, I will spice things up and start working on that epic post-modern space-horror story that I've been thinking about for so long.
- I don't draw anymore. I just never really feel the urge. I'm able to express idea a lot easier through writing and through music and illustration just hasn't been a part of the menu this past year.
- I don't eat very well. I don't excercize. I am still slender and handsome, but I feel like an old man. Maybe I'm not slender and handsome so much as I am sickly and handsome. My hands always hurt from arthiritis or c.t.s. or whatever it may be, my back aches every time I sit down in a chair. Even my hips have felt kind of old and rusty lately, just walking to work in the mornings.
- I kind of stopped playing piano. I was doing pretty well with that whole thing by the end of the spring. But I honestly have only really touched my keyboard since then to play "The Monster Mash" for our Halloween rock show.
It's been a good year over-all, I think. The only thing that has had me really down is the part about my jobs. And if I get into grad school, that should change everything. The good has out-weighed the bad. I can't say I haven't been happy most of the year.
GOALS FOR 2009:
- Get into grad school.
- Find a better job, quit the book store. And if possible, also quit the Post Standard.
- Record an album in January with Deer Park Elementary and Tim Avery. Record another Dandelions album. Collaborate musically with more people. Keep organizing and playing rock shows. Sell some CDs, maybe. Keep working for a better music scene in this city. Start the noise-rock/hardcore band that Erica and I keep talking about.
- Keep writing every day.
- Get into better shape. Though that will be tough now that winter is upon us. Maybe start doing pushups or something in the morning?
- Buy a new laundry hamper. That shit is falling apart.
- Find a balance between hermitage and being a good friend. I hate people, but I miss my friends. It's a tough dichotomy. I want to find a way that I can lock myself in my room and not speak to anyone for great lengths of time, but then not have to go to work every time people are hanging out.
current music: sonic youth, daydream nation
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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| Thursday, October 16th, 2008
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1:12 pm - let's hope it's worth the download time!
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hey everyone,
greetings from the lurk-zone. somehow, my life seems to have vastly improved since i closed the facebook and stopped crying in the livejournal.
alas, i've briefly returned to hawk some wares.
i finished recording the second album by The Dandelions recently. (see: "the sleeper," available in full for download, free of charge). actually, this one has been finished for a couple months now. i just never really got around to doing anything with it for a long time.
it's called "sometimes things are okay," and here are all 8 tracks for you to download if you want (in two zip folders):
Sometimes Things Are Okay by The Dandelions (tracks 1-5)
Sometimes Things Are Okay by The Dandelions (tracks 6-8)
1. the woods
2. blizzardine
3. no, no, not yet
4. misery
5. i don't need to sleep
6. organ interlude
7. untitled
8. you are my sunshine
or, if you really want....i've hand-sewn a bunch of cases for the cd and am selling them for a couple bucks. again, just leave a comment and we will work it out.
the whole thing is pretty short and very poorly recorded. probably because i listen to an awful lot of the microphones these days. i think the whole album is only about 20 minutes long. let's hope it's worth the short amount of time!
current music: "meet me at the water front after the social" - the blood brothers
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| Friday, July 18th, 2008
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5:23 pm - awesome things that i reccomend to all of you.
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"this nation's saving grace" by the fall
"ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space" by spiritualized
"franny and zooey" by j.d. salinger
"the road" by cormac mccarthy
"the straight story" by david lynch
"mean streets" by martin scorsese
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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| Friday, July 11th, 2008
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12:36 am
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| Saturday, June 21st, 2008
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11:51 pm
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| Wednesday, May 14th, 2008
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10:38 am
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Boners are touching other boners. Something feels wet. Who is in my mouth?
There's an old guy who can't handle it and is coughing in the corner. He says he just needs a breather.
In the dim light, I can see his weener. It's thin and short, a finger without knuckles.
A small voice is crying somewhere on the other side. Did someone let a woman in?
The old guy is against the wall, the muscles in his back pulsing with the wild back and forth motion of his arm. He's spitting and sweating, swearing under his breath.
There's a moment of quiet, relief. The animal of limbs is slowly falling apart.
The circle begins to take shape.
I take my place between the old guy and one of the neighbors who slips in behind me. Sometimes I see him in his back yard, raking leaves or pushing the mower. He doesn't say anything. I don't think he recognizes me from behind.
At first the circle moves with an awkward, jerky rhythm. Fists clench. Black circles bloom across my vision and I feel like I'm going to vomit.
I can hear the old guy wheezing. He coughs, pants.
The circle finds a rhythm.
The old guy hacks. The black circles in my vision begin to dissipate and I can see the old guy's hand wipe the back of the guy in front of him. He mutters sorry and keeps moving in rhythm.
The circle has found it's rhythm, except for one guy on the other side who is moving as fast as he can back and forth, screaming as loud as he can. Yeah, he says. Woo. Oh, yeah.
The guy in front of him keeps looking over his shoulder, annoyed.
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(comment on this)
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| Saturday, May 10th, 2008
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11:16 pm
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Boners are touching other boners. Something feels wet. Who is in my mouth?
There's an old guy who can't handle it and is coughing in the corner. He says he just needs a breather.
In the dim light, I can see his weener. It's thin and short, a finger without knuckles.
A small voice is crying somewhere on the other side. Did someone let a woman in?
The old guy is against the wall, the muscles in his back pulsing with the wild back and forth motion of his arm. He's spitting and sweating, swearing under his breath.
There's a moment of quiet, relief. The animal of limbs is slowly falling apart.
The circle begins to take shape.
I take my place between the old guy and one of the neighbors who slips in behind me. Sometimes I see him in his back yard, raking leaves or pushing the mower. He doesn't say anything. I don't think he recognizes me from behind.
At first the circle moves with an awkward, jerky rhythm. Fists clench. Black circles bloom across my vision and I feel like I'm going to vomit.
I can hear the old guy wheezing. He coughs, pants.
The circle finds a rhythm.
The old guy hacks. The black circles in my vision begin to dissipate and I can see the old guy's hand wipe the back of the guy in front of him. He mutters sorry and keeps moving in rhythm.
The circle has found it's rhythm, except for one guy on the other side who is moving as fast as he can back and forth, screaming as loud as he can. Yeah, he says. Woo. Oh, yeah.
The guy in front of him keeps looking over his shoulder, annoyed.
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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| Friday, May 9th, 2008
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10:08 pm
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Boners are touching other boners. Something feels wet. Who is in my mouth?
There's an old guy who can't handle it and is coughing in the corner. He says he just needs a breather.
In the dim light, I can see his weener. It's thin and short, a finger without knuckles.
A small voice is crying somewhere on the other side. Did someone let a woman in?
The old guy is against the wall, the muscles in his back pulsing with the wild back and forth motion of his arm. He's spitting and sweating, swearing under his breath.
There's a moment of quiet, relief. The animal of limbs is slowly falling apart.
The circle begins to take shape.
I take my place between the old guy and one of the neighbors who slips in behind me. Sometimes I see him in his back yard, raking leaves or pushing the mower. He doesn't say anything. I don't think he recognizes me from behind.
At first the circle moves with an awkward, jerky rhythm. Fists clench. Black circles bloom across my vision and I feel like I'm going to vomit.
I can hear the old guy wheezing. He coughs, pants.
The circle finds a rhythm.
The old guy hacks. The black circles in my vision begin to dissipate and I can see the old guy's hand wipe the back of the guy in front of him. He mutters sorry and keeps moving in rhythm.
The circle has found it's rhythm, except for one guy on the other side who is moving as fast as he can back and forth, screaming as loud as he can. Yeah, he says. Woo. Oh, yeah.
The guy in front of him keeps looking over his shoulder, annoyed.
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(comment on this)
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| Thursday, May 1st, 2008
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1:31 pm - some more videos that i made.
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here are a couple more videos that i made for a class this semester. neither of them are animated though.
i have loads more of these things but i think i'm gonna stop at these two.
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Saturday, April 26th, 2008
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9:58 pm - my animation
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i made this for a class earlier this semester.
current music: "my my, hey hey (out of the blue)" - neil young and crazy horse
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(7 comments | comment on this)
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| Saturday, March 8th, 2008
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11:31 pm
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be there.
current music: "get high tonight" - busta rhymes
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(comment on this)
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| Monday, February 18th, 2008
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12:11 am - rock and roll
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| Monday, January 28th, 2008
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12:33 am - hey dudes/dudettes
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it's been a while, hasn't it?
my roommate brett and my friend zach and i started a band some months back called deer park elementary. we recorded a few songs the other day in zach's basement. here's one of them.
"for now" (demo) - deer park elementary
i'm working on some other new stuff too. music and writing, mostly. maybe i'll post some of it sometime.
current music: shotgun jimmie
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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| Sunday, December 9th, 2007
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1:34 am
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i've been reading a lot about dogma 95. it's a film movement that was started in 1995 by a couple dudes by name of lars von trier and thomas vinterberg. they got fed up with fancy computer work and over-production in movies and created a list of rules for film makers to follow:
1. Filming must be done on location. Props and sets must not be brought in (if a particular prop is necessary for the story, a location must be chosen where this prop is to be found).
2. The sound must never be produced apart from the images or vice versa. (Music must not be used unless it occurs within the scene being filmed, i.e., diegetic).
3. The camera must be a hand-held camera. Any movement or immobility attainable in the hand is permitted. (The film must not take place where the camera is standing; filming must take place where the action takes place.)
4. The film must be in colour. Special lighting is not acceptable. (If there is too little light for exposure the scene must be cut or a single lamp be attached to the camera).
5. Optical work and filters are forbidden.
6. The film must not contain superficial action. (Murders, weapons, etc. must not occur.)
7. Temporal and geographical alienation are forbidden. (That is to say that the film takes place here and now.)
8. Genre movies are not acceptable.
9. The final picture must be transferred to the Academy 35mm film, with an aspect ratio of 4:3, that is, not widescreen. (Originally, the requirement was that the film had to be filmed on Academy 35mm film, but the rule was relaxed to allow low-budget productions.)
10. The director must not be credited.
i haven't yet seen any of the movies that the dogma 95 movement has produced ("the idiots," "the celebration," and "the king is alive" are some of the bigger ones), so i don't know how i actually feel about the output that the rules create. i've got "julien donkey-boy" (another one of the major dogma films, done by the fellow who wrote/directed "gummo") on my computer, and i'm going to watch it tomorrow.
anyways, the reason i'm writing about this is: the dogma 95 rules for film are in the exact spirit of everything that i've always wanted to do (but have never really had the balls for, i guess?) with music. so many of my favorite albums are favorites of mine because they are sloppy and gross and under-produced. they work without having fancy studio stuff. they are things that have been recorded on reel-to-reel tapes in garages or on answering machines or laptops. there's just the truth of the songs and nothing else.
i've spent the past couple of days thinking about how i can apply some rules like the dogma 95 manifesto to the world of music. i'm having a lot of trouble thinking of good restrictions. the only things i can really think of are:
a) there must be no post-production. levels and volumes may be adjusted prior to recording, but afterwards, they must remain as they are.
b) there must be no use of effects, computerized or created via an effect pedal. each instrument should be heard only in its natural timbre.
c) all instruments must be recorded at the same time. multi-track recording is forbidden.
i'm not sure if these rules are decent at all. the last one i can't even obey due to lack of enough microphones. i feel like i don't know enough about the recording process to devise a proper set of laws like this. if anyone else has ideas, let me know. i want to try to experiment with some sort of limitations like this.
also: i got an electric organ yesterday. how fucking cool is that?
current music: "will is my friend" - devendra banhart
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(15 comments | comment on this)
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| Wednesday, November 7th, 2007
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2:00 am
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i drew this for the s.u. newspaper, the daily orange.
it's for an article about stalking that happens because people put too much information about themselves on the internet.
current music: "nothing good is real" - superdrag
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(5 comments | comment on this)
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| Monday, October 22nd, 2007
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2:45 am - rock show
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| Wednesday, October 17th, 2007
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5:47 pm - this has nothing to do with my own recent birthday.
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| Tuesday, October 16th, 2007
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2:08 am - blah.
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| Tuesday, September 18th, 2007
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2:05 am - a flyer for my school's literary magazine
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i have no idea what that japanese (if it even is japanese) says. i copied it from japanese cereal boxes that i found on google.
current music: "can-nana fever" - guitar wolf
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(6 comments | comment on this)
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| Sunday, September 16th, 2007
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5:47 pm
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tylermcandrew's journal
