its funny when even kelly clarkson songs begin to have meaning. its also an interesting time we live in when its not so much the words that cut the cord but the click of the 'relationship status' on facebook profiles.

and just like the one before and the one before and the one before her, i will keep my chin up and maintain a smile because next week wont hurt as bad as this week and next month wont hurt as bad as this month. come summer time this will all be but a faint memory obscured by time and the clarity of black and white.

because this is how its always been.

its the rare instance when time is actually our friend.





single.



please be respectful.

(the consequences of keeping quiet)

(the impossibility of shaking what shakes you)

(the sex pistols have always been the soundtrack of my finest moments)

(rudy cant lose)

(grape juice and lime chips)

(how to live forever)

(knives away for a night)

(broken promises to real life monsters)

(battle plans and survival manuals)

(59 and 83rd)


17.11.09. 8pm. australian time.

on the off chance you havent been keeping up with the to-dos of my life, well let me tell you about how im putting out a new book next month. NEXT MONTH! this is crazy-talk, chris. well its true. but heres the catch. there will only be 150 of them printed. evar. it will be hardcover and yes, expensive.
but let me tell you how stoked i am on this book. but chris, arent you stoked on all of your books? well, sure. each one is like an illegitimate love-child that i get to share with the world. wait.
anywho, when i meet people and have to have the 'oh, so what do you do?' talk, i say im a writer. to which their immediate response is, "oh, can i have/buy one of your books?" nice that they're interested but i dont really have a book that truly represents the short-story style that im most happy writing.
ok, yes, my first two books (on the upswing, which is sold out and a life deliberate) are that style but they're older and i feel that i am a much better writer than i was back then. dont get me wrong, i love the stories, i just feel that i could have told them better. (but dont let that discourage you from buying one of the last remaining 100 copies of a life deliberate over at deadxstop.com, kisses).
my 3rd book, notes from the deep end is sold out as well, my 4th book, selected works 2004-2008 is awesome and all but its all LJ rants and my newest endeavor, REMNANTS is my proudest yet but i only have one story in the damn thing.
so...
i wanted to write something that i can hand someone without excuses. without having to say, "well, this isnt exactly what i usually do," or, "its sold out," or, "well, this book is like my demo tape."

i cant say the title just yet because i have to make sure i can use this image first because it would work so perfectly with what im looking to do that if the artist wont give me permission im going to change the title of the book. yes, im a nerd. but i will tell you it is 10 stories in the style of my first two books and it will go on pre-sale on my birfday, november 17th.


- and now i will leave you with a video of me running game on some marsupials:

we talked about the old apartment today. me and boo. simple talk about playing video games all night. we laughed until i felt the familiar sting of nostalgia come on. i never saw that place as anything more than a transition hole between where i grew up and where i landed in chicago, yet we lived there together for 6 years.
second floor, above the roaches and drug dealers and addicts. mashed potatoes on the ceiling and vomit on the couches. filthy. but today i missed it.

some day i will look back at these moments lying in this bed as a memorable time. the nights of pizza and video games here will hold warm memories and i will wonder whatever became of so and so despite spending hours talking with them into the early morning hours. i will forget names and faces. people and addresses will slowly fade from my memory and i will be living another chapter.

its sad, really. people rust. they evaporate. they slowly erase. and we wonder what happened. was it our fault or theirs? did we neglect the friendship or did they no longer need what we had to give? the boys, the girls. one day their names will begin with, "you know, whats her name."
its tough when you realize that the nature of relationships is constantly evolving, despite every attempt you make to make it last. to live in love. to freeze people in memory.

the rest of my life will be a continuous series of beginnings. of handshakes and text avoidance.

someone freeze me.

"We are here on earth to help others. What the others are here for, I've no idea."

One is the last scene in "When Harry Met Sally." 

Harry:
"I love that you get cold when it's 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts. I love that after I spend the day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."
Sally:
"You see? That is just like you, Harry. You say things like that, and you make it impossible for me to hate you."

Love it. =)

yars revenge:

when atari was in its heyday, yars revenge spearheaded my obsession. it was clean and simple, not jerky and awkward unlike its lost in translation arcade cartridge counterparts like donkey kong, pac-man or frogger. yars revenge was simple yet addicting. your little ship had to eat away at the orange shield all while the little flashing dot was trying to get up in your ass. as simple as pong, as brilliant as snake and almost as hard to advance like ET for atari. the great thing about atari controllers was they were durable as a mofucker and my ass was throwing em like it was my job. say all you want about early video games being aesthetically unappealing, those games were goddamn impossible.




mortal kombat 2:

while the original MK and MK3 were awesome, nothing really sank its claws into me like MK2. this was what spawned my arcade mid-90s revival. sometimes we would have to bring extra shirts because of how much we would sweat while dropping tokens and wanting to strangle the buster who kept doing that damn mileena roll over and over. many nights were wasted and many controllers were broken playing this for the SNES. while one tour last summer i stayed at a friends house. he had an MK2 and when we started playing i immediately got that "imma bite the shit out of this controller" feeling back, so much so i had to put it down and walk away. because it was always the controllers fault. ps. flips were for pussies.




galaga:

the original allowance stealer. this game dominated 80s arcades more than any weed dealing burnout ever could. i remember seeing it for the first time and all the quarters the kids in the iron maiden shirts had lined up along the screen waiting to get "next". it took weeks before i found any down time to sneak in a game. i fell in love so hard that i almost came in my pants when in the winter of 96 my exgf bought me the actual arcade game for my birfday. it still adorns my living room and plays just as well as it did in 1982. sometimes i just sit and stare at it like it is a 200 pound piece of art.




robotron 2084:

you want to know what intensity is, play this fucking game. if the screen shot below is an indicator of how much of mess this game is you have no fucking clue the world of insanity a quarter would buy you in the 80s. no game before or since shreds like this mofucker. none. by time you press start on the game you've got about 18 seconds to slay your way through a never-ending onslaught of robots. its pure fucking anarchy. no skill or tactics are involved because you dont have enough time to even think. by time the phrase, "holy fuck this game is insane" comes out of your mouth the screen is already reading 'game over'. if los crudos and minor threat were a video game, this is what you would mosh dive to.




call of duty:

since the late 70s i have been a boy fixated on video games. i remember when pac-man was the new national obsession, when frogger was cutting edge, when dragons lair was next level, when NHL 93 still had blood, when NBA jam was the jam, when golden eye for N64 made you want to fight your friends, when silent scope was brilliant and when guitar hero made kids never want to play a real guitar again. what im saying is that having been there and played it all, the call of duty series (modern warfare/world at war) is so truly life-enveloping that it feels like you're killing actual nazis. so much so that a rabbi credited it with him getting over his fear of them. modern warfare is the best selling first person game of all time for a reason. and watching fruity get so mad that hes on the verge of tears might be one of the greatest sights of all time.





what are yours?

we've switched places.
completely.
wonder how it feels.
its so strange.

things are going really well though. i cant wait for christmas and amber to get home. its been almost six months since i have seen her.

and i really like this x box i got for me and roy. i just want that new vice city game! haha

ILL EAZE ---------> http://www.myspace.com/illeaze

Totally Boring ---> http://www.myspace.com/totallyboring

Amelia Jo --------> http://www.myspace.com/ameliaunderdashjo

David Williamson -> is too good for myspace

Brought to you by:
E. Shows---> http://www.myspace.com/e.shows

"A consistent thinker is a thoughtless person, because he conforms to a pattern; he repeats phrases and thinks in a groove."

alright, i suppose i can make a "proper" update now that ive been home for a couple days.
well first off, let me give you what i flew half way across the world to get for you:



- you would think that now that im home indefinitely i would just be able to chill but nooooo... i leave again on monday to go hang in minneapolis for a few days on bidness. i like hearing, "oh, no, its for business," fall out of my mouth. i sound so official. but i have sent off the first round of edits for the upcoming book so lets keep our fingers crossed that everything goes according to schedule. because if so, i may be able to have a brand new hardcover book in 150 of your paws by the celebration of our lord and savior jesus christ. who was not white.

- soooo last night i went to an S&M party (google it). i expected to see some interesting things; whipping, boobs maybe a little blood. and while all of those components were there i think it was when a dominatrix put her cigarette out on a slaves tongue then spit in his mouth did i know that i may have been in for more than i expected. i wouldnt want to scar too many of you youngin's or ruin a potential story for my next book but lets just say the evening ended right around the time i saw a guy get fisted. and this happened...


*i made two out of three, tyvm.

- i have a handful of amazing cat shirts left. i am too lazy to put them on ebay and i dont know when i will do another batch so if you want one for $15ppd, email me (deadxstop@aol.com), tell me your size and ill let you know if you were quick enough to snag one. ill give you my paypal info but make sure to get my okay before you send the loot, also, i have no more smalls in the 'unbreakable' shirt.


SOLD OUT.

- you should also know that it is officially my birthday month which will culminate on the 17th when the sun will shine, birds will sing and only 150 copies of my upcoming book will go on pre-sale.

 Happy Halloween.

coming soon to Flat Black and Circular in downtown East Lansing

Wednesday Nov 11
about 4pm, time tba

John Nolan
ex-Taking Back Sunday & Straylight Run vocalist

free free free free

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzQUhOX1pNk

info taken from FBC's myspace page

EDIT: If you're reading this, our maintenance is OVER! The problem was not found on our equipment, which means we'll have to work with our ISP to fix this small problem -- which also means another maintenance window in the future -- but at least we have eliminated our side.

Thank you everyone, and a special shout out to rekoil for giving me a great suggestion AND also the opportunity to feel like I've just called in to a local radio station.

Have a great day, night or afternoon wherever you may be.

---

Hi everyone, sorry for the late notice but I'm going to have to do some testing on 1 of our 4 internet circuits TONIGHT; Friday night or Saturday morning depending on which time zone you're in.

Most of us shouldn't notice any impact, though there may be some slowness or lag when I switch traffic on to our other ISP circuits and then another hit when I stop the tests. If a page won't load or times out, try hitting refresh 1 or 2 times and it should load then. If it doesn't work at all... trust me, I'll be typing really really really fast to try to undo whatever I just did. Hopefully you'll have some Halloween candy (if you're in the USA and celebrate that kind of thing) nearby to take away the bitterness of a small site outage. :(

Here's the handy-dandy Website That I Always Use to get a feel for when the maintenance will start in your area. Our site traffic historically dips on Friday afternoons until Saturday morning which is why we tend to pick this time for maintenance work.

( tech details )

status.livejournal.org will, of course be updated before and after the maintenance window. Or else marta will get mad at me. :D

bt

not sure if this is okay to post here or not, but i figure they were/are a local band, so it's alright...

You all know the band, "The Hard Lessons", right? They were formed when they were all students at MSU a couple years ago and are currently making it somewhat big. For those of you who do not know who they are, you should. And now is a great time to discover them. They are offering a free download of all their music right now.

From their website:
"For an entire month starting NOW you can download the latest and greatest from The Hard Lessons for FREE. All 13 tracks from Arms Forest are ready and waiting for you and your friends. Just sign up for the mailing list and you're all set. This is your chance to share your superior musical tastes with the people you know! Do it!

As a special way of kicking off the giveaway, you can finally check out the band's video for Arms Forest track "See You Again" on the front page of the website. The giveaway will close with the debut of the video for "The Arms Forest." So many new things to enjoy!

Of course Arms Forest is still available for purchase in two stunning packages, including a gatefold vinyl version with a full color sleeve (which includes a CD!) and a compact disc version with a 16-page lyrics booklet.

Welcome to Arms Forest.
Enjoy your stay!"
http://thehardlessons.com/home.html

they occassionally come back and play at various venues around campus. i'll be seeing them on Nov. 28th with Sloan and Sam Roberts Band. i really can't wait.

hope you guys enjoy their stuff as much as i do!

landed in chicago tonight. on the way home i told lindsie that i had never felt so appreciated by one single room as i felt in sydney. the last speaking was so different in every way. there was a podium, i only read and i took questions between stories. i read 6 new stories i havent let more than a handful of people read. i talked about a few subjects that i havent touched upon before and i was surprised at how well they were received. afterward, my friend nat said some amazing words that made me want to run out of the room and cry then everyone in the room signed and framed some words and presented it to me in front of everyone. serious moment. shit was heavy and amazing.
i also recorded the speaking and it will be available for download with the purchase of my upcoming hardcover book in december.

i thought i felt a rant coming on but its 7am and ive been awake since 3am. the next 3 days will be ridiculous as i try to adjust to the time change.

- many things will be up for sale soon. sweatpantsssss?????

- many videos to come.

i will now leave you with a picture of me testing positive for explosives in the sydney airport:



and aggressively massaging my new man-friend:

My question is - are they still planning on building a new Meijer on Saginaw Hwy in Bath (toward Haslett) behind that Admiral Station? They wrecked the landscape, bulldozed everything, and now it's just sitting there. What's going on? Anybody know?

If QC were done in straight-up anime style, this is what Marigold would probably look like.

( TOTORO HAT )

Tuesday. October 27, 7pm, Eastwood"

"Schuler Books & Music & Zombies presents the first annual Zombie Night!"

"This Halloween we’re being overrun by the undead in our first annual Zombie Night, celebrating all things living impaired! We’re planning a ton of fun for you, including a Zombie Dance Party in the café (complete with Zombie DJ), a film screening, a Zombie gaming corner, and the unveiling of a Zombie Pin-Up Photo Shoot by local photographer Jena McShane! Get yourself bedraggled and enter our Zombie Costume Contest for a chance to win a Grand Prize package of gift certificates and more from local businesses like the Irish Pub and Grill, Celebration Cinema, Fish Ladder Tattoo, Ruby’s Paradise Salon and others!"

http://www.schulerbooks.com/homepage/index.html

"This Halloween, let your inner Zombie walk the streets of East Lansing! The East Lansing Zombie Walk is Back!!! If you missed the Zombie Walk earlier this year, this is your last chance to dress up like the Living Dead, bring along a can of food for the Greater Lansing Food Bank, and shamble down the streets of East Lansing on Holloween Night!

Zombies should congregate at The Replay starting between 5-6:30 pm to register and drop off your food donations. Zombie Face Painters will be on hand to help you get in character even if you don’t have any Zombie Make Up of your own! The walk around Downtown East Lansing begins at 7 PM, and ends back at The Replay, where a Zombiefied Year 200X will be on hand at 8 PM to rock your rotting corpses back to life before you hit your Halloween Parties and Bars..."

www.ireplay.net