Wednesday, May 30, 2001
Mad man goes berserk at batting cages, whacks bejesus out of ball. Primordial buzz as I step through the chain link gates of hell and tightly grasp two wooden bats for warm up. Swing left, swing right, the heaviness that arches and tilts a curve, a thick slab of back muscle meets shoulders made to clobber a ball. Cro-Magnon man pumped for approach, it's me versus the monster machine spitting baseballs at speeds approaching 50, 60, 70 ,80 plus miles per hour. Squared up in the box, I kick the sand into a cloud, digging in, squinting, sweat runs down soaking my red white and blue terry wrist bands. I position, crouching a little to focus, the ball whizzes past my nose, inside fastball tings heavily at the backdrop. Fuck! fuck! fuck! I say aloud, wanting to ditch the bat or go on a rampage clobbering the bleachers and snack bar, running over to the miniature golf course smacking down the little swiss chalet and putting greens. Damn, is it time for a sno-cone with blue goo and brain freeze? Focus, again, ok, this time I see the blur, this mother is mine, in slow motion, I connect, to feel the sting of the reverberation, in my palms that sends, white streak, through air, and crack connect for a chugga chugga going going gone. Damn that feels great! Whoa yea! Get me my sno-cone Be-otch!
9:41 PM :

I have a habit, good or bad of getting several books going at once. Digesting a literary combo that creates a strange m�lange and makes any accurate attempt at recall futile. Item number one, Gore Vidal's delicious 'Sexually Speaking: Collected Sex Writings'. Fascinating feast of interviews and essays on or about sex, sexuality, queerness and of course politics. Vidal refuses to categorize anyone based on sexual orientation or acts. The usual hilarity, wit and charm follows suit. Second, 'Sex Tips for Gay Guys'. I was simultaneously attracted and repulsed at the prospect of bad gay reading - Remember, I read Valley of the Dolls when I was 13, so I am game for anything. Well surprise, Anderson is Erma Bombeck for sodomites. Advice on how to work a gay bar, how to dodge trolls and how to decorate your apartment cheaply and with flair. I could have and should have written this damn book, which is a bit of light reading and good for a laugh. Thirdly, A Truman Capote Reader, chock full of southern decadence, odd items that make The Weekly World News seem plausible. Where any of this begins or ends I haven't a clue, will play it safe and decline any requests to quote or reference til items delineate.
9:50 AM :

Tuesday, May 29, 2001
Check out the work of my brilliant new friend at defyculture.com

1:02 PM :

A somewhat reflective generalization of 16th century faculties and the self.
"A spirited mind never stops within itself; it is always aspiring and going beyond its strength; it has impulses beyond its powers of achievement. If it does not advance and press forward and stand at bay and clash, it is only half alive. Its pursuits are boundless and without form; its food is wonder, the chase ambiguity" 'Of The Inconsistency of our Actions' The Complete Works of Montaigne, trans. Donald M. Frame (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1948) 244.
Human judgement was so uncertain at this time that "the same person can be at once famous and most infamous and neither justly." Notation for educational reasons only. Sunspots on books or delirious reading for summertime generously provided by the nearly consumed piece titled 'The Waning Of The Renaissance 1550-1640 by William J. Bouwsma.
1:00 PM :

Tempovision (Data Files): urban landscape color theories and translations with latex, flat, satin and semi-gloss interior and exterior paints. Satisfacci�n garantizada, tenemos mas de cien colors. Solutions may vary slightly from sample due to aging, lighting, surface texture, application and monitor resolution. Sky and or ceiling, sortir de ses gonds. Blue is henceforth known as Bruise, Dude, Meltdown or Urban Sky. When painting flora or fauna (faute de mieux) utilization of color families once known as Green are encouraged, these can be any or all of the following: Exhaust, Cashflow, or Smog. Yellow sounds better in French as Jaune but that will never 'do', the following designations are scripted for usage: Sludge, Shock Treatment or Detoxabettyfordia. Orange is now, Napalm, or Biohazard. Purple can be Pimpin' or Bruised. Earth shoes, color field painters, and bad karma in the 70's have ruined Brown, it is being permanently removed as a color. Exceptions will be made for mustard like tones also known as GloriosoSteinem combined with a nice Aqua, now known as Fluoride. Use sparingly.
12:58 PM :

Monday, May 28, 2001
The slick micro movement of tires on melty black tar, backward trails of coal black waves, reflection in passenger side mirror where objects appear 'somehow' closer. The smell of truck oil, gasoline and clay on dirty back roads, inhale faint scent of lavender and honeysuckle, as elixir for deviation from city life. My big hand strokes my head pushing back unruly wavy black hair. Worn out blue jeans and square toe boots, white t-shirt and Wrigley's chewing gum. I am the silver Elvis of small towns, then smaller towns, then a glimpse of one of the smallest towns I've ever seen, as the road gives way to a sign that simultaneously reads 'now entering and leaving'. Listless teenagers walking uptown, for what I imagine is a trip to the Rexall or Dairyqueen. A gang of muscular 'shirts and skins' carouse on a street corner, a wave of Tigers, St. Edward's Wrestling, Wildcat Baseball and something Little Giants. A long period of driving the landscape suddenly slows, pulling into a BP, slow motion, blue film flickers where stop and go families parlay quickstop into tourist event. Damn, that kid smells like Bactine and sun tan lotion. I fall in love with places, people, dogs, photographs and songs. I never cease to be interested in supporting roles for travelogue days, creating stories about local citizens that resemble bad made for tv movies: evil sheriffs, gay boys trapped in rural areas, promiscuous young boozy Jezebels and deranged PTA Moms. Stop to overhear localized small talk about cows, crops, high schools, highway construction, and twisted trucker lingo with a twang that makes my hair stand on end. Examine vending machines for bizarre packaged food specimens and the availability of surprisingly good espresso and cappaccinos. Formulate definitions for people, and landscapes that mimic american regionalist paintings, a broader definition is in order for roadside attractions.
10:35 AM :

Sunday, May 27, 2001
This is my Dad, he served in the military on Okinawa for quite a few years. He looks mighty spiffy on this Triumph circa 1950 something. I'm proud of him, he's a cool guy.
7:20 PM :