Excuses, Excuses, Excuses

Two posts in as many days. Rock on us! We're back, and this time to we're gonna keep it going, at-least until finals and other academic dribble takes over. But now I want to address the idea of blogging, and by extension my writing process. First let me say I do not consider myself a strong writer, and by no means do I enjoy writing. This maybe not be something you would expect a blogger to say, especially one who's posts ramble on with self-loving obliviousness to the readers, but hell, nobody reads this anyway. So I struggle and stumble over every word, revise and edit, and end up just as annoyed as I was to start. Consequently each post I write ends up getting written over the course of several days, and any possible sense of cohesion is in the trash next to the first three drafts, and several other concepts/ideas I could not seem to articulate and I wouldn't with myself, or this hijacked pseudonym. My Voodoo recap, I promise its coming soon, has been started on three separate occasions, and my current version is in a state of disrepair similar to parts New Orleans itself.

Part of my continual battle with these posts, comes from my uncertainty on how to approach blogging, my subjects, and the readers. I think my own writing style can be wordy, polluted with run-ons and asides. I find myself trying to balance a critical academic approach with youthful honesty and cerisma. Of course I would like to blend the two, and that would be the accurate representation of me, but too often I see the results as heavy handed its simplicity or stale and unoriginal. But enough of my whining.

So now you know, that despite literary handicap I am often trying to provide a new post that you will hopefully enjoy enough to read to the end. As for the laziness of my colleagues, well that rests squarely on their sub-six foot shoulders. They often tell me of their ability to run off several pages in a few hours time when class and their procrastination demand it, yet they appear unfit to complete a weekly, forget semi-daily, written exercise in creative opinionation or brainstorming for what will surely be a defining event in our lives.

Look for my Voodoo recap and destinations of interest in upcoming posts.

Happy Holidays

I would like to take a second to wish everyone happy holidays. For me this time of year is a chance to see relatives I see infrequently and since being in college it also allows me to spend a few days with my whole (my brother, sister, and I just finished wrestling and tickling each other in true pre-teen fashion). I never understood the common portrayal of Christmas family gatherings, or my favorite holiday Thanksgiving, as these disastrous implosions that cause everyone to dread their arrival. If the the Bluths three short seasons on Fox has any long lasting effect on our lives besides showcasing the talents of Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Michael Cera, it should be the corny line that was repeated till the shows end, "Family first." Seriously, suck it up for half a day, leave your ego at the door and just enjoy the company of family. This is why I've always loved Thanksgiving so much, it simplifies a holiday to exactly what it should be, a good meal with those you love. No, I don't want to spend everyday with my entire family, or even one day every week, but for those few hours its perfect. These are are people I've know my entire life, they know me for me (to some degree) and I can be relaxed and perfectly at ease with myself.

I hope many of you feel as I do and are looking forward to being around family and those that are special to you this holiday season. Myself, friends, and family wish everyone a safe, relaxing, and fun holiday season and an exciting new year.

Thoughts

I am so sleep-deprived, malnourished, and stoned that I can barely see straight. My stomach is making fucking weird noises and my brain feels like pudding. Ah, so is finals week at Bates College. As I sit in my Medieval Art class, a Tuesday night 7:30-10:30 tradition, barely able to understand the words that are coming out of my professors mouth, I decide to just phase them out and take a nice trip down memory lane. Pictures that initially make me smile and give me an adrenaline rush to recall eventually bring frowns as I compare my current dismal situation to the whimsical, dare I say, swashbuckling? adventure that was our glorious trip to New Orleans. The only thing that sustains me during these dark times and preserves my will to live is the crystal clear image inside my head of stepping into a car (or van, or whatever, yet to be decided) on a beautiful Swarthmore summer afternoon and just going. I know there is a deeper, more profound purpose to our Odyssey, but fuck it, I'd be happy just driving around, crossing borders, smoking joints and camping out. Anyway, I posted the following pictures in no logical order. I guess it was because food is on my mind, which is drifting. I can't wait to get out of this dungeon, eat a pot brownie, watch Tin Man and pass out cold after being up for about thirty hours straight. I will have more to say when I am in a saner state of mind. Until then...peace.

Et Toufe... Our first meal in New Orleans



The Three getting their picture taken by a couple of really friendly southern ladies (who totally had a boner for me)



Stoop boys