Saturday, July 25, 2009

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So...what the fuck...April and May were difficult months...I guess June was, too...but now that July is rollin by, I'm ready to pick back up with the writing...

Day 133: May 13, 2009

Question 114:
What's the most amazing weather you've seen?

Responses:
  • There was this hurricane that blew through here last month called IKE...that was some most amazing weather. Ike and his windbans fit pretty comfortable inside the Gulf of Mexico, he was 600 miles wide and ANGRY...and when that sucker hit, his outer bands of wind were 55-75 mph. We watched Ike destroying Galveston on the news before our power went out. When the 100 mph winds arrived at our house (we live in NW Houston), we watched parts of our fence fly away, we watched the tree in our front yard become uprooted...we heard limb after limb from the huge oak tree in our backyard crash into our house. I prayed so hard I thought I'd crush my Rosary beads. When the storm passed, we had "hunkered down" through about 6-8 hours of steady high intensity winds. There was very little damage done to our home, Thank God, but our surroundings are now very different. Ike blasted through Houston and tore roofs off of people's homes. We didn't lose a shingle. We really feel blessed. THAT was the most amazing weather I think I've ever seen.
  • Bronx, 14 years old. Hanging on my street. Suddenly I was alone with the darkest clouds moving fast. Wind howled and I was in the beginning of a hurricane.
  • Tornado, Labor Day weekend, 1992. Tornado came down over my car.

Song:
Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want, by The Smiths

Lyrics:
Good times for a change
See, the luck I've had
Can make a good man
Turn bad

So please please please
Let me, let me, let me
Let me get what I want
This time


Haven't had a dream in a long time
See, the life I've had
Can make a good man bad


So for once in my life
Let me get what I want
Lord knows, it would be the first time
Lord knows, it would be the first time

Day 132: May 12, 2009

Question 1:
What's the most beautiful drive you've ever taken? Where was it and who were you with?

Responses:
  • Northern California on US #1 from Carmel, to Big Sur to San Francisco. I cannot remember who I was with. Maybe it was an ex I wanted to forget or maybe the drive was so beautiful I can only remember it.
  • I think the most beautiful drive I've ever taken was just this past summer, early July, in the Green Mountains of Vermont. I had an off-day from a show I'd been doing at a theatre in Bennington, and drove about 40 miles north to visit a friend in Dorset. It's a straight shot from Bennington to Dorset; you can take either the main highway, which is somewhat scenic and very quick, or you can take a back road, which takes longer, but is so very beautiful for a variety of reasons...I'd driven by myself, in the old, beat-up company car given to me by the theatre. Green...so very green. And small towns, the kind of small towns that weren't sullied by it in terms of the Republican-owned "small town" meme. In fact, I counted over a dozen Obama signs on the front lawns of these beautiful old homes...many lower to middle class, several very "old-money" grandiose. Beautiful, sunny weather -- high 70's with a slight breeze...twists and turns in the road, and no NYC timetables to rush to meet. A great day indeed. Stopped off to get home-made ice cream. Stopped into a wonderful family owned bookstore. Just a fantastic day all around; I couldn't wait to share it with Jennifer (yes, Ms. Boutell!) when she came to visit me a week later, and I did.
  • A drive from Manchester to Liverpool (UK) in a beat up old car in the wee hours of the morning after a night out on the town. It wasn’t beautiful in the truest sense; we were driving on the M62 motorway in the dark. But it was in the time before major speed restrictions and traffic cameras, there was little traffic on the road and all of the windows were rolled down. I was with four of my closet friends, and we spent the time telling stories and singing Carole Kings songs at the top of our lungs.
  • Washington State, by Mount St. Helens

Song:
It's a Hit, by Rilo Kiley

Lyrics:
Any chimp can play human for a day.
Use his opposable thumbs to iron his uniform
And run for office on election day
Fancy himself a real decision maker
And deploy more troops than salt in a shaker.

But it's a jungle when war is made,
And you'll panic and throw your own shit at the enemy.
The camera pulls back to reveal your true identity.
Look, it's a sheep in wolf's clothing.
A smoking gun holding ape.

Any asshole can open up a museum.
Put all of the things he loves on display
So everyone could see them.
The house, a car, a thoughtful wife
Ordinary moments in his ordinary life.

But if she breaks a smile, she'll give you away
'cause no one wants to pay to see your happiness.
No one wants to pay to see your day to day
And I'm not buying it either
But I'll try selling it anyway.

Any idiot can play Greek for a day
And join a sorority or write a tragedy
And articulating all that pain
And maybe you'll get paid.

But it's a sin when success complains,
And your writers block-it don't mean shit.
Just throw it against the wall and see what sticks.
Gotta write a hit
I think this is it.
It's a hit.

And if it's not,
Then it's a holiday for hanging
Yeah it's a holiday for hanging
Yeah it's a holiday for hanging
Yeah shoo-bop-shoo-bop my baby

Any fool can play executioner for a day,
And say with fingers pointed in both directions
'he went thataway',
It's only a switch or syringe,
Aww, exempt from eternal sins.
But you still wear a cross,
And you think you're gonna get in.

Ah, but the pardons never come from up-stairs.
They're always a moment too late,
But it's entertainment
Keep the crowd on their toes,
It's justice, we're safe.
It's not a hit, it's a holiday
Shoo-bop-shoo-bop my baby

It's a holiday for hanging, yeah
It's a holiday for hanging, yeah
It's a holiday for hanging, yeah
It's a holiday for hanging, yeah

I'm a holiday for hanging,
I'm a holiday for hanging,
I'm a holiday yeah
I'm a holiday for hanging,

It's a holiday for hanging, yeah

Day 131: May 11, 2009

Question 72:
In what area would you most like to have grown up?

Responses:
  • The lower east side of Detroit in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
  • To have purpose and be productive.
  • The area I would most like to have grown up is a little complicate, I am content with being a city boy but I wish I spent more time in the country.
  • I'm happy with where I grew up.

Song:
Flathead, by The Fratellis

Lyrics:
Well just because she feeds me well
And she made me talk dirty in a pink hotel
Doesn't mean she's got eyes for me
She might just want my bones you see
And hey flathead don't you get mean
She's the second best killer that I ever have seen
It don't come much more sick than you
I could go on if you want me to
It's just so wrong so very nice
And I told you once and you killed me twice
Saw you one time at the back of the club
Chewing on glass and a ticket stub
Still I heard you kicked the boy till he bled
And you stood and said oh my god till she said
Bada bap pada da da badada da da da da da bada bap pada da da da. [x4]


Well everybody knows you're the one to call
When the girls get ugly on the back of the wall
Josephine says you got a bleedin nose
Takin' it with her wherever she goes
And hey flathead don't check me in
Well hers is a tonic and mine is a gin
They don't come much more slick than you
I'd drive your car if you ask me to
Said the boy's not right in the head
And you stood and got a kickin instead till she said
Bada bap pada da da badada da da da da da bada bap pada da da da. [x4]

...And she said the boy's not right in the head
And you stood and said oh my god til she said...
Bada bap pada da da badada da da da da da bada bap pada da da da. [x4]

Day 130: May 10, 2009

Question 128:
What's your favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner?

Responses:

  • Mashed and sweet potatoes.

Song:
Lifeless, by Caliko

Lyrics:
She moved around from town to town
Never really settled down
Now she can’t remember those days
Her father took an early stand
Her sister tried to understand
But never really could
And her mother could never say her name
Lifeless she lay
On a cold bed she’ll never make
Now that everyone has had their say
Is she finally free?
They found her in a state of undress
Oh lord she looked just a mess
Would you recognise her now?
With feathers tangled in her hair
It’s funny how they seem to care
Now she’ll never come back home
And her mother could never say her name
Lifeless she lay
On a cold bed she’ll never make
Now that everyone has had their say
Is she finally free?

Day 129: May 9, 2009

Question 54:
What are the most important qualities you look for in friends?

Responses:
  • Honesty, commitment, smart, understanding, and a sense of humor, you have to be able to laugh at some of the challenges that life brings your way.
  • Pick friends who value friendship and are non-judgmental, passionate, compassionate, loving and who laugh easily.
  • The qualities that I want the most in friends are love, loyalty and honesty.
  • Laughter, genuineness, and stability

Song:
Dear Jessie, by Madonna

Lyrics:
Baby face don't grow so fast
Make a special wish that will always last
Rub this magic lantern
He will make your dreams come true for you

Ride the rainbow to the other side
Catch a falling star and then take a ride
To the river that sings and the clover that
Brings good luck to you, it's all true

Chorus:

Pink elephants and lemonade, dear Jessie
Hear the laughter running through the love parade
Candy kisses and a sunny day, dear Jessie
See the roses raining on the love parade

If the land of make believe
Is inside your heart it will never leave
There's a golden gate where the fairies all wait
And dancing moons, for you

Close your eyes and you'll be there
Where the mermaids sing as they comb their hair
Like a fountain of gold you can never grow old
Where dreams are made, your love parade

(chorus)

Your dreams are made inside the love parade
It's a holiday inside the love parade

On the merry-go-round of lovers and white turtle doves
Leprechauns floating by, this is your lullaby
Sugarplum fingertips kissing your honey lips
Close your eyes sleepy head, is it time for your bed
Never forget what I said, hang on you're already there

Close your eyes and you'll be there
Where the mermaids sing as they comb their hair
Like a fountain of gold you can never grow old
Where dreams are made, your love parade

(chorus)

Your dreams are made inside the love parade
It's a holiday inside the love parade

Day 128: May 8, 2009

Question 40:
What's your dream job?

Responses:
  • Being a health reporter for a major network
  • Dream job. Oh boy. To be an actor earning enough money (as an actor!) to live comfortably on. With continuous work.
  • Teaching 13-17 year olds in an inner-city school.
  • Run a theatre center.

Song:
Change Clothes, by Jay Z, DJ Danger Mouse

Lyrics:
Woo, uh, uh, bounce is back
Uh, uh, uh, yeah, uh, your boy is back
(Sexy sexy) I know y'all miss the bounce
Need to bounce for the sexy you know

Yeah ma, your dude is back, maybach roof is back
Tell the whole world the truth is back
You ain't got to argue about who could rap
Cause the proof is back just go through my rap
New York New York yeah where my troopers at
Where my hustlers where my boosters atI don't care what you do for stacks
I know the world glued you back to the wallYou gotta brawl to that
I been through that, been shot at shoot backGotta keep it peace like a Buddhist
I ain't a New Jack nobody 'gon Wesley Snipe me
It's less than likely, move back
Let I breathe Jedi knight
The more space I get the better I write
(Oh) Never I write, but, if, ever I write
I need the space to say whatever I like, now just

(Change clothes and go) You know I stay fresh to death, boy from the projects
And I'm a take you to the top of the globe so let's go (so let's exchange numbers and go)
Uh huh yeah, uh (And girl I promise you, no substitute) It's just me

And I 'gon tell you again let's get ghost in the phantom
You could bring your friend we could make this a tandem
You could come by yourself and you could stand him
Best believe I sweat out weaves, give afropuffs like R.A.G.E.
Awww you get If you could move it
Back it on up like a U Haul truck
Then run and tell them thugs you heard Hovi knew shit
He and the boy for real make beautiful music
He is to the east coast what Snoop is, to the west coast what Face is to Houston
Young Hov in the house is so necessary
No bra with that blouse is so necessary
No panties in jeans that's so necessary
Now why you frontin on me is that necessary
Do I to you look like a lame
Who don't understand a bra with a mean shoe game
Whose up on Dot Dot Dot and Vera Wang
Ma are you insane, let's just
(Woman speaking: What you want me to do?)

(Change clothes and go) You know I stay fresh to death, boy from the projects
And I'm a take you to the top of the globe so let's go (so let's exchange numbers and go)
Uh huh yeah, uh (And girl I promise you, no substitute) It's just me

Uh, uh (Sexy sexy) Woo!woo! (Ah ah!!!)Uh huh woo!(Sexy sexy) It's so necessary ma) (Ah ah!!!)
Uh huh, woo! (Sexy sexy) That's right it's a groove (Ah ah!!!)
Uh huh, it's a groove (Sexy sexy) bring it back (Ah ah!!!!)

Young Hov in the house is so necessary
No bra with that blouse is so necessary
No panties in jeans it's so necessary
Why you frontin on me?
Let's go to my hotel cause this don't go well
With those S Dots, gotta stay fresh ma
Ma, I don't shop where the rest buy
Oh no ma please respect ma
Jiggy this is probably purple label
Or that BBC shit or it's probably tailored
But y'all niggaS actin way to tough
Throw on a suit get it tapered up, and let's just

(Change clothes and go) You know I stay fresh to death, boy from the projects
And I'm a take you to the top of the globe so let's go (So let's exchange numbers and go)
Uh huh yeah, uh (And girl I promise you, no substitute) It's just me

(Ah ah!!!) Uh uh (Sexy sexy) woo! sing along (Ah ah!!!)
Yeah, uh (Sexy sexy) turn your radio up (Ah ah!!!)
Woo! (Sexy sexy) Put your hands in the air if your in the club (Ah ah!!!)
Uh! Snap your fingers now (Sexy sexy) uh, woo, uh (Ah ah!!!)woo!
Uh, uh, your boy is back
Uh huh, uh, uh, uh, your bounce is back
Uh, uh, woo, uh Hov is back,[laugh] peace [echoed] !!!