without
So far today, I've done several strange things. Or, more accurately, not done several normal things. Zero caffeine. Zero cigarettes smoked. Zero alcohol consumed. Zero driving in my car. Zero dollars spent.
And what strikes me the most is that I'm most stricken by the number of dollars spent. (that was "zero") There was a small battle this morning to determine whether Dunkin Donuts or Owen's Bagels would get my breakfast business. In the end, the leftover fried rice from last night won out. Then there was the question of lunch... the last 6 Teeter-Totters or whatever they're called was an easy call in that situation tho. (you know... the girl scout cookies with chocolate covering peanut butter... red box... Teeter-Totters.) It's kind of dinner time now... I kind of want to go to McDonald's, get a bottle of wine, and a pack of Camel lights. So far, however, I've managed to just clean my house, do dishes, figure out how to put a Flash project on youtube, and watch The Velvet Underground. Not bad.
Kind of the idea I was thinking about but now have totally lost is that it was annoying to me that each decision today had an answer that involved spending money and an answer that did not involve spending money. And, pretty much every time, I had to consciously disallow myself from choosing the one that involved spending money. It's not right to find it somewhat difficult to go one entire day without actually handing someone some money, is it? Or maybe it's totally normal. It just seems weird.
And this is the end of Day 5 without caffeine, but it turns out that a couple cups of coffee a day seems to be more likely good for you than bad, so I guess I'm going back on that drug. Probably in just a minute. Coffee. The Youth Minister's Coor's Light.
Oh yeah. I also wondered something the other day about something to do with the things that the people who clean up your stuff after you die will find. It was kind of interesting. I mentioned something about not having the finger tips of little girls in my freezer. But that was probably the highlight... maybe it wasn't so interesting after all.
And sometimes, doesn't it seem like it would be nice to just completely shut out everything about the outside world completely and just focus on one thing you really want to accomplish? Like for a week? But if it's really good, you're going to need a bigger room.
I'm going to McDonald's now. Labels: Amsterdam, London
Amsterdammers
and here we go again... a little less exciting, maybe... but they are what they are. These are from the day after Pearl Jam. There should probably be more pictures b/c we saw other cool stuff, but the battery in my camera was dying, and we couldn't find a US power convertor anywhere... The one we brought with us was supposed to work in England only. Even tho it didn't actually even work there... ellipsis.
Right. Even though there are many pictures of Rijks, we actually didn't go in. We went to Van Gogh this day and then spent too long just wondering about. Rijksmuseum was closing when we went over. (But the Rijksmuseum is FAR more impressive than Van Gogh from the outside) The next day, however, we did go... but my camera was dead. Which is too bad, b/c all of those white tents you can see in a few of the pictures were around a reflecting pool kind of thing in front of the Rijksmuseum... and, the next day, they were filled with incredible spreads from different local restaurants. I've been to street parties or whatever, but NONE of them compared to this. It all looked like real mini-restaurants inside the tents. Just ridiculous. Lots of people, some music, a couple of people riding wake boards in the reflecting pool... right. Some cool stuff that I wish I would have photographed. Que sera sera.
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This is actually the first place we went in Amsterdam after getting our stuff to the hotel. We just didn't take a picture of it b/c we were in too much of a hurry to find our awesome pizza place.
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And this apple was "free" with our breakfast in the hotel. I'm, err... kissing it. Because it tasted like the place in the last picture. Yep.
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This is the entrance to the Rijksmuseum... that's all there really is to say about that.
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And this big ass "IAmsterdam" thing was just kind of out there...the reflecting pool is behind it. I dunno how Allison managed to take this shot and have only me in it. Kind of cool. Fuck everyone else! :)
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And this is just a far away shot from across the big green field that's in front of the IAmsterdam sign. I just thought it was pretty to have that sign with the entire width of the Rijksmuseum behind it. And it is.
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These three are all just some kind of random pictures from inside the garden that surrounds the Rijksmuseum. There were more, but I'll spare you... mostly.
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This hill looked pretty neat due to its triangular nature. The picture's not as cool as I thought it'd be. This is at the far other end of the big green field in front of the IAmsterdam sign.
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And this is actually back in the gardens. I don't know what the hell she's doing.
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And, lastly, for total randomness... here's a street corner in Amsterdam. Back near our hotel. Sweet.
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Labels: Allison, Amsterdam
Pearl Jam in Amsterdam
It seemed to work last time... so I'll try again. These are the select few that didn't look like total complete shite from the Pearl Jam show day... at least the ones I haven't already posted.
I apologize now for the copious amounts of blur.
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These two were in front of the Neuwe Kirche (spelling?) before we left for the day... they're dumb, but also kind of funny. Kind of.
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And these... These are the golden tickets... and the pink wristband... which was SUPPOSED to get us way up front... but landed us in the middle/front instead. dammit.
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Everybody. In blue. I almost didn't put this cuz of how blurry it is, but it's the best one, sadly, that I got of the whole band.
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Eddie doing something weird... I think that's his signal for "Give me all of your money."
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And Ed and Jeff...
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Also was close to not making it, but there were so many of Mike that were almost good... I decided this one would go. Even though there's no "action." As it were.
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Lots of attempts to get something good of Matt. But, damn, drummers are difficult... This sucks but was the best I had. Matt and Stone's back.
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If this was a LITTLE less blurry, it would be really awesome. Pretty classic Jeff pose regardless.
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Another, shittier, full band shot. But Ed's wearing the george bush jacket and, if I recall, just took to stomping on the bushy mask that just got thrown on the floor. EXCELLENT. :)
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Eddie and Jeff again... mostly b/c Ed's actually kind of clear in this one.
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Mike finally decided to come hang out on our side (I'm sorry, but Stone is not as much fun to watch)... so this is Mike. Along with that guy who keeps making the band sound worse. grrr...
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Labels: Allison, Amsterdam, concerts, music, Pearl Jam
uhm... and here are a couple of more... I'm really going home after this...
It's the front of our hotel (Allison wasn't ALWAYS standing in front of it) and the view from the front door across the canal.
Labels: Allison, Amsterdam
And here's two more b/c they're stupid and funny and stupid.
We were going to see Pearl Jam.
I would like to be going to see Pearl Jam right now.
I can probably make it to Australia... hmmm...
Or maybe even Bridge School... I wouldn't be FORCED to watch Dave Matthews, I don't think...
Labels: Allison, Amsterdam, Pearl Jam
A few days ago, I bought someone a present. I also bought myself a present, b/c that's what I do. My present was the hardcover of Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. I'm trying to read Catch-22, but it's going slowly. It's funny and entertaining, but it's not really grabbing me. It's not really fair to pick up Dostoevsky in the middle of trying to read anything else b/c the "anything else" will definitely suffer. Poor Joseph. At least he was friends with Kurt Vonnegut... *sigh*...
So, anyway. That was, like, 2 days ago. Then yesterday, I picked up the hardcover of 1987's "Kraven's Last Hunt" by JM DeMatteis and Mike Zeck. First time I read this story was in 7th grade when doing one of those "spend-the-night-with-a-friend" things. One where we, mostly, just got to sit around all night and read piles of comics. That was fun. I remember really liking it. And I've since purchased the individual comics and reread it. It was still good... and the art... Man, Zeck was ON. I reckon maybe even non-comic readers might recognize the cover to Web of Spider-Man #31?
Or maybe not. I dunno, but it's awesome.
So far this has all been setup for the actual point of this "story."
I read DeMattheis's intro to the book and, while interesting, the basic idea is one that I've heard before in many different ways. What really caught me, however, was this:
But buried in this Marvel Universe entry was one intriguing fact: Kraven was Russian. (To this day I don't know if that was something that was established in continuity or if the writer of that particular entry tossed it in on a whim.)
Russian?
Russian!
Why should that excite me so? One word- Dostoyevsky. When I read Crime and Punishment and the Brothers Karamazov in high school, they seeped in through my brain, wormed their way into my nervous system....and ripped me into shreds. No other novelist has ever explored the staggering duality of existence, illuminated the mystical heights and the despicable depths of the human heart with the brilliance of Dostoyevsky. The Russian soul, as exposed in his novels, was really the Univeral Soul. It was my soul.
And Kraven was Russian.
In an instant, I understood Sergei Kravinoff. In an instant, the entire story changed focus.
(Thanks to Cyberman on the CBR forums for typing this for me as I forgot to bring my copy with me.)
It's that "One word-" There's something about seeing someone who has "made it" as it were refer to one of your own... heroes. Can I say that? "Heroes." It all kind of just fell into place. I haven't yet begun Crime and Punishment, but I read the intro. And even reading the intro it was like coming back to something comforting. And while reading the "Kraven" intro, I was just waiting for it. As soon as he said, "Russian" I got all tingly in anticipation of seeing "Dostoevsky" on the written page in front of me. Thereby bringing together two different but very similar interests. It was exciting and thrilling... and really really lame. I think it pretty much officially makes me a, howdoyousay, "loser" for being excited by seeing the name of a long dead author in a reference in the introduction to a hardcover collected edition of a comic book.
Regardless. It did make me happy. And allowed me to read the story in a whole new light. Kraven's character immediately became a thousand times deeper and more interesting. His motivations became so much clearer, and I felt like I could identify with him more as an actual person than a two-dimensional character. Simply by having the connection to Dostoevsky's characters and the amazingly lucid histories associated with them.
Did I ever get to an actual point?
Dostoevsky is still amazing.
Mike Zeck was a wonderful Spider-Man artist.
DeMatteis creates a great story.
All of my verbs are of the wrong tense.
Re-reading this story again through this new filter made it like I was reading it for the first time. Perhaps the best $20 I've dropped in a while.
And here are some pictures I took in Amsterdam.
They're all of the same thing, but I can't figure out which one I like the best. Timing is everything. Or something like that. Labels: Amsterdam, Books, Comic Books, Dostoevsky
If anyone happens to have a lead on Radiohead tickets for Aug. 28 in Amsterdam, I would be much obliged if you would tell me. Labels: Amsterdam, concerts, music
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