Could it be? An UPDATE?!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it's true. This is indeed an update. Here follows a brief overview of all things new in the land of Wayne. Let's see...

New Glasses
Not that my prescription was outdated, but I was at the mall with Sabete, who was getting new glasses, and a small inconsequential bit of my old glasses frame had broken off, so hell, why not? I'm still getting used to these snazzy new frames, as I'm usually pretty conservative. Thin, lightweight, and innocuous will do just fine, thank you. Nowadays, I'm sporting these rectangularish joints that are far more noticeable. Kind of "geek chic", but, being a sort of dull, steel gray, hopefully not garish. Sometimes I quite like them. Other times, I feel like some tool fashion plate. "Just gotta get used to them", I keep telling myself, "just gotta get used to them...".

Proof Gets Murdered
Is that some shit or what? I bought his solo album, "Searching for Jerry Garcia". In spite of the cool title, I found it to be good, but not great. Not quite that perfect balance of berserk, free ranging creativity, solid street cred, vivid story telling, and street smart insight into life in general that I was hoping for (that I'm perpetually hoping for). However, after the Matrix-inspired game of horse on the accompanying DVD, he did crawl out of the pool into which he had leapt, and, dripping wet, yelled at the camera, "I AM a MUTANT! I AM an ALIEN!" So that was cool. And so another rapper goes the way of Tupac, BIG, Big L, and a whole lot of other urban kids. Of course, there were the expected tributes on BET, and I'm sure it'll be the cover story for next month's issues of The Source, XXL, Vibe, and assorted other urban media outlets, with titles like "When Will it End?" and "Another One of Ours Falls", etc. with articles that generally end with some variation of "This is our problem, our culture, our community, and it's up to us to save it." But how?

The Addiction Grows
Well, how addicted can you be to something that only occurs weekly? Perhaps, enthusiastic would be more like it. Anyway you slice it, it's pretty much a tradition now. Wednesday night is Ghost Hunters Night at Sabete's. The usual crowd is Lani, Michelle, and myself. And now I extend the invitation to you. World Wide Web and all it's virtual citizenry, you are cordially invited to Sabete's house every Wednesday night, at eight thirty-ish, to witness the exploits of Jason and Grant, et al of The Atlantic Paranormal Society. There might be snickerdoodles! Okay, there was only one night when snickerdoodles were present. But, a precedent has been set!

She's the Man...
...was actually a lot funnier than I had anticipated. Even Sabete liked it! A lot of it was due to Amanda Bynes' performance. I've always maintained that Amanda Bynes has definite potential to do great things comedically, and while the expository first fifteen minutes or so were excruciatingly teenagery, once Amanda Bynes and certain other choice cast members were allowed free reign, their surefooted, charmingly goofy performances carried the film. It wasn't some next-level, Andy Kaufman, Upright Citizens Brigade shit, but it was much better than I thought it would be. If nothing else, it was a hell of a lot funnier than "The Benchwarmers."

School and Work
I'm going back soon. I don't want to go. But I have to. Damn "having to work for money"! Can't I get paid large amounts of money just for being me? I thought we defeated the Communists! Double-you-tee-eff!?

Dune Extended Edition (The David Lynch Version)
Came in a nifty tin case (which had a dent, but slight enough that I'm not gonna return it to Amazon.com) and brought back a flood of highschool Dune-fanatic memories and sensations. I even found myself mouthing some of the dialogue, which makes it even more amazing that I have a girlfriend. Decent special features, but not quite as much as I would have liked. Certainly not the full on orgy of extras that came with the Sci Fi Channel Dune Mini-Series DVD. While David Lynch's Dune isn't necessarily a good movie, I prefer it to the Sci Fi Channel effort. Why, you ask? First of all, I didn't like the interpretation of Paul Atreides. I felt it was inaccurate, and plus, he was annoying. Paul wasn't a perfect hero-he wasn't meant to be-but he certainly wasn't an annoying, whiny ass bitch! I still bought it though. Why? Because I tend to be a completist about such things. And kinda stupid. Secondly, I feel the director of the mini-series made a mistake in that he was "trying to emphasize the universal human elements rather than the more exotic, difficult ideas" of the book. Now there's nothing wrong with emphasizing universal human elements of a story. The problem is that it is all those weird ideas that make Dune stand out from any other space opera in which a rag-tag bunch of rebels overthrow an oppressive regime. The plot of Dune is actually kind of mundane. The point of this is that Frank Herbert (the author of Dune) was saying "This situation has repeated itself throughout human history. Does it ever go anywhere? Do we ever learn anything? Does any good ever come of this?" Stripped of it's more intellectual aspects and just plain weirdness, there is little to distinguish Dune from any other rah rah "let's overthrow the evil empire" sci fi yarn. Until you get to the sequels (the Sci Fi Channel treatments of which I rather like and consider far superior to the original mini-series, a few instances of pretentious overacting aside). In short, the Dune mini-series is easier to understand, but the David Lynch film has balls.

My Girlfriend
and I have a great little thing going on. Our relationship is clipping along at a considerable pace. We're actually kind of hoping to get past this whole honeymoon, "we just can't bear to spend a single day apart, lovey dovey" phase so that we can chill out and act like normal, functional human beings again. New relationship euphoria isn't very conducive to productivity, I'm afraid.

I have
Kristanna Loken as Brunhild the Valkyrie Queen (from the Sci Fi Channel mini-series "Dark Kingdom") on my desktop and an Aishwarya Rai screen saver. That's not cheating, is it babe?

a growing desire for my own pad

a shit load of really good books. Having the time and discipline to actually read them all the way through, however...

a small, but growing library of rad video games (which may have something to do with the preceding dilemma)

the growing suspicion that I just might be able to pull myself together...

And that's all for now, folks. Hope you've been informed, delighted, or at least mildly amused. Until next time, be cool people...

Why Sabete is a Rad Girlfriend

Elizabeth San Nicolas
EN321
April 21, 2005

Dylan Thomas’ “The Force That
Through the Green Fuse Drives the Flower”

Form:

Five line stanzas – the first three lines use contrasting imagery of creation and destruction – except for a shift in the fourth stanza. The last two tell how the speaker is “dumb” – unable to articulate how in tune he is with the decay of all things.

Stanza I
The same “force” that pushes the flower through the stem pushes the speaker through his youth. The same force that erodes the roots of a tree ages him. The speaker identifies himself as part of nature – subject to the same powers as trees and flowers. And he cannot express to the rose bent crooked by wind that his own youth is affected as well.

Stanza II
The force that “drives the water through the rocks” is the same one that pushes the blood through the speaker’s veins, and that same force that dries streams makes his cease to move.

Stanza III
Pool vs. quicksand – life and death. Wind harnessed by ropes also blows the shroud sail. Man from clay – this same clay makes up the hangman’s lime.

Stanza IV
A change happens here … it doesn’t follow the form of the previous three stanzas. Time leeches at the fountain of youth … and instead of destruction we have healing – “the fallen blood shall calm her sores.” And the speaker cannot express to the elements how we have created a heaven for ourselves of the skies because of our fear of running out of time.

Stanza V
Two lines – And the speaker cannot explain to a dead lover how his time will soon run out as well.
The “force” in the poem is ultimately time. All of nature, man included, is subject to it. Though man has tried to capture and tame time – by creating calendars and time zones and such – the passing of nature’s time is insurmountable and inevitable.

What, you ain't know? Well in case you didn't, be advised that the rumors are indeed true. Sabete and I are now an item, and the above is part of an email she sent me upon my mentioning that, although I'm a poetic ignoramus, I rather admire Dylan Thomas-the above analyzed poem in particular-and I wondered what she thought of it. Not only that, but she bakes some mean-ass snicker doodles. Yes, she's a rad chick.