Saturday, February 02, 2008

Denton Rock City

Joshua Cairn: I'll give you five dollars if you let me throw a rock at you.

- Joshua (2007)

To briefly update my last post:

The day following my blog post I checked my facebook to find a response from gym guy. He was flattered by my message but was curious as to how I knew his name. I attempted to truthfully explain how I essentially stalked him. The response was funny and self-depricating and I was sure I was on the right track to a date. The following day his facebook status read: "gym guy wants you to take him out to coffee...yes you." Absolutely positive he was referring to me, I waited anxiously for a response to my message. And then I waited longer. And then I waited longer. And then I realized his facebook status was meant to be a general invitation to any of his facebook friends.

I fail at life.

A few days later I am at the rec center once again hopping about on an elliptical. Not five minutes into my exercise routine, gym guy passes in front of me and I immediately tense up. I can tell by his body language that he's well aware of my presence and we both try our hardest not to make eye contact. He hops onto the elliptical right in front of me as I text to Jessi: "God damnit, he's here." For some reason I cannot stop laughing. As I put my phone back into the holder, my hand knocks the cap to my waterbottle off, sending it to the floor. I watch in slow motion as it rolls directly underneath gym guy's elliptical machine. God is mocking me.

I left the gym that night without gym guy's phone number, without a cap to my water bottle, and without my dignity. Fuck my life.
____________________________________________________________

In between stalking people at the rec center, I managed to secure an on-campus job in which I call UNT alumni and persuade them to donate money to the school. Sounds incredibly dull, I know. But the people are great, the hours are perfect and my boss is one of the more fascinating people I've met in a very long time. I am absolutely loving it. More on that in a later post.

For now, enjoy these pictures:

Jessi and I went on a Dallas date last weekend. CD store first, Urban Outfitters, Sushi, and then There Will Be Blood at the Angelika. Here she is at dinner as we eavesdrop on and silenty mock two girls behind us discussing work-out routines and dieting.
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Starbucks.
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Shana turns 22! I got her a 40th birthday card because I'm awesome.
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I fucking love this cat.
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It's a celebration, bitches!
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Jessi and I visited her friend Allie at her new place. We both want to kick Allie out and move in. It looks rough, but its charm overwhelms you. Trust.
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Hilarious flyer we saw on Fry street.
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On the way to Jupiter House for java.
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Laters for now!

Thursday, January 17, 2008

You Don't Know Me But...

It was a biting thirty-something degrees and so windy I could hardly keep my balance. I had also conveniently forgotten my coat at the apartment and the only clothes I donned were a t-shirt and thin, breatheable gym pants. I was delighted about my trip back to the rec center that I had so carelessly avoided for many weeks.

The gym was crowded but I managed to find a vacant elliptical machine and began hopping to-and-fro while jamming to the new Radiohead album. I spotted a fellow on an exercise machine whom I had seen numerous times at the rec but paid no attention to previously. I guess I had seen him enough times to notice that his hair color was different. He had a thin, lanky frame and an attractive face that was covered slightly by his tousled hair. I watched him as he listened to his iPod and exercised furiously. I imagined him listening to some hip, indie English band. I watched him until he finally glanced over at me. (Why is it that every time you look at someone, they look back?) I immediately switched my eyes back to the television set as if he didn't just catch me staring. After a few seconds, I looked in his direction again and we met eyes another time. This happened about two more times.

Normally my gaydar is impeccable and I can tell if a guy is gay in about .02 seconds but for some reason it was having trouble processing this particular person. Surely a straight guy wouldn't return my curious glances more than twice, right? He eventually got off the machine and began walking on a treadmill. The rec had just intalled new treadmills that come equipped with individual televisions. He immediately tuned his to Project Runway which to me was an unmistakable indication of his sexuality. Elated, I hopped of my elliptical and made my way to the treadmill next to his and tuned my television to Project Runway as if to say, "Yeah, me too."

When he finished his running, he started to exercise on an abdominal contraption near the stairway. In order for me to leave I had to pass him one last time. I told myself that if he watched me pass by, then it's for sure I wasn't imagining the whole thing. And sure enough, he looked.

In true stalker fashion, I arrived at my house and did a search for every gay guy at the University of North Texas. I found him on the third page and called my friends to ask if I should send him a message or not. Brittany told me it was too early...so I sent it anyway. It read:

"Subject: You Don't Know Me

I normally don't do this, and I'm aware that it may seem a bit creepy but I saw you at the rec center tonight and wanted to tell you that you're very cute.

That is all.

- Patrick (not a weirdo)"

And tonight he responded back by saying, "I saw you too and the feelings are mutual. Coffee? Marriage? Kids?"

Unfortunately I made that last part up. He never responded. And now I'm terrified to return to the rec center for fear of running into the cute guy who now thinks I'm a creepy and obsessive facebook stalker. And I'm willing to admit that's not far from the truth. How embarrassing.

Here are some more pictures from the Christmas break:

Cat arm mustache
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Tree in my front yard
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Out in ATX for Emily's 22nd birthday. Beauty Bar is the best place ever. It's a club/bar themed like a vintage 60's hair salon. They play the best music.
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Evan rocks out at PURE
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New Year's Eve crew downtown Ft. Worth.
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Parking lot outside our favorite San Antonio restaurant.
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I hate bars. But they give me great opportunities to take pictures.
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Drunk
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Mary's working To-Go in the background. She offered to be out server as well. What a sweetheart.
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Back in Denton.
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Laters for now.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Foolhearted

Paulie Bleeker: And Blair Witch Project was about to come on Starz, and you were like, "I haven't seen this in forever" and you wanted to watch it, but then you were like "Oh no, we should just make out instead. La la la."

- Juno (2007)

It's been over a month since my last post. I'm a horrible person. You'd think that over a span of a month I'd have something to talk about. And I probably do. It's just I can't think of anything at the moment. So deal. Instead you can consider some of these suggestions:

LISTEN TO THIS:
Chris Garneau is an artist I ran across while watching the LOGO channel, a network aimed towards a homosexual audience. He's a lovely (and gay) musician from Brooklyn whose style is very much in the vibe of Sufjan Stevens -- except even more mellow. I can't stop listening to his single "Relief" and his cover of Elliot Smith's "Behind the Bars". Check out his myspace.http://www.myspace.com/chrisgarneau
ChrisGarneau

READ THIS:
Audrey Niffenegger's novel The Time Traveler's Wife was recommended by my friend Jessi, who is perhaps the most ferociously literate person I've ever met. I trusted in her taste bought the book and am so thankful because the novel is simply amazing. It's about a man who involuntarily time travels back to periods of his life and how it affects his relationship with his wife. It's currently being made into a film which may or may not be a good thing. Check it out.
TimeTravellers

SEE THIS:

I read the novel Atonement and really enjoyed it. When I heard the director of Pride and Prejudice was taking over the film I was beyond excited. It's almost 100% true to the book, which is rare. It's shot beautifully, the score is perfect and the performances are very believable -- especially the actress who plays the little girl in the first act. She also just booked the lead in Peter Jackson's adaptation of The Lovely Bones. (which is another great book) It's definitely worth a look.
Atonement

No Country for Old Men is a very different, but thoughtful film. The story is simple -- a man is hunted by a coldblooded killer after taking some money from a drug-deal gone wrong. There is barely any music throughout the film but it works. Javier Bardem plays the bad guy and is so fucking scary. I have a feeling this is the film that'll take the Oscar for best picture.
No Country

Juno turned out to be a much bigger success than I had expected since seeing the preview months ago. I enjoyed the film better the second time. The dialogue tends to get a bit annoying at parts but the movie as a whole is very pleasing and humorous. I wish the film featured the character Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera) more because he was definitely the stand-out. Michael Cera is so convincing and breaks my heart in half. The soundtrack is perfect, too.
Juno

No movie that was released during awards season really blew me away. I think my favorite film of the year was Sunshine. It was directed by Danny Boyle who did 28 Days Later and Trainspotting. I tend to stray from any sort of sci-fi flick, but this one truly blew my mind. It's one of those films that is shot so beautifully that you want to run up to the screen and make out with it. It's philisophical but extremely entertaining. You must see it. Sadly it will get looked past for any awards because of the genre it belongs to.
Sunshine

Here are the first half of the photos from my break.

Kevin graduated and is now officially a doctor! He toasts the family as we celebrate at a wine bar.
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Shana threw a Pike Christmas party!
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Everyone was in town for Kevin's graduation/party and mom, of course, rolled her ankle yet again and was forced to walk around with crutches all weekend.
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Kevin gets the party started.
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Party People
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Fam
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We had way too much to take home that night. The only room left for 4 people was in the front two seats.
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Laura drove, Kimberly sat on the console, I was being sodomized by the passenger seat arm rest, and Kevin leaned out the window. I won't elaborate as to what was happening in this photo.
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Framed this for my sister for Christmas
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I gots me a new camera for Christmas! We're in love.
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My aunt loves the Wii.
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Brittany
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A drink at the Fox & Hound.
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Out the car window.
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Laters for now!

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

A Shiny Happy Fit of Rage

Sybil Stone: Hey. Hey you. I love you. And you are more normal than any other asshole sitting at this table. OK? OK. I need a fork.

- The Family Stone (2006)

Today was the final day of classes for me this semester. No more. Good riddance.

My film production lab instructor gave me a shitty score on my final film. It was called Two Sides and it was the story of a girl who explains to her friend that she broke up with her boyfriend and he lost his shit. But as she's describing the tantrum he threw, flashbacks occur in which we find out she flipped the story and it was actually her who lost control. She begs her boyfriend to take her back and then eventually tries to commit suicide in front of him by eating a bunch of Tums and slitting her wrist with a plastic knife that breaks. Shana agreed to play my lead and was absolutely hilarious. I thought it was funny but my asshole lab instructor wrote "stereotypes women" on my grade sheet. What a prick. I'm tempted to send him an e-mail that reads:

"You sir are a fuckface and have a lot of nerve telling me that I'm stereotyping women. Firstly, I wrote the character genderless and just happened to have an actor friend who is female and, I might add, is minoring in women's studies. Secondly, like I said...it's a character. Thirdly, I consider myself to be a staunch femenist. Fourthly, gay men love women. Helloooo. So take your half-assed critique of my film and shove it up your flabby bunghole. Thanks!"

Ugh. I sound bitter, don't I? I'm just so profoundly relieved to be rid of this past semester. My classes truly were Hell. The professors were overall decent (except for the fuckface) but there were some terribly unpleasant classmates that I somehow always seem to sit by each semester. For instance, the girl that sits behind me in Spanish (and who shall remain nameless because there's a chance she may read this) is apparently unable to pick up on social cues and incessantly blabbers to me about her ridiculous party-life, as if she's impressing me by explaining how her and her drunk friends broke down on the side of the rode after visiting a strip bar and then eventually got picked up by and later sleept with two male models. Whoopee. On the last day of class she told me how her ex-boyfriend once peed on her cat. I just did what I always do and masked my fierce disdain for her by pasting a smile on my face and nodding my head, desperately hoping that this is the last class we have together.

I'm happy to go home.

Look for more updates over the X-mas break. But until then, Merry Christmas and hail Satan!

Ft. Worth friends
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Blurry
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My friend Jessi's new tat.
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Who are you?
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Good night.
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Laters for now!

Sunday, December 02, 2007

A Space of My Own

Joel: I can't see anything that I don't like about you.
Clementine: But you will! But you will. You know, you will think of things. And I'll get bored with you and feel trapped because that's what happens with me.
Joel: Okay.
Clementine: Okay.



I will second guess the non-existence of a deity if I come out of this semester with a pulse. It has truly proven itself to be a test of my character as well as my academic fortitude. Unrelenting assignments have completely overwhelmed me in perhaps the most important (and memorable) four months of my college life. I am not yet ready to leave this place.

I just realized I have over sixty unposted photos. I should really try updating more often. Enjoy.

I want to say "thank you" to the fuckfaced bitch that hit my parked car and didn't leave a note. Rot in hell.
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Architecture in Helsinki concert at Hailey's in Denton Square. Danced my ass off.
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Shana taught me the ancient game of beer pong. I won my first game. Not bad for a guy with no aim.
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Tipsy Shana rides a bike in a backyard.
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The most amazing cat, Winnie.
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Jessi and I were invited to a Thanksgiving potluck in Ft. Worth. My two favorite things in this photo are, of course, the fabulous Clint...and the blonde girl on the right's face.
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Never will you meet a nicer guy.
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Coffee.
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Home for the Holidays.
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Dad.
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Brittany was so excited for her tree, I thought she might dry hump it.
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Bar
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The adorable Chase and Mary
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Another night at the infamous "Saint" club. It rained but George and Alex didn't care.
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Creepy ass duck on a restaurant patio. It shat all over the tables.
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Catching up with Laura and Kevin. They did the traditional thing and flew to Vegas for Thanksgiving.
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Laters for now.