Drowsy Melodies

Well I've officially completed my first summer session. Trigonometry of all things, wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. I didn't do as well as I had hoped - meaning I didn't ace the damn thing. But I blame my sudden illness which left me bedridden for two days before as the main culprit. It wasn't so much as I needed to study a lot, but if I could have at least devoted one hour to the damn thing, I would have easily aced it. Usually I wouldn't mind it so much if I didn't nail the final, but the rest of the "semester's" grade didn't really amount to much, so my final exam is basically my final grade. But whatever, I'm over it; it's done with, what more can I do?


My sickness, I'm happy to announce, has waned significantly since its inception on Tuesday evening. What started out as a mild cough, which I assumed warranted the chain smoking of several cigarettes - seriously though, when I don't smoke for a while, I start coughing a lot. And when that didn't work, I noticed a certain wheeze in my breaths and an even more noticeable amount of discomfort toward the heat. I was cold oddly enough, yet incredibly sweaty. So before the body-aches kicked in, I stocked up on a variety of Progresso's chicken soup, generic NyQuil, Multi-Vitamins, Zinc, and several bottles of water.


While sickness has it's drawbacks, of which I won't go into detail, as I assume you've all been sick. I find a few pleasures in feeling a bit under the weather. For one thing, I love soup, and I feel that I don't really have enough of it in my life. But good soup just makes me feel so nummy nummy inside. Another silver-lining in my flu infested cloud, is NyQuil - by golly gee whiz, I fucking love NyQuil. The only thing better than NyQuil is the hypothetical "Extra Strength" NyQuil. Holy crap, that shit would probably knock a thorough-bred stallion hopped on methamphetamines clean the fuck out - and yes, I'd gladly take the recommended two tablespoons every six hours. They should serve NyQuil cocktails at bars - as if driving home wasn't difficult enough. "Sorry officer, that Vodka-NyQuil-Tonic just hits me so hard."


On a more, "so Milo, what have you been looking at online lately" kind of topic - I've been drawn to more photo-centric websites lately. Years ago, I was primarily obsessed with gear oriented discussions, primarily the comparisons various websites and forum dwellers proposed between the DSLR's of Nikon, Canon, and Pentax. But ever since I've acquired my own fully paid for Nikon D200 (smiles warmly), I haven't really cared - since I'm more than happy with mine. Although a small part of me still wonders about the Pentax system. Pentax has always provided a well-priced, high-quality, albeit niche alternative, to the Nikon/Canon conglomerate. See, now that I've began talking about photography I've digressed...back to photo-centric websites.


I've been frequenting flickr.com. (that is a link to my personal flickr gallery) Flickr's a neat site, they've somehow managed to turn a simple necessity such as posting images online to share with friends, into a lively and energetic community of photographers - of all skill levels, ages, and equipment. And there are "Groups" majority of which are public that allow you to share photos that relate to the group's theme, or participate in discussions about the various facets of photography. For example, The Nikon D200 group, which I'm sure you've deduced covers just about anything dealing with the Nikon D200. Then there's the Amici Peluche, which I believe has something to do with stuffed animals?? I'm not really sure, but someone invited me after they saw a photo I took, and I figured why the hell not.


But I bet you're thinking, I don't even know these people. Why would I want to look at their photos? I guess you bring up a valid point. But there are some funny shots I've seen, not to mention refreshing looks at various cities, towns, people etc. from all around the world. I've also found people who write some real decent blogs. All in all, if you dig photography on even the lowest of levels, flickr's got an avenue for you. Whether it be high fashion, or street photography; flowers, or french fries, there's a flickr group with at least one other person who shares the same interest. So anyways, that's how I've been essentially waning myself off of the myspace/facebook addiction - by exchanging them for an equally click-a-licious serving of flickr's random Interestingness.


Oh, and to give you a tease about an upcoming blog, I'm going to write about a fun weekend I recently had. And of course it included alcohol, but for once, alcohol wasn't the main focal point. Which, in the Lehigh Valley, is saying a lot. I don't really like going somewhere new, when "somewhere new" is basically nothing more than a dressed up, more expensive version of "somewhere familiar", where the drinks are not only more expensive, but also significantly watered down. Give me something different, I mean really different, not the same shit in a nicer glass, the same people in nicer clothes, and the same scene in different lighting...join me, in giving every overpriced, fufu, faux urban cool, wannabe restaurant, bar, whatever - in the Lehigh Valley a big warm, FUCK YOU! That's to you, "Blue", "Melt", "Brew Works", "Starters", "Fill in whatever overpriced joint here", etc. You all equally suck. Don't dellude yourselves into thinking you don't, because you do.


Well I'll save the rest for later. It's early/late, depending on how you want to view it. Take care my people, and hope that I'll wake from my NyQuil reverie.

Oops...I made a funny.

What? Another one?! So soon?! Well I'm just so full of moxy lately, I've decided to blog again. Honestly, I just don't feel like looking over my Trig at the moment.


There is something about today that feels like a bouncy Sinatra song, just begging to be danced to. Like most, I started my day off with urination, a classic, yet timeless beginning to any good day. I bet you're thinking I'm crazy, but just imagine a day you don't start with pee...weird huh? Well I take that back. There was this one time, when I started my day off as a pleasantly surprised recipient of a blow job. That too was a good day. Anyways, after the pee, I had myself some leftovers from last night. It was a giant piece of broiled red meat, glorious. Pee and red meat - other than a bj - I don't think there's any better way to start a day.


I know, I'm a chauvinistic pig...whatever, I'm not gonna lie and deny my love for oral sex...and red meat. Both are fucking delicious, well I guess it depends on the cow and the cu(n)t - maybe even the butcher, or more so the farmer. Wait, I don't even know what I'm writing about anymore? Blow jobs, beef, butchers...my how I've digressed. But then again, I guess you need to have a point in order to digress from it. A tricky little thing this blogging can be.


Speaking of points, I've been toying with the idea of writing a more subject centric blog. Because I know it's tough to market my current offerings of typed blabbing. "Hey you should check out my friend Miguel's blog." "Oh really? What's it about?" "Well in his current one he talks about peeing, bj's and beef." "Oh, awesome. I'll take a look at it." So you can see the need for some kind of delineation...two ideas have included:


1. Quirky movie recommendations, with a side why and why not(s), and maybe a tasty nougat of insight for dessert...


2. A fun local Lehigh Valley current events type of blog...mainly because I haven't lost all hope that there is something fun to do in the LV. That said, I'm kind of sick of just drinking myself to oblivion because of boredom.


So if any of you out there in La La land have any ideas, please do let me know. I find myself stretching for something to write about, but other than succumbing to the internet radio monster that is last.fm, nothing's really new in Milo's dull, trigonometric centric life. I have to say that last.fm is pretty rad, but my first couple of attempts really made me want to stab other people's pets. Why? Because I didn't want to stab my pets, but I really wanted to hurt something cute and fluffy. I think my desire to kill had more to do with my lack of cigarette smoking more so than Last.fm's inability to play properly. It's kind of fun. Last.fm, not stabbing pets, well that's fun too, but internet radio is exceedingly less messy. For instance, I was introduced to a song by The Cramps, titled "Anal Wonderland". Yes, I know. Anything that enables me to listen to something that combines punk rock, amusement parks, and anal sex - is, for lack of any better terms, fucking awesome. Last.fm, you make broadband internet that much more useful - as if all the porn in the world at your fingertips wasn't enough. On a scale from 1 to funky, Last.fm is funkalicious.


Speaking of funky shit. The hypothetical kind, not the semi-solid, tubular and smelly kind. While my life is continuing on with no real reason for an erection - not that I don't still randomly get hard-ons for no apparent reason - Presti's movin' out! I helped him move a couple of things into his swanky new loft and met his loft-mate, and I must say it's pretty cool. The place is nice and I look forward to finally having somewhere to bring AIDs infected whores for rough sex late at night. I'm kidding Presti, incase you were worried. But no really, can I? Maybe? No? Ok, we'll talk.


While I'm on the topic of VD, how many of you have heard of one of the funniest magazines I've ever had the pleasure of reading, VICE? Back in SF you could find this free, that's right I said it, free magazine scattered throughout local shops, cafes, video rental stores, hell I even found some at a hardware store. What's the magazine about...well remember how I created a fictional "what if" earlier with a bigger "if" you actually tried recommending my blog to anyone? Well...it's kind of like that. The most memorable issue was one that was all about Russia. They covered such a diverse topic, from music, fashion, art, prisons, the mandatory military time - in short, it was the most visually intense magazine I've ever picked up. But most notably, and arguably their most popular feature is their "DOs & DON'Ts" segment. The premise is quite simple. They take pairs of snapshots, and I do mean snapshots - these photographs look like they were taken with an already disposed disposable camera. Now these snapshots are generally somewhat related and they are titled with a simple "DO" or "DON'T", and beneath the photograph is a description filled with an overload of sarcastic sass to make even the most jaded of people crack a smile. If you have the opportunity, grab one of these. I assure you it will make for some interesting conversations, and at the very least provide you with endless pictures of stupid indie hipster dudes with their equally stupid skinny jeans mixed with a sampling of overweight hipster chicks. I love it. It's hilarious. Vice is probably the only redeeming quality hipsters have - the simple fact that they contributed to a magazine as funny, entertaining, and even somewhat informative as VICE.

Well, that's it for me. I'm going back to another cup of green tea, some shitty movie and pretending I am somewhere I want to be.

Material Possessions

Moving home has afforded me some much welcome luxuries. One of which is mommy's generosity when it comes to new clothing. I am the proud owner of some swanky new t-shirts (along with a new pair of Dickies, a hat and a pair of kicks). Now I'm sure many of you don't really see that as something to be too excited about. But it has been years since I've bought a t-shirt that wasn't completely utilitarian (I generally only bought the most basic of necessities, packs of plain white undershirts for example). I am a huge fan of Ambiguous and their brand of tees. Note that the maroon shirt is made by Volcom.





And aside from my new-fangled sexalicious t-shirts - which by the way have become my latest obsession - my wonderful parents have given me the ok to get my eyes checked out. And along with it, a brand spankin' new pair of spectacles. So I took my skippy ass to Fox Optical, in the South side of Bethlehem. Fox Optical was one of the first to offer some of the Lehigh Valley's funkiest frames, albeit expensive, the people and service are exceptional. They've also been rather kind to a brokedown mother fucker like me - with discounts and payment plans that few others would even bother with. Keep a look out, and I'll post a pic of my new frames within the next week.


I've also been on the lookout for a new camera bag. My current photo "satchel" (lovingly referred to as a man purse by many of you) is just a bit too small for Niki. While I'm considering a more traditional and minimalist style from the likes of Domke, the same manufacturer of my current camera bag, I've been intrigued by Chrome's messenger style offerings. Chrome is a San Francisco based company known famously for their seat belt buckle style strap and Clint Eastwood-ian ruggedness. Of course, the messenger bags from Chrome are not traditionally used for photographic equipment, I've found inserts from another company called Crumpler, that would act as a padded "bucket" for Niki and various accessories.

I vaguely remember a friend of mine who had one back in SF. In fact, I remember pulling a dickhead move and pressing the buckle causing the bag to fall off of him. For that, I'm sorry John - nice bag by the way. As far as multi-purpose bags go, I think this easily takes the cake. But seeing as my time spent in suburbia seldom requires such a bag (I drive everywhere anyways), I can't really justify it quite yet. But...when I'm in Philly (fingers-crossed), I'm sure it will come in quite handy. I am leaning towards a more photo-centric bag though, as my main concern is protecting Niki while in transport. But either way, the bag(s) are pretty far down on my list. A plane ticket and a lighting rig are several steps above them.


I know the blog isn't as reflective, in fact it's not really reflective of anything at all. But I've been trying to post more regularly and frankly, if I were to self-reflect that often, I'd probably go insane. Thanks for reading out there wherever you are.