Aged inspiration

If there is anyone who follows my blog and has not listened to Dinosaur Jr.'s 4th album, "Green Mind" (read: probably all of you) then you need to stop reading this post right now and go listen to it. I don't need to justify the album, the music speaks for itself.

Anyways, here are the lyrics to the song "The Wagon"

There's a way I feel right now
Wish you'd help me, don't know how
We're all nuts, so who helps who
Some help when no one's got a clue
Baby, why don't we
Baby, why don't we
There's a place I'd like to go
When you get there then I'll know
There's a place I know you've been
Here's a wagon, get on it
Baby, why don't we
Baby, why don't we
Baby, why don't we
Baby, why don't we
Why don't we
You won't see me
You won't see me
There you are and here I stand
Tryin' to make you feel my hand
You won't see me
You won't see me
I ring the doorbell in your mind
But it's locked from the outside
You won't see me
You won't see me
You don't live there anyway
But I knock on it all day
You won't see me
You won't see me
There's a place I go
But you're not there
And I'm supposed to know
How to get to where
You're gonna be
But you don't even know
So I'm flakin'
While you're shakin' it
With every stone you fly
Without a mind, without a spine
What is it that you wanna find
There's a place I go
But you're not there
And I'm supposed to know
How to get to where
You're gonna be
But you don't even know
So I'm flalin'
While you're sailin' off
Without a course in mind
Without a mind, without a dock
What is it that you wanna find
There's a place I'd like to go
When you get there then I'll know
There's a place I know you've been
Here's a wagon, get on it
Baby, why don't we
Baby, why don't we
Why don't we
You won't see me
You won't see me
There you are and here I stand
Tryin' to make you feel my hand
You won't see me
You won't see me
I ring the doorbell in your mind
But it's locked from the outside
You won't see me
You won't see me
You don't live there anyway
But I knock on it all day
You won't see me
You won't see me

Open Road

Something that should be known about me: Roadtrips are more or less my favorite way to journey through in the world (and hands-down, my favorite method of transportation). Something about them is just so... magical. The perfect combination of fleeing from your life, and driving just a little too fast down unfamilliar roads towards a temporary new home (but really, as all road-trippers will know, the real beauty is that you have no home. You, and your friends in the car are where you live, and as long as you're on the road, dreams of homes and beds do not matter).
It's something about singing along with that one song everybody in the car kinda knows the words to, or the ever-growing mountain of soda cans at the feet of the character in the backseat. It's buying locally made pastries at a small-town convinience store, and having the person at the till look at you funny when you accidentally pull out the wrong currency. Taking pictures of the mountains out of the windows of a moving car, nobody being exactly able to agree on a tempurature for a car, and (personlly, my favorite) getting lost in an unfamilliar city, trying to find your way back onto your road while somehow being impressed and annoyed with the fresh layout of the districts.

Anyways, recently I took a drive down to Salt Lake City with a concert in a small club as my destination. I missed three days of class (two of which were spend on the road, 14 hours each way). I ate terrible food, nearly fell asleep at the wheel, and spent several hundred dollars out of my quickly draining savings... and I loved every minute of it. The rush of moutain air, seeing your favorite band in a far-off city, and travelling halfways across America for no real reason.

I love road trips, because for a few days... you're free of destiny. You can escape life, and make your own decisions regarding destination, time and who you are
On that road, you are free

“Tonight is one of those nights where you find yourself alone in your bedroom reading pornography. To be more accurate, it is one of those nights where I find myself alone in my bedroom reading pornography. Only, instead of arousal, it has conjured up a mixture of arousal and nostalgia. That is a dangerous combination… I tried to think of a subtle way to mention that I still think about her. But what do you say? There is no subtle way to mention you miss the curve of someone’s ass.”
- Joey Comeau

Mortality

STOP RIGHT NOW IF YOU ARE A JOHN GREEN FAN WHO HAS NOT FINISHED THE FAULT IN OUR STARS. THIS POST WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS

I read the latest John Green novel, the Fault in Our Stars last night in a single sitting. As his writing usually does, it roused some questions for me, but in this case, one in particular has lingered with me.

"How does my existence affect my world?"

Structurally, in some ways I could almost call a cop-out of resorting to directly inverse gender rolls of Looking For Alaska, although I'm fairly sure that may be intentional. The second Augustus kisses Hazel in the Anne Frank memorial type place, his fate is sealed, and if you've read any of John Green's other novels, you know it's just a matter of time until his death (made further obvious by his constant talk of martyrdom).

But then I stop to wonder- Am I somebody's Augustus Waters, a Manic Pixie Dream Boy of sorts? Am I someone who sweeps into lives, changes everything, and then leaves in a great show of sound and fury, nothing but confusion, pain and bittersweet memories in my wake?

After beautiful experiences in Amsterdam, Augustus and Hazel give each other their virginities, in a totally pristine, picture-book perfect look at young love and it's possibilities. They remove the reminders of their oblivion (leg and breathing devices not required to not die) and share the ultimate indulgance of the flesh, ironically cementing the effect of the sinful city in Hazel's memory for her infinity with the painful reminder of her maidenhead. Again, I feel a connection to Augustus. Indulgance, consequences be dammed... but I wonder, after the fact, what remains of what (and who) I've left behind.

In the end however, nothing can last, and we have to make a choice- What do we die for? What is worth living for, what is the cause greater than ourselves; the ultimate concern?

Home

Down on You

I can't exactly describe why, and it would be impossible to try, but I have found emotional and spiritual solace in the strangest of places- while giving cunnilingus to a girl I've come to fancy. (For those of you concerned, this story will not shift gears towards sexual deviancy, I'm going somewhere with this).
Anyways, I offered, she accepted, and in the moment I felt something that I hadn't felt so... fully in a long time. I felt totally at peace, not only with myself, but with her, her body, and honestly, all of the pent up emotions that have been giving me trouble just seemed to... dissolve away in the moment.
And who knows? Maybe this is just the start of a good thing. I feel like I'm in a good place, and now, the only way to go from here is up

May the day find you well
~Chris

Resolve

And here we are, Christmas, looking down the barrel of New Years.
It's remarkable how much things can change: This time last year, I was in my final year of high school, prepping to go down to Mexico to visit the girl who I felt certain was the one

Now, I don't know if I'll ever see her again

Time changes, people change, and the unexpected always finds a way of falling straight into your lap. The only choice that you really have is whether you want to embrace it, or throw it off, and try to grasp at something more rational. In this next year, I pledge live for me, to be the strongest and wisest man I can, making everything just a tiny bit better for me, and those I care about.

I've lost love, but not hope.
Never hope