NBA Playoffs. Victor Hugo. Romanticism. Caspar David Friedrich.

The NBA Playoffs start today. This is very very important. I think. If you don't already have a team to root for, or you just don't care about basketball, well, I still think you should cheer for a team. I recommend you cheer for the Phoenix Suns. You will thank me in the end.

In other news... I finished Victor Hugo's Notre-Dame de Paris, such an amazing book. Unfortunately, since I liked it so much, I'm going to have to read more of this writer's works, and, uh, his novels seem to be very long (some writers have too much time on their hands, if this guy had kept a more active lifestyle, maybe his books would've been a little more concise?)... well, maybe I will read some of his poetry instead, read his other novels later. But this book I just finished, it was great, really well-written, and the story itself is good (although a little silly and predictable at times). I'd tell you about the story, but I'd probably give it away or more likely than not you already know the story.

Well, I'll tell you a bit about the story, for those of you who don't know... there's a 'magical' goat in the story who's able to do lots of stuff, like, impersonate people and do all sorts of other hilarious stuff which I wish I could teach my dog how to do... and then there's a hunchback character, and he's basically a fighting machine and he's exactly like Stallone in the movie Rambo, blowing bad guys away, except he doesn't use rocket launchers and sniper rifles, he uses beams and rocks and super-strength... another character is a beautiful girl who goes by the name of Esmerelda. Everybody in the story loves her except for one person, but this one person happens to be the person she loves! And this guy, whom she loves, is a total bozo, which is totally sad, but hey, this is a tragedy, so that kinda stuff happens in tragedies. And people die in tragedies, which I don't like. I like happily ever after stories, well, most of the time, although we all know happily ever after is an illusion, people grow old and fat and hog the television remote and don't help clean the dishes, not to mention the kids they have, who more likely than not are spoiled brats, always whining and trying to strongarm their parents into buying them stuff, and whining about wanting to go see a Britney Spears' concert...

Anyways.

Victor Hugo was part of the romantic movement, I'm not too familiar with writers from that movement, except for Chateaubriand. I'm mostly familiar with romanticism in the realm of 19th century painting... specially German romantic painters, there were a bunch of great ones, one of my favorites is Caspar David Friedrich... Some of Friedrich's paintings are very well known, but he also did some unbelievable drawings. His work tends to be sad and spiritual, and the colors tend to be low-key... I included some pictures of his work down below. And if there is one thing we can all probably agree on, it's that Caspar David Friedrich was a great tree painter. I'm guessing he really liked trees. And owls. Although, I'm not sure how he felt about gophers, but I'm willing to bet that if I study his paintings a little more I will be able find that out, and I will promptly get back to you on that (I must admit it would be a huge disappointment if I were to find out that Friedrich was a fan of gophers, we all know they are terrible, terrible creatures who are always cooking up nefarious plots).

Back to Hugo... Hugo was famous for his writing, but I found out he did lots of drawings and paintings, I guess he was multi-talented like William Blake... Although, I've searched the internet for Hugo's drawings, and I've only been able to find a couple, but they look pretty cool. Nothing mind-blowing, but cool enough...

Here is one of the few Hugo drawings I found on the internet...


And here are a couple of Caspar David Friedrich's paintings and drawings...

Sports, Sneak Attacks, and Books

Sports Stuff

Lots of sports stuff has happened lately. Great NFL playoffs, Cowboys lose in a wild finish (as it turns out I caught the game while playing poker with my sister and her friends!).

I've been watching most of the Suns' matches too, I usually take the opportunity to catch their games if I'm too tired to read or do something constructive. I really love watching their games, they have a great style and the perfect game plan, unbelievable how consistent they are. They keep winning, they crushed the Warriors last night.

The only problem is I love lying down on the couch or the floor when I watch these games, and that is when Rambo sneaks into the room. Then he usually sneaks over to where I am. I tend to be very into the game, or too tired to notice him, and before I can comprehend his presence he's already sunk his shark teeth into my arm! He's crazy. He starts barking at me, or trying to bite me some more. I think it's because he wants attention, he wants to play, poor little guy. I wish I could play with him in those moments but sometimes I'm too tired for that. I'll usually let him go outside in the yard, and I make sure to point out all the birds and rabbits, sitting pretty in the grass, munching away on seeds and feeding on the luscious grass. I'll whisper something into Rambo's ear, something along the lines of, "Look at that smug little bastard bird, look how goddamn content he is, walking about, with his chest all poofed out. Look, he's just pecking away in our yard, no worries in the world. He doesn't care about you. He doesn't respect you and your shark teeth!"

That gets Rambo going, he hates having other creatures in the yard, especially creatures that don't properly respect and fear him!

Books Stuff

I've been able to read a lot, as I've mentioned before. I started a really interesting French book, Les Faux-Monnayeurs (translated to The Counterfeiters in English) by Andre Gide. My parents got this book for me a while back. I've never read any of this author's books, I've heard a bit about him though, mostly about his best known book, L'immoraliste.

So far the book is pretty interesting, one of the main characters is very autobiographical (I assume). This character is very introspective and talks about lots of different things, has some interesting thoughts on art and life and all that. It's nice, I like getting a sense of the author's persona and ideas. I mean, not all books are meant to be intimate or about the author, but sometimes it's cool to feel that there is total transparency between the author and his writing. Like the writer is hiding nothing. It all depends on the books purpose of course, sometimes it's better when you don't even have to think about the author, and can just think about the story itself without worrying about the writer. Anyways, I'm not that far into this book, but I have a feeling it's mostly a meditation on art and life. Cool by me.

Quick thing. I totally loved this line in Gide's book, and I think it's true in certain respects, not necessarily about the British, but just the idea in general. A lady in Gide's book is telling her lover, who has just cheated with her:

"You remind me of certain British people; the more their thinking is emancipated, the more they attach themselves to morals; it's reached a point where no one is as puritan as these free thinkers."

In more book news, I'm still reading lots of short stories, mostly later in the day, specially at night. I'm really loving reading scary stories right before bed. Still reading lots of Poe, just read a great one by him, William Wilson, that was one cool story. I also re-read the Masque of the Red Death, that story is really growing on me. It's funny, I usually don't re-read authors, but it's very easy to re-read Poe, his use of language is very beautiful, and there are always new things to pick up on in the writing.

Another writer of short stories I'm totally digging: HP Lovecraft!!! This guy is ridiculously great, totally dark, really freakin' scary, sometimes his writing is a little over the top, but sometimes it's just perfect. Definitely recommend him, especially if you like very scary stories, stuff that will keep you up at night! I'll recommend some of my favorite stories very soon, once I've read a couple more... I'll give you some links, there seems to be a couple sites that have his stories.

Internet Problem

My internets is so slow since yesterday, really grindingly, maddeningly slow... Don't know what's up.

Anyways, not much going on, been a little frustrated since I was feeling really tired today, but you know, that's the way it goes sometimes.

I had some friends drop by this past week, it was real nice seeing them, and I wasn't too tired when they came by, so that was cool. Plus my sister is here, it's so nice having her around. She makes me so proud, all the things she is accomplishing, and just her demeanor about life really impresses me. And she always lifts my spirits, well, usually I'm doing ok given my circumstances, but it's the days like today where I feel so tired and just so plain sick of being ill, it's a day like today where I most appreciate her presence and comforting words. I'm already sad just thinking about how she's going to be leaving in a couple days.

So, since I was tired I watched some tv and had a chance to catch the Suns game. They won on a last second 3 pointer by Barbosa! Hmmm, maybe there's some cosmic thing that balances the bad with some good...

Thoughts on Edgar Allan Poe and Basketball

First off, keep voting for me, and clicking on my pic over at 25peeps.com (I'm the guy staring at his hands with the dramatic lighting). You can vote every day by clicking on my pic. Only with your help can we defeat the competition, which is daunting (as my loyal general Babs pointed out!!!), have you seen all the tits and ass I have to go up against, it's ridiculous! I'm beginning to wonder if 25peeps isn't some sort of softcore porn site. But that, of course, is a topic for another day. Anyways, vote for me so that you may help me in my quest for world domination and my courageous attempt to thwart the impending duckbill platypus conspiracy.

Quick aside: My dog is chewing on the toilet.

Edgar Allan Poe

Now, I haven't read Mr. Poe's work since back in the day when I was a wee little schoolboy. I'm not quite sure why they made us read his work in school, his writing is brilliant, but his subjects and themes are a little macabre and intensely psychological, to say the least, and Poe's writing certainly went over my head at the time (I just thought his stuff was creepy).

Well, I'm not a big fan of short stories, but I said what the hell and decided to start reading this dude, got this nice little anthology of his work that I found. I FREAKIN' LOVE HIS STORIES! I'm so happy I started reading him again, well happy might be the wrong adjective, for godsakes, his writing is about as dire and murderously crazy as literature gets. Anyways, reading Poe has made me realize that I need to explore a whole new genre of fiction, horror stories. There doesn't need to be murderous bloodbaths in the stories, I tend to prefer the psychological aspects of fear and horror, moreso than bloody murders and physically appalling scenarios. So, if you have recommendations for me, please let me know of writers or stories I should check out...

Basketball

Have you seen the Phoenix Suns? They've won 12 in row, playing with panache and a sweet style, how can you not like this team, even if you aren't from Phoenix. They make basketball fun, run and gun, such a nice change of pace from the 90s where basketball was all muscle and grind, really really boring I thought. My art studio (which my buddies are keeping for me till I get better) is right next to the Suns' arena, I can't wait to get better so I can catch some games. It's been a long time since I've been interested in going to a sports game, but you know what, after watching the Suns on tv, I feel like they put on a great show which would be fun to see in person...

Celeb and Sports News (You Know You Need This! Seriously, Don't Act Like You Don't!)

Celebrity News

In fun celebrity news, Britney is just plunging into the single life with gusto. She's now hanging out with Paris Hilton too, haha, I would pay money to hear the conversation that goes on between those two!

In more Paris news, I also heard somewhere that Paris and Lindsay Lohan got into a fight, with Paris supposedly hitting Lindsay. What do these people have to fight about, I don't really get that, unless it's just to get more publicity and attention. Who knows why? Well, I guess if I had the trifecta going (young, rich, and famous) I'd do my fair share of hotel room trashing, I'd probably also be sucker punching unsuspecting rival celebrities I was jealous of, I'd also have to do a lot, lots lots lots of drugs, I'd also have to reserve a couple hours a day so I could stare at photos of myself and revel in my own beauty, my favorite would probably be creating false gossip (that would be fun!), and just being glamorous, I suppose. I just spend a lot of time wondering, if I were a celebrity, what would my drug of choice be? Seems like LSD could be nice, but nobody is doing that nowadays. Cocaine seems to be exhilarating, not to mention fashionable and chic... Marijuana is a bit too far down on the totem pole for consideration, although I think Paris was caught with some (which would certainly make marijuana fashionable to smoke once again). Quite frankly, alcohol seems to be the drug choice for celebrities with absolutely no imagination. Heroin, now that was in style, but probably about 10 years ago right? Whatever happened to the heroin chic... seems like a good thing that faded into history, but I guess models are as thin and sickly looking as ever, with or without heroin. Hopefully they get some rules in the modeling industry, those young girls get manipulated by the agencies... they have no choice but to be rail thin. What in God's name am I talking about!!!!

And I also heard this (I watched the E channel yesterday!, that's why I know all this!), Lindsay Lohan is attending AA meetings. Hopefully she'll be ok, I kind of have a soft spot for her after seeing her in Freaky Friday... Which reminds me, I still need to see the Parent Trap...

Sports

In a sense it's unfortunate, when I feel better I start doing more productive things and forget to focus on the things that matter in life. The things that matter? Well, celebrity gossip and sports of course! I can't believe I missed the Patriots/Bears game last Sunday, I had to check today to see who won (the Patriots)! I don't know who's playing this week in NFL games, although I did atone for my lack of watching sports last night by watching part of the Suns' game (they won! and Amare played really well!).

Why Being a Politician Pays Off, Sports Talk, and a Roadrunner Story

Politics

You know why you become a politician? Because of this, it's all about the money baby! You know what I would eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if I were a super rich politician? I know you're thinking it... the answer is MONEY, MONEY, MONEY! I particularly like the taste of the $100 bills, and the $2 bill is also noteworthy for the sweet taste it leaves on the palate. Quite maaarvaahlous really! Although that sweet taste could just be cocaine residue, I really don't know...

Anyways, I've really loaded up on politics lately and I don't feel the need to spill any cyber ink on the subject (note: I'm happy to see a balanced government!). I will give you one prediction: Iraq gets partitioned, no other way that country is going to work out. And you can take that to the bank.

Sports

I promised sports talk. Well, as my Arizona Cardinals continue finding ingenious and egregious ways of losing, my love for them only increases. Weird, no? As for the Suns, they have yet to win a game, yet for me, all with that team is forgiven, because they have a French player, Boris Diaw! I really hope Stoudemire can recover from his knee problems, but I truly doubt he can regain the explosiveness that made him one of the most fearsome players in the league, it's going to be one of those sad, coulda shoulda been Bo Jacksonish kinda things.

As for a thing of beauty, I recommend watching the Colts' offense, Peyton Manning is razor sharp, it's as close to artistic as the NFL gets.

Roadrunner Siting!

A roadrunner almost came in the house the other day. I haven't seen a roadrunner in ages (maybe it's because my dog always tried to eat them!). Very funny creatures, I really like them, although the cartoon version really annoyed me, I really wish Wiley had knocked the 'meep meep' out of that smug bastard.