RandomCha

Boy, no doubt about it, this is a lazy day. I’m still in my pyjamas. I wish time wasn’t going by so fast. I feel like I just barely woke up! I made coffee this morning & played around with my stereo for awhile. Then I was lying in bed and reading Andy Warhol’s diaries. The book is way too bulky to carry around, so I guess it’s just going to be a read-at-home kind of book. That’s cool.

The phone rang & it was Matthew. He got a temp assignment for today after all. I could still get dressed & go downtown and say to Gavin at the comics store where he works. But I’m just feeling reluctant to get uncomfy. I relish those times when I can stay inside most of the day & not get cabin fever.

Rob called this morning from Taos. The quick move from Chicago seemed to go well and he sounded fine. No computer for him there, only a phone. They don’t even have mail delivery out where he’s living, so he’s rented a post office box.

Tried making a few other calls but no one was home. So I logged on and checked my email. Long one from Ben D. Wrote him back at once. Stuff about last week’s attack. I tried getting philosophical. Hope it didn’t come off sounding cheesy.

Andy’s off at work at 5. That’s not much longer. I feel the moments slipping away. Just dunno what to do now. So I thought that writing on here would at least be something.

Looked at the Chicago Film Fest listing & noticed that the gay/lesbian orthodox jews documentary that I saw at last year’s film market got in … I bet that it was between “Kosher Messiah” and that one and they chose that one ’cause it’s a hotter topic and “covers more bases.” Blah. I want more info about our Northampton screening but the festival site doesn’t have anything online yet.

Allergy season is here. I’m drug-happy.

Just got an email from Tchavdar; “Kosher Messiah” has been accepted into the Northampton Film Festival! This is our first with the film. Hooray! i hope there’ll be plenty more in the future …

I guess if I REALLY had to pick a favorite album by Duke Ellington, it would be “Such Sweet Thunder.” It’s lovely. Though “Blues In Orbit” has its moments. The new Bjork album comes out tomorrow. And Stereolab.

Wrote emails to John E. and Jonathan D. Gives me some kind of sense of accomplishment. Still have half of “Vertigo” to watch. Andy might have pulled a muscle in his back at work today, lifting something. He’s taking it easy.

Earlier today I finished the first draft. The working title right now is “Sample Case.” I’ll keep that for awhile and see if I still like it. I re-formatted all the stories, putting them in random order using numbers from random.org. This took a while, because I had to cut-and-paste them one by one into a new document. But it’s finally done and I can start revising using this new document whenever I’m ready.

Seeing all 100 stories in a new order for the first time since composing them is delightful. Just scanning through them all quickly I noticed themes and repeating motifs that I never saw before, nor was conscious of while I was writing. I started this project in early September of last year.

Now the rest of my evening is free and I’m not sure what to do with myself. Katie is having a party later on tonight, and she lives really close by. I could go to that. Steven said he might be going. He gets off work at 8. Maybe I could go meet him & we could hang out till the party at 9.30. I don’t know. I could rent a movie but I sort of feel like mingling. I’ve been alone most of the day. Having a beer or two doesn’t sound either bad or good, but it’s something to do.

Andy called and said that he went home sick from work tonight. He was supposed to close at the store. It’s good that he went home. He said that he’s just going to try to rest and sleep tonight, soup and hot tea. Actually, something hot sounds better to me right now than beer.

Laurie Anderson is coming to Park West on September 11th. I bought tickets just now; 1 for me, 1 for Andy, 1 for … whoever. I’ll find a 3rd.

I don’t know what I feel like doing tonight. I could go and rent a movie; there’s still time. I wish there was a cool coffeehouse to go to around here. There’s only Intelligentsia, and I work there. I worked there today already. Going back in AGAIN would be most uncool.

Birthday in two days. On the closer side of 30 suddenly.

I ought to write tonight; that’s what I ought to do. Wait … isn’t doing this journal writing? Maybe I’ll watch “Vertigo” again. That would be great!

I have 2 stories left to write. Will I write any today? Waiting for my tea to be ready. I guess I’ll have some tea and then take a nap eventually. I’ve been reading for about 45 minutes and I was beginning to zone out. The Dave Eggers book is entertaining. Emotionally, though, I feel at arm’s length, sort of detached from what I’m reading.

Do I really want a digital camera? Do I want something else? Do I really want anything else? I feel apathetic about birthday presents.

“Ghost World” was sure a great movie. It’s so low key that you might mistake it for just a casual movie. But it’s not casual. There’s a lot of serious observation going on. The entire cast was excellent. Sometimes the best thing you can say after a movie is, “I sure hope the director gets to make another one.” That’s how I felt after this one. Terry Zwigoff really impresses me.

Tea is done. But too hot to drink. I totally need a better chair for this desk. This one kills my back. I wonder if it’s still raining outside. Nothing but junk mail today.

Had a great dream last night. I was visiting New York. I got there and someone introduced me to Rob Reiner. He shook my hand and seemed really glad to see me. “I’m happy that you’re finally here!” he said. “You know you look just like my dad, Carl.”

“That’s funny,” I said. “You and I both have the same names.”

“Wow, you must be really hungry after your trip. Please have some of this … I made it just for you.” He showed me a skillet with potatoes and cheese and eggs, a sort of casserole, and offered me some.

Later on I was at this Roadhouse-type bar at the top of some building, sitting inside on a high barstool around this table. David Byrne was there, we’d been introduced, and I was telling him how much it meant to finally meet him, that I’d just met Jim White a few weeks before, etc. We talked about his work a little. “Is it really true that you’re going to be writing the score for the new Raul Ruiz film?”

“Well, maybe,” he said. “I might. But at this point, it’s just a rumor. They really like to stick rumors in the news about this stuff.”

Then Philip Glass came in and we talked with each other, and he and I went elsewhere and had lunch together and talked … I don’t remember our conversation, but after lunch he took me back to the bar and dropped me off there. David Byrne was still there and he was talking to Laurie Anderson.

I went over to Laurie and told her how great it was to meet her and how wild it was to be meeting all these people in the same day. I wished that someone could have taken a picture of all of us together. Then I asked her, “Is it true that your new album is coming out August 21st, the day before my birthday?”

“Well, yes, at least it’ll be available at some of the big record stores then.” She paused and sensed what I was thinking and said, “Why, do you want to me to run up to my office and get you a copy and autograph it for you?”

“I guess you wouldn’t want me to play it for anyone until the 21st …”

“No, you wouldn’t be able to.”

“Maybe we can make a deal …”

“I could just mail you a copy on the 21st. But you could get that done anywhere else.”

I don’t really remember how the dream ended except that I don’t end up getting a copy of her new album. This is the first time I’ve had a dream with all 3 of them in the same dream.

Darn it. I caved in today & went and bought an air conditioner. After Sleepless Night #3, I just couldn’t take it anymore … if it’s gonna cost $300, I told myself, I don’t care, it’s just my credit card, it’s on paper, and I want to be able to be in my own apartment & THINK again. To have a clear head.

So first I went to the new Sears on State Street. Nothing. Nothing even under $350, and none that would have even fit in my window. I took the train to Best Buy. And I settled on the cheapest one they had, the smallest one. With tax it was about $275. I whipped out my credit card & gave it to the cashier with a slight grimace. Money I was saving for other things … there goes my retroactive pay raise at work, there goes the tax rebate check which hasn’t even arrived yet.

And then I lugged the thing over to Clybourn, the closest busy street. Sopping wet by then. Heat index of 100. Hailed a cab & spent $8.50 to take the thing home. I think it weighs at much as a nuclear device. I got it into my apartment & opened the box. After deciphering the nearly-useless installation instructions, I got it working.

It’s been running now for almost 5 hours. And it feels much better in here. I’m going to sleep UNDER THE COVERS tonight, WITH MY CLOTHES ON. I haven’t done either in a month or two. And yeah, I’m cranky at what it cost me, and just tired out. But I know I’m going to get some decent sleep tonight. And I’ll have some hot coffee after I wake up tomorrow, and I won’t feel weird about doing it.

Climate is a weird thing. If it’s good, you don’t think twice about it usually; it’s just nice and you go about things. But when it’s awful, it affects everything. And you can go crazy.The heat makes you freeze up, mentally. And you can’t be creative …

A $275 air conditioner is an expensive way to make sure that I stop procrastinating and finish my book. But it might just work. We’ll see tomorrow, which I have off. No work. Just a morning trip to get my Illinois driver’s license, which will expire on my birthday (August 22nd); and some time to write; and then tomorrow night, Jessi and I are going to see Jim White play at Martyr’s. I’ll get him to autograph my CD covers.

I am seven pages away from finishing the first draft of my book. These are the most difficult. Ideas flee from my head as soon as I try to corner them. And this heat and humidity makes things awful.

Andy and I went to see Jim White play at Schubas on 29 June. The show was scheduled for 9 o’clock, and the doors were supposed to open at 8.30. For whatever reason the doors were still closed at 8.45 and there was a line of people waiting to get in. Then Jim came through the doors and started apologizing to everyone. “I’ve never seen anything like this, “he said. “Thanks for waiting.” He made his way down the line and one by one shook everyone’s hand.

He gestured over to the corner where a smiling woman dressed casually in jeans and wearing glasses was standing. He said, “That’s my sister. She came to see the show too.”

The show was incredible! The band was funky & tight. And damn, the guitar player Chris was so so so yummy. Were Andy & I the only gay people in the crowd?

Afterwards Jim was talking to people & selling his cd’s & some t-shirts that he designed himself. He said that he didn’t think they’d ever played better than they had tonight. When it was my turn, I went up to him and shook his hand again. I told him I was awfully glad he was on Luaka Bop or I might not have ever heard of him. I bought ‘Wrong-Eyed Jesus!’ and told him how hard it is to find here in Chicago. He said, “Yeah, that’s what I’ve been hearing.”

He was very friendly, very modest, very at-ease. He said that opening for Dave Matthews was strange; the crowds were so huge that there seemed to be a quarter mile between him and the closest audience member! He asked me what I did & so I told him that I work for Intelligentsia Coffee (www.intelligentsiacoffee.com), the best damn coffee in Chicago. He said, “Please don’t tell my tour manager that; he’ll want to go and get some but we gotta be on the road tonight because tomorrow we play in Columbus, Ohio.”

Seeing Jim White was everything a $12 concert should be!