The Cairo Complex

I’ve been staying up long enough to manage to get some reading done, lately, and it’s dawned on me that I totally forgot how much I love it.

I’ve been glued to this Richard Ford novel, The Sportswriter, lately and it’s so perfectly Ford I can barely stand it. Ugh, if you haven’t read Ford you won’t understand from my paltry descriptions, but he’s just so achingly obvious in his writing, and yet every line seems like a miraculous realization of truth in the world so fundamental and pure that you can’t help but hate yourself for not having come to terms with it already. His characters are every day people. They do nothing amazing, and in fact a lot of them seem like jerks. But, in analyzing these humdrum people, Ford exposes the condition of modern man so beautifully I can’t read his books without a highlighter in hand. Here’s some of what’s made the yellow so far:

[…] For your life to be worth anything you must sooner or later face the possibility of terrible, searing regret. Though you must also manage to avoid it or your life will be ruined.

All we really want is to get to the point where the past can explain nothing about us and we can get on with life.

Most pasts, let’s face it, aren’t very dramatic subjects, and should be just uninteresting enough to release you the instant you’re ready.

Better to come to earth in New Jersey than not to come at all. Or worse, to come to your senses in some spectral place like Colorado or California, or to remain up in the dubious airs searching for some right place that never existed and never will. Stop searching. Face the earth where you can.

I wasn’t so much starting a new life as raising the ante on an old one.

I am easily rescued, it’s true.

And even though I cannot say we like each other, I definitely can say that we don’t dislike each other, which may be exactly the quiddity of all friendships that have not begun with fellows you knew before your own life became known to you […]

Just perfect stuff. I can’t get enough. If you know of any authors that I should be getting into, let me know. I’m becoming voracious for books again! Who knows, maybe soon enough I’ll be into writing again. Or drawing! I feel like old hobbies are worth picking up again, lately.

A good old Doogie Howser Theme… Before he was committing lewd acts in Harold + Kumar movies.

Seriously, though, I know this is just like my other theme but with different colors. I had to do it. I’m sorry. I’ll try and be more original next time.

I don’t know if this is what Mr. West was referring to when he hopped in his DeLorean, but I feel glory-rific all the same knowing that I made the theme you are currently viewing… That is unless you’re reading the feed… But let’s get real, no one reads the feed.

Indeed, it wasn’t even that hard to make. Perhaps later I’ll make another, but I don’t know, I kind of think this fits my nerd-ish background and motivations in general to code a theme for my blog…

Here’s a link (by the way, I call it Old Console): Old_Console.zip

Because I commute a lot, I feel like it’s my new responsibility to complain about traffic. Turns out, this doesn’t require a lot of thought to do as traffic generally makes me want to die. So as not to appear like a complete complainer drone, however, I’m only going to complain about a certain aspect of annoying traffic. Specifically, I’m going to discuss my distaste for the Uneven Braker (taxonomic classification: Pedal Spasmastoid).

There are several different breeds of this particularly aggravating road dweller. For example, my personal favorite (to hate) is the Precussiowannabe. Yes, on a road nearly at a complete standstill, this particular Uneven Braker seeks to give false hope to all followers with lights flickering away as he attempts to keep beat with his stereo. To him I often yell “it’s connected to your wheels, not a bass drum!!!” Though I don’t actually yell, as this would be uncouth. More over, I generally don’t care if this person is tatted-up, pierced to hell and sporting a Mohawk… I know you’re listening to “Gimme More”, and you’re being a complete tool.