Synaxis TV

This day is hazy too. I believe I just came home and read. Was trying to finish Gravity’s Rainbow.

Little hazy. Believe I went to the Seals’ after work and wasted some time there then read.

After work Laura and I went to Cafe Brazil to read. I had a cup of lentil soup and some espresso pie dessert.

Around three in the afternoon or so yesterday my head starting hurting really bad. I already had a slight headache, which was present after I got up from my afternoon nap, and had taken some Motrin, but it hadn’t helped and was getting worse. I tried laying down and walking around, but each only seemed to help momentarily. It was the worst headache of that sort that I have had. I eventually ended up in the bathroom and threw up everything that was in my stomach, whence the pain went away.

I still have no idea what causes this to happen (the last time was on February 19, before that the only time I remember was when I was in Cisco a long time ago, though there may be some I can’t remember in between), though I do know that the cold air from the air conditioner may have something to do with it. If cold cold air is hitting me I’ll start to get a headache that feels like the beginnings of a migraine. Indeed the headache I got in Cisco could very well be attributed to this, and I did have some cold air headache yesterday though I tried to monitor it. I might need to start bringing a warm winter cap with me everywhere because it’s been pretty cold on the train a few times already and I could feel the headache trying to begin.

Laura and I went to see Dawn of the Dead on Friday (I didn’t realize the screenplay was a sequel to Night of the Living Dead). It was a really excellent movie (Evan Dorkin, who does the Milk and Cheese comic, has a great review at his site). When I left the theater my stomach was sore from tension.

I found it interesting that the central point of the movie was a mall. I thought it was fitting contemporary social commentary (in that the zombies all head there too), except that it was a part of the original in 1978 (though I suppose we’ve been a consumer society for a long time).

B00013WWSYI was also happy to see Sarah Polley’s performance in the film (she was also in My Life Without Me). There was a weird parallel to her character in both movies, that being their mutual impending and unescapable doom.

The most interesting thing about the film is that regardless of how involved we became with the characters throughout the movie and the actions they took, in the end it didn’t matter because they all died anyway. It’s kind of Buddhist in that sense, but nihilistic too. Though I guess without reincarnation Buddhism is just some kind of transcendent nihilism. Will have to think about that one a bit more.

Outside of the movie itself, this one made me think most about the act of watching a horror film and all of the things that had to come together to create it as an interaction event, primarily flim. I suppose scary stories are pretty old though and they certainly have that history, so I guess there are other places, or at least a greater lineage that this inquiry can focus on. I just want to understand why we enjoy horror stories/movies, and I think it’s just that we enjoy the sensation, much the same as watching romance or action films. This would explain why they are so popular and thinking movies are not. But if I take that step then what differentiates the enjoyment I get from horror films against others. Maybe it is just that underlying core of nihilism which I suppose is present in all horror films that brings it home for me. No, I have always loved horror, even before I knew what nihilism was or could be said to have identified with it. So I guess it just comes back to sensation, and the experience of some sensations are easier to accept because they don’t go against our everyday experiences or outlooks on the world. That being said I can’t not speculate on the correlation between socioeconomic class and aesthetic tastes…

I wonder how closely George and I are related…

Sometime during the day Laura and I went to Super Target to get some party supplies — I got some cheesecake bites and some pecan tarts. In the evening Laura went with me to Michelle’s for a party with people from the Japanese meetup. I wasn’t sure how many people would be there but it ended up drawing a big crowd. Mio, Neil, Russ and his wife, Atsuko, Yukiko, Akiko (I think). Scott, Tetsuo, Philippe. And of course Michelle and her fiance. It took a while for Libby to show up which was funny because she was the one that was throwing the party (and it had already moved to someone else’s house). Lots of people talked to Laura so that was cool. I think she talked to Atsuko quite a bit. I talked to Akiko about her plans here in the states and such. She said that she has three more months here then she might have to go back to Japan, but she really doesn’t want to. She said there isn’t much opportunity for women there.

Laura left and I talked to Mio for a while about the recent literary award in Japan that was given to a woman who wrote a book about a girl that wanted to split her tongue and get huge body tattoos. Later in the evening we watched some Dave Chappelle and everyone left soon after. I was the last one to leave as per the norm. I finished watching an episode of South Park first though.

I got on the computer after I woke up then went to get an oil change, Target, and Tom Thumb. Laura came with and we both took a nap after we got home. When I woke back up I went to the Seals’ and did some laundry, played some games, got sick, went to Popeye’s with Dennis and Laura, sat around a bit, then went to see Sara Radle in Deep Ellum. Unfortunately she wasn’t so great, but Laura and I did discover Cordelane which we both rather liked.

On Pugs and Kelly today they were talking about how much more divorced people know regarding relationships over people who have never been married. Amongst their advice Pugs said that it’s good to compliment your partner now and then even if your compliments are insincere. This reminded me of a recent experience where I complimented my girlfriend’s hair saying that it looked nice, but instead of just getting a thank you, she instead asked if I thought it looked bad before and if it looked like crap the rest of the time. So I wrote in and asked Pugs and Kelly for advice and they had a simple response — she’s a psycho. They also said that this was just the kind of behavior that relationship rookies are too inexperienced to avoid because this is how it will be forever and ever.

Same for lunch except that I got a gordita instead of a taco surpreme. After work I rode over to Chuy’s with Masuma for a work happy hour. Courtney, Amy, Bonnie, Vanessa, and Brian were there. We talked about TV shows, how the married people either proposed or got proposed to, and how we met our respective partners. Vanessa gave me a ride home then I went to see Dawn of the Dead which was quite excellent.

Same for lunch. After work I went to the Seals and played some games then watched some TV. Apprentice was good. Down to one girl. Eric’s progress report came in and he got in trouble. I hooked up the wahwah and played with that a bit.