Chris: The Man and the Myth

Monday, October 18, 2004

Adam was telling me about reading funny blogs last week, and this reminded me of something - I have a blog. I was shocked when I realized I'd written in it as recently as ten months ago, as I thought I'd given up on it somewhere in sophomore year when Pober stopped doing his and the whole enterprise seemed less funny.

I've spent at least four hours today studiously avoiding writing a paper I have no reason to be scared of. It's for a class called Ethics and Law, which generally involves me and Walker yelling at people and quoting debate cases we've run. Heck, the thesis for my paper comes from a case Emily Garin ran against me when I was a freshman. I've even had an outline for almost a week. Yet, nothing. Eh.

Reading through my old blog posts, I realized that I used to whine about really silly shit. Not that I don't like whining now, but man, some of those old posts suck. Maybe I have grown up a bit, or at least learned how to hide my immaturity better.

Spending 15 hours in a car alone with Crackers this weekend, I learned something: Crackers really likes Elton John and rap. She also had the funniest reaction to a couch tipping over that I've ever seen - rolling on the floor in laughter for fifteen minutes. This may have had something to do with pot.

You know who's awesome? Damien Rice. Was totally floored by his album, O, upon listening to it for the first time last night. Ryan Adams-esque, although the arrangements are a bit more intricate.

...

posted by Chris 6:42 PM (0) comments

Saturday, December 27, 2003

Up at 6 am for no particular reason. Listening to Hendrix at Woodstock. Voodoo Child -> The Star Spangled Banner -> Purple Haze is among the greatest thing ever. Every extended guitar strumming bit in the world (yes, you, Derek Trucks Band) wants to be this. I wish Hendrix were alive today - sure, he'd be 60 or so, and the afro would be gray, but he'd still be jamming endlessly and I'd pay to see it.

I'm also really digging Jason Mraz... his live stuff is incredible. Ansolutely Zero just kills me, and Sleep All Day is my new personal anthem for the next month.

Jimi's finishing up his set with Hey Joe... yet another killer guitar solo, but it's nice to hear Jimi singing again. He had that great blues voice... sweetly painful.

Switch over to a Counting Crows... I think I like them for the same reason I likle the Eagles - they rock, but with that bit of laid back country feel that makes the tunes nice to chill to. That and the lyrics that hit me right in the soul.

I got myself addicted to Snood for break... need lots of mental exercise while I'm not reading big books and arguing or writing about them. Just like Minesweeper over the summer. I still play it, but my records have gotten down so low that if feels a bit pointless. So Snood will have to keep me occupied.

The crowd for this show is really loud and into it... not surprising, since it's from Dublin, Ireland. Those people always seem to be ready to sing. One of my all-time favorite bootlegs is an Oasis show from this same building, and when Noel does Wonderwall acoustic, the crowd completely takes it over from him and chants the thing. It's wonderful.

Sun rise... I'm tempted to take a walk and get a bagel, nice and fresh. It's almost 7 now, they should be open. Maybe after the Crows finish...

posted by Chris 6:54 AM (0) comments

Tuesday, October 28, 2003

I remain the king of the rain.

The Yankees losing the World Series this weekend was a nice pick me up, but it shows how little sports affects me now that I'd basically forgotten about it two days later until I actively tried to reconstruct my weekend.

You know what'd be nice about going to a school where I didn't have to read several books a week? The ability to get people together on Sunday afternoons to watch football. It's not so much the football (although I like that), it's that calm, sedentary feeling it offers. That's pretty sweet.

Went to Columbia this weekend... for the non-debaters, I'll refrain from bitching about how slow the tournament was. More interestingly, I went to Tom's Diner (aka the Seinfeld Diner) for the first time at about 2:30am on Friday with Mikey. Food was fine, but brought incredibly quickly, which was nice. The place also had an extra row of booths that the diner on Seinfeld did not have... I think the relation is just the nature of the neon sign on the outside.

We took the Chinatown bus there ($20 round trip). On the way back, they showed the most awesome romantic comedy/drama I've seen in a long while, called My Sassy Girl. The plot involves this guy who meets this drunk girl on the train by saving her from falling onto the tracks (she then proceeds to vomit on an old guy's head. That was pretty hilarious). Wacky hijinks ensue, especially because she's really sassy and finds creative ways to get what she wants, like slapping him in the face. Of course, there's the inevitable break up and reunion, and that's all very sweet, but a lot of the movie is just so surreally funny. The best part? Every time she has more than three shots, she falls face first onto the table. Out cold. Apparently it runs in the family - when we meet her father later, he does the exact same thing. Bizarre and great. Worth reading subtitles for.

For those of you who haven't been watching, the new Joe Millionaire is great. The guys is so dumb, he may surpass the old Joe. If you find yourself unable to sit down on Monday nights and watch, drop me a line... Sarah, Nate, and I are all unable to do as such, and thus I've been stopping by my apartment to hit record and then going back to work every week. Thus, I have the first and second episodes on tape, which serve no discernable purpose, unless I someday feel a deep need to rewatch them all (which I doubt). But however you do it, watch it - it's the best reality show ever. If you're a guy, you'll never feel inept watching someone with an easy deal get insanely nervous and stupid. And if you're a girl, you'll feel better knowing that whatever superficial reasons you may have had for liking guys pales in comparison to watching these ladies fawn over a rich buffoon. Feeling superior has never been made so easy.

posted by Chris 6:48 PM (0) comments

Sunday, October 12, 2003

On break, laying around on a Sunday afternoon. I'll soon find the energy to move from the computer to the TV to watch the rest of the Giants game, but that can wait.

Saw the Strokes the other night in Philly - excellent show. They've got that great rock'n'roll swagger that is sorely missing from a lot of bands these days (including ones I happen to really love, like Guster). There was something so simple and beautiful in the lead singer holding a cigarette as he hung over the mic, looking trashed, stopping during one song to comment on a dancing girl's large breasts. The music itself was great (get the new album when it comes out in a few weeks, it's quality stuff, possibly better than Is This It), but tangential to the fact that they, and the crowd, were young, rowdy, and enjoying being alive, without a care in the world. Rock on, boys.

Newfound great thing - beer and chocolate fudge Pop Tarts. This was after a big Italian lunch, Friday, so I probably took in the carbohydrates necessary to run a few miles before walking to a train and then sitting for four hours. Brilliance.

So a good friend of mine is getting married (to a stock broker) in December. She's 24, on the brink of starting what will be a hugely successful career as lawyer (at least in the financial sense). Multiple scary things within this.

1) Marriage? 24? That's equivalent to me getting married in four years, which seems utterly illogical and impossible. Then again, she met her soon-to-be husband when she was my age, so you never know. Not sure if that part is scary or hopeful. Probably both.

2) I remember being 16 and her being 20 like it was yesterday, when being on the back end of college seemed like a big deal. She's very close to the "real world" now, which suggests I'll probably be there before I notice it, too. I feel vaguely scared of the "real world", although I'm not sure why - I feel reasonably comfortable with my ability to exist and excel in it and I work the rough equiavlent of 10+ hour days now anyway and still have fun (although the start time for those days is bit later and I get to add naps when necessary, which doesn't seem realistic at a law firm).
But if you get told often enough that something is big and scary, it tends to stick. So I'm kinda scared of the real world.

3) She's one of the most amazing people I know, and she's marrying a guy whom no one I know has a good opinion of. And he was bald at 26. Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems that money is scarily important. Damn it. And Sarah was trying to tell me that all women really want is to feel appreciated by a nice guy. Liar. Not that I don't plan on making large sums of money, but the whole Regis thing kind of drilled it into me that it's not all that important, especially when not used for good.

What does all of this suggest, besides that I overanalyze stuff? Well, it shows that some of my preconceived notions about stuff run right into conflict with some things I know are facts of life that need to be dealt with. This doesn't mean that I need to become cynical, because some of my idealism is, I think substantiated, just not on the grand scale that I'd like. You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes... you just might find...
posted by Chris 3:26 PM (0) comments

Wednesday, September 24, 2003

I wonder if alerting people to my Blog's existence will make my posts more coherent. Sort of like cleaning up when you know people are coming over. Actually, that was often the plan freshman year, and we'd be good for a few days, but then the place would end up trashed right before the arrival of the person we were cleaning for. So the odds aren't good.

Just one quick thing tonight - I've found that beer and a candy bar are an excellent combo, specifically Yuengling Light Lager and a Reese's Fast Break. The light beer is key, because lord knows you're getting enough calories from the candy bar. But the sweet goodness of the candy and the beery goodness of the beer are just cool together.
posted by Chris 12:18 AM (0) comments

Tuesday, September 23, 2003

After skipping UMBC this weekend so that I could do work (not so much - Chris' actual activity = watching Michigan-Oregon) and be fresh for Plenary, I'm really excited to debate again. Swat novice is this weekend, and our kids look good, so I'm happy for them, but I'm looking forward to Wesleyan, where I'll be debating with Palmieri. I think it's ass kicking time.

Wesleyan's also great because their party is a damn good time. Alex said she won't carry me back to housing this year, which saddens me and makes me question our friendship. I'm sure one of the other Smith girls will be kind enough to step into her place, both under my arm and in my heart. (j/k Alex, you know you're the best.)

Speaking of drinking, if anyone sees me trashed next weekend, slap me. Going to try and have a non-drunk weekend after the unpleasantness Saturday night.

Seeing Guster this weekend at Penn's Landing. They're great. Go to www.guster.com and listen to their stuff if you don't believe me.

Do I have any friends who can design web pages? And if so, would any of you be willing to do one to make my blog look at least a little bit pretty?
posted by Chris 1:25 PM (0) comments

Friday, September 19, 2003

Lindsay has left for Scotland. This is sad for me, and great for her. She needs some time out of the country. Why is it that so many people our age need to leave?

Terry thinks I should vote Edwards, and honestly, after looking at a bit about him, he's a possibility. I'm still a Republican, so I'll let the Dems make the decisions for themselves as far as who gets to make the big challenge, but I think I'd consider him against Bush.

Not bringing my SNL and Critic tapes to school was very stupid. I miss them much. If you've never seen the Critic, you can't be my friend until you download some and watch it. It's Jon Lovitz's finest hour.

posted by Chris 6:31 PM (0) comments

Sunday, September 14, 2003

The common thread amongst the seemingly random events of my love life is the utter randomness of them all.
posted by Chris 7:20 PM (0) comments

Sunday, September 07, 2003

So the Blog has lain dormant over the summer, because I only really write in here when there's some good carnage to spew about, and there really wasn't any of that this summer. Everything was very pleasant, really. Adam and I discovered some new and interesting things, most notably the Reverend Vince Anderson and his Love Choir, which completely destroys church. There's nothing quite like finding spiritual fulfillment in a bar in Brooklyn from a short fat guy with a beard who dances and sings about not only God, but barbecue sauce and hippies. If I haven't played you his CD yet, it's only a matter of time.

If you have an opinion on whether or not I should be a Republican for Dean, IM me. Most everyone has been pretty positivie so far, but then again, I'm more conservative than all of my friends, save Sarah and Joe.

My continued attempt to figure out what I want in a woman is continuing. I'm unable to find a discernible pattern in any of the girls I find desirable, other than generally deeming them sweet, personality wise. On the positive side, it means life is full of surprises. On the negative side, it turns discerning whether and how I should pursue things into a nerve-racking, time consuming meditation. Perhaps the monstrous load of Counting Crows and Guster I've been listening to lately indicates that I enjoy wallowing in such uncertainty. I dunno.
posted by Chris 11:09 PM (0) comments

Tuesday, May 13, 2003

Just some song lyrics today - "Rain King" by the Counting Crows. Been listening to this one a lot this afternoon, and it's really hitting me. Sums up a lot of how I feel after the ups and downs dealing with female gender this semester. Usually my music obsession of the semester has a lot to do with my mood, and the Crows are it for those one because every song is a moody love song, which has felt like the single story of the last three months. I'm feeling Adam Duritz's hopeless romantic pain. At least the semester will be done soon - as in about two hours, when I'll have finished taking my Comparative Mystical Lit final. Freedom beckons...

When I think of heaven
(Deliver me in a black-winged bird)
I think of flying down into a sea of pens and feathers
and all other instruments of faith and sex and God
In the belly of a black-winged bird
Don't try to feed me
I've been here before and I deserve a little more

I belong in the service of the Queen
I belong anywhere but in between
She's been crying , I've been thinking
And I am the Rain King

Mama, why am I so alone?
I can't go outside
I'm scared I might not make it home
I'm alive, but I'm sinking in
If there's anyone at home at your place
Why don't you invite me in
Don't try to bleed me
I've been there before and I deserve a little more

I belong in the service of the Queen
I belong anywhere but in between
She's been lying
I've been sinking
And I am the Rain King

Hey, I only want the same as anyone
Henderson is waiting for the sun
Oh, it seems night endlessly begins and ends
After all the dreaming I come home again...

When I think of heaven
(Deliver me in a black-winged bird)
I think of dying
Lay me down in a field of flame and heather
Render up my body into the burning heart of God in the belly of a black-winged bird
Don't try to bleed me
I've been here before and I deserve a little more

I belong in the service of the Queen
I belong anywhere but in between
She's been dying
I been drinking and I am the Rain King.

posted by Chris 8:36 PM (0) comments

Sunday, May 11, 2003

Been a while. The last week or so has been spent picking through the emotional wreckage of last weekend (everyone reasing this either knows the story or can feel free to ask), but I think that's finally done. I buried a hatchet last night, and that feels fantastic... sometimes, even when things are done, they need to end the right way before everyone can move on and live happily ever after, and that happened last night. It also may have been the first time I really meant it when I told a girl that we should be friends.

This was hot off the heels of one of the more interesting dates I've had in a long time on Friday night. Those who know me know how much I love Saturday Night Live (sidebar: watched last night, and everything blew until the awesome TV Funhouse with the Arab cartoon featuring Saddam and Osama as super heroes) and finding someone who I could just sit and watch with for like two hours was quite cool. Reminded me of times when I was a much bigger idealist about relationships, about perfect matches and such.

The work is coming along. I had a massive paper for my religion seminar on holiness, which I got the first draft done of on Friday. It's on the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius Loyola, who, for those of you who don't know of him, founded the order of priests that ran my beloved alma mater. Everything started making sense Friday morning when I stumbled upon a certain prayer in the book, which my freshman year History teacher had made us recite before every class, about recognizing that everything you have comes from God, and surrendering it back to him to with it as he wills. I'm not a deeply religious person (although I do like Jesus), but sitting there in the library, it all made sense, at least for a few minutes. I've been dealing a lot with mystical writers this semester, and the concept of being a vessel for God. It's a really interesting idea - God gives us free will, but the right choice to make is to surrender that free will to God. I'm not sure I buy it personally, but there's a wonderful humility in it, which I admire a lot.

Writing this paper also reminded me how much fucking cooler the Jesuits are than a lot of the rest of the Catholic church. Spreading the ability to interact with God to everyone is a great deal.

So I'm down to some paper editing and two finals, neither of which will take more than an afternoon of studying. I'll probably be done by Wednesday. Then - freedom. I love it here, and I've liked my classes on the whole this semester, but as at the end of every semester, I feel the deep need to get the fuck out of her for a while and gather my thoughts again, regroup, look back on it all. This semester, over all, has been really good, it's just that there have been some points of big highs and big lows (women...) and that's tired me out. Looking forward to lots of sleep and Comedy Central when I get home. 6 days...
posted by Chris 1:28 PM (0) comments

Tuesday, April 29, 2003

I don't tend to write about ethics and such on this thing, mainly because it turns it into this bizarre bully pulpit which I'm uncomfortable with (I like having someone to respond to me), and also because I don't find it too cathartic. But something's on my mind, so here goes.

So I was sitting in my room today, enjoying the fact that my American Foreign Policy prof had decided the last week of class was unnecessary, and I started talking with Danielle, who I hadn't had a conversation with in over two months, I think. We got to talking about corporate law, and I found myself arguing, with unflappable idealism (I usually hate idealists), that it was legitimate for my moral disdain with tobacco companies to prevent me from representing not only such firms, but also members of such firms, even if the crimes were unrelated to their tobacco dealings (not that these people didn't deserve a defense, but that I wouldn't want to provide it). After a little more thought, the second part of the statement is fraught with problems. Yes, selling tobacco to children is awful, but so is showing a disdain for the poor, not treating women well, etc. Bottom line - a lawyer who only represented "good" people would be very poor and out of work pretty often. However, I stand by the first part - I could not look myself in the mirror knowing that I made a living off of defending tobacco companies against the very legitimate law suits brought against them in regards to their marketing of products to children.

Danielle told me though that if I hated tobacco companies, I should hate Starbucks as well. She had to run after she said this (probably because she had to "work" at her "job" - silly Danielle), but I'm still lost here. Starbucks is not peachy keen - they could pay the people who grow their coffee more, and they drive out local businesses, which is pretty annoying. These poor ethical choices do not equate to pushing addictive and harmful products on children. People have the right to smoke and the right to drink (I use my right to the latter frequently), but I wouldn't give a four year old a beer, or a cigarette. Sometimes we have to do harm to others for our own gain, but I think the harm of death isn't a justifiable way to gain money.

Coming down off the soapbox, the weather is really beautiful right now, and the world is quite the pleasant place. Haverfest is less than three days away, and I think it's going to be a lot of fun because so many of us need a release. I'm lucky that I've gotten some extra time to relax this week and rest before finals comes and I have to spend two weeks killing myself. I'm really looking forward to summer - it looks like I'll be travelling up and down the east coast to see people, which will be fun. Of course, it's also my fantastic luck that I meet a great girl with a month left in the semester, but she won't be too far away this summer, so something will get worked out, I guess. My last relationship proved how important timing can be, so, we'll see. I try to be optimistic, but I find over-optimism to be problematic for me, so I'll swing to extreme pessism (or at least fake it), but that's a good recipe for paranoia - balance is the key. (Everyo Sne's mental thought: "Duh, Chris.") Final decision: it'll work, but not TOO well. Brilliance.
posted by Chris 9:06 PM (0) comments

Saturday, April 19, 2003

Chris is a happy boy.
posted by Chris 10:19 AM (0) comments

Tuesday, April 15, 2003

Fuck fear.
posted by Chris 11:13 PM (0) comments