12/5/12 : In Which I Hate Technology Sometimes

I just spent the last forty-five minutes typing a long post that I really liked on my phone, only to have it erased in an instant just before I tried to publish it. So this is my post today. I am angry. That is all.

11/19 : In Which I Cannot Sleep, Again

Why is there a Portland on the northern bit of both coasts? I guess etymologically it makes a little sense, what with it being the "land of ports," but there's a Portland, Oregon and a Portland, Maine. Both are very northern states. Is there a Portland, Georgia? A Portland, California?

I just looked it up. Thanks internet. According to Wikipedia there are only three Portlands anywhere, and two are the American ones I've just mentioned. What is it about the name of this city - these cities - that lends itself to northern climes?

Furthermore, Portland, OR isn't even coastal. It's close, but it's not exactly oceanfront. Portland, ME is, though. Right on the coast. And I guess if the Oregon one's city limits are wide it probably has some waterfront real estate, too. I'm in a weird mood.

My insomnia is getting worse. Lately I've been staying up (by lately I pretty much mean this week) to keep my lady-friend internet-company while she works on her homework, because it sucks to just be working all the time with no connection to the outside world. She has a killer work ethic. ANYWAY, whether as a side-effect or a coincidence, my insomnia has returned. Tonight, for some reason, is the first on which it occurred to me that I should write up a blog post.

I guess the other night I tweeted a lot, and that's technically a "micro-blog" format, so maybe that half-counts, but I did it on my non-Jesse account so nobody who reads this would know what I was saying and none of it was really relevant stuff anyway.

Should I do some "journal" stuff here? I guess I've been working a little lately, though as usual it's not as much as I'd like. My most recent gig was on a show called Zero Hour which was described to me as, and I quote, "Like The Da Vinci Code, but with Nazis," and it was a decent shoot. I thought I'd be working the Scorcese/ Di Caprio/ McCaughnehey (no CLUE if I spelled a single one of those right) picture The Wolf of Wall Street last week, but I wasn't picked for the scene. There's still a good chance I'll work the movie this month, though, and I'm working with John on Tuesday on... something. I wrote it in my journal. It's a show I haven't worked yet. It should be fun. It will likely be our first time actually both doing background for the same gig, so I'm looking forward to it.

John and I were supposed to work together on a shoot this summer for My Man Is A Loser, but he got upgraded on set to a stand-in position so we were separated. This Tuesday will sort of be a milestone. We've worked a lot of the same shows but never on the same day, as is the nature of the business. Not being in the Union (SAG-AFTRA), I can only be called in for certain shoots. Still two waivers away from getting that card.

This got long and rambly. Ummmmmm... I'm suddenly feeling self-conscious, because admittedly this is the most writing I've done in a while. I've been spending too much time on video games lately, but Skyrim is freakin' addictive. Tomorrow, I am promising myself that I will not pick up my PS3 controller for three days. I have decided this. I'm going to write, hang with John, and work. No Netflix, either. Pandora will be my one allowance, unless a new Adventure Time episode comes out. Which is shouldn't...

Woo! Five-in-the-morning blog rambles. Signing off!

10/28/12.2 : In which a Hurricane Party contains no hurricane

I'm currently standing on my roof looking at the Manhattan skyline with a few friends. We just watched Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (if I ever cite something else as my favorite movie I'm lying) and a few drinks have been shared. It has yet to rain on us.

Tonight has been wonderful. Beautiful and delightful. I'm with friends, have supplies, and the weather's a bit windy but is still holding. All in all, Sandy's been sweet so far.

10/28/12 : In Which I Prepare For A Hurricane

First and foremost let me say I'm not scared of Sandy. That said, half of Long Island is evacuating. I'm not in the evac zone up here in Queens, so in theory we're looking pretty steady. That's the theory I'd like to hold to, so here's hoping it's nice and valid.

In other news I just got back from the gym for the first time in far too long and my arms and chest and shoulders are mightily protesting that fact. I've learned I have a new motivating figure. Before I get into that, I'll explain a small thing. I don't like to go to the gym, and the only way I can motivate myself to get through a workout when I do go is to have a goal in mind. For most of the summer, that goal was Andrew Garfield in The Amazing Spider-Man. Today, that changed to Game of Thrones's Jon Snow. Pictures included for reference.

I'm not entirely sure why my mental goal has beefed up so much, but it seems to have gone from a still-kind-of-scrawny but well-defined geek to a rather buff rough-and-tumble swordsman. I'm pretty okay with this. I think part of that is because I'm still really skinny but so are a lot of images of Spider-Man. That might have started to not be enough, though, so I needed something a bit manlier.

Anyway, that's my random updatelet. There will be more of these as time goes by but it's time to go now. Headed to Target to get a few last minute supplies. Bye-o!

10/25/12 : In Which I Was Unproductive

I gave myself one job today. One task to complete. And as I'm sure you can already tell, I did not complete it. What, you ask in disbelief, was this monumental task that he speaks of? What Herculean obstacle did he wrestle against? What boulder did our modern Sisyphus attempt to roll up that treacherous mountain? Well I'll tell you, my faithful friends. I'll tell you in hopes that the shame of a defeat so complete, so fully realized, will push me to try again tomorrow to mount an offensive again the enemy that trounced me on the battlefield today.

I speak, of course, of my bedroom.

But Jesse, I hear you saying now, surely you could muster up the motivation to at least move that small mountain of laundry from your floor to the hamper! "But alas!" I retort, hand placed dramatically against my forehead. "There are still, like, three clean socks and a shirt in that hamper. I would have to move those first!" And at this point you're likely getting annoyed and wondering why I don't just do that, then. Well to that I must answer, "I don't have drawers in which to store them!" Also I might remark that drawers doesn't look like the right word but I'm pretty sure it is so you should ignore that. The rest of this dialogue is likely you wondering why I don't have drawers and me revealing that none of the furniture in my room is mine, and the wire shelves I've been storing my everything in are being taken back by the former occupant of said room, so I'm short on storage. Then you ask, well, all of your clothes that aren't hanging in your closet are dirty so why not at least put them in your hamper and then the conversation gets way too circular and we both explode in a mess of unnecessary verbosity and boredom at this truly meaningless topic.

In lighter news, I bought light bulbs so I'll finally be replacing the one in my room which has been out for a month and the one in the living room which we lost today maybe? I don't know. I never go out there. And now I'm going to wait for Claire to get home so we can be adorable and have a nice Skype-date with dinner and wine.

Peace out,
Jesse

I Want Things

Guys. GUYS. Guys. Seriously. I want everything. I'm gonna write a little about some things I want. Because I'm a consumer whore of a capitalist pig, but also because some things are just awesome.

Thing I Want Number One : A Triumph Motorcycle

The Triumph Bonneville is a beautiful machine. Especially the T100 model. Classic look with modern engineering, it's a racing bike for a real man. Or woman, I'm not going to deny anyone the majesty of this bike. I first discovered the Triumph thanks to Metal Gear Solid 3 (possibly the strongest entry in that series, but that's a different story). In the game, one of the supporting characters drives a Triumph motorcycle with a sidecar. I'm not positive, but I think she drove a Bonneville, and the game was set in the sixties so that makes sense. Anyway, not only was it awesome, but it was an epiphany for me. No longer did I think that the Kawasaki Ninja was the coolest motorcycle. Those were toys for kids who wanted to look fast and sleek. No, the true epitome of motorcycle coolness was a Triumph. These are not to be confused with Harleys, either. The Harley Davidson, while it has a certain amount of American appeal, is not my kind of bike. If I'm to have one, it's going to be a Triumph, and it's going to be awesome.
Thing I Want Number Two: A dog
Dogs are the best. No one can deny this. Loyal, lovable, cuddly, and kind, dogs are the perfect pet. They're more than pets, even. Dogs are companions. Dogs are friends. At the moment I'm in love with Boxers. While I've never had one of my own, the few I've played with have been sweet and playful. And they use their front paws like hands! So cute. Also, everything I know about them makes them seem more like mischievous little pals than simple pets. I can't help but want one, despite the impracticality of having a dog of any kind in my current living situation. So while I know it's currently a pipe dream (and probably will be one until I'm making millions, at least while I'm living in the city) it's a very nice one.
Thing I Want Number Three: An Acoustic Bass
This one's a little different than the others, because while the one I've linked to is far out of my price range, there are models for under $200 and that's affordable if I save up (and get a day job *fingers crossed*). While I have an electric bass, I'm currently without an amp other than my laptop, and the set-up to make that work is a bit complicated. I mostly want an acoustic bass because it would be easier to practice with, but it would also mean I could take it out into the world and play. Some of them also have a great sound to them, and as much as I love the big boomy vibration of a great electric bass with a good amp, there's something to be said about acoustic. I have an electric guitar (though it isn't currently in my possession) and I enjoyed messing around with it, but I never gave it the time I should have. I mostly just miss playing music, and without a band to back me up I guess I don't do it consistently? But I should. And I will. And perhaps when I do, if I have the money, I'll reward myself with an acoustic bass!

Aaaaand... That's it for now. Three things I want, in ascending order of likelihood of me getting them any time soon. Maybe I'll do this again some time. More likely I won't. But who knows!

The Triumphant Return

The other day I was wondering why I even bother trying to write a blog. I've been neglecting my writing wholesale lately, especially after the move to New York (Oh yeah, I'm living in Queens now. It's awesome.) and it seemed strange to me that the thing I've been coming back to over and over is this blog. I tried and failed four times since I got here to write out a blog post, but it's been little more than a crappy status update each time, nothing that anyone who isn't my friend on facebook would give two halves of nothing about. That's not to say that I'm writing for an audience, or that I need what I write to be read to feel that it's valid, but heck if it doesn't help. Anyway, I kept thinking basically the same thing: Does anyone even read blogs anymore? Was that all just a flash in the pan? Then I realized, no. People still read blogs. Tumblr is basically the biggest thing around right now, even though most people don't put more effort into a post than hitting a little button that says "Reblog" and little more effort into reading them than watching some flashing text on a .gif of their favorite characters in some TV show. The internet has made it so that we never have to see anything new but can still get inundated with content that is tailored to our whims. We know this. It's been pointed out. But today I realized, I read a lot of blogs. I actually love blogs and had no idea. I read one about teen pop (Sean Rose's masterful Digital Get Down), one from my favorite comicker (Aaron Diaz's Dresden Codak tumblr), and I check out i09.com most days. So why the heck can't I figure out what I want to write about? I've got things to say, dangit! That's when it hit me that I never know what to write about because this whole blog set-up that I have going is too general. So this is essentially a post to say, I need something consistent to write about, and I'm not much for journals. I'll probably still do little update-type-things now and then here, and this will remain as my personal blog, but there's going to be something new in the works soon and when it hits it will have a topic, dangit. What will that topic be? Who knows. Maybe robots! Maybe adventures! Maybe robot adventures, or even something unrelated to adventures or even robots! I don't know yet, is what I'm saying. But I do like adventures and robots. Also, quick question for the comments: Does it help to have images interspersed within the blog? My gut tells me yes, but my heart tells me "yeah, but you don't want to put them so unless everybody says to put them or it's relevant just forget about it" and my brain tells me "Yeah, dude, every good blog has at least an image or two when it's relevant, but you probably don't need it" so I'm mixed up. Done rambling now.