#04:: t-mobile sms, laughing club

alta california sur {los angeles}

+1718xxxxxxx
01/03/2007

"laughing club tnte 8pm sharp. Mccarren park field btw baseball diamonds."

{01:45:51 PM}

addendum
+1718xxxxxxx
01/23/2007
"laughing club corner of n.11th n berry. 7pm sharp"
{02:32:39 PM}

addendum 2
+1718xxxxxxx
01/30/2007
"laughing club tonite 745 corner of Nth 11th and Berry. xo"
{02:10:32 PM}

#08:: la belle et la bête

I get so easily transfixed by certain films + their visual stories. I finally saw cocteau's la belle + la bête.beauty + the beast at ifc. nothing like a french fairy tale {with surrealism thrown in--making me love gondry even more} to make one's afternoon. I was in such a good mood, I didn't even mind that the drawing center was closed for the week. the layering of metaphor + visual allusional references were awe-inspiring. not quite as campy as the venture bros. I was explaining to a good director friend of mine this week that I feel like such a dope, since I have no way of articulating the visual that isn't flat--no magic, no verve. just words that hang there for another to visually translate. I love how cocteau draws you in, but keeps you uneasy. oh, like in post-liberation france--treachery abounds. hmmm. yes, greta, I can see why you wanted your beast back.

:on the f-train, a hipster mom was having an outing with her 6 or 7-year old daughter. the daughter was naming the stations before the signs were visible, noting the distinctions between street and avenue and correcting herself. the mom was explaining how there were more elevated lines back in the day + talking about the old 6th. avenue el. "was it like the 7?," the daughter exclaimed; "yes, like the 7," mom assured. oh, they were off to the a at jay street, dashing across the platform on an adventure.

#09:: "my god, it's full of stars"

prospect park, brooklyn, nyc


::august 2004, after a wonderful evening, I had to return from cole valley {realestate term for lower haight} to oakland. I love taking the n-judah + hearing the speakers say, "inbound n-judah" in the underground stations below market st. makes me smile, as I think of the film alphaville. it's chilly in sf in august. a cold fog was blowing in from ucsf. I hopped on the n-judah to get to bart. to confound any possible assassins {my dad's excuse for always taking different routes going places}, I got off at...civic center, powell, montgomery, embarcadero...embarcadero. I go up to switch to bart. in those days, I just needed any train not going frémont or dublin/pleasanton, since the rest went through my stop-macarthur. in the transbay tube, you pick up speed. maybe up to 70mph. when one emerges in west oakland at night + it's clear, it's like scifi. the cranes at the cargo terminals are lit up + you can see the stars littering the sky. there could also be a 10ºF temp. differential, which I find is an odd reason why I love california in the summer.

::oct. 2004, dec. 2006, I'm not a fan of the jmz. it reminds me of long walks on hot days or cold nights/mornings + going up countless steps hoping the metrocardreader is working. I was reminded recently of its redeeming glory. that view when one emerges from manhattan on the williamsburg bridge. no, you're not going 70. it's like an old man well past 70--with a walker, ambling along, but the view of the east river, the bridges, + the lights below make me happy

#23:: newtown creek, from "mccarren park"

alta california sur {los angeles}


in raw february
newtown creek
chilled lifeless
in still sunshine
under the bqe
but nasa tells another story
on google maps
she saw shooting stars
the bluegreen hues
one could imagine
tidelands near nauset
with reeds and grasses and delicate light