Song #2

Kings of Convenience - Misread

On Drawing the St. Cecilia Church

It was another day in San Francisco, so I continued drawing the building-scape of St. Cecilia Church. I'm very fortunate to have such nice images to draw so close to my house. In fact, I'd draw my whole neighborhood if drawing weren't such a conspicuous activity and if there were more benches for me to sit. Usually, drawing buildings calms me. It is comforting to do something that you can admit you're pretty good at. I also appreciate the humility of a drawing; it doesn't beg for your attention. Instead, it's encapsulated on a given sheet of paper, and the responsibility falls on the individual to observe the drawing. I am always fascinated by things that behave this way, though I know that careers are seldom launched by such passivity.

Today, as I drew the church, I came to a realization that can only be described as profound. I hesitate to use such a descriptor as profundity is a fairly subjective experience, but as I drew the power lines, electroliers, and other public works structures in the foreground of my drawing, I could only think of the parallels to the San Bruno fire. I was watching the news several nights ago and learned that a little girl that had perished in the fire last week was the student body president of St. Cecilia. It just so happened that I was also once a student body president of a San Francisco private Catholic grammar school. My parents had also initially tried to get me to attend St. Cecilia School, but I was a number of months too young to be accepted into the upcoming class, a questionable logic that I had falsely attributed to the school's desire to have beefier and stronger athletes against other Catholic schools.

So, as I mentioned earlier, I had been drawing St. Cecilia, and in the foreground was a cacophony of power lines and street poles all managed by, I presume, PG&E, the company responsible for the San Bruno fire. I felt useful, for once, during my one and a half week's worth of a summer vacation, and so I was glad that finally my drawing skillz would be put to use on something worthwhile. I resolved to send a copy to the St. Cecilia principal as soon as I finished it. I even came up with a working title for my drawing, "Neighborhood Imperative". Yeah, it felt pretty good.

But several hours later, I wondered whether the importance of my drawing was indeed as culturally relevant as it seemed. Am I really just exaggerating its value from the lens of a lover of buildings? Is the analogy too personal for anyone else to recognize, let alone appreciate? I still don't know, but I will continue drawing it. I have spent three hours on this drawing so far, and I have maybe a good third of it done. I never know at what point a drawing is finished. I'm still an amateur, and what I have in my mind doesn't translate in execution, but I do hope to send it to St. Cecilia School someday. Maybe they will like it. I don't really know, but either way I really want to finish this drawing.

I think the side window at the top of my living room isn't straight. In fact, I'm sure it is angled ever so slightly within a margin of one or two degrees, and it's making me go crazy.

I heard this on the radio today.

Please excuse the YouTube video. I'd upload an mp3, but I don't know how.

A Blobby Summer

"'Green.'
Corran nodded.  'Yellow.'
The youth smiled, straightened up, and lowered his blaster.  The agreed-upon challenge had been a color in the visible light spectrum, and the countersign the color immediately contiguous with it.  'I'm Rade Dromath.'" - Star Wars, The New Jedi Order, Dark Tide II: Ruin, by Michael A. Stackpole.

Yeah, that's pretty much the longest title I've ever heard.  So-

Today has been a superlatively relaxing day.  I mean, I got to read Star Wars!  Sci-fi pulp is for sure my leisure activity of choice.  Otherwise, I spent a good part of my day with my friend Mari eating pho, watching The Zodiac (long, and unfortunately, not worth the wait), and walking my dog.  Now, I'm listening once again to of Montreal's new LP which came out today.  The vinyl is being shipped, en route to my house in Davis.  I only wish I ordered it earlier.

Yesterday, I submitted my 2nd term paper, which was officially marked the end of my summer sessions at UC Davis.  I have now a week's respite before the onslaught of school returns.  I have most of my days planned out already, complete with shopping, record hunting, and reading.  Hooray!  The only bummer is the two dollar fare for Muni.  I haven't been back to SF often enough to be used to it.

Yeah.  I  got nothing.  Slow news day.

Opportunity Costs

 devenustate - v. - To deprive of grace or beauty (Webster Online)

Right now I'm listening to the Nels Cline, of Wilco fame, perform at the NPR Music office as part of the Tiny Desk Concert series.  He uses a Fender Jazzmaster guitar, and it reminded me of the days when I listened to the band Incubus and of how badly I wanted to shred like their guitarist, Mike Einziger, who uses the same guitar.  These days, I've been playing drums almost every day, and it's been difficult to get out of that great frustrating thing every musician encounters: the plateau.

A lot of the new music I'm listening to is coming from the website of Colette, a high fashion powerhouse in Paris.  Of Montreal is even featured there!  Their next album is so good that once I get back to SF, I'm going to grab myself some tickets at the Warfield for their next show.  ($35)  I'm wavering on buying their limited edition red vinyl version of the album ($20).  I don't usually buy music, and I've been begrudgingly thrifty because I don't have a job.  I need a job.

There's a bunch of other new artists I'm really getting into, and I don't have a category for their type of music.  I recommend Andy Votel's Vintage Voltage ($20).  He's a dj, and he's pretty good.