There is only One Direction

ABQ Craigslist: Missed Connections

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:41:27 GMT

To the girl who called me, crying her eyes out - w4m - 28
Reply to:pers-nhybv-1201029431@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
Date: 2009-06-02, 1:11AM MDT

You had the wrong number. I have no idea who you are but you called me crying your eyes out, asking why I had to leave, pleading your case, in between bouts of righteously unattractive snot-sucking followed by more sobbing. Did my voice really sound THAT similar to the right-number guy? Apparently so, because after a few minutes of me playing the part and feeding your mucus-filled frenzy you put your angry friend on the phone and she was fooled too (and I wasn't even changing my voice!). Neat. In retrospect it was...well...pretty mean, I guess, but I was caught up in the moment and I didn't really think about your feelings until after we hung up, or rather...until I heard some strange noises in the phone and the line went dead. To be honest it was hard not to laugh, but I triumphed and help back, and you kept balling, and I kept trying not to laugh. Sorry 'bout that.

By the way, now that you're single wanna grab lunch sometime?

* it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

PostingID: 1201029431

Technical Difficulties.

Sun, 18 Jan 2009 05:27:03 GMT

I seem to have broken my other computer. Yes, my *other* computer. Offline until further notice.

Wait a second...

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 22:15:29 GMT

It was 2008?

The Tomb at Akr Caar - by Ezra Pound

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 22:59:24 GMT

"I am thy soul, Nikoptis. I have watched
These five millenia, and thy dead eyes
Moved not, nor ever answer my desire,
And thy light limbs, wherethrough I leapt aflame,
Burn not with me nor any saffron thing.

See, the light grass sprang up to pillow thee,
And kissed thee with a myriad grassy tongues;
But not thou me.
I have read out the gold upon the wall,
And wearied out my thought upon the signs.
And there is no new thing in all this place.

I have been kind. See I have left the jars sealed,
Lest thou shouldst wake and whimper for thy wine.
And all thy robes I have kept smooth on thee.

O thou unmindful! How should I forget!
--Even the river many days ago,
The river? thou wast over young.
And three souls came upon Thee--
And I came.
And I flowed in upon thee, beat them off;
I have been intimate with thee, known thy ways.
Have I not touched thy palms and finger-tips,
Flowed in, and through thee and about thy heels?
How 'came I in'? Was I not thee and Thee?

And no sun comes to rest me in this place,
And I am torn against the jagged dark,
And no light beats upon me, and you say
No word, day after day.

Oh! I could get me out, despite the marks
And all their crafty work upon the door,
Out through the glass-green fields. . . .

* * * *

Yet it is quiet here:
I do not go."

by Ezra Pound

Update?

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 22:37:28 GMT

In a nod to one of the greats, I am a flip dark chill winter bastard though dry.
End of update.

Poached Thoughts

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 11:23:13 GMT

"If you should go
I won't have you to blame
for my unhappiness,
for darker days.

When will I learn
it's not your fault,
that breaking down
cannot be cured
by breaking up."

NaNoWriMo excerpt.

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 08:01:49 GMT

"She smiled, teeth white and sharp under lips like bloodstains."

Letter of Rejection #07:

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 20:32:28 GMT

Dear Senator Ted Stevens,

Contrary to the opinion of John McCain, I don't think it is time for you to resign.
It's time for you to go to prison.

Culpability is not optional.
Thank you,

~HelixNine

"Writers". Feh.

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 10:55:46 GMT

You know, I don't usually feel like I'm a particularly talented writer.
It's not until I have to read other people's writing that I feel like I have any talent at all.
Sadly, when I do (as I am now) I am usually fairly shocked at how poorly people write.
So, here are a few guidelines inspired by the writers in my English 321 class. Consider them a collection of helpful hints for when you do NaNoWriMo - or write at all.

1) Tense. Yes, it's important. Unless you really, really know what you're doing - pick one and stick to it. Bouncing between them does no one any favours.

2) I should have to say anything about spelling, grammar and the like... But "where he had wakened up"? Really? You're fired.

3) Learn how to write dialogue. Even just a little would help.

4) When the characters in your story are stereotypes, your story fails. Characters should, ideally, be pretty multi-dimensional, okay? Particularly the central ones.

5) When a character is chasing another, red-faced, down the street for sleeping with his daughter, he's probably not going to bring you tea when he catches you. I don't know what world you live in, but fiction needs causality. If it doesn't make at least a little sense, I don't want to be forced to read it.

6) If you're going to send a character into the wilds on page two, try not to forget about him by page ten. Don't introduce things you're not going to use. It's sloppy.

7) Among the things I want in a story is for it to go somewhere. If all I get is "Then I saw a dog. Then the dog chased me. Then I got away. Then I saw a bird. I thought 'birds are nice'. Then I went home.", I'm not going to be very impressed. If you're going to tell a story, make sure it's worth telling for someone.

8) Which brings me to this: Generally speaking, something should change for at least one of your characters by the time the story is over. It doesn't have to be a big thing. Generally speaking, though, I want a reason the character is telling this story. Not another day in the life, you know? Give me a turning point for one of your characters.

9) A climax to the story would be good. You know, some moment that stands out. That turning point, for example...

10) No character is perfect. No one is a little angel. Stop identifying so much with your characters that you're unable to let them fuck up. They need to fuck up. Just like you. It's how they grow.

There will be a million exceptions to these rules. I'm sure anyone can find at least a few. That said, we learn the rules first, we break them afterward. It should not be hard to get the basics of all this down. Really.
This is an intermediate writing class. No one should fail on these points.
For those of you doing NaNoWriMo, good luck. For those of you who aren't, write something.
Thanks,

~HelixNine

I am the plenary authority!

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 02:34:35 GMT

So, here am I, walking down the sidewalk to Bazil's place.
Walking in front of me is a woman and her daughter, a little girl of about 5 or 6 years.
And she starts jumping up and down yelling

"Mommy! Mommy! I saw Jesus, Mommy! I saw Jesus!"
The girl's mother, like a sensible human being, replies

"Who told you about Jesus? I never taught you that."
To which the girl replies

"Nobody, Mommy. I *saw* him! I saw Jesus!"
At this point, the mother and daughter have rounded the corner.
When I round the corner, the girl is sitting on a bench and her mother is tying her shoes.
The little girl looks up at me, points and shouts

"That Jesus! See?"

Suffice it to say, I got a giggle out of that.
...and I've been called worse.

Letter of Rejection #06:

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 18:59:05 GMT

Dear Governor Palin,

You were found guilty of ethics violations and abuses of power by an Alaskan legislature probe. Your campaign spokesperson responded "This was a partisan-led inquiry run by Obama supporters and the Palins were completely justified in their concern".

I'd just like to point out, there are no Obama supporters in Alaska.
[Well, they're a distinct minority, anyway.
And it was, importantly, a bi-partisan probe.]

Thank you,
~HelixNine.

Letter of Rejection #05:

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 01:25:08 GMT

Dear John McCain,

Until you produce a platinum selling rap/hip-hop record, you are henceforth no longer allowed to call yourself "The Original Maverick".

Point of fact, the word Maverick originally referred to an unbranded calf. Just so you know.

Thank you.
~HelixNine

Letter of Rejection #04:

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 01:36:18 GMT

Dear Charles Taylor Jr.,

It's only not torture when we do it.

With sympathy,
~HelixNine.

Letter of Rejection #03:

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 01:31:00 GMT

Dear Corporate America,

It's actually fairly simple. You rely on the populace in order to stay in business. In order to maximize profits, however, you opt to poison the populace. How were you intending to stay in business?

This sort of fallout is what happens when you exchange integrity for profit.

Best of luck.
~HelixNine

Letter of Rejection #02:

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 05:45:05 GMT

Dear Women,

Emphasizing your bodies in an effort to distract us from flaws in your personality is a cheap, shallow and obvious tactic not befitting creatures possessed of higher reason.

In fairness, it does work.
~HelixNine

Letter of Rejection #01:

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:34:53 GMT

Dear United States Government,

It's all very well to chastise Russia for "not respecting Georgia's territorial integrity" if, and only if, you're not conducting cross-border bombing missions into Pakistan. Have your cake or eat it. Attempting both makes us all look like pompous idiots.

Thank you for your time,
~HelixNine

Update.

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:28:23 GMT

Alive and mostly well, though a little sad about various things.
Still interested in Visiting New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Anchorage, Annapolis and New Orleans, though not in that order.
Classes are going well, should graduate December.
Approved for the UK Ancestry Visa.
Writing is still going well as well, though it needs more work. Going to set up a schedule under which to do that. "Do Not Disturb" Time, as it were.
Money's a little tight. Looking for work, may have a few options through UNM, elsewhere.
Strange absence of the first person singular pronoun in update.
That's all for the moment.

Writers Community

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:35:10 GMT

Still in the process of starting up, Halflit.net is also in the process of F*çking Rocking.

Emo Lasagna!

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 08:35:55 GMT

Notebooks/Journals

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:50:43 GMT

Ever since I was smaller than I am now, I've had trouble with notebooks. I can't get enough of them, for one. For two? I never write anything in them. Particularly the ones I like.
It goes like this: I get a notebook for the purpose of writing things in it. Then I don't know what to write. Nothing seems good enough to put in my nice, pretty, new notebook. And so it just sits there while my thoughts die slow, agonizing deaths in my head.
So, I though, why not force myself to write in it right away? So I try... this helps for about a page... and then I start to despise the notebook. It's not living up to my standards anymore. I can't find a consistent voice now... because the voice I just wrote in was CRAP!
Do you see my problem?
LJ is kind of like that, too.

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 03:06:36 GMT

...started to post. Realized I have nothing to say at this juncture.
Still looking for a place near UNM in ABQ. Needs to be a shorter lease, though.
Anyway... yeah.

Returning

Sun, 02 Dec 2007 09:23:36 GMT

"There's Gonna Be a Party When the Wolf Comes Home."
Who will be in Los Angeles the 8th - 16th?
Who will be in New Mexico the 16th - Jan. 5th?
Who wants me to visit them elsewhere?
Who wants to hang out?

Various Thoughts on my Past

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 16:37:00 GMT

I can't remember what I was doing this time five years ago. I don't know what I wanted, where I thought I was going or where I'd be. I have trouble locating 'passions' for things. I don't know what I'm passionate about. I just know some of the things I'm good at.

I'm leaving Australia in two weeks from today. I haven't seen the US in six months and I'm looking forward to coming home.

It's funny, but I look at my friends list for livejournal and I find that most of the people on it are people I knew a long long time ago. I can't really remember who I thought I was, back then. Someone significantly different from who I am now, I'm sure.

Life has changed a lot over the past few years. I think I wanted to be a psychiatrist at some point. Maybe a lawyer or something. I don't really remember how I saw myself. Was I more confident then? Less confident? I was certainly more impulsive. I remember that. I seem to remember having more fun, then, too. But I don't really know. Maybe we just remember the good stuff? That's not true. We remember the stuff that we repeat over and over in our heads. Usually we remember our mistakes.

I remember a lot of things I'd rather not. Little things, you know? Little embarrassing details from when I was younger. At one point, in Kenya, I spent several hours staring at some animal skull I'd found. It had been bleached by sun and weather and I turned it over and over in my hands, just repeating how it was like an empty city, a vacant apartment building or something. And what I really wanted was for someone to ask me why I thought that, why I was comparing it to a city or a building. I wanted someone to ask so I could tell someone a theory I had about the nature of people. That society is becoming less and less a collection of individuals and more and more like a single, multicellular organism. I wanted to site a million different sources and explain that, with the advent of things like the internet, all people really ended up being were nuclei to the cells that were their offices or homes. Of course, no one asked me why I kept saying that. They just looked at me like I was totally insane. And why not? I'm sitting on a mountain slope in Africa talking to myself about how skeletons are like empty buildings. Looking back, I imagine that I would have thought that I was an attention-seeking poser, a pretentious ass, and probably a little homesick, too. Oh, and morbid, to boot.

I laugh at myself a little, when I think of things like that. Then I stop laughing and hope very much that no one else remembers it as vividly as I do. And of course they don't. Why would they? They're far too busy thinking about all the little embarrassing things they did to worry about the embarrassing things I did.

There are some very important people to me in the world. People for whom I have the utmost affection. Some of them are on this list. I've even told some of them that I care very much for them. I'm not sure I've ever said why. I'm not sure I even know why, in some cases. But a lot of them have just the hold-over affection from when I knew them last. Who they were when I knew them and the effects they had on my life. Seems like I've withdrawn from a lot of them. That's a situation that ought to be rectified. I think maybe I've been worried that they remember my embarrassing moments as well as I do.

My question is... if you were to think about it on your own, without the prod of this post. Would you think I've changed over the years? Has your impression of who I am altered much? If so, how?

Also: How have you changed? Why?

Film Recommendation

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 10:42:11 GMT

Allow me to recommend a film to you.
The film: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
The reason: It's a piece of art. Really.
High points: Visuals, Soundtrack.
Low points: Long and slow moving.
Tone: Melancholy, for the most part. But really beautiful.

Notes: Do not see this if your movie diet consists mostly of action movies or comedies. This is one of the most visually and auditorily(?) stunning pieces of cinema I've ever seen. See it as a piece of art. See it with friends who don't talk in the theatre. See it with someone (you'll get lonesome otherwise). I truly hope that it's still in theatres in the US. This is not a fast paced film - it's almost a mood piece. The camera work is amazing. The soundtrack (Nick Cave and Warren Ellis) is amazing. The film, as a whole, is amazing.

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 12:32:55 GMT

Hello, all.
How are you?
Me? I'm a little frustrated, to be honest. I've been trying to book a ticket out of Perth before the holidays end up robbing me blind, and I'm finding it a little difficult. I found the ticket I want, but the website won't let me use an American card (deciding, of course, that I must have acquired the card in Australia, it gives me only six options for home state, no matter what country I tell it I'm from).
I shall call them tomorrow and whine like a spoiled child. That'll show 'em. If I'm lucky, they'll let me whine directly to the IT department.
In the meantime, all's well here.
Tell me a short story. Just a quick little story, doesn't need to be real, but it would be nice if it came from you (as opposed to something you read somewhere, or something).
Also, I'd love it if you gave me a topic to write a short story about. I'd like to play with my short fiction and I'm a little dry on ideas, so I'm asking for donations.
That said, I do have a piece of short fiction in the final editing process and I'll be posting that as soon as it's ready.
I hope everyone is well. Tell me if they're not.
Thanks.