okay, i lied.

i will still post things.

blogg

All apologies (seldom, occasional and earnest) readership, the Internet has not been as close a friend of mine recently, as you may be able to tell...

i'm moving on for awhile without the dabblings and dalliances of bloggings. well, maybe. at least for a bit, while i recollect and regr oup.
in my time away i found out that i could actually live without the Net and that the constant flow of "info-tainment" as a compulsive netizen, was probably not all that good for me anyway. you inevitably lose out on other things.
oh, but before i go a big congratulations for a year of MostlySkateboarding! ConstantCompanion celebrates a year in one week, exactly. is it weird to celebrate blog birthdays? probably.
(blogirthdays, blogdays, blogoday,) oh well.


bye till when...
?

I got married yesterday.

NOw, I'm off to MExicO till next sunday.
bye and love. thanks to all...

b&r/ash

ENTP

I'm an ENTP according to the MBTI. Am I speaking CODEspeak? No, not really, but maybe if you aren't familliar with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test. Either way, heres your chance to learn. I went to a seminar on the subject the other day at work and gained some valuable knowledge on the subject. You could just take the test here if you like and stop reading. It only takes about ten minutes. It asks questions like, "Are you more likely to trust A) reason or B) feelings? Do you tend to be more A) deliberate or B) impulsive? Do you tend to A) take deadlines seriously or B) see deadlines as elastic?" Those questions are scored in a sensible fashion to determine which personality characteristics more favor you.
According to the characteristics frequently associated with my type (ENTP) I am, "Quick, ingenious, stimulating, alert, and outspoken. Resourceful in solving new and challenging problems. Adept at generating conceptual possibilities and then analyzing them strategically. Good at reading other people. Bored by routine, will seldom do the same thing in the same way, apt to turn to one new interest after another. They constantly scan the environment for opportunities and possibilites. They see patterns and connections not obvious to others and at times seem able to see into the future." More about the "Extraverted Inuition with Introverted Thinking" personality type (as an ENTP is often referred to as).
This all sounds so grand and pompous, but really, they all appear to be written in such a way; to highlight the positive things and the strengths of each personality type. And, although it's not 'all true, all the time', the assessment has been statisically proven to be fairly reliable despite it being a theory based test. I think it's pretty interesting stuff and maybe you will too. Have fun learning more about yourself and those around you.

Destination: WestCoast

oh,,,THE arts.>>>
Unitard. WestGhost.

Eddie and Derek in a place called LA, mounted on walls, artifacts special and monumental to dedicated time. Absorb the feeling, talk, look and be loose. Then go home and think about maybe what you can do about your life in a representational format for others to admire. Sleep on it.

oh televisions!

Nam June Paik American, b. Seoul, Korea, 1932 - 2006 Video Flag, (1985-1996) 70 video monitors, 4 laser disc players, computer, timers, electrical devices, wood and metal housing on rubber wheels. 94 3/8 x 139 3/4 x 47 3/4 in. (239.6 x 354.8 x 119.9 cm) Holenia Purchase Fund in Memory of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1996 (96.4 )

Girl with Ice Cream Cone, 1963

I figure it might be right to write again; not right as in right, but write as in neccessary. 10 more days; countdown to the biggest day of my life, one of those big "life milestones" people talk about.

WayneThiebaud

August one, back again, blogging just to blog again. Perhaps its been too long, awhile, not long enough, don't write just anything, don't you have something to say, where are your brains? Why would I start a blog? I've got nothing to say. (As a recent commenter said, "Don't talk about it be about it.") I'm 'being about it.'
The format or style of written broadcast has changed to reflect extreme verbosity and overusage, redundancy and fecundity. i want to go totally unhinged again. i want to write howvvver i wnt tooo. i will do things differently. maybe only when i when i when i when i when waunt to. maybe you will only see the madness for the next ten days to come. then i will leave the country for awhile and hope to come back. a big break from all the is known and routine for me. full meals, beer in the morning, skies all day and open ended silk afternoons with no big decisions or heavy burdens.

oh yeah, and TwoNine was a blast this year, although i do think it's getting a little big for its own means and purpose. Maricel documented it well...
abc def ghi jkl mn o p q r s tuv wxy z.

argh.

get inspired?

I need to be writing more, just been busy living...
I will leave you this, to reflect on, from a good friend of mine's blog...

"Someone asked me today if I still kept a blog, to which I laughed and said NO. They responded that that was a shame, because they thought it was good for me, and that I was a good writer. I don't know about either of those things, but maybe to an extent they're true. But what do you write about? What do you not write about??- That's the one that always did me in.

You write about anything, but you write it as seen from your eyes, from your perspective, and you don't pussyfoot around it, you don't soften it, you don't name names, you don't be malicious, but you don't lie. And you gotta make them laugh every once in awhile, or else they'll just keep on browsing. So maybe I'll give this thing another try, hop back on the horse, stop worrying about the reactions and just be myself. And whatever they take away from it is up to them."

A kiss before I go

A short clip of Ryan Adams and the Cardinals playing "A kiss before I go" last night at NORVA.

Birthdays are signs of vitality...

and so a picture of me today
Brendan, aged 28, this day in 2006, tries to grow a beard and look sophisticated while at the same time holding his reputation for occasional lasciviousness and disorderly conduct; balancing the perceived successes of life with the persistent anxiety of purpose and calling, he fools many a friend and foe. Nevertheless, at the close of day, he supposes a happy stance on it all.


...and these, just for fun.

A night out in rural Suffolk.

The calm before the storm...




Dave's best 'blue steel'


Billy Jean is not my lover.

Enjoy the life...

Enjoy the life...
Originally uploaded by marciakd.

I now live in a deliberate and thorough way. A well thought out, intentioned and orchestrated way. A disposition that comes to most of us, I imagine, at some time or another. I no longer can remember how I used to be. I like things how they are now, but also wish for things to be different sometimes. Life is like that I suppose. You can have one, not the other and the other with the one, but not the other, or vice versa and versa vice. Everything works out in the end. Well, sorta…

I understand that time is immutable and almighty, the same for everyone; but I want to grasp it and be at ease with its unsuitable effects. I wonder when and if that will ever happen. I do remember a time when I was free, and I would walk about and have these pretty little thoughts. These times come and go I suppose, with more down the road, I’m told.

Why must we always analogize life with a road anyway? Why not a field, a desert, parking lot or a stadium. A valley with peaks and plateau’s seems so much more fitting.
Life has been good to me, overall and always, and for that I thank my lucky stars.

some slender rest

"There is a certain monotony about mankind. Most people toil during the greater part of their lives in order to live, and the slender span of free time that remains worries them so much that they try by every means to get rid of it. O Destiny of Man!"
-"The Sorrows of Young Werther" Goethe

ystrdys nws tody (prt2)

oh limeade! how i love thy sweet sweet taste!

Getting on in the city

For you regular Lifehacker readers, this might be second hand news, but otherwise, I thought this was pretty funny stuff for a quick look (click the picture for bigger viewing).

Rules of the road: (1) No raking women with your eyes; glance quickly and respectfully. (2) Offer to share a taxi rather than fight over it. (3) Babies in strollers get right-of-way—until they abuse it. (4) Still no ogling girls—c’mon! (5) And skateboarding, are you kidding me? (6) Not everybody loves your dog as much as you do. (7) No bicycling on the sidewalk unless under the age of 6. (8) Pedestrians can die of secondhand smoke, too.
(Photo: Photomontage by Peter Rad)

Full article here.

Another interest...

"The fatal metaphor of progress, which means leaving things behind us, has utterly obscured the real idea of growth, which means leaving things inside us."
-G.K. Chesterton

This quote can be found on the opening page of the book above, which depicts in graphic detail, the troubles that lie ahead of us, as an "industrialized world built on cheap energy" falters. As the in-sleeve tells us, "Industrial civilization is in big trouble and the American people are sleepwalking into a future of hardship and turbulence."
After watching the "End of Suburbia" the other night, I was led to check out a couple books cited in the movie on the central issues of the documentary. Though it is doubtful that I will get through any of them, I find them suitable for browsing and an overall awareness of some of the problems we are undoubtedly going to have to face in the future.

The Long Emergency is written by James Howard Kunstler, a rather radical, but intelligent and perceptive, American author and social commentator.

ystrdys nws tody (prt1)

Amy and Rich, as depicted in acrylic, anniversary present, 2006

The Drunkards Two

and newlyweds too...


homeward b o u n d.

Talk to me

Friends are more important to us now more than ever, according to a recent study revealed last week through a paper appropriately titled "Social Isolation in America." I found the article in Time magazine addressing this issue pretty interesting. It says that we, as a people, are more socially isolated than ever before in history. It also mentions that among the"many well documented side effects" of social isolation, "death comes sooner." "Social isolation is as big a risk factor for premature death as smoking."
The article is written by Robert Putnam, a professor at Harvard University who also wrote "Bowling Alone."
I could probably write or talk for hours about this interesting phenomenon, but I don't feel like it right now. The bottom line is, as Morrissey once sang, "Hold onto your friends," friends.

On life, itself

I want to be a writer. Maybe. I don’t know for sure. I don’t know many things for sure.
I start so many things that I don’t finish (I can't be sure,?). I bite off more than I can chew. I might laugh too much, too. I often have grandiose ideas. I spend too many nights wasted.
These things in themselves are, part of what is perhaps one of the biggest dilemmas in my life. I have a wide range of interests leaving me baffled at which one to pursue wholeheartedly (because we all have to pursue something wholeheartedly, right?) I am easily intimidated by what it takes to be something other than what I have fallen in to. I don’t really know “how” to write and am not sure how I would take to writing “assignments” as a writer. I only have my ideas of what it takes to be a writer (from being, what can only be considered, a modest reader). My mind wanders so often on these thoughts. How disciplined must a writer be? Is it an everyday chore? Should these ideas (to be a writer) have emerged before now? How could I have not known? Am I just too scared or overwhelmed at the very title of it?
I like art. I think it’s beautiful, interesting and in many ways, the meaning of life--that is, to say art in the broadest sense of the word (painting, creation, music, writing, rhyming, etc) is truly the meaning to a life; it is, categorically, “the means” and “the end.” It’s funny that I can speak so highly of something I really no so little of (formally, at least). Why have I not sought it out in a more scholarly or professional way?
Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t regret a day of the 4 ½ years spent on the study of "the mind, mental states and human behavior." Psychology has certainly been applied to almost everything in the world- crime, advertising, work, achievement, failure, art, creativity- and found its place within it. Thus, we come full circle; for, in a certain kind of way this brings me back to my original dilemma; a wide-range of interests with no strong predilection towards any one thing, particularly when thinking about careers. I can go anywhere with it. So where do I go?

Summer of Love

As of 8:30 today, summer is here! (it is also "Go Skateboarding Day" for those who care abuot that sort of thing). Summer continues to be my favorite season for many reasons and while it is not the first Summer of Love, it is an important one for me and many I know well (two of my best friends, as well as myself, are celebrating love this summer in the grand old fashion of matrimony!)
Yesterday I found out the ‘icing on the summer cake’-- Ryan Adams and the Cardinals are playing the NORVA again, on July 22! This is only one week prior to July 29th, of which if he had played I would have missed the show for the annual ‘friend reunion’ TwoNine (not to mention the summer Rattler show).

Other notable events in the 06’ Summer of Love include, kicking it off in grand style, the Elliott’s love union last weekend on June 18th! A birthday celebrating me turning 28 years young (and not whining about it) on July 17th, the Ryan Adams show the following weekend, and then 29 (cookout, Rattler show, Berserkers 8 video premiere) the weekend after that. On the 30th I think I am going to dip into summers' past by seeing Lagwagon at the Black Cat in DC (and hopefully jamming out to some old favorites like “Bro Dependent.”)
As we approach August, it looks pretty good from here, as I am getting married on the second Friday of the month, and then going to Mexico for 7 nights! (nothing short of monumental) And for the grand finale of the summer, on the first weekend back (August 27) I will be trekking to the New Jersey shore to serve honorably as a groomsman in the Rorica Wedding Tour (see side bar of linkage).

All the while I live in Norfolk, close by to Virginia Beach, with "Twenty-eight miles of beachfront on the Atlantic Ocean and 10 miles on the Chesapeake Bay -- the longest pleasure beach in the world, according to "Guinness World Records 2006" as seen here. While many of you probably laughed at that last part, I truly think this summer is going to be fuckingawesome! Raise your glass to the best and hottest of all the seasons, once again!

Templeton & Kellette Elliott!

love for life.


bros for life.

fun for life.

note

"sarcastic mr know-it-all"

Is sarcasm truly the lowest form of wit?

a light thought.

"We from our selves alone, and not from Fate,
Derive our happy, or unhappy State...
If Fates Inconstancy we wou'd prevent,
We, in all States of Life, shou'd seek Content..."

William Wycherley

Th wrld accdng to smeon e lse .

water falls on rocks and slips down.
crickets chirp (rub legs) at sunset.
lakes being lakes; still and unmoving.
streams stream, streaming.
owls hooting out of nowhere at somewhere.

this is the world according to nature; inspiration everywhere.
feet in the sand, feet in the water.
head in the clouds.

give credit where credit is due.

Climate change

I've always thought about the environment. I always wondered from a young age where all the trash goes (I don’t think I ever actually saw a landfill until I came to Virginia Beach). I have thought about the eventuality of humans destroying the earth. The night before last, I saw the trailer for a movie that has been getting alot of attention recently. Another politically charged movie against the Administration? Perhaps; but more importantly, I think, a testament to what the very real consequences of our increasingly destructive lifestyles are.













“An Inconvenient Truth” is a new documentary addressing the growing concern of global warming, starring Al Gore.
(See the trailer here.)
It is destined to be a major wake up call to many Americans and hopefully will make each of us think a little more about what we are doing in our lives and the long-term effects. I am far from living an exceptionally environmentally sound life, but seeing what I saw the other night really frightened me into believing we truly have a massive problem that has gone overlooked for far too long. With so much focus on terrorists, tyrants and threats from all around the globe, much attention has been taken off of the threat of “the globe” itself. It only seems normal that something this huge and important would seem to appear from nowhere and have everyone interested, because there is a new threat to our lives being drawn up every day.
I have always been a somewhat fond of Al Gore and Bill Clinton. I think they were good leaders and respectable as such. I can’t help but believe that if they were in office during the events of September 11th, everything would have turned our differently, and our country and perhaps the world would be in better shape than it is today. In issue 1 of the Wholpin DVD series, Spike Jonze directed a short piece he filmed during Gore’s campaigning for Presidency. If you have about 15 minutes I highly recommend it. See part 1 here, and part 2 here.
Maybe none of us will be around long enough to see when the Earth does eventually fail us (or, more realistically, when we ultimately fail the Earth) but I still believe it is our moral duty to more seriously protect it in order to slow the inevitable decay, for it is clear to see that the Earth is not going to be able to sustain our trashing it forever.

ewww!

a lame bumper sticker next to a, lame bumper sticker.