Rules + Duties for Being 24

On my train ride home today, I read this:

"1/15/57

Rules + duties for being 24 [SS's birthday was January 16, 1933.]

1. Have better posture.
2. Write Mother 3 times a week.
3. Eat less.
4. Write two hours a day minimally.
5. Never complain publicly about Brandeis or money.
6. Teach David to read."

from Susan Sontag's Journals


It's a coincidence, no doubt, but I can't help but note that I will be turning 24 tomorrow on February 16. In the same spirit, here goes.

Rules + duties for being 24

1. Live more in reality and fantasize less.
2. Stop doing things because I feel obligated.
3. Eat less.
4. Write two hours a week minimally.
5. Figure out a five year plan.
6. Spend less time worrying about other people.

...Quite Simply, I was in Love with New York

Favorite New York Quotes, Volume VI.

"...quite simply, I was in love with New York. I do not mean 'love' in any colloquial way, I mean that I was in love with the city, the way you love the first person who ever touches you and never love anyone quite that way again." Joan Didion, "Goodbye to All That" in Slouching Towards Bethlehem

I Can Remember Now

Favorite New York Quotes, Volume V.

"I can remember now, with a clarity that makes the nerves in the back of my neck constrict, when New York began for me, but I cannot lay my finger upon the moment it ended, can never cut through the ambiguities and second starts and broken resolves to the exact place on the page where the heroine is no longer as optimistic as she once was." Joan Didion, "Goodbye to All That" in Slouching Towards Bethlehem

In NY, a Stranger is an Enemy...

Favorite New York Quotes, Volume IV.

"In Calif., a stranger is a [potential] friend until he proves otherwise; in NY, a stranger is an enemy until he proves otherwise. One uses up a lot of energy in NY by that hypothesis." Susan Sontag in her journals.

We've Got to Get Ready for the Real World

Two of my favorite albums that I can't listen to on the train for fear of the sound sneaking past the confines of my headphones:

1. Sparkle & Fade by Everclear
2. From Under the Cork Tree by Fall Out Boy

I tried listening to the former today, and I was horrified when a pseudo-babe sat next to me this morning. I really need to keep myself in check.

Go ahead and break 'em off with a little preview of the remix...

"i listen to music to make me feel better. i listen to wolfie, mathlete, and the impossibles to make me smile. i listen to built to spill, modest mouse, belle and sebastian, elliott smith, and death cab for cutie to cry. i listen to weezer, the promise ring, the stereo, and the get up kids to feel something. i listen to alkaline trio because they make my body jump and scream and cry and smile and feel. i listen to the refused and the (international) noise conspiracy to think about more important things. i listen to commander venus and jawbreaker to sing so loud that my throat starts to hurt. my all time favorites are weezer, the promise ring, alkaline trio, and jawbreaker just because."

circa 2000


so much better stuff to come!!!!!!

Black _______

Black Eyes
Black Flag
Black Forest/Black Sea
Black Lips
Black Sabbath
Black Tambourine

NLS HD as of 1/25/2009

Trust No One

The City's a Disaster

Favorite New York Quotes, Volume III.

"The city's a disaster, Luke. It's not like it used to be. It's plastic. One big fucking happy meal." Dr. Squires played by (Sir) Ben Kingsley in The Wackness

New York is Not Beautiful

Favorite New York Quotes, Volume II.

"New York is not beautiful, and if it stimulates our practical activities, it also wounds our sense of happiness." Le Corbusier, The City of To-morrow and Its Planning