untitled

need 

for skin

for touch 

even if its fleeting 

sometimes just to remind you

that you can feel 

for touch

for skin 

Pop Life

this pop life is gonna fade, coming down blvds speeding inside my coke can while britney spears flashes me whats left of her breaking news ... she opens her mouth and the offspring emerges gently morphing into the hills and setting up a staged reality while lauren and the kardashians fight for the acknowledgement of every thirteen year old girl on the planet, spread those legs and strip down, capture your movements on an iphones and send it off to E! and youtube, within moments youll find yourself floating through fiber optics on a high speed chase trying to catch up with the information thats traded via laptops and cumshots  

warhol wasnt far off, kudos for having threesomes and threatning to kill your roommates because they drank the last juicy juice and you happen to have a camera in your face ... soak up the poplight, spotlight, its never quiet on this set, all you want to buy is a pair of flip flops to go with your prescription meds mix with a bottle of jack wanting to be celebrated like janis but we havent martyred a reality star yet ..

do you think if youre the first they will put you on the walk of fame?  

willing to try? 

Scare Tactics

On the last day before the Pennsylvania Democratic Primary both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama bombarded PA air waves with ads promoting their respective messages.  While Obama has continually focused on his message of hope, Hillary has gone through the gambit.  At one point she portrayed herself as the most capable leader.  When that didnt work she showed a softer side by pleading with America.  When that fell on deaf ears she went on the offensive with the now notorious "3am" ad.  She desperately criticized Obama for his personal relationships, no matter how fleeting they were.  And now on the day before the primary, Clinton has reached further into her Karl Rove campaign handbook and in one commercial has attempted to scare the shit out of Pennsylvanian Democrats and fool them into voting for her.  

WWII, Pearl Harbor, Berlin Wall and of course Bin Laden.  Does that not sound eerily similar to the Bush agenda?  Hasn't our current Leader in Chief used the same tactics to manipulate the masses into following his strategy for personal gain?  Hmmm.... On top of that Hillary quotes Harry Truman "If you cant stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."  The same Truman who was a notorious racist (often in his personal love letters to his wife Bess) and dropped two bombs that killed more people with one act in the history of humanity.  

Perhaps Mrs. Clinton thinks less of the American people.  Perhaps she underestimates our intelligence.  Unfortunately there will be some folks who fall for it but in the long run, if we are going to evolve as a society, this type of climate must change.  We need leaders who inspire hope and cohesive evolution, not ones who use fear tactics to scare the public. 

A Society of Judgement

We live under a microscope.  A microscope where anything that we say or do will be dissected and criticized by society total.  A microscope that will take a raucous war cry from Howard Dean and bring down a campaign or an "i cant believe America is falling for this idiot" sigh from Al Gore and bring down another.  

Obama used the term "bitter" to describe a certain demographic of Americana.  Obama was linked to a preacher whose political views are too controversial for the mainstream.  Now with our 24/7 media coverage an individual in and out of the spotlight cant take a shit without Wolf Blitzer flushing the toilet and Perez Hilton scrubbing the floor.  The Pandemic is much larger then the political sphere but i want to keep it focused on this.  

America has always found it necessary to break down our political representatives (as well as other public figures).  Perhaps that's part of the job.  Perhaps if our trust in public figures was not so threatened we would be a kinder and gentler society.  Yet we are not at that point.  Mistrust and resentment resound throughout and with that bloggers blog, people text information back and forth and snap pictures with their latest iphones.   

We are all news outlets now and as a result have all become social commentators.  But instead of promoting change and bringing us together it seems that in many instances it has made us more scornful and tears at the very fabric of our society.  We have gotten to the point where we criticize our representatives for having the brass to talk frankly and bluntly with us.  To speak to us like adults instead of children.  

Our politicos will never be perfect.  Infact they will be far from it (and i certainly do not excuse Spitzer for getting down with hookers all over the eastern seaboard).  But if anything they are a representation of ourselves.  We created them, we created the world within they live.  Lobbyists, corporate donors, seedy dealings all exist because we allowed it to happen.  All of us are responsible but yet none of us want to take the responsibility.  

And now we have a candidate with enough intelligence, empathy, compassion and hope and all we want to do is dissect him, break him down and bring him down to our level.  The level of imperfection.  Well let me tell you something, hes already there and that's what makes him so valuable.  What makes him different is that he can take those experiences and rise about his mistakes.  The question is though, can we do the same?  

North Vs South

The south is a bit different then the north, specifically the northeast.  I try to remember that home is where your heart is and depending on whether or not you take that literally its a completely different mentality.  Ive been in Charleston for two weeks tonight and today realized that i do actually LIVE in Charleston.  Even if its not permanent its still living.  I think people forget that.  No matter what they are doing, even if its monotonous, its living.  Somewhere spontaneity became associated with living.  Thus far my existence might not be considered spontaneous but is certainly categorized as random.  And with that my random life has brought me down south.  

Down south where you can find a random church on every corner.  A church of any denomination. Down south where there is a gas station on every corner and the prices rival that of the big cities of the north east.  Down south where people live comfortably and take their time.  Down south where traffic might accumulate but people do not honk their horns and instead wait patiently.  Down south where whites live in one area and blacks in another and although they might come across one another in the streets, for the most part they stick to themselves.  Down south where the young people seem to be turning liberal but are still mired in a familiar obligation to their conservative past.  

And i guess that has been the biggest challenge.  Philly is a melting pot of craziness.  All of the north east is.  It is a huge melting pot of culture and art and ethnicity.  People might be short and abrupt with one another but its because they are constantly challenged.  Perhaps they should take a minute and enjoy what they have but they also know that there is always more.  In the south the MORE doesnt matter, its what you have thats important.  Neither culture is necessarily right, it just depends on your disposition.  The other day i bought a pair of shoes.  Twenty minutes later i was food shopping and the owner of the shoe store happened to recognize me.  He asked me if i was happy with my purchase and thanked me for my patronage.  That would never ever happen in Northeast.  I was pleased but at the same time bugged out by the encounter.  

Should i pause and enjoy the encounter.  Take some solace in the fact that someone is genuinely appreciative or should i be annoyed that the owner took away more of my time?  I guess its a matter of preference but it has certainly been an interesting experience thus far.  

Besides that, drinks are cheap.  My roommate and i went out last night, i had five yuenglings and she had five miller high lifes all for seventeen dollars.  wtf?  

No matter whats going on at least i have cheap beer. 

Roadtrippin

Roadtrippin makes you feel extremely American.  There is something uniquely Americana about throwing all your belongings into a car and driving off into the sunset.  Regardless of whether or not the sun is actually setting upon your departure.  Unlike other parts of the world where one can get in their respective cars and drive into another country, Americans dont have that luxury.  Besides the border states most of us are resigned to driving across city lines and state borders and everything remains oddly familar.  But then again even Canada is not that much different from the states and if you live in the southwest or work in the service industry Mexico probably would remain the same as well.  

Yet there is something wonderful about roadtrippin America.  Everything is the same yet everything is different.  Accents change, dialect changes, culture changes, religious view and political opinions often change.  During this particular season i left the cold of New York City behind and with every 50 miles i swore there was a temperature increase of one degree until i finally reached my destination and rested comfortably at 70 degrees.  America is beautiful.  I think we forget that.  With a large proportion of our population gathered in urban areas its easy to neglect the natural splendor that is America.  

Roadtrippin in something sacred in our culture.  It goes back to our inception.  To our birth.  Give me your hungry and poor, your disposed.  American is the land of opportunity.  Even if you are no longer an immigrant traveling by boat weeks on end to reach Ellis Island, you can still find your pot of gold somewhere else.  Thats because no matter how wonderful America is wherever you might be, there is a possibility that somewhere else might be better.  And i think that feeling still remains.  There is something amazing about heading out west, something freeing.  Its as if the gold rush never stopped.   

So you pack your things into your car, put your windows down, pull on the highway, blast something incredibly American like Springsteens Born To Run and feel the wind in your hair and remember that your American and your pot of gold is waiting.  Youll just have to pull over eventually.  

height

your thoughts were true, i would not stay
singing to tunes, i begin to say

id love you today
in another life
walking hand in hand
sipping on drinks
that love is today

the excuses are endless as bleeding mattresses come alive dancing around your living rooms intoxicated with ceaseless come ones and hellos goodbyes, you dont have to be so callous while i invite you to trim my tree, the spruce
its a large tree thats full of green and lavender
it wakes up to cold shoulders because you raised that head early in the morning so you could go to work and pay for my mealtickets while skipping across the greenery
you dont have to pay so much, i dont want you to shave your head or invade the los angeles the way ms spears did , coming unraveled with smiles and umbrellas
dont sleep too late because youll miss your class and forget to enjoy the sunset