Late October is shaping up to be another wack-a-pants. What is it with Octobers? They’re the histrionic member of the Months, the shrill one with the violin lessons.
Admit it. You can hear ‘twinkle twinkle little star’ in your head right now.
Obama and I, we both see the finish line faintly through the fog. He’s got one more guy to beat, where I’ve calculated I’ve got five. I’ve got a job interview and I think there were six time slots available, so that means 94 Agent Smiths punched out so far. Unlike Obama I’m not going to broadcast ambivalence to the entire planet. I mean, what the hell was he thinking? Fight for it, damnit. That way you lose with your head high.
I’m cleaning out my office and hauling home the piles of crap that have built up since 2008. It’s a time capsule, you pull objects out of boxes and they remind you of before you had 17 tutorials to manage every week. The best thing for a fulcrum moment is to spend a little time with yourself, who you were – and could be. Say, “I am not my job”. Like most dorks I collect a lot of toys, each has a story – like my old man’s slide rule which I learned how to use in my teens back when the idea of a personal computer was like owning a space station. Feels good to slide it around and calculate that 7 divided by 3 is something I can’t see without my glasses. Mnemonics make your whole timeline accessible.
God I own a stupid amount of gadgets. They are all beautiful.
For example, the calculator I always wanted as a child, because it was awesome. In the late 80′s it showed up at a market for about $40, I bought it and have only the vaguest idea how to use it. But I own that awesome calculator. Fuck yeah, 12 year old self!
The day before Halloween the press embargo lifts on the latest escapade. It’s not very hard to work out what’s coming seeing as I have images up but the details are kind of juicy … and already causing some trouble. Press embargoes are serious business, you fire off too early and the PR people come and burn down your cat. 11 days of stumm and then I have an awful lot of explaining to do.
What else? Well the trouble with YouTube may be solved. You may recall that an American distributor was under the impression that they had the right to my music downloads (and thus YouTube videos). The way to solve this was to disconnect CD rights from downloads, that apparently is done and I am tentatively putting things back. Any sign that I’m being monetised and shit will break out again. Let us try.
But if you are going to watch YouTube then watch this:
and
Hello Tom
3 Things *start yawning but here goes.
1. You make me feel that it is ok for me to keep my Jupiter 8 even though it is just sitting there. I said to someone you can have it when i’m gone, so that seems fair.
2. You are putting videos back on YouTube???? Sorry if I read that wrong. Any chance of Pilots Hate You? *begs* Your other site is very good, but anyway that’s your decision just don’t let them monitise.
3. Today’s crawling; I heard your cover of New Life by Depeche Mode for the first time today and of course brilliant etc so it’s on my list to buy, as it is part of a compilation I hope you get something from the sale someday.
Anyway, the fulcrum moment, like you I collect, I do hoard but for some reason it seems more managable but then again I don’t live in Surry Hills now but in a Brisbane house with storage space and as much as I love Inner city Sydney in that area with my stuff I’d hate to part with anything, it would not fit into the town house I stay at (do not own sadly) near the old Hopeturn when I am down there. Frankly, I don’t advocate living in squalor and organisation is fun, but these anti-clutter shows are awful, sure if one has rats etc yes clean out, but to me keeping stuff isn’t hanging on to a past that others seem obsessed with getting rid of. It may be horrible for those that have to sort it in 50 years but why not keep things or some things? I read today about a man who was a gardener who keep things and his wife now has to get rid of them. Much as I see her point of view with it being stressful that he kept stuff, better to have kept the old calculator or View Master than chasing it on ebay in years to come.
Happy sorting.
1. A J8 not turned on could possibly do many things. It is pure potential.
2. Putting videos back on YouTube, although slowly to test if I am going to be bitten. The video you want is on Vimeo … so easy … just use the videos link up top here.
3. That is a fucking awful version Jesus wept, but desperate times!
Keep some things. Chuck others. Use the energy from the regret to hang on more tightly to the things you still have. Win.