HOW TO BE A JERK AND HATE ART TO THE POINT THAT YOU HATE YOURSELF FOR FEELING LIKE AN ART SNOB

I'm not sure how to approach this topic correctly, but I have to try. Walking home from work the other day I passed a storefront on South Street that has been a temporary art gallery/space-thing for the past six months. There are a few of these storefronts currently being rented out month-to-month along South Street and each one is disappointing. This particular art space, on that particular night, appeared to be hosting a gallery opening or closing or whatever, and was packed with art fans pretending to "know art" as they sipped on the fuel of "art knowing"; wine. The crowd consisted of 60-somethings with multi-colored berets, fat hippies (and skinny ones too!...?), and the young eclectic with his guitar slung on his back who at any moment could provide the venue with some tunes if he were to get enough of that free "fuel". The art was literally junk sculpture. Now, for whatever reason, the artistic community that I dislike the most is exactly that; a community. This, no doubt, was one of those venues where the same group of artists show their stuff each month, and the same neighborhood art-likers (mostly friends, and people who have a growing collection of one specific artists work because '..it really speaks to me..') come to support them. Great. Good for them, I guess. Now, I don't know what other form of art exposure I would prefer, but I know that my mind was made up for me in the 5  seconds it took for me to pass by the window of this place where art went to die. My mind immediately reverberated, "EW! NO! EWWW!" and I thought myself better than those people as I directly thought my art to be better than their art. My art that I keep locked up inside my house. My art consisting of a total of maybe 15 respectable finished pieces, created over the course of too many years. Of course I'm not better than those people, but I'm also not playing any charades. I simply do not make art to be sold or praised or even seen for that matter. This isn't a metaphor for anything, it is the truth. My output is low, my creative frustration is high, and my integrity remains strong. I make art because I am compelled to do it. There are projects that are started and completed and they exist entirely in my head. Sometimes this occurs if I don't have the time or resources to physically bring the idea into being, but mostly my brain is a more proper venue for some pieces that couldn't or shouldn't be appreciated by the public no matter how intimate my relationship might be with them.
...to be continued...

NUTS ABOUT COCTEAU TWINS

The Cocteau Twins have recently completely enveloped my music listening realm! I've downloaded all eight full length albums and purchased as many original copies of their vinyl EPs as possible, and I don't think I've  stopped listening to this fantastic Scottish band for the past three weeks straight.
Although their debut album was released in 1982, and I haven't experienced them until 2011, I feel they have found me at a wonderful point of my life when I can truly appreciate their sound; not to mention Elizabeth Fraser's acrobatic vocal melodies.

INK TANK

Lately I've tried my hand at the art of stick-and-poke tattoo. A stick-and-poke tattoo involves all of the same basic components of a professional tattoo sans the machine. For my stick-and-poke tattoos I've used sterile single use tattoo machine needles and sterile tattoo ink. Below are images of the last three stick and pokes I've done on myself including: the face of the alien race from the 1973 animated French film La Planete Sauvage (or; The Fantastic Planet), below the face are the serif initials of the Satellite Of Hate (the name given to my house in reference to the Satellite Of Love from Mystery Science Theater 3000.) Those tattoos are on my left inner calf. On the front of my right arm's bicep, just above my elbow, I tattooed a sine wave. My friend Allie is tattooed with the same design as it represents our shared frequency, friendship. If you know anyone who would like me to stick-and-poke some art into their skin, let me know. I'm only improving as I go!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Let's see how this altered recipe turns out.

Right now I'm boiling six whole pears in four cups of water with one and a half cups of red wine, a quarter lemon, a half cup of maple syrup, and an additional quarter cup of suger with a healthy sprinkling of cinnamon and a dash of vanilla extract. Yowza. Then I'll remove the pears, turn half of the remaining poaching liquid into a caramel by adding some cream and MORE SUGAR! The pears will then be cut in half and coated in the 'caramel' concoction. I'll scoop out the center of the pears and fill them up with shaved sharp cheddar topped with pistachios. Then the whole thing gets baked. Shoot... this better work.

Also, I think it's stupid that the liquor stores aren't open on this holiday. 

MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES PT.5

I'm so scatterbrained when it comes to understanding who I am and what I like, and as always I feel this is no better represented than through my musical tastes. In one moment of the day I'm listening to this:
And four minutes later I'm listening to this:
but then:

WANTED: CAMERA

One tool that would prove very useful to me would be a camera. Possessing one would inspire many more off-the-cuff C.O.P. posts. Forever I've been using, almost exclusively, pictures found through Google image search, and a tiny percentage of old stuff I've recovered from my external hard drive (see photo from previous post.) If you happen to have an old digital camera that will get this job done and are willing to give said camera to me, I would then be obligated to cook you dinner or perhaps draw you a picture or rap for you.

FILL IN THE BLANK

Again, it has been some time since my last post. Rather, there has been a regular large gap between each post for the last half of the year. As of late a full time job has stifled my focus on writing, but I have devised a plan to rectify this situation so that all two of you who read C.O.P. can be fulfilled by my profound observations on life. If I simply write something quickly without much preparation and just post away, and maybe even do that a few times in a row within the same 10 minutes, I will constantly keep us all entertained, confused, informed, active, scared, happy, sad, and whatever else a shitty slip-shod post will encourage us to be at that moment.
Although, like most things in my life, my follow through is not 100%, but also like most things in my life, if I go through with the plan, the results will be... wildly unpredictable?
I apologize in advance...
the author in 3D circa 2009

NUTS ABOUT THE SOFT MOON

I've decided to call my immediate music interest posts "Nuts About..." from now on. Here's the most recent band that I've had on constant rotation as of late. enjoy Circles by The Soft Moon

SHAPING UP

I don't often post images of my artwork here on C.O.P., but I've mentioned in a prior post that I shifted my style a little in an attempt to experiment and maybe loosen up my style a bit. To aid in this transformation I bought big single sheets of Ingres paper, some india ink, and a couple medium sized Japanese calligraphy brushes. I expected the process to be minimal and quick with somewhat purposefully sloppy results- a quick stroke here- a splash of a curve there... but as soon as I made my first stroke I realized my perfectionism was a beast that could not be slain with my new weapons. I instead became obsessed with creating perfect circles and forms that could almost be the blueprints for highly polished sculptures. Still, I was determined to complete the images with only the ink and brush and no compass. A series of these new creatures was created and here are a couple that I have photographed for you!

THE CLASSICS: WHOOPS!

Last night I was getting ready to go out with some friends when I decided then would be a good time to trim my hair up a bit. I've cut my own hair for pretty much all of my adult life and I've grown pretty keen to my clippers. I switched between the length attachments with confidence and obsessed over the finishing touches near the neck line and behind my ears. My friends would be by within the hour to pick me up so I knew I had to move with a bit more swiftness and grace if I wanted to be showered and dressed in time to leave. One final tuft of hair near the top of the back of my head needed another once-over with the buzzing blades. bzzzzzzzzz........ and just like that it was done- I accidentally shaved off a five inch strip of hair without any attachment on the clippers at all. It was strange how in that moment of realizing what had just happened I also found myself trying to convince myself that this was a dream world I was existing in and I would soon wake up to find myself with the full head of hair that I started off the evening with. This wanting of an alternate reality vibrated in my soul for approximately 10 full seconds before saying out loud, "shit" and then laughing at myself for doing the undoable. My friends showed up and convinced me that my only real option was to shave my whole head. So now I look like one of the following things I was called for the entire rest of the night: a baby, an old man, Benjamin Button, a skinhead, Sluggo of the comic strip Nancy, a chemo patient, or Curly from the Three Stooges. The funny/sad/scary thing is; I really look like all of them. Thank goodness this stuff grows back! (fingers crossed)

HYPER-DIMENSIONAL POWERS

The other day I went record shopping. That in itself is not unusual for me, but at the same time I discovered something about myself. What I discovered, upon further introspection, is nothing new; In fact, it's possible that a lot of my lifelong creativity has been sparked through my new(old) super power!

While perusing the shelves for new music, I found a record that seemed interesting enough. The record was by an artist who went by the name Xander Harris. The album artwork was an extreme close-up snapshot of a scene from a cheesy horror film snapped directly from a TV screen. The staff at the record store had written on the record's cellophane packaging an intimation in sharpie marker that read something to the effect of "Lo-Fi synth-horror in the vein of John Carpenter etc." This made me realize that I would probably enjoy the record or I would at least like to flip through my record collection and see that bizarre cover art pop out every now and then. I wanted the record, but at the same time I was a tad low on cash. Being low on cash does not typically heed my music purchases so I wistfully held onto the record as I scanned some more titles. Then my newly realized ability kicked in. You see, I didn't need to buy the record because I was already imagining a perfectly good version of it in my head. I may have even "listened" to it a few times over before leaving the store and that wacky cover design was burned well into my memory. I had possessed the record through some form of osmosis! I had so accepted the assumed compositions in my head that maybe they were more delightful than the actual hard copy in my hands!

I've always considered myself to be very intuitive and a good judge of character, and this 'osmosis' is probably a near cousin to those qualities. When enough elements or details are given to me about a new subject; I am able to determine its whole. Sounds obvious, right? Surely everyone possesses these tools of reason, but perhaps not everyone is aware of their full range of applications. We can draw inspiration from practically everything around us and this will allow us to not only shape our ideas, but shape the physical world as well. So the next time you look at something, really look at it, and you may be surprised to find that you are in tune with its texture or temperature. The next time you touch something, really touch it, and you will maybe feel its distress over the years or its contents will reveal themselves as if you have x-ray eyes! Absorb your surroundings, calculate what you've gathered and use your gifts to their fullest potential.

MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES PT.4

Here's a little treat for everyone! This track is the jump-off point of a new sound I have been experimenting with lately. Don't be fooled into thinking that it is only tedious and sad; this song is meant to be peaceful (for a happy or sad moment) and yes you may need to have a little patience and time to listen to it. This featured song is called The Well. In the near future you should be able to check in here for more songs to be born from the same style. Titles to check back for include: You Went Away and Shapes In The Sunlight. Both songs are currently in production. Enjoy!

The Well by Justin P Cipa

C.O.P. is #1!

A year ago today I found myself at the brink of a mini nervous breakdown. I had quit my job and I wasn't sure in what direction I was heading. My mind was flying apart and I needed to focus my thoughts and my energies and at the same time I wanted to find peace within myself. I soon realized the potential for a goofy blog to aid me in reasoning with my situation. I wasn't searching for answers or results so much as I was looking to relieve myself of the pressures I was facing. I took a deep breath, I smiled, and I prepared to start from a new humble beginning. Throughout the next few months I absorbed into a simpler lifestyle, I accepted help from family and friends without allowing myself much guilt, and made sure to spend time in the sun and listen exclusively to calming ambient music. This surely sounds corny and new-age-y, but it honestly helped, and I recommend this practice to anyone who finds themselves in a similar predicament.
I have since fully "recovered" from joblessness and many other pieces have fallen into place elsewhere in my life; I gained full custody of a beautiful cat, I met a wonderful girl, I shifted my artistic style a bit and I apparently took the time to write every-now-and-then! All of this wouldn't have been possible without the support from those who embraced Code of Posture and gave me continual encouragement and inspiration. My blogging community (ugh, that sounds ridiculous) consists of faithful readers, some of whom have blogs of their own. My friend Mackenzie has a couple of blogs. My favorite blog of Mackenzie's can be found if you click right here. She is, to speak in her language, rad. My girlfriend Allie has a couple blogs too! A seemingly endless visual treat from Allie's blog universe can be found if you click right here. (I hope you gals don't mind the free publicity!) My biggest fan is most likely Mom. Mom, you have been my inspiration to keep my writing clean and refined which has served well as a huge part of the template for each Code of Posture posting. My friends John and Joe (recurring characters in a few C.O.P. topics) have roused many ideas that were worth writing about. Thanks.

I hope you all continue reading because I expect that life is only going to get more interesting in this next year and I'll be sure to give you some perspective along the way.

Beautiful Day

The sky is a little hazy today in response to a thick heat consuming the Philadelphia region as of late. The sun is there for sure, and a beautiful day is breathing it's deep and slow breezy breaths onto those of us who have the patience and time to recognize that, yes, it is indeed a beautiful day. I'm fortunate to have today and tomorrow free of work so I can absorb every sticky second of my Wednesday afternoon even though my sweat glands are squeezing it all right back out onto the plastic chair I'm sitting in on my back porch. Wish you were here.

SLEEPLESS NIGHTS

The movie Communion, as far as I can bring to mind, is the only movie creepy enough to keep me from being able to fall asleep at night. I saw the film once when I was twelve or so and again sometime in my early twenties. Even in my young adult life I feared I would see the alien from this clip peeking from behind my dresser or from inside my closet door or around the corner in the hallway when I went to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Terrifying.

LAUREL AND HARDY

The best comedy to ever exist! Oliver Hardy's priceless takes to the camera and Stan Laurel's vacant reactions to the world around him: incredible. Enjoy!

HAND MADE MAN

What have I been doing with my life? To be quite honest, I have been enjoying it. Often I overanalyze and criticize life and the people around me, but I do have very basic problems and I'm grateful that I am able to apply some introspection to most of them to keep my cool. I'm lazy, I'm typically broke, and I haven't necessarily found myself where I pictured myself to be when I was younger, but that's through no fault but my own; I have never felt like I've just been dealt a bad hand- I just haven't played my cards right. I'm patiently learning the game though, and it helps to realize that I'm playing the game with others who are learning as well. We win a few rounds and maybe lose the next one, but it's always a fine idea to smile and have fun and learn some tricks along the way.

Sometimes I have intense moments of clarity and I realize what I'm destined to do. Today I said to myself- and probably for the millionth time, " I should just focus on doing album artwork. I love looking at album artwork and packaging techniques and when I'm shopping for those products I get inspired to come home and draw... Then I would make money that I could spend on shopping for records..." and so on. That sounds to me like a pretty safe full house to bet on. Then, before I know it my day off is over and I get sucked back into my weekly nine-to-five and I make almost no time for pursuing such a dream. Sad... but again, that's just me being lazy. I've never really broke my back for my passion, yet interestingly enough I get regular lower back pain (and I'm only 31! yikes!) most likely from my retail job with lousy pay... go figure.

So what have I been doing with my life? I've been enjoying it, yes. I have also been watching it closely from the outside and maneuvering it from the inside, but a piece is still missing. I haven't made that move that scares most of us from completely controlling our lives. I am yet to say, "all in"

A LOVE SONG

Listen to this Richard Hawley track. On his own he has written some really wonderful love songs, and he used to be a member of the band Pulp. They have some really wonderful songs as well, but this featured song is from Richard's solo album Truelove's Gutter.

WORK IN PROGRESS

All of us have an agenda. Quite simply, we can't sit still or nothing will get done. Even a nihilist will try to make a point at one time or another. As a member of the human race I've noticed that we believe in and have invested in progress and we become pleased with the results we see from that progress- be those results good or bad, they are results nonetheless. Sure, a meditating Buddhist monk or a homeless person sitting in one place expecting some charity does not embrace progress the same way most of the world's active economies do, and those at rest are prone to make the rest of us a little confused and uncomfortable; however, they are woven into the same social fabric simply by being human.
We want to achieve power, respect, and some bragging rights by being active. On a more romantic level we hope to find the meaning of life through science, philosophy or religion. Maybe we can look further into space than we did before. Maybe we can even go to those places that once seemed so far away. It certainly gives us hope, and hope certainly fuels progress, and progress fuels an economy that allows us to create or sustain a community on some level no matter how frail that community may be. But we do go forward and we would maybe look back more often if time wasn't coaxing us into the future along with it. It's 11:27pm as I'm typing these words and I expect to be finished by midnight or I won't get enough sleep for tomorrow! See what I mean? It's hard to look back when there's so much to try to prepare for (which is a feeble attempt more than half the time.)
It's interesting to think that we are capable of so much and that we rarely fail to impress each other with great feats previously forgone by our precursors generations ago. We are always proving that we can and we usually don't give up until we do (resources and technology permitting, of course) but what does that really mean? Does that mean that we are a superior being on this planet? Does that mean we are winning? I honestly have a hard time understanding this sometimes. I think we are still driven mainly by very primal instincts and behaviors but the ego has managed to cloak those instincts beneath all the flashy stuff we've made to trick us into thinking that, yes, we are winning... something. For example: If in the future we finally win a ticket to the edge of the universe and we could stand there and turn around and see everything and grasp even just 70% of all knowledge and perspective available to us; would anyone be impressed, and why? At that point everything would be sorted out and we could have our power respect and bragging rights, but what is the worth of those things there at the edge of the universe?

Maybe if we take this moment to consider that we don't have our priorities straight we'll see ourselves from a skewed perspective and realize that we're not too different from a single celled amoeba. This isn't to say that life is pointless, but instead we may have billions of years of evolution ahead of us. Make sure to keep those days open on your calender.

MIXED EMOTIONS

I recently made a mix cd for my friend Jen. I always try to make elaborate packaging for my mixes and I was particularly happy with this one. The front cover flap is die-cut to give the eyes and nose some depth and the edges of the flap form the cheekbones of the skull. The closure tab tucks in right behind the teeth. I did a soft stipple effect with micron pens for the detail. My own horn: tooted.

CLEARLY OBSCURE

There are so many aspects to life that amaze me. Rather, there are so many aspects that I can't help but be amazed by them. Yet due to the volume of things to be considered, I am often not surprised when something new surfaces. There's a good chance that anything is possible to an alarming degree when so many fascinating things exist. I also feel that the obscure helps to expand my perception of the universe to infinite and impossibly small fractures of wonder. I also imagine these fractures to have their own great detail which would suggest even more underlying framework. If I were to learn one day that things could only be so small and a once undiscernable single point in space is now understood to look like this or that, and there is no material structure divided beyond that, then I would reasonably continue to wonder how much bigger things are, and of what mega-structure are we the fine details of.
And what if making sense of things is the wrong way to approach all of the information we absorb. Maybe there's always something to be read between the lines. A broader scope with less attention to detail may provide us with the 'answer' we're searching for as a species driven by progress and tormented by pride. We can't resist the urge to 'know' and we're fueled by a seemingly naive passion to prove that we're not worthless and that our human minds are actually thinking about something greater than just colors and shapes. Are our minds doing anything more than that? We've turned certain conceptual shapes into numbers and letters and devised language and math out of those abstract ideas. We've come a long way with such achievements, but what have we missed along the way?

What do we really understand about time, mass, gravity and many other fundamental components of our daily life? As much as we like to pretend that we have control over these things by launching rockets into space, drawing up schedules, and creating economies to decide the worth of material, we are really secretly and humbly governed by those Gods of mystery and magic. They are the things that are a bit out of place and they should help to make it clear that things may not be what they seem...

M.C. Escher's Moebius Strip 1

VILE REWARDS

Kurt Vile is a local musician who caught my attention a few years ago and his persistent and consistent style has kept me a loyal fan ever since. Kurt played a live show at AKA Music last week to promote his latest album Smoke Ring for My Halo. My friend John and I attended the gig and I was happy to find this video on Youtube of Kurt and The Violators playing Baby's Arms, one of the best tracks off the new LP, from that very night!

THE ULTIMATE QUESTION?

Lately I've been working a little nine-to-five job at an art supply store in center city. My schedule varies from week to week so I often find myself working Saturday and/or Sunday. Most of my co-workers have similar schedules, yet I am regularly asked on any given Monday, "How was your weekend?" as if I either presumably had those days off to relax, or perhaps I saved some big plans for those two days specifically- because apparently that's how the majority of the population functions.
I just so happened to have what I referred to as a 'Charlie Brown Day' yesterday (Sunday) so when asked the cliché question "How was your weekend" by my unsuspecting co-worker, I really let 'em have it by verbally administering them with every misstep I experienced just 24 hours prior! The play-by-play of my weird day began Saturday night when, curiously enough, I had somehow begun to convince myself that I was not at all scheduled to work on the following Sunday. I went to bed at a decent hour and was up at a decent hour Sunday morning and wanted nothing more than to sit around all day in my pajamas while watching goofy science specials on cable TV. I was living this dream happily enough until I decided to check my work schedule to see when I was due in on Monday. There, on the schedule, next to my name, I noticed: Sunday March 6th 10-6. Instant confusion set in. How could it be 12 noon on Sunday March 6th, and I'm bumming around in my pajamas, but that schedule was telling me I have already been at work for the past two hours? I called my boss and confirmed that indeed I should have been at work! My boss claimed he hadn't called me to report my error because he's not my babysitter; but shoot, how did no one worry that I wasn't dead or something? Anyway, I rushed to get ready and made it to work by 1 o'clock. Now completely disoriented, and given odd jobs all day as a well deserved punishment for my lateness, my botched management of my life left me in a grumpy mood for the rest of my shift. I genuinely felt dumb because I ultimately let myself down.

Once my shift ended 5 hours later I rode my bike home through as heavy a rainstorm as rainstorms get. Soaked through to the insoles of my shoes, I turned down an invitation from my roommate to see John Zorn play live in a rare intimate venue. I couldn't bear going back out into the rain and my bad mood probably would have left much to be enjoyed at the show. Instead, I crawled into bed at 8:30 and promptly shut my eyes to the strange world that lead me there. I woke up at 11:30pm Sunday night sweating bullets. The heat was on too high in the house. I put hot water on for tea hoping it could make me fall back to sleep, but I found only caffeinated tea in the cabinets. I dumped the hot water down the drain and returned to bed. Once I managed to fall back asleep I dreamt that I was out at the bar playing pool with some friends. In the dream I was drunk and I could barely stand up straight and I repeatedly dropped my quarters from my fumbling hands; totally embarrassing myself! Around 2:30 am I wake up to the sound of my phone vibrating near my bed. I assumed this was my alarm going off which would mean it's 5:30 in the morning; Instead, my friend was on the other end telling me she's been awakened from her sleep to a feverish vomit session! Oh No! I talked her down from a state of emergency so that we could both attempt sleeping one more time. Finally my alarm did go off at 5:30am Monday morning and my new week has since begun.

I know those aren't significant problems to have, but that goofy series of events certainly put me in an odd and uncomfortable state, and I feel like I'm still recovering. Now... what should I plan for this weekend?

MIRAI MIZUE MUSIC MADNESS

Overwhelming music video by Mirai Mizue! Check out thesilentballet.com for a hefty three part selection of short videos handpicked from 2010.

A long day of timbre from MIRAI_MIZUE on Vimeo.

PLEASE DON'T FEED THE GALAXIES

My mother recently sent me a link to an article about a 'blob' spotted in space by the Hubble telescope. Actually, the blob's image was captured by the telescope but discovered by Dutch Schoolteacher Hanny Van Arkel who is an active volunteer with Galaxy Zoo. Galaxy Zoo allows its volunteers to observe hundreds of thousands of images of space in the hopes of creating a data base to further categorize and ultimately better understand the nature of galaxies. In some cases the unexpected discovery may bubble to the surface and, who knows, you might end up with some ancient mysterious mass of gas named after you. I'm going to go volunteer as soon as possible, and I think I'll name my first celestial anomaly after my mom!

NUTS ABOUT THE NATURAL YOGURT BAND

11 - the natural yogurt band - soft cheese by naturalyogurtband

THE TRUTH HURTS

I'll soon be turning 31 at the beginning of this New Year and I feel that I need to write a little motivational post for everyone as I enter- as unprepared as ever- my 4th decade of life!
It seems like just yesterday that I was only 4 years old, and I can vividly remember a summer afternoon which led me to trip and fall while playing in the gravel driveway. A stone pierced the skin on my knee and the blood quickly found its way out of me. I panicked as a red line was drawn, from my knee, closer and closer to my striped sock. Mom, like a pro, helped me inside, sat me on the kitchen counter, sprayed the wound with some first aid kit stuff and, within seconds, magically healed my horrendously maimed limb back to the way it had always looked. My tears dried up, but the damage was done. I remember staring into my tiny bandaged wound as if it were a black mirror and a future of imminent gouges, scars, torn tissues, and drawn blood flashed before my eyes. I do remember it so well. I was immediately aware that this would happen again. I would fall, I would cry, I would be damaged, and I would be faced with physical pain many times over. That single trail of blood found its way down my leg as if to draw a timeline that was at the time yet to be marked off by any significant events. In that profoundly prescient moment it was clear that those days, those horrors were going to be unavoidable. I accepted it... or forgot about it once I got my hands on some Legos...
That bright red time line has certainly reappeared many times in 30 years, each time documenting a new momentous occasion. The line is rarely straight these days and it often branches off violently in many directions. Sometimes it really is as gory and painful as it appears to be, and sometimes I can get away with spraying it with that magic first aid stuff and it goes away with no tears. I still often stare into the wounds and the wounds still stare back; However, these days I'm not looking into an abyss of terror presented to me by some stranger. No, the blood and pain and I have almost become close friends, and we would almost look forward to seeing each other if the encounters weren't so random and typically inconvenient. We've shared and survived many close calls in this lifetime and we've accepted that there is no way to be more prepared.
So onward through 2011, and may it kick our asses so that we may outlive any of those threats that we feared when we were younger. We can't allow ourselves to be bullied by our own doubts and we certainly shouldn't fear death, but we can have respect and patience for the unruliness of time. Cheers.