Oh my god.
February 11, 2012, 11:00pm
Fantasies kept under wraps | Daily Titan
I wrote about pornos and condoms because I heard you like that shit.
January 30, 2012, 11:55am
I’m so pathetic when I want to write something.
Words don’t flow until I’m practically in pieces held together by the natural adhesive of tears and snot.
My mind just doesn’t seem comfortable writing (about basketball in most cases. Words come out fine for other matters that I care less about.) unless I’ve gotten a polished idea ready. Unfortunately, I’m usually always ambitious with my raw ideas, which means comparing two or three separate entities. Which means literally days of connecting dots and finding meaning in things that to anyone else would mean very little.
Which means three days of banging my head against the wall, the keyboard, and anything else in the vicinity.
My idea-buffing seems to come from about 97% fear of rejection and ridicule, and 2% stupidity/lack of knowledge, and 1% perfectionism.
Going to stay up all night trying to write, probably.
And more likely than not, again on Sunday.
Dammit.
July 15, 2011, 11:40pm
‘Breaking Bad’-related material worth reading.
Bad Decisions
by Chuck Klosterman
Klosterman explains on Grantland why ‘Breaking Bad’ might be the best television series ever, topping acclaimed and revered series like ‘The Wire’, ‘The Sopranos’, and ‘Mad Men’:
In that same Newsweek article, the writer suggests Walter White’s on-going metamorphosis is what makes Breaking Bad great. But that doesn’t go far enough. It’s not just that watching White’s transformation is interesting; what’s interesting is that this transformation involves the fundamental core of who he supposedly is, and that this (wholly constructed) core is an extension of his own free will. The difference between White in the middle of Season 1 and White in the debut of Season 4 is not the product of his era or his upbringing or his social environment. It’s a product of his own consciousness. He changed himself. At some point, he decided to become bad, and that’s what matters. [read more]
A.V. Club interview with Bryan Cranston
by Will Harris
AVC: When I visited the Breaking Bad set in March, Giancarlo Esposito [Gus] said that after he read the script for the season première, he had to set it down and walk away because he was stunned and shaken. What was your reaction?
BC: It was shocking. What’s great about well-written material is, if you can shock with justifiable actions, that’s the best. You can shock anybody at any time on television, but if it’s out of left field, if you’ve got a situation where it’s, like, “Oh, well, you know, he’s a crazy man, so he just goes and kills people,” that’s weak writing to me. As I was reading the season première, it was certainly shocking, and I was going, “Oh my God, oh my God. But, wait, why would…?” But then I realized, “No, that’s justifiable,” and after that, I just went, “Wow, what a way to put paddles on the heart of the audience and jump-start their season!” [read more]
Review: AMC’s ‘Breaking Bad’ still brilliant in season 4
by Alan Sepinwall
A review from the godfather of modern television discussion. Mulls over season 3 in detail, setting up the background for season 4.
“Breaking Bad” is about the rot that takes place in Walt’s soul as he goes deeper into the criminal world, but it’s also about the corrosive effect he has on those around him. He wrecked his marriage, turned Jesse from a casual dealer into a hardcore criminal and is responsible for Hank getting shot and paralyzed and so many deaths that I’ve lost count. Magnificent as Cranston is, as riveting a character was Walt is, it’s important to truly understand the people he’s hurting, to feel the weight of his actions. [read more]
Anyone who knows me knows how much I adore this show. With the season premiere only days away, it’s good to field some perspective on what makes the show so great. Enjoy. And don’t miss the season premiere on Sunday. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.
July 13, 2011, 12:06pm
Progress
I probably took just as long to write as I did before, but I can feel my thoughts coming quicker. Things flow a little bit better. This feels great.
June 27, 2011, 5:44am
On Tuesday He Fumbles | Said The Gramophone
I share this every once in a while on Tumblr. Figured now with school over, this would be a good time to share it again. I wasn’t confident in any of the final exams/projects that I took (aside from one class that I’m guaranteed an A in). This could be my worst academic semester since junior year in high school. Nostalgia deflects my worries elsewhere.
I read this blog post in 2007. I read it again today, and I couldn’t help but laugh at my reading comprehension four years ago. It’s just as good as when I first read it. I used a line as my senior quote for the yearbook. I have it bookmarked. This little blog post convinced me that writing is worth it. And it is.
Wrestle bears. Bring them to their knees.
May 21, 2011, 12:01am
A Series of Questions | Hardwood Paroxysm
Here’s my latest for Hardwood Paroxysm. I ask a gorillion questions about Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant, and youth.
I’ve written about basketball for a year, and I don’t think I’ve ever been as insecure about my work as I was with this piece. But I think it brings up some interesting talking points, questions we’ll be asking years from now.
March 24, 2011, 9:58am
Feature article professor gave a lecture on ‘writing voice’
First thing she mentions to the class is how I have a distinct voice: dry and sophisticated, and something else she couldn’t put a finger on. Second time in two weeks.
I haven’t taken a writing class without having the professor compliment me in private/public. THIS MEANS SOMETHING, I THINK.
March 21, 2011, 8:19pm
Some Odd Future pieces that deserve attention
Odd Future: The Billboard Cover Story
Andrew Nosnitsky of Cocaine Blunts
“Yet sales seem beside the point. OddFuture.com offers no less than 11 full-lengths for free download — all self-produced. This model isn’t particularly uncommon, especially in hip-hop where artists have been churning out semi-official mixtapes since forever, but Odd Future approaches it with an eye for detail that competes with major-label releases — complete with tightly penned raps, sonic cohesion and thoughtfully executed conceptual arcs. This degree of refinement is impressive enough on its own, but even more so when you realize that it was effectively made in a vacuum by a bunch of hyperactive teenagers. They’ve built a self-contained world and diving into it is a lot like looking at Tyler’s sketchbook. The coloring goes outside the lines, but the raw ideas are obvious.” [read more]
Odd Futurism
Bethlehem Shoals of FreeDarko
“The Odd Future bunch never mistake acting nuts for actually being nuts, and what makes their music so easy to excuse, and enjoy, is the sense of living, breathing kids underneath all the ugliness. If not by design, this is at least a convenient way to retain some sense of perspective—for artist and listener alike. Their insanity is infectious, the candor just a little too human, even relatable, to ever be fully mistaken for a twisted unconscious.” [read more]
March 19, 2011, 1:59pm
