I thoroughly enjoyed the use of the term "half ass" to describe my recent blogging sans writing...simplifies it better than I ever could. Thank god for anonymous.

Which words would I use to describe the past 6-12 months? Ephemeral perhaps? Ubiquitous? Those generally seem to summarize anything and/or everything.

"Communication is a process whereby information is enclosed in a package and is channeled and imparted by a sender to a receiver via some medium. The receiver then decodes the message and gives the sender a feedback. All forms of communication require a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, however the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication in order for the act of communication to occur. Communication requires that all parties have an area of communicative commonality. There are auditory means, such as speech, song, and tone of voice, and there are nonverbal means, such as body language, sign language, paralanguage, touch, eye contact, through media, i.e., pictures, graphics and sound, and writing."

I guess what I'm trying to say is

I'm currently visiting my parents in Encinitas, trying to finish this children's book I'm supposedly illustrating. "My room" is stripped of everything I once associated it with, aside from the dimensions, the obtrusively mirrored closet doors, the once-vintage chair newly reupholstered with discount turquoise and white paisley, and an oil painting I did in high school of a disproportionate girl unzipping her dress in a bathroom. It's all a very blank, sanitized, strange scene if you ask me. "The yoga room". Boring perhaps, if it wasn't so abrasively lime green. Spending lots of time on the computer, staring off into space, and driving aimlessly. Remembering to take my vitamins and use astringent. Memories like little sharks, or like jokes that aren't very funny. Palm trees, Hannah, backyard, television, thrift stores, Fry's Electronics, three meals a day.

My neighbors had a barbecue earlier in the evening and my mom was showing everyone the magazine I helped produce. This very drunk man talked to me for ten minutes about his brief career as a motorcycle journalist, and how people like to spend money, especially on themselves, and then about a cruise he took with a motorcycle magazine editor where the water was so clear you could see the bottom, and he asked the boat driver if it was too shallow to drive in, and the boat driver told him it was 30 feet deep. I didn't quite understand why he included this detail- I suppose it was meant to be impressive. I told him I thought it would be good conditions for snorkeling, which he agreed with.

Influence has been an interesting topic to me for the past year or so. To be influenced, to influence, and the questionable space in between. Today at the barbecue a little girl showed me her sketchbooks with photocollaged covers of Justin Bieber, and drawings inside of Garfield and strange masks and hearts with arrows through them. They were great. She liked my drawings too, and I told her that when I was her age I used to draw Betty and Veronica from Archie comics, to which she responded with a blank stare. I meant to encourage her with that one, but I guess it wasn't 3-D enough or whatever. Maybe they've already moved on to 4-D, who knows really. I do think people should draw though, in general. Everything, everywhere, everyone, every day. It's much more important than most other things. And I'm not just projecting- drawing makes everything make sense. It's not just a skill, it's a dreamcatcher- an almost always accessible visual representation of thought made by one's hands. You don't have to show them to me, but seriously, make a drawing a day. You'll live that much longer...maybe even forever.

Other News:

-I signed up for fall classes a few days ago. I'll be taking Writing and Literature, Archery, Electronic Music Lab, Scientific Illustration, Habitat Resoration Field Studies, and Film Production. There is no clear goal in sight, obviously.

-I recently purchased an '84 grey Volvo 244 with brown leather seats and a sunroof. It's almost perfect.

-Meryl and I realized with great disappointment that there is no infinity symbol in text messaging. I am still coming to grips with the horrible reality of this handicap.

-My family's cockatiel Jesse imitates the microwave and the fire alarm, as well as the wolf whistle and the Andy Griffith themesong. Also, they taught him the happy birthday song especially for my birthday, which was two days ago. I appreciated the gesture, but to be honest, I would've probably preferred "Drops of Jupiter" or something along those lines.