Vulnerability is a Necessity

I’ve been thinking lately. Thinking hard, and so tirelessly that insomnia has ceased to exist for four days, and my dreams are once again the cracked out, incoherent craziness that accompanies that foreigner, that non-citizen: REM sleep.

I don’t have much to say about said thoughts; the fact that they exist is enough for now. But the Untitled Love Project turned me on today, which is due in large part (I suspect) to the kinds of conversations I’ve been having with you all lately. The project is in conjunction with ISM, and is, at its most basic, a collective contribution of broken hearts. Each contributor was asked to revisit an old relationship and express it through their medium (sketch, paint, illustration, text, etc.).

The event itself was held this past Saturday in L.A., but you can still view the pieces online. The last time I checked it looked as if they were working on organizing the pieces, but they’re all there and worth looking at. (Some of my favorites: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.)

I haven’t found, nor have I sought, any grand conclusions lately. Perhaps I’d just forgotten that we’re all inherently so very flawed. And perfection is simply an illusion.

[via]

[Jam of the Day]: Metric, The Twist

I haven’t slept for two days.

Well. I sorta slept last night. But not as well as I should have in a ridiculously posh bed at a Vail resort.

The previously mentioned speaking event went well. I ended up hitting it off fairly well with a few people at the presenters’ reception last night; which probably had something to do with the fact that one of my first conversations went like this:

Fellow presenter [to me]: You look really familiar…but I can’t quite place where.
Me: Oh, well you’ve probably seen me on the internet. I’ve been in quite a few videos.

Of course, I was talking about work-related videos, but that didn’t exactly translate. As for the actual presentation, I spoke too fast (knew it, and didn’t care), forgot to advance one of my slides (boo) and forgot a small section of my presentation. But it all turned out to be for the best, because we ended up going over our 90 minutes anyway.

My good friend and co-presenter James was great—and rather unwaveringly dealt with lots of spontaneous comments from the conference drunkard. It was my goal to win the conference and I think we will at least earn a second place showing. We definitely had the most rockin’ visuals and lots of eager questions afterwards.

My only complaint lies in the ineptitude of our company, which very well may undo the good graces under which I’ve fallen over the past 24 hours.

But I suspect I’ll have plenty of time to melt that stress away. When I got home tonight, there sitting in my inbox was a gift from D: A full 2 hours in the “Recovery Room” at one of Denver’s top spas, in congratulation for a job well done.

Tonight, I feel just like I thought I would: accomplished, happy, and excited to resume normal life. ‘Cause, you know, I’ve got a lot to look forward to.

[Jam of the Day]: Interpol, Rest My Chemistry

Quotable

A good morsel of wisdom today from my friend, mrp.

And if you guys haven’t checked out Miranda July’s new site (for her new collection of stories, “No One Belongs Here More Than You”), you better hustle over and do so. It’s amazing, per usual, and this time it’ll make you wish you didn’t have nice, shiny black appliances.

[Jam of the Day]: Annuals, Brother

Quotable

A good morsel of wisdom today from my friend, mrp.

And if you guys haven’t checked out Miranda July’s new site (for her new collection of stories, “No One Belongs Here More Than You”), you better hustle over and do so. It’s amazing, per usual, and this time it’ll make you wish you didn’t have nice, shiny black appliances.

[Jam of the Day]: Annuals, Brother