Today, I told my friend Loren the only thing that would make me stay in Olympia, so I will now tell you all. The only reason I would stay in Olympia post-graduation would be if I opened a record store. Now, owning a record store isn't a dream of mine. It's just something I think I could do well, and much better than the two other stores that currently exist in this town. I am pretty sure I could kick their asses and run them out of business.

Oh, didn't there used to be a thing being passed around blogs about putting itunes or an ipod on random and then listing the first twenty songs that came up? Because I did that this Friday, didn't ever list the songs. I started off with the first song, then put it on shuffle, it ended up much better than I expected, being listenable all the way through.
McLusky- There Ain't No Fool In Ferguson
The Kinks- Sitting By The Riverside
Parliament- Tear The Roof Off The Sucker
Sleater-Kinney- Things You Say
Wilco- I'm A Wheel
Yo La Tengo- The Sea Horse
Ween- Sarah
The Kinks- Animal Farm
Jim O'Rourke- Get A Room
Nathaniel Merriweather/Lovage- Anger Management
Beck- Side Of The Road
Mirah- Advisory Committee
Husker Du- Dreams Reoccuring
Fugazi- Latin Roots
The Books- All Bad Ends All
David Bowie- Warszawa
Fennesz- Rivers Of Sand
Prefuse 73- Coming Into Something Better
Quasi- Repetition
Sufjan Stevens- A Good Man Is Hard To Find

Today I saw two movies at the Capital Theatre- Secret Things and Spartan. Secret Things... Not sure it had a point/went anywhere interesting. Not sure the relationship between the two main characters was that realistic. A little over-the-top. Well-photographed. Fairly pornographic, I guess, but somehow avoids male frontal nudity (even when there's an orgy scene). Basically as mediocre as any number of movies I've watched on my own, but with more nudity to make it more enjoyable, and more over-the-top than the average mediocre indie film. (could be because it's French) When I talk about it being over-the-top, I'm mainly talking about the end. After the antagonist dies (who's Very Very Evil, and in an incestuous relationship with his sister) an eagle picks at his flesh. And, like, the eagle belonged to this woman whose silhouette showed up at certain points in the movie? Was that the deal? I don't even know what that was, really. I really thought the silhouette thing would end up being awesome, but I guess it was just a woman with a bird. The thought now occurs to me it could've been symbolic, but of what, I have no idea.

Spartan was surprisingly good. Almost wanted to leave early on, then got interested. Val Kilmer is a huge fucking asshole, and sometimes says some very action-movie type shit. Still, good, with lots of twists. Some people apparently talk about how political it is in that it condemns the person in the White House. Which, on one hand, is total bullshit, in that, with the exception of a reference to terror and the prescence of some muslims, there really isn't the slightest connection between our current real president and the fictional one. Wag The Dog, also by David Mamet, is way more fucking political and related to things that were occurring in the White House at the time of its release. Although, Wag The Dog serves as an interesting parallel if Spartan is viewed as being political. Wag The Dog was much more political, but it was also a satire, which seemed to fit with the time of the late '90s. Spartan's a thriller with lots of shooting, which seems to fit the modern zeitgeist. It's an interesting note, but if Spartan really did nail the zeitgeist, I think more people would've seen it. Who the fuck saw Spartan? Jason did, because Jason cares about David Mamet. Unlike Wag the Dog, I don't think anyone saw Spartan based on the press it received. Which is weird, as it really is a fairly effective thriller. Maybe reviewers were bothered by how big an asshole Val Kilmer plays. Or, more likely, people heard the retarded premise (President's daughter's kidnapped! Hey, I saw that episode of The West Wing, and it seemed cliched then, as well.) and wrote it off. But it ends up having more twists and being much smarter than that premise.

Also, yesterday I finished writing this short story, Companion, that I'd been at for awhile. I added very little to what was already there, but the little I added constituted an ending. The day before that, I began writing Get Broken.

I also started reading Paul Auster's In The Country Of Last Things, which I'm not sure I'll finish. I thought that would be my summer reading, and after that I'd start reading Invisible Man but this book isn't that great, and the tone is depressing. If a book's going to be depressing, it had better be fucking brilliant. I really don't think this is. So I might just go right to Invisible Man. I'm also thinking that after that, I'll give Gravity's Rainbow a go.

I have a bowl that I stole from the school cafeteria. I planned on returning it, but the cafeteria's not going to be open this week. I guess that means I keep it forever. C'est la vie.