Have a good time

I listen to a lot of music these days that has a central message to relax, chill out, whatever, because I think I have an unhealthy relationship with the exact opposite mindset. Panda Bear is like:

Winning is what you want to/winning but you're scared to go forth
and
I'll try to remember always/just to have a good time

This is how I feel. But for the past ten hours my heart has felt constricted, almost as if I could go into cardiac arrest. It hurts more every time I realize what else I did wrong on that math test. The tests are blind races: summon the formulas, exponentiate, separate, differentiate, integrate with no regard for time. 10+ problems in 40 minutes is daunting enough for me, just me repeating 4 min/problem in my head over and over and then realizing that at the rate I'm going I'll have to halve that number for the rest of the test.

I used to be a good math student, and as humbly as I can say it, I was comforted by the fact that I hardly had to study for the test on logarithms to get a 100. Now the same teacher is giving me these quicksand exams and I'm already under by the time I finish problem 1 and it kills me and gives me these psychological breathing disorders. My brothers tell me to think like High Places on "Shared Islands":

It's okay it's all right it's okay it's all right it's okay...

This is incredibly difficult, it's not me to relax, I carry the weight of everyone's thoughts, talk, locations, positions, etc. on my mind at all times. Still, they are my favorite band right now, lyrics in particular, so there is some sort of attraction I harbor with their carefree views. And Pavement went from the tense act on Slanted & Enchanted, "Conduit for Sale" in particular:

I'm tryin'/I'm tryin'/I'm tryin'/I'm tryin'/I'm tryin'/I'm tryin'

This is the description of me now. But then they did the ingenious, relaxed Crooked Rain x2 and man how much better do people enjoy putting that one on? And how happy would I be to think like that.

Keep starting

Minimal techno is over!

Oh no!!!!!!!!!!
:(

Jamie Lidell's new album is decent; he's really weird but the tracks here are so upbeat and simple that I'll be surprised if he doesn't get a really big following from this thing. Maybe called "the perfect summer album"?

NY Comic-Con

I shivered everywhere even though my body was covered with a gross sweat-layer. My brain hurt and my cold sore made eating, brushing and drinking impossible to handle. I still wanted to go see my favorite comic artists and check out whatever Fantagraphics had.


Protesters for HETFET - Humans for the Ethical Treatment of Fairies Elves and Trolls. My head throbbed harder.


I met Juggernaut and his mom.


Then I saw celebrity Tim Roth!


I was starstruck after meeting Juggernaut, Juggernaut's mom, and Tim Roth.


Justin C. and the king of fun Sid Meier.


This would have been awesome and I would've felt like I was in Star Wars but the little hologram or whatever kept falling over.


My comedy hero Michael Kupperman! He said stuff about "narcotics" and asked me if this was my first comic-con. I just smiled and said yeah or nodded. I think I'm going deaf because I always have to say "what" otherwise. I don't think Michael Kupperman liked me very much.


The Cyanide & Happiness guys were doing free doodles. Everyone had wacky ideas like a guy being ripped in half! When they asked me what I wanted I said "whatever." Sorry.


I will cherish this.


This game baffled me.


And I spoke to Jeffrey Brown really quietly after he drew this nice self-portrait. He gave me some half-hearted advice that my splitting headache made a struggle to register. "Practice" drawing he said.

QuiK. TOK The Dodos

You wouldn't believe how disheartening it is that I can't stop playing a band that sounds so earnest. Dodos, haven't you heard of subtext?!?! There is nothing to read about this band; they're two ugly guys that play the two most boring instruments in the world: guitar and drums. Their influences aren't apparent (despite a few dead ringers for bands like Deerhoof in "Paint the Rust" and a tranquilized Animal Collective in "Fools") until the very second you stop thinking about other artists: this song is influenced by how he liked a girl a lot, this song is influenced by how maybe he doesn't like that girl anymore, this song is influenced by how mad he is that things were so close and now they've fallen apart.

And yeah they make you believe everything, their pain is real, they still cry about this thing sometimes, but would it be more irritating if you didn't believe them? Still, it is like the drum and guitar are the ones having the real relationship. While the drummer stretches and twists 4/4 into 8/8 and whatever else he can do with it, the guitar lands and bounces off of the oddly timed, often sparing hits; a leap, then a steady decline, in 12312312 so you never really get comfortable with them. There is a glide, then another glide, then a sudden fall. It gives you vertigo. Maybe they make up for subtext with evocation? By the end, the routine even excuses the song that they obviously wrote for Juno 2 ahead of time.

Stroudsburg Students Against The New Dress Code

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
-- Benjamin Franklin

Suggested benefits of the proposed dress code
• Heightened safety
• Decreased distractions e.g. teasing, harassment
• School unity/pride

Our arguments
• By increasing conformity and stifling expression, students are taught to solve problems by hiding their diversity. It also creates a dynamic of mistrust between faculty and students.
• By being forced to buy school-specific clothes in addition to their leisure clothes, each student will have to pay an extra amount of at least $223 for girls and $253 for boys per school semester, resulting in the student body spending an estimated $1.8 million total per school year*. This money would be better spent on school supplies, books, or anything with a more proven educational benefit than uniforms.
• If the school is unwilling to spend money for our safety e.g. on security or metal detectors, they should not expect us to. It must be decided which issues have priority on the school's budget.
• To address the problem of identifying outsiders, a lanyard system was already implemented. If thoroughly enforced, this would be effective.
• The conclusion that a strict dress code will make our school safer hardly has backing; studies so far are inconclusive. Furthermore, it shouldn't be assumed that potential purporters of in-school crime will be thwarted by khakis, polos, and transparent backpacks.
• We suggest stronger enforcement of the current dress code, which is sufficient and comprehensive. Unlike the proposed one, it is reasonable and has no questionable limitations.

Excerpted passages from the current school dress code listing forbidden items
"Students who wear baggy trousers/slacks must keep them secured at the natural waist. It is not permissible to wear baggy/saggy clothes so that the student's underwear is visible."
"Clothing which is physically revealing (excessively exposes the anatomy), is see-through (including mesh shirts, and articles of clothing with holes and rips), is low-cut, and/or bares the midriff."
"Clothing and accessories which advertise or promote the use of tobacco, alcohol, or drugs; or which are offensive, obscene or immoral; or which are sexually suggestive, or promote statements which are derogatory to any racial, ethnic or religious group; or which contain double meanings, advocate violent acts, or are gang related."

Hundreds of students have been wearing black armbands for the past week to express support for the Tinker v. Des Moines Supreme Court case of 1969. This case ruled that students have the right to express themselves through their choice of clothing. As the Supreme Court justices averred:

"In order for the State in the person of school officials to justify prohibition of a particular expression of opinion, it must be able to show that its action was caused by something more than a mere desire to avoid the discomfort and unpleasantness that always accompany an unpopular viewpoint. Certainly where there is no finding and no showing that engaging in the forbidden conduct would 'materially and substantially interfere with the requirements of appropriate discipline in the operation of the school,' the prohibition cannot be sustained."

"Students in school, as well as out of school, are 'persons' under our Constitution. They are possessed of fundamental rights which the State must respect, just as they themselves must respect their obligations to the State. In our system, students may not be regarded as closed-circuit recipients of only that which the State chooses to communicate. They may not be confined to the expression of those sentiments that are officially approved. In the absence of a specific showing of constitutionally valid reasons to regulate their speech, students are entitled to freedom of expression of their views."

We do not attempt to hide the fact that we do not want to wear polos and khakis. They are uncomfortable and unflattering on most body types. We don't want to conceal our opposition to this policy under a facade of altruism. However, since our own opinions are representative of much of the student body, we know that morale, enthusiasm, and school pride will decrease if this policy is implemented. The administration should consider long-term as well as immediate consequences; if students feel that the policy is oppressive, as they have expressed by wearing the black armbands, then they won't see school as a center of education and creativity; they will see it as simply a prerequisite to moving on in life and being able to fulfill their own goals.

*Calculated with the lowest prices available at Wal-Mart for five polo shirts, three pairs of khakis, three pairs of shorts, two sweaters, one pair of shoes, and a belt.