Ah, the last of the movies from my 519 class. This one is notable for several reasons:
1. it stars my freshman roommate, Richard Bloom, who lives in LA, working as an assistant and art dept coordinator. He did acting as an undergrad, so it was fun to re-connect with this little piece, 8 years after we lived together.
2. it is certainly the video I think of when I think of the art I made over these years. Weird, static, unbalanced, closeup shots. A surreal, improvised story that is larger than what we end up seeing in the film.
3. I reshot parts of it as the final project for the class, so two version exist. This is the re-edit, which is marginally better than the original.

phone calls from the dead from tripp millican on Vimeo.

Popularity: 2% [?]

This might be tasteless and crass, but I haven’t seen it floated anywhere else:

Do you think that Dennis Haysbert, as President Dennis Palmer, in ‘24′ helped loosen Americans up to the idea of a black President, thus helping take race out of play for the Obama campaign?

Sadly, I think this might have helped.

Popularity: 2% [?]

i discussed this idea a while ago with some folks, and it keeps sounding like a good one.

you know those towel dispensers in bathrooms where you yank the towel and old towel dissapears and new towel comes out?

how cool would it be to have bedsheets like that. then, if you’re like me and are a chronic cover stealer, you roll over and yank, and your bed partner, rather than being uncovered and cold, is merely covered by brand new sheet and blanket! the best setup would involve the extra used covers getting sucked under the bed and magically cleaned. then this system would work for non laundry-inclined folks. instead of doing laundry, you’d just need to give it all a yank– juice bed? no problem. give it a tug and you’re no longer lying in the sticky!

i swear, this is a brilliant idea.

Popularity: 1% [?]

I’m on CalTrain, bouncing home after another day working. The daily commute, which has become more welcome to me than it has any right to be.

My brow is furrowed and I, as usual, there is something just outside my grasp, some piece of rope or a stray bit of light that I just can’t quite see.

I alluded the other day to how full my life seems to be. This is a true statement; at the time, however, it was one I expected to have changed for me. It has not changed and right now, I am trying to decide what I have done to make my life feel more full than it was a few weeks or months ago.

The answer, of course, is that it doesn’t matter. It is the results that matter.

I do know that I have had relationship complications as I have grappled with the notion of Roxy going to grad school. It is the elephant in the room — not only the choice of schools, but all that comes with it. Moving. Budgets. Relationship. And, worst of all, the very real possibility that we could be on opposite coasts. Again.

All of this has led me on a whirlwind — ups and downs, lies and truths told to myself over and over. And all of these things have created an avalanche of self-reflection and re-centering that seems to come knocking a little louder during emotional crisis’s.

Work, too, has been an amalgam of stress and reward. Last week was on the far side of the stress see-saw. My code was suddenly being hit by many people, but without the safety net of any true testing. One tweak would cause another bug and, after a few days, the intricacies of my code were starting to annoy me.

But much like my relationship, work has balanced out and this week has me once again whupping up on my code base and reminding it that I am in charge.

Now if I can catch up on my sleep, I think I might be onto something here. Regardless, I am very much alive and kicking, even as I wait for the inevitable change we all know is coming.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Because no one doubts anymore the kind of child I will be raising.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Strange what a release comes with a new tattoo. Last night, I found myself with levels of energy and clear-eyed excitement that I hadn’t felt in months. When I asked the tattoo artist what she liked best about her job, she said, “helping people lay claim to their own bodies.” It’s an answer I admire immensely.

In a fit of exuberance, or adrenaline, or whatever follows, I placed a dozen calls to a dozen friends, family and exes I hadn’t seen in ages, so the work of this morning was steeling myself to the sometimes-regrettable decision to reconnect. This morning’s three coffee dates, though, were better than I’d remembered to expect, and I rediscovered genuine fondness for people I’d simply lost in the shuffle.

So in the last 24 hours, I’ve gotten a new haircut, a new tattoo, and a new sort of disclosure. Now I feel as different as I am.

Popularity: 1% [?]

okay, i need to get over the hump of not having posted in several weeks so that i can start posting regularly again. the following items must be covered.

1) my sister, father, and i got caught in a real-life blizzard when we were in michigan for my grandmother’s funeral. i have never experienced white-out conditions before and hope to never again. i definitely flashed back to the feelings i got behind the wheel during the flood and count us very lucky to only have to get towed out of a snowbank.

michigan received 16 inches of snow in 24 hours and in the height of the storm, pulled over on the interstate, i could not see my sister a foot and a half away from me as we worked desperately to clear ice and snow from the defroster at a rate faster than it was falling. bottom line: it was some scary shit and i definitely thought we might die at a couple points.

2) i have pneumonia. perhaps surprisingly, this is entirely unrelated to item #1 above.

okay, regular posting can now commence. let’s roll.

Popularity: 2% [?]