Adam

He's baaack!

2008-02-16T05:07:38Z

This is obligatory, so let's get it out of the way:
I haven't written in this damn thing for a loooong ass time. There. That's out of the way-sorry, it was traditional.

What with the internet evolving the way it has, I don't know how many obselete people out there actually still use livejournal. Likely this entry will go unread save for a very strict few that still read their friends page.

So here's what's happened since my last real entry.

I am twenty years old now. I'm in the midst of my fourth semester at SRJC, still heavy into acting and choir classes. I have an extremely hot but very dogmatic psych teacher who really irks me. I'm playing Dr. Spivey in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Opening March 7th at the JC! COMECOMECOME!). I'm dating Celeste, and she's living with me part time and going to the JC with me. And we are very much in love and just celebrated ten months together.
And I'm at rehearsal after having delivered my few lines for act II and snuck off to get online.

I'll write a more detailed entry soon-I've decided I've gone too long without writing at least SOMEthing every day.

My supercool updated list of London shows (through 10/9/07)

2007-10-10T09:57:01Z

Hey guys! Just decided to brag about all the cool shit I'm doing in London! Here is the list of shows/events I've seen in the mere 34 days I've been gone:

Dance Concerts:
* Satisfaction
*Stomp

Raves:
* Earthdance
* Astral Phoenix
* Acid Monkey
* Project Synergy

Musical Theatre:
* Chicago
* The Boyfriend
* Cabaret
* Mary Poppins
* Cabaret (Yes, again)
* Tony! The Blair Musical
* Fiddler on the Roof
* Avenue Q
* The Phantom of the Opera
* Bad Girls: The Musical

Nonmusical Theatre:
* In Celebration
* The 39 Steps
* The Merchant of Venice
* Lone Star
* Private Wars
* Saint Joan
* Private Peaceful
* Hamlet
* Shadowlands
* Macbeth

My LONDON Contact Info

2007-09-05T16:21:51Z

I am going to London on September 6th, on a Study Abroad program. I will not be home until December 7th. If you wanna keep in touch (and I would love to hear from you all SO much), you can write me a facebook or myspace message, or be a man (or woman) and do it the RIGHT way, by writing me at

Adam Buxbaum

AIFS Student Centre

Dilke house

Malet Street

London

WC1E7JN

England

...I will return every single letter I get. I'll probably write a letter just about every night, so if you don't want me to lavish all my attention onto my girlfriend and my parents, you better write!

Things that need to be said

2007-05-03T17:21:50Z

...dammit, I couldn't resist this spam, so here it is..wow, I got carried away. If you think you're on this, you're probably wrong. Or you may be right, but misinterpreting it. Or, you may be spot-on, but understand that I say these things with love, and the reason I don't say them to you is because I care about your feelings. You're probably wrong though.:
Things Need To Be Said
1) List 20-ish (whoops, 65-ish) things that you want to say to people, but never will.

2) Don't say who they are.

3) Never discuss it again.

1. Over the last few years I've grown to love you more and more, but I've also realized you aren't really more mature than I am, as I'd always assumed.

2. I used to be closer to you than anyone, but things have changed, and you live in the past a little too much.

3. You're one of the smarter people I know, but you need to understand how completely socially awkward you are.

4. I hate you, and if I could find a way to have you hurt without any consequences at all I would probably do it.

5. You're an artist, and you're wasting yourself. Take better care of your mind and body. I worry that you don't care enough about yourself.

6. I respect you more than you think-you get on my nerves constantly but you know how to make beautiful music.

7. You aren't the teacher-get over yourself, and please stop trying to jump in.

8. I don't know if you know what I've come to suspect you know, but if you do, I'm sorry. You didn't deserve it.

9. I don't know you very well, and you've always been nice to me, but you can be extremely frightening and really distasteful.

10. You annoy me, pester me, make me feel guilty, but it wouldn't be the same place without you and your unending energy.

11. I didn't know how cool you were until the second half of our friendship-be very very careful, though, because I don't want it to get you in trouble.

12. You aren't discreet enough, and you're lucky I'm trustworthy, because if you had trusted someone else they could have robbed you blind.

13. Even though it's dead and over, I still have lingering resentment at you for what you tried to do around prom.

14. I'm falling for you way too fast too.

15. You have good intentions, and you're SO AGGRAVATING! Stop trying to be funny or impress people, because it comes off as pathetic and needy.

16. I know you care more about yourself than most other people, but I wish you'd pay me back.

17. You didn't deserve her. You're a nice guy, but you never did, never will.

18. You are a tease. And I think you know it. And you'll never admit it, but you like it.

19. You are so stuck up. Even more than you ever were before. You have a fake 'nice' mask, but your ego doesn't fit under it.

20. Stop being so emo, and realize you have little to no talent.

21. You are the only person in a long time I've been completely intimidated by, but it's been good for me, so thanks. When you pay me a compliment I know you really mean it.

22. You aren't as mature as you think you are. You are just as young as I know you are. Don't try to fit into a box you aren't ready for.

23. I know your no bullshit attitude isn't to be mean, but you hurt people's feelings on a daily basis and sometimes make me feel like a worm.

24. I heard something about you and I'm not sure whether or not to believe it, and to what extent.

25. I can't tell if you're angry at me, wrapped up in your own life, or just plain lost your cell phone, but I miss you.

26. I know you, I think, as well as I know myself, you know me just as well. We're equals. Every time I start to feel better or smarter than you, you surprise me and I realize I'm not. Every time I start to think you're better or smarter than me, you surprise me and I realize you're not. When one of us is unsure the other is positive. That's why there's two of us.

27. It's nice to have you home. It must have been hell living there.

28. I wish I'd been there to see you off. I hope you'll write me back, brother.

29. I didn't know you as well as I thought I did. Still don't. You caught on to that a lot faster than I did, and I don't blame you for what you did.

30. It's too bad it was nothing while it lasted, or it really could have been something.

31. I feel like you're putting him into a really unsafe position, and I know it's not your fault, but i resent you for it all the same. And I wish you were more clever.

32. You aren't going to be elected president. You're too much of a cold fish.

33. Man you think you're the best thing since sliced bread, and all it is, is really funny. You're kind of like a sheep. You don't get social cues. But you're really fun to have around, and I'd have far less adventures if you weren't so willing to dive in headfirst.

34. You want so much to fit in I don't have the heart to tell you everyone finds you irritating.

35. You made debate more pleasant this year. I'm glad I met you, and I agree with my partner's assessment of you.

36. If you hadn't been so cute I'd have given up in confused frustration long ago. As it was, you managed to string me along for years without trying.

37. I don't like your new hairdo. I think it was prettier when you weren't trying to be insane with it.

38. I still can't tell you apart.

39. You helped him cheat on her. That wasn't cool at all.

40. Everyone knows you're gay, and we don't mind or care.

41. I don't like you one bit when you get drunk. And you aren't sexy when you stumble.

42. Personally I never thought we looked alike, but everyone else seems to think so.

43. Man, I've never trusted someone as much as I've trusted you. We lived real life together.

44. You were the awkward third wheel, and I liked the other two better.

45. Your brother is a lot cooler than you are.

46. When you came out of the closet I wasn't a bit surprised. We grew up together and I missed you this year.

47. If you aren't a virgin anymore, there's someone I need to punch, hard.

48. We used to talk on the phone for hours. I wish you'd give me a ring.

49. Okay, you're politically savve, but sometimes you're just plain offensive in how easily offended you get.

50. God you're ditzy-take two mature pills and call me in the morning

51. WUV you, and wish I could have gotten as close to you as it feels like we should have been.

52. You're a dumb stoner, and you don't know anything else.

53. Ah, what a charming asshole.

54. You were the first slutty girl I knew in high school. It's kinda funny. I thought you were cool, but everyone else didn't like you. You are pretty shallow.

55. I don't know why I'm so fascinated with you, but you pop up at the most intriguing times, and considering the two different types of people we are, I'm amazed that I've spent as much time with you as we have.

56. My relationship with you is becoming awkward. I don't know what to tell you. And I gave you credit for being more with it than I should have.

57. I had the fattest crush on you as a freshman...eventually I realized how much of a diva you are.

58. Wish I coulda seen the nude scene.

59. I used to fuck with you on AIM, but I got to like you more and more as time went on. You're actually pretty cool now.

60. Man, you were the weirdest person...I had a lot of admiration for you, but I never really knew you, or the reasons I respected you so much. When you tried to kill yourself I wanted to go visit you but I wasn't supposed to know about it, so I couldn't.

61. I wish you'd stop telling that stupid story, seeing as you're the one that asked me to get them in the first place.

62. You could sweet talk a banana from a monkey, my friend. Don't abuse the power, as you have in the past.

63. I used to rely on you. Now I hardly see you. I bet your kisses are still dyslexic.

64. We weren't as close as I thought we were. You aren't as nice as I thought you were.

65. You were the first free spirit I knew. You're probably a lot of the reason I am who I am today.

66. You used to be an emotional roller-coaster, and I don't know why I stayed friends with you after all our fights. But it turned out to be completely worth it, and I wish I saw you more often.

67. You gave yourself so much damn credit, and you didn't earn it. You can't write well. Live with it.

68. You liked me too much and it scared me off. I also took advantage of it at points, and I'm sorry.

69. All you need is some self-confidence and some life experience, and you will go far in life.

“I Don’t Care What the Judge Said!” Marijuana user found Not Guilty

2007-04-23T15:53:28Z

This is an amazing story, published just yesterday. Especially amazing to have been printed in the Conservative Voice. Read on. And pass it on. (Original story can be found here: http://www.theconservativevoice.com/article/24518.html)

"I Don't Care What the Judge Said!"
April 22, 2007 02:00 PM EST
"Look, Mr. Straun, John, can I call you John? We've been at this for 25 days. We're all sick of this. We all want to go home. You're the only one left. You're the one keeping us here. I got things to do at home. I got to go to work and make a living. All of us do. The judge is mad as hell at us. You're going to hang this jury. You're going to make this three-month trial into a farce and waste of time. You have no right to vote acquittal. You heard the judge's instructions. The jury is not allowed to judge the law, only the facts."

"The fact are clear as day, aren't they?" Dillard ranted. "You even admitted that to us. The guy was found with marijuana in his car. That's against the law. And the guy admitted the marijuana was his. What more do you need?" said Raymond Dillard, the jury foreman. Raymond Dillard was tall, beefy, in his 30's, and he was getting mad, so mad he wanted to beat John Straun's head in.

Straun was a small, slim man in his 30's, with a straight back, dark brown hair, large, steady eyes, and a firm mouth. He seemed not to care at all about all the trouble he was causing. And he seemed to be fearless.

John Straun said, "I don't care what the judge said. I happen to know for a fact that a jury has the right to judge the law. Jury nullification has a long history in this country. A jury has the right to judge the law, not just the facts."

Raymond Dillard and a few other jurors sneered. Dillard said, "Oh, are you a lawyer, Mr. Straun? You think you know more than the judge? What history are you talking about?"

John Straun said calmly, "No, I'm not a lawyer. I'm an engineer. But in this particular case, I do know more than the judge. When I found out I was going to be on this jury, I did a little research about the history of juries, just for the hell of it. Most people don't know this, but jury nullification has been upheld as a sacred legal principal in English common law for 1000 years. Alfred the Great, a great English king a thousand years ago, hung several of his own judges because they removed jurors who refused to convict and replaced these courageous jurors with other jurors they could intimidate into convicting the defendant on trial."

"Jury nullification also goes back to the very beginning of our country, as one of the crucial rights our Founding Fathers wanted to protect. Our Founding Fathers wanted juries to be the final bulwark against tyrannical government laws. That's why they emphasized the right to a jury trial in three of the first ten amendments to the Constitution. John Adams, second President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, third President and author of the Declaration of Independence, John Jay, First Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, and Alexander Hamilton, First Secretary of the Treasury all flatly stated that juries have the right and duty to judge not only the facts in a case, but also the law, according to their conscience."

"Not only that, more recent court decisions have reaffirmed this right. In 1969, in "US. vs. Moylan," the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the right of juries to judge the law in a case. In 1972, the Washington, D.C. Court of Appeals upheld the same principal."

Raymond Dillard said, "Yeah, if that's the case, how come the judge didn't tell us this?"

"That's because of the despicable Supreme Court decision in "Sparf and Hansen vs. The United States in 1895." John Straun said. "That decision said juries have the right to judge the law, but that a judge doesn't have to inform juries of this right. Cute, huh? And guess what happened after this decision? Judges stopped telling juries about their rights."

"The judge knows about jury nullification. All judges do. But they hate letting juries decide the law. They hate juries taking power away from them. That's why judges never mention a jury's right to judge the law, and most judges squash defense attorneys from saying anything about it in court. Remember when Jimmy Saunders' defense lawyer started talking about it? The judge threatened him with contempt if he didn't shut up about jury nullification."

"And since you asked me," Straun continued, "I'll tell you a little more about jury nullification. Did you ever hear of the Fugitive Slave Act? Did you ever hear of Prohibition? Do you know why those despicable laws were repealed? Because juries were so outraged over those laws that they consistently refused to convict people who violated them. They refused to convict because they knew that these laws were unjust and tyrannical, that Congress had no right making these laws in the first place. So, because juries wouldn't convict, the government couldn't make these laws stick. They tried for many years, but finally gave up."

"What do you think this mad War on Drugs is that we've been fighting the last sixty years? It's the same as Prohibition in the 20's. It's the same principle. A tyrannical government is telling people that they can't take drugs, just like in the 20's they said people couldn't drink liquor. What's the difference? A tyrannical law is telling people what they can or can't put in their own bodies. Who owns our bodies, us or the self-righteous politicians? Does the government own your body, Mr. Dillard? Do you smoke, Mr. Dillard? Do you drink beer?"

Dillard nodded his head, "Yeah, I do."

"Well, how would you like it if they passed laws telling you that can't smoke or drink a beer anymore. Would you like that, Mr. Dillard?"

Dillard looked at John Straun, thought about the question, then admitted, "No, I wouldn't, Straun."

John Straun turned to the others around the table. "You, Jack, you said you're sixty-five years old. You like to play golf, right? What if they passed a law saying anyone over sixty-five can't play golf because the exercise might give him a heart attack? You, Frank, you said you eat hamburgers at McDougals all the time. What if they passed a law saying fatty hamburgers give people heart attacks, so we're closing down all the McDougal restaurants in the country, and they make eating a hamburger a criminal offence? You, Mrs. Pelchat, I see you like to smoke. Everyone knows that smoking can give you lung cancer. How would you like it if they passed a law banning all cigarettes? What if they could crash in the door of your house without a warrant to search for cigarettes in your house, like the SWAT teams do now, looking for drugs? Mrs. Pelchat, how would you like to be on trial like Jimmy Saunders because they found a pack of cigarettes you hid under your mattress?"

"Do you all see what I mean? If they can make it a crime for Jimmy Saunders to smoke marijuana, why can't they make golf, hamburgers, and cigarettes a crime? If you think they wouldn't try, think again. They had Prohibition in the 20's for almost ten years, till they finally gave up. The only reason they haven't banned cigarettes is because there are thirty million cigarette smokers in this country who would scream bloody murder. They get away with making marijuana and other drugs illegal only because drug-users are a small minority in this country. Drug users don't have any political clout."

Raymond Dillard sat down in his chair. The others started talking among themselves. John Straun started seeing heads nodding in agreement, thinking about what he had said.

"OK, Straun," Dillard said. "Maybe you're right. Maybe Jimmy Saunders shouldn't go to jail for smoking marijuana. Hell, probably most of us tried the stuff when we were young. Clinton said he smoked marijuana in college. Bush said he tried drugs in college. Probably half of Congress and their kids took drugs one time or another. O.K. we agree with you. But what about the judge. He said we can't judge the law."

John Straun stood up. He was not a tall man, but he stood very straight, and he looked very sure of himself. He looked from one to another of them.

He said, "If you agree with me, then I ask you all to vote for acquittal. You are not only defending Jimmy Saunders' liberty, but your own. You are fighting a tyrannical law that is enforced by a judge who wants the power to control you. I told you that many juries like us in the past have disregarded the judge's instructions. They stood up for liberty against a tyrannical law. Are you Americans here? What do you va!ue more, your liberty, your pride as free men, or the instructions of a judge who doesn't want you to judge the law precisely because he knows you'll find the law unjust? Will you stand with those juries who defended our liberty in the past, or will you give in to this judge?"

"Here's another thing to think about," John Straun said with passion. "What if it was your sister or brother on trial here? Do you know that if we say Saunders is guilty, the judge has to send him to prison for twenty years? I understand this is Saunders third possession charge. You know the "three strikes and you're out" rule, don't you? The politicians passed a law that if a guy gets convicted three times on possession, the judge now has no leeway in sentencing. He has to give the poor guy twenty years in prison. What if it were your sister or brother on trial? Should they go to jail for smoking marijuana, for doing something that should not be a crime in the first place? Do we want to send Jimmy Saunders to prison for twenty years because he smoked a joint, hurting no one? Can you have that on your conscience?"

"Do you know that there are almost a million guys like Jimmy Saunders in federal prisons right now, as we speak, for this same so-called "crime" of smoking marijuana or taking other drugs? These men were sent to prison for mere possession. They harmed no one but themselves when they took drugs. How can you have a crime without a victim? When does this horror stop? It has got to stop. I'm asking you all now to stop it right here, at least for Jimmy Saunders. The only thing that can stop tyrannical laws and politicians is you and me, juries like us. If we do nothing, we're lost, the country is lost."

"I'm asking you all to bring in a not-guilty verdict, because the drug laws are unjust and a moral obscenity. I'm asking you all be the kind of Americans our Founding Fathers would have been proud of, these same men who fought for your liberty. That's what I'm asking of all of you."

John Straun sat down and looked quietly at Dillard and all the others around the table. They looked back at him, and it seemed that their backs began to straighten up, and they no longer complained about going home. They were quiet. Then they talked passionately amongst each other.

Fifteen minutes later, they walked into the courtroom and sat down in the jury box. When the judge asked Raymond Dillard what the verdict was, he was stunned when Dillard, standing tall, looking straight at the judge, said "Not guilty." Over the angry rantings of the red-faced judge, all in the jury box looked calmly at John Straun, and felt proud to be an American.

The Heart Bleeds Blue

2007-03-26T18:33:32Z

My new show!
Official summary and such:
A theatre production presented by the Jade Dragon Theatre Company at Santa Rosa Junior College,Newman Auditorium, 1501 Mendocino Avenue, Santa Rosa. The play touches on issues such as HIV, rape, living in the closet, parenthood, and dysfunctional family. Written and directed by 22 year-old student, Lito Briano. Showings: Sat, March 31 7:00 pm, Sun, April 1, 2:00 pm and Sat, April 7, 2:00pm & 7:00 pm $10 general $8 Students and seniors. The play revolves around Bernard O'Neill, a middle-aged American everyman livng in the peaceful Northern California town of Autumn Glen. O'Neil lives with his wife, teenage daughter, and runs a general store. Bernard, however, has a secret life. One fateful night, at a gay bar in San Francisco's Castro district, he meets an attractive young man named Mike. Enthralled by Mike's surprising maturity, he engages in a passionate love affair. When Bernard's daughter falls in love with the troubled son of his ex-wife, a conflict evolves between the families and a terrilbe tragedy befalls Mike which causes Bernard's life to take a dramatic turn and compel him to make powerful decisions that creates a domino effect and unleases dangerous secrets that affect the lives of everyone around him.

Tipsy Travesties

2007-02-26T06:46:00Z

I had six shots of peach liquor about an hour ago, and then I recorded some free-association, call-it-what you like...poetry, rambling, lyrics...anyway, here's the direct transcript, and if there are many typos, blame the alcohol. And then me. Shouldn't drink.

The Butterfly

Fly, fly, the sky's in your eyes, don't hide little butterfly, crawl out of your coccoon for you will be beautiful

and not just a measly ugly little caterpillar

that crawled in from the dump heap overflowing over there

sent by Jean Julia who would not take the trash to the mortuary

for it to be buried along with the hopes and dreams of thousand of poor starving citizens in Eastonia

and the Eastonian government will oppress them with spears and mallets and guns and knives

knifes that will cut and tear the flesh like a thousand stinging tarantulas and scorpions

scorpions that you find under the bark of logs in the natural greenery and beauty of the forest

so true and so piney

which will be influenced and illuminated by the Illuminati in the secret papers governing such ordinances thank you.

We As the Collective
If one is two and two is three then can it be deduced that three is me? for I am you and you are she and she is he and he is we

we as the collective of the people of the world

we as the collective of the spirit of the universe

we as the collective must fight to preserve and protect the integrity and the honor of the illuminated fallacy which is that of logic and truth set before us

they would eliminate logic and truth

for they have no logic and no minds

but unfortunately they are not we and therefore they are inconvievable and you cannot concieve them therefore they do not exist

there is no they and there is no their

there is only a we and a our and so there is only truth

and there is only rock hard solid illuminated truth set before us that we can agree with or dispell as myth.

I have a couple more, but typing both of those without fucking up was hard work. I'll post more later.

atombaum88 @ 2006-12-15T19:20:00

2006-12-16T03:27:19Z

Comment and I'll give you a letter. Then you have to list 10 things you love that begin with that letter. After, post this in your journal and give out some letters of your own.

"L" in no particular order

1. Love
2. Lemonade
3. Les Miserables
4. Little Shop of Horrors
5. Ladies
6. Luna (The moon)
7. Laughing
8. Land of Oz
9. Lunchtime
10. Lotus flowers

Corporal Bummer

2006-10-12T00:28:47Z

I'll tell you, there just might be (as anyone who read 'Melencholy Elephants' will attest) a finite number of jokes out there...
I was dealt a major ego bummer the other day when my creativity was effectively squelched-or more accurately, had its nose thumbed at
I was driving around stoned the other day with my friend Jessica, and we saw two or three vultures circling a chunk of roadkill. We were out in the boonies with no one else on the road, so she pulled over, fascinated, and pulled out her camera. She snapped a couple decent shots, and a lightbulb went on over my head. I reached up and switched it off and shared my revelation with Jess-an idea for a lovely pun that had sprung into my mind in the format of a Far Side style cartoon-a vulture going on an airplane carrying two dead mice and being told firmly, "I'm sorry sir, but you're only allowed to bring one piece of carrion luggage aboard."

I thought I was a genius, for a brief few days...

then I was browsing jokes online and lo! and behold, found that alike minds really do think great.

Unfair!

2006-10-12T00:27:45Z

My Spider visit

2006-10-10T21:42:58Z

So yesterday I skipped classes early and hopped a bus to San Francisco to see Spider Robinson in all his glory at the Booksmith on Haight Street. A little before the event I crossed the street and went to a (much better) bookstore that carried used stuff to see if I could find a couple more titles to get signed, besides my personal collection of about 9 books, plus Variable Star that I had just bought. As luck would have it, I found three books, including a worn copy of Callahan's Crosstime Saloon, which (I discovered after buying it for only $3) was already autographed, maybe decades ago, to some guy named Josh.
Anyway, the event was surprisingly small-for all the honor and prestige Spider's accumulated over the years, he drew a crowd of less than thirty-no complaints here, it was very intimate- all of whom were much older than me (at 18, I was the youngest in the room)...Spider read a bit from Variable Star, and then whipped out his Lady macbeth and played us a song 'To the Stars', which he dueted with his wife Jeanne...he told a story about that-apparently David Crosby wrote him a fan letter, and through the friendship that developed, David asked if he could help in any way with VS...to which Spider responded 'well, I have these lyrics I put in the beginning which i haven't had time to put a melody to...'
Long story short, he not only wrote a book with Heinlein, he wrote a song with Crosby.

I had a lovely conversation with some folks in line, including a brief meeting with zyxwvut..
when I showed Spider the pre-signed book, he signed it again, saying that he had "Signed and cosigned it, now you can go off on a tangent"
So I'll be looking for a tan gent to go off on, maybe at the old beaches (or the newer ones, the sons of beaches)..
I also got to fulfill my latest dream-I told Spider a pun he hadn't heard before.
Goes something like this:
"There once was a wicked king who decreed throughout the land that all his subjects must pay him an exorbitant tax, or they would be put to death. One of his advisors, a count, refused to pay, so the king threw him into a dungeon and demanded that he pay within seven days or he would be promptly executed on the morning of the seventh day.

Each day the king would go into the dungeon and ask "Are you ready to pay the tax?"
To which the condemned count would always say, "No!" and spit in the king's direction.
On the last day the count was marched to the public square where a hooded executioner forced his head onto a big black chopping block. The king asked him one more time to capitulate, but the count refused.

Finally, as the executioner swung down the hatchet, the count shouted, "Wait! I'll pay!"-but it was too late. An instant later his head rolled onto the chopping block.

The moral of the story:

Don't hatchet your Counts before they chicken."

Spider's response- the best flattery he could have given: A truly pained groan, followed by the sound of his head hitting the pile of books he had just signed for me.

So yeah-A monday evening truly well-spent.

atombaum88 @ 2006-10-06T16:54:00

2006-10-06T23:55:25Z

atombaum88 @ 2006-10-03T16:10:00

2006-10-03T23:11:29Z

I expect everyone (or at least everyone near the vicinity of Santa Rosa) to come see my play...(and we open on FRIDAY [with a free preview THURSDAY]!)

The Last Days of Judas Iscariot...it's a courtroom play in Purgatory where they retry Judas (guy who sold out Jesus)...they bring in all sorts of historical figures, like Freud and Mother Theresa...Pontius Pilate and Jesus and Satan...

it's laugh out loud funny a lot of the time, but completely moving..there are scenes that still make me cry every time I see them. There's also a lot of intense scenes, intense language...you'll walk out of the theatre pretty shaken if we do it right.

I also have a relatively large part..first I'm St. Matthew with a fat monologue, and then I play Caiphas the Elder, who Judas sold Jesus too (and I gave Jesus to the romans)...I get cross-examined and have an emotional breakdown and shout at everyone.
So yeah. Good stuff.
(and the following is my write-up for the JC paper)

Judas on Trial

Who was responsible for the death of Jesus of Nazareth? Was it Judas Iscariot? Pontius Pilate? Caiaphas the Elder? Professor Plum in the conservatory with the candlestick? In their first show of the year, the SRJC theatre department deals with this question and more, in Stephen Adly Guirgis’ new play, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot.

Director Laura Downing-Lee says she found the play because one of her students was passing around the script to all his friends. She sat down to read it one day in the Bear’s Den, and began to weep before getting past the monologue on the very first page. “There I was, in the middle of the Bear’s Den with tears streaming down my face,” she recalls. Ten pages in she began to laugh out loud. “If the tears didn’t get me funny looks, the laughter did,” she says. “People were looking at me like ‘who is this crazy woman?’”

Last Days is a show about Judas Iscariot - the famous villain who betrayed Jesus Christ for thirty pieces of silver and subsequently committed suicide. The show is set in a courtroom in, “Hope…located right over here in downtown purgatory. (Guirgis.)” Judas is summoned from hell in a catatonic stupor so his soul can be retried.

The appellate lawyer, played by Tessa Rissacher, is a female New Yorker named Fabiana Aziza Cunningham. She defends Judas throughout the show, advocating mercy and forgiveness for his soul, while struggling with her own personal beliefs about God.

The prosecuting attorney, played by Khalid Shatoya, is an oversexed flatterer named El-Fayoumy. He throws the show into sharp comic relief, expostulating about tapioca pudding, flirting with Cunningham, and complimenting the fashion sense of Satan, who makes an appearance as a witness.

Last Days is a scrapbook-style show, with an eclectic range of characters and witnesses. Some are historical figures, like Sigmund Freud and Mother Theresa, who both take the stand. Some are religious figures, like the apostles, Matthew, Peter and Thomas. Biblical villains are portrayed in a new light, including Caiaphas the Elder, who turned Jesus over to the Romans, Pontius Pilate who ordered Jesus’s crucifixion, and even Satan himself, who claims he loves God: “I love God because he is All-Powerful and All-Forgiving…I love God because God loves me.”

Although the play deals with historical and religious content, it is still a very contemporary play. The characters all speak with modern day street vocabularies-Saint Monica, for example, speaks with the voice of an urban hooker, sprinkling profanities liberally into her monologues. It also addresses current issues. The Arab character El Fayoumy gripes that he was sent to hell unfairly: “I attribute the mix-up to the Americanization of the afterlife-completely understandable in lieu of recent events.” Jesus Christ himself asserts, “I was in that cave with Osama, and on that plane with Mohamed Atta.”

This show has widely been labeled controversial. It is both a lampoon and a respectful homage to religion. It does contain intense scenes, including very adult language and subject matter. The play is recommended for high-school ages and up because of its graphic content.

The Last Days of Judas Iscariot opens on Friday, October 6th, with performance dates on October 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14*, 14, 15*. Curtain time is at 8:00 PM, except the matinees (*) which begin at 2:00. Tickets are $8-15 and can be purchased in the SRJC Box Office in Burbank Auditorium.

...um.

2006-09-29T17:44:15Z

Found this somewhere else...
If there is someone on your friends list you would like to take you,strip you naked, tie you to a bed post, lick you until you scream, then fuck you until both of you are senseless and unable to fuck anymore,then wait five minutes and do it all over again, then post this exact sentence in *your* journal

10 things I learned today

2006-08-30T01:18:56Z

1. The Doyle Scholarship will by NO MEANS be enough to cover all your class and textbook costs.
2. If you don't fill out the little orange card, they won't give you money.
3. Hergie has a free second period.
4. Don't ever run from the cops. Especially if you're just smoking a cigarette.
5. Freshmen really do get younger every year.
6. My English teacher cracked up at himself 64 times during a two hour class. I think he's cracking up.
7. The 'depressed profess' also punctuated 83 sentences at the end with 'okay?'
8. I'm now enrolled in 18.5 units
9. Don't count on the bus being on time.
10. Pack light, hope for early snow.

atombaum88 @ 2006-08-19T16:01:00

2006-08-19T16:03:43Z

In my dream, I stayed up all night and watched the sun rise over a range of mountains. In reality, I was asleep on my floor. And when I woke up it was foggy.

Finally wrote a new song!

2006-08-01T06:57:31Z

Improvised the lyrics out loud walking home late at night, and I got home and worked them into a passable rhyme scheme...if you wann hear how it sounds, make me sing it for you. I love to show off.

Unshakeable Karma

When I was just an infant
though that's early to start
I was a chubby babe who spoke straight from the heart
when I was sad I'd cry, when I was
mad I'd yell
Now I'm a skinny guy but still assertive as hell
because I'm
skating through life with some unshakeable karma and I
know who I am and that is right on par and I can
look far back and still see
me-e-e-e
cause I'm skating through life and I feel
totally free.

When I grew to a toddler and I
started to crawl, did I go
very far or run straight
to a wall
no that's just not not my style,
a mirror was where I sped
and seven years of bad luck fell on to my head
because I'm skating through life with some unshakeable karma and I
didn't scratch and there was not a scar but that's to be expected when you're
me-e-e-e
cause I'm skating through life and i feel totally free

Good or bad, it's all your call
It's luck both ways, I get it all
I see a windfall then I fall
I'm like a weighted lotto ball

When I passed ten
I went to camp
and boy was I a scamp
I came back yearly, clowning
nearly burned it down and
met a girl who gave me chills and
lovesick fever,
dumped on christmas eve
and I know why, because I'm
skating through life with some unshakeable karma and I
know where i'm at but not just where you are but I
know I'll find you and you'll find
me-e-e-e

cause I'm skating through life and I feel totally free
The year I turned 18 I thought I'd
puff some green well I tried
quietly but police spotted me
so I got hauled to jail and had to
put up bail and get a
card for me so I puff
legally because I'm
skating through life with some unshakeable karma and I
know that someday I will be a star but
stars don't have the luck like
me-e-e-e
but I'm skating through life and I feel totally free

Good or bad, it's all your call
It's luck both ways, I get it all
I see a windfall then I fall
I'm like a weighted lotto ball

No matter how depressing life is
how repressed the strife is
I will always bounce back
my whole deck is stacked
the ace is in the back
a smile and then a smack
sunshine and hail above I
get them both because I'm
skating through life with some unshakeable karma and I
don't drive yet but I will ride the car exactly
where it goes the trouble is I
don't know exactly where the car is taking
me-e-e-e
but I'm skating through life and I feel totally free

Jail

2006-07-09T00:18:26Z

So I got arrested last night after smoking a joint in the car with a friend- I got booked into jail and stayed there 4 hours until my friends and parents came up with $2000 to bail me out. I go to court on July 31- I face felony charges for possession of concentrated marijuana (hash) and selling marijuana (they'll never make it stick). Anyway, I've got a long month ahead of me. I think I can beat the charges though-especially since I was never mirandized. So yeah. How was your day?

Jackass of the Day

2006-05-05T18:48:29Z

Tom Green:
"The victims aren't really victimized in a way that it comes off totally mean-spirited or negative, ... It's a fun, fun victimization, if that's possible."

Badass of the Day

2006-05-04T06:24:48Z

Chita Rivera:
“I give credit for that to all my teachers and all my choreographers, but also to myself – for listening to them."

Jackass of the Day

2006-05-04T06:20:02Z

Toni Morrison:
"I really think the range of emotions and perceptions I have had access to as a black person and as a female person are greater than those of people who are neither...."

Badass of the Day

2006-04-22T20:22:25Z

Kanye West: "George Bush doesn't care about black people!"

Badass of the Day

2006-04-22T20:18:46Z

Al Gore:
"I think George W. Bush has a warm, engaging personality. But, you know, the presidency is more than just a popularity contest. "

Jackass of the Day

2006-04-22T20:12:27Z

John Walker Lindh:
"I tell you, to be honest, every single one of us, without any exaggeration, every single one of us was 100 percent sure that we would all be... all be martyred, but you know, Allah chooses to take a person's life when he chooses."

Badass of the Day

2006-04-22T20:10:03Z

Frank Zappa:
"The essence of Christianity is told to us in the Garden of Eden history. The fruit that was forbidden was on the Tree of Knowledge. The subtext is, All the suffering you have is because you wanted to find out what was going on. You could be in the Garden of Eden if you had just kept your fucking mouth shut and hadn't asked any questions."