http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:watchtheicemelt&section=today deviantART RSS for by:watchtheicemelt en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Wed, 16 Dec 2009 02:50:40 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/28018761/ http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/28018761/ Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:17:03 PDT
Hipsters, that's what. They disgust me. I'm not sure how international of a phenomenon hipsters are, and I'm willing to bet that even many of you from the good ol' US of A aren't familiar with hipsters. Consider yourselves blessed.
Defining a hipster is somewhat difficult, seeing how everyone has their own definition of a hipster; it's similar to how emos are defined, or not defined. Finding an accurate definition of a hipster is made even more difficult by the fact that all hipsters vehemently deny allegations of hipsterness. Conversely, if one does ever proclaim oneself a hipster, the chances are that they aren't actually a hipster.
In light of these complications, I've decided to hop on the bandwagon and come up with my own idea as to what a hipster is.

A hipster is a creature of paradox. They are religiously non-conformist, yet they are all strikingly similar. They follow an unspoken (except, it seems, in magazines like Vice) code of what to wear*, what to listen to**, what to drink how to act, who to idolize.
They claim to be individuals, yet they follow a pack mentality.
They fancy themselves adventurous, yet they all hang out in the same shitty dive bars and go to the same house parties every night.
They hold some loose association with art, yet most of the hipsters I know of don't play an instrument, don't paint, write, sing, or practice any other form of art except spending large amounts of time snapping contrived, artsy, yet seemingly spontaneous photos of themselves for their myspace or deviantart pages.
They practice the art of dressing themselves in a similar fashion - they appear apathetic while meticulously maintaining their bohemian counterculture appeal.
They affiliate themselves with some form of activism but do nothing to contribute, because it's fashionable to occasionally speak of globalization, lgbt rights, global warming, etc., but apparently not fashionable enough to break their apathy and nightly habit of party/concert going.
They seem to have an extremely complex relationship between narcissism and self hatred. I will illustrate:

Surface - apathetic of themselves and everyone else
Beneath - unforgivably narcissistic, evidenced by all the time and effot they spend dressing and taking pictures of themselves
Farther beneath - perhaps a seething self hatred, evidenced by the fact that none of them will admit to being hipsters and proclaim to hate the word, and even to hate hipsters themselves?
The core - empty I believe. Hipsters have no souls.

Well I seem to have lost my train of thought and moved the more enlightening parts of my definition down to the asterisks.
On a second note - those of you who know me will perhaps notice some apparent hypocrisies in my definition and hatred of hipsters. Some of you may even think me a hipster. Allow me to deconstruct and debunk these points one by one.

1. I also vehemently deny any allegations of being a hipster. I realize this is counterproductive, but there it is. The only thing left for me to do then is continue this list.

2. I listen to some (a lot, even) of the same music that hipsters do.
The differences:
-I only discover these bands/artists long after the cutting edge hipsters have dismissed them as mainstream.
-I do not listen to (relatively) obscure music for "indie creds" or whatever; I listen to it because I enjoy it much more than the garbage on the radio or at the VMA awards***. Some hipsters will undoubtedly say the same thing, but will more than likely contradict themselves by not listening to a band that they deem 'too popular' or 'old.'

3. Some of my clothing choices coincide with the hipster dress code.
The differences:
- If I look poor it's because I am poor. No, that's not entirely true, but I hardly spend any money at clothes. If they're ripped up and old looking, it's... ]]> ~watchtheicemelt http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/19739359/ http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/19739359/ Sat, 02 Aug 2008 17:04:03 PDT
Well after saying so for the umpteenth time, I'm back, I think. I'm probly not gonna get around to reading everyone's journal, so if anything really noteworthy happened, anything EARTH SHATTERING, then let me know, I'll get my space suit and put on the action adventure movie music. Or if you just wanna let me know I'm a jerk for being away for so long and not bothering to read anyone's journal or anything, that's cool too.

So, I have a subscription (woot, equal sign!) because my girlfriend is awesome and got one for me, bless her little ginger soul. Oh but she didn't stop there. Well, actually she did. But BEFORE that, she got me a copy for photoshop, AND aperture. So I really don't have any excuse to disappear again. Except that I'm a lazy putz. Anyway, she's awesome.

In other news, I'm starting college soon at NoVA, majoring in music, yay. Hopefully that'll make me generally more artistically inspired. But it may also deprive me of time for da. It's quite possible.
Anyway, I'll try to keep them coming.
Enjoy. Both of you.

]]> ~watchtheicemelt http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/16158664/ http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/16158664/ Sat, 29 Dec 2007 21:19:00 PST who developed all my photos from late spring and all of summer for me, cuz I'm kinda lame and can't do that myself, yet, I'll be submitting again. But first I'd like to get my hands on a copy of photoshop, just so I can minorly tweak the contrast and such. Anyone know how to get a free copy?
I think I'll submit a few previews, tonight even, without the photoshopping.

In other news, I got a new computer! It makes me very happy. A mac. I'll start laying tons of tracks down everyday and maybe hopefully eventually end up with some half decent music worth sharing. I wish deviantart would have a section for music.

Happy goddamn new years everyone, *hugs* for all.

]]> ~watchtheicemelt http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/15205743/ http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/15205743/ Wed, 24 Oct 2007 17:36:00 PDT So anyway, that keeps me busy five days a week, 8 hours. I bag groceries and collect carts in my sleep now. Not cool. And "thank you, have a nice day" is forever engrained in my head. Oh but not only that, because you must vary your insincere greetings and farewells. "Thank you, have a WONDERFUL day," or "Thank you so much, I hope you have a pleasant evening!" Snap, suave! And Oh so soul strangling...

I'm babbling. So that's work, and with my spankingly good wages I'm going to buy a spankingly good laptop for music recording. But with my spankingly long hours (longer than I'm used to anyway) and the number of days a week I have to work, I don't know if I'll have time or energy... just like in school. Joy.

Pictures are coming relatively soon. Now that I have a job, I can afford to develop them! All 15 rolls. And sorry if I've been uncommunacative. I'm really just an awful person, I hope you'll understand.

Humm.. what else...
Not much progress on getting a license... not any.

><


That's it, I believe. I wish I had more energy per day. All I can do is work and come home and laze around.

Take care, all.

My travelogues from Europe were so much more exciting...

]]> ~watchtheicemelt http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/14596429/ http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/14596429/ Tue, 11 Sep 2007 21:00:02 PDT
I've been back for a while. It kinda sucks. A lot. I realize I haven't gotten around to looking at a whole lot of stuff on here... my watch list seems to be growing faster than I can keep up with, let alone (for now) catch up with. I never seem to have the desire or attention span. I'll find a time to pay your deviations and journals the proper amount of attention... someday. I'll probably delete about half of them... but that's okay since the people whose work I won't be looking at probably won't be reading this journal. Mua hah hah.
I'll be loading some of my stuff semi soon. I have 13 rolls from my trip plus a few from Kiev that I need to develop and will do so once I have the money. Don't know how I'll scan them. I thought I'd develop them here (Ithica, NY. Visiting my brother) with help from my brother but this will not be the case...

Ugh, on to more real matters, and the title of this journal entry, I've been thinking - what next? I don't really know. Immediately, a job and a driver's license and some saving up of money, obviously. In the long term I've been mulling over ideas of trade school (to become an electrician and make buttloads of money... yes, buttloads!) and music school (which may, in addition to giving me a more firm base in theory and improving my technique, open the possibility for me getting a job as a music teacher), moving somewhere else in the states, moving to Europe, and actually writing music and recording an album. The last is the only thing I'll most definitely be doing, and I don't know if, where and how all the others fit with each other.

College seems much simpler.

I still don't regret not going. Yet.

I hope I don't get drafted.

I hope I don't waste my time.

I hope...

]]> ~watchtheicemelt http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/14135757/ http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/14135757/ Sun, 12 Aug 2007 15:47:53 PDT
After Padua I made it to Zurich and walked around for a few hours, nice city. Not having any more time to spend in Switzerland, or anywhere else really, I had already missed my first night's reservation at a hostel in Amsterdam, I took the night train straight from Zurich to Amsterdam (mmmm, finally, a sleeper car.... )), spent some time in the bar car and arrived in Amsterdam a little before noon. Spent the day there and slept like a rock, despite my weed toking, dutch TV watching, and above all ANNOYING american room mates , so rockishly that I woke up too late to meet my dad at the airport and instead met him at my friend's house in Middleburg. Met up with my brother and his girlfriend the next day and started on our bike trip through Normandy and Bretagne the day after that, which lasted from then, July 29 or something, to a few days ago. Normandy's pretty, Bretagne's prettier, I recommend both. Beatiful beaches. In one of the towns in the latter we went to this local music festival of Bretagneisheseiteianer (one of those suffixes) music, which is basically Celtic, and friggen' awesome.

Wasn't much of a bicycle trip, more of a car trip during which we spent most days biking fair distances and ending where we started. T'was nice, took it easy, and now I'm here. And soon I'll be there. The 14th.
M... not much else to say. I'll miss you dearly, Europe. And even more, I really miss all my Ukraine people. Love you guys, give yourself a hug from me if you're reading this.
Ciao.

]]> ~watchtheicemelt http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/13871649/ http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/13871649/ Wed, 25 Jul 2007 09:18:33 PDT
So a few days ago, I woke up to the sounds of the middle of nowhere, opened my eyes and sunlight pouring in through the cracks between the uneven boards of the roof, upheld by roughly hewn branches, sat up and the room around me appeared as a doorless, dirt floor hut with garden implements strewn about, bare weathered beds beside me and chipped plaster walls, and I had NO idea how I'd gotten there.
Hah, kidding. About the no idea part. I left Barcelona and spent a few hours in the French border town of Cerbere to hike those mountains I was so enthralled with at first sight. You don't see the thorns from far away. I hope this isn't prophetic symbolism. Or maybe it's just a warning that I need to get a pair of metaphorical hiking boots and rough trousers, as I was in sandals and shorts at the time, which made trekking through thick thorns pretty impossible. So I sufficed walking along the road to the next town and back, taking pictures along the way. Went to Nimes, got stuck there for the night, went to Nice, wasted a day there (a more filthy den of tourist consumerism I hadn't seen thus far), spent a night sleeping on trains, don't even remember where I went. I think it was Italian border town Vingtmille, Marseilles, Cannes, Nice, Nimes again. From Nimes I went to tiny town in southern France called Besseges, hiked from there to a supposed anarchist squatted valley called La Vieille Valette. More like anarchist squatted top of the fucking mountain, I thought after three hours hiking unprepared the wrong way up the mountain. When I neared the top, I realized there was nothing there and turned around, exhausted, dehydrated and in despair, and tripped on the rocks and made a sizable gash in my knee on the way down. To add insult to injury, but also a fair portion of relief, when I got back close to the bottom of the mountain, close to the town next to Besseges, I discovered that I had taken a simple wrong turn. I had been following the anonymous arrows, which is usually a fair bet to find an anarchist squat, and somehow at a fork in the road I noticed an arrow and an official sign on one side of the road, but not the brightly coloured sign that said in pretty letters, right on the other side of the road, "La Vieille Valette." It was a bit of hilarity when I discovered my error, and a lot of kicking myself in the ass the rest of the day.
Anywho, I arrived exhausted and they showed me to water and a place to sleep. Amazing place and nice people. I was my usual introverted and awkward self for much of the time, and this was compounded by my terrible french and habit of mumbling and talking too fast in english. The night was a bit awkward, as I knew it would be so I wasn't too phased, but I did find one person who was more open and helpful to people like me, and it started to pass the next day when I was able to help them with work around the village, and even more when I discovered the music room and started jamming around with them.
General information about the place - it was a small abandoned village that they moved into and partially restored, and now they live in some of the buildings and live communally, cooking, cleaning, eating, gardening, working, etc., together, laissez-faire anarchism. Neat place to see and partially participate in for a day.
The next day I was reluctant to go and as a result I got back to the Bessege train station half an hour after the last train left for the night, at 6-30 PM. Shit. I think that night I beat the Warsaw train station in terms of awkward places to sleep - I first thought I would be sleeping at that train station but discovered that there was a couple living in the building, and they saw me and I didn't want to sketch them out. I tried behind a hedge next to the train station, but strange animal sounds right behind my head and coming from the woods some 20 meters away sketched ME out. I wandered through town and rolled out my sleeping bag in a small patch of trees under some residents' windows and near the main street, hoping I wouldn't be discovered by the former or the groups of young people walking around late at night on the latter. I wasn't. Woke up bright and early, trained to Italy that day and spent the night at a hostel (finally) in Milano, spent a few hours in Venice the next day, spent the night I don't remember where, probably on trains, found myself in Venice again the next morning and took some pictures. That day went to Ljubljana in Slovenia, then straight to the Penninsula town of Piran, which was beautiful, rolled my sleeping bag out on the (somewhat rocky) beach that night. Swam in the morning. Back to Ljubljana, where I had no time to look aroudn either of the times unfortunately, trained around spent the night sleepless in Padua with some other travelers. We tried to sleep but we were approached by some crazy guy who... ]]> ~watchtheicemelt http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/13754438/ http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/13754438/ Mon, 16 Jul 2007 08:33:09 PDT
ANywhooooo after I left Berlin I spent half a day in the city of mustard and am now in Barcelona, as the title of this journal suggests. Staying with my brother in a squatted anarchist social center in the Raval (which is awesooome) and I've been chilling the last few days. Friggen' beautiful city. Except for the tourists and their attractions (I like to think Im not a tourist but even if I am, I've never claimed to be beautiful anyhow). Narrow streets and palm trees and the sea, which I haven't been to here yet but might go to now.

And tomorrow I leave Barcelona to Port-Bou or Cerberes, where I stopped on the way to Barçelona, because that area is also friggen' beautiful, probably the prettiest place, nature wise, that I've seen so far.

These children are driving me insane, I think I'll leave before I hit one of them.
Ciao!

]]> ~watchtheicemelt http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/13657476/ http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/13657476/ Sun, 08 Jul 2007 10:54:05 PDT Then I went to the Holocaust memorial, which is profound and beautiful and I recommend it to everyone. Took pictures and found my hatred for sub humans (children) renewed at seeing them running around and yelling, playing hide and seek in such a wrong place for these kinds of things... like a parody. Fun and games. Hate children...

After that I walked through the Tiergarten, maybe the most beautiful park I´ve ever had the pleasure of going through, and the day was golden. And the grass emerald. And everything else something in between. And the people naked. Random person playing cricket or whatever that game is with the tennis rackets and the bullet with the skirt was naked... then more naked old men further on... intwesting.

Taken two rolls of film in Berlin so far, they should be at least mediocre. Maybe color next.
And now I´m here and the brain has melted my sun.. er wow, that was a typo but i´ll keep it like that cuz it illustrates my point perfectly... it´s dripping out my nose and across my fingers, down the page in an incoherent mess of babble... and I´ve forgotten everything else I wanted to say.

Happiness is short lived. The sunshine that was swimming through my veins is now gone, lying in a blackened puddle beneath my feet after having coursed through my body, optimism is more depressing than pessimism, which some people call realism, I don´t know what real is anymore, I´m tired of losing. Traveling alone is lonely, being alone among friends is worse. I need the sunshine again. And a beer or three.

]]> ~watchtheicemelt http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/13513020/ http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/13513020/ Wed, 27 Jun 2007 14:00:03 PDT Anyway, I'm safe, and will won't be without a place to sleep for quite a few days now.
Cheers everyone. ]]> ~watchtheicemelt http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/13406812/ http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/13406812/ Tue, 19 Jun 2007 12:22:30 PDT
Anywhom, I'll be traveling alone by train. Anyone in Poland, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Italy, France, Spain, Belgium or the Netherlands wanna put a sweaty unwashed smelly traveler up for a night? (lemme think.... erm, no?)
So, wish me luck and that I don't get assraped... because as we all know as a proven fact, Europeans are crazy sick bastards who will use prostitutes to entice you into spending the night at some youth hostel where you'll get abducted and stolen away to some urban dungeon where the high paying clientelle will begin to drill holes in you and saw your limbs off. The movie Hostel tells us so. Americans, stay out of Europe, it's a dangerous and fucked up place! A haven for commies and homosexuals and psychopaths! Stay home, your country's the best, no need to go anywhere else.

I need sleep...
No I need to pack.
Goodbye everyone, farewell dear journal, farewell!

]]> ~watchtheicemelt http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/13075585/ http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/13075585/ Thu, 24 May 2007 12:16:28 PDT
Melodrama melodrama melodrama. This is me overreacting. Or this is me knowing full well what's gonna happen and not doing a damn thing about it. Time will tell.

]]> ~watchtheicemelt http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/12702869/ http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/12702869/ Mon, 23 Apr 2007 10:09:41 PDT
]]> ~watchtheicemelt http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/12607079/ http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/12607079/ Sun, 15 Apr 2007 14:45:42 PDT
In other news... um... my GOD there's a beaver on my face!
Uh no there is no other news. Because my life is BORING. I'm one of those middle aged men who sits at his computer all day playing D&D video games, eating taco bell off my belly, spilled sprite stains on the carpet and cat piss stains on my sweaty shorts cuz I haven't washed my clothes or taken a shower for weeks. WEEKS!!! And don't tell any of my online friends but I spend my nights with eyes glued to a screen full of anime porn. Of girls with cat ears and unicorns and shit. And beavers.

Fuck, don't know where that all came from. Be you well, people. And please, steer clear of that anime porn.

]]> ~watchtheicemelt http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/12145545/ http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/12145545/ Sun, 11 Mar 2007 15:08:39 PDT
I went on a trip to Chernobyl today. For those of you who don't know, this is the site of the nuclear powerplant whose reactor exploded, creating the worst peace-time nuclear disaster in history. I've never seen anything like it. I'll be putting pictures of it up in a week or a few. I'll be forever pissed at myself though for only bringing one roll of film and wasting some six pictures on cats. lsidfjilsdjf

We (me, my mom, some other americans, our very taciturn Kievian guide, and the driver) left from near the middle of Kiev at around 9. We reached the suburbs/farmland before long. What a dour day. And place. It seemed there was no open farmland, no rolling hills, nothing green, nothing i've heard of. It was a fairly flat drive on rough, pot-holed roads lined with dead looking forests. Everything was grey. Even the very small, brightly colored (blue, yellow, green, red) soviet looking shacks (complete with the sunray shaped barrings across the windows) were somehow grey. Completely depressing. The colors in their context were grotesque, almost, like a derelict funhouse in a ghost town, smiling plastic figures with thumbs up, paint cracked and falling off, features faded, through croaking voices saying 'life is great!' or 'let's have fuuuun!' while the world around them slowly falls to rusting pieces.
We passed so many of these bright cottages, we passed entire towns situated around other power plants, the towns' only purpose being to keep that giant monstrosity running, keep the smoke stacks flowing, an entire town, 90% of everyone in the town waking up every morning and going through the same routine all together in the same building, all together, day after day after day after day. The other few man the shops and the local pub, to keep this hellhole running and to numb it out of its misery. I can't imagine living in a place like that my whole life. It seems like a hole from which there would be no escape, except for rich passers by like me and mine.
I slept.
I woke up at a checkpoint. Passports ready. We were entering the 30 (30? not sure. quarantine zone in general anyway) km zone. The already bare and sad looking pine and birch trees moving by the window had become startlingly skinnier once we entered the zone. Stunted growth. Our guide had a geiger counter and had showed us the radiation levles in Kiev. 0.014 average, which represents some unit of radiation per hour. This is a little higher than in a normal city anywhere else in the world because of its proximity to chornobyl. Some time after we passed this checkpoint it was somewhere between 0.100 and 0.700, I can't remember. The point being that it was a lot fucking higher. We arrived in the village of Chernobyl, which is a few km from the actual power plant. About 300 people live there, said the guide, to research and monitor and guard the area I suppose. Our guide told us of a few people who insisted to come back after the sarcophagus (big concrete structure) over the exploded reactor was built (to contain the radiation) and the radiation levels subsided. Because this was the only home they had ever known, they figured they would die anyway and didn't care much, would rather remain isolated. In particlar this one couple, both over 90 years old. They live the closest to the powerstation, alone for miles around. I thought. I can only begin to imagine all they've lived through, but can't even begin to understand or feel the gravity of it. These people lived through both world wars (a lot happened in Ukraine in both wars, as it's right between Germany and Russia. The people suffered a lot, both during and after the wars.), the Holodomar (genocide in the form of forced famine by the Russian and Ukrainian Soviets against the Ukrainian peasantry), and then the Chernobyl disaster, displacing them from the only place they'd ever known. It makes sense to want to go back and be alone, despite the radiation and the cancer it would bring.
We passed through the red forest, named so because all the trees after the explosion turned vibrant red. Most of those were buried to contain the radiation but the trees that grew on top also had a reddish hue, especially the thin branches on the edges of the trees that were viewed from afar. The guide informed us that all plant life (and most animal life, the ones who hadn't sensed disaster and fled anyway) within a few kilometers of the station died within 2 or 3 days after the blast. Everything was so grey and desolate. It wasn't even death that was in the air. At some point, the giant, iconic cooling tower came into view. Iconic because it's what everyone associates with a nuclear power plant (The big metal cylindrical thing that curves and gets skinnier at the top) but it's not really the reactor. Then reactor number 4 (or 3? I don't remember. I should know this by now)... ]]> ~watchtheicemelt http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/12037307/ http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/12037307/ Sat, 03 Mar 2007 08:44:52 PST
This summer should be interesting, to say the least. I know that (if i graduate, which is still questionable) I'll be traveling alone around europe by train for 2 weeks or a month but I don't know where and I don't know where I'll be staying. Wouldn't mind sleeping in a park for a day or a few, but certainly not the whole time. Any other suggestions? Any country/city i should definitely go to?
After that I'll be biking around france with my dad for a week and then I'll be home and a free man. As free as one can be anyway in a north virginian suburban shithole. And having a job. At least I'll be able to more fully indulge my music writing. And then I'll find some city to move to. Perhaps Harrisonburg, perhaps Portland, perhaps Philidelphia, Berlin, any european city... I dunno. I'm kind of excited, which doesn't happen often. I'll miss this city though, and miss being able to look out my window over all the twinkling city lights on breezy spring nights. Mmm, cheese.

Anyone have any thoughts? About anything?

]]> ~watchtheicemelt http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/11781576/ http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/11781576/ Mon, 12 Feb 2007 04:07:06 PST Anyway, I don't mean to complain. I was touched, and thank everyone, if any of you happen to be reading this.

]]> ~watchtheicemelt http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/11129990/ http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/11129990/ Wed, 20 Dec 2006 16:49:30 PST All the same.

And I hate this fucking country. It gets harder and harder to come back every time I leave. Its add-water-and-mix radio cultural substitute galls me. Fucking terrorists. Turn on the radio and all I hear is them telling me to be afraid of everyone around me. Actually I didn't turn on the radio and couldn't turn it off, since I was in a cab. Be afraid, bitches. You would be ass raped in a second without us, and your children would turn ....
Don't know what I'm trying to say. Or I do, kinda, but I'm not saying it and don't know quite how. Language is so limited. Or maybe it's my use of language that's limited. Fucking santa claus on a fire truck. That's proof, as if any more proof is needed, that this goddamn country is getting worse. Not only is the government becoming more blatantly racist and classist and fascist and... well, reTARDED, but people are eating it out of the spoon. FUcking hate this country. Yes, santa on a firetruck, i suppose that deserves some explanation. As we speak, or rather, as I speak, and you listen, or rather, as I type and you read, skim, this country is feeling the need to prove to me what a dingy den of fucking inbred retarded morons it is, and is doing so very effectively. In all the 16 whatever years I've lived here, never have they sent firetrucks decked with waving firemen sporting santa hats hanging off the sides and the one, the only, consumerist king, saint nick, sitting on top, ho ho hoing, awful generic brassy like christmas tunes blaring out of loud speakers that pierce through cooky cutter house drywalls like the advertisments that pierce through all defenses straight into the tv room. I'm not even gonna go into that. Am I alone in thinking that it would be justified to attack them with rocks if they come around again? anyone??

Ugh, don't want this to turn into a socio political rant, just an "I hate this fucking place" rant. So I could rant about certain airports (JFK in particular, Heathrow in London as well) and how fucking incompetent they are and how much better those airports in unorganized, inefficient "third world countries" are, and how no it's not a question of business, just a question of incompetence and perhaps intentional conditioning from very high up management classes directed at the lower grunt work classes and to the travelers. And that doesn't make sense, but I can't be bothered to rephrase it. But no, I'm not gonna rant about all that. Just that I hate this country and I hate being back here and I've gotten to the point where I don't really give a shit if everyone in the world dies in an apocolyptic nuclear war because the world would be so much better off without all these short sighted, megalomaniacal worms crawling about its surface, even with the millions of years of radiation we'd leave behind. Fuck everyone.
And my dog died. What can I say, he was almost as old as me and he'd been around as long as I could remember and he died two days before I got here.
And I hate frat boys.
and fucking liberalist hippies.
and evangelical christians.
and fundamentalists of any religion for that matter. Fuck them all. If you're an evangelical christian reading this, fuck off, don't bother talking to me cuz you're fucking psychotic and will destroy the world if you're let to it. ("It's not the end of the world, it's the second coming! And we won't die, we'll all be lifted up to heaven and join god! in heaven! in god's house! and we'll all.. drink... tea." "Yaaaaay, big israel! kill the arabs!") I hate you and hope you... ]]> ~watchtheicemelt http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/10878473/ http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/10878473/ Tue, 28 Nov 2006 11:39:41 PST I probably still have some from the summer though...

*smiles profusely* this song reminds me of some of the few good times I had this summer - those times when I was alone and had comfortable levels of THC going through my head. NO I am not a head, this summer was just the shittiest of the shitty. And come on, it's a fucking cool song. *dances*

]]> ~watchtheicemelt http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/10665887/ http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/10665887/ Thu, 09 Nov 2006 04:11:03 PST
]]> ~watchtheicemelt http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/10429170/ http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/10429170/ Tue, 17 Oct 2006 23:06:30 PDT
ANYway... moving on from bitching about my scanner... the point is that I have lots of pictures to load and will do so as soon as I have the time and inclination. Which won't be that soon, I've got so much work to do. Unless of course I decide to do that instead of my work because my work is even less appealing than fiddling with that damn scanner.

Sighhh I am such a lazy, whining bastard.

]]> ~watchtheicemelt http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/10216009/ http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/10216009/ Thu, 28 Sep 2006 14:33:07 PDT
1.YOUR PORN STAR NAME
(name of first pet + street you live on):
Chester Peppermill

(I have to see that porno, with a star with a name like chester peppermill)

2. YOUR MOVIE STAR NAME
(grandmother's/father's first name + favorite snack)
Lou Wafers

3. YOUR FASHION DESIGNER NAME
(first word you see on your left + favorite restaurant)
Funky Amphora

(hahah sweeet)

4. YOUR SOCIALITE NAME
(silliest childhood nickname + first town where you partied):
Alfonzo Teguhnse

(I have no idea if I spelled that right)

5. YOUR "FLY GIRL/GUY" NAME
(first initial + first three letters of your last name)
Jgel

6. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME
(favorite animal + name of high school):
Monkey Marshall

(that was the name of my high school america and it sounds funnier than the one here)

7. YOUR BARFLY NAME
(last snack food you ate + your favorite drink)
Chocolate Bailey's

8. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME
(middle name + city where you were born):
Lea Alringlon

9. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME
(favorite candy + favorite musician's last name):
Heath Yorke

10. YOUR OPPOSITE SEX NAME
(name of [opposite sex] friend + cell phone company you use):
Sydney Sim Sim

11. YOUR STAR WARS NAME
(first 3 letters of your last name + last 3 letters of mother's maiden name)
Gelcob

]]> ~watchtheicemelt http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/10120819/ http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/10120819/ Tue, 19 Sep 2006 10:23:38 PDT So for the record, I partly credit the cool/weird looking ones to an anonymous ukrainian picture developer in Kiev.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. The damn scanner's not working right now so it might be another while before they get posted here.

I'm sure you're all holding your breath... hahaha. hahahaha. hah. *sigh* ]]> ~watchtheicemelt http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/9898100/ http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/9898100/ Tue, 29 Aug 2006 15:54:44 PDT But hey, I shouldn't complain cuz I'm going to see Avenue Q which sounds quite awesome as well.

But yea, I'm not actually this much of a whiner, or I'm not actually trying to whine as much as it sounds like I am, it just surprised me cuz I'm never anywhere that anyone I love is playing. Or I just never know about it.
Anyway.... ]]> ~watchtheicemelt http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/9870791/ http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/9870791/ Sun, 27 Aug 2006 08:40:08 PDT That's my whining for now, I'll make sure to check in later and whine more. ]]> ~watchtheicemelt http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/9842991/ http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/9842991/ Thu, 24 Aug 2006 18:53:11 PDT So this is the first installment of my summer pics, a few of the highlights, I hope they're not shit. There's more to come. And most of the titles mean jack shit. I hate titles. They're annoying as hell. They're either boring, self explanatory and unnecessary (see "Bench" or "Gas Lamp"), or they're an attempt to break free of the mundane and be something semi intellectual/deep/... non boring. I just don't have the patience to come up with meaningful titles. So if you see some of those, please don't think that I think they're 'deep' or that they mean something.
So yea, that's my beef with titles. Enjoy. ]]> ~watchtheicemelt http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/9827398/ http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/9827398/ Thu, 24 Aug 2006 16:20:30 PDT
Oh! In other art related news, I got a recording thingy, more snobbishly refered to as a 'home recording studio' for the computer. The 'for the computer' part doesn't sound so snobbish so I didn't include that in the quotation marks, but I digress. uhhhh YEA. I got it. And the music will be flowing shortly. Maybe I'll have an album or a demo by the time I go back to the states for Xmas. Can you post music to DeviantArt? Probly not. Whatever. Give me a request, and I'll send it to you. And if you live here in Kiev, you can buy my demo or album when it's finished for the low price of 20 griv. Price may vary depending on size and quality of album. Actually, if it's shit, I probly won't show it to anyone. Yea, I'm not a money grabber and I'm not in this for the cash, but come on. There are the blank CDs I'll need to buy, and not to mention (or, TO mention indeed...) the recording thing itself. That thing costed a sheetload. I'm not even going into that. But yea, I'm just recovering some of the cost of starting this. I'm sure you'll understand...
But alas, there is a delay. (#@&$##$@!!!ing delays... I'm gonna KILL EM ALL!!!!!!!! ...yea, delays piss me off a bit) The thing doesn't work (actually, during the installation process, it says it might or might not cause immediate or future problems with the system if installation continues, so I'm not gonna take the risk) because the computer's a bit old in computer years. I'm guessing about 50 something. It's still going, still up and about, its mechanical heart still beating, but let's face it, it's a bit fucking slow. I guess it can kinda jog, very slowly, but sometimes it needs to stop and take a long ass, frustrating breather. Sometimes it falls on its face and has to restart. And it has grey hairs.
But THE POINT of all this rambling about my semi slow computer is to say that it's a bit contemptuous of these new programs. These young, whippershnapper programs. "Thezhe damn youngshters think they can do whatever they want thezhe daysh... gotta teach em some RESPECT! how to keep ORDER! Let ANYone make their own damn music on a computer?! Preposterous! I'm not letting that in my system..." ... kinda thing.

That was a bit fucking weird. Can I blame it on jetlag? Anyway... that's the news on my artistic endeavors of late. Wish me luck... and hope that I don't have to get a new computer. Or that I do, but don't have to pay for it. Not that I deserve that... gah whatever, I'll leave. ]]> ~watchtheicemelt http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/8680459/ http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/8680459/ Fri, 05 May 2006 10:06:47 PDT ANYWAY, at least I have some deviations, something to look at. And regardless of how artlessly crafted they are, I think they look cool. And apart from all that, anything that comes from me is automatically artistic genius, because, i mean, come on, it's me. duh. ]]> ~watchtheicemelt http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/6705764/ http://watchtheicemelt.deviantart.com/journal/6705764/ Fri, 07 Oct 2005 16:43:42 PDT
so yea. here's my site. it's new. made it cuz im finally taking up photography. right now all i have is a bunch of shitty digital pics but im getting a real camera soon. and then hopefully learning how to develop film sometime. Lots of pictures to be taken here in ukraine. yes indeedy. lots of pictures to be taken back home also but i missed out on that. crap. anywho... maybe i'll go put some more pics up. tootles.. ]]> ~watchtheicemelt