In a Bend on the River

Dr. Phil is doing a Christmas special right now where he promotes items and then gives them to the audience, much the same way Oprah does. They differ in that Oprah is up there alone, looking for for the most part like she's doing an infomercial, but Dr. Phil has his whole family up on stage "exchanging" gifts with each other, promoting the brand and then giving them out to the audience (which of course is what makes this acceptable). What it makes it is even more subversive. Dr. Phil is accepted as someone who is trusted, openly allowed into our homes to look out for us. I wonder how often he has cautioned about debt? What he is doing here is reinforcing the connection that hypocrites have put between consuming their product and this holiest of Christian days. Dr. Phil, by doing it the way he is, reinforces the idea that this wanton wasteful consumption is necessary for a successful family gathering. His f**kng grandma just videoed in, giving everyone an elmo doll. I wonder what the total retail cost of all that shit was?

Posted by Chris Carman at 10:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

My fiancee and I decided against taking the I-35 bridge a few hours before it collapsed because at 3pm it was already congested due to the lane closing construction (which is indeed common in the summer here). I walked into Blegen Hall on the West Bank of the University of Minnesota about a minute before the bridge collapsed, which was probaby not much more than 1/4 mile away. Our final class for the semester was letting out early and as we were getting up to leave, one of the latecomers mentioned that she had heard that the bridge collapsed. After a brief debate as to how that was most likely inaccurate, we parted ways and I walked out onto the plaza at about 6:45. I saw helicopters near the river and immediately knew the classmate was right. I hiked down onto the school's pedestrian bridge and stood along with a whole bunch of other people (mainly University students and families who lived nearby. Although I'm sure a fair number of us looked ready to offer services, It didn't appear that they were asking for volunteers so as dusk set in I left. All in all, an initially eerie experience that is getting (predictably) more tragic as the night goes on. My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families.

Posted by Chris Carman at 4:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I attended last night's listening party for the new NIN album Year Zero.
They have been my favorite band since 2000, and my musical tastes have grown by leaps and bounds since discovering this critically acclaimed one man band. Trent Reznor's rebound from drug addiction, depression, and lethargy has been inspiring to me, and hearing this wonderful new album has only increased that inspiration. It is a return to form for one of modern music's true masters. I am thankful that they decided to have a listening party for the first time in Minneapolis, and it was another reason to appreciate living here.

Posted by Chris Carman at 2:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I fall into a haze as soon as any external structure is removed.

Can I really get my shit together this time?

I have come to the conclusions:

that this is my last best chance to do anything worthwhile

other people want to be where I am, and given the chance would put in more effort.

So why can't I buckle down?
 

Posted by Chris Carman at 7:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

AddRichText < UThink < UMWiki

I sure hope this works! Rich text here I come! 

 asdfasdfasdfasdfasdfasdfasdfasfasdfs

sdfasdfasdfasdf 

www.nin.com

Posted by Chris Carman at 8:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This is my first attempt at blogging. I need an outlet for my thoughts. I have never had a journal, for fear of someone finding it. So I let thoughts and opinions (and I have many) circulate without an outlet most of the time. Oh, I don't want you to think that I'm all alone, I am engaged to a wonderful girl who I can share much with, and nearly all of my close childhood friends live in the greater Twin Cities area, including my cousin, an art student, who is at the moment my best friend. Nevertheless, I have a lot on my mind, and I feel that my girlfriend and friends sometimes are overwhelmed with all the crap I spew out at them. I had considered a blog before, but was probably just too lazy to get one going until now. So then, a little about myself-

I am a Minnesota native, hailing from the southeast, and I have an insatiable curiosity for all things local.
I am a little over 100 miles from home, and while I miss the blufflands of the driftless region, I have no homesickness for my shitty little two-bit farm town which is, like most towns of it's type, slowly collapsing in on itself, much like a black hole, and escaping can be difficult.

This is my first semester back at the University. My college career has been my greatest failure in life. Right out of high school, I attended an overly expensive private college here in the Twin Cities. Disillusioned by a combination of factors: the outrageous tuition, the mostly uncaring, spoiled students, and confusion over what I wanted to become, I left school, feeling I could no longer rack up a huge debt with such confusion.

I am 26 years old, barely a junior, and as such am feeling a little out of place. I converse with students who are juniors or seniors, 4 or more years younger than I, and while they have more school experience under their belt, also seem naive in many ways. Perhaps it is that naivety that gives them a more sunny disposition, maybe it is their lack of failure, I don't know.

I have some hobbies: the outdoors, local geography, history, and culture. I love art, and am a novice in photography and drawing, although I hope to further these with classes at the University. I love music, mainly but not exclusively anything with an electronic bent, and now thanks to a loophole in an online music service, have an almost endless amount at my iPod's disposal. I love politics and am a committed liberal (another reason to love the Twin Cities) however I try to think critically about each issue, and as such there are a very few things in which I side with the conservatives.

All of this and more I would like to comment on in this blog in the future, not so much for anyone else, but for myself and my own posterity.

Until then....

Posted by Chris Carman at 5:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)