Of my kith and kin

My brother's been talking about getting a blog for a while, and he finally made one! You may've noticed I added a couple different links to my stalk list lately, the most recent of which, þæra abelgan, is his. He's a very articulate and well written guy; he's going to graduate with an English degree this year! So anyway, I recommend you check him out. He's a real solid character.

Pucker up fishface

She put mascara on before she went out fishing.

In a boat
On a lake
Far from shore
Away from anyone.

The water struck the side of the boat in hollow gulps.
The reel spun outward with a high, consistent whir.
The water gulped hollowly at the side of the boat.

She batted her eyes at the sun
High, high, high above.
She batted her eyes at the sun

In a boat
On a lake
Far from shore
Away from anyone.

First Term

While sorting through and selecting some of my drawings and paintings for the critique with Hieng Tang - a third year illustration student - today, I decided I may as well photograph some of my stuff. These are from life drawing last term. I may use a couple of them in my portfolio this year.


This was meant to be a perspective study, and it's okay except for the figure obscured by the large figure on the left there. I'd probably crop off those two anyway for it to fit in my portfolio (if I use it at all).

the STARS

The stars eluded you. They slipped around your arms like oily silk. Handprints decorated the glass, their oily imprint expressed something nervous about their absent counterpart. The stars bled through the glass. They kissed the palms of the handprints. You ached but repressed the reason why. The wind would've filled your discomfiture with understanding noise, but the glass was in the way. The glass with the oily handprints was in the way of the consoling wind. And the stars glittered through the palms of someone who wasn't present.

"Suck my Viking."

I love my family a lot. I talk with my mom and brother several times a week, generally for an hour or more each conversation. You'd be surprised, my brother and I average an hour when we're on the phone together. Tonight we briefed the general topics, like how our schoolwork was going and how his rat babies were. Then we progressed to what mom and dad were up to and it went off to farting and shitting. It's like the conversation is a short story: it has it's preparatory opening, the rising action and then the climax before the general closing. The climax was definitely the discussion about poop. He shared a particularly interesting story with me that I'm inclined to share (with his permission granted, of course). I tried to replicate his version as accurately as possible. I apologize if it's not exactly to your mode of storytelling, bro.

I hate taking shits in public. I think everyone does. It's awkward in general. So I walked into the public washroom on campus the other day. I was heading towards a urinal, all business, just intending to piss. All of the stalls are occupied. I mean all of them and there are about five or eight altogether. So I'm there, taking a piss and there's moaning and yelling from like three of the stalls. I'm not even kidding! They were seriously grunting and moaning while they were shitting. I'm going, 'what the fuck? Who grunts while they're taking a shit?'

This is where I kill myself laughing and start to grunt, moan and yell between gritted teeth like some guy taking a public shit. HAH. I love my brother to pieces. I won't ask you whether you grunt while you shit, publicly or privately, even though I am moderately interested in who does. Heh.

My Tree

For a couple years I've been forming an idea for a tattoo. For a while it involved things that related to me and me alone (ie.] a tree with a rabbit for my Chinese zodiac, books to represent my desire for knowledge, etc.) but since then my perspective on who I am has changed a bit. The tree represents my growth and development. The roots show my belief that everything in the world is connected and inevitably returns to itself. The trunk divides into two sections to show how significant my relationships with my brother and mother are to me, and the 'sun' behind the tree shows my relationships with other people (like you) and how I flourish in light of them.

I'm so happy to've met you and to have you in my life. I'm ever grateful for your part in creating me into who I am. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I love you.

"That's a lot of empathy." "Fuck yeah."

I feel like music is following me. Everyday henceforth, music will follow me everywhere because I'm alive.

Embalming Fluid

The bus ran into his face but he didn't feel or see it coming. He landed in my open lap and open arms, a picture of smiles and laughter. He wasn't bleeding, crying or moaning. He wasn't broken, sore or hurt. He was just a blonde boy with a warning smile before the bus ran me over.

'Dragonfruit and pineapple,' a passerby solemnly noted as they looked upon the seeming devastation of our two tattered bodies. They nodded to their accompanying party in understanding.
'Is that what it is?' The party asked, 'Spice and acid?'
'Nearly but not completely,' they replied as the bus roared past.
'A hit and run by a city bus?'
'No, that's a school bus, distinctly yellow.'
'Like I said before: spice and acid.'

We listened. We could've moved by ourselves but we didn't. We were only moved by each other and now we're smashed on the road together. There was nothing sad about the end to our happy lives.

'Dragonfruit and pineapple,' he said between the pigeon and the gopher.
'Spice and acid,' I replied.

I'll See You Again

I can see us traveling in the future,
When the grass is green; the outlook brighter,
I envision us hugging each other,
Just like today maybe a little bit tighter

We shall clasp the rail on an old bridge
Foreign 'gulls will creel above the barge.
The most precious and sensitive collage
We shall perceive with our artistic visage.

I miss you already, I wish I were ready
But I'm not and I'm leaving it all again.

I can't wait for the bristle on your cheek
It will chafe my longing temple again soon.
There is something I yearn for, long for, and seek,
It is our contrasting eyes catching facets of a new June.

Don't wait for me, long for my company or sigh
Don't reminisce in remorse or depend on a sign
I know your ways - your words will lilt and shine
Because you're strong, you're sensible; you're benign.

I miss you already, I wish I were ready
But I'll share smiles with you another day.

Superheroes make the best sandwiches.

They told me love would bring me down –
Especially those times I gave it so freely.
But I won't say no to him now, not now.
We share the same heartbeat and breathing.

I expel his freeform smiles
He takes me under his arm

He swings me under his wings

I expel his talent and styles
He inhales my guileless charm

His glasses were gone I tasted
Blood in my mouth while epic music
Played in the background.

They told me love would bring me down –
Especially those times I gave it so freely.
But I don't have anything to fear right now
When he hugs me and when he holds me.

I know I'm safe here with my face in his sweater
I know despite everything I can straighten my spine.

I can see us side by side on a long cobbled street

Because I feel the warmth of his laughter
I know our love will last... just fine.