Day 198: Razor's Edge

Time for an Emergency Hair Cut. The last haircut I got, as you'll remember, was on Day 93, which means it's been... a hundred and five days since I cut my hair. So yeah, this was necessary. It's all gone and I feel so much freer. No wild hair or crazy beard to tie me down any longer.

Song: "For All These Times, Son, For All These Times" by Lostprophets. Alternative post-hardcore. An aggressive track that always takes me back to my final year in high school. Come for the catchy chorus, stay for the undeniable bridge with its gang vocals and anthemic chanting.

Day 197: Broken Cisterns

This is a picture that I appreciate more the more I look at it. The empty sky and the red in the leaves suggest that "autumn" has finally hit southwest Florida. Soon the weather will turn cold and the snowbirds will find their way down to the piers and beaches.

Song: "The Cure for the Pain" by Jon Foreman. Part of his Seasons EP series, this is from the "Fall" album, and rightly so. It does an excellent job at conveying the sounds and emotions behind the most nostalgic season with lush instrumentation and soft, vulnerable vocals.

Day 196: Resurgence (The Show Goes On)

It's been a while, huh?

I haven't blogged in a long time. I didn't really realize how hard it would be for me to keep up with this when school really started going into high gear. I fell behind on my posts, which continued to pile up beneath me, until I was so far behind that the whole thing felt pointless.

But I didn't want to give up. I worked too hard on this project to simply not follow through and see it all the way to its conclusion. So I came up with a plan. Most of October's posts are missing; this is the first post for the month of November. I'm going to count October as a "hiatus" while I fill in the November posts, and slowly but surely I'll start adding in October posts along the way whenever I have time. In addition, I'm making the poems an optional thing each day: if I'm feeling particularly inspired to write about something, I'll do it, but I don't think there will be a daily poem anymore.

For some reason, November felt like the perfect time to get back on track with this, and I've felt a resurgence of creative energy and drive when it comes to taking the pictures I want to take. I've got a good feeling about this.

Today was Dana's birthday dinner at Chili's. I had the most delicious hamburger and a sea of endless chips. Before we got to the restaurant I finally shaved my Octobeard, which, since we skipped October, you haven't seen any pictures of yet. Consider yourself lucky :p It felt great to finally get rid of that thing and reintegrate myself into civilized society.

Song: "The Show Goes On" by Lupe Fiasco. Hip/hop pop. Sampling Modest Mouse's hit song "Float On", this is a well constructed pop song with some great lines by Lupe in the rap verses. His flow never feels forced or awkward, and the beat is one of the best I've heard all year.

Day 166: The 34th Street Wall

Before today I had never seen nor heard of the 34th Street Wall. As far as I can tell (and I haven't actually questioned anyone about it), it's legal graffiti done by the students and residents of Gainseville. Over time the wall changes form, with old murals being painted over and new ones being displayed. They are always a snapshot of the times. One section of the wall, in big balloon letters, said "Vote Gillian Leytham". And then someone inescapably wrote "DON'T" in front of it.

As I walked along the wall I came across two girls who had parked their SUV on the side of the road and were about to start opening paint cans. They were dedicating an entire slab of wall to an homage to their favorite book, My Friend Leonard. I didn't know much about the book. They told me that it was about the friendship of two men who met in a rehab clinic and how the affected each other's lives. I looked it up later and it's actually that James Frey book that Oprah ripped into on her show for not being factually true (it was marketed as a memoir). But there's nothing wrong with fiction.

I must thank you
for this
for all you've done for me
And I cannot forget, it will be repaid

Song: "Burning in the Skies" by Linkin Park. Alternative. Linkin Park drew a lot of criticism for the artistic direction they took with their newest album, and at first I was among the detractors. But the more I listened to it, the more I got it. This is an atmospheric track layered with synths and industrial beats. Noticeably absent is a large presence of guitars, which Linkin Park has always been known for. But guitars aren't needed to make this song anthemic and expressive.

Day 165: Scootertown

The view from the back porch of David's apartment at The Estates. I'm not sure what UF's obsession with scooters is, but I can dig it. They seem to be everywhere and it's pretty chill. I think right after I snapped this pic I passed out on the couch. I was supposed to be sleeping on an air mattress in the living room, and I did so the night before, and promptly decided it was a one-time only experience. A few hours after I went to sleep on the air mattress I woke back up to find all the air had left the mattress and I was basically lying on the ground with vinyl rolling around beneath me. I had to respectfully decline the offer to repeat the experience on night 2.

Sorry for the lazy picture. Today was mainly spent hanging out with new friends, playing Mario Kart, and eating lots of Chipotle, so I didn't really have an opportunity to snap an inspired, Gainesville-centric picture.

It didn't take me long to figure out I was the frame
And you were the picture
In your eyes

Song: "Annie" by Mat Kearney. Adult alternative. Mat's got a great voice, which he sometimes uses to rap or do spoken word interludes. He (sadly) cut most of these gimmicks out for his second album, and so this piano track is mainly a backdrop for his soulful vocals and his signature hooo-oooh's. For some reason, a lot of Mat Kearney's music reminds me of Gainesville, even though I've only been there a handful of times. It also reminds me of up north, walking along the streets of Columbus. If you like this song be sure to check out his other work, you'll probably be impressed.

Day 164: Exit 387

After a gas leak on Ben Hill Griffin Road canceled all classes and shut down what was supposed to be our first flag football game of the year, I was left without much to do except pack for my trip to UF. Matt and I were about to embark on a 3 day 4 night excursion to Gainesville to visit some friends and just escape from Fort Myers for a weekend. At around 8pm we packed the car up and headed out on the 260-mile trip.

The temperature noticeably changed the further north we traveled. With our windows rolled down we could feel the cool breeze encouraging us to continue. That autumn weather, on the last day of September, still hadn't made its way to southwest Florida, and I remembered why I enjoyed going to Gainesville so much. They actually have weather there.

Due to an oversight we accidentally passed our exit by about five miles, but we made the best of it and decided to stop by a Burger King before we headed back the right way. A 24-hour Burger King. The only 24-hour fast food restaurant we even have in the Fort Myers/ Estero area is that McDonald's on 41, and it seems like everything else closes at 9 or 10. Gainesville knows how to do it right. I can only hope the business in our area can learn from their example. Sometimes you just need a Whopper at 1am.

After eating in the parking lot, soaking in the college town atmosphere, we got back in the car and made our way to David's apartment.

You are strong
I am absurd
And here we are, everyone heard
That you and I are different
Creatures altogether

Song: "Just a Dream" by Nelly. I'm usually not a fan of Nelly (or any artists like him), but this is just a good, catchy song with relateable lyrics and a solid hook. Pop.

Day 163: We Were Searching For Shelter

Everywhere I go, my shadow follows me. One of those fundamental truths that just can't be escaped. Like how cereal will always get soggier the more time it sits in milk. Or how some days, you see a lot of people walking around on crutches. It just happens.

You take this gun and kill this void
And set the emptiness free
Revolt violently against the dying plague inside

Song: "Crossfire" by Brandon Flowers. Electronica/ alternative rock. I, like everybody else, was expecting Brandon Flowers' solo music to be weird and incomprehensible. Instead we got Crossfire, perhaps the best song he's ever written, with an undeniably catchy chorus and an upbeat message. The music video is pretty cool, too. But I'm always a sucker for Charlize Theron.