Sookie, Sookie, Nah!

In an attempt to keep current and hep, I decided to jump on the bandwagon and read Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series. In essence, it's a definitive genre series blending fantasy, mystery/thriller, and romance.  Fear not, the romance aspect is surprisingly endearing with a nice healthy portion of sexiness. 

The gist: Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic barmaid from Bon Temps Louisianna falls for her new neighbor Bill, a Vampire,  and is subsequently drawn into the newly public existance of the Vampire world.  Her association with Vamps and her "disability," as she deems it, leads her further into the supernatural by placing her smack dab in the middle of Were Politics--as in Werewolves, etc.--Witch schemes, Fairy medling, and so on and so forth.  All of which, I might add, she deals with in the very endearing sassy southern cliche.  Did I mention she also has to beat off an influx of supernatural suitors?

The fantasy aspects are, obviously, the existance of creatures of the night.  Harris, however, treats the supes as nothing more than, say, newly recognized minority groups or, perhaps, individuals immigrating from other countries.  The mystery/thriller and romance are your basic sort of dead-guy-ends-up-in-a-parking-lot-naked mysteries and caught-between-two/three/four-lovers romance. 

In general, the series is a simple yet lively read carried mostly by the dynamic nature of it's characters, most especially Sookie.  That being said, I would highly reccomend not reading the series in rapid successioin.  Take a break either in-between books or, say, after DEAD TO THE WORLD.  The pace which, at first, keeps you anxious to find out what sort of trouble Sookie will find herself in at the beginning, begins to grate on the brain. Like Sookie, you'll end up wishing for a chapter or two of nothing more than her sitting around trying to wash the blood stains of her clothes.

A Bad Romance

I've decided that, once I'm settle in Las Vegas, I'm goint to start dating. 

Yup, that's right folks, Edgar A. Rios is finally going to step into the dating pool instead of lounging on the side sipping cocktails and judging everyone in it. 

Why? Well, to put it simply yet as melodramatically as possible....I don't want to get old alone....wah wah...

I don't neccessarily have a fear of being alone in my dotage but I really want to be able to share it with somebody. You know? In the cafe I work for in VB, I see all these older couples come in--partners and friends--and think how awesome it is that have that.  Not just that but I see so many people come into my store just to sit with each other and read a magazine, have tea, or talk about trashy magazines. 

For so long I've upheld a sort of non-traditional conceptualization of relationships that has focused on companionship and support rather than romanticalness.  From such, I have experienced the kind of relationship with certain people that many seek but often lose sight of due to the complications of romance.  I believe I have found my soul-mate and it has nothing to do with romance. 

That being said, I feel like I have just started to hear something tick inside of me, like the crocodile in Peter Pan.  Despite my closeness with friends, there is only a certain vulnerability that can be shared with a lover/partner.  Frankly, it is this vulnerability that has always kept me away from romance. 

Well, I think I'm ready to be vulnerable, folks. Also, I think I'm ready to allow someone elses vulnerability into my life. 

I made a sort of pact with myself that I would not attempt romance until I felt everything was right with me. As you can see, presuming that something was wrong.  Well, everything is not particularly right with me but I've realized everything will never be and, frankly, that's the way I like it.  This realization, is really, what I had been seeking all along. 

I now understand that I am not the type of person to "settle down" in any traditional way, I enjoy the roller coaster that is my life.  This understanding has also allowed me to understand that, despite or because of this, I will find somebody who is willing to go on the ride with me. 

Pop Goes Gaga

It seems we are getting to the point in Gaga's career where the naysayers are beginning to be heard through the din of her fans.  In essence, her critics call her the unoriginal of the unoriginal, a "mimic" as one M.I.A. has stated. 

I'm not one to defend her because, well, honestly, her music isn't particularly innovative.  In fact, when I first heard her I shrugged her off due to her 90's "everybody dance now" sound.  Part of this shrugging off, however, came from a personal attempt at being musically elitist which requires one to have a healthy aversion to pop music unless, of course, it's totally ironic. Like Gaga evolved from girl about town with awkward fashion sense to all out avant garde warrior, so too has my opinion of her and, really, pop in general.

Frankly, I've always been a closeted pop fan.  In my musical development I shunned it in an attempt to garner a more elitist cred with the alternative people I hung out with.  I never did grunge but I got into the Alt Rock of the 90's, but never really the whole College Rock thing.  I have a love/hate relationship with Punk; I dig some country, mostly the older stuff; and I dabble in other genres.  I'm still pretty into hip-hop and have been totally turned on to the Reggeatton sound. 

I didn't find my swagger, however, untill I participated in the Electrclash scene of the early aughts that, frankly, was the turning point in music.  Of course, it had to get mainstreamed before it really made an effect but it did.  Now you can't throw a stick out of your car window without hitting some electro synth riff.  Pop, however, I felt neccessary to keep at bay no matter how much I secretly loved one or two Brittany Spears songs.

I have come out of the Pop closet and hold Lady Gaga as an example of why I am comfortable doing so.  Again, the claims of her unoriginality are not unfounded but, it does not matter.  Pop, for the most part, has never been a genre that has boasted originality.  Pop is about performance, one way or the other and Gaga is an exceptional performer.  Pop is a genre in which you are not supposed to sit around pondering the depth of the lyrics or the meter of the music.  Pop is meant to be clear and unadulterated gratification and the best form of gratification is the instant and basic kind. 

I don't care who you are, a deep baseline will want to make you move, a catchy chorus will get stuck in your head, and an over-the-top performer will keep you talking.  That's what Pop is about. It's not meant to be intellectual, it's not meant to be purposefully socially significant, it's not even meant to be particularly original.  It's meant to get you moving using the tried and true methods of music. 

So, Gaga may not be putting out anything that has not been put out before but, the thing about Gaga is that she's putting it out there without pretention. She's putting it out there as Pop, 100% Pop.  She understands that beyond the music it's about the performance and boy does she provide. 

She said it best in an interview for SPIN magazine, "I like to have unprotected sex with my music."  She sure does, and we can't get enough of listening through the walls. 

The End Of An Era

Well, it's the end of an era.  My brother-in-law is coming back from Japan after two years away and my time is up in Virginia. I couldn't be happier.

I've loved my year here because it was a sort of reimmersion process between my relatively cushy life in Ithaca (despite the fact that I was practically destitute the whole time I lived there) and the reality of the rest of the country.  It was just what I needed to jump start all my mechanisms that had started to rust from under use.

Although I can technically leave any time I want now, I am holding out until September.  I turn thirty and a close friend of mine is getting married that month so I need to stay on this side of the country so I can afford to go. It will also provide some closer to my time on the east coast, I think.

My next move is still a bit undefined but far more purposefull than any move I have done to date.  I'll be going to Las Vegas and, although I've never really considered Las Vegas as a place to live, it somehow feels right to me.  It's a million times closer to friends and family on the west coast; it's a center of food, music, and entertainment; and yet still provides a sense of solitude and intensity only a desert can. 

Also, I can be assured that all my friends from all over the country will eventually be drawn there cuz, well, who doesn't want to go to Vegas at least once.

Basically, Virginia, I came, I saw, and now I need to get the hell out of dodge.  Virginia, outside of allowing me to give back to my family that has given me so much, has shown me that the world is not the nice and easily defined world we like to think it is and yet, it's also not as bad either.  There are ways our society has progressed so far beyond anything anyone  can imagine but also ways in which it has not budged and inch. 

When Age-Old Adages Attack

A couple of weeks ago, a co-worker of mine walked out of her job--full-time, benefits, cake hours--because she had an interview for a job the following week and was so sure she was going to get it. 

She didn't. 

It's really a sad state as she has two children, one of which has mental issues, and now is unemployed.  She may return to work but to AN INTENSE amount of chagrin as she was partially/mostly to blame for it all.  Although my GM is not the easiest person to deal with and probably, had he been a more understanding person in general, this situation would not be as dramatic as it is. 

Despite feeling bad for her overall circumstance, I can't help but feel it's warrented.

In general, she was a Negative Nancy.  Ninety percent of what came out of her mouth was negative even when the situation was so minor it was rediculous.  Also, her sense of entitlement was far too much.

I mean, she had left this job before because of her conflicts with our GM but then came back and HE LET HER come back and still she carried a chip on her shoulder.  Like I said earlier, our GM is not the easiest person to deal with but, bottom line, he still gave you a job despite the fact he didn't actually like her. 

I don't know, this whole situation, frankly, my entire experience at this store, has been showing me just how entitled and dellusional some people are.  Anybody who expects and REAL respect from working in retail is seriously disturbed.  Retail is the worst working environment on the planet.  The only way to extract any enjoyment out of it or, at least, not let it suck the life out of you  is by simply not giving it that power.  Be gratefull you have a job, do your job well, not for them but for sheer pride of doing a job well, and go home. 

So many people get caught up in the notion that once they're in somewhere they can't leave but, really, you can.  Retail jobs are a dime a dozen, even in these hard times.  There is always something you can find if you're willing.