el martinez

You Want To Go To There?

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 23:20:00 -0500

Wow, this happened a little faster than I thought it would. I suppose that’s what happens when you don’t have a job and never leave the house.

I’m retiring the tumblr. No mas.

The new site is elmartinez.org. It’s a brand new day!

See you there.

Tumblr Here Gone Hello Bye Bye

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 15:36:19 -0500

In the process of migrating to other blog software. This address may be going away in a few days. Updates to come.

My Friend Eric Kills Me With a Phone

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 12:44:12 -0500

It’s 5:47 am. I just woke up from a dream that disgusted me so badly—I had to get up and take notes.

This dream was centered around an act of kindness: killing my friend Matt.

Video

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 22:01:40 -0500

The Things I Saved, Part 5: Bad Fiction I Wrote

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 13:17:00 -0500

Eddie Vedder singing U2’s “Where the Streets Have No...

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 21:23:00 -0500

Eddie Vedder singing U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Name” at karaoke night at the Best Western Dobson Ranch Inn, Mesa, AZ. via Stereogum

The Things I Saved, Part 4: Work

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 12:34:02 -0500

The Things I Saved, Part 3: Autorretrato

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 22:13:00 -0500

Me, age 17, circa 1993. In Marija Potkonjak’s yellow VW Bug, passenger seat.

The Things I Saved, Part 2: Ex Libris

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 21:58:00 -0500

My storage space contained piles of books. Most of them from college, some given to me as gifts and a few head-scratchers I bought from used book stores. (The results of youthful indiscretion.)

They were all covered in dust, so I spent about three hours wiping the covers and sorting them. I donated a large portion of them to a local public library in hopes they could use them or sell at a book fair. Here are the ones I kept, in no particular order:

The Associated Press Stylebook (Two Copies: 1996, 1999. Spiral Bound.)

The Sickness Unto Death, Soren Kierkergaard

The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader, edited by David Levering Lewis

Fowler’s Modern English Usage, 3rd Edition

The Last Days of Socrates, Plato

Symposium, Plato

The American Political Tradition, Richard Hofstadter

The Norton Anthology of American Literature, 4th Edition

Holy Bible, King James Version, 1970.

Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television, Jerry Mander

The German Ideology, Karl Marx and Frederick Engels

Understanding English Grammar, Martha Kolln

Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals, Emmanuel Kant

Sound and Sense: An Introduction to Poetry, Thomas R. Arp

The Chicago Manual of Style, 14th Edition.

Speaking (La Parole), Georges Gusdorf

An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals, David Hume

Ulysses, James Joyce

American Government: Readings and Cases, Peter Woll. 11th Edition.

The Things I Saved, Part 1: Dust

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 21:24:00 -0500

I flew to Phoenix last week to surprise my mother for her birthday. It worked, she had no idea I was coming. There were tears and then a party and much drinking. A delightful time, indeed. The remainder of my trip was devoted to cleaning out a storage space I kept for 10 years. I hadn’t opened it since I snapped the lock in 1999. NPR wanted me to start temping with them quickly, and I had little time to figure out a living situation so everything I owned went into the space. I remember telling myself that I would return in a few months and take what I needed to Washington D.C., and then give the rest to charity. Instead, a hectic life and thousands of miles between me and the space rendered it a time capsule. Upon opening it I found old bills, college papers, my Mac Performa, cassette tapes, the bike I used in college, a lamp and Ikea furniture galore. There were also bags and bags of books, the little library I assembled in my early twenties. Everything was coated with dust, a result of a decade’s worth of Arizona dust storms and general neglect — all of it just sitting there, alone and waiting for someone to pass judgement on it. The space wasn’t huge, the size of a large walk-in closet. I hauled everything out and to my parents’ backyard to sift through the layers. Everything I wanted to keep ended up fitting in a 14” sq. box with room to spare.

Over the next few posts I’ll catalogue the things in that box, survivors of 10 years of dark and dust.

Recessionomics: Manhattan's Real Estate Ungentrification

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 01:26:42 -0500

Recessionomics: Manhattan's Real Estate Ungentrification:

From Gawker:

Well, the L’Occitane-scented waters of the gentrification wave are already rolling back, as predicted: megarealtor Corcoran is closing its Harlem office. Is anyone thinking of the white people?

The Corcoran office on 120th street opened in 2005 (right on time for the housing boom, yea!) and is closing next month (right on time to regret your 800k condo on 145th St., yea!). You know what will be making a comeback now? Craigslist. Also, Harlem.

This song is being used in an Acura commercial. I’m a bit...

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 00:21:07 -0500

This song is being used in an Acura commercial. I’m a bit obsessed with it.

“Let the Drummer Kick,” by Citizen Cope.

Photo

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 22:34:57 -0500

This is how my friends tell me they love me. I think.

Sun, 18 Jan 2009 12:44:37 -0500

This is how my friends tell me they love me. I think.

Photo

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:16:10 -0500

No one has ever been sure when Christianity began. There was...

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 22:23:00 -0500

No one has ever been sure when Christianity began. There was never a moment or place where some one stood up and said, “Okay, right here. This is where it begins.”

But we know now.

It began on the basement level of Strand Books on Broadway.

jstn: peterbaker: The new official presidential portrait is...

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 22:20:23 -0500

jstn:

peterbaker:

The new official presidential portrait is the first one ever shot on a digital camera, which also means EXIF data:

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, taken January 13th, 2009 at 5:38:39pm
No flash, 105mm focal length, 1/125 exp, f/10, ISO 100

Exposure Program: Manual

Video

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 13:36:30 -0500

Photo

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 10:58:55 -0500

Brilliant. It’s a red letter weekend at the MTA.

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 14:47:31 -0500

Brilliant. It’s a red letter weekend at the MTA.