Sunday, October 5, 2008

The Archive from GenerationSplit

08 August 2006

SleepingInAirports.com

PARIS (CDG) (Contributed by Amie Coué)
02/06 (Air France Terminal - Main Lobby / Check-in Counters) - "CDG was given a hard report in the past reviews so I knew I might have a hellish night's sleep, but with an early flight, i was disinterested in another expensive evening in the world's most romantic city, alone. i was lucky and had a very restful night sleeping on a closed restaurant's leather cushioned booth, in a section of the Air France's international terminal. That terminal closes from 1630-530 everyday, but is constantly patrolled by security, armed military, and german shepards. the patrols were respectful and necessary in easing my mind as a young woman just off a month of traveller's nervosa. tips to sleep in such conditions are obvious: your own snacks and a water bottle as everything shuts down around 1am, sleeping bag or snag a blanket from your carrier, go early. i knew i was going to be out a bed so I started scouting the airport around 8pm. i was the first to discover the "beds" in the vacant restaurant, but within the hour it was full. it was the best night of sleep i could imagine. Suprisingly, when I made it through security/border into the gate area of terminal 2A I was not in envy of those caught on the opposite side. it was dirtier and had much less space and accomodation. my only complaint is not airport specific, but irritating for a slumber nonetheless: Paris Smokes. Smoking in the airport is open air and very common, withotu much penalty. In the end, i was fortunate to look on to the night with such fear that the pleasant experience was heightened with my surprise." Added 06 April 06

http://sleepinginairports.com/europe/paris.htm

30 April 2006

Punched in the Face

The blood in my mouth, it ain’t mine
The hairs, yours too

And the seeds and the leaves,
The dirt and the skin
None of it came from me

Seasons of LA

Fire

Pilot

Tourist

Flood

Summer

Ocean Too Dirty for Surf Cause it Rained

28 April 2006

Story of Beth

PDF#7

Years of avoiding the film industry flashed by. Why? There is money to be made, much more money. Evan searches for a virtuous retort, artistic preservation. His attempt cripples into an anxious excuse.

“I’m afraid of destroying the story. Besides, doesn’t anyone read anymore?”

“Only when I can’t afford the movie.”

A jubilant beast of a man, Mike, tosses his hand through the swivel door and into the kitchen.

“There you are!” His salutation is met with mutual confusion, Beth and Evan straighten their slouches in attention. In unison, they both automate an uncertain “yeah”.

Mike catches his breath, only barely, before turning to Evan, “Hey buddy, where the hell you been? You know Renee’s been searching!” Evan again without a solid reply lifts his bottle and shrugs.

Mike moves erratically trying to think of the next issue of business, the search having obviously been quite taxing. “OH! Evan, I want you to meet my date.” Mike gestures at Beth proudly as if he unveiled original art.

The confusion again returns to Beth and Evan, who play along for their befuddled friend, shaking hands with shaky smirks.

Interactive 2000, Las Vegas

In January 1998, I took a flight back to Las Vegas. Another convention. These deals were drab; they involved nametags and seminars, and the crux that never relented was you got to spend your smoke breaks twitching from the glare of florescent lights and stale coffee. Hellish boredom brewed, perched with a taunting vantage and partitioned from the women and hot card tables. Circumstance left most minds in frustrated fever or at least a serotonin hyperflux. This trip was going to be work, no matter the drink or dance a city of such excess could present. It was all business.

From the backseat of a lux-cab I cursed the windows and everything they framed. There was little in this town I cared to tempt with thought. I stared out from the car with a drone’s mind. Nothing registered with any variance, but the rows of chapels. I took to counting them; a slippery headache required anything to pass the time. You wouldn’t build your house next to a 76 Station and freeway ramp, but there stood “Little Chapel of Love”.

My eyes slammed shut. I still needed the protection. It was an hour from the airport, with traffic and such. The heat is something to dodge, and after the first class walk across the tarmac, I was determined to stay out of heat’s grip for the rest of the day. The destination was subterranean of the Monte Carlo, a brand new attraction on the Disneyfied section of the strip. Underground, valet just slots you right up to the showers and sheets. Darkness and spits of CNN lulled me to an early night.

Day one, always like the first day of school, or orientation, meet the parents, grovel at a glitz-wristed chairman, clap unnecessarily long and with frequency. I sauntered through the carpeted tube of appointed doors and mirrors to the elevator. Naturally, conventions were executed with every accommodation to encourage immersion and complete focus from all in attendance. We were a microcosm, a conglomerate of mauve and navy suited tweebs on a corporate retreat. Bunking up at the same casino meant we would be a community. We would grow.

“Interactive 2000” the announcement tickered across the glowing LED’s of the Monte Carlo’s street side mega-marquee. Interactive catered to businesses in the 900 number and cyber porn rackets. It was niche specific. The new angle meets its antecedent, an experiment. 2000 was either a quick attachment to the future a la Clarke/Kubrick or an industry membership tally. There is always the possibility that the number 2000 was entirely arbitrary; in any act of sale, the concept of arbitrary is entirely clandestine.

Putting away the new sunglasses I’d already scratched, I kicked the last of a few morning cigs into the bed of glowing orange flowers. “Never been used, already broke. Oh God, another IT conference.”

I was vulnerable--out here without a preoccupation. There were men milling with their papers and I couldn’t bear to mix in any bland reviews of the hotel, at least not before the coffee struck a vein. I could fortify and smoke again. It might help in making it through the upcoming drone, but the pack was killed. Lighter still on tenterhooks, I sucked at the air, eyes closed, hoping that my deep breathing would deter the conventioneers from trying to set up a buddy pact for the rest of our shared eternity. Some suits strolled by, and my hyperventilation increased naturally from a growing actual nervosa. This functioned well enough to deflect almost all the meet and greet attention. It wasn’t a genuine issue of misanthropy, but I couldn’t stand any hasty leaps in patronage so early in the week.

27 April 2006

Antiguan Processian

Antigua, Guatemala
December 2005

We sat in the truck, between rocks and a hard place. It was approaching about a half hour since anything moved. Forty since our wheels even rolled. If Liz angled it right, we may have an out through the rubble beside the passenger door. We couldn’t just tear through and around the bus that blocked the road. The rubble was Holy, well sacred, then converted Holy. The rocks belonged to the treasured Mayan ruins scattered about Antigua. No tourists made our sight a destination. It was dysmorphic and poorly lit, unfit for remembrance of any time.
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