erickwillemse

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 01:36:34 GMT

I ended up getting two As and two Cs. I'll do better next semester, as I'm not anticipating a move or another shitty roomate situation. Plus, the way this summer has been going, I'll have had so much fun that I won't want to go out as much. It's been non-stop fun since school's been out--which is both good and bad. It's good that I'm finally able to not be tied down to any schedule. It's bad that I still haven't had time to rest. It's not that bad, actually. I've had time to do some reading. I've been able get through three books on my reading list for this summer. There's so much to write about, but I can't think of any of it right now.

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 01:21:39 GMT

I just decided to post an entry for the first time in over a month. The following appears to be a saved draft that I never posted, which I wrote less than a week before my semester ended:

I have seven days to complete the following:

For my European Imperialism class
--a ten-page counterfactual history paper
--three article reviews
--one book review on a book that I just picked up today

For my Cold War class
--two 750-word essays

And for my Jewish Kabbalism class I have a final examination next Tuesday on about 200 pages of reading or so that I still have yet to accomplish.

It seems like a lot, and it is; but I've made it this far, and I'm sure I'll come through.

I got my ten-page semester project on Margaret Fuller back today--I got an A. In retrospect, I think that I should have chosen a topic (we could have picked any historical topic we wanted for this class) that related to one of my other classes--that way I could synergize my studies. It would have made this semester much easier for me. But on the other hand, I wouldn't have learned as much as I did about who is in my opinion one of the most influential women in American history. Seriously, this woman's life was amazing.

It looks like I'll be getting two A's, one B, and a C this semester. The C that I'll most likely be getting is in my Kabbalism class. That class is by far the most challenging subject I have ever tried to understand. We watched a video in class yesterday on New Age Kabbalism--the kind that Madonna adheres to--and it is total bullshit. It's all about money with them. And I know that the documentary we watched was trying to push that view--and documentaries are very tricky--but the fact of the matter is that any religion that charges money for trinkets that supposedly have magical powers is a fucking sham. But hey, there's a dollar for every sucker out there--or however the saying goes.

And then, when it's all over, I'm going to go see DeVotchKa and Sea Wolf at the Grand Regency Ballroom on Friday the 25th. As soon as the show is over, I'm heading straight down to Southern California for a much needed vacation.

Thu, 17 May 2007 00:33:33 GMT

I have seven days to complete the following:

For my European Imperialism class
--a ten-page counterfactual history paper
--three article reviews
--one book review on a book that I just picked up today

For my Cold War class
--two 750-word essays

And for my Jewish Kabbalism class I have a final examination next Tuesday on about 200 pages of reading or so that I still have yet to accomplish.

It seems like a lot, and it is; but I've made it this far, and I'm sure I'll come through.

I got my ten-page semester project on Margaret Fuller back today--I got an A. In retrospect, I think that I should have chosen a topic (we could have picked any historical topic we wanted for this class) that related to one of my other classes--that way I could synergize my studies. It would have made this semester much easier for me. But on the other hand, I wouldn't have learned as much as I did about who is in my opinion one of the most influential women in American history. Seriously, this woman's life was amazing.

It looks like I'll be getting two A's, one B, and a C this semester. The C that I'll most likely be getting is in my Kabbalism class. That class is by far the most challenging subject I have ever tried to understand. We watched a video in class yesterday on New Age Kabbalism--the kind that Madonna adheres to--and it is total bullshit. It's all about money with them. And I know that the documentary we watched was trying to push that view--and documentaries are very tricky--but the fact of the matter is that any religion that charges money for trinkets that supposedly have magical powers is a fucking sham. But hey, there's a dollar for every sucker out there--or however the saying goes.

And then, when it's all over, I'm going to go see DeVotchKa and Sea Wolf at the Grand Regency Ballroom on Friday the 25th. As soon as the show is over, I'm heading straight down to Southern California for a much needed vacation.

Tue, 15 May 2007 22:13:06 GMT

Two things that really get on my nerves:

1. Morning talk radio shows.

2. Sitcoms.

That is all for now.

I've never felt so tired in my life.

Tue, 08 May 2007 03:48:40 GMT

why do people buy cell phones only to talk all day about their cell phones? Don't they have lives?

"So I got this new phone blah blah blah and it was only like blah blah blah and it's so great and blah blah blah and it also has blah blah blah function and oh did you get that text message where you have to send it to ten people or you'll blah blah blah oh and I got a bluetooth for only like blah blah blah."

This was a huge problem at my previous job. I've noticed lately while passing people on the streets, listening to random people talk on their cell phones, that this phenomenon is far more widespread than I thought.

Having converstaions about cell phones is not interesting. I don't bore you about my appliances; you shouldn't bore me about yours.

I'm thankful that none of my friends have ever done this to me.

Your comrade,

Erick Safety Willemse.

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 06:29:12 GMT

This is turning out to be a horrible week. I've had to take two days off of work so I can catch up in school. I didn't get to go to Southern California for spring break because I was so behind with my studies. I'm hardly caught up. Yesterday I got a $40.00 parking ticket for street sweeping. I'm usually at work when they do street cleaning in my neighborhood, so I completely forgot that I was parked on the Monday side. Today I lost one of my books for my Kabbalah class at school. It's a $45.00 book, and I need it for my take home exam this week. Fuck this shit. In addition to that I have a ten page rough draft on my semester research project on Margaret Fuller due next Wednesday. I still need to read Women in the Nineteenth Century, The Great Lawsuit: Man Versus Men. Woman Versus Woman, and Summer on the Lakes. Fuck this shit. I've never been under more stress in my life.

I'm going to see the Decemberists next Wednesday and Thursday. I don't have anyone to go with. I'm not going to see them by myself again.

Oh, but I did get some awesome coffee tables last week. The guy I bought them from purchased them in 1972 and kept them in pristine condition. He sold the three piece set to me for $40.00. My living room is almost complete.

And also, why are all the nice girls taken?

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 06:21:00 GMT

I scored at the Oakland swapmeet today. I found this lamp for the low price of $45.00!!

Isn't it Amazing?

In addition, I also bought about eighteen records, including three Supertramp albums, a couple Jethro Tull albums, Elvis Costello's "This Year's Model," and a Police record. When I dropped Marty off, he let me pick and choose out of two crates of records he got for free. That amounted to about thirty more, including a Pizzicato Five album.

Myke, Rob, and I are mostly settled into our new place. I'll take pictures when we're completely settled in. I love this house; I love this neighborhood. It's always foggy, but there is an organic produce store down the street, we're about a mile from the beach, and there are two MUNI lines that go downtown right by our place. Most of all I love having a kitchen again. We got a new roomate--a girl named Chelse from Arizona. She's fun.

A few weeks ago the Red Cross introduced an initiative in an attempt to get more people to prepare for disasters in this city. They placed bilboards on certain places in the city with photoshoped pictures of those particular interections. The images were photoshopped to show what those particular locations would look like in the event of a major earthquake.

Raider Nation

Sat, 03 Mar 2007 23:11:25 GMT

I went to my first party in Oakland last night. I went to see a band called Thee Make Out Party. They're awesome.

Five minutes after arriving at the party we all heard a gunshot somewhere in the neighborhood. Within ten minutes of that happening, a car sped by (unrelated incident). Three seconds later we heard a loud crash. We looked down the street and saw a huge geyser. The guy that just sped by had hit a fire hydrant. After the police and fire department got there, we all went down to take pictures.

A couple of other bands also played at the party, and they were good, although I forgot their names.

Tue, 06 Feb 2007 06:13:17 GMT

Last weekend my friend Kerri drove out here from Los Angeles to see a group called the Avett Brothers. I met up with her at Slim's after work, just in time to see them perform--and they were awesome. More than awesome, they are one of my new favorites. Kerri stayed for the rest of the weekend to join me and my various friends from work in a drunken bout of tomfoolery.

When I first moved out here I was slightly dissapointed that I hadn't been to any good shows--mainly because I hadn't heard of any happening. But now it seems that that is changing. Actually tonight I was going to see a band called The Broken West at Cafe du Nord, but I'm stuck at home doing homework.

Also, Repo Man is playing at the Castro Theatre tomorrow night. I want to go, and it starts at 9:45, which is the time I get out of school. I'm tempted to ditch class to go see it. I mean come on, when am I ever going to get to see Repo Man in the theatre again?

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 06:42:04 GMT

Currently, I am renting a room in an in-law unit from a nice older lady. A middle-aged guy also rents another room from her. The great thing is that I only pay $500/mo.--not bad for San Francisco. The two biggest drawbacks however: are one, the kitchen consists of a makeshift stove and a toaster oven; and two, I don't really know the people I live with.

I have a couple of friends who have been talking of moving out here. One of them called me a couple of weeks ago to inform me that he is moving out here. He has a friend who is also looking for a place out here. And so a hunt for a new place ensued.

I found the almost-perfect place tonight. It's a four-bedroom flat for only $2250--and it's got a motherfucking kitchen!! I haven't been able to cook since I moved here five months ago, and I love cooking. Come the first week of March, I'll be able to cook again. Hell yeah!! I'm making Mexican food as soon as we settle in. The only drawbacks are that one of the rooms is only accessible by walking through another room, thereby reducing the amount of privacy of at least one of us, and the other being that there is only one bathroom.

As for the house, it's in the Inner Sunset district of San Francisco--sort of close to Golden Gate park and the Haight-Ashbury district. School isn't very far either. There are a whole bunch of restaurants in the neighborhood, a couple of bars, and Safeway is directly across the street from where we will live. The house has an office and a huge hard-wood living room with a fireplace.

In related news, I think I'm finally fully adjusted to living here. I've met some amazing people that I never would have met had I not moved here. I still miss everyone from Southern California, but now that I will be getting weekends off, I can fly out there occasionally for the weekends.

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 07:14:31 GMT

I've spent way too much money this week. Yesterday I bought a 120 GB Macbook. It rules. I didn't buy an iPod though. I'll wait for that. Today I took my truck in--it was making strange noises. That cost me $100 for a diagnostic test, and all that was wrong was the heat plate on my engine had lost some screws. Better safe than sorry I suppose. And finally, I bought four tickets to see the Decemberists at the Warfield: two for Wednesday, April 25, and two for Thursday, April 26. Anyone want to join me?

On Saturday I went and watched my boss' band play in a warehouse in an industrial part of the city. There were nothing but factories all around. When I walked into the warehouse there were dinner tables with lit candles on them all around, decorative lighting, etc. It was strange to be surrounded by industry one minute only to walk into a nightclub setting. The band was amazing. I encourage all to check them out--especially if you love the following: latin, rag-time, or punk rock. Anyway, they were playing a cd release party for another band named the Hallflowers who were also good.

Oh, and on Sunday I saw a band called Great Northern at a place called Cafe du Nord. They rule too. In fact their music is amazing. And they're on Eenie Meenie Records. Their songs get stuck in your head, but in a good way.

School starts tomorrow. I'm actually looking forward to it--I spend less money when I'm in school.

Oh yeah, I started playing piano again. I forgot to bring my acoustic guitar from my last trip to Southern California again.

Tue, 16 Jan 2007 08:43:41 GMT

It appears I haven't updated this thing in a month. I've been extremely busy and my internet use has been sporadic. There has been so much to write about.

I will say that things are going great. San Francisco is wonderful and things are going in exactly the direction I want them going in. More specifics will follow at another date.

I'm in Southern California right now. I wish I was spending more time out here, so I could see more people. Alas, I'm on day two of four. I spent Sunday in Echo park. Reign and I drank absinthe and watched Weekend at Bernies. After which we went to the premiere of a vampire film she body-doubled in. After that I hung out with Heather and Ross--and drank more absinthe. After Heather and Ross went to sleep I watched the Royal Tenenbaums with Kerri and passed out.

I spent most of today at my sister's place in Redlands. This evening I came to the high desert to visit Matthew, Kristel, my niece, and my nephew. The worst part about living so far from here is that I'm not being able to watch my niece and nephew grow. Trinity is talking twice as much as she was on Thanksgiving.

And so now I am here at my parents' house. Everyone is asleep and there is nothing to do. I think I'll go read National Geographic.

Sat, 16 Dec 2006 10:25:39 GMT

Even though I should've been working on my essays, I instead found myself going to see Me First and the Gimme Gimmes perform at Slims. It was worth it. Ha.

DeVotchka also played tonight at the Fillmore. I also wanted to see them perform. But that would've meant going by myself.

Thu, 14 Dec 2006 02:00:12 GMT

I don't understand it. I used to be excellent at writing essays. I haven't written one good essay this semester. Now it's finals week (and being a History major, my finals all consist of essays that are due on the last day of class). I haven't been able to articulate a single thought that has to do with any of these papers. Fuck shit fuck.

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 00:57:52 GMT

I have two weeks to read the better part of seven books and write four more essays. Shit. What did I get myself into?

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 09:04:15 GMT

Imogen Heap is amazing. Amazing. I cannot put into words how great her live performances are. I went to see her last night, and her performance left me with goosebumps.

While watching her perform, I was thinking about the last time I went to see her, and how the girl I was supposed to go with had never been to a show before. She ended up cancelling at the last minute, which was understandable; the guy she had been recently engaged to had called off their wedding. I had invited her in hopes of cheering her up. Watching someone sing a bunch of melancholy love songs would have been salt on her wounds though; so it was probably better that she didn't go. But it baffles me that some people have never been to a show. I feel sorry for those people.

The date I brought with me this time around is an amazing girl--very fun. Before the show we met up with my work buddy Sue and her friend and drank whiskey and Stella Artois. My date had never really heard Imogen Heap before last night, but regardless became an instant fan. Yes: friends, booze, the company of a sweet girl, and Imogen Heap--the things that make for any perfect night.

Sun, 03 Dec 2006 08:20:20 GMT

I need cable. I haven't been able to watch The Daily Show or the Colbert Report since before I moved. And apparently, Steven Colbert has been doing a segment mocking the "Re-animate the Decemberists" video contest.

And also, falling for the wrong girl sucks. I've recently decided to get over it and move on. It's never going to happen, and there's no point in wanting someone that's obviously still in love with someone else. And I can't be mad at her; I've been in her position before.

I've also decided to stop looking for someone to be in a relationship with. From now on I'm going to be dating for the sake of dating. I tend to only want to date girls if I think they have relationship potential. But not anymore, I'm going to date as many girls as possible. Literally, every time I've been out in the last couple of months, I've been hit on. So why not? For the first time in my life, I live in a city in which there is a plethora of girls that I acttually have things in common with. I'm not neccesarily talking about being a whore either. I just want to date. If I happen to end up in a relationship, that's fine, but as for looking for a relationship--there will be no more of that.

The most fun I've ever had by myself, by Erick Safety Willemse

Tue, 24 Oct 2006 07:49:26 GMT

Thursday I saw the Decemberists play at the Warfield. Amazing. I unfortunately had to go by myself. I surprisingly couldn't find anyone to give the extra ticket to. Not even at the door. I could've sold it to the scalpers outside, but I don't like scalping. I think that it's wrong (unless your scalping tickets at a Toby Kieth concert, in which case I fully encourage ripping his fans off).

This weekend Crispin Glover was at the Castro theatre, right across the street from my work, showing his newest film, titled "What Is It?", followed by Q&A all weekend. In addition, this weekend was the first ever Crispin Glover film festival: Bartlby, Back to the Future, Willard, etc. I really wanted to see What Is It?, but I couldn't due to my work schedule. I also really wanted to see Rubin and Ed, which I haven't seen since I was twelve. If it ever comes out on dvd, I fully reccomend it to anyone.

I got off of work around 9:30 pm on Saturday. I was too late for the screening of What Is It?, so I went and got my ticket for the midnight showing of Rubin and Ed, and in the meantime went out drinking with my coworker Brandon and his girlfriend, who are also new to San Francisco. We got wasted. Around 11:30 they went home and I stumbled from our cab to the theatre. Rubin and Ed was awesome. I bought some of his books and one of his cds. I also got to meet the guy. I asked him to sign one of the books for Reign, who at one point I recall, she had a celebrity crush on him.

I'm trying to get a week off Thanksgiving week so I can go see my friends and family in Southern California.

Mon, 09 Oct 2006 10:28:20 GMT

I cannot remember the last time I have been this melancholy. Never in my life have I missed so many people so much. If your reading this and we're friends or family, know that I miss you terribly.

But other than that. This town is amazing.

Here is a list of my recent swap-meet finds:

I got a few anti-war buttons including one that says "Hiroshima--Never Again"
two Niel Diamond records
A Jets record (I don't know why I bought it)
A live Eagles Record
A Van Halen record (I forgot the name of the album)
and the following cds:
Cyndi Lauper "She's so Unusual"
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds "Murder Ballads"
Roxy Music (I forgot the name of the album)
ZZ-Top "Greatest Hits"
Bad Company "10 from 6"
U-Ziq (I forgot the name of the album)
And a couple others I can't remember at the moment.

Thu, 05 Oct 2006 04:14:16 GMT

I bought the new Decemberists album yesterday. It's awesome. (Speaking of decembrists I just finished one of the difficult essays that I had due this week. This one was a critical review of the Russian intelligentsia throughout the nineteenth century.)

I got home last night, and I wanted to catch them on Conan O'Brien. Since I don't have a television right now, I asked my roomate Bob* if I could use the one in our "living room" He told me that it was the landlords and that he never uses it, so I took it into my room. When the Decemberists came on, Jenny Conley, the member of the band that plays various keyed instruments, was playing to the side of the stage. However, another girl, not a member of the band, who was playing the xylophone I believe, was playing within the group--got exposure from almost every camera angle; and Jenny, who was playing the organ to the side of the stage, hardly got any. The one shot that focused on her was to her back. Shit like that makes me angry.

I might go see them play in Vancouver, although a roundtrip ticket is going to cost me about $450, and it's Thanksgiving week, in which I also have to make a trip to Southern California. I'm going to see if I can work it out though.

*I haven't mentioned Bob yet in my livejournal. He's the guy who rents the other room in the in-law house that I'm renting right now. I've only seen him a few times since I moved in about a month ago. I don't know much about him, other than what he told me when I first met him: he used to live in Ohio (or was it Iowa?), him and his wife divorced five years ago, she took everything, he moved out here for reasons unknown to me (why not? I suppose), he loves church, and he loves baseball. That's all I really know about him.

Sun, 01 Oct 2006 07:34:14 GMT

I diverged from writing one of my essays to do some internet shopping a few minutes ago. I was feeling nostalgic, so I tried to find Mealticket's "Thirteen Apologies" cd online, but there is only one on ebay for $55. Fuck that. I did however buy their "Lisa Marie" single (for 0.81 cents). I went to the Asian Man Records website and bought two Rudiments cds and an MU330 cd. Then I ordered two tickets to see imogen heap at the Warfield in December from Ticketmaster.

I wonder where I can find that "Thirteen Apologies" cd.

Sun, 01 Oct 2006 06:32:09 GMT

This is a really hard week for me. Not only do I have two really difficult essays due this week (on top of all of my regular homework load), but I am starting to miss my friends and family more so than ever. Tonight after work I had the strongest urge to go buy a bottle of Bushmills, find some good company, and drink until the sun came up. But as much as I wanted to do that, I couldn't. And now I'm stuck in the computer lab at school typing an essay. I need to get my priorities straight.

Wed, 20 Sep 2006 00:54:02 GMT

I haven't been on this thing in a week or so. School and work have monopolized my time lately.

I've decided that the job I have right now is the best job I've ever had. If I haven't mentioned it yet, I got a job delivering pizzas at a place on Castro St, which is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for so I could concentrate on school. It feels kind of wierd however, that I went from working for a company I could've made a career of some sort out of, to delivering pizzas--not that I actually wanted a career at my last job, since I already planned on being a teacher. My point is that my last job was the kind of place where one can start a career.

Back to my original point: this is the best job I've ever had. Right now I'm actually making just as much, if not more money than my old job. And I've been saving about $150.00 per week. All I do is drive around and listen to music, give some rich gay couple their pizza, get an overly generous tip, and then drive off again and listen to more music. Awesome! Everyone I work with is really cool. And I only work about 30 hours per week.

The only drawback is that I have to work nights on weekends. I want to get a few days off in the next couple of weeks so I can make a trip out to Southern California to visit my friends and family.

I miss them terribly.

Fri, 08 Sep 2006 07:30:46 GMT

Week in review:

I came out to Southern California on Thursday night/Friday morning. My sister got married on Friday and the wedding was a blast. My date flaked on me, and I was dissapointed, but the wedding was still really fun.

Saturday I cleaned out most of the stuff out of my apartment in Ontario and took it to my parents' house in the High Desert. I stored it in Annie's old room of course. After eating crab legs with my parents, I went to Roxanne's to lose at poker and also to get drunk.

On Sunday I finished moving the rest of the stuff out of the apartment and took a final load to my parents' house. I hung out with Matthew and Kristel for a while and then went back to my parents' house to finish packing my stuff. Roxanne came over and we watched Everything is Illuminated, again.

On Monday I drove back to Ontario to clean it up. I stopped by Sally and Danielle's to say goodbye and then left to go back to SF around 5:30 pm. My dad suggested I take a route that I had never taken before. He suggested that I take Highway 395 north to the 58 and so on. I did that, only unknowingly missed the 58. Around 8:30 pm I noticed a sign pointing to the direction of an old mining town called Randsburg. I had been there a few times before. When I was little and up into my teens my dad had always taken us to the hills around there to shoot guns. Afterwards, we would always stop in Randsburg.

I decided to pull off and drive around the town. When I got to town, it was dead except for a woman and an old man in cowboy attire sitting on a bench in front of an antique store. They waved for me to come in. I stopped and looked around. I bought a couple of posters. I asked if they had a bar around there. The bar was closed so the woman offered me a beer. I stayed and talked with them for a while. The old man's name was Bob, and he talked like a cowbow, although I could hardly understand him. He told me he was in the Korean War, and he asked me a lot of questions as to whether I had a girlfriend, what her name was, who the one before that was, and if I was ever going to bring her to Randsburg. The conversation was interesting. Another guy who had walked over to join the conversation told me to look for a guy named Burt Barker, the town historian, next time I'm in town.

The same man informed me that I was way off track and directed me back to the route that would get me to San Francisco. Much of it was deserted desert roads. So I left and I called Roxanne on my way out to tell her about the place. After about forty minutes, we ended our conversation, as I finally saw a gas station and had to get gas. I went inside, payed for my gas, and I noticed a magazine on the rack. It was UFO magazine, and on the cover was Whitley Streiber, the author of Communion, which brought the UFO abduction phenomenon into the mainstream. As I don't believe in UFOs, I'm still fascinated with the phenomenon, and I think both Communion the book and movie are very entertaining. I was contemplating on buying it when I looked outside at my truck: my mattress was gone! Somewhere in that forty minutes, my mattress had flown out of the back of my truck. I had to go back into the desert, facing the threat of UFO abduction of course, and find it.

When I finally found the battered mattress full of dirt and thorns, I was almost in Randsburg again. I was compelled to go back into town and stay at the Inn for the night, but I didn't. I finally stopped in Bakersfield and slept for the night. I turned on the TV and CNN was running a 2004 Larry King Live interview with Steve Irwin. That man had a lot of passion and a lot of goodwill toward all living creatures on this planet. It's a shame to lose people like that.

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 06:13:55 GMT

After finding out how much reading I have to do this semester, I don't think I'll be doing much for the next few months.

One characteristic about upper-division courses that I've noticed that differs from lower-division, is that there is much more primary source reading involved--which I've been eagerly waiting for: Freud, Lenin, Trotsky, Orwell, Dostoevsky, Nietzsche, Kant, etc.

My classes all seem to be very interesting. Especially my Russian Revolution class. The professor has written four books on the Soviet Union and the Cold War. The class only covers the period from 1917 to 1945, but next semester there is another class that covers the the Soviet Union during the Cold War years. The Cold War is one of my primary interests in history, and I feel very fortunate that I'm part of the generation that is now learning about it from the generation that actually lived through and witnessed it. It's one thing to learn about things that happened generations ago, but to learn about recent history from the people that were actually there is entirely different. I was talking to Marty about this today, and he pointed out that we'll be fulfilling the same role as we focus on post-Cold War subjects like terrorism.