Smashing patriarchy daily.

Whew, what a crazy fucking week! I spontaneously bought a ticket to Mexico City to visit Jonathan and spent the week there and in Veracruz. It was exactly what I needed–to get away from my life here and get some real perspective.

Mexico City is a lot like New York City, which surprised me. I didn’t expect it to be so metropolitan! It definitely defied my expectations that it would be a massive desert full of vaqueros. It’s actually very lush and it was cold and rainy most of the time. We drank tons of tequila, $1 Coronas, and ate huge meals for cheap. Stayed in some great/seedy hostels too–one of which had free porn and a mirrored ceiling! My favorite thing was the marketplaces where you could get fresh blended juices… carrot, pineapple, and orange… sooooo good.

We wandered around the city, found ourselves at a goth/punk club called Ute, went to a political cartoon museum, saw the Antony Gormley exhibit, then took the bus down to Veracruz to see the beach. There we stopped at San Juan de Ulúa, the ruins of a Spanish naval complete with towers, dungeons, barracks. We then headed to the beach where we were harassed to buy things constantly. It’s crazy how much solicitation there is in Mexico. Young children will come up to you trying to sell you cigars, old women try to read your fortune… it’s constant.

At night we wandered to the bars to watch fútbol and have some beers. We made some friends, danced to reggaetón, and eventually ended up buying weed out of a taxi in el barrio for only $3 pesos. I’m pretty sure we narrowly avoided death. I was yelling “pinche gobierno!” out the window and generally being drunk and out of control.

The next day we took the bus to Boca del Río and laid on the beach all day drinking coconut milk. Then we headed back to the city. Had the most amazing Lebanese food (in Mexico of all places). Got high and watched Bad Santa which was ridiculous. The next day I hopped a plane home, but had issues getting through security. Apparently a woman traveling to Mexico alone for 6 days is… suspect. I’m really glad I didn’t try to smuggle that weed into the U.S. because they absolutely scoured my things and asked me dozens of personal questions.

Overall it was a frivolous, hedonistic, expensive-as-hell trip, but it really made me appreciate what I have back at home. I just needed it so bad.

The day I got home was the Around the World Party at House of Commons. Basically, every housemate themes out their room and we travel from room to room drinking and playing games and having a good ol’ time. This year my room was a titty bar and everyone had to do pole tricks and body shots! Some other favorites were the hockey room complete with brooms and a tennis ball, as well as the dungeon where Mistress Becca spanked me for being a naughty house treasurer. We all ended up naked in the pool, at which point I stopped taking photos (thank fuck). I made out with a handful of people, some that I’m not so proud of. Incriminating photos found below.

The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of emotions, changes, major life events, and overall shock. I’ve been having a lot of self-realizations: everything that I’ve been suppressing for the past several years is now spilling out of me.

I can’t depend on other people to fuel my ego and make me “happy”. I can’t keep up this dominance act. I truly want equality in my relationships from this point forward. Underneath the tough front that I put up, I’m actually a lot weaker than I thought. It’s all rooted in fear.

First things first: I closed on my house! I now legally own property in the state of Texas. The place is adorable. 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and 2 living areas. Huge backyard. Right in the middle of Hyde Park. I’ve got a couple guys moving in this week and I really hope they’re cool…ish. I’m worried they might be college bro’s! Either way, I’ll be earning $2,100 a month on the place. That income will allow me to work for free on film sets for a while, until I can land a gig that pays.

Beyond that, a few of us finally moved back into House of Commons. It’s so nice to have a place to call home again and I’m super stoked on my room! We had all been homeless for so long and it’s so beautiful to have our community back together again. I’m going to install my new X Pole this afternoon. Pictures soon.

The Sunken Garden shoot is going really well. I got to be Assistant Camera the other day which was really informative. I got to see/touch/learn more about the RED Camera. She’s gorgeous.

Anyway, here are some photos from the other night at the Cathedral of Junk. That night we referred to it as the Cathedral of Drunk.

Hey dudes! It’s been a minute since I’ve posted anything on this site–I apologize. I’ve been absolutely swamped for the past month or so. Needless to say, I finally graduated college, with all A’s I had planned on having a boat party in celebration but it got rained out so it was moved to the H.M.S. Hazard (our “boat” house). I wasn’t in the greatest of spirits that night, and I found out later that it was because I had tonsillitis. At the moment I’m on steroids and hydrocodone (weeeee!)… so, sorry if this post is sort of jumbled.

So what am I doing with myself now that I’m post-college? Well, I recently had an interview over at Spiderwood Studios, but unfortunately it’s a big commute and it’s unpaid. However, I feel like if I got in good with them they might take me under their wing and throw me into some of their productions. Other than that, I’m keeping my eyes open for P.A. gigs and basically ANYTHING I CAN GET. The economy is terrible right now, and film production is extremely slow, but I’m hopeful. I may have to work for free until I can build up some contacts. If I can’t find anything in a year, I may consider moving to L.A. In the meantime I’m still slingin’ drinks over at the bar and living off of my settlement.

This summer I’m going to start looking at houses to buy and planning a few trips as well. I’m really set on going to Europe for a week, and possibly visiting Jessie and Adam on the East coast. We’ll see. Here’s a few pictures from the party, taken by the amazing Thao. You can view the rest on my Facebook!

If you haven’t heard, House of Commons caught fire last Saturday. A glue gun had been left plugged in for too long and the 3rd floor went up like that. Luckily everyone got out safely, including all of the house pets. However, many of the housemates lost some or all of their belongings, not to mention our community has been forced to disperse for a while. The firefighters estimated that $225,000 in damages had occurred and that it will be several months before we can move back in. Currently I’m sleeping on my friend Joseph’s floor, but I’m hoping to get a place with some of the HOC-ers somewhere in West Campus. Such a sad event :’(

I’ve finally found someone who I can reverse gender roles with and it feels liberating. You see, the type of men I’ll actually date are few and far between. For one, I refuse to be involved with someone who doesn’t consider themselves a feminist. I can’t stand men who play the dominant, macho role that society has assigned them. I prefer more dynamism, more fluidity.

I thought our philosophies were too contradictory at first, but eventually I realized that they mesh together quite well. We finally determined that we’re fighting the same evil: oppression. While he sees the State as being the ultimate oppressive power structure, I see patriarchy in the same light. He’s influenced me to be more of an anarchist and I’ve in turn made him more of a feminist. We teach each other so much every day, and it makes for an interesting and healthy relationship.

Tonight at the house we had a really interesting group dance session. The music was broken down into 5 parts (Stillness, Staccato, Chaos, etc.) and it was essentially a metamorphose of expressive bodies, reacting to a variety of sounds. Once the initial awkwardness wore off, I felt free to move about however I desired. Afterward I felt so relaxed and at peace, like I’d shed a bit of my ego. It reminded me that I need to meditate more often.

I also forgot to mention in my last post that I got the internship at the Austin Film Society! Woot Woot!

The burlesque/house show was out of control. There must have been 300 people there at one point. B L A C K I E was by far the best performance of the night, and has since become my new hero/lover. He somehow manages to fuse hip-hop and metal and… it’s just fucking amazing. But back to the burlesque! Tassled titties were exposed, violent whipped cream cumshots were had. Need I say more?

Lately I’ve been sort of depressed, mostly due to the negative reactions I’ve been getting from people toward my feminist views. Lip Service is somewhat in limbo right now and may be canceled this semester. Apparently we broadcast the sentence: “How many penises can you put in a woman?”, which is by FCC standards considered to be sexually explicit, and therefore obscene. I do recall someone saying this, but only in an analytical context, speaking matter-of-factly about the violent trends of pornography. I’m going to do my best to get a second chance on this one. If we have to tame the sexual aspects of the show, that’s fine. I would just be so lost without the show. There’s no other platform for my radical views.

On a happier note, the first weekend of shooting went well. We were able to knock out the motel, office, and house scenes. This upcoming weekend we will hit the green belt, the “cave” (our basement), and a cafe. Then we will wrap up at The Mohawk and Bookwoman the following week. I can’t wait to see all of the footage! By the way, I wanted to let everyone know that we will need a ton of extras for The Mohawk shoot on Friday January 23rd, from noon to 5 pm. Please come out if you can make it! You’ll get to drink and be in a local independent film!

My PC finally called it quits on me, so I decided to buy myself an early graduation present. I had to, come on! Just look at it in all of its 24 inch glory. Plus I need something powerful enough to run Avid when I get out there in the “real world”. She’s a beaut. Absolutely gawgeous.

Anyway, our gender-bending burlesque performance is this Saturday and I’m getting so excited! You know me, I’ll take any excuse to strip down to nothing but tasseled pasties. We’re going to have tons of props such as whipped cream, cherries, condom balloons, dildos, butt plugs, strap-ons, and confetti. It’s going to be a fucking riot! Other than stressing over the show, my days have consisted of casting, script writing (it’s finally done!), and location scouting. The tentative title for the film is A Man Possessed but I’m not sure that I’m satisfied with it yet. Something will hit me once we start shooting, I’m sure.

What’s everyone doing for New Years Eve? I can’t decide if I want to go downtown, check out a party, or just stay at home sipping champagne and watching Firefly with my boy toy. My New Years resolution? STOP SMOKING 2009. Holy jesus, it’s about time.

My holiday break is going really well. I’m actually being productive! We are almost done casting for the film and it’s going to be an all non-white cast, which I’m very excited about. The script is in the revision stages but should be done after Christmas and the shooting will begin two weeks from now. I hope this project is worthy of submitting to film festivals. I have a really good feeling about it.

On Saturday January 3rd, House of Commons will be having a house show featuring six bands and a burlesque performance by the house. We will be performing three different raunchified songs from The Sound of Music–in drag! It’s BYOB but well worth it. Come out and see me wearing a mustache and shaking my pasties!

I recently added a few recorded shows from Lip Service under the Radio section. The ladies and I now have a blog as well, which you can check out at lipservice917.blogspot.com for updates and more recordings. This week we will be reading some of our feminist writing as well as pieces that have inspired us, so make sure to tune in!

My films will be uploaded soon, I promise! They are such massive files (several gigs) and take hours to upload, so I may need to compress them (grudgingly, of course). Speaking of which, the screening of Growth will be this Thursday, December 11th at 8 pm. Everyone is welcome to attend and there will be 9 other short films. Get in touch with me if you want directions.

Wade is moving into House of Commons tomorrow! Stoked!!!

Well, Thanksgiving was a ton of fun and a much needed break. I started the day off with lunch at my best friend’s mother’s house. It’s somewhat of an annual hippie fest–plenty of vegetarian food, a prayer circle, folk songs, and doobies. Later in the evening Evan and I headed down to H-town to hang out with my family. We played a lot of chess, sampled some Tofurkey, and went to the movies to see Twilight. I haven’t read the series yet but I enjoyed the film nevertheless. If you can bear with the high school melodrama and the occasional campy moment, it’s actually a pretty great movie. Very erotic too!

This week is the last of the semester for me and it’s going to be absolute hell. I have a film due tomorrow that’s still lacking some sound and music, another due Wednesday that needs some serious cleaning up, and a final on Friday. I guess it’s going to be another week of all-nighters! Christmas break will be amazing though. I’ll be looking for a production internship, collaborating on a feature-length with some friends, getting the burlesque troupe geared up for our first show in January, and possibly making a road trip to Mexico. Bring it on.

« Older Entries