notes: Bliss Notes

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taking notes on the road

Bliss Notes

visiting an LA nightclub, Bliss, at Melrose and La Cienaga

all ordinary people
here skin wrapped like sausage

the waning days of a "hot" club
conscentual hallucination
exclusivity creates status

I pause during my second ginger ale and sit on a couch and wait for my date: soon after i'm surrounded by red velvet ropes and told i'll be asked to leave when the reserved party arrives

people too cool to be friendly?
a race to defrost through chemistry to reach for warmth
only out of reach from fear
a massive economy build on the fear of rejection
shaping of self for others who are all busy morphing themselves

what is sincere - the hunger
and maybe play
these are mostly willing, witting participants in identity drama for fun and profit
and maybe its their blustering confidence, their embrace of insincerity that is so defying
what do they know?
how did they choose?
what was their opening move?

this kind of analysis ignores the individuals involved
david and liz gathered for a birthday party - babysitter with their four kids out in suburbia.
two young women from beverly hills but finding this place a bit "boujy"
j.maxwell - fashion designer with "anton" - caught in a self-designed ostrich skin coat and abrupt to depart after explaining his career path

I must either be coarsened or withdrawn
or bemused I guess
alternately talking and taking notes
in search of a sense of humor

recalling stories of patti smith on the curb at max's kansas city in nyc
- suburban poet longing for a scene connection
here I see nothing to long after, no new culture fabrication
only the enactment of old mating rituals

roddrigo from brazil, manicly encourages me to realize its all an illusion
these people are all plastic, and fake, he says
that, and he hopes I get laid tonight

one effective strategy for fun here seems to involve ready traffic in small lies

what's the difference between this and a sock hop?
booze, silicon, standards of beauty

Posted by Justin at July 23, 2004 11:55 PM | TrackBack

Comments

Justin, I kind of like these notes you're doing. This note, in particular, reminds me of the things you were writing in earlier years.

Just curious --- was adding "notes" recently a conscious decision on your part to return to the old, poetic, stream-of-consciousness sort of entries you posted in earlier years?

In some ways I think that Movable Type has been a less-than-salutary influence upon Links.com. I became familiar with Links.net just before you moved to Movable Type, and while I'm always fascinated by your work, I look at earlier years' stuff and in those days, unbound by any content management system or weblogging apparatus, you just made your pages freely. That spirit and energy aren't quite as apparent in your more recent Movable Type entries.

Your stuff is always interesting, and I admire the hell out of the fact that you've given so much of yourself to the world, and done so without a shred of reluctance to try new things and embrace new technologies.

Posted by: James at July 27, 2004 08:16 PM

This *is* a good note. My favorite, I think.

It appears that being away from your desktop net connection enhances note thoughtfulness. They take up more space this way, but it's good.

PS: Stay ernest - it becomes you.

Posted by: roBin at August 5, 2004 04:40 PM