A Short History of First Kisses

The magic of a First Kiss. The buildup, the moment. Here are some of mine, in no particular order

-We'd been friendly for a while, were at a party, and I was drunk for the first time. I stole a kiss at a nearby playground and laughed, then you kissed me and ran back to the party.
-We had a vegan date up town, and I said I had a crush on you. You felt the same, and we were in the Square. A Korean photographer asked if he could take our picture, and motioned us closer together. After he left, we kissed in the sunshine.
-We had a sleep over and talked under the covers for hours, our faces nearly touching. We kissed, and later both agreed that it was weird, but would've been weirder if nothing had happened.
-At my birthday, we watched some boys kiss. You laughed and said it was no big deal, and kissed me, and then I kissed you back quickly. Would win 'Beardiest Kiss'.
-We went on an astronomy date and looked at the stars. Later on the couch in my room, I kissed you.
-I was drunk (super hazy) at a concert, and had a great time dancing with you. At the end of the night, we hugged, then kissed, then your friends took you home.
-After weeks of flirting, we ended up at an after-ball party. Some friends drove a bunch of people home, and you sat on my lap in the back seat. We kissed super discreetly, then you stayed the night at mine.
-We'd been on a few dates, and were sitting beside the Avon River. You asked me what I was thinking about, and I said 'the best way to kiss you'. You said I just should.
-We walked around town for hours, and had talked about everything. We were standing on a bridge, and compared hands, then hugged. You said you liked me (as I you), and we kissed

Participation

Most days I'm in town, I have a look around different laneways, and try and check out the street art 'hotspots' (Hosier Ln, Centre Pl, Union Ln, etc). There are always people taking photos, and enjoying the art. Fair enough; it's Melbourne, and the city certainly has a well justified reputation. It does frustrate me though. Not the picture taking (people should embrace art), but what I see as lack of participation. It seems like loads of people observe, but don't realise that it is super easy to be a part of street culture. I believe it's a right (almost imperative) that people interact with their environment. It's yours. Engage with it. Do whatever you want.
Tonight I did some pasting, slightly drunk (thanks Riki!). I put up 60 hearts. 60. And it was super easy. And fun. And think of how many people will see them (and hopefully smile a bit. Or engage romantically). One guy said 'you're doing a great job'. Get out there and do something. You'll probably surprise yourself.
(I also found (via the lovely Georgiebird) this picture by Vivian Maier, which made me want to cry. I drew a picture of it - I was happy with how it turned out)

Short Poetry Collection 1

You might find if contrived
to fall in love with your librarian
but to me
it's a daily occurrence

I can feel all the electricity inside
zipping up my body
'til it collects at the back of my neck,
all at the thought of seeing you again

At night the neighbour's security light shines
filtered through the trees and my thin curtains
and ends on my wall, looking like a neuron universe.
I stare in to it 'til my eyes go dark
or the light switches off

Over the fence there is a barking dog.
'Why are you barking?' I ask
'Because the wind blows, and the light shines, and there is so much I don't understand' it says.
But actually, that was just a guess
cos all I heard was
'arf rarf arff'

Mini zine review

Recently I discovered that the Brunswick Library has a zine collection, and I've been borrowing a nice ol' bunch. Here are my thoughts on some of them, * = highlight

A Life in Botany - nice anecdotes about plants and flowers
Plastic Knife #5 - good short poetry * 'The Dam', 'the only way to fix the dam was to blow it up'
Just to Annoy You #7, Signs - classic collab zine, lots of nice ideas * good omen: pic of a smiley face in frozen drink
Push the Envelope - outstanding! All about mail, art, letters: just brilliant. Best zine I've read in ages
Disposable Camera - oh, and then I read this one! Beautiful poetic glimpses of life *unfolding Wish List
blue floral gusset - frank and interesting thoughts on transvestism and gender
Some Fun Questions to Ask Your Sexual Partner - really fun read, based on poorly-worded questions for your boyfriend
Hello Stupid #1.5 - pretty 'teenagey' kind of zine. Enjoyable

Pages

"This page is dead", I say to myself. The wireless has dropped out on my netbook, and I'm left with half-loaded ideas, and pages devoid of pictures.
Resigned, I close the lid, and pick up Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being.
"This page is dead", I say to myself. The paper I'm touching was once part of a tree. I think about how information is stored, how it changes over time. I read a few pages, but start to wonder if the internet is working again.
I close the book, and go for a walk, touching the trees as I pass.

Webcam Self Portrait, 1 - 3

1 - David waiting for the toaster to pop

2 - David in his new coat

3 - David eating an apple

Surgery

Are you ready for this? you ask, and I say yes, though I never knew about your surgical background. I trust you, your swagger allows me to. I lie supine on the table, and you open me up. You rummage around inside me like you would with your handbag, moving pieces aside, throwing out bits of junk and receipts. Did you wash your hands? I ask, but you pretend not to hear me. Your hands feel cold, and then I feel a pinch as you grab hold of what you were after. This will hurt you say, and it hurts, and you pull and I feel my insides changing. My eyes are blurry, but I look down and see you, your hands covered in gunk, holding the irrational part of me that always threatened to overwhelm anything else that tried to blossom

Experience

Life in Melbourne is going very well, and I've met some really great people. In particular, I've started dating a friend of Kiri's, Naomi. She's fantastic - we went out a few times, and really clicked. It's been heaps of fun, and it's great just spending time together. I think we're 'on the same page' about a lot of things.
Today we met in town. I'd made her a musical mix, and while I lacked equipment to make it tangible (tape player, CD burner etc), hasn't music surpassed physical formats? Isn't it more about the experience, the sound, and how it affects you? With this in mind, we had a Mix Experience. The previous night I'd pasted 15 stars around the city. Each had a track listing, and the location of the next track. I had the songs on my mp3 player, and she listened to each as they were found (I could hear them in my mind). At the end, I gave her a flash drive with all the songs. A really nice way to share music, the city, and each other.

Naomi, enjoying Grayson Gilmour's Loose Change in Degraves Pl

Dear Christchurch,

Hey, how's it going? I've been meaning to write, and I've had plenty of time to reflect on what you mean to me in the three months since I left. In a word, you're incredible, and have played such a pivotal part in my life.
As I'm sure you remember, I moved down from Palmerston North in 2007, and knew nobody. I lived at a student hall, and it was a while before I met some real Cantabrians, but I did my best to cycle around and check out everything you had to offer. I was in a really good space to try new things (having attended Outward Bound six months prior), and things fell in to place nicely (radio, animal rights activism, uni malarkey). The next year, I worked as a residential assistant, and felt like I really grew as a person. I also started to discover your local music scene, and the many wonderful people that went with that.
Through meeting such people, in 2009, I moved closer to the city, in to the Log Cabin, which I can safely say is the best flat I've ever lived in. A tremendous bunch of truly outstanding people. And from there I met more of your local people. It was a beautiful cycle.
I loved exploring your streets, buildings, parks and outdoors. You are (or were) home to some of the greatest people I've ever met, who I love dearly. It was hard to leave you, and this does no justice to how much you truly mean to me. I know things will be rebuilt and spirits restored, and I'll be back again to spend more amazing time with you.
For now though, just know that you're always on my mind, and always in my heart.

With love and admiration
-David
x

Feel good redux

In a creative whirl the other night, I drew a larger version of the recent feel good picture - something pasteable. I was really happy with how this guy turned out, and it looks like he's giving you a darn sexy 'come hither' look (I was listening to the smooth sounds of Toro y Moi as I drew...). He's available for romantic engagements on the corner of Greeves and Gore, Fitzroy.

All

I am a hundred years old, and I look back on my life. I see all the people I've loved, all the girls I've kissed, all the beautiful pieces.
I see how everything unfolded exactly as it was supposed to. And I see how I wrapped up every moment, so that what came after is on top of what came before.
I peel back the layers, until it's just the two of us, staring into the expanse

Appreciation

On my way to work the other day, there was a really amazing rainbow. It was huge, with really vivid colours, and it lasted for a long time. Later in the evening, I was talking with my workmates, and we'd all seen it, and agreed it was amazing.
A few weeks earlier, I was on the train, along with hundreds of AFL ('footy') fans. The sun was setting, and many of them noticed the amazing sunset.
Rainbows and sunsets are such amazing phenomena, and people may occasionally take them for granted. No matter what happens in your life, remember that you can appreciate rainbows.

Crochet winner!

Thanks for the entries - there were 12 all up (including ones on facebook). Some neat ideas, and I might play around with a few of the suggestions. The winner however, is Lucy, who wanted a bow for her hair (I picked the winner using the totally rad random.org). Well done - it'll be coming your way in the next few weeks.
What else is happening? I saw Miranda July's The Future. It was good, but very sad and different to what I was expecting. I also read the book of Learning to Love You More, which made me both smile and tear up. I watched Source Code, and it was fantastic, interesting and full of heart, plus a great performance from Jake Gyllenhaal. I've been to a bunch of gallery openings, drawn pictures and written letters.