Hookah, Smoke, Lounge

The secret isn't in how you breathe in the smoke, it's in how you let it out. Too fast and you don't get that high. Too slow and you start to choke, forgetting the reason you started this. Your eyes water from the scents in the air, the tobacco that hangs heavy on your tongue, the liquid that soothes your throat even if it's just vapors of water in the air, the cologne and perfume of people trying to lose themselves in this lounge. Wreathes of smoke circle people, streams exhaled noisily by business men, wisps gently puffed out by classier broads and the hacking chuckles of boys and girls barely old enough to be here.

He isn't the kind of guy you want to talk to and she isn't the type of girl you buy a drink for. But right here, right now, they're all you get and just for tonight, they're giving you a chance to move on and play pretend. It doesn't matter if you'll forget it in the morning, as long as you can make it through the next six hours just fine. Breathe in and out slowly.

Student Joys

The Simplest Things that Bring a (College) Student Joy

(as told to me)

 

1. Free booze

2. Free food

3. A cutie looking at you

4. A cutie flirting with you

5. Getting asked for your number

6. Getting a number

7. Anything free

8. More sleep

9. A good grade

10. A good grade without actually putting forth any effort

Coffee and Chocolate

"Coffe, chocolate, men - some things are better rich."

Coffee is the both the blessed relief and bane of my existence. I love it, the different flavors of hazelnut, vanilla creamer, amaretto, sugar and nothing else, sometimes cinnamon and nutmeg. It's a great pick-me-up and I know quite a few college students swear by it to stay awake after an all-nighter. But there are days when caffeine fuels my anxiety, makes me a shrew and turns all good-will into something out of a creature feature film. Those are the days I turn to chocolate.

The Mayans believed it was a gift from the gods, that it was an aphrodisiac, that it had mystical powers. Early Europeans believed in it as a luxury item, something that people still believe in today. America, for all of its desire to customize its society, sometimes relies on the simplest of chocolates: a Hershey's bar.

Personally, I love Ferro Rocher, Belgian chocolates, Godiva-covered cookies, anything that's rich and so mouth-wateringly smooth. Sometimes, fresh fruit provides that extra tang, acid from strawberries tasting like cheap wine, but with chocolate that dark, who cares? Orange hints inside of milk chocolate, sweet and mellowed out. Mint leaves dipped in white chocolate, smooth, strong and sensible.

Ah, but I could never enjoy a mocha. The epic combination of coffee and chocolate has failed me many times before. If I want caffeine, I sacrifice the sweetness of hot chocolate. If I crave the foamy sugar, I must relinquish all claims to staying awake. Still, I think it'd be awfully mean of me to deny that there is something precious about a hint of coffee inside of chocolate.

Image courtesy of pinterest.com

Steampunk Convention

I love the idea of steampunk: classic Victorian gentry and traditions, but with modern day science and techniques. Anyone can be part of it, can create things from it, can change how they look at their world.

I went to a steampunk convention and I realized something: a person made each piece of their costume, creating a different dimension to this world, and that person was the most unique one in their own dimension.

While there are those who would argue that steampunk is simply wishful thinking and a romanticization of the past, I feel that they miss the point.  The point is that we create this realm of fantasy, because we can, and because we wish to expand on the glorious things that we previously took for granted.

"To some, ‘steampunk’ is a catchall term, a concept in search of a visual identity. To me, it’s essentially the intersection of technology and romance. – Jake von Slatt

Shudder

There is something

S (upernatural)
A (ttractive)
T (empting)
I (nsistent)
S (tupefying)
F (ascinating)
Y (earnful)
I (nviting)
N (onsensical)
G (ratifying and overwhelming)
about gliding
one
finger down to
watch
the ripples spread,
like series of waves that CRASH
over you,
make you feel
like
drowning.
Twist your head slightly,
O-o-open
your mouth,
only to let your skin
vibrate
as skin rubs
against
skin.
He whispers
to you
"Let go."
And you can only let
the waves
rise up
and
capsize both of you,
dragging you down
in some siren-song,
curled up in a desperate embrace.
It is
S (udden)
U (nbelievable)
B (reathtaking)
L (iberating)
I (ntense)
M (agical)
E (verything he can give you for right now).

"The Kiss" by Gustav Klimt

Shades of Gray

I'm listening to Laura Shay's "First to Fall" and it's soothing. There's a faint pitter-patter-pit-pat of rain against my window and the wind has gone from howling in frustration, to simmering in undulating disappointment.

The world, as I see it, is not simply black and white. Neither is it in gray or color. It's marbled, textured, a blend of everything we see. A single ripple on the surface of the lake results in the same reaction in the world. Ridges and lines swirl and twist, invisible hands with fingerprints that leave marks we instinctively feel in this world.

This is what it means when something is a shade of gray. It is not always disappointment. It is not always nonsense. It is not always an answer.

Image courtesy of acidcow.com

Beautiful

I saw this piece of graffiti while I was in Montreal and I loved it. To some extent, I agree. To another, I say: If you like it, that's all that matters.