May 29, 2006

Nightfall Overture

Just another midnight hour
Enjoying the cold of a dark winter night
I see the darkness devour
Everything that once was light
And the stars in the sky
Are so lifeless and so grey

Walking in the light of the moon
When the night repairs the day
From the trees come a mournful tune
I am not alone I can hear them say
The moon is your guide
There is no place you can hide

Oh, when the night comes down
And all the colours turn black and white
Oh, when the night comes down
And the dark is conducting the nightfall overture

Who am I in the eyes of the world
What have I done that will remain
Who am I? Will I ever know?
But right now I am the king of this winterlane

Is there anybody out there?
In the middle of the mist in the field
The air doesn't relieve me anymore
Something is here that I have never felt before
...And it's closing in on me...

I am lost in the maze of the night
Surrounded by lights so dark
I am losing all track of time
I'm trying to come out of this endless park

And the air is so dry
I can hear the daylight cry

...Is there anybody out there?...

I see the day is coming
The night is led astray
The dawn of new desires
The end of yesterday
I walk the road to nowhere
Ah, that's what I call home
If I only knew what I was heading for,
But I don't have a place to roam

And then I heard the voices calling
Across the sky in flames
I could hear them clearer now
Once again I could hear them say:

Dream, dream!
I hear the shadows say
Go to sleep my friend!
But I'll remain awake
Dream, dream!
I hear the shadows say
Go to sleep my friend!
Dream, dream!
I hear the shadows say
Go to sleep my friend!
Could be my last mistake
Dream, dream!
I hear the shadows say
Go to sleep my friend!

From a place of shelter
Where I could get some rest
I was so cold but I couldn't care
And soon the sun caressed

Dream, dream!
I hear the shadows say
Go to sleep my friend!
But I'll remain awake
Dream, dream!
I can hear them say
Close your eyes my friend!
Dream, dream!
I hear the voices say
Go to sleep my friend!
I'll make no more mistake
Dream, dream!
I could hear them say
Go to sleep my friend!

My frozen eyes refuse to see
Something tells me it's too dangerous to sleep
It's like I've been through this before
Here I am! Frozen to the core
...Frozen to the core...

I know I must be dreaming
Or am I still awake
Hallucinations rule me
But right now, what difference does it make?
...I am falling again...

Dream, dream!
I hear the shadows say
Go to sleep my friend!
But I remain awake
Dream, dream!
I hear the shadows say
Go to sleep my friend!
Dream, dream!
I hear the darkness breathe
Go to sleep my friend!
And I fade away
Dream, dream!
I heard the voices say
Close your eyes my friend!
And now I fade away
Dream, dream!
And now I fade away...

May 22, 2006

From beautiful to obscene to a squirrel who found his nuts

We all went to Makalawena Beach yesterday- another one of Hawaii's relatively secret coastal treasures. The sun never came out, but I am certainly capable of enjoying a beach at least as much without direct sunlight. Dark grey clouds were rolling off the mountain all day and it rained on the way to the beach, but it only slightly drizzled once or twice there. The access road down was in every bit as bad a shape as I remember it, but it's still fun to drive, even after giving the bottom of the chassis a nice scraping against a steep rocky platform. Bishop Estate owns the road and the land surrounding it, meaning that there is a strict limit on how much you are legally allowed to enjoy yourself, but it also means that it's protected from the threat of over-development. Win some, lose some. Nobody bothered us as we dug holes and constructed sand fortresses, enjoying ourselves in the simplest fashion for free. Like young children. In fact, we were the only ones left on the entire beach. I was tired by late afternoon since I had gotten up at 2 in the morning for work and did seven hours of it, but I also got the chance to meditate in a beautiful atmosphere and be amongst splendid company.

photos

We also watched Over the Hedge later that evening, which was more good, light-hearted entertainment. I would have to say my favourite portion of the film is when the already perpetually invigorated Hammy goes on his energy drink kick. Weird, wild stuff happens, but you'll have to see it to found out!

I can't exactly recall the reason why, but sometime before pizza and the movie, we wandered into Big K-Mart. That equated to my bizarre experience for the day. I really don't know the reason, but just being in there was starting to depress the hell out of me. Certain atmospheres, especially those directly related to my physical senses, have the ability to significantly affect my mood, and I found it difficult to imagine a worse atmosphere than the one that store had.

I suppose I could begin with the lighting. It was so bright in there I was nearly blinded after just stepping in, and each subsequent moment I was in there, to tell the truth. It was just row after row of mercilessly brilliant white flourescent strip lighting, stretching almost as far as the eye could see. It was so cold, uniform, and terribly uninviting. I felt like I was about to go under the knife. I felt faint. It was even worse than Wal-Mart's lighting.

The odours could have been worse. About all I could smell was the overwhelming fragrance of cheap, mediocre merchandise machine-crafted to fulfill someone's desire for over-consumption, and misery. Though the misery could have been my own. The mere thought of having to work in such a place only boosted it. Within a week of working there, I would be reduced to a zombie. A thoughtless, unemotional zombie who would be a constant insomniac, for the lights would still be blinding me even after settling into bed and closing my eyes. I definitely took into account Costco's much more inviting atmosphere when deciding to start working there.

Stuck in a small American town where nothing of interest happens and there is barely anywhere to escape to even if you had the means, where K-Mart is the exciting place to go on a Sunday night to pick up some supplies for the big first day at boarding school bright and early tomorrow morning. They just have to look cool enough so the other kids don't tease you. They will anyway, though, because you're new and not quite perfectly human.

Don't mind me; I'm quite gifted at imagining worst possible situations for myself, and certain things inspire me to do that.

Everything was so organized, so systematic, so orderly and predictable. Restrictive, uncompromising, overpowering. It felt like a stunning representation of reality at its worst. And to imagine, so many K-Marts look almost exactly the same all across the continent. It reminded me how ugly, revolting, and compliant with the uniform standards of bleakness and dreadful mediocrity so much of the U.S.A. has become in just about everything but its lesser commercialized natural attractions.