.pride.

Chris Ogbonnaya: St. Louis Rams

There was me, that was Alex.

"A Clockwork Orange"
Anthony Burgess


"There was a medical book that I took down, but when I opened it it was full of drawings and photographs of horrible wounds and diseases, and that made me want to sick just a bit. So I put that down and then took down the big book or Bible, as it was called, thinking that might give me comfort as it had done in the old Staja days (not so old really, but it seemed a very very long time ago), and I staggered over to a chair to read in it. But all I found was about smiting seventy times seven...So then I near cried."

A book can provide you not only a hobby or an experience. But its very presence can question and confront your beliefs and way of life as if a complete character or human itself. I've never read a book like A Clockwork Orange before in my life, and I will never read a book like it again. Its confusion, reality, struggle, forced me to look at my own life, my own vices, my own inclinations and dependencies, and confront my Alex.

.Musts.

The Prince of Tides(Pat Conroy)
-"I did not yet have the interior resources to dream new dreams, I was far too busy mourning the death of the old ones and wondering how I was going to survive without them."

The Catcher in the Rye(J.D. Salinger)
-"All these angels start coming out of the boxes and everywhere, guys carrying crucifixes adn stuff all over the place, and the whole bunch of them - thousands of them - singing "Come All ye Faithful" like mad. Big deal. It's supposed to be religious as hell, I know, and very pretty and all, but I can't see anything religious or pretty, for God's sake, about a bunch of actors carrying crucifixes all over the stage. When they all finished adn started going out the boxes again, you could tell they could hardly wait to get a cigarette of something. I saw it with old Sally Hayes the year before, and she kept saying how beautiful it was, the costumes and all. I said old Jesus probably would've puked if He could see it."

The Perks of Being a Wallflower(Stephen Chbosky)
-"We accept the love we think we deserve"
-"I feel infinite"

Scartissue(Anthony Kiedis)

Lying in a hospital bed.

No, not the name of a new song, album, or band. This has been me the past six days of life and I could not be more miserable.
I'm sitting here listening to Company of Thieves, Rilo Kiley, and some old favorites. Unlike my current physical appetite, my musical appetite raves. Having been locked up for so long, I not only have not breathed fresh air in days, but I have not listened to anything new. My hospital internet connection blocks website such as Youtube, iLike, and Pandora, which (along with facebook) could be my connection to the outside world. Instead, I sit here all day and feel horrible, sleep, watch one of my four channels on the tv (I know, wide variety), and peruse the virtual world of facebook. So, I uploaded some pictures from my recent concert going--no, not Chairlift. I had to miss that one because of my ailing health. These ones come from the masterful stylings of Brandon Boyd and his amazing band, Incubus. Love these guys--one of the best shows I've been to thus far:


These guys are amazing. It actually amazes me that after all these years I still have not seen Incubus in concert until now. It was an experience to say the least. Even sick. It was an experience. Next up???

Company of Thieves @
The Beachland Ballroom [Cleveland, OH.]
August 16th, 8p

I love it. I first heard about this band from a very music experienced friend from school--Haley, who actually presented me with the opportunity to be able to work with Sony. She gave me the album and I loved it. Now--health permitting--I will be able to get to the concert in T minus five days at the Beachland Ballroom. Very excited :]


That's it for now. There's only so much my sick and overloaded mind can take at one time.


--C.
Music calls us home.