What's the point of writing a journal intended to be public that no one reads?

If Shakespeare were born 30 years ago, he wouldn't be writing plays, but Hollywood blockbusters.

If James Joyce were born 25 years ago, he'd be a struggling actor.

The fact is, there is no romance left in me. The unaccompanied narrative is dead, meaning is made on video.

Music with no images falls on deaf ears.
Words with no pictures might as well be latin, read by nobody.

Every piece of culture: words, music, photos, film, anything, must be marketed. Without marketing, there is no audience--it doesn't exist.

Mongolian Spots:

Blueish spots on the back (usually) of Asian babies.
My son has them.

His racial makeup is as follows:
50% Khmer, 37.5% Sicilian, 6.25% French, 6.25% Huron Indian

more info about Mongolian Spots.

It will be interesting to note whether my next offspring has them.

I received the following email today:

Attn:Giambrone
Compliments of the day to you. I must solicit your confidentiality and
assure you that I am contacting you in good faith and this proposal
will be of mutual benefit.Richard Alex {esq.}, personal attorney to late Jim
Giambrone and also a legal practitioner.My service covers individuals,corporate bodies and institutions.
I also represent Government Departments as an External Solicitor. My client,late Mr Jim Giambrone,was killed with his entire family in a fatal accident,sparing none of their lives, some years ago before his death,I assisted him in the deposit of some funds with a Security Company for safekeeping.The funds have remained unclaimed since his death, and such unclaimed funds are appropriated and returned to the treasury as a matter of policy.
Considering the lack of success in my bid to locate any of his relatives for over a year now, I hereby solicit your consent to enable me present you as the Next of Kin to my deceased client.I am contacting you for two reasons.
Firstly, you both have the same lastname, which makes the claim most credible.
Secondly, I strongly believe that the Security Company does not deserve to inherit the funds. These reasons led to my resolve to claim the funds, which was why I contacted you.With your permission, I will proceed to establish you as the next of kin/Beneficiary to my late client. As soon as this is done, you will then give instructions to the Security Company, to transfer the deposited funds into another account you will provide, after which we shall then share the funds upon agreed terms.
When I receive your response, I will provide you with further details.I await your reply,
Regards,
Richard Alex {esq}
frnd_bama1@yahoo.co.uk
The information in this email is confidential; please,if you are not interested destroy this message,delete any copies held on your systems immediately.You should not retain, copy or use this email for any purpose,nor disclose all or any part of its content to any other person.


Do you think it's real? ;)

NOTE TO SELF:
Do style and content analysis of above piece...

I copied this from http://are-oh-vee.blogspot.com/2006_09_01_are-oh-vee_archive.html

"Ah, those fishnets is less abiding than this skillful chloroquine regarding Chino Hills. Oh, these boardroom decisions is less resentful than both constant big babies behind Sainte-Adele. Gosh, half of sleeping tablets atrocious foolhardily thrust across half of caustic aboard Waukegan. Crud, this christmas gift list bastard triumphantly gibbered within a slick until Memphis. Hello, these barcelo hotel lanzarote is far less hysteric than these eloquent office 2003 excepting Calumet City. Um, both paying rent is far less dim than these frisky stock floor save for Clarksburg. Um, the public enquiry is less flashy than these flamboyant distilling from Manhattan. Eh, one menorah is more sexual than this editorial outquote barring Clermont.Goodness, all limitation is far more forceful than this devoted colostomy bag outside Atkinson. Gosh, this lamellas is more fetching than this imperative netwrk about Flagstaff. Jeez, the prettifies is less tidy than both light the un depending on Rouyn-Noranda. Dear me, all mismating majestic disgracefully overran apart from those immediate aboard Duncan. Goodness, one submucosas subtle habitually snuffed besides all happy considering Berthierville. Hi, a tropomyosin is much less ridiculous than a essential denationalization up to Chapel Hill. Er, these warner brother smooth grudgingly flipped other than all intense barring Hudson. Uh, these youth youths archaic unbearably whooped versus a perfect according to Brooks.Hmm, a skoda fabia estate is more toneless than this youthful centrifuge around Val-d'Or. Eh, this seen it before cold obsessively paid astride this pleasant because of San Mateo. Jeepers, some sisal is more haughty than that sorrowful mingled amongst Williamsport. Wow, both hotel accommodation barcelona devilish neglectfully put prior to both dishonest other than Toronto. Hi, these miniature cricket pitches is less wholehearted than half of bastard nauseate underneath Ashland. Darn, that forlornly is far less affirmative than that uninhibited bouillon in front of Alna. Oh my, one instance is more obsessive than this magnanimous armacao de pera amid McAlester. Oh, this hagiographic conscientious aerially foretold regarding both gallant aside from Salem."


I think it is a brilliant amalgam of the English language. The fact that it is incoherent and without meaning is immaterial. It will snag search bots with it's convoluted strings of keywords. Does it's structure say something about the time we live in? Keywords and bigwords, run-on sentences, parts of language, "prior to both", "far less .. than", "in front of"... a meaningless string of attention getting words and phrases, along with highlighted place names. Our culture is becoming so googleized that the value of anything is how perfectly it can be summed up with a keyword.

The future will be ruled by those who control the language.

I’m disturbed by the marrying insanity of Cambodians.

It is all too common a practice for Cambodians from the States to return to Cambodia and get married literally in a few days to someone they just met. $20,000 is a common figure to be paid for the privilege. This is done with the consent of the family.

They have to fake a marriage and lie to consular officers to get the visa in order to live in the states. It’s extremely common and it’s a very un-American thing to do. The Cambodian-Americans who are fully Americanized are not the ones who are doing this. It’s those who came over when they were still children who are coming back now to get married.

If you think about the time-frame: now is the time when it’s going to happen: The refugees mostly came to the states in the early 80s, just after the Pol Pot regime. The children they brought with them would be in their late 20s, early 30s by now. The ideal marrying age for men.

The ones who are completely Americanized and cannot speak Khmer are not the ones doing it in great numbers. It’s the ones that were born in Cambodia and spent several years of their life there that were never really completely American and thus had trouble getting American girlfriends.

But as for me, I am completely American and yet I had a hell of a time finding girlfriends. But in Cambodia it was very easy and I didn’t have a family (or extended family) to “give” one to me. Although there were many offers from people who wanted to be my family.

So in a sense I am like those guys who were not completely American and had to come back to get a wife.

My parents were born in America. 2/4 of my grandparents were also born in America. And yet I feel and behave just like I am not completely American.

I am an American in Cambodia who is taking a local girl back to the states but who is not really even American himself. The difference is: I didn’t get paid for it. I’m doing it for love and my unborn child. But Cambodians would see no problem with giving a daughter to some Cambodian-American guy to marry her. Even if he is 36 and she is 18. But most Americans, myself included, would.

I did not tell Bailey the true story.

I told him the adulterated version. One time I started to go down that road and he cut me off in such a way that made it clear that he didn't want to know/wouldn't do the case if he knew.

I did not take the stand. It's not a good idea. Lawyers are professionals and they will make you look stupid. Plus you don't want to pit yourself against police officers. You will lose in the minds of average Americans (who will always believe the guy in uniform). You want to pit the Police Officers against contrary evidence.

--

1. Tell Bailey you want to go to Trial from the get go.
2. Stick to your adulterated story.
3. Do not take the stand.
4. Do not take a deal or be intimidated by the judge or prosecution.

All those pre trials are just a way of delaying to break you and make you cop a deal. It's like when they put a prisoner in jail until he rats out his homies. Because in trial the prosecution and the court always loses on DUI. ESPECIALLY without a breathalyzer.

Some things in your favor:
1. They cannot mention (to the jury) that you are a repeat offender.
2. They cannot say that you refused the breathalyzer test. They just lose that piece of evidence.
3. Their ONLY evidence is that you failed the road-side test.

PLus,
It sounds like you have extenuating circumstances already for failing. Get a Drs. note saying you have a foot problem and you're all but guaranteed a not guilty.

That's reasonable doubt right there. You'd be surprised about how the judge changes from being an asshole who is against you to someone who is just following procedures (which helps the defendents) when the trial begins.

All the instructions he gives the jury (about what to listen to/what to consider favor the defendant)...

---

Some facts about my case:

I called Arnold a week before the trial and left a message telling him to absolutely not go and that he was scum for going etc.

He told the prosecutor and the police on trial day that I left him "threatening messages" and that he had proof. The prosecutor tried to play it up like it was the nail in the coffin but I didn't budge because I knew Arnold wasn't organized enough to be able to get evidence. The judge dismissed his claim outright, asking him to produce it in which he produced some internet photocopied piece of paper which the judge practically laughed at. None of this was in front of the jury, mind you.

So none of it matters. That's the key--you get a jury of regular schmoes who don't give a shit. And they don't hear everything or know everything. What they hear and are exposed to is very controlled. It's so much easier for them to say "not guilty" than it is to say "guilty." The judges instructions, demeanor, everything, favor a not guilty verdict.

The hardest part is staying strong in the months leading up to trial and dealing with the uncertainty.

Sometimes coincidences strike you so hard they jolt you with a pause that compels you to relate it to somebody. As if retelling it gives it a life outside of yourself.

This one that just happened to me was simply too obscure for me to tell anyone, so I'm writing it here.

I'm at my office here in Phnom Penh, it's 8:30 p.m. and I should be home.

I've been perusing the web (not a file sharing service) for Modest Mouse mp3s. A band I enjoyed just before I left the states but have been completely cut off from (like many other unessential things in my former life) since I arrived in Cambodia in December 2004.

Well I found this website that has some of their live recordings and I scrolled down through the dates only to find that they performed in, of all places, Amherst Massachusetts on May 8th 1998. Amherst rarely gets bands of any sort so this came as a surprise.

Just another day and a small town to all except me.

Amherst Mass is my hometown and the place I spent basically 21 formative years of my life.
May 8th is my birthday. I turned twenty years old when they came to Amherst. Of course this was all news to me.

That was just about eight years ago. And oh how shit has changed.

What can I do with a coincidence so strong and relevant to no one but me?
On top of that, I'm in a country where the vast majority of the population would have no clue what I'm talking about.

Obscure band, obscure town, a while ago.

---

8 years ago I would have said:
"everything is meaningless, especially your personal coincidences"

Meaning is what strikes you as important to your life. There is no denying it, Amherst, May 8th. Those are important to me. And the fact that I'm in Phnom Penh, a million miles from Massachusetts, and I stumbled across this reference that assaults my mind and places itself prominently in my consciousness is meaningful.

But don't get me wrong it has no real value. It also has no meaning in the grand scheme of things. Nothing does, we all know that. But that was the point I couldn't really get beyond before I came to Cambodia: That nothing means anything and where do you go from there? You can't really go anywhere, but you can remark on the meaning as it happens to you. Like talking about the scenery in a bus trip that's headed off a cliff.