Resistance

Martin Boyce - We Are Resistant, We Dry Out In The Sun (2004)

"I sit, awkwardly fraying a sleeve with my front teeth, in front of the next contestant in a trickling that seems like a barrage. I smirk while she recounts the death of her previous boyfriend and she smirks while telling me she never wants to see me again. The smiles illicit a certain level of comfortable normalcy – one for which I’ve been searching for some time. I smile when I’m uncomfortable and she smiles when she’s right. And we are a happy couple smiling at each other in a coffeeshop.

It this what life is about? Finding a way to sculpt ones abnormalities into a sitcom format? Into a resume format? She explains that the content should speak for itself and the rest shouldn’t suggest a distraction. She stresses the importance of black lines to suggest confidence. She lectures me on the art of removing all art. And she smiles.

She’s much better than my therapist. In ways I feel I should be paying her, but she doesn’t have the capacity to accept payment through my insurance. She makes it all make sense and I love her for it. But I don’t. Why not? As I squat in the public restroom I realize I’m vulnerable without my pen. And that this paragraph will never translate correctly from the way I’d first imagined.

One should know what he wants and exude this desire at all times. If he makes wee-wee in the apartment, you have to slap him with a newspaper."

Okkervil River - For Real (mp3) [music video]

Okkervil River - Black (mp3)

Okkervil River - A Favor (mp3)

Okkervil River - War Criminal Rises and Speaks (mp3)