Sound and Vision

I guess even morning people have their mornings. And those morning people have their nights as well. Regardless, they’ll say, “I’m having a morning” like they’re stuck in a hell specially customized for their own personal peril — I woke up this morning in SeaWorld. Swimming in it (my sinuses). I am the walrus. It’s morning and I’m having it.

It all started in Detroit, much like that Kiss movie, Henry Ford, and Motown (read: everything important). I stepped off the plane on my way to North Carolina in total silence. The silence started at about 30,000 feet, and it’s been silent ever since. It was nice for a while. I enjoyed it during the first hour of my three hour layover. I enjoyed it on my next flight when I could sit and read Breakfast of Champions without also listening to everyone else’s conversation. I also enjoyed it while I was eating a huge bag of Cheetos, because they were super crunchy. You know what I mean? Yeah. You totally know. Cheetos rule.

I was walking around, making keen observations and staring at everyone in the silence when I realized that I didn’t have headphones in. My ears tricked me into thinking I was wearing headphones. It was just noise I wasn’t hearing (or silence I was hearing. Whoadudechillout). So, naturally, I got all self-conscious about my auditory range. The type of movie totally changed. First, I was walking around like Johnny Depp in Blow. The good part of Blow, where he walks through the airport with Black Betty playing in the background. The definition of style. But after my self-realization/vision/freak out, I sort of felt like Johnny Depp, but this time when he’s in the bar full of dinosaurs in Las Vegas. You know, the hyper-aware-of-all-his-actions Johnny Depp. So, I sat down in corner by the window, wide eyed and white teethed, and melted into my book for the remainder of my stay in Detroit.

“Safety. Obscurity. Just another freak, in the freak kingdom.”

I guess that thing you are taking for granted most is the exact thing that gets taken away, every time. For me: sound. But all I really learned is that I like to hear things. It’s kind of fun though, I tell people that my ears are all clogged with airplane fluids, and then when they say things, sometimes I can just pretend they don’t exist. And, you know, when the world takes away distant sounds, it gives your lots of rad music to listen to. So, here’s a mixtape I made:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7mjg6aui220r02r/SeaWorld.zip

Fuck Detroit,

Riley.

P.S. http://tu.tv/videos/bill-plympton-your-face-short-fi