JOSHUAJENKINSis unremarkable

For reasons still unclear to me I was given a db clay wallet by Lisa Bettany. Thanks go out to both of them.

I'm ridiculously picky when it comes to wallets. I think I've had about five in my entire life and I wear them to shreds. I've never really had one that I've liked for an extended period of time, but I see that changing with this beast.

As a proud new owner of the db clay Orange Hallways Version 3.1 (gotta love an accessory that has a longer name than it's owner) I can seriously recommend these bad boys. The actual wallet style is simple, it's a single fold with plenty of room for bills and four standard slots of cards and your typical somewhat-hidden-underneath-the-normal-slots-slots. I don't carry cash so I have a couple extra cards shoved in the bill area.

There are a couple of things that make the wallet cooler than it's utilitarian purposes. First is the material, something db clay calls Tope, which is apparently eco-friendly and super strong. The material feels awesome to the hand, has a nice texture and feels solid and I can see it lasting. The other cool thing is, obviously, the print. I dig the idea of a picture for a print. The picture is accredited to simply Graeme in the card that accompanied the wallet, but props to this mystery-person and whoever decided to slap the image on a wallet.

Also happy to support a company (in the future I may actually purchase one of these wallets) based right here in sunny NE Portland. I'm not sure where exactly they're located but it can't be too terribly far from my house, which I find pretty cool for no other reason than cred-by-association.

This is probably the longest post I've written, and it's about a wallet. Go figure. Thanks Lisa, and thanks db clay.

••

I'm a stubborn person. I can deal with change when I set it in motion, but when I'm forced to change I have a hard time coping.

Without getting in to any level of detail I find myself in a situation I didn't intend to be in at this stage in my life. I've had plans for myself, who I would be and how I would get there. These plans weren't particularly grandiose, they were logical progressions and they were comfortable. Unfortunately over the course of a half-hour conversation I am now frantically adjusting—recreating—these plans.

I'm having a hard time removing myself from the situation and gaining perspective. I know I can handle this and that the feelings I have towards the situation, and life in general, will pass. However the nasty period between "I can't imagine things being different" and "I'm alright" is an ugly place and I'm ready to be through it.

I feel like I'm a kid learning his first lesson about how life isn't fair. I still hold this romantic notion that good things will come to those who do good things. But that's not the case. The world is political, good things come to those who are lucky and those who know people.

This website is as close as I keep to a journal, so you'll have to forgive the sad view into my head. I hope to look back on this in a few months and feel stupid for letting myself feel this down. I'm not giving up, I'm just one bruise closer to a pessimist.

Update: I'm over it.

••

By now you've probably heard of AMC's critical darling Mad Men. Actually I'm probably the only person on planet America that hadn't watched the show until last week. This is another one of those highly rated series that I'm taking way too long to get to.

This series is fantastic. I am a complete sucker for anything that takes place between 1910 and 1969 and somewhat of an architecture slash city slash New York City nerd. Mix the two together and I'd be completly satisfied if the show was just about a couple guys talking on the street for thirteen episodes.

However, this is not the case. The show is incredibly well written and the direction is great. I love that we're hitting the point where TV series feel like small movies. I think the high-definition transition has a lot to do with that, but I appreciate the level of entertainment I recieve from shows like this.

The series is about a group of men and women tied to the 1960's New York City advertising world by one string or another. The show focuses more on the awkwardness and excitement of a culture slowly breaking down from the white-man-rules-all to the people-are-people society we're close to today. A lot of touchy subjects such as sexism and racism are hit upon without any apologies and I appreciate that; it's always tastefully done.

If you have Comcast cable you probably have this on-demand for free for a couple more weeks before the new season starts (it actually starts next Sunday, but I belive the on-demand period goes one week beyond that). I'd recommend checking it out. The first season is thirteen one hour long (~45 minutes sans ads) long episodes and they're all fantastic.

••

I can't justify subscribing to HBO or staying up to date with pop-culture. The first doesn't agree with my wallet, the second would devastate the street-cred I've been building for years. That's why I haven't seen Flight of the Conchords (the show) until recently.

Over the past few days I've been wading my way through the first season. I'm very bummed that only twelve twenty-six minute episodes exist, but it's better to have loved and lost or, something, I don't think this reference is going to pan out.

So the show; it's hilarious. Comedy gold boiled down and laced with crack. Essentially it's two guys from New Zealand that are in a band, have anywhere from zero to three fans and occasionally pursue women. Oh, and they break into song when necessary. That's it. There's a little plot thrown in there but it's really just a hilarious visual television-show version of their comedy act.

That's all you need to know.

••

I was thinking the whole time "wow, I bet I'm running at a pretty consistent pace."

Not so much.

••