Sketch N' Betch.

So I picked up a Wacom tablet yesterday so I could draw stuff DIGITALLY.

BEST PRESENT TO MYSELF EVER.

Check it out.

Love,
Dakotah

Even Love The Cool Kids

In addition to being an awesome band name, it's something I have to constantly remind myself. Considering that Silly Is The New Sexy is my general philosophy--a lot of 'Cool People' slip through the cracks.

I think cool is stupid as hell, so I don't cut it any slack. Consequently, I look down on the phenomenon as a whole and tend to castigate those who buy into it. It's just as unfair as cool people doing the same. It comes from a fear of acceptance. Write them off before they write you off--essentially it reveals the underlying need to be found just as cool.

But I ain't. I won't ever be, and I don't want to be.

And shit, it's individual anyway. Utterly. Why am I going to expend any energy trying to compare the whole of my being to anyone/anything else? I think swing dancing is cool. I think hilarious videos are cool. I think Gurren-Lagann is cool. I think the large hadron collider is cool. I think buying an old military decal and pinning it to my hunting cap is cool. Also; goths who are totally nice, swanky coffee shops, irreverent webcomics, steampunk, poetry, Shakespeare, and fantastic butts are all cool.

Theory: Human beings crave additional methods of measurement--things that aren't as simple as physique--things that can tip the scales in the everyman's favor. Things we can ultimately control.

So we made 'cool'...and the hipsters/bros/thugs/shopgirls said it was good.

It's an expired concept. It's time to trade it for something like 'honesty' or 'enthusiasm'.

Dorkily yours always,
Dakotah

That Competitive Edge

Had a revelation this morning.

Somehow I'd let myself begin to think I'd won. Or not necessarily won per se--but that I was at least somewhere around the 84% completion mark....as if I was waiting for my Trophy to unlock on the main menu somewhere. I'd made a final push through life and now I could take it easy, because--hell--I'd already put in all my effort! Anything I do NOW involves getting called back out of retirement. I'm Solid Snaking this shit. Shadow Moses, BITCH.

Or so I thought.

Suddenly I realized that I'm not even CLOSE to 'done'. Percent complete? ZERO.

And that's AMAZING. Post-game is a great time to relax...to ease up on that competitive edge. But not NOW. NOW is the opposite! I've let myself slack and I'm only JUST realizing it. After a whirlwind three years--easily the most difficult and amazing years of my life--I started to lean on the wall and catch my breath. Fate, however, has different plans for me. It is SO FAR from over that I laugh at how I could even pretend it was. I wanted rest. I wanted some kind of medal for finishing a few aspects of life.

I forgot I was a beginner. I'm STILL a beginner. How beautiful is that?

In the meantime, I have to pack up. Got two shows and two workshops today. Somehow--instead of feeling exhausted by it--I'm feeling invigorated.

Pop, lock, and drop it,
Dakotah

Smelly

So times like now are really difficult.

I don't know how it managed to transcend time and space--but somehow, your smell is on my fingertips. Its inexplicable. It's absurd. It's the smell of 'Gross Pointe Blank' and Toad-In-A-Hole made with Sourdough toast. It's medicine and redwood trees, travel and sleep. Decisions, mistakes, and repetitions. Exploding glass and hair.

Yes, I'm being excessively sentimental--perhaps its the result of a few pints and an 8 hour drive through northern Idaho (not in that order) into the impossibly gorgeous lakeside paradise of Sandpoint (Stars Hollow. No joke.)

The smell is fading. I'm using it up. It brings tears to my eyes. It's like that, though. That's the way it works. I'm okay with it.

But fuck all if I don't find myself missing your celtic knots and your Buffy dance.

I Am Constantly Blown Away

Holy fucking shit--we can do ANYTHING.

I saw Balance Dance Company perform today--and it fucked me up.

I should elaborate.

Dance is an art form that I profess to have only a cursory knowledge of...so watching it feels like an absolutely pure experience. These freaking girls--no--these artists could express themselves in a way I couldn't even begin to crack into right now. It was amazing, and at the same time, it's something I could completely do given the time and focus. Time and focus...patience and passion.

And...yeah...we can do ANYTHING.

ANYTHING we want.

For reals.

How crazy is that?

Two months ago, I was working at Barnes and Noble--shelving Twilight books and trying to see the friends I could on the weekends in the meantime. Now I'm performing a role I didn't think I'd even get considered for--for another ten years...and I'm getting PAID to do it! WHAT THE EFF.

I love life.

Love love love,
Dakotah

Limit Break

This post isn't about special attacks from Final Fantasy.

Not this time, anyway.

I follow the blog of Jason Mraz's ex-sound engineer slash joyologist. She is amazing, and I'm completely (one might say...TOTES..) in love...and not the kind of 'in love' where you have to be loved back. It's the other kind. The infinite kind that you can pour over everyone you encounter.

Like custard.

Her post just got me thinking about the infinite nature of life. Her comment about being 'at capacity' struck a particular chord with me. I've always had a weird idea about people getting to a certain age and settling. Like we've done all of our growing up and we now deserve the grand prize--comfort. I know that isn't necessarily the case, but it IS something I've always been concerned about. Finding that one person who is willing to share your life with you--who WANTS to grow and who WANTS to take on every single challenge life has to offer.

That'd be wild.

In the meantime--you can NEVER have enough friends, enough loves, enough happinesses, enough favorites. You can never know enough languages, master enough sports, arts, games...Jeez... If ever in my life, I forget that its our nature to EXPERIENCE and EXPLORE it ALL--I want whatever I'm eating to be knocked out of my hand while someone shouts at me through a megaphone.

Love love love (you can never have enough)
Dakotah

My Sanctuary

On the way back from a show in Cascade, Idaho--the cast decided to take a stop along the road and scramble down the rocky path to a river below.

Here's where I ate lunch.



And yes, I am levitating.

No, but for reals--WHAT THE EFF. My day basically consists of the following.

• Get up early
• Meet similarly bleary-eyed friends
• Drive an hour or so to our performance spot
• Optional coffee break
• Perform
• Optional lunch break
• Go thrift store shopping/sightseeing
• Come home
• Realize its 1 o'clock in the afternoon.

Job = Rad. Still.