[www.] D.L. Polonsky [.com]

Friday, February 17th, 2012

D.L. Polonsky — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 17:46:32 +0000

On my way to BATV, a man came on the train with one of those Abercrombie & Fitch bags that has a big photograph of a shirtless, muscular male torso on it. He sat there for a while and then he happened to glance down at it. His eyes widened and his facial muscles kind of clenched. Then his eyes darted around to the other passengers. Then he turned the bag around, presumably because he was afraid people would think he was gay and he thought that was something to be embarrassed about, but it had the same photo on the back. So he put it on the floor of the train and put his leg in front of it.

Tuesday, January 24th, 2012

D.L. Polonsky — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 22:38:47 +0000

Woke up. Realized I left a DVD on all night and it’s been on the menu for about seven hours. Worried that it would somehow hurt the tv (which i bought recently) because someone once told me that it hurts a computer to have the same image on it for several hours and that’s one of the reason the screensaver goes on. Called someone I won’t name to ask him if that was true. Got his voicemail, didn’t bother to leave a message. Urinated. Went to a wifi restaurant to get breakfast and check my email. The Weekly Dig didn’t respond to a drawing I sent them, which was drawn exactly in their style. Ordered blueberry pancakes. They gave it to me without a tray, just a plate with the pancakes hanging off the edge. I asked for a tray and they just stared at me, forcing me to repeat in an embarrassing, stuttering, awkward moment. Then they sort of huffed, rolled their eyes and shook their head. Finally I pointed to the pancakes hanging over the edge and said, “Do you want me to get maple syrup all over the table?!” Then he slowwwwwwly got me a tray. Then he looked at a football game on the big tv and muttered something in Spanish. Then he rung me up. I handed him the money just as slowwwwwwly. He sort of huffed and rolled his yes, not getting the connection to the the slow speed in which he got the tray. Ate breakfast. Something happened that was too boring to talk about. Went home, work on cell-animation drawing in intricate cross-hatching on a light box for several hours. The White-Out brush drove me crazy, putting down big blobs of Wite-Out that I had to smear with my thumb or else they’d take an hour to dry, forcing me to redraw intricate cross-hatching far outside the part I was correcting. Went out again, and put up flyers on bulletin board and in the entrances to restaurants. Looked at the illustration on the cover of a local paper I’ve been sending work to for years. Something I could have drawn in 2 minutes, if I wanted to draw something bad. Went back to the same restaurant for dinner. Someone in the next booth was loudly talking on their cell phone, about 3/4 of the way to screaming. I put my finger in my ear. He glared at me on and off as they he kept talking. Something happened that was too personal to talk about. Took the train to Newbury St. and hung around Newbury Comics. It smells weird in there, and the employees kept getting in the way as they stocked the shelves. Bought “The Great White Hype” on DVD and a 70s compilation music CD. Went home. Worked on the animation drawings some more. Felt depressed and lay in bed doing nothing for forty minutes. Called people. Got mostly voice mail. Had two phone calls I can’t talk about. Tried to clean up my apartment a little. Realized I already had the 70s music CD. Realized I forgot to get my mail and that if I woke up to late the mailman would try to stuff both days’ mail in their and it wouldn’t fit and he might leave it on the side of the stairs and it might get stolen. Went down and got them mail. Went back up and opened the mail. Just crap from Xfinity. Read part of a book. Did nothing for half an hour. Went to sleep.

Thursday, Jaunuary 12th, 2012

D.L. Polonsky — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 00:49:22 +0000

Woke up at 4:47 a.m. Saw a mouse near the radiator in my living room. Since I couldn’t stomp on the floor from the bed (I had it raised so I could store more stuff under it), I pounded on the wall. It ran off. Then, I realized I might have woken up my neighbors. Defecated and urinated. Ate a few spoonfuls of red bliss potato salad. Went back to sleep for 3 hours. Woke up. Put my Macbook computer, mouse, powerchord and mousepad in my backpack. When to a nearby restaurant. Uploaded a scan of my new Newt Gingrich drawing to my Flickr art site. Checked my email. A newspaper I won’t name said they’re not going to use my political cartoons any more. Though I’ve been corresponding with her for 7 years, she called me “D.J.”. Wasted time on Facebook. Ate a stack of blueberry pancakes. All the blueberries were in the middle of each pancake. Unplugged my Macbook and put it away just to urinate so it wouldn’t get stolen. Urinated. Something happened I can’t talk about. Went to Harvard Ave. and put artwork up on bulletin boards. They were still up except someone lifted up one corner of each drawing, so I pressed them down. Went shopping at Staples. At the checkout counter, the guy said, “Did you find everything you were looking for?” I said no but he was talking to another employee and didn’t hear me and absently muttered “Good”.. Went back home. Called about 11 people and got voicemail with 10 of them. Had a phone conversation I can’t talk about. Lay in bed doing nothing for 45 minutes cause my medication makes me tired. Tried to throw things out in my apartment but mostly ended up just moving things around. Brought half a bag of garbage down to the basement. Went back to the restaurant and back on the internet. Got a cheeseburger. The whole thing fell apart when I picked it up. Without thinking, I started the futile activity of complaining about how bad my life is on a messageboard but the computer froze and I lost it before I could type it and didn’t feel like retyping it. Something happened I can’t talk about. Something else happened I can’t talk about. Went back home. Watched “Kaboom” by Greg Araki and part of an episode of “Modern Family” on DVD. Brushed my teeth. Noticed some gross grey thing on the toothbrush so I cleaned the toothbrush and brushed them again. Had a phone call I can’t talk about. Then I called 6 other people and got their voivemail. Started to write an outline for an animated movie I’m planning on doing. Read a few pages of “Johnny Got His Gun” by Dalton Trumbo. Ate an orange-cranberry scone. Was too tired to get a plate so I put it on a square of paper towel. Urinated. Went to bed.

Saturday, October 29th, 2011

D.L. Polonsky — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 20:29:20 +0000

Went to Staples to get some artwork scanned. There was a woman I never saw before working the Copy Center.

ME: I need to get this scanned, but I need the DPI raised. Is Bill (not his real name) coming in today?

WOMAN BEHIND COUNTER: No, he has the day off.

ME: Forget it, then. (Starts to walk away)

WOMAN BEHIND COUNTER: (In snarky voice, looking down at the cash register) Do you have a gender preference?

ME: (Turns around, pauses, grimaces) What?!

Woman just looks at me with faint, self-satisfied smile.

ME: Do you know how to change the DPI?

WOMAN BEHIND COUNTER: What?

ME: Do you know how to change the DPI on the scan?

WOMAN BEHIND THE COUNTER: (Looks at me for a couple seconds, then looks away and chuckles faintly) No.

ME: That’s why I asked when Bill is coming in. Most people tell me they don’t know how to change it.

WOMAN BEHIND THE COUNTER: ALICE (not her real name) is coming in at one. She’s REALLY good at that stuff.

ME: I can’t come back a-

WOMAN BEHIND COUNTER: (Interrupting, impatient) I don’t care . . . whatever.

Friday, June 24th, 2011

D.L. Polonsky — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 00:08:08 +0000

Woke up. Brushed my teeth. Left my apartment. Went into Qdoba at 9:51 a.m. to use the bathroom, knowing that the restaurant wasn’t open yet and they just had the door open to let employees in. Nobody noticed me walking to the men’s room. Urinated. On the way out, some guy stocking the refrigerator saw me. He started to say, “We’re not open yet” but his voice trailed off, apparently noticing that I was walking toward the door and not away from it. Then he looked back in the direction of the men’s room with a confused expression. I walked out. I looked back at him through the glass and saw him saying something to another employee and them both looking in my direction. Hung around my apartment all day, depressed. Watched some episodes of “Monk” and the latest edit of the movie I’m working on. Had two phone calls I can’t talk about. Ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The peanut butter was refrigerated and had honey in it and made me kind of nauseas. It was also hard to spread. Worked a little on the script for the next scene of my movie. Cleaned the floor around my toilet. Went to bed.

Monday, June 13th, 2011

D.L. Polonsky — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 19:23:37 +0000

Woke up. Realized I left a box of cereal open all night. Looked to see if there were bugs in it. No, but knew I’d worry anyway so I decided throw it out. Defecated. Couldn’t find a twist-tie for the cereal so I decided to throw it out when I went out to get breakfast. Stopped in front of Planned Parenthood and walked toward the inset doorway to straighten out my sock, which was uncomfortably bunched up. When I walked toward the doorway, someone protesting there yelled at me, “There’s another way! Jesus has a plan for you!” I’ve seen them yell at people going in there even though they couldn’t be sure what they we’re doing there (they do other things at PP) , but they we’re all women or couples. She was wearing this outfit that looked like a kindergarten decorated for Christmas, holding a big crucifix with a plaster Jesus on it and standing in front of a stroller with plastic baby parts in it. Thought about responding to her but decided to take her picture instead. Threw out the cereal. Something happened I can’t talk about. Went to a restaurant and got breakfast. They gave me a chef salad with almost no meat. Took the train to BATV. Stopped at Newbury Comix to see if they had the earlier seasons of “Monk” and “I Love You, Phillip Morris”. “Morris” was too expensive, got “Monk” even though it was one of the crappy later seasons. Went on another train. Nowhere to sit except the back stairs, and humid. Went into BATV. Edited more of my new film. Agonizing. Constant technical problems like dropped frames, sound disappearing from playback. After 7 hours I got 21 seconds done. Because the station was closing, I could only back it up on DVD, which isn’t high definition. Worried about that on the train ride home and for the first two hours back in my apartmewnt. Finished a drawing. Urinated. Called two people but got voicemail and didn’t bother to leave messages because they almost never call back. Sat on my couch. Went to bed.

Thursday, June 9th, 2011

D.L. Polonsky — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 15:48:15 +0000

Woke up at 3 a.m. today so I decided to start writing this blog earlier. Urinated. Watched episodes of “Monk” on DVD until the restaurants open. Went to a nearby sub shop for breakfast. I just opened up my new Macbook and am now typing this blog. It’s 40 minutes after I wrote the last sentence. There was a guy in here whose voice is so jarring and annoying I couldn’t concentrate on writing this blog. He kept saying “happy camper” and “in terms of”. His voice sounded like a cross between Rod Serling and Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight”, slowed down about one third. He was wearing earth-toned hiking gear and a doctor’s nametag and lecturing some old man he came in with about the need to “constantly hydrate in the summer”. The old man kept picking at a piece of flaking skin on his wrist and acting like the other guy was normal. The counter guy brought my food over like I asked him to but without the fork. Told him that if he didn’t bring the fork he shouldn’t have bothered because I have to get up anyway. Glared at me and then faintly shuddered like he couldn’t figure out if I was an asshole or not. Put my artwork up on a bulletin board on Harvard Ave, one of the few places I can put them up anymore. Some guy saw me and said he was a fan of my work. He told me I should have a blog on the internet. I told him I did. He ignored that and suggested it again. Then he told he thought it might reach 100 degrees today and then said in a tone of confident finality I really should have a blog as he was walking away. Took the train to BATV. There was a really hot guy sitting across from me but his legs were really hairy. There was a college girl with her backpack strap between her breasts, making her shirt skintight around her breasts and the hot guy was staring at her even though she had rolls of fat around her stomach. Walked into BATV. Something happened I can’t talk about. Defecated. Turned on my computer, checked my email and wrote more on this blog entry. Someone in another edit room is playing music loudly on one of the computers and singing along with it. Ate a Clif bar I brought with me. It looked like a piece of old dog shit with bits of stuff in it.

Saturday, May 14th, 2011

D.L. Polonsky — Mon, 16 May 2011 00:12:34 +0000

Saturday, May 14th, 2011

Woke up. Fell asleep with a ball point pen on the mattress. Was relieved it didn’t stab me in the eye. Got up. Urinated. Went to Star Market to see if I had a drawing in the Herald. No. Saw an overweight, fortyish woman on the sidewalk that I spoke to once for ten minutes about four years ago. She had a bubblegum pink backpack and her stomach stuck out further than her breasts. Had the following conversation with her:

WOMAN: Hey, D.L., I haven’t seen your artwork up on the street lately.

D.L.: I got into some legal trouble, but I still put them on bulletin bo-

WOMAN: (Interrupting) I’ll pray for you.

D.L.: (Short pause) I don’t . . . really . . . care about relig-

WOMAN: (Interrupting) Jesus loves you!

D.L.: (Short pause. Thought about telling her how fucking stupid and delusional I think it it is to think Jesus is anything but a man who died 2,000 years ago and that he has absolutely nothing to do with us now, but decided it might prolong the unpleasant exchange when I want to get breakfast, not having eaten since before my film editing the evening before) Thank you, I’ll . . . uh . . . keep that in mind.

WOMAN: (In a perky, energetic voice) Have a nice day!

Walked away. Got breakfast at a nearby sub shop. The breakfasts looked too unhealthy so I got a falafel roll-up and a vitamin water. Sat there watching sports news on ESPN on the restaurant’s TV. Asked them if I could change the channel since the only other person in the restaurant was facing away from the TV and talking on her smartphone. They said no, so I didn’t put my used dish in the bucket. Left the restaurant. Saw the woman I talked to on the street an hour ago protesting in front of Planned Parenthood. Crossed the street so I wouldn’t have to walk past her. Put some artwork on the counter in the entrance of Angora. Took the train to BATV. A college student wouldn’t let me sit in the empty window seat next to him. Thought about climbing over him and sitting there anyway, but decided he might punch me in the face. Sat on the back stairs. Went into BATV. Someone in the elevator smelled like compost with spices shaken on it. Checked my email. Edited my movie for an hour and ten minutes. Took the train back home. Watched “Sex Drive” and some of the extras on DVD. Ate Hagaan Dasz chai ice cream. Called four people. Got one live person. Had conversation I can’t talk about. Reread “One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest”. Got to a part I remember and didn’t like so I started writing palindromes in the margins of the book. Went out to go shopping. Don’t remember what I bought. Something happened I can’t talk about. Got a peach Snapple at Cookin’ Cafe. Sat there for twenty minutes after I drank it. Walked around aimlessly. Went back home. Urinated. Went to bed.

Monday, May 2nd, 2011

D.L. Polonsky — Mon, 02 May 2011 17:13:13 +0000

Monday, May 2nd, 2011

Woke up. Laid in bed for 45 minutes. Got up. Defecated. Went to a nearby restaurant for breakfast. Held the door for a woman on crutches. She didn’t say “thank you”. Wondered if it was because she didn’t see me standing behind her holding the door or if she was just rude. Ate a falafel roll-up and a peach Snapple iced tea. When the woman on crutches left, I held the door for her again. She didn’t say “thank you” again. This time I know she saw me. I sarcastically shouted “you’re welcome!” She stopped, put all her weight on one crutch and looked back at me, grimacing, like I was acting crazy. Went back home and watched part of “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” on DVD. Called two people, got voice messages and didn’t feel like leaving messages because it takes so long for them to call back. Took the train to BATV. Urinated. Checked my email. Wrote this blog.

Last January, I got a fine of $3,600 for posting 12 pieces of my artwork on electrical boxes, the big grey boxes on the street. After waiting four months for a hearing, my lawyer got the fine dropped. Since it’s over now, and since it was written up a few months ago in a Boston Herald article about getting rid of graffiti in Allston, I guess I can talk about it.

Thursday, February 10th, 2011

D.L. Polonsky — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 00:24:17 +0000

Woke up. Defecated. Urinated. Brushed my teeth. Microwaved lobster bisque from Shaw’s. Ate it. Ate a cranberry-orange scone. Went to Shaw’s to see if I had a drawing in the Herald. No. Something happened I can’t talk about. Went to the T stop to get a train to BATV. After 25 minutes, a train came up, slowed down as if was going to stop, but didn’t. The train just said “Government Center”. There was no sign that said it was express. Also, the driver didn’t even mouth the words, “It’s express” or “I’m not stopping” or even shake his head to me or the other 10 people who were waiting. He just had looked at us with a little smile on his face as he passed, obviously enjoying the moment. Another train came in 7 minutes. Went to BATV. Photoshopped a new background on one of my Obama pictures and sent emailed it to the Herald. Sent an email I can’t talk about. Sent another email I can’t talk about. Urinated. Ate two slices of cold pizza from the kitchen, with grey, congealed pieces of bacon on it and little congealed puddles of some kind of white cheese. Sent an email I can’t talk about. Some old man in the hall called me “D.J.”. His scarf was entwined around the buttons of his overcoat. Went back on the computer. Went on Lemmingtrail. Wrote this blog.