Dustin' up

Sitting in Dustin’s room in East San Francisco, staring at Dustin type his first entry in a blog I just created for him, several things start to make sense. Dustin is wearing a hat that says “Bud of California,” plaid shorts, and an inside-out t-shirt. The lights are on but entirely unnecessary and the room is scattered with bud clippings and indie-ish VHS films such as Empire Records and Fight Club. We’re both thinking hard and attempting to translate some of those thoughts into worthwhile words. Generally Dustin does nearly nothing productive throughout the course of any given day. Today, however, he decided to try and translate that lack of productivity into a second life, the website Secondlife specifically. The thought of Dustin and his online avatar whittling away their days in unison disturbed me and I decided it would be better for him to have a blog. I’ll be surprised if either of these enterprises endure beyond my departure in several days.

We’re listening to some quintessential Dustin music; drum and bass beats, profane lyrics, high-pitched vocals, all interrupted by some guy speaking Spanish. Dustin says he doesn’t know what to write about, I write about that. It’s all very interesting here in Dustin’s studio apartment. Entering into Dustin’s life for several days feels in a lot of ways like a spiritual retreat during which I can reflect on everything that happens during my time in the real world. We might go walk across the Golden Gate Bridge soon. I wouldn’t mind seeing a movie later, but he’s already seen everything worthwhile.

Dustin just made his first post at http://dustinupandaway.blogspot.com/. He’ll probably go back to “playing” Secondlife now. I might eat something. It’s all very interesting here, even though not much happens. I mostly like it.