matthew(best) profile picture

matthew(best)

Vikings are the new pirates.

About Me

I die a little inside whenever I see someone wearing white socks and black shoes. Much to my chagrin, this happens at least once every... single... day. Lately, I've been stealing pictures with my camera phone. I'm planning on making a hellish little collage of shockingly white streaks poking out from the bottoms of people's trousers. It'll be the scariest thing since The Monster Squad which, by the way, features Rudy, the Ray Ban-sporting badass, with his hauntingly white whites glaring up from his sneakers. Scary stuff indeed.
Giving Credit:
I stole the artwork for my background from Scott Hansen, a Bay Area freelance designer and musician. I love his design style and have been a fan of his solo ambient music project, Tycho, for a couple of years now. View more of Mr. Hansen's work at www.ISO50.com .
I like:
Knowing that I have the best girlfriend ever . Tastefully sparse living spaces. Incredibly gaudy theaters. Grammar. Chivalry and those who practice it. Both kinds of football. Making my bed every morning... unless, of course, I'm late for work. Speaking french. Caffeine rushes. Wearing a nice suit for absolutely no reason at all. The color orange. Zombo . Having a drawer in my fridge dedicated just to pudding. I call it "drawer full of pudding". Loud music. Quiet music. Meaningful gestures that seem insignificant. Surprises. Room temperature stouts. Ice cold pilsners. Seeing how far I can run. Multilingual people. Sleeping in my clothes every once in a while. Undeniable truths. My family. Lighting matches. Scotch. My hometown and the fact that I left my hometown. People who challenge me. Hitting baseballs though I don't actually like baseball. The same can be said for golf. TV shows on DVD. My nickname.
I don't like:
Having to explain my nickname. President Bush. Most of the rules established in the movie Swingers, specifically the three-day-wait rule. Sales pitches. Pleated pants. The word "faggot". Lies and the lying liars who tell them. Having to schedule drinks with friends (I prefer spontaneity). Avocados. Nuts in brownies and cookies. People who claim there's no such thing as a bad hair day. Credit card offers disguised as personal letters.
Someday...
I would like to travel to norway (Jeg vil gjerner rise til Norge). I'd like to have my own office space for my web design business. I'd like to have a tailor made suit... and I want that to take all day, what with the fitting and the measuring tape and the this and the that.
Map .

My Interests

Comfort in your own manhood .

I'd like to meet:

George Clooney .
Robert McNamara .
Chuck Klosterman.
Sam Harris (the author, not the singer or the video blogger guy).

Music:

Weezer's "blue album" is absolutely my most loved album of all time. It picks me up when I'm down. When I'm in a good mood, it makes me feel even better. I hope I never tire of it. When I'm in my late forties and in a garage band with my accountant and the guy that hooked-up my cable, we're going to cover songs from this album. Just like so many of my friends' parents did with Led Zepplin.

I also like:
Bryan Free (Portland)
The Good Life
Quarashi
Binary Dolls
Mates of State
Pantera
The Detachment Kit
Bright Eyes
Per Se
The Altarboys
Modest Mouse
Mirah
The Snuggle Ups
Dat'r
Slowreader
The Impossibles
My Chemical Romance
Erik Satie
IV My People
Tilly and the Wall
Django Reinhardt
Marilyn Manson
Elliott Smith
The Dwarves
Cursive
Ozma
That Goddamn Flogging Molly
Motorhead
Brendan Benson
Eternal Sunshine Sdtk
Edith Piaf
Tom Waits
Ella Fitzgerald
Frank, Dean and Sammy.

Movies:

Impossibles never say "goodbye". Goonies never say "die".

But really, I'll watch most anything that doesn't feature a machine gun or a sword fight in the promotional trailer. Oh, and if it weren't already so blatantly obvious...yes, the francophile watches a lot of foreign films.

Television:

Now-a days, a lot of it is online:
Netflix, Fora.tv , Google Tv.I really like Scrubs but these days I never actually watch it on television. I buy the episodes from the iTunes store and watch them on my iPod/iPhone. TV on DVD is pretty chill though. This allows me to watch season after season of The Office and Sex and the City over and over again. I will say that I'm bummed that seasons 7 and 8 of Will & Grace have yet to be released. Some say that this delay is due to money being made from syndicating these shows during daytime TV. That's a bummer.

Books:

I'm mostly a fan of essay writing and anecdotal analytics: Dave Eggers, David Sedaris, Chuck Klosterman. I'm quite proud of the work that Chuck Klosterman has done. I suppose a small portion of that pride is directly related to the fact that he's from a town in North Dakota that is even smaller than mine was. I have also really started to enjoy the writings of Michael Chabon for these same reasons (except, of course, that he's not from North Dakota). Now if I could only find a way to read in bed without passing out. I'm tellin' ya, it's like literary Quaalude.

Heroes:

Walter Payton. Dean Karnazes. My pops.

My Blog

Theme Names

1. ROCK STAR NAME:(first pet, current car):Duff Scooter2. GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, favorite type of shoe)Strawberry Black Steve Madden Slip-Ons (This one doesn’t work)3. NATIVE AMERI...
Posted by matthew(best) on Fri, 14 Mar 2008 11:03:00 PST

This made my day...

This made my day... ...
Posted by matthew(best) on Thu, 16 Aug 2007 12:00:00 PST

I once read somewhere to believe what you read.

I never know about these things. Sometimes I feel as though horoscopes are intentionally generic. Inclusive by default. Applied to the masses. But then, every once in a while, the (cough) moons align ...
Posted by matthew(best) on Sun, 12 Aug 2007 11:34:00 PST

Mixed metaphors.

I don't know if poetry can be as short as one sentence, so I rather decided that this writing is not poetry, though it muddles a couple of metaphors and is my mantra for oh, I don't know, the next cou...
Posted by matthew(best) on Sun, 01 Jul 2007 03:48:00 PST

The worst ad copy I have ever read.

This afternoon I specifically set out to buy a box of very sugary cereal. So I stopped by the market on Prescott and 15th and picked up a box of General Mills Cinnamon Toast Crunch (don't knock it, it...
Posted by matthew(best) on Sun, 04 Mar 2007 06:22:00 PST

The good times are killing me...

I'm soooo sick of the drinking scene: The second-hand smoke inhaled, the money spent, the dry eyes in the morning. Uuugh, I'm just tired of it. I kind of get this way around this timer of year. The dr...
Posted by matthew(best) on Fri, 30 Mar 2007 10:19:00 PST

Inner Dialogue: Flash Armstrong

I often have conversations with myelf. I suppose this is fairly common, but I've always found it interesting. I believe this communicative, anti-social quirk comes from my penchant for solitude ...
Posted by matthew(best) on Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:26:00 PST

Orange and Blue. Through and Through.

So, it has been decided. The Bears lost the Super Bowl. But, you know what? I had a good time nonetheless, it was a fun road to get here, and ultimately, I'm still a pretty happy camper. I did notice,...
Posted by matthew(best) on Tue, 06 Feb 2007 07:59:00 PST

French? Why french?

Why the hell did I go so far to learn French? It all seems futile now that if realized something... PĂ©nelope Cruz is the most. beautiful. woman. ever.Ever.And she's Spanish.Not French.Spanish.Anyone k...
Posted by matthew(best) on Wed, 17 Jan 2007 02:12:00 PST

Spudgy: My new favorite thing ever.

In addition to (and in stark contrast from) all of the shitty things that take place on this bastard, spinning globe of ours, it's nice to know that this exists. Watching this video (and those of the ...
Posted by matthew(best) on Tue, 19 Dec 2006 05:38:00 PST