roll up the carpet

I walk into my home and hear a man speaking. I wonder who it is until I remember that I left the computer downloading a free Bob Dylan track from iTunes. It's some guy discussing Bob's poetry as if it were a term paper for AP English.

This is not entertaining and I am no longer entertained. It's all work now. What happened to fun? It can't all be on YouTube. So I'm thinking of trashing it all, going offline and listening to 50's soft jazz.

Song of the Day:
The More I See You Lol Williams Band

Illumination

I read the screenplay for "Almost Famous" and suddenly I have this intense interest in journalism. But not in writing – in finding out what it's like to be a journalist and what isn't reported. I've always had this thing about photos, especially photos of famous places, where you see this image with absolutely no notion about it's context. Like the Eiffel Tower (just a tall building somewhere) or Neuschwanstein castle (the original Cinderella castle). Just buildings. It's almost as if the photographer was grousing about the damn landscape getting in the way. How much can be removed?

In the screenplay the musicians talk about what's not in music. There's a lot of "not" going around. It's not what you say it's the way that you say it. Reading between the lines. That sort of thing. And suddenly I understand on a much deeper level the connotations of social interaction. I see the stuff I never saw before.

On the other hand, no one seems to see what I see and when I describe things I sometimes feel like a bee displaying the infrared patterns on a blossom. I see it, I show it but no one else sees it.

So how much "not" do you show to express what is? Very good question. Think I'll locate and read some first person accounts of journalism.

Or, all you journalists, send me your "not" stories. heh heh

Since we're on the topic of journalists, thanks to Perceval Press for cluing me into the fact that my life style is exactly what it's all about. "Having imagination, bad habits and no money isn't celebrated in our culture anymore: ..." Unfortunately for me I have no bad habits. Got the other stuff down, though. ;-) Thanks also to PP for finding the things that we don't see and should and putting them all together in one spot.

Current Fads
Listening. Party Shuffle (iTunes ... at this moment Dindi sung by Astrud Gilberto); A/C blowing
Watching. Harry Potter and the Sorcer's Stone (2001)
Activity. making tee shirts
Gadget. One Time
News Source. the news feeds in Safari; Perceval Press
Reading. Danse Macabre - Laurell K. Hamilton; The Wisdom of No Escape - Pema Chodron; The Wounded Woman - Linda Shierse Leonard; Style Weekly; MacWorld; Fortune; Reader's Digest (Yes, I really am reading them all right now—I'm a reading addict. What can I say?)

The Late Bird Report

Movie: X-Men: The Last Stand
Ticket Line: very short
Audience: Gen-X
Capacity: 70%
Balcony: closed (but I got to sit there anyway!)
Organ Recital: Show tunes ("I've Got Music," "Cabaret" ...) and a different finale
Report: All promises and expectations fulfilled! This is the best X-Men movie yet. The action is continuous but not gratuitous. The characters are diverse and their interaction fascinating. I love all the different talents. So inventive. There's something about watching mutants that makes me feel really okay about myself; powerful and self-confident. I think I need a huge Jane Grey and Wolverine poster with Magneto and Dr. Xavier in the background. Most definitely! The ending is satisfying but I'm very sad that so many had to die. Why does everyone die these days! It seems to be the modern plot twist: main characters die. It is very gratifying, though, to see good win out over evil. And it's nice that I wasn't so affected that I cried even if I do feel bad for Wolverine and sad about Dr. X.
Analogy: snake dance (mesmerizing)
Will I buy the DVD? On my wishlist
Will I watch it again if it bites me? YES! I may even seek it out.

Visit and support The Byrd Theatre. No commercials. No previews. My friends and I got a tour behind the scenes and saw the original projector which is still in use, although not for showing movies. In fact, all of the original 1928 electronics are still in place and work. Wow! There were also three other modern projectors, including a new digital one that looks like a fat, gray box. Thanks, Nancy and Gary!

Look what I learned yesterday!

Thanks to a great on-demand seminar from Adobe, in two hours I completed the flash animation (title link above) from scratch. Yes. From scratch. We're talking blank sheet of paper folks (virtually, of course). I had no idea Illustrator could do such fancy stuff so quickly. I tried to make a cubed hexagon instead of a cubed square but the hex part got skewed in the process. Oh, well. It still looks pretty. And definitely good enough for my refrigerator.

Current Fads
Listening. Carbon Leaf Echo Echo; fans
Watching. Prevention: Dance It Off (2005)
Activity. pushing through to vacation
Gadget. Palm Zire
News Source. the news feeds in Safari
Reading. The Traveler - John Twelve Hawks; The Wisdom of No Escape - Pema Chondron; On Writing Well - William Zinsser; GD USA; MacWorld; Fortune (Yes, I really am reading them all right now—I'm a reading addict. What can I say?)