'appy 'alloween

It's cold. and wet.

Not Halloween weather unless you are a Londoner, I guess. ;?)

Kids will be arriving in minivans shortly, costumes hidden under puffy jackets, to rush a few doors at a time and hop back into the relative warmth of the Dodge.

"What are you dressed as, honey?"

"I'm dressed as a goosebump. Gimme th' lucre."

If memory serves, I dressed as a bat for several years. black garbage bag. staples. hole in the top.

Maybe I'll make bat costumes for my girls in a few years time. for nostalgia. and to be 'hopelessly uncool', as every good parent must be sometimes. -chuckle-

I suppose I'll tape them up and down in reflective strips, too. It's a different age...

Now, beshrew my father's ambition...

"Now, beshew my father's ambition!" - Henry V

Messin' around and trying to get my profile photo up n runnin...

This is me & lil miss thang at a wedding two years ago. Evidently I haven't become more photogenic since then. ;?p


(enlarged picture viewable from profile page)

five things

five visible things you can see about me

1. left-handed (visible ink smudges from writing, almost total incompetence with right hand)
   
   
2. 53 gray hairs and increasing
   
   
3. has no poker face for masking disdain, contempt, utter contempt and incredulity. but i'm really trying. :?)
   
   
4. many small scars worn with prrride. no timid life for this fellah!
   
   
5. have a radio voice and a T.V. accent

five invisible things about me

1. lived and travelled many many places. can express dismay in greek, french, mandarin and just a little arabic.
   
   
2. have the best family I could want. i wouldn't even trade in my brother.
   
   
3. am a daddy (okay, gray hairs gave it away a little). little girls are just about the most wonderful thing ever. better than ice cream-- which they steal.
   
   
4. love to cook for people, omakasi. you'll love it. trust me.
   
   
5. chokes up a little during anthem, and really wishes people would sing it without all the freelancing.

Channeling Gene Siskel

A History of Violence

I went to this movie to see Viggo Mortenson and Ed Harris, a couple of actors who are a joy to watch—they “bring it” to whatever roles they play.

And they didn’t disappoint.

Mortenson took his trademark reticence to another place. Watching him, I ask myself, ‘How many facial muscles can a guy have to show different looks of indecisive discontent?’ His face seems
made for such moments. Real sculptor material.

Harris came as advertised in the previews and was just a great villain. Really juicy and a bad bad dude. From Philly. ~~shudder~~

Sadly he didn’t have enough screen time for us to really savor the character a bit more.

Alas, poor Ed. We hardly knew ye!

The whole movie clocked in at a crisp 1:40 or so. Had Harris been in every scene, we might still have felt cheated for such an abbreviated picture.

Abbreviated is the word because this movie fairly flew along to the conclusion with nary a transition between acts. I am not altogether certain there was a third act.

And in that I found my greatest dissatisfaction in the film. The writer poses all kinds of great questions--

"How do we resolve the historical events of our lives against our desire for the future?"

"Can a person really change?"

"What qualities of love enable it to surmount devastating revelations?"

"What drives pacifists to violence?"

"When someone resorts to the final violence, what happens to them inside? How do they change, what parts are lost?"

But they all go unanswered. Whether happily or sadly resolved, the exploration of these themes would have made this a worthwhile film.

In the end, we can appreciate the parts if not the whole.

Harris is a shooting star.

Couples (with kids) can enjoy the lascivious empty-house moment between two forty-something parents.

William Hurt tickles as ‘Richey’.

If you are in the mood to just be with these characters, then this movie has some nice memories you can take away - and it ain't like you're investing 2hours30 of your life.

Be prepared for violence, as the title suggests, but if you don’t have to have the 3-act structure to enjoy this little picture, maybe you can get past the brutality too.

sins of perfection

Soul-bearing time.

My particular sins of perfection are trying to be:

more ironic
more sagely
more shocking
more aloof

Seldom all at once, but then that hardly matters. ;?/

Any one else wanna toss out some?

Must. Be. Prefect!!! [correction - perfect]

Insight--

Two posts and 30 revisions into blogging I'm detecting a strong desire to be perfect (and thus perfectly understood?).

This is maddening. I need to let go and let it be what it is.

Which brings me to the temptation to put my best foot forward. Does anyone else feel like there's this edited version of ourselves we try to put forward-- be it chatting or IMing or blogging?

Like we can airbrush our warts out and be the brightest, most observant, ironic, suave, mysterious, romantic, tragic-romantic, tragic-gothic, tragic-gothic-roamantic, spam-spam-gothic and spam...

So when we eventually fail, is the failure greater for all the effort to be somebody else? Maybe it's just truer.

Not to be confused with failing in the quest to be something better. What's that Teddy quote...

"...because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but he who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great devotion; who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails while daring greatly, knows that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls, who know neither victory nor defeat."

-- Theodore Roosevelt, 26th US President

Yeah, I dig that.

The hamster at the wheel

The way I figure it, I should spend some time in my blog adolescence sharing parts of my self, history, philosophy, whatever...so you can get an idea of where I'm coming from-- particularly useful as I have broad interests. Some deep and rich, some momentary and intense.

The first thing you should know about me is the kind of communicator I am.

An auditory learner

I am that variety of learner that must speak and hear ideas in order for them to take form and become real. Until I see or hear it, it's hard to get my head around it.

The process of working through a thought in writing or through exchange brings me to the theories that I want to test-drive.

So if you read it on this blog it may not be my final belief on the matter.

My epistemology

I do believe the fullest understanding comes from more than one voice in the room. Dialogue- the willingness and acquired skill -is the best teacher.

Through dialogue, we become students of our own thinking.

By listening to others with the goal to understand (not persuade) and in turn seek to make ourselves better understood, we better discover why we think what we do.

That's, uh, my final belief on the matter. ;?P

Blog dialogue

Which makes blogging an interesting thought medium for me. It's thinking out loud (good), but it's not well suited to dialogue.

Text is a lousy medium for conveying understanding. About 93% of emotion is communicated vocally (intonation) and visually (body language). 7% verbally (words).

Ever gotten into a high-emotion text exchange? Misunderstandings that need 300 words to clarify and correct? Noooo, neeever! ;?o

Having said that, I am hoping for some good exchange. But I'm not much interested in fights. I have a 3 y/o daughter that gives me all the spunk I need!

Alright, that's enough head-stuff for the moment. "The time has come," the walrus said...

I'm on, baby. Yeaaah!

Zabadawooo! Here I am, The official the last person to join blogger nation. Until the next last person starts. Ah well, I've always had a fondness for being 'not-quite-last'.

My particular (and short) fame in HS x-country was avoiding last-place finishes with a grim determination. The other guys had real ability. I had an emergency switch- "In case of impending humiliation, break glass, turn on additional speed."

So I 'finished well.' 'Good strong kick in the last 200 meters.' Thanks coach. That's what I do.

heh-

Funny enough, they used my picture in the yearbook flashing a #1 sign after finishing 34th by a nosehair. My buddy, 33, is beside me also thrilled to be '#1'.

I really was just overjoyed our team finished first in city that day. truly.

Well, so the lesson is work hard, run like you're scared, finish strong. Good things will follow. ;?)

---

So welcome to my crazy-person place- because you have to be a little crazy to ramble out into the void. You know that, right? ;?p

Next time you see a crazy babbling on the street, he's probly just blogging wireless.

Thought: notice how many cell users strike unnatural poses while they are listening on those tiny ear pieces. Head dangling slightly. Glazed far-away look. Lips moving...Yep. Crazies. or zombies.