October 2009
News
I saw Where the Wild Things Are. Except I fell asleep a little ways in. It was too boring for me. I couldn’t get past the annoying characters of the Wild Things. Did you like it? And why?
I am preparing for a long drive. Wondering what route to go. Should I drive up through Utah and check out my favorite state, or should I take the southern route and drive through Texas and New Orleans and...
Hoop Dreams
Have you seen the movie Hoop Dreams? This is a 3 hr documentary that follows two boys from the inner city who dream of making it to the NBA over a period of 6 years. I decided to watch it because Roger Ebert wrote it was one of the greatest film experiences of his life. His review is, as always, so excellent.
I really liked it too. Documentary films can be so powerful because you are seeing...
NIENIE
I read NieNie’s archives again. Her blog really should be a book, preserved forever and easy to reach for and read. Everyone should start at the beginning of the archives and read the whole thing.
Children's Books
Well, here I am recovered almost from my sickness. I hung out for many hours at Borders, invisibly assailing people with my germs. Survival of the fittest, I say.
While at Borders, I read a beautiful children’s book called Crow Call by Lois Lowry. It was about a moment Ms. Lowry remembered from when she was about six, when her father had just got back from the war and they spent a special day...
Pleasant Company
Tonight I was thinking about what an amazing company Pleasant Company was.
There was so much attention to historical detail. It was obvious even to a 7 year old that every item of clothing and furniture was incredibly historically accurate. Everything was beautifully designed.
The books that told the story of each American Girl were really well written. They had commissioned beautiful...
3 Media Experiences
I’ve been sick, so I watched the movie Sabrina, the original one, read the graphic novel Blankets by Craig Thompson and finished the Guinea Pig Diaries by A.J Jacobs at Borders. I recommend all these things. Some thoughts:
Sabrina: I was amazed at how funny this movie was. I do not usually expect modern day humor in a black and white movie. Audrey Hepburn is so ridiculously thin. If she...
The Fiftieth Law
The most important things I learned/remember from the excellent book The Fiftieth Law were:
1. Be totally autonomous. Train yourself to not need anybody. This is the foundation for everything.
2. When you experience something negative, don’t try to fight the emotion. Instead try to direct the negative energy in a good direction, like in Tai Chi. For example, if you get fired from your...
Proceed by Trial and Error
Too often our concept of learning is to absorb ideas from books, to do what others tell us to, and perhaps to do some controlled exercizes. But this is an incomplete and fearful concept of learning—cut off from practical experience. We are creatures who make things: we don’t simply imagine them. To master any process you must learn through trial and error. You experiment, you take some...
Musings from Me
Going through your gmail archive is a really addictive thing. Do it at your own risk. I stayed up so late last night tracing the history of my romances and friendships through emails I had written to various parties involved. It really was like I was a historian piecing together my life, because it was hard to recognize myself in my old self.
For one thing, someone was totally in love with me and...
Capes
I would love it if capes were readily available
Babies
Don’t worry, I do not hear any clock ticking, but it is fun to look at babies. Looking at pictures of sleeping babies reminds me of the same feeling as reading or being read Good Night Moon.
Costumes
Costumes are great. Think about it. Halloween is a totally brilliant idea.
Tea and Cookies
Today I had tea with a friend from hypnosis school. She wasn’t totally a friend, but I liked her. It was very nerve wracking to get myself to go, because I am always afraid that we will have nothing to say to each other and conversation will not progress smoothly. I decided I had to face the fear so I went. It was very good. Just fine. Very interesting.
I had a fear of getting broken up...
Siskel and Ebert
I have been loving Roger Ebert’s reviews of movies lately, so I youtubed him last night. He has lost his voice due to cancer and now types what he wants to say into a computer and the voice of Laurence Olivier speaks for him. He is better off than his old friend and partner Siskel who died of cancer. I watched a tribute Ebert did for Siskel after he died, and concluded they were great guys....
New Cheese
I found a great new cheese—it’s a cross between a goat cheese and a ricotta cheese. What could be better? It’s called Manouri, a greek sheep’s milk cheese. It’s a must eat.
The harmonica
I’ve taken up the harmonica. It’s awesome! you can carry it with you on a walk, and if you get bored just take it out and play as you stroll. It’s not as hard as I thought it would be.
I had a lucid dream the other night, and remembered how it’s worth it to put in the effort to have more!
I got a book on drawing.
I”m getting better at the guitar, most...
A Finnish Blogger to rival the other
Livian Tallossa is another incredible Finnish Blogger. I know very little about her, since her blog is in Finnish and google translator doesn’t do such a great job of getting the message accross. Here’s a funny example:
In recent days, the sky has been offering fine shades. Daily place Courses autumn, I like everything, kylmästäkin. Mood is higher than the limits. When you decide to...
A Blog about Love
There is a blog called Le Love that used to be a photo blog of really romantic cool photography about love, but recently it has turned into something a bit more because people have started writing in heartfelt emails about their relationships.
The emails are totally unedited which gives them a very moving quality. It seemed people were so moved by the photos that they could not help writing in...
dogs, whip it, boy troubles, dog poem
Here’s a little life update.
I have been really wanting a dog. I am so jealous of everyone who has one. But who can tell the long term costs of having a dog of my own when I do not have a stable home to live in.
I saw a great movie with self—Whip It. The character of Juno was a bit too violent for my comfort—she slapped everyone she didn’t like—but I thought the...
““Frith sees you!” cried Bigwig. “You’re not fit to be...”
– Amazing climactic face off between general Woundwart and the noble Bigwig as the brewing storm breaks, in Watership Down by Richard Adams. Very interesting book. 