Yay for St. Patrick's day! And yay for Palm Sunday! (which was yesterday, but that's beside the point). One more week, and I can facebook and google and wikipedia and e-mail to my heart's content. But I really hope I don't.
It's usually a hit-or-miss with Lent. Sometimes I'll give something up, only to never touch it again (take coffee for example... ick.) But then there are those times (and I'm afraid that this shall be one of them) when all-hell breaks loose on Easter (sweet, now my awful puns are bringing elements of irony upon themselves :) and I absolutely binge without ever looking back. I HATE when I do that.
Maybe I just shouldn't think about it-- maybe all of this time I let the idea of failure and regression occupy my thoughts, I'm becoming more and more prone to fulfilling my very own self-fulfilling prophecy, and that I'm going to cut-loose and be an unstoppable internet fiend by the time Lent is through. Better the internet than chips and candy, I guess. I'm honestly not missing those too much. Except chocolate, but of course that goes without saying.
Woops, I didn't realize how late it's getting. Family dinner on St. Patty's day, woot! Too bad I'm not Irish. But the cousins are, so maybe they'll spread some Irish cheer-- and hopefully some Irish beer, haha. KIDDING, there will be no drinking. Speaking of ridiculous (ok, not a very smooth transition, just work with me here), I really need to re-vamp this iPod-- a 1/2 hr drive to Oak Forest can't possibly be pleasant until I get some Beatles on here. I'll do that now. Is that excessive internet? No, wait, I don't use iTunes, therefore no internet involved. Sweet, loophole!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Gaaaaahhhh!!! (Notebook blog, March 10, 2008)
For the sake of clarity, I'll say it again-- GAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!
Ok, feeling slightly better. Although my writing hand's a little sore. There's just so much to do, so little time! Cleaning and homework and essays and quizzes and family dinners and CLEANING! Spring break was supposed to be more relaxing than this! I still have not come to terms with the idea that I too can stop procrastinating. It just doesn't seem possible anymore!
So the prospects of a summer job are looking good. Apparently I have some connections from my youth group in the park district that will really help out. And I'd MUCH rather teach kids at day camp than work retail *shudder*. Folding clothes and ringing a register-- never again!
So I'm kind of happy that spring break is early, since the best friend and I get to hang out and all that good stuff. But Gina's (younger sister-- and yes, it IS a very Italian name) break is closer to Easter so I'm not really feeling the "break" part yet. Like where we both stay up late doing something or other that we would normally do on a school night anyway but now can't get yelled at for because It's Spring Break Mom! Of COURSE We Can Stay Up Late!
Aside from that, things are going pretty well so far. I mean, I AM feeling swamped, but not drained, if that makes any sense (hey, could this be a borderline, pun-like reference to a swamp pun? Can I use a rim shot here? I think I shall :) *rim shot*. I'll have to work on getting up early again for school, but staying up until 3 in the morning and sleeping till noon is fine by me until then. Now the only question is what I should do right now. I don't have to drive out for Monday Night Family Dinner for another couple of hours-- what to do, what to do? Although this "post" has killed a lot of time. As much as I like the idea of blogging, I think I'm going to miss this notebook when Lent is over. Maybe it's not the blogging I like-- it's the journaling. Opening up. Pouring my heart out. Actually, pouring my heart gets too emotional. I much prefer mindless dribble with no real point or purpose other than to waste time and occupy space. Like right now, haha. Surprisingly, I am feeling fulfilled as I write this. Maybe this isn't such a bad way to use my time. My writing may never improve, but my demeanor is! Yay for blogging!
Ok, feeling slightly better. Although my writing hand's a little sore. There's just so much to do, so little time! Cleaning and homework and essays and quizzes and family dinners and CLEANING! Spring break was supposed to be more relaxing than this! I still have not come to terms with the idea that I too can stop procrastinating. It just doesn't seem possible anymore!
So the prospects of a summer job are looking good. Apparently I have some connections from my youth group in the park district that will really help out. And I'd MUCH rather teach kids at day camp than work retail *shudder*. Folding clothes and ringing a register-- never again!
So I'm kind of happy that spring break is early, since the best friend and I get to hang out and all that good stuff. But Gina's (younger sister-- and yes, it IS a very Italian name) break is closer to Easter so I'm not really feeling the "break" part yet. Like where we both stay up late doing something or other that we would normally do on a school night anyway but now can't get yelled at for because It's Spring Break Mom! Of COURSE We Can Stay Up Late!
Aside from that, things are going pretty well so far. I mean, I AM feeling swamped, but not drained, if that makes any sense (hey, could this be a borderline, pun-like reference to a swamp pun? Can I use a rim shot here? I think I shall :) *rim shot*. I'll have to work on getting up early again for school, but staying up until 3 in the morning and sleeping till noon is fine by me until then. Now the only question is what I should do right now. I don't have to drive out for Monday Night Family Dinner for another couple of hours-- what to do, what to do? Although this "post" has killed a lot of time. As much as I like the idea of blogging, I think I'm going to miss this notebook when Lent is over. Maybe it's not the blogging I like-- it's the journaling. Opening up. Pouring my heart out. Actually, pouring my heart gets too emotional. I much prefer mindless dribble with no real point or purpose other than to waste time and occupy space. Like right now, haha. Surprisingly, I am feeling fulfilled as I write this. Maybe this isn't such a bad way to use my time. My writing may never improve, but my demeanor is! Yay for blogging!
Adapting to Adaptation (Notebook blog entry, March 7, 2008)
Spring break has officially begun! Woot!! :)
Which means spring cleaning. Ugh. I don't understand why I can't stay organized. C'est la vie, I suppose. It's just that getting ready to put the house on the market again is hard work. Plus, why would I want to put Mansfield Park down so I can pack up my room? I'd choose Austen over cleanliness any day. Haha, I just reread that.
I liked "Adaptation." It was definitely worth seeing, and I think I could honestly bring it to weekly movie-nights w/the family/friends group and not get scolded (which has happened maybe once or twice). It was surprisingly funny. And the end-- oh my goodness, the end!-- nothing says ironic like ending your screenplay with the very things you protested against at the beginning of the movie. Even Nicholas Cage has endeared himself to me somewhat. I say SOMEWHAT very particularly... I still haven't recovered from that awful movie with the motorcycle and the flaming skeleton and Eva Mendez... good lord, Eva Mendez! What WAS the director/writer thinking?!? Guess "We Own the Night" hadn't come out before then, so they didn't know any better.
So, back to the subject of good movies. I think one of the reasons I like Adaptation so much was that it was poignent, in that it stressed the difficulties of coming up with "the story". I felt like Charlie when I was writing my Sister Bay (literary anecdote) story-- I wanted to wow and impress, but in the end I felt mediocre and unfulfilled. Which is not to say I didn't like what I came up with-- I think to a fifth grader it was perfectly funny and engaging. But I want to get to my level. The level I know I can achieve in my writing, just haven't gotten to yet. I feel like it's bubbling under the surface, but hasn't erupted to make sense of the chaotic universe that is my writing style. Practice makes perfect, I suppose. Unless you're Charlie Kaufman-- in which case, a toothless flower junkie, a drugged up author, a twin brother and a morphed sense of self make perfect. Oh, and a voiceover-- can't forget that :0)
Which means spring cleaning. Ugh. I don't understand why I can't stay organized. C'est la vie, I suppose. It's just that getting ready to put the house on the market again is hard work. Plus, why would I want to put Mansfield Park down so I can pack up my room? I'd choose Austen over cleanliness any day. Haha, I just reread that.
I liked "Adaptation." It was definitely worth seeing, and I think I could honestly bring it to weekly movie-nights w/the family/friends group and not get scolded (which has happened maybe once or twice). It was surprisingly funny. And the end-- oh my goodness, the end!-- nothing says ironic like ending your screenplay with the very things you protested against at the beginning of the movie. Even Nicholas Cage has endeared himself to me somewhat. I say SOMEWHAT very particularly... I still haven't recovered from that awful movie with the motorcycle and the flaming skeleton and Eva Mendez... good lord, Eva Mendez! What WAS the director/writer thinking?!? Guess "We Own the Night" hadn't come out before then, so they didn't know any better.
So, back to the subject of good movies. I think one of the reasons I like Adaptation so much was that it was poignent, in that it stressed the difficulties of coming up with "the story". I felt like Charlie when I was writing my Sister Bay (literary anecdote) story-- I wanted to wow and impress, but in the end I felt mediocre and unfulfilled. Which is not to say I didn't like what I came up with-- I think to a fifth grader it was perfectly funny and engaging. But I want to get to my level. The level I know I can achieve in my writing, just haven't gotten to yet. I feel like it's bubbling under the surface, but hasn't erupted to make sense of the chaotic universe that is my writing style. Practice makes perfect, I suppose. Unless you're Charlie Kaufman-- in which case, a toothless flower junkie, a drugged up author, a twin brother and a morphed sense of self make perfect. Oh, and a voiceover-- can't forget that :0)
"I'm a walkin', yes indeed, I'm a walkin..."-- Random song that is now stuck in my head (Notebook blog entry, February 19, 2008)
Different people, different walks. I thought that was what the point of the "Walking" film was going to be. But then I watched it. And then I came home and watched it again. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but there was something about this film that made me think
I think that there is little doubt in my mind that this film works as art. It decontextualizes almost absolutely-- figures in dark, water-color shadows, some of which are merely lumped masses on legs, with only the silhouette of the whole person being entirely distinguishable. Flashing colors and flowing lines distinguish the moving figures from the stationary-- the calm from the vibrant. Even when faces and frames are distinguishable, they are not nearly as expressive as the figures' swaying limbs as the walk, run, and cartwheel in and out of view.
I also think that this film accomplishes the defamiliarization of walking in general. In real life, I would think that when approached by a walking person that an individual's eye would tend to gravitate toward the face and torso of the person. In the movie, however, the lines and shadows operated as such as to draw the line of sight (literally) toward the legs and feet which, while significant in the act of walking, are generally overlooked. That would probably be what I liked most about the film-- the focus defamiliarized figures and people by changing the perspective.
I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this film as a whole. I do believe that live-action and animated films are an art form, but whether or not I'd consider this piece as entirely significant (like, say, significant enough to write 3 to 5 pages on, for example) is still up in the air. I think if it had gone a little farther to decontextualize the elements of walking from the human frame as a whole, I may have been more moved. But still, this film keeps me thinking. Which I think furthers the argument for calling it art.
I think that there is little doubt in my mind that this film works as art. It decontextualizes almost absolutely-- figures in dark, water-color shadows, some of which are merely lumped masses on legs, with only the silhouette of the whole person being entirely distinguishable. Flashing colors and flowing lines distinguish the moving figures from the stationary-- the calm from the vibrant. Even when faces and frames are distinguishable, they are not nearly as expressive as the figures' swaying limbs as the walk, run, and cartwheel in and out of view.
I also think that this film accomplishes the defamiliarization of walking in general. In real life, I would think that when approached by a walking person that an individual's eye would tend to gravitate toward the face and torso of the person. In the movie, however, the lines and shadows operated as such as to draw the line of sight (literally) toward the legs and feet which, while significant in the act of walking, are generally overlooked. That would probably be what I liked most about the film-- the focus defamiliarized figures and people by changing the perspective.
I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this film as a whole. I do believe that live-action and animated films are an art form, but whether or not I'd consider this piece as entirely significant (like, say, significant enough to write 3 to 5 pages on, for example) is still up in the air. I think if it had gone a little farther to decontextualize the elements of walking from the human frame as a whole, I may have been more moved. But still, this film keeps me thinking. Which I think furthers the argument for calling it art.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Happy Easter! (Monday, I suppose...)
So Lent has been officially over for over 24 hours now (actually, it TECHNICALLY ends on Palm Sunday, but with Holy Week everything just kind of carries over until Easter begins) and I already feel like a glutton. Not just on food-- although that is part of the ever-present problem... darn family heritage of cooks and bakers. No, my current problem is more technologically-oriented. For forty days I wanted to give up any unnecessary online activity, and once forty days are up I am back to my old habits. I'm afraid my eyes are going to become permanently focused on screen-like objects by the time I have gotten over this phase. I'd much rather go back to the good old days of hammer-and-chisel documents. Okay, so I'm not THAT bad. I just wish that it was easier to remove all of the media clutter from my life, and not have to go through any sort of withdrawal or knowledge crisis. And by "knowledge crisis," I mean being totally unaware of my surroundings. Completely oblivious, unless I have a laptop, radio, or tv. It's really very sad. Which is why I tried to temper things... deleted the facebook (which I have just put back up to help w/communicating over school projects), made the e-mail more productive (which means I'm getting thousands of e-mails at once like word of the day and job offers and news updates and such, which means most e-mail is getting ignored), and even tried going without looking up random pieces of information on wikipedia (ahahahahahaha! COMPLETE failure. At least I can dominate with random trivia.) Well, it's getting awfully late, and I have a show to do tomorrow (the adaptation project presentation, woot! :) Tomorrow I'll start transcribing my journal "blogs" from my notebook (I thought it would be a good way to stay OFF the evil computer if I got some dexterous exercise [haha, get the pun, I'm writing AND I'm working my brain]). But right now I need sleep. Good night, all.
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