On another note... Have you ever been to a store that’s simply so beautiful and well executed that you wished you had a need for something they sell? The Ithaca Guitar Works is such a store for me. I don’t play guitar, and don’t ever really intend to, but this store is so wonderful that it makes me wish I did.
It really bothers me that I’ll only be able to spend, at most, 10-15% of my life sittin’ around thinking. I think that’s why I’m resentful of any job I’ve held, even it was a great job. (Any past or potential employers reading this can feel free to completely ignore that last sentence.) Thinking for the purposes of commerce just isn’t as fun.
Knowing that he was still alive gave me reassurance that there was yet another person out there that understood the insanity of the world, and wasn’t afraid to unapologetically communicate it. By creating analogies to human life through stories of strange events in outer space, Adams pointed out the silliness that underscores many of the world’s major problems. One of my favorite quotations from his entire body of work lies in the first few pages of Hitchhiker’s Guide:
This planet [referring to the Earth] has—or rather had—a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn’t the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.
Well, that about sums it up for me. Speaking for myself and the rest of the people out there who are often confused by what goes on in this world, we’ll miss you Douglas.
There is a hidden magic in Starbucks coffee; proper brewing releases the subtle bouquet of flavors stored in each bean.
This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. I mean, I realize that in Branding 101 they teach you to "sell the magic," but doesn't this just come across as transparent BS to anyone with at least a sixth grade education?
Perhaps in preparation for Easter (?), Our Weird Neighbor has replaced the scary straw doll hanging from her apartment’s doorknob with an even scarier bunny.
Furthermore, "Students and faculty acknowledge this day and the acts that take place as entertainment for all on campus. I believe Dragon Day started at Cornell because of a mild rivalry that may have existed between the Cornell engineering and architecture students. Dragon Day demonstrates this now friendly competition between the two. A ritual takes place in which architecture students create a large, paper-mache dragon and march through the engineering quad with it. Then, a designated engineering student lights the dragon on fire, destroying the architecture students' creation. Many people gather around to watch the ceremony and throw toilet paper into the flames to make them larger. When the celebration is complete, toilet paper lines the trees of the engineering and arts quads as remnants of the grand ritual that had taken place earlier that day."
Let me just lay it down: Bus, commuter train, and elevator etiquette. This message is directed to all oncoming riders. When the bus, train or elevator stops and the door opens, the following is the only acceptable course of action:
- First, let everyone who is exiting at your location vacate the vehicle completely.
- After, AND ONLY AFTER, everyone has exited, you are permitted to board the vehicle.
I’ve been a rider of public transport and elevators all my life, and I’ve never experienced such a frequent occurrence of this type of behavior. People ‘round here must be unfamiliar with these crazy new-fangled inventions.
What I Am Playing with Right Now has been updated.
Rosie and I watched Cecil B. DeMented last night – highly, highly, highly recommended. John Waters’ films are exquisitely twisted, but for some reason they leave me feeling so much better about the world that I did before. If you haven’t seen this film, and 1998’s Pecker, you really should. Masterpieces. And hey, you can never get enough of Baltimore, right?
In celebration of Groundhog Day, I've decided to post an illustration of my name in Korean (provided to me yesterday by my good friend Kyung). Each character in Korean has a specific sound and meaning. When interpreting English names, however, the characters function only to convey the sounds and lose their symbolism. In my case, the characters (from left to right) make the sounds "Jeh-i-son" ... Jason. Much more visually interesting than English, I think.
I’ve wanted so say a few things about this film for a quite some time now.
Some human creations are so skillfully executed and insightful, that they force us to question elements of our self and the world. When creative efforts achieve this level of influence we sometimes call them “art.” Even more rarely, a human work is so emotionally overwhelming, so beautifully crafted that it comes close to having transformative power. A few works of static visual art have achieved this. Many great works of literature have achieved this. Film, because of its dominance over the senses, reaches this state perhaps more often than any other medium. Brazil, Princess Mononoke, Run Lola Run, Magnolia, Box of Moonlight, and The Unbearable Lightness of Being are a few recent films off the top of my head that merit this praise. Add Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Critics sometimes love, and sometimes deride, films like these. However, it’s usually not because the films aren’t wonderfully executed, don’t have intriguing stories, or aren’t truly powerful in their effect. It’s because film critics, like other academics, tend to cloak themselves in a veil of cynicism and trip themselves up when they dissect a great film and analyze it to the nth degree.
A clear example of this is Amy Taubin’s review of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in the Village Voice in early December 2000. In it, she states, “Crouching Tiger's dramatic line is so blurry that the central character is only a bystander to the climactic fight between forces of good and evil.” One question: Why does she consider this a bad thing?
I think the point that Ms. Taubin is missing is that the story development is subtle, beautiful, and non-linear. The characters and the story build slowly and powerfully, and by the end of the film we feel so emotionally attached to them that it is difficult to leave the theater. Subplots develop simultaneously and very quietly – the fact that at certain points in the film we don’t actually know what the central story is adds to its power. Along the way, like any good work of art, the film touches universal truths and challenges us to reconcile ourselves with them.
At the conclusion of her review, Taubin’s attitude is that the fight sequences are the film’s best asset. “The opening four-way and the gorgeous treetop match between Li and Jen are intermittently breathtaking. If you snooze a bit in the hour or so that elapses between them, you won't miss much at all.” Whether she was asleep or not during the majority of the film, Ms. Taubin definitely missed it all.
Some critics’ cynical, borderline elitist attitude prevents them from truly being able to be emotionally transformed by a film. In a way, I feel sorry for them. In the same manner that an engineer often cannot look at a beautiful bridge without being aware of the tensile and compressive forces at work, so a film critic risks being blind to a film’s merit by her own analytic abilities.
So no matter which cynical critic, professional or armchair, has made his way to your ear, please – if their comments were negative and uninformed, do ignore. If you haven’t yet, go see this film. It’s one that you won’t be able to get out of your head for days, even weeks, after experiencing it.
Weather: Snowy
Workload: Heavy
Morale: High
The view from our window is not great, but the snow makes it beautiful.
First week back in classes was hectic, but initial signs show the likelihood of a good semester. I don’t like the fact that the responsibilities of life sap one’s energy. Of course it’s obvious, of course everyone has this problem. But that balance – the harmony between mind/body/spirit, the balance between work, personal time and play – that is the ever-elusive goal. The challenge must be confronted every day.
But the troops’ spirits are high, and along with all of the other responsibilities, we’re working diligently on finishing the new Opensewer art gallery. We’re getting very close – it feels good.
End of report.
- modeling agency san francisco
- dolores zorreguieta
- georgia society of anesthesiologists
- celestial hair gallery
- hayner cultural society
- eating dirt
- she's funny that way
- pit beef
- iron horse grill jackson
Twelve hours later, today’s road trip is over. A few highlights:On the way there we were followed for quite some distance by a big black truck with the phrase “The Black Night” menacingly displayed on the front of its hood. The Black Night also had menacing black fuzzy dice hanging from his rear-view mirror.
I came to the following realization: It really doesn’t matter, in any substantive way, what day it actually is. What matters is what day it feels like. One exception: If it feels like Sunday and you suddenly discover that it is indeed Saturday, this does matter, since it is beneficial. You’ve just gained one entire day.
“There are just way too many things in this world that beep.” Truer words were never spoken. Uttered by Beth, a young artist we met tonight in a Corning café.