Well, I have no idea what happened with the first 22 days of July, but I know that they are long gone, blurred into the thousands of other long-gone days, never to come back, never to be repeated.
It sounds like I'm depressed, huh?
Well, I'm not depressed, as much as amazed how quickly time flies without realizing it has even passed. I remember when I was a kid in school, I would be sitting in class, listening to the teacher and concentrating one minute, and the next feeling like I just woke up from a long sleep to find myself somewhere I did not recognize, and wondering how everybody ended up 10 pages ahead of me in the textbook. I still don't know the cause of these (for lack of a better term) mental blackouts-- it could've been the ADD I suffer from today-- but they only happened on a small scale back when getting older sounded cool.
Nowadays, it's like my whole life is zipping by and no matter how hard I concentrate, no matter how well I listen, I am always disoriented and waking up to something I don't feel prepared to face. Not too long ago I read an article about the phenomenon of what I will informally call: the time warp. I wish I could find this article, because I don't remember the exact details of what it said, but the gist of it was that there is a scientific/psychological explanation for why when we are children, days seem longer than just 24 hours, while in adulthood, 24 hours is not enough to get anything done. When I was a kid, Summertime felt longer. When I was a kid four years seemed like a lifetime. Today, Summer is about two days long and four years is just one year.
And so life goes, right past me, and all I can do is try to keep up with it, enjoying it as best as I can. To do anything less is to fall behind, and that can only mean death.
Showing posts with label summertime. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summertime. Show all posts
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Someone said to write without discrimation
Someone said (the other day) that it's important to write down everything. Even the most mundane details will one day be not so mundane. I always knew this, and in the age of the blog it is now easier than ever to record every detail no matter where you are.
I remember when I used to have one of those diaries with a lock and key, and a cute little satin ribbon to hold my place. It was a green hardback book with an illustration on the cover I don't remember well enough to describe, but for some reason is reminding me of something out of The Secret Garden. This book of mine had green ruled pages and smelled like an aromatic novelty eraser. I loved that book and wrote in it sporadically until I was about 13 or 14. I haven't seen this book in quite some time, what with moving and storing things not of immediate use, but I do remember the sort of things I used to write in it. They were mundane details of my adolescence, but I suspect that if I were to find this book today, I'd gobble it right up like good reading material.
With this blog I've gone back and forth on what constitutes a post. I've even gone back and forth on what this blog's focus is, and now with almost two years in business, I still don't know what this blog is about other than the roller coaster ride that is my life. The only thing that is for sure and constant about this blog is that it's about what has invaded my mind for the moment.
Some posts are about me sitting on the porch and hearing kids in my neighborhood say the darnedest things. Some posts are formal movie and book reviews, while others aren't so formal. Some posts are strictly my news and travel experiences and pictures. Some are just streams of my conciousness, or something I've discovered (like Japanese gum) that I find so fascinating, I must write about it.
Having said all that, I feel that the lack of focus of this blog is what makes it so interesting... at least to me. It's kind of like one of those heart monitor printouts telling me exactly what was fascinating me and occupying my psyche at a particular moment in time, and it's really cool. I already go back and read some of my older posts and either think "Wow. I totally forgot about that," or "What the hell was my problem that day?" I just love having that window into my mind from months ago, and it's so much easier than it used to be to create that window into your ultimate growth in words.
I guess I will continue to treat this blog as I have been treating it all this time, writing anything that suits my fancy. The only difference will probably be more entries, as I plan on really writing everything without discrimination.
In an attempt to write without discrimination...
- One of my favorite TV shows, if not my absolute favorite, is The Golden Girls. It's only natural that I would be saddened by the death of Estelle Getty, who played Golden Girl Sophia Petrillo. She died on Tuesday after having suffered from dementia. I wanted to pay a tiny tribute to her, so I wrote a piece about my love for the show on Intrepid Media, so look for it in the gallery.
- For weeks now, and thanks to the wonderful summer weather, my sister and Dad and I have been going on walks in the great outdoors for exercise. I can't tell you just how nice it is to not be cooped up in the basement doing the same mundane workout on the treadmill. There is so much to look forward to when your exercise is outside, that I'm dreading when the basement is the only option. It reiterates my love for the summer, and warm, snowless weather. Not only does the newly watered grass smell heavenly on these beautiful evenings, but the birds are singing and sometimes I see deer in the distance. Aside from my strength training, which is obnoxious, these walks have eliminated the feeling of dread toward working out. I only wish we could go for bike rides the three of us, because that would make it even more exciting and relaxing. :-)
I remember when I used to have one of those diaries with a lock and key, and a cute little satin ribbon to hold my place. It was a green hardback book with an illustration on the cover I don't remember well enough to describe, but for some reason is reminding me of something out of The Secret Garden. This book of mine had green ruled pages and smelled like an aromatic novelty eraser. I loved that book and wrote in it sporadically until I was about 13 or 14. I haven't seen this book in quite some time, what with moving and storing things not of immediate use, but I do remember the sort of things I used to write in it. They were mundane details of my adolescence, but I suspect that if I were to find this book today, I'd gobble it right up like good reading material.
With this blog I've gone back and forth on what constitutes a post. I've even gone back and forth on what this blog's focus is, and now with almost two years in business, I still don't know what this blog is about other than the roller coaster ride that is my life. The only thing that is for sure and constant about this blog is that it's about what has invaded my mind for the moment.
Some posts are about me sitting on the porch and hearing kids in my neighborhood say the darnedest things. Some posts are formal movie and book reviews, while others aren't so formal. Some posts are strictly my news and travel experiences and pictures. Some are just streams of my conciousness, or something I've discovered (like Japanese gum) that I find so fascinating, I must write about it.
Having said all that, I feel that the lack of focus of this blog is what makes it so interesting... at least to me. It's kind of like one of those heart monitor printouts telling me exactly what was fascinating me and occupying my psyche at a particular moment in time, and it's really cool. I already go back and read some of my older posts and either think "Wow. I totally forgot about that," or "What the hell was my problem that day?" I just love having that window into my mind from months ago, and it's so much easier than it used to be to create that window into your ultimate growth in words.
I guess I will continue to treat this blog as I have been treating it all this time, writing anything that suits my fancy. The only difference will probably be more entries, as I plan on really writing everything without discrimination.
In an attempt to write without discrimination...
- One of my favorite TV shows, if not my absolute favorite, is The Golden Girls. It's only natural that I would be saddened by the death of Estelle Getty, who played Golden Girl Sophia Petrillo. She died on Tuesday after having suffered from dementia. I wanted to pay a tiny tribute to her, so I wrote a piece about my love for the show on Intrepid Media, so look for it in the gallery.
- For weeks now, and thanks to the wonderful summer weather, my sister and Dad and I have been going on walks in the great outdoors for exercise. I can't tell you just how nice it is to not be cooped up in the basement doing the same mundane workout on the treadmill. There is so much to look forward to when your exercise is outside, that I'm dreading when the basement is the only option. It reiterates my love for the summer, and warm, snowless weather. Not only does the newly watered grass smell heavenly on these beautiful evenings, but the birds are singing and sometimes I see deer in the distance. Aside from my strength training, which is obnoxious, these walks have eliminated the feeling of dread toward working out. I only wish we could go for bike rides the three of us, because that would make it even more exciting and relaxing. :-)
Saturday, July 19, 2008
"Is it Hollywood, or just me?" and other happenings
What is it about the summertime that makes people flock to movie theaters? Is it the heat? Is it the highly anticipated and advertised blockbusters that the industry starts drilling into our brains a season or two in advance?
Whatever the reason is, I've gone to the movies in the past two weeks more than I have in years. Last Saturday I saw Wall-E, this Friday I saw The Dark Knight and the following day (today) I saw Kung Fu Panda. That's almost a record for me. It's not like this is the first summer the movie industry has hyped up its productions. Last summer I saw one movie, and that was Ratatouille, which was hyped up and with good reason, because it was great. That was the only movie I saw last summer.
This summer it seems like I can't keep up with all the stuff that sounds good enough to be worth the ticket price. These observations raise a lot of questions for me, however.
Is this a new generation for Hollywood's marketing? Am I just tired of not going to the movies? Are the new movies just that good that I can't wait to see them?
I just don't know. All I know is that this summer I've been gobbling up movies left and right in the theater, regardless of the annoying teenagers and crowds and the ticket prices. Matinees help, as they bring the price down to just $5, and there are less crowds. But is Hollywood just making better movies, or am I just not that bothered by teenagers, who used to annoy me, but now just make me laugh with their cluelessness?
Anyway, All three movies I mentioned earlier in this post were great, with The Dark Knight, the latest Batman installment, as the highlight. Truth be told, before Christian Bale wore the Batman suit, I didn't even like the genre. Even when Christian Bale wore the suit, I wasn't interested in the movie, as much as I was in seeing him, but Batman Begins was such a good movie, that I got a little bit more into it enough to sit through the movie and be entertained. Now that The Dark Knight is finally out, and I saw it, I am looking forward to more Batman movies with Christian Bale and the rest of the great cast. It's a shame Heath Ledger won't be able to reprise his role as The Joker, because he was absolutely phenomenal.
On the subject of writing, I'm still working on fiction by reading about fiction, reading other people's fiction, and writing my own fiction. I'm getting frustrated with the different opinions being thrown at me... some are too positive to be helpful, especially when there are slightly negative ones, and some that are completely negative. I just don't know who to listen to. I know that you can't please everyone, but it's confusing all the same. I'm still taking the critiques and using them to improve and build on what I have already, and hopefully the story will begin to get mostly good reviews very soon.
Whatever the reason is, I've gone to the movies in the past two weeks more than I have in years. Last Saturday I saw Wall-E, this Friday I saw The Dark Knight and the following day (today) I saw Kung Fu Panda. That's almost a record for me. It's not like this is the first summer the movie industry has hyped up its productions. Last summer I saw one movie, and that was Ratatouille, which was hyped up and with good reason, because it was great. That was the only movie I saw last summer.
This summer it seems like I can't keep up with all the stuff that sounds good enough to be worth the ticket price. These observations raise a lot of questions for me, however.
Is this a new generation for Hollywood's marketing? Am I just tired of not going to the movies? Are the new movies just that good that I can't wait to see them?
I just don't know. All I know is that this summer I've been gobbling up movies left and right in the theater, regardless of the annoying teenagers and crowds and the ticket prices. Matinees help, as they bring the price down to just $5, and there are less crowds. But is Hollywood just making better movies, or am I just not that bothered by teenagers, who used to annoy me, but now just make me laugh with their cluelessness?
Anyway, All three movies I mentioned earlier in this post were great, with The Dark Knight, the latest Batman installment, as the highlight. Truth be told, before Christian Bale wore the Batman suit, I didn't even like the genre. Even when Christian Bale wore the suit, I wasn't interested in the movie, as much as I was in seeing him, but Batman Begins was such a good movie, that I got a little bit more into it enough to sit through the movie and be entertained. Now that The Dark Knight is finally out, and I saw it, I am looking forward to more Batman movies with Christian Bale and the rest of the great cast. It's a shame Heath Ledger won't be able to reprise his role as The Joker, because he was absolutely phenomenal.
On the subject of writing, I'm still working on fiction by reading about fiction, reading other people's fiction, and writing my own fiction. I'm getting frustrated with the different opinions being thrown at me... some are too positive to be helpful, especially when there are slightly negative ones, and some that are completely negative. I just don't know who to listen to. I know that you can't please everyone, but it's confusing all the same. I'm still taking the critiques and using them to improve and build on what I have already, and hopefully the story will begin to get mostly good reviews very soon.
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