“Topic #176:
Find the nearest window. Look outside. What is the most interesting thing you see? What is the least interesting thing? If you don’t have a window, close your eyes and imagine one: what do you see when you look through it?”
Outside is a foggy Ventura morning – but unlike often, what is most exciting today is what’s inside the window.
A friend is preparing to marry the man she loves like crazy.
Congrats to Hafi.
I was never a very big TV viewer. I love movies but I don’t really care for TV so much. Sure, from time to time I’ll watch a show (now, I watch CASTLE, I got bored of Gray’s Anatomy). Overall though, while I’m fairly aware of news, and issues that matter, I am less informed than the average person on pop culture – TV stars etc. Here is my concrete example that shows how aloof I can be.
While I worked at the MTC Theaters (the Camino Real) back during High School, I was hanging out at the concession stand, all the movies had been in for a while, and there were only a couple of us there. Some co-workers were doing other duties, taking out the trash, restocking stuff, taking breaks etc. If you’ve never noticed, all the movies are scheduled in bulk so they will all start within a half our or so, and there is a rush but it is followed by about 2 hours of downtime. At some point a fairly average guy came out of the theater, he wasn’t purchasing anything, he was just bored, whatever movie he was watching didn’t seem to keep his interest, so he just kinda came out for a break. We talked about what local people talk about, the weather, the bad movie. A little while later he starts heading back to his movie, and as he leaves the hall, my co-worker (a UCSB film studies major) comes out from the back room and says excitedly, “Woah, that was Rob Lowe! What did he say?” I look back at him, clueless as I can be, and honestly reply, “Who’s Rob Lowe?”
While I can’t say that I’ve watched something in it with him, I know at least can recognize him when I see him on the screen, and apparently, he’s quite popular.
I’m adopted. As I’ve become older, I haven’t wanted to meet my birth parents because of a false sense of responsibility. Even though they didn’t race me, I’ve always felt that if I met them I would owe them anything they asked of me.
In my recent trip to Mexico I found that things didn’t change. The fears I had were unreal. In fact, the very opposite was true: nothing changed. The only thing that change was the circumstances. The people that I love are in a different position and circumstances relevant to me. Which is to say that they are the same, but older. Some of the people closest to me are now facing life difficulties.
Knowingly, because of my age, pursuits and personality, I had made a conscious choice to ignore that a lot of my family lives elsewhere. If I can’t see them then I must not have to be concerned with them and about them. I have cared of nobody but my nuclear family which is logical, since I spend all my time with them. However, it became evident in my recent trip to my birthplace, that I do in fact remain connected to the family that did at some time help raise me, in fact far more than to birth parents I have never met. Which of course makes me feel that distinct sense of responsibility to be there for those that need me.
While I’ve been waiting to hear back on a couple of projects, if they do not pan out, which at this point seems plenty possible, I then will embark on begining, and strongly seeking to grow my business, both here and in the third largest city in the world, that is I will pursue ventures in Mexico. I seek to capture a market share that is not yet captivated, and of course to allow for a closeness with the family I have kept out of sight. Additionally, if my time spent in the city can include my grandmother who yearns to return to the country where she spent her entire life, I think it would make a lot of people far happier than I can imagine. I look forward to exploring and planning future ventures.mx
My previous focus was oriented toward things, that were perhaps “good” but left out a lot of benefits for myself, and consequently for those around me. I find the necessary shift in focus, fascinating and of course a little daunting.
Born in 1984, in my childhood, I really liked The Never Ending Story (created in 1984) and the sequel (created in 1990) – the same year, that my sister was born. Almost impossible to believe that is 26 and 21 years ago respectively.
The most memorable scene to me of all those movies, perhaps because of it somewhat logical argument, and it made me afraid since the first time I watched it, is found in Never Ending Story II, where Bastian (for whatever reason) loses his memories. One by one, until he loses the last one.
They look basically like a marble, and once they are gone, they are gone forever.
Today and always I find this sad, scary and realistic. Our memories are all that we have, and as time goes by, most, seem faint. There are a few that are indelible. When we recall them they feel like yesterday. But that’s not true with most.
For me exactly that early part of life (between the years these two movies were made) was spent somewhere different from the rest of my life. Most of the memories I made then, are faint and so distance in time and place. I returned to this place once before, 10 years ago, but for the most part, the most important people, places and things that were salient in my mind, remained intact. Now 10 years later, I’ll return again. I know that most of what was the original memory has now changed, and I’m a little scared, and sad to go.
For at least seven months I thought about buying a motorcycle. Then I thought, maybe a scooter would be a good starting place. I looked on Craigslist day in and day out with only the slightest thought of purchasing one.
About a month ago, the used car I bought (when I got a stress fracture last year) fell apart, and the next day I bought my black scooter – without knowing how to ride it, of course.
Later that week, I got it registered, insured,my previous car junked and one afternoon I read through the DMV guide and passed the written test to get my permit. Because I work in Carp (I commute from SB) – I ride it a lot. Except of course in the rain. I love it!
Last night I took my first night ride, and it was so fun. Although I’ve been riding while it has been abnormally cold, I’m having a lot of fun. Last night, was great though. I could smell the freshness of the rain, and rode down the well lit State Street, it was quite bustling for a Tuesday night.
So far, the Scoot has been the funnest part of the year. Glad I finally did something I’ve been wanting to do – if not planned to do.
Don’t have much time this morning for this post but if I don’t do it, I’ll forget to share three thoughts about these Oscars, hence the odd title
OSCARS and Politics: Union fights
It was interesting to me that unions were mentioned only twice last night, for two reasons. The first is that actors often like to use their 30 second speeches to insert some sort of political opininon, the more notable/ famous they are the more likely they are to get away with it. The world (as some who only watch movies and don’t follow a word of politics, or all of our foreign friends, as this show is televised world wide) would have believed last night, that all is well with the world, at least in the world of Hollywood. Second reason why this is surprising to me, is because it was only in 2008 when average Joe, in addition to every actor, was supporting the Screenwriters strike. (Thereby defending and using the power of unions), and even the Oscars almost came to a halt, and were in fact kind of somber. I don’t care one way or the other, but I do observe these trends. Maybe Hollywood isn’t the place for politics, but the truth is, it is, when they want it to be.
The OSCARS are for everybody
People may or may not like movies, and I must admit I do. But I find it funny to hear people say (of the Oscars more so) comments that are either all for or against watching them. From people who are so much more than the rest so that they obviously won’t watch such a show, to people who are obsessed and become a little much. Life is about balance, I feel, no matter your profession, it is always important to know what is important or notable around you. I never miss the Oscars, but I also don’t miss the Olympics, the Super Bowl, or The State of the Union.
Do I care about football? Not so much, but obviously if they are playing in the Super Bowl, most than likely it will be a good game, and those that I love gather to watch it so, hey why not, one more chance to gather. And I love it. The same is true of the Academy Awards. I understand if you don’t watch many movies, it might not be as fun, but it has some entertainment value.
To be honest of all TV viewing events, where masses of our nation gathers and watch, the only one that does matter, is the State of the Union, because, whomever took the Vince Lombardi trophy home, isn’t going to affect me, as much as budgetary, war and peace decisions and everyday policy.
But to be on the opposite side and not watch any of the national entertainment, just keeps you from having those few things in common that ties us together.
OSCARS and Twitter
And speaking of watching events together. Nothing has been more fun that watching the OSCARS (and all the aforementioned events) with friends in the room and Twitter on hand.
It is so fun to comment, praise or criticize in the room and read witty comments pop up on your feed. You can interact with people you don’t know, real time of events happening.
One example was Cate Blanchett’s Dress last night. One tweet said: “Thanks Blanchett for wearing my grandmother’s chair. It was funny, and we could all agree.”
Another said, shortly after Oprah appeared on stage, “Oprah is here to announce that EVERYONE IS GETTING AN OSCAR.”
(I’ll go back to find out the -twitter peeps: tweeps -who put it out there)
It is fun to connect with folks and something interesting, is that it is fairly easy to get an immediate read on what the majority of people think. Again, because I watch all these things, and do the twitter thing for all, it is quick to see where the temperature is of “the people” in an instant. Certainly people follow people that are like-minded, maybe liberal, demographically, professionally, and it skews what you find out, but of course you would’ve had to guess, that I follow people of all kinds, because I’m curious to find that balance, and tipping point.
And lastly: What did you think about the academy awards? In addition to the disappointment about James Franco, I think this year will be one quickly forgotten. Despite, the fact that I work with “the social network” as my daily platform, I was really rooting for “The King’s Speech” and was pleasantly surprised that other than Best Supporting Actor -which I felt was very deserved by Geoffery Rush, the Academy picked The King Speech and awarded it for Best Director, Actor and Film.
Woke up 1/2 hr early & way stressed out.Dreams re my g-pa always put me on edge.@ 6 got an insistent call in broken English 2 check my email
First tweet of the morning says it all. I woke up on edge. It has been a while since my grandpa visits my dreams. That’s probably good. In general when I dream it feels so real, but when he is there it is even more real. Last night was different though, because in my dream, he was younger than I ever remember him being. He still had mainly dark hair and only some grey. It odd the way that when I first encounter him, even in my sleep, I am conscious that it’s a temporary visit, because he is no longer here.
Usually there is a reason why he appears in my dreams. On my morning run, I think I remembered why. My grandpa died of cancer in 2004. One of my work clients currently has me blogging on various topics, I wrote my first one on cancer just yesterday, so it’s been on my mind. The fact that it is such a terrible illness, the way it attack people, even the tough ones. The fact that there is no cure is frustrating, and the fact that it could affect anybody near you on any given day, is even more threatening so than not. I don’t particularly fear getting getting cancer. About 3 months back while I was living in SM I accidentally read the “courageous stories” at the front of the Runner’s World magazine. I say “accidentally” because I usually avoid reading the section of, “what it takes to…” it is often about people who faced huge challenges, either illnesses, accidents or tragedies, and have run to overcome these. For whatever reason, I don’t find these inspiring. Sorry. I find them stressful and I often put myself in those situations, and know that I would fail miserably if that were me. Not only that. I often find myself as quite underachieving especially without facing larger life challenges. All that to say, after I read I read the stories. I dreamed I was diagnosed with Leukemia, which didn’t bother me so much, as it really made me sad to see my parents suffer. That’s where the pain of it all is, I feel. The pain not only physical but emotional, and the way that all the various forms of cancer are in a way dragged out.
That’s part of why I think I was reminded of my grandfather (although I will admit, I didn’t think of him once while writing this piece.) I can keep myself pretty distant from acknowledging my feelings, and its done this way on purpose. I’d be a basket case if I allowed myself to acknowledge these whenever the topic came up. -Like my sister. She didn’t handle it well.
There’s another reason why I think he came up in my dream. I’m reading Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance An Inquiry Into Values by Robert Pirsig. According to the NY Times, and the back cover, “Strange and wonderful…It meditates on those grand philosophical problems that were first addressed in this county by the likes of Thoreau and Melville…It seems as fresh and compelling as it did [decades] ago.” It’s about this guy who is taking a motorcycle trip across the States, with his sun and a couple of friends. He kind of goes into the details of what he sees, but he also shares what he thinks, you know, the “big” thoughts he has, while riding, long stretches of America. I like the character. But in a recent chapter his son brought up ghosts. He quickly shut down the idea, then addressed it and compared ghosts to anything that live in the mind, so as to say, mathematics, lives in the mind therefore it’s a different type of ghost. Weird but semi-acceptable concept. He closed the chapter by admitting only to himself and the reader, that he does believe in ghosts but wouldn’t admit it to his son or friends. He mentions somewhere that ghosts only stick around if they haven’t had a proper burial. Which could make sense too.
