which reminds me of:
"BLECH BLECH! MY LIPS TOUCHED DOG LIPS!! POISION DOG LIPS!! BLECH!"
- Lucy from It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.
11.29.2007
one more thing today:
Alright, before I go change and read, I have to say that somebody has been smoking some nasty, rank cigarettes in this house. BLECH!
which reminds me of:
- Lucy from It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.
which reminds me of:
- Lucy from It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.
Titel.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays I don't eat. That's all there is to it. Maybe I drink coffee. Maybe I chew gum. But I don't eat.
I do, however, stop writing blog posts in order to change my clothes and read more letters written by Groucho Marx. Watch me.
I do, however, stop writing blog posts in order to change my clothes and read more letters written by Groucho Marx. Watch me.
oops.
There are at least 3 grammatical faux pas in the previous blog. probably because I did it with the help of my students. heh heh heh.
history 101.
At present I am in a classroom waiting for a class to start. It starts in five minutes. Last night, due to a decent amount of elbow grease and ingenuity I managed to get 7 hours of sleep (or more!). This almost makes me more tired now, because I'm not actively compensating for any physical lethargy. I'm just kicking it in my classroom. Drinking coffee, listening to the Velvet Underground. My leg is asleep.
I've decided to continue writing this blog until I absolutely have to stop.
Here. Let me tell you about some funny stuff that we'll be talking about in class today. So, we're talking about the early 1800s, along with Andrew Jackson, Van Buren, Harrison, Henry Clay, John Calhoun, and the rest of that crazy crowd. Now, in the election immediately after Jackson's final reign, oops I mean term, (Anti-Jacksonians refer to him as King Andrew the first), there was a race between Van Buren and a bunch of other people. So, the people Van Buren was up against was the Whig party. Now, they, the Whigs, had this great idea--so funny. Here's the deal: the Whigs weren't popular with the voters but had plenty of seats in the House of Representatives. Now, any 11th-grade history student can tell you that when there isn't a majority in a presidential election, the vote to the house of representatives. So, the Whigs had this bright idea: inundate the election with nominees by throwing any Whig they can grab into the fray; this way, no one, including their Democrat-Republican enemy, Van Buren, would get a majority vote. Since no one would get a majority vote, the choice would be up the House of Represenatives, where they Whigs could take their and sweet and precious time deliberating between their panoply of nominees. HILARIOUS. SO CLEVER. Alright, class time.
My next post, which will probably be inbetween this class and the next, will address my birthday party, which is coming up in 2 months.
I've decided to continue writing this blog until I absolutely have to stop.
Here. Let me tell you about some funny stuff that we'll be talking about in class today. So, we're talking about the early 1800s, along with Andrew Jackson, Van Buren, Harrison, Henry Clay, John Calhoun, and the rest of that crazy crowd. Now, in the election immediately after Jackson's final reign, oops I mean term, (Anti-Jacksonians refer to him as King Andrew the first), there was a race between Van Buren and a bunch of other people. So, the people Van Buren was up against was the Whig party. Now, they, the Whigs, had this great idea--so funny. Here's the deal: the Whigs weren't popular with the voters but had plenty of seats in the House of Representatives. Now, any 11th-grade history student can tell you that when there isn't a majority in a presidential election, the vote to the house of representatives. So, the Whigs had this bright idea: inundate the election with nominees by throwing any Whig they can grab into the fray; this way, no one, including their Democrat-Republican enemy, Van Buren, would get a majority vote. Since no one would get a majority vote, the choice would be up the House of Represenatives, where they Whigs could take their and sweet and precious time deliberating between their panoply of nominees. HILARIOUS. SO CLEVER. Alright, class time.
My next post, which will probably be inbetween this class and the next, will address my birthday party, which is coming up in 2 months.
11.28.2007
What was the word I was going to write on my hand???
I could almost swear I'm Leanord from the movie Memento. It's not that I can almost swear that I have his disease--short term memory loss--but it's that I can swear I am HIM. It's probably just the strange tattoos all over my body that remind me that my wife was murdered though. No, but seriously, can almost swear it. I could indeed swear it if my mouth weren't soddered shut--that's the only thing stopping me. That's all I was getting at in this blog--that my mouth has been soddered shut and now I can't swear anything, including that I'm Leanord from the movie Memento.
No, but seriously, I forget things often. And it's not just that I forget them, but I forget them immediately! Most thoughts that elapse in my mind go through very volatile probationary period of about 3 minutes, where their life-expetancy is something like 0.0002. If they make it past that, then they are around for good; they're stuck in the old noggin. Of course that my name is Jonathan Charles Wright and/or Leanord, along with the fact that I have strange tattoos all over my body are the only propositions that have made it past this momentous mark.
No, but seriously, I forget things often. And it's not just that I forget them, but I forget them immediately! Most thoughts that elapse in my mind go through very volatile probationary period of about 3 minutes, where their life-expetancy is something like 0.0002. If they make it past that, then they are around for good; they're stuck in the old noggin. Of course that my name is Jonathan Charles Wright and/or Leanord, along with the fact that I have strange tattoos all over my body are the only propositions that have made it past this momentous mark.
11.26.2007
7 v 7; Kyūzō v Britt
The Magnificent Seven is a remake of Seven Samurai, only it's a western, not a samurai flick.
It almost exactly matches the original in plot, except for a divergent ending and little tweaking of characters (for instance, two samurai characters from kurosawa's movie get compounded into one cowboy in the western, with some of his attributes pawned off on the others, whilst an entirely new character is introduced, though not to the detriment of the film).
Anyway, one way in which the movies seem identical, but, I will argue, are not, is in the character(s) of Kyūzō and Britt. Kyūzō is a stolid, quiet samurai with awe-inspiring skill with a sword. Britt is a stolid, quiet gunman, with awe-inspiring skill with a switch-blade. Both characters originally decline the invitation to be part of the "seven". The characters of course are distinct in setting, but otherwise, on the face of it, they seem to express the same spirit. But they don't.
Yes, both have heterodox values from their cowboy or samurai compatriots. Britt doesn't want women or gold or adventure--he wants something else. Kyūzō doesn't want money or adventure or honor--he wants something else. Whatever these other things are that each values causes them both to act in strikingly similar ways to each other. But they ultimately value different things. Kyūzō is described by Kambei (the samurai leader) as a man who cares for nothing but the improvement of his skill. Britt however, is described by Vin (the cowboy leader) in other terms. He says that "some men want nothing but to compete". When asked by a villager about Britt, "if he's the best with gun and knife, with whom does he compete?", Vin replies, "with himself." Britt's spirit then is one of perpetual self-competition.
Now, at first, I know these values seem almost impossible to distinguish. In their outward manifestations they may even be identical. Both men are compelled to practice at becoming more controlled, at becoming faster, etc.; this leads them to disregard everything that stands in the way of their improvement [including, at first, the seemingly futile defense of a small village (thought: why do these men end up accepting the invitation?)]. But their ends are qualitatively different. One is aiming at a product, i.e., a faster draw, a better score, a closer shot, etc.; the other is aiming at the perfection of a mode: Kyūzō wants to become more and more proficient in the activity, not caring for the activity's result.
Given this distinction, it is clear for me that I'd rather be like Kyūzō, since Britt is motivated by some kind of pride to get better--his mania is no better as far as I can tell from one who wants to get a better Pacman score. But lets assume that Britt still is striving for the product rather than the process, but without a petty spirit of competition. Rather, lets say his spirit is identical to Kyūzō's in everything but object. This would come to something like Britt wanting to achieve perfect results because perfect results are good and desirable in themselves; maybe think of a artisan who works to create a flawless piece of work for the piece of work's sake, for the excellence of the object.
Given this modification of Britt, which is the more preferable lifestyle? Do I want to live for the sake of excellent results or for the sake being myself excellent?
Let me think about it.
It almost exactly matches the original in plot, except for a divergent ending and little tweaking of characters (for instance, two samurai characters from kurosawa's movie get compounded into one cowboy in the western, with some of his attributes pawned off on the others, whilst an entirely new character is introduced, though not to the detriment of the film).
Anyway, one way in which the movies seem identical, but, I will argue, are not, is in the character(s) of Kyūzō and Britt. Kyūzō is a stolid, quiet samurai with awe-inspiring skill with a sword. Britt is a stolid, quiet gunman, with awe-inspiring skill with a switch-blade. Both characters originally decline the invitation to be part of the "seven". The characters of course are distinct in setting, but otherwise, on the face of it, they seem to express the same spirit. But they don't.
Yes, both have heterodox values from their cowboy or samurai compatriots. Britt doesn't want women or gold or adventure--he wants something else. Kyūzō doesn't want money or adventure or honor--he wants something else. Whatever these other things are that each values causes them both to act in strikingly similar ways to each other. But they ultimately value different things. Kyūzō is described by Kambei (the samurai leader) as a man who cares for nothing but the improvement of his skill. Britt however, is described by Vin (the cowboy leader) in other terms. He says that "some men want nothing but to compete". When asked by a villager about Britt, "if he's the best with gun and knife, with whom does he compete?", Vin replies, "with himself." Britt's spirit then is one of perpetual self-competition.
Now, at first, I know these values seem almost impossible to distinguish. In their outward manifestations they may even be identical. Both men are compelled to practice at becoming more controlled, at becoming faster, etc.; this leads them to disregard everything that stands in the way of their improvement [including, at first, the seemingly futile defense of a small village (thought: why do these men end up accepting the invitation?)]. But their ends are qualitatively different. One is aiming at a product, i.e., a faster draw, a better score, a closer shot, etc.; the other is aiming at the perfection of a mode: Kyūzō wants to become more and more proficient in the activity, not caring for the activity's result.
Given this distinction, it is clear for me that I'd rather be like Kyūzō, since Britt is motivated by some kind of pride to get better--his mania is no better as far as I can tell from one who wants to get a better Pacman score. But lets assume that Britt still is striving for the product rather than the process, but without a petty spirit of competition. Rather, lets say his spirit is identical to Kyūzō's in everything but object. This would come to something like Britt wanting to achieve perfect results because perfect results are good and desirable in themselves; maybe think of a artisan who works to create a flawless piece of work for the piece of work's sake, for the excellence of the object.
Given this modification of Britt, which is the more preferable lifestyle? Do I want to live for the sake of excellent results or for the sake being myself excellent?
Let me think about it.
11.23.2007
Rather than edit, i'll clarify.
A couple blog posts ago I wrote this: "I used Karla, the cashier's phone, to call for help."
Yep. You guessed it. The cashier's phone's name is Karla.
Yep. You guessed it. The cashier's phone's name is Karla.
Mijn strijd
The forces of nature have intricately come together, bringing me to this point. Yes, I have accidentally changed the language of my blog to that of the Netherlands. To preview my blog post I click a link that reads "voorbeeld". To save my blog post I click a button that says "nu opslaan". My first reaction to this accident was irked confusion. But now I like it. It's just as navigable, my blog, only now I get the occasional "sjabloon".
11.14.2007
Selves and Lives.
Granted, there are external occurrences that can affect a person from without, thereby changing the nature of their life. But this said, I think it is often oversaid, overemphasized. I think the tendency is to blame some external thing (the world, God, the government, parents, etc.) for one's life going badly. But I honestly think that my life goes best when I am simply making a point to adopt good habits, think clearly, embrace my personal values. It isn't that I just luck out all the time and that's why my life is so good--it's because I make it so. The ways in which my life is not going well I think are almost totally my fault. I need to study logic more. I need to write creatively more. I need to manage my time better. These are faults with my self, not anything external to me. It is these things that are determining a lot of bad features in my life. If I am truly excellent, no situation can hurt my spirit. The line between one's self and one's life may be a faulty posit. It may be a harmfully exaggerated piece of folk-parlance.
I'm thinking of this: two people, one well-equipped, the other ill-equipped. Same exact situation for both. The situation will be interpreted as both 'bad' and 'not bad'. The badness of any situation (and therefore of life, if a life is understood as a series of situations) is relative. Fix yourself and you fix your life.
If I am preachy at all here (and I don't think I am) it is as much for me than for anyone else. This is a sentiment I personally need to rehearse: that I can't ever go on blaming my life on something else. I just need to fix it.
I'm thinking of this: two people, one well-equipped, the other ill-equipped. Same exact situation for both. The situation will be interpreted as both 'bad' and 'not bad'. The badness of any situation (and therefore of life, if a life is understood as a series of situations) is relative. Fix yourself and you fix your life.
If I am preachy at all here (and I don't think I am) it is as much for me than for anyone else. This is a sentiment I personally need to rehearse: that I can't ever go on blaming my life on something else. I just need to fix it.
11.11.2007
love.
Martin, one of mexican cooks at the restaurant I work at, threw a breast of chicken on the spaghetti I ordered for myself tonight just because. He's making it and says, "this for you?" and I say, "yeah". He throws the chicken on and hands it to me. love.
My car's battery died because I'm an idiot who left his lights on. My phone was dead too. I used Karla, the cashier's phone, to call for help. Nobody picked up. Luckily, Karla heard me explain my predicament, and said she had jumper cables. We went out to my car, and it looked like there was going to be no physical way to connect her car to mine. But then James, the server, came out to his car, which was parked right next to mine. He said it'd be cool if we used his car and Karla's cables to revive my car. love.
My car's battery died because I'm an idiot who left his lights on. My phone was dead too. I used Karla, the cashier's phone, to call for help. Nobody picked up. Luckily, Karla heard me explain my predicament, and said she had jumper cables. We went out to my car, and it looked like there was going to be no physical way to connect her car to mine. But then James, the server, came out to his car, which was parked right next to mine. He said it'd be cool if we used his car and Karla's cables to revive my car. love.
T-REX and NaNoWriMo and Inspector Hound
Let me tell you about the three things that have been characterizing my life recently.
I've been listening to a 1970s rock band: T-Rex. I've also committed to a weird writing project that has me writing a novel in less than a month. I've also been preparing for the opening of the play I'm, The Real Inspector Hound. These, apart from the standard and assumed Jonathan Wright terrain, have been characterizing my life recently.
T-Rex is glam rock, a little psychadelic, a little folkish. Most of it's good.
They look like this:
Next, I've committed to participating in the National Novel Writing Month. The project is to, within the month of November, write 50,000 words of fictional prose. My old friend Andrew challenged me to do it, and so now I'm forcing myself to blather something like 2000 words a day. The point, I am told, is not for quality literature, but simply for a given quantitiy of prose. I admit I'm moving slowly, being so preoccupied with plot. But yeah. It's fun. I will accept in comment form here suggestions for my novel's title. So far it's about fraud and real estate in New York State.
Then There's THE REAL INSPECTOR HOUND. It opens this weekend. I play a philandering critic. I get shot. I have fun.
AND THEN NEXT WEEK:
I have nothing going on. No classes to teach, no play to perform. Nothing.
SO, that's me.
I've been listening to a 1970s rock band: T-Rex. I've also committed to a weird writing project that has me writing a novel in less than a month. I've also been preparing for the opening of the play I'm, The Real Inspector Hound. These, apart from the standard and assumed Jonathan Wright terrain, have been characterizing my life recently.
T-Rex is glam rock, a little psychadelic, a little folkish. Most of it's good.
They look like this:
Next, I've committed to participating in the National Novel Writing Month. The project is to, within the month of November, write 50,000 words of fictional prose. My old friend Andrew challenged me to do it, and so now I'm forcing myself to blather something like 2000 words a day. The point, I am told, is not for quality literature, but simply for a given quantitiy of prose. I admit I'm moving slowly, being so preoccupied with plot. But yeah. It's fun. I will accept in comment form here suggestions for my novel's title. So far it's about fraud and real estate in New York State.
Then There's THE REAL INSPECTOR HOUND. It opens this weekend. I play a philandering critic. I get shot. I have fun.
AND THEN NEXT WEEK:
I have nothing going on. No classes to teach, no play to perform. Nothing.
SO, that's me.
11.10.2007
this morning. in our beds.
Dan: So, what did you do last night?
Jon: Oh, saw a movie.
D: With who?....whom.
J:...oh, with Marge and Jackie.
D: What movie did you see?
J:...oh, that Beatles one. The Across the Universe one.
D: What did you think?
J:...eh.
D: You didn't like it?
J: I wasn't crazy about it. It was silly.
D: People are going crazy about that movie, pooing their pants--
J:--Yeah people are peeing all over each other about it.
D: (laughter) Yeah, I think that's what the Bible means when it talks about fellowship.
Jon: Oh, saw a movie.
D: With who?....whom.
J:...oh, with Marge and Jackie.
D: What movie did you see?
J:...oh, that Beatles one. The Across the Universe one.
D: What did you think?
J:...eh.
D: You didn't like it?
J: I wasn't crazy about it. It was silly.
D: People are going crazy about that movie, pooing their pants--
J:--Yeah people are peeing all over each other about it.
D: (laughter) Yeah, I think that's what the Bible means when it talks about fellowship.
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