Object No. 14

Last day of January and I am sick of winter. In search of a little teacup filled with spring.

Submission with a Twang!

This From Hei-Frei --- The Willy man!

Fun With Record Albums

I saw this idea on another site and sent it on to my friend Jan. We both thought it was a great idea so we have been investigating our own record collections, I only have a couple thousand to choose from. I thought I would share.

Cass Elliot

My old buddy Rod Mckuen

Simon And Garfunkel

Holly Near

Sweet Baby James. I think this was the most successful done by Jan. I am still trying out how she held on to this.

Object No. 13

Fuzzy Muse.

A blathering rant that maybe doesn't matter. But what are blogs for?

(First off I have to say I stole this image from a museum site or somewhere but am using it to make a visual point so if I did something wrong notify me and I will take it off. The piece is credited below in this long and dragged out story.)

The following entry includes themes of movie soundtracks, increasing personal awareness, and the dumbing of American youth through the use of cellphones due to a hypothesis I have created which I like to call "Everpresentism"

I saw There Will Be Blood yesterday. A great movie that I dreamt about the entire night. Not fun. It's a chewy one that lends itself to lots of cerebral pondering. That's a quality I love in movies. Anyway, I was really interested in the music and was certain that it was that of Gyorgy Ligeti, which is strange. The Baader-Meinhof syndrome has been in the works for the last few weeks regarding this composer. It started with watching the documentary Stanley Kubrick: A Life In Pictures. The most compelling minute of the entire documentary was an interview with Ligeti who said he had originally written the music that was used in 2001: ASO and The Shining at a time when he was living under Nazi oppression, spent time in a concentration camp, some of his family were killed by the Nazi's. When he wrote this music he envisioned punching and twisting his fist into Hitler's guts. Maybe he didn't quite say it that way but that is what he was inferring. WOW! No wonder that music is so scary. I certainly knew his music from those movies but had no idea who he was and I immediately had to investigate him. That was compelling stuff. I downloaded some of his music from iTunes and have been driving around the snowy barren Wisconsin landscape listening to his haunting music scaring the living bejesus out of myself. Kinda fun. Inspiring. I then made an iMovie for my own amusement about doing laundry and put some of his music on it. It turned out pretty good I must say and received a rave review from a fellow film aficionado. If anything can make something as mundane as laundry drying on a line scary, well then, you know it is stuff of greatness. But it really is all about the music.
So when watching Blood, the opening shot fades in on desert hills with the creepy dissident rising strains of strings. Later there were the clacka clacka noises, all of it very Shining sounding. So, to my surprise, I see that the soundtrack is credited to a Jonny Greenwood, a member of the band Radiohead. So I read his Wikipedia bio and see he admires the work of Krzysztof Penderecki. I don't know who he is, so I Wik him and see his music was used as the opening theme of The Shining. Aha! We are coming full circle now! He is next on my list of downloads. A piece of his entitled Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima was originally called 8'37", a nod in turn to John Cage, so many musical connections! The information is getting to have such deep historical context!
So this is where the irking begins. I read peoples reviews of Greenwood's soundtrack for There Will Be Blood on iTunes and they all rave about it. Some people are cagey enough to compare him to Penderecki and Ligeti but no one accuses him of out and out copying. One said he takes cues from these two. Um, I beg to differ. It was sort of like a cut and paste job of their work. Effective yes, but new and innovative? Most just rave about the genius of his work. They have no idea what all this "genius" is based on.

This reminded me of a college art class critique circa 1984 in 3-D Design. The project was to take something functional and make it nonfunctional. One guy took an iron and attached nails to the bottom of it. Right away the professor asked who made this piece and then said something to the effect that he should "try to make something somewhat original". The guy did not understand. The prof said Man Ray did this exact piece about 60 years ago and asked the student if he had ever seen it? Some of us in the class knew this piece very well. The guy claims he had not. I and others really didn't believe the student hadn't seen it because it is an iconic image from the Dada movement. Notwithstanding, maybe he hadn't. The guy had done a really good job and it was sort of a shame that a stroke of simple brilliance had come over him to create the piece but as the teacher pointed out that though it did not look exactly like the above, it was a literal interpretation of the same idea. It is one thing to pay homage to someone by use of subtle hints to earlier work, but to copy a basic idea, even unknowingly, doesn't count. The guy got a low grade and the piece was basically disregarded. Obviously this made some impact on me, especially the ease of the indifference paid to the student. This lead to more discussions about ideas like everything has been done before, there is no such thing as "new", what is plagiarism?, or just blatantly copying from lesser known people and owning it, etc..
I want to say that I am sure Mr. Jonny Greenwood is very aware of his art. It is not him I have a problem but with the youth of America. Reading iTunes reviews of his work on the soundtrack is what has got me worried. It may be my middle age talking, but I worry about the intellect of the younger American set and I blame this lack of knowledge to the fact that there is a decrease of any art and music appreciation being taught anymore, being brushed aside as something less important, lost to the "no child left behind" crap and a total loss of any historical context no matter what the subject. I also want to put some of the blame of this on the invention of the cellphone. Example: I see people all the time, walking around, saying things like, "what are you doing now?" or telling someone useless information such as, "I am in the deli aisle". I have been on college campuses and seen students walk out of their class, immediately get on their cellphone and talk to someone about their next move. Shouldn't they be contemplating what they just sat through? The cellphone is keeping them in the ever present. I believe people are becoming addicted to the present. Keeping in contact with people constantly never gives the person time to pause and reflect on what has happened and in a sense could lead to a total disregard for anything of the past. As I get older I worry about the loss of short term memory, It just happens, believe me. Maybe I could lay off the whiskey but I don't think that is all to blame. I see this even on the smallest level an issue of concern. What they are missing is the underlying context of connections to a greater base of knowledge about a broader sense of history. Does that tongue twister make sense? I do not own a cellphone just for the fact that I don't want people to know my every move nor I theirs. I may own one some day but for now I see them as a major annoyance. They seem to keep people in a state of everpresent anxiety or maybe it's a state of reflection anxiety. I am still working on my hypothesis.
All these Radiohead fans blindly buying this soundtrack thinking the guy is a "genius" have no idea of all the historical context his soundtrack contains. They worry if he will win the Academy Award for the soundtrack. GOD! Is that really important? On a level of entertainment trivia, yes, but man they are missing the boat.

Object No. 12

My own little Jeff Koons sculpture. I wish.

Object No. 11

Kitties! 

Object No. 10

Gorilla in the mist.

Song In My Head

If I were to have one song playing in my head at all times it would have to be More, More, More by the Andrea True Connection. I am pretty solid with that decision. The strong vocals, the cowbell,  the danceability, that bridge of a trumpet solo that opens it's wings and just soars baby, soars. I'm spinning on the dance floor, spinning, spinning, I'm flying! and moreover it's sexy.

What song would you play 24/7?

Boudu Saved From Drowning

So last night before I watched Sex And The City and after I watched Wheel of Fortune I watched Paul Renoir's Boudu Saved from Drowning. I can't really remember how I came upon this film on Netflix but was intrigued by the story line. About 10 minutes into it I realized that Down And Out in Beverly Hills was a remake of this. I was amazed. I had never read about this film and didn't know this. It was fantastic. The main difference between the old and new is that Nick Nolte in DAOIBH was a sort of intellectual wordy bum and in Boudu, Boudu is all action and not many words which is light years ahead of it's time but the few words he utters are hilarious. This again, just happened to be a Criterion re-release and I watched all the extras. What a delight. When this movie came out it, theatres would be closed down because of peoples disgust to Boudu. It was not that he puts the moves on the maid or his benefactor's wife but that he all but destroys the kitchen and rubs shoe polish all over the bed linens and worst of all he eats sardines with his hands! He is a barbarian, an anarchist, the embodiment of total freedom and actually it is hard to watch him. It is brilliant. There are lots of beautiful scenes of Paris, and one of the extras is a cool intellectual guided tour of Boudu's journey through Paris by way of a map of the city with narration. It's sorta hard to describe, but well worth the 5 or 10 minutes it took to navigate. Just a real joy.  

That mother of mine.

I am sitting at my computer. My mother walks by on her way to the kitchen to make breakfast and asks, "Are you writing on your blaaahhhggg?" Sometimes I sense a bit too much condescending sass from her, at least more than any 83 old should have. Guess that's why I love her so, but cripes, she's cheeky.

Object No. 9

Little mermaid. Seems this lovely little fish lady has the best of both worlds.

My Own 4 or 5 Degrees of Kevin Bacon

So I settled into an hour of Sex And The City on TBS tonight and saw episodes where Mikhail Baryshnikov was Carrie Bradshaw's lover and thought about their connection to me. Like in my real life.

1. I was Jessica Lange's gardener for 5 years.

2. Jessica shtupped Mikhail for a while.

3. On Sex And The City, Mikhail shtupped Sara Jessica Parker's character for a while.

4. Sara Jessica Parker was in Footloose with Kevin Bacon.

Kooky huh? 

Object No. 8

Ahoy maties! Always sunny and 72 at the Ajax Box Company.

Just More Movie Musing

So last night I watched Forbidden Games, french film from 1952, directed by Rene Clement. For some reason without really thinking about it, I have been watching a lot of films about WWII. Don't know why that matters but I have. Anyway the film tells the tale of a little girl, Paulette, 5 years old, who is orphaned during WWII and is taken in by a farm family. She befriends the youngest son who becomes her main caregiver, and together they try to deal with their surroundings and the war by creating a cemetery. That's all I will say on that subject. The film has a great mix of anguish and humor that maybe only the french can supply and the ending is so heart wrenching that I was glad I wasn't drinking whiskey when I watched it or might still be crying today. It was right on about portraying children's abstract thoughts in the same vein as The Spirit Of The Beehive, another great film involving children and war. It is bleak and frightening and then in the middle is humorous and really enjoyable in that kooky french sort of way. Very viewable!

It's my last day of winter vacation from the greenhouse so decided to venture out and see a movie. I may have made the wrong decision because I saw Juno. OK, it wasn't so bad but I guess I would have liked to wait and receive it from Netflix. I am wondering what all the hype is? First and foremost I got a problem with a 16 year old who talks like a 30 something Ad Exec. She is so full of the hip banter it hurt and a lot of the teen mumbling left me wondering "just what did she say?" I mean yes, I am old, but I still consider myself a bit hip and I can be around a younger set every once and awhile,  but she came off like she was taking a course in Don Rickles smarmy with a teen twist. I mean, I have a niece who's got her thumb on the heart beat of fashizzle but when she was 16 she still had a bit of sweet naive to her. Juno does come off like the stripper who wrote her part. A bit too streetwise for her own good., I mean she is supposed to be living in Minnesota right?  Maybe that's why people enjoy it? Weird.  The movie is light fare about a rather serious subject and in the end Juno don't feel too good about it either. Ah, but life goes on. The only image that hit me on any level was Jennifer Garner holding the baby, in her bed, and because I was uncomfortable about her character too, I worried about the baby. It made my stomach turn. So I guess the movie moved in in some ways but I don't think it was the way the makers were hoping for. Blah.

Side Notes. Is it only me or don't you think that Michael Cera kid should be playing Beck in a biopic?

And Diablo Cody, the writer of of Juno, I wonder if she was the stripper I saw years back when I went to the strip club she danced at for a friends bachelor party, who had that enormous bruise on her ass. We questioned her about the bruise while she was dancing, (basically her whole ass cheek was one big raspberry) and she said she slipped coming down the stairs. We knew better and figured it was a boyfriend. Maybe he kicked her out for banging on a typewriter.

Object No. 7

Mark Wahlberg ala Planet of the Apes and Tex Mex singer Johnny Rodriguez

Object No. 6

From the pre Post-it years.

Recent Viewing

I have been looking at a lot of blogs related to film and Netflix and noticed there are a ton of critics out there. I mean, people spend maybe too much time writing about films they have seen. Don't get me wrong, do what you must, but it's too bad they aren't getting paid for it. So I have decided to keep my opinions short and sweet. I only want to suggest movies that people might like to see but who am I to say what should be seen or not? We all have our particular likes and dislikes. So if I start pontificating let me know. I am not sure what I have to say has any validity anyway.

La Vie En Rose. Sort of a jumbly edited film about the jumbly life of Edith Piaf. Didn't know much about her. Now I do. The woman, Marion Cotillard, who plays Edith is fantastic, and the make up is so amazing. I had no idea she was so made up. Her tranformation is amazing.

Winter Light. Bergman.  I liked all 3 of his movies relating to the theme of faith.

End of the Affair. Blah. Julianne Moore's titties (small) and Ralph Fiennes's ass (big). What's up with the pronunciation of Ralph as "Ray-if" anyway?

Women In Love. Ken Russell. I thought this was a gem. I think Alan Bates was so cool. Never mind the naked man wrestling scene, there are sledding scenes in Switzerland that had me squealing with delight.  

Dead Man. Jim Jarmusch. What the hell is wrong with me that I don't run to the theatre and see every Jarmusch movie the second they come out? I have never not loved one of his films and this one went under the radar somehow. Cripes, it's 13 years old  already! Blame it on small town living and I guess 1995 was the start of my hardcore party years. The Depp is a wonder. This movie is so painfully spiritual and beautifully ugly and I haven't laughed as hard as I did at Iggy Pop, who's role isn't necessarily funny but maybe so tenderly heartbreaking I could only laugh not to cry. 

Helvetica. I guess I loved this film cuz it was sort of like an art history class. It makes you think about how much just the look of signage and ads affects you.

Object No. 5

Rachmaninoff in plastic and marble, geodes, and small effigy of woman created by my mother.

Gluttonous Nirvana

My lips are buttery, my tongue is salty and my belly is full of crab.

Serendipitous Stream of Conscious Movie Viewing

I happened to come across The Sorrow and The Pity at Netflix a couple of weeks ago. I always had wanted to see it because Alvy Singer, Woody Allen's character in Annie Hall is always talking about what a great movie it is. So I watch it. (It is a great film) I then decide to pull out my old chestnut VHS copy and re-watch Annie Hall for about the 100th time because I hadn't seen it in a while and wanted to see just what was said about TSATP. As I watched Annie Hall, I noticed the woman that is all in white at the L.A. party, the one with the VPL's (a term Alvy's smarmy friend uses to describe her visible pantie lines, which he finds sexy) I wondered many times "Who was this beautiful woman?" The credits told me Laurie Bird. This time, I decided to investigate and searched her out on imdb. In Annie Hall, she plays the girlfriend of Paul Simon's character, Tony Lacey and in fact was the real life girlfriend of Paul Simon, then sadly read that she had committed suicide in 1979.  I noticed she had only been in two other movies, Cockfighter and Two-Lane Blacktop.

 Amazingly I have realized, the day of the night I watched The Sorrow and the Pity, friends had dropped off a movie for me to watch. They had watched it and were not impressed, telling me "the movie was about nothing" but knowing I watch anything they brought it over. They said the title to me, but because of their general malaise about the film and between other general banter, the tape got set on a shelf and forgot, until last night!

I was in between Netflix mailings, I remembered the tape and needed something to watch. I picked it up and surprisingly it was Two-Lane Blacktop! Kooky huh? I loved it. Laurie Bird is fantastic as the drifter girl. A great road picture about cars and the people who fixate about them and fix them. It stars James Taylor and Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys. They both did an ok job.

I put Cockfighter on my Netflix list today to finish out my Laurie Bird suite. Sweet!

Object No. 4

Pinky and Blue Boy Amongst the Thistle.

Canned Eat

My mom (83) and Dad (86) decided to eat lunch at the local Seniors community center yesterday. Last night at dinner they were discussing their afternoon with me. 

After the meal at the Senior Center the director offers up Bingo to anyone who wants to play. My parents do not participate because they would rather chat, but my father asked my mother if he saw anyone with any prizes.

 Mom said, "Yes, I saw Irene had a can of fruit cocktail and Mrs. Schneider had a can of peas."

 "A can of peas?  Blah." I thought to myself. 

I suggested, "Maybe could we donate a few items from around the house for prizes." (Like a Yankee Candle or 5 that we always seem to accumulate at Christmas.) 

Mom said, "No, most of the bingo players are widows and have enough trinkets and like getting something they can use."

 Dad said every once and a while someone makes a trip to the Aldi store and buys a stock pile of canned items for Bingo. Oh my, the image of winning at Bingo was getting more pathetic. Do they have to go to that store? I have never set foot in one but I have heard stories about the scratch and dent quality of the products, that have to be paid for in cash. I had the image of love starved desperate widows scraping for a can of dented peas. It made me sad.

Then Mom relates this horror story from just the night before. She had been on the phone with her friend Iris who Mom has known since Jr. High. Iris lives alone in the country and is very arthritic. Iris was going to prepare some pumpkin bars for a funeral. She had bought the canned pumpkin, which she needed for the recipe, at Aldi!  She went to open the can and it was made differently and did not have the typical ridge that most canned items have so the can opener somehow became lodged on the can and she could not get it off and did not get the can opened until her granddaughter came over later that evening after work and tried and she could not open it either. She ended up throwing the can out and didn't get the bars made. That made me sadder. Iris had lost her faith in canned goods.

I quietly got up from the supper table, placed my dishes in the dishwasher and retreated to the basement. Easily removing the twist off plastic cap from a bottle of Old Crow, I enjoyed a Bergman film. 

Musings On Reality

I think I don't watch a lot of regular TV but truth be told I get my hefty share in. Mostly cooking shows and some HGTV and a few reality shows. I guess I don't remember the schedules for most of these, so it is usually hit and miss and the way most cable stations work they rerun their programs about 20 times within the week so it's hard not to miss at least some portion of a show.

 I mentioned earlier my love for The Girls Next Door which is the reality show about Hugh Hefner and his 3 girlfriends living at the mansion in L.A.. I like this show very much because of it's non-threatening quality. All the people involved are very likable. I dig Hef because he was this nerdy midwestern guy with an idea to create a lifestyle empire. Sorta like Martha Stewart. Same difference. I think Martha's exploits are about on par with Hef's. Surround yourself with art, have a great pad, throw groovy parties, drink, listen to cool music, be social. He does fantastic for a 80+ year old guy kicking around the globe keeping up a party lifestyle. I also admire his sort of rigid social calendar. One night is movie night, card night, so on. Crazy I know, but I like that. 

The Girls Next Door chronicles the workings of the mansion, the staff that run it, the parties thrown and what Holly, Kendra and Bridget are up to. I was really impressed on how Kendra handled herself meeting Prince Albert II of Monaco at a social gathering they were invited to. She understands the decorum of the whole affair and is a lot smarter than she is sometimes portrayed. All of these women are either going to school or pursuing something else and not just the typical arm candy you would associate with Playboy. You gotta love Mary, Hef's secretary and possibly the brains behind  the inner workings of the organization. So don't get all feminist on my ass. It's light enjoyable entertainment.

The only other reality show I can stomach is Project Runway. It is constructive, creative entertainment and reminds me of art school critiques. It doesn't get into peoples personal lives so much and in the end has a finished product. I like to see other peoples approaches to creativity. It is positive television. 

Object No. 3

Salt and Pepper Shaker.

Object No. 2

This is an interesting piece of blacksploitation I found in a junk store. I usually have a pretty good eye for dating things, but he is a mystery. He is made of nice crockery, mold formed I would suppose and painted. There is a small opening on top.  He may have survived a fire at some point. He is a bit larger than a softball and nice to hold. I love his Buddha quality and he makes a fine mate for the lady cup. Anyone have clues to his origins?

Object No. 1

I scored this lovely little lady in St. Paul at a junk store years ago with every intention to give her as a gift to a friend for her birthday. Well, I loved her too much to give away and she has been on my dresser for the last 10 years. I wonder what lonely housewife created her to light up her humdrum life? 

The Silence

Last night I watched The Silence by Ingmar Bergman.  Part of his trilogy on faith. It was a quiet wild ride. Two sisters, Esther, a translator of literature,  and Anna, traveling home by train have to stop their journey as Esther becomes sick. They check into a nearly vacant hotel. Accompanying them is Johan, 10ish,  son of Anna. They are in a foreign country that is on the brink of war. The sister's are distant with each other. Johan seems to be the glue but he is off on his own adventures while mom is out on the street looking for some action, she's bored and horny, and aunt Esther is smoking and drinking trying to cure what ails her in her suite. I read a bunch of reviews online that do a lot of discussion about the sisters actions and lack of interaction but no one really talks much about Johan. I think this is where the theme of faith, through the childs eyes, is seen. Even though he spies his mom getting it on with a local waiter she is there for him and she needs him as some sort of base to return to as she never quite finds satisfaction.  Johan gains faith from his distant aunt Esther who has no choice but being there for him and in the end helps Johan through a piece of paper with translations of words that will help him and his mom get home. There is a bunch of the film just following Johan around playing in the nearly abandoned hotel. Even the children are stoic in Bergman films. He is a quiet and observant child, but so sort of stone faced that you really wonder how much he is taking in or allowing himself to take in.  I have always been aware of the idea of how much you allow yourself to absorb and when it gets too uncomfortable or scary you back off and chalk up anything you don't understand as "foolishness" and that is something that is not necessary to living. A bad choice most of the time, missing out and not taking risks. A scandnavian trait? 

Johan comes across a band of dwarves who entertain him. They seem to be the group to hang with and are the most overtly human acting. Also there is a sort of bumbling, spooky hotel attendant who gives Johan some chocolate and time. No one can speak to each other, due to the language barrier. Even the translator, Esther, doesn't speak this countries language, creating arresting intimate interactions between all the characters.

 Esther is left on her own to die, I guess, alone. Sad.

I am most interested on how this story moves forward because of situation and not so much on dialog. An idea I can use when making my own movies. I would never get any images to the Mac for editing if I first had to write a script first. Yikes.

This DVD is released by Criterion Collection. For those who don't now this company, they take classic, obscure, interesting, films and put them into packages that could be used for graduate course level study. Including tons of extras about the films, discussions, anything they can find or produce their own documentaries to further explore the film's meaning or impact. I love this company. Buying any of their DVD packages are expensive, I know, because I have, usually around $35.00. Thank you Jesus for Netflix.  It would be my dream job to work for them. I am an extras nut. One of the most interesting piece's included on this DVD was the American trailer for The Silence. I know, it's just a trailer, which are on a lot of DVD's but this one makes the film out to be near porn with descriptions of the movie like " a world where people seek to communicate through the ruthless gratification of their sexual appetites" and "starring in a brilliant portrayal of the delicate and complexing intimacies of lesbian love" and "beautiful arrogant creature of the flesh, living only for lust and licentious pleasure" and "look into the hearts that indulge their carnal fancies".  Jeepers settle down. It has some sex in it and I suppose America in 1963 wasn't seeing Doris Day flailing around on a bed in sexual frustration, she just stood there with a smile on her face sexually frustrated all the same, but oh those Europeans know about sex and put it right up there in your face.  It is kooky and makes sense in a twisted American sort of way. As for lesbianism, there weren't none. Maybe I don't know the full definition of lesbian, but they were sister's who even sorta hated each other but were bound by being family. They sat close on a bed once. I would think the term incest would override lesbianism. There wasn't that but know if I was a 20 something dirty beatnik living in the village in NYC  in 1963 I would have completely fallen for the lies and went to see the film. It's worth the 95 minutes.

One more thing, the camera work is so beautiful. Oh that Sven Nyquist. Just a simple scene of Johan entering Aunt Esther room, a close up on him standing with the door behind him, then approaching the bed, the camera backs up through the brass foot rail and downy mattress pad keeping camera on Johan's face. It is amazing. How did he get the camera to move through that small space without disrupting the comforter or knocking it on the rail?  It was so smooth and gliding. His work is dreamy and brilliant. 

Golden Globes

I took a break after setting up this blog and turned on the TV. I came across the Golden Globe awards on E!. Because of the writer's strike it was pared down to a handful of Hollywood reporters reading the nominees and reporting the winners. Mary Hart from Entertainment Tonight was shining. Absolutely elated because she was a presenter. Delighted so much I think star shine and moonbeams were shooting out of her framazama. She was electric! The whole ceremony maybe took a half hour, making it the best awards show I have ever seen. No kidding. Who needs all the bullshit? 

After that ended 2 of my favorite shows were on.  The Soup and The Girls Next Door. Now that is entertainment. 

Indoor Greenery

New Amaryllis.

What's the point?

Well I am giving this a go. First off my title comes from a zine I published back in the 90's while I had the job as a fast food janitor. The zine was well received world wide, and I sort of like to stick to something that works. Maybe it might draw in some people that may remember me from the handle. I loved writing the zine about a horrible job situation. Though I haven't had the job for over 10 years the nightmares of  the place still occur. 

The moniker does sort of still pertain to my personal life when it comes to collecting things. Although most people would recommend the help of a personal organizer for me, I love gathering things around me. My excuse is that I use the flotsam and jetsam for inspiration for various art projects and I generally like to have objects surrounding me just to look at. I look at things. I see things. I watch TV and movies. I do not read. Some day I will list the all books I have read in my life. It will take me approximately 3 minutes to compose the list, only because I am a slow typist.

I have also made the decision that after 10 years of being a lurker on the computer that I should put myself out there a bit. We shall see.

Expect nothing, but I will try with this.