Wrung out. Yeah, that pretty much describes how I feel now that the day is ending... but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I stayed up really late finishing the Piranha newsletters (2 am), and then reading, of course (3:30 am). Then I worked from the moment I got up (10ish) to about 8 pm, pretty much without a break. I got a lot of work done, got a bunch of invoices in the mail to my clients, worked on things for the shop, made some calls, did some editing and formatting...
Not much left to do!
I'll finish the last transcript tomorrow, and work on more website stuff for the rug shop as well.
Actually spent the last couple hours watching some stand-up comedy streaming from Netflix. Bill Burr (hilarious), Zach Galifianakis (had his moments) and Margaret Cho (I didn't even chuckle). Feels good to laugh, but I could do without the profanity. Yeah, I know, I said the same thing about some of the books I've been reading lately. I can't help it, I think it's a crutch, both in writing and in comedy. Very rarely do I laugh at a joke and think, "boy, it's a good thing he added that F word, or it wouldn't have been as funny!" I know that great comedy can happen without gutter language, just as I know great writing can happen without it. It isn't "edgy" to me, it's lazy.
I mentioned the other night that I was watching Appaloosa and would let you know how it was. Well, I can't really tell you - I turned it off about 45 minutes in. It just didn't have any ring of authenticity to it all all. It was cliche and contrived in just about every sense. I love Viggo, and I appreciate a lot of Ed Harris' work, but to me, it seemed like they were playing dress-up and pretending to be cowboys... Viggo looked like he'd rather not have been in the film. And Renee Zellweger was ridiculous. But part of that was, I'm sure, her character. Writer's fault!
The plot was transparent and cliche like you can't imagine. I guarantee you I could tell you how the rest of the movie would go, and exactly how it would end. I didn't need to watch the rest, it was very clear. I wouldn't have minded much if I dug the acting, but other than Jeremy Irons, nobody was worth watching. And Viggo's haircut was unintentionally funny.
Bottom line, it was a turd. Trust me, I know turds!
I did see something cool online today. It's a computer animation combined with the audio of the tower communication to show exactly what happened with that plane that landed in the Hudson rivier last month. It's only two minutes long, lemme plop it in here.
That's all real-time, exactly the way it transpired. Wild eh?
I don't have a Favorite Scene for you tonight. I'll do more soon, just not sure exactly when.
Was supposed to go to BE2 class tonight at church, but I decided against it. Wrung out, remember? I'll just get the tape and see what I missed. I won't miss anymore, I promise... BE2 stands for Biblical Exhortation, and it's a course that helps Christians deal with their "issues" in a Biblical way, and get things sorted out personally, so that we can then help others do the same. Sort of like sharpening the axe before going out to chop wood. Not gonna get a lot of wood chopped with a dull axe!
Should be an interesting next couple of weeks. Gotta get some cash flow going at the rug shop, and fast. Got some irons in the fire, and my gut tells me it will all work out ok. I hope so; not sure how much more stress my mom's system can take. If you're reading this, mom, I love you! Try to get some rest, we're with you in this 100%.
Sorry about that personal aside there. She's my mom, and she means a lot to me.
Not sure how much lower the stock market can fall. It's making me increasingly nervous. If I was a religious dude, I'd say something like , "Well, God's just testing our faith" or "God's punishing our country because of our sin" or "God's teaching us to lean on Him in hard times as well as good times" and who knows, perhaps there's truth in all of that.
The interview I'm editing for Piranha is with a guy named Sean Stephenson, and it is a remarkable interview. On the subject of pain, he said the purpose of pain is to "bring us into the moment," which really rang with me. You know how big I am on the "right now". Here's a snippet:
"This moment is where life exists. Most people who are unhappy are living in the future, afraid, what I call the 'but what if..?', or they are living in the past, in the 'but why?'. That's where pain is. Suffering is in the past and the future, in your mind. The present is a very peaceful, still place. Even though physical pain can be rupturing through your whole body, breaking you in half, what it's doing is it's tearing you open to this moment. That's why many kids cut themselves - so they can get into the moment and feel something, as opposed to numbness."
You should nose around this guy's site if you get a chance. Very inspirational.
Anyway, a lot of what he said really clicked with me.
Well, that's the summary of the day. Hopefully I'll have something worth reading tomorrow for you.
Until tomorrow, can you point me to the buffet?
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