The District Sleeps Alone Tonight
Ummmmmmmmmmmm. Umm. Ummm! Ummm? Ummmmmm. Hum. Erm. Barrrrgh. Edet. Deeee bop. Burrrrr? These are the sounds of me debating whether to start a hidden version of this site, one where I share everything that is on my mind in a completely straightforward no-nonsense manner. In reality, it would not be that hard, I would take the current “life” posts and any future ones, and password-protect their viewing. Any hard-core hackers who really did want my personal logs could probably force their way in, and that wouldn’t particularly bother me; I wouldn’t post social security numbers or my current location via GPS coordinates. But really, Erin made a great argument for journals: they help you clarify your thoughts and realize what you are really thinking. Thing is, the front page of this site really used to be traffic-free: no one visited. Now, traffic has certainly increased, but it’s more that people I know visit. One possible option could be to wait for the people I know to get bored with visiting and then I could resume personal details. However, I do feel I could be more honest about my life if I knew that everything I said would not escape the confines of the digital realm.
In reality, writing to an audience has limited my scope of expression. On the other hand, it has improved my writing tremendously because I need to remember to clearly articulate all of the ideas I share. I can not simply say “dinner was bad tonight,” I need to write and grab your attention so you are curious why dinner was so poor. Similarily, I shouldn’t be saying, “I am confused” unless I am prepared to engage my audience about the details of why (and of what) I am confused. Thus, I am presented with two options:
1.) Go on with vague references, half-journals, and guarded posts about nebulous topics.
2.) Come to terms with the risks of posting things online and just journal, disregarding whatever small audience is present.
Right now, I think I may continue in the tradition of 1.) with an occasional 2.) zinger thrown in. I think that would be the best. I also think I have gone on a bit long about this; back to regularly scheduled posting.
Matt has gotten a 1999 Mercury Cougar (of greatness). At least, upon speaking with Steve last night, it looks like this is the case. I tend to insert the “of greatness” at the end of certain nouns (proper nouns, too!), not sure why this is. Anyways, the new vehicle has a moonroof, of which I am very jealous. I will probably meet the car soon, and give you my first-hand impression at that point.
Saw Napoleon Dynamite with Mykala and her sister Kourtni (both of whom have really really great spellings of their names) - and I was completely amazed. What I liked the most about the movie is the way it refuses to stick to any “time-tested” formulas for the way in which a movie should flow, appear, and catch our interest. The spot-on casting, unique camera angles, and hilarious scenes are all cleanly and snugly tied together by the insightful script. To give details to prove these assertions would ruin the movie, you simply have to see it yourself. Furthermore, I especially like the cleanliness of the movie. It has more than one opportunity to expand on the shadiness of some of its characters by using dirty situations. But once again, it refuses to: someone behind Napoleon Dynamite knew they could make more of a point by really thinking things through instead of defaulting to a cinematic cliche.
Oh, and Mykala has a LoveSac. My jealousy overfloweth.
By the way, my friend Steve had a crap week last week. There were bits of humor, but even those were stressful. Steve works switchboard @ Fairview Health in Minneapolis; one of the conversations went something like this:
Steve: Patient information, how may I help you?
Guy: Yeah, my friend might have checked in here a couple of days ago. gives name
S: I don’t see him here, he might have been discharg-
G: No. He hasn’t been. They stabbed him like 9 times in the back and slit his throat. I don’t think so.
And then there was this one:
Steve: Patient information, how may I help you?
Woman: Yeah, I’m calling about my dad. gives name
S: Yes, I have his room number here, shall I put you through to him?
W: That’s ok, is he dead yet?
S: Excuse me?
W: Oh, sorry. Is he … deceased?
I mean, when this sort of stuff is your humor for the week, you can’t help but have a not-so-great-time. Hey, keep Steve in your thoughts, OK?
Anyhow, Nils is nearing the final-editing of his movie on my machine here. His cuts are great, as is the soundtrack, I think you all will like it and certainly should buy the dvd. The only visual of this top secret project I can offer right now is below:
Final thought: John has gotten me into rollerblading. I constantly give him crap for having ABEC 5’s, as I only have ABEC 1’s. No, we are not the usual guys who are obsessed with the horsepower of cars: it’s all in good fun. But let’s be honest, the kid can fly on those things. Certainly is making me consider purchasing a pair.
In the meantime, I will concentrate on learning how to fall the right way, because falls are unavoidable.