brilliance

Sometimes I am struck by the number of singularly brilliant people I know, or know of. People who have talent to spare, who are driven and go beyond being merely smart almost (sometimes) to the point of savant. It is...intimidating, in a way; I am pale in comparison. Sure, I do what I do pretty well, but then again, I have tried to escape my school district only to be ignored or to fail to move on, so maybe I'm not so great at what I do. But that's not my point. I don't know what my point is, really, perhaps I just wish I had more to offer this world. Maybe I am jealous. Not sure. Maybe I'm just a bit loopy from being underfed and imbibing White Russians. But when your circle of friends and acquaintances includes so many survivors, so much raw talent, so much passion and drive, so many people on the bleeding edge of what they do, such raw lyricism in words and life...maybe I'm just having one of those days where I am not sure how the hell I got invited into the midst of such a group.

a million little pieces

Over the past week or so it has been virtually impossible to avoid the debate over this guy James Frey and his pseudo-memoir. I haven't read the book, don't watch Oprah, and don't really much care about the whole thing. But I will say this: The guy is a marketing genius. He has managed to ride this little "controversy" into another round of free publicity, which will of course translate to more book sales as people try to decode the book for the truth and the fiction, aside from the potential readers that were missed in the first wave of "selling it". We love our larger than life stories in this country; American history/mythology is a testament to that. This is nothing new, and it will happen again.

Review: Clone Wars I and II

The Clone Wars is an animated series produced in between the 2nd and 3rd Star Wars movies. The primary animation was done by Genndy Tartakovsky, whose previous work includes Cartoon Network favorites Dexter's Lab and Samurai Jack.
The purpose of the series was to fill in the storyline gaps between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, after a fashion. The feature movies don't require seeing the cartoon, but the Star wars mythology includes a period of fierce battles in the interim.
If you're into Star Wars then you probably won't mind watching an animated version of it. The bonus here is that this is a well done piece of work; Tartakovsky's style suits the material well and the pacing is spot on. Actually, it would be fair to say that the writing and overall structure here is better than some (most? all?) of the movies. Worth seeing.
Rating: flush.

Risk versus Reward

So I'm doing this dieting thing. And it has helped, being more aware of what and how much I am eating, and keeping track. The FitDay website has been particularly useful in that regard. So what are the downsides? Supposedly I am not eating enough. I guess the theory is that I shoudn't be eating fewer calories than my basal amount each day, which is 1975. I am averaging about 1350 a day over the past two weeks. The other problem is that I need more variation in activities, especially now that I strained my foot on the treadmill and it needs a few days to rest. I don't have a gym membership, because when I did I spent most of the timeon the treadmill anyway, and once I bought one I let the membership go. So should I go buy an exercise bike? Less impact on my feet, and one more thing to find space for here? Maybe. It's too cold (not to mention icy) to drag out the bike and go for a ride. I have some weights to lift and of course there are always sit-ups/crunches to be done. Meanwhile, I am contemplating buying a new scale, since mine is designed for the least amount of accuracy and a general tendency to make me crazy with daily weight swings of three or four pounds. Anyway, let's see how the next three weeks of competition goes; I think it'll all be worth it in the end.

Tree

Loser update

Week two of six for the "Biggest Loser" contest at work. Cumulative weight loss: 6 pounds. Team rank: 3rd out of 9 (there are 4 of us per team). What have I learned thus far? Portion sizes really are the most ridiculous concept ever. They seem pretty arbitrary to me. Oh, well; such is the game that I have to play, and I suppose in the long run I'm better off for it. Speaking of long runs, time to get on the dreaded treadmill...

An Army of Me

"How long would it take to train an army?" - Jack on Lost

Haven't we all had that thought in some form or another? Usually in a benevolent fashion, though, something along the lines of "I could make the world a better place if only I could convince a whole bunch of people to do what needed to be done."
I have this thought a lot, sort of, on a small scale. Often in parking lots, thinking, why can't everyone just put their cart in the cart corral? Is it really such a chore? Or at work, I think that way all the time; the difference is there I used to actually act upon it, whereas now I have been hovering at the frustration level for quite some time. How many times do you have to say to people "Kazaa is bad, and get some anti-virus software", and still they come to me "Yeah, my computer is acting funny, and there are all these pop-ups, and my homepage keeps changing." Is it my failure if they refuse to listen to common sense?
But what I really need right now is an army of masseuses (masseuse? Is it like moose? I have never had to pluralize that word before); 11 days straight on the treadmill in pursuit of the Biggest Loser crown (4 weeks to go after tomorrow) is taking a toll.
Anyway, I think the answer to how long it takes to train an army was answered to some extent during the last season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. So, watchers of Lost, in TV time expect a big confrontation for the season finale, with a bunch people lying in pools of blood on the ground and big questions as to who is dead and who is alive, nevermind the question of who will be reincarnated as a spectral presence for season 3 of the show.

love monkey

New show. Love Monkey. Tom Cavanaugh, last seen as "Ed". I liked that show, too, even if it was a bit over the top at times. I think I'll like this new show as well; one good episode does not a series make, but still. So now there is actually a handful of shows worth watching (in my distorted opinion); West Wing, House, Lost, and 24 being the others. I guess I'm not much for comedy. Give me wry humor and sarcasm instead.

The thrilling conclusion

So yeah, the girl who caused me so much grief last year? Engaged. Now I just have to figure out how to market my skills as a set-up man for husband hunting women.

Review: Crash

Crash (2005)
This movie will break your heart and then put part of it back together. But it leaves it to the viewer to finish the job.
It is designed to force you to question your assumptions about other people, even as it consistently reinforces stereotypes.
You don't watch Crash. You empathize with it, you recoil from it, you can hardly take your eyes off of the emotional carnage taking place, willing the characters toward some sort of redemption, some sense of closure, and it is only at the end that you realize that there is no end, just a snapshot of moments and the sense that yes, tomorrow you will change, tomorrow you will do better, be better.
If that is possible.
And that is the question. Can we be better? Can we find the golden moment in the midst of our prejudices, our anger, our sense of being wronged, our questioning of the true motives of people?
Maybe we can. Maybe it's enough that we try. Even though it is easy to get the sense that nobody else is trying.
Rating: Royal Flush

Loser

Here we are five days into the new year.
At work tomorrow we start our "Biggest Loser" competition. I haven't finished my x-mas cookies and candy yet! Can I have one Fannie Mae mint a day for the duration? Yeah, sure, if I spend an extra ten minutes on the treadmill. But I do like my treadmill, even though it has started to squeak a little bit. Trying to tell me something, too often inanimate object?
Hopefully I am motivated later to post some Florida trip notes.
Actually, most days I just hope I am motivated enough to do pretty much anything.