Why Am I Blogging?

As I stated in my first post, I learned by reading various blog-advice websites that the first post should introduce yourself and explain why you are blogging.  I chose to ignore this advice, but mentioned that I would address that question later.  I guess this is later.  


Have you ever seen the movie Stand By Me?  If you have, you might know where this is going.  If you haven't you should watch it as soon as possible.  

In the movie Stand By Me four boys set off on a two-day hike obsessed with the idea of discovering the body of a young man who was supposedly hit by a train.  Written by Steven King and directed by Rob Reiner it is a touching film with a nostalgic theme that is expressed beautifully in it's last line:


"I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?" 

My favorite part of the movie is when the four boys sit down in front of the campfire and talk into the night. As Richard Dreyfuss narrates,  it's "the kinda talk that seems important until you discover girls."   

Gordie: Alright, alright, Mickey's a mouse, Donald's a duck, Pluto's a dog. What's Goofy?


Vern: If I could only have one food for the rest of my life? That's easy-Pez. Cherry-flavored Pez. No question about it.

Teddy: Goofy's a dog. He's definitely a dog.

Gordie: I knew the $64,000 question was fixed. There's no way anybody could know that much about opera!

Chris: He can't be a dog. He drives a car and wears a hat.

Gordie: Wagon Train's a really cool show, but did you notice they never get anywhere? They just keep wagon training.

Vern: God. That's weird. What the hell is Goofy?

The older I get, the less opportunities there are for these types of conversations to take place.  We become adults who are expected to ask boring questions like, "how's the job treating you?" only to receive trite responses like, "It's work." So to answer the question (why did I start blogging?) I guess it's because I needed a place to speculate about my mailman, make movie recommendations, and ask tough questions like, "What the hell is Goofy?"  

Darling You Got To Let Me Know

My brother sent me the link to this delightful video a few days ago.  Who knew The Clash and Lady and the Tramp could come together so seamlessly? VeggaEccentric- that's who!


Watching this video reminded me how much I loved this movie as a kid.  Remember Jock and Trusty? Pedro the Chihuahua?  Peg?  And of course Si & Am, who are solely responsible for my distrust of cats.


I foresee myself making spaghetti and revisiting this charming Disney movie in the very near future.

How does that sound brother?  

Keep On Grokkin' In The Free World

I love words.  Specifically, I love unusual words.


Have you ever heard of the word grok?


Robert A. Heinlein coined this term in his novel Stranger In A Strange Land. The following is an excerpt from that piece:

"Grok means to understand so thoroughly that the observer becomes a part of the observed—to merge, blend, intermarry, lose identity in group experience. It means almost everything that we mean by religion, philosophy, and science—and it means as little to us (because of our Earthly assumptions) as color means to a blind man."


Isn't that beautiful?


A good friend of mine introduced me to the word and now we use it all the time to express our desire to be completely understood or to completely understand.  The Oxford English dictionary provides us with this definition:  "to understand intuitively or by empathy; to establish rapport with" and "to empathize or communicate sympathetically (with); also, to experience enjoyment." 

The word was a bit more popular during the 60s (Tom Wolfe used it in his novel The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test), and it is used to today amongst hackers to describe coding comprehension.  

I love using this word, because I love the way it sounds.  Also, it rhymes with rock and therefore can be easily substituted in phrases involving rock.  So if you understand something really, really well you can say fun things like, "I'm hanging out at the Hard Grok Cafe."  

Or if you're having a really good conversation you can tell the other person, "I want to grok with you all night."

Do you see how much potential this word has?  Do you grok grok?  Will you join me in my efforts to keep on grokkin' in the free world? 

  

Are You Killing It?

Ladies and gentleman, a new and interesting character has arrived. His name is Paul Crik and he has one mission: killing it.

You might be asking yourself, "what is killing it?" Well, I can't tell you what "killing it" is (you'll have to discover that for yourself).  I can only tell you what "killing it" is not.


"It is not a replication.  It is not on a set.  It is not surreal; it is not real. It is not comedy; it is not tragedy. It is not sublime; it is not absurd. It is not good; it is not bad."


It is yours.  

Thanks for checking in y'all. Now go kill it.  

The Girl without the Dragon Tattoo

My friend Brittany is one of the most fascinating people anyone could ever hope to meet.  She is extremely creative, shockingly beautiful, and flat-out hysterical.  She is also full of surprises.


A few weeks ago we were hanging out, and someone mentioned the novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.


Brittany says (very casually, very cooly):  "I haven't read it, but I'm actually on the cover of the book."


With any other person I might be skeptical, but with Brittany all things are possible.


Me:  "Really?"


Brittany:  "Yeah, I think I have a copy around here somewhere."


Sure enough:

That's Brittany!  Also, that tattoo was not added to her image.  That's Brittany's tattoo! (I made her lift her shirt and show me.)


So last night we were hanging out and I learned that Brittany is in the process of having her dragon tattoo removed.


Whaaat!?


So here's what makes Brittany cool, and what makes me a total loser: if I had a tattoo that was prominently featured on the cover of a novel that is a global phenomenon, I would never remove it. Not only that, I would probably go around introducing myself as "the girl with the dragon tattoo" and keep a copy of the novel in my purse at all times.  


I asked Brittany why she was removing the tattoo and she explained that she was tired of it and ready for something new. 


There are certain things that I learn from certain friends.  Brittany teaches me about fashion, art, and basically gives me lessons on "how to be cool."  Lesson number one: don't live in the past.  

Get Excited

about this!

Try To Make It Last

My gym has a valet service, and I happily utilize it as my gym is downtown and parking can be an issue.  A few months ago one of the valet drivers told me that he and the other valets always argue over who gets to park my car, because they like my taste in music.

I immediately felt a tremendous amount of pressure.


So for the past few months, each time I went to my gym, I tried to make sure that a 'cool' song was playing in my car.  I have even gone so far as to try and select a song that is rather obscure just to keep things fresh.


As the compliments continued, the pressure decreased and I grew overly confident.  The stereo in my car holds six compact discs, and my mixes are fairly random, but I could usually locate something decent fairly quickly.


One day the valet said, "I really liked that song in your car. Who is that?"


"Wilco," I arrogantly replied.  "Would you like the cd?"

He eagerly agreed.  I got in my car, began the drive home, and congratulated myself on a job well done.  And then I realized something.


I actually don't have good taste in music, or at least what a lot of people would consider completely 'cool' taste in music.  I fake it.  While I had given him exactly one Wilco song, this Wilco song was the only standout on one of the cheesiest mixes ever created.  The disc featured everything from Bruce Hornsby's "Every Little Kiss" to Steve Winwood's "The Finer Things".  

Oh, and this little gem.