happy John Steinbeck's birthday! the start of Tibetan New Year happened a couple days ago, so i'll say Happy New Year again too. have put down The Grapes of Wrath for the time being, stopping at chapter 5 (of course i'll continue it and finish it later!) to read Daniel Tammet's memoir Born on a Blue Day.
the blog entry previous to this one ends in thunder. Daniel experiences the number 5 as loud like thunder. William Carlos Williams and Charles Demuth saw the figure 5 in gold accompanied by gong clangs, siren howls and wheels rumbling. in a still undeveloped photo, the 5 digits of my hand curve to hold an edible ball, an orange with a large patch of green mold. on a recent day when i got thrown a curve ball (unexpectedly finding the post office, the library and the bank all closed for President's Day) at home i put 6 of my hand self-portraits on a bulletin board along with other things;...
....(TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW 'CAUSE IT's LATE & I'M SLEEPY)...
Friday, February 27, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
"tomorrow", huh?
....more like a week later! sheesh. St. Valentine recently won big points with me because i read in a local newspaper that (according to legend) he got executed for helping men avoid military conscription by getting them married.
oh and speaking of saints...Joshua Norton (Emperor Norton I) - peace to him - incarnated on this day in 1819. Hail Eris! All Hail Discordia!
on this day in 1876, both Alexander Bell and Elisha Gray - independently of and unbeknownst to eachother - applied for patents for the telephone, a device which truly has no single inventor. in fact, even before either of them, an Italian named Antonio Meucci invented a telephone.
oh and speaking of inventors...on this day in 1744, John Hadley died. he invented the octant, a measuring device...and so did someone named Thomas Godfrey!
TODAY'S WORDS
1. Manti
2. kellokult
3. i'll keep you in suspense about the third one.
i've recently learned about, and become enthused about, an English mathematician and linguist named Daniel Tammet. a savant blessed-cursed with Asperger's Syndrome, a high-functioning autism spectrum condition, and clearly blessed with synesthesia (perception of things in one sense modality accompanied by impressions in other sense modalities, such that to a synesthete, a sound may have a corresponding color and shape, etc.) Daniel has invented a language called Manti. in this language, the word "kellokult" means lateness (literally, "clock debt"). i have a long standing tendency to accrue clock debt, as the lateness of this blog entry demonstrates.
for Daniel, even abstractions such as numbers and days of the week have corresponding colors, shapes, textures and sounds. he experiences Pi as a majestic, rolling landscape and once famously recited the first 22,514 digits of Pi at a charity event for epilepsy.
i'd like to shift attention now to someone else who, like Daniel Tammet, also had all kinds of inventive fun with words: the writer James Joyce, whose birth anniversary occured this past February 2...when i had intended to post this present blog entry (see, i told you i drag my butt)! in his novel Finnegans Wake, Joyce uses the third of today's words that i wanted to introduce...this onomotopoeic neologism representing a thunderclap....
bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonnerronntuonnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenthurnuk!
oh and speaking of saints...Joshua Norton (Emperor Norton I) - peace to him - incarnated on this day in 1819. Hail Eris! All Hail Discordia!
on this day in 1876, both Alexander Bell and Elisha Gray - independently of and unbeknownst to eachother - applied for patents for the telephone, a device which truly has no single inventor. in fact, even before either of them, an Italian named Antonio Meucci invented a telephone.
oh and speaking of inventors...on this day in 1744, John Hadley died. he invented the octant, a measuring device...and so did someone named Thomas Godfrey!
TODAY'S WORDS
1. Manti
2. kellokult
3. i'll keep you in suspense about the third one.
i've recently learned about, and become enthused about, an English mathematician and linguist named Daniel Tammet. a savant blessed-cursed with Asperger's Syndrome, a high-functioning autism spectrum condition, and clearly blessed with synesthesia (perception of things in one sense modality accompanied by impressions in other sense modalities, such that to a synesthete, a sound may have a corresponding color and shape, etc.) Daniel has invented a language called Manti. in this language, the word "kellokult" means lateness (literally, "clock debt"). i have a long standing tendency to accrue clock debt, as the lateness of this blog entry demonstrates.
for Daniel, even abstractions such as numbers and days of the week have corresponding colors, shapes, textures and sounds. he experiences Pi as a majestic, rolling landscape and once famously recited the first 22,514 digits of Pi at a charity event for epilepsy.
i'd like to shift attention now to someone else who, like Daniel Tammet, also had all kinds of inventive fun with words: the writer James Joyce, whose birth anniversary occured this past February 2...when i had intended to post this present blog entry (see, i told you i drag my butt)! in his novel Finnegans Wake, Joyce uses the third of today's words that i wanted to introduce...this onomotopoeic neologism representing a thunderclap....
bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonnerronntuonnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenthurnuk!
Saturday, February 7, 2009
CONTINUED
of the 5 photos i took of the Camera Van, 3 came out well. better than i expected! the Film Festival came and went. i didn't manage to see the other film i intended to see, a clay animation feature from Australia about some characters in an apartment complex titled $9.99.
i've reached chapter 5 of The Grapes of Wrath. saw Joe Woodard recently and he still hadn't started V.
today my brother Memo and expat Chilean film maker, theater director, cartoonist etc. Alejandro Jodorowsky have their birthday. i called Memo to wish him a happy birthday.
i'll have to continue this tomorrow because i must go to bed. good night.
i've reached chapter 5 of The Grapes of Wrath. saw Joe Woodard recently and he still hadn't started V.
today my brother Memo and expat Chilean film maker, theater director, cartoonist etc. Alejandro Jodorowsky have their birthday. i called Memo to wish him a happy birthday.
i'll have to continue this tomorrow because i must go to bed. good night.
Monday, January 26, 2009
more
Happy New Year! dinner consisted of egg drop, tofu and seaweed soup, then some vegetarian pot stickers. beer to drink. my fortune cookie message reads: Listen these next few days to your friends to get answers you seek. i started reading The Grapes of Wrath (interrupting and putting aside the book on Critical Mass to do so) and i've made an additional New Year's resolution: to stop neglecting my needs.
i expect that ceasing to neglect my needs would lead to harboring fewer secrets, which leads me to my next topic...i've recently enjoyed a book titled Post Secret: Extraordinary Confessions From Ordinary Lives, compiled and introduced by Frank Warren. this concerns an ongoing project Frank started, of soliciting, collecting then publishing (in books and on his website, postsecret.com) anonymously sent handmade picture postcards containing confessions and apropriate visual images - usually little drawings, collages or photographs.
Frank Warren reminds me of another confessor type: the late great Allan Bridge, a.k.a. Mr. Apology. before his untimely death in 1995 in a scuba diving mishap, Allan ran something called the Apology Project, consisting of a telephone hotline (the Apology Line, based in New York) wherein participants could leave (recorded and preserved) messages of apology and confession...as well as its print equivalent, Apology Magazine.
currently here in SB we have our annual International Film Festival in progress, so this past Saturday night i saw one of the only 2 movies i want to see this time: Automorphosis, a documentary by Harrod Blank about art cars, heavily decorated, modified and personalized cars which their owners intend as vehicles not only for transport but also for personal and esthetic statements. Harrod has made at least 2 such cars, one of which he came to town in: the Camera Van, a van literally covered in fully functional cameras, all artfully arranged to form such images as a giant camera, an eye, a star, etc. from a panel inside the van, Harrod can activate these cameras to take reaction shots of the people who encounter it!
naturally i had to go photograph this puppy myself...using my flash, of course. i took several photos. hopefully at least one or two of them will come out.
CONTINUED....
i expect that ceasing to neglect my needs would lead to harboring fewer secrets, which leads me to my next topic...i've recently enjoyed a book titled Post Secret: Extraordinary Confessions From Ordinary Lives, compiled and introduced by Frank Warren. this concerns an ongoing project Frank started, of soliciting, collecting then publishing (in books and on his website, postsecret.com) anonymously sent handmade picture postcards containing confessions and apropriate visual images - usually little drawings, collages or photographs.
Frank Warren reminds me of another confessor type: the late great Allan Bridge, a.k.a. Mr. Apology. before his untimely death in 1995 in a scuba diving mishap, Allan ran something called the Apology Project, consisting of a telephone hotline (the Apology Line, based in New York) wherein participants could leave (recorded and preserved) messages of apology and confession...as well as its print equivalent, Apology Magazine.
currently here in SB we have our annual International Film Festival in progress, so this past Saturday night i saw one of the only 2 movies i want to see this time: Automorphosis, a documentary by Harrod Blank about art cars, heavily decorated, modified and personalized cars which their owners intend as vehicles not only for transport but also for personal and esthetic statements. Harrod has made at least 2 such cars, one of which he came to town in: the Camera Van, a van literally covered in fully functional cameras, all artfully arranged to form such images as a giant camera, an eye, a star, etc. from a panel inside the van, Harrod can activate these cameras to take reaction shots of the people who encounter it!
naturally i had to go photograph this puppy myself...using my flash, of course. i took several photos. hopefully at least one or two of them will come out.
CONTINUED....
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Happy New Year again
well, first of all...happy new moon. for me, an occasion for serious introspection. tomorrow both the Chinese Year of the Earth Ox and the Vietnamese Year of the Water Buffalo begin. the Korean year also begins tomorrow.
today back in 1759 the Scottish poet Robert Burns incarnated. he wrote Auld Lang Syne. it might amuse someone to have a traditional Burns Day feast (which includes haggis) then sing Auld Lang Syne in recognition of Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean New Year...but i won't. i maintain vegetarianism.
more later.
today back in 1759 the Scottish poet Robert Burns incarnated. he wrote Auld Lang Syne. it might amuse someone to have a traditional Burns Day feast (which includes haggis) then sing Auld Lang Syne in recognition of Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean New Year...but i won't. i maintain vegetarianism.
more later.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
other words other worlds part 2, etc.
since my last blog entry, i learned that January 21 marked the one year anniversary of the death of Udach' Kuqax a'a'ch (Marie Smith Jones) the last full-blood Eyak (an indigenous people of Alaska) and with that, the extinction of the Eyak language. this reminded me that a dedicated group of contemporary Chumash people currently work to revive the Barbareno Chumash dialect from the brink of extinction. the prognosis looks good, as anthropologists documented this dialect well.
ran into Joe Woodard today. he hasn't started V yet. i haven't started the Grapes of Wrath yet either.
i feel kind of tired so i'll keep this entry short, but i intend to post more tomorrow and the next day, so good night.
ran into Joe Woodard today. he hasn't started V yet. i haven't started the Grapes of Wrath yet either.
i feel kind of tired so i'll keep this entry short, but i intend to post more tomorrow and the next day, so good night.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
for Leilah, Daniel, Dave, Bryan, Bryson and Emilio: other words other worlds
TODAY'S WORDS
1. Magma: a) molten matter within the earth. b) a French progressive rock band of the 1970s.
2. Kobaian: of or pertaining to Kobaia; for example, the language spoken there.
3. Kobaia: an imaginary world created by Magma, the French progressive rock band. the Kobaian language really exists as a usable language, much like Klingon, a real language created for an imaginary world and its people.
i learned these bits from a highly enjoyable article in the current Fortean Times on outer space and science fiction themes in the work of psychedelic and progressive rock bands. because of their far-reaching influence, the author also mentioned 2 other musicians who weren't rock musicians at all: Sun Ra (avante garde jazz) and Karlheinz Stockhausen (contemporary avante garde classical). i'd like to turn the author on to Lucia Pamela, an outsider musician who made a children's music album about an imaginary trip to the moon titled Into Outer Space. all in all, the article made me want to hitch a ride to the parallel Earth where the band Pink Floyd DIDN'T turn down the offer to do the music for the film 2001: A Space Odyssey...though, for the record, i like what Kubrick ultimately decided to do music-wise; i think it would've tickled Johann Strauss to know that i (and probably a lot of other people) think of the planets orbiting through space when i hear The Blue Danube.
though i certainly can't claim any proficiency in any invented languages (Klingon, Esperanto or what have you) the topic of such languages fascinates me, and some of you who know me know that one of my favorite books, Codex Seraphinianus, an encyclopedia of an imaginary world by the Italian artist Luigi Serafini, presents itself as a work FROM that world, written in one of its languages. i wonder if my Tolkein fan brother Bryan or my Tolkein fan nephew Bryson will ever learn Quenya. well, they will if they want to. likewise my Trekkie nephew Emilio will learn Klingon if he wants to.
buenas noches y bonne nuit! :)
1. Magma: a) molten matter within the earth. b) a French progressive rock band of the 1970s.
2. Kobaian: of or pertaining to Kobaia; for example, the language spoken there.
3. Kobaia: an imaginary world created by Magma, the French progressive rock band. the Kobaian language really exists as a usable language, much like Klingon, a real language created for an imaginary world and its people.
i learned these bits from a highly enjoyable article in the current Fortean Times on outer space and science fiction themes in the work of psychedelic and progressive rock bands. because of their far-reaching influence, the author also mentioned 2 other musicians who weren't rock musicians at all: Sun Ra (avante garde jazz) and Karlheinz Stockhausen (contemporary avante garde classical). i'd like to turn the author on to Lucia Pamela, an outsider musician who made a children's music album about an imaginary trip to the moon titled Into Outer Space. all in all, the article made me want to hitch a ride to the parallel Earth where the band Pink Floyd DIDN'T turn down the offer to do the music for the film 2001: A Space Odyssey...though, for the record, i like what Kubrick ultimately decided to do music-wise; i think it would've tickled Johann Strauss to know that i (and probably a lot of other people) think of the planets orbiting through space when i hear The Blue Danube.
though i certainly can't claim any proficiency in any invented languages (Klingon, Esperanto or what have you) the topic of such languages fascinates me, and some of you who know me know that one of my favorite books, Codex Seraphinianus, an encyclopedia of an imaginary world by the Italian artist Luigi Serafini, presents itself as a work FROM that world, written in one of its languages. i wonder if my Tolkein fan brother Bryan or my Tolkein fan nephew Bryson will ever learn Quenya. well, they will if they want to. likewise my Trekkie nephew Emilio will learn Klingon if he wants to.
buenas noches y bonne nuit! :)
Monday, January 5, 2009
on into January
since my last blog entry a week ago, the aforementioned Isaac Asimov had a birth anniversary...on January 2. though best known for his science fiction, and secondarily for nonfiction popular science writing, his HUNDREDS of books range over other topics as well, including history, literary criticism and humor.
i've gotten an interesting range of responses from people regarding my intention to read The Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck. one of my favorite responses came from an acquaintance, Joe Woodard, who said that i've inspired him to commit to reading a book he's wanted to read for a while: the novel V by Thomas Pynchon. i mentioned that at some point i'd like to read Gravity's Rainbow but realize it isn't casual reading, as it has multiple sub-plots and other complexities.
today marks the anniversary of the announcement, in an Austrian newspaper, of German physicist Wilhelm Rontgen's discovery of x-rays. on this day in 1933, construction on the Golden Gate Bridge began. birth anniversary: Paramahansa Yogananda, Indian yogi, 1893. death anniversary: Momofuku Ando, Taiwanese-Japanese cook and entepeneur who invented instant noodles, 2007. happy Mungday and Hail Eris to my fellow Discordians!
as some of you know, i have a very serious addiction to photography. my latest batch of photos (which i have close at hand) included 2 rejects: a poorly lit photo of a Christmas tree which i subsequently hid inside a library copy of Richard Brautigan's book The Tokyo-Montana Express on the page facing the beginning of a story titled "What Are You Going To Do With 390 Photographs of Christmas Trees?"; and a badly over-lit photo of my right hand holding a pentagram-shaped cookie, which i subsequently hid inside of a library copy of a biography of the aforementioned Asimov. a real disappointment, that photo, because it took 3 hands to make it: my right hand as the subject, my brother Jorge's hand to press the flash (necessary for this indoor picture) and my left hand to snap the photo. this latest batch of photos includes 3 others of my hands holding various things. these and other hand photos form an ongoing series of what i think of as self-portraits. i also took - no, not 389, but just 3 other photos of Christmas trees. they came out okay. ciao!
i've gotten an interesting range of responses from people regarding my intention to read The Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck. one of my favorite responses came from an acquaintance, Joe Woodard, who said that i've inspired him to commit to reading a book he's wanted to read for a while: the novel V by Thomas Pynchon. i mentioned that at some point i'd like to read Gravity's Rainbow but realize it isn't casual reading, as it has multiple sub-plots and other complexities.
today marks the anniversary of the announcement, in an Austrian newspaper, of German physicist Wilhelm Rontgen's discovery of x-rays. on this day in 1933, construction on the Golden Gate Bridge began. birth anniversary: Paramahansa Yogananda, Indian yogi, 1893. death anniversary: Momofuku Ando, Taiwanese-Japanese cook and entepeneur who invented instant noodles, 2007. happy Mungday and Hail Eris to my fellow Discordians!
as some of you know, i have a very serious addiction to photography. my latest batch of photos (which i have close at hand) included 2 rejects: a poorly lit photo of a Christmas tree which i subsequently hid inside a library copy of Richard Brautigan's book The Tokyo-Montana Express on the page facing the beginning of a story titled "What Are You Going To Do With 390 Photographs of Christmas Trees?"; and a badly over-lit photo of my right hand holding a pentagram-shaped cookie, which i subsequently hid inside of a library copy of a biography of the aforementioned Asimov. a real disappointment, that photo, because it took 3 hands to make it: my right hand as the subject, my brother Jorge's hand to press the flash (necessary for this indoor picture) and my left hand to snap the photo. this latest batch of photos includes 3 others of my hands holding various things. these and other hand photos form an ongoing series of what i think of as self-portraits. i also took - no, not 389, but just 3 other photos of Christmas trees. they came out okay. ciao!
Monday, December 29, 2008
Happy New Year etc.
we can consider any day New Year's Day because one year begins just after the last ended, coming full circle. circles and circular processes have no beginning and no end save what the perceiver chooses. you can consider your birthday your personal New Year's Day.
i prefer to start the year count with Year Zero, not Year One. European cultures came to the zero concept in mathematics late. the Hindus of India and the Mayas of Central America had it much earlier.
i prefer to count the years not around the purported time of the birth of Jesus, but from the estimated age of the earliest known cave paintings (about 40,000 years ago) or, better still, from the estimated age of some gold mines in southern Africa (about 100,000 years ago). that far back, also, the purported ancestor of every human alive today lived: a woman whom anthropologists have nicknamed Eve.
the day corresponding to May 28th in the Gregorian calendar makes the most sense to me as the year's first day for common usage, because on this day in the year designated "585 BC" in the Gregorian calendar, the earliest event in human history to which we CAN assign an exact date occured: the cancellation of a battle between the Lydians and Medeans in Asia Minor. this bit, subsequently verified in other sources, first came to me from Isaac Asimov's book Of Time and Space and Other Things.
but enough about May 28th. TODAY marks the anniversary of the birth of American jazz pianist Billy Tipton and the death of French mathematician Joseph Saurin...so a toast to them.
my one New Year's resolution: to read The Grapes of Wrath. i got inspired to do that from a recent visit to a museum: the John Steinbeck Center in Salinas. on that visit, i also discovered, in one of the rooms there, something with no obvious connection to Steinbeck: some collages and assemblages by a Carmel artist named Kay Villalobos. WONDERFULL stuff! so a toast to John Steinbeck and Kay Villalobos as well.
for now, i continue with the book on Critical Mass Day mentioned in an earlier blog entry. concurrently with that, issues 5 and 6 of Found Magazine.
good night.
i prefer to start the year count with Year Zero, not Year One. European cultures came to the zero concept in mathematics late. the Hindus of India and the Mayas of Central America had it much earlier.
i prefer to count the years not around the purported time of the birth of Jesus, but from the estimated age of the earliest known cave paintings (about 40,000 years ago) or, better still, from the estimated age of some gold mines in southern Africa (about 100,000 years ago). that far back, also, the purported ancestor of every human alive today lived: a woman whom anthropologists have nicknamed Eve.
the day corresponding to May 28th in the Gregorian calendar makes the most sense to me as the year's first day for common usage, because on this day in the year designated "585 BC" in the Gregorian calendar, the earliest event in human history to which we CAN assign an exact date occured: the cancellation of a battle between the Lydians and Medeans in Asia Minor. this bit, subsequently verified in other sources, first came to me from Isaac Asimov's book Of Time and Space and Other Things.
but enough about May 28th. TODAY marks the anniversary of the birth of American jazz pianist Billy Tipton and the death of French mathematician Joseph Saurin...so a toast to them.
my one New Year's resolution: to read The Grapes of Wrath. i got inspired to do that from a recent visit to a museum: the John Steinbeck Center in Salinas. on that visit, i also discovered, in one of the rooms there, something with no obvious connection to Steinbeck: some collages and assemblages by a Carmel artist named Kay Villalobos. WONDERFULL stuff! so a toast to John Steinbeck and Kay Villalobos as well.
for now, i continue with the book on Critical Mass Day mentioned in an earlier blog entry. concurrently with that, issues 5 and 6 of Found Magazine.
good night.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Personal Questions (self interview)
Holden, what did you do last time you couldn't sleep?
got up and watched The Abominable Dr. Phibes.
which parallel universe Earth would you like to visit?
first, i'd narrow the range of choices down to those Earths in which no version of me exists because my parents never met. this is to avoid giving my corresponding self the disorienting shock of encountering his double. from there, i'd pick an Earth in which the entirety of the Satyricon by Petronius, all the writings of Heraklitos and all those of Sappho survived intact long enough to get translated into modern English and published. i'd find some library with those books in that world, settle in for a spell and read 'em!
what kind of memorial service do you want when you die?
an informal gathering at a friend or surviving family members's house wherein the attendees can share memories of me, say whatever they need to say and share food. i'd keep it secular so everyone can feel comfortable.
what foods did you used to hate that you like now?
beets, lemons and prune juice.
if you could be a musical instrument, which would you choose?
the one that i already am.
which languages do you know?
ingles y espanol.
got up and watched The Abominable Dr. Phibes.
which parallel universe Earth would you like to visit?
first, i'd narrow the range of choices down to those Earths in which no version of me exists because my parents never met. this is to avoid giving my corresponding self the disorienting shock of encountering his double. from there, i'd pick an Earth in which the entirety of the Satyricon by Petronius, all the writings of Heraklitos and all those of Sappho survived intact long enough to get translated into modern English and published. i'd find some library with those books in that world, settle in for a spell and read 'em!
what kind of memorial service do you want when you die?
an informal gathering at a friend or surviving family members's house wherein the attendees can share memories of me, say whatever they need to say and share food. i'd keep it secular so everyone can feel comfortable.
what foods did you used to hate that you like now?
beets, lemons and prune juice.
if you could be a musical instrument, which would you choose?
the one that i already am.
which languages do you know?
ingles y espanol.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
as i was saying...
the cold continues apace. i don't even want to THINK about my next gas bill. it looked like we might get some rain here today in Santa Barbara, but i didn't notice a drop. one of the pleasures of the season: egg nog. i best like mine heated, with some brandy in it, and with cinnamon on top.
will go out of town from the 23rd to the 27th to see 2 of my brothers and their families. We'll convene in Aptos where my brother Bryan and family live.
today i finished Book of Longing by Leonard Cohen (which i enjoyed) and donated it to the front table in the Sportsman Lounge. for a bookmark, i used the accidentally torn front flap of the dust jacket of another book, The Meaning of Tingo by Adam Jacot de Boinod. "tingo?" a verb from the Pascuense language of Easter Island meaning to borrow, one at a time, all the objects that one desires from the house of a friend. this book is about unusual words from languages from around the world, with a special focus on words which have no exact equivalent in English. a favorite: yuyurungurul. an onomatopoeic word from one of the aboriginal Australian languages (i forget which) referring to the sound a snake makes moving through tall grass. i read that the author works as a researcher for the BBC. he also wrote a follow-up, titled Toujours Tingo. my next book: Critical Mass: Bicycling's Defiant Celebration, edited by Chris Carlson...picking up where i left off a while ago in that book. it concerns Critical Mass Day, a tradition that began over 10 years ago in San Fransisco. on the last Friday of every month, people in scattered communities worldwide ride their bikes en mass.
Santa Barbarans have embraced Critical Mass Day only intermittently and in small numbers. still, i fondly remember how one year the last Friday in October fell on Halloween, so Critical Massers rode their bikes in costume. i WISH i'd had a camera with me. i especially liked one rider's jester costume.
good night.
will go out of town from the 23rd to the 27th to see 2 of my brothers and their families. We'll convene in Aptos where my brother Bryan and family live.
today i finished Book of Longing by Leonard Cohen (which i enjoyed) and donated it to the front table in the Sportsman Lounge. for a bookmark, i used the accidentally torn front flap of the dust jacket of another book, The Meaning of Tingo by Adam Jacot de Boinod. "tingo?" a verb from the Pascuense language of Easter Island meaning to borrow, one at a time, all the objects that one desires from the house of a friend. this book is about unusual words from languages from around the world, with a special focus on words which have no exact equivalent in English. a favorite: yuyurungurul. an onomatopoeic word from one of the aboriginal Australian languages (i forget which) referring to the sound a snake makes moving through tall grass. i read that the author works as a researcher for the BBC. he also wrote a follow-up, titled Toujours Tingo. my next book: Critical Mass: Bicycling's Defiant Celebration, edited by Chris Carlson...picking up where i left off a while ago in that book. it concerns Critical Mass Day, a tradition that began over 10 years ago in San Fransisco. on the last Friday of every month, people in scattered communities worldwide ride their bikes en mass.
Santa Barbarans have embraced Critical Mass Day only intermittently and in small numbers. still, i fondly remember how one year the last Friday in October fell on Halloween, so Critical Massers rode their bikes in costume. i WISH i'd had a camera with me. i especially liked one rider's jester costume.
good night.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
another Tuesday evening
that "tickly mucus in the throat thing" has just about left of its accord. i didn't get echinacea tea, cough drops, garlic or anything else.
presently i wear 2 sweaters and my scarf because of COLD weather, plus i've turned the heater on. last night i *couldn't believe* the chill in my house. it amazes me how much cold air can come in through key holes and such!
more later.
presently i wear 2 sweaters and my scarf because of COLD weather, plus i've turned the heater on. last night i *couldn't believe* the chill in my house. it amazes me how much cold air can come in through key holes and such!
more later.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Sunday
today's the birthday of the great Tom Waits, and also of 2 other people who loom even larger in my consciousness...my brother Bryan and my nephew Bryson. happy birthday, guys!
the visit with my sister Elena (and her husband Michael and their daughter Selena) that i mentioned anicipating last time went well; we all met for coffee, then they continued on their way.
i'd like to take this opportunity to recommend the videos of 2 Youtube participants: Sungha Jung and Lev Yilmaz. Sungha is a 12 year old Korean acoustic guitar VIRTUOSO (no exaggeration)! Lev creates a cartoon series with voice-over narration titled Tales of Mere Existence. autobiographical, and very funny. the content has some of the flavor of what Harvey Pekar writes.
for the past few days i've had this tickly mucus in the throat thing that's making the rounds. it's on its way out but i still cough intermittently, so i'll try to get echinacea tea tomorrow. that, and go to the bank and pay my electricity bill.
good night.
the visit with my sister Elena (and her husband Michael and their daughter Selena) that i mentioned anicipating last time went well; we all met for coffee, then they continued on their way.
i'd like to take this opportunity to recommend the videos of 2 Youtube participants: Sungha Jung and Lev Yilmaz. Sungha is a 12 year old Korean acoustic guitar VIRTUOSO (no exaggeration)! Lev creates a cartoon series with voice-over narration titled Tales of Mere Existence. autobiographical, and very funny. the content has some of the flavor of what Harvey Pekar writes.
for the past few days i've had this tickly mucus in the throat thing that's making the rounds. it's on its way out but i still cough intermittently, so i'll try to get echinacea tea tomorrow. that, and go to the bank and pay my electricity bill.
good night.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Tuesday evening
okay, i didn't post anything on Sunday. so sue me. just know that if for whatever reasons i don't manage to post anything on a Sunday, i will in any case post something sometime that week or my name is mud.
today (what's left of it) is the birthday of the painter Georges Seurat and the comedian Marty Feldman...so a toast to them! my favorite Feldman movie: Young Frankenstein...and it might well be my favorite Gene Wilder movie and Mel Brooks movie too...well, now...it competes pretty tightly for my affection with Blazing Saddles. hard to pick a favorite Seurat painting!
got a call from my sister Elena who lives in Chico today. she's in Ventura visiting our aunt, uncle and cousins, and tomorrow she'll stop here in Santa Barbara to see me before continuing the long trek home.
i had a really nice time this past Thanksgiving, visiting the Ventura section of our tribe. My brother Memo and family who live in Glendale turned up there too. USUALLY, it's been my habit to go see the northern California section for the holidays. for various reasons, that couldn't happen this time.
before i completely forget, i'd like to enthusiastically recomend the last movie i saw; an old classic called Black Orpheus. for anyone who doesn't know, it's an adaptation of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice set in Brazil during Carnival time. i don't want to say too much more so as not to spoil it, but i'll just say that the jazz standard commonly known in this country as A Day In The Life of A Fool (true title Manha de Carnaval, Morning of Carnival) comes from this movie.
holidays and other yearly special occasions that are meaningfull and relevant for me include (but are not limited to) the solstices, equinoxes, new moons and full moons. i always try to do something to mark those occasions, but i don't do the *same* things every time...that would bore me. my favorite cultural new year's day: Chinese New Year. i love the traditions (and i'm not Chinese). i think it would be a BLAST to visit San Fransisco for Chinese New Year! what i've tended to do on Chinese New Year myself is just have lunch in a Chinese restaurant.
till next time...peace!
today (what's left of it) is the birthday of the painter Georges Seurat and the comedian Marty Feldman...so a toast to them! my favorite Feldman movie: Young Frankenstein...and it might well be my favorite Gene Wilder movie and Mel Brooks movie too...well, now...it competes pretty tightly for my affection with Blazing Saddles. hard to pick a favorite Seurat painting!
got a call from my sister Elena who lives in Chico today. she's in Ventura visiting our aunt, uncle and cousins, and tomorrow she'll stop here in Santa Barbara to see me before continuing the long trek home.
i had a really nice time this past Thanksgiving, visiting the Ventura section of our tribe. My brother Memo and family who live in Glendale turned up there too. USUALLY, it's been my habit to go see the northern California section for the holidays. for various reasons, that couldn't happen this time.
before i completely forget, i'd like to enthusiastically recomend the last movie i saw; an old classic called Black Orpheus. for anyone who doesn't know, it's an adaptation of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice set in Brazil during Carnival time. i don't want to say too much more so as not to spoil it, but i'll just say that the jazz standard commonly known in this country as A Day In The Life of A Fool (true title Manha de Carnaval, Morning of Carnival) comes from this movie.
holidays and other yearly special occasions that are meaningfull and relevant for me include (but are not limited to) the solstices, equinoxes, new moons and full moons. i always try to do something to mark those occasions, but i don't do the *same* things every time...that would bore me. my favorite cultural new year's day: Chinese New Year. i love the traditions (and i'm not Chinese). i think it would be a BLAST to visit San Fransisco for Chinese New Year! what i've tended to do on Chinese New Year myself is just have lunch in a Chinese restaurant.
till next time...peace!
Monday, November 24, 2008
my first REAL blog entry
hiya. i've started this blog primarily as a way of keeping in touch with lots of people who aren't nearby...far-flung family members, former locals who've moved on, and friends who never were locals in the first place with whom i've communicated via snailmail, email, social networking websites, telephone, and intermittent in-person visits. i'll keep everyone informed about me, my doings and experiences this way, and i intend to post every Sunday (barring exceptional circumstances) or more often if the spirit moves me, and all of you can, in turn, keep in touch with me by leaving messages in the comments section.
about the title of this blog, "Cracks"...it derives from this statement from the Leonard Cohen song Anthem: "There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in."
special greetings to Randolph and Mona who sent me email recently, and to Cozy in Santa Monica. i propose a toast to Henri de Toulouse-Loutrec and Scott Joplin; today's their birthday. here's someone playing Maple Leaf Rag:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dN3aFyYTtc
damn! it's already gotten late on me, and i must go to bed. i hope to post a more newsy blog entry next time. peace.
about the title of this blog, "Cracks"...it derives from this statement from the Leonard Cohen song Anthem: "There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in."
special greetings to Randolph and Mona who sent me email recently, and to Cozy in Santa Monica. i propose a toast to Henri de Toulouse-Loutrec and Scott Joplin; today's their birthday. here's someone playing Maple Leaf Rag:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dN3aFyYTtc
damn! it's already gotten late on me, and i must go to bed. i hope to post a more newsy blog entry next time. peace.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
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