Wordless Wednesday: Ubi Caritas

I've had the opportunity to see this group of men and boys perform twice. This is my favorite.

Where charity and love are, there God is.

My intent is to...

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined.” -- Thoreau

Stimulate This

I didn’t want to do this, but I feel it necessary. I am going to blog about politics.

I hadn’t watched the news all day. In fact, I haven’t watched the news since Thursday. I’m not going to hide the fact that I am a fan of The Fox News Channel. In my opinion they offer a broad spectrum of opinion. Glen Beck is a fantastic addition to the Fox News family. I encourage all of you to check him out.

Another show that I watch on a regular basis is Huckabee. Even though I find the show to be overly scripted with well timed puns, I enjoy the opinions of Gov. Mike Huckabee. But tonight I had a problem with his show. Tonight he spent 15 minutes making bad jokes about the $13 a week tax break in Obama’s stimulus package. He went to the trouble of giving three of his staffers $13 each and sending them out into NYC to see what they could buy. Of course, they couldn’t buy anything. One tried to take a sight seeing bus tour. One tried to get into a Broadway show. The third tried to buy a movie ticket. With the proper planning, the second staffer would be able to go to 7 (based on current Broadway deals) shows. That is more than the average Broadway fan. Certainly that would help to stimulate the economy! Gov Huckabee was attacking this tax cut with childish jabs. Here is another problem: The governor does not even qualify for this tax cut. HE MAKES TOO MUCH MONEY!

They are correct. $13 could not possible do much. Hold on . . . lets take a deeper look at the figures. This tax cut will allow you to KEEP about $13 a week from your paycheck that would normally be withheld for taxes. Depending on your payroll schedule, this will allow the average American who qualifies to keep $676 that would normally go straight to Uncle Sam. $676 is a figure with more spending possibilities than $13. Can you stimulate the economy with $676? I can. Wait….that is more than I got from W’s stimulus package. And W taxed me for that check!

Now, I have several problems with O’s stimulus package. But taking cheap shots at a measly tax cut is offensive to me. Huckabee should take the time to deal with the actual problems in the package.

I’ll leave my issues regarding 24/7 news coverage for another day.

Clean-up in Produce

I went grocery shopping today. I was just minding my own business in the produce section. I had just selected some lettuce and I was on my way to the oranges when it hit me.... All of a sudden I caught a whiff of a scent. A strong, alluring, tantalizing scent. I was completely distracted. There I am. Standing next to the carrots, across from the kiwis and I am completely turned-on by this scent.

I have no idea how long I was standing there trying to figure out where this scent was coming from. The scent was clean and fresh. I had to figure out where it was coming from, but I could not move. I adjusted my Illini hoodie just in case. ;) The scent got stronger. Whoa. This was all too much to handle. I adjusted my glasses and was overcome by the scent. I could not get away from it!

Then it hit me. This scent was me. I was my own aphrodisiac. I was aroused by me! Ok . . . not me exactly . . . It was my new shower gel. I changed brands yesterday. Wow. Just thought I'd share...

Wordless Wednesday: Loose Parts

a r t i s t

I’ve never considered myself an artist. An artist, to me, is someone who has the ability to create something from nothing. I have artist friends. I envy them greatly. Some are musicians. Some are writers. One of them can do things to a canvas that are simply amazing.

But recently, I’ve been able to assign the title of artist to my résumé. Through the medium of photography I have been submitting art in various local shows and competitions for the last three years. Below are just a few that I thought I would share with you.

This is the first photograph I sold at a show. I needed one more piece to enter, and a friend told me to go to the lake a shoot the boats. For lack of anything better to do, I went. This is one of three in a series. The woman who bought it told me it would look great in her bathroom. I smiled and took her check.

I went through a local icon phase. This is the marque at the local movie house. I'm sure back in the day it was a show piece....but now the bulbs are replaced with normal house lamp bulbs.




Another local icon: The Guard House at the Old City Pool.
This photograph was purchased by a dear friend at my last show. It also is a piece of conversation with one of our local personalities that I occasionally see at the local watering hole.

This one will be entered in my next show in Effingham, Illinois. This is half of a series.


The self portrait.



My latest. Untitled. Also being entered in my next show.

One of my personal favorites! This costume has been in several of the shows I have been in. It is starting to show its age, and I believe that the last show was its final appearance. I took the opportunity to capture it while still on its character. One word: texture.

Where I go. When I go there.

Last night I attended a performance of the Tony Award winning musical Spring Awakening. I was satisfyingly amazed. While I will always hold close to my heart the musicals from the gilded age of proscenium-edged productions, I am finding myself to be suddenly struck by cutting edge theatrics.

I followed my normal routine for a new musical. I listened to the soundtrack a few times in order to get a broad sense of the plot. I did not read a synopsis. I did not read any reviews. I did not want to be predisposed by the opinions of others. As with the musical Bare, Spring Awakening came with the warning of partial nudity and adult situations. A promise delivered.

Despite playing to a decidedly empty house at The Fabulous Fox, the cast provided an amazing production centered on the uncomfortable issues of teen angst, morality, sexuality, and coming-of-age sagas full of passion, skin, and incredible music.

Speaking of the music… The band was on-stage for the entire performance. Incredible! They were a part of the set and a part of the cast. The actors on stage would walk over to the band, pick up a mic stand, drag it down-center and sing their guts out. There were even times when they would walk through the band, having to turn sideways to pass the cello. And the music director/piano guy was absolutely rocking out. I loved it.

My escort for the evening pointed out that while the songs were an incredible part of the show; they were not necessarily plot essential. Unlike a Rogers & Hammerstein show, where a song was required for Laurie to profess her love to Curly, the musical moments of Spring Awakening were treated almost like an aside. Some of the songs took on a very concert like quality, complete with lighting and handheld mics.

I’m hooked.

The following video is a short montage set to the Act II show stopper. I considered posting a video of my favorite song, “I Don’t do Sadness,” but without context it is just a guy singing.

Wordless Wednesday: The Buffalo Trace

History. Right in our backyard.

Guy Love

One of the members of my Friendly Friday Fan Club recently posted about something called “The Friend Crush.” I’d like to post the male perspective of The Friend Crush, but of course guys don’t crush. Therefore this will be titled “Guy Love,” or “The Awkward Case of the not so subtle Bromance.”

It is true. It happens. We have all had friends that have made impressions. I have always found imitation to be the sincerest form of flattery (this post for example). It is through the imitation of these friends that I found myself drawing closer and creating a bond much stronger than any average friendship.

Below is a list of my flattering actions: (at least I would find them flattering)

1. I started road biking.
2. I ran a series of 5k’s in the Greater Tri-Cities TN/VA area.
3. I started dancing.
4. I rented a cello for a year.
5. I shopped at any number of stores.
6. I became addicted to Smallville.
7. I started yoga.
8. I purchased a particular brand of shoes.
9. I used those shoes to train with a friend.
10. I’m seriously considering a tattoo.
11. I started wearing bow ties on a regular basis.
12. I started blogging.
13. I joined certain art communities.
14. I became an advocate.

I’m sure there are more . . .

I’ll let Bambi and Chocolate Bear take it from here. Enjoy.

Salt & Wounds

This post is nearly a two weeks old. I'm just now getting around to posting it.

Even though the snow was well past any definition of freshly fallen, and despite the surplus of tasks that I had been avoiding all day, I went for a nice long walk through the snow. Today has been a rough day. Just as soon as I though it couldn’t get any more uncomfortable…well…I’ll just leave it at that.

My walk took me on my normal route. I left my house, turned left at the corner, and traveled up the sidewalk leaving my footprints behind me. The streets were empty sparing the occasional snowplow. Allow me to share this observation with you: The road condition post-plowing was indeed more treacherous than its virgin condition. Taking note of this, I stayed on the periphery.

Ahead of me I could see the spot that I use as my thinking spot. I turned up the road and slowed my pace. I would not be stopping to think tonight, no, the granite was far too cold for comfort. Ahead of me the road curved. Behind me were footprints.

Today, I lost something that I knew I was going to lose. Today, I informed someone of something that I said I would never share. Today, I found truth in the unrequited. The loss still hurt. The telling was still terrifying. But thankfully, the solitude felt less lonely.

I passed the tennis courts and took a shortcut into the park. I can still hear the sounds of the old pool. The crackling speaker, the lion fountains, the bounce of the diving board. I hope to never forget. The road was a white void in front of me, footprints behind.

You do not [know] me. Each one of you has an idea of who I am. Some of you have shared pieces of that with me. I’m not going to tell you that you’re wrong, but you’re not right. You never heard me. You never listened. You don’t understand. Maybe you don’t want to understand. A glance over my shoulder gave evidence that I had not been walking a straight line.

I left the park. Of all the roads in all of town, the salt truck drove down mine. My silent walk was no longer silent. Each step was marked with a crunch. Each footprint was now pitted. I deviated from my normal route. I couldn’t handle the salt any longer. Salt and wounds never mix.

Quotables

I enjoy movies. Correction…I enjoy cinematography.

Listed below are a few movie quotes that I enjoy....for different reasons.

1) “Oh, Matthew. How nice of you to keep my image close to your heart.” – Isabelle; The Dreamers.

2) “I don't believe in God, but if I did, he would be a black, left-handed guitarist.” – Matthew; The Dreamers.

3) “I always think there's a band, kid.” – Prof Harold Hill; The Music Man.

4) “Well, it would bruise the hell out of me.” – Ernie Capadino; A League of Their Own.

5) “By the way, I loved you in the Wizard of Oz.” – Jimmy Dugan; A League of Their Own.

6) “All right. While we're still under a caution, I want you to go back out on that track and hit the pace car.” – Harry Hogge; Days of Thunder.

7) “Bend over and I'll show you.” – Clark W. Griswold; Christmas Vacation

8) “Good evening, Clarice.” – Hannibal Lector; The Silence of the Lambs.

9) “And we're walking, and we're walking, and we're stopping.” – White House Tour Guide; Dave.

10) “You've just seen me do the least presidential thing I do.” – President Andrew Shepherd; The American President

11) “Welcome to Indiana basketball.” – Coach Norman Dale; Hoosiers.

12) “Ray, people will come Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom.” – Terrence Mann; Field of Dreams.

13) “I wish I knew how to quit you.” – Jack Twist; Brokeback Mountain.

****************

1) This is from my favorite independent film The Dreamers. It comes at a point when Matthew is extremely vulnerable…Isabella understands his position and is only more attracted.

2) Also from The Dreamers, Matthew is intrigued by his two new friends and is trying to fit in with their non-conformist views.

3) The Music Man is an extremely complex movie. In this one line we see into the true character of Harold Hill. River City was just another city with a population to exploit. But this time, he got caught with his foot in the door. ;)

4) A League of Their Own is an extremely quotable movie. But this line in particular causes me to curl up on the floor in laughter every time. He is such an awkward character to begin with…

5) This was one of those lines where I always laughed, but I never knew why. I just figured that it should be funny…so I laughed. Eventually I got the humor…I love this movie.

6) Harry was the father-figure to a man who desperately needed one. This line comes in the midst of chaos and takes Cole, and the audience, by surprise!

7) Watching Christmas Vacation is a family tradition. Every year, on Thanksgiving evening, we would watch it. BUT we always watched a version that I had recorded off of ABC. This year was the first year that we watched the actual “not formatted to TV” version. This line shocked and appalled me. Fantastic!

8) The dichotomy of Dr. Lector is revealed in this line. A cannibalistic psychotic killer & one of the world’s foremost authorities on human development. And Clarice…

9) Every time I watch this I’m never sure if this line is actually scripted. I like to believe that the director just told her to be “tour guide-ish” and that is what she came up with.

10) Every ‘president’ movie has the same basic plot line. This is the moment when the president is called away for national security reason… President Shepherd show that he is much more than the country’s most eligible bachelor.

11) Translation: “Suck-it-up and get to work….by the way…nice job out there.”

12) Every time I hear this line delivered I get chills and tear up a little. The same thing happened when I read the book. The skeptic become a believer…

13) This is the only line I knew from Brokeback Mountain before I saw it. I refused to see the movie for a variety of reasons. But then I watched it. It was nothing like I had thought it to be. Now that I have seen it, I find this line to be the total sum of Jack’s emotions…

What are some of your favorite quotable moments from movies?