Radical Transparency

Happiness is the "Big Get." It is the elusive exclusive that will rocket you to fame and fortune. And it is a fiction. I am continually amazed, instead, at the power of the "Little Gets," the moments in the here-and-now that make up the rich stuff of life, not to mention the best material for a story. But I've been steeped in the Happiness Myth, so "consciousness" takes practice. And yet, being fully conscious of the Little Gets, both the pleasurable and painful variety, is its own reward.

Thank you Judy Muller. You make me think of Sir Walter Raleigh. Probably not exactly what you meant to conjure, but words are words.

Click here to download:

I'm So Tired.mp3 (1928 KB)

I'm So Tired is track 10 on disc 1 of The White Album.

Loading mentions Retweet

Saw those words next to this picture, and they changed everything.

I bet they'd have the same effect on a lot of seemingly unremarkable photography.

Loading mentions Retweet

I hope Teddy Kennedy appreciated the fact that he was part of what might have been the greatest SNL Celebrity Jeopardy sketch ever made...

My favorite, anyway. The origin, in fact, of my love for the word poop.

Peace, Teddy.

Loading mentions Retweet

Lot of talk last night about the voices in our heads. The sabotage. The doubt. The distraction. Etc.

But I really like the voice in my head.

He's a pain in the ass, of course. Terrifies me sometimes. Not always great at focusing. Or listening.

But we're friends. He has my best interests in mind. Or he tries to.

And he's articulate, curious, not afraid to say anything, and happy to lend me his words and logic.

Weird to remember that he's actually me.

And unsettling to think that there's a not-so-unpopular school of thought telling me to turn off his volume.

Note: This post was written, almost entirely, by the voice in my head. Not sure if that changes anything.

Another Note: Sorry to use the word schizophrenia. It's disrespectful of the people actually struggling with the condition. But the word has meaning that I want to use. So I'm leaving it. Tentatively. Hope that's ok.

Loading mentions Retweet

I agonize over blog post titles. I'm pretty sure I'd have a hard time naming wordless songs.

Water Song is track 6 on Burgers.

Click here to download:

Water Song.mp3 (4962 KB)

Loading mentions Retweet

I love it when words overlap.

I can see the referee wants to go-hom-ie's got a wife and family.

Intentionally efficient use of language or not, that's a pretty great little rhyme.

Suckerpunch is track 11 on Wonderful Beef.

Click here to download:

Suckerpunch.mp3 (5111 KB)

Loading mentions Retweet

This came in the mail today:

Write with nouns and verbs, not with adjectives and advebs. The adjective hasn't been built that can pull a weak or inaccurate noun out of a tight place. - Wiliam Strunk and E. B. White
 
Makes me want to look at everything I've written over the past 6 months, tally, evaluate, and probably cry.

Uh oh. Already. Probably. I have a long way to go. Clearly.
 
Also sets me imagining the building of adjectives. I picture Santa's elves: chiseling giant wooden letters out of treestumps, packed around coffeestained conference tables, diagramming on whiteboards, arranging the letters on huge Scrabble-style trays, and pondering.

Loading mentions Retweet

After a solid many months of slackness, I'm back heavy into the introduce the world to Bob Doss project, and, one of my co-conspirators, the lovely LMW says:

Huh.  That's a weird opening sentence.

I respond:

Huh?

She reads:

Yesterday, while serenely mounting a ladder in the furnace room of the parsonage to change a light fixture...

And then she stops.  And decides it's a good mystery.  And a exceptionally excellent use of the word serenely.

And now I (and you) wonder what might follow...

My guess is that it involves an unexpected animal, hopefully a snake.

Loading mentions Retweet

A few days ago, the Texas Board of Education met to discuss the possibility of repealing a rule that requires that the "strengths and weaknesses" of all scientific theories be taught.

At the center of the debate is evolution. 

Creationists love the rule because it gives them opportunities to get weird in classrooms. 

People afraid of fundamentalist religious lunatics love the proposed repeal because it would eliminate some opportunities for creationists to get weird.  In state sponsored schools.  In front of children.

Here's an excerpt from an article about the lead up to that meeting:

Protesters and activists gathered nearby, fervently arguing their sides of the debate.

"My grandfather was not a monkey!" one woman shouted at a crowd before the meeting began.

I think I need to talk to the reporter.  Fervently arguing one side of the debate?  Pointing out that her grandfather was not a monkey is fervently arguing her side of the debate?  The woman clearly thinks so, and fair enough to acknowledge that.  But.  I think the words argue and debate might be feeling a little taken-advantage-of, no?

Loading mentions Retweet

I speak Chinese.  I can understand a lot of Spanish (but when I try to speak it, Chinese usually comes out).  I can handle food and restaurant situations pretty well in Italian.  I can answer the phone in Korean and Mongolian.  And, now, this....

Loading mentions Retweet