The Holidays So Far...

ATE:

• Rabbit
• Goat
• Little, tiny fish (whole) mixed with cheese, formed into a patty and baked
• Tilapia
  
• Green tomato & hot pepper salad

LEARNED:

• How to play poker (won $15 in my first game ever)
• To never fold when playing 6 and 2
  
• That Georgetown, South Carolina EFFING STINKS (literally)
• That the best pipes are made out of briar
• The barbers union in Yonkers, NY in the late 1930's was tough as nails
  

Anybody else miss getting good snail mail?

I found myself feeling a little nostalgic for conventional mail today.

This time of year the cards start to show up in our mailbox. There's one card, in particular, that I always enjoy getting because it usually has a letter in it. Well, we got that card today: the annual Christmas card from our friends, the Brogans, complete with the traditional rundown on the highlights and lowlights of the year. Pictures of the grandkids, too.

So, as I read the letter this evening I realized that I miss getting good mail. Looking back on 2006 I can honestly so that this letter is the only one I've gotten via standard mail for the entire year.

Well, that's not completely true. There was a newspaper clipping with some handwritten notes that I got from BOY. That was actually pretty cool because it had to do with an art discussion and it was totally unexpected. So make that two things.

Once upon a time I had a handful of pen pals and I wrote and received quite a few letters and postcards at a pretty steady clip. Number of people I correspond with that way today: zero. That kind of bums me out. Especially now that I've gotten another reminder of how cool it is to open up the mailbox and find something other than a bill or solicitation.

Somewhat ironically this realization led me to the Internet to see if there was anyone out there who felt strongly enough about this subject to do more than complain about it. Turns out there is. Here's a website where people can collaborate via snail mail to make art and other stuff: Nervousness.org

By the way, the Brogans inform us that they have launched a handmade jewelery business(!). Who would've guessed? Talk about the definitive mom and pop store. Check out Brogan Arts.

And speaking of snail mail, allow me to direct your attention, once again, to my recent post about wrestling icon and all-around badass Rowdy Roddy Piper. There's a dude that appreciates himself some good mail.

And, lastly, since this will likely be my last post until Christmas is over and done with, HAPPY WHATEVER YOU CELEBRATE. That's not any of that loathsome political correctness, by the way. I'm just lazy. I still mean it, though.

Listen to Metal.

leonids

glints in the ice night sky
unwind a thousand slivers
diagonal spires
cutting
bright slices
in blue
this one
toward the aching onyx waters
that one and
that one
gone behind the sharp pines
and the curling smoke of awe

"I came here to kick cancer's ass and chew bubble gum..."

"...and I could really use some mail right about now."

Wrestling legend and star of the big screen Rowdy Roddy Piper needs your support. He's recovering from surgery and currently undergoing radiation treatment to deal with low grade lymphoma.

Send your letters of adoration, support and wishes for a speedy recovery to:

Mr. Rowdy Roddy Piper
18645 Southwest Farmington Road
PMB 12
Aloha, OR 87007

This story first broke on December 8th or so but it bears repeating since his treatment is scheduled to last for another few weeks.

I mean, come on. The guy beat anyone worth beating in the WWF (or as you youngsters call it, the WWE), saved the entire world from a hostile alien race, brought Hell to Frogtown and now he's taking on cancer. That's a lot of ass-kicking for one dude. The least you can do is send him a damn card.

Recovering Roddy Piper with some of the mail he's already received. Think you can top that?

Get well, Roddy.

The Freesound Project

The Freesound Project
To summarize, The Freesound Project is a collection of sampled sounds submitted under a Creative Commons license by people all over the world. That result is an immense and diverse collection of recorded and created sounds that you can use for free, as long as you give credit where its due.

I stumbled across this site while in the process of poking around Creative Commons doing research for an idea. I happen to think Creative Commons is just about the best invention since the internal combustion engine, so it only makes sense that I would be a fan of its offshoots.

To give you an idea of what kind of cool stuff you can find there, here's a homemade binaural recording of a thunderstorm.

If you're a DJ or someone who just likes messing around with and remixing sounds this is pretty much your basic gold mine.

Five (more) Things You Didn't Know About Me

For real this time. Okay...how do we make this embarrassing enough to be entertaining without making me want to stay indoors the rest of my life?

1. When I was a kid, I used to talk to thunderstorms. True story. When a thunderstorm would roll in I would perch at the nearest available window and just marvel at it. Invariably I would start to ask it questions: usually with yes or no answers. Like, a certain number of flashes or rumbles would mean "yes" and a certain number would mean "no". The number usually changed with each question. The spooky part: a lot of times I got pretty interesting/accurate answers.

Looking back, I was a lot like Ralph Wiggum as a kid. Anyway, it seemed cool at the time.

2. I never set foot on any type of aircraft until this year. Actually, it was just this past November for a trip to New Mexico, which was a life-altering experience for me. I'm 35 years old and I just took my first plane ride ever. It really wasn't all that bad. The worst part was my sore ass and general fatigue. We got some turbulence which was, according to my very flight-seasoned wife, pretty hectic. The wings were see-sawing at about 45-degree angles. My response: laughter. Thought it was kinda fun. Besides, what're ya gonna do? It's not like the airline gives you a parachute.

3. Hey, this is embarrassing: sometimes music is so great it makes me want to actually cry. True. It doesn't even have to be sad music. Sometimes a moment in a song is so perfect to me that I actually get choked up and have to cover it up by pretending to cough or something. Isn't that emo?

This should balance things out: other times I want to run around and gleefully smash things apart in celebration of the unbearable awesomeness of things.

4. I have a long and bittersweet relationship with the constellation Orion, beginning in my high school days when Metallica released "Master of Puppets" and me and all of my friends were way into that record. A few of us--including yours truly--really dug the song "Orion" and that was about the time when I learned where he was up in the sky. Since then he's become something of a historical marker for a whole bunch of events, good and bad and goodbad and badgood. I'm thinking of incorporating him into a tattoo.

5. I have never taken or used an illegal drug in my life. This actually isn't something I'm particularly proud of or anything. I'm not straight edge or uber-religious or morally set against it and I don't judge people who indulge recreationally. It's just something that I never did. The drinking to the point of absurdity thing is as far as I ever got. There have been plenty of opportunities to participate but I've just never pursued it. Don't think I'm not a little envious of some of the hallucinations I've heard about, though. Believe me, no one wants to see cartoons pouring out of a bathroom faucet more than I do.

Upon observing my behavior at times people have been known to call bullshit on this assertion. I stand by it. I'm a freak of my own power.

So, I'm supposed to tag someone now. That's how this works. I tag my subscribers, because I appreciate you for doing me the honor of paying attention to what I'm up to over here, and I want to hear from you.

5 Things You Didn't Know About Me

Technically I wasn't tagged but I'm going to play anyway.

I do what I want, when I want.


Your envy is palpable.

UPDATE: I've decided to tag Almoorica. Let's see what he does about it, if anything.

UPDATE 2: I'm also tagging Conan the Barbarian, Usagi Yojimbo, that chipmunk I rescued a few months ago and you. Let's see if anyone has the intestinal fortitude to lay it on the line as I have done (again).

When did it get so hard...

...to forget about clever and get back to real?

So.
Many.
Distractions.

I should be more specific. Here's a list of things at get in the way of creativity:

• The need to outdo (the aforementioned "clever" problem)
• Fear of shitty ideas
• Fear of lack of talent
• Fear of lack of ability
• Fear of blood clots in the legs or other ailments brought about by sitting & not writing for extended periods
• Fear of growing horns & a tail, leaping through a window and disappearing into the woods to live out my pathetic remaining days as a beast cursed by vengeful gods for forsaking my abilities
• HUGE, PONDEROUS THOUGHTS ABOUT THE MEANING OF EVERYTHING!
  
• Shiny, explodey video games
• Gastronomy
• Interwebs (i.e., Blogger and other peoples' blogs and message boards and empty inboxes)
• Bullets
• TEEEVEEEEEE

I'm working (meaning, I'm not working, cuz I'm here right now) on a short story. Having trouble getting going at the moment, so I thought I'd log into the old blog and give you a little free association. Maybe you'll get a bemused chuckle and I'll limber up a bit.

What gets you derailed? Tell me.

Welcome to the (Screw the) Rainforest Café!

FYI, the Rainforest Café in Burlington, MA packs leftovers in oversized styrofoam boxes wrapped in plastic bags.

Nevermind how I found this out. Or go ask Al.

A New Mantra

Okay, here's the thing: I'm not looking to become some kind of self-help, motivational, inspirational what-have-you. There's plenty of really bad advice on the Internet already. I just want to share something that I've been using to keep myself focused on stuff I want to get done. The list is growing and it needs to get knocked down a little, so I've come up with a phrase that I've been repeating to myself. Here it is:

What are you doing today to make it happen?

It's pretty self-explanatory. The idea is that by taping this phrase up on the mirror, the monitor, the fridge, the television, the amp, the *ahem* Xbox & Playstation, it will serve as a reminder that there are some really cool things I could be working on instead of...well, fucking off, to put it bluntly.

There you go. If you have trouble staying focused or you're good at finding excuses not to do the hard shit (which also happens to be the most rewarding), then maybe this or some variation will help you.

Does that kind of stuff work for you or are you the type who just lines 'em up and knocks 'em down?

-Jon

p.s. - Just in case you were wondering, I have no immediate plans to stop swearing. It's just not on the list. As a matter of fact, I might write up some signs that say "What the FUCK are you doing TODAY to make it happen, ASSHOLE?" You think I won't do it?