… for a couple of days where posts on this blog are concerned. (Unless I get a frenzied wild hair to post something earth shattering. LOL.) But I will be back soon enough.
Cheers!
EDIT: My prediction for 2009 will be posted here. But in the meantime… here are fireworks from London.
I zonked out early last night and woke at 1 AM after dreaming of piglets. Yeah, I’ve always liked little piggies. Anyway, seeing that I was up and perky I thought I’d do some surfing.
* Checked out the entries to YouTube’s Project Direct… sort of a short film contest that I had considered entering a couple of months ago. Some really fun videos/short films there too. CHECK IT OUT.
* Also visited some blogger friend sites. Came across THIS on Mark Leslie’s entry for this week’s HNT. Thanks, Mark!
* Since I have finally migrated everything from my two old blogs to this one… I went back to read some of the stuff I posted when I first started blogging. Is it just me or did I seem a lot more… er… effervescent back then? Anyway, I added an “archives” widget to the sidebar.
It’s 2:30 AM now and I am less perky… guess I should re-hit the sack.
In my life this year the most significant shift occurred in the area concerning the attachment of importance. Looking back… even as recently as in the past 2 to 3 years…. what I had deemed so important at the time seems much less so now. It is a shift this year that has happened in several areas of my life… but so as not to bore you with a long list I will focus on one aspect.
For instance, as a playwright it is no longer of importance that I “make my mark” in the field. In fact, I have consciously given up theatre… at least for a while. (OK… more like set it aside for now.) This is only significant because my very existence for so long seemed connected (almost exclusively) to what I did actively and constantly within the medium. In some capacity or another theatre ruled my life. Now it does not… at least I hope there is a lot more than that which defines me as a person. Within the circles of my immediate world my identity may still (and probably always will) be linked to it… but my own sense of self is no longer dependent on that attachment.
It is strange but letting go (which was my New Year’s prediction last year) of something that compelled me to the point of obsession for lo these many years is strangely liberating. It was my life… what I lived for. Don’t get me wrong… I still love theatre and the arts… and will probably always be a part of it. The difference now is that any activity (on my part) will now occur because I want to instead of having to. Enthusiasm without any pre-condition, ya know?
Does this change my “If not now, when? If not me, who?” drive and attitude? Not bloody likely. LOL! What changes will be (and has been of late) a redefined “why”… one that is more toward a purer (and simpler) motivation behind what I do. In a sense it is like rediscovering falling in love for the very first time. And that in itself is worth counting, isn’t it?
Cheers!
EDIT: Here is something to watch.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Here is a seasonal (Christmas) video from one of my favorite vloggers. Cheers!
… too many visits or hits over the next few days with the Holidays and all. My own output here may also be somewhat spotty. Just sayin.
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I have decided not to make a Christmas video as I did last year. Just not feeling it. (But anything can happen… last years was shot and edited on Christmas Eve.) Even though I had my video cam handy last night I really was not moved to shoot. Not that there was a lack of material but I had decided to just hang back and enjoy the evening in the first person instead of a third eye.
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Tonight I sit and wonder about the days to come. More and more it seems as if what was has become more distant. Yet what is seems transitory. There is a quiet restlessness. It doesn’t gnaw or irritate… but it is present… that low rumble of anticipation. It is no stranger as I have felt it before. Now it is just a waiting game to see what this one brings. No matter…it will arrive at it’s own time.
***
For now… tis the season… and I wish all of you who happen to stumble by a peaceful and sharing one. My wish for you and yours is kindness to each other… and may that blessing you bestow be returned tenfold.
Cheers!
Yes, I did go. Figured it was probably the one (and only) seasonal thing I would be doing this year. Here are some pics I shot while I was there. (Of course, there are no pictures of me.)
Click thumbnails in the gallery for bigger sizes… then click those for full sizes.
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In the meantime… if you haven’t got that gift for someone special yet… give this banner some consideration.
Jungle Webs.
HOW DO YOU DO THIS?
Start your own account. Buy the domain. (Domains at Jungle Webs start at only $8.64 per year!) Then transfer ownership to them. An easy and unique Holiday gift idea.
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… a Holiday video this year. The one I made last year sent my family back in Malaysia into a bit of a tizzy. Not quite getting my quirky sense of humor, they were convinced I had not paid the power bill thus plunging Mum and me into a frigid darkness for the merry season.
MM Christmas is on tonight (video from last year’s festivities) and I’m hoping to make it. For those of you in the Big NO who haven’t been informed (Fingers B is really crappy at promo)… it will be brewing, singing and rolling at 9 PMish… location Last Call… what was once Zapp’s Park. There’ll be all sorts of fun to be had there. One of those holiday traditions in the Big NO that has been going for a good 18 years or so. Always a fun time. Part drunken (singing) brawl, part warm fuzzy mixed in with a healthy dollop of good cheer.
I may even construct something (video-wise) for Da Count this Friday. (Redefinition Roundup… remember? Are you in for that?) Of course, this will be entirely dependent on how Mum is doing.
That’s it for now. Perhaps more as the day rolls along.
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In the meantime… if you haven’t got that gift for someone special yet… give this banner some consideration.
Jungle Webs.
HOW DO YOU DO THIS?
Start your own account. Buy the domain. (Domains at Jungle Webs start at only $8.64 per year!) Then transfer ownership to them. An easy and unique Holiday gift idea.
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EDIT: REDEFINITION ROUNDUP FOR FRIDAY
Some of you have asked so, here is the original snippet from Friday’s post.
My friend KaMotion suggested this in a comment recently and I thought it was a great idea. So, Da Count next week (if you wish to participate) will be a “Redefinition Roundup” of the year.
Some of you know that I make my yearly prediction at 12:01 on the New Year. This year THIS was mine. (See where this is going?) I think events on the world stage has pretty much played out this prediction of mine. Has it affected your lives directly and how? Yeah, just a little different way to take stock of the year.
So… yes… has redefinition occured in your life this year? I could be in perception, lifestyle, circumstance, etc. Tell us what was before…and what is now after the redefinitioon has occured. Are you glad for it? Was it a concious choice or created out of circumstance? If you have blogger buddies you think may be interested… tell them about it too. Post it as part of Da Count on Friday and come over here to comment to say you are up.
… (OK, mug… as in beer mug… a big honking Carlsberg mug at that) of coffee I’ve had in over a week. The taste of roasted beans just attacked my taste buds with a sublime intensity. Sometimes self imposed abstinence reawakens the pleasure of the experience. Almost, (but not quite) to the point of experiencing it for the first time.
Remember the turn you made from virgin to experienced? Not necessarily exclusively in the sexual realm… though that (of course) counts as well. But any new experience that infused you with a surge of delight which turned out to be quite unexpected is what I’m driving at here. Remember the mixture of anticipation, fear and excitement moments before it happened? The project that I have embarked on (it’s titled “ZEROS” BTW) feels a bit like that. OK… it feels a lot like that, dammit!
(Second sip… mmm… roasty toasty.) It’s a video project. (Lecram, you’ve done videos before!) One that requires pre-production. (OK… THAT you haven’t done before.) Sure, over the last couple of years I have dabbled in video but most of those were larks in an effort to acclimatize myself to the medium. Also, along that path the equipment I have had to acquire to facilitate this experiment has paid for itself. Yes, over the years I have learned to make even my whims pay for themselves. (Yes… if you must know… there is a paying client involved in this one.)
Even though this will be a brand new undertaking I am not going into it completely blind. There are some skills and techniques (especially organizationally) I will be pulling in from my years in theatre to help me realize this project. But this is still going to be a whole new barrel of monkeys… which both excites and scares the crap out of me. Though that is a good thing – it will keep me honest and working hard to strive for excellence despite my relative (nubile) inexperience in this particular medium.
(Third slurp… hmm… I need a warmer.) This is one of the reasons I have put aside theatre for a while. The excitement and enthusiasm was starting to wane in that particular arena. So in order to preserve my love for it I felt it was necessary and essential to set it aside… at least for a while. Though to be honest, I am not entirely sure if I will return to it (theatre, that is). I will never say “never” but I do not see it happening on the horizon at the moment.
For a while after I set it aside I also couldn’t help but wonder if titling my last play “Tale End” was a little prophetic… an inner conscious effort to separate and start anew. Yet the “counter-romantic self serving bullshit” gene present in my every fiber kicks in and screams out “BALDERDASH” to the that notion. So, now that becomes moot for the the present… but I thought I’d share it anyway. The road ahead is where my sights are trained on and that is the only thing valid at the moment.
(Ahh… half a mug… the warmer poured.) To that end I have employed some known talents to help me traverse any obstacles ahead. Even though this will also be a brand new adventure to many of them they are all coming in with a spirit of adventure. So, I start off with half the battle won. As a collective united in a common goal I am confident that we will all aspire and work toward excellence with the final product. For my part I will also strive to create a path that will be both a rewarding and fun experience… perhaps even creating a unique process and method as we forge ahead.
(Final slurp of the warmer… in one fell gulp.) So, I’m emerging from my relative hibernation (at least creatively) and diving into the deep end of a brand new pool. (Yo, where’s the water?) I think I can at least float and I know there will also be new challenges to negotiate. Whatever the case, there is no denying this will be nothing less than a grand adventure.
with me when I go on a bike ride. The sun was out when I did this morning but it was still brisk. Still the steam rising from patches of damp grass when the sunshine hits it was quite the sight. Yeah, it was a “crunchy grass” morning around these parts. There was still frost on the rooftops that still lay in shadow.
I was on the Schwinn today and will finally put in an order to get the needed parts to get the pigeon road worthy on Monday.
CHECK OUT…
THIS POST… by Aileen. Yeah, she has an actual Charlie Brown Christmas Tree.
Also, Kamotion has finally bought her own domain and moved her blog HERE (www.kamotional.com)
Go by and say hello to both of them.
ANYWAY, ON A RELATED NOTE…
The big thing I did for this blog yesterday was upgrade to WordPress 2.7. (Whoop de doo… big fat deal, Lecram!) Actually it is. For one, this version is much leaner so because of that everything is much faster. Two, with this version future upgrades are only one click away within the dashboard. Three, The interface on the dashboard is friendlier and a lot more intuitive… thus making your web presence whether it is a site or blog much easier to manage.
If you are a Jungle Webs client… it should be on the “value applications” easy one click upgrade button away by sometime next week.
Oh, and I finally managed to transfer the two older version of my blogs (that was in blogger and a public server) to this one… which was also one easy click away under tools/import.
AND MORE SHAMELESS PROMOTION…
So, if you have had a blogger account and finally want to take the plunge consider first getting your own domain. Click the banner below. I will post a “how to” on moving your blogs soon.
HOW DO YOU DO THIS?
Start your own account. Buy the domain. (Domains at Jungle Webs start at only $8.64 per year!) Then transfer ownership to them. An easy and unique Holiday gift idea.
I do… yes, I do… and usually act on them. As a playwight I have been doing it for years. A mentor once told me “If you are going to steal… steal from the best… and make it better.” My first play “Frogway” is actually a version of “A Star Is Born”… with flippers. All the greats did it. Most of Shakespeare’s plays were rewrites or adaptations of existing works. The originality came from HOW he reworked it.
But this is not limited to grandiose theatre works. Even in everyday life… we borrow ideas from each other. For instance, just yesterday I tried biscotti dipped in red wine… something I picked up from a travel program… and it was good. Really, you should try it some time.
Anyway the most mundane task… with a little borrowed creativity can become so much easier… even fun. When someone says something and the thought bubble “Hmmm… that’s not a bad idea” pops above your head… you are on the verge of borrowing an idea. Sometimes a spark that gets you to rethink a situation or action can open up a whole new world of options. I know it has mine on numerous occasions.
So, my count this week is all my fellow humans who have fertilized the plot that is my mind with ideas (I have borrowed)… especially the ones that have made my life richer.
And in that vein…
FOR NEXT WEEK…
My friend KaMotion suggested this in a comment recently and I thought it was a great idea. So, Da Count next week (if you wish to participate) will be a “Redefinition Roundup” of the year.
Some of you know that I make my yearly prediction at 12:01 on the New Year. This year THIS was mine. (See where this is going?) I think events on the world stage has pretty much played out this prediction of mine. Has it affected your lives directly and how? Yeah, just a little different way to take stock of the year.
Cheers!