Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Rambling Listlessness and Pseudo-Contemplation. In Other Words, Business as Usual.


That is a breath-taking picture! Which is annoying, really. I mean, I need my breath, thank you very much! I can't go around passing out now can I? Probably subjective anyway. Some of you probably look at that picture and go, "meh, whatever." I guess it's that way with all art. I won't name names, but I know someone who literally stole my breath once when she walked into the room. I always thought a woman being "breath-takingly beautiful" was a movie myth. Nope, it happened to me that once. Felt like I'd been hit in the stomach! Once is enough - I felt guilty enough about it at the time, I wouldn't want it happening again...

Well, it sorta got uncomfortable in here, didn't it!? Better change the subject...


WARNING: Gratuitous Self Analysis Coming!

Today was an odd day. As usual, I'm riding the ups-and-downs of the 'Turning 40 Roller Coaster'. Today was tough. Sometimes I feel so out of place in my life. When I divide my life into its major components (work, church, home life, etc.), in every area I feel like an outsider looking in, trying to fit in among people/places that don't quite feel welcoming, or comfortable, or something. Shoe on the wrong foot, that sort of thing. Close, but not quite right.

So I left work for a while. I ate something for lunch, and then I actually went to see a movie, for the first time since I saw Inception (eons ago). I saw Thor, in the 3D-IMAX theater in Miramesa, just so I could unplug my brain and coast for a while. The movie was better than I'd thought it would be. In fact, it was worth the price of admission just to watch the closing credits, which featured some computer-generated visuals of coursing through outer space, with nebulae and galaxies and star formations, etc, all swirling around. It may sound lame, but trust  me... in 3D on the big IMAX screen, it was amazing.

Yeah, I know... how depressing to go to a movie alone, eh? Actually, I didn't mind. I think I needed it. The movie was oddly inspiring to me.

Gads, this blog post is going downhill fast. I better move on...

So, what am I reading lately? Here, let me show you!


First I wrote it, then I read it! I will now do a review...

Actually, if I really did write such a title, it would be more of a pamphlet than a legitimate book like that. The list of people I'd like to punch is short, thankfully. Although I'm sure I could stretch that list out to fill a book by adding some quality illustrations....

Honestly, though, I'm a bit burnt out on reading at the moment. I read a bit of The Way of Kings (Sanderson) -- and it really is quite good. But each chapter introduces a new character set, and my head is still so full of The Song of Ice and Fire, I'm finding there's isn't much room in there for a whole new cast at the moment. I think I'll just give reading a break for a week or so, and see how it plays out.

Confession Time:
Sometimes I find myself thinking along these lines: "Man, if everyone in the world was more like me, there'd be no murder or rape or assaults or adultery or theft, etc. etc. The jails would have a few speeders in there, a jaywalker or two, perhaps a little 'disturbing the peace' for breaking wind in public, and that's it! What a wonderful world it would be!" How narcissistic is that!? That's like world-class level narcissism. Of course, it's also flawed logic. I'm sure everyone wouldn't need to be "more like me" for that stuff to disappear... if they all had a wonderful, supportive group of friends and family, like I do, and great kids, a job, two paid-off cars, a nice house to live in, etc. Man, I have got SO much to be thankful for. Take any or all of that away from me, and who knows? Perhaps if the pressure was great enough (pressure that many other people have to operate under every day), I may resort to the types of behaviors I dismissed above. So much of it is situational.



Well, this could possibly be my last post! That is, if Harold Camping is correct and the "rapture" happens on Saturday. I don't mean to come across as needlessly condescending, but what, may I ask, is wrong with these people? What possesses some people to come up with these "end of the world" doomsday predictions? What bugs me isn't that these "spiritual leaders" look like fools afterwards, or that they give religious folks a bad name/rep (they have that already), it's that they seem to attract these sincere followers who believe them and often make drastic changes to their lives in preparation for The Big Day. This guy Camping seems to have a whole host of folks behind him on this. What will happen to their faith once Saturday comes and goes and all is the same? Hopefully, it will simply be a case of temporary disillusionment and not too many suicides (not without precedent in such cases as these, sadly).

All that to say, what a pantload.

And now, Dad of the Year candidate #206.

I've heard of Bring Your Daughter to Work Day, but this is ridiculous!

OK, well, this was a rambling, listless post that failed rather miserably at projecting some semblance of depth of conversation. What can I say? It's where I'm at today. If you made it this far, you have my appreciation. If you leave a comment, I'll send you a 10-pound bag of teriyaki beef jerky as a thank you.

Dave the Gump

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dave, I want my beef jerky.

To prove I read the whole post, I also saw Thor, and enjoyed it. People have been saying the world is going to end since the beginning of the world. I guess some people are just so unsatisfied with this life that all they can do is make predictions about it all ending.

Interesting narcissistic thought you have. Glad you recognize one of the flaws in the logic.

Send the jerky to:
31 Jalan Medan Ipoh 5
Bandar Baru Medan Ipoh,
31400 Ipoh, Perak
Malaysia

logankstewart said...

Thor in 3D-IMAX?! Wowzers. Seems like the perfect movie to watch in that situation.

I hear ya on the getting burned out on reading. Sometimes there's just too much other stuff going on to enjoy a good book.

But hey, we'd all have nice beards if we were all like you! That's gotta count for something, right?

This rapture business is silly and sad. It'll happen when it happens and that's good enough for me.

I'm not a fan of teriyaki. I prefer black pepper jerky.

Paula Titus said...

Would we all have nice beards if we were like Dave? Because if I thought I could give up this plucking business in exchange for a "nice beard" I'd do it in a heartbeat.

I remember that time I walked in the room and...oh, never mind, that was when you passed wind not caught your breath.

See you in the rapture! :)

Pabby said...

I love the screenshots. Here's a little quote I thought was relevant, from a Prophet himself:

Saying “I apologize” is the same as saying “I’m sorry” – they’re the same.

Unless you’re at a funeral.


-Demitri Martin

David Wagner said...

Matt: I'll save your jerky for you, for when you return from your travels, eh! And I don't want the world to end yet... too much left to do!

Logan: Yep, Thor in 3D IMAX. It was beautiful. I think that's the only real benefit of 3D movies... it can cover up weaknesses in plot and dialog and story by making things look pretty. The end credits were sure something to see... and you can have my beard when I'm done with it. I'll email it to you. Can you open .BRD attachments? O_O

Paula: I'll be sure to set a breath aside so you can "take" it from me if we ever meet in person... and I'm so bummed more people don't read and comment on your blog! You're such a terrific, fun writer!

Pabs: You get 10 extra points for quoting Dimitri Martin. That guy is terrific.

Rug Warrior said...

I don't know if I could handle bad acting in 3D.

=)

You know 3/4 of the world is so busy focused on survival that they don't have the luxury to dwell about what their life is or is not. We in the US have that luxury more than most... and also the opportunities to make our lives whatever we want them to be - crappy or awesome. So much of it is simply perspective and the willingness to DO things differently.

That said... I think you should write a "scratch and sniff" book. That would be brilliant, and very much doing things differently. (Just remember to wash your hands...)

=)
Lisa