Thursday, January 29, 2015

Why Would Anyone Want To "Set Fire to the Rain"?


OK, fine... I realize that taking a relatively-low-resolution photo of a triple-waterspout and posting it larger than the native resolution means it will be all pixelly and lose much of the impact... I get it, ok? Still, sometimes, you find an awesome triple waterspout photo and you want to share it in your blog and you don't want to post it small... I mean, I'm sure all of you have run into similar situations in your own blogs, right? So you understand the dilemma I find myself wrestling with? Do I post it small, or big + low res?

Ah, first world blogging problems...

Anyways... cool picture.

So, yeah, it's been two looooong weeks since last I hopped in here to pepper you with vacuous nonsense... that's, honestly, too long to make you wait. For that, I apologize, with a certain socially-acceptable level of profuseness, which I hope shall suffice. If not, let me know, and I'll drop a $5 check or money order in the mail to you... hey, it's enough for a venti iced caramel macchiato, right? Barely...

Where was I?

Oh, yeah. A drone flies over Auschwitz, and here's what happens...



OMG... that makes me cry... so haunting. Wow. Transports me to another place. So much pain. How on earth could people be ok with orchestrating so much pain? What is wrong with us? I understand it in theory... in the actual reality of the situation... man...

Where does a person have to go inside in order to justify such unfathomable cruelty?

I could get lost in that era. It's a danger for me, personally. Would I want to go to Auschwitz and walk around for the day? Yes. Would it be good for me? I don't know. It is overwhelming. Is it good to risk permanent scarring? Is it better to force myself to turn away, to not look at it, or contemplate it, for my own sanity's sake? Face a harsh reality, or avoid it? What... is... better?

OK, that's a rabbit hole I don't think I should dive down at the moment. It's dark.

Time to risk being labeled superficial/shallow, and lighten the mood!

Let's see? What do I have that's vapid and safe?

Here, let's start with this...


Yep... sleep late, get up, marathon a show online, stay up late, go to bed again... ah, a great day! For me, lately, it was season 6 of Justified. Look, why don't more folks love the show Justified? Why the heck not!? It's the best show on TV! Dadgummit, go watch it, right now! If you are an Amazon Prime member, stop reading this stupid blog, and go watch some Justified. Trust me, you'll love it. You'll understand why I have a man-crush on Timothy Olyphant. He is The Man.

I've been trying to get into other shows... Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, House of Cards, Agents of Shield... all are shows that are loved by many people I know and respect... nothing has clicked with me yet. Maybe I'm just impossible to please or something... if that's true, then that should be another strong bump for Justified. I love that show...

Hey, I had my friend Carey build me a new computer this past week. Yep, good ol' "Crown Stealer" (my old computer) has been retired. I'm writing this blog post from my brand spanking new screaming machine, affectionately called "Computurd"... Hey, I couldn't think of anything more creative at the time.

My friend Vye built Crown Stealer in January of 2009. It had a good run. The only thing I can recall upgrading in all that time was the video card (I might have had to replace the power supply, I don't quite recall...). Anyways, all due respect to Vye and his rig-building prowess, my new rig is amazing.

Nuff said. Now I can play games using the Unreal 4 engine...



Man... combine that with Oculus Rift, and disappear from reality altogether... on the one hand, cool! On the other hand... yeah, kinda scary...

What else?

I don't really have anything awesome to share.

In my acting class up in Hollywood, for the past couple of weeks, I've been working on a scene from the classic film All About Eve, with one of the talented actresses in the class. It has been quite a ride, developmentally-speaking. I'm hesitating, as far as how deep I should go in explaining the nuances and intricacies of the work in class... I mean, unless you're heavy into acting yourself, it likely won't mean much to you...

I can liken it to working out with my personal trainer. My personal trainer, Vince, is awesome. He pushes me during my workouts, in ways I never would push myself if I were working out on my own. When my half-hour is up, I lay there, trying to catch my breath, panting, sweating like a pig, staring at the ceiling in the studio space, at once feeling completely drained and completely awesome. I love that feeling when I'm done, you know? I've been pushed to the limits, stretched, tested... and I made it. The same is true in my acting class... I go into the class feeling ready... I dive in... and get pushed, tested, stretched, wrung out... when I'm done with my time in front of the class, I am equally drained and spent. It's a great feeling, to be done. But at the time, I repeatedly question whether I will survive the process, lol...

It's been wild... I spent years at my church, being the big fish in a small pond... being in charge of the drama ministry, feeling like I was really good. Then I started taking acting classes in San Diego, and realized I was still a little fish after all... I spent 18 months in the San Diego class, learning the craft of TV/Film acting, and eventually got back to the point where I felt I was the big fish again... then I went up to Hollywood to Rob's class... and immediately realized that, again, I knew nothing.... I became the little fish again. Tiny, really... but I'm getting my feet under me again... it's a cool process, really... repeatedly becoming the little fish... it's humbling, sure... but it's also liberating... I want to be really good at this acting thing... I appreciate the patience of someone like Rob Adler, who can take actors wherever they are at, and move them forward...

Here's my man, Noah, with another awesome cover... this time it's When I Was Your Man, by Bruno Mars...



Gahhh! Flash craving! I want a burger from Slater's 50/50! Good thing it's midnight... they're closed. Otherwise, I might have run out to get it. Instead, I shall finish this post, then go the heck to bed. How sad. No amazing burger for me.


Sometimes... I'm driving in my car (oddly enough) and I get really tense and wired inside, and I just want to scream at the top of my lungs... I get all shaky and vibraty and I want to punch something, break something... I wonder what that is? I get all ragey, not at anything in particular, just in general. I want to explode. Do you ever feel that way, relatively-randomly? If so, how do you deal with it? It's one of those moments where I can disconnect a part of myself and observe myself, and analyze it as it's happening... I ask myself, "what the heck is going on here?" as I'm also trembling with an unfocused anger... I usually end up putting my radio onto a station with rock music cranked really loudly, and sing along with it for a few songs. That seems to help.



Honestly, I have no idea what I'm going to write here before I actually type it. This is free-association blogging at it's best/worst... I'm simply typing as things hit me, without giving it any time for coherent thought. Why on earth you're reading this, I'll never know. I'll go back and re-read this after I hit the "publish" button and be just as surprised as you are at reading this... write and release, that seems to be my M.O. ...

I've decided that when I grow up, I want to be an adult...

I keep putting off reading Words of Radiance, by the amazing Brandon Sanderson. The reason? It is Book 2 in a series (The Stormlight Archive)... I really need to re-read volume 1 before starting it... but volume one is 1,000 pages... I know that will take me a while... do I skip the re-read of Volume 1 and just dive into volume 2 (also 1,000 pages)? Or do I commit the next two months to reading both?

Instead, I try other books. I recently read Night Watch, by Sergei Lukyanenko. It was good. And I lately started reading Control Point by Myke Cole. Never trust a man who spells Mike with a Y, that's what I say...

My TBR pile is gargantuan...

Why are you still reading this? Are you intent on humoring me? Don't you know that if you wade through all this random vacuous nonsense then I'm apt to think it's a good thing, and unload more upon you at regular intervals? Why would you reward me like that? Punish me, dangit! Otherwise I'll keep doing this!


Yes... Wolverine carrying groceries... that's what I've been reduced to. And, frankly, you are partially to blame.

I'm going to end this. Gee, I bet you're heartbroken, eh?

Leave a comment! Or not! Either way, it's all good! I love you either way!

Adios for now,

Dave the Twerp

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