Raindrops on rosesHappy Disney animalsThis makes my parts hurt– Chuck PalahniukMany thanks to Chuck for the haiku. There's an author I haven't read in a few years. The last book I checked out was "Haunted," and I enjoyed it regardless of some over-the-top shock value content. Since then, Palahniuk has put out a couple more novels ("Rant" and "Snuff"). Maybe I'll get to them someday. I've been catching up with posthumous Charles Bukowski works, and I have a masochistic desire to read "Ulysses" by James Joyce again. So much to read, so little time.
I keep a journal on my computer. People sometimes ask why it's not handwritten. Well, typing it does not make it less personal. Plus, when I got my first computer in April of 1997, I simply started writing on the new machine, and continued from there to this day. So as of right now, I have over ten years of entries, 239 pages (in 10-point arial font). I try to add to the journal every week. It's fascinating to scroll back and see where I was, what I was doing, and where my life was on a particular date. I can see where my mind and life were at a certain point in time, and I might laugh, or cringe, or shrug. Some of the written memories are pleasant, many are matter-of-fact, and some unpleasant. But I don't think I would change anything. We are all the products of our accumulated experiences and choices. I've made some wise decisions, some dubious, and some... not so wise and highly questionable. I know who I am, and I happen to like who I am. And the people who truly know me, the friends who know my acerbic veneer is just that - a facade to protect this writer's sensitive soul - happen to like me, too. Onward.
My new favorite website? It's the brilliant and riotous "The Nietzsche Family Circus." The site is exactly what it says: it combines the wholesome, cloying family drones of "The Family Circus" with the quotes of German firebrand philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Click here to see young Billy, seeking ontological meaning for himself, remark that he must "look to it that he himself does not become a monster."
"Permalink" your favorites and send along all the existential fun to your friends and neighbors and foes... let them not gaze long into an abyss (you may be on the abyssal fence about your foes, if you have any).
There isn't much on television anymore that can really blow me away, but Mad Men (on AMC) does it. The action revolves around a Madison Avenue advertising agency (Sterling & Cooper) in the early 1960s. The writing, acting, and attention to period detail is so meticulous and organic that it's nearly impossible to not be drawn in week after week. Unfortunately, much like The Sopranos and The Shield (to name just two of many), the season is only thirteen episodes long. Mad Men is more-than-worthwhile and, of course, highly recommended.It is Labor Day here, but no labor for me today, unless you count a walk to the drug store and the job search. Of course, sending out the cover letter and resume isn't exactly arduous - it merely requires time and focus. A festive extended weekend winds down. The autumn weather slinks about on the fringe of summer, and I welcome it. I, for one, will not miss the heat and humidity, nor the higher electric bills. On the worst of summer days, I long for the temperate climate of San Francisco.
A warm week awaits. Summer's last gasp. perhaps. We head toward the fall and soon enough the holidays will be upon us. Where does the time go?
Labels: autumn, Family Circus, Mad Men, Nietzsche, Palahniuk
