Weblog 315
February 26, 2012~ 12:00 am
This is a leap year, and we're fast approaching that rare February 29th day. Maybe it's the image of 'leaping' that delights me, but the idea is one of energy and change. I do think this year will live up to those expectations.
How is it, I wonder.... we can live, knowing full well we'll be shuffling off this mortal coil at some point? It's the spector of our own demise that creates not only neurosis in some, but greatness in others.
That's a compelling image by the 19th century Swiss painter, Anthony Böcklin entitled, "Self portrait with death as fiddler"- I love it because it shows how it's always there, right at our shoulder. We can choose to ignore him, but he never leaves our side. "Media vita in morte sumus"- 'in the midst of life, we are in death', the medieval antiphon. It's true. As Gustav Klimpt so richly caught in his
'Death And Life' painting. There's the old boy on the left just outside the tightly woven clump of variegated humanity: old folks, young ones in the bloom of youth, babies, some who look ill or dying, caught in a protected amoeba which is, in fact and at every moment, inches from the reaper.
Why have I chosen to dwell on these thoughts right now? Well, Wayne and I watched a deeply moving film on Saturday evening that captured very poignantly, how close we are, and how very defenseless when the news of mortality strikes a life. We watched
- a film that made me laugh and cry. It's a very subtle film that never struts pompously about its subject, it's too real for that. It stars Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who are two best friends in their late 20's coming to grips with Gordon-Levitt's diagnosis of a rare and deadly form of spinal cancer. Rogen supplies all of the laughs, and Gordon-Levitt, the fragile coping of a sensitive but emotionally armored young man, who is completely likeable in all ways. Here he is sitting between his smothering mother, played perfectly by Angelica Huston- and his father, who's afflicted with Alzheimer's, getting the worst possible news from the doctor.
The movie is based on the true life experiences of the writer, and the story is as real and as touching as possible. The awkward but ABSOLUTE love between the two young men is a joy to watch. The 'extroverted, girl-stalking, wise-cracking buddy' is an ideal counterpart to Gordon-Levitt's quietly frightened, emotionally battened-down and cancer-stricken friend.
There are more sensitive tear-jerking moments than you might expect in a 20 something 'buddy film', but just like in real life, you're HIJACKED by those moments when you least expect it, and just as in life- there's hilarity that jumps out in the midst of the most impossibly AWFUL things, those golden moments when laughter itself is the only lifeline we have. I LOVE THIS MOVIE unreservedly. The cast is brilliant, the writing truthful, and its aftermath ushers in some intelligent reflection on what is truly important in our brief stay here: friends we can count on, love, honesty... and yes, always, always.... the glorious release of laughter. I give this one five richly deserved stars. It's one of my favorites.
While I was casting about for images for this blog entry, I found the name and website of an artist whose work I've been crazy about for years. I've kept an entrancing picture on my hard drive of a big-headed little girl whose flowing dark hair turns into crows flung out behind her. I'd never known the artist.... till now.
She's SO WONDERFUL! Image after image of 'large-headed, wide-set-eyed' little girls posed in children's book fantasy settings,but always with a hint of something darker, where the very pastels and bunnies and bows are hiding something vaguely menacing.
To see more of her charming artwork, visit
Nicoletta Ceccoli
Now it's time for me to dive back into book three of the Mitch Rapp, 'covert operations' series of suspense novels. I'm definitely a Vince Flynn junkie now. (And thank goodness I have all those books lined up and waiting-- a long line of 'em. I'm going through them like potato chips. :)
February 28, 2012~ 6:00 pm
My friend Stephen sent me an email on choosing to 'opt out' of Google's empire-building desire to collect and keep all history of its users' online activities from the past, and continue to collect it in the future. (You KNOW how such invasions of my personal space tick me off to no end, and I'd known about this 'March 1st' deadline to opt out.... but I was hesitant, seeing how folks who joined 'Google+' when it came down the pike had been screwed over by not being aware that in joining that, it IMMEDIATELY erased all over Google products like web albums, other blogs they may have created... and so on and so on.) EVERY TIME Google makes these sweeping changes, I get mighty nervous about changing A DANGED THING.
But on principle, I did it today.
Call it coincidental, but I had the THE WORST TIME trying to log on this evening to type an entry in here.
(Since that horrible update they made to Blogger last April or May, the only way I CAN log in, is to use a proxy.) And tonight it took four different proxies, a verification of my account... and who knows what other blasted snag they'll throw at me in the future? I'm so thoroughly sick of this! It seems.....
the ONLY people who can find their way right into my personal information... is GOOGLE ITSELF! LOL!! So.......... yes!... I'm very HAPPY I've done what I can to make it a little harder for the 'KGB of the internet' to get at 'part' of my soul, anyway.
And don't get me STARTED on Android phones. You got one??? Google knows more about you than your mother, your spouse, your father confessor and the FBI combined! And there's NO opting out of that spider web. They OWN you.
Since Scroogle folded, I use Duck Duck Go- they don't track you. (Oh, and I also downloaded a clean little browser I use all the time, only 1 MB in size, called 'Off By One'. You totally control it. No, there's no flash, no javascript, but that baby is lightning fast, and YOU control all cookies, referrer headers, pictures or no pictures.)
What I'm trying to say is there ARE alternatives out there.... you just gotta look. And 'Big Brother'......BITE ME!!!!!'
***
(Return To Weekly Archives)
This is a leap year, and we're fast approaching that rare February 29th day. Maybe it's the image of 'leaping' that delights me, but the idea is one of energy and change. I do think this year will live up to those expectations.
How is it, I wonder.... we can live, knowing full well we'll be shuffling off this mortal coil at some point? It's the spector of our own demise that creates not only neurosis in some, but greatness in others.
That's a compelling image by the 19th century Swiss painter, Anthony Böcklin entitled, "Self portrait with death as fiddler"- I love it because it shows how it's always there, right at our shoulder. We can choose to ignore him, but he never leaves our side. "Media vita in morte sumus"- 'in the midst of life, we are in death', the medieval antiphon. It's true. As Gustav Klimpt so richly caught in his
'Death And Life' painting. There's the old boy on the left just outside the tightly woven clump of variegated humanity: old folks, young ones in the bloom of youth, babies, some who look ill or dying, caught in a protected amoeba which is, in fact and at every moment, inches from the reaper.
Why have I chosen to dwell on these thoughts right now? Well, Wayne and I watched a deeply moving film on Saturday evening that captured very poignantly, how close we are, and how very defenseless when the news of mortality strikes a life. We watched
- a film that made me laugh and cry. It's a very subtle film that never struts pompously about its subject, it's too real for that. It stars Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who are two best friends in their late 20's coming to grips with Gordon-Levitt's diagnosis of a rare and deadly form of spinal cancer. Rogen supplies all of the laughs, and Gordon-Levitt, the fragile coping of a sensitive but emotionally armored young man, who is completely likeable in all ways. Here he is sitting between his smothering mother, played perfectly by Angelica Huston- and his father, who's afflicted with Alzheimer's, getting the worst possible news from the doctor.
The movie is based on the true life experiences of the writer, and the story is as real and as touching as possible. The awkward but ABSOLUTE love between the two young men is a joy to watch. The 'extroverted, girl-stalking, wise-cracking buddy' is an ideal counterpart to Gordon-Levitt's quietly frightened, emotionally battened-down and cancer-stricken friend.
There are more sensitive tear-jerking moments than you might expect in a 20 something 'buddy film', but just like in real life, you're HIJACKED by those moments when you least expect it, and just as in life- there's hilarity that jumps out in the midst of the most impossibly AWFUL things, those golden moments when laughter itself is the only lifeline we have. I LOVE THIS MOVIE unreservedly. The cast is brilliant, the writing truthful, and its aftermath ushers in some intelligent reflection on what is truly important in our brief stay here: friends we can count on, love, honesty... and yes, always, always.... the glorious release of laughter. I give this one five richly deserved stars. It's one of my favorites.
While I was casting about for images for this blog entry, I found the name and website of an artist whose work I've been crazy about for years. I've kept an entrancing picture on my hard drive of a big-headed little girl whose flowing dark hair turns into crows flung out behind her. I'd never known the artist.... till now.
She's SO WONDERFUL! Image after image of 'large-headed, wide-set-eyed' little girls posed in children's book fantasy settings,but always with a hint of something darker, where the very pastels and bunnies and bows are hiding something vaguely menacing.
To see more of her charming artwork, visit
Now it's time for me to dive back into book three of the Mitch Rapp, 'covert operations' series of suspense novels. I'm definitely a Vince Flynn junkie now. (And thank goodness I have all those books lined up and waiting-- a long line of 'em. I'm going through them like potato chips. :)
February 28, 2012~ 6:00 pm
My friend Stephen sent me an email on choosing to 'opt out' of Google's empire-building desire to collect and keep all history of its users' online activities from the past, and continue to collect it in the future. (You KNOW how such invasions of my personal space tick me off to no end, and I'd known about this 'March 1st' deadline to opt out.... but I was hesitant, seeing how folks who joined 'Google+' when it came down the pike had been screwed over by not being aware that in joining that, it IMMEDIATELY erased all over Google products like web albums, other blogs they may have created... and so on and so on.) EVERY TIME Google makes these sweeping changes, I get mighty nervous about changing A DANGED THING.
But on principle, I did it today.
Call it coincidental, but I had the THE WORST TIME trying to log on this evening to type an entry in here.
(Since that horrible update they made to Blogger last April or May, the only way I CAN log in, is to use a proxy.) And tonight it took four different proxies, a verification of my account... and who knows what other blasted snag they'll throw at me in the future? I'm so thoroughly sick of this! It seems.....
the ONLY people who can find their way right into my personal information... is GOOGLE ITSELF! LOL!! So.......... yes!... I'm very HAPPY I've done what I can to make it a little harder for the 'KGB of the internet' to get at 'part' of my soul, anyway.
And don't get me STARTED on Android phones. You got one??? Google knows more about you than your mother, your spouse, your father confessor and the FBI combined! And there's NO opting out of that spider web. They OWN you.
Since Scroogle folded, I use Duck Duck Go- they don't track you. (Oh, and I also downloaded a clean little browser I use all the time, only 1 MB in size, called 'Off By One'. You totally control it. No, there's no flash, no javascript, but that baby is lightning fast, and YOU control all cookies, referrer headers, pictures or no pictures.)
What I'm trying to say is there ARE alternatives out there.... you just gotta look. And 'Big Brother'......BITE ME!!!!!'
(Return To Weekly Archives)
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