2010-05-16
father of the year
this guy had no time to think, just react- and his fast reaction probably saved his kid's life. AMAZING footage.
2010-05-03
new dream
i wandered away from some people i was with; there was more to the dream before this, but it’s gone. i went outside, onto a large, square deck, moving toward the far left corner. a heavy-set brunette woman, evidently a neighbor, who seemed familiar from the previous part of the dream, was some distance away, lower than the deck level, down a small hill, out toward the street. she was grilling something. she looked up at me, and we acknowledged each other’s presence without speaking.
i turned to my right, moving along the edge of the deck, sort of surveying the area around the deck, and i noticed a young girl, maybe 10 years old, unfamiliar to me, standing quietly on the far right corner of the deck. she’d noticed me first, aware that i was moving toward her before i noticed her, and i approached her. she seemed self-conscious. she had dark hair, carefully curled and arranged, and she wore an uncommon amount of makeup for a young girl, but it was very carefully applied; someone obviously took great care to make this girl appear “just so”. she wore a black and white dress, and she was immaculate in every detail. she seemed very shy, and only fleetingly met my gaze. my observations came at a glance, taking only a moment.
as i was about to ask her who she was, where she came from, i heard the grilling lady address me, her voice coming over my shoulder, answering my unasked question, and i turned to look at her as she spoke. she explained that the girl belonged to a new family, who’d just moved in to the house at the property adjacent to this side of the deck, gesturing toward it with her metal grilling spatula. i turned back to the girl and introduced myself to her. she seemed slightly more comfortable now, but she only nodded, still shy. i looked over her head, through the branches of trees, down toward the property on that side of the deck, and noticed there were others, busy with some tasks. among them were movers, bringing the family’s things inside.
i realized there were people all around me, in the branches of the trees immediately surrounding the deck. i expanded my introduction of myself, directing my words toward the crowd surrounding me, “seated” like an audience in many tree branches.
as i spoke, i seemed to stop appearing as myself, becoming instead a clown. rather, i didn’t “become” the clown; i remained myself, now portraying a clown character. the comic nature of the clown character was that of a man portraying a female; that is, the “whole” of the character was realized in the minds of the audience by the combination of elements: a comic characterization of a woman, as obviously portrayed by a male clown, which was itself less obviously portrayed by my dream self: a man playing a male clown playing a woman.
i was costumed in a traditional interpretation of clowning, sort of a classic “sad” clown, more shabby than ludicrous, far more subtle than the stereotypical modern American clown. my costume was directed more toward artistic intent than toward buffoonery, supporting the nature of the character. though i never saw myself, i knew my face was made up. my clothes were nothing elaborate, but they contained elements of both the sad clown and the female character which he portrayed. it was as if i’d come to inhabit this character seamlessly, as i spoke, while the deck on which i was standing transformed, to serve the purpose of a stage without becoming one. it remained a deck, but the boards inclined and leveled out, following the contours of a steep hill, which was itself surrounded by the trees of the audience.
continuing to speak, i added another layer of depth to the performance. my words told a story, in the clown’s voice, about the female character which the clown portrayed. this fictitious story was analagous to and paralleled true things about my dream self, like who “i” was and how “i” fit into this environment. as i told the story i began to perform as the clown character, which in turn performed as the female character. i danced a slow, comical ballet that was, by turns, purposely clumsy, to the audience’s amusement, and surprisingly, effortlessly deft, to their wonderment. the audience seemed to enjoy my performance, and to appreciate / understand its multiple levels of depth. my performance seemed to be having the desired effect; through it, the people in the audience seemed to accept and gain an understanding of me (that is, my dream self), and my (his) purpose.
as my performance continued, i began to defy physics and gravity. i would spin impossibly slowly, or slowly descend floating from a leap, coming to rest so lightly on my feet that i seemed to weigh nothing, or ending in an improbably fluid series of tumbles. no matter how impossible it seemed to recover from some movement, i always regained my composure, and it all seemed effortless. my more complicated movements were connected smoothly by small, simple dance steps. the dance demonstrated my words, its elements sometimes mirroring, sometimes comically contradicting their story, and i used both methods to communicate with the audience.
then i pushed off, executing another slow motion, gravity-defying leap, and unexpectedly found myself not descending, which alarmed me. i grew nervous, and my story stopped, as i floated higher, no longer in control, out over the edge of the hill, where there was a steep drop. suddenly i was very high up- too high! but then, before my anxiety could become fear, i seemed to regain control of my motion. i need not fall, but my performance was no longer effortless; i had to concentrate. i literally swam through the air, and was relieved when i was back over the area of the hill i started from, and i willed myself to land. i came to rest on the hill, in a position fully composed in the air: lying down, facing uphill, chest to the ground, elbows resting on a small mound, chin resting on hands. as if nothing unplanned had taken place, i quietly spoke the final words of the story to the crowd.
then i realized my alarm was going off.
i turned to my right, moving along the edge of the deck, sort of surveying the area around the deck, and i noticed a young girl, maybe 10 years old, unfamiliar to me, standing quietly on the far right corner of the deck. she’d noticed me first, aware that i was moving toward her before i noticed her, and i approached her. she seemed self-conscious. she had dark hair, carefully curled and arranged, and she wore an uncommon amount of makeup for a young girl, but it was very carefully applied; someone obviously took great care to make this girl appear “just so”. she wore a black and white dress, and she was immaculate in every detail. she seemed very shy, and only fleetingly met my gaze. my observations came at a glance, taking only a moment.
as i was about to ask her who she was, where she came from, i heard the grilling lady address me, her voice coming over my shoulder, answering my unasked question, and i turned to look at her as she spoke. she explained that the girl belonged to a new family, who’d just moved in to the house at the property adjacent to this side of the deck, gesturing toward it with her metal grilling spatula. i turned back to the girl and introduced myself to her. she seemed slightly more comfortable now, but she only nodded, still shy. i looked over her head, through the branches of trees, down toward the property on that side of the deck, and noticed there were others, busy with some tasks. among them were movers, bringing the family’s things inside.
i realized there were people all around me, in the branches of the trees immediately surrounding the deck. i expanded my introduction of myself, directing my words toward the crowd surrounding me, “seated” like an audience in many tree branches.
as i spoke, i seemed to stop appearing as myself, becoming instead a clown. rather, i didn’t “become” the clown; i remained myself, now portraying a clown character. the comic nature of the clown character was that of a man portraying a female; that is, the “whole” of the character was realized in the minds of the audience by the combination of elements: a comic characterization of a woman, as obviously portrayed by a male clown, which was itself less obviously portrayed by my dream self: a man playing a male clown playing a woman.
i was costumed in a traditional interpretation of clowning, sort of a classic “sad” clown, more shabby than ludicrous, far more subtle than the stereotypical modern American clown. my costume was directed more toward artistic intent than toward buffoonery, supporting the nature of the character. though i never saw myself, i knew my face was made up. my clothes were nothing elaborate, but they contained elements of both the sad clown and the female character which he portrayed. it was as if i’d come to inhabit this character seamlessly, as i spoke, while the deck on which i was standing transformed, to serve the purpose of a stage without becoming one. it remained a deck, but the boards inclined and leveled out, following the contours of a steep hill, which was itself surrounded by the trees of the audience.
continuing to speak, i added another layer of depth to the performance. my words told a story, in the clown’s voice, about the female character which the clown portrayed. this fictitious story was analagous to and paralleled true things about my dream self, like who “i” was and how “i” fit into this environment. as i told the story i began to perform as the clown character, which in turn performed as the female character. i danced a slow, comical ballet that was, by turns, purposely clumsy, to the audience’s amusement, and surprisingly, effortlessly deft, to their wonderment. the audience seemed to enjoy my performance, and to appreciate / understand its multiple levels of depth. my performance seemed to be having the desired effect; through it, the people in the audience seemed to accept and gain an understanding of me (that is, my dream self), and my (his) purpose.
as my performance continued, i began to defy physics and gravity. i would spin impossibly slowly, or slowly descend floating from a leap, coming to rest so lightly on my feet that i seemed to weigh nothing, or ending in an improbably fluid series of tumbles. no matter how impossible it seemed to recover from some movement, i always regained my composure, and it all seemed effortless. my more complicated movements were connected smoothly by small, simple dance steps. the dance demonstrated my words, its elements sometimes mirroring, sometimes comically contradicting their story, and i used both methods to communicate with the audience.
then i pushed off, executing another slow motion, gravity-defying leap, and unexpectedly found myself not descending, which alarmed me. i grew nervous, and my story stopped, as i floated higher, no longer in control, out over the edge of the hill, where there was a steep drop. suddenly i was very high up- too high! but then, before my anxiety could become fear, i seemed to regain control of my motion. i need not fall, but my performance was no longer effortless; i had to concentrate. i literally swam through the air, and was relieved when i was back over the area of the hill i started from, and i willed myself to land. i came to rest on the hill, in a position fully composed in the air: lying down, facing uphill, chest to the ground, elbows resting on a small mound, chin resting on hands. as if nothing unplanned had taken place, i quietly spoke the final words of the story to the crowd.
then i realized my alarm was going off.
2010-05-02
A History of Knowledge: Past, Present and Future - The pivotal events, people and achievements of world history
I finished this a couple weeks ago...a really fantastic book. It reads almost like an extended series of Smithsonian articles, examining, chronologically from ancient to modern times, the people responsible for, highlights of, ongoing interrelationships between, and social impacts resulting from the progression of science & technology, the arts, religious & political thought and hierarchies, economics, and philosophy, among other things.
Bringing together so much information, and presenting it so clearly and compactly, is a remarkable achievement. The book was never dry. Van Doren always seemed to have an insight I'd not encountered, even on subject matter with which I'm at least passably familiar, and he balances a certain lightness of tone and cautious optimism with a wry acknowledgment of some truly ugly facts. He could have easily run off on any of dozens of tangents, but he chose sparingly which points to elaborate on, and he cuts quickly to the heart of those.
The book touches on so many fascinating subjects that I may have to skim through it again, taking some notes along the way. More than once I found myself putting the book down to head to my computer and track down some more information on this subject or that person.
When a book is enlightening, that's something; when it's entertaining, that's also something; sometimes you find one that's both, and this is one of them. Great book.
Interesting aside: I borrowed this book from my dad, who informed me the author (Charles Van Doren) has the dubious honor of being the "contestant" on the rigged 1950s game show "Twenty One" (info here).
The end of the book concerns "current" affairs, and Van Doren's predictions for the next 100 years or so. As the book was written nearly 20 years ago, it's an interesting perspective. More info on amazon.com
.
2010-04-19
Loren's choir concert
Granite Falls School District & the Everett Chorale
present
"Why We Sing"
First Annual All-City Choir Concert
Granite Falls High School
Granite Falls, WA
April 15, 2010
1 - Ah, Robyn
2 - Children of Peace
3 - Vocalise
Diana Lawrence, Director
Patti McElroy, piano
Emilie Barker, flute
GFHS Choraliers:
Loren Pelkey, Parker Aamold, Alexis Bailey, Emilie Barker, Sierra Barker, Rochelle
Baron, Kimberly Bray, Allie Chadwick, Nik Cole, Ashlee Cortez, Alexis Irvin,
Semira Kern, Nathan Lynn, Maxx Marker, Desi Nease, Shannon Ozog, Mercedes
Pryor, Allyssa Puett, Brenda Ramirez, Amanda Ray, Emily Richbourg, Kelsey
Salsgiver, Lupe Sanchez-Reynoso, Catie Schusted, Mikyla Sears, Shantae Smith-
Roberts, Brad Somes, Kevin Sprague, Maria Stadler, Heidi Thayer, Caroline Todd,
Alysa Turner, Sarah Turner, Kelsey Wesson, Madelyn Winter
2010-04-13
pretty cool dream
Christina Applegate and i were working together to preserve the integrity of the timeline, so the “correct” future would come to pass. we were new friends, thrown together by circumstance, who’d grown close quickly. Christina seemed to be part of a large quasi-military organization, which appeared only tangentally, but our mutual goal was personal, outside of that context. the future we were trying to preserve seemed to be represented by a very complex piece of music; everything hinged on its survival. we both had an understanding of the piece, but Christina’s was comprehensive, and it existed in its entirety only in her mind.
working counter to our purposes was Aaron Eckhart (the actor who played Harvey Dent/Two Face in “The Dark Night”). he was infatuated with Christina. his complete obsession with her (which included jealousy of our relationship) led him to oppose the “correct” future, in which she belonged to someone else. he confronted us while we were deciding what to do next, and threatened to use a device which could “negate” possible futures by permanently “erasing” elements of the present. the elements to be erased by this unseen device seemed to be controlled by his thoughts, so its effects were therefore limited by his knowledge. it was unspoken but conveyed that he would even erase Christina if necessary- if he couldn’t have her, he’d make sure no one else would either. this gave her/us an advantage, as erasing her was a last resort, and she held the key to our success. our desire to preserve the timeline was independent of any ramifications for either of us personally.
realizing that the entire future depended on this piece of music, which would cease to exist if she were erased, Christina and i used a device to transcribe it, directly from her mind. suddenly i was looking over her shoulder at the sheet music in her hands. below the title “Tapis Rouge” was a dauntingly complex score, continued on multiple pages. we both stood still and stared at it for a moment, absorbing what this accomplishment meant: a physical copy of the music, unknown to the Eckhart, that would survive to preserve the timeline, even if he activated his device. as it sunk in, Christina was overjoyed, and threw her arms around me to hug me. i’d felt a great deal of relief, but that was quickly overshadowed by happiness for her as i was caught up in her enthusiasm.
Christina left the music with me, and rushed off to return to her official duties. i became aware that her romantic interest- the man Echkart was truly jealous of- was her professional peer. he was somewhat awkward, unsure of himself, and he wore thick glasses. i watched as they approached each other in a hallway, while various others dressed in like, grey uniforms went about their business. Christina exchanged a few words with him surreptitiously, seeming not to want to draw the others’ attention. this seemed to reinforce his impression that he had no chance for a relationship with her. they parted company in opposite directions. Christina couldn’t follow through with it, and she called out to him, and they rushed back to each other and embraced. she caught my eye over his shoulder and smiled at me, then (very strangely!) seemed to notice something about one of her fingernails, and started inspecting it, still hugging him. i was close enough to see it was bright white and shaped very oddly, like a spade from a deck of cards, but flat across the top instead of coming to a point. (this seemed as strange to me in the dream as it does now writing this.)
Christina and her man finally parted company for real, and she returned to her duties, entering a huge room that resembled a barn, to my right. the place had weathered, exposed beams everywhere, a high, peaked roof, and straw on the floor. there were bales of hay around, and rough wooden crates. it was crawling with people, working individually or in small groups, with different kinds of equipment that all looked very technical...i didn’t understand anything about what they were doing.
at the far end of this room was Echkart. he approached and confronted her angrily, and she walked away from him. i had a feeling something bad was about to happen and i started to cross the room toward him. Christina passed me, on her way out. Eckhart said something bitter and final and activated his erasing device- literally plugging in the power cord. i turned on my heel toward Christina and saw a wave of vanishing; i could mark its progress by disappearing people and equipment, from the far end of the room toward me. Christina saw it too, and started to turn to face me, but didn’t complete the move before she was erased. the wave passed over me without affecting me, and i turned to follow its progress. it ended with Eckart, who was himself erased. i was alone in this huge and now basically empty room. stunned, i turned back toward the door and saw a piece of tubing and a few other components, the surviving remnants of the transciption device we’d used, lying on a crate. i crossed the room toward it and there, at the base, was the hard copy of “Tapis Rouge”.
working counter to our purposes was Aaron Eckhart (the actor who played Harvey Dent/Two Face in “The Dark Night”). he was infatuated with Christina. his complete obsession with her (which included jealousy of our relationship) led him to oppose the “correct” future, in which she belonged to someone else. he confronted us while we were deciding what to do next, and threatened to use a device which could “negate” possible futures by permanently “erasing” elements of the present. the elements to be erased by this unseen device seemed to be controlled by his thoughts, so its effects were therefore limited by his knowledge. it was unspoken but conveyed that he would even erase Christina if necessary- if he couldn’t have her, he’d make sure no one else would either. this gave her/us an advantage, as erasing her was a last resort, and she held the key to our success. our desire to preserve the timeline was independent of any ramifications for either of us personally.
realizing that the entire future depended on this piece of music, which would cease to exist if she were erased, Christina and i used a device to transcribe it, directly from her mind. suddenly i was looking over her shoulder at the sheet music in her hands. below the title “Tapis Rouge” was a dauntingly complex score, continued on multiple pages. we both stood still and stared at it for a moment, absorbing what this accomplishment meant: a physical copy of the music, unknown to the Eckhart, that would survive to preserve the timeline, even if he activated his device. as it sunk in, Christina was overjoyed, and threw her arms around me to hug me. i’d felt a great deal of relief, but that was quickly overshadowed by happiness for her as i was caught up in her enthusiasm.
Christina left the music with me, and rushed off to return to her official duties. i became aware that her romantic interest- the man Echkart was truly jealous of- was her professional peer. he was somewhat awkward, unsure of himself, and he wore thick glasses. i watched as they approached each other in a hallway, while various others dressed in like, grey uniforms went about their business. Christina exchanged a few words with him surreptitiously, seeming not to want to draw the others’ attention. this seemed to reinforce his impression that he had no chance for a relationship with her. they parted company in opposite directions. Christina couldn’t follow through with it, and she called out to him, and they rushed back to each other and embraced. she caught my eye over his shoulder and smiled at me, then (very strangely!) seemed to notice something about one of her fingernails, and started inspecting it, still hugging him. i was close enough to see it was bright white and shaped very oddly, like a spade from a deck of cards, but flat across the top instead of coming to a point. (this seemed as strange to me in the dream as it does now writing this.)
Christina and her man finally parted company for real, and she returned to her duties, entering a huge room that resembled a barn, to my right. the place had weathered, exposed beams everywhere, a high, peaked roof, and straw on the floor. there were bales of hay around, and rough wooden crates. it was crawling with people, working individually or in small groups, with different kinds of equipment that all looked very technical...i didn’t understand anything about what they were doing.
at the far end of this room was Echkart. he approached and confronted her angrily, and she walked away from him. i had a feeling something bad was about to happen and i started to cross the room toward him. Christina passed me, on her way out. Eckhart said something bitter and final and activated his erasing device- literally plugging in the power cord. i turned on my heel toward Christina and saw a wave of vanishing; i could mark its progress by disappearing people and equipment, from the far end of the room toward me. Christina saw it too, and started to turn to face me, but didn’t complete the move before she was erased. the wave passed over me without affecting me, and i turned to follow its progress. it ended with Eckart, who was himself erased. i was alone in this huge and now basically empty room. stunned, i turned back toward the door and saw a piece of tubing and a few other components, the surviving remnants of the transciption device we’d used, lying on a crate. i crossed the room toward it and there, at the base, was the hard copy of “Tapis Rouge”.
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