my footprint: carrying the weight of the world

Jeff Garlin is funny. I mean very very funny. He's one of those guys you look at and expect to laugh. Prior to reading his book, my footprint: carrying the weight of the world, I had only really been exposed to him on Letterman.

His book is out and out honest and hilarious. He tries to lose weight and become more eco-friendly or "green" at the same time. This all occurs during the filming of a season of Curb Your Enthusiasm. I have never seen this show, but I will now need to track down the dvd's and give it a try. If it is half as funny as this book, I will enjoy it.

Here are some standout excerpts from the book:

"My meditation today is about being satisfied with enough. What is enough....when it comes to, say, cookies? One, a few, a half dozen? When it comes to cookies, once you get sick, you've had enough."

"I am certainly not handy. If it wouldn't take so long, I would tell you the story of when I tried to caulk and ended up with caulk in my mouth, and I called the poison control center, and they thought I said I had cock in my mouth. Well, I guess I just told you."

"Guilt makes me overeat. That's today's meditation. I have to say that, yes, I overeat because of guilt. I've overeaten because I'm sad. I've overeaten because of happiness. I've overeaten because the wind blew in a different direction."

"My daily meditation is about how we are willing to go to any lengths to stop eating compulsively. It assumes we are willing, when it should actually say that if we are serious, then we should be willing. Truth be told, it's rare for a fat, compulsive overeater to hit bottom like an alcoholic or a drug addict. No one is ever about to lose their job because they ate too much at lunch. Nobody looks in his friend's eyes and can tell he's had too many cookies."

"Every now and then I try to set an example for other people. And I mean that in the sense that other people should look at me as an example of what they don't want to become."

He is funny and after reading this I just wanted to give him a big hug. Read this book.

The Choice Is Mine

I picked up an excellent book recently - my footprint by Jeff Garlin. I will expand on my love of this book in a later post. After finishing a few chapters this afternoon, I took a break to check my email. In my yahoo mail, I had this nice ad:
None of those meals looks under 1000 calories. And, I almost always choose the deep fried cheese covered choice. Yet, as the ad says, the choice is mine, and I can choose to avoid it altogether. I just hope I make the right choice. Garlin's book is inspiring me to do this, believe it or not.

I Think I Like This New PM

"Women are not breeding machines, you know. Women are unique people in their own right. If they want to marry and have children, that's lovely. If the want to remain single and build a professional life, that's wonderful."
-Julia Gillard, Prime Minister of Australia

Good on ya!

The Princess Bride AKA How I Fell in Love with Inigo Montoya

One of my favorite movies is definitely The Princess Bride. I came late to this movie. I didn't find it until a couple of years ago when I rented the DVD on a whim. Several people had raved about this film, but I am not a big fan of Robin Wright, so I was never that interested in it.

Within the first ten minutes I met farm boy, Westley, and found a reason to watch intently. Cary Elwes has never looked better than he does in this film. He is a joy, a pure joy, to watch. He had me at first glance. He does naughty little boy very well. Did Buttercup ever say, "Take me now!" That would have been perfect followed by, "As you wish."

I was not prepared, however, for what came next. I am introduced to Inigo Montoya, swift swordsman, eloquent revenge seeker, and Captain Hook look alike. I do not know what exactly it is about this character, although the leather pants play a role, but wow, I like like like this character. I think I even choose him over Westley.

I admit, I have always had a thing for the pirate. I enjoy the romantic notion of being whisked from seaport to seaport alongside a hot pirate with long hair and a long sword. Yes, I know this is not reality. (shhhh, that is why it is a fantasy...)

Anyway, Inigo Montoya not only fulfills the pirate checklist, but he also has a funny cute Spanish accent, a good heart, leather pants (did I mention that already?), and intelligence. Mandy Patankin - great actor. Inigo Montoya - hot revenge filled package of sex.

I know, I am bonkers, crazy - fill in the blank.

Oh, and then, added to all the scenery mentioned above, The Princess Bride has an outstanding cast of characters, action, love, an identifiable bad guy who gets punished, and thousands of quotable moments. Inconceivable! No, not at all, but I had to throw that in there.

This is a great movie and I regret that I put it off for so long. I just rewatched it and my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.


And now "I must...." "Get used to disappointment."

She was a V A M P Vamp.

Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves

Dreams

Have you ever seen the movie Langoliers? It is scary and strange and when I first saw it, I wondered what type of deranged mind had the imagination to think of this. Stephen King, of course, is the mind behind the story. I am befuddled by how an imagination such as King's works. How in the world do you create such a story?

Did he dream it then write it? Was it a nightmare put to words on paper?

Lately my dreams have been strange bordering on King. Last night was particularly bizarre. I dreamt of a character and concept that I have never heard of before. I do not follow horror, video games, role playing, or anything that deviates from normal spiritualism. Yet, when I Googled items that I dreamt about last night, I got so many responses and images that matched or came too close for comfort. I am a little scared. I do not know how in the world I could dream of these things. I don't know if I want to continue dreaming like this. I don't know how much control I have over it.

Is someone playing with my mind? Does my mind contain memories that I am not aware of?

I have many recurring dreams. Most are dreams I can recall like favorite memories. Sometimes I will forget about a certain dream and then *poof* it just flits across my mind while I am doing dishes or watching tv. They come back like old friends for a visit in my waking hours.

I don't believe my dreams are "lucid". When I dream, it feels real and I cannot step aside to tell myself I am dreaming and change the scenario. If my dreams get too scary, I usually just wake up. I try to lull myself back to sleep thinking about laying on the beach. Half in the water, half on the sand. This works for me.

Should I research these odd dreams and remembrances? It would be like me to read everything I could find on the subject. There are many books on dreaming, however, they all feel so vague. I don't care about flying symbolism and that rubbish, I just want to know why I recall all these dreams like old friends and why I have started dreaming about bizarro ideas and things that I have never had interest in or knowledge of before.

I feel like Rosemary except I am not pregnant - for sure. I wonder if Mia Farrow had bad nightmares when she filmed that movie. That shit scares the hell out of me.

I have no idea what will happen tonight, but I am sure I will dream. Think of beaches.

Happy Birthday, You Sexy MF

Happy Birthday, sweet sexy Prince.

Origins, Beginnings, Questions

Do you ever sit in a quiet space and just think? I tend to do this a lot - maybe too much. It may be a form of meditation, but honestly, I don't even try to clear my mind, I just let it roll.



Today, out of the blue, I just wondered, "What is the true origin of language?" Not just English or Latin, but true speaking to define and announce and question - in any type of language - the very beginning. Vague? Yes. Interesting? To me, yes. And I guess to some other people as well since my Google search filled in its own search parameter before I was done typing "origins of language".


So, Wikipedia is always the first blurb that comes up (after any sponsored shopping link) and I decided to look there first because I am lazy that way.

What does Wiki say? So glad I asked: "The origin of language, known in linguistics as glottogony refers to the acquisition of the human ability to use language at some point during the Paleolithic."

Hmm, I have a history degree (ok, from a small state school) and I can't recall what paleolithic means. I will guess it is some time with hominids, but after dinosaurs.

Wikipedia, as well meaning as it may be, just didn't seem like it would answer those large philosophical and historical questions that were buzzing in my brain. And, they (or the people that post there) had a skew toward vocal language and humans and the larynx being the ultimate point for the start of language. That would rule out any primal form of sign language or communication with animals. I can't rule out the sign languages and communication with animals.

Maybe what I really want to know is how humans became aware enough to be able to communicate to others be they hominids or other animals. Yeah - that's the ticket.

Awareness. Such a concept. How do you even describe it without the ability to be aware? And animals share this awareness, don't they? They may not have the same larynx or cognitive structure to speak, but they know and can learn a vocabulary. Dogs, dolphins, apes, and countless other animals can be trained with vocalizations and repetition.

Scrolling down the page of the Wiki entry, I did finally encounter a paragraph on the Theory of Mind. Feels closer: to paraphrase, it speaks about pre-language as a time when hominids exhibited knowledge, awareness, intention and teaching. According to Wiki, this is a theory of Simon Baron-Cohen (no, not the Borat guy). Yeah, well, I am sure others were aware of this possibility before Simon published it, no offense.

Then that takes me to another level where I wonder if compassion can be learned. Is it something you must possess at birth, when life enters you and you enter the world? I think we can teach compassion by being an example of it, but some kernel of positive feeling must need to be present in order to learn this most important aspect. I have known animals with compassion - ha ha , I know, please don't laugh or shout "anthropomorphism" - I have truly seen it. Is it in the dna? Are we lucky when we are born with this or is compassion learned? I have met many humans who seem to lack it. I am not 100% convinced either way.

Compassion, awareness, communication. So important to life. So many questions left in my meandering mind.

OK, I know, I am going off on many tangents here. This is the way my mind rolls. This is my "meditation".

Anyway.... I love cave drawings. A physical embodiment and fossil of hominid communication. At least we have that.


Next question of my meditative mind....why must we temper chocolate? Off to Google, copy some recipes and research the history of the cocoa bean...

Red

Red is the color of choice for most women who paint their nails. In ancient history, Red signified royalty or higher class when worn on the nails. Nefertiti wore it. Cleopatra wore it. If it was good enough for them, then I can feel good wearing red polish. Still, this summer I am very partial to dark purple on my toes with lilac on my fingers.

Ah, .... nail polish - so much easier to change than hair color, weight, or men.


I would love to have my hands painted with Henna. I just don't think work would like it and I need my job to afford nail polish. It is beautiful, though.

Insula Dulcamara

Insula Dulcamara by Paul Klee
"Color has taken possession of me; no longer do I have to chase after it, I know that it has hold of me forever. That is the significance of this blessed moment. Color and I are one. I am a painter."

The Jungle Book

Reasons to love The Jungle Book:
King Louie can dance and sing.
Kaa is a cool and crazy snake. Shere Khan is a tiger.
Bagheera is a happy panther.
Jason Scott Lee is the live action Mowgli and he is beautiful.
Yes, yes, and yes (and I know this is a still from Rapa Nui - doesn't matter) and yes.

Gary the Snail

Meow.

The Night They Invented Champagne

I want to live in the movie Gigi.

Hemp

MA: the ancient Chinese character for “hemp,”depicts a male and female plant under a roof; cannabis inside the house of human culture. A single species answering to two such different desires - the spiritual and material.

I have never smoked anything - legal or illegal. It is just not my thing. I have hallucinated and I think I may have tried magic mushrooms in Thailand - but I am not too sure of it as they didn't seem to have any effect.

That being said, I am fascinated by psychotropic plants. I love the idea that these simple organic creations are just growing in the dirt with the power to alter the mind and being of animals and humans. Plant power.

I picked up this book at the local library - The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan. The book is basically about how plants have used humans to propagate while at the same time affecting human culture. And, yes, I am geeky enough to find it funny that a guy who writes about plants has a last name that sounds like pollen.

The book is interesting in some chapters. I wouldn't read through the chapter on apples again as it was mostly a diatribe against the legend of Johnny Appleseed. The chapter on tulips was entertaining and worth a read, but what captivated me most of all was the chapter on marijuana. I still don't understand why it is illegal. I don't use it, but I don't see why others can't use it openly like alcohol or tobacco. There is a good blend of history, chemistry, biology, religion, and anthropology in the chapter on marijuana. A very interesting read and highly recommended.

RIP Miss Dixie

The woman could definitely deliver a line. She was a great actress and comedic talent. Designing Women would not have been the same without her. It is still one of my top ten favorite tv shows.

A Peabody and Geoff, too

You Know You're a Geek When...

You find the Man in Black and Jacob hot.

I am not crazy about these actors in anything else - but I love me some Jacob and Man in Black. Something about tropical islands, beaches, ruins, ancient history and the blurring of good and evil just does it for me.

Yummy geeky fun. I love Lost.

Let the sunshine
Let the sunshine in
The sunshine in

Spring, please hurry!

I live damn close the the 48th parallel, and I am so fucking sick of winter, it is not even funny anymore. Not even to my enemies (of which I seem to have a never ending supply...but enough on that.)

Spring must come soon or I will end up in the mental health ward and miss the first tulips.

As an offering to the Sun God, I present the Heat Miser. Please, please,please warm me up.