Photos In The Wild

So I was just informed by a website called schmap.com has included and credited one of my photos from Flickr.com on their Chicago guide. They informed me they were considering my photo about a month ago, and I just received an email confirming its inclusion. They even gave me this nifty little widget to include on my "website, blog or personal page": (My photo of the Liar's Club is #24 in the widget to the right). I'm feeling a little disappointed by it, though; mostly because, after buying an expensive digital SLR camera and spending the last 6 months teaching myself to use it with some minor proficiency, these people choose a photo of mine that was taken with my crappy little point and shoot — on "Automatic" setting — out the window of a moving car. I did have another photo get picked for some sort of web article about amusement parks or something, but I don't know what ever happened to that...

I Saw A Squirrel: "Psychology 101"

Photoshop Chopfest

So I have been known to dabble in a little Photoshopping now and again. Nothing serious, I know how to control it, but I do like to keep my chopping muscles in shape. Also, the wonderful woot.com has a casual chop contest every weekend, so I have a weekly supply of chopping themes.

Along those lines, it seems that a blog wherein I record the haphazard results of the garbled mess sloshing around in my brain is the perfect place to share these little distractions. Also, if you have any ideas on a given theme -- and by "you" I mean, of course, all zero (0) people who read/comment on this blog with any frequency -- then you can help me out! Hooray for communism!

This week's theme: "Branding Irony": Put a corporate logo on a natural or man-made wonder. And make it funny somehow.

The results:

Liberty Bell Atlantic Full size: 550x550.	Great Wal-Mart of China Full size: 400x300.
Little Caesar's Acropolis Full size: 450x390.	Taipei Jenga Tower Full size: 465x585.
Tut's Tupperware Tomb Full size: 475x355.	The Leaning Tower is in Good Hands Full size: 545x405.
St. Peter's Basilica Kisses Full size: 400x585.	Inappropriate Vatican Ads Full size: 385x585.
Giant, Green Liberty Full size: 495x585.	Apple Of Eden Full size: 585x300.
Creation of Man's Modesty Full size: 585x300.	Victoria Fall's Secret Full size: 450x340.
[Note: I'm aware that some of these images may be copyrighted, or based on work that was not originally my own. I've already had several images deleted from my hosting site without explanation. They have been rehosted elsewhere. While I did not get the artists' consent, (though I doubt Michaelangelo would mind), these images are being used for entertainment purposes ONLY. If you are an artist/photog who is offended that I made humorous chops of your work, please let me know and I will remove your image from my blog, hard drive, short-term memory, etc. Harumph.]

I Saw A Squirrel: "Higher Math"

Reflections On Flashing Lights

You may wear the gold, you may hold the
steel, you may drive through nights with
flashing lights and storm each castle you
come upon with strength and rage, the name
of the gods at your command, throwing aside
those who ask you your purpose.

You may raise your voices and issue forth
a black river of glinting power, taking each
shadow by the neck and forcing them out into
the cold, deaf to the protests, the panic,
confusion, and anger.

Do you not, through your armored masks, feel
the way you charge upstream, against the souls
you promise to protect? We raise our voice
as one into the starry sky and sing, and dance,
and drink the nectar that flows sweet from
our joy, and we keep each other warm.

And we would shine our smile on you, mingle
our colored lights with yours, and laugh with
the din of your sirens, if only you would loosen
your fists, uncloud your eyes, and see that you
and we are the same:

We are spirits of the earth. And yet still we
hammer down upon each other.

It is not enough to survive, to go on living
these lives with a boiling sense of privilege.
We must prove that we deserve them. We must
be grateful. We must be at peace.

I Saw A Squirrel: "5 P.M."

Life Update: 2/14/08

I have come to realize that this blog doesn't have really anything about my actual life on it. Cartoons, yes. Real life, no. So I'mma start trying to post little journal entries when I don't have anything else to post. (That is, when something interesting has happened. Most of the time, I'm a lethargic slug--not particularly news-worthy).

Off we go: Last night I had my first of what I hope will be many single-serve theater jobs in Philly. I found a post on the Theater Alliance of Philadelphia webserv for some guy named Todd looking for a light/sound board op for a two-night performance at the Shubin Theater on Bainbridge St. It was a series of one-act staged readings, and so promised to be simple. I called him up, he told me to show up early to go over the scripts, and that was that.

Well, nearly. Tuesday it snowed and sleeted and was generally gross, and after driving downtown -- which took almost 3 times longer than normal because of weather and traffic -- I got a call from Todd saying he was stillstuck in NJ, and was canceling the show that night. So I spent another 1 1/2 hours driving home. Tons of fun.

Fortunately the next night was clearer, and all went smoothly. The job proved easy enough, (mostly a "lights up, lights down" sort of thing), and Todd ended up paying me for both nights, which was very nice of him. I hung out afterwards with Todd and a few of the younger actor-types, (some students, some no-longer-students-because-we're-full-time-actors-now), and he gave me the leftover wine as a sort of tip. Which worked out fine for me.

So I earned some money last night, plus made a great contact, (Todd often does little shows in that space, and also is planning a Fringe Festival show, and he said I was good people and that he'd call me for the next show). Plus, I'm looking forward to a little PEX Heart/Burn action this weekend, so I'm feeling pretty good at the moment.

I'm sure next week I'll feel like a useless slug again. But for now, I'm good.

And hungry. Time to go raid the fridge. Tally-ho!

I Saw A Squirrel: "Adventure"

Smiles Filled with Laughter

I've always been intrigued by the etymologies of interesting words. I'm no Latin scholar -- the closest I've gotten is figuring out the basic "amo, amas, amat..." for the purposes of crossword puzzles -- but I do sometimes enjoy dissecting words to find out how they were formed. As a quick example, take the word "awful". In daily speech, this word implies that something is bad or distasteful. But if you look at it literally, the word breaks down into two halves: "awe" + "ful". Nothing in the word itself connotes badness; instead, it should produce awe. Things that are "awful" should fill you with amazement and wonder, not disdain.

En Español, the word for smile is sonrisa. A mi me gusta cuando estás sonriendo -- "I love it when you are smiling." This is, of course, a misnomer -- most English-speaking people would see the word "sunrise" practically leaping out at them. That is, however, a beautiful thought: that one might confuse a smile with a sunrise, or vice versa.

What make this even more interesting to me is, again, the two halves of the word. If you break this noun in half you have "son" + "risa". Son, when taken as a noun, means "sound". Risa, interestingly, means "laughter". Laughter sound. But isn't laughter already a sound? It seems backwards to me. Shouldn't the word for "laughter" be smile sound? Wouldn't that make more logical sense? I also thought that, perhaps, son was originally sin, meaning "without". But that makes it "without laughter," which may technically be true of a smile, though it implies to me that you're probably not full of glee, which would minimize the appearance of said smile, as well.

Anyway, I'm happily perplexed. What do you think? I'd love to hear responses of any kind: Your thoughts on the sonrisa puzzle; other misnomers or poetically constructed words in English or any other language; or any other words with etymologies que causa una sonrisa.

Evening Gown

They danced,
her blue hair sweeping past the windows,
his mind tied up with the footwork,
a hand balanced on her bare back,
fingers, absorbing satin skin,
perched on the delicate, polished
pearls of her spine.

Each minute
held tightly their hands,
tied with careful concentration
and bashful smiles. The sand
spilled and whirled beneath their feet,

While music,
softened with ebbing foam,
floated warm and soft
through cracks in the evening,
guided by the north winds
and the heron's wings.

The lights
splashed and rippled in their eyes,
a mirror of the skyline
keeping watch across the bay,
each fluorescent window humming
in tune with the whispering reeds
and the low, soothing voice of a cello
played beneath a growing moon.

I Saw A Squirrel: "R.H.P.S."

Brain Power

A thought:

The body is a machine. Complicated, organic and fragile, yes; but a machine.

Every bone is a piece of a frame which gives the body shape. Every muscle is a plaster which defines that shape. Every inch of skin provides protection, like the wax on an expensive car.

The body has mechanical systems, tendons pulling at muscles pulling at fingers, providing motion in every limb and digit. The body has chemical systems, veins and arteries pulling oxygen from the lungs, the heart pumping it around to each cell. The body has plumbing systems, separating waste from fuel and disposing of it efficiently.

And the body has electrical systems, each nerve sending and receiving pulses of energy to and from the brain. Every spec of light we see, every grain of sand we touch, each sound and taste and smell are translations of electrical impulses provided by our bodies' sensory equipment.

And the brain, like the motherboard of a supercomputer, analyzes these impulses, computes an appropriate response, and gives the order. We flinch away when we feel the heat of the stove top on our hands; we salivate when we smell the brownies baking within. We react because we are programmed to react. Those with bad programming do not survive.

What, then, is music? Why do we feel overwhelming calm when we hear DeBussy's "Claire de Lune", feel sadness at a Chopin nocturne, or feel alive with Carl Orff's "O Fortuna"? Normally, the sound of cannon fire would make one alert or fearful; why, then, do we feel powerful during the "1812 Overture"?

But more importantly: from where, then, does music come? Where, among each electrical impulse telling him that the light was dim, the room cold, or the wine deep and rich, did Beethoven find his "Moonlight Sonata"? From where did Liszt or Bach create their many works? From what experience did the child Mozart, age 8, find the inspiration for his first symphony?

Where, for that matter, do we find poetry? Where do we find cartoons, or flower arrangements, or knock-knock jokes, or philosophy, or fine Italian cuisine? These are not reactions, but creations, works of conscious thought generated spontaneously by a piece of electronic hardware.

In all the complex precision of our brains, in all the meticulous engineering that controls each system with perfection, where do we find the mind? Where does it come from? Why is it so unique to every individual?

And why can't it be controlled?

I Saw A Squirrel: "Tuna Salad"

I Saw A Squirrel: "Look Both Ways"

"Yes We Can"

I still get the emails from MoveOn.org and a large number of their affiliates. When they first began, I was very interested by their primary goal -- to defeat Bush. I walked in step with their progressive beliefs and motivations.

I feel like their methods and goals have shifted over the years, and after all the turmoil with the somewhat disrespectful attack ads they recently sponsored, I've sort of stopped paying attention to them. These days, they're mostly asking for money to run commercials or to pay for major campaign pushes, and quite frankly I'm not going give what little money I have if that's what it will be promoting.

But I do still check out what they have to say -- better to have to much information than too little, right? -- and they recently began to publicly support Barack Obama in the 2008 Presidential campaign. And the latest MoveOn.org email was simply a link to a YouTube video called "Yes We Can - Barack Obama music video".

Now, I don't care who you vote for in the primaries, or in the upcoming presidential elections. I haven't made up my own mind yet, and I'm doing my best to process the information I've been taking in recently. But I do agree with the message of this video. It shows an energy that has been remarkably absent lately. It replaces the overwhelming sense of despair and resignation towards the current administration's disregard of the people with a sense of enthusiasm and hope. Which is, I think, what we need right about now.

Check out the video on YouTube.

I Saw A Squirrel: "In Times Of Crisis"

Compass

I drift through days
idling in gear
wondering what made the
space this way, who closed
all the blinds
and spread this smoke that
plays with each blade of light.

One cannot look in every
direction at once.
His needle swings wildly
searching,
infinite paths in a glass
in my outstretched fingers.

I sail a globe
in a wink; I see
stages and prison cells,
coffee shops, and her
fingers running up my spine
gently massaging each
nook like a warm shiver.

I smell dust that rises
from drawings
etched into stone, each
telling of conquests
that rise and fall, (as she
is breathing), and great tables
of great kings rise,
and great minds piece
a world together,
and bards sing stories
while birds sit by
and listen.

I find a wealth
of worlds, worlds of
wealth, power,
hands tight around ropes
that lift skies into their moment.
Each sun blazes in my
arms, and I see their faces
lifting, tumbling
upside-down, eyes closed,
smiling.

And I open mine
to find
that my toes haven't yet strayed
across the pale green carpet.

I Saw A Squirrel: "The Box, I"