Dead Horse July 10, 2006
Posted by Mark in Layers.add a comment
I know I’m overdoing the whole Raymond Chandler thing, but I just can’t help myself. There is a method to this madness. (And I ain’t gonna explain it today!) I found another quote yesterday that I have to share.
“Room 332 was at the back of the building near the door to the fire escape. The corridor which led to it had a smell of old carpet and furniture oil and the drab anonymity of a thousand shabby lives”
The Little Sister – Raymond Chandler
New Look July 8, 2006
Posted by Mark in blogging.add a comment
Yep, the site has a new look. I’m not crazy about it, but its a start. More changes on the way.
Oh, missions July 6, 2006
Posted by Mark in blogging, Layers.add a comment
I’ve been busy. That’s good. I’ve been so un-busy the last few months, that I haven’t gotten anything done. I know that sentence doesn’t make sense, but for me it’s true. The less I have to do, the less I accomplish. “Too much time and not enough to do in it,” is how the phrase should read for me. I tend to procrastinate when I don’t have much to do.
The last few weeks have been a blur, but a lot’s happened and I have gotten a lot done.
- I’ve moved
- Helped someone else move
- Drastically reworked my resume
- Started working a on decent paying project (is decent the right word here?)
- Started catching up on films
- Learned two new computer programs
- Read a lot
- Written some
- I saw Don for the first time in six years
Not bad for a month, especially if you look at the preceding one. I’m not trying to brag or say it’s been a perfect four weeks, it’s just a start.
I feel bad about not posting anything of substance on this blog for a while now. As Steph said in When They Leave, “Can somebody else be me for a while? I need a break.” I’ll have to admit that I have felt that way for several months now.
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051220/NEWS02/512200397/1025/ARCHIVES
http://www.millermosterrobbins.com/visitations/View.php?id=78
After Judy died, I slumped into a dreadful despair. I felt like I had been drawn into some cruel cataract and no matter how hard I tried, I could neither find the surface nor air to breathe. (Of course my Ptown adventure didn’t help my mood much either.) I’ve tried to hide it from my friends, mostly they’ve said they don’t notice, but I think they’re just being nice. I have tried to remind others to be positive about their lives, hoping that advice will stick with me. I’ve really felt more like Polonius and have often feared that I will soon be found behind the curtain. I also figured if I didn’t write here I would give fewer clues to the curtain I was behind. To quote Steph again, “I feel like I’m lying by omission.” (sic)
So now I’m busy again and trying to catch up on my omissions. I hope I have enough time.
Marlowe July 6, 2006
Posted by Mark in blogging.add a comment
I just finished another Raymond Chandler novel, my third in six days. While its not 10 saltines in sixty seconds, it ain’t bad either. Maybe it will help me shake off this Big Sleep and start writing.
Quote June 5, 2006
Posted by Mark in Layers, Rant.1 comment so far
“Would you convey my compliments to the purist who reads your proofs and tell him or her that I write a sort of broken-down patois which is something like the way a Swiss waiter talks, and that when I split an infinitive, God damn it, I split it so it will stay split and when I interrupt the velvety smoothness of my more or less literate syntax with a few sudden words of bar-room vernacular, that is done with the eyes wide open and the mind relaxed and attentive. The method may not be perfect, but it is all I have.”
- - Raymond Chandler- From a letter to his editor regarding a proofreader who had changed Chandler’s split infinitives
TGIF May 26, 2006
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I'm in a rather bellicose mood today, so damn the torpedoes and…..
The River May 22, 2006
Posted by Mark in Layers, verse.add a comment
Cool gray limestone on a light Summer night,
Bare feet gliding along moss covered banks,
We shed our clothes below a Barley Moon,
And slowly slid into the dark green river.
Warm water slipped around your slender legs,
Quickly hiding your perfect nakedness,
It’s wetness, barely hiding yours.
You stood there resisting only the river’s flow,
As I entered where all was darkly new,
While the water washed away our imagined sin.
We laid our bodies upon some grass,
It’s greenness only muted by the night,
And the kind September air dried away the water,
Finishing our final flight from innocence.
Top Fives May 10, 2006
Posted by Mark in blogging.2 comments
You can blame Jeremiah or Steph for this posting. It was like an assignment and I need that right now. I'm too busy to think of something on my own.
Top Five Ways to Make Me Frown
- Break a promise
- Show up late
- Treat me like I’m stupid
- Be negative all of the time
- Act old
Top Five People Who Have Changed My Life
- Judy Caldwell Flanigan
- a/b Tim & John Fish
- Maxim Vorbiev
- Arthur Nicholls/Jeremiah Cohick
- Lewis “Sonny” French
Top Five Emotions I Have Felt
- Longing
- Humor
- Grief
- Worry
- Admiration
Top Five Ways to Be More Like Me
- Encourage others
- Have Passion (for anything)
- Be clumsy
- Try to be funny and make others laugh
- Cry easily
Top Five Things I Believe With All My Heart and Soul
- There are no absolutes
- There are no absolutes
- There are no absolutes
- There are no absolutes
- There are no absolutes
Top Five Things I Wish Would Just Disappear
- The Bush Family
- Nuclear Weapons
- Poverty
- Envy
- The Bush Family
Top Five Things That Scare Me
- George Bush
- Jeb Bush
- The Religious Right (Actually any extreme religious group Christian, Muslim, Jewish, etc.)
- Nuclear Weapons
- George Bush
Top Five Rules My Parents Enforced on Me
- Be Polite
- Be Honest
- Be Fair
- Be Clean
- Be Funny
Top Five Ways to Make Me Smile
- Tell me you like my kids
- Get my jokes
- Tell me you’ve never noticed how blue my eyes are
- Pour me another glass of Red Wine
- Quote from one of my favorite films
Great News May 9, 2006
Posted by Mark in Rant.add a comment
Bush's Job Approval In Historical Perspective
by Chris Bowers
Gallup has a terrible new poll for Bush: 31% approve, 65% disapprove. Since the main benefit of the Gallup poll are its trendlines stretching back more than sixty years, here are some facts about this poll in historical perspective:
• A net approval of -34 is worse than the low suffered by either Jimmy Carter (-31) or Bush's father (-31). Only Truman and Nixon ever fared worse.
• Since 1950, this is the lowest job approval for a President facing midterm elections by more than ten points.
• This is the first poll showing Bush's disapproval to be more than twice the size of his approval.
• This is the lowest approval rating for Bush in any public surveysince the start of his term.
• A disapproval of 65% ties for the second highest ever recorded.The highest ever recorded was just one point higher, 66%, for Richard Nixonin August of 1974, about one week before he resigned.
It is now reasonable to start talking about Bush in the 20's, and Bush breaking the all-time record for job disapproval.
Fuel May 9, 2006
Posted by Mark in Layers.add a comment
1 Eight ounce cup of Starbucks coffee = $2.70
1 Eight ounce cup of Regular unleaded gasoline = $0.19
