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Wednesday, November 4th, 2009
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11:26 pm - Halloween: Bits of a Party
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| Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
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9:46 pm - Toothsome
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| Friday, September 11th, 2009
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11:58 am - Humanity
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| Wednesday, September 9th, 2009
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9:09 am - Well, lookie there.
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| Friday, September 4th, 2009
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11:56 pm - Living Up To My Name
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I didn't mean to desert you, really. I just have been... well, wandering. It's kind of ironic: A couple of great article series were going or had just started, and I'd received invitations to blog with some people whose work I really, seriously respect. Just at that moment, I sort of ran out of gas. Couldn't bring myself to organize thoughts or photos into anything worth screen space.
So off I went, to take care of things away from blogland. There's really no shortage of other projects, and clearly there was something wrong with what I was doing. Or I was just really burnt. Dunno. Either way, it was time to step away.
Tuning back in, what do I find? First of all, it looks like a lot of people I know have also been taking breaks, announced or otherwise. Looking more broadly, it seems that stuff is more or less like before, only more so. For example, politics has always been daft, but now perfectly rational people are jumping off the deep end. The dumbest, most flatly illogical ideas are flying around as basic assumptions, and people are building extravagant palaces of indignant rhetoric on these clouds - which cannot support them. Hard to imagine why I turned away.
On the other hand, some really great resources have come to my attention, featuring flights of wonder, real inventiveness, wonderful whimsy, and beautiful imagination. A lot of the commentary I might make is being made by others, better written than I could and with a much larger audience. There's not much for me to add, and I don't want to be yet another place that just points to cool things elsewhere. I like those, but there are plenty of them already.
This isn't all to say that I'll be back to regular writing soon - not here, anyway. Most of my work has been the sort of thing that merits mention online once done, but really hasn't much to show in the mean time. I'll try, though. There are some things to be said and shown. We'll see.
Thanks for hanging around, in any case. I've missed you, even if the absence was entirely my own doing.
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, September 1st, 2009
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10:18 am - Fire Map
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| Friday, July 24th, 2009
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8:12 pm - This Week's Favorite Accidental Wit
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You probably know by now that I think of irony as the apex of humor. Also that I love playing with language in any number of ways. So it won't be any big surprise that I find it hilarious when people inadvertently mangle expressions and end up with even more inadvertent genius. It's like some bizarre form of double entendre! Dimwittery gone brilliant! How much fun is that?
The winning phrase for this week:
punch-drunk with power
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(comment on this)
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| Monday, July 20th, 2009
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9:43 pm - Pointless Oddysey?
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Though I haven't time to properly explain right now, I have come to a realization that I should probably tell you about. (Don't ask why; I'm not certain yet, myself.)
I've been comfortably and blithely ignoring James Joyce for many years now, fairly secure in his lack of relevance as compared to the required effort. His writing is obscure and difficult, yes, and famously, and intentionally. Much of it looks random, but its tortuous internal logic was very intentional, Joyce famously noting, about Finnegan's Wake, that "I can justify every line of my book." Not that he did, mind you. And what is the reward for the effort put in to unravel the multilingual puns and unlikely allusions? Not a clue. Not a clue. Other works, usually less deliberately painful, have given me a lot of pleasure over the years, and one way or another it works out. (e e cummings I especially love.) But what of Joyce? His loyal readers seem mostly to enjoy the difficulty itself, and as a fan of puzzles I can generally understand this - but the end of such a consuming mystery had better be something more interesting than, "It was a normal day, generally," or, "eat your oatmeal." I do not have much hope that anything more profound exists beneath the erudite mire of Ulysses or the Gordian constructions of Finnegan's Wake, or that the confusing styles add up to something otherwise ineffable or too hard to convey. They may, of course. But I doubt it.
But now... In an addled way akin to just-awakened grogginess or fairly heavy drunkenness, I have noticed that I need to actually pick up one of James' works, probably Ulysses as a workable starting point, and explore his styles. There's no time or mental bandwidth available for it right now, and the very thought gives me an urge to sob slightly. Plus, I'm not hugely confident that I can manage the thing, or that it won't be a colossal waste of effort. But there it is, and I see its usefulness vaguely looming up in the future.
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(4 comments | comment on this)
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| Friday, July 10th, 2009
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11:09 pm - Faire: Grand Singout
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Ah, the Grand Singout! When my band invites various other bands to a final show just outside the main gate. It's the last day of faire, and each group takes turns singing a song (with others joining in at will), and we finish with The Union Song, which is sort of faire's unofficial anthem. Sportive Tricks, The Poxy Boggards, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Dread Crew of Oddwood, and more, all in one big, bizarre, happy melange. Patrons we've just met and friends who've seen almost every show gather and sing along. It feels good. You know?
( Come to the show, one last time. )
Thanks for joining us. It was a great season. And thanks for coming with me on my wanderings through faire.
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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| Thursday, July 9th, 2009
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10:58 pm - Faire: Privateers At Lunch
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Last year, as you may know, I was part of Raleigh's Privateers, a lunatic group of street improv performers. This year I was there as part of a band, and therefore not officially part of any guild. Nonetheless, I performed the day dressed in my sailor's outfit (a comfortable option, let me tell you) and hung out with the crew when I could. Most days I went to the food court during lunch time and played and sang under the trees, and once the Privateers arrived to take their luncheon I made music for them... for which they gave me food! Most excellent!
( Let's eat! )
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(comment on this)
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| Wednesday, July 8th, 2009
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10:52 pm - Faire: Wandering
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Let's just wander the faire, shall we? Friends, details, people in the crowd... I could tell you a little something about each place and person, but for now I think I'll just enjoy the sights.
( Come stroll with me. )
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(comment on this)
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12:34 pm - Curious Times
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The time is now 12:34 and 56 seconds on 7/8/9.
Only occurrence this century. I have the odd feeling I should throw a party or something.
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(comment on this)
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| Tuesday, July 7th, 2009
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10:48 pm - Faire: What in the world?
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| Monday, July 6th, 2009
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11:30 pm - Faire: Leaving Well Enough
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Nothing like saying, "I could do more of this" to make people say, "Hey, you should do more of that!" So without further ado, here's more of the lovely lasses at the washing well, at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire in Irwindale, California.
( Dive in! )
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(comment on this)
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9:23 pm - Uh, oh.
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Combine this
with this
and what do you get?
Trouble, that's what.
I'm just saying.
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(comment on this)
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| Friday, July 3rd, 2009
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3:58 pm - The Nutcracker
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I love AFV. I'm sure the medical benefits alone from regular laughing are pretty noteworthy. And consider the educational value! So I figured I'd make a tribute to the one thing they're known best for. The music is an extended edit of The Russian Dance from Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker.
Seemed appropriate.
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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| Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
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6:41 pm - Faire: The Well
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Where shall we visit next? How about the well? It and its denizens are so easily and pleasantly photographed that I had trouble holding this post's images to a mere dozen. I could make another entry almost as large, without sacrificing quality. The Well: it does a camera good.
( get wet )
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(comment on this)
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| Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
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10:34 pm - Faire: St. Ives
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Another place always ripe for photography at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire is the Guild of St. Ives, home to the artisans and crafters who love to educate and entertain while portraying middle class life in Elizabethan England.
( Visit )
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(6 comments | comment on this)
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| Monday, June 29th, 2009
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9:15 pm - Faire: St. Cuthbert's
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Time to wander the faire again. This stop is at the Guild of St. Cuthbert's. They take care of the parades, but their area is filled with crafts and suchlike, which you can learn about and try for yourself.
( Explore )
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(comment on this)
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9:04 pm - Things I Need
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