elkit in wonderland

And Let Me Set The Battlements On Fire (9/52)

I've been on an F. Paul Wilson reading kick. I'm several books into the "Repairman Jack" series, and am now branching out into the related "Adversary Cycle", starting with The Keep. This story is set in World War II in Southeast Europe, where a German army contingent sets up shop in an old castle, and then something starts killing people ... I like Wilson's writing, and find his characters believable, even when - hell, especially when they come up against supernatural events that they don't believe in. Good fun, easy read, but not dumb.

Tu, yo, y la luna (9/2008)

Saw La misma luna (Under the same Moon), a sweet film about a Mexican woman who lives in L.A. as an illegal immigrant, and her son in Mexico, who decides he can't wait any longer to join his mom, and makes his way across the border to find her. Los Tigres del Norte add music. The movie is a bit cutesy, but in a nice way. Like I said, sweet.

I Live To Fall Asleep

  Dramatic sky and poppies 
  Originally uploaded by Steel Steve

Poppies In July

Little poppies, little hell flames,
Do you do no harm?

You flicker. I cannot touch you.
I put my hands among the flames. Nothing burns

And it exhausts me to watch you
Flickering like that, wrinkly and clear red, like the skin of a mouth.

A mouth just bloodied.
Little bloody skirts!

There are fumes I cannot touch.
Where are your opiates, your nauseous capsules?

If I could bleed, or sleep!
If my mouth could marry a hurt like that!

Or your liquors seep to me, in this glass capsule,
Dulling and stilling.

But colorless. Colorless.

........... Sylvia Plath

I Was Bruised And Battered, I Couldn't Tell What I Felt, I Was Unrecognizable To Myself

Oh, wait! Isn't it time for the Unconscious Mutterings? Yes, I thought so:

• Silence :: is golden, but my eyes still see
• Wall :: just another brick in it
• Killed :: friendly fire
  
• Wishful :: thunk
• Poodle :: Pink
• Sullen :: girl, Fiona Apple
• Do not disturb :: no maid service, thank you
  
• Philadelphia :: a Springsteen song I never get tired of
  
• Anticipation :: no, no, it's Antici ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... PATION!!!
  
• Sidewalk :: rolled up at 9:30pm
  

Even Your Emotions Have An Echo In So Much Space

Monday Music for you: Gnarls Barkley's catchy "Crazy", live at the 2006 MTV Music Awards, with storm troopers, Darth Vader, and Chewbacca on drums.

Video Killed The Radio Star

So a couple of weeks ago, Flickr announces that you can now upload videos - short stuff, up to 90 seconds. Hey, I think, that's great, they're adding more cool stuff. I can't wait to see what people will do with this. And then I was completely surprised when, just a day or two later, someone invited me to a Flickr group protesting this new feature. Huh? What could be wrong with this? Apparently, there are lots of people who don't want video on Flickr. But ... if you don't want video on Flickr, you don't have to use it. And Flickr makes it really easy to see which uploads are videos (they show a little triangular "play" arrow), so you can just ignore everybody's videos. I get that you may have no use for this feature, but I don't get the part where you want to forbid it to everybody just because it's not *your* thing.

Randomcuriosity says:

I like the concept of a video being "a long photo" or "a photo that moves".

I agree with him wholeheartedly. And today, one of my favorite flickr artists* uploaded her first "long photo". Check it out!

* I take pictures, she produces art. It's a world of difference, and I'm just glad I get to swim in the kiddie part of the same pool.

This Is How I Pray In The Summertime

The first summer weekend is here - yes, I know it's only mid-April, but if I can trust the weather widget, the temperature got up to 87 degrees yesterday. It was hottish even in Santa Cruz, where I'd gone to get my hair cut. It was great to get off Highway 17, up the hill and down the hill and up another hill among the redwoods to see my friend/hairdresser Kelly. Listening to Campbell Scott narrate "The Shining" by Stephen King, that was just perfect for the shady drive among the redwoods. Once in Santa Cruz, however, with the sunshine and the fresh salty seaweedy breeze, the snows of Colorado and the monsters in the Overlook Hotel were such an odd juxtaposition that I took the CD out and switched to Italian pop music.

Do The Pony!

My coworker Andy and I go to the gym together, and I talked him into joining the "Core Strength" class, where we do lots of crunches and plank positions and other fine midriff torture measures. We just compared abs, and agreed that we're both a long ways from a six-pack: we're in the pony keg category.

Gimme What You Got

The more I watch it, the funnier it gets.

[Found this on The Lost Diary.]

Might As Well Jump

Never finished my Unconscious Mutterings yesterday - here they are now:

• Nutritious :: and tasty
  
• Graduate :: The future is plastics.
  
• Tonight! :: we take the palace (grrrreat song!!!)
  
• Located :: somewhere around here
  
• Weapon :: firearm
• Jumper :: that film? doesn't look all that convincing to me
  
• Collectibles :: baseball cards
  
• Dennis :: the Menace
  
• Hostile :: enemy fire
  
• Vivid :: in technicolor