Hell's Half Acre

not cress, not fresh

How is it possible to make bad Terriyaki? I don't understand. Making terriyaki chicken is like making french toast.  It is almost impossible to fuck up.

Apparently the "chefs" at the place we ordered lunch from do not understand this simple cuisine. They probably make great souffle or something overly complicated.

There are three foods which are almost impossible to fuck up.

1.) Chicken Terriyaki
2.) The aforementioned French Toast
3.) Another culinary delight from France, Le French Dip.

I feel like I may need to eat a second lunch in order to remove the taste of "Burnt Up Chicken in Flavorless Sauce" from my palate.   

angery man say dangity dang

he go to the park to hangity hang. . .

what i saw that day

 

   

a cube with a view

denial of the agent phrase

you ever make a decision that has the potential to be an incredible recipe for disaster but you stick with it because if it does not turn into disaster then it will be the best decision ever?

here's the thing. . . I believe in my decision. And whatever comes from it is what will come. I am hoping for the best and I will work my ass off trying to make sure that I get the best outcome possible. The odds are not overwhelming. 

Underneath the cynicism that I wear like a hair shirt, I have an enduring optimism that no problem is unsolvable. Where that comes from, I am unsure but is probably the reason why I suceed as  a technical problem solver.  I KNOW that perserverance and tenacity can carry you a long way toward a fix for most things.

And strangely enough, even at 41, I still have an undying belief that I can do anything and that there are still many roads full of possibilities and opportunities. Again, I really don't know where this misguided optimism came from. I know it is not genetic. I did not inherit it. I am glad it's there. It is nice to be able to hope.

I just wish the doubts would take a vacation.

PS denial of the agent is when you have a sentence where an action takes place but the agent performing the action is extracted. A great example is the phrase "Mistakes were made." By whom? Someone had to make them but the agent, and its responsibility have been denied. Ronald Reagan's speechwriters like to use this construction.  I am vehemently opposed to denying the agent. I am responsible and accountable for my own future and fate. (jeezus I sound like Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2.) 

i dream of fleeing

to this utopia. One time on this road, I was so overcome by the beauty of the place I had to scream. I'm sure other drivers on the road thought I was insane.

you rang?

yes. oh. hello. How are you? Haven't seen you in awhile. What's new with me? Not much. I've been channeling Anne Frank lately and I'm holed up with some kind people who have put their lives on the line so that I can live here in ____________ undetected by those who might want to see me extinguished. Who are those, you ask?

I don't know who they are but I know they're out there.

Once upon a time when I was in grade school back in the NW quadrant, my favorite game to play was "dodge the government spook." We didn't really call it that but S and I, when we were bored, would make up the game that we were being followed by the feds, due to . . . I'm not sure why the feds would follow a couple of 12 year olds. Maybe we had secrets. Maybe we were super geniuses. Maybe the feds wanted to adopt us. I am not really sure why they wanted to get us but we spent a lot of time trying to looking nonchalant and ducking quickly around corners. The game was basically a more sophisticated version of Star Wars, in which we were chased by Stormtroopers and would have to play it cool in the corridors of the death star and duck quickly around corners. 

Just finished a book on David Lynch titled Lynch on Lynch.  The last three chaps I kind of skimmed, but the first part of the book was fascinating. The book is a part of a series of books by filmmakers, in which the filmmaker is interviewed about their body of work.  I love his description of his childhood and how he became interested in art and his early ideas. Hestarted as a painter and moved into filmmaking and his descriptions about his creative process and what he thinks about art and how he gets to ideas were to me, revelations. He comes across as such a simple yet complex guy. . .it is very hard to describe the persona that came through in the book. I wish I could say more about this but to describe it would kill the idea (ha ha I am actually channeling him right now.)  You will have to read it and interpret it for yourself.

unfinished biz

slugz realizes there is much unfinished bizness hanging about. Slugz needs to work with one of those people who practice feng shui of the soul. Maybe not that lady that wrote that book over there but SOMEONE. Someone might be able to help me get my shiz organized. Like budgets, time, the pain arena, writing.

Beige is wearing slugz down but not all of slugz's weariness can be blamed on the beige ones. Slugz needs to set time aside to do the things that slugz likes, like finishing a certain screenplay rewrite. How hard could that be when the notes are already there. Maybe Slugz and Optimus can go hang out in a Starfreaks and pretend they are writers together while trying to jack wi-fi. Slugz has a book idea that Slugz needs to jot ideas for before slugz forgets entirely. Slugz has a side project website that was supposed to have commenced in July that has yet to be started. (that project is not as important to slugz but it would bring in some bonus casheesh which is never a bad thing.)

At least slugz made it to class last night whereslugz got to watch the beginning of one of Slugz'z all time favorite movies, Raising Arizona. sigh. What a great way to illustrate tone. hearts.

sluggo

Hi. This is me. Slugz.

Slugz is tired. Slugz has no energy. Slugz would have slept for another 24 hours if slugz could've gotten away with it. Slugz bailed on double secret hebrew class because slugz couldn't muster the energy. Slugz wants to bail on screenwriting class tonight because slugz has a meeting tomorrow at 7:30am.  People from beige call slugz at home looking for help. Slugz is buying a semi-automatic weapon whose poison death darts will travel over the ether and attack via email. Slugz will only attack those who violate slugz's sleep.

Slugz is postponing the trip to europe until spring when slugz  have more energy. Slugz will make the trip a longer trip instead of all this whirlwind dash dashery that has been happening this past year. Slugz needs things to slow down and be mellow for a little bit. Slugz is glad that beige finally hired a new person. Let the training commence! Slugz promises not to swear too much or be late in front of the new beiger. 

genius comes in many forms

please, if you only do one thing today, that one thing should be to watch Don Hertzfeld's cartoon, Rejected.