Month: August 2004

All-Nighter

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Looks like I’ll be up all night so not to miss my plans for Sunday. If you’re up with me, take a look at some new photos I’ve put online. First there’s a set from a Yankees game at the end of July (with Barb and Melodie. Next, take a look at Darren’s birthday party that took place earlier this evening. The night consisted of barbecue, sundaes, poker, and then a viewing of the Noises Off! DVD that I made from a tape of our high school senior year play.

Back to School

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The other night, I went back to the school I was teaching earlier this year. They had their first marching band performance for their parents. There were more people in the stands for this little performance than there are for some entire marching band competitions. Anyway, they were pretty good considering they had just finished learning the show. It was great to see these kids again. A large number of them seemed to be happy to see me, too… they wanted me to come back.

Tonight I caught the movie Hero. It’s a movie about the formation of China, but in a Kurosawa sort of style. It was amazing. Beautiful. Some scenes were even more beautiful than Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which is the only thing I can compare it to even though the comparison isn’t that great.

Unfortunately most of the people in the theater weren’t prepared for an artistic film… they probably saw Quentin Tarantino’s name (who had nothing to do with the movie) in the preview and expected something a little more gory. Any artistic, intimate, or emotional scene was met with uncomfortable laughter by most of the audience. Ah well. I was really quite moved by the ending, but I get that way with movies.

Most of the images were just stunning, and the use of color—not just the color-themed personal POV in the story-telling aspect, but the general use of color throughout the film—was perfect. There were even a few cliche quick-zooms for effect. And the music? Excellent. Itzhak Perlman and the Japanese KODO Drum Ensemble, even. I will have the soundtrack. (The reviewers over at Amazon don’t seem to know the difference between a cello and a violin…) Oh yes, it will be mine.

Dangers of Volunteering

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Did you volunteer to work in New York City for the Republican National Convention? If you did, you probably received an email cotaining the name, Social Security number, race and other personal information belonging to hundreds of other volunteers. Oops! So much for security.

You know, I think the Republicans are loving the fact they’re having their convention in one of the most liberal cities in the country. It’s about incitement. When there are anti-Bush rallies—riots, even—they can easily make the Democrats look like a bunch of crazies. And if you’re one for believing conspiracy theories, which I am to an extent, don’t be surprised if the craziest activits are actually working for the Bush side, trying to make the Democrats look bad. I wouldn’t put that type of underhanded scheme past anyone involved in politics (Democrat or Republican or Whatever).

The Day is Mine

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Well, technically the day was Darren‘s since it was his birthday. He posted a picture of me from sixth grade or so, and I felt it was only fair I do the same. Although he claimed it was in response to something I did, what I did wasn’t nearly as public.

I hope he had a great birthday—I heard a rumor there was some sort of dinner involved. Click on the picture for some instant gratification, for lack of a better term.

I Slept

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I slept wonderfully last night. I was just happy to sleep, wonderfully or not. On On Sunday night, I decided that my sleep pattern had gotten so far off of normal, I had to stay awake all night. So I did.

Having no sleep, I was exhausted almost the entire day on Monday. I managed to stay awake and functional the entire day, but when it was time for bed, I slept.

I slept so well and had a good deal of mentally-refreshing REM sleep. I remember having at least two dreams. I dreamed I was in the past — 1994 or so — with a girl who was presumably a girlfriend. It was a pretty vivid dream. When I say I was in the past, it wasn’t a dream about my 1994 self, it was my 2004 self who was somehow in 1994. I did have my cell phone with me, and it couldn’t find a digital signal, only analog. This part of the dream was very specific. I could see the phone in my hand and it looked correct, even down to the icon used for the detection of an analog signal.

I remembered at least one other dream, but now it has gone from me. I think I’ll keep a notebook by my bed so I can write them down.

I need to continue going to sleep early. I tend to need a “sleep correction” every week or so. I just don’t tired at night as much or as early as I should.

Who Needs Sleep? Me…

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Can’t sleep. Can’t sleep. Can’t sleep. Can’t sleep. Can’t sleep. Can’t sleep. Can’t sleep. Can’t sleep. Can’t sleep. Can’t sleep. Can’t sleep. Can’t sleep. It’s amazing how when you type the same words over and over, first they become just patterns of letters, and then they become patterns of finger movements. First they lose their semantic meaning, then they lose all meaning… they are not even letters anymore. Just muscle memory. Can’t sleep. Can’t sleep. Can’t sleep. Can’t sleep. Can’t sleep. Can’t sleep. Can’t sleep. Can’t sleep. Can’t sleep. Can’t sleep. Can’t sleep. Can’t sleep. Maybe I need another vacation or trip or voyage of some sort. Maybe I need to fall in love. Maybe I need new surroundings. Maybe I need something new to be passionate about.