b to the o to the r - e - d

I can eat an entire bag of tortilla chips in about two sittings, usually sitting in front of YouTube or staring blankly at my Blog.

Today I jogged/walked a good couple of miles to the top of a very tall hill overlooking some massive landscape and it was stupendous.

I wonder why things appear smaller when they are far away and bigger when they are closer? Is there scientific evidence for why that is?

I am super excited to move back to LA after this last Disney spot. I had a killer time interviewing actors and fooling around at another television studio. Most fun stuff in the world, I promise you.

Tomb Raider for the PC was one of my favorite computer games as a kid. That game is AWESOME. Remember the creepy creaks and groans that you hear somewhere in the caverns as you're meticulously walking and leaping around? And the total fear that shakes your heart when being chased by a pack of wolves or diving from a 200-ft tall ledge.

Deadwood is my new favorite show. I've watched several episodes, and I love the styles and writing. It's very gritty, and maybe a little supernatural in its events (chances are there were whores and whisky and gold-running rivers and dead injun's and smallpox at the time, but still it's a TV show and therefore at least once-removed from reality) the acting is pretty good too. I dig it.

I went back for a second haircut today (my first being Monday) and still am not totally satisfied. Typ.

Nostalgia continues to dumbfound me. Why is it that I feel a certain way about epic 80's music and someone else of my same size and stature doesn't? Nostalgia. Because they didn't "associate" good memories with that music in the same ways that I did. Nostalgia creates us as individuals but actually builds barriers by creating differences of experience for people. Will we ever be equals? the same? in total agreement and finally peaceful? Nope, thanks to Nostalgia (i.e. loyalties, loves, honor, etc).

About two months ago I was looking at a People Magazine's rendition of "Celebrity Transformations". The one that totally caught my eye was Michael Jackson's changed. They have a line-up of photos from over the years, showing his smiling face as he'd manipulate and carve away at himself. He went from a beautiful young black boy to a sickly cloth-covered pulled-skinned white man with shocking black facial hair. And today he died. I'm not sure what to make of Michael J, except to respect that he really did try to be himself. I just don't think he ever figured out which Himself he ever was.

Chacos are pretty comfortable sandals, I imagine even moreso once the straps are worn in. give em time Mikie.

Traveling is an interesting thing. I have refused to actually travel all this time because I've been waiting for an opportunity to Travel to Do Something, and not just travel for fun. I'm not sure I really believe in traveling just for fun. I remember having a long conversation with Stan once about being a Tourist, and how I think tourists are misusing their time in some way. Well the other day, I think I finally figured it all out (of course): Hobbies should not stand alone, they should be linked - both to themselves and to the goals in life as a whole. For example, I went jogging today to get more fit and gain some sunlight so that I will appear healthier and more pleasing when I serve at my job, work on the river or look for acting work. Of course, it also feels very good to do too - but that's the secret Pleasure that people abuse so frequently and never fully experience: the pleasure that comes from living with purpose, whether it be taking photographs in the mountains, working at a coffee shop, getting a haircut, reading a book, taking a swim, even relaxing. Life is so much more full when things like these are done with a greater goal in mind, a greater Good that you're constantly thinking ahead to and towards. Like in college, when everything you did somehow affected you getting your degree, whether positive or negative. And we all know the difference between the positive effects and the negative ones. This is probably why people cling to dogmatic religions - we're all living our own religions, and the greater the end-goals the more powerfully we will live our lives. It's all a matter of coming up with some incredible goal for yourself to achieve (including a reason to achieve it) and going for it. Everything else you do will fall into place in some way.
When I watch these producers and directors, I'm reminded of the men that I used to see running the church. These people are the priests and apothecaries of modern day technology and science. They're the shamans of the modern world, conducting the order of things and preaching it to the masses. And the actors are like little Messiah's, worshipped and treated like Kings and Princesses. It's crazy to watch and intensely powerful. Not too different from the religious and political leaders of out past, actually.

Alright that's enough. Seeya later

Mikie