The Mind's I



Perspective...

Something that I saw in the news today struck me as kind of interesting.

Governor Jesse Ventura is upset over a book that Garrison Keillor wrote, a political satire about the election of a wrestler into office.

We put our lives out on the web for people to read it and explore it. How would you feel if someone took your writings and experiences and did the same? Would you feel betrayed? Amused? Flattered?

Since I personally love Garrison Keillor's material, I would gently knock the governor in the head and remind him that since he's taken public office, political satires and other commentary are now part of his job. It comes with the territory. I'm not sure how I would react to someone doing it to me, or another journaller I know well. I know I would be a hypocrite if I don't apply the same set of attitudes I have in the Ventura-Keillor conflict as others... but there is a part of me that might be hurt quite a bit.

I don't know how I will feel/react... and I won't know unless this happens to me.

What do you think?





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February 8, 1999
The Pre-Game Show

Oops!  Flash!
I think that I haven't been buying enough books recently. I've had a strong desire to visit bookstores, particularly that cute Japanese one. Kinokuyina, I think. All throughout work today, while working through test scripts, I kept thinking about getting off work and buying books. So, when I got off, I walked to the bookstore.

The walk is a lot longer than I expected, probably since the last time I walked it, I was with Mike and we would chat. Talking always makes the walk shorter. I was tempted to go into the Japanese sweets store next door to the bookstore, but I resisted the urge. I should finish the candies I have before I eat any more.

When I got to the bookstore, I made a beeline to the design books. There were a number of clipart books that featured Japanese design that I wanted to grab for inspiration. I ended up purchasing two books. I hope to start using them this weekend for inspiration. My head has been toying around with basic imagery (the curve of a leaf here, the position of an element there), but nothing solid.. so I'm hoping that the images in the books will help me focusmy creativity. I also purchased a book on 3D cards. This is where you cut card paper in a certain method so that when you fold the card, it will give you a design. Some of the geometric shapes were so fascinating that I chose it over an origami book that I was thinking of getting. Since I didn't get the origami book, I didn't buy some origami paper. I spent a long time on the second level of the store looking through all of the Japanese paper. The Japanese really know how to work with paper and make it absolutely beautiful. I should use their designs for inspiration.

It was getting late, so I took a taxi to Port Authority. When I was there, I passed by the Book Corner, a small bookstore on the way to the bus station. There I saw it. Stephen King's newest book Storm of the Century. There was no thought to my action. The next thing I knew, I was walking out of the Book Corner with a newly purchased copy.

When I opened the book, I was surprised. It wasn't a novel, it was a screenplay! I was disappointed. I would have to wait for the novel to come out. I really didn't have anything else I wanted to read (I didn't want to tax my brain on the ride home with thinking about graphics), so I decided to start plowing through Storm of the Century. It has the typical King prologue, so I started with that...

What a pregame show!

Mr. King is in great form. I laughed out loud several times reading his introduction. It was funny and fascinating. It was interesting to hear about the inspiration behind his books and this particular screenplay (which I incorrectly assumed was just the screenplay of the TV movie and not the format that King wrote in.. boy was I wrong about that!). It was inspired from when he walked over a bridge in the woods while thinking of the Three Billy Goats Gruff. The Green Mile and Storm of the Century came to him as an image. In The Green Mile, the image was of a kindly black man in a jail cell that had Christ-like powers. In Storm of the Century, the image was of a man also in a jail cell but this man was evil. Oo. Titilating.

King then started talking about the difficulties of writing for network television and dealing with all the requirements necessary of what can and can't be shown. A single bed in a master bed room! Never! Always show a double bed. He also talks about his method of getting to his audience. Terrify them. If you can't terrify them, horrify them. If you can't horrify them, gross them out. He is not proud!

I am about 50 pages into the book... and it's amazing. I wasn't really ready to read a screenplay, but the pre-game show was just too delightful that I had to read on.

---

Great question on Scribe Tribe today:

"Healing is the most natural thing in the world. When we embrace life, we are healed."
--Richard Moss, M.D., author of "The I That Is We"

What have you embraced lately, which has healed you?

Wow, very general and open question.

It depends upon which facet of my life you're talking about.

Religiously, I recently (less than a year ago) embraced Wicca and it has definitely given me the ability to really self-examine and self-improve. It focuses my energies and allows me to be believe far more in self-determination than I have in the past.

Keeping an online journal, I noticed that it has improved my writing and my creativity. That portion of my life has been deficit for a long time and devoting time and energy into it has definitely healed me. Having readers and being aware of them has helped me shape my voice. Embracing their presence has definitely improved me.

Speaking more recently, I didn't feel very well on Sunday morning. Insomnia stuck and struck ruthlessly. I didn' get to bed until 5 in the morning and I awoke, groggy and disoriented at around 10. I walked downstairs and crawled into the bed downstairs where my partner sleeps. I quietly expressed my discomfort to him and he tucked me into bed, wrapping his oh-so-gentle arms around me. I hugged him back and fell into one of the most relaxing slumbers I've had in a long time. Very healing, the exchange of love and affection between two people.

© Copyright 1999, Eileene Coscolluela
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