Film secret: The two main things to focus on, that most filmmakers overlook but could make or break cinematography: light and sound.

There was video on youtube that I saw today that proved a point about advertising, but it somehow didn't get to me. I thought of Lettuce instead of Carrots. Apparently I am insane.

There once were two cats from Kilkenny,
Each thought there was one cat too many,
So they fought and they fit,
And they scratched and they bit,
Till, excepting their nails
And the tips of their tails,
Instead of two cats, there weren't any.

Today in Play Analysis, while I was supposed to be on duty as a good Professor's assistant, I started going over in my head some scenes for my neo-absurd-surreal-dadaist play "Roulette", and I concocted a scene where the Obligatory Hostage wakes up somewhere in Act One (also titled "The Muses Are Pissed") and the main character freaks out because he wanted the hostage's ultimate demise to be a both painless complete shock, grabs a bottle of ether and one of those spooky looking ether masks, and both the muse and the main character fight over the ether and end up straddling the hostage's blindfolded and immobilized body playing tug of war with the ether bottle. Then smelling samples of essential oils led to the joke "hey, does this smell like chloroform to you?" and a finalizing in my mind of how I want the entire scene, dialogue and all, to play out.

I achieved supreme distinction of awesomeness carpentry-wise. I made two four-foot sections out of an eight-foot, one-quarter-inch board of wood today, and not only did I make the dimensions perfect, I was able to slice off a perfect sixteenth of an inch cross- section of the wood. It's beautifully proportionately perfect, and makes a smooth rectangle, no splinters

Backstory: Today in shop, there was a song on a mix cd we were playing that had an emo cover of "Total Eclipse of the Heart", originally recorded by Bonnie Tyler. Basically the only difference in the song was a male singer, nifty guitar riffs, and the word "fucking" interspersed in the lyrics. The entire situation made me laugh so hard because this song and I have an interesting personal history. When I was in elementary school, years before I joined the ranks of the teal-shirted dancing warriors of drug-free living, the High School PRIDE team used to do the sappiest piece of performance art to this song, with a guy and a girl (which I realize now the guy's part was usually played by none other than Jason Hunt, which adds another dimension to the synchronicity of this song and is a story for another time) who would dance in a circle, silently stage fight with exaggerated movements, and then the girl would move to the back of the stage where there were other PRIDE members who would have poster board placecards around their necks that would have printed on it the name of a drug, or tobacco, or alcohol. The girl would turn each person around to face her, hug them, until she got to the end of the line, where they would converge on her slowly like a heard of zombies, and then encircle her in a turtle-speed rhythmic game of ring-around-the-rosie. The guy would see this happening, and try to break through the bonds of the human representations of drugs and alcohol, to no avail. Only when the girl sees the err of her wicked, wicked ways are they able to break free and start that sappy dance again until the music fades out.

So, I did something stupid today, and then made up for it with something ironically helpful. While building a platform today in shop, there was one last screw that wouldn't budge, and a screwgun with a weak battery. I had the platform on its side, and I
was working with the screwgun to get that last screw in, but it slipped,
and smashed my finger into a half-inserted screwhead with the screwgun behind it and lots of
force. My right index fingernail is split from the bottom at an angle. I consider myself a fairly tough individual, and I almost fainted from the pain and all the blood. *This is the part of the story where Noah, saphead that he is, said "Ouch! That's terrible".* Half an hour later (and somewhere in that time I found the missing sound board that I hid from myself and then forgot about and was approached by an angry technical director), though, I was doing ballet and reaching my hands over my head and everything had stopped hurting from the endorphins. Yay endorphins!

The phrase "all things considered" is a very loaded phrase indeed and always has a backstory accompanying it, whether the person who uses it thinks so or not.

I'm still debating whether divulging things about my personal life to my assistant is wise conversational material for an evening rehearsal. But either way, that's part of the untrusting issue I'm trying to work through, and if it comes back to bite me in the ass, then my ass is bitten.

I have the almost musicboxlike sounds of one of our soundtrack songs for "Voices" stuck in my head. It's very appropriate for the quietly serene feeling this evening has.

Something to remember: soda has lots of sugar. Sugar has lots of calories. Drinking soda like water is somewhat detrimental to your health.

Eclectic Topics

Who You Were
What year were you born?: The Year of Orwell, or 1984
Who was the first friend you had that is still in your life?: Amanda
What toy/item were you most attached to as a child?: Small stuffed dog named fuffy.
Who taught you to ride a 2-wheeled bike?: My dad.
What was one science project you did in grade school/junior high?: I made a clay representation of a saber-toothed tiger in its natural habitat.
How many people graduated in your eighth grade class?: We didn't have eighth grade graduations, we had sixth grade, and I think it was thirty-five or so.
Were you friends with more guys or girls in high school?: I was mostly a loner, but I connected with guys well.
Which year in high school was your favorite?: Sophomore year.
What was your first car?: A bike.
What was your biggest fear about the future when you graduated?: Giving up and becoming a journalist after all.
Who You Are
How old are you now?: 24.
What do you like about being the age that you are?: I'm still young enough to enjoy myself, but old enough that people are starting to take me seriously.
Who is the person you see most on a daily basis?: Probably Ian, or the Lisha/Kim/Ayaka/Dallas/Keshia combination.
Who do you WISH you could see more often?: To tell you that would be to give up one of my favorite secrets...
Are you a cat person or a dog person?: Dogs. I don't understand cats at all.
What vehicle do you drive now?: None.
Do you like your first name?: Sure. There are too many people in my life that share that name, but it suits me.
Is there an outfit that you have that you really like?: My black radio station t-shirt. I wear it like armor.
What, if anything, do you like to collect?: Not too much on the collecting anymore. I used to collect stamps and rocks, though.
What are a couple of your talents?: I can write fairly well, and I can build things.
Do you enjoy Indian food?: Yes.
Who You'd Like To Be
What first name would you choose if you had to change it?: Something decidedly European that no one could pronounce.
Money no object, where would you like to go on vacation?: Another Galaxy entirely.
Given all options, where would you choose to live?: India.
If there was one gift you could buy for your best friend, what would it be?: Film equipment and a team of vigilante assassins.
What store would you choose for a shopping spree?: Either a book store of an art-supply store.
What character trait would you wish to improve?: Procrastination.
Would you want to live to be 100 years old?: Only if I could still do awesome things and travel in my old age.
Where do you want to be in 10 years?: Not here. Definitely not here.
Is that really what you want?: Um.. yes. I would have to say so.
The Most Important Thing
If you could say only one thing to the world, what would it be?: Learn to think for yourselves.
What future event do you most look forward to?: Graduation.
Who are you, really?: You don't want to know...

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Today nothing is better than a plum, some watercolor paints, and a bollywood film, sappy though it may be.

I had to tell the story of when I got really badly hurt by a fencing sword. Is that the most interesting story I have to tell? Geez...

No matter how advanced computers are getting, just remember that you are the one who can push the power button. You are the master of technological fate!

I took a five hour nap after finding out that the library wouldn't be open for another hour, and completely slept through sound call. Good thing Ian is also irresponsible, or else I would feel really bad right now. I still can't quite figure that kid out. A bunch of us were also going to watch the second half of "Rosencrantz and Guilenstern are Dead", but nobody really wanted to. Today was just the day for everyone to just simply not get shit done.

And now I realize that I have just ended two above sentences with a preposition, and the last with an adverb. At least I think it's an adverb...

I'm such a perfectionist when it comes to art that I actually charted out the chronological order of the plot for "Hallowed", and went all the way back to before the beginning of time, and did two pages of the eons and ages of backstory before the actual backstory. Um... the hell?

It costs lots of money to be certified as a palm reader, I found out today by accident. And then for the rest of your career you have it made, looking at people's hands and telling them what they want to hear.

Random rhetorical question: If an artichoke has a heart, does it cry when it's sad?

For future reference, two websites to remember: http://www.embracingmystery.org/, http://www.spiritsofnativelight.org/

The knight skateboarded high above the steamy, overgrown jungle.
Which magician made fun of the fearless district attorney?
The massive, avaricious rock star competed with a magician inches from your bedroom closet.
The scary paleontologist snored noisily to a lightning storm.
Which ballerina laughed at the politician?
The genie hid from the evil-eyed princess on top of outer space.
Without further fanfare, the wrestler screamed in fright.
Unfortunately, the conductor skateboarded.
The jolly, wise judge helped the happy stool pigeon through the secret door.
Mr. Squirrel played with the invisible, unfair bug?
The nervous clown lumbered to a ghost town in the Old West.
The sagacious, baby-faced coach fainted to the bottom of the swamp.
The creepy professor fainted at the edge of the abandoned castle in Transylvania.
The biologist wrestled wildly behind the edge of a cliff.
What hid from the creepy, persnickety hairdresser?
The knight leaped across from a dungeon.
Which spider played with the moronic, absent-minded witch?!?
In a coal mine rolled the cranky, noted author.
At the edge of a dungeon cried the enormous, mean biologist.
The glib, swollen-faced conductor hopped within arm’s reach of outer space.
Which mountain climber laughed at the shrill, laughing computer programmer?
The calm cab driver played with the queen at a dark and mysterious cave.
The jury competed with the newborn, cranky ballerina in a tall, tall tree swaying in the wind.
Behind a toy store with the electricity off rolled the newspaper reporter.
The beautiful, quiet rock star made toys down a hot dry desert, with the sun blistering down.
The persistent, invisible professor hiked close to the abandoned summer camp lodge.
Far away from a quiet mountain stream skipped the aging, happy turtle.
Nevertheless, the upset, weary archaeologist moved quickly.
Without further fanfare, the loathsome, massive designer fell in love.
The hairdresser fainted on a nuclear reactor.
The sagacious sorcerer heard the animals talking near the quicksand pit.
The avaricious, quiet rabbit made a treehouse deep within a toy store with the electricity off.
Nevertheless, the rock star twisted slowly.
The energetic anteater played a prank on the detective just before the secret door.
Through a time tunnel crawled the forgetful, menacing professor!
Sometimes, the scared, silly computer programmer lifted the angry jazz musician.

You will be asked four questions and you must rely on your common sense to answer them correctly.

According to Andersen consulting worldwide, around 90% of the professionals they tested got all of the questions wrong. But many pre-school children got several correct answers. Andersen consulting says this conclusively disproves the theory that most professionals have the brains of a four year old.

Q1. How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator?
Correct Answer Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe and close the door.

*This question tests whether you tend to do simple things in an overly complicated way.

Q2. How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?
Wrong Answer: Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant and close the refrigerator.
Correct Answer: Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door.

*This tests your ability to think through the repercussions of your actions.
 

Q3. The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. All the animals attend, except one. Which animal does not attend?

Correct Answer: The elephant, since it is still in the refrigerator.

*This tests your memory.

[*Even if you did not answer the first three questions correctly, you still have one more chance to show your abilities.]

Q4. There is a river you must cross, but it is inhabited by crocodiles. How do you manage it?
 
Correct Answer: You swim across. All of the crocodiles are attending the meeting!

*This tests whether you learn quickly from your mistakes.