Christopher Nolan Statement -- Speaks About Tragic Shooting

This is the gift of a great writer. His words hit the note about this tragedy.

Christopher Nolan Statement -- Speaks About Tragic Shooting

I wish I could say more. I will say this, people, and that is…don’t watch the news right now. Really. Don’t. I accidentally left the news on after Judge Judy. I was vacuuming, getting ready for some visitors and, well, there you have it. I had the captions on. So I couldn’t escape the headlines of this awful event. Then I thought, what the heck?

This is the lead on the five pm news? That makes no sense. So I watched a bit more and realized they had no new information. So, basically, they were riding on the fact that no one knew that this had happened? That’s malarkey. 

Unless they were weird.

Now I took my older brother to the premiere of Batman in 1989, yes, at midnight. The first man I ever kissed was after Batman Returns in 1992! I could have been at that midnight showing. 

So its hitting me harder than some. Now it is easy for me to walk away from the news. It’s an Election Year. And if the news doesn’t irk me, then the mudslinging commercials do.   And let’s not forget, media news is a business. A corporation. And, despite what Mitt Romney wants you to think-it isn’t a person. It’s a machine that is created around playing commercials so you’ll buy stuff. I watch the news, when I do, to see the weather. That’s about it. Oh, and what BradJelina are doing. But beyond that? Squat.

Here’s a clip, I think, that really does understand this sad assault on the public:

I don’t dare post this on FB. Too many of my family and friends, greatly affected by the proximity of this tragedy, would flip out on me. And they should. It is a tragedy and they should be mad. But, I think with my moving to Florida, I have a bit more physical and emotional “space” to see the spin this event is going to create. It’s vulgar. My family and friends don’t need to have this horrid things relive, like some kind of Frankenstein’s Monster, so that a new pair of crocs can be run on the screen again.

As to what will happen to this man? I cannot imagine. If we let him live, we cannot satisfy our anger. If we kill him, then to what will we have learned? He killed, we kill—so that makes us the same as him, not above him.

I will admit, along with a gay version of Lolita I shelved due to the subject matter just being too risque that I was not comfortable with it—I also had a text and outline about a mass murderer not unlike Nathan Dunlap and Columbine Killers. Again, I was, heck, I still am, too entrenched to write those works or pick them up again. Maybe I should? I don’t know. I’ve always wanted to understand how someone could do such things and then put their gun down afterwards and just simply be arrested, yet never truly explain why he does what he does.

Maybe. One day. Please, let’s be safe out there.

Peace,

Roo

The Walking Dead Season 3 Comic-Con Trailer - YouTube

Now, this is what I’m talking about…

Just remember, these things can get a bit violent.

I wrote a zombie novel myself, so this show holds a special place in my heart.

The fact is, horror is a terrific way to explore allegory. With or without the emphasis on the “gory.” It’s an opportunity to see the world and to try to symbolize it into more direct terms. Science fiction and fantasy also have that option.

One thing I have noticed (gee, I’m learning a lot lately. What’s the cliché? Something about an old dog turning new tricks???), between the husOtter and myself, my fiction preferences tends towards the realistic. I love to read highly dramatic literature, weather its true crime, thrillers, horror or nonfiction.  My Better Half? He goes for the World Building stuff, Orson Scott Card; Mission to Mars, Lord of the Rings. In the end, it is the story that counts and we switch sometimes, but says something about our character, I believe.

Lastly, it should be duly noted, I hate television. I watch movies on television; I will watch The Price Is Right or Judge Judy when time allows. I will watch the Daily News and the Colbert Report if I need news, but I will not play into the corporate machine that is reporting. I’ll listen to NPR for that. And, as such, I don’t DVR anything. I don’t like a computer deciding what I find entertaining, I should come to the table hungry and know what I need, and if I don’t, there’s no reason an unloving computer should decide that.

I will sometimes watch the morning news for weather and emergencies. For every rule, there is an exception.

But this show? I’ll watch. I’ll sit down, bowl of popcorn, corgi in my lap and really pay attention. Like they did in the forties with radio shows. I won’t even answer the phone. Not even if its Ma. And her house is on fire.

Peace,
Roo

Living the Writer’s Life

     Since coming to Florida, I’ve found a new flowering of life I never knew I could experience. For the first time ever, I found that the escape to the virtual worlds of Disney, once a fleeting, every other year thing, and it has put much in my life in perspective. Basically, that if my problems are so big that I can ride though (fake) space in a mountain, how, truly, big are my problems? If I can pretend, for just a moment that I really am in a Krustyland Carnival, then, why, oh why, am I dwelling on the aggravations of the week?
     My problems still exist, but I can put them into a much smaller box than ever before. I can’t talk for my husOtter, but for myself, this has been a boon. A true boon. Because, for the first time, ever, I feel like I’m living the kinda of life I’m meant to lead. My problems are greatly reduced for the first time ever. 
     Oh. Wait. Lemme rephrase that.
     I still suffer the usual pain and aggravations of my job. I still have the same stresses. I still feel the same burdens that make me want to eat forty pounds of ice cream when I get home from work.
     But I can clear my mind, even briefly, for the first time; I’d like to think, in twenty years.
     And it means I can start living. That means doing the things I need to be to become a better individual.
Now, I’ve always known I was a writer. Fuck the publishing bit, but really, I like to write. And I don’t mean just the occasional journal. I mean, like, make up stories and try them out. Because of that, many a summer, I’d try to pen shit.
     With really bad results. During the school year? Forget it. I would put aside two hours on Sunday to writing and I would end up doing planning. Now? I put aside two hours on Sunday to do planning and, at the end of it, I’m done. No more staying till 8pm on a school night at the school. Now, I come home and go to the gym. 
     And, well, write.
     This article is really born out of two events and I’ve been making notes over two years about some of the things I’m about to say. One thing is for sure, I’ve been able to participate in National Novel Writing Month for the first time in many years this November past. It was truly a joy to finally get a novel squeezed out. The novel, well, we’ll talk here in a moment, was actually a very educational experience, regardless of the results.
      Then there is this summer. For the first time ever, I treated myself to the fact that this is a job, this writing stuff. That’s why you see so many posts on my blog. I’m trying to communicate more. But, also, everyday I’m trying to pen a tale or two, for two pages. And, finally, I’m trying to do something creative that wasn’t the same as the day before. That means writing on one big story arc for a novel.
      The experience has been very, very telling. I am, truly, living the Writer’s Life. And because of that, I’ve discovered a few things in my ramblings. Here are some observations that I think are vital to notice:

1. WRITING CLEARS MY HEAD AND MY SOUL…When you are creative daily, and I thinks this goes for anyone who has an outlet, be it painting, gardening or writing; you free-up space in your brain. When I’m not writing daily, my head fills up with nonsense. Schedules elbow their way in; stuff I want to write about hits me while heading to work. If I am not writing, I am not totally in the moment. Put it another way, when I am writing, it becomes quite meditative. I’m able to control my brain just a bit more. Getting the stuff out on paper means that I can’t dwell on it at work or when I’m with friends. That means, well, I’m more in the moment than ever before.
2. THERE’S SOMETHING EERIE ABOUT INVENTING ‘PEOPLE’….Story creating is very, very weird. It is like reliving memories for other people. I know these characters I’m creating are not real. But the more I review them and discuss them to myself and on paper, they start to become an experience with a person I have never ever met. It’s a bit disconcerting. I caught myself saying to my husband, “well, so-and-so would never do that.” We had been discussing a plot point in my more recent novel and, when I heard myself say that, I was like…whoa…how would I know that? These people, these characters aren’t real. But, yet, I see their entire arc of life, like a child I never had. It’s a very alarming.
3. YOU CANNOT STEP AWAY FROM THE TRAIN WRECK, NOT EVEN FOR A DAY…These characters have a reason to live and I can’t let them go. Now that I’m focusing on characters, I need to write about them every day or gaps develop. See, I read some texts from authors about their writing lives. Several of them communicate something I’ve never done before when story-creating. They talk about writing strong background analyses of every major character. I tend to agree, character is story. By creating strong and full characters, the novel basically is writing itself. I’m already seeing a pattern in three characters that link them together and are shifting the tale I was hoping to create. When I take a day off, I lose that thread.
4. I HAVE TO KEEP READING, LIKE SOME KIND OF DRUG ADDICT…Reading feeds writing; but it is not an expression of art. Many people love to read; I know for myself that I always try to balance the two. Reading gives me examples of what I enjoy and don’t like about a given text. I have to keep reading, but reading fills my head back up with ideas that need to get back out on paper. I have to keep this in mind.
5. ON A MORE PERSONAL NOTE, I’M REALIZING I MIGHT BE BETTER SUITED FOR SCREENPLAYS…I’ve written about ten children’s plays, all without thank you, at my previous job and, well, no one noticed. Now, jump to me reviewing my most latest novel, and I notice a trend. I am really good at driving a plot. Think of it like an action movie, scene to scene, there’s an economy of the story arc that keeps things moving to a conclusion. However, I’ve noticed the characters are flat and really, they’re there to keep things moving from exciting set piece to the next. Perhaps it is born out of those plays I wrote where story is key to dramatics. Movies tend to be like this. Novels? The best ones, I’ve discovered, are about character. Will I change formats? Not really, no. I’m learning on improving my novel writing.
6. I NEED ASS-GLUE…There’s something to be said about just sitting and writing. I procrastinate like crazy. Like crazy. But, all I need to do is sit and, well, write. So when I sit, I will author. Now there is an axiom to this. I have to write that first paragraph. Once that first paragraph has been started, I’m on a roll. But it is,truly, a matter of just sitting down and getting the writing started.
7. THERE’S ALWAYS ROOM FOR WARMING-UP…I’m sure, if you’re reading this, you know of the advice given to many writers is to write, and then, delete that first paragraph. You have to warm up before your focus hits. I’ve noticed another way to focus my writing. My writing greatly improves when I write one-two pages prior to doing what I want to work on. For example, I start with some kind of writing exercise-something mundane, like, “Think of Worst Monday,” try it into something fictional for two pages. Throw care to the wind. And there you go, I’m ready to write.

But the fact is, most of all, is that I’m writing. I had wanted to write the Great American Novel for some time now. I’m hoping we’re getting closer. On another note, people in Florida are very, very different about writing. When I lived in Colorado, I would tell my contemporaries (teachers, folks) and was looked at like I was a fool. There was never any interest. I had two friends, outside of work, would occasionally look at my work. But in work? Nothing.

I came down here, and even my boss asks, “how is the writing going?”

This is encouraging.

Peace,

Roo

More Retailers Are Courting Gay Customers - WSJ.com

Here ya go…its even mentioned in the WSJ…

More Retailers Are Courting Gay Customers - WSJ.com

Peace,

Roo

Here’s some companies…

You should use your money at!

http://i.imgur.com/1E7bB.jpg

You Would Never Believe Which Anti Gay Corporations You've Been Supporting With Your Money

I was torn where to post this….but then I realized, well, it should go where I have the most traffic…

You Would Never Believe Which Anti Gay Corporations You've Been Supporting With Your Money

What’s humorous is that I have refused to go to many of these companies, regardless.

1.  Chikfila? I’ve hated their food and now, moreso.

2.  Exxon? Easy to avoid.

3.  Avoid those bell ringers at Salvation Army. I knew, back in the early nineties when they would refuse to help people suffering from AIDS, regardless of orientation. Boom. Off my list.

4.  Urban Outfitters only has clothes for thin people anyways.

5.  I’ve hated WalMart for other reasons. They’re the reason so many are on welfare and the need for insurance reform. They refuse to pay decent wages. They refuse unions, to the point where they’ll close a store where there is one and open another up the street and not hire those people. We went there once in 2011, due to the fact it was 2am and the dog was sick and I had no other place to go.  It was awful, just awful. I wanted to stab myself in the eyes with rusty kitchenware.

6.  A-1 storage? Never heard of them. Now I won’t go to them.

 

Peace,

Roo

25 Greatest Unscripted Scenes in Films - YouTube

 

Keep the captions on…this is pretty cool.

I am fully aware I’ve not gone ahead and written a review yet for Magic Mike, but I stumbled across this tasty morsel of filmdom. Between theater and film, there’s very little crossover. You can improv on stage. In fact, it’s a skill that you might wish to have set away. Movies, in contrast, are massively scripted, to make sure every dollar appears on the screen. So these little snippets are moments outside the lines, a glimpse of the professionalism and ability of the assorted performers-and the filmmakers who left these items in the finished product.

Enjoy.

Peace,

Roo

Louisiana Republican: When I Voted for State Funds to go to Religious Schools, I Didn’t Mean Muslim Ones

Oh, where do I begin…

Louisiana Republican: When I Voted for State Funds to go to Religious Schools, I Didn’t Mean Muslim Ones

For those who know me, you know that education is one of my passions and how I detest the school voucher system. Seemingly for forever, Christians have wanted the funds from public schools to follow them into their private schools, using the money to pay for their churches. Churches that don’t pay taxes. Basically, getting the funding they want for free, under the guise of “vouchers.”

SInce the schools can’t be monitored, those schools can pick and choose who they hire (you’re black? Too bad. Asian Buddhist? Sorry, no) and which students they allow in the doors (we’re not wheelchair accessible! Sorry!). 

And now we have proof. Since schools are all or nothing situations, meaning everyone in America gets a free education, even Islamic children have the right to go to a school of their faith and family’s choosing. And, well, we have our evidence with this article.

This also goes to show you how well those in government are truly educated. This young lady probably also went to a private, Christian academy. It was such a good school, she didn’t have the forethought to imagine what the ramifications were for her vote. What a loss.

Please, people, think before voting…

Peace,

Roo

Wildfire Tests Police Force in Colorado Anti-Tax Movement’s Home - Bloomberg

 

Wildfire Tests Police Force in Colorado Anti-Tax Movement’s Home - Bloomberg

Having lived in this hellhole of a town (I keep thinking it is time to blog why I left, so that its out there and people know what they did…) this makes sense. I remember that historic vote. How, sponsored by churches and GOP stalwarts, they cut the budgets of police forces and, well, firefighters.

And when I saw the news and heard the phone calls, I knew this would come up. Would things be different with more firefighters available?

You bet your ass it would have been different.

So now? The Naked City that doesn’t want to spend money or depend on the government will have to turn around and ask for Federal assistance. They already have to call out the National Guard. Get a fucking clue, people.

Sorry. Bitter. They hurt me.

Peace,
Roo

Anderson Cooper: "The Fact Is, I'm Gay." - The Dish | By Andrew Sullivan - The Daily Beast

 

Anderson Cooper: "The Fact Is, I'm Gay." - The Dish | By Andrew Sullivan - The Daily Beast

Here I was, writing about Tom Cruise, and this happens. I’m am very, very glad that Mr. Cooper has come out, frankly, but I understand and can respect his hesitancy. I just finished the EW article they talked about and how the whole process of coming out has changed. But, at the same time, is it truly necessary?

It shouldn’t be.

Where I’m torn is that kids need role models. They really do. And people in the public eye can do a world of good, if, in some way, let teens today know, well, basically, “it gets better.” 

I can respect Anderson. He kept quiet because he could be hanged in Saudi Arabia. The mere fact that he continues to talk to Kathy Griffin is evidence of his queer-ness besides.

I am working on a novel and, one day, would love to have a bestseller. And I think about my partner of 12 years and what that kind attention would do to him. He is a massively private man (yet strangely, can make friends every twenty feet…blindfolded) and doesn’t deserve to be thrusted out into the public like that. We joke about me once thinking about becoming a pastor. He would have to be, like the First Lady, the Pastor’s Wife. There are many unwritten but totally expected aspirations of that role. Things that were not mentioned within the wedding vows.

So, good for your Anderson. Now? Go back to being the man we get our news from. God, he looks like my college roommate. And I crushed on him too.

Peace,

Roo