Butterfly Wings

A butterfly landed on my chest this morning, after I'd dropped off the boys. Butterflies love me! It's the second time one's done it in a week. The first time, it was at the playground -- one of B1's friends said "Mister, there's a butterfly on you!" and he caught it, and (fortunately) let it go. I could see B1 trying to come up with some logical explanation for why they like me!

I should keep a tally of butterfly landings. It's nearly always Orange Lacewings, like the one above. They like me. Maybe because I'm sweet? Bahah! Or salty? (since I sweat pretty readily) Not sure. I used to blame it on shirts I wore with flowers on'em, or colors, but today's shirt is a white golf shirt with lateral navy blue stripes on it. I wanted to snap a shot of the butterfly before it fled, but wasn't quick enough.

Posty McPostington

I'm aiding and abetting the Net's war on attention spans by writing short little posts instead of my usual lengthy ones. I came up with a good ending to the second screenplay I'm working on (I shelved the first one because I don't think it was quite scary enough for the festival I'm sending this to), and I started another one last weekend (hence the high word count, trying to get it done in time -- it's due by next Friday). Anyway, I was on the bus, jotting notes, trying to think of an ending, and then it just clicked for me. I don't even know what inspired it, but I was really pleased with it. It's a far stronger piece than my original effort (I like the original, but it's more of a SF thriller than a horror story, whereas this new one is more psychological horror, and I think it'll work better -- although I'm sure I won't win the festival, because I know my luck).

Bizarrely, just yesterday, I saw the surname of one of the characters on the side of a charter bus! I'd only come up with the surname a couple of days before, and I was just sitting on the bus, daydreaming, and I saw the name roll by the bus windows (with a wave motif, which was even more perfect), and I was momentarily astounded by that. Like the Cosmos having a bit of fun with me.

Snakes Alive!

I saw a nice, healthy garter snake in my work neighborhood the other day. I think that was the first time I've ever seen a snake in the city (I'm sure they were probably here, but I've just never seen one before). It was great -- easily two feet long, maybe two (of my) fingers thick, slithering across the sidewalk and into a garden. I loved seeing that. Some Latinas were approaching with a stroller, and I announced the snake, like "Wow, a garter snake!" because I didn't want them to run over it with their stroller (they didn't see it until I mentioned it). It was way cool. I just loved how healthy it was. The street that it was on is perfect for it, because it has gardens all around it, not too much traffic, and there's a wild area on the side of the Metra tracks, too, that provides a kind of mini-sanctuary for it. Go, snake!

Happy 40th!

Man, did you notice that I have stubbed my toes 40 times since March 10? Christ. I am a chronic toe-stubber. In honor of the 40th (which happened just a few moments ago), I'll mention it briefly -- I was walking from the computer room into the living room, and I completely nailed my left foot, third toe, against B2's little bike with training wheels (while I'd sidestepped the bike itself, the black training wheels evaded scrutiny). Total punt. Lordy! I really need titanium house slippers, or at least steel-toed ones. Simple math...

Big Feet + Small Apartment = Stubbed Toes.

Funnies

I am amused by these...

Nietzsche Family Circus

And, of course...

Garfield Minus Garfield

Hamburger

This clip makes me laugh...

Andy Warhol Eats a Hamburger

I should've filmed myself eating that KFC Double Down the other day!

Butterflies

I had the boys at the playground yesterday (their usual one, the closest one where so many of their peers play), and B1 ran into his Best Girl (a lot of girls really like B1, because he's very sweet and earnest and cute, but Best Girl loves him most of all, is always writing him valentines and what-not). Anyway, she saw him and called him over to the swing with her, and she said "How do you like my new sundress, [B1]?" and he swung on his own swing beside her (they were swinging in tandem) and he said "It looks like it might attract butterflies." -- he said it in the most earnest way possible. It was so adorable. She ate that up with a spoon! They then played a bunch of Tag, Hide-N-Seek, and some intense Rock, Paper, Scissors.

The funny thing for me was the last time we were at the playground, a butterfly landed on me (which they do sometimes, go figure), and I told B1 that sometimes if I wore certain-colored shirts, butterflies seemed to land on them. So, I imagine B1 just processed that and delivered that picture-perfect line without it even being a line* -- he just logically deduced that her lavender, pink, and baby blue sundress was colorful enough to attract butterflies, and told her so. Super-cute!

*Disclaimer: Lest the Gender Police haul me in, I don't endorse or believe in delivering lines, but in that sense of saying just the right thing at the right moment, B1 completely had it, ergo me terming it as a "line" in this context.

LOST and Found

Judging from what I read about the LOST finale, I'm so glad I stopped watching it after the first 1.5 seasons -- I felt the cop-outtery of it back then, the sense of the writers making it up as they went along and yanking the viewers. Plus, in a situation like the setup, it seemed pretty clear that everybody was dead and didn't know it, yet, right? Anyway, I'm sure a lot of people will be peeved at the ending, which couldn't help but dissatisfy, since the show depending on spackling mystery atop enigma atop intrigue atop paradox -- all to keep the advertising dollars rolling in as people waded through it. I lost LOST long ago and don't feel any sense of loss for it, either.

I wonder what effect it'll have on television programming in the future, if any? It's the kind of gag a television writer can only really get away with once, without it being too derivative. In a weird way, the land where anything can happen is almost the same as the land where nothing happens. Part of what makes the uncanny great is when it happens in a setting where you know something totally shouldn't be happening, where it can't be happening -- the "super" in the supernatural.

Had to laugh with GAWKER on this (since it's a complaint I've made a few times)...

We learned nothing from two-and-a-half hours of slow-motion bullshittery backed with a syrupy soundtrack.

So, the show made its money, did its job. On to the next distraction, whatever that may be! Maybe a television show about a television show, and the actors and writers who make it?!

Speaking of that, "So You Think You Can Dance?" starts this week! My favorite "reality" show! Apparently they're bringing back winning dancers from the previous seasons to pair up with the contestants this year (I think that's the case, anyway), so that should be fun. Love seeing dancers get their proper due on a prime-time show. Go, dancers!

Whew

Over 9000 words written this weekend, trying to wrap up the screenplay. I still think the story's trending more toward Action/Suspense/Thriller than out-and-out Horror, but what can I do? It'll be what it'll be. Still have a little over a week to iron it all out.

Soccerday

Yesterday was a beautiful day, weatherwise. Well, it was foggy late into the morning, but the temperatures were nice, and it became sunny and was gorgeous and mild. Very nice.

Exene stayed behind with B2 (both of them are sick -- Exene more so, with some kind of tonsillitis thing going on; B2 just has a bit of bronchitis), while I took B1 to his soccer game. His team lost (1-2), which is a rarity for his team. He was fine with it -- he doesn't care. Afterwards, there was a tailgating party hosted by one of the parents, but B1 wasn't interested in that, was more interested in walking on the rocks on the lakeshore, so we did that. It was fun to explore that with him -- I could tell he really enjoyed that. I tried to teach him how to skip stones, and we watched schools of fish. A soccer girl his age hung around in the distance, watching us. She was this quiet tomboy, hopping back and forth on the stones above and behind us, but she was fascinated by our activities on the shore, our talking and stone-skipping, judging from her reaction. I don't think B1 even saw her. Then a group of boys ran up to B1 and said "Hey, I know that guy" to B1 (he didn't know who the other boys were, but those kids all went to his school), and then the tomboy disappeared, while the boys got into adventures on the rocks. If she hadn't been wearing a soccer uniform, I'd have thought she was a ghost! I don't think the AYSO supports ghosts, however.

After that, I took B1 to McD's for a bit to eat, and then we took the bus home. I took a lot of photographs. I'm glad the city hasn't replaced all the massive stones on the lakeshore (like it did further south). The stones are wonderful, they really make the shore fun.

Going home, I watched the original "The Vanishing" -- a quietly creepy European (Dutch, I think) flick that might qualify as a horror movie, but in a very real-world kind of way, nothing supernatural.

I wrote over 4000 words yesterday, working on the screenplay for the deadline (looming, now). Today I'm going to try to get the rest of it done.

Double Down

I had one of those KFC Double Down meatwiches after work today. Had to be done! Once. I joked years ago when the Atkins Diet was the rage that people needed to start making sandwiches using meatloaf for "bread" -- the Double Down is not unlike that, using two chicken breasts as the bread.

When Harry Met Andy

Andy Warhol using an Amiga computer to "paint" Debbie Harry.

I SHOULD be sleeping.

I'm awake for the moment. Up past my bedtime. Gonna be wiped tomorrow, for sure! I just watched a movie, am thinking about it a bit. Thinkin' about lotsa stuff. I love how quiet it gets -- there's just this kind of thrumming purr to the city right now, that nice urban hum. I like that. When we moved from the east side of the building to the west, I thought I'd miss the sunrises, but I really don't -- I like seeing the buildings at night; they're fun.