GFW (Gym-Floss-Writing)

I am embarrassed to admit it, but the SO and I recently watched an unhealthy number of episodes of the "reality" show "Jersey Shore" (insert usual excuses for watching reality TV here -- I enjoy laughing at these horrible people, etc.).

Say what you want to about the Jersey Shore crew, but I would like to suggest that the boys' regimen of "GTL" (Gym-Tan-Laundry) borders on genius. Yes, it's simplistic and superficial, and it serves as a testament to the fact that these guys only care about how they look and how much they score. Yet there is something elegant in its simplicity, something Zen-like in its approach to life.
"Gym-Tan-Laundry." That's it. That may not be your formula for a happy life, but it is the formula that works for Pauly D, the Sitch, and that other guy. It is said that Buddhist monks always make their beds, while the rest of us dismiss this practice as a waste of time, since we're "just going to sleep in it again anyway." Yet monks understand that routine serves as a kind of meditation, and living a well-ordered life helps us to keep our thoughts organized and our brains on the right track. I think the Sitch and Pauly D. (let's face it, that other guy doesn't count) understand the beauty of such simplicity.

I have adopted my own regimen of simplicity, which includes "Gym" but otherwise focuses on some other values more in keeping with my own life-stage and priorities. We all need to go to the gym, even if we may not work the Abs in the same way that the Situation does. But tanning is not something I'm interested in, and I am blessed to have laundry mostly taken care of. My other priorities, then, are "flossing" and "writing." Every day that I go to the gym, floss, and write, I feel better about myself and my life. As Susan Sontag said (and I'm paraphrasing), writing is the only thing I do where I don't feel like I'm wasting my time, and the same could be said of the gym. Keeping healthy keeps you going. It's never something you should "have to" make time for. As for flossing -- well, I've resisted it for a long time, but I must say, you get to liking it when you do it, and it was nice to be complimented by the hygienist for the first time in my life. You only get issued one set of adult teeth, so it's best to do what you can to preserve them.

GFW, baby.

Expressions I Hate

These expressions should be avoided because they're cliches, but they're also particularly annoying just in terms of the kind of worldview they represent:

• "Everything happens for a reason."
• "God only gives us what we can handle."
• "What doesn't kill you will only make you stronger."
• "Absence makes the heart grow fonder."
• "True love never dies."
• OK, now you give me yours ...
  

The Soloist

The other night I watched The Soloist, a pretty good movie with Robert Downey, Jr., that I had hoped to go see when it was out in the theaters but never did. It's a movie about a cellist who ends up homeless, but more importantly it's a movie about a relationship, a friendship between two men. The title takes on certain existential hues in that light, since the difficult nature of the relationship raises the question, "Just how alone are we in this life?"

Watching the movie by myself reminded me of when I was a teenager and had rented The Color Purple to watch with a girl. Looking back, it was certainly an odd choice, but this girl was particularly annoyed with me because she said I always watched depressing movies and that probably made me more depressed. I could have launched into a lecture on the complex nature of art, and how what is seen as depressing is often just dark and reflective of man's essential inhumanity to man, because after all, what does a happy story tell you? What does it teach you?

But I think it was more correct to say that I liked (and like) depressing movies because of some version of the malady known as anhedonia that I have inside myself -- basically an inabililty to enjoy oneself when you know others are suffering.

Parts of the movie reminded me of myself in other odd ways, such as the fact that the RDJ character is divorced and doesn't want anybody to rely on him because he'll just end up disappointing them. A pretty sorry excuse when you hear it from somebody else. At the end of the movie, too, after the RDJ character angers the Jamie Fox character (the cellist), he says, "Hey, friends piss each other off sometimes, right?" It's such a simple line with real resonance that says something about the nature of friendship, I think. It seems I've pissed people off in the past and not been able to come back from that, and I think that's unfortunate. Because friends do piss each other off, if they're honest sometimes.

WorldFest International Film Festival

My screenplay The Moon Illusion was awarded a bronze Remi award for romantic comedy at the 43rd WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival. While this isn't an especially impressive ranking, WorldFest is a competitive festival that attracts submissions from all over the globe. There were 50 entries in my category alone, and organizers say only 15% of entries win Remis. At any rate, I'm honored to be recognized and to be a part of this important festival in my small way.

Quicksilver 2.1

The latest issue of Quicksilver 2.1 is now live. The third issue features writing by Cathy Carr, KJ Hays, and J. David Bell.

Zygote in My Coffee

A really cool online publication called Zygote in My Coffee just accepted a poem of mine called "Portrait of a Woman I Never Loved." The poem should be in issue #131, due out in March. This magazine has been around a while and they also publish a print edition. The graphics and overall style of Zygote remind me of the old zines from the 80s and 90s, so I'm proud to be a part of that scene. It's especially gratifying that such a hipster-type publication would agree to use a poem from this old man. Please visit the site and check out all the quality writing.