worst! oscars! ever!

1. Bringing nominees on stage


2. Having presenters in aisles or balconies


3. Not showing clips from documentaries, shorts and forgeign films


4. Beyonce

It didn't get good until the very end. All parts leading up to best actress were like a double dose of sominex except for Salma Hayek (who seemed to be the only presenter with personality). Loved the Spanish guy who sang his acceptance speech. And we are so glad that Jamie Fox won insteada Leonardo DiCaprio (though I wouldn't have minded Don Cheadle winning for his beautiful performance in Hotel Rwanda).

But seriously? The Oscars were inversely proportioned to the Grammys. Where the Grammy's were so surprisingly good, fun and exciting (it's true), the Oscars were painful, confusing, and sleep inducing. I think last night's show could have actually sucked out any enthusiam a burgeoning young artist could have had for this medium.

BUT it was fun hanging out with Slogrl, the KID, Dan and Shane. Friends and their ongoing commentary can breathe life into even the most stale event.

how the oscars could be better

1. Use film to highlight the different categories and nominees. Or at least try to build excitement in some way (and hello -- since you are celebrating film, why not build the excitement with film?)


2. If there are heavy time restrictions cut out more of the presentations, but pay thought provoking respect through interesting montages showing other categories nominations -- and why -- and how they won.


3. No Beyonce. Ever.

heart thumping

today trees are being brought in. there are all kinds of big-wheelie, back-hoe-y, front-loader-y types of vehicles. big engines revving. chains swaying. and lots of very urgent yelling in spanish and it. is. making. my. heart. start. and. stop. wheels are spinning in the backyard mud. cranes are swinging big metal hookish types of things. engines continue to roar and rev and there is intermittent yelling in a language i don't quite understand. i may not understand the words, but i understand the tone. and it's making me jump out of my skin.

the favorite so far

and if you want to hear my current favorite song from the new kings of leon cd, here's the link to day old blues. gaaahhhhhh. i'm telling you... what is it with this band?

» Day Old Blues (Kings of Leon)

new photo set: interior

I have a new photo set up at Flickr and I am really happy with it. So I share it with you, too. If you aren't that familiar with Flickr, can I recommend the slide show option? That's my favorite way to view photo sets.

» Interior photo set

On another note, I've been thinking quite a bit about my flickr addition. My aflicktion. And I think I figured it out. Before I thought it was the ability to share. I thought it was the ability to see glimpses of other peoples lives. Right now, I'm pretty sure it's about comments -- comments people leave on my photos and comments I leave on others' photos. It's just too much instant gratification of feedback or funny one-liners. It's like email or IM on steriods cuz you get the funny thoughts AND you get images. It's totally addicting.

One more other note, my feelings aren't so hurt anymore (re: previous post). Or they aren't hurt at all, actually. I'm kind of sad of how things played out and I miss ye ol' piece0works and his ridiculousness. And yet I trust none of this. I don't even know why I'm writing this here. Oh yes I do: I'm procrastinating packing and getting on the road.

music of note

kings of leon. dog damn. i think this guy has my all time favorite vocal style. new cd that i want to lick and or crunch on. except i downloaded the whole cd from itunes, so it must be a virtual licking/crunching. but seriously, kings of leon = dead seal on the beach and i = dog rolling around in dead seal. i can't get enough.

yesterday i was ... teased? accused? of using morbid metaphors. maybe there's something to that.

wilco. live tonight on npr.

the duhks. the duhks were quite the hit with me and my ilk at last year's live oak. one, the girls were hot and all of the male ilk were transfixed to said stage like moths to porch light. the rest of us were just really into the music: eclectic stew pot of old timey + r&b + ... some kind of energy that is hard to describe. huge hit. don't miss this npr interview (complete with four songs to listen to).

who let the cat out? who let the cat back in?

who let the cat out? who let the cat back in?, originally uploaded by emdot.

pussy-footing around

I'm stalling. I need to pack my things. I need to get on the road. I don't want to.

I've been in OC a full six days longer than I planned. What is with this hesitation. Of course I remind myself, I do this with all packing (see last March when I packed for my Hawaii trip just five or six hours before arriving at the airport), but this time it's more so. I don't want to go.

Life is so up in the air right now. So many options pile up like some kind of decision-making road block. I guess I just need to make a confident step forward.

chairs

chairs, originally uploaded by emdot.

little respite

little respite, originally uploaded by emdot.

quick reminder: there is always yin to a yang

Okay, so that last post was me focusing on the bad. But you wanna hear the flip side to all of it?

So, I get up and inevitably I turn on my computer to drink coffee and see what is up with the flickr folk. This has become a terrible habit. I used to read the LA Times with my coffee. ;)

And ... I answer email. And I go to Flickr. And I read the disconcerting joke-not a joke-hey its a DOUBLE joke isn't it NOT hilarious?? thread and my stomach sinks. And I feel confused for about 30 minutes. I feel ... like the wind is knocked out of me, actually. And then a funny thing happens.

I get an email from another flickr friend who, across the continent, has been watching the whole thing unfold as well and he writes me asking me about my thoughts on this. And then he gives me his phone number and we talk for about 40 minutes. And by the end of the conversation I'm feeling a lot better. A lot lighter. And I quickly realize, just because one person cuts the strings of trust does not mean that all strings of trust are broken.

and one more thing

In all my time being an internet person -- this is the first time something like this happened. And you know, that says a lot.

Interior

Originally uploaded by emdot.

today sucked, but it was interesting

I've been an online person for a long time -- almost eight years. My first online community is still alive and kicking and I consider those people some of my best friends.

This perplexes some people. Like, how can they be your friends? You don't know them.

But what does it mean to know someone? You think because you see someone at work every day that you know them? You don't know them. You think because you hear somebody's voice that you know them? That doesn't let you know them either.

Ultimately it comes down to trust and discretion. You meet certain people and through word, action or deed at some point you decide to trust them or not trust them.

It's the same online. I've found that in active communities it is somewhat possible to figure out if people are honest or not and I'll tell you why: it takes too much effort for people to keep up a lie every day about so many things. On DW, the list-serv that was started in 1997, we went through years of every person writing every day. It is damn near impossible to consistently "be" someone that you aren't. The truth leaks out.

I bring all this up because today I had the wool pulled over my eyes -- and then I had wool and skin pulled back off as a "ha ha just joking!! Isn't it funny?" double prank.

A person who was my flickr friend re-introduced himself to the community as an imposter. A bit of a ha-ha this was an experiment on all y'all. Under the guise of grad-school experiment to see how people react differently to certain genders, my friend said it was done for scientific purposes.

And then later he said ha-ha just kidding that wasn't it at all. Fooled you twice: isn't this hilarious?!

Actually what he said personally to me was:

knew you probably wouldn't find it amusing.

art has no limits, innit.

When did lying to people become art?

I guess it would be one thing if he had only been my "contact," but he had been my friend. There were a hundred email written. There were fun songs shared. I pointed him to my friends' sites. I let him in as a friend.

And okay, so a great crime was not committed. But let me just say: it hurts when trust is shattered. And it's confusing when your ground slips away and all of a sudden you don't know what to believe.

I guess it's a little buddhist teaching in groundlessness. What is anything anyway?

But, coming back down to earth for a moment, a point was made and I have taken it: my fantasy was shattered a little bit. My fantasy of great people and good people and true people. My fantasy of no motives and no agendas and no manipulations.

I live my life quite openly and in my fantasy the people in my life live their lives similarly. And I really hate it when I find out that they don't.

My dad would call that a complaint. If I were to tell him about this he would say, "so? what did you expect? these people aren't your friends... they are online images on a fictional community." Or who knows, maybe he would say something else.

So, I guess my point is, yes, I am hurt. But for me, personally, it goes so much farther than that. Because this transgression does not just reflect this one person: he's put my vision of all my contacts in question. It's like he spit on all my windows.

And that makes me sad.

I find solace in knowing that time will go by and loosen the grasp that this disappointment has on my heart. And all I can say is that I am so thankful I didn't share very personal things to this person.

And being thankful I didn't share is a crappy thing to be thankful for.

The Crackers

The Crackers
Originally uploaded by snailbooty.

Behind the Orange Curtain

So I'm staying a little while longer in Orange County. Big storm moved in and yesterday two water spouts touched shore -- one on the border on Huntington and Newport and another in Long Beach. Houses are sliding down hillsides, roadways are falling into sink holes, cars are smashing into one another and last night the cable went out. So obviously it is a sign of Armeggedon. (I'm a very bad lapsed Xn as I can't remember how to spell armeggedon).

Sidenote and speekina... What would you call a baking powder kept in hotel bedside tables? Arm and Gideon.

Okay. Reaching? It made me chuckle.

So, I decided to stay another day or two. There are flash flood warnings until Tuesday and the last thing I'd want to happen would be to get stuck in a long line of cars on the 101 cuz La Conchita decided to spread itself over the highway.

the this and the that

Flickrverse. I spend way too much time on Flickr. In case you didn't notice. Poor little blog gets neglected as I go and pal around with my new Flickr friends.

Movies. In the last week I saw Million Dollar Baby, Schultze Gets the Blues and Hotel Rwanda. Lots to say about Hotel Rwanda, but I'll let my thoughts settle first.

Books. Today I got Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, inspired to do so by a photo on txkimmer's flickrstream. It sounded cool, what she described. But then my number one book recommenderer inoneear chimed in that Mitchell is one of his favorite authors. So a trip was made to the bookstore. On the non-fiction side last week I read Guy Kawasaki's The Art of the Start and it got me all fired up. I have a great business idea in the works... perhaps more on that later.

more reasons for you to think i'm wacky

I can't explain my fascination with things like Astrology and Numerology and Palm Reading. It's not that I'm necessarily interested in "what's going to happen"... In fact, I pretty much believe that we create what we create. But I guess I also believe in talents and obstacles, which tend to be out of our control.

This morning the OC Register had a little story on Numeroloy, specifically Life Path numbers.

This is how you do it: take your birth date and add up all the numbers in a row. That number will be a double digit. Now add those numbers together. That is your life path.

example:
My birthday is September 5 and I was born in 1966.

9 + 5 + 1 + 9 + 6 + 6 = 36

3 + 6 = 9

I'm a 36/9

NINES are the natural leader. People assume they are in charge even if they are not. If in a department store, people think they work there. They take care of everyone else but need to learn to speak up when they need help, love, and hugs. 9s often feel unloved or abandoned by their mother or father, or they feel completely responsible for them. It's hard for them to let go of the past.

On top of that you have other numbers. The article talks about your attitude number which is your month and day added together.

example:

9 + 5 = 14; 1 + 4 = 5

The 5 Attitude is playful and fun. Here are examples of some clients. One of them sent me her picture sitting on an elephant in Sri Lanka. Another for her 40th birthday went down a raft in the Grand Canyon and on her 50"1 birthday was at the top of the Eiffel Tower. See how they need to go and look at this world? They can't wait to go and experience other parts of the planet, and if they get stuck in a situation, it's too dramatic and they wind up playing the martyr. So better a 5 get out there. It's all about adventure and excitement. They love to flirt and they're usually the life of the party.

What this does is shows you how someone can appear one way when you first meet them (attitude number), but be somewhat different as you get to know them (life path number).

So add 'em on up peeps. You know you want to. And then read about yer numbers and see if they fit you or not.

» Read about your numbers

Brian Greene @ town hall seattle

Brian Greene @ town hall seattle
Originally uploaded by coolmel.

More reasons to love Flickr.

A couple of days ago I listened to the Terry Gross interview with physicist Brian Greene. Great great interview that left my head swimming and brimming. I thought about it for days.

One of my Flickr contacts, coolmel, saw him speak tonight in Seattle and put the photos on Flickr.

» Brian Greene Fresh Air interview

clothes_04

clothes_04
Originally uploaded by Catherine Jamieson.

If you've read my blog for some time you probably know how I feel about Catherine Jamieson's clothesline series. So you can imagine how I beamed when I saw that she uploaded some of them to Flickr.

This is the perfect example of the fucking fabulousness of Flickr: I can post my favorite photos and still give credit and link backs to the photographer.


» CJ's Clotheslines (thanks Catherine!)

just a couple things

I forgot who said "how you do one thing is how you do all things," but I find that quote to be one of the most true things I've ever heard. I see it in my life all over the place. How I do one thing is how I do all things. And I'd like to change some things, I really would.

I wish I had my guitar down here. I really do.

You know, if I started to learn how to play the fiddle now, in five years I bet I wouldn't be that bad. And five years is not so far away.

Kanye West (who I'd never heard of before yesterday because I'm so not in that demograph in any way) had the best acceptance speech of all time:

"Nothing in life is promised except death. You need to appreciate every moment. A lot of people don't appreciate their moment until it's passed.".
(I can't seem to find the whole quote, but I'll put it in here when I find it.)

here are some words i thought i'd never say

here are some words i thought i'd never say
Originally uploaded by emdot.

Here are some words I thought I'd never say: The Grammy's were really good. Who knew? Generally a program I avoid like... well kinda like the Jerry Lewis telethon, tonight's show kinda sorta made me a believer. If they'd passed a tithing bowl I'd had to have dipped into my pockets for some well-worth it monetary appreciation. Cuz my belief in the music industry has been saved.

First of all, Alicia Keys gave me goosebumps and caused me to watch with my mouth agape. That kind of talent... how does someone get that kind of talent? And she's not even my kind of music yet I might have to buy her whole album.

Second of all, Melissa Etheridge, belting out proud in honor of Janis Joplin, was all in a blaze of shorn-close glory, just finishing up chemo, battling against breast cancer. I realize I am not wothy. And who is Joss Stone? I don't know, but if she's the future... man I don't even know. I have no idea what kind of music she plays in "real" life, but good lord she belted it out with real grit and grace in the Joplin tribute.

Franz Ferdinand. I think I collectively love them. Yet, I've always been a sucker for Scotland. Usher, not my style, but did you see the moves? Did you see the trampoline? James Brown? Awesome.

Best acceptance speech hands down, Kanye West who had more elegance, grace, and poignancy than humanly possible when it came to giving thanks off the cuff. Second, Larry Mullens Jr saying that U2's all about the live and then apologizing to the fans who couldn't get tickets. God love him.

So, yeah, the Grammy's. What a blast. Tho, watching it on a 64-inch screen and with dolby surround-the-universe-sound system cranked to 11 didn't hurt.

Yeah, yeah. I never thought I would be so fired up after a silly award's show. But , man. That was fun.

More Dogpatch 090

More Dogpatch 090
Originally uploaded by quasistoic.

Who knows how it started, the new revelling, self-congratulating "devil sign" while shouting out "BUSH TWINS!!"



Well, actually I do know how it started. Hanging out with SloGrl and we were just talktalktalking about this, that and the other. And I said something that I was all proud about while realizing the ridiculousness of it all and I found myself with fist in "devil horns" shouting out "BUSH TWINS!!!" as way of pointing out my awesomeness and stupidity all at once.

SloGrl got it immediately and it has become a rally cry of sorts. A special shout for self-congratulations and smugness. "BUSH TWINS!!"

You should say it, too.

addendum to earlier diatribe about the fabulous snap shot

Okay, I think I take it all back regarding great photography and snapshots and my fear that the more I learn about photography the more I will lose my love for the snapshot. I think, in hindsight, that this is wrong. I think much like the great musicians who can then make the most simple melody sound stunning or the great painters who choose to follow a more childish style, the same can be said for photography.

visiting family

So I'm visiting family. The great thing about what I do is that I can do it anywhere, so it is easy to visit and travel and still get my stuff done. Theoretically. Right now I'm at Casa de Dad. The new Casa de Dad. And it is lovely.

Bonus = dad likes Morning Becomes Eclectic on KCRW.

Nonbonus = dad works with someone named Mario, which has me responding everytime I hear him say "Mario?"

"Yeah?" Oh. Whoops. I'm not an o ending.

And for any eastcoast readers, that is the Mario of the long ah, not the Mario of the nasally ay. Hence the confusion.

not necessarily well thought out

Looking through the Flickr Mardi Gras tags I was a little discouraged by just how many drunken photos there were. Maybe this excuse to get blacked-out wasted is ruining MG in general. Maybe we should all play a joke on them... have all the festivities up until five days before Mardi Gras day. Leave them to get drunk and vomit on the streets with none of the heart and soul behind it. It makes me sad when fun events and traditions get highjacked like that. OR maybe I'm just getting older. ;)

It is a flat-out gorgeous day here behind the Orange Curtain. I'm not sure how long I'll be down here. In pure emdot style I've left everything open ended. Could be a couple days. Could be a couple weeks. I miss people and a certain cat, though. Funny... just last year I was marvelling on how I don't miss people. Something weird is in the water, cuz that is starting to change. Or maybe I'm just getting older. Heh.

I don't mind getting older, btw and ftr and fwiw.

I've been thinking a lot about photography. This is all because of flickr. Well, kinda sorta. I've always been interested in photography -- but not in the technical side, more in the I just wanted to capture a feeling side. A glance in a moment side. The way the light hit a certain something side. But never owning my own camera (I know, I know, how primitive) and also HATING to shove a camera in anyone's face and also trying very much to be in the moment and actually participating and enjoying something while it was happening rather than observing and manipulating a situation, I avoided it.

But, just like with all things, the more you do something, the more you see the possibilities. The more you see the things you could never see before. Actually, I compare it with learning about music.

I remember there was a time when I couldn't identify the different instruments that were playing in a song. A bass line? A mandolin? Different types of guitars? My ears would strain over the backbeat of the drums and I would only be able to tell you if I liked something or not.

But the more you listen the more you can hear the differences. And then you begin to hear more: when a note is off; when a tempo is different; the different sounds between similar instruments....

I'm seeing the same thing with photography. My photos are notoriously blurry. And to be honest, for a long time, I couldn't really see the difference between a little blurry and a nice straight edge. All that is changing. I didn't care about fuzziness or depth of focus or godforbid shutterspeeds and aperatures. All that is changing, too.

But there is a little part of me (and yes, if you were starting to get worried, there is a point to this long ramble) that doesn't want to learn too much, for one simple reason. I don't want to lose my love of the snapshot. And I do love the snapshot. I don't want my eyes to get so refined or critical that I can't see the loveliness in everyday photos. Much in the same way that I prefer underproduced loose and jangly garagey type music to say phil spector's work on the long and windy road, I like things paired down and more raw (for lack of a better word). I'm way more interested in the feeling of it all than the execution.

Plus I don't have manual focus. ;)

There may be more incoherent ramblings later on today. Or tomorrow. Or well, for the rest of the life of this blog, now that I think of it.

(note to self: hire editor).
(second note to self: maybe perhaps think about waiting inbetween the writing and the pushing of the "publish post" button.)

the big ol box of new orleans

the big ol box of new orleans
Originally uploaded by emdot.

Listen to the NPR piece on this and it'll really get you in the mood for Mardi Gras.

My dad lived in NOLA for five years or so and I was lucky enough to visit several times. I'll never forget the first time he said, when we were getting ready to go out and listen to some fabulous live music, that we were going to a bowling alley.

A bowling alley? I was highly skeptical.

So we drove away from the French Quarter to Mid-City, my skepticism building in strength, out to a bowling alley in a strip mall. A strip mall. I'm in New Orleans for the first time and my dad is taking me to some weird strip mall bowling alley?

But I did not know how cool it would all be. The place was Mid City Lanes Rock and Bowl and from then on it was my favorite place to go in all of the great, big, huge, awesome city. The place rocks. It rolls. It bounces. It sweats. And the music never stops.

That night it was Beau Jocque and the Zydeco Hi-Rollers who became in one quick instant my alltimefavorite zydeco band. Nobody does Zydeco like Beau Jocque. And the dancing! I'd never seen anything like it before. Have you seen Zydeco dancing? If you haven't all I can say is that you can't even imagine it. It's fast. It has an extra four counts (12/4). And it requires a partner so you just can't wait for someone to ask you to dance (and hopefully they know what they're doing). It's like a jitterbug on spanish flies.

I was hooked.

you can call me alice

[imagine amusingly clever line about icing here]

John McCrea interviewed by Terry Gross today. Huge Cake fan, here, so it was a fun interview for me, despite all of um, the, um, ah, um umming he does. Still... anybody who mixes words such as "mecurially" with "boobies" in the same interview is high on my list of whatever lists I may have.

» Cake's John McCrea Fresh Air interview

anne gomez ...

anne gomez ..., originally uploaded by bunchofpants.

there's a bunch of pants on the air

One of my new flickr friends, bunchofpants, is a DJ on Wednesday nights in Raleigh, NC. You can hear her right now if you click here — she'll be on from 5 - 7 tonight (pacific time, folksies). Word on the streets is that she's playing birdw0rks's "I Love Flickr" song. So, tune in friendlies, tune in.

Why I like BoP? Her husband says she's the grouchiest person he knows. That means I automatically love her.

» BoP Wednesday 5 - 7 PDT

i always wanted to be the it girl

so i work from home, some of the time. and i work at an office space some of the time. this is turning into most of the time, as i need to delineate fun computer time from work computer time. just for my own productivity. anyway, at the office -- it is another company and i just have a little workspace for my thing, separate from them. however, one of the reasons i get such a good deal on office rent is because i "know" computers. ;) (all computer guys i've worked with in the past are heh-ing that statment right now).

i'm the office I.T. girl. and hot damn, i always wanted to be the it girl. i have been helping people with printer problems and basic computer problems and ... it's fun. ;) But now it's back to my own work. ;)

this office, btw, has a case of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale in the fridge and a dog or two hanging out and being friendly. and if you know me, you know i love that.

....

more inconsequentials: the weather is amazing today and while i know it's not good for the area, i hope we've seen winter come and go. i'm ready for spring. i'm ready for flowers blooming and baby birds chirping and outdoor concerts in avila and long windyroad jaunts for wine tasting or basic exploring.

in two days i will have had my little ball of fur, chapin o'malley the alley cat for one year. ;)

what i'm really into these days, and i'll write more about these two things in future posts: del.icio.us and last.fm. if you want to try out last.fm can i recommend the following streams (all of whom are from flickr): machete, bunchofpants, leff, philna, striatic. last night i listened to philna's stream until i could no longer keep my eyes open. great stream. today it's machete's. we're pretty much on the same last.fm wavelength.

and really quick, while i'm thinking about it, have you noticed this Smith's resurgence? fun. that was a long time coming. i mean, i don't want to od or anything, but it's fun hearing these old songs.

Emdot's delight

Emdot's delight, originally uploaded by Vision Aerie.

Why I love the central coast.

New flickr on the loose: vision_aerie. Incredible stream -- all from the air. He shoots 'em while he flies.