Sunday
Woke up this morning (which is a good way to start any day) thanks to my handy-dandy alarm. Woke up , our first overnight houseguest, so that she could get under way and take care of some errands today. Instead, we sat in the kitchen and talked about stuff. “Stuff” is really the best way to describe it because we would jump from Topic A to Topic V… and then bounce back to Topic F… and so on. It was a nice way to spend the morning.

I went to Borders for a couple of hours to draw. I’m not overly enthused with one of the sketches I did. I am trying to move away from drawing mostly faces and move towards working on figures. I need to work on overall anatomy. The fundamentals. Yet another thing to add to the “to do” list…

Back home. Perry and Max came over and spent the late afternoon/evening with us. I grilled out: Polish sausage and chicken breast filets. (If you’re in the SLC Metro Area, I highly recommend going to Colosimo’s for your sausage/bratwurst fix.) Max played videogames while Perry, Jess and I hung out.

Random Access

He’s got to make his own mistakes
And learn to mend the mess he makes
He’s old enough to know what’s right
But young enough not to choose it…
     – “New World Man,” Rush (from the CD “Signals”)

As a fan of the four-color print media known colloquially as “comic books” or “graphic novels,” I’m used to seeing the hero swoop in and save the citizen in distress. Cape flapping in the breeze, she or he makes a grand entrance, thwarts the villain and carries the near-victim to a place of safety.

If only real life mirrored art in this way.

In the so-called “real world,” people rail against help. Or even the offer of help, in some cases. When they ask for an opinion, they often balk if the response isn’t what they wanted to hear.

Or they just shut themselves off.
Or down.
Or out.

Then the rest of the us, just like readers of a comic, must sit by and watch as the story unfolds.

Sometimes, the “victim” has an epiphany. They awaken to find an option available to them that “wasn’t there before.” Even though it had been staring them in the face the entire time. They take steps to become a “hero,” in their own right, and break free from the situation in which they had been mired. They leap to safety, at the last second, to stand tall and laugh at the failed scenario from escaped.

Unfortunately, far too often, they wallow in doubt or self-pity. They stumble blindly through a maze of uncertainty. Silently cursing The Fates. Their fate. The rest of the world. Either by design or through a haze of rage or fear, they don’t see any options before them. Or a friendly face in the crowd. All that they see is a dark, twisted path ahead of and behind them. And wastelands to the sides.

And one thing keeps coming to my mind. Wilson Philips’ song Hold On. They were spot-on with the lyric:

You could sustain
Or are you comfortable with the pain?
You’ve got no one to blame for your unhappiness
You got yourself into your own mess

I don’t have red lenses, or a utility belt, or a speedy horse and silver bullets. While they would be cool or fun to have, I don’t need them. I was taught to be supportive of my friends in the same manner that my parents were supportive of my siblings and me. If someone needs help, and it’s within your power, do so. Even if it’s something as “small” as listening when a friendly, non-judgmental ear is needed. Or a supportive shoulder. Or just “being around.” I was also taught that when offers of support are shunned or ignored, step back. Don’t force your help onto them. As someone once told me: “You can’t make or force someone into change, but you can love them through changes.”

I know a number of people who have been in dire straits. (Situations, that is, not the band.) I know some who are currently in the middle of a personal Hell. Almost all of the situations have been difficult to see or hear about. And when they turn down offers of assistance, yet still trudge through the mire, it makes it all the more difficult to be on the outside. To be the reader in a story that’s unfolding before my eyes.

Yet, all I can do is turn the page and wait to see how the plot unfolds.

Sure, I still “…wonder what it’s like to be a superhero,” but I try to keep my feet firmly on the ground and do the best that I can to be a decent person. I like to think that most of the time, I’m pretty good at it. When someone comes to me with a problem, the very least that I can do is listen to them. As a friend, they deserve that much. If they ask for an opinion, consider the options and the possible outcomes and give them my thoughts on it. And if any or all of the above, I can be that shoulder. Or friendly face.

And I don’t need a cape for that.

Stray Toasters

  • Jamie Foxx won the 2005 Best Actor Academy Award. And then he went on to give what I thought was a great speech.
  • As February – and Black History Month – draws to a close, I found this article, “Blackest Month Ever” on PopCultureShock. It made me smile.
  • A friend pointed out this column, from Backwash. It’s a very interesting subject. And a rather compelling read.
  • , I don’t know if this will help assuage the pain of the celluloid fiasco that was Batman + Robin, but here goes…
  • …and if that doesn’t, give this a shot.
  • Star Trek XI in Development
    I don’t know whether I should laugh or cry.

  • This is a very cool picture. (Borderline work-safe.)
  • Halle Berry won a Razzie for her role in Catwoman. No big surprise there. Not only did she attend the Golden Raspberry Awards, she took her 2002 Oscar with her.

    Berry was named worst actress of 2004 by the Golden Raspberry Award Foundation for her performance in “Catwoman” and she showed up to accept her “Razzie” carrying the Oscar she won in 2002 for “Monster’s Ball.”

    “They can’t take this away from me, it’s got my name on it!” she quipped. A raucous crowd cheered her on as she gave a stirring recreation of her Academy Award acceptance speech, including tears.

    She thanked everyone involved in “Catwoman,” a film she said took her from the top of her profession to the bottom.

    “I want to thank Warner Brothers for casting me in this piece of s—,” she said as she dragged her agent on stage and warned him “next time read the script first.”

    It is rare for a Razzie winner to show up at the spoof awards held on the night before Oscars — but Berry did, saying her mother taught her that to be “a good winner you had to be a good loser first.” She received a standing ovation.

  • I need to replenish my stock of Cadbury Creme Eggs and cotton candy.
  • Indigo Girls’ rendition of Romeo and Juliet is great.
  • , a proposed Babylon 5 feature film has been cancelled. Sorry.
  • I like Bruce Springsteen’s Pink Cadillac, too. The man isn’t the world’s greatest vocalist, but he seems to have a good time at it.
  • By way of Slashdot: “The SciFi channel has made Episode ’33’ (Season 1 Episode 1) of Battlestar Galactica available for free, uncut and commercial free, online at SciFi.com.”

And with that…

Namaste.