Just don't do it

When you think about using the adjective 'very' don't do it. When you want to say something or someone is 'interesting' don't. Say it is .... stimulating. Say it is thought provoking for Christ's sake. Say it transmogrified you. Don't say it was interesting. That's not.

No. Nope. Not ever!

Use less words if you have to. Its not VERY quiet. Its quiet. Its not VERY loud. Its loud. No VERY bigs. Just big. That plane is big! Isn't that better than 'That's a very big plane!'?

Great isn't a great word either. Any word if it gets overused, wears out. Come on, you didn't have a GREAT time. You had a marvelous time. A wild time. A stimulating time! A time that was like no other.

I've tried really instead of very, and I don't like it, but at least its different.

I've tried huge instead of big, but huge is wearing out fast. Right now I like gianormous. And when did 'hugely' become an adverb?

I've tried awesome instead of great. Its really not good.

I like 'clean' and 'clear' as in they put on a clean show. Her voice was clear.

Let's use different adjectives. And adverbs too.

It would be better.

A post from a week ago, that never got posted.

I find that out of respect for the dead, when I get to the part of news shows where they show the names, home states and ages of the American dead in Iraq, In Memoriam on This Week or the names at the end of The News Hour are examples, I have to take the time to read their names. Its a few seconds and I always hate it, but I read them out of respect.

Usually the names go by so fast I can't read all of the information. Sometimes I concentrate on the locations. Which state are these ... Where are these people from? Its strange but I get a positive feeling about my country when I see that the names are so distributed geographically. NY, California, Texas. I think in the Army, we really ARE one nation. The sacrifice is distributed all over.

I see a lot of Hispanic names. I see a lot of black faces.

The enemy treats us equally. They kill all of us.

Sometimes the names and faces are female. I suppose that its a greater sign of equal rights today ... More women soldiers are being killed. But I don't like it.

Lately I see that the ages of some of the soldiers are greater than my own. A week or so ago I saw that one soldier was 52. I see a lot of the faces of the dead in their 30's and 40's. These people are Dads and even Granddads. I feel, how sad for them. How wrong, that having spent their youth and made their lives, they are now being called to die at a time when they could begin taking it easy. Reaping the harvest of their life's work.

I think its wrong to get these grizzled old family men killed in a foreign country at their age.

Then the next face I see is some 19 year old kid.

Girl with a Pearl Earring

Just watched Girl with a Pearl Earring.

Every Scarlett Johansson film I've seen I've liked (though The Island was a little weak. I intend to see all of her films. At the rate I'm watching them vs the rate she's making them, I'm never going to make it. She has SIX under contract right now and 27 more that she's already done!

Great!

I liked North (her first and a small part), and The Island, and I loved Lost In Translation, Match Point, Love Song for Bobby Long. And no, its not just because she's beautiful. She is compelling to look at, but I've studied and drawn enough faces to know that her face is wrong in some way. This I think, makes her even more compelling. Forget the cannon of beauty. Marilyn Monroe didn't fit it either. My own theory is two fold on this. The first is that what is inside is what compels us. The second - that we can't stop looking at the 'wrong' faces (at least the ones that are pleasing)BECAUSE we want to 'finish' them, to perfect them.

IN Girl with a Pearl Earring, a patron of the arts declares her eyes are wide apart. Maybe that's it! This story is about a real painting, was the girl in the painting 'wrong'? Or did they add that because of the way Scarlett looks?

I want to talk about the movie for a bit. The look of it is spellbinding. Time and time again the movie looks like a painting! Clothing, background and windows are lit just as they are in so many of those Dutch masters' paintings. The film stops, and looks. It is filmed almost like a series of still photos. Morning light is white and clean. Evening light is warm and ambient. Shadows are harsh or smooth and take on almost a character quality. We learn about color, light and composition. We feel it.

Which brings me to my next point. Dialogue is sparse. The look of the play is overshadowed only by the looks of the actors as they convey in expressions what is so limited in language. All of this makes it subtle and the subtlety makes it wonderful.

Yes there is metaphor and imagery. And there is Scarlett (and a fine supporting cast). But we love Scarlett not only for her compelling features, but her subtle portrayal of a girl in a confined controlled life. A girl without power but who cannot be limited completely. She perceives her own confinement and life's restrictions. Limited and capable, victim and conqueror, her light ultimately can't be confined forever. The light of that life remains in a real painting. And Scarlett's light ... blah blah sentimental stuff. You get it. She's great. Watch this film.

She's a winning actress and I'm going to see all of her films.

I can't wait!

I'm Proud of New York

I haven't looked yet this morning, so I haven't seen the complete returns. Last night was some kind of a Democratic victory. When I went to bed at 1:30, we didn't know what kind yet. The Senate is still up for grabs. Recounts are likely in Virginia and maybe a couple other Senate races.

Down in the trenches though, in the close races, in upstate NY, the Democrats won. And it wasn't easy.

The Republicans redistricted. They owned the house. They picked the voters. In the 24th New York district, Maurice Hinchey was once targeted for defeat by Repbulicans. This time he ran unopposed.

That left plenty of Republicans, Idependants, and yes a few Democrats, to vote in the 25th and 20th districts.

Those were two of the closest races in the country. Those were two places where the Congress picked the voters. Those were two races where the money poured in.

In the 25th NY district, perhaps the closest Congressional race. A district that includes Utica, and parts of Broome County, the Republicans poured in money. They ran a really nasty campaign that almost suggested that Arcuri was in favor of rape.

The 20th, Sweeney was an incumbent. An old boy. Sweeney's district included my home in Delaware county and Saratoga, and parts of the Adirondacks! Kirstin Gillibrand had a tough uphill fight.

I worked for Kirstin. One day. Doing phone banks. This is what I heard when I said we hope you vote for Kirstin... "what party is she?".

Many people up here didn't know who their congress person is, after the redistricting.

They voted Democrat. They voted against George Bush. They were smart.

I'm proud of them.