Monday, December 21, 2009

Where are the Wild things who run in the forest and the trees?

I recently watched 'Where the Wild things Are' at the IMAX, and honestly, I have to say that was one of the most emotional movies I have seen all year; and I have seen a good number of emotional movies this year (500 days of Summer, Paper Heart and Away we go, just to name a few).

Whether or not you have read the children's book that the movie is based on won't really matter much, as there isn't a whole lot of detail within the story books pages, but the essence of life from a child's point of view is beautifully captured in the feature film.

The deep connections the movie made with me, from its opening scene of a snow fort and snow ball fight, to the reactions of Max for the outcome, I felt like I was a child again, watching the events of my own life playing out on screen. While the story doesn't spell everything out for you, much in the way the book left most of it to your imagination, all of the details are there for you to know what it is like for Max. You don't have to be told what Max is thinking, because you are thinking it with him.

I can't say that you will have the same experience with the movie that I did, because everyones childhood is different, and some might have more trouble relating to the characters. As we were exiting the movie, the conversation of others illustrated that to me clearly. But if you want to spend a few moments in the mind of a child, have your heart strings pulled at frequently, and if your story is anything like mine, revisit your own childhood, then I recommend you see this film.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

traveling through time and space in an upward direction

Should I rant, rave, troll or just blog? Does it have meaning, substance, depth and insight, or is it just words on a page that has no views?

Philosophical questions about whether or not, and if so how, I should blog don't tend to lead to good answers. And the same can be said about Philosophical questions in general to some extent. Because the answers all come from your world view, are entirely subjective, and can lead you running around in circular logic all day long.
But I am not blogging about philosophy, so lets not spend any more time talking about it. I am blogging simply for the sake of writing. The written word, expressed, practiced, as an art. It would be like painting on canvas that you never intend to show, but you do it for the exercise, you keep it for reference and reflection, and you may even show it, privately, for outside input, or to show the progression of your artistic skills, and to show the different lessons learned, and the challenges faced.
Thats why I am blogging, to answer the philosophical questions I once posed.

I may write about video games, and their evolving artistic medium. Thou some don't use it for that, much like a wall can be a canvas, or it can just be a wall. So can a game be art, or just be a game. The definition and distinction really is a fine line that no one can draw, because it depends on the viewer, and on the creator.

I may write about religion, and how it can be the wall that keeps us at a distance from the God who wants us close. An idea first created by people, and then eroded away at by God. The many ways that God expressed his frustration with our formulating, and systematizing our relationship with him, and with each other.
When was the last time you heard someone refer to a person as a number, or a metric, or as some piece of data about that person, or used their name as simply a means to identify them, rather than to identify with them?

I may write about life, and the flow and rhythm of each simple day. Though some are more complicated, with weddings, funerals, and baby dedications, they all are beautiful in the way that graffiti can be, chaotic, disjointed, but capturing meaning. Sin and Salvation, working together, in harmony that sounds slightly off key.

Who knows what the subject will be, because I don't write for the reader, I write this blog for me.

-fidget widget

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Quizzical Contraptions Rotating Wildly

I have always had trouble writing a blog, especially for public consumption. Something about balancing my different interests and the reasons for writing requiring a reader...
But I have decided to throw all of that away and just write for the sake of writing, getting better at writing, and getting a better grasp on some of my own thoughts.

So don't take what I write to be the final form of the ideas, because thoughts rarely have final form, and are always working, spinning, shifting, and powering something bigger.
Here is my Quizzical Contraption, Spinning Fastly, Pumping Vigorously, and Rotating Wildly! Its my mind at work.