Late Night Sunday Thoughts on Shakespeare

I had to watch REEFER MADNESS at the BackStage Theater for one of my papers in my acting class. I haven't got very much to say about the production as it failed to strike a chord with me. The ensemble pulled their performances off pretty well though. I have to give them a hand for that.

Anyway, the play makes an allusion to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet as sort of a means of underlining the tragedy within the play. As I was sitting in my seat, I thought to myself, "Shakespeare is indeed one compleat literary genius, perhaps the best in the universe!". His work is so universal that eons and light years later, the themes still apply.

The dude is dead but he still rocks my socks off. I just want to know how someone can write something so tragic it translates off as immortally beautiful.

For that, I raise my cup of chamomile tea and honey. I pray that the bard would honor me with a visit and bring along my muse.

Backing it up.

The following is a late night response from my PHO198B professor regarding an essay that I wrote on the film, LOST IN TRANSLATION:

Hi Louiie,

I happened to be over here on the d board to verify who indeed sent in prelim essays so I thought I would re-read yours and comment. Well it was wonderful. Ordinarily I might wonder if it was best for the class to have so much strong opinion provided to them, however, LIT is a very tricky film and many people just can't get past the obviously slow pace. If a student was serious enough to read your prelim essay it might help them to appreciate the movie more so they too could find greater depth of appreciation that they otherwise would have missed. Thank you so much!

But then there is the rest of your essay where I also saw many of the ideas woven into your final essay. You really put your heart into your work. That is so important if you want to make it in the film business -- because it shows at every level of what you do. If you are in the habit of going beyond the minimum because something inside you says that the minimum is never enough, you are the one that will stand out. You will have better work and happier work, and in this competitive business, that may make the difference between success and failure.

Then again, you could get fired to make room for some exec's ne'er-do-well drop-out nephew! So it goes...

Thanks for working from the heart.

Erik

I haven't responded to this as of yet... but if I had, it would go a little something like:

Dear Mr. Professor,

Thank you for caring enough to take time to read my work. My submitted essays are the result of me waking up from a long period of creative blockage and personal ennui, hence they contain every bit of animation and passion that I could possibly type down between the timeframes of work, school and home life. I appreciate your kind comments very much. It really means something to me for someone to appreciate my work enough to see that I put myself in it.

I hope someday I can make you proud of having taught me in your class.

Louiie

Le Divorce

I am sad.

I had to separate Eva from Ennio earlier on today because my swimboy's behavior hasn't returned to normal.

It's only been a couple of days, and perhaps I was too hasty or maybe I was just worrying too much that Ennio seems to be under so much stress having a new tankmate. Prior to having Eva, I could hand-feed Ennio and he wouldn't be scared of human contact. Heck! I used to bonk him in the head every morning!

But he hasn't really been that way since Eva moved in.

Tsk, tsk, tsk... he finally has a girlfriend and he gets depressed...

I think I can relate.

1 + 1 makes two.

Ennio and Eva.

(tankmates by default)

Ennio just turned a month old on the 1st. He's alive, healthy and very happy. I'm glad that we were able to create a balanced ecosystem for our little swimmer to live in. For a while there, mum put a female molly in his bowl as a tankmate. I guess she decided to put the molly in the fountain outside to be with her kindred. That's how Eva found her way to our home.

She's just settling in. I'm a little anxious to see if they'll get along, or if having two goldfish in a bowl will upset the environment.

Altered points of view.

This is a photo I took while I was meandering in London in 2006.

Around those years, I thought the line "All in all you're just another brick in the wall" simply meant that one's life is just as insignificant as a pile of bricks - one stacking up on top of the other, or even a single fleck of dust for that matter (eventually, we will all get blown away by the wind.)... When set against the backdrop of a much larger perspective (such as the world in general), we are nothing but tiny units trying to make our way amidst the madness. No one particular person is more special than the next. At the time, I must admit that it spoke a particular truth pertaining to me. I even thought it was cool, hardcore, and pretty edgy.

Fast forward to 2009. I posted this here tonight following a sudden urge to find the photo because a lightbulb went off in my head. Out of nowhere, I got to thinking about what the line meant to me now, and I realized that a lot of changes took place during the course of three years.

I now KNOW for a fact that each and every brick that makes up the wall plays a part in holding it up. Each person is a unique token of the world at large. And while there is madness in the struggle to make our way, the beauty of it all is that all our efforts are pieces of a bigger design. Collectively taken, we make up the wall - one unit as a whole. However small we might think of ourselves against the grand plan of life, at the end of the day, it's the little pieces that really count. The wall wouldn't stand like it was supposed to if there were bricks missing from it.

It's the details that we bring into the world that make it so interesting to watch.

I've come around to appreciate how the system works.

And, methinks that I am feeling this way because

I am still chanting.

A little inspiration goes a long way.

I may bitch and moan a lot. But when I decide to do something, I like to back it up with as much of me that I possibly can.

The Fuzzy Intruder.

I found this guy in my room after I switched my lights off and turned on my LED booklight. I had hoped to get a Cheshire cat, but my hands aren't that creatively skilled (YET).

I cannot wait to show this to my niece.

The Wall.

My plate has never been this full. I have been working deadline against deadline for the past week. I am amazed at how much yipyap I've been doing. It's only been over a week since I started school, for crying out loud!

After a recent pick-me upper type of conversation with a good artist friend, I've realized that I am now feeling the edges of the limits that used to define me. If I don't break past my limits, then all my efforts would crumble down and amount to nothing. No change will be attained.

And without change, there wouldn't be movement or progression.

She shared her personal experience she had while scaling a wall. She told me that there was a time where she was dead tired and that she had wanted to give up, but then again she thought: "Why would I quit now?".

And so, WHY WOULD I QUIT NOW? Is there any God given reason why I shouldn't grab the bull by its horns and wrestle it down to the ground? Half the battle's been won already. I'm already in film school taking acting classes and all things artsy this fall.

I have to confess that the thing that I dread the most is for someone to tell me that I don't deserve my talent (aka swagger). If that happens, I might as well crawl under a rock and hide in shame.

BRING IT, I say. I can do this, and beautifully at that.

A Rough Start

Today should have been one of the most exciting days in my life. I officially start school this morning, and I wanted to have a fresh start. But life, as it always appears less than ideal, threw me a set of obstacles that I wasn't sure I knew how to handle. And as positive I was just yesterday, today was a totally different story.

Due to a recent imbalance and upset in my humble abode, I got into an argument with my mom and I totally lost my composure. I absolutely hate it when that other half of me surfaces. I'm 99% chill most of the time, but when someone (or something) pushes me off the ledge, all hell breaks loose. I have a bad temper. Enough said.

Regrettably, this outward action caused me to lose all the excitement that was welling in my soul for the past few weeks. I wish I could have done something different to better the situation, but all is said and all is done. There is no other recourse but to let it go.

I am inexplicably sad tonight. However "human" or "normal" it is to feel that way after a less than perfect situation, I just can't seem to make myself feel any better.