Ombailamos

fun with casting: a project for Daniel Radcliffe

My tolerant readers have probably noticed that I talk about books quite a bit. I am engaged in an ongoing (several years now) draw-down of my library. A huge chunk of it was purged, en masse, several years ago and since then I have been nibbling away at it. Reason being, books were taking over our living space.

As much as I love books, I no longer want to live in a library. I want that space available to serve other activities.

Part of the project is assessing various collections. I've collected mystery fiction for a long time and have had full sets of various authors' work. A good number of these have now hit the road - mostly, actually, they've been given to the BH Public Library.

Many of these departed pre-Kindle, so as far as I knew I was really saying goodbye forever! Since the project started, of course, masses of literature has become available in e-formats. Some authors are no longer with us, and their heirs are apparently unconcerned with future sales ... just a note, y'all, you can undoubtedly sell more of these if you negotiate an e-book contract. Just saying.

So ANYWAY, the point I was getting to today is that there is a short series (too short, in my opinion) by Will Thomas featuring a private investigator, Cyrus Barker, and his youthful assistant Thomas Llewelyn. The book titles, for your convenience, are:

• Some Danger Involved;
• To Kingdom Come;
• The Limehouse Text;
• The Hellfire Conspiracy; and
• The Black Hand.

One element of great interest to me is that Mr. Thomas features a different immigrant community in each book. One book, for example, features the Chinese and one features Jewish immigrants.

Because the books are set in Victorian London and revolve around a private investigator, they have an intrinsic appeal for this fan of Sherlock Holmes. The central characters use methods that would be quite familiar to other such fans, and in fact Cyrus Barker seems (to me) to be a clear inspiration for Guy Ritchie's new cinema interpretation of Holmes.

These books, however, would stand quite nicely on their own. And I think Liam Neeson should play Barker, and Daniel Radcliffe should play Llewelyn.

They are physically perfect for the parts, both good actors, and both I think would shine in these characters. Moreover, Mr. Neeson is prime "franchise" material and we already know Mr. Radcliffe can handle a long-term commitment.

I don't know if Mr. Thomas ran out of ideas or if his publisher just didn't want to support the series or what. I could read a lot more of these books before I got tired of the characters, and I would REALLY love to see a movie (or TV - I'm not picky) adaptation.

So if any producers out there know Mr. Radcliffe or Mr. Neeson and would like to jump on the enduring popularity of the Victorian mystery, you know, I would love to write a script for you.

link of the week: on creativity

http://happiness-project.com/happiness_project/2012/05/7-tips-i-use-to-spark-my-creativity/

This is a great short piece on ways to jump-start the creative mind. There are a lot of characteristics or personality traits that I do not share with Gretchen Rubin of The Happiness Project - but a lot that I do share. So I pay attention, especially when she is writing about something that concerns me as directly as creativity.

I wonder sometimes if a lot of people realize just how much creativity they employ on a daily basis. It takes creativity, for example, to come up with a meal plan for the week. It takes creativity to decorate a room. It takes creativity to hook up electronic gadgets in a car, or organize a garden, or do Sudoku, or design an exercise plan, or compose an instructive e-mail.

The employment of skills, when it is on your own time and potentiated by your own motivation, is explicitly creative. And this leads me to an interesting tangent.

Not long ago a small study was released that looked at fitness levels and self-reported exercise time among a population of New York City hotel housekeepers. Many of the housekeeper reported no formal exercise time, and these workers typically were measurably less fit than those who did report intentional exercise.

However, some weeks after a single counseling session in which workers were instructed to view their daily work as exercise, almost every one of the workers had an improved fitness level - without adding intentional exercise at all. In short, simply recognizing the activity as exercise somehow potentiated fitness gains.

I believe the same principle applies to creativity. If you recognize what you are doing as a creative act, I believe that engages deeper levels of the brain. A typical task may seem rote and routine, but consciously noticing the skills in use calls up further resources.

I try to employ this technique regularly. It may be one of the reasons I have so many ideas all the time. My varied interests, in and of themselves, are not necessarily causing me to generate ideas. It is the tasks involved in these interests, and my intentional recognition of the skills and talents required to do various tasks, that unlocks the creative flow.

I'm not a genius by any definition. I think my various successes and achievements, minor though they may be, are entirely due to mindfulness. It is a part of my yoga, and it is the technique that I believe (and hope) will see me into old age with most of my faculties intact.

The best thing about it is that it costs nothing and takes next-to-no time. And there is no downside. If you are feeling stifled or dull, it may be worth a try.

gardening

So I spent another couple of hours happily mucking around in my patio garden over the weekend.

(Apologies if this text looks odd ... the TypePad text editor is acting REALLY ANNOYINGLY WEIRD.)

Of course, I had to go to OSH and get some supplies. And ended up with another plant, because I needed to re-pot my cymbidium and I wanted something to cohabit with it, so I have a lovely anthurium now. But I did dispose of the money-tree cuttings, so maybe I'm even?

Also got five bags of moisture-control Miracle Gro, two new ceramic containers, and some new gloves because my old ones got perforated. The new ones have washable suede on the underside and an elastic strap across the top, which makes them nice and snug to the wrist.

Before really starting, those cuttings went into the trash bag and I dumped the pebbles they were standing in (along with some other pebbles I had) into the kitchen sink with some hot water and a trace of bleach. Wanted to get those relatively clean before putting them down into the bottoms of all the containers I’d be using.

The first step: re-potting one set of dracaena into the container previously occupied by a palm tree, now deceased. Did some serious root pruning there, as I don’t want these to get much bigger. When they eventually recover, and start trying to grow UP again, I’ll “top” the biggest one (there are three separate plants in this container).

Second: using the container vacated by those dracaena for the cymbidium and anthurium. I did not divide the cymbidium after all, as not only were the roots of its three main bodies inextricably intertwined, I found there is a new fourth body coming on. With any luck, that will bloom for me this year.

Third: used one of my new containers for the three scarlet begonias I added to the collection a few weeks ago. The three plants together make a nice full container and they should
bush out nicely. I just have to pay attention and pinch them back if they get too leggy. It’s such a challenge to catch the perfect moment to pinch back … after growth but before they set a new flower bud.

Fourth: took a breather and reorganized things. I am never done reorganizing, of course, but plants did need to be redistributed. Oh, and I had also bought a new hummingbird feeder, so I had to figure out how to hang that, make some nectar, and put it up. It is in the corner of the patio underneath my jasmine bush and above the two fuschias.

(It appears that my old Torino has gone to the great hummingbird garden in the sky, as I have not seen a trace of him this year, and without him singing in the yew tree my hummingbird traffic has fallen off a cliff. I hope the new arrangement tempts some newcomers.)

Fifth: potted my beautiful baby Japanese maple into the other new container. I don’t want this tree to get taller, so I chose a really nice container that will do “for life.” According to recommendations, I’ll need to remove the tree, root-prune, and repot every 2-3 years.

Sixth: swept and tidied and tweaked, and stood back to enjoy the fact that I have FLOWERS! The astilbe, coral bells, fuschia, jasmine, begonias, and anthurium all have flowers. They are modest little shade-garden flowers, but flowers nonetheless.

Finally, washed up the glass things that the cuttings and the cymbidium were in, and the ceramic platter that a spider plant used to sit on, took a few photos, and had lunch. And contemplated another potential tree-killing (arbicide?).

The big ficus may not be re-potted after all. The decision does not need to be made right now, but with the jasmine, small ficus, and now maple, I have some other potential hummer nest hosts, and the time may be approaching for the big tree to … go.

creative business

The latest issue of "Fast Company" has a long story on Steve Jobs, by Brent Schlender, a journalist who interviewed Mr. Jobs many times over a period of 25 years. Some fascinating stuff, even for those of us who are not particularly fascinated by the tech industry and have no intention of buying additional Apple products. (Though I must confess, the iPod is great.) Among the many thought-provoking quotes from previously-unpublished interviews:

"... my training has been in doing things that take a long time. ...I have been trained to think in units of time that are measured in several years. With what I've chosen to do with my life, you know, even a small thing takes a few years. To do anything of magnitude takes at least five years, more likely seven or eight. Rightfully or wrongfully, that's how I think." - Steve Jobs, 1995

What I find particularly profound in this is that popular media rarely looks at the time and patience and thought that are required to produce innovation - or to produce great work of any kind.

We see the annual release of new lovely gadgets and the popular assumption is that they are springing from the assembly lines after a few weeks of discussion and a couple of technical drawings, when in fact each one is the product of years of development.

Personal projects work the same way. Most writers, for example, don't sit down without an idea in their heads and spin a tale requiring no editing that is ready to go to press in a week. Most writers, from all my reading on the subject, are like me: they do research, they read, they obsess about things, they write outlines, they try out storylines and dialogue, they write a draft, they edit and edit and edit sometimes for years, and sometimes all of this only begins after years of letting an idea slowly germinate.

On the micro level in our culture, everything is about instant gratification and getting-there-fast and cutting one's losses if things don't work out right away. But really ACCOMPLISHING anything noteworthy - anything of magnitude, in Mr. Jobs' words - takes time.

One doesn't learn to dance well in a month, or even a year. One doesn't master a new language in a couple of weeks. And especially for those of us who work full-time, because anything else we do has to fit around the edges of our working life, the timeline for achievement can be extended indefinitely.

It is always the case that, in order to work on Thing 1 with any degree of attention and care, we have to push Thing 2 into a corner. We only have one brain apiece. We have to give it the time to work.

when projects just naturally expire

I may have mentioned I have a lot of projects on the go at any given time. Generally, 20% of these are for other people, 20% are things I consider priorities, and the rest are "when I get around to it" type stuff. One of those has just fallen off the list by pure serendipity.

I have been lugging around a handbag that is both bigger/heavier than I would like, and not optimal in terms of what I can carry in it. I had in mind to make a replacement using some bits and pieces I had at home, and a new piece of microfiber "suede."

Well, I no longer have to do that work because I found the cutest bag ever on Etsy: it was the perfect size, it had the perfect strappage, and it was on sale for less than $30. I am pretty sure it would have taken me a minimum of eight hours to create a bag myself, so $30 was an unmissable bargain. Can't wait to get it in the mail.

I do have a considerable to-do list for the coming weekends. After more-or-less-blithely ignoring a lot of projects for about six weeks, I am now tired of the unfinished business (lurking in corners & staring at me), and plan to knock out a lot of it.

Fortunately one of the next weekends is a long one and we have nothing firmly planned for it, so I can use the entire three days as I choose. Time: such a luxury.

DWTS Season 15: preliminary skirmishes

The dance-geek blogosphere is beginning to buzz over the announcement that the fall season of Dancing with the Stars will feature an "All-Star" cast. So of course, I have to add MY buzz.

I think this is a great idea, and possibly a couple of seasons overdue; there have been three celebrities in every final, after all, and only one winner. So as of next Tuesday, there are fourteen champions and 28 bitter also-rans.

One could easily just take every second-place finisher and have that as the first All-Star cast; or every third-place finisher; or a combination of 2nd and 3rd place contestants.

One could also, of course, try to get the first dozen champions back to duke it out. I wouldn't choose that, though. My feeling is that any given champion has probably already shown us the best he or she could do.

My personal All-Star cast would include some finalists, but as a dance geek, I would have to cast ONLY people who have already established they can dance well. This actually does limit the selection a bit, as not all finalists were great dancers by any means. I would also cast only people who had a good attitude. I would cast:

• Jerry Rice - with Karina Smirnoff
• Gilles Marini - with Anna Trebunskaya
• Lance Bass - with Chelsie Hightower
• Mario Lopez - with Peta Murgatroyd
• Chris Jericho - with Elena Grinenko
• Joey Fatone - with Cheryl Burke
• Albert Reed - with Lacey Schwimmer
• Melissa Rycroft - with Jonathan Roberts
• Stacy Keibler - with Maksym Chmerkovskiy
• Mel B - with Ryan de Lillo
• Sabrina Bryan - with Louis van Amstel
• Mya - with Tristan McManus
• Brandy - with Tony Dovolani

I would give each contestant a new partner, as well - no going back to the old partner (suggestions above). I would reserve the pro dancers who have already won more than once for group choreography and general coaching. And I would change some of the rules, because these are no longer ballroom novices.

First, I would change the dances to be performed as duets.

• For the Latin dances, I would keep International-style Rumba, Cha-cha, and Samba, add American-style Mambo and East Coast Swing, and remove Salsa, Paso Doble, and Jive.
• For the ballroom dances, I would keep American-style waltz and foxtrot, plus International-style tango and quickstep, removing Viennese Waltz, which has inspired the most expletives while watching this show, since 80% of the time the producers select music that is 100% wrong.
• I would reserve the Argentine Tango for a special episode in which all contestants performed that dance - say, week three. It would not be included as a "ballroom" dance.

I would also permit lifts right off the bat. Again, these aren't novices - they've been through the process before and we are, theoretically, casting people who are fit enough to do lifts. So, let 'em! My stipulation would be that each dance has to contain at least 50% syllabus material, and beyond that let them go nuts.

Then, I would change the dance schedule so that e.g., all male celebrities do a cha-cha in week one while all females do a quickstep, then switch for week two. Everyone would get to dance twice before there's an elimination, but two would be eliminated at the end of week 2. And at this point everyone would have done all the same dances, so the voters - who are getting slightly less clueless about how to evaluate the dancing - can compare apples to apples.

I would bring back Latin Night and Ballroom Night to circumvent the recurrent issue of a snappy cha-cha or sexy samba smacking down a lyrical waltz. And I would get rid of the "storytelling" dances. UGH.

I would add "team dances" when there are ten, eight, and six couples remaining in the competition - for teams of five, four, and three - and I'd have them do Jive, Paso Doble, and Viennese Waltz in team routines, with short solos.

At the five-couple quarterfinal everyone would do two full original dances, at the four-couple semifinal everyone would do three - reprises of their cha-cha and quickstep routines, and a Freestyle.

You may notice that "my" cast favors the male celebrities. My ulterior motive for this is that the show is good for ballroom dancing in a lot of ways, but first and foremost - in my opinion, which is the only one that counts (here) - by making it OKAY for men to dance.

So anyway. That was a lot of fun and while I'm sure the producers will not take ANY of my suggestions, I am already looking forward to the All-Star season.

making friends with the neighbors

Illicit feeding in North Carolina. Chickadee, Flicker, Grosbeak, and you really should know what the fourth critter is!

when TV transcends itself

Recap of the "Castle" season finale, with comments from very, very happy fans.  http://tvline.com/2012/05/07/castle-season-4-finale-post-mortem-recap/#more-327048

I like this show a lot.  I've even gone so far as to buy the DVD collections of the series, because you never know, the day may come when I don't have satellite TV anymore, and while I am certain it will be syndicated, I like all the people involved so much that I relish the special features.

"Castle" has so much great mystery source material behind it - I see everything from "The Thin Man" to J.D. Robb's Eve Dallas series - that, if there ARE any mystery readers out there who do not watch, I would like to smack them.  Just a bit.

Here are some things I like about the lead character. 

Rick Castle: the rich guy, with the actress mother, who made his fortune as a mystery writer.  That is, I think, a unique character as the protagonist of a TV series.  What are his defining qualities? 

• He is smart.  He does his research.  He is capable. 
• This is not the funny sidekick who has to be rescued all the time - he's made real contributions to solving various cases, through the expertise he's accrued from research for his books.  He is also quite acute psychologically: he doesn't misunderstand people very often, and he communicates well. 
• As expertly played by Nathan Fillion, charm and wit are the FIRST things we see in Castle, closely followed by intelligence, imagination, and a willingness to say what other people might be thinking but are afraid will sound goofy. 
• He's brave.  He goes into situations that scare him in order to support his team.  And he takes the notion of "team" quite seriously, always respectful toward his official counterparts. 
• He's consistently kind, patient, and generous with his sometimes flighty mother and is an involved, loving, and insightful parent.  These are not characteristics many male TV characters share. 
• And finally, while assertive, Castle is not bossy: he treats his partnership with Beckett as just that - a partnership. 

So, there's my little appreciation of a great TV character.  I'm glad the show runners finally brought the Castle-Beckett romance to a consummation.  That relationship was not one of those that is confected by writers merely to add something for the characters to do when they are not fighting crime; it was built quite naturally over time, and the characters have been so consistently engaging that fans like me wanted it to work. 

Beckett has been a less engaging character in part because of the through-story's structural limitations: the underlying conflict storyline of her mother's murder, which will clearly be a big part of season 5, established character conflicts that pretty much precluded Beckett's being open to a real relationship.  The push-back has been almost entirely from her side.  But thanks to good writing, she has never come off as an irrational harpy. 

I am quite interested to see what the writers do with the team now.  With Beckett off the force (at least temporarily - unless she decides to fight crime as a lawyer, I can't really see her staying out of the street side of law enforcement), Esposito suspended, Castle giving a crap primarily to the extent that he can work with Kate, and Ryan left all alone, there are lots of possibilities for extralegal investigations, operations, and complications. 

I am hoping for a nice juicy pair of episodes dealing with the "second couple" of Ryan & Esposito.  Those two good actors have had a lot of different stuff to play, but mostly in small bites.  I'd like to see a storyline that puts them front and center.

 

house finch on lantern, Riverside

still dodging the to-do's

A friend and I have started a daily check-in to keep ourselves on track with getting fit(ter).  Some other friends and I are negotiating a date for a craft day.  Mr. P and I are keeping to our schedule of coaching & practice.  These are good things. 

I have many, many projects rolling and it would be very, very easy to obsess about self-imposed deadlines.  I am working on keeping things off the schedule, however, except where other people need something from me.  Fortunately these obligations are few. 

I am taking baby steps on a few long-simmering projects, which in a couple of cases need only a few more before they are "complete," i.e. done to a point of satisfaction, if not perfection.  (I am not so concerned with perfection these days.) 

An intended read-and-purge project, for a given book collection, has been not derailed but pushed onto a siding since I discovered a new author whose work I am chewing through on my Kindle.  Will finish the last one tonight and then I will start on the preselected project. 

My Etsy project continues to toddle along.  That is one that has such a low commitment level (i.e. the only time I NEED to do something is if a listing is sold or expires, and the service quite handily keeps me notified of anything actionable) that it's not even on a list. 

Some other things need to be on a list because if they're not, I forget which stage I'm at or when I'm supposed to deliver something (like chapter website updates or emails).  These are things that are not personal projects; they're for other people, so my personal engagement level is low. 

But most things in life just don't need to be on a list.  I don't need a list to remind me to water the plants or scoop out the litterbox.  I certainly don't need to write down "do ironing" or anything like that (ironing!  bahahahaaa!) because I just don't do that stuff.  My employers don't care if my shirt is perfectly pressed ... only that it's completely buttoned. 

Decluttering to-do's is a process, and part of the process is determining what's really necessary.  I am continuing to find that leisure is trumping most self-imposed tasks.  Let's call it my not-quite-summer vacation.