This is one I’ve written after a long time. And I’m really happy with it.
If I, had a paintbrush
I’d use it everyday
To fill my life, with more than gray
[interlude]
If I, had a paintbox
Of vibrant colors
Colors for each season
And colors more than every reason
I’d paint over yesterday
What d’you say?
And if I, had a palette
With the colors of my life
I’d substitute
My favorite mood
When things just won’t go right
[interlude]
Colors,
Everyone is more than one.
Defining me, defining you
With each tint and every hue
From shades of deepest night
To early morning streaks of light.
I wish I had a paintbrush
‘Cos life is more than black and white
[interlude]
If I, had a canvas
I’d paint tomorrow
Imagine television on the radio
Pictures formed of words
Sing the sweetest song you’ve ever heard
How I wish I, had a paintbrush
‘Cos life is more than black and white
“And you’re the red in her painting...
because I think, you’re the red in her painting.” – Sean Penn in “I am Sam”
Radiohead – High and Dry
Monday, November 14, 2005
Monday, November 07, 2005
Everybody's Free
If you got here accidentally, Don’t Go Away without reading this:
Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ‘99… wear sunscreen.
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience.
I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh never mind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked.
You are not as fat as you imagine.
Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4:00 pm on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing everyday that scares you.
Sing.
Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts; don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Floss.
Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead; sometimes you’re behind; the race is long, and in the end it’s only with yourself.
Remember compliments you receive; forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters; throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch.
Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life; the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives; some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.
I’m 22!!!
Get plenty of calcium.
Be kind to your knees; you’ll miss them when they’re gone.
Maybe you’ll marry; maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll have children; maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll divorce at 40; maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either -- your choices are half chance; so are everybody else’s.
Enjoy your body; use it every way you can. Don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it. It’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.
Dance
--even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.
Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.
Do not read beauty magazines; they will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents; you never know when they’ll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings; they're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography, in lifestyle, because the older you get the more you need the people you knew when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard.
Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.
Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths: prices will rise; politicians will philander; you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund; maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.
Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia: dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts, and recycling it for more than it’s worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen.
-- Baz Luhrmann, Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)
I’ve discovered the word audiophile. I think I’ve gone past philia; it’s more like an obsession. I have song lists everywhere; songs I like, songs I want, music I badly need. On my computer, my cell phone, the back pages of notebooks, anywhere I can make a legible impression. One hard disk seems too meager before the mp3. Maybe it’s because I have nothing solid in my life, maybe it’s because I have too much time on my hands or maybe it’s just that I have too much empty space to fill.
One song on one CD four years ago made a difference. Enter AC/DC.
Although I’m cussing when my parents play it, by myself, I kinda like Doo-Wop and the old school stuff. It’s a situation like walking in on your parents while they’re going at it…you wanna tear your eyeballs out to purge the image from your brain. But when you’re bumping nasties, as The Crocodile Hunter would put it... Crikey!
So,
The Ronnettes – Be My Baby
Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ‘99… wear sunscreen.
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience.
I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh never mind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked.
You are not as fat as you imagine.
Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4:00 pm on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing everyday that scares you.
Sing.
Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts; don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Floss.
Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead; sometimes you’re behind; the race is long, and in the end it’s only with yourself.
Remember compliments you receive; forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters; throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch.
Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life; the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives; some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.
I’m 22!!!
Get plenty of calcium.
Be kind to your knees; you’ll miss them when they’re gone.
Maybe you’ll marry; maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll have children; maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll divorce at 40; maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either -- your choices are half chance; so are everybody else’s.
Enjoy your body; use it every way you can. Don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it. It’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.
Dance
--even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.
Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.
Do not read beauty magazines; they will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents; you never know when they’ll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings; they're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography, in lifestyle, because the older you get the more you need the people you knew when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard.
Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.
Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths: prices will rise; politicians will philander; you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund; maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.
Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia: dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts, and recycling it for more than it’s worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen.
-- Baz Luhrmann, Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)
I’ve discovered the word audiophile. I think I’ve gone past philia; it’s more like an obsession. I have song lists everywhere; songs I like, songs I want, music I badly need. On my computer, my cell phone, the back pages of notebooks, anywhere I can make a legible impression. One hard disk seems too meager before the mp3. Maybe it’s because I have nothing solid in my life, maybe it’s because I have too much time on my hands or maybe it’s just that I have too much empty space to fill.
One song on one CD four years ago made a difference. Enter AC/DC.
Although I’m cussing when my parents play it, by myself, I kinda like Doo-Wop and the old school stuff. It’s a situation like walking in on your parents while they’re going at it…you wanna tear your eyeballs out to purge the image from your brain. But when you’re bumping nasties, as The Crocodile Hunter would put it... Crikey!
So,
The Ronnettes – Be My Baby
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
40 and counting
Things hardly anyone, if not noone, knows about me.
Ok, these may also include reasons why no woman would marry me, but I’ve counted 40 so far.
1. I cannot leave a newspaper unfolded along its original creases
2. I’m the personification of procrastination
3. I love an Australian accent
4. I hate chat acronyms
5. Coffee has never kept me up at night
6. Alcohol has
7. I never share cheese
8. I’ve been groped from behind by a newly married woman
9. I’ve abandoned friends
10. I want to write just one great poem
11. I had hoped to have a Mohawk
12. I shall soon be the first bald male in four generations of my family
13. I’ve taught mathematics for a year
14. I’m claustrophobic
15. I have to bungee
16. I hope to die young
17. I’m a bigot
18. I love calligraphy
19. I believe in aliens
20. I don’t believe they’ve visited this planet
21. I’m sadistic when it comes to proving myself right
22. Some days I’ve been too lazy to brush my teeth in the morning
23. I have no innate talent
24. I’m more afraid of bears than any other animal
25. I have to visit Italy, hopefully at least twice
26. I will not eat pasta or pizza there
27. I forget faces very easily
28. I never learned to plan ahead
29. I’m afraid of vast water surfaces
30. I’m also altophobic
31. As a baby, I almost died of diarrhea
32. I’ve beaten children
33. I detest all reptiles
34. I cannot look up into the sky for more than a minute without being overwhelmed by the open space
35. I cannot use a public toilet unless I’m completely alone
36. Misspelling and mispronunciation really annoys me
37. I don’t handle pressure well
38. I’ve been attacked by a blind doctor and a pair of scissors
39. I’ve never been on a rollercoaster
40. Too many dogs have chased me
41. Apparently I’m a Male Chauvinist Pig
42. I can still sing along to most of the Spice Girls’ songs
Additions will be made, with due notification, as and when they come to mind.
Gershon Kingsley – Popcorn
Ok, these may also include reasons why no woman would marry me, but I’ve counted 40 so far.
1. I cannot leave a newspaper unfolded along its original creases
2. I’m the personification of procrastination
3. I love an Australian accent
4. I hate chat acronyms
5. Coffee has never kept me up at night
6. Alcohol has
7. I never share cheese
8. I’ve been groped from behind by a newly married woman
9. I’ve abandoned friends
10. I want to write just one great poem
11. I had hoped to have a Mohawk
12. I shall soon be the first bald male in four generations of my family
13. I’ve taught mathematics for a year
14. I’m claustrophobic
15. I have to bungee
16. I hope to die young
17. I’m a bigot
18. I love calligraphy
19. I believe in aliens
20. I don’t believe they’ve visited this planet
21. I’m sadistic when it comes to proving myself right
22. Some days I’ve been too lazy to brush my teeth in the morning
23. I have no innate talent
24. I’m more afraid of bears than any other animal
25. I have to visit Italy, hopefully at least twice
26. I will not eat pasta or pizza there
27. I forget faces very easily
28. I never learned to plan ahead
29. I’m afraid of vast water surfaces
30. I’m also altophobic
31. As a baby, I almost died of diarrhea
32. I’ve beaten children
33. I detest all reptiles
34. I cannot look up into the sky for more than a minute without being overwhelmed by the open space
35. I cannot use a public toilet unless I’m completely alone
36. Misspelling and mispronunciation really annoys me
37. I don’t handle pressure well
38. I’ve been attacked by a blind doctor and a pair of scissors
39. I’ve never been on a rollercoaster
40. Too many dogs have chased me
41. Apparently I’m a Male Chauvinist Pig
42. I can still sing along to most of the Spice Girls’ songs
Additions will be made, with due notification, as and when they come to mind.
Gershon Kingsley – Popcorn
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