September 12, 2008

But Officer, We're Gonna Be Late for SCHOOL!

It's true.

A 17 year old female student in the Crown Point school system (around the Merrillville, Indiana area) was just DESPERATE to get to school Wednesday morning.

At 6:30 a.m.

You see, Tuesday night was a big deal but Wednesday morning was important too. So ... we'll call her Natalie ... and her three male buddies had to go out Tuesday night and blow off some steam. And, of course, get drunk off their arses. Okay, so I don't know they got drunk off their arses, but considering that they were still testing positive for alcohol at 6:30 a.m., I feel reasonably certain that there was some overindulgence going on.

So, Natalie decides to rush everyone home so that they can all get ready to go to school. School is important you know.

She was clocked at 117 miles an hour.

So she could get to school on time.

And the sad thing is, I can somehow just feel that intoxicated "but we HAVE to be at school on time" obsession and panic. I can even just hear young Miss Natalie trying to explain to the ociffer that they were going to be LATE and they couldn't be LATE, I mean, this is SCHOOL and we're gonna get in trouble if we're LATE.

Inebriated and driving 117 miles an hour.

At 17 years of age.

And university presidents want to lower the drinking age.

Great googly moogly WHAT are they thinking??

The problem with the drinking age is not that it's 21. It's not that it's not 18.

The problem is a culture of over-indulgence and a refusal to comprehend moderation in anything. I mean, do we really need to ban fast food? No. We need to learn moderation - it's great to pick up a fast meal every once in a while. It won't destroy your body if you do it every once in a while.

But as a culture, that's not really how we do things. We're an all or nothing, zero tolerance policy, laissez-faire kinda culture.

There is something to the fact that cultures which don't demonize the rum have fewer young people who go hog-wild with firewater in college and binge drink. But if we bump it down to 18, we're just pushing the problem down a few years, not getting rid of the problem.

Next thing you know, we'll be teaching junior high classes in flavoured vodka and rum appreciation - just to make sure that the kiddies can handle their liquor quicker than they can now.

And you thought teaching kids about sex was a naughty thing for a school to do!

Posted by Red Monkey at 4:18 AM | Comments (3) | Never Underestimate the Power of Human Stupidity | People Say I Have ADHD, But I Think - Hey Look, A Chicken | Stumble

August 22, 2008

WaHOOOOoooooo

I am now cleared to drive (which is good, since I've done it twice already) and better still, walk! I'm to put 50% weight on the leg and use either crutches or a walker, but I can finally ditch the 'chair and use my leg!

My left leg is so happy to not be the sole weight bearer anymore.

Now I'm just waiting for the left hip to crumble into dust. At least, it feels like that's a possibility.

Turns out the doc said it would be four months before I'd be back to relative normality in the right leg - not "no weight at all" for four months. WOOHOO! Over the next 6-8 weeks, I'll be able to put a little more weight on the leg and about the time of my cousin's wedding at the beginning of October, I'll be able to walk without the walker. (I think.)

Now I'm ready to go back to New Mexico, head out to Largo and Crow canyons, Chaco ... Shiprock ... I have picture-taking to catch up on! (And of course, can't afford to get back out there now, dammit.)

At any rate, I'm a happy camper now.

Posted by Red Monkey at 5:03 AM | Comments (5) | People Say I Have ADHD, But I Think - Hey Look, A Chicken | Stumble

August 16, 2008

I'd Like to Make a Donation

Surely someone needs some of the mucous my body excretes. I mean, there must be a point to this besides my body hates me, right? Right? I mean, when you have so much that it comes out your freaking EYES, there's gotta be a higher purpose, right? RIGHT?

And people wonder why I insist that my body hates me.

Posted by Red Monkey at 3:04 AM | Comments (3) | People Say I Have ADHD, But I Think - Hey Look, A Chicken | Stumble

August 11, 2008

The Killing Joke

So, I finally got around to watching Dark Knight this weekend. I read Batman comics from about the late '80s until the early '00s and I enjoyed them immensely. As a result, I avoided most of the Batman movies ... I had the interpretation of the character I liked from the comics. Of course, the fact that I'm actually a Tim Drake Robin fan and Dick Grayson Nightwing fan also meant the movies just weren't for me. I did see Batman and Robin and Batman Forever - two utterly wretched movies despite the fact that I like Chris O'Donnell quite a bit. The writing was blah and the directing was wretched - didn't leave much for the actors to interpret.

So, it took quite a while before I watched most of Batman Begins on cable. Interesting, but not as compelling as the comics. But Dark Knight looked intriguing, particularly the spin we were hearing about the Joker's character. I love the Joker in the comics and in Batman: The Animated Series - a lunatic, yes, but one whose goal is simply to play with Batsy as long as possible. While many of the other Batman villains would exist in one way or another as criminals, the Joker's whole purpose is to "play" with his Batsy.

So, when I went to see Dark Knight this weekend, it was with pretty high hopes but a fair amount of trepidation as well.

I really liked it. I think it was too long - or maybe I drank too much lemonade and had to pee for 2/3 of the movie which messed with my sense of time. I liked the characterization of everyone - the bit with the Scarecrow was unnecessary and could have - probably should have - been cut.

But the Joker? It was truly beautiful. Psychotic, crazy ... and yet there was always a purpose to him - to play with Batsy. The characterization was more complex than the Nicholson version - not because Nicholson did it "wrong," but because the writing in Dark Knight actually captured the Joker's personality from the comics. And, watching the rise of Two-Face was a beautiful touch.

There's loads of buzz over whether or not to award Heath Ledger a posthumous Oscar for his work in Dark Knight. I'm not sure I would go that far. It's an excellent portrayal and it's beautifully done. But to give it to him just because he died? I don't think so. It was a good performance and a great interpretation - but I'm not sure it was really an Oscar-winning performance.

Many people are also prattling on about how no one will be able to play the Joker any time soon because Ledger nailed it so well. I agree that Ledger nailed it and I think this is easily my favourite screen interpretation of the Joker - even better than Batman: The Animated Series because it is much darker than the cartoon was allowed to be. But I think there is one other actor who can take the quirky, dark and wonderful interpretation that Ledger created and also make it work - Johnny Depp. The odd head movements, the flicking of the tongue periodically - these are all hallmarks of some of Depp's more quirky work. In some ways, it's almost as if Ledger was playing Depp playing the Joker.

Definitely worth seeing it in the theatre. Shoot, I might even buy this one on DVD and I don't think I own any Batsy movies. My one gripe is Christian Bale's Batman voice. HIDEOUS. Seriously, WTF? We get that Bruce Wayne needs to disguise his voice. For God's sake, build a voice changer into the suit and do the voice through voiceover if you have to. Or do what Kevin Conroy did for Batman: The Animated Series. Hell, my voice hurt every time Batman-Bale opened his mouth. It was ridiculous.

Anyhow, if you're not sure about seeing this flick and you're a comic book fan, I think it's worth seeing. If you're not a comic book fan, I think the interpretation of the Joker will be something new for you and ultimately much more true than the Hollywood bilge that's been shown before.

Posted by Red Monkey at 9:03 AM | Comments (3) | People Say I Have ADHD, But I Think - Hey Look, A Chicken | Stumble

July 18, 2008

BFF

As I was watching the season premiere of Saving Grace the other day, I realized I was jealous of Grace. Not for Earl, who let's face it is a pain in the ass; not for her job - although I wanted to be a cop for much of my growing up - not for the reckless abandonment in how she lives her life.

As far as I can tell, Grace's character grew up in Oklahoma City - a town I lived in briefly as well and spent many summers there as my mom's parents lived there for much of my growing up. I envy Grace's roots and her ability to have a childhood friendship mature into that thing I find so very rare: an adult "BFF."

Since we moved so very frequently when I was a child, I really never felt rooted to one place. I suppose that since we lived in Austin the longest during my early childhood, that's why I feel the most connected to that area. Even though my "BFF" was due to move to Longmont, Colorado, within a few weeks of our moving to Arlington, I was devastated by having to move once again and losing the friendships I'd made.

Growing up Catholic in Texas - as I'm sure Grace felt in Oklahoma - was something that made you a bit of an outsider. You knew who all the other Catholic kids were in your class because you knew each other from Wednesday night CCD classes.

That was one strike against me.

Then, I made friends with Tracy and Jill (and then Annette and Jenny), which was wonderful while it lasted - but unfortunately, the self-appointed leader of the group apparently decided I was a threat and tried to convince much of the school that I was crazy and forbid other kids to have anything to do with me. Of course, she didn't have nearly as much power as she thought she did ... but most of the kids I knew at that time were at least influenced by her. It was ages before I found new friends. By that point, it was 6th grade and we were all going to different junior highs the next year. And just as I settled in to some new friendships? I was shuttled off to the other junior high and started over again.

Today, I live some 800 miles from Arlington and I keep in touch digitally with only a couple of friends from back in the day. And all of that moving - whether it was moving home or changing schools - didn't make it easier for me to make friends - it made me quieter and more reserved with my friendships.

Until the internet.

Don't get me wrong, there is still no childhood BFF lurking on Los Interwebz for me. But back in 1993 or so, I discovered a Listserv email list out of Missouri called the Crewtons, a list for Creative Writing types. From that list, a small subset of us became friends. We called ourselves the Banshees: Sara and Annie/Maureen out on the left coast. Suz from Missouri. Luann from Illinois. Tamara from Georgia. Dawn on the east coast. We chatted about everything for about ten years. And then, our little group just faded apart. Luann lost her internet access, and her computer. Annie's world more or less collapsed on her. Suz was struggling with several things - Tamara was getting well and truly established in her life and was having issues with family. Dawn faded out and then back in a few times.

Essentially, everyone became consumed by "real life" and gradually eased away from their computer friends.

When I started blogging back in 2005, I stumbled across BlogExplosion and made friends in the shoutbox there. It was a lot of fun and I made a few really good friends. We kept in contact for quite a while after we all tired of BlogExplosion. The same thing happened when we moved to BlogMad. And then BlogCatalog.

And just as with the Banshees, people keep dropping away because their "real life" demands it in some way. The guys I used to work with at my last job - we kept in touch via IM for a while. Today, one never really logs in, one rarely talks - the third and I still have good talks.

And it occurred to me as I was watching Saving Grace, that I am tired of moving from online community to online community as we moved from state to state as a kid. I am tired of watching tiny online groups of friends dissipate like so much morning fog, insubstantial in the light of day despite how real and solid it felt in the night.

You see, the problem for me might be a symptom of ADHD or perhaps how I was raised or perhaps Asperger's. But when I can deal with only text on the screen, the interactions make more sense to me. If we add in both tone of voice and body language - I can't figure out intent any more. Phone conversations often drive me completely batty. But just one set of input - words - and I feel like I "get it." So the dearth of staying power for many online friendships is a source of frustration for me.

All friendship is fleeting and subject to a plethora of ups and downs, I know. But there's something particularly poignant to me about watching Grace and Rhetta's friendship.

How many of you have a BFF, childhood or not? A few close friends? A slew of people you talk to?

Posted by Red Monkey at 8:50 AM | Comments (4) | People Say I Have ADHD, But I Think - Hey Look, A Chicken | Stumble

June 19, 2008

Just a Sprain

To the left of each red line is a break. I can't see the break on the smaller bone for all the hardware that's in there, but there's at least one if not two on that bone as well.

And I thought this mess was just a sprain ....

Posted by Red Monkey at 12:58 AM | Comments (15) | People Say I Have ADHD, But I Think - Hey Look, A Chicken | Stumble