robin of christmas.

it's 1:33 am, robin hood is playing on the television, roger is asleep on the couch's fold out bed and neil is bobbing in and out of attention to the film while his head keeps resting on my right arm. i'm still awake compliments a winter break schedule that little regards night and day, and christmas is now approximately seventy hours away. 

as much as i remember each christmas holiday, i remember just as well past christmas breaks that accompany it, at least since high school when i really started giving it an effort to make my breaks count. i do enjoy it. 

and what's the point of this post? nothing i can put my finger on. it's now 1:53 am and writing two paragraphs has apparently taken twenty minutes. by the time i post this, it'll likely be around two am even. i'll post this for the sake of its posting rather than the sake of any content.

dangerous living.

dangerous smells, dangerous tastes,

dangerous fuels sold at dangerous rates,

dangerous folk in a dangerous place.

oh dangerous people, the dangers you face.

--terrance long

people love throwing around statistics. it's a sort of societal hobby we have, and though most of us are hesitant to accept many statistics we hear as true without some investigation, we still love hearing them. we love believing them, devaluing them, relying on them, disproving them, pointing to them accusingly, and coming up with them ourselves--sometimes legitimately.

i won't bother posting any as there is a practically infinite number of other blogs that will readily present them if you drop them into a bing search. anyway, some of the most popular statistics to make their way amongst us by way of facebook statuses, blogs, pop magazines, and your insightful friend are ones that compare the danger of a more traditionally frightening event to a less traditionally frightening event and end with the statistics that show that fear of the more frightening event isn't justified. for instance: "i don't know why you're so afraid of riding a roller coaster. did you know that one out of every (very large number) people will die in a roller coaster? one in every (smaller number) people will drown in the bathtub!"

i think we all acknowledge that some of these statistics may be true in principle, but a large majority of them include exaggerated or entirely fabricated numbers. likewise for the actual activities as well. rather than try to examine this issue, let's just take it as face value.

i would guess there are three reasons we seem fascinated with this type of  statistic. one, it makes a possibly boring fact (roller coasters are relatively safe) seem much more exciting by tethering it to apparently exciting or shocking fact (baths are very dangerous). two, these statistics can (if the listener takes it as a truth) be very persuasive. three, and the one which i find intriguing, is that i think we like the idea of making boring activities seem dangerous.

who does the media idolize? amongst others, the media idolizes people who live dangerously. action stars, daring spies, brainy detectives who pack a desert eagle. these people live dangerously and we enjoy, and possibly envy, their exploits as we watch. so, is our making the bland seem dangerous an effort for us to get the odd thrill by thinking crossing the street holds more mortal danger than juggling loaded pistols? perhaps. a very minor and boring idea to take up this much text, but one i felt like writing on.

so. want to live dangerously? take a bath.

jane and pandora.

 

the box, once opened, try as you may,

will remain open, its contents forever free.

the insides, once hidden, will from now till last day

a burden, a blessing, a knowledge will be.

--terrance long

it's been a fun month or so since my last post. all sorts of entertaining updates that i'll be sharing with you, my two dear readers. nothing too crazy, i grant you. just the same, things worth writing about. though by that standard i could probably share just about anything--i'll limit myself. we'll keep it to two big developments.

first, i've had the opportunity to hop back into theater as of recent. through a friend of a friend connection i wound up auditioning for 'austenland,' a play based on the book of the same name. what's more, i was cast. it is, in short, the story of jane (our protagonist) who finds herself in a resort based on the regency period and world of jane austen. i'll leave the summary to wikipedia, but suffice to say it's a winner. rehearsal's been going on for a few months now, and performances are tomorrow. all three unlucky audiences will have the responsibility of hearing my british accent and watching me pretend i'm charming. lucky you that you're only reading about it.

that being said, the show on the whole is turning out quite good. i look forward to watching the recording of it after the whole bit is over and congratulate jenny and the company on the fruition of her writing and directing efforts as well as the efforts of the whole ensemble. way to be. 

second, in october i opened the pandora's box of vegetarianism. what began as an experiment to get me in the habit of a)eating more vegetables and b)making myself more aware of my diet has become something that very well may be a permanent component of my diet. before i give the reason, i preface with this disclaimer: it is my choice as pertaining to me as much as its your choice pertaining to you, dig? so if you feel differently than i, i assure you i'm not upset in the least, and would find it reasonable for you to not be upset likewise. and on to my reason...

basically, after going a month without eating meat or other animal products (in the sense that it came from a dead animal) i made the realization that i didn't really miss them all that much. a bit, sure. but honestly, it was far more a shift than a struggle. this being the case, considering what takes place in order for me to eat a bit of meat, i can't really justify it. the same way that i enjoy a good michael jackson album but wouldn't exchange a finger for it, i just can't see me eating meat or bone scrapings or whatever else as reasonable. this is the pandora's box i've opened. prior to october first, i was unaware of this fact. by the end of october, the lid was wide open. and thus it is. 

so there you go. two updates for two readers. til next time,

--trace

p.s.--i'm undertaking a new pet project. check it out if you fancy. you'll find it here--the weekly wikicast.