This Is Water

A good friend of mine has been slowly reading "Infinite Jest" for the last few months -- taking it piece by piece when he wants a belly laugh, or needs a break from the beat down. He tells me about the characters, the original humor, the solid writing. But I never think hard about picking it up, mostly because it is over 1000 pages and I fail to see that haul as a way out of being beat down myself. My cabinets get empty. I have to stop at the grocery store. I hate the people in line, in traffic, in my way. I get caught up. Maybe sometimes you do, too.

But then about two weeks ago the same friend sent me something I could not avoid reading (it landed in my lap) and I continue to think about it because it's pretty damn good.

"If you're automatically sure that you know what reality is, and you are operating on your default setting, then you, like me, probably won't consider possibilities that aren't annoying and miserable. But if you really learn how to pay attention, then you will know there are other options. It will actually be within your power to experience a crowded, hot, slow, consumer-hell type situation as not only meaningful, but sacred, on fire with the same force that made the stars: love, fellowship, the mystical oneness of all things deep down.

Not that that mystical stuff is necessarily true. The only thing that's capital-T True is that you get to decide how you're gonna try to see it."

David Foster Wallace hanged himself on September 12, 2008 -- the day before my last birthday. Three years before that, he gave the Kenyon College commencement speech. There is a lot to say about it (it uses typical "bullshitty" cliche while genuinely going well beyond it), a whole lot more that happens in reaction to reading it, but perhaps most important is what must have happened in Wallace's mind as he talked simply about the values of awareness, conscious thinking, and choice -- and simultaneously about the difficulty of “making it to 30, or maybe even 50, without wanting to shoot yourself in the head."

"The capital-T Truth is about life BEFORE death. It is about the real value of a real education, which has almost nothing to do with knowledge, and everything to do with simple awareness; awareness of what is so real and essential, so hidden in plain sight all around us, all the time, that we have to keep reminding ourselves over and over:
This is water.
This is water."

The commencement speech is not funny like "Infinite Jest" (Sorry if this post is a downer). But it is smart, it is simple, and it resonates -- at least with me. Reading it is well worth the time it takes. Reading it is the easy part.

You can buy the text of the speech on amazon or find a version of the ardently copyright-protected speech here: http://www.moreintelligentlife.com/story/david-foster-wallace-in-his-own-words

See what the NYT said about it here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/books/review/Bissell-t.html

It's Your Turn To Tell The Story: Venturing Into Screenwriting

To date, the posts in this section have focused on experiencing art. I wanted a post with a different perspective, so this one will focus on creating art. I truly believe that everyone has a hidden artist inside themselves. I often find that I will know someone for months, even years, before I discover that they are in fact a closet artist, someone who loves to create art through a particular form, but keeps it hidden from most around them. Some simply don't want others to know about the artist within. For many, it is a vulnerability that they would rather not risk others discovering and criticizing, belittling or mocking. This is a shame because some of the best moments in my relationships with others have come when I've discovered their artistic ventures and they've shared them with me.

We could spend years posting about various art forms on this blog and hopefully there will be more to come. But for the first post from this perspective, I've chosen something that is relatively cheap and anyone can do: screenwriting.

Storytelling has been the cornerstone of the human culture since the beginning of time. It is how we communicate and how we understand our social existence and the world around us. I once heard a study that found, on average, by the time we turn six, we have heard over twenty thousands stories in our lifetime.

Screenwriting is writing stories for the screen, for cinema or television. One can write feature films, short films, television shows, etc. There is an endless list that is only bound by the limitations of your imagination as people are constantly finding new forms of screen-based storytelling. Some people write simply for the joy of it. Others write to sell their scripts. Still, others write to produce their scripts and enter them into film festival contests. There really is no wrong reason as long as you enjoy what you're doing.

Chances are that you have had an idea for an interesting story. When you share your story with others, you are enriching our culture. Think back on your own life. Chances are that you can quickly name a book or movie that played a significant role in the formation of who you are today. Screenwriting gives you the ability to have the same impact on others.

There are essentially two things you need to start screenwriting. The first is some sort of word processing program on your computer. It doesn't matter which program you use. I certainly recognize that you could use a typewriter or handwrite your script like in the old days, but I just can't imagine how much additional work these latter two options require when it comes to editing.

The other must is good guide book. Screenwriting books are a dime a dozen. It is difficult to know which one is ideal for your needs. When I started writing screenplays, I spent hours on the internet trying to find a good book. The book that consistently showed up in the recommendations was David Trottier's "The Screenwriter's Bible." This is not an effort to promote sales or anything else. I've never met David Trottier and have no motivation to line his pockets with more cash. Instead, this book is simply a great resource. It provides a wide range of great, simple tips to consider as you journey down the path of screenwriting. More importantly, it is an ideal reference book for screenplay formatting. Do not start worrying. Formatting is not a daunting task. However, there are some very basic rules one should generally abide by and this book will tell you anything you need to know.

So it's time to stop saying "I could have written that" after watching television shows or movies and time to sit down and put your creativity to work. Screenwriting requires little in the way of investments and the rewards or great. There is no better feeling than telling a good story. For an even better experience, find a friend who also enjoys to write and work on the screenplay together.

Always Good For A Laugh: Mitch Hedberg

I can still remember the first time I saw Mitch Hedberg. I was flipping through the channels on my cable and stopped on the Comedy Channel unintentionally. But what I came across was nothing short of hilarious. It was a half-hour special on Mitch Hedberg's comedy.

Mitch Hedberg was original. In fact, he was one of a kind. His brand of humor is unique and creative. It doesn't bank on cheap jokes at the expense of others. In some respects, it reminds me of what Larry David did with Seinfeld: it focused on the everyday idiocracies of life.

Unfortunately, Mitch passed away in 2006. But his comedy lives on.

A Unique Style of Animation: Jeremy Casper's Dried Up

Dried Up from Cecil on Vimeo.

I stumbled across this short recently and was pleasantly surprised. The animation is truly unique. It reminds me somewhat of Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas, but less dark. In the age of Pixar, it is rare to see this style any more. It is a short film that is worth the six minutes.



Jeremy Casper describes the short film:


"Dried Up is a story about the character of a person who through opposition is true to his own belief and character. He does what he knows he must do to bring life to a town even though others tell him it is pointless."

Campfire Blues: The JJ Schultz Band

One of my favorite moments in life is when I stumble across a great band that few people have heard of.  There's something about having a band to yourself or your group of friends; the kind of band you can pay eight dollars to see at a local music joint.  

That's why I was so thrilled when a friend introduced me to The JJ Schultz Band.  The JJ Schultz Band is the kind of country band that you want to listen to as you camp out somewhere in the great plains, down cheap cans of beer, and stare at the campfire, enjoying every moment of it.  

There's a great deal of back-porch authenticity to this band.   As you listen to songs like "Drinkin' You Off My Mind," it's easy to picture them playing bar stopping country blues in the local, barn-like tavern of a small country town.  It sometimes reminds me of Johnny Cash playing at Folsom Prison.  

"Speed Train" is a classic, end of the night country ballad that's easy to sway to.  JJ's vocals give the song great soul.

I have yet to see this band live, but it's hard to believe they would be anything but fantastic after listening to their self-titled album, which is on i-tunes.

Here's what the band has to say on their website at http://jjschultz.com/main.php.

"Hailing from the Wisconsin Northwoods, JJ Schultz captures the lonesome middle-America landscape with the wry clarity of Nebraska era Springsteen.  Schultz's wavering vibrato captures the snap shots of everyday people surviving the life of rural America.  The dusty barrooms, the front porch steps and farmer's fields are images delivered with a subtle passion that's balanced between sparse guitar picking and a poignant vocal delivery that is as distinctive as Jay Farrar and Townes Van Zandt."

A Night With Sigur Ros: Heima

Sigur Ros has gained tremendous popularity in the independent and critical scene, but has only recently begun to receive mainstream attention.  I first discovered Sigur Ros when I watched Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic, which featured a Sigur Ros song, which was played as Team Zissou finally discovers the jaguar shark.  

For those who have not heard of Sigur Ros, they are a difficult band to describe.  I'm not sure giving them a label does them justice.  The best way I can describe their music is as follows:  Each year, there is an international organization that looks at several population statistics and ranks the countries around the world in order to determine the "happiest places to live."  Iceland is consistently in the top three.  It is regularly described as a country of people who have discovered inner peace and tranquility.  As you watch Heima, the documentary dvd by Sigur Ros, you begin to understand why these descriptions are so common.  

Sigur Ros' music is introspective and inspiring.  Heima blends the best of their music with some amazing footage of the Icelandic countryside.  I recently lent it to a friend, suggesting him and his wife buy a couple of nice bottles of red wine, get a fire going and watch this dvd on a weekend night.  When I talked to him a week later, he thanked me.  

Here is Sigur Ros' description of Heima:

"Last year, in the endless magic hour of the Icelandic summer, Sigur Rós played a series of concerts around their homeland. Combining both the biggest and smallest shows of their career, the entire tour was filmed, and now provides a unique insight into one of the world’s shyest and least understood bands captured live in their natural habitat.

The culmination of more than a year spent promoting their hugely successful ‘Takk…’ album around the world, the Icelandic tour was free to all-comers and went largely unannounced. Playing in deserted fish factories, outsider art follies, far-flung community halls, sylvan fields, darkened caves and the hoofprint of Odin’s horse, Sleipnir*, the band reached an entirely new spectrum of the Icelandic population; young and old, ardent and merely quizzical, entirely by word-of-mouth.

The question of the way Sigur Rós’s music relates to, and is influenced by, their environment has been reduced to a journalistic cliché about glacial majesty and fire and ice, but there is no doubt that the band are inextricably linked to the land in which they were forged. And the decision to film this first-ever Sigur Rós film in Iceland was, in the end, ineluctable.

Shot using a largely Icelandic crew (to minimise Eurovision-style scenic-wonder overload), ‘Heima’ - which means both “at home” and “homeland” - is an attempt to make a film every bit as big, beautiful and unfettered as a Sigur Ros album.   As such it was always going to be something of a grand folie, but one, which taking in no fewer than 15 locations around Iceland (including the country's largest ever concert at the band's Reykjavik homecoming), is never less than epic in its ambition.

Material from all four of the band’s albums is featured, including many rare and notable moments. Among these are a heart-stopping rendition of the previously unreleased ‘Gitardjamm’, filmed inside a derelict herring oil tank in the far West Fjords; a windblown, one-mic recording of ‘Vaka’, shot at a dam protest camp subsequently drowned by rising water; and first time acoustic versions of such rare live beauties as ‘Staralfur’, ‘Agaetis Byrjun’ and ‘Von’."

Book Recommendations: Two Books That Inspired This Site

Here are two great books that inspired the creation of this website.  Both of these books offer readers unique and interesting perspectives on creativity and happiness.  Here are summaries of each:

Flow:  The Psychology of Optimal Experience:  Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's famous investigations of "optimal experience" have revealed that what makes an experience genuinely satisfying is a state of consciousness calledflow. During flow, people typically experience deep enjoyment, creativity, and a total involvement with life. In this new edition of his groundbreaking classic work, Csikszentmihalyi demonstrates the ways this positive state can be controlled, not just left to chance. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience teaches how, by ordering the information that enters our consciousness, we can discover true happiness and greatly improve the quality of our lives.

The Artist's Way: With the basic principle that creative expression is the natural direction of life, Julia Cameron and Mark Bryan lead you through a comprehensive twelve-week program to recover your creativity from a variety of blocks, including limiting beliefs, fear, self-sabotage, jealousy, guilt, addictions, and other inhibiting forces, replacing them with artistic confidence and productivity. This book links creativity to spirituality by showing how to connect with the creative energies of the universe, and has, in the four years since its publication, spawned a remarkable number of support groups for artists dedicated to practicing the exercises it contains.