HBO, yo.

Saturday, August 21, 2004

I could get used to writing more often if life keeps giving me sparks. And if I continue to learn from my muse.

I just watched an episode of Six Feet Under from the Second Season which we now have on DVD (it's been highly anticipated in this house). For someone who has questioned the validity of his own taste for several years, it's nice to have turned both of my roommates and their friends into ravenous Six Feet Under fans as well. I really enjoy the honesty of the dialogue and the depth of the characters. I always finish an episode wanting to watch another and/or run out of my house and notice the drama (and comedy) of real life.

I've noticed that I consistently enjoy "Focus Features" films. They're major studio films with more independent themes (Being John Malkovich, 21 Grams, Lost In Translation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, et al). Anyway, they have a new film coming out called The Motorcycle Diaries chronicling the Central American travels of a young Che Guevara with his childhood friend Alberto Granado. Che Guevara fascinates me in both his historical significance and his recent appearance in fashionable culture. I have been reading a biography of him for about year now. I keep trying to revisit it and pay close attention because I have an annoying habit of wanting to finish books as fast as I can, and much retention is lost because of it. I don't have a full opinion of Che, and I refuse to wear a t-shirt or frame a poster until I do. But I remember the chapter about his trip on La Poderosa II (his motorcycle) and how fervently envious I was. He was 23 when the trip began. I am 23. I don't plan on dedicating my life to the same ideals and motivations as Che Guevara, but I definitely wish I could travel the world and see some of what he saw. A glimpse into what could turn a middle class Argentinian into the quintessential revolutionary. So let's hope the film is good surrogate.

For so long I wanted to live in a movie. And then I felt like I was watching life as though it were a movie and I was only in the audience. I think I'm finally living in that movie, and beginning to understand how much control I have, and how neccessary improvisation is.

Somewhere along the line I became fascinated and perhaps even obsessed with large ideas and grand universal themes. I was trying to BE the big picture. I've seen the forest, but it's the trees that are important. It is absolutely necessary to understand that Life is a big picture, but it's useless unless you can recognize that life is in the details.

When I started writing this I really had to pee. But I was intent on getting out what was in my head first. Guess it shows how much control our minds really have over our bodies.