It Is Time

I was inspired or commanded to try to make this video. I only had a few minutes. The dream version was much better with photos flying in and sound quotes from all over the place.



This is nothing like that. It is simple. Imperfect but close enough.

Open Letter to the Great Goddess of Cinema,

The next time you want to inspire me could you at least give me three days notice? I could have tighten this up a bit and made it the way you showed me in the dream.

I appreciated the heads up about the song but for Election Day I would have liked to made a kapow kind of video.

Yes, I know. Simple is underrated. Yes, I understand I am not capable of kapow at this time. Yes, I remember the grade I got in the 16mm film class.

Anyway, thanks for the idea. I appreciate you thinking of me after all of these years.

The Other Side of Being Among the 99%

It is about the flow of money. Much of that employment flow has been diverted to other states and countries.

If you, you being a wealthy, rich or doing all right person don't understand what people are talking about perhaps you have a better relationship with things.



So here are some things. These are called empty stores. Stores that had an owner and employees. They don't have them any more. When folks are unemployed their discretionary shopping money vaporises. That means they can't go shopping.

No shoppers means no customers. No customers means no business.No business tax. No business to business purchases. Nothing.

You may have all the shopping options you can handle. When a community has lost too many vendors or merchants in an area you have a dying city.Or a bunch of blocks with nothing but empty window.

I have nothing more to add.

It is just a visual observation. Also my Day 12 VloMo video.

Jaming It In Anyway I Can for Day 13

Today is Sunday. A day of rest. Trying to catch up on my videos and it it almost but not quiet a lost cause. This is a video of me looking out at trouble from the Metro Pico Station. We are suppost to have our Santa Ana winds that cause warm air to lovinging caress the body.

Not these rain clouds.



What rest?

I have cleaned the bathroom, Uploaded 15 videos to the Vlomo Gallery, throwing out trash, trying to finish a blog post and start another and did I mention the kitchen is a wreck?

There is laundry. There is purging of things I haven't used or read in 15 years.

No. I am not complaining. I am stating facts. The fact is this is a good day. Well, except for damn near choking myself because I took too strong of a sniff of PineSol.

Ventilation should never be compromised. 

When We Gather In Our Names

It is a moment and then it is gone. That is why we take photos when we get the chance. Trying to keep up with that road runner known as the Queen of Spain can be a full time job.

Taking the kids to school. Getting herself to treatments. Speaking at conventions about cyberbullying and Lupus. I can just about keep up with her on Twitter. She's got multiple streams going on Facebook.

At BlogWorld Los Angeles 2011 I caught up with Cecily Kellog, Anissa Mayhew and Erin Kotecki Vest. They were finishing their panel and had just got kicked out of the room. Believe me when I say the room wrangler had to work hard to get those dames to stop talking.


Photos and phone slinging commenced. A couple of other folks drift in and out.  I want to know how she knows the dude in the kilt?

That guy way everywhere. So this video is for them. And for me.

Meeting the People You Sleep With

2015  Update: The original video has been lost; it was posted on a service called BlipTV. I haven't found the original; it is on a disc someplace in my possession. I've added a book trailer that hopefully you will find interesting.

This takes some explaining. I like audio dramas, storytelling, audio theater, old time radio and stuff like that. I got hooked on Philippa Ballantine podcasts of Weather Child and other productions.

Tee Morris, yes. too many to count. I usually listen to podcasts before I go to bed, when I need to mellow out at work or for medicinal purposes.

I attended Tee's presentation at BlogWorld 2011 in Los Angeles. Excellent. He told the straight scoop and didn't try to get me to believe in the fairly money making slot machine of podcasting. I really appreciate that.




Here is my story. Tee did mention that he and Philippa would be in steampunk attire the next day. I didn't think I get a chance to see them but they were standing near the Podcaster Zone. Do yourself a favor and check their web site http://www.ministryofpeculiaroccurrences.com

I did have my digital camcorder, honest. It was hiding from me at the bottom of my bag. I could only lay hands on my mobile phone. Not high definition but you use what you got. I was also going into a mild fan panic of "record you idiot before they get away."

Folks, I must have looked like a dork. I know it.  But I got the video.

I am putting on my self-desired holiday shopping list an electronic organizer for my handbag. This, I swear,  will never happen again. This is my day 4 video for Vlomo 2011.

Looking Into the Rafters - Day 3 of Vlomo 2011

I feel like I have walked almost every inch of the Los Angeles Convention Center. I haven't but that joint is huge.




Anyway this is a video that I recorded when I looked up into the rafters of the convention center. I have more but if you are curious about this Vlomo 2011 stuff check out the blog I'm curating at http://vlomo2011.tumblr.com

Being Myself Is Hard Work

Somebody has to do it and I guess it is up to me. But the mail that gets stuffed in my mail box is disheartening.




One ad to lose weight. Another for Dish TV. Two ads for Pollo Loco. More ads for losing weight. As near as I can figure it I'm supposed to sit at home all day watching TV and not eating anything.

This is my Day 2 video for International Videobloging Posting Month aka Vlomo2011.

My Spray Candy Experience

Hello friends and assorted relations. It has been a day. A full day. Not like yesterday because all I remember is coming home and crashing at 4:30 in the afternoon. Waking up at 2:30 a.m.the previous day might have contributed to the experience.

There is a bit of sleep desperation going on. I mean deprivation. It could be a good thing. Really. I'm taking the short cut to everything not requiring deep attention.

I apologize in advance. The reason I'm apologizing is that I watch a man doing the dishes in one of the Vlomo 2011 videos. I was about to make every water based sexual innuendo in that post and then it hit me.

Nooooo! You don't know that man. It is wrong. It isn't funny, it is tacky. This is record of participants, not your boy toy catalog.


Now mind you I was only saved by what little rational mind I have left. I can't blame that on lack of sleep but I can try.

Finding The Story

I was rushing to the store thinking I was going to buy clothing. I didn't buy clothing.

I bought food. And being a good shopper I look up at the top shelves and the bottom shelves. Eye level is for suckers. On the top shelf on a clearance rack was a bunch of spray candy.

I am here to testify, One spritz is all you need. Three or more and there will be trouble. It is a fruit juice concoction with Xylitol, Citric Acid and other stuff.

I am not hating on it. Nope. It will bring you back from the afternoon sleepies. For those of us that really can't drink Red Bull this might be the next best thing.

Unless you had a full night's sleep.

Sleep Is But An Illusion - Pre-Vlomo 2011

Not that I am comfortable at this time. I am not. But I miss being creative. It seems that my time is being spent informing folks of stuff, which I really like to do, but I don't get to create as much as I want to.

I have been watching the Tate Shorts on iTunes. There is also a Tate YouTube channel. Those things blow me away. All kinds of artists, some pompous, so to the bone authentic. There is a wack job or two but I like them as well.

So long as I don't have to live with them.

The implied point of watching those videos is do it.

So I am going to try to do a video today and for the next 30 days. I'm not an artist. I don't necessarily make great videos. But I like doing it.

That should count for something. I'm rambling. It is the lack of sleep. But not right now cuz I gotta go to work.

I am also going to gather other folks doing the same and post them on at http://vlomo2011.tumblr.com because having a centralized place to see other people's work seems like a good idea.

Where am I?

Whoa, gotta go.

Being 52 - A TechnoRant Before Black Friday

In the caves of the Salt Mine there were strategy meetings on getting the goods. Techniques were reviewed such as scarfing down dinner and then stand in line until the 4 a.m. opening. Miner #56 wanted first dibs on the 40" television.

Miner #39 was thinking about how many targets she could hit in a two hour window. The desk was lined with ads. She was marking her positions on her phone to graphically see if she could get to point A, B and C in time for the designated specials.

Salt Chizzler #320 questioned the need for sleep but was concerned about the biological impulses and line etiquette.

I tried to offer the voice of reason. "You could shop on-line. It will be in the store the next day. Do you really need to shop; I mean what about the meaning of the day? You know, giving thanks, talking and sharing memories, being with loved ones?"

I looked each in the eye when I said "Why the bum rush to Christmas?"

They looked at me like I just sat on a whoopee cushion.

I know when I am licked. I had more things to say so this is a short video on three techno rants about cheap netbooks, e-book readers and cameras.

This is my day 24 video for National Videoblogging Posting Month aka #Vlomo10 on Twitter

Poetry In Plain Sight - Robert Thomas Lundy

Robert Lundy is the writing partner of Elizabeth Yahn Williams. They often write about the same topic but with different styles and viewpoints.

Rhyming poetry is deceptive in that there is a message or story that is carried by the rhyme. You might have to shift you perception antenna a little bit to really hear what is going on.



This is Robert reading his poem, Deja Vu All Over Again.

For more information about Elizabeth and Robert check out their web site atwww.hitherandyahn.com

This is day 23 of National Videoblogging Poetry Month aka #Vlomo10 on Twitter.

Poetry In Plain Sight - Elizabeth Yahn Williams

I have to put this out there. Most of the older women poets will not allow me to record them or their poems. I totally understand and respect that decision. I think it is a mistake.

People need to see and hear from our elder poets. Not just because they are "older" but because they offer a bridge to what was and what is in the here and now. Growing older is not a toxic condition no matter what the advertisers try to tell us.



Take your choice, grow older or cease to be? Then again in Elizabeth Yahn William's poem maybe there is a choice to come back like ___________. This is her poem entitled On Reincarnation: Or, Bury the Dead at Hallow's Eve.

For more information about Elizabeth or her writing partner Robert Thomas Lundy you can visit their web site at HitherAndYahn.com

This is my day 22 video for National Videoblogging Posting Month aka #Vlom10 on Twitter.

Poetry In Plain Sight - Julia Stein

Poetry can slice through a lot of nonsense. Politicized issues about aging, health care, faith, humanity and even pestilence are made clear line by line.

I listened to Julia's poems and I was uncomfortable, not in a bad way. It was the feelings of recognition. Of the reality of being vulnerable to other people who will take advantage. It is also the recognition of others who will rise up and overcome the darkness but not before a lot of tears.



The discomfort is the reality of remembering to focusing on what is really important. We need to be made uncomfortable if we are to deal with our ever evolving future. This is Julia Stein's poem entitled Where Love Is.

This is also day 21 of National Videoblogging Posting Month.

Poetry In Plain Sight - Carl Stillwell

It has been too long since I've written a proper poem. I'm hanging out with the poets to find my voice that was shelved for a reason I can't remember. It might have been a job or a man.

I can't remember. Once of the things that I like about spoken poetry and poets is that there is a lot of risk taking. Can you say the words? Will they understand. Will the spirit of the poem come through.

This first poem is in memory of David Stillwell entitled REM Revelation.



Sometime you just have to let things happen. This is CaLokie with Don Kingfisher Campbell riding shotgun on Glory Golden Oldie.



This is my day 19 and 20 videos for National Videoblogging Posting Month.

Being 52 - Software Blues

I'm a day late but just under a dollar short. I came home last night and I tried, I really tried to post something. My body was not having any part in it. I woke up around 3 a.m. to write about image sensors.

I really want to write about digital image sensors and I needed time to think and write. So that is what I did. Then went to work, did a few chores and then attempted to catch up.



I'll have you know the body will protest if you try to stay up more than 20 hours. Gone are the days when I could stay up to watch the Late Show, the Late, Late Show and the Late, Late, Late Show.

I'd sleep for two hours, go to school and then do it again the next night. Wouldn't break a sweat.

Being 52 you'd think I'd understand time and spacial relationships. I needed space in my bed and I tried to press past my allotted time.

Silly rabbit.

This is my day 18 video for National Videoblogging Posting Month aka Vlomo10.

Being 52 - Move Here

This is a place of motion. People coming and going. Things to do or at least we say so.



There is a lot of natural beauty that people really don't take the time to see. This is a visual poem of sorts. It is also day 17 of #Vlomo10.

Being 52 - Writing A Post to A Stranger

Life was a bit simpler being a six-year old person. You could write a letter to someone you did not know. You thought about the letters that made up the words you wanted to say.

As you age up a bit you become more self conscious and hopefully a bit more reflective. I did type hopefully. Anyway this video is an answer video to Frank Carver's Vlomo10 post on the A14.



Hi Frank.

This is the California state highway 134. It is normally jammed up with folks going and coming from work or trying to get to the Rose Bowl. Lord help you if you are on it the same day as the UCLA vs USC football game.

The scenery is kinda cool. There are palm trees, oak trees, wild flowers, bougainvillea and whatever the wind blew into the land this week.

Lemme see, anything else. Oh, yes. The sound you hear is the on-board television called TransitTV. There are day old news stories from the Associated Press, PowerPoint type puzzles and commercials to ride the bus to people that have no choice but to ride the bus.

Thanks for the inspiration.

Gena

The Being 52 lesson of the day is go for it.

Being 52 - A Burger Desire

I like really good hamburgers. I'll reconstruct the burger to make it right. I don't want mustard. I can tolerate fresh lettuce. A real tomato or nothing. I want onion rings, not chips of onion.



Pickles are optional. There is nothing quite as nice as a single burger from In-N-Out. No cheese. No fries required. Just a $1.75 burger.

I have had the Vanilla Shake with a burger. Made with real ice cream. It is thick. You'll need a spoon. I try not to order that more than once a month. Moderation of desire I guess.

So this is not only my homage to In-N-Out but to the time honored practice of animating photos.

I have to. Dang video codec jacked me up again. Part of my Thanksgiving will be spent re-building my system and clean out the cooties.

Being 52 is knowing what you want and not being swayed by other desires. It is also being ready to pull a bunny out of a hat when you have to make it happen. Steady on.

This is my day 15 video for National Videoblogging Posting Month aka Vlomo10

Being 52 - The Old and the New are One and the Same

I was clearing space and trying to throw things away. I found an old toy digital camcorder with a 1GB card in it. It works like a Diana/Holga camera in that the imperfections can make interesting videos. This one had a kind of meditative quality to me.

Anyway, I had recorded a video crossing Suicide Bridge. Yes, it has earned the name but the city doesn't like the bridge referred to as such.



With millions of people acting like they have drunk the equivalent of 2 cans of Four Loko (fortified alcohol drink with an added shot of caffeine = a lot of alert dumbass drunk on hype people)we need a touchstone that reminds us that this too shall pass.

The poem is The Calming Thought of All by Walk Witman from his book Leaves of Grass that can be found at Project Gutenberg.

Project Gutenberg's goal is to publish all books in the public domain.

This is my day 13 video for National Videoblogging Posting Month

Being 52 - Seeing and Not Seeing

There are times when we are on automatic. We go shopping for stuff. Generally for the stuff we need but we are diverted by the stuff we want. Or think we want.



Or didn't know that we wanted it. Me, I go looking for what I haven't seen before and can tote home in a shopping bag. I don't want a painted Buddah or a tarted up angels.
But I did see that kitsch really does have a price tag.

This is a lemonade video on account that I didn't know that the iPod Nano will record 480 x 640 if I record in portrait mode.

This is my day 12 video for National Videoblogging Posting Month. Check out the rest of the folks via Twitter using hastag #Vlomo10. You can also find some of those rascals on YouTube