11:33 a.m. - 04.17.2003
\"Signs, signs, everywhere a sign...\"
I caught an episode of American Idol last night. Like, my third ever. This time the individuals didn't sing. They just belted out a couple of group-tunes and then kicked someone off.
The group tunes disturbed me. It's all very Up With People. Well, Up With People meets Survivor. They get all chipper and patriotic - and then boot one from the herd. That doesn't seem very Up With People now does it.
***
So, I'm someone who subscribes to the idea of signs. I don't feel like I have a set course in life, but I do believe there are road signs showing me the way to some great road-side attractions, but if I don't pick up on them - no big whoop.
Like, when I was choosing between Seattle and Charleston - signs galore! Daily I'd see a sign for one choice, and then go with it. But then the next day I'd see what I felt to be an even stronger sign for the opposite choice.
This went on for some weeks. It's amazing how, when I specifically need to choose between two things - references to those two things pop up in my life and in media at a disturbingly uncanny frequency. HAS to be signs. There's no other explanation. In the end - I'm forced to pile all the signs together for each choice and then weigh them against some of my personal factors.
It worked out that Seattle won. But now South Carolina is EVERYWHERE.
Just last night, on That '70s Show, Hyde called Kelso the Prince Of South Carolina. That's SOOO a sign....right?
And then Entertainment Weekly said that the West Coast was so 5 minutes ago and that it's the South that's "in" right now.
I continue to follow the steps that I've set in motion to move to Seattle - but these blatant signs are making it very difficult.
***
I want very much to hear a punk cover of the "One Day At A Time" theme. NO! Scratch that. Reverse it. I want to hear the Strokes cover "One Day At A Time"!
***
I think it would kick-ass if they made a live-action version of Popeye. But the kicker is - it would be a musical! They're making a comeback you know, musicals. If Baz is busy they could get some other artsy director like Robert Altman to helm it.
***
I had a vision. Of a residential sub-division. Where all the homes...(wait for it)....are hobbit holes!
Think of it! A typical, curvy suburban street, lined with rich green earth berms on either side. And every so often in these berms are ornate, round wooden doors.
The homes could have all the amenities and conveniences of modern day living - they'd just be built into the sides of grassy hills. Too cool for words right? I know!
I figured someone must have jumped on this gravy train already. Damn greedy developers. But actually, nobody has! I did find this, but it's nothing more than wishful thinking like myself.
My uncle is a land developer - maybe I should make an elaborate presentation to pitch at the next family get together. I'll be his favorite nephew! (Just because I'm his only one doesn't mean the competition isn't steep.)
***
I was looking through some pictures last night. Specifically, pictures of me from my by-gone frat days. They were old composite pictures. A composite is where they take a police-style mug shot of all the memebers, except we wear coats and ties, and then hang it on the wall so that silly little girls can check us off like trading cards.
Looking through the years, I can actually see myself grow and mature mentally.
Like, at first I start out wearing a braided hemp necklace. And the next year I have cast off my jeuvenile ways in favor of a shiny metal necklace that looks like a chain that holds the pens down in a bank - only the balls of the chain are on steroids and are 50x's bigger.
Then I learned to mellow out and donned a nice puka shell necklace (YEARS before anyone else mind you. Amishboys are trendsetting boys. ...no one ever said good trends...)
And then finally, towards the end of my maturation, I ended up with a nice, unassuming, and quiet set of wooden beads - before giving up on jewelry all together.
It's so refreshing to be able to track our social progress visually.
I mean, sure I was wearing a collared shirt and tie in all these pictures so that none of this is visable. Maybe to the untrained eye I look perfectly indistinguishable in all my years of undergrad. But I know the necklaces were there. I can see the strides I have taken. And that's all that really matters.
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