Such a Sunny Day for the 24th

Dear Asher,
Here is your horoscope
for Thursday, April 24, 2008:

You're just about the last person who needs to worry about dogmatic ideas, but today you may cling too tightly to some favorite old concept that has just plain worn out is usefulness.

Ads I Love

Dear Danny,

So I'm going to steal a segment from Larke and share with you my new favorite commercial :



It's so good for so many reasons. I love sports, I love inspirational soft music over montagey old footage, I love the voiceover, I love that this ad shows who Michael's been talking to, I love Michael saying, "Maybe I destroyed the game. Or maybe, you're just making excuses."

Maybe I led you to believe my game was built on flash, instead of fire

Asher

...and Into the Wild

A new post for a new story.

Dear Danny,

A few weeks ago at the beginning of Spring Break I came home and I told my parents that I didn't want to be in NY anymore. Then we talked for a long time about what I wanted to do, where I wanted to go, etc. I pitched my few ideas and eventually, we got into some good talks about why I want to go somewhere, etc.

Then, as fate would have it, a night later, my Mom had already rented Sean Penn's Into the Wild. For those of you unfamiliar, it's about a 22 year old who literally runs away from society and works his way from California up to Alaska and eventually dies alone in a bus. The movie was interesting for such a variety of reasons.

1) I'm in the same position as this kid, literally, just graduating (or about to) from college. Just on the base level.
2) I had just talked to my parents about doing a variation of what he did, sans the dying alone part.
3) It was an interesting film as a film, one which did some really great things and some things that I think were absolutely terrible. As a film that is

Right after the movie, my Dad turned to me and asked very sincerely, "So does some of this resinate with you?" My immediate answer was, "Some, but I don't want to run away to Alaska"

The more I've thought about it, the more I've talked about it, I don't feel like I'm running away from anything. I don't feel like I'm running from anything, really. I also don't feel like I'm just "taking time off to travel." I know exactly what I want to do, I know exactly who I am when I do it, and I almost feel too comfortable with that. I could so easily get a job with Ed at Technicolor, or find something at NBC, or some other production company. But I know I can do that in a year. 2 years. Guy Niccoluci over at Late Night told me, "You're young, you can get into this whenever you want. I did when I was 30." The last several years all I've thought in my head was that the sooner I start climbing the ladder the better, but I've come to realize that's not only not true but it's not what I need. I want to feel like I've done something, something for something, anyone else. Writing is great, but why can't I do it while I'm in Africa or India? Why can't I help clean up northern India or Costa Rica, or help refugees in Tibet?

Anyway, I've gotten off track. The point is, in Into the Wild, Emile Hirsch realizes that happiness should be shared and that his decision to run away was one of complete selfishness. Something I learned from the film, something everyone should always keep in mind, I think. I recommend this movie for the reasons I mentioned, and it has a great sound track.

I've rambled I think enough for one night. In closing, I wish I had won the WS in vMLB. I'll be sour about that for a while. Too many injuries.

Asher

If You Stop...

Dear Danny,

So here we go, right.

In the home stretch and the question on everyone's mind for everyone, mostly, not just me is "So what are you doing after you graduate?" Or variations of said question. And I finally have an answer...for the most part. As of now, I know where it's not going to be and where it might be.

Not: NY. I've been in NY for 4 years now and they've been good years. I've learned a lot about myself and I've done plenty of weird and fantastic things. For the record, I bartended, I was a colorist, I work(ed) for a major network TV show, I was almost paid to write a screenplay for a gay fashion designer, I lived in the East Village, West Village and Chinatown, I lived without a home for 5 weeks in the city, I met famous people and some not famous people, I drove in and out of the city and to my count I've had 5,241 bagels.

Needless to say, it's time for me to move on. I don't feel like there's anything left here for me to learn about myself. I also don't feel like I'm really leaving anything behind. There's just nothing left for me here, and if I stay someplace that keeps me stagnant for too long, I lose it. So, it's time to leave. This decision was also easier to come to when I realized I really love the city of NY, so don't worry city, I'll be back.

So where to? LA? Home? Not so much. I don't really want to be around this culture any more. I've been to LA, San Francisco, Oakland, up to Boston, down to Florida. I've been to France, Italy, England, Ireland, Germany...eh. It's all basically the same. When you get right down to it. It's all too familiar for me. If I don't go somewhere challenging, what am I doing.

I'm looking towards different programs, mostly volunteer, in South America (where my parents are leaning) and India (where I'm leaning). Both places offer pretty much what I'm looking for. Something different, something that I can help with. Teaching English or environmental help or well, anything.

Where does this all come from? Why? What would a post be without a poker metaphor. This one might even be readable for the common reader (Larke). So I've been mixing up my play recently between cash games and tournements. Yes, I know Alex, not the best way to go about it. But I've realized something. I'm a much more consistent and overall better tournement player. And yeah Danny, I knew that before, I've known that always. But why? Because there needs to be a purpose to my play. If I sit at a cash game, it becomes much more about the short game because anyone can leave the table at any given moment. The game continues on until, well, you go to sleep or have to leave to return your mom's car by 7:30 AM so she can go to work. the point is, the game has no end point, no purpose. In a tourny, you know it has to end eventually due to the blind level increments. You have to pay attention to every play, every player, every hand. The reads become more important, taking any pot becomes more important, that big bluff can save your life. You know what you're aiming for and you take your shots. There's more of a purpose to it. That's what I feel I've been lacking lately and that's what I'm looking for.

So that's what I'm gonna do. Sign up for a multi table tourny. Out of the US.

Asher

Tom Fontana

Dear Danny,

I keep teasing a post, and it will come soon, I swear. In the mean time, suffice it to say that Tom Fontana came in and spoke to us today. Normally these speakers are mediocre at best, but Tom actually changed my life, I believe.

That's all for now.

Asher

New Motto

I have a new motto I want to live my life by. It shall be released with a new long post about the future of my life. Probably. Maybe not. We'll see.

I think this is cool

daer dnany,

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too. Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can. i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh?

i tihnk ist rlleay itnrsetnig hwo tihs wrkos

wrod

That Time of Year

Dear Danny,

Here are my next 5 weeks -

Shoot Matt's movie
Organize my movie
Shoot my movie
Rewrite my "Earl" for Thesis
Reweite my "House" for Thesis
Write my 20 page paper about the Horror genre
Graduate

Well, at least I figured out everything else, now it's just time to get it all done.

Ready?

Set?

Learning and Decisions

Dear Danny,

Today I made a life decision and I learned something about myself.

That is all

Asher