WISDOM OF THE SAGES
EPISODE NINE – FALL 2015
Hello People of the World;
Finally fall makes it chilly debut. But that still
has not kept those whom forget that the earth turns from being absolutely
surprised when the temperature drops. I just learn that the earth is very close
to the sun during the spring and fall, and not during the summer as we thought.
It is about which way the earth is facing the sun that dictates the temperature
during these times. Pretty neat, huh? So, stop yer bitching.
On that note, let’s get this month’s edition
started, shall we:
1
:[ Why I
keep writing: I am trying to make a feature film using no money but my own,
with like-minded volunteers. But it has been beset with setback after setback.
So, in the meantime I keep writing to fill in the spaces in between. I have
several writing and art projects stewing right now and to keep writing on them
helps me keep my creative edge keen. I am currently writing a second set of
short stories for my “Blue Woman” Series, also, a novel (or possible novella,
depending on the page count) about two friends who grew up on a reservation and
meet again ten years later, called “A Rez Tale”, and I also am writing a series
of film related articles for my other weblog WoS Reviews, the first of which
“Mother’s Watch”, you can find here. They will tackle a myriad of genres
alternating between fun articles and serious ones. So, I just keep writing,
because the more keen you can be as a writer, the better you can make your movies, I
always felt….
2
:[ It is
fun seeing the white person reaction to “Straight Outta Compton”, with many
making excuses not to see movies based on the African American experience or
race. I remember, people did not want to go see “Dear White People” because,
they “heard it wasn’t that funny”, or thought that “Selma” was too cloying or
one-sided, that “Fruitvale Station” was exploitative. Now, the strangest thing
is now, they will not see “Straight Outta Compton” because, apparently, it was
not MYSOGYNISTIC ENOUGH! Funny, because it was a very misogynistic movie, but I
am sorry that not seeing a woman getting the shit beat out of her made
you avoid a movie about racism….
3
:[ Coffee
Shop Adventure: So, there I was, at my usual B&N coffee shop haunt in
Evanston. Is it me, or when did we stop using common language to
communicate. So, the young barista
just was not understanding what I meant by the word “Large”. Seriously. I ordered
a large hot chocalate. She thought I mean the Whatever GroupThink Linguistics
Version that Starbucks uses for the super-extreme-ultra-maxi-extreme-mclarge-huge
size. I actually had to say, “You have a small, a medium, a large, and a super
large. I just want the large.” Group Think freaks me out. Why develop lingo
when we have a perfectly good language…?
4
:[ I am
very happy that I have such great friends that do not tell me I am a crappy, sucky
writer. I gave out “The Autobiography of Blue Woman” my self-published book to
them for free (which you can find here!) and for the one’s who did indeed download it, whom all assured me
that they could not wait to tell me what they thought about it, even write a
review of it, have, so far, refrained from telling me how horrible it is. So,
thank you.
5
:[ I am
sitting in a B&N Coffee Shop looking at a game called “LOGO PARTY” where, I
assume, a knowledge of corporate logos is a key to winning. So, that is what
makes a game now days. Man, we are being schooled regular in brand recognition.
It is bad enough we pay exorbitant prices for shitty thinks like BEATS and
NIKES and PHONE SERVICE, all just so we can be part of the heard. You know how
I know evolution is true and that we come from a common ancestor with monkeys?
By how much we gather together in packs and scream about shit that excites or
frustrates us….
6
:[ Even
more COFFEE SHOP ADVENTURES: What has come of professionalism? I was there
again the other day and all that I could here, was the snarky baristas,
snipping at each other over job tasks, all while TAKING MY ORDER. Couldn’t this
shit wait but did you have to answer that passive-aggressive shithead while I
am trying to tell you what I want?
What amused me to no end was the young kid at the
next table who called out his tutor for being rude. This guys was a pushy,
overly about himself type of dude who lean over and under-breathedly said
something to the kid as one of the café workers walked by. The kids was having
none of it, loudly calling out, “it’s rude to make comments on people you don’t
know. In general, that’s just rude.” The guy tried to recover and laugh it off
and be self-deprecating, but you can tell, he just is not self-deprecating. So,
it was awesome the kid did that….
7
:[ I am
frustrated. I had this great thing I was going to write about that seemed timey
and informative but some things happened that just sort of pushed that out of
my head and now I cannot even hope to recover them. Have you ever had an experience
like that? I have been thinking about what to put in this seventh item and came
upon something that would do. But something happened at work that seems to be a
long line of frustrating things to happen, that have nothing to do with me but
some of the schools I represent. I am upset and feel powerless because we pride
ourselves on setting our students up for success, but only of they come from
certain school. So, that pushed, whatever it was that was at the front on my
noggin that I wanted to write about. It was probably something stupid about
coffee shop service. Oh well. Who am I to complain? The decisions have been
made.
That will do it for this month. Despite the fact
that I pared down WOS to the bone to make it easier for my to put together in
the midst of all the other stuff going on in life, I always find it a
last-minute effort to pull it together. I set deadlines for the 30th
of every month, so I do not miss anything that may come up during the month.
But I always feel that I have to stick with the seven items when I should stick
with whatever number of stuff I have at some point and just write it. But, that
just would not be me, now, would it?
As always, feel free to comment, correct, or
contradict anything you read here. My ego is such that I think I can take it. I
dare you. “Think you can take me? Well go ahead on. It’s your move.”
Until next month, remember “I try to show the
schemers how pathetic their attempts to control everything really are.”
2015 Ernest M Whiteman III
