Pondering Spawned

See You in a Bit

ponderingspawned — Mon, 06 May 2013 20:12:15 +0000

I will be away from the blogosphere for a little bit and am sorry if I don’t respond to comments promptly.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: A Romeo and Juliet Story

ponderingspawned — Mon, 06 May 2013 20:00:10 +0000

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

To remake is to make anew or in a different form.

________________

While brainstorming what to write for this week’s episode, I realized that I had already started the post as a comment–and all because of something from the ever-inspiring Rarasaur and Grayson Queen! Recently I shared a memory with this dynamic duo as a response to “Speak Geek to me Shakespeare,” which was posted on their collective blog: The Queen Creative. It’s a perfect fit for the remake theme, so I’m going to be remaking it for you today. Oh my, a remake of a remake. I do believe the creators of Community would be proud!

One day, my English Lit. teacher gave my best friend’s and I an excuse to fly our freak flag: a semester assignment prompting us to do a video remake of a scene from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Don’t ask me where the idea came from, but we decided to apply the play to the classic Spaghetti western: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Despite the plot of the movie not really lining up with Romeo and Juliet, it worked out pretty well. We chose to film the scene where Mercutio kills Tybalt and is then killed by Romeo: Romeo was The Good, Tybalt The Bad, and Mercutio the Ugly.

The dress on the right is almost exactly like the one Juliet wore. Image source: Etsy

This is some of the most fun I’ve ever had. We put together costumes–I played Mercutio, wearing an ill-fitting, child-sized mailman costume; Romeo wore a large poncho and jeans with a white hat; Juliet wore a 1970s bridesmaid gown; and Tybalt (who was also Juliet) wore all black with a black cowboy hat. We made swords out of dowel rods and created five O’clock shadow with makeup. Thus, we became a group of sword-wielding cowboy hermaphrodites strolling down the antiquated town square of our local Pioneer Museum.

Together, we learned that acting is not easy. Even playing dead becomes difficult when a fly is sneaking up your nostril as you try not to breath in your constrictive mailman costume. We also learned that filming takes a long time to create a short video, and that editing takes even longer. The night before our project was due we realized we were several minutes shy of a six minute requirement, and we scrambled to film the next scene of the play in which the Friar and Juliet’s nurse convince Romeo to flee.

This is the actual museum where we filmed. Image Source: Pioneer Florida Museum and Village.

With an old blanket and some rope I became a monk, and a Navajo print nightgown and beaded headband made the former Juliet into her own Native American nurse. It went well considering that we had to film this bit with no script in one of our backyards. The Nurse urged Romeo to travel to Mantua by extolling the virtues of their new McDonald’s and lovely botanical gardens while the Monk, trying not to giggle, called him a moron for killing Tybalt. Romeo hammed up the drama, wailing over having to leave his beloved Juliet who now stood next to him as an Indian princess and had recently been stabbed by him as Tybalt.

Image source: alibaba.com.

Afterwards we edited until dawn, guzzled coffee, and dragged ourselves to school the next day. Our teacher loved it, our classmates seemed confused (especially when Romeo fled from killing Tybalt atop his lightening-fast stick horse), and we tried very hard to suppress both laughter and embarrassment as it played before our peers.

*clicking on an image will take you to its source.

This one is Hard to Write

ponderingspawned — Fri, 03 May 2013 18:04:32 +0000

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Saudade is a Portuguese word that describes a deep emotional state of nostalgic longing for an absent something/someone that one loves. Moreover, it often carries a repressed knowledge that the object of longing will never return.

Saudade was once described as “the love that remains” after someone is gone. Saudade is the recollection of feelings, experiences, places or events that once brought excitement, pleasure, well-being, which now triggers the senses and makes one live again. It can be described as an emptiness, like someone (e.g., one’s children, parents, sibling, grandparents, friends, pets) or something (e.g., places, things one used to do in childhood, or other activities performed in the past) that should be there in a particular moment is missing, and the individual feels this absence. It brings sad and happy feelings all together, sadness for missing and happiness for having experienced the feeling.

_____________________

I’m pretty late with this Prompts for the Promptless from Rarasaur. I haven’t really been feeling 100% lately and haven’t been keeping up with other blogs well (or my own for that matter).

I could say it’s the back-to-back colds, updating pages and images for this blog, novel writing, or any number of things. The truth is I just haven’t been myself lately. Something broke inside of me in December. With the passing of my grandfather I came face-to-face with too many things, and I don’t know if I’ve been hiding from them or if my brain did what brains always do and put them neatly away in a box. It’s not a good box, things keep leaking out of it and leaving tracks across my cheeks.

As I saw him laying there, emaciated and dying, hitching breaths and refusing to go until his body simply couldn’t take anymore, I didn’t think about the good times. I thought about the times I simply wasn’t there. No matter how often my mom told me over the phone that I was missing my last moments with him, over four years of deepening states of dementia, I didn’t listen. I heard her, but there was so much between myself and going to see my grandfather that I just couldn’t bring myself to go.

My grandmother isn’t very nice, and my response to this has been to stay away from her. Not just her though, my entire extended family. I allowed my fear of and anger towards another person take from me memories I could have made, and now I have to find a way to forgive myself for that. I have to find a way because there is no going back. A slowly growing solace comes in that, recently, I have been able to remember what I couldn’t when sitting next to his death bed.

I remember weeks I would spend with my grandparents when we would work all day–my grandparents were always working–and settle down to hearty dinners followed by quiet games of Dominoes in the evenings. I remember watching a documentary on Pepsi Cola and Coca-Cola with the two of them sitting in their separate lounge chairs while I fought sleep on the sofa directly behind them. I remember the way my grandfather would hem and haw while he read the morning paper, licking his finger to turn pages, his mouth slightly open as it always was when he was trying to focus on something. He is the person who taught me how to fart and blame it on others in public, the man who never swore unless he was driving (then all bets were off), he was my only living grandpa and now he is gone.

It feels like the only tie I had left to that side of my family is gone too. The weekend of his passing and memorial services and funeral there were family events from which we were intentionally left out, though if anyone not involved in this were to ask of our absence they were most likely told we chose not to be there. People I had been told were waiting to talk to me seemed inexplicably cold and I had to wonder if they had been told lies about me before we had a chance to reunite. Other members of the family seemed to be trying to bait me into saying negative things about other family members, probably with the intent of using them against me.

Through all of this I couldn’t help but wonder how he had survived it all, and I felt so much more love for this man who had dealt with so much in his life while maintaining a grace and strength so tempered by humility that I only saw it in echoes after his passing.

I wish I could go back to that simpler time when youth helped me rise above everything and simply be a part of my extended family. What is it about teenagers and young children that makes them able to navigate rough waters so much more smoothly? As and adult I hide, from all of them, because it is simply too much to handle. It is easier to stay away from it, or so it seems, but as I learned in December: this too has its cost.

Killing Me Softly With Your Ad

ponderingspawned — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:09:40 +0000

Reblogged from The Outlier Collective:

An Excuse to Talk about Monty Python

ponderingspawned — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 16:59:19 +0000

I’d like to thank Rarasaur for giving me this excuse with Sortaginger’s suggested Prompts for the Promptless segment this week: Gallows Humor!

Really, who does Gallows Humor better than Monty Python (well, aside from the fellows who create South Park)? Whether traversing plague-infested England and admonishing people to bring out yer dead,

extolling the ex-virtues of an ex-parrot,

or harvesting organs before the harbinger has technically expired,

their view of history and the present brings an unexpected humor to the darkest travails of humanity. One could say their chief weapon is surprise, though we cannot forget their almost fanatical devotion to the pope either.

Honestly, I love anything that can make a person laugh at something taboo, serious, or dark. The reason being that learning to laugh at a thing removes its power over ourselves. Fear does little more than restrain us from moving forward. Laughter is both empowering and uplifting, and finding the humor in the grief simply highlights the human weaknesses which caused it in the first place. This serves to remind us that grief and sorrow are ~~but a wee bite~~ small part of life.

Besides, whenever life gets you down, Mrs.Brown and things seem hard or tough

and people are stupid, obnoxious or daft

and you feel that you’ve had quite enough,

look at gratuitous pictures of penises:

or listen to this song:

Above all remember this: if we can learn to laugh at all the darkness in the world we may gain the courage necessary to stand up to it, bringing about a day when we can sail off into the sunset together–moving against the tides of Westward expansion in all its forms. A wee band of merry pirates who will become capable of taking back this ship and setting a better course for humanity.

Note: clicking on an image will take you to its source.

The Gurus We Choose

ponderingspawned — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 14:59:18 +0000

Reblogged from rarasaur:

I often find myself in situations where I have more questions than answers. Even in finite studies, like mathematics, every time I find an answer, I reveal 3 more questions. In spiritual matters, this ratio is magnified ten fold.

Last night, Dave and I watched a documentary called Kumaré, the "True Story of a False Prophet", and all day today my mind has been overwhelmed with questions.

WTOE: Reyeshine

ponderingspawned — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:33:04 +0000

Today I am featuring the beautiful artwork of Reyeshine, an artist born in the Netherlands and now living in Utrecht (I love the internet)!

The email Reyeshine sent me to explain why he creates is absolutely beautiful, and he has given me the go-ahead to share the whole thing with you today! First, however, I’ll be sharing his artwork:

If you would like to see more of Reyeshine’s artwork (and I know you do!) visit his blog at www.reyeshine.com, or his Facebook at facebook.com/reyeshine

Without further ado, here is the full reasoning behind why Reyeshine creates:

The strange feeling

It started three years ago. I had a simple job, a simple home, a simple life. I was full of frustration and did not know what to do with my life. The future was clouded and boring. I was costantly stuggling within. The feeling to do somthing. The question was “what to do?”. The feeling began to grow until I picked up a pencil. Like a magic wand I drew a picture. The feeling was a little bit less.

The next days I started to draw some more pictures. Weeks went by but it did not satisfy my feeling. I had to do more. So I started to create garments, paintings, masks and I even designed my own tattoos. After a while my sister told me you should apply at the Art Academy of Utrecht. And I did after a longer while. And became a student at the Art Academy.

The first reason why I create is to calm a feeling inside me. I think it is my inner self a part of me forgotten in time.

Entering a new world (part one)

My first day at the Art Academy was scary. New people with talents way much better than mine. People creating since their childhood. The teacher didn`t look to friendly too. What am I doing here. Am I really worthy to call mysellf an artist. I felt lonely but than I got a flashback. It was a flashback with me and an old friend of mine. He said to me as long as you believe in yourself you can reach even beyond the sky. With those wise words I started to create more and more. At school I worked hard and at home I worked even harder. After half an year the teachers were impressed. And I passed for my first two subjects ( 2d and 3d Class).

During the summerbreak I started creating my own website I wanted to share my artwork with the world.

The second reason was because I was insecure about my own talent. But I really wanted it. And the memory motivated me more to create.

Enter a new world (part two)

After the summerbreak I started with two new classes with two new teachers. I was way less insecure about my talent because I knew I had talent. My future was much more brighter. But still I had to prepare a lot for my big day. The day of graduation. It was even more work than the first two classes. So I began to work even harder. I worked eight hours at work and six hours at home. My talent went in an overdrive.

At the day of graduation I had prepared a lot more than any other student. I even had four people to help me. Two of them were my models and two of them were my builders. When we were done the whole hallway was full of my work even the windows and the floor. And than three teachers came to judge me.

The third reason what drives me to create is because I can involve people with and in my work. What I like the most is the drive of the other peoples who help me with my artwork.

Awakening of a New Artist

It was time for the teachers to judge me. I had to wait in a room for five very long minutes. After that I had to return to the hallway.

At the hallway one of the teachers spoke: Congratulations you just graduated with an “A”. Such an incredible talent. You have blown us away. You must show this talent to the world. And they gave me a my graduation paper.

I had reached beyond the sky and the new me was fully awakened. An real artist.

My final reason is all the previous reasons combined. My drive to create is: I like to create it gives me satisfaction after all that hard work. I really like how some people get inspired when I create. And if I feel a little bit insecure I think back. What drives me more is my new goal “Show the world my talent and inspire more people and getting famous.”

Food for Thought is Dead, and Some Other Stuff

ponderingspawned — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 15:53:25 +0000

Bring out yer dead!

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking on the matter in the last couple of days, and I’ve realized that I simply don’t have the time for the involved nature of Food for Thought right now. This is for several reasons, but the biggest one is that Food for Thought is too big for this blog.

You see, I didn’t realize until I started the full potential of this segment. There is so much misinformation available as regards nutrition, and so much good information too. I thought my goal would be simple: give you good information coupled with simple lifestyle changes to promote healthier living over time.

Now I realize that doing this is easier said than done, and far more complex when you factor in the competing viewpoints concerning healthcare (perception colors everything, after all). So, what I’ve decided to do is continue my research and plan for a second blog in the future. This blog will offer simplified information from multiple viewpoints as well as the technical aspects from which that simplified information arises. It will offer all of the good resources I’ll be accumulating, and I hope to also be able to explore how health misinformation starts and spreads in a section of the site as well. This is in the hopes of helping others become better able to identify when a source of information is reliable or not. I will also be offering simple suggestions for lifestyle changes to promote healthier living in much the same format that I was starting on this blog.

I would also like to include historical information regarding food production and dietary habits and their effects on changing social, economic, philosophical/scientific, and natural landscapes.

By being able to offer all of this information, I would be creating a website that is not focused on diagnosis of medical conditions; touting super-foods or the amazing benefits of this month’s food fad; losing weight; or things along these lines. I would be creating a site that is focused on understanding the human body, how what we put in it can affect us on an individual level, and how that can affect our society and world. Obviously, this is too much for a segment on one blog.

I’m excited at the prospects for this. You see, Ponderingspawned (while I love it) has been a test run for me. I’ve never done anything like this before and, while I do love this old gal, there are some days I feel she’s a bit of a mess. This is not to say the mess will be retired, simply that this is an ongoing experiment (in love) and so it isn’t as structured and well planned as future blog projects will be.

So I come to you today with apologies for jumping the gun on something that can (and will) be truly wonderful if (when) executed properly. I’ll be removing the Food for Thought section from my blog tomorrow, but I will be leaving up the posts and adding a brief update to the end of each that links to this post.

Thank you for your continued patience with my scatterbrained experimentation. And now, for your amusement, I’m going to share with you the silly aspects of teaching yourself how to do something:

I only recently realized that you have to register your blog to become a part of Google’s search indexing. Oops . . .

I just discovered both keywords and analytics (double oops . . .)

I ing LOVE Google.

My duck looks like a baby chicken.

I just discovered how to create professional looking 3-dimensional logos in gimp (worked backwards from features under the “create” option under the “File” tab on the main menu. Yep, just found out what a layer mask is, triple oops . . .).

What can I say, I just don’t like using manuals when it comes to learning. I’m more of the dive-in and just start playing with it type. This can be an awesome experience, and sometimes it can lead to finding ways to use

something that are completely weird and might not have been considered by others. Other times it leaves you wondering why in the heck it took you so long to catch on to something so simple–eh, everything has it’s positives and negatives I suppose. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll find a middle ground and use manuals in coordination with that hands-on/diving in approach . . .

Monty Python Image obtained from Tumblr.com

Empires of Food Image obtained from civileats.com

Frustration and Diving In image obtained from stock.xchng

TPI, A Symphony of Science, and a Duckload of Ducks

ponderingspawned — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 17:56:54 +0000

Hello everyone, it’s a beautiful ing day isn’t it?

Yes indeedly ily do, it is! And on this beautiful day, I’d like to thank Women Who Think too Much (for Eleanor Roosevelt and radioactivity) for inciting a discussion on my blog which led to naming the most egregious of afflictions: Temporary Neurological Implosion, or TPI for short!

What is TPI?

TPI is what happens when one suffers from information overload and resulting brain shutdown. Ever study until your head hurts and all you can see are ideas? That’s TPI. Ever think a problem straight through the solution and back to being a problem again? That’s TPI! Ever overwhelm yourself with tasks to the point where everything you have to do simultaneously bombards you with mental list-making? Yep, mother ing TPI!

Jean Marie of Women Who Think Too Much really liked the idea of TPI and suggested we name the cursed affliction (because everyone knows that finding the proper name for something is the first step to conquering it! That’s why you don’t see soldiers who suffer from shell shock anymore!). Any–ing-who, we decided to call this disorder: Temporary Neurological Implosion, or TPI for short. Why TPI instead of TNI, you ask? Because we ing said so, so shut the up!

I’m telling you this because I’m currently suffering from an acute case of TPI. What does this mean for you? Posts full of ducks, random absurdity, and Symphonies of Science!

Your body needs science, so think that shit!

What caused my TPI, you ask! (General insanity) I have given myself too much to do for this blog and other aspects of my life. Food for Thought is one of those things. It is a beast, a humongous starving beast that demands feeding via a load of research and processing. I’m not giving it up though, I’m just going to reevaluate the nature of the project. I was really unhappy with the first post, the one entitled “Drink More Water and Less Sugar,” and I’m thinking of only posting twice a month–once on health/nutrition and once on body image–and adding more details to the Techi portion of the segment as I go along throughout the month. Let me know your thoughts (my thought monsters need them to live).

Oh, and what is it with artists and taking on waaay too many things at once? I think it’s because we’re dreamers, reaching for the stars while also trying to explore the depths of the ocean. Well, whatever the reason, I’ve discovered that my response to being overwhelmed is to rekindle my love for cursing like a dirty ing sailor, watching science-laden music videos, and making shit up (such as TPI)!

Anyway, I will not be posting for Food for Thought this Wednesday as, unless thou doth protest, I will only be holding this feature twice a month. I will keep updating you on my progress with this month’s step (I’m not doing ing well with it today–I”m going to go drink water now in fact). I will be posting for WTOE this Friday. I don’t have any submissions, but I have feeling that might change as Purnimodo very kindly posted about the project on her blog (she is so awesome). Even if it doesn’t, I’ll be attempting to expand the discussion more on Friday.

Oh yeah, speaking of discussion, have you visited my ing pond? I was going to write “” pond, but then I realized what that would actually be saying and didn’t want to give you the wrong idea. Ponderings Pond isn’t that kind of pond. If you’d like, you can pop on by (follow the link) and have a chat with me (or anyone else who happens to stop by). You can also leave links to things you think I might find interesting.

Have a nice ing day!

WTOE: Artists and the Why Behind the Creative Process

ponderingspawned — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 17:36:30 +0000

Today I thought I’d put up the answer from past WTOE participants and try to engage you guys with some discussion.

I see some common themes: love, people the artist cares about, the pains of life, a compulsive need to translate thoughts into reality.

What do you see?

What do you think it all means?

Do we create because of who we are, or are we who we are because we create?

What makes an artist different from other people?

Art fulfills basic needs in life. It helps us to define what is around us based on what is inside of us. It is a way to translate our space.

What makes an artist different from other types of creators (such as scientists, mathematicians, programmers, historians, etc.)?

If you’d like to contribute your art and answer to the project please send an email to ponderingspawned@gmail.com

Include your artwork, the name you would like used in your feature, any links you would like to be included, and answer the question “what drives you to create.”