Video Thursday: Waking Up Tired

I don't know for certain if it's the humidity, but lately I've had more days than usual where I get up in the morning and I'm just exhausted. Not in a 'I need more sleep' kind of way, but just a general feeling of a weight on my back, pressing down on me and slowing down everything I do. Caffeine doesn't seem to have as much of an effect as it once did. My morning tea, still welcome, is less of a pick-me-up than it used to be. My mind feels sluggish, and as I write this I hope it's coherent and not repetitive.

It's Video Thursday, and that means I can toss a video in here instead of writing another couple hundred words. As luck would have it, I don't need to go far for the video that's perfect for this topic: the Hoodoo Gurus' "Waking Up Tired". The song rarely fails to get me started, though it's working uphill today. The video itself is not famously interesting, I must say. But it's worth it for the song, which remains one of my favourite Gurus' songs. The Hoodoo Gurus are a defunct Australian rock band who were most popular in the 1980s. Their bassist, Rick Grossman, paired up with the drummer of the now-defunct Midnight Oil, Rob Hirst, to form Ghostwriters, another excellent Aussie band.

Video Thursday: E Eats Everything

Here's a cute little video from They Might Be Giants about the eating habits of the letters of the alphabet.

Video Thursday: Watercolour on Yupo

I recently came to the realisation that I haven't done any artwork for close to a month. This is a sad state of affairs. I haven't even played around in my art journal for at least that long. I came across a video of an artist working with watercolour on Yupo, a waterproof synthetic paper.

I love to do abstract art, and what Mark Mehaffey does with Yupo is amazing. I've been meaning to grab a pad of this stuff from Dick Blick, but art has been a non-priority for me these last few weeks. I hope to remedy that soon.

Video Thursday: An Oldie But A Goodie

This was always one of my favourite Schoolhouse Rock songs. It's been in my head for a week or more, so I'm sharing it with you.

Video Thursday: "Blue Sunny Day"

This video features a great little song by Jonathan Coulton. If you haven't listened to any of his songs, listen to this one, then go listen to the rest of them. They will get stuck in your head and follow you around all day but you will love it.

This song has nothing to do with writing, really, but the waitress in the video is reading a particular book, if you look closely at its cover... the MIT Science Fiction Society had a harsh critique of this book recently.

Thanks to Kaa for bringing this to my attention.

Video Thursday: Art Journalling with Suzi Blu

This week's video is from Suzi Blu. In this vid she talks about art as life and starting an art journal. I like to share these videos periodically because they're uplifting to me. Suzi is a cheerful person who emphasises art in her life. You should too! So should I, for that matter. It's been a bit since I worked in my art journal. Anyway, check out Suzi Blu.

The Future of Publishing

This week's video comes from Mur Lafferty over at I Should Be Writing. While at first it may seem pessimistic, watch the whole thing.


This isn't the first video in this vein: the AARP had a similar ad, and I'm led to believe that the original was an Argentine advert that won an award at the Cannes Film Festival.

Whatever its origins, I'm impressed with it. I hope you enjoy it.

Video Thursday: Figurative Language Bomb

Language can be dangerous, especially when you arm a bomb with it!

Video Thursday: Ten Rules of Life

I realised I haven't featured the videos of the wonderful willowing here yet. I discovered her YouTube videos last year and she's been responsible for some personal insights as well as the purchase of a lot of art materials (that I otherwise wouldn't have tried out). Willowing is a carefree, creative, loving artist whose videos never fail to inspire me or boost my self-esteem. Because, as I've said here, it's okay to make crappy art/writing/etc. The point is to do it. If it feels good moving through you, it doesn't matter if The World thinks it's good. Anybody who'd come right out and tell you your work sucks isn't worth your time anyhow. So there.



I think I might do some art today. It's been a while. I should crack out the watercolour crayons and have some fun. Why don't you give your artistic side a few minutes to play today? Sketch, doodle, paint if you have the time. Just grab some crayons and go to town. Boss being annoying? Pick up some crayons and draw what a big goofy-head s/he is. At home. Where it's safe. Traffic evil? Draw a satellite blowing up all the speeders and lane-jumpers and tailgaters. Bzz-B-DAM! Behold my crappy five-minute Gimp sketch! Imagine what fun you can have with real crayons (I can smell them in my mind... mmm, crayons...) and paper! You could even colour in the cars, which I neglected to do. You have the power. Use it today!

Wordy Wednesday: inexorable

in·ex·o·ra·ble /ɪnˈɛksərəbəl/ [in-ek-ser-uh-buhl]
–adjective

1. unyielding; unalterable: inexorable truth; inexorable justice.

I like this word, though it brings a negative connotation for me. Years ago I wrote a poem about people wandering a post-apocalyptic landscape, and made use of this word. It's not a happy poem by any means. It's not exactly 'depression poetry', which is something I wrote as a teenager during periods of particularly bleak mood. I'm sure this is, or at least was, common amongst moody teens.

The Online Etymology Dictionary says the word dates from the 1550s, though it has its roots in Latin. The Latin word 'exorabilis' means 'able to be entreated', deriving originally from 'ex', meaning 'out' and 'orare', 'to pray'.

The idea behind 'inexorable' is that no matter what you do, no matter how you beg or plead, bribe or threaten, you cannot change the situation. You cannot convince the landslide to not destroy your home. You cannot buy your way out of that high-priced speeding ticket. Something is going to happen and there's nothing you can do to stop it.

So it opens up a kind of scary, depressing subject. It lends itself well to depressing poetry and post-apocalyptic stories.

I'm going to be brave and show you a piece of this high-school poem. Imagine if you will a group of people walking on through a bombed-out landscape. They've got no supplies, they've got injuries, they don't know what's out there, they don't know where to go. All they know is that here is bad; if they stay here, they'll die for sure. So they go. They encounter poisonous areas. Some of them die. They're sickened from the toxic environment, prompting some to kill others to end their suffering. The poison snow of nuclear winter, as I imagined it then, falls on them, and some more of them die. Now they're just walking on because it's habit, it's all they can do. Maybe help is over the next ridge. Maybe it isn't. But they have to press on, just in case a few of them can manage to make it.

Now the mangy travelers
Are only one or two
Their minds are blank and barren
As they plod inexorably on

We are searching for the end
We are groping for the end
We are longing for the end
Death now a welcome prospect

By way of apology for raining on your parade in this way, here's a video on 'Reasons to Be Cheerful':


...followed by Ian Dury & The Blockheads' "Reasons to Be Cheerful":


I couldn't decide on just one, so you get two. Be cheerful today!

Video (Sunday) Thursday: David D. Levine

David D. Levine is a science fiction writer I've never actually read. I've listened to one of his short stories and found it wonderful. Here's a short video of Mr Levine being interviewed at Orycon30, a science fiction convention in Portland, Oregon.



Levine's story "Tk'tk'tk'" was originally published in Asimov's and was featured by Escape Pod, a science-fiction podcast. Go have a listen.

Video Thursday: Silent E

When we were children, we learned the horrific rules of English spelling in school. Things like "I before E except after C", rules that broke the rules. English says, "It's always like this, except when it's not." I suppose all natural languages have their exceptions, but English seems to have cornered the market.

As a kid, I watched Sesame Street and the Electric Company, like many others of my generation. As an adult I learned more about the genius of people like Tom Lehrer, who penned and performed many fantastic and funny songs, including a couple which appeared on those children's shows. Here's one of my favourites: Silent E.