1, 2, 3...

Son, you're 4 years old.
We walk home from the park
in the rain
taking tiny steps.
Your little, wet, cold hand grasps mine.
"How are you doing?" I ask.
"I'm ok," you say, sniffing in boogers.
I wipe your nose.
We get soaked but eventually make it home.
This time has moved so fast.
In another 4 years, you won't want to hold my hand anymore.
I try to hold onto these fleeting moments.
They flow through me.
____________

Driving into work
I'll be gone from 7am to 9pm
I see a thick layer of smog as I approach the city.
Poison that will fill my lungs.
I think about all of the chemicals that enter my body on a daily basis just to get by.
Caffeine, alcohol, other medications, deodorant
Even the air I breathe is killing me.
Driving into work,
I have too much time for my mind to turn on itself.
Sometimes when I'm stuck in traffic,
I feel like I'm being buried alive.
"You can do it," I tell myself.
What we do is very important
and I'm lucky to have been chosen to help bring these stories into the world.
____________

Sometimes we'll go to the beach.
After playing,
We'll just stand together where the waves break at our feet.
I feel the ancient subatomic particles
from the sun
warming my face and chest.
I feel the ancient subatomic particles
from the ocean
cooling my feet.
We stand there
feeling comforted by the earth's heartbeat.
I wish this could last forever.

...old prop sheets for DreamWorks Animation

I found old stuff that actually made it on screen.
It's like when you're a kid and you get the Crayola box of 64 colors and you use all 64 colors and what you come up with is...interesting.

...top 10 movies

How could I narrow down my favorite movies to just 10?!

Although this is a dynamic list and although this was painful to compile, for a reason I can't articulate, I felt I needed to do this.

Just for context, here is how I arrived at my favorite movie list:
The very first time I see the movie, it changes the way I look at the world, and consequently indelibly changes who I am.
Every time I see it subsequently, it enriches my life.

I tend to like movies where I can relate to the protagonist and include the viewer as a participant.


I could go on and on about editing, cinematography, music, and allegory, but at the end of the day, for me it boils down to: "How did this story make you feel?" If I can relate to it, even if it's a sad story, I don't feel so alone.

Before we start, honorable mentions go to: Radio Flyer, City of God, Dumb and Dumber, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Pi, The Rocky Series, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, 25th Hour and The Deer Hunter.

_______________________________________________________


10) The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

9)  Edward Scissorhands (1990)

8) Pulp Fiction (1994)

7) Goodfellas (1990)

6) Rebel Without A Cause (1955)

5) Forrest Gump (1994)

4) American History X (1998)

3) American Beauty (1999)

2) The Wrestler (2008)

'The Wrestler' Clip

1) Donnie Darko (2001)

'Donnie Darko' Clip


p.s. buy some t-shirts at:
www.weAREbutTHREADS.com

:)

...jellyfish

What if we all evolve into jellyfish?

Jellyfish have no brains, so they don't feel pain in the way that we understand pain and yet they retain the capability to interpret other stimuli.
They live in perfect harmony with each other and the ocean because, in fact, their constitution is mostly ocean.

Sometimes, if I'm at the beach, I'll take a second to get about chest deep in the ocean water.
I'll jump through and tumble around in the waves a bit.
Those moments help me to understand just how big the world is and how we all have a role in it.
In those moments, I feel free.

Jellyfish don't have hearts, so they don't get their feelings hurt.
They just are.
...they do have stomachs though :)

...hands

I walked into my son’s room.

He was just waking up, but he didn’t say anything, so neither did I.

I knelt down beside his crib and held his hand.

He started picking at a scab on my knuckle from hitting the heavy bag.

I became aware that my hand was callused and scarred, fingers knobby and crooked from years of getting jammed, smashed, and exploded.

His hands were so soft and perfect.

I hoped that I could be like him again someday.

...butt threads

Butt threads?

It’s pronounced: but threads.

It looks like ‘butt threads’ to me.

Well, you can write it like this:

www.weAREbutTHREADS.com

OR

www.

We

Are

But

Threads

.com

It’s short for, “the universe is an intricate tapestry…and we are but threads.” It’s a commentary on how we’re all interconnected. The perceived barriers between people are just that, ‘perceived.’  And what’s more, the distinctions between anything are not as stark as they appear to be. Electrons are constantly moving from atom to atom. Everything is connected. Also, the first and last letters are ‘WS’ which can be initials for ‘WarriorSperm’ or ‘West Side,’ depending on the viewer. Plus, ‘threads’ has connotations of t-shirts which is a bonus. It's poetic.

I think it's dumb.

  

Well I'm sure you're not the first, and certainly won't be the last. I don’t mind if I get cross-traffic from people looking for g-strings. I like it.

...I guess it’s just like me...a noble intent, intrinsically flawed.

...the life series

"Good Friends We've Lost"

A hundred miles an hour down Pacific Coast Highway in Wilmington; we thought those days and nights would never end.

Eleven young adults haphazardly crammed into a 1984 brown Chevy Camaro Iroq Z-28 with two-tone brown interior, chrome Trans Am rims, and three ten inch kickers in back.

Candle lit vigils strewn across the pavement like candy.

So commonplace, you forget that someone lost their life, or rather, had their life taken.

‘Gone but not forgotten’ is all they can say.

The setting sun kissed the candles just before it went away.

Viva la luz

 "Good Friends We Have"

No one knows his real age or name for that matter, but he is most commonly referred to as B.L.E.S., The Prince of Cambodia, or Yung So What.

They say he is over 100 years old and that he’s never slept, but I don’t believe that kind of superstition.

Like Sacajawea, he’s led us through the alleys and back-roads of Los Angeles.

Narrowly evading the authorities (and sometimes not) in search of cuisine and adventure.

Chinatown, K-town, Little Tokyo, the Arts District, East Los, Echo Park, the Harbor Area.

From 10pm to 6am, we put our lives in his hands and he guides us to the other side.

Viva la noche