Let's Do It Utilitarian Style!

Hear ye, hear ye!


Summer 2010 book club getting started off with Thomas Carlyle's Sartor Resartus, the delightful tale of one gent's descent into psychological oblivion after attempting to find spiritual completion in an age in which the individual is lost "for the sake of the greatest good for the greatest number." No, there aren't any epic fencing scenes or great wars--although Napoleon is referenced quite a bit--but the narrative and observations do reflect an age not unlike our own. 


Meetings will be held at River City Coffee in Little Rock (2715 Kavanaugh Boulevard Little Rock, AR 72205 (501) 661-1496; http://www.rivercitygiftco.com/catalog/). Anyone and everyone can feel free to join, and we won't judge you (too much) if you don't make it all the way through. We're gonna shoot for weekly meetings but understand that because of time constraints and such, it's not feasible that everyone shows for every meeting. Which leads me to my next point, this site will serve as a record of what we talk about as well as a forum for anyone wanting to contribute to the conversation. 


Look for future updates including specific times and dates. Also, provide your email and we'll get updates out that way as well.


Happy reading and hope to hear from ya!

What is this "free time"?

Oh, end of semester, how I have longed for you. So many papers written, so many tests studied for, and now it's all over, for the time being at least. So how exactly is it that I'm already kind of bored when I haven't been finished with you, semester, for more than a week? The part-time job waiting on snooty children at the Little Rock Racquet Club might take up some of my newly found free time, but five hours three days a week is non satisfactory. Enter summer projects:

One: get the nightmare portion of my thesis project out of the way. I've spent two semesters so far cataloging, photographing, and hunting down all the pieces of two donated collections, and there's finally a light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe a trip to Mexico for research will ensue?

Two: study for the G.R.E. Self-explanatory. Non update worthy.

Three: learn to spin. I've been an off-and-on knitter for a little over two years now, but I can't possibly be satisfied with making my own sweaters and scarves. Nope, I have to learn to make my own damn yarn before I'll be happy. This one is in process; I bought some prepared hand dyed fiber at Toadsuck, have made my own spindle, and spent about twenty minutes looking up Youtube videos about spinning. Turns out, making yarn out of a bunch of balled up sheep hair is a lot harder than it looks on the Interwebs.

Four: fix up Boyfriend's furniture. As of now it's kind of a drab green, but I'm thinking a cool Asian theme. More to come on that.

This, my friends, is all for now. Excuse me while I go examine faux bamboo covers.

try this one on for size

I am one of the single biggest Dr. Who fans you could ever meet, but you will have to tune into my personal blog to catch my fanatic rants about the greatest Time Lord of all time. That said, this season is the best yet. Yes, for those of you out there who follow the show, you may have been hesitant after Russel T Davies' departure from the scriptwriting team, but just watch "The Empty Child," "Blink," or "Silence in the Library" from previous seasons and you'll know beyond any doubt that Stephen Moffat is more than capable of heading up the show. Furthermore, even though the show's budget has been cut, the show's visual appeal and storytelling complexity is better than ever. Moffat said in a recent BBC interview: "Budget cuts are tough: I don't like them, but they force you to be creative. You've seen that trailer. Does it look like we've had a budget cut?" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8580299.stm).


What I'm getting at is right now is a time for creativity. We're all piss broke and ain't got nothing better to do. So instead of figuring out things we'd buy if we could buy them, why not make stuff? Better yet, why not take the time to enjoy the stuff other people have made. I'm not advocating theft, but how about looking at the infinite nature of human potential. Like the TARDIS, the human mind is so much bigger on the inside. Let's see what it generates.

Dixie

For those of you who did not grow up in my hometown, we have a long lost secret. Well, secret is a bit of a heavy word. A long lost bit of juicy gossip. Back in 1946, Texarkana was haunted by a serial killer known as the Phantom Killer and the Moonlight Murderer. The series of murders were the basis of the film "The Town that Dreaded Sundown" in all of it's ...ahem... glory. And now that I am finishing my screenwriting class this last semester of school, I'm visiting the information again. I'm in the process of using this time as a backdrop for a screenplay about my maternal grandfather's childhood. I think it will be interesting, though I don't pretend that it is based upon much more than articles I find online and a snatch here or there of borrowed memory.

In other news, my final movie of undergraduate work is all but done and being readied for release. Excitement and the daunting task of entering film festivals are at my doorstep.

Finally, Dixie Carter died and no one told me. It isn't that I've had some especially strong connection with the actress, but I certainly don't think she deserved the treatment she received in death. That is, I found out by seeing her picture on the front of People magazine while waiting in the check-out line in Kroger. God rest your soul, Dixie. She died on April 10 in Houston.

T

Welcome to the real world

I suppose an introduction is in order. I'm T, and I'm graduating college, and I'm not sure about much else. This summer is supposed to be the ignition of my pursuits of creative ventures from gardening to fiber arts to film making. Well, I mean, I've done these things before. But now I'm standing at the precipice of the semi-structured excuse that has been college and looking around with mouth agape at the possibilities. I'm going to be a grown-up, and all I want to do is dig in the dirt and make stuff with my hands while I blare Amy Winehouse (she's good, even if she's cracked-out crazy) on my iPod.

So here I stand, alluding to John Mayer lyrics and putting off writing the last shreds of papers I must do for my undergraduate work and pontificating into the vast emptiness that is a blog with an unassured readership... But I bought a bag of felting wool and some florist wire yesterday. I get the feeling that a bustling store on etsy.com is right around the corner. Right next to my organic produce stand.

T

Hey, what about this one? I feel like b_kronos's blog is already kind of its own thing.

T