Chris Penn R.I.P.

As much as I enjoyed his acting work, my favorite Chris Penn moment was on an episode of Conan O'Brien in the mid-to-late nineties. O'Brien asked Penn what his dream acting role was. Without missing a beat, Penn replied, "Ben Franklin." And what I loved most of all was that he was serious.

Oh No!

I am really starting to get into Leonard Cohen. Is anyone else into Leonard Cohen. Songs of Love n' Hate? Those kids on "Dress Rehearsal Rag"! Wow . . .

Had some silly dreams last night. (This blog may just mutate into a journal of dreams I find amusing)

1) "Sarah the Deb" I was driving in a red convertible with my sister Sarah while she contemplated which of us siblings would live longest. I dissuaded her from being so morbid, ending the conversation. We pulled into a mansion, where there were some hugh (9'x6') oil portaits of Sarah painted when she was 13. Apparently, in the dream reality, someone had given Sarah $20K when she was that age, allowing her to enter into the world of debutantes. Sarah was depicted in the paintings flashing a brace-covered smile, wearing pearls, a white coutoure dress and large Jackie O shades.

2) "Everybody Out" At age fifteen, my sister Molly was no longer the baby. I carried the new little sister with me through the shopping mall, until someone pointed out that this baby wasn't my sister at all, but was one of Sarah's enemies trying to usurp her position in the family. I was suddenly a small, grey alien with the voice of Paul Lynde, contemplating whether I should join with humanity or use my raygun to evacuate the mall.

3) "The Ultimate in Improvisation" My college friends from OU (the main constituency of my readership) and I hired out a theatre and improvised a two-hour scenario, each of us fully becoming the characters we'd adopted - the ultimate in improvisation. There was no audience, and we made full use of the space, running up and down aisles, into the balcony, and onto the stage. I was sad to see the night end.

When I Get Mad, I Play My Drums

Another goal of mine in 2006 is to become a really good drummer. I have the passion, and the musical brain (in terms of knowing what I need to play), I just need to develop the technical facility to implement it.

I'm also working at developing my own personal sound. I have several favorite drummers whose technique and sounds I adore, from the breathtaking restraint and rimshot subtelty of Bill Bruford (Yes, King Crimson, Earthworks), to the crisp snap, air and resonance of Mitch Mitchell (Jimi Hendrix) to the frenzied drummer-as-lead-instrument insanity of Keef Moon, to the classic tea-towel draped snare of Ringo. There's a bizarre recording logic that says you should dampen the sound until its dead, then add reverb and other processing at the mixing stage to bring it alive. My friend Justice and I are working on developing our own recording technique. He's particularly become enthralled as of late with the kit sound of 60s Motown records. I know what he means. For a long time, I've been enamored of the signature Motown drum fills. I'm sneaking in musical homages in my drum patters.

Here's to 2006. I hope it's a great one.

What Rhymes With 2006?

It's been a while since I've posted on this blog. Apologies for that. Or maybe not. Isn't a bit presumptious to assume that anyone is even interested in reading this?

Well, assuming, arguendo, the above, I will explain the delay. I didn't want to bore everyone by posting the minutia of law school finals, and the anxiety and the blah, blah, blah. I made a conscious decision not to do that (even though, now, I am talking about, so that kinda negates, in some small way, the decision to not speak of it). Suffice it to say, I had the best semester of law school last semester. I pulled it all off - got a great GPA, got published, and I feel a great sense of accomplishment. Now I just gotta find a summer job.

I also decided, during the course of my finals, to cut back on the number of hours I'm taking to almost the bare full-time minimum. I want to free up time, have a life again.

I'm halfway through law school and I think I've encountered my next personal development obstacle to overcome. I wasn't intending to encounter this obstacle, and I kind of stumbled into it by accident. But now I recognize it, and I'm prepared to face it and deal with it, even if it should take a while.

The obstacle is money.

To be more precise, how people think about money, how people behave about money, in a business sense. As "smart" as I may be abstract book-wise, I am hopelessly ignorant (and maybe even STUPID?) when it comes to business sense. Two of the classes I am taking this semester - Business Corporations and Real Estate Transactions - center around the psychology of people who dedicate their lives to pursuing the "almighty dollar." Both profs have encouraged the class to read the Wall Street Journal. It occurs to me that there is a whole other world out there overlaid on the world I have inhabited my whole life, a world I imagined, but haven't directly encountered. Well, I mean, I have, to a certain extent, inasmuch as I have had jobs and worked for corporations and whatnote. But that's always been as the lowest rung on the ladder.

In other words, I guess I want to understand how the "haves" think, and how they decide to do what they do, and how they operate. Some people in this life put money above all else, in some sense, or, at least, they are unapologetic about it. "It's not personal, it's business."

Contrary to what some may think about me, as they would assume about anyone who would enter the legal profession, I am not interested in making money. Don't get me wrong, I am interested in material comfort, and providing for a family, and all of that. But I am not going to be chasing it at the expense of all else. I want to help people, to serve humanity - it's a very Bahá'í aspiration. And I have certain talents that God blessed me with that I need to develop to that end. I couldn't do much good stagnating at TV Guide or some other place.

If I can't develop a good business head, I at least want to understand the mind of someone who does so I will know how to deal with him or her. So I won't be taken advantage of, and so I can prevent someone else from being taken advantage of.

There is no greater blessing than the gift of serving others.

I hope this rant hasn't seemed too bizarre, and wish that it has made some sense. It was inspired not only by the classes I;m taking, but by a timely comment from an old friend which said, in so many words, that I was only going to law school so I could learn how to make money.

Hey, if I wanted to be completely selfish, I'd gain 800 lbs. and go float in the deep end of my parents' swimming pool.

But I'm not about that.