A person's perception of time seems to shift with age toward uncanny feelings that time is moving faster and faster. I often hear people express a wish to slow things down again, at least a little. Well, there is a way -- give up a key habit or feature of your daily routine and everything does feel slower. For example, after nearly fifteen years of smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, I suddenly stopped. By calendar time, it's been less than a week since breaking this integral thread of activity. By internal clock, though, it seems like an eternity. I have the distinct perception of having turned into a cigarette vampire, craving one more hit. The five minutes or so that were spent on actually smoking a single cigarette are now freed up for other things, so in a way, there really is more time -- an extra 100 minutes a day to go bonkers.
Above: from David Lynch's INLAND EMPIRE. Interesting to compare with Russ Meyer's Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. Same gender balance, certainly. As for fighting the smoking addiction, there's always Chantix / Champix, the new Pfizer product (also called Varenicline). Supposed to be very effective, and also helpful in treating other addictions and conditions.
Today's Rune: Fertility.
Birthdays: Ann Radcliffe, Barbara Cartland, June Jordan, David Hockney, Richard Roundtree (Shaft), Edy Williams, Dean Koontz, Root Boy Slim (Foster MacKenzie III), O. J. Simpson, Chris Cooper, Thomas Ligotti (b. Detroit; Macomb College, Wayne State), Jimmy Smits, Kelly McGillis, Jim Kerr, Courtney Love (b. Courtney Michelle Harrison), Jack White (b. John Anthony Gillis, Detroit), Lucia Micarelli .
Ciao!
5 comments:
Had a discussion with my father this weekend about what a great actor Chris Cooper is. My favorite: John Sayles' "Lone Star." He was also in one of my son's favorite movies, "October Sk.," as well as Seabiscuit" and "American Beauty."
One other thing: film critic Roger Ebert co-wrote the script for "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls." When questioned about it, he responded "I'm not a snob."
Johnny, I like Chris Cooper, especially in Lone Star, and I also like Ebert. Russ Meyer played mentor to a lot of people, eh?
Good point about the subjectivity of time. Bush's stint in office has convinced me of this. I know he's only been in there something like six years but it seems at least a decade. And the thought of two more years seems like an eternity.
Funny, how we perceive time. A certain administrator wants to make an issue out of our potty breaks when his secretary takes numerous cigarette breaks. I think I'll take up smoking.
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