You Are Of The Moment

One of Andy Warhol's tricks to create art was to train a camera on someone for several minutes, a screen test of sorts without any dialogue. This process, like many an unlikely idea, produced a variety of effects, all intended to see the soul of the person or have them crack, whichever happened first. If you were the victim of the screen test, you could speak or not speak. After a few minutes, a person often started laughing or crying. As a child, Andy W. had been sickly and often left alone to drink coffee chained to the couch as a form of "babysitting." It is not surprising that he turned out the way he did -- more surprising that so many people turned to him for guidance, drugs, art, and a cornucopia of masochistic mind fucks for which he became well-known.

But who needs to find someone on the outside to do some real damage to ourselves? One night of heavy drinking can have you weeping at the jukebox, punching in Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry" for the tenth time, saying in that earnest, drunk way, I love this song, I've always loved this song. The next day is an exercise in willpower and titration, i.e., I will not vomit and How much Tylenol Three do I have stored away? and Does Vitamin Water really work? You start to hate yourself and bemoan fate -- no hell as joyful as the one you create. You serve yourself for dinner, head on a platter, bits and pieces all around as garnish. You start to get to know yourself and what a treat that is! Eventually there's nothing left except for an empty gleaming plate, a mirror into your soul, if you haven't already finished that off already.

Michelle's Spell of the Day

"The more you are of the moment, the faster you are of the past." Gia

Cocktail Hour

Drinking short story collection: Revenge of the Lawn Richard Brautigan

Benedictions and Maledictions

Happy Monday!

56 Days until The Sopranos airs!