RaveTen 10

[slipjig3]

Okay, now, watch the odometer as we roll over to Double Digit Land:

First and RaveTen, do it again...

Books: Today at work, I was trying to draw up Abbey's name as an ambigram (a word written in such a way that it reads the same right-side-up as it does upside-down). I've been doing this for two decades now, and it's all Scott Kim's fault. He's hardly the only person who creates ambigrams, but he far and away the best, and the most fascinating. Inversions is still the definitive treatise on the subject, a book that will leave you picking your jaw up from the floor, then running for the paper and pencils.

Movies: Let me start off by making a blanket endorsement of all of Spalding Gray's autobiographical stage monologues, and all of the films made from those performances. Having said that, although I adore the better-known and wonderful Swimming to Cambodia and Monster in a Box, I have a soft spot in my heart for Gray's Anatomy, in which he tells of going blind in one eye. Director Steven Soderbergh takes a major departure from the earlier films, which were basically concert films of the original stage shows; here, he keeps Gray behind his trademark desk, but relocates them both to different locales and backgrounds, so that his environment becomes as much of a storyteller as he is. Fascinating.

Music: I miss the Dorkestra. Before they folded somewhere in the mid-90's, they were...how on earth do I describe them? Well, they were a folk-blues-rock act from West Lafayette, Indiana, who balanced their time between covers of everyone from Johnny Cash to Willie Dixon (sung by aluminum-double-bass player Jeff Farias), and heartbreaking originals by head singer-guy Robert Shannon-Meitus. Their CDs were great, but they were truly in their element as a live act, which is why I love their concert recording 11593 so much. Hard to find, but worth the effort.

TV: I'm actually going to endorse a whole darned network this week because they deserve it, which is bizarre in that I'm giving kudos to somebody whom I never thought I'd kudofy. I mean, Ted Turner was the Antichrist. The champion of colorizing, and the archenemy of film buffs everywhere. Then he went and created Turner Classic Movies, which took the 24-hour commercial-free classic films concept pioneered by AMC, and made it 20 times better. I mean, these people played five Orson Welles films back-to-back, fer cryin' out loud. And to top it off, the lead-ins to the films are about as informative and interesting as anything on TV. So let me swallow my pride and say, "Thanks, Ted. Sorry I doubted you."

Web Sites: I know I've mentioned this one in LJ before, but not, if I recall correctly, in the RaveTen: Nobody Here just plain blows me away. Thank you.

Food: I have to admit that there are times I feel nostalgic for flat-broke-college-student eating. Y'know, the kind of cuisine where you try to decide which flavor ramen you're having tonight. (Or in my case, where you show up at Dunkin' Donuts 5 minutes before closing, when they'll sell you a dozen French crullers for a buck, and live off them the whole next day.) These are the days when your life revolves around the store-brand mac and cheese for 18¢ a box. But then once in a while, you splurge on the Good Stuff: Annie's Alfredo Shells and Cheddar. Veritable luxury, it is, and still good even when you're solvent.

LiveJournals: mousme recently posted a long written-by-another treatise on why Canadians are the coolest of the cool. Which of course they are, but she really ought to have listed herself as evidence of the fact. I mean, just the quotes in her bio alone make me want to drive up I-87 one day and meet her for lunch. She's just a flat-out kind, interesting and lovely person to know, and I'm glad I do, even within the limitations of these hallowed halls. (The Lilo and Stitch icons just clinch it.)

Shopping: In the FAQs to the Mushycat Web site, we find the following queries directed to the proprietor, Ken: "Wait, you're a boy/male?" And: "No rilly, I thought you were a girl for like, months." It's easy to see why, flipping through its virtual pages (here), but that makes never-no-mind. All you need to know is that they have some of the most drop-dead gotta-get-a-boxload buttons and T-shirts and such in the visible universe. I could easily pick out a perfect button for everyone on my friends' list. (A godzillion thanks to pixiekatz for the heads-up.) EDIT: Oh, and did I mention that he donates 10% of his profits to RAINN?

Places: There are libraries, and then there are libraries. In the latter category, place the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign graduate library stacks. Here's why it's the ultimate: they don't let the hoi polloi in at all. If you're an undergrad or Joe Local, you can only get materials by filling out a slip and having someone at the front desk go and fetch. The only ones allowed in are people who know how to treat libraries with respect: grad students, librarians, and the rare undergrad with a professor's pass (which is how I can tell you the Tale). Inside, you shall meet (and do be sitting down, please) millions of volumes. Literally. Crammed floor-to-ceiling throughout an entire two-wing, ten-story building, It's enough to make you fall to your knees and weep with bibliophilic joy.

Whatever: I say this with full conviction: there is no greater comfort on the planet than flannel sheets on a cold winter's night. And there is no greater joy than sliding between the layers of flannel in the all-together with a loved one, curling up against the chill all night, then sleeping in the next morning. Sigh...

*reads* Wow. Am I always that wordy?

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