*HERE
1 HEART ON SLEEVE: I have not found out whether William Shakespeare, (or what mystery candidate you think wrote him) coined the phrase "wearing your heart on your sleeve", but I need to. He doesn't need credit, he coined enough of his own, but it seems to be his: there it is as Iago cons Roderigo, in the opening scene of Othello, and if you imagine yourself back in time, or rather: following language back in time, to when this f*#ked out whore of a cliche' was clean new virginal metaphor, if you can pretend you've never heard it before, (akin to something I've written before about listening to Don't Be Cruel or Satisfaction, and pretending you can hear it freed from retrospection) -- if you can listen carefully to "heart on sleeve", and pretend the person speaking it was the first ever, searching for a metaphor to convince you of his honesty, he pulls a gem -- if you can do this, then "heart on sleeve" is masterful. "Look, Dude, I'm wearing my heart on my sleeve here." On my sleeve is just cool, perfect really -- it's an ornament. It sounds like Shakespeare; it swings like he swings -- but I think it's more awesome if the phrase was already cliche' in 1604, and he stole it. With Shakespeare there's a way people explain greatness by statistic -- he invented this number words, he wrote this many phrases that have risen above the original context, and to me the greatness is not "heart on sleeve", but who says it: Iago. Iago is clever. Frighteningly clever. He is the promiser of a heart on a sleeve. It's not a prince like Hamlet, a character seemingly so adored by his creator that said creator gave him an unfair, (and unbalancing to the play), advantage in new language. But Iago is a con artist. He's a borrower of phrases heard in military camps; a filthy-minded ensign, with a gift for gutter talk, but no poet. I dream Shakespeare acquisitioned street language, and (hopefully) some competitor's work, and handed it all over to Iago. If I do hear or read "heart on sleeve" I think of Iago, and the warning signals come up. That's how I hope the writer used the phrase, and meant it, as the opposite of what the cliche' now means -- there's genius.
2 ROCKPORT SEQUEL: While searching for a nice place to stay a few days up in the old stomping grounds, Ms. Heather found a place she liked. She called me, "There's this really nice place called the Berry Manor Inn! It looks so nice on the website."
"I've been there."
"You've stayed there?"
"No. We did my movie there at Rockport school. Start looking in Owl's Head for a camp or something."
"But it's --"
"Yeah, I don't think so. Sorry."
The funny thing, as it got me thinking today about the Berry Manor Inn was what if I went back there, and met with the manager about shooting a sequel...
"A sequel?"
"That's right, Mam, a sequel. Ten years ago we shot a movie here, and now I'm back."
"I don't remember a movie shooting here --"
"Oh but it happened -- care to see it? Where's the VCR?"
"Uh.. DVD player."
"Uh-huh... You'll just have to take my word for it."
"What was it about, this movie?"
"That's a very good question. Not sure. It's been a while since I've seen it. But I'm here now, and it's time to resume this story. Whatever my character was doing ten years ago, it is time to revisit him --"
"You acted in it?"
"Of course I did -- who else could I have got? I had to."
"Right."
"Here's what I remember. I remember my sister's car. I remember Matt shooting it. I remember Jason playing a cool role. I remember three amazing women who came to act in it. I remember the strange group of people who filled up the Berry Manor Inn. I remember Tattoo You on the soundtrack."
"So everyone's going to be back here?"
"No. Just me. Just me and this ol'iPhone. And the Stones. But Black and Blue this time. Now if you don't mind I need to scout locations on the upstairs -- Excuse me."
3 Facebook Vanity: To begin, I'm vain. I'm shallow. I want to look handsome on my Facebook profile. It is fascinating trying to decipher what people want you to think of them by their profile pictures. It can be a game: if you show me this, what won't you show me? I have fictional Facebook accounts on here with friends all over the world -- I want to see strangers, and play the guessing game, I think it's practice for characterization: You'll show me just pictures of you, alone -- where are your friends? You'll show me one hundred pictures of you standing in tavern firing lines, glazed smiles -- what's happening when you're alone? Show me eyes. Show me legs. Show me hiking. Show me drinking. It's fun liking people you don't know from afar. Empathizing with what they want to be. Say somehow Facebook survives for two generations -- imagine following a person's life through columns of Facebook profile pictures over twenty years.
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