December 15, 2010
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The Daily News1 There’s a great deal to be said for imperfection.
2 Two days in a row the fonts for the DN started jumping in all directions. You’d think that by 2010 we’d have all of this boushit straightened out, but nah, nah, nah.
3 Another case in point: I have yet to hand out a handout that doesn’t contain at least one error, no matter HOW carefully I edit. It’s become a ritual with my students. They now edit my stuff just to see the error.
4 Every single day I find an error in the DN, even though I try to edit it at least three times. I find misspellings, ridiculousness in numbering, and font issues. Every single day.
5 A part of me cares, because I take pride in working hard at everything I do.
6 Another part of me celebrates, because we are not perfect. None of us.
7 The Greeks knew that and fashioned gods after the concept.
8 I also try to be a good role model, which I think I am. And I think the secret to being good at anything is to avoid pretentiousness. We are not perfect. Certainly not this Old Brown Shoe.
9 Do I get played as a result?
10 Constantly.
11 Does it ever bother me?
12 Sometimes. I won’t even lie.
13 Haha.
14 That’s the “sincere guy” chant nowadays.
15 “I won’t even lie.” Translation: “I lie all the time, but THIS time I ain’t lying, because it is sincerely from the heart.” There’s a guy you can trust.
16 Anyway, I get played up and down, in and out, constantly.
17 But I refuse to stray from who I am. I own imperfections, and I own up to them.
18 I’m also brutally true to myself, and I hope to others.
19 When I say “I” by the way, I’m usually bringing into the mix a whole bunch of others who say, “Hey, I’m like that too!”
20 I learned at a very early age that pretty much anything that happens to me, or any feelings I have inside have also happened to billions of others.
21 One of the most important things to learn in this life is to avoid perfection.
22 I’ve lost what I thought were dear friends who took perfection a bit too seriously. As far as I know, I’ve never given up on a friend.
23 But I have had people in my life who felt that they were a bit too perfect, and who left my life for no other reason.
24 Too bad about sorrows now, innit?
25 Moving on, Part the First: So like the little greedy kid I am, I got home early yesterday so I could play with my new toy, an iPhone 4, which I am barely getting to know.
26 I’ve always enjoyed photography, so I wanted to experiment around with pictures. I bought a camera just this past year, but rarely use it. But I have always seen the art in photography, even when I was real small.
27 “real small”, btw, is imperfect, but who on this planet would say, “really small” without sounding pretentiously like a perfectionist?
28 AnywayZ…
29 So I thought about taking a few pictures on the way home from school yesterday. I pulled off the road a coupla times and snapped things, but it began raining. I decided that I probably should not take pictures in the rain with the iPhone 4, for fear of electrocution.
30 So I went home and thought I might take some pictures of myself, just to experiment with shadow, light, color, and an awesome model.
31 Whew.
32 Talk about imperfection! The shadows were too dark, the light was too bright, the color was true but not captured, and the model?
33 Let’s NOT talk about imperfection.
34 Well, I found out how to shitcan bad photos pretty swiftly. At least something came of the experiment. And the iPhone has a sense of humor. It throws the picture into a trash can, and it disappears like a t00n.
35 My next test is to see how to get the pictures I take with my phone on to my computer. I assume I use a USB cable, but I understand that somehow I have to make iTunes my mother picture-capturer and media center.
36 But I’ve managed pictures for years, and never had to switch it out. I am a bit put off by that, but then, when you’re dealing with Steve Jobs, you’re evidently going to be put out. I haven’t read a lot of good about the guy.
37 Anyway, it was sort of fun walking around the house and yard taking different shots at different angles in different light.
38 Why didn’t I take pics of other things? I have, and I’m good at that. What I’ve always been weak at is taking pics of people, especially indoors.
39 So I’m having a LOT of fun immersing myself in imperfection.
40 I love that I’m imperfect.
41 I almost think it is the secret to one’s survival, especially if one can keep one’s imperfection out in one’s public. I think one could live one’s life better for one. ; ) <—-sideways winky guy one line up.
42 I actually get sentences like that turned in to me.
43 AnywayZ…
44 It’s “anyway” you imperfect fool. And you overused it. Shame on you. And yes, all those “ones” in item forty-one were deliberately overused.
45 I think I’m going to put my imperfectly perfect self to bed for the night.
46 Finals.
47 Imperfect.
48 Peace.
~H~
