amped

Originally Posted on Myspace: Saturday, December 06, 2008

be not mistaken, that i am here in the computer lab doing research on a friday night does not make me a total loser--but i'm getting close.

Recently, I recalled a couple of run-ins with celebrity types. This happens from time to time in the Los Angeles area. They're not everywhere mind you. But they are about. Sometimes they're doing some shopping. Other times they are exactly where you'd expect like that one time I sat across from Hillary Duff (who I believe was underage at the time) at Cinespace in Hollywood. She was in the smoking lounge (it'll stunt your growth baby!) sitting next to that guy from Good Charlotte .

(what a twattish name, almost as twatter as Coldplay--whose music I'm generally cool with despite the objectionable name. Come on! Coldplay? Sounds like something a writer for Charles in Charge would come up with. That's bad by the way. As an aside, wasn't Nicole Eggert just a great 80s fox? A friend of mine knew her. I actually had her phone number in my hand. But I was a high school kid with an amateur's game. I could probably get her now. Back then...No.)

But I digress...

Anyway, so there's Hillary Duff. I met that nutty gal Bai Ling. I intend nutty as a compliment. In fact I always intend it as a compliment.

Recently I bumped into Olivia Williams, the British actress from Rushmore and a couple other movies. She was just finishing up at the Literati Cafe down on Wilshire with her kid, or so I assume, and a couple others. I wasn't sure if it was her at first. The tip off was a couple of people whispering to each other and looking in her direction. So much for being discrete. She pretty much looks the way she does on film. Tall and lithe with that British look. You know the look. I liked her in Rushmore. In fact I love that movie. As Soomi would say, it's so Gerr-ish.

Before that I ran across, oh lord, who the hell was it now? I already said Olivia Williams right? I can't remember.

There was that one time I cut in front of Felicity and that guy she was dating on the show that wasn't Noel. Yeah I watched it! I watched Ally McBeal too whaddya gonna do?! Yeah my gal and I back in the 90s were at 3rd Street Promenade at that fancy shabby chic clothing store. Aw shit, what was it called? Anthropologie. And we sidled into line for the register only to discover that the real line was behind us. Low and behold there was Felicity and the blond dude. They were cool about it so kudos to them.

And that's all I have to say about that.

my gut reaction

it should be immediately clear that these writings run the gamut.

I was listening to KPFK 90.7 while sitting in the CGU parking lot just above Drucker Way. I can't recall the name of the host, but she was peddling a probiotic supplement called the Dr. Ohira Probiotic12Plus.

I've heard the argument made many times that one of the strongest determinants of longevity is the quality of one's intestinal tract. It seems to make sense. As the saying goes, you are what you eat. If this is true then I must be very salty, sweet, and overall delicious. I suppose one can say, that on any particular day, I am a steak eclair. That's bad.

My concern with all this talk about health is that it is difficult to discern what works and what doesn't. I have been trained somewhat to be scientific in the way that I approach all subjects. In a practical sense, it means that I'm skeptical. I not only need proof, I need statistically significant proof. It's crazy.

So the question is, what works? And if it does, to what degree?

This I cannot answer as yet. Of course I hope it works, but this is the same bias that leads Jenny McCarthy to assail the use of immunization shots (apparently they cause autism, a claim that most research suggests to be wrong). I can't recall from where the following idea comes, but having control (perceived or otherwise) over one's environment is a tendency inherent in all humans. So why would Jenny McCarthy care about a connection between autism and her autistic child? Because although there's nothing she can do about the past, she can feel as if she had the power to do something about it. It is in this that a measure a comfort can be found.

But I digress...

What I would like is proof that this stuff works. Lisa Garr of The Aware Show (1pm on local station KPFK) claims that it does, and again I would really like to believe her. But sincerity and being earnest lends itself to bias as much as, if not more than duplicity and outright, lies. I require more, but maybe not much more because of my own bias. I want this stuff to work. As a result I'm willing to compromise. Yeah I'm a sucker. There's got to be a paper written about his sort of thing. Not just bias but the bias of the skeptical observer given a sincere and earnest source. Ah, but that's for another discussion altogether.

Of course I can just try this crap and see what happens.

If it doesn't cost too much and won't kill me, then why not? Maybe because principles prevent me from doing so? Posh to principles. I don't really mean that. Was it Whitman who said that, a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds?

Back to work.

Inaugural

for the past hour I have struggled mightily to set up this blog. I have posted nothing, blogged nothing since neglecting my MySpace blog. It was an impressive blog by my own estimation. In the span of a year or two I had posted over 250 items of varying length. Some were inconsequential, a sentence or two to express a fancy. Others went on for several pages. Whether or not these were of any quality I cannot say at the moment. I would have to revisit them. If experience is any indicator, then more than likely they will embarrass me.

However, as it is with photography, should one take enough shots, snap enough pictures, set to paper enough wordage, then some are bound to be of decent quality.