Yesterday, I had one of those Zeusesque TMJ migraines from which I had to birth an Athenian idea.

So I made a slideshow of my paintings and used YouTube's AudioSwap to set the music to "C'est Beau La Vie" with Catherine Deneuve and Benjamin Biolay.  I hope you enjoy it.

I was bopping along the Internet this morning when what to my wondering eyes should appear but a concept of words intermingled so dear.  So I dropped what I was doing and was there with a click at wordle.net to get an image that's sick!

What's really great about the Wordle was that I just had to enter the RSS feed link to my blog and voila, it parsed out an image from randomly selected words that I've used and I have to love that Kryptonian, Superman, Spartacus and Screenplay sho.  How awesome is that?! 

Wouldn't it be nice to say that I knew everything there was to know about web design and web content?  Design trends are always changing, and how anyone has the time to know everything about website trends and development methodologies and concurrently maintain skills and knowledge and activity in other areas is outside the scope of logic.

That said, over the years I've been learning.  Once upon a time, I worked at Convio (a web host for non-profits that provided the entire monetizing method for organizing constituents, fundraisers, newsletters, widgets, calls to action, et al).  As a Client Support Analyst, my job was to figure out client problems and answer how-to questions that often involved delving deep into the HTML and XML code to figure out why or how X would/could/or would not display on Y or Z.

Before that, I worked at WebWare Corporation that designed MAMBO (Media Asset Management by Objects).  This time as manager of Client Services for a startup, I dealt with organizing an efficient support delivery structure for clients with a lot of digital assets like the NFL and Jim Henson.

And before that, I worked at New York University as Residential Networking Coordinator providing Ethernet services to dormitories across the city.  And before that, at NYU I was a Technical Support Rep for the entire university.

Over the years I have worked on numerous web page designs only to scrap the page and reconfigure because web trends changed or my life changed or my interests changed.  Sometimes, a web page feels like Tibetan Sand Art.

The point is, I understand the need to keep abreast of technology changes and get a grasp on design techniques while at the same time keeping abreast of content within your interest range and working in whatever field or job that pays the bills.  And in today's world, career change is part of the landscape.

For me, keeping abreast and knowing how to get the information I need is important.  Knowing everything, not so much.

I was recently reading a book titled “The Physics of Superheroes” by James Kakalios. I was dismayed to discover that there was no scientific basis for the wavelength differential between a red sun and a yellow sun imbuing anyone with special powers, which placed Superman in the realm of fantasy fiction rather than science fiction. Superman fan that I am, this disturbed me as I prefer to think of Superman as plausible.

So, my brain popped out a scientific reason why the yellow sun could provide superman with all his special powers.

It all takes place inside the Kryptonian cell, which we all know acts much like a battery absorbing energy. The belief is that the cell absorbs the energy from the yellow sun. In actuality, the cell is absorbing energy from its own internal biological microscopic gyroscope lurking inside the Kryptonian mitochondria (something which would live inside all Kryptonian organisms). This micro-gyroscope has a dual purpose of creating energy, and creating a small anti-gravitational force which helps Kryptonian organisms survive on a planet of such great mass.

Add yellow sun to the cell, and the cell wall emits a Kryptonian melanin-like enzyme, Catalyst-K, to protect the cell. This enzyme enervates every aspect of the cell, including the mitochondria, sending the gyroscope into overdrive. The resultant power increase and anti-gravitational force emitted by the cell grows exponentially creating a field around the cell that is virtually impenetrable, yet still conducts the energy between cells through the entirety of the entity at an accelerated rate, allowing for super-fast neural connections, super-health, among other features.

In an entity like Superman, the sheer number of cells generating anti-gravitational forces would make him impervious, capable of near infinite speeds, provide him extraordinary strength (which you might wonder, “is it really strength or did he generate a field that made something else lighter?”) Concentrated effects of gyroscopic energy could account for his ability to direct heat in beams out of his eyes. Gravimetric cushions could account for his ability to snatch people around at G-force velocities or take them from one pressure level to another without injuring them. He would be able to generate enough anti-gravitational power to alter space-time, fly into the sun and out, and withstand just about anything.  For all his imperviousness, Superman would probably have a warm cushiony feeling about him, making a flight with him on a cold night quite comfortably warm.

Clearly the Kryptonian cell is hypersensitive to light and radioactivity. Red sunlight, as we know, inhibits Superman's super-abilities, but doesn't turn them off entirely, an indication that his cells still contain a lot of energy, albeit the speed of the gyroscope has diminished to its basic Kryptonian state, greatly reducing his super-abilities.

The question is, what happens if Lex Luthor discovers this, and if he does and manages to somehow culture Catalyst-K which triggers the enervation of the gyroscope, what other things can that enzyme do? What threats would Superman have to face down should Lex get a hold of Catalyst-K?

Today I finally wrote my first query letter for my screenplay "Drow." 

I wrote the screenplay and copyrighted it almost two years ago and then got busy with other projects and working and going to school and studying, but I recently came to the conclusion that of all the things I've attempted in the past few years, screenwriting and painting were the creative pursuits that made me happiest.

So, I pulled the screenplay from a file on my computer and edited it to match the formatting requirements of the industry and went online to study the query process.  The important part of the process seems to be selecting the correct representatives for the screenplay.  You have to select someone that you believe represents the type of screenplay you've written.  Dot your I's and cross your T's and make certain everything is businesslike and professional and then cross your fingers and wait.

So, the hardest part has been done.  Whether I hear back from them or not, whether they accept my screenplay or not, that isn't the hard part.  The hardest part is extending yourself.  Somewhere on Twitter yesterday, I saw someone say "the answer's always no if you don't ask."  I guess that's similar to the statement that you can't win if you don't play.

W

Good morning broken heart.  I got up today, walked my dogs and made my coffee and sat down to check my email.  So, ever goes my pattern.  Until I saw the news.

It was the after-image in my brain that saw in the lower right hand corner of my screen the notice of Whitfield's passing and I had to click the BACK button to see if I had seen true.  Shatter!

He was my hero.  As an actor, as a man.

I never believed that anyone could play the role of Spartacus as Whitfield played that role.  Such strength.   Such passion.  Such heart-felt emotion in eyes as tender as they were fierce.

Whitfield only starred in one season of "Spartacus" before he had a relapse of lymphoma and withdrew from the show.   They never reached the part of the Spartacus story when the soldiers all stand up to defend him and everyone says, "I am Spartacus!"  I wanted Whitfield to heal so they could film that scene with him as the actor.  It was so easy for me to believe that Andy Whitfield as Spartacus could engender the power of that respect.

Whitfield has my respect.  In honor of Andy Whitfield's passing, I stand up now and say, "I am Spartacus!"

This is one of those paintings that just keeps changing.  I keep going to it and adding more and layers of light and color.

I came across this "Water Color Dragon" while I was looking through a drawer a few minutes ago.  I painted this two years ago?  I just remember having some construction paper and one of those water color kits you give kids.  And I was looking for something to do.

I finally completed the Lion Heart painting I started for my mom.

Acrylic.

Yesterday, Scott Leisk, the director of "Mahogany Sunrise" asked me to take pictures of the crew in action.  A task I would find daunting to achieve while attending to various other Production Assistant duties.  But I seized my opportunity and used the video in my pocket camera to photograph the action.

Now, if only I can get YouTube's AudioSwap to work so I can pump in some music.  I keep trying but it's still quiet.