Begging Foresight

I made the video below after a particularly painful morning phone conversation during which I felt like my heart was being applied to one of those electric orange juicers Barefoot Contessa always uses on Food Network. But first, I went directly to the floor, threw a blanket over my head, and just laid there. I'll let you hear the particulars from my mouth down there but let's just say I have been overwhelmed with an inability to see two feet in front of me, paralyzed with fear that the next step will send me free-falling down a cliff, and perfectly convinced that if I DON'T move, something's gonna smash me flat right where I stand.

As most of you know, I come into the moment and receive visual cues about stuff. Well, while laying there on the floor beneath that blanket -- without asking or seeking -- I kept getting images of all these tiny, intricate root systems. I began to notice that I was actually holding these various seedlings with their delicate, embryonic rootlets in my hand. Then I suddenly got the visual of me mindlessly flinging one of this incredibly fragile things back and forth like a keychain or something. Just then, a hand swooped in... the hand of some wise leader or something. The hand took mine and coaxed the seedling away from me.
Obviously, this inspired my illustration above which is now available on my site. But that visual had deep meaning for me as I've been applying all kinds of effort to grow something special for a while. I feel like "the hand" helped bring some perspective. I feel like "the hand" made sure I didn't go futzing everything up in a moment of frustration and panic. I have to tell you, I think perhaps "the hand" kept me still long enough to make sure I saw the glimmer of hope I saw on the horizon this very day.
Still, check out the video. I mean, life really is uphill business. But the little glimpses I've gotten say the view's just gotta be worth it.

Bravo's NYC Prep Brings Back High School, Feathered Bangs, and The Hardy Boys

Dang that Andy Cohen at Bravo. Though he's absolutely lost me, personally, with the whole non-stop Housewives-Of-Every-Effin-City-Imaginable tangent, he continues to reel me in with most of his other shows. "NYC Prep" being the latest and greatest. I actually think I would watch this one every week EVEN IF the volume button were perpetually and hopeless stuck on mute forevermore somehow.
Whooaa, y'all, this takes me back. Both main guys on this show, dark-haired "PC" and blonde Sebastian, either wear the same clothes, have the same feathered bangs, or cop the same haute attitude I did in my teens. As I mention in this week's video, this mirroring of fashion, behavior, choices, where we've been, and where we're headed has been going on forever. It was fun when I was a teen to find stuff my father wore that was BEYOND perfect for the fashion of the times and now it's fun to see all those same styles being rediscovered yet again.
Although I honestly can't put my finger on EXACTLY who from the past "PC" looks like (drop me a comment if you do), the similarity between Sebastian and Shaun Cassidy is freakin' NUTS. I can only imagine he found his mom's old Tiger Beat mags, saw Shaun on one of the covers, and said, "YES!! That's it!!" (...unless the guys at Bravo did it... hmmmmm.)
As I said, "PC" gives me a bit harder time but I am reminded of Andrew McCarthy -- most notably in "Class" -- and I wanna say a little teen Donny Osmond thrown in there but... I dunno... that straight-laced Osmond stigma doesn't fit this sultry NYC upstart AT ALL. Which brings me to the greater depths of "PC". I sooooooooo totally see me not only in my youth BUT NOW, even! He has a fiery energy I completely embody to this day and he therefore says whatever bubbles to his lips. It inevitably comes across waaaaaayyy more crass than he ever imagined and is inevitably misunderstood leading to all sorts of unintended drama and hurt feelings.
It's pretty transparent to me that all the guys, girls and their parents on "NYC Prep" are very aware of the camera and are less than authentic. Still, for my money, it's worth revisiting that period in my life vicariously through these over-privileged teens. If nothing more to see how far I've come and speculate on how much further these guys just might one day take things.
(Oh, and please refer to this week's video up there for my semi-paranoid explanation as to why the topic has centered around jail bait for the last two weeks!)

Why The Jonas Brothers - iCarly - David Cook Generation Bring A New Wave of Hope

Before I even had a Nick Jonas or a Nathan Kress or a David Cook to attach the idea to, I have looked to the day when up and coming generations would begin to influence the world. Therefore, I began anticipating these future leaders well before all the hard evidence we have now that "the old order" is crumbling to dust. Why? Because they're the consciousness of change itself.
Unlike my parents or even a staggering number of my counterparts, these generations aren't afraid of altering the landscape.And though I'm quick to admit that's a somewhat broad generalization, if we just take the technological arena alone we've gotta admit we're looking at a group consciousness that THRIVES on change and advancement as opposed to fearing it.
As I describe in this week's video vlog, I started hitting all sorts of walls and barriers to creative freedom early on in my life. And, I must say, this actually continued on into some uncomfortably recent years. Compounded with an ULTRA conservative, right-wing, fear-based upbringing that went against my very core, the idea of the old giving way to the new has been close to my heart indeed.
But also, as this video describes, it's not really the latest pop band nor the hottest show on Nick that has given me my recent shot of encouragement. It's actually some far more accessible characters in YouTube culture. And are therefore just out there more or less living their lives. And to whom I really am grateful for the opportunity to peek into their minds and the world they're inevitably bringing forward.

Pearls Before Swine... Or Jerks on Twitter.

Gimme a great face, a hot body -- or better yet -- an intoxicating personality and I get as weak-kneed and starry-eyed as any 12-year-old girl ever did in the entire history of 12-year-old girls. Witness that same great face and bod and personality showing blatant disregard for all other faces and bodies? I can only speak for myself but that's when those starry eyes turn cold with disillusionment.
One of the things that Twitter brings to light is how people treat other people. And this goes for anybody. Not just those in the limelight. HOWEVER, that lime light can be awfully bright and therefore those who bask in its glow are among the first to be seen behaving in less than compassionate ways.In my own effort not to drag anyone else through any kind of mud, what you're seeing in this post are parts of individuals who I am opting not to name. Oh, and please note that these individuals have not even necessarily done anything less than admirable. I post these images sort of as icons. So close and yet so far icons. There are different reasons why we're drawn to the people we're drawn to... very personal reasons. But as this week's video asks, are those reasons encouraging that most real part of us or doing something else?
And, hey, before that starts sounding like some total, wretched-drag lecture or something, as always there's some fun to be had in this video... I even start undressing.
(Boom-chicka-wow-wow.)

The Big, Bad American Car... Formlessness Follows Functionlessness

I generally embrace change pretty quickly. I mean, after all, it IS the only thing you can really rely on in this existence. There's something deeply unsettling to me, however, about a government-run auto industry... or a government run ANY industry, for that matter. "Freedom", as I understand the word, means being free to try and fail. Since when does it mean, "guaranteed that you'll be saved from your mistakes as long as you sign here, here, and here"?

Click my Imperial painting for a previous auto-related post. Here, too. I was raised on the deliciously crafted, endlessly unfurling American auto. Nobody made cars look sweeter and more knee-buckling. And when truck-based vehicles took dominion, I was quick to see the awe-unspiring aesthetics in THOSE towering creatures, too.
But somewhere along the way, my blood started to run cold around this whole topic. And I can pinpoint exactly when that was: when U.S. union workers refused pay cuts that brought their wages in line with now-completely-on-top Japanese auto workers. I think I froze in my tracks for a good six seconds when I heard this last year. Say what?? You'd rather not have a job at all??!!! Or have the government give you your orders... AND a smaller paycheck???!!!!
As I throw out there in the video above, is there any way we -- the American people -- could learn from the mistakes of not just the U.S. Auto Industry in the last few decades but all industry? Could we MAYBE get clear that form REALLY DOES have to follow function?? That it's not just a nifty catchphrase?? That a beautiful form without a solid, indisputable base is just going to topple over?? - Well, either way, in the video and in this post, I give a nod to all those auto companies and divisions that came, went, or are on the way out to somewhere very different. Art is, after all, still nice to look at.

Make Me A Supermodel's Tyson Beckford - From Living the Life of a Model to Living a Model Life

I've blogged about quite a few of the Make Me A Supermodel cast from Perou to Gabriel Everett to Jonathan Waud. But in many ways, I've saved perhaps the most deserving for last. And at the very least, the most personally heartfelt.
A popular phrase I heard countless times during my intensive 12 Step program years was, "Fake it till you make it." Having already been a complete fake up to that point, that idea just didn't sit well with me at the time. I mean, that's what landed me there in the first place!! Why would I ever wanna fake anything again?? Eventually, however, I came to learn that if you take a deep breath or two, hold your head high, and head out the door exuding an aura of self-confidence, you actually start to believe in it yourself. And actually do begin to embody real, authentic confidence over time.
I bring this up because I can't help but wonder if just maybe Tyson Beckford is a prime example of faking it leading to making it. Hey, Tyson's not only "a" supermodel in my opinion... he's "THE" supermodel! At least the male one. He's been providing us with amazing, almost surreally beautiful images for almost two decades now. He's always portrayed someone solid. And intense. And unshakably secure within.
But something changed somewhere along the line with this model man. There's a light coming from those amazing eyes these days. And I do mean "coming from". Whereas Tyson used to "draw us in" with his intoxicating presence, now I see someone who is "bringing something to us". When I look at Tyson Beckford now, I see someone who literally emits light.
As he revealed on Oprah a while back, his brush with death in June of 2005 -- having dragged his injured self away as his truck exploded into flames -- altered his view of things in this great Realm of Distractions. As one who's been there, I can tell you firsthand that death experiences will indeed change the plot for a person. And for Tyson, that meant caring less about portraying a fulfilling life but actually living it.
And just for the record, I had absolutely no idea about Tyson's transformational accident until recently. I really did notice a changed man on Make Me A Supermodel. I couldn't help but notice someone free, giving, caring, and compassionate. And seeing those qualities emerge amongst so much to the contrary in the oft-heartless modeling business, makes them even more apparent and even more appreciated. So to say that life has imitated art doesn't quite cut it. In Tyson's case I believe life has transcended art.

Boyling Over - Susan Boyle Rolls On as California Prop 8 Steams Many

The main reason I decided to start doing these vlogs is so you could see just what a walking paradox I am. And the main reason I wished to show what a walking paradox I am is in the hope that maybe it will help demonstrate how covers of books aren't always great indicators of what's inside. I assure you I write from the heart in the posts of this blog and on the main site. I also assure you I express unabashedly from the heart in these videos. Hence, the whole dark/light thing going on now at MooreToConsider.com.
With that, I hope you will be quick to recognize the tongue-in-cheek humor in this video. Well... in the first half, at least. I really do applaud Susan Boyle for her stick-to-it-iveness and hope she's having the freaking time of her life.
As the topic turns to the California Prop 8 madness, the tone indeed changes but please continue to watch... there's something for even those as avidly non-political as me. If I have anything to interject here in words, it is to say thank you to the brave souls who paved the way for us homos to have the quality of life we enjoy right now.

And if the Prop 8 thing has you absolutely beside yourself, please read my 2009 year ahead article. There really is a time for all things and this year responds best to a particular kind of approach and is a very specific part of the cycle of ultimate change and revolution.