witty repartee and my iPod

One thing I have always wanted was the ability to have quick witty repartee. You know, the ability to come up with that zinger, that one-liner that puts all to shame. OK, not shame, but makes you feel that you are the one with the highest IQ in the room and no one, no one, can touch you.

I've never been that guy. The closest I've come is being the brunt of that guy's rapier parry to position 3 slice. For those of you who are not sword wielders or trained by the Society of American Fight Directors to wield a rapier or dagger that means the piercing jabs of verbal and intellectual giants - at least in their minds.

I'm a smart guy. I know this. It's been corroborated by various IQ tests and my mother's insistence. But smart versus quick... which would you choose? Maybe it's my desire to be liked that finds me leaning toward quick? All the great improv actors are quick. All the great debaters and public speakers have been quick. Mind you they have all been real smart as well. Uh... can I request to be smart and quick or has that option gone the way of the dodo?

Regardless, I'm still working on this industrial and some of the guys I'm working with are real quick. Real quick. the reason I bring it up. If I were a sensitive man - ok more sensitive than I am - I'd probably take their quips serious and feel left out in the cold while they played in the cabin of fun's warmth. Right - really bad writing and really stupid visual metaphor. So, that's that and right about now I'm wondering why I write these things. In the end what does it really matter what anyone thinks. We all have our charm, well, most of us anyway. And that charm, or uniqueness, or whatever you want to call it is what makes us who we are. That and social constraint as well as parental view points hammered in at a young age. And don't leave out the indomitable nature of the human spirit, our innate self. Change is possible, but at the base of it all we are who we are and that's all good. So, maybe it isn't a question of smart versus quick. Maybe I should just realize I'm quick enough and let it go. Yes. I think that's what I'm going to do.

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Earlier today, while waiting in my little 4 x 8 box of a trailer, I started going through songs on my iPod in order to create the perfect playlist. Yes I am that bored. While rooting around and choosing songs I realized that I have a subscription to a friend's podcast. He's a very cool guy, great actor and great writer. I found, as I was listening to his two latest podcasts, that i had two questions bouncing around in my mind. the first being: where does he come up with this stuff and does he write it or just shoot from the hip. and the second question: He just had jaw surgery, how the hell is he doing these podcasts? Now, I am sure if I really wanted to know the answers to either of these questions I could just pick up the phone and call him. I don't because that's the easy way out. I like the speculating and coming up with my own answers and making them truth. So back to point A. My buddy is a writer. a good one, and every week he has a new topic he is talking about. Each of these podcasts last about 4 minutes and leave you sort of looking up and making a "hmm" sound quietly to yourself. They aren't statements to change the world, their musings. Hence the name of his podcast "The Mineralava Musings."

Each week there is something new. Each week I quietly go "hmmm" to myself. That's impressive. That's something I have thought of doing. Well, OK, technically I am doing it by writing these blogs, but the point is he's doing it and not ranting or asking stupid questions. He's observing life and putting his personal view on it. To me, that is very cool. Nothing more nothing less. Very cool. My buddy is very put together and very good at moving himself in the direction he wants to go in. In essence he may be the modern example of what a jobbing actor is - he makes his living doing it, administers brilliantly, knows his casting and knows what he wants to have in the end. While doing all this he is not obsessed with the need to have the career and lives a rather sane and happy life. Who can say that about their life, really?

As I stated before - I have never talked to him about any of this so it is all conjecture. But, with conjecture comes a paradigm to which one can hope to surpass. In essence this guy has become a stabile image of what I am looking to achieve. Whether he is truly happy or truly content or truly miserable or truly anything other than what he is, the image I have created enables me to say "look there is something in life that is achievable." We can all say I want to be the next DiNiro or I want to be the next Brando or the next insert-a-celebrity-name-here. And that's all good. But is it really achievable? Let's look around at the people we know who are happy - or seemingly happy - and say what have they accomplished to achieve that state. Because a wise man once said happy is not a state to be sought after, instead one should look to what they can accomplish and happiness will be the byproduct of the job well done.

So go forth young grasshopper and look to what you can achieve. The possibilities are limitless and out there waiting for the picking. Oh to truly live like that. A consummation devoutly to be wished.