Sweeney Todd

Children are critical of change. That is to say that they recognise it, and make definite note of it, where warranted. Children note the change in voice of a beloved cartoon character, more easily than do their parents, and they will pass swift judgement if the new voice isn't as good as the old one. Changes in theme, tone, story, character, none of these escape a child's notice.

I was a kid again, tonight. I was eight, and the promises of theater, of make-believe magic in front of everyone, of stories of pain and loss and heartbreak were all becoming clear, again. And I loved every second of it, tonight, just as I had that first time. And the Second. And all the others...

The cast was superb. Even Cohen was goode, and no, he didn't rap.

You want to know things? See Sweeney Todd, in theaters, listen to the songs, watch the play, and think of me, eight years old, eyes wide, and enthralled. Then put yourself in my shoes.

mech_angel and I went out to the pub with davidsfoley, chickwow, wacko1138, fushi, raidingparty, and [irreverentcynic]. Very fun. Very good night. Had a lot of conversations. Had a beer. Had some Jameson's Whipped cream chocolate mousse. All good times.

I'm going to go, now.

Time and space at the end of the world

I dreamed that it was the end of the world. The End of the Universe, of time and space, and meaning, and conception as we have and know it, today. There was one building left, huge, enourmous place, involuted and non-Euclidian, and outside of it, all was white, or greay, or no colour at all...

There was a dance contest in the basement of this place, if this place could be said to Have a basement, rather than Be the Base-Ment, for... anything, everything that was left... I was sitting back and watching all of these people having fun, getting to know each other, laughing, dancing, smiling, eating, sharing food and life, at the end of the world. The dance contest starts with selenasaberwind and a pixie-faced girl, dancing agaisnt some other couple, but the girl gets sick, or hurt, or something, and she can't finish the dancing. I have to finish.

Everyone looked at me like, by dancing, I was some kind of hero, and they wanted to write my name on the trophy, writing Da-De, like a chemical notation. I told them no, all I did was finish what would have already been finished, anyway. They kept refereing to me as "Damien, who came to us Last New Years," or something like that. I sat back down in my booth (because the walls were lined with diner booths, and an open space in the middle, likethe basement of a church, or a lodge), trying to keep and eye and ear on what was happening, with the Council.

I wen to the bathroom, and on the way there, and there, Felicia, the new-ish administrative assistant, in the department, stopped me, while I was peeing, and said "I know this is going to sound really weird, but it's important: You might want to/Have you ever give/n serious thought to changing your gender/becoming a woman./?" I looked at her over my should, because she was standing right behind me, and I'm slightly flusetered and I say, Uhm.. No, no thank you. Actually I'm quite comfortable with my gender. I say this last as if it's unheard of, in this day and age, for that to be possible. The King of the Coucil alerts everyone that the days are getting shorter, that time is cycling itself Much faster... I begin to suspect something, else...

In the bathroom, there are stalls,and I looked through them to find someone, something, and there was a feeling of being in the bathroom, like a descent into Hell, for a Banquet I had once. Long spiral slopes and deep blood red and gold rocks, from the flames and the dried blood, but the bathroom was cobalt blue, and so was the light. Shades of greay, blue, and dingy white. Anything but the No-Colour, outside, which it almost managed to match. I go into one of teh stalls, to mess with the toilet paper rolls, and call my mom, because I probably should...

Talking to my mom, discussing how things are going, outside, and the King of the Council, says, loud enough for Everyone to hear, "Screw this 'council' bullshit! I'm the fuck out of here, 'cause this shit just Exploded!" And we see the floating, holographic, multidimensional consciousness projection of The King's Head, floating down the hallway to escape, to outside. I tell my mom that I'm going to have to call her back, and that I love her.

Outside, everyone was standing on the road that lead into the nothing, standing and staring at it, trying to see something in the nothing, and I thought I saw another building off to my left, way up and way in the distance, but it was the inverted reflection of our own, and would end when ours did. I was standing there, asking why everyone was so eager to go, and no one could tell me, there was just this sense of Need and Urgency, and I realised, I could walk out there, I could senter the nothing, become it, and, so long as I retained my sense of Self, I would never disolve. I began to see myself as a universe spiraling into being, thinking of all the other universes I knew, the places who had been people who had been my friends and neighbours... Each universe reflecting the lives of who that person used to be. I walked forward, and thought of who and what I was, when everything else was stripped away.

I woke up.

I hope you took the time to read that. That one seemed important.

100 out of 161 of you I've actually met, in person, at least once. Not counting duplicate names. That's nineteen over half. Not bad.

Fun diversion with mech_angel, tsarina_bomba, and lord_of_smoking, last night. Coffee, etc., till about 3.30...

Good time.