Monday, December 12, 2005
The Mystical Carl Blog
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Hello World!
It's about time I write a blog. There's all these people writing blogs just to talk about nothing, which of course becomes something if you talk about it in an interesting way. So you'd expect that someone like me, who does some interesting things and has some interesting opinions, would want to talk about nothing too, maybe even in an interesting way. That would be something, right?
So what am I, a legend in my own mind? Sure, why not. Isn't everyone? Personal mythologies, reinventing the self, it's the postmodern way to be.
The trick is to do your self-promotion in a healthy way. You want to be interesting, maybe even eccentric, or what they call intense. Positive is nice. But be edgy too. If you're on the edge, well then the blog is edgy. And edgy sells.
That's the appeal of blogs. Is this guy for real (yes I'm a guy), or is he going to reveal inappropriate dark secrets in his delusions of gradeur, exploding in some kind of reality TV confession breakdown? Oooh, what if. The tesion builds, the paparazzi swarm, the flashbulbs flash... or maybe that's just a migraine.
Who I am becomes revealed in the reading of the blog. Just jump into someone else's mind, mid-stream, sink or swim, that's the appeal of blogs, right? Kinda edgy reality journal stuff.
So I'm a 42 year old mystic, which means I seek direct experience of stuff like God, or dreams, or dreams of God. What's the difference anyway? See, I'm already asking the profounder questions. This is going to be one edgy blog, I'm telling you.
I do search engine software for a living, and for further living I write stories and essays and movie reviews and run spiritual art shows at a church founded in memory of an 18th century Swedish scientist and theologian (they don't have to be mutually exclusive you know) who talked to angels and devils. Swedenborgianism is a mystical Christian church that most people have never even heard of and fewer understand, which is just the kind of thing a mystic would find appealing. Or a misfit, poet, scientist, loony, and/or artist. Any one of whom might write an interesting blog, if they had the chance.
So here I have my chance to write a blog, and I'm taking it. Lucky me, lucky you.
Today is Monday and I wrestle with my DEWCMARF. What's a DEWCMARF? People laugh, which is fine, it's supposed to sound funny.
DEWCMARF is my latest acronym for a daily sequence of character building goals, the selection of which further reveal my personality.
Are you ready?
D is for dream journaling (no problemo, i remember my dreams every day)
E is for exercise/meditation (i close my eyes and pedal on an exercycle for 20 minutes max. hey, that's enough.)
W is for writing stories (weird stories)
C is for chores/work (weekdays that equals my day job)
M is for a movie review (there are thousands of weird movies that most people have never heard of, so i figured someone should review them)
A is for adoption steps (my wife and I are adopting a baby soon)
R is for relationships (hanging out, talking, making friends - these come easy for me, I'm a gregarious networker type)
F is for finances (and it all starts with paying the bills)
So now it's late at night. I don't know where writing a blog fits into DEWCMARF. But heck, I wanted to start the blog today, because it's been a pretty good day. Getting chilly here in the northern latitudes. Day job fine, home life fine. No paparazzi, please.
I particularly enjoyed writing a sassy movie review today for a neat short film called "My Chorus", about a guy whose inner voices manifest in four part harmony. I was also happy to get an email from Barcelona director Carlos Atanes saying how much he appreciated yesterday's review for his outstanding arty dystopia film "FAQ".
Daily movie reviews are posted on my website at www.MysticalMovieGuide.com which I started a few years ago around the time producer Stephen Simon wrote a book promoting Spiritual Cinema. For me, I've been doing Mystical this-and-that projects for years, and movie reviewing has been a great way to study contemporary story telling, which is cinema, and to work up the courage to make my own films. Films that are to be made after I write the stories for them, of course, which is happening. Weird stories that I call ConFi, or Consciousness Fiction. More on that later, or check out this link now if you must.
Welcome to my world world world world!
best wishes,
Carl Schroeder
Hello World!
It's about time I write a blog. There's all these people writing blogs just to talk about nothing, which of course becomes something if you talk about it in an interesting way. So you'd expect that someone like me, who does some interesting things and has some interesting opinions, would want to talk about nothing too, maybe even in an interesting way. That would be something, right?
So what am I, a legend in my own mind? Sure, why not. Isn't everyone? Personal mythologies, reinventing the self, it's the postmodern way to be.
The trick is to do your self-promotion in a healthy way. You want to be interesting, maybe even eccentric, or what they call intense. Positive is nice. But be edgy too. If you're on the edge, well then the blog is edgy. And edgy sells.
That's the appeal of blogs. Is this guy for real (yes I'm a guy), or is he going to reveal inappropriate dark secrets in his delusions of gradeur, exploding in some kind of reality TV confession breakdown? Oooh, what if. The tesion builds, the paparazzi swarm, the flashbulbs flash... or maybe that's just a migraine.
Who I am becomes revealed in the reading of the blog. Just jump into someone else's mind, mid-stream, sink or swim, that's the appeal of blogs, right? Kinda edgy reality journal stuff.
So I'm a 42 year old mystic, which means I seek direct experience of stuff like God, or dreams, or dreams of God. What's the difference anyway? See, I'm already asking the profounder questions. This is going to be one edgy blog, I'm telling you.
I do search engine software for a living, and for further living I write stories and essays and movie reviews and run spiritual art shows at a church founded in memory of an 18th century Swedish scientist and theologian (they don't have to be mutually exclusive you know) who talked to angels and devils. Swedenborgianism is a mystical Christian church that most people have never even heard of and fewer understand, which is just the kind of thing a mystic would find appealing. Or a misfit, poet, scientist, loony, and/or artist. Any one of whom might write an interesting blog, if they had the chance.
So here I have my chance to write a blog, and I'm taking it. Lucky me, lucky you.
Today is Monday and I wrestle with my DEWCMARF. What's a DEWCMARF? People laugh, which is fine, it's supposed to sound funny.
DEWCMARF is my latest acronym for a daily sequence of character building goals, the selection of which further reveal my personality.
Are you ready?
D is for dream journaling (no problemo, i remember my dreams every day)
E is for exercise/meditation (i close my eyes and pedal on an exercycle for 20 minutes max. hey, that's enough.)
W is for writing stories (weird stories)
C is for chores/work (weekdays that equals my day job)
M is for a movie review (there are thousands of weird movies that most people have never heard of, so i figured someone should review them)
A is for adoption steps (my wife and I are adopting a baby soon)
R is for relationships (hanging out, talking, making friends - these come easy for me, I'm a gregarious networker type)
F is for finances (and it all starts with paying the bills)
So now it's late at night. I don't know where writing a blog fits into DEWCMARF. But heck, I wanted to start the blog today, because it's been a pretty good day. Getting chilly here in the northern latitudes. Day job fine, home life fine. No paparazzi, please.
I particularly enjoyed writing a sassy movie review today for a neat short film called "My Chorus", about a guy whose inner voices manifest in four part harmony. I was also happy to get an email from Barcelona director Carlos Atanes saying how much he appreciated yesterday's review for his outstanding arty dystopia film "FAQ".
Daily movie reviews are posted on my website at www.MysticalMovieGuide.com which I started a few years ago around the time producer Stephen Simon wrote a book promoting Spiritual Cinema. For me, I've been doing Mystical this-and-that projects for years, and movie reviewing has been a great way to study contemporary story telling, which is cinema, and to work up the courage to make my own films. Films that are to be made after I write the stories for them, of course, which is happening. Weird stories that I call ConFi, or Consciousness Fiction. More on that later, or check out this link now if you must.
Welcome to my world world world world!
best wishes,
Carl Schroeder
