Ira Heinichen's Blog, page 11

Day 4,233: Obscurity

I find myself ruminating tonight about ‘toiling away in obscurity.’ And just as I type those words, I think I know where this rumination ends, but before skipping to the end…

I just. I post this blog—these journal entries, because that’s what they are—online. It is public, you know? But I don’t make any effort to otherwise get the word out there about it. I don’t do any SEO, I don’t go around posting links, sharing, social media, marketing, etc. I literally don’t do anything to drive traffic ...

Day 4,232: March List

Today I learned that Brett McKenzie and Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords were roommates in college, and that’s how they started performing together. Taika Waititi was also at the college at the same time, and they were in at least a couple different comedy groups together. Brett and Jemaine took Conchords to the Fringe festival in Edinburg for two years, and it was after that they got their first TV gig with HBO on a program back then called One Night Stand, half hour stand-up comedy s...

Day 4,231: Lickums

Zonked! Long, loooonnggg work day today. Had a new project come in from work that involved curating clips, which is always super brain-intensive for me. It takes work to get those clips right, you know? Of course you do. That’s why we’re friends 🙂

Had a great morning of writing to start things out, which is kinda wild because I was also super tired waking up, lol. Took me a while to get going…but it flowed when I did, I guess, because all the sudden it was time to stop and I’d written more th...

Day 4,230: One Eighteen

Do I remember life before the internet?

I do! Barely…

Essentially, as soon as I was old enough to use the internet, the internet was around. It happened in grade school. I remember an ISP called ‘Prodigy.’ There was a puzzle game you could play, a way to chat with others (though I never did that), and something to do with the San Diego Zoo. And I remember going online for the first time and basically seeming like magic, this idea that the computer was connected to someone on the other side...

Day 4,229: Push

Today I learned that the roman poet Virgil is most famous for the Aeneid which is an epic poem ostensibly about the founding of Rome, notable for the fact that it doesn’t include the characters/persons of Romulus or Remus. There were many different foundation stories about Rome, and the Aeneid is one of them. It has the distinction of connecting Rome with a direct line to Greek culture and mythology — the central character fought at Troy with Achilles and Odysseus, is kicked out of Greece upon r...

Day 4,228: We Missed One

Quick entry tonight because it’s late. Stayed up ever so slightly because I needed more time to wind down…and I’ve been getting up late lately, so it’s harder for me to fall asleep on time. But the only cure for that is to get my ass up on time tomorrow morning. So, I will. I’ve got pages to write! Twelve of them.

Wish me luck.

Night night.

Day 4,227: Phantasms

Today I learned who Cicero really was. I mean, I’d heard the name. I’ve known he was Roman…but I couldn’t tell you why I knew his name. Honestly, I’d have guessed he was a playwright or a poet (conflating him with Seneca, I think?).

He was a politician it turns out, and one of a group of Romans in his day that apparently became rather obsessed with early Roman history. And its largely through his writings of ancient-ancient Rome that we get must of our own understanding of that time ourselves...

Day 4,226: Bizzy

Today I learned about The Eddie. It’s a big wave invitational surfing competition that takes place on Oahu’s north shore every year that the conditions are right for it…which can sometimes be once every five to ten years! Crazy, right?! They’ll literally only hold it when the conditions line up properly for it. I respect that. Waves gotta be biiiiig, you know?

It’s named after a surfing legend, Eddie Aikau. Hawaiian native. Lifeguard who saved literally hundreds of people’s lives while on dut...

Day 4,225: Sploot

Today I learned that MLB players are being harassed online by people who’ve placed bets and lost them. Death threats, stalking, other abusive language. Fan bases have always been hard on players when they’ve struggled, but this goes beyond booing. So…yeah. That’s another corner of the internet that sucks.

My heart goes out to those players.

———

Joy was a bit of a terror today. She ran out of the front yard and barked really aggressively at our next door neighbor’s dog, Leo, who was gett...

Day 4,224: Barrel

Today I learned that Cortes Bank, one of those wild spots out in the middle of the ocean where waves actually break, is off the California coastline. It’s 100 miles out there, but I had no idea.

I remember first learned about Cortes Bank, I thiiiiink, from the movie Step Into Liquid, which was a surfing doc that came out when I was deep into movie-watching, back in the early aughts. Man, I’d go and see three movies a week, sometimes. I loved it. The span from, about, 1999 to…2003? Something l...