Speaking of diversity....
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 2:30PM I have news and a stellar video for you.
News: I won second place at UVic's Diversity Writing Contest. Needless to say, I REALLY wanted first place. First place came with a publication and $200. Second place comes with no publication and $100. Dammit! ;-) I wanted that publication.
BUT, I'm comforting myself with the fact that I wrote 60% of it mere hours before the deadline, no chance to sit on it and edit, and it was a miserable day full of relationship angst. I was amazed I was able to concentrate enough given the angst and the pressure of a midnight deadline. I only found out about it a week or so beforehand and I submitted it with three minutes to spare. LOL. Nothing like leaving something to the last minute. (I forgot about it until the day rolled around.) And I've studied next to nothing about writing, in books or at school. So, I feel pretty good about that! I'm excited to enroll in the writing programme. (Oh, and big thanks to Cherilyn, who read what I had written and helped me pull the theme together.)
I'm heartwarmed to have Paul and my sister accompany me at the awards presentation and banquet. I told Kim that it meant a lot to have her and her fetus attend. She replied, "To me too!" Awwww. *sniff*
Okay! Video!
LOVE this video. It's based off of Dr. Suess' Oh, The Places You'll Go!, and it's performed by the people from Burning Man 2011. There's one spot where a small-breasted woman is topless with tape over her nipples. I didn't even notice at first that she was a woman. (Sorry, Woman From Video! It just moved quickly enough and there were a lot of other things to look at besides your boobies.) Other than that, it's clean, and beautiful, and so well-produced. It made me cry. The part about waiting was poignant. This video encompasses a lot of my beliefs about how to live life and what to avoid.
Daily Gratitudes
- As I type this, I am looking at a white dome at the top of a university building. Someone has painted a big black smiley face on it. I was delighted to notice it.
- The chunky, slow snow looked gorgeous this morning, falling outside my apartment, with orange architecture as its backdrop. I took some nice photos with my fancy camera.
- The sky is now blue and it's stopped snowing.
- Shannon and Ginifer sent me heartwarming messages on Facebook.
- The next time I have to do laundry, I have just the right amount of loonies and quarters ready. Love that.
Reader Comments (8)
Thanks for the heads up on the video--I really appreciate it. Note that there's also a gal running with her back and exposed bum to the camera.
I've always loved that book. I've got a very well-worn copy in my home. : )
No captcha? I must admit, I'm so relieved!
Sorry, just one more--by the time I watched the video, I was thinking of your win as a completely separate post. Congratulations! And when do we get to read it?
The woman with her back exposed, her bum was mostly covered. She seemed to be as exposed as anyone at a beach.
I removed the captcha. it wa hard to find where to do so.
You won't get to read it! ;-) Too personal.
1) Bummer. I totally want to know what wins second place even when thrown together at the last second, and without formal training in writing.
2) Point taken about "bum" girl being about as exposed as the others on the beach. I was amazed at how much work must have gone into creating that video. I mean, like those life-sized statues of white kneeling people (very blah and nothing-ish [no personality or uniqueness to them]; very fitting for the "just waiting" part of the book), could not have been just part of their regular equipment for their shows.
I can email you the essay, Kim.
I think that all the props you saw in the video are just a part of Burning Man. I don't think they're there for this video. It's sooo well-produced!
2) "I was amazed at how much work..." was a new paragraph and probably should have had its own number (i.e. point #3). Oops.
3) I never sent off the amended #2, and have already seen your response, so: Awww. Thanks. Yes, I really would love to read it, if you feel comfortable sending it to me. And ----really? I could see a lot of the stuff being part of their normal acts, but the statues of nondescript people kneeling in circles I assumed had to made for the video. What in the world would they use them for in their show? Anyhoo, I agree with you--the video was very artistically and well-put together.
4) Did I mention how much I love "Oh the Places You'll Go?" Why yes, yes I did. Well, I'll mention it again. Simple yet so profound.
5) That was really sweet of you to go to such lengths to remove the captcha. I'm sorry to vent so much about it. Maybe if I wasn't so wordy, and hadn't invested so much effort in responding to your posts, I'd be much less frustrated if I lost my work or it took 20 times to get it to go through. I apologize in advance if you get more spam because of removing it.
I removed it for everyone's sake and to see if it would solve all commenting problems. So far, so good.
Burning Man isn't a show. It's like a city that gets set up every year and then taken down. It's a place for people to go and be wildly themselves and fit in and be accepted, no questions asked.