Because I know the C man will love it:

The Shape Of Song, a computer program that analyzes MIDI files and displays their structure graphically.

I might not be ‘blogging for a while.

My phone service still hasn’t been turned on at the other house. Yes, that was a month ago, no, it’s not really their fault. Also no cable internet.

Today is the last day of the month, however and I need to get the last of my stuff out of the old place. Natch the computer is the last thing. Har.

I’m really pissed at myself for letting everthing lapse like I have. This is the kind of thing I should expect from myself, really. As in, I should just hire someone to live my life for me. Then they could do all the stuff that needs to be done, and I could sit around and do the special brand of nothing that is uniquely mine to offer the world.

Lest you think I’m being hard on myself: Rob Breszny agrees with me! (Sort of.)

“You’re progressing nicely in your efforts to master life’s most complicated skills. For instance, you’re making better and better mistakes all the time. You’re getting pretty good at being three places at once, too; and with every passing month you know more about using your fears to motivate you so they won’t paralyze you. What you’d benefit from most right now, though, is a refresher course in the simplest fundamentals. For starters, you still have a lot to learn about how to sleep and eat. And it’s not too far-fetched to say that you could use some breathing lessons. For that matter, Sagittarius, you’re not exactly a PhD in the art of happiness. I suggest you sniff around to see if there are any crafty elders offering workshops on how to regard everything that comes your way as a blessing.”

So of course the crafty elder offering a workshop on how to regard everything as a blessing died yesterday. Who to ask now?

Many people have told me, over the last few years, that I should see a movie called Donnie Darko. They’d say, “You’d like it,” and leave it at that, even if pressed for reasons.

And, lo, last night, I watched it, and was impressed. Not at all the ghost story everyone had made it out to be.

What I like most about it is that it was made for no money, with no expectation of big box office returns. Free of those kinds of concerns, the filmmakers could cut back on formula and spelling-it-out scenes, and maximize the ambiguity and confusion of being a teenager.

Plotwise: A young psychotic man is saved from death by one of his hallucinations: An evil-looking bunny-suit of a creature named Frank, who says the world will end in 28 days. Thereafter, the kid ends up doing the bidding of the ultra-creepy Frank, who might just be a messenger from another dimension.

It’s Philip K. Dick meets Stephen King, high on the creep factor, and low on explanations at the end, even though key clues from the movie are replayed while the ending unfolds. It touches on issues of predestination, free will, the existence of God, the confusion of being a teenager in America, shortcomings in education, the fallacies of self-help, and the treatment (both senses) of the mentally-ill.

Very rich, very thoughtful and thought-provoking. Wonderfully acted. Artful. And has big evil bunnies in it.