[ Dallas, TX ]
One thing I’m absolutely enjoying about my short stay here in The Great Satan’s belly? Fast internet. Really fast. My response to this circumstance has been an ongoing video overdose. For example, just yesterday I finished binge-watching Breaking Bad; I did it in ~4 days. (I felt bad about this at first, but have since learned I’m definitely not alone.)
I blame Netflix.
Another place I’ve been whiling away my time is Vimeo.com, researching my upcoming trip to Mongolia and perusing the always-entertaining Staff Picks page. This latter led to some inspiring words from an unexpected quarter: Charles Bukowski. Don’t take my word for it. Check out the attached video interpretation of his poem “Roll the Dice.” It’s worth two-and-a-half minutes of your valuable time.
I’ve included the poem below for shits-‘n-giggles, but the text appears superimposed (tastefully) on the video, and the narration is clear in any case.
Enjoy. (Seems like there ought to be a good lawsuit against Nike in there. Just watch it, you’ll see what I’m sayin’….)
[And here’s a bonus feature, with an unexpected tie-in to Binge Television: a comic version of the poem by the ever-brilliant Gavin Aung Than of Zen Pencils . His rendition is built upon (the television version of) Game of Thrones, And no, I have not yet been sucked into that particular viewing maelstrom, thankyouverymuch.]
roll the dice
if you’re going to try, go all the way.
otherwise, don’t even start.
if you’re going to try, go all the way.
this could mean losing girlfriends,
wives, relatives, jobs and
maybe your mind.
it could mean not eating for 3 or 4 days.
it could mean freezing on a
park bench.
it could mean jail,
it could mean derision,
mockery,
isolation.
isolation is the gift,
all the others are a test of your endurance,
of how much you really want to
do it.
and you’ll do it
despite rejection and the worst odds
and it will be better than
anything else
you can imagine.
if you’re going to try,
go all the way.
there is no other feeling like that.
you will be alone with the gods
and the nights will flame with fire.
do it, do it, do it.
do it.
all the way
all the way.
you will ride life
straight to perfect laughter,
its the only good fight there is.
—charles bukowski
