M  i  l    M  a  n  i  a

       

        The Official Newsletter of WWW.ARTISTINSANE.COM

 

 

Welcome Again To The Now Monthly Mil Mania!

 Volume 2, Issue 1, Jan. 2006

 

                             First, thank you once more to everyone for
                                   the continued enthusiastic response to this
                                   ever-growing bit of madness!  I can’t tell
                                   you what a joy it’s become to put this
                                   publication together and read the many kind
                                   and insightful comments from its readership.
                                   And, as a result of both the creativity 
                                   spurred on by this encouragement and a
                                   desire to include more material in accordance
                                    with various thoughts and suggestions, I
                                    have decided to embrace the challenge of
                                    monthly publication from here on out (though, at the same time reserving a “crazy” woman’s prerogative to change her mind!)
     That said, I’d also like to note that since the rat tale featured in “Pet Peeves and Paranoia” proved the source of the most — and most overwhelmingly positive — responses from December’s issue, I plan to bring Molly and the boys back for periodic future visits here, so watch for their return.  I even had one reader suggest adding an advice column hosted by Molly, who would answer questions submitted by the Mil Mania subscribership — and having survived the “wilderness” of the small lawn area between the busy drive/roadways where she was found, I’m sure she has much of very useful knowledge to share about traversing the wilds of life! 
     Be that as it may, I have also had the suggestion posed of adding a serious advice column I would host myself.  It seems to have somehow proved the nature of my rapport with people over the years that this has been characterized by many openly discussing difficulties going on in their lives at a given time — a circumstance I wouldn’t presume to explain except to offer the possibility it stems from a genuine caring about humanity (or rather, I should say “individuals”, as it’s been clearly exhibited that such caring extends to non-human varieties as well), and that I’m a good listener.  Of course, once you’ve read the new “Temporary Insanity” column included herein, you may blow my cover on that front by discovering I listen in part because I can so seldom myself come up with anything to say!&*^*!  (Kidding.)  In any case, as always, your thoughts on that potential addition (and any others) are most welcome.
     In the meantime, I believe the other areas of this issue are pretty much self-explanatory, so I’ll only add here that I 
hope you enjoy this latest collection of my insane creations!                                                                                                                        
    

           Ravings of a
              Mad Woman

This column corresponds with the Mad Ravings On section of www.artist-insane.com, and is dedicated to selected reviews of movies, television and books… most of which are unlikely to represent “the latest” in any of these categories, but rather a  random selection that represents a new and/or noteworthy discovery to me.

            ………………………..

 

In the interest of space, it’s doubtful any single issue of Mil Mania will contain both a film and book review...and having reviewed a book last time around, this month I’ll be commenting on… a book!  Again, I must remind you that the title of this column speaks for itself with regard to unpredictability. As a result, the following paragraphs share a few of my thoughts concerning On The Road by Jack Kerouac...and indeed concern is a key term with which to preface them. Be that as it may, again I’ve therefore added a couple new film reviews to my website’s “Movies’ section, so you can  click here to check those out as well.

 

     Back to “hitting The Road” with Kerouac (and, yes, to “hit” this Road — i.e. smack it on the coffee table while screaming “Blockhead!” at its author  — was admittedly a temptation), I must start by reminding all readers that my “reviews” are solely my personal opinions and that opposing viewpoints are indeed not merely welcome, but encouraged.  And, as I have encountered numerous people (more in recent months, strangely, than in all my years before) who list Kerouac among their favorite authors, I already look forward to the indignant, even outraged, feedback likely to spring from his legion of “beatnik” fans.

     I also must confess that this book took me (about 2 years) longer to read than any other I can think of in my lifetime — including the 1026-page Gone With the Wind, which I breezed through (I realize a rather staggering) 11 times in junior high.  The reason for this, of course, is that I kept abandoning this more “modern” volume in disgust, finding it simply too incredulous that any reasonably intelligent, even ostensibly somewhat sensitive, post-teenage male as its narrator, Sal Paradise, could be not merely drawn to such a completely unappealing loser as Dean Moriarty, but actually idolize him as a “hero” he might wish to emulate.
     To back up a bit, however, for the benefit of those who (have proved smart enough to) have not read this book already, I should probably pause here to explain that it is essentially a marginally fictionalized tale of Kerouac’s adventures traversing the U.S. with a companion named Neal Cassady in the 1940’s, and his observations on various misplaced individuals, foreign cultures and the string of unusual relationships made and lost along the way.
     And, despite my early (and with each page increasing) distaste for the work, I should also explain that as an eternal optimist, always willing to believe the most seemingly hopeless bit of literary or cinematic drivel might “come around in the end”, I will admit I was momentarily encouraged that the illness and delirium under which Dean uncaringly abandoned Sal in Mexico late in the story was leading to a significant mental as well as physical recovery when he at last recognized that his “hero” was really a “rat” (an appellation I find personally offensive for reasons you’re already aware of if you’ve read the “Pet Peeves and Paranoia” column in the December issue of Mil Mania -- though I tried to ignore even this insult to injury in my hope of seeing such a “great” author redeemed…).  Alas, only pages later, the fully recuperated narrator informs us of his plans to move to San Francisco, where Dean (who has clearly not himself recovered from an apparently terminal quest for unhappiness), the boozing, drug-using womanizer married three times, and divorced twice, is at that time living with his second wife.  (And, I’m the one who claims to be insane…?).
     Again, it’s not at all lost on me that this is considered a “classic” work which has stood the test of time and continually gains its author succeeding generations of new admirers.  And, based on that fact, it seems entirely rational to conclude that to like this book, even treasure it, is quite possibly “normal”.  Of course, that distinction in itself explains the motto you’ll find at various places on my website…

     “Normal people worry me.” 

 

 

 

Music Mayhem    

Thanks for reading this issue of Mil Mania!  And, remember, this is a work in progress, subject to many and varied changes — all adding up to a new and improved publication...so I hope!  Please drop me a line to let me know what you think, including any and all suggestions.  And, if you’ve enjoyed this bit of e-news madness,  please encourage your friends to subscribe today!   Thank you!!!

To remove your name from this mailing list click here  and type “Unsubscribe” in the subject line. Questions or comments?  E-mail :   mil@artistinsane.com

 

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  ...to listen to Mil’s NEW song,  

                   “Will”

                  from the
   Taking The Fall soundtrack!

And, be sure to read the blog explaining “Why There’s A Will”.

 

       Newsletter Spotlight 

                              NEW!!! Temporary Insanity

 

                     

      

                 

        

 

            

 

In the interest of assigning some modicum of order to this ongoing document of literary madness,  I’ve created this column to serve as a catch-all area for the various one-time topics that may appear in Mil Mania, as well as recurring ones such as the aforementioned, “Pet Peeves and Paranoia”, which occupied this spot last month. 

 

This issue’s entry here