I had a much better weekend this time around compared to last. I came out of it feeling good about things rather than any of the negative feelings I dealt with last week. As far as events of the weekend go…on Saturday I bought an electric staple gun and an extension cord so it’d be easier on my hands when I stretch canvases. I gave it a shot that night, (no pun intended) and I found that the kick is quite forceful, and the staples tend to bounce back some when it fires, so they don’t go too far into the wood. It works perfectly if you can pull the trigger with one hand and hold the gun in place with the other, but the problem with that is you need to use the “free” hand to keep the canvas pulled taut. In any case, I ended up stapling the whole canvas using the first method described, then pounding the staples down into the wood with a hammer. It worked fairly well, and I was able to stretch 3 canvases without ruining my hands as I have in the past.

I also finally saw Red Dragon on Saturday. It was pretty well done with all things considered, but I did like the book better. I thought the killer was much freakier in the book, and things were a lot more real and plausible, if that’s possible. This is totally the opposite of what I thought of Hannibal, of course…in that instance, I enjoyed the movie much more than the book. In any case, it was definitely worth seeing, but I think it would appeal more to those people who have a history with this series of stories than someone who came to this film without having seen the other two, or read any of the books.

Sunday was Hachi’s birthday…he took us to a Mexican restaurant, and I had enchiladas for the very first time. I don’t mean to be crude, but the smell follows you long after the meal has been digested. ahem It was pretty good though.

I started playing Silent Hill (the original) on Sunday afternoon and got pretty well into it. Once I figured out the combat style and
controls, it was much more fun than when I was flailing around. In its own way, it’s even creepier than SH2…the music is for sure. Later in the evening, Daniel came over, and I proceeded to show him Stair Dismount, which he seemed to get a kick out of. (I was tickled that he found it just as amusing as I did!) Anyhow, there he was playing SD on my computer, with the audio coming out the stereo, and there I was playing Silent Hill on my TV, and lo and behold, the porno-music and screams/cruches from SD were permeating my game quite nicely. There were a few times there when I seriously thought the sound effects were coming from my game, and it honestly scared the crap out of me! XD It was really quite amusing.

And speaking of the music, I’ve been trying to download the soundtracks for both games ever since I finished Silent Hill 2 back in…like…August. I had only been able to get about 7 songs out of like 120 or so, which was unbelievably frustrating. Well, today I did a little digging and came across the mp3s for Silent Hill and Silent Hill 2, as well as a fan-ripped soundtrack for Silent Hill 2
which included all the music from the game that wasn’t on the official soundtrack. Additionally, I came across some really well-done remixes of some Resident Evil and Silent Hill music. Needless to say, I was in complete and utter bliss! (One thing is certain..once I get some money, I’ll definitely be buying these CDs!)

So, anyhow, I burned them onto CD and took them with me to my night class, intending to listen to them while I worked on my Giger-esque calendar project for Design class….I thought that would be quite fitting. Well, I ended up spending the majority of the class talking to and helping my classmates, which was perfectly fine by me…but I didn’t really get to listen much. So, when I finally headed home, it was about 9:30 PM, so it was quite dark out. I pushed the volume up a decent amount on my discman and walked down the empty stretch of concrete pathway between the art building and my place. The air was brisk and calm, and colored leaves were falling from the trees. It was the perfect vision of a fall night, and the Silent Hill music could not have been a more appropriate soundtrack for the moment. I watched my shadow grow and diminish as I walked between the lights beside the walkway, and I smiled widely. Then I took pictures. :-) Of all the pictures, this one and this one were the best. But the importance of the experience was the fact that I was there, completely alone, in a perfect moment.

Jules often speaks of paying attention to these perfect moments, and sadly, it’s so easy to overlook them. But they are there, all the time. You just have to keep your eyes open.