Fires

Recently I've been shocked to hear about the recent news story, the Greece Fires. Has anyone heard about this tragedy?

Apparently, fires have been starting all over Greece for the past week. Even today, Greece is still burning. Could you imagine your country or state continuously burning for a week straight? Imagine the panic.

Analysts thinks that the fires are caused by arson, but they've been igniting in different areas all around Greece. At one point, over 70 separate locations of fires were burning in the country. Doesn't that sound like some kind of intentional attempt or act of terrorism? That would be like the US burning, but burning from all different states, like Kentucky to New York to California. Apparently six people have been charged for deliberately starting the fires.

So far, 64 people have died and over 500,000 acres have been burnt, almost the size of Rhode Island. That must be a terrifying way to die. Burning. The suffocation, the fire, no escapes and a helpless feeling. I give firefighters a lot of credit. I couldn't have that bravery carried with me every day.



Look at the fires from a NASA aerial shot. Isn't that insane?

I can't imagine being in that situation. It reminds me of that common question that we've been asked before: if your house was on fire and you could only take one thing, what would you take?

First of all, that situation would be horrifying. I don't even know if I would know where to begin. Everything you've ever owned and treasured would be inside burning, and what could you do? Where could you bring it? How much could you take before your own life is in danger?

My answer, like some people's, is a cross between pictures/home videos and my writings (journals) from when I was little until up to date. Those are irreplacable. All the clothes and shoes can be re-bought, but those would be gone forever. Those would hurt the most to lose, in my opinion.

A quick memory: this reminds me of Ang, when I asked her about her favorite stuffed animal, Ellie, being trapped inside the house during a fire. Quick fact on Ang: she is deeply attached to the animal. So, in this hypothetical question, Ang actually began crying, physically picturing the event happening. How much of an ass did I feel like? Needless to say, it's a comical memory and Ellie is not burning in a fire. She's probably tucked safely somewhere on Patiky Street in Long Island.

Anyway, my big question is the one I mentioned above: If you could only take one thing from your house if it was burning, what would you take? And why?

Dominique Appia

Above is one of my favorite pieces of art, called "Between the Gasps of Memory" by Dominique Appia.

Once I saw it, I was immediately in love with it. I bought it as a poster two years ago, and we initially put it in front of our kitchen table. The poster caused a lot of people to squint their eyes and say "that's just really weird," but it also caused a lot of thought-provoking conversations that aimed to dissect the piece.

I still don't really know what it means.

I have ideas, though.

I remember, two years ago, having a great conversation about it with my great friends Paul Michael and Andy. We talked about which area our eyes were drawn to, which area we would feel most comfortable being in, where we would be in the picture if we had the chance to crop ourselves in.

Then, the other night, after I hung the poster in my bedroom, my roommates Jess and Andy looked at the poster in depth, trying to analyze each section. With their help, mostly just Jess and I, I got farhter into understanding it than I normally have. But, I guess I don't really look at it too closely when it's always around. It just becomes another thing on the wall--not something to stop and think about too much when it's always there. However, I like that I have the option to go another step farther with it if I have the time or energy to want to expand my thinking for the day.

So, if you like this piece of artwork or are intrigued by it, please, please, please visit his website. You could explore it for a while, just meandering through his pages and other pieces of artwork. It's one of the best and most interesting websites I've come across--maybe because I am also a fan of artwork. I also have the website in my list of links on the side of my blog if that's easier.

What do you think of his artwork?

I'm going to post some more of his pieces below. Let me know what you think.

Counting Crows

Last night, my brother and I drove up to the Syracuse State Fair to see Hootie and the Blowfish and Counting Crows, one of my all-time favorite bands. I've seen Counting Crows before, once last year in Rochester at Darien Lake, and they put on a really good show. But, they play a lot of unknown songs and change up some of the popular songs when they play them, so I think a lot of people are left disappointed with their performance. Honestly, I think that it's great for artists to reinvent their music and choose the songs they want to play, because it's their music.

I love Counting Crows because they have so much heart for their music. They love each song they create, and you know how meaningful each piece is. Adam, the lead singer, always talks about a song or two during the night, letting you know its significance and importance to him. I really like that, because you know he's creating music that's really special to him, and they're creating songs not only to make money, but because they have to.

My favorite part of the night is when the band played a not-so-popular track, "Goodnight Elizabeth," a slower song. Mid-way during the song, the band kept playing the slow piano tune to the song, and Adam sat down on a speaker and talked about what the song means to him. He told us that in 1993, he had a girlfriend and a record contract. He thought he had his whole life planned out. Marriage, band, life. Then when they went on the road in the summer, they broke up unexpectedly. He wrote the song in December of the same year, thinking that his lyrics "Goodnight, Elizabeth" really meant "goodbye," like saying goodbye to her as his girlfriend.

But, he said that now, since he broke up with a new girlfriend two weeks ago, he really figured out what he was talking about years ago. Instead of "goodnight" really meaning "goodbye," he thinks that it really does mean "goodnight." When we lose someone, we give up that ability to say goodnight to them, and as he put it, "release the anchor on them before they go to sleep." We're they're last contact, that special moment before you both sleep. You really don't think about it much until it's gone, and then you realize how important and comforting the "goodnight" was.



I love that the band still tries to figure out their songs even after they've been published for over ten years. I think that's one reason why they're a strong band; they also keep reinventing their songs, which I find extremely talented. Soon, they'll be coming out with a new edition of August and Everything After, one of their best albums, in my opinion.

But, still during "Goodnight Elizabeth," after he said his revelation, he sung with his eyes closed, really feeling the song. Then, once he opened his eyes, he realized that a couple guys in the front were fighting, so he put his hand up and the band stopped playing music. He said, "Are you guys really fighting during 'Goodnight Elizabeth'? This is not a fighting song. There are definitely a lot of other songs that you could fight to, but this is a slow song." Then he waited a minute and asked if they were done fighting. He motioned to the band to begin, and they began playing right from where they left off.

I enjoyed that too.

Other songs that they played: "Black and Blue," "A Long December," "Recovering the Satellites," "St. Robinson and His Cadillac Dream," "Mrs. Potter's Lullaby," "Hangin' Around," "Big Yellow Taxi," "Hard Candy," "Holiday in Spain," "Mr. Jones," and they ended with "Rain King" and a Bob Dylan song, sang as a duet with Darius Rucker, the lead singer of Hootie and the Blowfish. They also played two new songs from a new CD coming up: Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings, which sounds like it's going to be a double disc, because songs come from either side. They played "Hanging Tree" from Saturday Nights and "Drumming Girl" (I think that's the name of the song) from Sunday Mornings. Look for the new CD!

At the end, Adam talked to the audience again. He said that we need to be more American and use our rights more than we do. We need to vote. There's nothing more American than voting. He doesn't care what we vote, but we need to exercise our ability to choose more often. And, he said that we should be participating in more programs around our local area, like rape abuse centers, AIDS facilities, clinics, etc. Volunteer. America gives us the ability to participate and be involved. We need to use that involvement more. The best help you can give is to your own community; you don't need to go all around the world to help. Local help is the best you can do.

Then, Adam ended by saying that they're not going anywhere; they plan on being around for a while. That's good news for us.

What are your favorite Counting Crows songs? Which lyrics do you love? Have you ever seen them perform before?

These lyrics stuck out to me last night from "A Long December," and I'll post them underneath. Think about it for this upcoming year, especially all you college freshmen.

I can't remember all the times I tried to tell my myself
To hold on to these moments as they pass

Piercing

I love spontaneity.

On Wednesday, Bridget (my godmother) was talking to my mom and I, trying to make plans to get together that day. Instead of just doing the same old thing, we decided to pierce.

I have been wanting to pierce my rook for a while--Erica inspired me with her own piercing, and I've been putting it off for a few months now (just ask her). On Wednesday, I woke up not thinking that I would put myself through a different change like that for the day--and that's what I love about spontaneity.

Surpisingly enough, Di decided to get her cartilege pierced too! I was so excited that she let herself do it. I know that she was really nervous and scared, but she sucked it up and got a gold hoop in her cartilege. She looks awesome! Let her know next time you see her, because it really does look hot.



I pierced first though because I was so nervous that I had to get it over with. I am terrified of needles, so this was big for me. The needle was curved because the rook in your ear is in the corner, and the needle has to go in at an angle. And man! did it hurt. Even three days afterwards, it still hurts if you touch it, but it's well worth the pain. I think it looks pretty cool, even though my mom thinks that no one will hire someone who has such a "scandalous" piercing (I don't think it's really that bad).



What do you think of it?

After my mom, Bridge got her second holes re-pierced. We always make a small scene wherever we go. We really struck up some good conversation with the piercing guy. He informed me of a myth: the piercing itself never makes a noise, like a crunch; the sound is actually the rubber gloves of the piercer sliding the needle through. Gross, but true.

Matt and Steph accompanied us on our little piercing trip. Here they are sleepy on the couch in the waiting room:



Otherwise, that job must have its highs and lows. It must be fun to make such fun and cool changes on someone, to pierce something that they really want done. But, it must also be difficult for those people who are deathly terrified yet still want it done. I was somewhere in between, kind of pulling away as an instinct as he pierced me (bad move), but he was still able to perform it. He said he's had worse, and I bet it's true.

How do you think that job would be? More highs or lows?

Overall, piercing was fun and rewarding. We all have something physical on our bodies to remind us of that day and of each other. This was the "Summer of Change," so why not symbolize it with a physical reminder?

Alice in Chains

Any Alice in Chains fans out there? Anyone love that 90s grunge sound?

Last Thursday, I seized a once in a lifetime opportunity: I saw Alice in Chains live, but, of course, without Layne Staley as their lead singer. I know that many people are outraged that Alice in Chains is still performing under their band's name without their lead singer who passed away on April 20, 2002 (the same day that Kurt Cobain died, but a different year).

Layne Staley and guitarist Jerry Cantrell formed the band together, later becoming a famous grunge band. Then, years after their popularity and hiatus since Staley's death, they choose a new lead singer and tour under the same name. Is this right?

A friend and I were discussing this, and she said to compare it to Pearl Jam. Would it be right if Eddie Vedder died, and then Pearl Jam kept touring under the same name, even though Vedder started and lead the band?

Personally, I tried to get over this difference and enjoy watching them play. I think it's awesome and legendary that they did tour, so take advantage of it. Their new lead singer, William Duvall, sounds extremely similar to Staley. He had the vocals right on, and as my friend Matt said, "he did his homework."



Alice in Chains played well-known songs like "Down in a Hole" and "Them Bones," but the absolute highlight of the show was their encore. They transitioned from "Angry Chair" right into "Man in the Box," then to "Would?" and lastly to a mellow song, "Rooster." The last four songs had this incredible energy--each song was met with anticipation and excitement. That had to be the highlight of the concert.

The following band, Velvet Revolver, really wasn't as exciting as I expected. I really wanted to see Slash perform, because I think he's one of the best guitar players around right now. He's a legend, and I can't believe he's still alive. He really is a crowd-pleaser with his tall signature hat, ripped black jeans with red stockings underneath, and jam sessions where he played inches from a screaming crowd. He was a good show himself.

Scott Weiland really scared me. I knew he was energetic and flamboyant, but I guess I didn't know how extreme he really was. I think he's more feminine than me. He dances and sticks out his chest, rips off his shirt and struts around like a teenage girl. It's really bizarre. I found my brother and I laughing at times more than we were rocking out to his vocals. At least he kept us entertained.



Velvet Revolver is more of a super-group than an actual band, in my opinion. Their songs aren't really all that amazing. I like their old bands much better (Stone Temple Pilots and Guns N Roses). To tell you the truth, I was craving their old songs more than I was anticipating their new songs on Libertad. They did play "Big Empty" and "Vasoline" from STP, and "Patience" from GNR, which were some of the best songs of the night.

Bands like Audioslave, who also bound together from incredible previous bands, came together and created good music. They have a good, solid sound that creates great new music. You're not always conscious of who they were, just more on what they're creating now. With Velvet Revolver, I feel like they're not really making good new music; they're just still hanging on to their old bands so they can still perform and be rock stars. I think they're all talented, but as a group, they're not really that amazing.

So, I'd like to hear some opinions on Alice in Chains replacing Lane Staley, and super-groups like Velvet Revolver banding together, but not really meshing all that well. Any reactions?

Charlie

Thanks to Kelly, yesterday I came across some YouTube footage of one of my favorite bands, The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Apparently, they made their own video and posted it on YouTube, asking fans to create a video of "Charlie" for them. Check out the band's video here.

With increasing video footage and talent on YouTube, what an excellent way to get a video--especially with involvement of fans. I love Chili Peppers (and other bands like this) who really listen to and appreciate their fans. They make music because they love to, artistically have to create, and make it for a fanbase who they really care for. That's the Chili Peppers.

Anyway, with this contest, they judged all videos sent in for "Charlie" and picked the best as their own. I was astounded to see the real video, for people are really, really talented. Music videos seem simple and easy to create, but they probably are not easy in the least. This video, in my opinion, is really good. I just kept thinking about how good our youth is becoming at technological things--like video-making (courtesy of our YouTube generation).

View the "Charlie" video here, and let me know what you think!

Digital Shorts

Saturday Night Live is, and has been, one of my favorite shows throughout the years and throughout the many casts. The newer seasons have received much criticism for not living up to the past cats of Will Ferrell, Chris Farley, John Belushi, Adam Sandler, or Mike Meyers, but I think that SNL has a new face that keeps the show funny, up-to-date, fresh, and edgy: Andy Samberg.



Samberg's digital shorts have a different kind of comedy--a unique sense of humor that isn't textbook comedy at the box office. Just like Jerry Seinfeld has his own unique style of comedy, so does Samberg.



Hot Rod, Samberg's first movie, debuted this summer, doing not so bad at the box office. I saw it on opening night because I'm that big of a fan (how embarassing), and it wasn't the best movie I've ever seen, but it did make me laugh. I think Samberg will come out with more movies that will be better, almost like Will Ferrell and Adam Sandler did once they left SNL. Let me know what you think of Hot Rod if you've seen it.



Watch some digital shorts and let me know what you think, which ones you like, which ones you didn't particularly care for, etc.

Watch this Digital Short called "Dear Sister," where Shia LeBeouf co-stars. It's over-dramatic but funny.

Watch this Digital Short called "Dick in a Box," the Christmas special featuring Justin Timberlake. This is his most popular short, climbing to the top of YouTube's most watched list the week it debuted on SNL.



Watch this Digital Short called "Laser Cats 2," with co-star Bill Hader, on laser cats with laser beams on their heads--Mike Myers-esque.

Watch this Digital Short called "Gangsta Rap," with Natalie Portman, rapping.



Watch this Digital Short called "Young Chuck Norris," where Samberg actually plays Norris himself.



Watch this Digital Short called "Lazy Sunday," where Samberg and Chris Parnell rap about the Chronicles of Narnia. Very funny.



Watch this Digital Short called "Lettuce Help." It sounds strange, but it will you make you laugh.



Taco Town, I already posted in a different blog.



If anyone finds the most recent short, "Talking Dog" with Zack Braff, or any other digital shorts, let me know. Let me know what you think.

Artistic Talent

What kind of talent do you envy?

Personally, as I've written before, I envy the artistic ability to paint or draw. I wish I was able to take an image or an idea and splatter it on a crisp canvas, coming out with a product that is understandable, clear, inspiring, and beautiful. I wish I could capture some images and ideas on a sketchpad or canvas--I think images are extremely powerful, sometimes even more than words.

In a debate, which side would you choose: the power of words of the power of the image has a stronger effect?

When it comes to expressing the self or artistically creating, I always try to satisfy it through writing. Through writing, I can at least minutely describe what it is I'd want to paint, but I use the lined paper or Word Document, instead, to instill my conveyed idea.

I always tried to draw, but it was never really that great. I took a drawing class at Cortland and did fairly well for a morning class, but that was the extent to my pursuit. Sculpting always seemed fascinating to me--the ability to take one glob of something and pick away at it until it formed a meaningful shape. Way to manipulate your surroundings.

Art is fascinating in any form. For whatever reason, the moment I woke up this morning, I asked myself the blog question that I'll end the post with. Sometimes, when I first wake up, my mind is bombarded by a million thoughts, mostly meaningless chatter that races at hundreds of miles per hour throughout my brain, restlessly not allowing me to fall back to sleep. Hence, here I am at 9:00 AM on a Tuesday morning blogging about the thoughts that first dragged me out of a sleep-in morning.

If you could be an artist, would you want to sculpt, draw simple line sketches, paint landscapes, portraits, or abstract ideas like Picasso? Would you want to be a photographer or create giant pieces of artwork that are twenty feet tall that are displayed on college campuses and parks (Cortland has a few, but we still have not figured out what they are or what they mean)?

This was my troubling question. I tossed in bed wondering which I would choose, and when it got down to it, I couldn't just choose one. I would really want to be a photographer with a keen eye to a stillshot, but I would really want the ability to draw something exactly as I saw it, mixed it with a little abstract idea that blended into the landscape I was painting or drawing. I can't narrow it down any more than that. At least I can pursue my photography aspiration.

Anyway, I pose three strong, and difficult, questions throughout the blog. What are your answers to any of the questions? They're not easy, but they're fun to ponder.

Red Rocks

Where is the most beautiful place you've ever been?

Do you choose something around you that's special to you, a scene that is local that you can see everyday? Do you choose a place far away that took your breath away? What do you choose?

It's a tough question, but I'm sure you at least have two or three options that come to mind. Please let me know. I like to see where everyone has gone and what has made the top of the list of all those places.

For me, it's Red Rocks in Las Vegas. Last year, my family went out to Vegas for my brother's soccer tournament, a great excuse to visit Sin City. The strip was nice, pretty much exactly what you see on any postcard or aerial view on television. But, on the outskirts, Red Rocks really blew me away. The vast land, the arid climate, that orange color just spreading across the land for miles and miles. It was really breathtaking.

If I lived out there, I would be there all the time. Now that would be my thinking spot. Maybe there are nice and beautiful spots around where I live, and maybe I take them for granted. I just hope I wouldn't do that for Red Rocks.

Some great bands have put out live CDs from Red Rocks, such as Dave Matthews Band and Incubus, Live from Red Rocks. The sound must carry really well from off the enormous rocks.

On our trip, we climbed around the rocks like it was God's giant playground, maneuvering in and out of boulders, hiding in the caves, walking along the tops of tall rocks, and looking down to see more and more rocks piled on one another. It was absolutely incredible. I collected a bunch of red rocks, dispersed some to my friends back at school, and have some decorating my dresser in my house, a constant reminder of this beautiful place and the feeling attached to it.

On a side note, I do collect physical artifacts from beautiful places or monumental times in my small world. I have rocks from the Falls in Ithaca, flattened coins from railroad tracks, railroad spikes, black sand from Hawaii, sea shells from Long Island, Rochester, and Caribbean Islands, and of course, the red rocks. It looks a bit strange, but it's a great memory collection for me. It will only grow from there.

Anyway, I will show you some pictures from the Red Rocks trip. We went in 2006, a few months shy of my 21st birthday (which meant that I was not allowed to drink or play any casino games--how ironic is that?). Please feel free to comment and answer my initial blog question.

My family at Red Rocks.



Some landscape shots, absolutely gorgeous.







Look at the texture of the rocks on this one...













If you look closely, the rock looks like a silouette of a face...



My mom on a rock, looking peaceful.



My dad at the rocks, happy.



My brother, climbing and exploring.



Me in a little cave.



And in another little cave (I guess I like caves).



Me, sitting on a rock.



I'm climbing.



It was a bit breezy, but you'll sure get some clarity thinking and looking at the rocks.





Where's the most beautiful place you've ever been?

Lady Lazarus

"Lady Lazarus" by Sylvia Plath

So, so, Herr Doktor,
So, Herr Enemy.
I am your opus,
I am your valuable,
The pure gold baby
That melts to a shreik.
I turn and burn.
Do not think I underestimate your great concern.
Ash, ash--
You poke and stir.
Flesh, bone, there is nothing there.

This poem was included in the current memoir I'm reading, Wasted. Marya Hornbacher, the author, periodically includes poems now and then that tie in with what she's going through and how she's feeling. This poem, however, stuck with me a little. I felt I'd include it here to see if anyone thought anything significant (or not) about the poem too.

Being a hospitalized patient, one might seem this, how do we say, isolated and empty. One is more of a subject that feels no worth inside instead of a real person. Mental hospitals must do this to people, make them feel like a test subject more than a person--not that the hospital is to blame. I don't know how else a psychiatric ward should be run in the least. But, I can only imagine the struggle of the patient, as Plath describes in the poem above, a severance from the self, possibly close to the experiences described in Girl, Interrupted.

Again, this poem is so cleverly written. As I commented before, some poems just use the perfect images to describe the overall message. I think Plath's images are well selected, crafting a crisp, eerie feeling to match her own.

Personally, Plath's life interests me. After writing the semi-autobiographical novel The Bell Jar, with the main character who has been suggested to mirror her own life, perhaps a closeted and hidden character that was supposed to be herself, Plath killed herself, just as the main character does in the novel. One can only imagine that the protagonist and the author shared the internal thoughts that were spelled out on the page. I bought Plath's journals and other writings, and I should go through it because it would be eerie and utterly interesting to page through. Writers of all kinds interest me deeply, for I like to see where different artists get their inspiration and their creative energy--some from pain, some from joy, some from madness, some from boredom, etc.

Where do you get your creative energy?

And, what comments do you have on the above poem, or Syliva Plath?

Re-Creating Reality

"The more you look at the same thing...the better and emptier you feel." -Andy Warhol


(A piece of Andy Warhol's: his trademark Campbell's Tomato Soup Can but copied over and over again, another trademark of his work).

With my memoir kick, I picked up a book called Wasted by Marya Hornbacher about her teeange life with anorexia and bulemia. Fascinating stuff. Anyway, the above quotation by Andy Warhol was plucked in her writing, and I couldn't help but stop reading and reflect on his words. Bizarre.

Where to even take this quotation? My first thoughts were about living in the same place for a long time, looking at the same buildings and the same scenery, it would give you a sense of constance, comfort, and control because of the lack of change, but it would utterly make you feel empty for the lack of change and for seeing the same sights and nothing else but those sights. Maybe that was my thought because I was driving home from my last day of work today, staring at the same buildings and road signs as always, but looking at them as if I wouldn't see them for a long time. Not Monday or next week, but who knows when. It's a separation, but I'd rather keep seeing new things than just see the same thing over and over again.

Or, as Hornbacher suggests in her memoir, the "thing" could actually be something that you aspire to, like the ideal, thin body that she longed for.

She writes, "It is crucial to notice the language when we talk about bodies. We speak as if there was one collective perfect body, a singular entity that we're all after. The trouble is, I think we are after that one body. We grew up with the impression that underneath all this normal flesh, buried deep in the excessive recesses of our healthy bodies, there was a Perfect Body just waiting to break out. It would look exactly like everyone else's perfect body. A clone of the shapeless, androgynous models, the hairless, silicone-implanted porn stars. Somehow we, in defiance of nature, would have toothpick thighs and burgeoning bosoms, buns of steel and dainty firm delts. As Andy Warhol wrote, 'The more you look at the same exact thing...the better and emptier you feel (47).'"

In this case, she feels good to stare at this skinny, "perfect" body image because that is what she wants to look like, but it makes her feel empty because she cannot mold her body to look like that no matter how hard she tries. Maybe her explination makes more sense than mine.

The passage above causes me, now, to reflect on what I've been reading in this memoir on eating disorders. Like Dry, I am astounded as to the mentality of addiction, in this case, addicted to the idea of being thin and to achieve that at any cost. Anorexia, bulemia, a mental state that forces control over the physical body.

I think my fascination with these memoirs is that we're allowed inside the mind of someone who battled with a problem or addiction, and they reflect back as a more wise individual as to what they were thinking, what caused them to behave this way or that way, how they felt about it, what happened afterwards, what they would take back, how it effected others and themselves, and how they cope after the fact. It's like taking a mini course on the topic itself, and perhaps you learn more reading a true account first-hand than you would simply by scanning or studying a textbook. Certainly, the one case does not represent them all, but you can understand a good deal about a topic by listening to a victim's reflection over the course of 200+ pages.

For some reason, true stories seem more appealing to me than plain fiction. You can learn equal and valuable lessons from either, but I really have a drive to read real occurences before made up ones. Like when in the movie store, the line slapped on the front cover of a DVD, "based on a true story," causes me to want to see it more than just a made up romantic comedy or action plot. I like to learn and see things that have actually happened (to some degree). I know that dialogue and actual events become altered for the sake of story-telling, but the overall story is, for the most part, pretty accurate (except if you're James Frey).

But, I guess that would be the hardest part of re-creating "true events:" how to put the small events into a coherent order, how to insert dialogue that already happened, how to end something that maybe didn't really have an ending. I guess those are my main concers, for whatever reason that, someday, I decided to re-create events from my own life. Any suggestions, advice?

What do you think of the above quotation?

What do you think of eating disorders or addiction?

What do you think of the memoir and the questions I posed directly above?

I'm intensely curious.