Hi. It’s Harry.

Today is February 22nd, 2025. It’s been a long, long while since I last wrote. It’s hard to find the time. My first semester of law school went excellently; I’m very pleased with my performance and how much I enjoyed the coursework. Enough about that though, law school is all I’ve been talking about for the past four months. That sentence can serve as your update.

I had a crazy dream last night. I was running through a pyramid or some kind of structure filled with sand, and there was a creature made of smoke chasing me. It looked a little like one of those monkey things from Temple Run, but more man than beast. I had to run around a seemingly closed room, feeling along the edges of the wall for something that was loose. This was all inherently understood, of course. One of the most interesting things about dreams to me is how everything makes sense. Of course I needed to find the loose panel in the wall, how else am I going to escape? Every dream comes with its own set of rules, and you just subconsciously understand that. Anyways, I found the panel and shoved myself through a tiny opening. It led to a staircase, and at this point in the dream I closed my eyes. Someone was yelling at me, telling me that the smoke monster was still right behind me, but I couldn’t see anything. It was all black. I made it up the stairs, turned around, and opened my eyes. The thing was right there. I knew I needed to run, but instead I just stood and stared. It came closer and closer, so close that I could see the yellow of its eyes, until it was right in front of me. It grabbed me by the neck, punched me in the head a few times, and then, presumably, I died. It was interesting that I witnessed my death. Normally in dreams like this, you shoot awake right before your demise. Not this one. I think it means I need to stay away from pyramids.

Speaking of dreams, I watched a great film last night: Wide Awake, directed by Alan Berliner. The movie follows Berliner’s struggles with insomnia, exacerbated by the birth of his son. It’s funny, touching, and a wonderful work of art. My favorite section of the film had nothing to do with insomnia, however. Berliner walks you through his meticulous collection of film, images, and objects, explaining each box and what it represents. He writes down every idea he has, and when he uses or completes them, he sticks them on a spindle in his office. The sheer amount of paper contained on those spikes was incredible. To have a tangible representation of all of your creativity, all of your ideas, is such a wonderful concept. The feeling I had when seeing that was similar to how I felt upon the reveal of John Wilson’s journal collection in an episode of How To with John Wilson. My collection of four tiny notebooks feels minuscule in comparison. Anyways, it’s a great movie and I’d really encourage you to check it out.

Sometimes it feels like my entire life revolves around media. That’s what got me writing today. I felt an uncontrollable urge to tell the world about that Berliner film and a few different songs I’ve been listening to. All of my creative work is in some way self-serving. I’ve read in a few different places that you should never make work for yourself, it should always be with your audience in mind. I think that’s great advice if you only care about making a few dollars off of it. I don’t see anything wrong with that, but I couldn’t disagree more with the premise. When I write, make music, draw, create in any way, I am doing it for myself first and foremost. This blog post is something that I want to read. Not because its about me specifically, but because I like experiencing life directly through someone’s eyes. What emotion did that song conjure? Did it make you recall a story from your childhood? What did the neighbor’s dog do to upset you today? How come you leave the periods outside of the quotation marks in a direct refutation of grammatical norms? What makes your life different from the eight billion other lives on this planet? The final question here sometimes feels daunting, but in reality, it’s the easiest to ever be posed. Ten people can witness the same event and tell ten different stories about it. A doctor might observe some strange behavior. A cashier might recognize a common tirade. A baseball player might see a familiar motion. That’s what makes this life so incredible. That’s why I love to be alive!

Media round-up time.

Media Round-Up

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (Opus) – Ryuichi Sakamoto

               The original rendition of this song is exceptional. The undercurrent of synthesizers driving the striking chorus of bells seems to be essential to the emotion and power of the titular track of Nagisa Oshima’s 1983 war film, but Sakamoto’s solo piano performance on Opus makes his mastery clear. I’ve listened to this song so much that I’m sick of it, but give me a month or two and it will be right back in the rotation.

I Saw Another Bird (Night Palace) – Mount Eerie

               Perhaps a spiritual sequel to Ravens off of Phil Elverum’s 2017 crusher A Crow Looked at Me, I Saw Another Bird tugs at the same heartstrings as its predecessor. The song speaks for itself, but allow me to direct your attention to the stretch from about 1:10 to 1:45. Gorgeous.

Lowe v. California League of Prof. Baseball, 56 Cal. App. 4th 112 (Cal. Ct. App. 1997).

               A doozy of a negligence claim. John Lowe, our plaintiff, was attending a Rancho Cucamonga Quakes game when he was struck by an errant foul ball in the face, causing extensive injuries and “breaking multiple facial bones.” The issue of foul ball liability has been litigated over and over, so the summary judgment in favor of the team and league shouldn’t be too surprising, right? Well, not so fast. Lowe claims that the Quakes’ dinosaur mascot, “Tremor,” was sitting behind him right before the injury. Tremor was whacking Lowe with his tail over and over, eventually causing Lowe to turn around to see what all the fuss was about. After spotting the culprit, Lowe turned back around, only to have a foul ball hit him directly in the face. The defendant-ball club argued that Lowe “assumed the risk” of a foul ball impacting him, normally a complete defense to a negligence claim. Amusingly, part of the defendant’s argument was that “mascots have become an intrical [sic] part of the game” and to hold that Tremor was responsible for Lowe’s injury would be destructive to the heart of baseball itself. This argument was not well taken. To make a long story short, the Court of Appeal found that a triable issue of fact existed as to whether the defendants, through Tremor, “increased the risk to [Lowe] over and above those inherent in the sport” and overturned the trial court’s grant of summary judgement.

Until next time,