Intoducing the Amazing Fiancee!!!!

The "natives" of the fiancee's Creative Writing program at her college inspired me to write a fun 3-sentence intro for the fiancee:

[The fiancee] has miraculously survived her second semester in the Creative Nonfiction Program. Inventor of the wheel, employed as an assistant editor at Crain Communications, she established the Antarctic penguin civilization and is getting married to the most handsome man in the universe who lies, lies and lies even more at the end of next month. She's overjoyed to get up in front of everyone and reveal her soul to this fine audience.

People, this is what you get when you arrive late to an event in which you're supposed to perform when your guest, a good friend or intimate, shows up very early or on time. You, of course, need to mix in the mischeviousness of other friends and acquaintances, but nonetheless, this is what happens. How much do you enjoy being the butt of a good-natured joke that elevates you to greatness?

Coping with Writing Burnout

Dealing with burnout? I might be soon. . .and that's why I'm linking to Get Paid To Write: How To Cope With Writing Burnout now.

Haven't read the articles yet, but I may need to.

Anyone have any tips not mentioned in the articles? Or maybe they're mentioned, but you could elaborate on them more.

My Reasoned Rumbling Rant Against Fan Fiction

Miffed at both the argument and the rhetoric made not by the blogger at Dead Things ON Sticks: Top Gun: The Musical, And The Photocopy, and the Parody, and the High Horse, I made a reasoned out rant against fanfic.

I'm pretty proud of it. It starts:

My initial reaction to Alison: You're making a philosophical argument whereas the situation that inspired the recent dialogue and why writers don't read a spec or fan fic about their show is legal argument.

Essentially, the legal side addresses issues of who owns the rights to the characters and the execution of those ideas. . .

Enjoy!

Crazy Week

The title says it for this week so far.

Had something of a crazy weekend visiting Chicago's Chinatown then dancing to BT for free on Saturday. More on BT later.

Monday night, saw Frozen at the Next Theatre in Evanston. Good play and nice to get out of the city. More on that one later, too.

Tonight, had dinner with a friend and pitched them on some individual health insurance. People in Chicagoland, if you're looking for health insurance, e-mail me at dummiester@gmail.com. Feel free to e-mail there with thoughts directly to me that you don't want posted on the blog, too.

Tomorrow, dinner with the dramaturg of Frozen at the Next Theatre in Evanston. Even though it's my fault for buying an expensive ticket, he wants to buy me dinner to make up for it. Makes for a good excuse to see a friend, but I'm happy he acknowledges that it's my mistake.

I have, in the meantime, seen this week's Heroes and been doing my crazy hyperfocused research. Other than the three pages I wrote on Sunday, haven't done any writing. On Friday, get to attend the fiancee's end of the semester reading. Saturday, get suit for the wedding tailored and birthday festivities. Sunday, go to see Spiderman on IMAX with Chicago-SF group.

Next week, two writing workshops then heading to the Northeast for a couple weddings.

Great to see friends, but sucks that I don't have the time to write/really research and also that I don't have the money to pay for book to research. Ugh.

Returning to the Source

As might be obvious from recent blog entries, I've faced something of an existential crisis. The bachelor's project, as I wrote about yesterday regarding my research issues, acted as the switch that made it happen. I feel, happily, like I'm returning to the source that has pushed me toward my attraction and studies into utopianism.

A part of me frowns at the feeling that I will essentially approach utopianism from a mysticism for the layperson, but the facts and my intuition refute that frown. The more and more I delve deeper into utopianism and trying to find a non-reductive way to explore the field in an analytical way, I find the need to go into the direction of mysticism.

During high school, I had some fascination in mysticism, but I also had an interest in psychoactive drugs. I think I was looking for some kind of transcendental meaning to life, my existence and so on and so forth. That probably also explains my interest in The Beat Generation and Jack Kerouac. I want IT, the IT that Dean Moriarity (Neal Cassady) talked about in On The Road. On some level, I think I felt utopia could help people get that much closer to IT!

Will have to think and ruminate more about this one. I'm sure you readers will see more of these revelations. . ..

In a Sour, Sour Research Pickle

(Wow. Let's all take a second to recongize the passing of the Charlie Jade official website. I'm going to hope that means bigger and better things await it. . .like getting broadcast on US TV.)

Is that what's important?
To know what to do. . .
or the fact that you're even trying?
- Blues Paddock (Rolanda Marais),
Charlie Jade, "Episode 1.18: A Bedtime Story"

On to the main topic of this entry:

I've gotten myself into a minor pickle when it comes to research for the bachelor's project. Many months ago, I made a great breakthrough by reading up on "living traditions" and Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning. I had such a breakthrough that I finished up a paper I had been working on for two years or so, having gotten stuck in the conceptualization and development stages.

Since I started working at a small insurance agency in January, I browsed the Web a lot more randomly. While doing so, I stumbled on the concepts of stereotypical behavior and enrichment. Essentially, animals in featureless spaces engage in the unhealthy stereotypical behavior, such as pacing, rocking, swimming in circles, excessive sleeping, self-mutilation (including feather picking and excessive grooming), and mouthing cage bars. Enrichment involves the practice of creating a more stimulating and "natural" environment for animal to prevent stereotypical behavior.

When it comes to enrichment, people commonly use the word to refer to education. We all feel boredom, pace, fidget, chew our fingernails, worry, ruminate obsessively and get involved in our own stereotypical behavior while in an unstimulating environment and situation. At some point after discovering these concepts, I thought they could be applied to humans and utopianism easily. After all, Brave New World comes off as something of a bland environment, which requires drugs to distract people from the blandness. Fahrenheit 451 criticizes unstimulating environments, on some level, too. Frankly, my novel does.

Sadly, making the connections hasn't proved so easy. I should take some blame for it, though, as I took a somewhat long way about before finding a bit of direction. Going back to Viktor Frankl, I saw connection to existential therapy. Unfortunately, after researching both the therapy and some more about existentialism and the various philosophers of that "school," I didn't really get anywhere. Their theories felt way too subjective, metaphysical and didn't really shed any light on the interplay between individuals and society.

Going back to Frankl again, I learned that his main influence was Alfred Adler, who was an associate with Sigmund Freud for some time. Adler has influenced psychology and pop psychology quite a bit. He introduced the inferiority complex and the idea that child order, from oldest to youngest to only child, influences the personality of the children. As something of a paraphrase of the relationship between Adler and Freud: Freud took a negative, romantic view toward society -- people developed neuroses because society warped them -- Adler took a postive view -- people developed neuroses because they didn't adapt to society.

I've gotten into doing some preliminary reading of Adler on the Web because I don't want to purchase another book only to find that his theory doesn't work for me. The material on the Web that focuses on Adler is vast and doesn't necessarily focus on the aspect that interests me so much: the interplay and interdependence between individuals and society. Supposedly, he says that individuals should have social interest in taking part in society but they should also have their own individual subjective goals that, I'm guessing, they can only accomplish while in society. Furthermore, once an individual has accomplished some of their goals, they will develop new ones and so on and so forth. Of course, individuals can have maladaptive relationships with society because of their environment, situations and how other people treat them. A person who adapts to society will generally thrive. . .and I'm starting to have a feeling that Brave New World and stories of that ilk criticize hedonistic and distracting societies by intentionally or unintentionally (can't say which. . .) based on the fact that even though individuals are "happy," they don't have individual goals, don't really have meaning, thus they're not really psychologically healthy. Still a lot of details to work out on this one.

The fiancee and other people who know me well probably groan while reading this entry. They will wonder if this tangential research will lead me on an unproductive detour over the next year or so. I don't plan to let it do so. After all, I don't have to write any papers on Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451 or that kind of dystopia. I'm just writing that kind. I think I have enough theory to finish the project without Adler. Nonetheless, I think with his help, I can write a better novel and provide better insight into utopianism.

Nonetheless, still in a pickle. I really do need to get better at this research thing if I hope to become a freelance writer or, at the least, write novels and stories faster than I do already. Ah well. . .guess that will have to be my next goal that society will help me accomplish.

Ballsy Heroes

You have to really give the writers for Heroes a lot of credit. Catch up on show through streaming video and the online novel. Our heroes have really been put into a corner, of which I have a hard time seeing a solution. Whether the time line goes the way they've shown us already or the heroes stop the explosion, these writers really have balls.

Shame on Fan Fiction

Over the last few days, I've taken part in an enlightening interchange about the dangers of Fan Fiction, most especially when fanfickers accuse the original writers of plagiarizing their work. Then it can possibly turn into a libel suit.

All very confusing, but a worthwhile conversation. My stance comes out well enough in the interchange, so I'll let it all speak for itself.

The interchange:

Dead Things on Sticks:
Wherein Kirk and Spock Make the Love With the Cast of Heroes and Jane Eyre Makes Fun of Rocky Balboa
(Hilarious guilty pleasure clip if you can take the profanity and sexual/violent connotations)

Dead Things on Sticks:
On Fanfic II: Weinman tries to Separate the Good From The Bad from The Ugly

Dead Things on Sticks:
Sorry, No Fanfic Sale

Just annoys me a little that I come off as a naive fool. As they say, though, there are no stupid questions. . ..

More Information & Opinions on the Kid Who Got Arrested for an Essay

Published in the Chicago Tribune:

Essay just a story, teen says
Cary-Grove senior fights for right to go back to school; Marines revoke his enlistment

Teen's essay

When students cross the line
Writing teachers try to differentiate between creative license and thinly veiled threats in school assignments

My opinion remains the same on this one, especially since he pretty much was following the assignment given to him.

Student Charged with Misdemeanor for Doing School Assignment

Not only is this student having his first amendment rights trampled on, he's gotten in trouble for doing a class assignment, and doing it really well:

Massacre Fallout: Charges for Essay
High school teacher 'disturbed' by violent content of assignment

Burn the witch! Burn the witch! Burn the witch!

And to think, at the same time, people can get away with domestic abuse but a high school kid gets charged with writing a story so well it accomplishes its intent, eliciting emotion. Has anyone ever heard of social services and counseling?

What is our country coming to?

Personally, I think this kid and his family should sue every party that's responsible for this charge. They should take it up to the Federal Supreme Court, if they need to do so. The kid is being punished unconstitutionally.

Utopian Communities in Sitcoms

My friend, Kirk, has ruminated on the idea that the apartment set up in Friends was an ideal living situation for him.

For most of the show's run, Monica and Rachel live in a huge, beautiful apartment on one side of the hallway; Joey and Chandler live on the other side of the hallway. Ross and Phoebe generally live outside of that apartment building. There is never any real reference where the Central Perk is located, but since it is convenient enough to go whenever anyone was in the apartment, I always believed that it was on the ground level of the building. I guess it could be just around the block or something, but it probably doesn't really matter. It's a convenient place for the characters to go and meet, just like the guys' and girls' apartments.

Kirk has apparently lived in a similar situation and sometimes looks longingly back to those days.

Last Sunday, during coffee hour after the church service, this guy mentioned a similar kind of situation that he enjoyed. Instead of Friends, however, he cited Seinfeld as the show that exemplified his image the ideal living situation.

Jerry lives alone on one side of the hallway and Kramer lives on the other side. George and Elaine move around the city, even though Elaine has once moved into apartment below or above Jerry. Having her around drove him crazy. Like in Friends, this group of friends has a hang out place nearby the apartment. It's a diner that, once again, I assume is at the bottom of the apartment building but nothing I know about really provides a reference to the location of the diner compared to the apartment building.

I once had a similar situation, too, when I first moved to Boston. An alumni of my college and a semi-regular to my church young adult group moved together on the first floor. On the center floor lived a family that we never really talked to, and near the end, I thought they were kind of eccentric but felt bad. I think they had to move out because the man of the house had a heart attack or something that either killed him or left him debilitated and needing constant care.

Some friends from church lived on the top floor. We all hung out every once in awhile and traded off at having parties. I think we even had a party that spanned both floors, too. To top it all off, we had a friend from relatively close by who would come on over pretty regularly and hang out (we sometimes got worried when she didn't come over). There was a cafe where some us hung out, but never really together that much and it was a 10 minute walk away. In the end, I have the feeling that we all went our own ways just about the time the first group of people moved out and away.

I feel like there's something to the Friends and Seinfeld model of setting up some kind of community and sense of community. It can work out organically and unintentionally, like many things in life. These portrayals of a small community and the space created in these apartments and hang out places can really provide people with a model of how to improve their feelings of community and connection in the world, whether they create it by getting a group of friends together to rent/buy apartments/condos in the same building or by getting to know the neighbors really well and hang out with them. And on top of that, at least two or three people in my life have brought up enjoyable experiences and compared them to the community situations in Friends and Seinfeld.

And on top of that, the people involved don't necessarily have to suffer through the tediousness of planning and organizing to make this community happen (well, maybe in a condo or co-op, but that's a whole other issue). They may not be acting as any type of revolutionary utopian, but this model could certainly make life more enjoyable. I guess, at the same time, it could help elucidate some useful principles about group dynamics, help come up with ideas for a more utopian model for society and culture and maybe even inspire the people involved to do a little more to create a utopian community and somehow affect change on a larger scale.

Who knows?

Wrong About Writer's Intention in Heroes

Many months ago, in the entry titled "Representing Gays in Narrative", I supported a press release that Tim Kring put out. I misinterpreted the press release, thinking that he had taken a smoke & mirrors explanation to the situation (implying that a character may be gay then not resolving the character arc) then not having a resolution to the character's sexual orientation.

In essence, I thought, and still, think they created an ambiguous characterization of the character, Zach (the cheerleader's best friend), even if they intended on him being gay. I enjoy the unclear presentation. Like a wild dog, I defended this position along with Kring not revealing their intention for the character's sexual orientation, my feeling about the implications of stereotypes possibly perpetuated by the characterization of the character and the logical fallacy of his classmates taunting his homosexuality leads to the characterization that he is gay.

Nonetheless, after reading Kring's press release again, I see that he believes that the show had misled the viewers on this front, having betrayed their intentions for the character to be gay. Bryan Fuller confirms their intention (search for "gay" or "Zach" to find the relevant passage).

I prefer the ambiguous interpretation. I think the writers made a mistake of even addressing the issue other than saying "no comment" or "it's material." Frankly, I think that matter is pretty immaterial to the show. Along with a lot of people, I still enjoy the show. Sure, if they pulled off the effect intended with this character, it probably would have rocked. Nonetheless, it didn't.

Sure, the whole thing along with matters like a mostly white, "American" cast with a couple black characters, one Indian character, a couple women (and, at one time, a gay character, apparently), all types of identity politics and cultural criticism issues come up -- and couple that Heroes centers around "mutants" that could potentially become outcasts (this theme only really comes up with the cheerleader's story and minisculy in the politician's story, however. . .which requires insight supplied from outside the show rather than necessarily from archetypes and such. . .especially when there's really not much, if any experience, emphasis on the experience of minorities in a dominant culture. . .except for a couple mutants trying to hide their powers, mainly because they want to or stay popular, not for survival).

So barring that the show has minorities in the cast and centers around mutants (and there's plenty of sources outside of the show that can provide interesting insight), I don't really find the sexual orientation of one character material enough to the show to make that big of a deal out of it.

Friday Grindhousing

This past Friday, I rushed downtown to see Grindhouse, the Quentin Tarantino-Robert Rodriguez double feature. The two movies were Planet Terror (Rodriguez) and Death Proof, with mock trailers before both of them.

I won't go into too much detail about the trailers. Machete (which I guess will be expanded to a feature length DVD) really took the cake on this one. The trailer introduces the story of a Mexican guy who takes a job as a hit man, but it turns out to be a set up. From there, he decides to take his revenge, so he gathers together his padres, including a priest who forsakes his frock for Machete. Can't really remember much from the trailer, but I remember laughing my ass off yet thinking, "This could be one great movie!"

Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror played first. Simple premise: a group of jaded soldiers release a gaseous weapon onto a small Texas town. The gas turns most of the townspeople into packs of zombies with sores all over and a taste for flesh. . .and their bite, of course, turns other people into zombies. Not much else to the plot, other than uninfected humans running about, shooting zombies, trying to survive and kicking some ass here and there. Plenty of random explosions abound. Also bunches of silly subplots, cheesy yet clever turns of phrase and plain random chaos.

Lovely appearances by major stars like Bruce Willis and Naveen Andrews. TWo actors stand out, though: Rose McGowan, simply because of some great lines and her machine gun/grenade launching leg, and Freddy Rodriguez because he never misses when he shoots, kicks major zombie ass with switchblades and provides a major bad boy performance.

Do not try to make any sense of Planet Terror. I repeat, do not try to make sense of Planet Terror. The explosions happen because they happen. The zombies attack because they attack. The people who don't get infected don't get infected because they don't get infected. This movie provides plenty of fun for the sake of fun, and any attempt to analyze it or look for some deeper meaning will take away from the fun. Just lose yourself in the mayhem, disgusts and explosions.

Death Proof, on the other hand, bored me to no end until the second part of it. It pretty much shows two vignettes, one of Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell) killing a bunch of girls with his death proof car, and the other one shows when the girls bite back.

Before I tear Death Proof a new one, I just want to urge everyone to take a restroom break during the fake trailers before Death Proof. Remember, these two movies and the trailers, all combined, come out to three and a half hours or so. When I came back from the rest room, I didn't much care for what I saw on the screen. I could appreciate the principle of it, but I didn't like. Straight out: someone screwing a decapitated head. Ick.

As for Death Proof, until the action started, it felt like the usual self-indulgent Tarantino having people act all "cool," "bad ass" and playing off each other with word play. I could've taken all of that if the topics of the conversations didn't really bore me, become annoying and purely tangential. Yes, it had realism and some of it supported the plot, but ack, most of it just felt like boring filler. I could live with the cell phone making an appearance, but. . .the focus on it went nowhere. I repeat, NOWHERE!

In the long run, Kurt Russell made the first part. He pulled off the lame psychokiller perfectly while also coming off as slick and charming. Not really having paid attention to trailers or any briefings on the movie, I found myself liking the guy. I probably shouldn't have been surprised by him killing girls with his death proof stunt car, but it just struck me as tragic that this actual character was such a bastard.

Action in the first part doesn't really bare much attention. It happens at night, and only the beginning of it when Stuntman Mike really starts acting and the very end of it when we see the pretty graphic death of the four girls really provides any kind of satisfaction.

Second part starts slow again, and even the action starts off pretty annoying and repetitive. Then things turn on Stuntman Mike, and we're all in for the ride of our life. We get overtaken by the excitement of vengeance. At first, the turn on Stuntman Mike triggers some cognitive dissonance, then it sucks you in, and your cheering for him to die, die, die a very horrible death at the hands of these three angry, angry girls. It's very primal and exciting. I just wish it wasn't drowning in the Tarantino-esque faux bad assness and faux feminism.

If you try to find deeper meaning in all movies, don't see Grindhouse. If you dislike swearing and flagrant violence, don't see Grindhouse. If you get annoyed by things that don't make logical sense, don't see Grindhouse.

If, however, you like irony, excitement, gore and all types of in your face political incorrectness, see this movie. It's bald faced ironic homage in only the way that Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez could do (even though I bet $1 million that Peter Jackson could pull it off, too. C'mon! You've seen Meet the Feebles, haven't you?).

It's all in good fun!

Vonnegut and Frankl

In response to my asking what attracted a good amount of attention to The Lextopia in the entry titled, "Random Notes and Yay for Writing Workshops", Chuckling wrote:

Since you asked, I did a google search on Frankl and Vonnegut and got your site high on the list.

First off, cool. I am pretty high up there on Google with a search for "Frankl" and "Vonnegut." Ninth, to be exact. Thank you for bringing that to my awareness. I regret that I couldn't provide any good insight into the topic at hand, though:

I picked up Man's Search for Meaning yesterday and read it pretty much straight through. I've read most everything by Vonnegut, but couldn't remember if he had written about Frankl. I'm thinking that he did, using him as an example of someone who had similar, albeit worse, experiences and came to opposite conclusions. Maybe not. The search shows I'm far from the only one to connect the two philosophically.

I have only read Man's Search for Meaning from Frankl's writing and the beginning of Galapagos for Vonnegut.

After scanning through the Wikipedia entries of Vonnegut and Slaughterhouse Five (sidenote: entertained by the fact that this book has elements of time unstuckness while I've been posting about The Time Traveler's Wife), though, I didn't pick up on anything contrary to Frankl's logotherapy. In fact, barring Wikipedia's level of possible accuracy, I would say that Vonnegut would even agree Frankl's main theories, just on a more humanistic and secular viewpoint.

Being something of an agnostic, myself, I'm very much a supporter of Frankl's logotherapy, as it provides meaning without the need to refer to a premiuse that may or may not exist.

You've struck my curiousity, though. Without spoiling any of Vonnegut's novels, is it possible for you to expand on your claim of "opposite conclusions"? Not trying to be negative, start an argument or anything of the sort. Not really knowing enough about either of these two fellows, I simply want to know more.

Thank you.

Random Notes and Yay for Writing Workshops!

Before I get onto the joys of last night's writing workshop, I want to know something: What attracted all the new, obscure people to the site? The Dark Knight or The Time Traveler's Wife?

Also, notice as we take another step closer to Orwell's 1984, 59 years after the year he satirizes and 23 years after the year his publisher wanted to predict: Student Arrested After Talking About [Virginia Tech] Gunman. I'm not a sympathizer of this gunman (as my upcoming short story will attest -- come on, Lex, finish it and get it published!), but neither do I agree with the government arresting someone exercising their First Amendment rights before investigating further. . .maybe someone's trying to making up for not looking into the VT gunman with all the telltale signs he had broadcast (come on, finish your story and publish it!).

And another stray thought: The death of Kurt Vonnegut pushed me to finally start reading some of his work. Picked up Galapagos the beginning of this week. Published in 1985, makes me think the writers of LOST were heavily influenced by Kurt Vonnegut and Galapagos. Hmmmmm. . .?

Writing Workshops

Last night, went to the monthly Chicago-SF writing workshop. So happy I went. This and the other workshops I've joined really have become the monthly event that I looked forward to. . .after spending time with the fiancee and family. This recent one really live up to the anticipation.

We had a lot of fun beyond just critiquing our works, too. Fun and stimulating conversation without things becoming argumentative or trying to force someone's world view on someone else, except for maybe a minor little thing when I confused details about an institution that two of us acquaint ourselves.

Other than that, good stuff. I think an easy chemistry with other members of a workshop becomes key. We, after all, expose ourselves to these people in ways that we don't to the rest of the world. Yes, some of us may have publishing as a goal, but we show the people in our group stuff in development, not publishing-quality. It takes some degree of courage to say, "Look at this incomplete thing that may suck. Tell me what you think, no matter how negative your thoughts." In a world that makes us feel that we have to do everything right the first time, this kind of workshop can take a lot courage. . .similar to the courage to get stuff on paper in the first place (in other words, the courage to possibly suck).

We also talked about some interesting technical matters when we got to the meet of the meeting, critiquing. I, for one, am immensely grateful for the other two people pointing out that one of the characters in my novel prologue didn't stand out as much as other characters. The ironic thing, he's supposed to stand out and tends to do so after this part. Will need to work on that.

The meeting also got me to re-read that section of the novel. I had a lot of the same feelings as my "associates" about the mechanics of the piece. For a piece written something like four or five years ago, it somewhat passes the test of time. It mixes a lot of bad writing style that I had back then trying to "write properly" (still working on that one) but had a great "innocence" that imparts a certain excitement that I don't seem to have in my current writing. I'd like to channel that energy while keeping the more recent enjoyability of the grammar and other technical matters.

I won't get into any detail about the other people's works, since they own them. Nonetheless, we got into some very interesting conversations about point of view, first- and third-person narratives (make sure to visit Tightrope Girl's blog for some great writing geek ruminations on that topic), how to transfer information about a world without overwhelming or boring the reader, the potential of flashbacks and starting a story earlier, later or on certain notes of tension or excitement and the artifices allowed in literature (narrator, characters only in there for commentary, events and social codes in there or not in there, etc.) but wouldn't happen so much in real life. Unfortunately, I can't really articulate much of the conversation or my thoughts, mainly because of my executive dysfunction.

The workshop experience last night really reminds me how much I'd like to express my process and craft geekiness rather than just talk about things in general or the "courage to create." The geek stuff of writing fascinates me, a ton, especially with how useful it becomes to make a good story.

I love Tightrope Girl's and Denis McGrath's blogs when they get deep into technical and craft topics of narrative. Even Alexander Epstein and Will Dixon can have some great stuff, even if they can get more involved in the movie/TV technology side of things. On that note, Denis McGrath's seems to be losing his emphasis on the narrative craft side of things and moving onto the Canadian TV business and more of an emotional response to his experiences in the biz. In the end, though, I enjoy the narrative/storytelling craft type stuff and would like to expound more on that stuff, if I can get inspired and have the chance.

Maybe if someone had any questions about narrative craft. . .?

EDIT: Jane Espenson also writes some great stuff about craft, just in a not so geeky way. She writes in much less technical terms. Quite a lady, with her great advice.

EDIT 2: Forgot to mention two other things for the workshop. I don't think there's necessarily enough discussion nor do I feel like my gets enough criticism. The latter issue could be that I simply have submitted some good stuff (see this discussion for my changed mind). In regards to the discussion matter, I think the low attendance contributes to it, but the newness to fiction writing and workshopping could be a matter for some of the people. Not trying to criticize. . .I just enjoy discussion of things. Could just be me.

And I do still receive a lot of value from the workshop.

Some Chicago Movie News (for those outside the city)

From what I heard on the radio, The Dark Knight will do five days of filming here in Chicago next week, head on over to London then come back here. . .I think in June.

EDIT ON BATMAN: The Morning Show on Q101 FM, says the movie people are doing exterior work (and other things?) until Tuesday then heading to London.

And, according to Entertainment Weekly, [Eric] Bana, [Rachel] McAdams Tapped for 'Time Traveler's Wife.'

For those who haven't heard this story a million times, a friend of mine gave me The Time Traveler's Wife, the novel, a little more than year ago as a going away gift. An appropriate gift, the story takes place mostly in Chicago and parts in Michigan. I read it in one day at a hotel in the suburbs while waiting for the new apartment to become available.

The story of a man unstuck in time uncontrollably made me cry, laugh, smile and, in the end, feel satisfied in a bittersweet fashion. Everyone else I know who read it have enjoyed the book, even though a select few join me in criticizing a couple holes, mainly the why's for the main male character doing certain things and the character background or misadventures that motivated him to get certain skills and knowledge. Nonetheless, we all generally could look over those parts and enjoy the book.

Then there's also the person who thinks the main female lead is a super-bitch.

Personally, I think this story could get translated horribly to a movie. Whoever does it has a lot on their hands. They have to convert and translate a very well rounded novel with comedy, drama, tragedy, mystery and even a little action in it into a 90-minute or 2-hour movie. I can easily predict that the committee oriented writing of this type of thing will attempt to pigeonhole it into some kind of genre and somehow screw up any "explanation" it may have while that should be overshadowed well enough by the story's plot. I'll give the movie a shot, but if it comes off amazing or even just really good, I'll be surprised.

Have I Fallen that Behind on Internet Trends?

The Chicago Red Eye says:

Blogging Over?
Experts say craze fading, some say it's just evolving

Well, crap! I've fallen behind, yet again. Maybe I really do need to get on over to Second Life or get my butt on over to China.

Seriously, though, my ability to keep with this stuff has gotten horrible with age while my dreams and ambitions have stayed the same as my teenage self. I really do need to get a best seller sold or get moving on some kind of freelance writing career. This whole hanging out an insurance agency and doing things for money really just doesn't cut it anymore. I'm turning into a dinosaur.

On a good note, finished another draft of the angsty mental power short story, and it has gone into some interesting directions. Now to type it up, submit it to the Chicago-SF writing workshop then get some writing done on that novel. Yay!

Social Media Survey Question

How long does it take for the comments section of a blog to become redundant, incoherent and pointless to take seriously?

Kinda Sad but Excited

This evening hasn't turned out bad for my first day off from studying. I wrote two more pages in my short story, which I hope to have a draft done soon. This one has started feeling like an albatross, even though I enjoy the story. It just feels like it has taken a lot of writing to reaching my current point and it will take a bit more to reach the conclusion.

At least I don't have to study anymore.

Just a couple other notes:

Lately, I've found after cleaning up my desktop of adware, loose ends in the registry and the hard drive, the World-Wide Web needs a little patience and cajoling before it comes up to speed. The most recent time has come as a surprise, since I turned off the Windows Firewall (have a router, so it takes care of the firewall duties). I think everything has returned to normal, though. Maybe it just needs a reset to do some further clean up processes.

And just as a way to garner attention from a certain group of my audience: Heroes comes back next week. Yay! Woohoo!

Moving Onward, Upward and Forward

Well, I did it yesterday. I passed the life, accident and health insurance licensing exam yesterday. Frankly, I'm a little surprised that I passed. I had too much time to do it and felt weird that I pretty much finished 1 1/2 or 2 hours early, especially when I felt as if I didn't feel comfortable with a fair amount of the questions.

The whole only giving me a pass/fail result kind of annoys me, too. I would have liked to get an actual score to see how much better than the passing score I had gotten. I wouldn't have gloated or anything, but I would have liked to know HOW knowledgeable I am and how much it could help me, in the long run, to possible do a little more brushing up on stuff. But oh well. . .I passed. Everyone keeps telling that's the important part.

I passed it, though, and now can have my work-life balance more equitable. Nonetheless, I'm dealing with a small amount of withdrawal from how much I've dedicated myself to the project over the last couple weeks, when I decided to go from dividing my attention between writing and studying. After passing the test yesterday, I came home and spent the rest of the day watching stuff on the TiVo to make space available for future recordings.

The fiancee and I even took a couple hours to watch the not so great movie, Ultraviolet. The fiancee really put it best: It's like a 14-year fanboy thought up some great scenes then slapped them together. I see that point, but I generally think that the movie had some really interesting ideas that pretty much failed in execution. It could have happened because the movie had SO many ideas or the characters didn't have enough characterization to transcend the unoriginal ideas.

The Wikipedia entry for the movie, however, mentions plenty of valid reasons how the movie could've started well then sucked after post-production. In the end, though, I enjoyed the movie on the level I enjoyed Aeon Flux, which I apparently more than most people.

After seeing Ultraviolet and reading the Wikipedia, though, I'd like to check out Equilibrium. How bad can it be with Christian Bale in it? I'm not a girl, but he acts well. In addition, Equilibrium fits into the utopianism field.

But alas, I need to get ready for some chores soon. I'd like to get that stuff done, so I can spend more quality time with the fiancee (watching The Riches lately, reading Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning as support for the bachelor's thesis and learning more about the ethics of care have all inspired me to try appreciating the importance of close human relations over many other things in the world -- and OK, maybe even some inspiration from Orson Scott Card, too, despite how much we'd probably disagree about theology, international politics and other values), work on wedding stuff and get moving on my writing and bachelors project.

I guess the work never ends. This time, though, at least it's for stuff that I enjoy and, deep down inside, really value.

Charlie Jade in England

Yeah, yeah, I'm late on this one, but. . .

FX U.K. Takes Charlie Jade

Does that mean we're one step closer to getting Charlie in the US. . .and maybe. . .just maybe. . .more seasons?

We can hope, and we can dream. . .and maybe it will happen.

Dramatic Irony on LOST

I've really gotten back into LOST again. This season, especially after the hiatus, the show really has taken the turn for the better. It also returns to keeping my attention like the first season without necessarily using the same literary techniques.

The use of dramatic irony does a lot to keep my attention. The LOST people have started doing an amazing job at revealing information about characters and some of The Others that the camp protagonists or other characters don't know about. They reveal the information in such a way that (A) they keep the integrity of the LOST "surprise" ending while also (B) revealing just enough information to sate the audience's appetite while also actually creating more mystery. GENIUS!!!!

In last night's episode, one character obviously did it to get the advantage over two other characters. Nonetheless, I've gotten to love the current strategy of revealing information not just because the mystery grows deeper, but also because we've gotten to the point where we don't know if we can trust the characters. We don't even know if we can trust the flashbacks of characters! How does the order of the flashbacks affect the truth of a situation? What information in a flashback attracts sympathy and what detracts the sympathy?

We, the audience, know that the drama and flashbacks manipulate us, but I, for one, don't mind the current manipulations. In fact, I like it. The narratives have become that much unreliable, but we know the truth of the relationships that depend on trust will eventually come out. The fun becomes who's thinking what when, and can I figure it out before the reveal. And this fun doesn't just happen in an individual episode, either, it now continues long-form, through the series. LOST has got me hooked again, and I don't think I'll have a problem going back to watch the show again, except for season 2. Blech!

To think, I'm speculating about what I think is happening! The Shock!

For Casual Fans of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer

I mentioned the

Buffy, the Vampire Slayer: Season 8 as Comic Book

to a couple friends of mine who get much more passionate about Buffy, but they didn't seem to know about it. Figured I'd let my readers know about it.

Read the first issue last night. Plan on reading the second one tonight. Apparently, Joss and his staff (comic and old hats from the TV show) will write a total of 22 issues for the "season."

First issue did a good job of introducing the new situation and even answered the whole thing about her dating the Immortal in the first couple pages. Not really much else to say except that it masterfully introduced the new milieu with a good act out at the end. Also, one of the characters has a funny situation, even though we wish that she would just go away.

EDIT: You can also go here for even more information. It's in the last message on the forum thread.

Search for Real Life Jobs on Second Life

This one really takes the cake:

Help Wanted in Second Life

Dang! I thought I would just have to market my writing on Second Life. Now I have to search for a real life job on Second Life.

I have a whole lot to catch up on, on top of working on wedding vows and writing a novel and bachelors project. It should all come in time after I've finally gotten my insurance license.

Still. . .it's a lot for someone near-30 to take in. Thing is, except for this falling behind the tech, my dreams and aspirations make me still feel like a teenager or college student. I feel disconcerted. . ..

More Tech Geek Research

This link doesn't hit upon the area that has given me some anxiety, but I probably will have to address it a little while writing the novel:

Shirkey -- Ontology is Overrated: Categories, Links and Tags

And the reaction to it that I e-mailed the person who told me about this paper:

Other than taking issue with the philosophical definition for ontology put forward, I think I'm pretty much sold. . .especially after reflecting on trying both ontological and Google/Amazon research on the topic for my bachelors thesis. Through ontological searches, didn't really find anything. Through Google/Amazon, it took me years, but I found worthwhile Webpages and information.

Only argument I could still make for hierarchy is mainly for newbies and casual users of a Website. . .I think hierarchy probably works best for newbies because they don't necessarily know how to think about something and want guidance and for casual users because they don't necessarily know what they're looking for, but they'd like something that will help them pass the time. . .at least, that's how I am as a casual user of anything.

Interesting how the ontology article pretty much takes the opposite stance, but I can appreciate that stance for someone who's set on reaching a certain point. For someone who's just looking around or doesn't have much context for something, then I think hierarchy works, mainly for grounding them into a "culture."

More Science Fiction User Interface

Last night, at the end of a potluck, I had something of a disheartening discussion with a guy who works, to the best of my knowledge, as a sound/voice recognition engineer. He has a lot of involvement in the tech/user interface world. When I described the user interface in my novel, he said that it sounded unrealistic for the future but provided some constructive tips, like have the characters complain about the bad user interface (which I actually have one character kind of do).

Anyway, the following link provides me with a little bolstering for the current interface I utilize in my novel:

Usability in the Movies --
Top 10 Bloopers (Jakob Nielsen's
Alertbox)

Courtesy of BoingBoing.

Even better, it's copyright 2006, much more recent than the survey on computer interfaces I linked to the other day.

Last night on the way home from the potluck, I mulled over the conversation I had with the voice/sound recognition guy and came up with a similar rebuke as mentioned in the link: "Designing good input devices is a tricky human factors problem, and you can't substitute devices willy-nilly and retain the same performance. A foot pedal, for example, is not as good as a mouse for text editing, because you can't move your legs as accurately as your hands and fingers."

Basically, in the long run, as much as it sounds cool to have a virtual environment in which to interact with computers and such, the Windows, MacOS, Linux, UNIX an the Web environments probably work best (until someone really does come up with an amazing innovation) when it comes to the types of stuff we do with computers (like Word Processing, e-mailing each other, buying products, etc. etc.). And probably, similarly on another level, a handheld book probably does a better job than reading text on a monitor, a laptop or even some kind of tablet PC. Flipping a page really proves more convenient then scrolling on a screen or pushing a button to reach the next page.

I like it, I like it. . .until someone does really come out with some kind of paradigm breaking innovation for human-computer interface in regards to files and such that works easier than the ones that we have now. Then I will have to gnash my teeth and curse quite a bit.

A Culmination of 2 Years

This upcoming Friday, the 13th, should become the culmination of about 2 years of my life. I take the Life, Accident & Health licensing exam. If I pass it, I'll consider my job search complete, as I will fulfill the qualifications for the job I've worked for the last three months or so.

I feel pretty confident about passing. Each day until then, I will study but mainly to keep myself sharp on the subject rather than to learn anything new. I don't have full knowledge of the topics, nor do I expect to get that kind of score on the exams. The knowledge I have, though, I believe will be enough for me to get a 70% and pass.

Then I get back to really writing and working on my bachelor's thesis. I feel so confident about the exam, actually, that I think I'll probably get back to working on my current short story. Yay.

Things get serious after Friday, though. I will get moving on with my life, finally!

Maybe I Have Nothing to Fear. . .YET!

Link courtesy of kisrael.com,

Human Computer Interaction in Science Fiction Movies

Oh crap. Just noticed that it's dated 2003. Maybe I do have something to fear.

Nonetheless, the report doesn't have much for any critical innovations or anything. It's more of a survey of user interfaces in science fiction movies, and it's not very comprehensive.

If nothing major has changed in the last 4 or so years, though, I may not have anything to fear. And the more I think about it, the more I think the user interface for my novel still has a little more fuel to it, as long as I can release the novel in the next 3 or 4 years.

Get a move on with your life, Lex!

Religion in Second Life

As a follow up to yesterday's entry:

<Faithful build a Second Life for religion online

Scary Revealed Truth About Speculative Fiction and Publishing

The title of this entry almost says it all about:

Xcentric.com
Jason Stoddard: Science Fiction Writer

Majority of the time, the author addresses fears that I've mostly been able to bury under empty rationalizations. Digital distribution can skew the supply and demand economics of traditional storytelling writing that pitching novels and short stories to publishers may not necessarily cut it anymore. That market may go obsolete eventually, simply because the Internet and its distribution channels has created an expectation of free entertainment. New models must get created, and this guy, even though he doesn't know what will work, doesn't fear bringing up the problem and ruminating about possible solutions that may or may not work.

On a nice note, he publishes his less successful stories on his blog that he couldn't bring himself to polishing enough to sell or just couldn't find a home elsewhere. They have some compelling elements, and I can respect the man for having the imagination and balls to have horrible things happen to people and to have real callous people that you can believe could exist and, scarily, prove relatively compelling.

Overall, though, as an amateur writer, I can see why they haven't found homes. They need tons of fleshing out for both details and showing expostion rather than telling it. Plenty of interesting situations show and intimated, if only he took the time to develop the stories into something amazingly enjoyable. To each their own, and a writer can only handle so much of working on one story or idea. And, personally, I'd have a hard time working a ton on these stories with horrifingly and callous aspects.

Don't fear too much, though. Jason also provides plenty of advice on how to market during this transition stage from the traditional publishing world to the world of, as he calls it, the Mediapool. He has plenty of good ideas, but honestly -- and this may have to turn into another entry of mine -- all the social media overwhelms me.

I don't know how much of this intimidation comes from having a busy life of working as an insurance agent while trying to write fiction, from ADHD or from any other aspect that may influence my semi-instinctual aversion to all the stimulation and work it takes to get involved in social media. Hell, real time face-to-face socializing can overwhelm me at times. At least social media doesn't happen in real time, mostly. . ..

Also, he seems to take a strong stance on trying to make something happen, similarly to Demis McGrath. Jason often complains that traditional science fiction writers have moved away from writing in hard science and having lost their appeal to much of the world. At the same time, the people with tons of potential for becoming fans spend a lot of time on social media like Second Life or Boing Boing. This guy just about describes me when he describes the science fiction writer, and it strikes fear in my heart. Admirably, though, Jason wants to bring the social media users (hopefully not filled with Trolls) and science fiction writers for the good of both.

So yeah, this Website scares me because it reveals the Truth about the future of publishing and other forms of entertainment that can get recorded combined with the shrinking potential of becoming a content creator without also becoming a minor marketer. For those who don't know, both things take a lot of damn work. Hopefully I can muster up the time, the energy and know how to make it work for me. Until then, though, I'll just have to hope that the traditional publishing world can prop me up. Here's to people enjoying a book with pages in it over reading electronic devices with text and the part of human nature that is conservative when it comes to innovative (even as I curse that nature when it comes to socially just innovations).

Yeah, I'm something of a hypocrite. Sue me.

Gamy Social Media

This link goes out to the gamers:

Nearby Gamers

The site has really just started out but already has a fair amount of people signed up to it, from all around the world but I think mostly in the Midwest. It has this general idea: gamers sometimes have a pretty hard time finding each other. I'm a pretty good example, having just moved to the Midwest. With Nearby Gamers, they can have an easier time searching each other out and actually playing, rather than complain about the scarcity of gamers in the area.

And like MySpace, Friendster, blogs, forums and all the other types of social media, this site gets better with the more people that sign up and get involved.

I've signed up, myself, but unfortunately haven't had the time or explore it to any worthwhile extent. Writing, work, thinking, chores and other work-vocation-life balance issues keep getting in my way, sadly. I initially have some criticims about the user interface, but I often find myself in the minority when it comes to this type of matter and also haven't take the time to articulate the thoughts and reactions.

In conclusion, if you game (from sports to board to card to RPG), go to Nearby Gamers.

Productive Procastrination

Some things I did instead of cramming for 4 hours, as I originally intended:

+ Had trouble getting out of bed. . .1 or 2 hours

+ Caught up on our TiVo programs, like The Riches and Blood Ties. . .2 hours

+ Continued the development of my short story. . .1 hour

+ Combing through Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching and Plato's Republic for the quote: 'A true leader doesn't by nature seek his own advantage but those of his subjects'. . .3 or 4 hours

And now I plan to halfheartedly cram while watching a movie. Hope I have better luck tomorrow. . ..

Netiquette Opinion Poll

If someone sends a personal (not business) invite, a link or a file to multiple people -- especially when they could have set up a mailing list for regular e-mails of this type or used Evite -- does a recipient have a "right" to e-mail back to everyone on the list or should they default to just responding to the original sender?

Check Out Kargadan

Budding new blog hosted by the Chicago Speculative Fiction [or Sci-Fi] Group:

Kargadan

It has some interesting bits of information.

Yet Another Confession

Dear Readers,

I need to confess something. Studying for this insurance license has kept me busy, but it hasn't taken up the majority of my time away from you. No. I've spent the majority of the time after work writing.

I've focused most of my energies on writing my story about the once difficult angsty high school story. It has sucked me in and become something of an obsession. It takes me away from you and stops me from wanting to write here. It gives me the joy I need. The passion that keeps me going.

I'm sorry, but you just compare to the power this story has over me. Can you understand? Can you wait for me? Can you expect less of me? Will you still come back? Will you continue to like me? Oh. . .

Maybe it needs to be this way. Maybe you will need to move on with your life and find new horizons. Maybe I can't give you what you need. Maybe it was never meant to be.

Please remember one thing, though. I will come back here. I will write more often someday. Things will work out for me. I'll find balance and learn how to make time for my writing and you. Maybe we can meet here sometime in the future. I don't know when, but maybe it can happen. We will have to let Fate decide the course of things. I don't think we'll have any other choice.

But will you remember me? Will you remember this special place? This place where our passions, our joys and our curiosities can meet together and co-mingle. Or will it disappear from your memory and have no more meaning?

I truly wish you would, but I have no choice in the matter. This story must get down. It must get published. It must be told.

But please. . .remember me. Please come back here every once in awhile with the chance for us to meet again. I can't say when it will happen, but it will happen. Please come back.

With love,
The_Lex

BUSY!!!!!!

Yeah, this whole hiatus has been occurring because I have gotten very busy. Hopefully it will pass after I take the health and life insurance licensing test sometime soon. Cross our fingers!

Starting a Writer's Life?

I have had one long week. Didn't get to bed before 11 PM and averaged a bed time of 12:30 AM. In summary, my time management skills had taken a vacation, and I wanted to do too many things every individual day.

Work has really become a damper to my day, too, especially since it requires me to study for a licensing test at the beginning of April. In addition, I have to deal with a lot of frustrated customers during the day and figure out the intracacies of companies we represent and the laws they don't mention in the industry source book. Combine those two without any real culture of mentorship nor the time for training, and I often feel stranded in the middle of a room without any gravity.

On the flipside, I have had a lot of writing activity this past week. To start, I attended the Chicago Writing Meetup workshop Thursday night, plan on attending a more spontaneous one tonight with the fiancee and a friend then on this upcoming Tuesday, the second Chicago-SF workshop happens.

A mash up of forum/e-mail messages I've made about the Thursday night workshop:

I just received an agenda for the next Writer's Meetup. It looks like they've dedicated about a half hour to each piece. I haven't done that much research into the organization of the group (how they distribute pieces, the culture and so forth), so I don't really know what goes into that half hour.

My report back:

Setting a limit to each piece isn't productive.

Forum thread 2:

Just another observation from the Chicago Writer's Meetup Workshop I attended last night: At least two people (10 or 11 attended) mentioned that that group doesn't work the best for workshopping novels. Apparently has to do with the incosistent attendance of individual members.

Their main problem had to do with, say, they wanted to critique the middle of their novel, they would have to provide a synopsis of the important things that happened up to that point, which could be onerous. I would guess the same thing would have to apply if they were submitting the novel, chapter by chapter, then a new member or more started coming. The new member would need the background to provide a satisfactory critique.

Oherwise, the Thursday night workshop provided me with some amount of culture/age shock. I haven't workshopped with non-age peers before. Most of them obviously didn't fit into my age group, a majority of them having lived 10 or 15 years more than me. At most, three or four of them fit within a 10-year range, up and down, from me that I could tell easily.

Not having a full impression of the group's culture or organization, I still spoke out and didn't face any repercussions or anything except for the usual sense of ego bruising all around for such a large group. Did I forget to mention? 10 or 11 people showed up, and we critiqued 4 pieces. In the end, though, no serious ego bruising, arguments or anything like that. I just formed my (probably wrong) bad impression of at least one person and surprisingly got along well with a person whose piece I found relatively well written but not compelling to me.

As I've mentioned in the past, writing workshops have always proved tricky atmospheres, especially when relative strangers or distant acqauintences fill the ranks. Also, exposure and favoritism to different genres by workshop participants can make things a little more difficult, too, because it take them awhile to start tolerating a new genre then even a little longer to learn how to read and critique such a strange new form.

I don't know how much of my work I'll submit for critique with this group. As I mentioned about genre, a lot of the pieces written for this last meeting fit into the realism/naturalistic genre with a heavy amount of expository character meditations, whether through fantasy or flashback. One guy there talked about his thriller/adventure novels that he published, but I haven't seen anything he's written and have somewhat of a bad impression of him. I wish I had a better way to describe the category that most of the submitters wrote, but they didn't really fit sci-fi/fantasy/thriller/adventure, the type of stuff I usually write. Maybe mainstream attempts at middle to high literature?

Honestly, I wish I had an easier time getting into that type of stuff. Back after getting our school, when I had more time to read, I made a point to switch off between speculative fiction and more realistic fiction. It actually felt unnatural, but I felt too pigeonholed sticking with spec fiction, especially since the "mainstream culture" doesn't necessarily "get it." I wanted to "get" the realistic stuff so as to understand my potential audience more. And at that time, I wanted more understanding of it to find more acceptance in it, too.

I still would like to work on "getting" the mainstream realistic stuff, so I'll continue attending this workshop. My criticism might help someone, and maybe I'll learn to get it more by working with these people.

Having all these workshops to attend also feels like I've gotten a lot more involved in the writer's life. The job that I don't so much like has exposed me to some writing organizations, also, which may help me improve my skill and also get more connections. Who would have thought those type of connections could have come from working in insurance? But yes, I do feel like I'm living something more of an aspiring writer's life. I just want to pass this licensing exam in April and get a better work-domestic-romance-life balance going so I can enjoy living more and not feel so tired at the end of the week.

Ugh. . .oh right, there's also the wedding after I pass the licensing exam. Ugh. . ..

Criticism of 300, the Movie

I got what I paid for with this movie. Make note that I paid the afternoon matinee price at an AMC theater.

By now, I think most of my readers know the setup. Xerxes, the Persian emporer, sends a messenger to Sparta to threaten and ask surrender of King Leonidas. Leonidas refuses and against the objections of the ancient deformed mystics, the Ephors, and the Spartan politicians. In defiance of their objections, King Leonidas and 300 of his men go off to battle Xerxes and the Persians in the Battle of Thermopylae, with the help of some other Greek volunteers. Both in history and in the movie, Leonidas dies at the end, but not in the same way. And oh yeah, the movie also has semi-shallow and predictable political gaming back in Sparta.

Historical accuracy when it comes to details generally goes out the window, and sadly, the real history I've gleaned from Wikipedia strikes me as more dramatic and provocative. The military tactics of the Spartans goes against the common sense of anyone who thinks twice about these things and even contradicts Leonidas's argument earlier in the movie.

Culturally and topically for today, the movie feels insulting and propagandist, something of an example of Orientalism. Not knowing much about Persian culture, I found it annoying that all portrayals pretty much pointed toward decadence, hedonism and deviance according to Western culture.

At the same time, Spartan (Western) culture got portrayed aS tough, spartan and proud. Further, though, "free" (even though the government takes their male children away from their families for tough training), united, respectful of reason and threatened.

The Spartan portrayal wouldn't come off as so insulting if they showed the movie before 9/11 and the arch conservative propaganda of the United States. The inspiring speeches in 300 sound almost word-for-word like the conservative rhetoric I heard a couple weeks during the debates in Congress about the war in Iraq. Even more entertaining, the queen made plenty of speeches that sounded like Nancy Pelosi except twisted to justify the Battle of Thermopylae.

Now, I don't make any opinion about the Spartans and Greeks battling the Persians in this campaign. The battle happened on the open battefield and the threat was apparent. On the other hand, I'm almost surprised Frank Miller wrote the graphic novel back in 1998 but not so much about the movie coming out now. I won't say anything about conspiracies, but the decadent and deviant portrayal of the Persians, the threat to the Greek sense of existence (which is one of the strongest influences on our current Western civilization) and the need to stand up for your civilization really rubs me the wrong way, especially since the Spartan way of life didn't seem all that attractive. These two historical times don't compare, but the portrayal of these civilizations of then and now do.

So since most of the aspects that interact with reality simply don't pass my tests of enjoyability, I have to say that the stylized dramatic aspects, the special effects and action parts worked well for me. Maybe the portrayal of fighting styles didn't work for me, but they looked cool. The cinematic portrayal and special effects made me believe these things existed in the movie and were also cool.

At the Battle of Thermopylae, the soldiers convinced me they believed in the battle and felt the passion. Even one very predictable moment worked for me, even though I saw it from the beginning. I rooted for the soldiers and felt the honor of their tragic battle. In Sparta, though, I didn't really care for the politicking. The acting felt wooden and everything that happened there felt very very predictable and much much worse than what I've read about the real history. To make this part even more annoying, the film makers added the politicking. . .. And, seriously, what was with the guy with the beard who totally looked like Abraham Lincoln? Nonetheless, I found these aspects generally redeeming and worth the matinee price I paid.

The coolest note about the movie, though: Tyrone Benskin, the actor who plays Karl Lubinsky, the revolutionary conspiracy theorist reporter, on Charlie Jade. Very, very entertaining contrast to Lubinsky.

EDIT: To clarify on the feeling of insult, I simply thought none of portrayals of cultures or characters had enough complication. They didn't really try to sell us either which way or they didn't have the "pitch" complicated enough. It was more, this character is the protagonist, so root for him, while this guy is the antagonist, so boo on him. Some people think this is a postmodern criticism, but hey, the lack of complication took away from the entertainment value for me.

Props to TV Writers

Over at The Lextopia, I've done a fair share of criticizing TV shows; good ones, too. After thinking about writing for TV, though, and doing my own writing for short stories and a novel, I have to give them some props.

Now, when it comes to say. . .LOST, I won't be retracting any criticism for most of the second season and the pre-hiatus third season. After seeing them do a better job with show and having seen other shows that pull off solid work, I believe there's room for criticism, even while giving props.

But seriously, they deserve the props. Maybe I'll take one or two back mainly because writing TV is their full time job. They can dedicate tons of time to the labor of love while, lately, I can only give 10 minutes a day to my writing, and that's a maximum. I've been working on my current main short story project for something like 3 months now, and it still doesn't reach the standards of a good story ready to get published let alone meet my own standards. This thing needs two whole new scenes developed then everything needs to get re-ordered, AT THE LEAST!

My working alone does provide one advantage: the end product will most likely not have any continuity or characterization inconsistencies. Nor will it suffer from blandness because of a community writing atmosphere.

These TV writers do deserve some props, though. Sure, they probably have the first couple episodes written up and fully edited before a season starts. They have to deal with tons of time constraints and have to deal with:

* Creating quality work

* Writing extremely efficiently without having the time to draft, draft and draft some more

* Keeping up with the continuity

That last one really strikes me as an amazing feat to accomplish. Sure, a lot of shows have inconsistent continuity issues and require the occasional retcon (if they care enough to do it) to correct the continuity. Nonetheless, think about it. With a short story or novel, you can tinker around with it, change information, character histories, change events, etc. etc. to accomplish the effect that you want or to allow for consistency between scenes.

In the case of a series of novels or short stories, the writer has to deal with making current and future works consistent with past work, but that's probably a whole other story. How many J.K. Rowlings are out there writing a series of books? Now that I think about it, though, a similar set of props need to go out to early written storytellers, like Charles Dickens, who wrote serials and had to write on a similar schedule as TV writers.

But just take a moment to think about how TV writers pretty much have to write a story a week and after it's totally finalized or broadcast, they have to write their current story to make it completely consistent with past episodes. Unlike the novelist or short story writer, they can't go back and change events to make for a great effect, event, character or to make the story stronger for the viewer. Once it's out there, they have to work with it. And if they have run themselves into the corner with a story, they just have to deal with it and come up with a solution.

At least with a lack of story, a new writing crew or even the current one can just come inand tie up loose ends. For a series with a story, though, they have to reckon with the story they've made or come up with a damn good way to change things.

Props go to TV writers for not having the freedom to change the past for the benefit of the whole. . .and at least 25% of the time, making something pretty respectable. Good going.

Using My Life Arc as an Example of a Good Character Arc

A compelling thought just entered my brain that has plagued me for years and has a personal touch to it but touches upon narrative somewhat. It has to do with me. . .and partially with the arguments I've had lately and over the last few years. It also gets me thinking about getting into the heads of characters I write.

The idea feels almost too pretentious, too Russian. . .it reminds me of a poem or short story I read for college by, I think, Leo Tolstoy. I can't think of the play's name, and I don't think it directly relates. If I brought up, people would probably just go, "huh?" I bring up thoughts and ideas like that. . ..

But, in essence, this thought of mine has to do with how I use to think more rationally and supportive than I do now and didn't really let go to my passions or emotions. Another thought has to do with throwing away my intelligence, education, good sense and so on and so forth to have more success socially, have more friends and more girlfriends. Nowadays, I kind of miss that cool-headed me and feel happy with my fate.

Despite making more peace with the cool-headed me from the past, though, I appreciate that I allow myself to let go of my good sense to the passions. I kind of miss the rationally supportive connections I've had in the past with people from my cool head, even though I don't miss the loneliness that came from a less natural and more anxious presenation of myself.

Nowadays, I act both more spontaneously in some ways and more determined and deliberate in other ways than I have in the past. My relations sometimes meet tension from my self in the present, but you know what? Even with that tension, I feel more sincere connections with people than I did during my cool-headed days. I could stay out of trouble and led a prudent life, but I felt isolated and unhappy.

Deep down, I have the feeling that I will return to a more cool-headed, contemplative and prudent version of myself. When that sense of being comes again, though, I believe that I won't feel the isolation that I had felt before. They will reconcile each other when that time comes again, the prudence and the natural emotional connection with the people and the world around me. I find it hard to get back to the cool-headed version because I enjoy the connection so much, but I also remember the value that cool-headed me had for myself and the people around me.

This starting at one point, experiencing a fall from grace for the passionate flesh then reconciling feels like a great character arc. The really great part comes from the fact that the fall from grace has to happen. Before, I didn't FEEL the connections with the world, even if the prudence had value and people appreciated me and my emotional support. For real grace beyond the cool-headed prudence of my youth, however, I need to go through a time of exposing and losing myself in the passions and emotions of humanity. It will bring me the wisdom of experience, defeat and victory that will help me more sincerely connect rather than acting out some kind of wisdom without true understanding and knowledge.

Someday, it will make a great story, maybe even a very enjoyable memoir. I would like to embody this tale more often in my narrative stories, though, along with many other forms of narration. Such a variety that I can imagine, and I have to go through a process of experimentation similar to my life arc to make each of the stories great in a way that will connect with the reader. So exciting, yet so frustrating. . ..

Explanation for My Absence

I've been fighting off a flu for just over a week now. Today has been my first day at work for five days. At the moment, I pretty much only have superficial symptoms like a stuffy nose, slightly sore throat in the morning and. . .that's really about it.

Unfortunately, I've got a rush of adrenaline from a dumb fight with someone. May have to take some melatonin or something to make sure I actually fall asleep at something of a good time tonight.