Just a quick website update. I am working on newer ideas. The problem is that some of the old ideas are on the notepads. And I seem to keep going back to them. So it is time to go about “sweeping them out”. If they are really worth it.
Plus, I am trying to clear through the ones that are smaller in scope. Starting simple and going from there.
It is also hard to believe that it has been almost 6 months.
I think fictional pieces can be a fun way to look at a part of life. Take a piece and try to see how it provides insight onto real life situations. See if there might be some metaphors and allegories at play. Those are the ones people tend to remember when they find them. And they might not be even aware that is happening. That’s the fun part. The subversive part that is at play.
The first one comes from the movie Orange County. Colin Hanks plays a young man who wants to get into Stanford College so he can work with a professor (Kevin Kline) whose writing he admires. The problem is he comes from an off-the-wall family environment that is completely disinterested in his dream to be a writer. “I can relate” is an understatement.
The line that always struck me was how many authors were always at “odds” with their environment. And choosing to be a writer with always be a struggle with “acknowledgment and validation”.
The next scene was inspired in part by a friend of mine. He is a college instructor who assigned his class a project that would require them to link to a historic inspirational speech. And he was upset on how many students linked to speeches from movies. Not the assignment. I had a bit of fun with about it. Though I am pretty sure he wanted none of it. If you post about it then you have opened the “flood gates” and people like me strike then.
This scene does acknowledge an historical event although not with complete accuracy.
This scene inspires in the film what would be the final event of the film. The thing about this clip is that after 35 years it still quoted from by many in our society. How all you have to say is, “Germans?” And instantly people know what you are talking about. And if they don’t. You wonder how that could be.
So this scene is part of our culture heritage. And that is what makes it “historic”.
Finally, this scene is surely an allegory. You want to see “bad theater” then just tune in any story on Washington DC politics or Mayor Bloomberg (better yet “Doomblerg”) press conference. WARNING: Both have a high level of “Sanctimony” which is almost ridiculous. I saw this quote on site “Whenever the Government cries Gloom & Doom: I know it’s Nothing. When they tell me it’s Nothing: I start to Worry.”
Right now there the “Sequester” yelling going on in DC. The Mexican Standoff pretty much says it all about it.
What Great Drama for a scene. In the end, everyone “takes a bullet”.
That could have been avoided if the characters took a little time to listen to each other. But everyone was so sure of themselves.
Sound familiar?
Mondays are long work days for me. I can never go right home and right to sleep. I need to unwind. So Tuesdays are not highly productive days. It also never fails that trying to relax a bit is interrupted all the time. Only night the phone seems to ring.
It is what it is. For the time being.
Here are some points to start with.
So I wanted to post some things that I am working out here via the blog.
It is time of at evaluating the resources I have and the tools I need.
Please stay tuned.
And take a moment to contribute if you can.
I like listening to the band, Frightened Rabbit. I like the introspection and perspection fof their lyrics. Watch the follow video because it has what few videos have these days. There is a visual narrative that tells a story.
Are you so right?
Are you positive you can’t be wrong?
A little investigation might change your perception.
The puzzle changes with each piece as you put it together.
Emotions and Ideology are not always solid foundations for truths.
And the evidence is not always there to confirm or deny.
Risky?
One of my goals for this year is to write more. And especially more when it comes to fiction. So instead of a big grand piece. I am going to start with smaller ones. So I need to find examples from various writers to see how the format these types of stories. Plus these are stories I can read during break times and wait times.
Last week, Chuck Palahniuk had an offer for 99 cents of his latest short story “Phoenix”. He is an author who can take a lot of strange ideas and bring them together for an engaging narrative. His work is not for people who are “overly sensitive” or the “weak stomach”. He is a good example that strange ideas do have a place in a story. In other words, he is my type of author. He makes me want to be a writer. And scares me at the same time. Because all I can think is, “Why didn’t I think of that? And Dammit! He made it work.” This story features a failing marriage and the role of a “burning cat” in it.
Listen to this interview to how I am not alone in thinking this.
But that is where I am starting from here.
Also just picked up more short story Kindle editions.
“Everbody’s Reading Bastard” by Nick Hornby
“You Were Never Really Here” by Jonathan Ames
Not asking. But here is a hint. Amazon Gift Cards will help out this site.
But really need recommendations and feedback comments.
