The New World
I just read a yahoo news story entitled "Cartoon protestors rampage across Pakistan."
To paraphrase Tom Robbins for the second time in a week, if no one had taken Hitler seriously in his early days, as he was whipping up support in dark, crowded beer houses, we could have avoided quite a bit of pain and suffering. When I see
anyone trying to be solemn, be they George W. Bush, a high school football coach, the CEO of my non-profit company, or catholic priest on his pulpit, my first instinct is to pelt them with donughts, sausages, and beer, and follow up with jokes about their hair.
What's wrong with people? Why do we have the need to feel serious and grim? Why must we be holy? What is it we're feeling when we smartly swing a gun barrel over our left shoulder, or salute a piece of waving cloth? What is going thourgh our heads when we listen to a voice mangeified by a microphone? Why do we sit crosslegged in a circle to pray, or bow before someone wearing a crown?
Are we that easily cowed? Are we that desperate to belong to something as arbitrary as country, kingdom, phile, family, religion, or whatever the hell else? How do you go from the innocent
tabula rasa of your infancy to risking your life over a cartoon drawing?
Or. . . Are we so frustrated at our own human impotency, we must clutch onto any excuse to justify our expression of anger?
I don't know.
February so Far
Tom Robbins once wrote that February is not a month. It's just a null space of time between January and March, where the world waits for something to happen. Normally, that's true. . . but this year, it's been a whirlwind. Here's some of the stuff that's happened to me:
1. I went to Memphis last week, and had a great time. I saw a few of my high school friends, and we mostly hung out, drank a few beers, watched the Super Bowl, and took the tour at Graceland. A few of us resolved to write a screenplay together, and I plan on riding their asses for the next month until it's done.
2. My first full adventure was published in Dungeon Magazine. I spend the last month in a state of agitation over its release, and am thrilled to see my name in print. I've answered all the standard questions with my gaming group, my friends, and my family. Ironically, now that it's old news, I'm a little sad about it. I had heard of this mourning period before, but I can't remember what it's called.
3. Jackie and I are moving over the next two weeks, to a house five blocks away. It's very exciting, but now it falls to me to do most of the packing and actual moving. It seems that, of the two of us, I have much more free time. It's a great place though, and I can't wait to habitate.
4. In other D&D-related news, there was a recent writer's meeting for Dungeon, where I had contributed 11 original proposals. Last time, I went 3 for 12, which was exhilerating. After improving a number of mundane problems with my presentation and coming up with a few non-conventional plots, I had high expectations. Unfortunately, I went 0 for 11 this time. The good news is that I already have another 5 submitted, and about 3-4 more in process. Based on the feedback, I feel like I know what went wrong. I can climb away from the far-reaching limbs I was on, and get back to basics.
5. I am lowering my expectations for getting a new job. I can't wait tables anymore. Starting tomorrow, I'm going to try for things like data entry, substitute teaching, and many even lawn care. Considering the career I was striving for a year ago, it's pretty unbelievable. But until I start school in August, I don't know what else I can do. Galveston has a double digit unemployment rate, and I'm still not willing to make the hour and a half commute to Houston.
Anyway, that's my news. I didn't shoot anybody while I was hunting or anything, so I hope it kept your attention. :)
Fifteen Rounds
"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent." - Calvin Coolidge
"If you’re not failing every now and again, it’s a sure sign that you’re not trying anything very innovative." - Woody Allen
"An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made, in a very narrow field." - Neils Bohr
