Month: October 2013

If you’ve heard of method acting then it shouldn’t be much of a stretch to imagine method writing. I consider myself a method writer. I descend into the story world and try to write my tales from a street level. I’m living in two worlds right now–that of the Shadowrun Universe and my own Emil Torath. The reason I go deep down is to gain an understanding of how the world works for the average resident. I suppose this approach is a result of a micro-sociology background or maybe it is just the result of reading too many books about world shaping events. It is all well and good when what your characters do in a story shapes the future world, but lets not forget that everyone needs to stop for a beer and maybe use the restroom once in a while.

This is not an invitation to write bathroom scenes.

What is printed in a story must be of crucial relevance to character development, and pooping rarely is. On the other hand, descending into the mundane daily routine of a world’s characters reminds me of how a larger even can lead to the departure from the daily grind. For example, years back the world of Shadowrun tackled the idea of what would happen if the internet shut down. We chipped away at some of the street level tales, but mostly focused on the higher order stuff–what would the corps do and what not. Even our street level stories were about those who discovered extraordinary power or meaning through the event. When I descend into a story world it allows me to think about the doorman whose door lock shuts down during an event like the network crash before he can let an important resident into the building. That resident may decide to exact revenge on the doorman for not breaking down the front door. That resident may demand our doorman get fired. What is the ripple effect of that? What is the story that can be told there, and is it story worthy?

This is the sort of slice of life writing exercises that I feel allows a writer to gain a holistic understanding of the way their world works and the way that major events can effect people who are otherwise unaffected by the bickering of Gods.

 

Some Thoughts:

1. Thanks refs. I’ve been hating for years, but that call to give the J-E-T-S a first down and 15 extra yards in overtime today was like rain in the desert. Jets for the win and one step closer to first place in the AFC East. Nice.
2. May be looking at the first Fantasy Football loss of the year. I failed to get to the computer in time to start the receiver I wanted to start and the result will effect the outcome. Stay Tuned.

I got myself all jazzed up to scribe something profound tonight and… Nothing. The fact is, being profound is more about right time, place, and mood than any deep level of intellect. This coming from someone who considers himself pretty damn smart, but doesn’t take himself serious enough to do anything epic with it. So, I just decided to slide open my iphone timer, put ten minutes on the clock and see what words fall out.

Tonight we spent the evening at one of Maricopa’s major annual events, the Stage Coach Days. We turned out around 6, two hours into the event. By then the lines were going strong for the handful of food vendors, but something seemed off. A brisk walk through Pacana park keyed me into what my ‘spider sense’ already figured out: Maricopa’s little event is suddenly little. I’m still processing this. Maybe the words will form in the following few paragraphs. It seems like my small town is undergoing a transformation of sorts. When we first moved here everyone came out for the events. We needed bussing to and from, because there was never close to enough room to park cars. Now it seems easier to get spots, to get on the rides, even to get food (30 minute wait times down to 15). This is because nobody is there. I was able to have several different conversations with people I know, because I could pick them out of a thin crowd. This never happened before.

Here is my theory #1: When there is no form of entertainment in a small town, people gravitate towards town events. Said events bristle with folks looking for a way to connect with the town in an intimate way. Now that we have this sweet multitainment area with food, a club, laser tag, movies, bowling, etc, the need to head for the big ole town event has passed.

Theory #2: The shifting landscape of the real estate market has turned Maricopa, AZ into a squatter town. I’m talking about a place where investors buy houses and rent them to college kids and the working poor who cannot afford the cost of these city-based events and would rather stay in their Giant Homes and take advantage of a lifestyle they could not have before now.

Both theories bear the familiar flaws of 10 minute thinking, but both may be elements of a larger truth. In a few weeks we’ll see if there is a major turnout for the halloween event. If not, I may have to revisit this theory and make one of those odd attempts at being profound.

I grew up loving sports. I was a baseball kid until I was a basketball kid until I was a tennis kid until I was a football kid. Through every transition I knew that sports were going to be the pinnacle of mano y mano competition for me. No chess club or mock trial victory ever filled me with the pride of a sports win. Tonight I discovered that Grambling University did the unthinkable. The players on the GU football team quit. They are refusing to play tomorrow’s game against Jackson State. In fact, they are refusing to play another snap moving forward until things at the school turn around. I was shocked. Then I started reading about it more and thinking back on some of the conversations I’ve had at conferences geared towards recruiting minority professors. That is when I discovered the story within the story.

Grambling is a historically black college with a longstanding history. The school has struggled over the years to maintain its aura of collegiate pride. See, faculty don’t want to come to Grambling, and the political infighting there between what is commonly known as the new and the old black aristocracy are waging an open war across the quad. Long story short: Black kids aren’t preferring black colleges any more. Tag this to a sinking economy and a broken dynamic between athletics and academics and you get this mess.

The very reason for creating race-based scholarships was to infuse the traditionally homogenous colleges with much needed diversity. Educators believed that a diverse student population better served the learning of individual students. I agree with this philosophy. On the other hand, I understand why the African American population–a group that was first formed almost wholly out of the slave trade–would want to have a place to capture and reflect on a racial identity that we were denied the opportunity to realize for so long. So yeah, I get the need for institutions like Grambling, but the majority of the community it aims to preserve does not. As a result, the institution is in serious decline, and the football team is serving as a reminder of the longstanding legacy of black pride by doing what my forefathers did: Protesting for what we believe in.

Pablo Neruda famously quipped, “It so happens I am sick of being a man.” This poem entitled, Walking Around, whispered in dulcet tones, speaks to me of the responsibilities of masculinity, of adulthood, of fatherhood. I wonder about these things openly, questioning the perceptions of me and what I want–even need–to be. I’m no more qualified than the next person to define what it means to be a man. I can talk about the fatigue of the role and maybe a bit about why mid-life crisis happens.

I suppose I’m about two years out from my MLC. At some point you recognize the life you have is not at all the life you intended in that pressure cooker of high school. Not everyone enters into this confusion with a frown. Things could’ve gone very differently in my life and I could have a differently life entirely. I’m happy with where I am, but the Mid life culprit is rarely how happy you are, but instead it it the devastating realization that your failures are 100% about the stuff you didn’t do when you could’ve. That is the part that’ll drive you mad.

Some Thoughts:

1. Never finished those picks, so here we go:

DEN over IND
I’m close going with Indy here for a couple of reasons. As much as Peyton really wants this game, I think the Indy defense wants it more–not for Luck but for themselves. They want and need a win here to right the ship and set them up for the season. A win here means a playoff hope. On the other hand, Von Miller is officially back, so that’s that.

SF over TEN
The home games vex me, however I feel like SF is getting back to form, and this game allows Colin K to take another turn at being Superman.

STL over CAR
I’m still not a believer in Carolina, no matter what they did to the Giants. My 90 yr old aunt might have been able to do that to the Giants if her hop wasn’t so bad.

WSH over CHI
Washington came alive a bit last week. I saw that, though they couldn’t beat the Cowboys yet, they are ready to put wins on the board.

I’m going to be able to cover about half the games tonight. Some situations aren’t in doubt while others are clearly up for grabs. For example, the Giants game is a big deal for both teams. Still, Frazier feels okay starting a QB in a new system against their pass rush. Maybe Coach Frazier feels like the Vikings D is good enough to hold down Eli. I mean, everyone else has. That’s cost me a few picks this season. Yet I continue to believe. I’ll believe again this week.

NYG over MIN
The Giants can’t suck that bad, right? I mean, right? At least this latest ‘I’ll start the dude off the street’ nonsense ought to give them enough bulletin board material to give a damn.

SD over JAC
SD won’t see this as a trap game so much as an opportunity to get their offense on track and they could be very daring in the run game. This doesn’t bode well for me from a fantasy perspective, as I’m relying heavily on Rivers in the absence of Vick.

KC over HOU
In the land of not having hope, Houston is king…

DEN — IND: TBD

SF–TEN: TBD

CAR — STL: TBD

WSH – CHI: TBD

BAL over PIT
PIT is better than the Giants. Not the Ravens. Although the running game is in straits, the team still has a defense that can keep them in games if not win them outright. Pit, on the other hand, gave up pressure to the G-Men. NOBODY does that.

 

GB over CLE
I don’t see the value in explaining this…

 

MIA over BUF
BUF is starting your mom at QB. Seriously. They have NO ONE. Practice Squad guy was hurt last week and now its up to the walk-ons, like some bad college film.

NYJ over NE
Jets don’t win back to back. They don’t really lose that way either this season. Maybe the Pats will. Brady has no weapons.

 

DET over CIN
This will be a shootout, especially now that the NFL is fining Suh for clean hits. This week he was fined over 30K for a hit to the chest of the QB. It wasn’t late. It wasn’t deemed dirty on the field. Still, since his helmet made contact with the QB’s chest, he owes 30K. Where are you supposed to tackle? They claim he lowered his head when he delivered the blow. Sure he did, because if he held his head up, he’d have made helmet to helmet contact and likely been ejected. Play your game, big man. Go get me some sacks.

 

ATL over TB
America’s team is a terrible reflection of the state of American politics: Finger pointing, backstabbing, and poor performance. Still, if we reach back into where all of this started to go wrong in American politics, we find Florida at the center. Beat Florida and good stuff is sure to follow. ATL does that this weekend behind an epically bad Bucs defensive outing from a coach who doesn’t know how to use his players–especially Revis.

 

SEA over AZ
Sorry, AZ. No hope.

 

Some Thoughts:

1. Proof that sex sells: The Fiat commercials are actually selling those terrible automobiles. I bet the Yugo creators are slapping their foreheads in disgust right now.

I regret to inform you all that I am a shameless capitalist. It’s true. I haven’t written anything (besides this blog) in several years that didn’t result in a paycheck. I feel like being a writer should be about much more than getting paid. In truth, getting paid should merely be the way to support your writing habit (and your family if need be). So, I’m abandoning the quest to write and publish my fantasy epic. I’m going to release it here instead.

The world’s story centers on a book called the Torathae. It is the de facto bible for a world known as Emil Torath. The only problem is nobody seems to know the Torathae exists or what it fortells. So, I decided to tell a story about a critical time in the world. Specifically I wanted to tell the story of people at crossroads in their lives. Tharsis Drennan is barbarian born and is now on the cusp of Knighthood under the banner of his adopted family. Elin is an ascendant (or God Born) and on the cusp of being revealed for what he truly is and Kishara is King Born, a lineage that affords her little privilege but a clear life path–one she does not wish to take. Koric is born of a line thought to be stamped out, but given the events being stirred up in the border lands, he is now on the edge of an opportunity to recapture what his family lost. Finally there is Ikrivain, a thief rescued by Elin and made to be a squire who is battling between the choice of betraying the man who saved him or refusing the soldier who would have his head.

If these characters weren’t enough, I’m considering another character to tell another side of this story. She is the one who begins the story connected to the Torathae and knows a little of its secrets.

Six narrative leads in a story is a tall order, but the beauty of the internet is that length is not an issue. I can write to my heart’s content, and I can do it purely for the love of storytelling, without having to worry what my editor thinks.

This is the first step in what promises to be a wonderful next step for me in my life. I’ve been stunted the last few weeks, working to make time for this story and others to bubble to the surface. I believe we’re getting closer.

I haven’t done this for a while, but the mood struck me. Ten Things is a staple of the Peter King MMQB post. It is a part of the post where he waxes philosophical about dang near everything–especially coffee. I don’t have much to say about coffee, but here are few things I do want to spit about:

1. I think working from 9-5 limits the ability to perform mundane tasks such as a car emissions test, getting a new bug guy, etc. I’m new to this experience, because my schedule generally allows for the opportunity to get these chores done. Not so much the last few weeks.
2. I think the person who invented Fantasy Football is a marketing genius. I found myself watching the Chargers v. Colts game without having a particular affinity for any team. On the other hand, my fantasy football week was at stake. Andrew Luck was up against Rivers and Gates. It came down to a last minute TD drive. Luck got picked and I still have a perfect record in fantasy football. See, people only care when they have something at stake. I had a win at stake.
3. I’m at the point where I am more interested in watching The Blacklist than I am in Agents of SHIELD. This, coming from a big time Whedon and Marvel fan, does not bode well for SHIELD. I need more from the weekly offering. On the other hand, it could mean that me and NBC are vibing again.
4. I think Kevin Hearne’s book, Hexed, is not as good as the first one, but serves as a witty and engaging introduction to the 3rd book, Hammered. I haven’t consumed #3 yet, but give me a week.
5. I think the return of the watch phone is one of the coolest things in the world, outdone only by the fact marketers used a clip from Babylon 5 to sell this thing.
6. I think Breaking Bad is a stark reminder of the power of chemistry. I wish my chemistry classes in H.S. weren’t the end of my chemistry history, because I could’ve devised some wicked stuff. Not drugs or explosives, persay, but I am a huge fan of the idea of devising new chemical mixtures in the vein of the great science geeks.
7. I think ones ability to compartmentalize parts of their lives is the key to great success and utter depravity. Where one person who goes off to war and is able to come home and put that part of themself away, another person is able to become a serial killer and then make pancakes with her children.
8. I think my identity as an educator is nascent at best. I watch so many other people who are defined and even consumed by being a teacher, and as much as I want to say that is who I am, I recognize that who I am is a writer. The two don’t exist at odds with each other for the most part, but can.
9. I think Stallone is having a second career right now. He keeps on shoving out new movies. Each is worst than the last, with the exception of the Expendables films. Those are fun.
10. I think writing gives me more than an outlet. I think it continues to give me a purpose past the daily ho hum and the difficult beauty of being a husband and a father.

“I call upon all of you to wage a second American nonviolent revolution, to use civil disobedience, and to demand that this president leave town, to get up, to put the Quran down, to get up off his knees, and to figuratively come out with his hands up,” posts CNN.com, sharing the vitriol of Larry Klayman of Freedom Watch, a conservative political advocacy group. When I read those words I immediately remembered why this site is called talislegger. See, people are extremely impressionable and thus vulnerable to vitriolic information that somehow makes them feels good or gives them someone to blame. The truth of the message is basically irrelevant, so long as agreeing with the message means that you feel good and insulated amongst other believers. Such is the power and the problem of politics.

I’ve been studying this shutdown debate from a power dynamics position. Here is how it works: There are three governmental groups at odds. 1 is controlled by one party while the other two are controlled by a second party. The party with the least amount of control is the one pulling all the strings. They are necessary to the bill-passing process and unless they are willing to participate, the government will shut down–which it has. Now that we are in shutdown mode, the spin is taking off and the blame is being spread around. The media is not much willing to tell the obvious story. There is no story in what we already know, so they chase the other story–the ideas perpetuated by those unwilling to accept responsibility. So, we get stories about Obama the Muslim again.

Obama is not a Muslim nor a socialist–two ideas that exist in some opposition. However, there is a growing number people willing to believe he is somehow both and somehow part of a vast conspiracy to destroy America. Well, I guess it is easier than having to think, reason, and fact check for yourself.

Still having some trouble stringing together a rational post. When I get this way the best thing to do is look for inspiration. The story that, expectedly, caught my eye was one about a young teacher who posed for Playboy in 2011 and went on to become a H.S. Spanish teacher. This isn’t the first time a teacher has been outed for a past Playboy shoot. Students are adept at both wanting to see their pretty teachers unclothed and locating any circumstance in which that may have happened. On the other hand, I get the sense that a parent dug this 2011 spread up. Regardless, it isn’t so much about what she did as much as what the state wants to do, which is fire her.

There are a few ways to look at this. 1. The chick was wrong to expose herself. 2. The school is wrong for trying to get rid of someone for doing something legal and voluntary. 3. She was wise to use whatever legal means available to earn the money to be who she wants to be. 4. This is Texas. 5. We have a really messed up idea of sex in America.

I’m going with #5. So she posed for Playboy and some over-excited boys can pay to see her naked. Okay. How does that affect her teaching? What, will boys be thinking about her sexually, and girls disliking her because of what the boys are thinking and even going so far to talk badly about her sexuality? Umm, that was already happening.

So what is the difference? Parents have proof of her sexuality. Now that to me is the real problem. We live in a nation that has a very skewed view of sexuality. On the one hand we say it is bad to be a sexual creature but on the other we treat 50 shades of gray as literature.

 

Some thoughts:

1. I wonder if we will ever understand why being intellectual is considered more evolved than being athletic. The body and mind have both evolved over the millennia and for whatever reason, intellectual growth and higher order thinking remains prized over physical prowess. I’m not saying I disagree with the hierarchy, but I am saying that I don’t know why I don’t disagree with the hierarchy.

Christina Scalise was right when she said, “Organization isn’t about perfection; it’s about efficiency, reducing stress and clutter, saving time and money and improving your overall quality of life.” I think that quote applies best to the idea of having an office space that reflects the mood and tenor with which you mean to work. It is for this very reason that a messy office bothers me. It feels like a naked reflection of my life.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been talking about getting order in the home life before I can really dive headlong into novel writing. There are no problems at home, but the deeper issue is finding that level of balance between home space and work space and constructing that space, both physically and mentally. Both require organization whereas the mental separation is often neglected. I have a friend who works at her desk beneath a basketball hoop where her kids play. This is clearly no way for a woman to work. My situation is not as bad, but I must confess to a small arsenal of Pokemon cards littering my office floor. Likewise, my mind has long been cluttered with the knowledge that I have children that neither have concern for nor are challenged by school. The middle one in particular passed out of the competencies for his current grade level last year. The school can do little for him as he did not get 100% on all of his areas (high 90’s) and he’s already a grade level higher than he is supposed to be, which is to say advancing him another grade level would be cruel and foolish. Instead I am left to work out a guerrilla curriculum for the kid, including opportunities for enhancement for his big brother whose math skills are above par and his atrophying in the math classroom while his reading skills slowly grow. I’m almost done with that curriculum and I almost have an organized schedule for the next 4 months, which means, once again, I am on the verge of finding that balance and that magical writing time.

 

That time is long overdue.

 

Some Thoughts:

1. Well, I was wrong about the Giants. Again. At least management was courteous enough to tell coach C that it is his choice to stay or go, as opposed to laying the blame at his feet. The blame goes to the training staff in part, the turf in part, and the utter lack of a line on either side of the ball in the most part. Eli is trying too hard because he knows he doesn’t have time and that results in bad plays. He’s thrown more picks in the first 6 than he did all of last year. Eli Manning is putting up Sanchez numbers.