Four Words

It's been a while since I've written on here. I suppose life and leisure have kept me away, as well as my own negligence.

Ah, well.

There comes a time in every young person's life where they make that transition from irresponsible youth to responsible adult. For some, that time comes earlier than others. Sometimes, it's a defining moment while other times it's a gradual, drawn-out process.

Sometimes, it's as simple as four words.

...

My father has cancer.

Some explanation is required.

My father has been my father for, go figure, twenty-six years. He's always been there, through good and bad. I never deluded myself into believing he'd ALWAYS be there for me...I'm a realist, after all. However, the possibility of him not being around to see me turn thirty...well, that never even crossed my mind. Not once.

So, one can imagine how I felt when he called me up to let me know he might have cancer. Or how I felt when he called me up to let me know he DEFINITELY has cancer. Or how I felt when he called me up to to let me know he might have an even worse type of cancer.

We all, to some degree, view our fathers as some sort of supermen. Actually, here's a video describing the different perspectives we have of them as we grow up:

The Six Ways You'll See Your Dad

I rather like that video...I linked it to my dad last Father's Day. It's funny how you don't think of your dad as a person like you until...well, until he gets an awful life-threatening disease. I never truly considered what life without him would be like until right now.

I should probably preface what I'm about to say by stating that I never really had a great deal of "family" growing up. My grandparents all passed-on either before I was born or when I was very young. Any extended family lived too far to be of any significance in my life. All I had were my mother and father. I've been estranged from my mother for six years now, so, in reality, my father is all that I have left. Of course, I also have my stepmom and her family who I know love us and are going to be there for us. However, my stepmom is a wise woman who I know understands why I feel that it won't be the same without him.

Does it make me selfish to worry about myself so much in a situation like this? I sometimes believe it does. I am aware that the fear I feel can only be a fraction of what my parents feel, yet that's all I can think about. What's it going to be like for me if he passes on? Will I become ill like my father later in life, and, if so, how soon? How long will I continue to be invited over for Christmas and Thanksgiving after he's gone?

I can be such a self-absorbed little shit sometimes.

One of the worst realizations I've come to since I received the news is how very little time I actually spend with my father. The last time I physically saw him was on my birthday, which was a month ago. Since then, I've had several conversations with him of varying degrees, but nothing truly and significantly deep. The truth is that I want to see him and spend time with him, but I fear how this news will affect that time. Will I be able to hold eye contact? Can we carry on a conversation about something other than THAT?

My life seems to be nothing more than a grand parade of questions, one-by-one marching through my head all day, every day. Most, these days, being about the obvious. I'm just....finding it difficult to carry on like always with all of these unknowns floating about in the nebulous aether. I don't even known how to tell people about it other than the overly blunt, borderline insensitive, "Well, my dad has cancer!". And even then, where do you go with that, beyond robotically rattling off the information you already know for the fortieth time.

It seriously gets tiresome.

A friend of mine, Dan, who I've mentioned here, recently lost his mom. Since the passing, I've seen him a couple of times at a public, social setting we both frequent. Every time I see him, there's a smile on his face, but his eyes betray the truth. Behind his gaze I can see the cold grip of sadness and loss attempting to veil itself behind the shroud of normalcy. He would probably disagree with my assessment, openly at that, but I know the face behind the mask. I wonder what my mask will be like.

Now, many of your readers may be thinking that I'm being a bit morbid, or, as some may say, "emo" or "dramatic". While you're probably right, you have to remember that death is one of those inevitabilities we all must face, be it for ourselves or for our loved ones. Just because I didn't think about it before doesn't mean my father wasn't going to pass on someday. It really is just a matter of when, and this news merely made me consider the aftermath of such a tragedy.

I'll wrap this up considering it's gotten rather long and rambly. What purpose did I have in writing this? For my own catharsis? To share with others? To get my thoughts down somewhere? All of the above? I honestly couldn't say at this time. I just say down and started writing. To what end all of this comes will be decided in time.

One can only hope for the best.

"All will be well."
- Saint Walker

Pentatonix and what constitutes "shit"

I love Pentatonix.

They're one of the newest acquisitions to my very small category of "groups I like". I say this because it's rare for me to like the majority of a group's body of work. Oftentimes, I'll enjoy a few songs of a group, but rarely many or most of them.

This is not the case for Pentatonix. I think they're a capalla style of top 40 and modern hits is astoundingly great and amazingly original. I think the group's dynamic is both diverse but also held so well together that it forms into a woven tapestry of melodic enjoyment.

And this isn't the first time this has happened.

As a matter of fact, I believe Youtube has introduced me to many groups/acts/artists whose bodies of work I enjoy as wholes. I suppose this is because Youtube is a medium through which the viewer can experience unfiltered, unprocessed, unstudio'd groups. It's just raw talent being spilled onto the internet. But, I'll get more to that in a bit.

A couple other groups I love that have grown from Youtube.

My Favorite Martian

and Walk Off the Earth

But this article isn't about those groups (though you should check them out if you have a chance). This is about Pentatonix and one video of theirs in particular.

This one:

This video is of the group doing a cover of Nicki Minaj's "Starships".

Here's the original:

Okay, now that I've sullied my good blog with a Nicki Minja video (no offense, but the only work she was involved in that I enjoyed was "The Creep" by Lonely Island), I can discuss my purpose in writing this.

In the comments section of the Pentatonix cover, one Youtube user goes on to simply state that the group "turns shit to gold", implying that he wasn't a fan of the original. This incited a flame war in the comments between the supporters and haters of Nicki Minaj. I wanted to add my two cents into the debate/war, but realized how pointless that would be in a Youtube comments section (seriously, it's like peeing into the ocean, y'know?).

So, instead, I thought I'd discuss my thoughts here where people that actually give a shit will read them.

When discussing what constitutes what's "shit" or "bad" where music is concerned (or any sort of mainstream entertainment), one has to remember that many studios take artists, not necessarily for their musical talent, but rather because those artists are "marketable". Let's look at a few examples, starting with Nicki Minaj of course. I won't say her rendition of the song is "bad" but Pentatronix's version of the song, while still maintaining the same catchiness of the original, comes across far more melodic, heartfelt, and enjoyable for the senses than Minaj's.

The video's are also a stark contrast of each other. Pentatronix's version maintains that same heartfelt feeling with their video, complimenting their rendition of the song, without the big budget I'm sure Minaj's had. Minaj's on the other hand...well...it looks like an excuse to show her in a bikini. Not that they needed an excuse to do this, but you see my point (hopefully).

Let's look at another mainstream artist...Katy Perry. I will be the first to admit that Ms. Perry has many catchy songs that even I've fallen victim to the effects of. "E.T.", "California Girls", "Hot n Cold" all have burrowed their ways into my head at one point or another to nest comfortably in my thoughts. However, I've watched many videos of her LIVE performances. Have any of you? Yes? No? Maybe? Drunk? Whatever. I'll fill you in if you haven't: she's TERRIBLE.

Katy Perry can NOT song in real life. I originally thought that she could because I hadn't heard any proof of otherwise, but the moment that I listened to that first live performance and all the subsequent ones thereafter, I knew better. Perry is an example of mainstream music not being about the talent anymore, but the image. People like WOtE, PTX, and YFM are missed completely in favor of these idiotic celebrities that are dolled up and autotuned by these record labels for the sole purpose of money.

The studios and labels don't realize that the same money could be made from pure talent, like it was in the old days. They just have to look.

They just. Have. To look.

I Remember...

I remember being a kid. Not all of it, of course, but some of it. It's a curious thing, memory is.

I remember...being in the playground area of my grade school. It had a large field adjoining it. I remember, after raining, myself and the other kids would make tiny rivers int he ground for the standing water to flow through. I remember we would stick in leaves and twigs and watch them float along the paths as if they were boats.

I remember...finding a bamboo stick in the neighborhood we live in. I made it my walking stick and pretend "weapon" when I had adventures. I remember accidentally leaving it the neighborhood's tennis/pool/playground area one day. I remember not finding it and then this other boy I knew from the down the street showed up with my stick. It was not convincingly nor cleverly disguised. I remember becoming angry and taking it from him forcibly. I don't remember what ultimately happened to that stick.

I remember...a red-haired girl named Chelsea. We were both young...10 or younger. Her and I hung out all the time at a local sports complex where our parents played tennis together. I remember us running around the grounds and facility, having adventures together. I remember once, we had these pipcleaner dolls and used them to act out Saved By the bell episodes, seeing as we both liked the show. I remember visiting her house a year or so later and that being the last I ever saw her. I loved her.

I remember...having an impressive collection of Power Rangers toys. I remember many times when I would steal my Father's tools and take those toys apart and put them back together again, good as new. I remember storing them in a bureau in an unfinished downstairs room in one of our old homes in Georgia. I must have taken them apart hundreds of times.

I remember...exploring the wilderness surrounding this one neighborhood in which my parents had come for their tennis match. The feature that stood out the most had been this creek. I remember it being very wide and very deep, both the water itself being deep and the ravine it was in. I remember finding a "bridge" that connected both sides of the creek. By bridge, I mean a couple of long boards laid from one end to the other. I remember crossing it, on my hands and knees, almost paralyzed with fear at the potential fall. I remember making it.

I remember...having a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shaving kit. It wasn't real, obviously, but that never stopped me from using it and being like my Father. I remember the kit coming with a lather brush, plastic "razor", rinse cup, and a can of green shaving cream.

I remember all these things and more, sometimes pining for the old days when things were so much more simple. Yes, it is the old cliche of "adults wish they were kids again", but it's true. I didn't have a care in the world a lot of those days beyond where I was heading to next in my outdoor adventures or what cartoon was on.

I miss it.

Honest Assessment and Analysis: Redux

Here we are again...another lovely day in our continuing lives. I recently read an article and it got me thinking about myself again. One particular aspect of it rang a bit too true, in my case. It's a section discussing people that act like assholes and are proud of it.

Here:

"I've known soooo many people like this. The Internet is saturated with them. And let's get this straight right off the bat: It is NOT the same as "I speak my mind" or "I'm opinionated." Huge difference. Being opinionated or outspoken is a perfectly legitimate personality type, even if it's annoying to some people. What I'm talking about is the needlessly aggressive bullshit where a person tries to justify being an asshole by wearing it as a badge of honor. Guys who say, "Yeah, I know I'm a dick -- who cares?" Using it as a sign of toughness and strength. Or girls who hold up "I'm a bitch" as a false torch, confusing it for "strong" and "independent."
People treat it as if it were a heightened level of dominance that others should strive to achieve. It is not. It's being combative, purely out of a love for confrontation. There's a rush a person feels when they verbally beat down someone else and make them concede their point of view. What that person doesn't realize is that most of the time, the only reason the other person is backing down is because it's the closest exit from the conversation and the annoying mouth that it's escaping.

I don't know who decided that this is a desirable personality type, but it seems to me that the only people who honestly think that are the ones who are that way. In reality, it's a coward's means of not owning up to the fact that they never learned how to speak to or respect another human. A way of covering up the fact that they never learned lessons that the rest of us learned at age 8.

The sad part is that this is an extremely easy frame of mind to fall into because every conversation turns into a competition, and the reward for "winning" is feeling like the world's smartest badass. It's walking in, thinking you're Dwayne Johnson, and walking out feeling like the Rock.

Why That's Dangerous:

Once you fall into that pattern of communication, it's virtually impossible to concede anything to anyone in almost any situation. Not just the people you're comfortable with, like family and friends, but people of actual authority, like bosses, police officers and the government agency tasked with greenlighting your methods of curing homosexuality.

Once "I'm a badass whose will can never be bent" sets in, you've actively placed yourself in a position where, in your mind, you are always right, and nobody can convince you otherwise. The real trap is that we've created a culture that promotes this as a lovable, quirky character, rather than a festering, infected pus sack of a human. Dr. House is a classic example. Dwight from The Office. Bender from The Breakfast Club. Han Solo. The list is miles long.

In real life, it's hard for anyone to stand beside you when you need them because you're such an inexcusable prick that you've created a world where people prefer that a catastrophe keeps you away from them. Instead of extending a hand to help you up, they picture extending a foot to crush your windpipe.

But you don't care -- you're an asshole, and you're proud of it. Fuck anyone who doesn't agree with your attitude. They just can't handle how edgy you are."

I've often been referred to, by my friends in particular, as an asshole. I also realize, through introspection, that I'm very lonely, in a number of ways. Could this be an accurate assessment of one of my problems? Hmm....

Fight Back Against Internet Censorship!

Not a pretty sight, is it?

Currently, the government is trying to pass two bills, SOPA and PIPA, in an attempt to fight against online piracy. However, both bills present a threat to the free and open Internet that we have all come to love and enjoy.

I, honestly, can't explain the details behind these bills and how they endanger everything. However, plenty of sites are currently participating in a Net-wide "blackout" in protest. Their sites now link to various explanations and encouragements to contact your local congressman/representative about SOPA.

A few of them are linked here:

Reddit
Google.
Wikipedia
Imgur
Mozilla

And that's only a small fraction. For a full list of sites that are blacking out, and for more information on the bills and how you can fight them, visit SOPAstrike

We can make a difference! Fight back against Internet censorship!

I don't normally do this particular style of writing. However, I'm in a mood today, so I figure I'll give it a try.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This empty room.

Every night this room feels more and more empty.

The white walls splashed with yellow light, combining to create a sickening ambience. The walls, half decorated and half completely bare, further the sinking feeling in my stomach. Half of these walls were left bare for a reason, though it be long forgotten now.

Now...now any semblance of a desire to hang up the various posters, pictures, whatever other useless meaningless crap is all but gone.

The floor, though carpeted, still proved hard as concrete beneath me. My back ached. My neck ached. I ignored it as I continued to stare at the luminescent screen of my nearby laptop. On it droned on the same videos and same shows that I always watched.

My life proved pretty boring at times like these.

In my mind raged the neverending desire to DO something.

LEARN French.

BUILD your steampunk outfit.

MAKE videos for you blog.

WRITE those scripts you need to finish.

It screams out relentlessly to a body and heart that have no desire to act. I see no point. Why do I see no point? Couldn't say?

Depressed? Maybe. The possibility is too great to ignore.

Can anything be done? Maybe. Clinical help is expensive and untrained friends and associates can only do so much.

My mottled collection of action stare at me from their perch across the room. All of them forever stuck in whatever pose I chose for each of them, all of them forever fated to sit there in each others company until I either outgrow them or lose them.

"What am I doing with myself?"

The quiet of the room, of the apartment at 1am, answered back with a resounding silence.

At times, I contemplated my own death. Sometimes it was, in fact, thoughts of suicide. Other times, it was thoughts of what my funeral would look like, who would attend, what would happen to me after death...the typical combination of self and existential questions that everyone asks about their own demise.

I am wholly unoriginal when it comes to this.

Then again, there is only so much originality and creativity when can have when it comes to the unknown. Though, I suppose, one could argue that the unknown would provide a much broader canvass on which to create.

Then agian, I'm not a painter.

I'm sure Julia would agree with the latter statement of the above paragraph. She likes to think in the abstract. It comes with the mindset she revels in.

She's currently planning a camping trip this weekend. This saddens me even more because it was something her and I were supposed to have done together while we were together and we never got the chance...or maybe I didn't try hard enough to do it. Regardless, she's getting to do it now, and good for her, I guess.

So here I lay.

And lay.

And lay.

Something to Say or Silence will fall

It is a firmly held belief of minee that most people in the world have a lot to say but very little so Say.

If that doesn't make any sense, welcome to my mind.

My ex and I were talking tonight and she began asking me a series of abstract, overly-intellectual questions because she happened to be in one of those moods. During this discourse, she mentioned that I always seem to have something to Say, but seem to hold back.

I responded simply with a few retorts, such as people not being ready, myself not being ready, and me not being able to find the Words.

She parried and riposted by questioning who got to determine such things and that perhaps people would never be ready for someone with something to Say. Saying that to deny the world the things that some people have to Say and the abstract nature of those Sayings would simply cause everyone to be quiet.

I responded with that, instead of actually Saying what needed to be said, Silence would fall (I was being funny, quoting Doctor Who, but realized the significance after the fact).

I wonder if I truly have something to Say. Does everyone have something to Say and many just lose it when they let go of what makes them who they are, or let go of their ability to think coherently or abstractly? I do believe that there is great potential in the world for Sayings, many of which are lost as one gets older. Or does becoming older grant one the clarity to see what they have to Say?

I'm fairly certain that my Saying wasn't obvious until I got older, but maybe it's different for everyone. Maybe, much like our individual fingerprints, what we have to Say is unique to all of us and how it fosters and grows, or inversely withers and disappears, is equally unique to each individual. Whereas high school may be the setting where one young teenager's Saying flourishes into realization, another's may be crushed entirely. There's really no way to no.

Which brings me to my next, rather sorrowful, conclusion on what we have to Say: there seems to be no way to properly develop one's Saying. So many things to Say are lost. So many unique and abstract ideas are never cared for and manifested and shared as they should be. So many possibly world-changing realizations are never realized because the Saying was lost...and that saddens me.

I feel my own Saying still within me. What it Says, I'm not certain. As I think of it, personal truths flash before my eyes, showing how unusually contradictory I am with myself and the world around me.

I speak ill to your face and say good things behind your back.

I value the mind above all other things, moreso than even those that claim they do as well.

I want the world to be more intelligent and have more common sense, but despise everyone less-intelligent than myself.

I am content, but not happy.

I value kindness and good-naturedness, but see the logic in domination and manipulation.

My mind wishes to do a great many things, but the flesh bag it wears feels differently.

I am sad with no reason.

These thoughts and many more flash within the seismic disruption of activity within the cracks and crevices of my mind. My mind, a mind that never ceases to be active, even when I'm actively trying to deactivate it. Oftentimes I find my mind wandering much like it did in my school days when class bored me to literal tears, not a surprising turn of events considering my job has a very similar setting as that of a school, and I go on my fantastic adventures to faraway lands. The same adventures that I often mention in others posts, wishing that I were capable of going on or being whisked away to.

Maybe my setting is stifling my Saying. Maybe I yearn for those faraway lands because my mind interprets that as the only way what I have to Say will be Said.

Then again, maybe it's merely wishful thinking.

Post-Post Modernism: A Proposed Theory

I was discussing the idea of generational modernism, post modernism, and post-post modernism with my lovely lady this evening. In our discussion, she informed me of the analogy typically used to describe modernism and post modernism. In response, I proposed a fitting yet unique analogy for post-post modernism.

Allow me to share.

As my lady explained, many viewed modernism as a whole vase.

Modernists viewed the vase as many pieces making the beautiful whole. To them, philosophically, each piece is meaningless when not part of the beautiful whole.

Post modernists view the vase, however, as broken.

The individual pieces are beautiful and NOT meaningless. The vase, as a whole, was unnecessary to appreciate the beauty of the individual pieces.

My suggestion for the post-post modern, to play along with the proposed analogy, is that there is, in fact, no vase at all. There is nothing. Which, in itself, speaks volumes about the post-post modern view of things. In addition to there being nothing, there is, inversely, a broken iPod to play off the post-modernist analogy.

While I still maintain that there is nothing, there is also an iPod, broken. The individual songs that are contained within are beautiful, but the motley collection of music, as a whole, is meaningless.

Intriguing, no?

So that is to say that the theory is that post-post modernists believe that there is nothing, but that this nothing is then filled with meaningless digital minutia.

Hmm...

Obsoletion Societal Overhaul

Let's discuss obsoletion. Obsoletion is the act of becoming or condition of being obsolete. Being obsolete, for the stupid, means that someone or something is either no longer in use or no longer useful.

From the standpoint of a fairly young 20-something living in America, it seems to me that a lot of things are rapidly becoming obsolete.

However, not all of these things rapidly losing their usefulness SHOULD be losing their usefulness. Here is the breakdown from my perspective.

Cash
Tangible dollars and coins are rapidly going to the wayside in favor of electronic funds and debit cards. People would much rather carry around a single card represents all of their accumulated wealth instead of, well, their accumulated wealth. It's gotten to the point where going into a store that only accepts cash is a severe inconvenience to most individuals.

This isn't necessarily a good thing. It isn't necessarily a bad thing either. What I mean is that cashless money is both convenient and quick. As long as someone keeps track of their money and their card, a trip to the bank is never needed. However, if one were to lose that card (as I've done many times in my past), one suddenly finds themselves cut off entirely from their own money until a replacement arrives. This proves quite inconvenient oftentimes.

Whether the switch to cashless money is a good or bad thing is truly up to the reader. I, personally, am on the fence about this. I don't carry cash myself in most cases and use my debit card in pretty much all circumstances, but I can recognize the flaws in the system.

Cash in and of itself is a flawed concept considering that we're putting value into, essentially, bits of paper and scraps of metal. However, that's a discussion for another day.

School System
I actually had a brief discussion about this topic just this morning with a coworker. The school systems were designed, from what I understand, to work within the standards of a post-industrial society. The structure in which we organize our education systems and curriculums are as little as 60 years old and as much as over 100 years old, depending on the grade level.

One would think that, after a period of time as great as 60 years, that they'd change some things fundamentally. I say this because, as I've stated many times previously in my articles, that society is an ever-changing thing that requires that the various aspects of it also change to accomodate and adapt for better integration.

The school system, specifically the grade schools, haven't changed at all, for over half a century, as far as structure is concerned. The effects are becoming more and more prevalent as it seems the children become more and more bored or distracted with school to do the work. And this is having a FURTHER effect of producing students of poorer learning.

Colleges are under their own weight of useless at this point. This is not because of a poorly structured, outdated system, but rather the fact that someone has to spend thousands of dollars on a "higher" education with no guarantee of a career or even a good job after their graduation. I have a friend that graduated college to be a teacher. What she does now? She works at a 7-11. Terrible.

Books
Now, I won't discuss this much. I've already commented a great deal about the travesty of the digital book. All I'll say is that this is one of the format changes that I entirely disagree with.

Fax Machines
I'm fairly certain that the wildly unfunny Carlos Mencia made a joke about this. For those of you that have never seen Carlos Mencia or, for some reason, didn't read the first sentence in this paragraph, the joke wasn't funny.

However, he made a good point. For some inexplicable reason people are still using fax machines. In an age of scanners and email and instant transference of data, I have such a difficult time wrapping my head around why anyone would choose to use a machine that sounds like its murdering and raping R2-D2.

It seems wasteful, annoying, time-consuming considering that we have much faster means of sending the information and storing them. Why are we even using paper documents anymore? Why am I getting a fucking paper memo from my manager about some new fucking policy or update? Why can't you tell me in an email?!

I know this one seems rather trivial, but in this wondrous age of technology that we find ourselves in, it seems that the fax machine should've gone the way of the beeper and HASN'T yet.


So, what are we to do about these problems (I'm sure there are more examples but these are the most prevalent)? Well, I believe society is suffering whilst being caught in either the in-between stages of transition from one format to another, such as with money, or is suffering from being still caught in the past, such as with the schools.

I believe a nationwide reform is in order. And I know such a thing isn't going to happen (or, as some would say, not possible) because of things like time, money, effort, etc etc. but for godssake people, look at the shit we accomplished in the past! We integrated school systems! We fixed our economy! We did all of these things within a set period of years! Have we lost our ability to plan and fix things in the long-term? Does everything have to be right here and right now? I know that would be nice....but seriously?

Seriously?

Honest Assessment and Analysis

Now, I'll be the first to admit that I'm no expert on anything. I consider myself more of a jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none kind of guy. That's just the unfortunate circumstance in which I live.

That being said, there's a LOT of things that I have above-average (above-average meaning a higher level than an average person) skill in. Computers, auto repair, writing, carpentry, acting, whatever. If I had more time on my hands, I'd probably attempt to refine these skills into something more...usable, but the daily grind of life tends to prevent such efforts.

Case in point, I downloaded Rosetta Stone and several languages several months ago (prior to beginning my current job) and I was able to learn a few basic Tagalog phrases before being forced to shelve the lessons due to lack of time (and energy, because I'm lazy).

That's one of my more prevalent flaws: I have the desire to improve myself but I lack the discipline to follow-through.

In my personal library, I have, off the top of my head, four maybe five "Dummies" books. One is to learn the guitar, two more are to learn French and Arabic (now rendered useless due to Rosetta Stone), another is for cooking, and I can't recall what the last one covered. However, the point is clear that I have a strong STRONG desire to learn new things and improve myself. Oftentimes, however, I'm held back by my ownlaziness, manifested in the form of excuses as to why I can't continue my lessons.

Why am I writing this deep and telling article? Well, I believe it's good exercise for the psyche to lay out your falws, admit them, tell others. I believe doing so may be the first step toward correcting and improving upon them. I hope within a few weeks time, with the forthcoming change in residence, that my outlook and attitude will be emboldened and I'll put more of an effort in.

Now, in my defense, part of the problem is a lack of...supplies necessary to do a lot of these things.
For example, the cooking book keeps mentioning various pots, pans, ingredients, etc. that I would need to progress through the lessons. However, I possess none of the ones listed. Now, I'm certain a skilled chef could look at the required equipment and say "Hey, we could substitute (this) for (this) and it would work just fine." But I'm not a skilled chef. Thus, the "Dummies" book.

But, I digress.

That reasoning doesn't extend to a good portion of the other teaching methods I own, so I can't use that as an excuse (as previously stated before, that I use to wheedle out of work).

Is it human nature (or American nature, actually) to find the path of least resistance and take it every time? To cut corners? To short-change one's self out of self-improvement because we're "tired"?

Possibly.

It has been shown numerous times that America is one of, if not the most, obese nations in the world. This takes me back to my earlier discussion on our ever-increasing digital existence. Americans, on average, have fairl accomodating existences. Has such convenience made us sedentary to the point that we refuse to improve ourselves beyond the point of necessity?

Example: a car mechanic may initially put in the effort to learn how to work on the basic car design. All cars, fundamentally, work the same. However, if he starts working at a garage and that garage were to suddenly start specializing in, say, Toyotas, the mechanic would put in the minimal effort to learn enough about Toyotas to keep his job.

This is, of course, barring the automobile enthusiasts that read about cars in their spare time, but every discussion like this has countless variables.

So, I suppose I'll end this article with a resolution. With the coming change in residence, and thus a big change in my life, I'm resolved to put in a legitimate effort to learn. Learn what? Something practical. And, hopefully, if I get myself into a disciplined routine, I'll learn something else after that. And something else after that.

And so on.

Loss of Analog, Loss of Soul

We live in a technological wonderland. The incredible leaps and advances within the last 30 years alone can boggle the average mind when viewed from the perspective of beginning and end products.

The average American owns a cell phone. 95% of Americans have an email address. Rapidly, paper mail and paper money become more and more obsolete. Eventually, everything will be handled through transactions of information rather than through tangibility.

But one has to wonder if this is a good change.

To begin my argument on the matter, I shall use a recent addition to the technological market: the digital book. I'm not certain that I could list all of the products on the market right now that are specifically designed to or are capable of being utilized as a digital book. The Nook, the Kindle, the iPad...all of these allow it. And, I do admit, that it is an interesting and much-sought-after idea to have the contents of an entire library inside something the size of only ONE book.

However, despite the practicality and innovation of such devices, something seems to be lost in the transition from analog to digital, from tangible to intangible. Holding an actual book, an object made of paper and ink, being able to smell the pages and feel the texture of the cover, these things create within a person a certain sense of...comfort. Maybe not comfort, but the word eludes me, partially because the feeling itself is difficult to describe and partially because my brain won't bring the word to surface. However, there is a certain sensory pleasure that coincides with handling an actual, paper-and-ink piece of literature.

When one handles a digial book device, one loses that sensory pleasure. When you get right down to it, you're essentially handling a watered-down laptop with very specific functions. There's nothing charming about it. You're not flipping a page, you're flicking the touch screen. You aren't closing the book to put it away, you're closing the file. Granted, one gets all the same content of War and Peace digitally as they would with a paperback, but there is something fundamentally MISSING.

I'll cite music as another example, though I fear I'll end up sounding like one of those purists that people often joke about. Anyone I can think of off the top of my head owns an MP3 player or iPod. With online download sites like iTunes and Amazon (not to mention the illegal ones like Limewire, Kazaa, and Napster), digital versions of essentially any song desired are at anyone's fingertips. 30 years ago, it was oftentimes difficult to find a whole album, let alone a specific song (seeing as how a consumer would have to scour music stores to find the one they sought). Now, you not only don't have to purchase an entire album for that one song you wanted, you don't even have to pay for that one song if you choose to be dishonest.

The point I'm making is that, back in the 60s-80s, having that record or that cassette or whatever the medium was for the time, it meant something to the owner. They couldn't just pick and choose what songs they wanted, accumulating a library of mismatching music to mold to their tastes. Their tastes were MOLDED by the albums they bought, not the other way around. Additionally, in an age of digital enhancement and audio alteration, most songs are "pitch perfect" with many of the older songs having their audio tracks "cleaned up". I personally don't view this as an improvement seeing as I view a lot of these imperfections as providing deeper levels of character to the songs they accompany.

But I guess that's just me.

And this brings me to the point of this article. Many people talk about the degenerative nature of society in the past several decades; each generation being worst than the last, as many say.

However, I implore you readers to view it like this: the degradation of society over the past several decades seems directly associated with our cultures shift toward digital mediums. I'm not saying our slow shift into a completely digital paradigm is the cause for our societal problems but the realization that, since the 50s, there has been a slow decline in respect and values while an incline in techlogical advance begs the question if there is truly a "loss of soul" with our loss of analog.

Are we, in our pursuit of faster and smaller gadgets with greater and greater capacity, slowly destroying that which makes us decent humans? Is our insistence on making anything and everything desired a few keystrokes from our grasp destoying our concept of a hard day's work?

I cannot count the number of times that I have walked into my work's breakroom to find coworkers and other employees sitting at the tables, not conversing with each other, but rather playing on their phones, their ears plugged with earbuds. It pains me to see the days of legitimate social interaction dying at the hands of digital networking. I honestly am not trying to say that these advances in networking and technology and communications are a BAD thing, but I AM saying that they're a bad thing if it means the loss of our ability to act like normal human beings.

I can imagine a world, maybe a century from now, where we won't even speak to each other anymore. All communication will be done either telepathically or with little LCD monitors with our thoughts scrolling across for all to see. No longer would we use our voices for such primitive means of communication when everything can be much more easily exchanged with technology.

Just wait and see.

Boycotting Hollywood (Mostly...)

The date is currently August 23, 2011.

I am currently taking a look at the listings for a nearby movie theater.

I am not pleased with what I see.

Now, this isn't the first time I haven't been pleased with a movie line-up. As a matter of fact, I oftentimes look on with passive hate when I see a month's coming attractions. Hollywood, in this day and age, churns out more bile and shit than ever before.

Seriously! Look at the movies playing right now!


30 Minutes or Less
Honestly, anything with Nick Swardson as a lead is destined to be terrible. I've only ever seen this guy on episodes of Reno 911! and in Blades of Glory. I've never seen his stand-up, I've never watched his Comedy Central show (thank god...), and I've never caught any other movies he's been in. Other than that, the movie has a smattering of other "actors" that haven't had any real roles other than the Social Network kid. Whoop-dee-fucking-doo.

Captain America: The First Avenger
Now, I haven't seen this yet. And, honestly, I was looking forward to this movie all summer. I still have high hopes that this movie would be another step toward the serious superhero movie that The Dark Knight began. Now, that may be the case. It may not. However, there's a greater evil at work behind the scenes of this summer blockbuster: Hollywood greedily cashing in on any and every marketable superhero franchise they can get their hands on. We're at the forefront of this movement. In the coming years, I can guarantee that Hollywood will eventually start ringing the superhero teet for some of the most bottom-of-the-barrel heroes they can find until every usable resource has been tapped. Sucktastic.

Conan the Barbarian
Ah, Hollywood's OTHER source of cheap income: the remake. Anything that was made prior to a certain date (let's just go with....1992) is in danger of being remade in such a fashion. The original concept, with as much likability, character, and charm that it originally possessed, will oftentimes be put through the Hollywood ringer. What's left is a lifeless, like-less husk of the original product, all of the charm removed in favor of better graphics and "cooler" stunts. The Conan remake is no exception. I haven't seen this movie and I don't want to because I'd like to honor the memory of our esteemed Governator and the role HE originally played.

Cowboys and Aliens
This is an example of a fun premise being pushed too far by Hollywood. Cowboy & Aliens was going to be an effects-driven film centered around the heavy-hitter duo of Harrison "Han-Fucking-Solo" Ford and Daniel "I'm-James-Bond-Bitch" Craig. Now, with talent like Ford and Craig, along with the unique and quirky premise, one would expect an exciting cinematic romp. However, Hollywood somehow fucked it up and the whole thing turns out mediocre. Again, I haven't seen this film myself to comment on where it fell short, but I probably will at some point in the near future. For shame, Hollywood. First Morning Glory and now this? You're trying to kill Han Solo's career.

Final Destination 5
Y'know what I love about this movie line-up? It covers pretty much all of the general problems with Hollywood today. We've had the unfunny 3rd rate comedies, the milking a concept/franchise til it's dead, the unoriginal and constant remaking of EVERYTHING, and the effects driven, star-studded blockbuster of mediocrity. And, now, we have the overdone, oversequeled horror series. The Final Destination series is known, primarily, for its creative death scenes. That's pretty much the gimmick behind it: to see how clever the writers could be in the first couple of films. Now, audiences groan as they see just how far writers have to stretch before even the dumbest audiences' suspension of disbelief breaks.

Fright Night
Here's another example of shameless remaking. Even with the addition of the AMAZING David Tennant to the cast, I'm still shaky on how good/bad/awful this will be. It's a remake, however, which leaves a bad taste in my mouth to begin with. If I had to make a prediction, I'd go ahead and assume I'll hate everything about this movie EXCEPT Mr. Tennant. I mean, c'mon...you can't hate the Doctor.

Glee the 3D Concert Movie
Now, I'll be a man and admit that I watch Glee. Religiously. I download every episode after its premiere, have a few of their songs on my MP3 player, and ever teared up at an episode or two. However, I have NO desire to see a concert in a movie theater. And don't get me STARTED with the 3D aspect (3D is another rant entirely...). It basically boils down to this: if I want to see a concert, I'll go see a concert. Live. I have NO desire to see a rock concert in a movie theater (though I have been interested in seeing those operas that some theaters offer). The point is that I find that a concert in a movie theater lacks the atmosphere and character that a live concert possesses, and that's Hollywood's fault for doing it.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Ah, yes. Harry Potter. How many years has it been since you first made your on-screen debut? Too long, in my opinion. I stopped watching the HP series of movies after Goblet of Fire. Why? Not because the movies suck. No, because of the ravenous fanbase. I HATE Potter fans. They are, to date, some of the most ridiculous, fanatic, obsessed fans I have ever witnessed (outside of well-known sci-fi circles, of course). This is another product of Hollywood, what I like to call the Twilight effect (though it wasn't the first, it is the most mock-able). Basically Hollywood takes an already mildly popular franchise and explodes the FUCK out of it all over everything. This irritates me because it creates these monsters (both the franchises and the fans) that normal people look upon with fear and disdain. Thankfully, this is the last HP movie to grace the screens. Thankfully.

The Help
I have no idea what this movie is about beyond African-American servants and that it's a period piece. This may very well be a good movie. However, I can still find fault with Hollywood concerning this one: the advertising. The only reason I didn't look at this movie and go completely "Huh?" is because I saw some minor advertising on some video sites I frequent. Like I already stated, this movie could be fantastic. However, the potentially fantastic movie isn't going to get the box office numbers it should get because of Hollywood's reluctance to advertise it over other, more popular, and more shitty films. It pains me to see potentially great movies get thrown to the wayside because the studios are aware that the public would rather see fart jokes and explosions than memorable characters and good writing.

One Day
Oh, look! The romantic dramedy! I was wondering where this one was. Well, here it is. It's another of those "they're two different people that are friends and finally discover they love each other" stories. That falls into romantic movie cliche number #385473. And is there ever any tension about the two getting together in the end? NO. And why is that? Because no studio is going to put out a romantic comedy where the two characters DON'T get together because they're cowardly sheep that refuse to break the mold and try anything new. That's why I like movies like Lost in Translation (the two mains DIDN'T get together in the end), Sin City (love interests often ended up dead), and, yes, The Notebook (the characters ended up together but it was bittersweet). I can't STAND romantic movies where everything is wrapped up in a nice, neat bow. It fucking sucks.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes
This is kind of an off-shoot of the remake, but worse. This is the reimagining/add-on. Oh yes, somewhere some Hollywood idiot said to him/herself "Planet of the Apes was a great movie...but I bet people would love to see what happened BEFORE that." And y'know what? No. No one wanted to know what happened before that. We were all perfectly content with the amazing original Planet of the Apes and the shitty remake. And you'd think Hollywood would've learned its lesson with that godawful remake, but no. No, they didn't. God I hate all of them over there.

The Smurfs
WHY?! WHY DID THIS NEED TO BE MADE?!  WHAT POSSIBLE REASON WOULD ANYONE HAVE HAD FOR MAKING THIS?!?! WHY DID NEIL PATRICK HARRIS AGREE TO BE IN THIS?!?! THERE IS NO GOD!!!!!!

Spy Kids: All the Time in the World 4D
Wha...huh...y'know what? I give up.

The point of this exercise was to show how, on any average week in the theaters, Hollywood not only screws up, but FLAUNTS its flaws in all of their variety and shamelessness.

And the worse part about all of this?

We're to blame.

That's right, faithful readers, we're to blame for all of this. Not just us, but the movie-watching masses as a whole. We're the ones that pay to see crap like The Smurfs and 30 Minutes or Less. It's OUR ticket sales that let those movie executives know that we're cattle, easily led to the next big, dumb blockbuster. For every Epic Movie and The Happening we go to see, a Munich falls through the cracks. For every awful remake and sequel we encourage the studios to make through our ticket sales that is green-lighted, a GOOD script goes into the dumpster.

THAT is the reason why our films suck. Us.

That is why I'm boycotting going to the movies. I'm boycotting buying any DVDs. I'm doing my very minor part in fighting against Hollywood to show them that they can't promise us steak and give us raw ground beef. If there's anything I want to watch, I'll acquire it some other way to watch. For now, however, they won't get one more cent from me until the quality of cinema improves.

The Mystique of the "Old West"

I know...I know...it's been a while since I've posted. I've honestly been out of ideas and had little time to work on existing ones. However, I figured I'd post a little something to let everyone know that I'm still alive.

Now...onto the point of this article: the old west.

I LOVE the old west. When I was younger (my preteen days, to be exact), my father introduced me to the renowned western classics, the Man with No Name trilogy.

Badass

For those not initiated, the Man with No Name trilogy was the quintessential collection of old western/Clint Eastwood films. They included, in chronological order of release:

• A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
• For a Few Dollars More (1965)
• The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)

There were a few other films that KIND OF tie into the trilogy, like High Plains Drifter,  but those three are the essentials.

The plots of the movies vary slightly. The only part you're going to remember are that Clint Eastwood is a badass gunfighter with no legitimate name who ends up killing a lot of people with his badass gunfighting skills. This one common theme amongst the movies is normally wrapped in some semblance of a plot involving Clint Eastwood's character helping out a downtrodden town, hunting for treasure, etc. However, the core of the movies remains the same: old west gunfighting.

After my love of the old west was fostered by these three movies, I moved onto other memorable westerns. Unforgiven (1992), The Magnificent Seven (1960), Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), and other such films were included in my library. The spaghetti western became a staple of my cinematic diet.

As I grew and expanded my interests, I found there to be great deal of overlap between the western and other genres that interested me. Notably the cross between science fiction and western (in such shows like cult favored Firefly) and between steampunk and western (what is typically called the "weird west" genre).

Western...IN SPAAAAAACE!

Now, having been given a bit of my personal history with the old west as a genre, we can get into the meat and potatoes of this article.

The thing I find most fascinating about the western genre (or, at least, the film depictions of the western) is that it's essentially taking old tales of heroes and knights and putting them into a different setting. Swords are replaced by guns, knights are replaced by wandering gunslingers, and so on. Hell, one of my favorite movies of all time, Seven Samurai, was remade into a western, The Magnificent Seven, showing that even classic eastern tales can be converted into western format.

The fluidity and converting nature of the western is so encompassing, one could take any classic tale of heroism and turn it into a western (with a bit of tweaking, of course). On the other side of the coin, however, westerns themselves are easily adaptable to other genres as well, as was previously mentioned in this article. This dual-natured adaptation makes the western one of the most usable, yet still unique, genres out there.

Going back to my original comparison between westerns and tales of medieval knights, we come to the centerpiece of the western culture: the gun.

The sword of the western world

Very much like the legendary swords of yor, the old west gun has an identity all its own.Much like how well-known swords from fantasy stories/movies helped define and identify their owners, a famous gunslinger would oftentimes be identified by his firearm.

Though not a practical weapon from a certain standpoint, I still find myself drawn to the classic old west revolver. These were the guys that traversed one of the most dangerous sections of the world for its time with nothing more to protect themselves than six bullets. THAT's hardcore.

I personally find myself particularly drawn to the classic 1800s conversion revolver, like the Man With No Name's.

 

It's got a sleak look to it, the same deadly visuals of a regular revolver, and a lot more style in my opinion than your average firearm. 

Someday, maybe I can have a pair of six-shooters to call my own and I can ride off into the sunset after murdering a bunch of banditos.....*sigh* someday....

The Evolution of Vampires

In my weekly, Saturday Amber game, I am about to take the transition into full-on Monster. I have chosen to commit myself to being a vampire of all things (let's face it, vampires have plenty of history, variation, and cause to fear). My decision to become a vampire was not a light one in that I literally wracked my brain for extended periods of time to pick what form I wanted to dedicate the rest of my eternity-long stretch as a Monster.

Vampire seemed acceptable.

Now, before my faithful readers start spouting out tired, hackneyed, and predictable Twilight jokes, allow me to clarify Pete's stance on such things. Pete is under the opinion that Twilight "vampires" are not, in fact, vampires. He has no actual definition for what they are but considering they don't follow several core rules of vampire mythos, his opinion stands. At least it does within the confines of his game.

That being said, I took some time to consider vampires over the course of their long and detailed history. As I was doing this, a revelation came upon me (with some inspiration from a Cracked.com video):

Nobody wants to kill vampires anymore in today's culture, but rather people want to sleep with them. Now, this may not seem like a huge revelation to most of you, but you have to delve deeper into WHY this change occurred. What, over the course of a mere decade, caused the general populace to stop fearing these creatures of the night and instead start lusting after them.

Now, firstly, I'm not saying that vampires weren't lusted after before the last decade or so began. No no no...far from it. It's well-known that popular writers like Anne Rice have sexualized vampires gratuitously since the mid-70s onward. However, I AM stating that it seems the overall feel of vampires has shifted SIGNIFICANTLY MORE toward this sexualization and away from the horror in the last decade or so.

I'm flat-out stating that, at some point, people stopped fearing this:

And instead started lusting after this:

or this...

...or this...

So why has this change occurred? What is it about vampires that people suddenly find irresistibly attractive instead of repulsive?

Well, first and foremost, to use the above example, vampires have slowly transitioned visually from the deformed monstrosities style into the sexy-humans-with-tanning-problems style. Seriously, two of the above fuckers look more pale than an albino Irishman.

Or maybe it's the fact that any sort of lasting relationship with these creatures of the night would be impossible short of them chomping on your neck and turning you into one of their own. Perhaps women are drawn to the unobtainable aspect of vampires in that, they may have them for a short period of time (re: short=lifetime for the girl) but they won't grow old and die together. Does that appeal to women these days?

Girl: Oh, you're so mysterious and handsome
Vampire: I'm a vampire
Girl: Oh, that just makes you even MORE mysterious and handsome
Vampire: I'm going to outlive you by a longshot
Girl: Oh, take me away super mysterious and handsome man!
Vampire: No, seriously, I'm going to still look twenty-something while you're 80

And how does this prospect even appeal to the vampire?? As I just stated, the vampire would still look 20-something while the love of his life would literally be 80. I understand the concept of love conquering all boundaries be they time, space, age, etc. but I assume even vampires have standards! If I were a vampire and I decided to spend a lifetime with a girl, no amount of love would make my handsome chiseled ass cuddle up with a wrinkly old woman.

No offense, I just don't see that as realistic, y'know?

Maaaaaybe it's a sexual thing. I mean...vampires across the board share the mythos of superior strength, speed, stamina, glaring power, etc. Maybe the women just see a vampire, and think to themselves "I'm dating a bodybuilder and THAT guy could still kick his ass. I want to get fucked by THAT guy!"

I'm certain women don't think QUITE like that, but you get the idea.

It makes sense though. From a purely physical standpoint, vampires are superior to normal men and would therefore be better equipped to pleasure a woman, from certain standpoints. I haven't heard of any mythos where vampires are also gifted with larger members, but what do I know? I've never been a vampire.

Wait wait wait...I'm completely overlooking the maturity issues here. Women oftentimes like older guys. Some say it's for the maturity while others are just dirty gold-diggers looking for some elderly cash, but either way, vampires still appeal to the age aspect. I mean, if that 20-something-year-old girl finds herself in a phase where she wants to date an older man, for whatever reason, don't you think she would like the prospect of a 200-year-old vampire WITH an ageLESS chiseled body to go with it? I'd say so.

All in all, it's clear that there are many possible reasons for the transition of vampires from horror monster to sexual monster. But how did this all start?

Well, that's an easy one.

Fanfiction. Some sickos OBVIOUSLY started writing stories about being "sucked dry" by vampires and that shit caught like wildfire. Romance novel writers get PAID churning out shit like that. It just so happened that a few of those cheap romance novelists inexplicably and undeservingly hit it big.

*cough*StephenieMeyer*cough*

Ah well....hopefully at some point in the future, we'll come full circle and vampires will return to the terrible and feared monsters that they once were. Until then, we sane folk will just have to endure the tide.

An Open Letter to Extraterrestrials that May Eventually Come Here

Our Dearest Extraterrestrial Neighbors-

First, allow me to welcome you to Earth! You may have another name for our planet, but we've become quite partial to "Earth" so I hope you'll be polite enough to follow suit. But welcome nonetheless! I believe I may speak for all of humanity when I say that we have been waiting for this opportunity for...well, ever really! .
Honestly, if you want to see how long we've been waiting to meet you guys, just take a good long look over our film history and just see how many of those movies involve aliens. Allow me to be the first to apologize if any of those movies you look over have aliens resembling yourselves and allow me to further apologize if those movies containing aliens resembling yourselves also contain our people outright murdering them.

We're honestly not that bad.

Well, I say we're not that bad, but what I really mean is that a very, very small number of us aren't that bad. In actuality a good many humans are more-than-likely going to be paranoid and distrustful of you. Another good many humans are going to hate you because, hey, I can definitely see us becoming speciesists! But it's only because we're a primitive people that have never stepped further than our own moon. Surely you guys are MUCH more enlightened and advanced than us, making it all the way here and all.

By the way, did I mention how amazing it would be if you didn't invade us? I didn't? Oh, well that would be awesome.

Anyway, as I was saying...many will distrust you, many will hate you, but I'm also fairly certain that many will welcome you with open arms. In fact, I bet a decent number of those welcoming humans are going to be REALLY interested in meeting you guys. Those are the ones to really look out for because those are the nutjobs bent on making sure they're the first to have sex with a species other than our own.

Seriously, we're a decent people. You have to believe me.

But hey! Maybe you're willing to look beyond all of those silly quirks humans have! Maybe you're excited to take under your wing (wings?) a fledgling race that dreams of the stars. If you are seriously considering this, please make sure you have a means of disarming nuclear weapons because these pesky countries here that cover our planet are going to fight over who has first rights to you guys. That's right, my alien friends, we humans are such a petty species that we'll fight over who gets first dibs on what could be the biggest step forward for all of humanity. Hell, we may even go to war over it.

By the way, did I mention how awesome it would be if you guys didn't make us fight each other over your attention? I didn't? Well, that would be amazing.

In all seriousness, our extraterrestrial neighbors, there are a lot of wonderful things we humans and the planet Earth has to offer. If you guys are willing to overlook our many MANY flaws and help us find a better way to exist, I promise we won't disappoint.

Hell, the Doctor likes us. That should be a glowing recommendation, right?

Sincerely,
Jason Willard

What is a line?: A philosophical discussion about a roleplaying game power

Those out there that actually keep up with this little blog of mine will know that I oftentimes reference the roleplaying game of Amber. Those that are just joining us are most-likely unaware of what Amber is so here's a brief summary:

Amber is a diceless roleplaying game. A roleplaying game is a game in which the player takes on the role of a character they created and plays a part in the story the gamemaster (or GM) tells. Most roleplaying games require dice to determine the success of the players actions, but Amber doesn't use dice, but instead a system of numerical value comparisons to determine the victor in a conflict.

It's better explained in my previous articles so...go read those.

Anyway, Mikey, started up his own Amber game on Fridays (mentioned here) and we, the players, have just been given our new, Great Race-equivalent powers.

We had the following to choose from:

• A summoner-type power
• A pyromantic power
• A hydromantic power
• An airomantic power
• An earthomantic power
• The "power of the Unicorn" which, I can only guess, includes healing and whatnot
• The Cyclops power, which I believe is creation and inspiration
• A regular archmage-type power
• The Logrus, which is a chaos power. This one was only available to Wes
• And the Doomgazer power

 In short, Wes took Logrus, Pete took the archmage, Julia took the Cyclops power, and I took the Doomgazer power.

Upon receiving our powers, we each got clues and hints at how to use our various powers. Some clues were fairly obvious, while others were incredibly vague and difficult to puzzle out and define. Such is the way of Mikey and Pete Amber games.

Case in point, the clue I received about how my power works and what I can influence was essentially this exchange:

Mikey: Okay, you get injected with some strange mercurial liquid, and you go unconscious.
Me: Awesome. And ow.
Mikey: You have a dream/vision of a world. It's earth. You're looking at it as if from space. The strange thing is that the lines of latitude and longitude and the political borders that separate countries, but don't actually exist? You can see them.
Me: ...okay...
Mikey: You then know your power has to do with those lines.
Me: Okay. My power involves lines. Got it. What's next?
Mikey: You wake back up at the castle.
Me: Wait...that's IT?!

So...lines. My power has to do with LINES. It wasn't the most direct explanation, but it was all I had to go off of. So, I decided to begin with figuring out what a line can represent. A border, a boundary, or a barrier, right? Good good...that's a start. But how do I manipulate that?  Does the line have to physically exist to utilize my power? Will I have to make the line myself? Or does it include the metaphorical and symbolic lines, like longitude and latitude, that don't really exist but represent something?

Then I began to ponder what actually constituted a line. Does a line LITERALLY mean an extent of length between two predetermined point? Or can I use any plane that can be viewed as a line from a certain perspective? For example, can a plane of clothing or a sheet of paper be considered a line? Can a wall be considered a line? Or a road? What parameters am I allowed to work with?

Well, after some basic experimentation, I came to find that the definition of "line" is quite liberal in Mikey's realm. Walls, clothes, geographical boundaries, all of these fall within my purview as a Doomgazer. I'm thinking it may even extend as far as the lines on a brain or the lines of ancestry, though I haven't experimented with those avenues yet.

I was able to, in my initial use of my power, define the border of the island as a boundary and a barrier against the outside world and anything FROM the outside world that may be trying to get inside. Instantly, my power manifested and shut off everyone else's powers.The explanation behind this was that everyone else was drawing upon the outside sources that their powers came from, and when I made the determination that outside forces were powerless to enter, their power sources were severed.

My next experiment was on a smaller scale, using Pete's clothes as the focal point. I made the assertion that his clothes were a barrier between him and the outside world. The goal of this test was to see if I could shut off an individual's power using just their clothes. The results were...slight different. I was
  successful in using the clothes as a focal point, but I pushed the power too far, making it so that light, air, etc. were not allowed to penetrate.

Pete nearly died because of that one.

It's actually a very fascinating power to have...fascinating to work with. I can't wait to see what I can REALLY do with it.