So How Is Your Summer Going, Dylan?

I really hate summer.

There are many reasons for me hating summer. The one that most easily comes to mind is that it is hot and I do not do well with heat. At all. And the problem with this can largely be tied to my feet. They are very sensitive and generally need socks. I tried wearing one of those new rubber clog shoes that my mom picked up and my feet were achy and sweaty. Also, because I hate footie socks with every fiber of my being, I can only wear normal socks and because of the all-powerful laws of fashion I cannot wear shorts and longs socks. It's annoying.

Another thing I hate about summer is that I have nothing to do. This is especially important this summer because I have nothing to keep me occupied except my erratic reading and writing patterns. However, I do feel I have written more then I have written more and some good stuff too. I'm back at Naos and Helen, since I'm now working at them through the medium of the short story. This gives me the chance to explore them in short bursts which my attention span and patience allow. I'm working on two Naos and Helen stories more or less simultaneously now, but one of them is pretty psychological and is getting hard for me to write, since I want the characters to act naturally as compared to the world they live in which is bat shit insane.

On the subject on my ability to write things I am having doubts about my capability in the means of poetry. This I blame on Stephen Fry. I've been trying to read his book The Ode Less Travelled, to get an understanding of how metre works and I don't think I'm that good at metre. I try to write stuff in metre and I'm thrown off. Then I try to write free verse, but I can't get that either and then I feel guilty because I don't read a lot of poetry and when I do I can barely understand it, though recently I did read The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock a couple times and I think I got that, although I picked up at some point it was about prostitutes and impotence so that may have helped me. Still, I appreciate T.S. Eliot's poetry and I like his style.

In other news, I sent my short story "Godot is Dead," out to The Magazine of Bizarro Fiction. I'm not sure if they'll take it. I think the story is pretty out there, but I don't know if it is the kind of out there that Bizarro fiction demands. Also, it's a Jack Monsairty story, so it has a "wizard," though I think of Jack more as an occultist, and that might turn them off. I have only sent it out recently and I have yet to here back. I don't know exactly how long I should be waiting, the next issue will be published in October so I imagine before or around I get to University.

Looking into Various Fields of Interest

We went to Toronto yesterday, my family and I. The Dead Sea Scrolls are being shown at the Royal Ontario Museum, and since I'm into the places where Christianity and Judaism meet I figured it would be a fun trip. After that the family split up into two groups, the girls going to see taxidermey animals and my dad and I looking at the antiquities of the Far East. I liked the Buddhas and the big pictures they had of various Chinese religious figures. Oh, and the rubbings of signs on Synagoges, Mosques and Christian Churches found in China. Yeah, they have Jews and Muslims and Christians there, and I'm talking before the Jesuits.

Then we went to Ikea and I began to feel sad because I don't have my own place. I know I'm 19, and very few 19 year-olds have there own place, but damn it I want to have my own apartement. It didn't help that we found a very nice walk in room that Mom said she could see me living in. So I began to feel nervous about my independence, which I'm also feeling a bit off about because I have had some recent confusion with my bi-monthly twenty dollars. Thankfully I got some of the coffee drop-off which can last me through the rest of the day. This lead to all kinds of frustration about how I'm not as independent as I'd like to be.

Also, finally I am beginning to read more on Aspergers Syndrome. I'm currently reading "The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome," by Tony Atwood. Now I have to go because I'm talking to a friend.

Returning to the Mage Game

As many of you know I tried to run a game of Mage the Awakening awhile back with disatrerous results. More recently however, I am working on a new, more organized coherent idea for a game of Mage the Awakening. As my first run into the world of running World of Darkness games, I am getting very ambitious as I am going to be setting it preferabbly over a period of 22 years and it is going to start in the year 1923. This is going to give me my own chance to interpret the world of Mage the Awakening, mostly by writing about the early history of the Free Council after it joined up with the Atlantean Orders. (Before the counterculture-technology and magic are compatable Mages joined up with the Mages who trace there origin back to Atlantis). It also gives me a chance to have adventures with all sorts of fun stuff like Modernism, Alistair Crowley and Occult Nazis, the last two of which are unavoidable when writing a Mage game in this relative time period in my opinion. I'm also changing from usual World of Darkness format in that the game will not take wholley in a single city. I am in fact planning on setting it across most of Europe, especially in Paris and Weimar Berlin, with various possible detours in America, Spain and the Soviet Union. I've got a pretty good idea for the general direction, and I'm working in various little sub-plots and things that will happen, since I'm working with the idea that the characters are going to Forrest Gump their way thorugh history, getting into drunken boxing matches with Hemingway, inspiring Einstein's theory of relativity, having Crowley look over your shoulder every once in awhile for the Pentacle, stuff like that.
However, I am thinking about setting the story in a single city to start with and at the moment I'm torn between Paris and Weimar Berlin. Paris is, well Paris, but I think in the long run Weimar Berlin will be a better choice. Paris in the 1920s appeals to me mostly because I'm a writer and Paris in the 1920s to me is all about James Joyce and Ernest Hemingway and stuff like that. Weimar Berlin however, along with being artistic, has the advantage of being a veritable powder-keg politically. In between the Cabarets and sex you have facsists and communists fighting each other in the streets, and what's more it would . I think it would appeal more to the players since I feel I can do more in Berlin then just the Lost Generation. The characters could easily play that angle, but they could also do, say the science angle since Albert Einstein was also alive at this time. They could also play the political angle, and join up with the various political aspects. They could also go into the occult thing since I'm boning up on the occult roots of Nazism, but I doubt that any of the players will do that. I'm the guy most likely to play an occultist. I do hope that most of the characters were in World War One though, because I'd like most of the characters to be similar in some respect.

Again, I'm going to play a lot with the Mage order of the Free Council, which in game is still a recent development. So far I'm thinking that they are currently the most powerful order in Berlin, mostly because they fit well with Weimar Berlin. I believe that Paris is going to be a Silver Ladder city, but the Free Council is also very popular there. I've also decided that Alistair Crowley is going to be (at least nominally) a member of the Free Council as I have decided that in game terms he is an actual Mage, in fact a fairly powerful Mage but I don't think he's going to be that involved in Mage politics as he is more concerned with Thelema. I still don't know exactly what to do with the Free Council, except that I want to explore it as an order.

Sorry for dropping so much lingo for you.

Concerning Michael Court

Sending my short fiction to my friend Michael is one of my favorite things, largelly because he always gives great reviews. I think I could easily count him among one of my few fans outside my family. I just sent him "Godot is Dead," and he went on about how much he loved it. It may just be because he always sends emails in huge font, but he did ask me "Are you SURE you're not copying these stories from someone else and making an absolute fool of me? It's not just that they are so intelligent, it's that they are so grown-up and witty." I can also back this up because whenever he talks about my stories he's practically as enthusiastic as me, probubly more because he's more openly emotional then I am.

Michael, as I call him, is an old guy I meet at the local coffee shop readings we used to have. He was writing poetry at the time, like most people who went and we would usually talk about things after at a bar. Once Seymour and I even managed to talk him into coming over to my place and we talked about writing and stuff. It was alot of fun, since I see Michael as a very important person in my life, an older wiser writer who has more experience in such things as poetry and the great writers and things that would involve wisdom. He's really a drastically different personality from mine, which is probubly a good thing because he is more upbeat then me and I can be a pretty dark and depressing person sometimes. Look at the last post to see what I mean, I found that funny and that was about an assassination attempt. A really lame ass assassination attempt, but still.

I can't really describe Michael's work that well. I've read a bit of a short story he wrote about a boy who was lost in the Amazon and alot of his poetry, which reminds me of Rumi, short and sparse and with a beauty of it's own that I don't appreciate as much as I should. We do have something of a minor compotition to see who will be the first one to publish a full length novel, so we'll probubly look over it at somepoint. I'd like to read over his novel since it sounds pretty interesting.

If All Obama's potential assassins are this stupid, then he's going to be okay

A friend of mine once showed me this sight called Fundees Say The Darnedest Things, which basically makes fun of all the crazy stuff Fundamentalists Say, such as the world is really 6000 years old and atheists worship Satan. Well, I'm looking through there sister sight Conspiracy Theorists Say the Darnedest Things, when I came across this attempt at Barack Obama's life. If you like dark humour then this is for you, but I must warn you there are some racist comments that I don't share. I found the overall presentation hilariously incompetent.

ok we have 6 days until my Presidential Assasination.

Yes, I have decided I will assasinate Barack Obama. It's really nothing personal about the man. He speaks well, has a loving although controlling wife and two cute daughters. But I know it's for the country's own good that I do this. And I'm not racist either, my family is a little, but isn't all Italian and european families? I mean how many times have you heard the word nigger in the comforts of your home? I have a lot, and it really bothered me and I would confront them about it. No, it's not because I'm racist that I will kill Barack, it's because I can no longer allow the Jewish parasites to bully their way into making the American people submit to their evil ways. How many of you Obama supporters are now disappointed after some of his arm-twisted Jewish appointee decisions??? Make's you think he's not really in charge(which he isn't). No it's the same old, same old filthy muther-fucking kikes who are
poisoning America, who have murdered thousands of innocent lives on 9-11-01, and
are thinking that they are going to get away with it again.

Barack, I view more as a sacrificial lamb, but the sacrifice MUST take place. He had good intentions, but like the Steve Taylor song goes, "a politician next door, swore, he'd set the Washington arena on fire, thinks he'll gladiate them, but they're gonna make him a liar."

So, I'm stuck here in Mississippi, and I'll need bus fare or some way of getting to Washington. I don't own a gun, so maybe someone can give me one. And I'll need a leak in the secret service to get a close up shot, somewhere close to the podium, since I've never fired a gun, so I need to get an easy shot off. Wattdysay fellas? Any help?

You all know we can't live with the jewscum anylonger, dont cha? You got a better solution? I'm all ears.

Stevie

(Note: This man was reported by an admin and arrested by the
secret service)

Alright, for those of you who missed this I am now going to go over what he did wrong.

1. Said he was going to kill the President of the United States on the Internet
2. SAID HE WAS GOING TO KILL THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES ON THE INTERNET!
3. Said he wasn't racist then began to berate the Jews
4. Asked the nice racists hillbillies on the Internet for support. He asked for a gun, an opening in to shoot Obama from (which I presume he would get from the people who are trying to make sure this doesn't happen) and BUS FAIR! I mean, the gun and the opening was ballsy, but freakin' bus fair!
5. Used his name and gave a basic address (Stevie, Mississippi)
6. Gave a time frame of this (6 days)
7. Presumed the Fed were stupid.

I thought I'd just post this for my readers because the FBI shouldn't be the only people laughing at this guy.

Games and Stories

Last night I finished watching Season 1 of the Wire. I didn't bring that up, that I was watching the Wire. It's a police/crime drama from HBO that is pretty good. After watching it I want to set a Hunter: The Vigil game in Baltimore, but at the moment I am working on two different World of Darkness Games, one is a Mage: The Awakening Game that is to be set between the first two world wars and a Chanegling: The Lost game to be played here in my hometown. A friend of mine wants to see how these roleplaying games work, and I thought I'd do WoD. Changeling just came from the fact I'm setting it in my hometown, which I see as either having Changelings or Werewolves, and I'm going with Changeling. It's also appropriate because Changeling usually has that crazy aspect, and most of my friends are a bit crazy.

I'm also working on a short story called "Leviathan." I'm not going to get to much into it, but I wrote the first bit last night. I ended up getting a sort of spiritual high from writing it, and I hope to try doing more of it later tonight when everyone else is asleep. It may also be a good idea to do it while I'm on that high. When I'm done I think I'm going to send it to The New Quarterly. I doubt that my last story "The Summet of the Minotaurs," will be published since it is actually a part of my first novel.

Also, I'm thinking more and more about getting involved in somekind of Spoken Word thing. I've been liseaning to quite alot of Spoken Word poetry and I'm getting the point where I'm thinking, I can do that. Also, the few times that I've gotten involved in poetry. The problem is I'm not really that into the idea of getting up on stage and performing. It may be a passing fad or something.

Crack Squirrels! (a poem by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz)

Trip Involving My Spine, Used Books and a Thrift Store

It's been a very busy day, far more busy then I'm used to. The first thing is that I was waken up around 6:30 AM because I had to go to the hospital. As some of you may know, I have a metal rod in my back and my posture isn't that good due to a curvature in my spine and my poor muscle tone. There is all kinds of history that I won't go into, but a lot of people were noting how I tend to lean when I walk. So my parents and I drove down to the big hospital place out of town and saw a doctor. I got an x-ray and the doctor talked with me and my parents and I'll probably go back in a year or two because I do have a curvy spine and if it progresses I'll need to have another operation. It's nothing to worry about however, because it doesn't appear that any curvature is happening.
After that we went to a place called Attic Books, which is a used bookstore that I wanted to look into. I wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be. I picked up the following books...

• Minor Characters, by Joyce Johnson (a memoir of one of Kerouac's ex-girlfriends)
• The Delicate Prey and Other Stories, by Paul Bowles
• Billy Budd and Other Stories, by Herman Melville
• Borges and the Eternal Orangutans, by Luis Fernando Verissimo (a murder mystery involving Jorge Luis Borges, Kabbalah, John Dee and a the hypothetical monkey on a type writer. It's by a Portuguese guy I've never heard of who also is a cartoonist and plays the saxophone)

I also saw a notice on a poetry slam, which is in the city of London were I was. No use hiding it anymore. Here's a link, mostly for me but I figured you guys might want to see it. I've been curious about going to one of these poetry slam things.

After that my parents dragged me to a mall so they could pick up a wind chime and get me clothes. Strangely, going to the wind chime place was good for getting clothes, because it was a typical hippie new age type store and I ended up having a conversation with a rather nice lady who worked at the place, which started because one of the disc things in there Wiccan section was upside down, so it looked like a Satanic pentagram as compared to a Wiccan pentagram. I fixed this and explained it to the lady. The key is that the Wiccan Pentagram is one point up, and the Satanic pentagram is two points up. We talked about stuff which eventually lent to how my parents were going to get some clothes and she suggested this nice thrift store place that I forgot the name off. We went there and picked up some new clothes. I liked it a lot, even if I couldn't get the rather cool trench coat. It was made by a group called London Fog, so I'm looking into that. Plus, my mom says that if I shop at Thrift Stores now then she won't be coming with me because she hates thrift stores. Said that it looks frumpy. We also got birthday presents for various relations, which I won't go into because they are probably reading this.

Roberto Bolano and Me

My relationship with Roberto Bolano and his work is like a Roberto Bolano novel. I have read the works of Roberto Bolano, I have gotten down on my knees in awe of the man's work and in some example of cosmic irony I will never see him. It's not like in Bolano's work, where he is hiding out in the Sonara Desert, he simply died before I could meet him face to face.

I've been thinking of this because I've been reading 2666, which is Roberto Bolano's last novel in every sense of the word. It was the last novel he ever wrote and it is the culmination of years of writing novels. I can see connections with The Savage Detectives, since both have plot elements of searching for a writer that has disapeared. This is also key to my relationship to Bolano and his writing, because somehow you loose the writer, or never find the writer.

This is all part of somekind of underlining fatalism that runs through Bolano's work, but despite this I can't help but feel somekind of optimism that runs through his work. I wondered earlier if Bolano believed in God, and if so what he thought of God. That might help me understand his writing more.

I'm trying to emmulate Bolano's writing at the moment. He has a certain way of writing that I am picking up in his translations. For one thing he almost never uses dialouge. I'm trying that in a short story, but I don't want to get to into it because then I'll sound too much like Bolano. This is also part of another story where I, or my fictional avatar, goes on a mission to find Roberto Bolano, or a fictional avatar of Roberto Bolano, in the Sonora Desert or something. I don't know if I'll write this, because it sounds to much like a Bolano story, or if I'll just write it as a piece of Gonzo literary criticism.

Maybe Bolano still is alive, maybe he is hiding out in the Sonora Desert, or maybe he has left warnings about something that lurkes in the Sonora Desert, something sinister. Maybe it is ourselves.

Aspergers Review

Yesterday Mom and I went to see some psychologists about an assessment I did awhile back. The assessment was basically something along the lines of checking to see how my Aspergers diagnosis was going and what I should do to concentrate on work. Well, I still have Aspergers Syndrome, but it also turns out that I have some, but not all, the symptoms of Attention Defecate Disorder. The psychologists also said that I should look over books and Internet articles about Aspergers Syndrome and ADHD, since it could help.

They also brought up that it may be a good idea for me to go on meds, just to help my low attention span. This could help me concentrate more, give me the ability to take notes and even help my writing. So far, I'm indifferent to all of this. The pros have already been stated, but the cons are that I'd be taking meds. My dad thinks it would be better to avoid the whole thing and try and concentrate on my own, but I've never really been that good on that because I'm distracted easily. Heck, I've been fiddling around on the computer while I was making this post.

The psychologists also gave me an assessment about my intelligence. I can't really remember most of it since I was a bit drowsy, but I am apparently have higher then average book smarts, but most of that is obscure knowledge. God, I wish I had a better memory of what they were talking about. I do remember that they said that I find "regular" society boring, which is true, and that I'm only good at things that interest me, which is also true. I also came off as particularly eccentric and socially unskilled by leafing through some books and at one point bringing up possible studies in Numerology.

It's Dostoyevsky!

Take a good look at this picture and then watch this.

There are two possible conclusions, One, that's a good actor. Two, that Dostoyevsky is immortal.

Well, it can't get no worse

Saw Pippin last night. You know, that musical that is so big with teenagers. It's got dancing and spectacle, existential angst. I have to say that I enjoyed it for what it was, but normally I wouldn't see something like this. I'm honestly not that big on big spectacle things. Also, the end freaked me out a bit. I won't give it out, but I almost got into a shouting match with one of the characters. My parents, who are probubly reading this now, would be surprised by this but I was feeling a bit threatened. Since the play broke the fourth wall so many times I feel I am justified in this a bit.

Also, while I was waiting for my cousin to get back I ended up impailing my left hand with a pencil, largelly by accsident. My mom says it's a miracle that I was able to go so long wih so many pencils without this happening. I wouldn't say it was traumatic, but it happened very fast and my hand still hurts.

It's Getting Better All The Time

So I'm walking around my local bookstore, don't intend on buying anything just browsing as I usually do when what should appear but a copy of Roberto Bolano's 2666. The last great novel of his career, his alleged magnum opus. I check to see how much it is, since the last time I saw a copy of this book it was $37.00. This copy however is only $7.99. I knew I had to buy it. It took me awhile and a quick phone call to my dad, but I know own my very own hardcover copy of 2666. I am taking this as a good omen for my interview.

Getting Better

Things are looking better for me more and more. I got up at a desent time yesterday (9:3o AM), but not today because I was lazy, but the good news is I found the secret. It's to put my alarm clock at a distance from myself. Along with that I am going to have an interview for a job soon. I'm not going to go into any detail, but I am looking forward to it. If things get any better, I'll be having short stories published in major magazines, having my name reached out to all corners of the literary world.

I've been thinking about the movement I've been working on, and the idea that I'd start a movement is scaring me. A friend of mine is discussing founding a magazine with me about this, and I'm starting to realize I don't want to run a magazine. I don't have the neccisary skills to run a magazine. I don't even want to run a magazine. It will cut into my writing time. The idea is filling me with dread and fear in the long hours of the night, when I have sudden fears of non-existance. I'm going to bring this up to my friend, that I don't want to get involved in this.

To be honest, the whole Magic Naturalism thing was just one of my dellusions of starting a new Beat Generation, which all in all is one of the last things I would want. I don't have the social skills of a Ginsberg, or the abbility to run of and hide in my alchoholism of a Kerouac. The best I could do is pull a Burroughs and leave the country for a good long time and wait until it all blows over. That would probubly be my best move, all things considered. But with the Internet would that even matter? Would they just track me down using, I don't know twitter or something? Can they even track me down with twitter if I'm not on it? You know what I'm saying, can I be tracked down using the internet? If I do it right probubly not. I'll have to do it right then, and not tell you, because Time Magazine will be reading this then.

Oh, who am I kidding. It will probubly be Macleans.

I Thought This Would Be Longer

I've had a pretty eventful few days, filled with equal parts activity and ennui. The activity is largelly involved with me going out for a weekend with some relatives to their cottage and watching the film Apocalypse Now. The ennui is my lack of a job and thus my day-to-day activities are not exactly ordered.

The trip to Muskoka I won't go into, just to say that it was an alright trip, I editted a short story I was working on and it was very relaxing. I'll also have some pictures up as soon as my relatives send it to me.

I had been having a strange desire to see Apocalypse Now for awhile. I saw a bit of it, but I never saw the whole movie. Sunday I managed to sit down and watch the entire film. It is one of the best movies I have ever seen and I will put it on the top ten list of the best movies I have ever seen. I'll have to make that list for the blog some day, it would give me something to do.

Speaking of things to do, I am bored most of the time. I am getting up later and later, and there is little reason for me to get up at all. I am barelly reading or writing, and I spend my nights in misery because I can't get to sleep and I have no one to talk too. I am working out a way to get up earlier, for what good it will do me. I'll tell you all about it later.

Excerpts from an MSN conversation

David says:
Hey Taz
N says:
hey Dylan!
N says:
long time no talk!
David says:
Yeah, how are you?
N says:
I'm okay
David says:
Well, I'm doing alright myself
David says:
Still no job, but I'm half-way through the Brothers Karamazov
David says:
And I'm trying to work on the 1920s Mage game
N says:
neato
I've also gotten my GURPS Psionics game off the ground
David says:
nice
David says:
So how is the job search in Dubai?
N says:
fruitless
David says:
I'm not doing that good on my end either
N says:
sigh
David says:
I did do some final edits on a short story I wrote recently
David says:
You want me to email you a copy?
N says:
sure!
David says:
Sending it now
N says:
neat
David says:
Did you get it?
N says:
checking...
N says:
got it!
David says:
Yeah
David says:
You can read that whenever you want
David says:
Be sure to email me after
David says:
I'd like your opinion
David says:
Hey, did my advise give you any help on your game?
N says:
a bit!
David says:
How did it help?
N says:
It helped me absorb the lesson that fringe groups tend to occur in large quantities and be filled with assorted craziness
N says:
no offence
N says:
I had this issue where I treat everything as a monolithic entity
N says:
"Big Business" etc. etc.
David says:
I was hoping to be more use then that
N says:
I suppose you were, but I've come to the conclusion that I might have to cut down on my already way too layered plot
N says:
my friends aren't exactly the kind who'll get all the symbolism
David says:
Ah
David says:
I'd love that
David says:
If I could manage it, I'd create a game layered with symbolism
David says:
I might do that with the Mage game, but it will probubly try to do it subtlelly
N says:
alright
David says:
If the players get the symbolism I'll give them extra experience points
N says:
right now, I've already got lots of government conspiracy groups like MKULTRA and Majestic in the picture
N says:
lots of Aztec and Gnostic bits

David says:
So, on the subject of 1920s Mage, your playing a Polish Jewish Mage who is trying to prevent the Apocalypse
N says:
yes!
David says:
Your character's career is a grocer
N says:
I have not been paying nearly enough attention to that, actually
N says:
yup
David says:
What exactly is your character's belief system
N says:
a family business
N says:
not very religious; sticks with it just for the community aspect
David says:
Alright, I'm probubly going to mix in some traditional Jewish elements to his Awakening
David says:
Two parents, single child, right?
N says:
okay
yeah, that'll work
David says:
Alright
David says:
How exactly is your character going to work this through by the way?
David says:
I'm going to be taking him across the world
David says:
Most of Europe, New York, may even send you to Egypt or Tibet or something
N says:
I'm not sure what you mean by 'how is he going to work this through'
David says:
The grocer thing
David says:
If you like he can have a brother or something like that
N says:
He's probably going to be a Warlock, and at his awakening, he might abandon his grocery store for a pilgrimage
David says:
Alright
N says:
I like the warlock bit because that allows some Kfitzat Haderech jewish symbology methinks
N says:
In Torah study and Jewish folklore, kefitzat haderech is the ability to jump instantaneously from one place to another or travel with unnatural speed. The term is originally found in Midrashim to explain anomalies of travel in the Hebrew Bible. In East European Jewish folktales, especially those associated with the Hasidic movement, kefitzat haderech was utilized by various revered holy men.
David says:
Thanks
N says:
essentially, Torah teleportation
David says:
Thanks
David says:
This could be handy
N says:
if you liked that, there's also a Islamic reference
N says:
something called "Tay Al Ard"
N says:
which literally translates to "the folding of space"
N says:
sounds like science fiction
N says:
I love it
David says:
This is pretty cool
David says:
I'll have to remember it
David says:
Already there
David says:
I'm giving a character in my mythos this abbility
David says:
It woudl be really handy for him
N says:
alright
N says:
also, I am having a devil of a time actually downloading your story from the email
David says:
Sorry
David says:
I'll send you another email that has it in the format
David says:
So what is your character's personality going to be like?
N says:
I'm wondering about that actually
David says:
YOu may have to wait for my short story
N says:
I want to play something different (editors note, my friend usually plays violent characters. Last time we were in a game his character shot a cop in the face in the first session)
N says:
(okay)
David says:
Sure
N says:
perhaps a pacifist
David says:
Great
N says:
less killing people, more psychic-assisted diplomacy and scrying and teleportation and stuff
David says:
So what order are you going to join?
N says:
I'm thinking the Guardians of the Veil (The Guardians of the Veil are an order of Mage spies, think CIA only with magic)
N says:
its the group that our characters are the most antagonistic with, by principle
N says:
and I think I can make a character who'll be attracted to that
David says:
Alright
David says:
Sounds like a good idea
David says:
Now I need to figure out how I'm going to put the game together
N says:
=)
N says:
good luck
David says:
I have an endgame in mind, I just need to figure out how exactly I'm going to get there
David says:
Since I want to put the game in 1923 or something like that and end towards the end of 1945
N says:
okay
David says:
So the characters will age 22 years in that time
David says:
Sort of seperate it into various chapters by year
David says:
Then stop, give the characters a certain number of experience points and see what happens next year, say 1927
N says:
sure
N says:
makes sense
David says:
You have any idea what I should do with the first one?
David says:
I'm thinking that I'll start in Paris
N says:
I am clueless ;_;
David says:
Probubly for the best
David says:
I'm actually thinking of overlapping this with my mythos
David says:
So you'll meet a few characters from my own writing
N says:
ok
N says:
neat
David says:
I don't know how they'll work exactly
David says:
But you'll meet a couple in the first chapter
N says:
ok!
David says:
I think I got an idea of what to do first
N says:
don't spill!
N says:
that'll spoil D:
David says:
Don't worry
David says:
I wont
David says:
I like this idea to much
N says:
ok
David says:
I just wish I knew what other characters I was dealing with
David says:
Then I could make it more rounded
N says:
heh
N says:
I bet that another PC will be some neo-nazi silver ladder mage
N says:
*nazi
N says:
and we'll have such good times together.
David says:
I'll have to reject that
N says:
good
David says:
The character can be anti-semetic, but he won't be a member of the National Socialist Party
N says:
alright
David says:
It would be to annoying
N says:
and we'd probably be at each other's throats
David says:
Unless we had another character who could act as peacemaker
N says:
except I suppose being the pacifist makes ME the peacemaker
David says:
Yeah
David says:
Still, wish I had a better idea of what the other players would be
N says:
mhmm

David says:
What would you think about starting the game in Paris
David says:
So I can basically start the game off in a "You Were There" sort of vein
N says:
ok
N says:
sure
David says:
So do you have any reason your character would be at the apartement of one Gertrude Stein
David says:
here's a link
David says:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Stein
N says:
not really :/
N says:
you'll have to provide me one
David says:
I'll give you contact with someone who can help you with your mission with the Holocaust
David says:
Don't worry, I know just the guy
N says:
ok
David says:
Well, I think I got a handle on your character
David says:
Just wish I could get a handle on everyone elses
David says:
That woudl really help me get this game going
N says:
ok
N says:
who else are playing?
David says:
Don't know yet
David says:
I asked Shaun to email me about anyone who would be interested
N says:
ok
David says:
I think that this is how I'm going to run games
David says:
I start out with a basic idea "Let's have a Mage Game set in the 1920s!"
David says:
Then everyone makes a charatcer
David says:
Then I work on a plot around that
David says:
I think this is a good stategy
N says:
heh
N says:
okay
David says:
Hey, can I use a bit of our conversation here for a blog post?
N says:
sure
David says:
thanks

Insominia Maximus

Well, I broke my record of sleep deprevation. I didn't get to sleep until 6 in the morning. This bothers me, largelly because when I get like this I become worried that I'm doing something wrong, and I can't wake anyone up and tell them. The only people I can think of are suicide helplines and gay helplines, none of which I know off, of for that matter would be appropriate.

The only good thing about my routine is that I'm at my favorite cafe. I've barely been up an hour and I've already moved in over here. The problem is now I'm worried about my physical apperance. I think I do look a bit tired, and my teeth aren't that good. A few days ago they were in pain, but I flossed and it went away. Maybe I should floss when I get home. But I shouldn't bore you with how my body is doing. That's probubly rude for all I know.

My novella progress seems to have stalled, which annoys me. On the plus side I'm getting good reviews of a short story I wrote largelly to amuse myself. Michael (or Rowan as I may have called him, but I will be calling him Michael from now on) also gave me alot of useful advise, for instance that I'm writing for an audience that lives in the future and that I should think of them. I think my Dad may have brought this up, but for some reason when Michael said it there was more of an effect on me. Maybe it's because Michael is a writer, or reads more then my Dad and has more authority in this sort of thing. That is probubly it, but I've been thinking about what exactly this audience thing is. For a long time I thought I'd just write for myself, but since I want to be published I'm going to nead to know who exactly my demographic is. I don't think I ever used the word demographic before. I'm going to ask Nora what she things my demographic is...

(waiting)

...she says my demographic would be around 20-30 year old University education caucasians (mostly males) who are in a creative field, like writing or television. She also sees my writing as a bit like Quentin Tarantino, possibly as someone who would do a film version of one of my novels. She did say thats he could be wrong about that, but if she's right my audience will be made up largelly of hipster film geeks. Despite the fact I have no idea of what hipster culture actually is except the decadent inheritors of the counter-culture with bad haircuts, fashion senses I don't understand and something I largelly see myself as an outsider to, I feel largelly alright with this.

I also think that I may have an autistic audience as well, and by autistic I also mean parents of people with autism as well. Since I have Aspergers Syndrome, I will have all kinds of parents thinking, wow this guy has Aspergers Syndrome, maybe little Billy has a future. That makes me feel a bit happy, because then I could help all my Autistic Brethren. I could be like, I don't know, that guy who wrote a book about his minority that brought national identity to them. Angus Wilson or something like that.

Ballad of the Skeletons

King Shot In Production

It's coming. It's finally coming. Jodorowsky has come down from the Mountain after meditating for God knows how long, slayed the demon king of that mountain, had the camera found in the demon's belly blessed by a team of half-naked Hindu guys and is know in the production phase of King Shot.

I seriously believe that is how Jodorowsky prepares for a movie. Because he is that cool.

So for those of you who don't remember when I informed you of this monumentous event. King Shot is a "mystic spagetti western," featuring a casino in the middle of the desert, Marilyn Manson as a 300 year old pope, a giant skeleton, a beetle for a narrator and David Lynch producing. None of this really shocks me, except for the David Lynch producing bit which is freaking awesome. For my grandparents, who might find this shocking, or even blasphemous, I suppose it kind of is but I'm familiar with this guy and Jodorowsky has been wanting to work with Manson for awhile, and I'm going for Jodorowsky anyways. Manson is just sort of there.

So the question is, when is this movie going to be released and how am I going to be able to see it as soon as humanly possible. My guess is that it's going to be at Cannes, but I highly doubt that I'll be able to make it for Cannes this year. My closest idea is that the Princess Cinema will be playing this. They sure as heck aren't showing it in my neck of the woods. I'll be writing back as soon as I figure out where it's being shown.

The Big Season 5 Lost Post

Today was a day of Job Searching. I don't know how good I did, but I dropped of six resumes, mostly at restaurants and bookstores. I don't have much hope for the bookstores, but I can dream can't I? Anyways, I have a good feeling about a couple of the restaurants, a couple new ones and I think one may be hiring. I also checked City Hall, but they don't except unsolicited resumes. Probably not a good idea for a summer job. I also tried to find the downtown office of a local newspaper, but that doesn't exist anymore.
Well, besides that it has come to my attention that I have a new follower. So far the only follower I've had is Aspie Mom, but it appears that I have I have someone called "The Hostile Witness," who is a LOST fan. I think either she is an Aspie, her son is, or they both are and she only just learned about it recently. How she found my blog I have no idea, but I figured that I'd give a great big Namaste and get about my Lost post.
So, for those of you who don't know the basic story of what happened last week and for the past while, Jack, Kate, Hurley and Sayid were sent to 1977 while they were trying to get back to the island. Sun, Ben and Lapedis are in good old 2007, as well as Locke but we'll get to Locke latter. Faraday thought that it would be a pretty good idea to prevent the entire series timeline by setting of a hydrogen bomb where the hatch is going to be before the Dharma folks open an energy pocket, leading to the creation of the hatch, leading to the system where you have a guy pushing a button every 108 minutes because if they don't SOMETHING BAD WILL HAPPEN, leading to Desmond being in the hatch, leading to Desmond not pushing the button, leading to Oceanic Flight 815 crashing on The Island. With me so far?
Well, the bad thing is that Faraday is killed by his mother, who is one of the Others, which is unfortunate because I like Faraday. I named a character for a role-playing game after him (and a line from a Tom Waits song, but either way). With Faraday having bit the dust in a very Greek Tragedy format, Jack thinks it's a good idea to go on with his plan despite it involves setting of a HYDROGEN BOMB to CHANGE THE COURSE OF HISTORY, which are bad ideas put together and makes me nervous. Anyways, Jack is able to get an hydrogen bomb from the Others, who picked one up when the American Military dropped by the Island to drop one, yeah this Island has got everything hasn't it? And what happens, everyone decides that they'll go along with it. Kate and Sawyer complain a bit, and Sawyer beats the shit out of Jack but in the end they're going to set it off. And the last scene is Juliette banging at the hydrogen bomb with a rock until it goes off taking the next thirty years of history.
Now, back to our group in 2007. Ben, Sun and Lapidis are still in the present, but it seems everyone else on the plane belongs to a bunch of people who know about the island and have a code question "What lies in the shadow of the statue?" Along with this, it appears that Locke has pulled a Jesus and come back from the dead, which Ben says is something the island has not done and "scares the hell out of me." Mind you, Ben had killed Locke, so there's that factor to look in on. So Locke gets it into his head that he wants to bring all the Other's over to Jacob's place and he's going to go and have a nice big talk, only he's not going to talk to Jacob, he's going to KILL JACOB! Well, actually he's not going to kill Jacob, he's going to have Ben kill Jacob. And in the end it works, but the thing is, it isn't really Locke, because the "What lies in the Shadow of the Statue" People have LOCKE'S BODY! So Locke didn't really kill Jacob.
Oh yeah, by the way, we know what Jacob looks like now, and technically so do Jack, Kate, Sayid, Sun, Jin, Hurley and Locke before hand. He is also apparently a Flannery Conner fan, but knowing how many literary references there are in this show it's probably safe to presume that Jacob is ridiculously well read. Also, there is somebody else, who well will call Anti-Jacob, or Not Locke because that is the guy who was doing a very convincing Locke impression. Anti-Jacob and Jacob meet in the first bit of the show and have a nice friendly conversation about how Anti-Jacob would really like to kill Jacob one of these days, and how Jacob has gone and brought an old ship, presumably the Black Rock, to the Island. Also, the statue is off Tawaret, who is a really not nice Egyptian Goddess.
So, In Conclusion...

• Jack went and rewrote history so now Oceanic Flight 815 did not crash on the island.
• Locke is not Island Jesus, it was just Anti-Jacob.

My theory.

• Jacob is God
• Desmond, whom as Faraday explained the rules of time do not apply too, is going to be really pissed at Jack if he remembers this, because for all we know Penny hasn't even been born.
  
• The show has not jumped the shark, because that is what I thought with the whole Oceanic 6 thing and that turned out pretty well.
• Richard was on that boat.
  
• And finally, I still think that the end of the show is going to end with a talk between Jack and his father and/or Jacob made up mostly of non-sequiters. I am fine with them not answering all the questions, in fact I'd really rather they left a few unanswered ones for the fans to figure out.