It is good to wait to speak until, one hopes, one has something worth saying. It has been a nice wait.
The Joys of Not Blogging
It has been a while. I love to blog. But for everything there is a season and sometimes being a good student means being a bad blogger. So I sympathize for you, if you love my work, for there hasn’t been much of it up here of late. I sympathize, but I should not apologize. My priorities have been elsewhere and rightfully so.
Trying to sell a house. Trying to read six books a week (because that’s how many are being assigned?! PhDdom…). So in order to save a buck and cut off my primary source of procrastination, we cut off internet at the house, which means that all of my online time is compressed into 30 minutes MWF. Cramping my style.
It is a joy to be online, to connect, to express to the multiverse shades of truth. And yet, it is a joy to unplug, to breathe the fresh air, to dance with a beautiful woman in the rain, and to get some sleep for a change.
Not blogging is just as blessed as blogging, sometimes more. Have you been skipping out on anything in order to blog? I know I did! Now, back to the books….
Lonely Matinee
On Going to the Movies Alone
The theater was as dark as the day was bright, and as eerie, empty, and old. The walls inside and out were the color of old toothpaste but smooth as marble, as if the paint had been chosen thirty years ago and purchased in bulk, a fresh coat for every year for a century. A handful of high schoolers, retirees, and I settled down for our blockbuster of choice. The momentary embarassment and awkwardness were a small price to pay, as was the $6.50.
Nothing New Under the Muggle Sun…
…But Don’t Let That Stop You From Going to the Movies
“There is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9)
“It’s all been done before.” (The Barenaked Ladies)
Only One has ever made anything truly original and new. All stories are mere shadows of His Story. Our best stories mirror aspects of that story: the beauty of creation, the bitterness of the fall, the joy of redemption. Even if a story only captures one of those aspects, it can be beautiful simply because it rings true, however tragic.
Shakespeare himself realized that all the good plots were already taken. What happens in his plays might not be original, but how always is. That gives me hope. A good story matters, even if I already know the ending. And I can let myself off the hook as a writer, since every what I might say has already been taken, I can focus on the how
If you doubt whether this principle is true, think of every movie made in the last ten years. Some have been overt ripoffs. Eragon = Star Wars – Awesome + Dragon. Seriously! If you want a good laugh, follow the plot parallels: farm boy gets secret message from captured princess, the bad guys kill his aunt and uncle, and torch their farm, forcing him to follows a magical mentor who sacrifices his own life when farm boy rescues the princess, so that he can save the day in an epic dogfight. It’s a good thing I love dragons.
Which brings us to Harry Potter. If the what of Harry Potter isn’t original (Matrix + Lord of the Rings + Little Orphan Annie), what’s all the big fuss about? The how! Her plots are page turners, to be sure, but J. K. Rowling’s true success is in her character development.
(Don’t worry. I haven’t read the last book or seen the movie yet, so no spoiler’s here.)
Harry is a complicated guy. He’s a loner, a leader, and a friend, these attributes ever in tension with each other. Orphaned, ostracized by his surrogate family, ever-threatened by the forces of darkness, and untrusted by the media, Harry has always had to fend for himself. He makes independent decisions, which can be impetuous and even rebellious. Harry is unafraid to pursue what he knows to be right, no matter what those in authority say.
Because of this, his peers look to him as their captain in the unseen war against the forces of darkness. Though his anger problem and independence often get in the way, he has developped a loyal cadre.
But it is Harry’s friends who ultimately define him. They are his by chance, by choice, and by that inexplicable magnetism that draws them all together. Quite often, he does not deserve them. But, no matter what, Ron and Hermione stay by his side. Harry is not afraid to cooperate, usually, but his friends make sure to help him even when he doesn’t want it. They would give up their own lives for each other. Since birth, this is a boy who has been protected by love, and that is the most beautiful thing of all.
That is what we really want, isn’t it? To be reminded that life is worth living outside the norms of society, that there is something worth fighting for, and that the love of friends always makes a difference and is always worth dying for? We long to hear a new voice sing that same old truth to a new generation, and that is exactly what J. K. has done. Read on!
The Terror of the Blank Page
Creative [Self-]Destruction
I sit paralyzed by the page I am about to write. It could be my best work… if I would just think harder, get more sleep, and drink more Ovaltine™. But its already too late, I know, distracted, sleepless, drinkless. Then I realize: I can either be a writer or a perfectionist, not both. To be the one is to destroy the other. The writer destroys gladly!
Faithfool 