Bored Bored Bored

Ugh. So today I am so freak bored. God. Seriously, I needed to do something with myself today, but I could not get motivated to do anything.

I had a three day weekend that was pretty cool. Thursday night, I saw some movie that was a comedy "what if" story about the South winning the US Civil War. This is really bad, but I don't remember the name of the movie and I don't feel like going to imdb.com to try and find it. I don't think I got the joke and there were some historical moments that were overlooked that bothered me. I was entertained, but I don't think it was that clever of a joke.

Friday I went to the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh's Strip District. I have been wanting to check it out for some time now. I never knew it was there until I started scooping ice cream at Klavon's Ice Cream Parlor. People started coming in with these little golden stickers on their chests. It piqued my curiosity enough to check it out. There was an exhibit on the French and Indian War that entertained me more than Thursday night's movie. If you don't know anything about the war don't worry, I won't spoil the ending for you. It was between Britain and France over who would gain control of the region that became the eastern United States. Both sides brought/bought Native Americans for their side. Also at the history center was a display of Pittsburgh sports icons. I am investigating Billy Conn, "The Pittsburgh Kid." He was a local boxer in the 1940's.

I went with my family to St. Patricks Day Parade...

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06071/669017.stm

...yep that is my mom. 'Nuff said.

Today. Good God. Nothing to do. I got up. I lifted (I bought weights a couple months ago and began an experiment in strength training). At noon I got around to showering. After that nothing else to do. Started rereading "Earth X" a Marvel comic from 1999. Six issues in I got bored. Turned on the television. Got bored. Went to watch a movie, but I didn't want to sit there all afternoon watching a movie. GAHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Nothing presented itself. I ended up teasing/playing with my nephew and niece. Now here I am.

It is days like today that I feel like I should be writing that novel that I have so many ideas for. They have been hanging out inside my head for about five years now. Its genre fiction. I think I am at a level where I could write genre fiction if I acted smart about it. There in is the problem. I am not so sure I want to act smart about it. Meaning that I don't think that I want to write it, because then it will have to be judged as good or bad. If I put a lot of work into something and it ends up being bad, then I am going to be really pissed off. So what? So then you change it so it is good. Get over yourself Dave. Right? No. Writing isn't magical or brilliant. It takes an amazing amount of effort and skill to push it out of your head and into any sort of sense.

When I do write anything that I feel is worth getting published I plan on making it something worth reading. I will make it mine. It won't be anything that someone else wanted me to write. I am twenty-five and I don't think I have enough inside my head to put forth anything of substance. Maybe I am psyching myself out. I feel like I am close. It up there, in my brain, but I can't coax it out.

I guess I am going to have to kick it out.

A review of Y The Last Man

Tonight I read a comic book series that I have been curious about, but I don't remember what got me interested in it in the first place. On the cover there is a quote by Wizard Magazine that says, "This book blew us away." It was probably some crap from Wizard that got to me.

Y is written by Brian K. Vaughan and drawn by Pia Guerra. It is a story about a man and his monkey. Well the plot involves a little bit more than that. At the end of the very first issue something, possibly a virus, kills all males in the world. All of the men except for the main character and his male monkey. Yorick, who believes that his Shakespearean name was a joke put on him by his father, and his monkey named Ampersand (sounds like a joke name to me, hmmm) find themselves to be the only males left alive on the planet.

Yorick manages to get himself from New York City to Washington DC where his mother is a congress woman. Upon getting to Washington, Yorick is sent out to track down a scientist expert in cloning. The hope is that the scientist will be able to figure out why Yorich was spared death. He is accompanied by a secret-agent-type bodyguard who is assigned by the ex-Secretary of Agriculture and new President of the United States. Agent 355 is a tough commando type who has a no nonsense attitude that counters Yorick who make light of every situation.

While traveling to Boston in search of the cloning scientist, Dr. Mann, Yorich and 355 get into a confrontation with a group of militants who call themselves Amazons. The Amazons pursue Yorick and 355 with the intention of killing to last male aggressor on the planet.

The trade that I read was only the first four issues of the series, which originally came out in 2001. There is nothing terriblely original in any of it. It is adequately written, in that the story is communicated, but nothing very complicated is delivered so telling the story isn't a great feet. I would be interested in learning what happens to these characters, because the adventure looks like it is going to be entertaining. I won't be running to the back issue bin of the comic book store to find out what happens. There is little depth to the characters. None of them stand out as anything noteworthy.

I give the first four issues of Y The Last Man by Brian Vaughan and Pia Guerra a two out of five. Pick it up if you are looking for a solid story that does not involve an superheroes. Pass on it if you are looking for an entertaining read. I imagine that it does get better. I only read the first four issues.

A review of The World According to Garp

I have recently finished reading "The World According to Garp" by John Irving. It took me two months to read this. I started it at the beginning of January and didn't finish it until now. Okay, so I took my time with it. I wasn't exactly on the edge of my seat while reading this one, but that isn't the same as saying that I disliked it.

I don't know what to say about this novel. It is difficult to say something that hasn't probably already been said. It is academic literature, which I am not used to reading on my own. When I read fiction I read stories that are grand, epic, and dramatically heroic. There is Drama with a capital "D" in Garp and there are heroics, but the fate of the world does not hang in the balance. Garp isn't one of those stories. It doesn't have a grouping of characterizations or an allegorical plot. It's good, but in ways that I am not used to experiencing.

Garp, the title character, is a writer who starts out the son of a very independent minded young woman. His mother, Jenny Fields, is from a comfortably classed family, but chooses to raise her son on her own. Jenny, I think, is the strongest character of the story. She is a woman who takes action, which is something that not many men or women do in our culture. I believe that one of the worst problems with our culture is that many individuals leave too much undone in their lives or do not do enough in general. I believe that because so much is never resolved in our lives that many of us begin to feel as if we are powerless, which puts people at the mercy of others who ARE willing to take what they want from the world. Jenny doesn't allow herself to be used for anyone else's agenda, because it is her choice to not act as if she is powerless. There is no trauma that forces Jenny to live her life a specific way, but there is a willingness to act how she desires and pride enough to reach for what she wants. She decides that she wants a child, but not a husband, so she manages exactly that. She has Garp and raises him on her own, because that too is what she wants. I wish that Garp was as strong a character.

Garp is many different things in the story. He's a wrestler, he's a writer, he's a husband, he's a father, he's a cheater, and he even fights crime (not professionally, its one incident in one chapter). I think that because he is so many different things that it he doesn't get to stand up as anything specific. As a character he does not embody any single ideal or aspect of our psyche, which would make him very easy to understand. Instead he is very human, which makes him complicated. Real people, not the ones in books, are never about any one thing. Real people are about a lot of different ideas and a lot of different circumstances that push us and bend us and even break us to different behaviors and actions. I never felt as though I understood Garp as I read the story. I understood the actions that he took, but I never felt like I was relating to the character. I liked him, but I never felt a connection with him. When I read I do it to try and piece together a puzzle. I try to form an understanding oh how things fit. Garp is not a puzzle piece, he doesn't have clearly defined edges that let you place him exactly where he should be.

The story leads through many dramatic twists. Events take an abrupt turn. There is not a lot of time spent considering life's crossroads in this story. The characters do not spend time deciding where they want to go. A lot of the time they are forced into confrontations. True to life, but this is a novel. Stories, usually, have a plot, and I am not embarrassed to confess that if this book has a plot then I missed it.

I enjoyed all of the characters. I respect the quality of the writing. The story never moves into areas that are beyond comprehension. John Irving does not play games with this novel. He does not try to push fiction to do any new tricks. My issues with this novel is that, personally, it was a little blah. There wasn't anything that excited me about it. There wasn't a shiny toy at the bottom of the box. This story is corn flakes. There is nothing wrong with corn flakes, they can be a very healthy part of one's diet. I think this is a very good story to use to introduce people to what literature is. I'd like to recommend this novel to a reader who is a young woman, maybe someone who is about to start college or who has just started reading to expand her mind and not only entertain it, because I think it could have a positive affect on a female mind that wants more than she has had. I would also like to recommend it to any reader who is displeased with the state of their life and doesn't realize that they could have personal satisfaction if they would just go for it.

I rate The World According to Garp with a three out of five. Three what out of what? I don't know. Basically, if you are interested in a book that is about people and troubles and pains and some of life's good moments then give Garp a shot. At the worst you will be bored with it, but I doubt anyone could be bored with the whole of it. If you are looking for good guys and bad guys and battles then you better pass on Garp. If you are looking to train your mind to appreciate good writing then you better give Garp a shot, because Irving seems to be a writer who has the basics down and can do something with them.

Back then Gone then Back Again...

Okay, this blogging thing isn't coming along like I thought it would. It actually involves, like, effort and stuff. Damn. I was hoping that it would be easy and once I got started my genius would take over.

originally, the plan was to post random shit. Its in the title. Scroll up the screen and read it. The problem with random is that it is aimless. I don't feel like wandering around inside my head and writing whatever pops up. I need a road map. I need a focus. I need something to direct me. So I should follow my passion. Search my soul and write whatever is inside, which is bullshit. Reach inside? My soul? I must not have one because I got nothing.

Looking inward is a step in the right direction. No one ever stood out doing what everyone else does...

See, now I am just ranting mindless dramatism. For the time being. I am just going to reflect on things that are going on. Whatever I have seen, read, watched, heard, or done. I am going to write about it. I want to publish fiction, but writing a story involves perspective, a lot of drafts, and a lot of time to put towards the piece. I don't feel like putting that into a blog. Posting a part of a story and then changing it entirely on the next post.