you know what word I hate? "arguably" Two nights ago I was watching the nfl draft, and every player was arguably something. Arguably the fastest, strongest, best prospect, whatever. Every time anybody has an opinion these days, they feel like they have to qualify it. I think its part of a larger problem of political correctness. People are so afraid of conflict and disagreement, they make sure there's zero possibility of offending anyone. Grow up people. Rational adults can have differing opinions without anybody being wrong. Stop pussyfooting around and say what you think.

Man, every time I promise myself I'll really try to be good about blogging..... this happens. I turn on the comp and realize its been close to a month. So let's see, what's happened since then? I took third in a national-level wrestling tournament, which was cool. Not one of the big ones, with people who have a shot at the national team, but still. I know I don't have a future in wrestling, as a competitor anyways, beyond next year. Might as well enjoy it while I can. Other than that, I sold a short story for an anthology from a major publishing house (details to come when its officially announced). Its not the novel, but at least I've got a foot in the door. The important thing is to establish a professional relationship with these people and impress the hell out of them, enough so that they're interested in a long future together. One of the hardest things to figure out is how much I should push them. I'm a punk kid, just starting out in the writing world, which means that most people dismiss me automatically. I honestly believe I have talent, and know I have the dedication, but both of those are useless if nobody will let me show it. Ah well. The nice part about being 22 is that I can whine about this stuff without any real consequences....

Christ its been a while since I posted here. I went into high burn on a couple of writing projects, plus school and spring break, so its probably not something to whine about. Ah well, I like bitching. I've mentioned here a couple of times that I'm an aspiring writer. I've had about a dozen short stories published, and I'm working on my first novel with some interest from a major publishing house. It doesn't pay the bills, by a long shot, but there's a chance it could turn into a career someday. That's the dream anyways.
      My first short story was published in a small magazine and read by family and basically no one else. The second, which was approaching novella length, was actually in an anthology, from a publisher some of you have probably heard of. It got slammed by every critic. Badly. Like "Who the hell is this kid and who did he bribe to get this crap in a book?" Reading reviews like that hurt, a lot. But for every review, I tracked down the critic and did my best to send a thankyou email. Just thanked them for taking the time to read and promised to improve with my next piece. Its' amazing how far courtesy can take you, in this and every other business.
      All of this is preamble to the following link, which I saw on Neal Gaiman 's twitter feed a couple days ago (he's a great read).   http://booksandpals.blogspot.com/2011/03/greek-seaman-jacqueline-howett.html#comments     Read it and weep. I've honestly never seen anyone ruin their career so quickly.
      When I sent emails to the people who'd reviewed my story, the response was so positive I nearly cried reading it. Even the guy who wrote the single harshest review replied in a day, told me it was nothing personal and that he admired my passion and professionalism. Most importantly, he told me to send links to anything I got published in the future, and that he'd read everything and only write about it if he had good things to say. Since then, he's written enthusiastic reviews of three of my stories, and introduced me to the editor who could be publishing my first novel next year (I'm praying). Point is, keep your temper under control and show people some respect. Good things happen.

As a followup to my post a few days ago, about the lack of creativity plaguing the film industry, I present this article from the AV Club

http://www.avclub.com/articles/guillermo-del-toro-loses-at-the-mountains-of-madne,52919/

So despite having what is by all reports a great script, Del Toro attached to direct, Tom Cruise to star, and James f-ing Cameron to make sure the 3D is good quality, they still can't risk making the film. Meanwhile, we get to look forward to "Battleship" polluting our theaters in 2012......

moderation

I love college. For all the obvious reasons, and some weird ones. Yesterday, I spent most of the afternoon watching basketball courtside, went to the gym, took my girlfriend to a nice dinner, and spent the rest of the night with her at a mardi gras party. Its not a bad life.
     But at that party, similar to many others, I couldn't help noticing the number of people staggering around, slumped over in corners, and generally acting like idiots. I'm certainly not a saint. My girlfriend was making fun of me this morning for emptying a punchbowl by myself (she's exaggerating. probably). The thing is, I remember everything I did last night, and none of it is particularly embarrassing. Well, my dancing might be, but thats a different problem.
       Part of this is from experience. I'm 22, and I've been to my share of booze parties. Going out just to drink is fun the first few times, but only the first few. The morning after tends to dampen whatever memories you have of the night anyways. Maybe I'm getting old, but staying out dancing with a stunning girl until dawn seems way more fun then passing out in a corner before midnight.
     I don't know if this is just my perception, but it seems like the kids who drink to excess are often the ones who lived at home during highschool. Its not so much the alcohol they're after as the thrill of doing something new and adult. Let's face it, getting seriously smashed isn't actually that much fun. The problem is that sheltered kids sometimes don't know that. They see their parents drinking at dinner and parties, and think that more is always better. I'm not trying to say that parents should let their underage children go wild, but forbidding something completely is the best way to make sure kids will overindulge as soon as they get it.
      I actually met my girlfriend at a party three years ago, right as I was transitioning away from the drink-everything-in-sight phase that ruined so many of my sundays. She was dancing with a couple of friends, when a guy who'd clearly been there for a while came up and tried to join in (can't fault his taste). He was a pretty belligerent drunk, and didn't take it well when they asked him to leave. Guys grinding on girls without an invitation is a serious pet peeve of mine, so I went up and persuaded him to go. Have to admit, I'd also been trying to think of a way to talk to her for the last hour. We did get to talking after that, then exchanging numbers, then leaving to walk along the charles and talk more.... You get the idea. Life lessons, gotta love them.
       Old saying I hear a lot when discussing college life: "Moderation in all things, including moderation." This is wisdom. Its' just a pity people ignore the first clause.

greed

First, go read this article by Bill Simmons of espn

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/110304

Done? Good. I'm a football fan, have been since my brother bounced a nerfball off my head 20 years ago. I know very little about the economic of sports, and I don't really care. All that matter is the patriots on tv every week. What I do know is this: the NFL has never been richer. Revenues are in the tens of billions every year. Half the owners are independent billionaires. Now let's go through some other facts.
      Roger Goodell claims to be concerned about player safety. He's made a giant show out of concussion awareness programs, new helmet technology etc. Yet one of the issues in the mess of a cba negotiation is the owner's desire for an 18 game season. Two more games, with greater ticket sales and increased revenues. Which they want the players to accept, even as their slice of the revenue pie goes down by one billion dollars. Two extra games of 300 pound men running into each other flat out, every hit carving a few more days off their lives.
      I'm not trying to write a sob story for professional athletes. They know what they're getting into, and are paid well for the physical risks. Rational adults can do what they want. I simply don't understand how the owners sleep at night. People had to watch the Superbowl in crowded basements because Jerry Jones tried to install more seats than his shiny new stadium could hold. This man and thirty of his ultra-rich pals are about to lock players out for more money. What the hell is wrong with the world?

a case for creativity

Every year, hollywood spends more money than I'll ever earn trying to figure out what audiences want. They conduct surveys, analyze market data, hold focus groups, and generally try to figure out how to fit square pegs in round holes. Over the last.... well, I was going to say few years, but let's be realistic here.... over the last few decades, the movie big-wigs have decided that the American public wants more of the same. This year, 2011, will see the highest number ever of remakes and sequels invading our theaters. Basically, studios have concluded that the public is too stupid to tolerate any kind of innovation or newness, and so are repeating themselves over and over. In a related story, the studios are full of idiots.

       Hollywood, let me do you a favor. If a movie looks like it sucks, people won't see it. If a movie looks awesome, people will see it. Analysis complete. 

       Best example- Inception, last summer. For people who don't spend as much time reading film blogs and such as I do, here's a little background. Inception was a giant passion project for Christopher Nolan, who you've probably heard of. The studio let him make it, on their dime, as a reward for the absurdly lucrative Batman movies, and as an enticement to make more. The industry thought it would be a flop, by being too complex, hard to follow, and not based on something that spawned ten crappy sequels since the 80's. (see: Halloween remakes) Instead, Inception was a huge critical hit, made tons of money, and has given Nolan a do-whatever-he-wants license for the next 20 years.

         The point here is this: audiences like being treated as if they have an iq over 50. Inception is incredibly complex. Its' also visually stunning, beautifully acted, and completely original. Knight and Day, which was thought to be much more commercially appealing, was a complete flop because audiences figured out quickly that it was a paint-by-numbers piece of crap.

        Obviously, not everything I'm saying here is always true. Some bad movies do make tons of money. But even in those cases, there's usually something artistically redeeming about the hits. Take the transformers movies, which feature the worst writing since.... since whatever Michael Bay did before that, I suppose. I'm not saying those are good films. But Bay is one hell of a visual director, and watching fifty foot robots toss each other around a forest still put goosebumps on my spine. Please, Hollywood, wake up. There are so many talented, creative people who can put your money to good use. And I think you'll find that true creativity is more profitable than endless regurgitation.