3rd Post

Today, we are writing about truth in fictional narrative. What are the REAL things that come out of fiction??? Let's see. The complaint here is that fiction, by it's very nature is FALSE, not real, is nothing but a pack of lies... But do we agree with this??? (By we, I mean "me" of course.) Nope. I don't by it. A "fiction" or a "story" has to be about something. Usually, the something that stories are about is PEOPLE. (I don't remember where I read it, sounds like a Joseph Campbell line, but I remember reading that people are primarily interested in themselves, or people like themselves. If they can't find themselves in a novel, they won't finish it...)

What we have then are people, doing people things. That's a bit general, so I'll give some possible examples: People falling in love with other people (like in Romeo & Juliet or most Woody Allen stories), people hating, fighting and killing one another (Godfather, Braveheart, and Star Wars, in novel, movie AND comic book formats), or People coping with death, for whatever reason they are forced to cope with it (Godfather again, or All the Small Things, or maybe The Bible, whichever version you prefer...) are all possible things that people in fiction might do that people reading fiction might find interesting, comforting, exciting, or better than "real" life. (Although I would definitely argue that reading a book IS real life and not an escape from it... How are you supposed to find a decent bookstore in "not-real" life???)

So, I believe that the "REAL" things that people experience and take from their readings are emotions, memories, perhaps a glimpse at a truth that is even MORE real than working from 8:00 am until 5:00 pm, fighting traffic, and falling asleep on the couch...

Here is my 2nd BLOG... (Damn it! I've BLOGGED again...)

Let's see... I'm supposed to comment on something I read this summer that has something to do with BLOGGING... That might be tough... I read a variety of materials this summer, everything from Why I am Not a Christian by Bertrand Russell to Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas by Elaine Pagels... Neither of them seems very BLOG like... Perhaps the Steven Pinker book on consciousness is similar to blogness... What was that called again??? Oh, yes, The Blank Slate... No, that was more of an evolutionary biology type thing... I read a neat biography of Woody Allen called ...But We Need the Eggs: The Magic of WoodyAllen by Diane Jacobs. That book definitely influenced the FEEL of what I'd like to do with this THINGY, as well as convincing me to reread Side Effects (by Woody himself)...

I'll write some more about what I read this summer if I get a chance, but my term of detainment is over and I may now WALK LIKE A FREE MAN...

Introduction...

Technically, I'm being forced to create this blog against both my own will and my better judgement. (My "not quite as good" judgement thinks it might be fun...) To discover the purpose for blogging is the purpose of this blog. I like the idea anonymously publishing STUFF out there in the "BIG ELECTRIC" even though, as I've tried to get people to read what I've written in the past and found it difficult, I again feel that the audience for this particular experiment will undoubtedly be rather limited...

Currently, I am writing this STUFF from a strange angular room with lots of wires coming from the ceiling and glowing bits everywhere. If I were half asleep I might assume that I had been abducted by either aliens or scientists, and that strange tests where being performed on my brain as I typed...

With this in mind, I'm attempting to RESIST the control of those THINGS (scientists or aliens) who may be probing me at the moment and restrict myself, in the subject matter which I type, to things both amusing and unimportant... (Therefore, because I DO feel as though I've been abducted by aliens (or scientists), after all I would have no reason to feel the need to avoid touchy or sensitive materials in my writing if I did NOT feel like I were being watched, it can correctly be assumed that I am half asleep... (I hope you kept up with all of that...))

And so, with heavy heart my friends, I conclude the introduction to this blog... (What the HELL is a blog??? I know what a log is: It's either a large, horizontal tree, or some kind of a journal... But what's a BLOG??? It sounds like what happens if you eat a three week old tuna salad sandwich. If you know the answer, and feel it is SAFE to share that type of information, (your aliens or scientists may be off duty, getting a coffee or something) feel free to contact me and end my naive suffering.)

Thank you and have a good night...