An Epic Journey of Amazing Self-Discovery, or Finding Old Shit

I logged onto my Tripod account for the first time in years today. If you're unaware, Tripod is a free web hosting service. If you remember Angelfire and/or Geocities from back in the day, that's much like what Tripod was. I was doing this because I felt like re-teaching myself some HTML and CSS, skills that I've long since forgot. Kind of a disappointment, because gotDAMN there are a lot of coding/development/etc. jobs out there at the moment.

Anywho. I logged into my old Tripod account and found two things, one was the website I created on Adobe Dreamweaver for my old band Downtown Owl. Very basic, but looked pretty cool. Whatever.

But I also stumbled upon an old site I had created called Infinity Over Infinity. It wasn't particularly well designed or anything. Instead, it was very much like Racecar Brown: a place where I had decided to write down every thought that came into my head, regardless of topic.

More after the jump.

Embracing a Hole in the Ground

The only person close to me that I've had pass away was Eric, who I wrote about earlier this month, on the fifth anniversary of his death. I'm not trying to pish-posh his death, but it's not the same as a parent or sibling or child dying, obviously. And I've never had someone with that sort of closeness, someone who was truly a part and parcel of who I was as a person, pass away.

I bring this up because I feel like it probably has some sort of influence on how I feel about death and how I view it.

See, I've always struggled to understand people who were profoundly affected by death. That probably comes off as cold and/or callous, but it's true.

Watch me try to justify this after the break.

Good Arms Vs. Bad Arms

At what point do we stop being afraid?

Wait, let me back up.

A few days ago, I posted that Bill Hicks video and, in it, he talked about the choice between Fear and Love. The choice between locking your door and helping a stranger. The choice between buying a gun and pulling over to help someone change their tire.

If you pay attention to the news-- local, national, or 24-hour-- fear is a pretty constant thing. Play this game some time: watch the local news and count the number of stories where the intent is not to make you afraid. If you get to over five, well you're in luck because you live in Canada.

Feel the love after the jump.

Demo: "Midwest Winters"

This needs a little something in the bridge, but whatever. Check it out.

It's Just A Ride

Been listening to a lot of Bill Hicks lately.

Here's the thing about Bill Hicks that a lot of people know: Bill Hicks came off often as an angry individual. Here's a thing that may have been less obvious: Bill Hicks didn't want to be an angry individual.

Hicks saw a lot of beauty in the world, or at least he tried to. If his act is anything to go by, he found it hard to deal with the things he didn't find beautiful.

Now, see, that's a viewpoint that I can feel a kinship with.

There's a lot of wonderful stuff here in the world, but I've been having a rough time trying to engage with it.

So I watched the following clip. It's just a ride, folks.

My History With Final Fantasy/Fate as a Storytelling Device

The very first video game I fell in love with was Final Fantasy VII. It's one of the very vivid memories of my childhood. I was maybe twelve or thirteen, and I was over at a friend's house and he happened to be playing it. I had played video games before, had owned a NES and a Sega Genesis and played the basics: Sonic, Mario, Aladdin, Lion King, etc.

Now, see, I didn't have an SNES, and one of the things the video games of the Super Nintendo introduced was storytelling. Look at Star Fox, at Final Fantasy IV and VI, just for a trio of classic examples. These games brought plot into video games in a more real way and I had missed it. I was probably playing soccer.

More after the jump.

An Extended Metaphor, or Scott Walker is a Douchebag

This is an extended metaphor, so bear with me. I admit fully that the situation I'm about to present to you will take a little stretching of your imagination, but we'll get there in the end, I promise. I'll take you down to Mordor and then right back to the Shire. So keep that in mind when examining this hypothetical, okay?

So let's say that you're in elementary school. Let's say that you're in fifth grade, the highest of the high, the mightiest of the mighty at that young age. Let's say, too, that there are just a ton of kids in your school, a couple hundred in each grade. There's a huge playground, with tons to do; there's four square, there's a baseball diamond, a soccer field, a football field, hell even a separate kickball diamond. There's a playground and a swing set and hey even a rugby pitch, a teeter totter and some monkey bars. Maybe even multiples of each. It's a fantasy, let's go with it.

Read more after the jump.

Silver Linings: How the Internet Istantly Came Together to Help in Japan

There's not much to say on a day like today aside from acknowledging the tragedy of the earthquake in Japan, a tragedy that now has over 400 confirmed deaths, and a sea-faring vessel of at least 80 crew lost. If you haven't been following along, I'd suggest meandering over to your favorite news outlet and taking the time to look into it.

There's not much to feel positive over the disaster, of course, but there were a few things that buoyed my spirits.

Hit the break to find out what.

Some Writing Ideas

I'm on vacation, as I've been saying. This takes a lot of time out of your day, counterintuitively. So, I figured I'd just do something that is essentially my own bookkeeping. This is a list of some writing projects I've either undertaken or am planning on undertaking. If you're at all interested, comment and tell me which of these you'd be most interested in seeing.


Hit the break to see.

Mardi Gras

No post today. Spent the day in New Orleans at Mardi Gras. See you tomorrow!