Water In The Well

So my next game is due by the 14th. I have to get my artist to actually do the art, the synopsis sent to my writer to weave me a back story and some flavor text, hash together the cards and the board, finish making the rules easy and awesome to read, and do a little happy dance.

Meanwhile my webcomic has come to a stand still. In our recent move to the new sweet bigger place I misplaced all my work. In one of these boxes it is. Sigh. I’m still searching…

My new man cave is slowly coming together. Maybe I should post a pic of that?

Wow. That makes total sense. Hang on…

There was a time when all you had was what was in your own head and whatever else you happened to come across. If you really wanted to know how other people felt or how the world worked you had to actually care about it, and go read books. We used to look up to people who read a lot of books, because they obviously cared about things, and most likely knew things that we didn’t cause we didn’t read fuck all. What’d they call them philosophers, priests, lawyers, Mr. President sir… you get the point. Knowledge conveyed respect.

Then you have today. A rather large mess of media, filled with so much opinion, and self-doubt that there is barely any room for knowledge at all. Most people I talk to know more about things that simply are not real, than anything of actual value. Interestingly enough, they base their own lives and views of the world on knowledge and morality they picked up by watching too much prime time television. I can have an six hour conversation about comics, video games, television shows, movies, etc. I highly doubt the same could be said about physics, chemistry, biology, history, etc. With all this free “knowledge” around we’ve realized what amazingly adaptive sponges we are and started soaking it all up, but its shit.

I’m glad you are using your brain for something. But, it appears that somewhere along the way we decided that reading books, any book as long as it is a book, is a good thing. Look, story books are made up. They are not real. Read about something real. Try balancing real with made up. Made up is a wonderful thing, but the funny thing about Made up is that most of it is based on real. And to truly appreciate that which is Made up, you need to understand what is real.

Particularly characters. Characters are a thing we use in stories to pull you in and interest you. They have all sorts of problems and deep thoughts about things. Because if they didn’t, they wouldn’t feel real and interesting. The thing is, a shockingly large number of folks don’t have their own problems or deep thoughts about things. Not really. Then they are exposed to characters and WHAMMO! they begin to think something is wrong. They start grabbing opinions and problems and thoughts like a junkie in electronics store during the LA riots. “I Need These!”

Listen, your only real problem is that you are like just about everyone else. I know you don’t realize this, but you never cared to even think about it before. You don’t actually yearn to know anything. You don’t actually care why the world goes around the sun, it has no impact on you, or importance in your life. It’s OK. That’s normal. Don’t adopt a cause to try and cover up the fact that your life is meaningless, or pointless. You are not a character, you are a real person. You don’t have to have problems, or thoughts about anything important. To be honest, all you should be concerned about it learning a trade, taking care of your family, and finding something that makes you happy.

It’s when you get caught up in television, and the internet that you start to go all wrong. Largely television and the internet are horrible loathsome places filled with every vice, and ugly truth, and pretty lie that we can imagine. All wrapped up and served as entertainment, protected by freedom of speech. An idea conceived of when the only way someone could tell you what they thought was if you kept reading, or if you stood still long enough and listened. Now they can rattle away at you across a myriad of spectrums and reach you no matter where you hide.

Censorship is impossible, but caution isn’t. I wrote a simple to do list to keep you from becoming what you are not, and worrying about things you don’t care about.

1. Never watch television. If you enjoy the concept of a show go out and buy it, or download it, or even just get a streaming service like Netflix. Stay free of as many ads as you can, and control your own schedule of when you want entertainment.

2. Read your local news. It tells you all about the things that actually effect you, and things that are actually happening that you can do outside of your house.

3. Balance real with made up. If you want to be entertained, find something real and learn about it. There is all sorts of entertainment to be found in knowledge.

4. Experience supersedes judgement. Do it before you love it or hate it. Know it before you ignore it. Find out, before you cast it out.

5. Compassion starts with someone else. Self-love is introverted, selfish, and ultimately an exercise in being miserable. Love is shared. Don’t buy into modern, “I must love myself” thinking. It’s a trap for the weak. Be strong.

i heart my new iphone. i know this makes me a part of the flock or whatever. but, my last one saw me through just shy of three years without a hitch. it was a steady level of cool and functionality all the way from past to present. but, it was time to upgrade so i could play with all the new things that are available nowadays.

i am totally happy with that decision. and since my girlfriend purchased the upgrade as an early birthday gift, it’s double good cause it was a present.