My most recent case of writer’s block seems to be over. Unfortunately, I’ve had some difficulty creating time to write. That ends now.

Here is a list, in no particular order, of my immediate projects:

• Paper for Philosophy class.
• Begin novel #2. Yup, it’s the sequel to the last one.
• Small-time-mafia project.
• Re-write ALL of the Steven series. Start to finish. Nothing remotely hinting toward White Wolf can survive this purge. I have no desire to get sued by a gaming company that I have spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars supporting.
• TF MMORPG proposal. MOSIER!
• Adam.

Heh. I gotta shake my head now that all of that is down in print.

Written on 26 Feb 2005.

So many are mourning the death of the creator of Gonzo journalism. So many say that he was a genius. Now that he’s dead, many seem to even worship at Hunter S. Thompson’s feet. I don’t get it.

Granted, my experience and exposure are limited. I’ve seen the movie interpretation of “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” and that’s it. Others have read several of his books, followed his diatribes against the current governmental administration, and held him up as a role model.

But, more of the vocal mourners seem to have been like me. How much more interest in what he had to say is there now that he’s dead? How will his book sales figures react? For how long will libraries be all checked out of his titles? Why was he a liberal crackpot in life and a literary genius after he commits suicide?

Publishing tactic: suck on a gun barrel. It worked for Nirvana and Hunter S. Thompson. Maybe my novel will spend less time in a slush pile. Added side effect: more iron in your diet.

Those of us that are left behind still get to toil through the day. We who are the so-called “creative types that endure never being able to fully fit in to society” are still here, not fitting in. Not only that, most of us are proud to dissent, not cowed and fearful.

So, here’s my liberal crackpot theory: he didn’t suck on that barrel. It was shoved down his throat.

Written on 17 Feb 2005.

Irresponsible! How could they do this? How could they treat the amazing and multifaceted gems so carelessly? I am betrayed!

My favorite comic company has gone out of business. Dreamwave, host to so many excellent and talented writers and artists, has closed its doors forever. But, you challenge, what’s the big deal? It’s just a comic book.

OH HO! These magnificent pieces of art cannot be slandered by your depreciative claims! Every glossy page was an example of attention to detail. It was an homage to perspective. Each page was something that I would gladly hang and display on my wall.

I admit that I was partial to the subject matter. I collected Transformers when I was a child, and have begun again at the suggestion of a friend. The story lines, while not the most creative, did a fantastic job of delving into and developing the personalities of stereotypical characters. And now that the storylines are so much truncated fantasy, I find myself raising my fists to the sky in melodramatic rage.

They closed for “bad business practices.” They deferred payment to their writers and to their artists. THEY DID NOT PAY THEIR TALENT. And yet, they expected to continue to publish fifteen different comic books every month. Bad business practices, indeed.

I am left with unfinished stories and a determination to do better than they have.

Written on 12 Feb 2005.

The entire state feels like it’s in its death throes. In most of Flint, getting shot is a daily concern. In Detroit, this is no longer much of a worry, because the city stands practically abandoned, conjuring up images of an old western ghost town. Saginaw is hanging on by the skin of its teeth. Racially and economically divided by a river, the weather is the only thing preventing the city from boiling over. Lansing lives by the whim of General Motors and the debt-ridden state government.

What about the suburbs of Detroit, you ask. They’re extremely prosperous. Yes, this place has plenty of money. Likely as not, that will only last for another generation or two. Constant Urban Sprawl (white rich people fleeing black people who are trying to live a better life) eats the land and the trees. Housing and strip malls stand empty from time of construction and into the flight of the money intended to fill them. The young intelligencia leave, sick and tired of a car-based and basically flawed system of transportation. One can sit on I-696 stopped for only so many times. Soon, suburbia will stand as abandoned as Detroit now sits.

What about the rural areas of the state, you ask. There are several pristine small towns and rural expanses that seem immune to the collapse. These towns do not succumb to the Urban Sprawl (no Wal-Mart) and are not home to the infamous rednecks that populate the Michigan Militia and the KKK. However, the whole state cannot be supported by these small and rare utopias.

What about the western side of the state? Ok, you got me. I know very little about places like Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and Traverse City. It is possible, though unlikely, that the west side of the state has the magical wand that will be waved, and we will all be saved, to live happily ever after. But I doubt it.

The nation’s birth vs. death ratio is negative. More people die than are born, and the gap is increasing every year. With our recent foul mood toward foreigners, not to mention failing economy, we are less and less an attractive place for immigrants to make their home. All of these parallel state trends and attitudes.

How many homes for sale do you see in a day? How many for rent signs do you see in a day? How many more than five years ago? And yet, the construction and waste continue. Michigan can be saved from death. How many of us are willing to put in the hard work? How many of us are willing to open our minds and learn better ways of doing things? I fear that there are too few.