Upon waking this morning, after having sampled the frigid temperature of the air, the decision was reached to toast a bit of bread for consumption with my daily cuppa. Once the decision had been reached another was made in quick succe
ssion, the toast would become the subject of today’s review—huzzah to the brilliant affair of morning revelations, HUZZAH!
In The Sociopath Next Door author Martha Stout, Ph.D. puts forth a disturbing question regarding sociopathic personalities: “Can we say for sure that sociopathy does not work for the individual who has it? Is sociopathy a disorder at all, or is it functional?” She also goes on to question if having a conscience puts a person on the losing team, pointing out the power in the world currently wielded by potentially sociopathic personalities . She goes on to address these issues throughout the book, citing composite examples from her experience.
Gil Scott-Heron is one of the most notable musicians and writers of the 70s, and his words and musical styling had a big impact on other artists and society in general. There are many articles available that discuss the influence and importance of his music and his career, so I think I’ll take a different tactic with this review. I am going to discuss his message as it correlates to his life because that is what I find most inspirational about Gil Scott-Heron.
I’d like to start this post by thanking everyone who read/like/reblogged my post from yesterday entitled A Little Bit of Where I’m Coming from. It was difficult for me to publish, so I really appreciate it.
That being said I’d like to return to a lighter note for today! On Monday I reviewed the NBC television show Community, which you can read here. I tend to analyze things until, well, there’s really no until. I never stop analyzing, even while I sleep (stupid brain, always doing stuff). So anyway, thanks to this tendency I noticed there was something wrong with my review. I make the statement that “from here the show moves on to explore various themes such as television and the entertainment industry, deep philosophical ideas, societal issues, academia, and life and humanity in general. While many different shows have explored these ideas I cannot think of one that hits them all, and with such ridiculous eloquence, biting wit, and wisdom.”
Welcome to my first Monday review!
When I began watching this show I did not pay enough attention to it. This is pretty easy given the general craziness that encompasses each episode, but that general craziness is also what first attracted me to the show.
It wasn’t until I sat down to watch Community a second time, this time with my fiancee who had yet to see it, that I began to realize just how intelligent and awesome it is. You see, that craziness that makes Community what it is also masks its genius. It is only in this show that you will find incredibly deep ideas so thoroughly explored in a manner that is completely non-offensive, hilarious, and majorly entertaining. And I honestly cannot think of another series that has brought me to happy tears, but the season 3 finale did just that when the most narcissistic and self-absorbed character on the show stood up to state this simple thought:
I talked so much about the introduction to Ray Bradbury Stories, Volume 1 yesterday, I think it is only fitting to start with it today! That and this post got kind of chopped up, so I had to do some rewriting for the sake of sense and easy reading. If you have not done so yet, I would recommend reading part one of this post.
The idea of the tortured artist is not a new one, but this is another point on which I agree with Mr. Bradbury; I don’t find writing to be difficult. I have written since I was a child and have made practice of creating stories and worlds for as long as I can remember. In second grade I sat down and wrote my first short story, it was about a little girl going to get her first hair cut. It probably wasn’t good. I made cardboard covers for it and, on a whim, brought it to school to share. I have always been a writer, I was born a writer. My stories often arise naturally, a convergence of subconscious ideas intermingling with conscious knowledge that suddenly erupts into something tangible. The name of my blog refers to this process.
When this happens I’ll sit down and write feverishly and full to the end of whatever project has suddenly come to fruition in my mind. Other times a paragraph, or even merely a single line, will pop into my head and beg to be written down. The rest of the story waits somewhere deep inside my thought process, cooking, until one day I find what that little snippet was meant to be a part of.
Ray Bradbury is one of my favorite authors, and I always find his words inspiring. I didn’t really pay attention to his work until college. I found myself kind of lost when I first left home. I am from a small town and attended very poor and often low-rated schools while growing up, with the exception of my elementary school. Anyway, I was completely out of my element when I arrived at college, and it was certain that the kids around me had gleaned a whole helluva lot more knowledge than I had from my K-12 education.
I can honestly say that I didn’t really get over this feeling of inadequacy until I left school. One day, in my third year of higher education, I found myself lost in the library stacks. While wandering through what has always been my second home (libraries), I came across a volume entitled Ray Bradbury Stories, Volume 1. I took it back to my dorm where it waited on my desk until a day when I found myself feeling particularly downtrodden. I began to flip through at random, reading whatever felt right, and I found myself feeling way more than better. It was like Bradbury knew everything I was going through, had been there before, and had devoted his life to eloquently setting it out on paper for the aid of future generations. I still find myself popping open one of his books anytime I am feeling blue. I like to call it Bradbury therapy, and it is something I highly recommend!
