Friday, December 30, 2011

I'm Back

Oh, hi there. Have you missed me? Probably not. I was going to do more of those cartoon thingys, but then that website started charging you to make movies and so that idea is down the shitter. But I wanted to post something since it has been over a year since the last post and I wanted at least one to get posted in 2011. So, in case I can't think of anything else in the next day and a half, here is a post that I started a long time ago (like in April of 2008)- it looks like the beginning to a short story, but I have no idea where I was planning on going with this. That might piss you off (it kinda pisses me off, actually), but I'll entertain any ideas on where to go with this story and maybe I'll actually finish it.

Merry New Year!

Eddie's Story

Everyone has a story. Most of the time we go through life as if we are the main character of a movie and everyone we come in contact through only serves a purpose in our personal movie. But if we ever stopped to think about it, we know that isn't true. Everyone has a story and if you had the time and the inclination, most people would tell you at length, and in way too much detail, the particulars of their story.

Most people's stories are wholly uninteresting to anyone else, of course, but there are a few stories that are worth hearing. Some stories provide clues to the nature of mankind, or show a reflection of the listener that they had never glimpsed before, or just give hope to anyone that hears them. Maybe Eddie's story isn't quite as deep as all that, but that's for the listener to decide. Some stories are just worth hearing because they are entertaining, and Eddie's story is certainly that.

If the decisions we make in life shape our stories, then the first impact on Eddie's story was when he decided to become an atronaut. Eddie was seven years old and the Space Shuttle Challenger had just blown up off the coast of Florida. Eddie didn't really understand much of what was going on, but he thought the explosions were pretty cool. He had a child's nascent understanding that his mother was upset about the explosions for some reason and his father seemed angry. He overheard his father blame the explosion on "trying to make some damn schoolteacher into an astronaut." Eddie didn't like his teacher at school, and in his mind his father's statement came out like this: schoolteacher=bad; astronaut=good. That was enough to convince Eddie.

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