Books and Keeping Track of What I Read

So, in the last few months, I've read more fiction on a weekly basis than I think I ever have in my entire life. Who has time for fiction when academia is hounding you to read painfully boring stuff--and I mean wanting to spoon out my eyeballs and burn them so I have an excuse as to why I can't read, cause they couldn't have possibly published all those academic articles in braille right?

Any who, thanks to an American postmodern fiction class I took, I've finally had the chance to read stuff classified as academic that expanded on my thinking about certain things. The class was like a book club for academic nerds. I certainly was able to re-examine theories I came across previously through novels like Jazz by Toni Morrison, Neuromancer by William Gibson, Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston,  The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven  by Sherman Alexie, and Maus by Art Spiegelman (which I haven't touched since third grade).These are books I would not have touched otherwise and was glad I forced myself into a situation where I had to. Being able to think about things like identity formation and becoming,and the role of history, culture, environment etc., in all of this, through works of fiction of the most truthful sort, is a nice alternative to all theory all the time, which is at times the blandest way to encounter knowledge. Needless to say, I've enjoyed my time in the world of fiction almost as much as I enjoy my time watching thought-provoking anime/Japanese animated shows/movies. I now desire to communicate my findings in the world of theory in similar ways--except maybe in graphic novel form, and no not the academic ones that are actually paper tranquilizers with pictures.

It's been a while since I've read these books but the ideas communicated still pop up from time to time. I wonder how effective it would be to take notes from these novels, like I would my academic texts...Would I be academizing an artform and thus rendering it boring? Who knows, but I've gotta keep better track of what I read sand my mind isn't the most reliable place at the moment.

Oh yeah, so a friend of mine lent me a few books I consumed rather quickly and would like to incorporate into my understanding of love/ loving practice, becoming, and the place of violence in all of this. I'm still grappling with the necessity of violence in the process of becoming and rethinking what this means. The books are Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler. As with the previously mentioned novels and authors--except Spiegelman--I have never read any of her work but have always heard about how amazing she is and have now seen for myself. I enjoyed Parable of the Sower more (I don't know, it just seemed more impactful in its messaging) because it made me revisit my wanderings in attempting to understand alchemy--read The Alchemist  by Paulo Coelho a while back among other brief texts about alchemy and everything. Now I just have to revisit and synthesize everything in an attempt to come to my own understanding of all of this complicated stuff! But who has time for that? I've gotta learn some new learning software for a class I'm teaching in a few weeks!

For now I'll take what I can get. I kinda wish I had more friends who read cool books they could loan me, or at least had a suggestion or two. I really don't have time to but if it's juicy, I'll make time dammit! I mean fiction of course, and am beginning to favor postmodern styles more and more, which includes graphic novels too! Reminds me to include The Eternal Smile  by Gene Luen Yang  in my attempted synthesis. Good stuff.

So yeah, any suggestions for what to read that is related to anything mentioned here or elsewhere in this bloggy-blog is welcome. No guarantees I'll read it, but will try if you really want me to. I also wish I could discuss these books with someone and not just internet paper...

Oh well, until next time...  

Stories I have yet to tell but would like to someday pt. 2

So, in the last five (actually more than five) years, the latest story lines I've pondered have had to do with angels. Loosely biblical in that they all have jobs they are born into (via creation)--which is their title--and serve God (an amoral being in this fictional setting) these angels, also have powers associated with their jobs. I've thought about and began developing a string of characters for one story line, while the other is still in the stages of being imagined out. Both are in serious need of being fleshed out. My fatal flaw in doing this is that it's easier to imagine the stories in my head (and super cool scenes that could be in them) than it is to write it out and actually grapple with making sense of all this madness. But on to the ideas...

"Untitled" (seriously I don't know what to call it yet)--generated during undergrad years

I probably developed too many characters for this one--and have toyed around with separate stories and story lines that deal with them in groups but the overarching story line deals with this premise:
Heaven and Hell are planets hidden from Earth (a purgatory of sorts for both planets) by gateways. Heaven is the home base for God and the angels. God is not present in these story lines but the laws of God are (all of which I have not yet firmly established). Angelic beings found in violation of these laws are sent to Earth in a sentencing ritual that takes place at a gateway found in the middle of the planet. Senders (an angelic job class) are tasked with handing down the sentencing and forcing the guilty party out by way of a giant hammer which has an embossed halo at its end that is inscribed into the Fallen's  body when hit with it. This parting blow sends them through the gateway to Earth shedding them of their angelic flesh and becoming a human soul to be born somewhere on Earth to begin their atonement.

The ritual is so devastatingly violent that a large amount of the Fallen forget their origins and simply grow up and live as humans. There are few ways in which they are able to recognize their true origins 1) they are contacted by Communicators on Heaven and given a task to fulfill--the completion of which allows for their record to be reviewed for re-admittance into Heaven 2) they make contact with another that has shared a significant connection with them while on Heaven and 3) they sustain a connection with their status for a significant amount of time on Earth that awakens memories of their status on Heaven--something that often occurs in adulthood. Once their origins are recognized, these individuals have a choice to make--fulfill the duties they were sentenced to fulfill in order to be reconsidered for re-admittance into Heaven, or simply continue living on Earth and being judged upon their death for admittance to Heaven or Hell (not a terrible place but a dystopian one nonetheless).

Whew! And that's just the premise!

So with this story, or series of stories, I follow several individuals who have become aware of their origins and thus their associated powers. Angelic categories developed so far include: Guardians (which includes Humanes, Plantaeous, Earthers, Animalia, Insectors, among others; each has a breakdown of sub categories except for the Humanes), Seraphs (or Archangels--which I have taken to mean the bringers of death),  Elementals (for their control and guidance of Earth's various elements), and Cherubs (bringers of love--and not always the stereotypical kind).

When accessing the powers within their souls, their eye color changes and is associated with their angelic class.

With the varied realizations is a coming to grips with their "crimes" on Heaven and their lives up to that point. Some have hungered or have been haunted by the need to establish a connection with another Heavenly being in order to do right by them, or bring to close the situation that led to their exile in the first place, regardless of whether or not it gets them back into Heaven; like Isis, Psyche, Focus, and Twadeah. Others have hungered for some sense of worth through which near self-destruction has led to their awakening; like Halo, Nova, Zero, Panther, and Feather (that's right I began character/name recycling). Others have started their own underground organizations which the Fallen become involved in in order to assist humanity (mostly  Humanes), Earth in general (an amoral undertaking at times by the other Guardians), or simply reconnect with their past lives as Heavenly beings; like the Bluebird Assassins which primarily consists of Seraphs like Canary, Sparrow, Redd, Falcon, and Stellar.

Sometimes these groups interact with one another in positive and negative ways. But I wanted to follow and develop stories, and adventures surrounding individuals who at one point were hapless but become empowered, all while struggling with what it means to be who they are, what they really want from life (to return to Heaven or just live as beings with angelic souls), and how they should live knowing what they do.

Other "Untitled" story--graduate school years 

Taking off from parts of the premise that involves angelic beings and planets Heaven and Earth, I came up with a different story line. This one chronicles the lives of angelic beings before they were exiled onto Earth to be born as humans. As they grow up, these beings--in their infantile stages up to the moment of childhood where they completely cease speaking gibberish--still maintain memories and the languages (observed as gibberish by adults) their home planet; however their infantile brains are incapable of full articulation or being understood by humans, which leads to much frustration by some of these infants. This is something that fades as they mature into their human selves and is forgotten completely once they stop speaking gibberish--or practicing the last remembrances of their connection to their angelic selves and planet.

I got this idea from listening to my Sonny Buns make up his own language and at times going on an on in gibberish (he's four by the way and so far an only child) in ways that make me think maybe his is saying something in some other language. Maybe growing up is the severance of our connection to heaven or at least ourselves as angels in heaven.

Backbone Snacks: Misadventures in Dystopia (title still being revised)--graduate school years

This story chronicles Sun's (short for Sunshine) journey through a Societology seminary where she hopes to become a priest that can help others. Aided by her closest friends Santos and Feather, she struggles through the first of three trials--Design (the others being Mastery, and Faith)--in order to validate herself to the other Priests and Father--the head of the seminary (now a status fulfilled by any gender). During this time, Sun and the others are aware that the Priests, the Father, and other Acolytes (the status of Priests in training), learn to maintain their status by un/knowingly consuming the backbones of others that are powerless.

One's backbone  is a source of strength and ability to stand one's ground--one's dignity resides in their backbones, which are mercilessly harvested by the powerful. This essence is ripped from one's spine making it a violent and traumatic occurrence (I was thinking of the stripping of Wolverine's adamantium in "Fatal Attractions" as a depiction of this act) that can wipe out a good amount of one's memories of the event and what led up to it. At its worst a person can be gravely injured and loose a significant amount of memory.

Additional aspects of this dystopian world include one's soul being housed in an orb separate from their beings, Acolytes that are housed directly at the Seminary of their choosing (there are tons of specialties to become a Priest in) enhancements through cybernetics which can result in deformities on the body and or mind--where most implants are placed.

This is one story I've actually begun writing. It might end up being a short story but is quite lengthy based on what I have to add. Haven't touched it in a few months, but I liked the direction it was going. This was my autoethnographic fictional piece that chronicles my trials and tribulations experienced in graduate school (not much of a secret for those of you that know).

Well that's all for the story ideas at the moment--minus the super cool action sequences I dreamed up for the angelic sagas. Just had to get these ideas down on internet paper. Cannot keep track of them in my brain.

Thanks for listening.

Later...

Stories I have yet to tell but would like to someday

So, after reading this series of posts, I've decided to at least chronicle all the stories, starting from eighth grade, I've attempted to develop and ideas I've had in my head. Most of these involve super-powered beings (what can I say? Reading Marvel does things for the imagination sometimes). So here it goes:

"The Crew"--eighth grade
This story featured an alter-ego of me. The main character, Panther (that's right my power was that I could either partially or fully morph into a panther), after finding out her powers as a teenager, runs away from a crappy existence at home and stays with a friend Canary who--along with her family--so happens to be part of an espionage network of people with and without powers, The Crew. Panther and Canary (no powers) join a team that includes Redd and Cosmo, and the four have awesome adventures and a few close calls. Needless to say, her life gets interesting as she gets to meddle in affairs that the rest of humanity knows nothing about--you know, monsters, aliens, and the like, kicking ass the entire way. I intended it to be a comic book series.

 Just one of those fantasies a kid has after watching Foxy Brown and James Bond flicks--fantasies of being taken seriously, kicking ass first and taking names later. You know, the complete opposite of my then crappy life.

"Bluebird Assassins"--high school
This was more of an idea I had about a group of young adults that find one another after discovering their parents were part of an assassins network and that they have been genetically enhanced to one day continue doing their jobs--something that manifests in the form of a mind trigger once they are of age (18) and the parent in question has been offed (if this were to happen while under-aged, their trigger wouldn't happen until they reached 18). Part of this trigger puts in the possessor a need to find something that has been lost, something that they are attracted to--their parents' secret arsenal which has a video that, once watched initiates them into the group Feather. Oddly enough this occurs with three of the kids at once (Stellar, Crowe, and, Robin), whom bring in the other two (Blue, and Jaye--twin girls) after finding out their parents were killed as well.

Things are fine for awhile as they find their way in the world of assassins, but the story ends up being about Blue and Jaye going their separate ways as Blue wants to trade this way of life for one of atonement while Jaye is more than okay with fulfilling the role she was designed to fulfill.

Again another fantasy world of action and adventure where my alter ego Blue is once more empowered and awesome, even in her quest for some sense of agency in her life.

Up next--recent (5yrs to present) stories and ideas

Research Ideas: Comic related pt.2

So, here is another idea I've been trying to work out in my mind. I'm not sure if it should be classified as research  since it is more of a story proposal regarding the mutant side of the Marvel Universe.

The notion of this proposal is the theorizing of the origins of mutant kind. I derived the idea from the Truth: Red White and Black book that tells of the origins of Captain America which was discussed briefly in the last post. I thought it would be interesting if it were discovered that mutant kind was actually created by human hands. The explanation for this coming from the decades that humanity has lived with chemicals and pollutants that have come to be disastrous for the surrounding environment. I realize this takes the mutant timeline only as far back as maybe the industrial revolution, but there are already a million alternate universes in Marvel, one more wouldn't hurt. As I was saying, this explanation would also chronicle large scale global environmental disasters like Hiroshima, Chernobyl and conflicts using chemical warfare among others. Long standing nuclear experiments and the proximity within which groups have lived by factories would also be taken into account along with increased reliance on medications, food additives, pesticides, bug sprays and so on. Any and everything humanity has lived with for the sake of an 'improved' standard of life.

Wouldn't it be interesting to ponder the extent to which this reality affects humanity. What if it genetically altered humans to the extent that another 'race' of humans emerged. Sure it would be tough to make a leap as  drastic as having powers but in the realm of fiction, what isn't possible? Perhaps it could be seen as a far too late cautionary tale or one that further complicates what would then be an arbitrary rift between humans and mutants.

Research or just stories or both or neither? What do you think of such ideas?

I realize in both ideas that I am likely quite naive about what goes on in the Marvel Universe. Maybe someday when I actually have time and resources to, I can begin to get a better grasp on Marvel and the stories told. Until then, I'll be a naively idealistic fan who sees some of what Marvel has done as endeavors of social justice. If there are insights on any of these research ideas or perspectives please share them. I definitely have a lot to read and learn about the comics world and thus appreciate your thoughts.

Until next time...

What is the Meaning of Living Without?

I've heard it and heard myself say it time and time again. That there is that something I cannot live without. Sleep seems to be tops on this list, yet I cannot make it past 7:30 a.m. most days. Regardless many other things of this sort--the things I cannot live without--have come to pass and I have simply learned to do without them. Which leaves me wondering why I was so caught up over that in the first place? (I have yet to say this about sleeping in however.)

There are other more serious things in our social environments and societies where at one point we've said we can't live without it and yet--much later on--we can't remember why that thing was such a big deal as we have adapted and moved on. Maybe things like the ozone layer, clean air in general, 'real' food, and lack of violent encounters might be examples. I can't seem to think of any better ones at the moment--a little help would be nice.

I just wonder if we have learned to live without things both great and small that should have been appreciated  or at least were truly necessary to our lives after all--despite our failure to notice these things once they are no more? For instance, does it mean that I'm okay with somehow poisoning myself should I truly learn to live without sleeping in? Does it mean that we are shortening the futures of others as well as our own by not understanding what it is to truly live without conflict--violent and non-violent? Sure it might not be a good way to live being attached to 'worldly possessions' but what if, while they are here they serve a purpose that should not be forgotten? An example for me is my mother's side of my family line and their ability to talk stories. It's something I cherish about my family and other's families, yet not having grown up around it myself, I do not have the ability to do the same and crave this ability and these kinds of stories all the time. Surely there is a purpose to the ability to tell stories--even if they are heavily embellished.

I wonder what other things we have forgotten about that are as necessary as they are seemingly unnecessary. Any feedback, insights or stories on this matter are welcome.