Sorry, I've been too busy living life to blog.
Besides, it's kinda depressing to talk about canceled projects and things that didn't pan out. (So I won't).
I've taken up stock photography. Gonna post a whole mess of photos on Flickr so people can use 'em for free. It feels nice to contribute to the world's visual inventory.
Inked one page of a comic, too. Don't know if I'll get much more of it done anytime soon. Oh well.
Life continues... if you let it.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010
Imaginary Friends
No one ever stops having imaginary friends. We just learn to share.
As for me, I said goodbye to the invisible Stegosaurus who used to walk me to the bus stop when I met four green gentlemen of the turtle persuasion named Michaelangelo, Leonardo, Donatello, and Raphael. Me and the kids from my neighborhood would spend all day hanging out with the ninja turtles. To our parents it might have looked like we were shaking plastic figurines and scribbling with crayons, but that's because they didn't have the imagination necessary to see that the eight-foot-tall turtles in the room, eating pizza and twirling nunchucks.
Then came Han Solo and hisspace pimp bounty hunter nemesis, Boba Fett. Star Wars and Star Trek were the first imaginary worlds in recent times that it was somewhat okay for grown men to play in. I mean, "discuss."
Meanwhile, the kids in my class who were good at things I wasn't, like throwing things and catching things and running without puking, were making friends with Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky and whoever was playing football at that time. They never met the real Jordan, of course. The Jordan they played theoretical games with wasn't just a black man who could run really fast and jump really high. He was Jordan the Superstar. Michael Jordan - the human being - has as much in common with Michael Jordan the Superstar as Harrison Ford has with Han Solo.
Nowadays, it's Harry Potter and those pasty kids from Twilight. Or Master Chief from Halo. Or whatever character Samuel Jackson is playing. In ancient times, it was Oddysseus or Gilgamesh. Humans have always had a need for fantasy. But it is only in recent times that it has become acceptable to admit this. To embrace it.
With the rise of the internet, people could share their love of fictional universes anonymously, without fear of embarrassment. But playing pretend isn't as much fun without real friends to play with - thus conventions arose. Now fully grown adults can dress up in costumes and share their passion for imaginary worlds with other people, at least for a few days at a time. Maybe one day we'll even stop calling them geeks and eccentrics for being open about their obsessions.
As for me, I said goodbye to the invisible Stegosaurus who used to walk me to the bus stop when I met four green gentlemen of the turtle persuasion named Michaelangelo, Leonardo, Donatello, and Raphael. Me and the kids from my neighborhood would spend all day hanging out with the ninja turtles. To our parents it might have looked like we were shaking plastic figurines and scribbling with crayons, but that's because they didn't have the imagination necessary to see that the eight-foot-tall turtles in the room, eating pizza and twirling nunchucks.
Then came Han Solo and his
Meanwhile, the kids in my class who were good at things I wasn't, like throwing things and catching things and running without puking, were making friends with Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky and whoever was playing football at that time. They never met the real Jordan, of course. The Jordan they played theoretical games with wasn't just a black man who could run really fast and jump really high. He was Jordan the Superstar. Michael Jordan - the human being - has as much in common with Michael Jordan the Superstar as Harrison Ford has with Han Solo.
Nowadays, it's Harry Potter and those pasty kids from Twilight. Or Master Chief from Halo. Or whatever character Samuel Jackson is playing. In ancient times, it was Oddysseus or Gilgamesh. Humans have always had a need for fantasy. But it is only in recent times that it has become acceptable to admit this. To embrace it.
With the rise of the internet, people could share their love of fictional universes anonymously, without fear of embarrassment. But playing pretend isn't as much fun without real friends to play with - thus conventions arose. Now fully grown adults can dress up in costumes and share their passion for imaginary worlds with other people, at least for a few days at a time. Maybe one day we'll even stop calling them geeks and eccentrics for being open about their obsessions.
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