Hey, wait a second... weren't we supposed to get hit by an asteroid? What happened to that?
https://www.cnet.com/news/looks-like-that-election-day-asteroid-didnt-smack-us-after-all/
Hm. So 2018 social distanced from 2020 in a year plagued by 2019. You know what - that checks out. At least we dodged one bullet this year! 😏
It all started when I was in elementary school.
Back in that day, movies were on VHS tapes, music was on cassettes, and computers were ugly, hulking machines. Books then are the same as books now, however, and my love and respect for them hasn't changed over the years.
My family has always been thrifty, so I don't believe we went to see The Pagemaster in theaters, but at some point it showed up in my home video collection (whether bought new or at a garage sale), and it became a fast favorite. A fearful kid, played by Macauley Culkin (circa Home Alone era), finds himself in a grand library. He slips, hits his head, and is transported into a mystical, animated book world, complete with book friends based (and named) on genres: Adventure, Fantasy, and Horror. They go off together and encounter otherworldly settings and characters based on actual stories in these genres (Moby Dick, Treasure Island, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) while trying to help Macauley's character escape this cartoon world of fiction and get back home. There's plenty of wholesome lessons and eventually a happy ending - I won't spoil everything for you. It's a dated movie, but cute. Watch it, if you get the chance!
I loved this movie, growing up... except for one scene, which haunts me to this day.
One of the first fictional worlds the characters find themselves in is an eerie manor inhabited by a polite, well-dressed doctor. He invites them inside from the elements, and kindly offers them a drink. Adventure accepts, but the drink ends up getting spilled by Horror... and when the liquid eats a hole in the floor, it becomes evident by the mood and tone so far what story and genre our protagonists are in.
The respectable gentleman downs his own drink and starts to undergo his transformation. "Doctor... Jekyll?" our cautious hero stammers. The man, now bedraggled, slowly creeps toward the screen, fingers interlocked over his face. "My name is... MR. HYDE!" he screams, quickly removing his fingers and revealing a gruesome, horrific, nightmare-inducing face with red eyes, pointed teeth, and a sickening pallor. Consumed by madness, Mr. Hyde chases the characters around the manor until they find a way to escape into the next story.
Mr. Hyde's face... is terrifying. (I looked it up to research this post, and it still legit gives me PTSD from being 7-years-old, so I'm not even going to post the screenshot I found. 😰) His slow, intentional, shambling movements toward the camera... his maniacal laughter... his determination to hunt down the boy and his friends at all costs... it all laid a firm foundation for my aversion to jump scares and horror that I fervently cling to, even now.
For the longest time, I feared that the monster resided in the basement of my childhood home, lurking in the shadows, eagerly waiting for the one day I forgot to sprint up the basement stairs to grab me by the ankle and pull me into the darkness. It didn't matter if the light was on or off - I was certain he was right behind me as soon as my back was turned to the open abyss.
I'm a little less plagued by irrational dread now... but once in awhile, the basement shadows will shift and give me pause, and I'll scramble up the stairs just a little quicker than normal and shut the door firmly behind me. The closed door provides safety and a tangible barrier. I have an understanding with the unknown: I'll share my house with whatever lives down there, as long as it agrees to keep quiet and stay out of my sight.
In talking with a friend recently, I described that I thought today would be a "sh*tshow" for a few different reasons. Unfortunately, my puppy must have overheard my use of this exaggeration, because she decided to show me how to use that word unironically. 😑
To honor part of the inspiration for her name, I fashioned this short, sweet doggerel that I think paints an accurate picture of the fun I had with the clean-up yesterday:
I don't hide my love of video games, but once in awhile, I'll find that I catch someone I know off-guard when the subject comes up. ("You're a gamer?! I had no idea!") I've been playing video games since I was little, and though I don't go out of my way to rub that information in anyone's face, I do regularly wear graphic tees showcasing my favorite games. (If you see me walking around in a shirt with an interesting logo you don't recognize, it's not a new underground indie band or some hip new designer label. It's a video game reference, and it's a goal of mine to strike up a conversation with someone astute enough to recognize it for what it is. Most of the time, though, it goes completely unnoticed... and frankly, that's ok too. Who honestly enjoys small talk, anyway?)
To the uninitiated, video games are a waste of time, at best - and straight-up bad for you (and the world as a whole), at worst. I'm here to tell you: it's not true. I've witnessed some of the most amazing art and experienced some of the most poignant moments while playing video games. One such moment came to mind yesterday (while I was brainstorming what on earth I could write about for the next 29 days... haha. 😓).
A lot of gamers stick to a handful of genres or franchises. When I look for a game, I don't really limit myself in that way (although it does help to know that if you enjoyed the last 3 Uncharted games, you'll likely enjoy the 4th one too). Instead, I look for something with spectacle. Does it have a great story? Is it going to shift my perspective? Are the visuals stunning? How's the soundtrack? Is it a unique concept I haven't experienced before? In short: will it blow me away?
One of the games I kept hearing about over and over again was called Journey. It actually came out back in 2012, but I didn't get around to playing it until 2017. (That is how far behind I can get with my backlog of games. 😬)
It's best to go into any game knowing as little as possible. I'd avoided major spoilers, but I knew it was gorgeous, had a beautiful soundtrack, was "artsy" and "short," and had a unique multiplayer twist: you could run into one other player at a time on your "journey" and experience the game together with them, but you would have no idea who they were until the end.
Now, I'm not much for online multiplayer games - I've dabbled a few times in the past (mostly with Destiny), but you won't catch me getting a victory royale in Fortnite in the foreseeable future. Call me old school, but I mostly play single player games, or local couch co-op. Journey had something different to offer, though, and I liked that if I stumbled upon anyone at all (given the game was 5 years old, that was already a pretty big if), I had no way of communicating with them. I couldn't chat with them over headset or message them, and I wouldn't necessarily have to pay them much attention if I didn't want to. The game is short, so we'd be partners for a little while at best, and that would be it. How interesting.
So, I booted up the game.
You start all alone in Journey, as one small, cloaked figure wearing a scarf, trudging through sand dunes toward a mountain. There is no backstory. You don't know how you got there, or where exactly you're going, or why. You can't speak - only "sing" in a sort of unintelligible chirp with the press of a button. There is no narrator. The controls are basic, and what little you need to know is explained visually and melodically as you go. So, you do the only thing it makes sense to do: press forward toward the mountain.
As my character walked, I remember how quiet and lonely it was... but in a beautiful, majestic sort of way, like when you hike alone in nature. The art style of this game was breathtaking. After a short while of walking through the sand, I saw a figure in the distance. Well, it looked like I wasn't going to have a solo Journey after all.
I ran up to the other being. Had he been waiting? He chirped excitedly, little glyphs bouncing above his head, and he jumped and danced in circles. I chirped back - a two-syllable "hello" (but of course there were no words). We continued on together, with him leading the way. Did he know where he was going?
Every so often, he would chirp once or several times, and I would return the conversation. Sometimes he stopped and looked back, waiting. I have no idea what we were talking about, but I tried to interpret the gibberish into the words I imagined were being said:
"Are you still there, friend?" "Yes, I'm here."
"This way, friend!" "Ok!"
"Marco!" "Polo!"
There was no map, and no way to track my companion. At times, he would run off ahead. If we got separated, I found myself starting to worry. I would chirp out a greeting... but hear nothing back. Had I lost him? Did he abandon our game? Was he waiting ahead? Should I wait for him, or proceed? Where did my friend go?
Thankfully, no matter what happened, we always eventually found each other again. Sometimes he was ahead, and sometimes I waited for him. It felt like he knew what he was doing. There was an exasperation in the chirping and jumping at times, when he was trying to indicate what I needed to do. But he was patient, and guided me along.
By the time we reached the end, we had been through a lot together - a "journey," if you will 😏 - and though it was bittersweet, I found the whole experience impactful in so many ways. The visuals and music were just as striking as I had heard, and who knew I'd find a friend along the way? More than that - who knew we'd find a way to communicate with only "singing" and jumping at our disposal?
I know I've played a good game when I'm speechless by the time the credits roll, and that's how I felt at the end of Journey. When it's all over, the game shows you the gamer tag of the person (or people) you played with over the course of your travels. There was just one name listed for me - my friend had stuck by my side til the very end. Even when we had lost each other, he never left.
He sent me a friend request afterward, saying something like, "Wow, I've never played the whole way through with just one person before." Based on his profile, he was clearly from a Spanish-speaking country - so we may not have even been on the same continent together. We never spoke or interacted again, but I cherished my time going on an unknown journey with this complete stranger I'll never meet in real life.
The next day, I started the game up again. This time, I waited in the sand dunes for a cloaked figure walking alone. Now I would be the guide and help someone through their Journey.
I woke up this morning to bizarre dreams and a headache at what I thought was 10 ish... only for my phone to inform me that it was 8:55 am. Oh, right. Daylight Savings Time. That's today, isn't it? This is far too early to be awake on a Sunday in the middle of a pandemic...
Not only is it Daylight Savings Time - the universal sign that Winter Is Coming - it's also the first of November. Everyone knows what that means, right? "That election day is on November 3rd, and all the political ads and mail and texts and calls will stop soon?" Well... yes. (I hope.) But no!
It's National Novel Writing Month! NaNoWriMo, for short. I've heard friends talk about it for years. So, what is it?
National Novel Writing Month began in 1999 as a daunting but straightforward challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel in thirty days. Now, each year on November 1, hundreds of thousands of people around the world begin to write, determined to end the month with 50,000 words of a brand new novel. They enter the month as elementary school teachers, mechanics, or stay-at-home parents. They leave novelists. (https://nanowrimo.org/about-nano)
In short, it's a goal and accountability. Write (every day) for a month - write a certain number of words by the end - and do it alongside a bunch of other writers trying to do the same thing.
"So you're participating in this 'NaNoWriMo'... is that what you're saying? You're writing a novel?"
Oh, no. I don't think so. But if you're a writer, let me tell you why you should consider putting yourself up to the challenge - or at least a challenge, if you don't follow this one exactly.
When I was in high school, I played the flute and took lessons each week. I practiced regularly. I got to be pretty good! And so, I was strongly encouraged by my teachers to try out for All-State: a rigorous audition process to be selected as one of Iowa's finest high school musicians. 𝅘𝅥𝅮 I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was... 𝅘𝅥𝅮
My Wind Ensemble teacher at the time had this challenge, for those of us trying out for All-State: to practice every day for the 100 days leading up to the audition. Every. Day.
Did I practice every day, normally? No. More often than not, but not every day. But it didn't sound too bad. Wouldn't it be cool and prestigious, to be part of the "100 days" club? I'm nothing, if not stubborn. So I made myself a paper chain with 100 links, wrapped it around my staircase at home, and we were off to the races.
On paper, every day for 100 days doesn't sound too bad. In reality, it means practicing today even though I had school all day and there's a football game this evening and I won't get home til late. It means practicing today even though I have a cold and am not feeling great. It means practicing today even though I really don't want to and my heart isn't in it. It means practicing through all of the "even thoughs."
But that first year I auditioned for All-State, I did it. I practiced every day for 100 days. Some days were better than others, but I never skipped. And when it finally came time to audition? I got called back for a second audition! I didn't progress any further from there - so you are not looking at one of Iowa's finest flutists - but I came close!
And you know what? That was the only year I successfully practiced every day for the 100 days leading up to All-State auditions, and it was the only year I auditioned well enough to even get called back.
When you commit to doing something come hell or high water, you learn discipline, and you build the skill of practice. Some people definitely have more natural talent than others, but you will struggle to improve at anything if you never practice it. Discipline, on the other hand, is just a useful kind of endurance to have for all circumstances. "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." Life is chock-full of situations when we're "not really feeling it." Don't really want to go to work today? Do it anyway. Don't want to mow the lawn/do laundry/vacuum? Do it anyway. Don't want to take that phone call or send that email or schedule that appointment? Do it anyway. Discipline builds strength of character.
So, do I see myself writing a novel? I doubt it. Do I think it would be a good idea to challenge myself to write every day for 30 days? Yes, I think that would strengthen my discipline and be good practice for me. I'm not sure I have enough interesting things to say for 30 days, but it's worth it to try... write? 😉
Last week, I found my mind requiring entertainment (boredom is not a state I tolerate well). I'm not sure if I was inspired or just desperate, but I pulled up my Hoopla library app on my phone and began the arduous process of searching for the perfect audiobook.
What to look for? Something non-fiction to encourage a renewed mind? No... that genre must be selected sparingly. I wanted to escape, not dissect myself. Something popular and current? No... I was already reading The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, the Hunger Games prequel, on the side. (I've finished it now - highly recommend!) And so, I scrolled through and stumbled upon a classic I'd never read, but have some familiarity with due to its movie equivalent: The Great Gatsby.
It felt like the right choice. (Remember the start of this year, back when people threw parties without a second thought, and many of them were themed around "the Roaring Twenties"? Feels so long ago, now...) I approached the book with skepticism all the same. What is this, high school English lit class? Do I really want to read a literary classic? Is it going to require too much concentration to understand, too much analysis to appreciate, too much... thoughtfulness? Yet, it's regarded as one of the greatest novels of all time. That, in and of itself, should be enough to warrant a listen, should it not?
So I settled in with only middle-of-the-road expectations. I've been out of school awhile now. Give me a world to be immersed in, not a lesson to learn. Of course, I got more than I bargained for: both.
I won't spoil the book for you, in case you haven't read it yourself... but you'll be pleased (or perhaps disappointed) to know that humanity hasn't changed all that much in a nickel short of a century. Many of the themes of the book are still as prevalent today as they were when it was written. We're still selfish, and proud, and greedy. We long to recapture the past (what a poignant thought, in 2020 especially). We're still broken, in a fascinating, starry-eyed sort of way.
Not wanting to miss anything, I consulted SparkNotes for ol' Gatsby - I have plenty of my own takeaways from the book, but I enjoy the perspectives of others and the opportunity to catch things I missed. It certainly helped! But I also found a lot of attention given to little details I scarcely noticed: the symbolism behind a character clumsily knocking a clock off a table, places in the book being representative of groups of people and ideas of the time, weather indicating the emotional tone of the story. I applauded the exhaustive examination, but for me, it begged the question... was it all intentional?
Did F. Scott Fitzgerald write the perfect book, and carefully pepper all of these themes and motifs and symbols throughout his novel? Was it purposeful? When he finished, did he marvel to himself at his own genius and pat himself on the back? I imagine him chortling: "Congrats on a job well done, old sport - you'll have your readers perplexed long after you're gone!"
Or... did Fitzgerald just write what he knew? Did he create a lovable story based on a collection of his own life, his own experiences, his own observations... and it just happened to become a lasting masterpiece? Did he really mean anything by the clock being knocked off the table, or was his character just nervous, and Fitzgerald looked around his own study for inspiration? Perhaps a friend came over earlier that day and bumped into a table, giving him the idea. Was it blisteringly hot one day, when he wrote? When he started working on the next chapter, was there a chill in the air? How much emphasis did he really put in specific settings in his novel - or did his characters just need some different places to go?
I'll tell you what I do know. Fitzgerald's book wasn't particularly popular during his lifetime. It didn't become a classic until after his death - during WWII, as part of an initiative to distribute books to soldiers abroad. (More information about the history, if you have the interest and the time: https://blog.bookstellyouwhy.com/the-great-gatsbys-rocky-road-to-popularity)
I suppose I'll never know how much of the deep analysis of every detail on SparkNotes is real, and how much is happenstance. At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter. That teaches me a lesson all its own: it's human nature, to search for meaning in every moment. We long for everything to matter, for things to happen for a reason, for significance. When you look hard enough, you can find most anything you want. The ever watchful eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg stare on.
I've always loved music. For the most part, I love all genres equally. (Except for a lot of country music... sorry to all you boot-scootin' types!) I can jam to classical music just as well as I can jam to R&B. Musicals hold the same place in my heart as pop and rock. I find it fascinating, the way music can break down walls, transcend time and space, and communicate so much about life.
In high school, I had a hipster friend who introduced me to my first mash-up. I feel like mash-ups are a relatively unknown and underappreciated art. You can probably guess by the name what they are: "a recording created by digitally combining and synchronizing instrumental tracks with vocal tracks from two or more different songs." More simply put: a fusion.
This was my first introduction to mash-ups, and it's still one of my favorites (Green Day vs. Oasis vs. Travis vs. Eminem "Boulevard of Broken Songs"): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvwzDogVBf8
These mixtures take a lot of work to make! Finding songs that have a similar tempo, a similar melodic structure, sometimes even similar lyrics and tone... and then carefully splicing them together in all the right places to create something new that's cohesive? I can't imagine the level of creativity it takes to do this. I'll be the first to tell you that sometimes, it doesn't work. But when it does, it's magic!
Snow Patrol vs. The Police "Every Car You Chase" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGU4ZRstxpY
Eurythmics vs. The White Stripes "Sweet Dreams are Made of Seven Nation Army" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hT5eJwgAtvY
Weezer vs. The Black Eyed Peas "Feeling the Sun" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OL98W3edFa4
Clean Bandit vs. Earth, Wind & Fire "Rather It Be September" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZnf5Uckdug
Backstreet Boys vs. Panic! At The Disco "Everybody's Victorious" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAIaxBrgMKY
Santana vs. Camila Cabello "Smooth Havana" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1--H6uhmqvc
Bee Gees vs. AC/DC "Stayin' in Black" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrlWWrSwaB8
Daft Punk vs. Red Hot Chili Peppers "Lose Yourself to Californication" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6hAGk6s20E
I have so many more I could share... that's just a few I really think exemplify the beauty of this craft. It's like they were written to go together! I also have some I love for the way they mix genres that seem like there is no way they should belong in the same mash-up. (And yet...?!)
The Chemical Brothers vs. John Williams [Star Wars] "Galvanize the Empire" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M87NeUD5XiU
The Black Eyed Peas vs. Mozart - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KpvuUS4U8w (language... you've been warned)
LMFAO vs. Hans Zimmer [Inception] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyjz3lekieQ
Ariana Grande vs. Taylor Swift vs. The Phantom of the Opera "Phantom Looking Woman" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcMBPyxBQS4
Ed Sheeran vs. Disturbed "Shape of the Sickness" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PeeDCnoG3k
TLC vs. Hamilton "The Schuyler Sisters Want No Scrubs" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxC7Gqmok1s
Imagine Dragons vs. Carrie Underwood "Cheating Warriors" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-0ttPenkwg (closest I can get to country, y'all!)
Fergie vs. Parov Stelar [swing] "Fergie's Booty" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwDKnXMZ8NQ (more language)
Lady Gaga vs. ...a Renaissance Faire? You really just have to give it a shot, and the lyrics are the absolute best - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2zpbcW-h-c
(Pro tip: the comments section on all of these make for a great read!)
I love all the original songs by themselves, too. At the end of the day, I know mash-ups aren't for everyone. They're weird! But in a world and a time when we are so focused on our differences, a mentality of 'us vs. them', and all the things that separate us... I think we should be a little more open-minded. It doesn't have to be this or that; sometimes, it can be both. And both can be better! So I challenge you to try more both, more and, and more together. Dip your French fries in ice cream. ;) And if you find a great mash-up I need to hear, by all means, hit me up! I'm always looking for more and would love to swap you.
