Music of the Ages

Let me tell you about Dan.

You may have heard of him, a few years back a video of his work went massively viral and caused quite a stir. The video in question was a nursing home patient named Henry. Henry had dementia to such a degree that he would hardly react to people talking to him, couldn't remember which daughter of his was trying to talk to him, and generally spent most of his time hunched over whatever chair he was in.

In short, there wasn't much of a life there.

Then came Dan, and his project to use the power of music to awaken this elderly man. He played him music, and Henry came alive. After listening to a few songs, it was like a fog had been lifted, and he was able to communicate and speak to people once more, and share things about his life that no-one had been able to get out of him before.

If you haven't seen it yet, you can watch it here.
https://youtu.be/EgNLLelQYwI

Dan had come across something incredible, that music had the power to reach into those deep parts of the mind and pull the memories and pieces of self that had become lost. He'd found out they are not lost forever, merely hiding.

I had seen this clip some years ago but had never actually watched the documentary that it came from. This evening I did that. I watch Alive Inside, the documentary that followed Dan and his powerful journey through the nursing homes of America.

Dan and his filmmaker stumbled across a great many secrets and truths during the three years that the documentary followed him. A lot of those hit me harder than I thought they would.

My own grandmother had been stricken with Alzheimers and, if I'm being honest, I did not take it well. I held up well enough while she stayed at our home, as I knew it was hard for my parents too, so having a breakdown about it would not have helped anyone.

During this time, I knew she was still the same person she had been, she was kind, caring, with an independent streak a mile wide. Unfortunately, those parts of herself which gave her the experience to be independent were gone. She no longer had the tools to be herself. The personality was intact, but the building blocks of who she was, were missing.

Eventually, it came to be too much and she went to a nursing home. To my shame, I never once went to see her while she was there. Father went frequently, but I could always see in his face and eyes just how hard it was for him, not just to see his mother like that, but to see all the residents there who were suffering just for lack of companionship.

It ate at him, and I was afraid that I would never be able to handle it as well as him.

My grandmother passed away and I never said goodbye.

So why is that? Why was I so afraid of that nursing home?

For that matter, why are we so afraid of ageing? Why do we fear becoming elders in this world? Why is it a more and more common opinion to talk about doctor assisted suicide? Or even have the thought of 'I hope I die before I become that old'? Why do we fear such a natural part of our life cycle?

The medical industry has been driven by an image of people as being machines. Society itself is guilty of this. We are judged in our worth in jobs by how closely we can match an ideal of a machine-like perfection. When we are sick, it's because something in us is broken, our chemical levels aren't where they should be, and all that we have to do is fix the part, or turn a dial. We do this through medication, and procedures, endlessly popping pills and booking appointments, until finally, the machine ceases to function and grinds to its final ignominious end.

What Dan came across, was the truth that we are not machines. We are humans. From the earliest days to our final days, we connect, we yearn, we learn, we dream.  Giving music to the elderly was a gift of connection, connecting them to their lost selves. It was a gift of compassion, a man taking time out of his life to connect with these elderly. It was a gift of life, for music has within it, its own power to heal, to move, to connect.

Dan showed me why I was afraid of these homes. Why I never wanted to go into them. Because in those walls, we are no longer people, were just patients, old machines to keep going a little while longer. In that context, speaking of dying before we become that old isn't so alien a thing, after all, who wants to live for another 10 years in a place where we cannot be human? Where there is no freedom? Where we are told what to eat, what pills to have, where we can go, and what we can do? If we would not accept that at this point in our lives, why would we accept it then?

Dan's mission was to connect. If people were visited, if people connected, if people loved, in these homes, would it be such a terrible place? Why is it when our elderly reach a certain point, we just hide them away and try to forget they exist?

I don't have the answer for that. But I do know that we can change it. If we find the people like Dan, and rally around them, we can change it. If we become the kind of people who volunteer, who visit, who just talk, then we can change it. If we love, it will change.  Then maybe we won't be afraid of age. Maybe then, we can bring back the power of being an Elder. Maybe then we can let our older generation give back to us in the form of stories, wisdom, and an appreciation for connection. Maybe we can.

If you want to know more about Dan and his work, you can check out his website here.

http://www.aliveinside.us/

An act of kindness

In my last post, I regaled you with my light impressions of a city called New York. Or as I called it, my reason 1 of having not been writing as much as I'd like.

Well tonight you get Reason 2: a new job.

I still work full time, so it really shouldn't have that much of an effect, but it seemingly has. Mentally speaking, it doesn't take much to force my train of thought onto lesser used paths. A new job, and subsequently new people, duties, and lingering aches, would be just such a thing to make my train wander.

Wandering trains, there's a weird image.

Anyway, since a week and a few days ago, I am employed at a bus depot, dealing with freight and passangers. I've got to say though, it's going swimmingly. It pays more than my last job but isn't loads more difficult. It's actually about the same level of of physical exertion.

The people at this new job are pretty swell too. I get along good with them... well so far, but I'm pretty easy going.

Me getting this job is a huge blessing in my life. And it's one I actually have to thank my previous boss for.

You see, I got the call for the job on a thursday. But they wanted me to start friday. I, trying to be a decent sort of fellow, and genuinely liking the people at my last job, wanted to do right by them and give them proper notice. When I told my new boss this, he didn't seem entirely sure that would work.

I had resigned myself to letting the job go, not wanting to be unprofessional or do a discourtesy to my old boss. However, when I told my old boss this, she said to me that she knew how important it was to me to find a new job, and that if it was a difference between me getting the job, and me not getting the job, I should just go take the job and not give her notice.

Immeditaly called my new boss back and told him I could start friday.

I spent the rest of that suddendly last day at work in something of a state of shock. I simply couldn't believe that the job I had been ready to let pass me by was suddendly mine. And I could hardly believe the kindness of my boss in her offer to me.

I found out later in the day that two members of her staff had also quit/given notice. I felt bad for her situation, but that knowledge just made her act of kindness towards me all the more powerful.

I will be sending her a copy of my fantasy book when it's done, and a nice thank you card.

Well that's it for tonight. Farewell for now.

Traveling Tome

Ahhh so it's been a while hasn't it?

My last post is dated at April 18th, so yeah, I think that's an accurate statement. Very sorry friends. Well I mean I would be sorry, except I have valid reasons to have been late.

Reason 1: I went to New York, New York, for a week. On a trip to go visit my girlfriend, I had the chance to see the big apple itself. I took a walk down by the Hudson river, which is a most lovely river to my eyes. It had nice waves, and sound it made while it went on its way was very expressive. I did learn some interesting things at about the river, such as how part of it will reverse direction based upon the time, and as such, parts of it will alternate from fresh water to salt water.

I also had the chance to go up to the Empire State building and see the city spread out before me. You can choose to take an audio tour while you go, and learn about the construction of that towering edifice, and if you're into that kind of thing like I am, I'd recommend it. In the tour I learned of the absolutely staggering pace of construction, near the height of it, they were finishing a floor a day. Of course, they didn't just work on one floor at a time. They laid the scaffolding, did the riveting, pour concrete, and so on and so forth. I found it absolutely fascinating. I also learned how the iconic spire was a kind of last minute addition to ensure that the Empire State Building was indeed the tallest. They had stiff competition from a neighboring tower.

That poor spire. Meant as a mooring mast for passing passenger blimps, it stands as a monument to bygone dream of the future. I love blimps. I have a few dreams about how that dream could come to be again, but alas, I do not have that kind of funding yet. I'm hardly the first to imagine a future with blimps, as is evident by the existence of the mast itself.

The other thing about New York city that struck me is the feeling of it. I found it all a little overwhelming, but it has an energy to it, a sense of age and massiveness. Even when you are down in the streets where you can't see everything, and you could be convince you were just in any other city, you know you're not. You know that there are millions of humans all around. To me it was at once exciting, and a little bit oppressive. All those people going about their business, going about the business of being human. And yet, if you aren't directly involved in the business you might as well be invisible.

I can't say I really blame them in their choice of zoning things out though. With so many people everywhere, if you opened yourself up to everyone and acknowledged everyone, you would quickly be overwhelmed. You simply can't find a good quiet place to be alone easily.

My brother Brenden once said that a city is a great place to go if you want to be alone. I see what he meant, you aren't alone in the sense that there's no one there, but you can be alone in the sense that there's no one with you.

It was a great experience all in all, and I hope that it might get used in my writing, but I wouldn't want to live there. 

So anyway, that's one of the reasons. I'll bring up the other reasons in later posts.

Huh, there's an odd thought. I'm bringing up the reasons why I haven't writing my blog, by writing in my blog. Crazy.

Till next time people!

One more day.

What would you do if you had one more day?

Frequently I ask myself that question. The answer always changes based on the kind of things I'm going through in my life. It's never exactly the same thing. There's frequently similar themes in my answers to this question, but I find in my thoughts a realization. If I only had one more day, then I've run out of time.

That is exactly what it means, I know. What I mean by that is if I'm only down to my last day, then I've failed in my mission. I want to make beautiful things. Things that move people. Things that touch people on a special level. I want to tell stories, make movies, make songs, be creative. I want to spread that joy that I've managed to find in my own life. If I only had one more day, then I haven't done that enough.

I'm working hard that I can do that, and that I can do that whenever the inspiration strikes me. Right now I work to bring my life around to a point where there are no more obstacles between me and my acts of creative expression. One by one, I break down those barriers. And one day at a time, I manage to find a little more freedom for creation.

But maybe that's been the wrong approach really. Maybe I should worry about what I can make today. The long projects have a place, a very important place, but maybe there's smaller things I can do that will help people now. Does that mean I'll write a short story every day? Or a poem? Hum a song? Probably not. I think what it means is I'll look more earnestly for small things I can do for people now.

If I had one more day left, and I had to decide what to do, I want my answer to be 'nothing different'. It seems like a fools errand. Everyone's always going off looking for happiness, but seldom do they seem to find it. I'd like to put forward that if we're trying to find happiness for ourselves, we'll never find it, but if we seek to help cause it for others, we'll be able to enjoy the surplus overflow.

Till next time, Wizard out.

Captain Fullside, Unintentional Pirate.

So I was at a bit of a loss as to what I should write today. I decided I'd do a little primer for a story I'm working on.

Last week I mentioned a long list of projects I'm working on. I mentioned on that was kind of light hearted sci-fi with more details to come. Well here are the details to come!

The project in question will be following the adventures of Captain Horrace Fullside, unintentional pirate. Horrace is kinda this loveable clueless chap. He's always wanted to captain a starship, and working at his fathers interstellar courier company, he'd been allowed to on a few occasions. But he always had more paper work to do when he got back, and he never felt like he got to be out on a ship as much as he'd like.

Well when his father won an election as the sector government, Horrace and his brother were left in charge of the company. Unfortunately for Horrace, this meant yet more paper work, so when his brother suggested a special mission for him, he jumped at the chance to get in a captains chair, for what might be the last time.

From here, the first part of the story will show how that might not be true. The universe I'm making is one with so much red tap and legal clap trap as to make it impossible to do something without cheesing off someone, or some government somewhere. As a result, almost by accident, Horrace becomes a pirate.

But he realizes that being a pirate is the most freedom he's ever had, so he just kind of runs with it.

I've been writing the first bit, and I'm already immensely attached to Horrace Fullside. I'm going to have a lot of fun with this I can tell.

Unfortunately, I will need to ask hard question on how I want to tell story. I think it could be really good as a serial, but I'm also rather impartial to full books. That's what I'm thinking over right now.

Well, there you go, ta ta for now.

An alliance of Minds

Napoleon Hill, in his books about success, has an concept which he coined a 'Master Mind'. The idea behind this is that one would assemble a group of people with a shared vision, and together, work to bring this vision to fruition. There is a lot more to the concept, and a lot more depth to it than will be offered by that paltry sentence. If you aren't familiar with Napoleon Hill's works, I suggest you become so.

It occurred to me that I and the boys at Ravania have done exactly that. We are a group with a shared vision, who are all working together for a common goal. While it is true that each of us has a different flavour to said vision, we each understand that by working together, we stand to gain more than by working alone.

It also occurred to me that we had done so before I myself was familiar with Hill's work.

I just consider that a point for us really.

I never quite realized just how much I appreciated working with a team such as the one I'm part of until recently. We've got a diverse set of talents, and, more importantly, a myriad of different story telling styles and voices. It helps us to keep each other on our toes. We can look at the each others work from different angles and see things that the creator may have missed.

Not only that, but we also support and cheer each other on, this is especially important in the early stages of this game when you don't really have a whole lot going on for you. I suspect it'll still be important when we've started picking up speed, except it might be more as a means of keeping each other grounded.

Another thing is our ability to approach the problems of building our entertainment empire from different angles as well. It opens a host of new ways of solving said problems, and spreads the responsibility more evenly around.

All in all, it's very good. I'd highly recommend being part of a team. Anything you can do solo, you can also do as a team, and then you've got someone to split the pizza bill with.

Wizard's Writing Update.

You know, given the enormity of what we're doing over at Ravania, it's amazing we don't just all fall over and cry (well more than we do anyway). It's pretty dang ambitious. I mean, it's not every day you just go 'Hey, I want to make a entertainment company!'. Maybe it is for you, but it certainly wasn't an every day experience for me.

So what's on the horizon at the moment? I can't really speak for the rest of the lads, but I can speak for myself. I've got a lot I need to do. This is both a blessing and a curse.

First up, I've got the sequel to Wayward Guardian, called Guardian of Isolation which I'm putting the finishing touches on. The cover is looking great, and more colorful. There were a few complaints by some parties about the last one, but as I've come a long way as an author since then, so too has Austin come a long way as an artist. I think this new one looks super awesome, and I think I already addressed the issue of covers in a earlier post. I liked the first one, and I still like the first one. The image choice was ripped right out of the book. The new cover for the new book also comes right from the book, so it's really cool to see it in living colour.

Of course, it just means I want to see it as a movie now, but one step at a time.

There's going to be at least another two books in the series, and I've already started plotting and writing, they'll be called Guardian Elect, and Guardian of Desolation respectively. No spoilers from those titles, nope, none at all. I think you'll all be quite interested in the direction I take it. You might be expecting something a little more mainstream than you get. Ultimately, I know where this story is going now, and that's cool. Still some details and loose ends I need cleaning up. However, in the case of the loose ends, I may just leave a few of them loose for short story opportunities. Anyway, Guardian of Isolation should be out by the end of the year.

On the fantasy front, we're working on a new fantasy series set in the Genesis Project Universe, only really really really far back in the past. I get the opportunity to help shape some of the almost mythical villains in the GP universe, which as proven to be really awesome. Aaron Smith, the big cheese himself, has been working with me to make this all work, and I'm really excited for how this book is turning out. Got a lot of editing to do though, and it'll need a cover. I've got someone in mind for the cover, but of course, I need to see if she'd be up for it. I rather suspect she will be. The title of this book with be Azra of the Burning Sands. I've already got the second book plotted out, and it's called World Aflame. Haven't got much further than that. I know where the story needs to go, I just don't know how long it's going to take to get there.

I've got a more modern fantasy series I'm working on, which is plotted out, and about 1/3rd the way written, called Gateways: War for the Void. I'm still debating how I'm going to launch this one. I was playing with the idea of doing it as serial, so smaller e-books at a tiny cost. It's almost tailor made for that, and it could be an interesting experiment on my part.

And finally, I've got a more light-hearted sci-fi series I'm working on, but I'll have to let you know more about that later, as it's still very much in it's infancy.

Yeah. You can see why crying is always an option. In a situation like this, it's vitally important to that you maintain consistency, and remember to prioritize your items. You've got to keep getting something done, even if you don't feel like it.

Until next time, Wizard out!

Consitency, and success.

It's a full moon again. That means the madness of writing one of these has taken me again. I know, there was a full moon in September that I missed. My will power was stronger then. Or it could be that I was simply defeated by the crushing weight of life at that time, so you know, the opposite of will power.

Which ever one of those it was, I have come back and am ready to do this thing, and kick it old school.

Or I would be if I had bothered to pick a topic. 

This day and age, it's pretty amazing to have an idea. Now is a good time to try and do something with an idea. The opportunities and resources available to people who want to make something out of their ideas are simply fantastic. There's fewer road blocks than ever before (and almost all of those remaining road blocks are governmental or personal in nature). All in all, its a good time to have an idea.

But of course, having an idea doesn't mean you'll have success, even with the beneficial nature of today's opportunities. Ultimately, the key to taking an idea and turning it into something tangible is the same it's always been. That key is action.

Not just halting and sporadic action, or a sudden powerful burst spurred on by the desire for fame, or fortune. No, the kind of action needed, is the same action that's always been needed for long term meaningful progress. The action needed is steady, consistent, and directed.

To take and idea and turn it into something requires a level of direction that seems harder and harder to come by these days. It also takes a level of consistency that's hard to maintain in our world of instant gratification. Though the landscape may have changed, those things remain the same.

Which, oddly, means my missing my last full moon blog post, reflects poorly on me. Granted, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't mean much, but my point of choosing to write a more personal blog post on every full moon was in part to drive that consistence. It was to give one more regular point around which to focus my efforts. It also had some direction to it by making sure that I would write at least one blog post a month. Right now the results of this effort don't seem immediately obvious, but I'm not just writing for the people who will read now, but I'm training my self to keep writing for when I do have readers.

And that's part of the consistency. Training myself to do something, when I don't yet need to, so I can keep at it when I do need to.

That seems like a pretty good idea.

Anyway, this has been the part time wizard writing a blog post. Tune in next time!

Write what you know.

Write what you know. While I was going school and learning how to write, I stumbled across that thought quite a bit.

Well that's all fine and dandy if you're a fisherman writing about fish, but it's rather limiting when you want to write about magic, dragons, or space ships and computers gone mad. There isn't a person on earth who could say they know what it means to battle a demon while riding a dragon into battle.

However, I do realize that it's an important thought. The problem is, there is a risk of taking it too literally, and thus requiring you to be intimately aware of all the minutiae in the things they're trying to write. Such as learning all the ins and outs of how to care for a horse if you have a horse in the story. It's my new opinion that that is missing the major thing of importance, unless of course the story in question is about raising a horse.

The thing of most importance, and the thing to focus most on when you try to write what you know, is living life. Every story good story is, when you boil right down to it, a human story. All the larger than life settings and awe inspiring settings only serve as containers for the stories of humanity, and of what it means to live.

A story about a fight for survival against all odds against a powerful magical foe is just a story about human tenacity. A story about crossing space and time in search of a lost lover, is just about the driving force of our relationships. The more real the emotions evoked, the stronger the story.

So now when I think of writing what I know, I think of writing what I know of emotion. I think of the need to tell a real story of humanity, of a story that moves us on a level that is understandable on a emotional level, even if we might not know what it's like to ride a dragon.

I think, if given the chance to tell younger me a nice word of advice, it would be to focus more on the heart of the story, and less on the fiddly bits. I am of course still learning what it means to be a story teller, but, God willing, I hope I will be able to keep working at it for years to come.

Switching gears, and the art of getting things done.

So I find myself in a bit of a situation. I have finished writing the sequel to my book 'Wayward Guardian' and I was rather looking forward to resuming work on my next project, which was a fantasy book which I had thought was only about half done. Turns out it was more than half done. So now I don't have a project on the go.

I discovered this while I was doing some quick edits on the new project in anticipation of writing in it again. While I was doing this, and looking at the rest of the plot that I had worked out, I realized that what I had written actually came very close to a story in and of itself, and that what was left to write, could very well stand as separate book as well, with a few modifications.

Now when I say separate, I mean in a physical sense. The stories are still one and the same, and the second book would be a continuation of the first, it's just that what was originally half a planned book actually has all the making of a full and good story in and off itself. So I decided I'd just split the book into two.

This had the advantage of meaning I now have two books waiting to be published, pending editing. However, as stated before, it means what I thought was going to be my next project for the foreseeable future, now isn't.

So what to do?

I could always write book three in the Guardian saga, but I want to let that wait a bit, let the juices flow. I've got a good idea where the story is going, but it needs some more details.

Instead, I decided I work on the scripts for the graphic novel/web comic series I will be doing with my good friend Austin Shurtliff. We've been wanting to do this for some time, but the timing hasn't been right, and we weren't sure how to go forward.

We had a nice long chat about it some weeks ago, and I think we're ready to get rocking. I'll be doing the writing, and he'll be taking care of the illustrations. Personally, I think he has the harder job, though the writing for this is proving a lot more challenging for me than I had anticipated. I'm hoping to fit the script writing into my schedule, while maintaining some book based writing.

So for the next few weeks, it will be editing, and script writing. Once the editing is done, then it'll switch to script writing, and book writing.

How exciting.

Remember, you can keep up today on all our projects over at the Ravania page. 

Testing what makes you tick.

So I just got back from a weekend camping trip on lovely Vancouver Island. All in all, it was a pretty rad time, but as the time came to a close, I was chomping at the bit to get back and jump back into my work.

On reflection, I realize this is the first time this has happened to me. Most of the time, when vacationing, I find that I dread going back and ending my adventure. Most of the time I would dread coming back and having to sink back into my old life.

Not so on this trip. I was excited to return, happy to resume what I was doing, and determined to make even more progress towards my goals and dreams. I realize that this is a good indication that I'm doing something I love. I was so interested in returning that whenever I heard talk of plans to make the vacation last a little longer, it actually made me unhappy. I decided to jump ship and get back home with one of the campers who had to return early.

I am one of the ones who very much agrees that it's important to take a step back every now and again. Doing this lets you see how far you've come, and lets you regain perspective which may have been lost in the hustle and bustle of everything. I came back from my vacation with a lovely piece of prose and a new short story to be revealed at a later date.

However, the stepping back also lets you see something else. It lets you see how much you're enjoying our life at that moment. If your vacation is marred by the dread of returning home, then there is room for improvement. If it's dampened by all the worries you brought with you, then it may be time to learn to let some things go. Time to step away gives us an opportunity to see what were stepping away from, and also gauge how much we want to step back into it. It's just a good way to see if you actually like what your doing.

I know I do. I hope you do too.

Till next time!

Of Moons and Madness

Good evening everyone, part time wizard Arlin here. So it's a full moon out tonight, and that means a blog post.

Since I've decided on writing a blog post every time there's a full moon, as well as when ever I feel like it, I've thought that it might be kind of nice to have the full moon posts have a sort of shared theme. I'm not sure what that's going to be, though I feel as though it may be more personal in nature than my usual posts.

So maybe for my first run at this, I will answer a question. Why?

Why's, as they stand, are very important to me. Why's are what makes the difference between doing something for the right reasons and doing something for the wrong reasons. Now that sort of thing, right and wrong, can be rather subjective to most people. I have very strong opinions about most things, and for the most part I know where my rights and wrongs lie, that said, everyone has a different set of beliefs, and such questions should be judged on a basis of current knowledge, and current beliefs, on a case by case basis.

But I digress. I wasn't going to talk about why's in general. I was going to talk about my why.

Before I get to that though, I should also answer, why what? What is an easy answer. What is 'everything I do in life'. What is Ravania Entertainment. What is my professional life. What is how I treat my fellow man. These are all the what's that are coloured and shaped by my why.

So what's my why?

I seem to be dancing around that question a lot.

So lets get right to it then. My why is love.

I know, I know, it's corny, it's cliche, and no one ever talks that way anymore. Well you'll be happy to know that there is a second why, and that's cause it makes me feel good, so it's a little selfish, but the first why is love.

I want to make Ravania Entertainment as big as I can because I love those who I am building it with. I want to make it as big as I can because I love the stories we tell, because I love the vision we share. I love what it has the potential to become, and I love the potential it has to help other people discover there own whys. We have massively insane plans for this thing, and I stick with them because of my why.

I want give the best service I can give in my professional life, for those who don't know, I work as a finical coach, because I feel so many people need help in that area of there life and I honestly feel that I can help them get a handle on it. I do it because I love helping people, and because I love the fact that I can get ahead in life doing something that helps others also get ahead in life.

I choose to treat people with respect, and when possible, genuine caring and attention, because I love people and believe everyone is deserving of care and love. I do it out of love for my fellow man, and out of love of my God, who would give me such gifts as I have in the way of talents, and who has done so so I may help my fellow man.

In short, my why is love. A love of people. A love of doing. A love of stories. That's my why. And it's important to have a why. A why keeps you focused when the world demands you become distracted, and if I get distracted, I'll get lost, and I'll loose sight of everything I'm doing. So until next full moon, you'll probably have to just listen to me prattle on about Ravania Entertainment, because I sure do love talking about that.

Till next time everyone!

My kingdom for an old dog.

Hello everybody, resident part time Wizard here. You know, from Ravania Entertainment? Never heard of it? Well check it out here then.

Other than bragging about my my newly crafted website, I've had a lot on my mind recently. Hopefully this might translate into some more regular posts on this here blog thingy, or at the very lest into some productive action and book related writing.

So I find myself today sitting in a living room that is not my own, listening to a dog bark in it's sleep, a dog that is also not my own, while watching a documentary on nutrition on a t.v. that is also not my own. That's an awful lot of things that are not my own. The reason for this is because I am house sitting for a friend. Thus far, it's a pretty easy gig, but the dog is a mixed bag. It's still a very young dog, and seems to have boundless energy... especially at night.

An example! Yesterday, we went for a nice long walk. As I am not it's normal master, it was a little more of a challenge than I would have liked, namely it was pulling on the leash more than I might have liked, which necessitated frequent stops for reminders of the command structure in this outfit. Anyway, eventually we finished this walk, and we got home, and the dog immediately went to it's cushion and fell asleep. I thought this was pretty rad, so I went off to bed myself, only to be woken frequently by said dog, who wished to be let in and out almost every hour through the night, though seemingly not to do it's business, but because it wanted to play. Needless to say I was not amused.

My body did not take well to this particular evening. I am a wreck today. My eyes are burning, my body hurts, and I've had more naps today than one could consider decent. To top things off, the thought of going on another walk makes me tired just thinking about, especially since it seemed to do jack all for the dogs energy level.

But I digress! My intent was not to complain about a dog which was not mine (though this reinforces my choice not to get a pet). Thinking on it though, I'm not sure what my purpose was, a fact which I may ascribe to my current lack of meaningful sleep.

Until next time, this is the part time wizard signing off. Man, I really thought I was going to say something about books or entertainment today...

The many stages of a Non-Drunk Arlin.

Okay, so first off, this blog was originally a place for me to be all 'holier then thou' and try and change the world. If you want proof, read my other entries dated years ago. That didn't work so well (if the long date was any indication)

The new plan is to maybe just make people's lives better through humor. I think I can manage that. Sure I won't win any noble peace prizes, but then what would I do with them all? Cause you know, if I started winning them, I'd win all of them...

That was joke. Work with me.

Anyway, so today I went to the High School Prom. Rather, tonight. Also, it wasn't really my prom. It was the teenagers prom. I'm like 23. I was invited, and not having any untold millions with which to swim in for a good alternative, I decided to go.

It started off much like my last prom. I was sober as I so frequently am. (I never drink. REMEMBER THAT!) I was also serious. And more importantly, not really expecting to enjoy myself. I don't what it was back then, or now for that matter, but prom is never quite how I imagine it.

Flash back... five years. I was in the graduating class. Prom was coming up. I had a huge crush on a girl from out of town, so much so that I invited her to Prom, and then drove with a friend to GP to pick her up. We had a pretty good time. But I was expecting... I dunno... something romantic? Instead I get a non stop stream of filthy music and dirty music videos. Only a few good songs punctuated the prom. Still I managed to have a good time.

Not good enough for me and her though. As five years later (aka now) she is married and has two kids.

Now this time around, I'm not going to woo anyone, as I'm the one who's been invited, not doing the inviting. I am going not for myself, but to ensure that my date has a good time.

As I walk into a crowded hall full of energetic teenagers, I feel incredibly old. Like a fossil in a play ground. Yet despite my discomfort, none of them seem to notice. With the exception of a few joyful greetings to friends I know, I more or less blend in. Much to my relief.

I didn't know this right away though. The doors opened at 5:30, but the party didn't get started till 7:00. So I had a hour and a half to sit around and stew in my juices. I tried to make small talk, but my mind kept wandering to how out of place I was. I was sober, and nervous. Utterly afraid I would end the night in some brawl. Which of course I would win. Come all, I'll take all challengers!

No brawl though. I'll be honest, I think that's a good thing. I'd hate to sully my 'no fights' record now.

Now the party is getting started. The music is a combination of country, rap, and filthy rap. Oh wait... all the rap was filthy that night. Also, a little dance music, and filthy dance music. All of course liberally sprinkled with lewd music videos proudly displayed on two massive projector screens.

Obviously one could not sit these out. But I didn't want to seem like I was eager to dance to such... well... rubbish. So I hemmed and hawwed and generally stalled. Then Daft Punk came on. How could I miss that? Up I went like a shot. Then I did my white guy dance. Aka; dancing with no skill.

As I shuffled and bobbed crudely to the music, I realized, once more, how uncomfortable I was among all these surprisingly talented teenage dancers.

Little know fact about me, if in a large group, al la prom; the closer it gets to midnight, the more like a drunk I will seem.

Skip forward a bit, it's about 9 now. I am now, spontaneously, and unexpectedly, a dancer. My skills were furious, my moves were curious, my rhymes were injurious. Okay, so there were no rhymes. I wasn't a rapper, just a dancer.

Of on a ego trip here. I was seriously good! Like wow, I rocked. There was dance off, and I stood too the side and did nothing at all. Other then that though, I just let the beat flow through, and when my date, for a brief moment of two songs, actually started to mimic my dance moves; it was dancvana. (That's dance and Nirvana combined for those of you who need it spelled out.) I had not a care in the world, and my moves were slick. I was no Micheal Jackson, but if you had cut back five years, past me would have been staring in envy at present me. If you get my drift.

BACK ON TRACK! Anyway, so I had spontaneously become a good dancer. Even when we took five and sat back at our table, at least one part of my dancer anatomy would be keeping time with the music, be it my leg, my hand, or my head. I was in the zone. I was in control. The world was my oyster, and I was on a sea food binge.

Cut forward another hour. The drunkenness is now in full force. Two hours ago, I had asked my date how long she planned to stay, she had said till the end, in my mind I had shuddered. Now it was 10, and the prom was only scheduled till 11. I was genuinely not looking forward to having to quit.

I would stand with my date, and just dance. Sometimes no one would be around us. If past me had been there, he would have made a trip to the snack table while wishing he didn't know me. Past me was a bit of a coward.

At this point, I decided to really let loose. My tie came off, and found it's way onto my head. I had planned to whip my head around and make like a propeller, but visions of my tie flying off and landing on some teenage girl kept that from happening. Still, it was on my head. My collar was up, and my top button was undone.

By now, I could tell I was fully in my 'He looks drunk' stage. I was loving it too. I danced through four songs in a row. Non stop. I was on a roll. Then I found out that we were leaving at 10:30. I felt a twinge of regret. I downed half a can of sprite in one go, and then left the hall giggling.

What a night!

So remember, if you have Arlin to a party, he will get increasingly weird the later it gets. You have been warned. However, there most be a sizable group for this effect to take place. Among a small group, Arlin will remain completely sober. Frankly, I'm begining to wonder if I feed off other peoples party joy like alcohol.