WEEKLY ROUND-UP! 9/11-9/17 2011

WEEKLY ROUND-UP

This is my first one of these and basically it'll sum up the top 7 posts of the last 7 days.

7. WORD OF THE DAY. 9/11/11 Protagonist/Antagonist

I really liked this word of the day cuz it allowed me to explore the relationship between heroes and villains. I use the examples of Conan the Barbarian vs. Thulsa Doom, Naruto vs. Sasuke and Batman vs. The Joker. I followed this article up a couple of days later with gumption which focused on underdogs.

6. NERD CULTURE SMACKDOWN #2 Nerd Vs. Arino

This is really what Nerd Culture Smackdowns are all about. Difference of opinions but of course mine is most important until people comment more *cough*.

5. STUFF I THINK ABOUT- SOCKS

A chance for me to stretch my anecdotal skill and weave a tale that waxes the philosophic. This is a tale of anguish, confusion and sillyness. I am quite happy sharing thoughts like this with you guys because my goal, as a writer, is to make the mundane fantastic and the fantastic mundane.

 4. WORD OF THE DAY. 9/17/2011 Goblin

I don't think a lot of readers saw this one but I really enjoyed writing it. Goblins are my favorite Dungeons and Dragons creatures and so I just had to give them correct attention they deserve by explaining what they are in full and talking about what role they play in my fantasy world.

3. SCI-FI FANTASY FRIDAY! ACTION SOCIETY #2

Speaking of my fantasy world, I posted the second chapter of my fantasy fan-novel (based on my experiences in a recent Dungeons and Dragons campaign) and introduced the second character in the cast, Justin Shavers's Aramil, the Half-Elf Ranger. I really enjoyed writing his chapter because it was a lot more action oriented. It was also interesting to get under the skin of this very serious guy and to give you guys more insight into the world of the Wold, Beniro and Doktham City. Check it out and please leave some criticism, advice and questions. I'll have the next chapter up this coming Friday.

2. MUSICAL MONDAY! FRIGHT NIGHT: THE MUSICAL

I loved writing this post because a) I got to talk about the Kaplan Brothers for a little bit and b) I got to explain why Fright Night is my favorite vampire movie by dissecting the transformations of my three favorite characters.

"You're so cool, Brewster!" -Ed, Fright Night (1985)

1. WTF WEDNESDAY 2 THE BOOK OF POKEMON Pt. 1

This post is the one that I think really sells my talent as a writer and observer of nerd culture. It is an absolutely ridiculous biting satire of the pokemon anime mythos (I am a huge Pokenerd). I use it as an excuse to poke fun at the ridiculous story at hand, while adding my own insanity. This is my favorite post of the week.

Enjoy it while you can, zombie bait.

STUFF I THINK ABOUT! SOCKS 1

Enlightenment comes in many forms. Sometimes it comes in the form on apple striking your head, or tripping over a pokeball, or in the middle of bath (forcing you to leap up and run naked into the street yelling “EUREKA!”). Life is funniest when the jokes on everyone, but everyone thinks it’s funniest when the joke is on you. Mundaneness can illuminate the obvious but it takes a fire to illuminate the oblivious.  

I thought there were left socks. For as long as I understood the concept of socks and was old enough to put them on my feet, I have silently made a distinction between which socks, in a pair of socks, is the left and the right partner. Now, some of you might already be silently judging me for my foolishness but let’s break down my reasoning as a child.

The reasoning behind my logic was simple. I have a left hand and a right hand. I also have a left glove and a right glove. I have a left foot and right foot. I also have a left shoe and right shoe. It stands to reason, that they would design a sock for the left foot and a sock for the right foot. I internalized this decision, never sharing it with anyone because, to me, it seemed too mundane a think to mention. Furthermore, no one ever observed me looking at my socks to make the distinction. Even more so they could’ve noticed me take a sock off and put it on the other foot when I, foolishly mistaken, believed it to be on the wrong appendage. Perhaps it was my obsessive compulsive order or something else. Before I elaborate further on the “something else” I should probably explain how this epiphany came about.

It began during a lovely evening at the bonfire, celebrating the birthday of one of my lady friends, in a hundred degree weather. I was as jovial as jonquils as I threw conversation across the flickering of the pretty pyre and perpetrated small jest at those closest to me. I am not quite sure what the context of the conversation was, it could’ve very well been vulgar, and I made the statement, “It is like how you can never find the left socks you have lost in the wash.” Internally, this was a fine simile. Instead, it left my friends perplexed. I tried to explain the analogy, but was stopped. “There are no such things as left socks.” I stared at them, then at my feet, I had just put out a small grass fire with my custom leather Chucks and had been feeling victorious, yet as my foolishness was revealed I felt the sting of realization.

I wanted to stand up, toss my chair into the fire, then to rip the shoes of my feet and toss them in the fire, and then, delicately, to rip the socks from my feet and throw them at the heavens before running into the trees and howling a primordial howl of shame, confusion and, goats that I would trip over.