It's been an interesting ride; the last few years, I mean. Some days I don't feel like I'm behind the wheel at all, but maybe lying in the back seat staring at an old cigarette burn in the seat, or a place where the seam has given way, and I'm staring at the padding. Or maybe I'm just sticking my head out of the open window like a dog.
You see, if life is a journey, then I'll agree with the song that, for me, it's a highway. It has been, I think, ever since I graduated college and started paying attention to exactly how quickly the days pass by...like flashing cars.
And if my life is, in fact, a highway, then I see myself driving an old black classic car. Maybe an Impala, but not necessarily. Something long and boat-like, with four doors and endless room. And one huge front seat that you can snuggle up to a lady across. Not anything made after I was born, certainly.
So the last few years, I've found myself driving through this desert. I'd say with all fairness that I turned onto this particular road in 2005 or so, after a huge life change, leaving a road I'd been on for about ten years. There were a few pit stops, both professional and romantic, where I thought maybe I'd found a place to settle down. They turned out to be temporary, and unsatisfying. So I drive.
I've been driving this desert a long time. And though the desert is a mystical place with many important revelations, I'm tired of this particular stretch of road.
I need some new scenery.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
Top 10 figures I would prefer that people not pray to on my behalf:
1. Satan/Lucifer
2. Baron Samedi
3. Marilyn Manson
4. Any angel from Supernatural
5. The Dark Side of The Force6. Anyone from a reality show
7. Their demi god powered paladin/rogue/cleric/night club owner character from Dungeons and Dragons
8. Barney
9. Zeus, as he comes off as a philandering douche
10. That pissed off looking guy from God of War
1. Satan/Lucifer
2. Baron Samedi
3. Marilyn Manson
4. Any angel from Supernatural
5. The Dark Side of The Force6. Anyone from a reality show
7. Their demi god powered paladin/rogue/cleric/night club owner character from Dungeons and Dragons
8. Barney
9. Zeus, as he comes off as a philandering douche
10. That pissed off looking guy from God of War
I was born the son of a Southern Baptist minister and a public school teacher in a little town called Scranton, SC. When I was a baby, my Dad had just decided to become a man of the cloth. I was a really sick baby, born with a hole in my heart. My parents prayed that I would live. They pretty much started a small crusade of prayer to the heavens that I would make it. So I did.
They say I died for a full minute on that operating table. I'm not sure about that, but I know ever since then I've known that there is a purpose to my life. That I'm here to do things that matter.
Unfortunately, for a really long time (before and after my divorce) I let myself stagnate. I doubted myself, even the talents that I knew I had. I'm done with that now.
A little over a year ago, the company that I was working for was forced to let me go. I had just finished reading a book by Paulo Coelho entitled "The Alchemist." I was unemployed for the better part of a year, but I trusted that I would be taken care of. I prayed, hoped and waited for more to be revealed to me.
Unfortunately, I was still missing something, b/c of all the ideas I had roiling around in this creative brain of mine, I wasn't doing anything about them. I let myself get so overwhelmed by all the projects I had started that I wasn't able to finish any of them. This has been my problem for years.
At the end of December, I was blessed with a contracting job at the same company that laid me off before. This job will likely end in a few weeks, as it was meant to end at the end of the first fiscal quarter of the year. Why does this not bother me?
Because about a month ago I watched "The Secret" again. A lot of you may be reading this and immediately begin "poo-pooing" the Law of Attraction (which is ultimately the secret beferred to in the movie/book.) I can understand that reaction, b/c I had that same reaction a few years ago.
It's SO easy to say, "those folks are just trying to sell self-help books" or "that won't work," and just dismiss such simple concepts. I say they are simple concepts b/c, in theory, they seem common sense. "Think positive? Have faith? Follow my personal legend? Well I already do those things!"
Do you? I thought I did, until I paid attention to how much I focused on what I didn't want as opposed to the things I did want. How much of my energy I gave to my FEARS, which were just the dark side of my FAITH.
Once I realized that the only thing holding me back was me, I had a long talk with my best friend and brother, Curt. I told him what I'd been listening to lately and realizing. I had given him a copy of The Alchemist the past year, and it had been life-changing for him as well. We started making plans and actually encouraging each other to work on ours dreams instead of sitting frustrated and waiting on a magical answer that doesn't involve our talents.
I'm not saying that God or The Universe or what have you don't deliever good things to our lives without our having to work in the traditional sense. The truth is that they do, but you have to put in the faith/belief and energy to ghelp those thigns along. and my work, my use of my talents to create, is the greatest extension and proof of my faith in my faith and in the law of attraction that I can think of.
Because I have always known I was going to make my dreams come true. It just took recent circumstances to help me develop the strength to get up off my movie-watching ass and do something about it.
Curtis and I, at this point, are halfway finished with a horror script we've been writing. The details of our adventures breaking into the movie business will be outlined in a separate blog, http://mooksinthemovies.blogspot.com/.
Until next I blog, remember to think positive and think about the things that you want, not the things that you fear. Be grateful for what you have. Later, folks.
They say I died for a full minute on that operating table. I'm not sure about that, but I know ever since then I've known that there is a purpose to my life. That I'm here to do things that matter.
Unfortunately, for a really long time (before and after my divorce) I let myself stagnate. I doubted myself, even the talents that I knew I had. I'm done with that now.
A little over a year ago, the company that I was working for was forced to let me go. I had just finished reading a book by Paulo Coelho entitled "The Alchemist." I was unemployed for the better part of a year, but I trusted that I would be taken care of. I prayed, hoped and waited for more to be revealed to me.
Unfortunately, I was still missing something, b/c of all the ideas I had roiling around in this creative brain of mine, I wasn't doing anything about them. I let myself get so overwhelmed by all the projects I had started that I wasn't able to finish any of them. This has been my problem for years.
At the end of December, I was blessed with a contracting job at the same company that laid me off before. This job will likely end in a few weeks, as it was meant to end at the end of the first fiscal quarter of the year. Why does this not bother me?
Because about a month ago I watched "The Secret" again. A lot of you may be reading this and immediately begin "poo-pooing" the Law of Attraction (which is ultimately the secret beferred to in the movie/book.) I can understand that reaction, b/c I had that same reaction a few years ago.
It's SO easy to say, "those folks are just trying to sell self-help books" or "that won't work," and just dismiss such simple concepts. I say they are simple concepts b/c, in theory, they seem common sense. "Think positive? Have faith? Follow my personal legend? Well I already do those things!"
Do you? I thought I did, until I paid attention to how much I focused on what I didn't want as opposed to the things I did want. How much of my energy I gave to my FEARS, which were just the dark side of my FAITH.
Once I realized that the only thing holding me back was me, I had a long talk with my best friend and brother, Curt. I told him what I'd been listening to lately and realizing. I had given him a copy of The Alchemist the past year, and it had been life-changing for him as well. We started making plans and actually encouraging each other to work on ours dreams instead of sitting frustrated and waiting on a magical answer that doesn't involve our talents.
I'm not saying that God or The Universe or what have you don't deliever good things to our lives without our having to work in the traditional sense. The truth is that they do, but you have to put in the faith/belief and energy to ghelp those thigns along. and my work, my use of my talents to create, is the greatest extension and proof of my faith in my faith and in the law of attraction that I can think of.
Because I have always known I was going to make my dreams come true. It just took recent circumstances to help me develop the strength to get up off my movie-watching ass and do something about it.
Curtis and I, at this point, are halfway finished with a horror script we've been writing. The details of our adventures breaking into the movie business will be outlined in a separate blog, http://mooksinthemovies.blogspot.com/.
Until next I blog, remember to think positive and think about the things that you want, not the things that you fear. Be grateful for what you have. Later, folks.
Friday, June 26, 2009
The "Happy" Governor
My friend Matt and I sometimes have some decent sparks of creativity. We've started countless projects together...actually I have that habit with most of my friends. I love starting projects, but I'm famously awful at actually finishing anything unless I think I'm getting paid for it.
So far, Matt and I have started (or brainstormed and talked about starting) a total of five novels, three movie scripts, two video games, five web sites, and one role-playing game system. I forget how many songs we've written, but on that front we manage to finish what we start. In bursts, but still. Baby steps, people.
The interesting thing about Matt is that he is tone deaf, but is able to keep a beat, play drums (well) and guitar (getting better). He was born that way. It's a huge accomplishment in itself, and quite a statement, that he's able to write and play his own music. And a great deal of what helps Matt is that he has rhythm, and he's a math/logistics/all-that-crap-that-confounds-me whiz.
Anyway, I've kissed Matt's pale Scottish arse enough for one blog. The point is that we had what we thought was a fairly shining moment of creativity last night. Mean spirited creativity? Vulgar creativity? Blatantly vulture-like creativity? I suppose that would depend upon your opinion, but it was creativity nonetheless.
I usually try not to get political, but here goes just a bit that was hard for me to contain.
Governor Mark Sanford of my home state, South Carolina - and several other governors in these United States that I love *salutes and grins* - well, let's face it, they've done some horrifyingly embarassing things of late. In my humble opinion, Sanford needs his head examined for fighting the acceptance of the stimulus funds that were recently accepted by...let me see...EVERY OTHER FRICKING STATE before SC, thanks to him. Those months of worrying whether police officers, teachers, and other public servants that I know and love would be laid off b/c Sanford wouldn't accept that money saddened and angered me as a citizen. So I admit to having been embittered.
Well, the stimulus issue passed, Sanford got himself sued for holding out too long...I have to wonder if something slowly snapped in our dear Governor over the past year or something. I mean...pigs in the Capitol building? Really? Mark? Dude? Man, our state gets picked on enough, bro! You're going to turn our most revered area of state government into a scene from Green Acres?
Then...this week's news. The Father's Day fiasco when no one could get hold of the Governor. He was apparently too busy "hiking the Appalachian Trail" to bother with his wife and kids, not to mention his publicists. Wow. Just...wow. On Nude Hiking Day or Weekend or whatever nonetheless? Did he think he owed the late night comedians something? B/c he certainly delivered when we all found out he cheated on his wife...in Argentina.
I had to take a damn double take! Argentina? Srsly? Nope...it was right there. Black and white. Or RGB rather. Whatever. Anyway, the point is that Sanford has nearly made himself into a wacky cartoon villain of late...(ok, an anime cartoon villain. Animes tend to show hoo hoo parts and what not...or...so I hear...anyway...) So when Matt said "we should write a funny song" last night, the first thought that popped into my head was how much material Sanford has given us to work with lately, and how genuinely irritated and embarassed I've personally been with his antics as a South Carolinian.
So Matt and I sat down and write a terribly biting parody to the song, "The Happy Wanderer" by Antonio Ridge and Friedrich Moller. Here are the lyrics, and the link to the video we filmed for the song (yes, we did).
The Horny Governor
by: Shane McElveen and Matt Broughton
with apologies to: Antonio Ridge and Friedrich Moller
The governor went a wandering, the Appalachian trail
and found his clothes out on the lawn for chasing foreign tail
Sanford-ee, Sanford-ah
Sanford-ee, Sanford-ah ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha
Sanford-ee, Sanford-ah
for chasing foreign tail
It was a naked weekend for the hikers everywhere
but when you lie to everyone, it could be an affair
Monogam-ee, Monogam-ah
Monogam-ee, Monogam-ah ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha
Monogam-ee, Monogam-ah
it could be an affair
He refused the stimulus funds, we thought him silly then
But then he crossed a new line with an Argentinian!
Adulter-ee, Adulter-ah
Adulter-ee, Adulter-ah ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha
Adulter-ee, Adulter-ah
an Argentinian
He may still run for president, but would he give his all?
Or would he spend his time tossing his hot dog down the hall?
Polygam-ee, Polygam-ah
Polygam-ee, Polygam-ah ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha
Polygam-ee, Polygam-ah
his hot dog down the hall...
So far, we've gotten a lot of positive feedback, and very little negative. So for those who have supported and encouraged us, thank you for your kind words and terrible taste in music. ;P For those of you who are offended...America is a free country. That's what makes it great. Feel free to comment. You have the right to be angered or sickened or horrified. Just try to remember that we also have the right to make these songs and speak our minds.
This song was never meant to be a celebration of lewd behavior or a man's fall from grace. It's a parody meant to point out a homored outrage at a series of failings. Sometimes you either laugh or cry, folks. We're not passing judgement upon the man as a whole or any person involved. It's simply a jibe against recent silly behavior. Jackassery breeds jackassery, and we happen to excel at jackassery.
If we can't make fun of each other and learn to laugh at ourselves, it's become a sad world indeed. We all fall down. It's so that we can learn to get back up, at least according to Thomas Wayne. So let's all try to take political jokes as they are intended.
So on behalf of self-proclaimed jackasses everywhere,
God bless America.
So far, Matt and I have started (or brainstormed and talked about starting) a total of five novels, three movie scripts, two video games, five web sites, and one role-playing game system. I forget how many songs we've written, but on that front we manage to finish what we start. In bursts, but still. Baby steps, people.
The interesting thing about Matt is that he is tone deaf, but is able to keep a beat, play drums (well) and guitar (getting better). He was born that way. It's a huge accomplishment in itself, and quite a statement, that he's able to write and play his own music. And a great deal of what helps Matt is that he has rhythm, and he's a math/logistics/all-that-crap-that-confounds-me whiz.
Anyway, I've kissed Matt's pale Scottish arse enough for one blog. The point is that we had what we thought was a fairly shining moment of creativity last night. Mean spirited creativity? Vulgar creativity? Blatantly vulture-like creativity? I suppose that would depend upon your opinion, but it was creativity nonetheless.
I usually try not to get political, but here goes just a bit that was hard for me to contain.
Governor Mark Sanford of my home state, South Carolina - and several other governors in these United States that I love *salutes and grins* - well, let's face it, they've done some horrifyingly embarassing things of late. In my humble opinion, Sanford needs his head examined for fighting the acceptance of the stimulus funds that were recently accepted by...let me see...EVERY OTHER FRICKING STATE before SC, thanks to him. Those months of worrying whether police officers, teachers, and other public servants that I know and love would be laid off b/c Sanford wouldn't accept that money saddened and angered me as a citizen. So I admit to having been embittered.
Well, the stimulus issue passed, Sanford got himself sued for holding out too long...I have to wonder if something slowly snapped in our dear Governor over the past year or something. I mean...pigs in the Capitol building? Really? Mark? Dude? Man, our state gets picked on enough, bro! You're going to turn our most revered area of state government into a scene from Green Acres?
Then...this week's news. The Father's Day fiasco when no one could get hold of the Governor. He was apparently too busy "hiking the Appalachian Trail" to bother with his wife and kids, not to mention his publicists. Wow. Just...wow. On Nude Hiking Day or Weekend or whatever nonetheless? Did he think he owed the late night comedians something? B/c he certainly delivered when we all found out he cheated on his wife...in Argentina.
I had to take a damn double take! Argentina? Srsly? Nope...it was right there. Black and white. Or RGB rather. Whatever. Anyway, the point is that Sanford has nearly made himself into a wacky cartoon villain of late...(ok, an anime cartoon villain. Animes tend to show hoo hoo parts and what not...or...so I hear...anyway...) So when Matt said "we should write a funny song" last night, the first thought that popped into my head was how much material Sanford has given us to work with lately, and how genuinely irritated and embarassed I've personally been with his antics as a South Carolinian.
So Matt and I sat down and write a terribly biting parody to the song, "The Happy Wanderer" by Antonio Ridge and Friedrich Moller. Here are the lyrics, and the link to the video we filmed for the song (yes, we did).
The Horny Governor
by: Shane McElveen and Matt Broughton
with apologies to: Antonio Ridge and Friedrich Moller
The governor went a wandering, the Appalachian trail
and found his clothes out on the lawn for chasing foreign tail
Sanford-ee, Sanford-ah
Sanford-ee, Sanford-ah ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha
Sanford-ee, Sanford-ah
for chasing foreign tail
It was a naked weekend for the hikers everywhere
but when you lie to everyone, it could be an affair
Monogam-ee, Monogam-ah
Monogam-ee, Monogam-ah ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha
Monogam-ee, Monogam-ah
it could be an affair
He refused the stimulus funds, we thought him silly then
But then he crossed a new line with an Argentinian!
Adulter-ee, Adulter-ah
Adulter-ee, Adulter-ah ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha
Adulter-ee, Adulter-ah
an Argentinian
He may still run for president, but would he give his all?
Or would he spend his time tossing his hot dog down the hall?
Polygam-ee, Polygam-ah
Polygam-ee, Polygam-ah ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha
Polygam-ee, Polygam-ah
his hot dog down the hall...
So far, we've gotten a lot of positive feedback, and very little negative. So for those who have supported and encouraged us, thank you for your kind words and terrible taste in music. ;P For those of you who are offended...America is a free country. That's what makes it great. Feel free to comment. You have the right to be angered or sickened or horrified. Just try to remember that we also have the right to make these songs and speak our minds.
This song was never meant to be a celebration of lewd behavior or a man's fall from grace. It's a parody meant to point out a homored outrage at a series of failings. Sometimes you either laugh or cry, folks. We're not passing judgement upon the man as a whole or any person involved. It's simply a jibe against recent silly behavior. Jackassery breeds jackassery, and we happen to excel at jackassery.
If we can't make fun of each other and learn to laugh at ourselves, it's become a sad world indeed. We all fall down. It's so that we can learn to get back up, at least according to Thomas Wayne. So let's all try to take political jokes as they are intended.
So on behalf of self-proclaimed jackasses everywhere,
God bless America.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
A Tale of Two Ladies
I'm just writing this as an update...no one needs to feel as if they have to respond; two ladies that I grew up knowing (and loving) died this week.
I just got back from the funeral of Mrs. Annie Ruth Prosser, a neighbor of mine growing up. She was one of the most remarkable women I've ever known, but you'd never have known that to have looked at her. You'd never have experienced that secret knowledge unless you were lucky enough to spend time with her and her son, Gerald. Gerald Prosser was, is and will always be one of my personal heroes. From the age of 16, he has been confined to a wheelchair b/c of an accident, diving into water that was too shallow. Mrs. Annie Ruth took care of him for years. Bathed him. Helped him dress. Never complained. In fact every time I've ever seen either of them, even if they were in great pain, they had a smile for me. Mrs. Annie Ruth was an incredible cook with an infectious laugh...Gerald is a math genius with a completely different infectious laugh.
Gerald and my Dad happened to both go to Francis Marion University at the same time; Dad drove him back and forth, and they became close friends. I grew up with Gerald's nephew, Jay, and played with him in and around Mrs. Annie Ruth's house. Gerald, always tech savvy, recorded all kinds of fantasy movies for us to watch...I remember drawers full of video tapes with little white labels and a familiar handwriting from the pen that Gerald kept strapped to his right hand. I remember how Gerald would go out for exercise in his wheelchair, and while he was out he would make up these scavenger hunt quests for Jay and I. He would show Mrs. Annie Ruth where to hide the clues, and she would plant them around the neighborhood. We'd spend all morning having our adventure, and when it was over our reward was about four bucks each in quarters (aka: "gold") to go spend at the store down the street on Double Dragon, soda and snacks. Those will always be among my favorite childhood memories.
The other lady was my Aunt Emily, my Dad's sister. Ever since Grandma died in 1992, Aunt Emily has hosted every Thanksgiving family meal at her house. She looked a loot like my Grandma, who was a saint in my book. Aunt Emily inherited her gentle, kind, giving nature. Aunt Emily was sick a long time, and knowing what she believed, I know that she wouldn't have preferred a more appropriate day than Easter to meet her God.
I doubt any of you knew these ladies with a few exceptions...it doesn't matter. Maybe through this, now you know them a little because of what they meant to me. And that makes writing it worth all the salt water I'm going to have to drain out of my laptop. Thanks for reading this.
Now go and live.
"To die will be an awfully big adventure." - J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
I just got back from the funeral of Mrs. Annie Ruth Prosser, a neighbor of mine growing up. She was one of the most remarkable women I've ever known, but you'd never have known that to have looked at her. You'd never have experienced that secret knowledge unless you were lucky enough to spend time with her and her son, Gerald. Gerald Prosser was, is and will always be one of my personal heroes. From the age of 16, he has been confined to a wheelchair b/c of an accident, diving into water that was too shallow. Mrs. Annie Ruth took care of him for years. Bathed him. Helped him dress. Never complained. In fact every time I've ever seen either of them, even if they were in great pain, they had a smile for me. Mrs. Annie Ruth was an incredible cook with an infectious laugh...Gerald is a math genius with a completely different infectious laugh.
Gerald and my Dad happened to both go to Francis Marion University at the same time; Dad drove him back and forth, and they became close friends. I grew up with Gerald's nephew, Jay, and played with him in and around Mrs. Annie Ruth's house. Gerald, always tech savvy, recorded all kinds of fantasy movies for us to watch...I remember drawers full of video tapes with little white labels and a familiar handwriting from the pen that Gerald kept strapped to his right hand. I remember how Gerald would go out for exercise in his wheelchair, and while he was out he would make up these scavenger hunt quests for Jay and I. He would show Mrs. Annie Ruth where to hide the clues, and she would plant them around the neighborhood. We'd spend all morning having our adventure, and when it was over our reward was about four bucks each in quarters (aka: "gold") to go spend at the store down the street on Double Dragon, soda and snacks. Those will always be among my favorite childhood memories.
The other lady was my Aunt Emily, my Dad's sister. Ever since Grandma died in 1992, Aunt Emily has hosted every Thanksgiving family meal at her house. She looked a loot like my Grandma, who was a saint in my book. Aunt Emily inherited her gentle, kind, giving nature. Aunt Emily was sick a long time, and knowing what she believed, I know that she wouldn't have preferred a more appropriate day than Easter to meet her God.
I doubt any of you knew these ladies with a few exceptions...it doesn't matter. Maybe through this, now you know them a little because of what they meant to me. And that makes writing it worth all the salt water I'm going to have to drain out of my laptop. Thanks for reading this.
Now go and live.
"To die will be an awfully big adventure." - J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
You're a mean one, Mrs. Grinch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NGAYR7RHfQ
Apparently some uber mean lady thought it would be both entertaining and politically savvy to refuse treats on Halloween night to children whose parents were planning on voting for Obama. As if taking up room in their bags with a gigantic fricking door knob hanger sporting "McCain/Palin" wouldn't be annoying enough, she's going to refuse innocent children who can't even vote the right to have candy? Wow man. Just wow.
Congrats to the guy who handed out candy to everyone, even if he made it political too. Halloween's not about politics, people. Historically it's not really about handing out candy to children either, but this is America, and this is our distortion of a pagan holiday, so stop being grinches out there, open up your hearts a little, and let the poor kids have candy the one night of the year when they actually work for it!
I couldn't resist blogging this one...people who are mean to kids for no reason really tick me off.
Apparently some uber mean lady thought it would be both entertaining and politically savvy to refuse treats on Halloween night to children whose parents were planning on voting for Obama. As if taking up room in their bags with a gigantic fricking door knob hanger sporting "McCain/Palin" wouldn't be annoying enough, she's going to refuse innocent children who can't even vote the right to have candy? Wow man. Just wow.
Congrats to the guy who handed out candy to everyone, even if he made it political too. Halloween's not about politics, people. Historically it's not really about handing out candy to children either, but this is America, and this is our distortion of a pagan holiday, so stop being grinches out there, open up your hearts a little, and let the poor kids have candy the one night of the year when they actually work for it!
I couldn't resist blogging this one...people who are mean to kids for no reason really tick me off.
Overheard on chat...Election Day...totally off topic
Jon: but yeah do you ever watch NCIS?
Jon: if you do or don't I met Abbi, the goth chick in the lab. I just sent you a pic
me: dude I'm jealous, she's hawt
Jon: you see my pics?
me: yessah
Jon: hehe...ok that's not really her, that's a good friend of mine who dressed up as her for halloween
but she dressed like that and looked JUST like her before the show ever came on
me: purr
Jon: we've been dating 15 years
me: ...what?
Jon: I asked her out in 6th grade...she said yes...we never broke up
me: lmao
Jon: so I call her my cheating whore
me: ...very romantic.
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