Team Other

I'm on Team Other, as DHARMA was a totalitarian intrusion upon the innocence of the Island, on par with The Man in Black himself.

Who was the Smoke Monster, of course. Which was what? Magic. DHARMA, on the other hand, was all about science and control and groovy 70's symbology.

Like all the Hieroglyphs. If you watched the show, you'll recall this stretch of episodes being dark as heck. Creepy stuff - the tale of Ben Gale.

But then, if you were raised on Mystery Magic Island, you'd be pretty twisted too. Thus, count me in for Team Other, cuz the rank and file had the best intentions of the Island in mind - and if you lived on Mystery Magic Island, you'd work to placate it as well. Logically.

Familial Honor

Honor is such a loaded concept. It can cause people to perform heroic deeds of selflessness, but it can also cause a man to throw acid on the face of a woman. But then, perhaps that's the human condition in a nutshell.

Lost Heroes

Like most people - I hope! - I had a series of revelations as a young man, spurred on by reading fiction. One of these great, life changing revelations for me came from reading Jack Kerouac. Worlds opened before me, possibilities. But even more so, a template: The writer who's life is their art. Kerouac - and all the Beats - used their lives as the source for everything they created. In fact, I would suspect many of them lived their lives with this in mind - life as the canvas, the blank page, the clay to be molded. It's life itself that's the work of fiction, to be consciously crafted by the artist.

I dug all this, big time, and fully incorporated it into my life, for many years. To not such good results.

But, now, I am free of Kerouac - I read the very same books that once moved me, and I'm bored, or tired of the constant self-focus. It's all so much flim-flam, especially Kerouac. Much of his writing I find now to simply be bad - which is still a shock, since I once held him in such esteem.

Not to say I still haven't taken a great deal from these books, these lives, these experiences. But, as they say - moving on! Onwards and upwards! And I would remind any impressionable young people who are under the romantic sway of the Beats and Kerouac in specific, to always remember how Brave Jack ended - living the last decade of his life with his Mom, drinking, to finally die on the toilet, alone. The end. Great story, right?

Now, I'm ALSO of the mindset that the artist's life is completely irrelevant to their art, or a Leader's life, or a Hero's life, or anyone who makes a mark on greater humanity. Does it matter if they were cowards? Drunks? Cheats? As time goes by, all those things wash away, and all that remains are the deeds, the acts that still resonate over time. Great battles, stirring victories, sublime works of art - these things go on, enriching new generations. The person themselves.... irrelevant.

Did I contradict myself? Maybe, and it's allowed. Regardless, and only personally, I feel a great weight off my back to be freed of heroes - all heroes. They're just people, and as I've learned from the lowest place to the highest, none of us has any clue what's going on. Just bumbling and stumbling. And so you could subscribe to the philosophy of "It's better to burn out than to fade away", but I guess all I'll say to that is: Make sure it counts. Often - most of the time? - it won't. And if it won't count, is it really worth throwing your life away after some youth inspired dream?


Hmm.


Also, theme:

More to come, with more contradictions.

Can you spare a sub ride?

I miss it. And by "it" I mean specifically, the Island. I realize the Island was my favorite character on the show. The show was really about the Island, in the sense that it was the motivator or cause for all other character's actions.  

I like calling it the Island too, that it doesn't have a name. Names are overrated.

Truth in Advertising

A month away folks!