Pride

Its known as a Sin in Christianity and known as a character that I have taken quite a fondness for in Fullmetal Alchemist.  But the idea of Pride as well as the character of the same name both have major implications for my life in ways that are not so unrelated at all.

As far as the idea of Pride, if here is a vice I am personally guilty of, this is it.  I feel myself at times to be above my peers and when I am told how pathetic I am by the nastier of those I encounter, I tend to write it off as them having issues with themselves that they then project on to me.

Despite the fact that this is true near all the time (this is proof of my pride after all) it means that to all I encounter, I come off as a pompus jerk most if not all the time.  And while it is certainly justifiable for me to come off as such to many of the lowlifes I encounter, that does not excuse me of treating my friends the same.

Alas, even worse, when I do act as such, I do not have the capital, nor power, or even influence to back up my behavior.  In lacking these traits, I come off as weak as well to these same individuals.  Now remembering back to my earlier statement, one can understand why at times, I have an undeniable hunger for power.  It all comes back to my pride.

As for the character by the same name, every so often when I partake in media that is not my own writing, I stumble across ideas that essentially take an idea I worked on and figuratively speaking, take a shit on it.

For example, one of the prime antagonists of my first novel in The Search For Eden Series, known by most of you as The End of Utopia, has the ability to use shadows as a weapon.  And while the idea I had was relatively cool in concept, I was blown away by how the concept became more than just a cool gimmick and entered full fledged nightmare fuel territory in Fullmetal Alchemist (If the image above alone doesn't make you feel uncomfortable, then you are braver than most)

What is funny most of all when you look at these two ideas and then put them together, you realize that one of the goals I have for my writing is to in a way, create the most fear filled and powerful fiction possible.  Thus, I have to search for great ideas that have already been used and expand upon them.  In a way, I am using the idea behind the eldritch abomination Pride to create an every scarier menace due to my own personal pride.

This is a flaw (or is it) that I intend to explore more of.  expect more blog posts on this subject as I find more answers.

Fan Art Contest

This blog post is much more informative than anything else.  There are many forms of media that can be considered art.  They are not limited by pictures, or books, acting, or any other multitude of medium that seeks to educate and entertain.

The type of fiction that I write entails a level of art that I would like to see far more of.  I write novels to fascinate the imagination and would love to see how others see my vision.  Not only does this help me with my writing, but it allows even more people to benefit from my work as I help them share their own.

I am looking for artists of all skill levels that would like a chance to share their work.  The rules are quite simple:

Go to http://www.amazon.com/The-End-Utopia-Part-Search-ebook/dp/B00PQ2G2AY and read the prologue of my Novel which can be done free of charge.  Once read, I am looking for art work relevant to the chapter itself.  Whether this is a character or a setting or something else is up to the artist.

While I will have prizes in store for the artists that I feel created the most fascinating artwork, I also pledge to add every single piece submitted to the art gallery on my website.  In this way, each artist gets credited for their work.  It gains exposure and everyone wins.

On my website: Timeloststoryteller.com one can find these rules as well as contact information with questions and concerns.

If while reading this, you wish to enter the contest or know someone who would benefit from it, they can send their submissions to my email: rmellison89@gmail.com

This is a fun little experiment I am trying to fill my website with art and truly bring my world to life.  It would please me greatly if any who read this either create something in this contest if they are able to do so, or if they know one who is capable of such.

Thank you.

John McCain and the Radicalization of the American Politics

A look at the United States Political System does not bode well for optimism.  We have one of the most ineffective deadlocked Congresses in the history of the country.  Doing the opposite of whatever the President wants has become a legitimate political platform.  The economy does not actually appear to be in recovery at all.  The real reason the unemployment rate has dropped is because countless people have given up looking for jobs.  The housing Market is not looking promising either with an entire generation set back at least 5 years or more due to crushing debt that they had no choice but to take on.

One can argue the seeds were planted long ago by this crisis.  Ronald Reagan's economic policies certainly have not helped things, but that's to be expected when your entire administration is such criminals that they are still being tried for crimes to this day.  

It could be argued that these problems exist due to factors even farther back.  When one looks at the actions of Henry Clay and John Calhoun, it appears that this country was created to fail from the get go.

But that is not what was the blow that has lead to the current problem.  After a long and quite enlightening conversation with my father, I have seen another angle to this problem.  One that I may have had a very indirect hand in since I actually was able to vote in 2008.

I speak of John McCain and a series of what in hindsight appears to be very poor decisions in rapid succession.

Ever since 9/11 I have been quite cynical of politics.  So when candidate Barack Obama started stirring the liberal base into a frenzy, I did not actually believe him.  Instead, I did notice a moderate named John McCain who spoke about real solutions that could be made in a world that was very very resistant to change.

Unfortunately, the GOP did not want his more moderate platform and with stiff opposition to what he believed along with the more racist wing of the party in complete and utter opposition to Obama, forced him to make a tough choice that I believe created the downward spiral and decent into madness that our country has fallen into.

Instead of sticking to his guns, McCain gave in.  He embraced the more radicalized beliefs of the Republican Party in hopes that it would give him the Presidency.  To try and defeat Barack Obama who was certainly helped by the chance at being the first Black President, McCain made another choice which in hindsight was highly destructive. He chose Sarah Palin as his Vice President.

At that point, my choice became quite easy.  After a year in college, I had already become familiar with the extremist form of Feminism that I like to call Neo Feminism.  Most people see them as the men hating variation of Feminism.  And since these individuals are not known for sanity, just like Sarah Palin herself is far from a paragon of this idea, I had a legitimate fear at the time that should MCain become president, his life would have been a ticking time bomb until assassins did him in, allowing this lunatic of a woman the chance to be our president.

For the sake of this country, I could not allow that to happen.  Instead of voting for a candidate that had beliefs I could stand behind, I merely voted for Barack Obama because no matter what he did, at least he would prevent Sarah Palin from being in the oval office.

This idea of the lesser of two evils has become the message of the day.  Both parties have become increasingly more extreme leaving moderates which make up a majority of Americans with no one who represents what they believe.  As they feel left out, they no longer vote, leaving only the extremists with any power.

And while I understand that our political system is just a game to distract us while the people at the top continue to make use of Ronald Reagan's Trickle Up policy, the fact that the puppet masters of the world know they can use increasingly more insane candidates does not bode well for this country.

In a world of extremism, only radicalization wins, ensuring that we will not have peace in our time.

Memorial Day

Today is Memorial Day and although a lot of people confuse the event with Veterans Day, this day does not serve to celebrate those soldiers who returned to civilian duty (although you should still tell these brave men and women how important they are) but rather focuses on those who never returned home.  Also it needs to focus on those who returned home in body but not in spirit.

There is more than one way to be a casualty of war.  The most known way is to be killed in the line of duty.  But what about those ones who return home and have deep seated issues that are not addressed?

Suicide is becoming a serious problem for those troops that return home.  In today's world, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in some ways is even more prevalent in the military than ever before.  While advances have been made in Psychology in peace time technologies, they have also made their way to being used as weapons for war.

As a civilian I cannot claim to know I understand what it is like to be in a hot spot, but I am sure that any can agree with me that read this post, that if a child on drugs is running at me with a bomb strapped to the chest, I may have second thoughts of shooting that enemy and enemy it is.

Unlike what the media shows, what really tends to occur is that warlord leaders take captured children, put them on drugs that alter their brain and sometimes cause them pain as well.  Then they strap a bomb to the already confused and now crying child.  Next, they instruct this child that if they run that way (ie towards American Troops) the pain will stop.

These soldiers are then forced to make a choice that sounds easy on paper but is quite difficult in the moment to decide.  Them or us?

Those types of choices do not go away lightly or sometimes ever.  These types of choices can weigh on a person's soul the rest of their life.

So I call upon any who read this to remember what Memorial Day is all about.  It is a time to remember those who have lost their lives to make the ultimate sacrifice so that people like me can write freely and people can go about their days as they choose.  We must never forget that those choices sometimes occur off the battlefield as well.

  I also call upon all who read this to help make our veteran's lives better so that we can honor the heroes who died defending our country from our enemies and not the ones who died after they returned to the United States and were discarded and abandoned.

Political Correctness

It has come to my attention that I sometimes make statements that are insulting, infuriating, uncalled for, and all around inappropriate.  I would like to remind all in the world that this annoying concept of political correctness is bothersome.

I could apologize in advance for all the things I do on a daily basis that are at some point able to anger people.  These offenses include, but are not limited to:
being Jewish, having Autism, Being a Liberal, Voting for Obama, Having Common Sense, hating wealthy bankers, Being Male, Being Single, and most importantly, the greatest offense I tend to commit is being alive.

My feelings on this subject do matter, but what needs to be said here, is that the amount I care about how my beliefs impact your life are as limited as the words in this blog post.

Good Day!

Hollow Bastion

There are levels in video games that make you cry in frustration, there are others that are boring and that are easily forgotten.  Then there are places that are so majestic and filled with such excellent story telling, that they create unforgettable memories and in even more extreme cases, create the means for even greater inspiration.

Hollow Bastion in the original Kingdom Hearts is one of these incredible experiences.  Once one is greeted by the Majestic Rising Falls and floating bubble puzzles, the player is greeted by friend turned rival Riku.  After some powerful dialogue and some game changing plot twists, many players (such as myself) rejoiced.  Finally the moment where Sora realized just how useless he was at hand.  sadly, he remained the main character. (I was disappointed when Riku failed to kill him a few cut scenes later)

After exploring the outer castle, the player enters the entrance hall, fights Riku and another plot twist happens.  This leads to more scenes, lots of fighting with many of the most powerful (and annoying, I'm looking at you Wizards) enemies in the game, and eventually more views of majestic landscapes pitched under a beautiful twilight sunset.

After a tough fight with my favorite Disney character of all time followed by said character scaling up and attacking again, the player finally meets the actual villain and the plot becomes much darker.  Incredible music, both battle and overworld, ensure that Hollow Bastion is an unforgettable experience.

The legacy of which can be seen in the final chapters of The End of Utopia.  As I write the ending to the book (at long last) readers will see just how much of an influence this dungeon had on my writing.  

If you have not already, I would recommend playing the original Kingdom Hearts.  The ending of my first novel will be even more incredible when you understand where its inspiration lies. 

Despair: Self Doubt

The last couple of days have been an emotional roller coaster.  I promised I would write these blog posts in the now and right now. I will admit I am beside myself.  While yesterday, I was on cloud nine, tonight is the opposite.  Part of it is to blame on my emotions being a little edgy for sure.  But I do suffer from  Chronic Despair which will not the same as Chronic Depression, can have many of the same effects,

Right now, I am having self doubt.  Self doubt that I am deluding myself.  Self doubt that I will not to be the first to graduate college in my generation, or get married, or have children.  Self Doubt as  I am the oldest or same age as my siblings and step siblings, cousins and step cousins.

Self Doubt that I am a leach to my family.  Self Doubt that my skills are meaningless in this world.  Self Doubt that my ego is far too high for my above average at best writing skills.

Self Doubt for my political beliefs which have made me branded a traitor by many Jews.  Self Doubt about my income level which has had people remark to me that I need to grow up and leave thinking to the people who have earned it.

Self Doubt that my excitement over freelance jobs may come to an end soon if I cannot continue to create good content.  Self Doubt that each time I get a new job, I make less and less money.  Self doubt that I have run out of things to cut back on and am sacrificing my health now to survive.

And worst of all, I am having Self Doubt that writing this blog post is doing nothing more than making me look like a whiny little brat that is craving attention.  Self Doubt that I will be pleased that I even wrote this later.