Do not let the law degree mislead you. I am a writer, not a lawyer. As such, I am fascinated by most everything the world has to offer. Examining the best and worst of humanity is my thing. Language, Books, Cynicism, Teleplays, Journalism, Comic books, Science fiction, Politics, Law, Irony, Existential philosophy, Ancient history, Religion, World War II, International relations, Animation, Chess, Latin quotes in conversation, Hollywood in the 1940's, Famous criminals,
European history, Vaudeville, Anthropology, Self-awareness,
Mythology, Scrabble, American Civil War, Stand Up Comedy,
Any one who is nodding his or her (especially her) head approvingly while reading about my interests. What am I doing with all this? Writing the great American novel, drafting the best screenplay since Citizen Kane, pumping out short stories like O. Henry never dreamed of doing, snapping photographs of people and places so they are forever frozen in time, critiquing science fiction of all sorts, watching the world slide past the point of rescue into idiocy while pointing out the folly of it all, wondering why I ever wanted to be a lawyer, and listening to Jimmy Buffet and the Eagles to make it all seem worthwhile. Mostly I like to sit under the palmetto trees in a cool ocean breeze and think about opportunities gained and lost.
Music
Movies
I am a movie buff; King Kong (1933), Citizen Kane, the Silence of the Lambs, Bridge on the River Kwai, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Schindler's list, Star wars, Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, Last Crusade, The day the earth Stood Still, Forbidden Planet, Planet of the Apes (1968), Beneath the Planet of the apes, The Shawshank Redemption, Pulp Fiction, Unforgiven, Tombstone, Robin Hood, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, Dracula, Frankenstein, the Mummy, as Good as it gets, The great Dictator, City Lights, Sons of the Desert, Duck Soup, A Night at the Opera, Blazing Saddles, Flash Gordon, Batman Begins, Superman, Superman II, Superman Returns, The Rocketeer, pee Wee's big Adventure, Gremlins, The Manchurian Candidate, The Dirty Dozen, Kelly's Heroes, Saving Private Ryan, Cruel Intentions, Election, Fellowship of the ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King, Shrek, Shrek II, Pirate of the Caribbean: the Curse of the Black Pearl, Terminator, Terminator II, Platoon, Legally Blonde, Freeway, Leaving Las Vegas, City of Angels, Ocean's Eleven (2001), Donnie Darko, 300, Papillon, The Thomas Crown Affair, The Elephant Man, Spider-man, Spider-man II, Spider-man III, Star trek II, Star trek IV, Star Trek VI, Star Trek: Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Sunset Boulevard, Key Largo, the Maltese Falcon, and tons more.
Television
LOST, Battlestar Galactica, Doctor Who, Torchwood, 24
Family Guy, Star Trek(s, Quantum Leap, Twilight Zone (original), The Outer Limits (original), ER (1999-2002), Malcolm in the Middle, Saturday Night Live, Jeopardy,
The West Wing (1999-2003), The Wild Wild West, X-Files,
Seinfeld, Friends, Married with Children, Two and a Half Men, Looney Tunes, Louis Theroux's documentaries, Major League Baseball
Books
Harlan Ellison, Kurt Vonnegut, James Michener, Herman Wouk, Mark Twain, Christopher Hitchens, Pat Conroy, Alexander Dumas, George Orwell, F. Scott Fitzgerald,
Ernest Hemmingway, H. L. Mencken, Ambrose Bierce, Stan Lee,
Dalton Trumbo, Jane Esperson, Stephen Moffat, David E. Kelly, Aaron Sorkin, Ken Levine, Lewis Grizzard, J. Michael Stracznski, Fabian Niceizia, Mark Evanier, Rod Serling, Charles Beaumont
Heroes
I do not personally believe in them, but if I had to choose, I would say Hugo Hurley comes the closest:
"The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself" -- Albert Camus
“Do you ever contemplate your place in this world?” she asked without ever looking at me. She did not even stop twirling her finger in the sand, something her fidgety self felt compelled to do from the moment we sat down on the beach.
I was watching the seas meet the sky and listening to the tide crash against the shore. I only heard the tail end of her question, but I knew it would be best to come up with an answer off the cuff rather than ask her to repeat it. I knew her well enough to understand the kind of questions she would ask anyway. Such was the danger of befriending a philosophy major.
“No,” I said. “I am not that deep.”
She finally looked up at me with brow knit. She stopped twirling her finger in the sand long enough to give me a disbelieving nudge on my upper arm. It was enough to finally draw my attention away from the water.
“What?” I asked in mock surprise.
“You. You are one of the most reserved people I know. Half the people you know think there is nothing going on in that head of yours and the other half are dying to pick your brain. I am in the latter half,” she said.
I let out a deep sigh. This was not something I wanted to talk about.
“About seven or eight years ago, I thought I was going to be a rich lawyer and beat a pathway to the governor’s mansion before I was fifty. At some point, I outgrew the idea, realized I might make a good but not great living, and could not win a city council seat with my prickly as a porcupine personality. Now that idea is even gone with my health being what it is. So, no, I do not contemplate my place in this world.”
“Why not?” she asked.
I took a moment to be thrilled I hit the nail on the head in figuring out her original question. I hate looking like a clueless ninny. The joy did not last long, of course. Reality is a constant companion.
“My world is…small. Smaller than it has ever been. My place is irrelevant.” I told her.
“Oh, good grief,” she grumbled. She turned away from me and took a quick scan of the surrounding sand. She picked up four seashells scattered about and then placed them in a formation between us. As usual, I braced myself. I knew she was about to get a poignant lesson even though I had no idea what it might be.
“Pick one up. Any one of them,” she said.
I played along, hovering my hand over all four before I picked the one closest to her. I held it in my hand and looked up at her quizzically.
“Now, what have you changed?” she asked.
“Nothing,” I said. She rolled her eyes.
“Come on. Think a little.”
“All, right. There were four and then I removed one. Only three remain,” I answered.
“That is why you are so cynical. You fail to see the big picture. You saw four shells and now there are three. You fail to realize those four shells, in that place, in that time, were a component of the entire world before you moved one. You have not just moved one shell. You have changed the entire world,” she told me.
I looked at the shell in my hand, tossed it into the air, and caught it again. I cannot tell you how much I hated it when she did these things to me.
“You know, that sounds like some hokey junk George Harrison would write a song about,” I quipped.
“Could you just let me bask in the moment of using my liberal arts degree? Just once?” she asked mockingly.
We both quietly stared off into the setting sun over the ocean waves. I let her bask. I had a lot of other things to think about.
I also have a YouTube channel (a video I created is above) and a regularly updated blog called Eye of Polyphemus. Feel free to visit both and let me know what you think.
Who I'd like to meet:
Aside from Reese Witherspoon, anyone interesting as long as you are not trying to get me to listen to your band, read your book, attend your seminar, buy into your pyramid scheme, view your webcam, or convert to your dopey religious cult.
Wow! That was funny, thanks for sharing. BTW, that was an awesome episode. I really enjoyed it. Poor Doc! He looked so scared... Never seen him quite like that. Hope you are well. And yeah, more than change, LOL! Probably a couple hundred dollars, which would come in handy to bail myself out of jail after getting arrested :P
