A Continuation of Yesterday (read: About Twelve Hours Ago)
I haven't really felt like doing improv in a while. Even though I went to Keith's, had a good time, and did some pretty good improv... I haven't felt like it. I'm constantly in a flux between wanting to be the best at improv and being sick of the fleeting and temporal nature of it all. What's the point of doing something if it's not permanent? If it leaves no impression behind, when all is said and done? Where is the legacy of a man whose whole life is constantly living from moment to moment. No... even though I am good at improv (good might be stretching the truth just a little), my life won't be complete and I won't be satisfied until I do something a little more permanent.
As such, I woke up yesterday morning with an inspiration. After just finishing "The War of The Worlds" I must have had science fiction on my brain... because I was awoken by thoughts of a science fiction story that I knew I had to start writing down. I'm not exactly sure why science fiction... as even I kind of look down on the genre; but I think that it's honestly the only place to really explore questions of "what ifs"... alternate realities, alternate universes, the future, etc.
Later in the day, while running errands actually, I had to stop in a Starbucks because the weight of all the good ideas for the story fluctuating in my head needed to be alleviated. I bought an iced tea, sat in one of the large comfy chairs, and wrote down ideas, fragments of ideas, minor character exchanges... all the loot that was in my head. Nothing, however, resembling actual writing (which only discourages me when I think about how nothing was actually accomplished).
And in the "good news" category, I received an emailed list of all the people who are going on the England trip with me. Well, now I know who is going to be hit on for 10 days.

As if Wal-Mart didn't piss us off enough as it is, here's an article about Wal-Mart in Vermont. Apparently Vermont's legislature passed some, uh, legislation allowing for a state fund that is designed to give money to victims of crimes. The money comes from traffic and criminal fines and goes straight into this fund--all in an effort to help crime victims get back on their feet more quickly, I'm sure (a very good idea as far as I'm concerned). Well well well... it seems poor defenseless Wal-Mart has made claims about crimes committed to it, in an effort to get a piece of that money; and about 20% of that money was going to businesses like Wal-Mart and Rite Aid. In Vermont's defense, there was little they could do about Wal-Mart taking a piece of the money with the law as written (and last week the Vermont Senate passed a clarifying bill)... but shame on big businesses for taking advantage of bills and legislation put in place to help real, honest-to-God victims of crimes! Boo Wal-Mart!
And here's something else that's funny. It seems, with the impending wildfire season approaching, some states out West are going to soon need those annual home-town heroes the National Guard. Yes yes... every year the wildfires come and the National Guard is there to save the day. Wait... where is the Nation Guard this year? Iraq?! But... who will save us from the Wildfires? We don't have enough fire fighters. What shall we do?
I have an idea! How about writing your local congressperson or representative and yelling at them to get our fucking people back in the states?! There's an idea. Seriously fuck Iraq... they can fix their own damn problems. And if we pull out of Iraq and the UN doesn't sweep in to help... then fuck the UN, too. Their job is to help with bullshit like this, and also, if I'm not mistaken, to stop countries from unjustly invading other countries. Shame on them for allowing us to do what we did in Afghanistan and Iraq without any repercussions. I'm not sure how I got here from being worried that the Western half of the country is going to catch on fire. But there you go. This is what happens when I get in these "moods." I lash out in all manner of direction, with neither rhyme nor reason. I've got errands to run, I'm out.