There are times when one wishes to look behind, for there is much to learn about yourself and others. However, focusing so much on your past that it remains there and should be forgotten can be a very bad thing.

Living too much in your past, but not learning from it, may cause one to relive it. Learning from your past will help you to live in the now and for the future.

In the last few months I’ve gotten to know a young woman named Jana. She and I have talked in-depth about past relationships, on both sides.

She has a way of approaching relationships that I had never considered before really. Interesting how sometimes it just takes that one person to open your eyes.

She has the approach of getting to know someone for a year at least before really considering them as more than friends. At first most people would think “Well, that’s a LONG time. Most people do that after 3 dates, if that.” Obviously, everyone is different and different methods work for different people.

She once asked me, if I had known my last two girlfriends a year BEFORE committing to a relationship with them, would I still have done it? I had to answer no. I thought about it and…never thought about that before she asked that. There are things I knew a year into it, that had I known early on, I would have disliked, and not just minor things, for me anyway. It’s a very interesting question, really.

I mean no one can know what WILL happen, but sometimes you think you know someone but you really don’t until later, and you’re already together, and it’s something that you didn’t even consider or thought was ok.  For me, it was minor things to others but it left me very unsatisfied.

I like to write. I mean I don’t update this blog very often, but I DO write and enjoy it. There’s nothing more than for someone to read it, or listen to it, and say “You did well,” or even “You know, that could be fixed.” I didn’t feel any sort of appreciation for my stories in my last relationship. It hurt more than just a friend because the person you’re with you want to appreciate or at least take some interest. I got neither, unless it was small poem or something about her, then yeah. My other stories, not a peep. So I knew that I wanted that in whatever relationship/s that followed after she and I broke up.

It may sound strange, but I never KNEW I needed that. Perhaps because everyone else I talked to seemed to LOVE my stories. Even she said she liked how I wrote but….never my stories. They aren’t super long, they wouldn’t have taken that long to get through…and yet…nothing. Well, not again. I think getting to know someone a good long time before entering a relationship is a darn good idea, and well, I’ve lived through what happens if you don’t. I could have saved myself some heartache.

Alas, the past IS the past, I can do nothing to CHANGE that, but I can learn from it. One major thing I take away from those past relationships is this – I know more and more what I want and need. I know what was missing, and when it’s filled. Sometimes it just takes a lot of heartbreak to find the person who can help put it together again for you.

I’ve also learned that going by emotions alone is a horrible idea. You can be swept up in all the emotions but never see “What DO you really have in common?” Emotions can make you blind. Really blind. I look back and remember when I got out of my last relationship I felt like I had come out of a hypnotic state. I vowed to never do that again. I was too eager, and it was huge mistake. Emotions are PART of love, but never love in and of itself.

So, what then? What is love? True love is finding that person with a REAL connection to you. It goes beyond just “Oh wow it’s him/her” and goes into “Wow, I can’t believe how just alike we are.” THAT should be the basis of a relationship. It’s easy to want to jump in, as I’ve said, but ask yourself, again, what if you knew that person a YEAR? Shrug off all the emotions as being the prominent part of the idea of love, and focus on what you two REALLY have together.

For example, are you able to agree to disagree readily? Are there things the other person enjoys, that perhaps you don’t or even you don’t buy into but you can live with it? Obviously every couple or possible couple has disagreements and dislikes. You’ll never both like EVERYTHING exactly, but think about what is important. Perhaps make a list right now and think “What is something that if they didn’t like or appreciate that I just couldn’t deal with?”

How many people do that? I didn’t, but I wish I did. I wish I thought of that. I wish I knew what I knew now, but maybe without it HAPPENING, I couldn’t have. Still, as I Said, holding onto that past and letting go and learning are different things. Let it go before it ruins you.

Another thing is don’t rely on the other person to always make you happy. People will always disappoint, even the person you love. There will be times when you can barely talk to one another, slamming doors and yelling (though I hope you are able to discuss things in a much more mature way). In those times, neither of you are happy and you’re not happy because, perhaps, of the other person. I hope you can come together and get back to where it was before, but it can be slow sometimes to fully take hold, but forgive.

One of my friends once gave some good relationship advice “Be gracious to one another”. Remember that the other person isn’t perfect, they’re going to mess up, sometimes big, sometimes small. Sometimes it could be something they said that you were offended, or may it’s what they DIDN’T say. Not saying you don’t have the right to be upset, and I wouldn’t blame you for being so, but just keep in mind that YOU probably did the same thing or will. You’re human, so are they. Talk about it. Work it out and like before, forgive. Be gracious, show grace to them. If there’s an issue, work it out, talk it out. Slamming doors or not speaking – the problem is STILL there. TALK to each other.

That’s another thing – Communication. Sadly for some couples, the relationship is most about something that’s not about talking or if so, it’s yelling, abusive. Some it’s just sex, but really no communication there either (it’s just the truth). My view is you should communicate in all things. You should be comfortable enough with the other person to just SAY what you think, and not think you have to say what they WANT To hear or do what they WANT to do just be in their ‘good graces’. You can communicate freely, and understand the other person’s opinions without being so upset about it. It CAN be done.

Even in something, and here kids cover your eyes, in sex you can communicate, and I don’t mean the typical things you probably think during sex (I hope I don’t need to explain that), but really helping each other be better at what they’re doing, help the experience be better for one another. Sex is an extent of love, or should be, and communication is very important here as well.

There of course is one of the bigger ones – finding someone who loves you for who you are as a person. Basically the things I mentioned above covers a lot of that idea. Some relationships can be very shallow. What you think is love, is just an emotional high that dies as soon as you realize that that’s all there is. The sooner you think about what you really have together, the connection, the communication, everything, the sooner you can really figure out what it really is.

Looks aren’t everything. Talents aren’t everything. Sure he’s 6′ tall and can play a guitar, but he’s a total jerk. I’ve known relationships that were like that in some ways. Even when they got married, the person never changed, because the change is in the heart and mind, and not whether they’re married or not. Sometimes it’s the short, socially awkward, nerdy guy who is really the true guy, and it’s not to say that tall guys who play guitars or play sports are all bad, far from it. Point is – don’t base everything on how a person looks, or what they do. Base it on who they are. If you grow old together, his personality will remain but his looks obviously will change. Many good men and women get overlooked for the others because of this, and that’s the world that says “You must look like this” or “You must dress like this”. Ignore the world, it’s a messed up place, and the person you may want to be with could be right there, but overlooked because of his or her looks, or because they have a certain hobby or whatever.

Well, you remember Jana, the one I spoke to about all of this? Well, I have to say that she really fits into everything I said here and more. We’ve been talking for a few months, and really have a connection that I can’t explain. Others have seen it, even without knowing anything they picked up on it. We have our jinxes, we think the same way of almost everything, and the things we don’t we agree to disagree.

I’m honest here now, I’ve not felt something like THAT before. This feels REAL. Unlike anything I have dealt with before. At first it was very strange, we even both said “This isn’t normal”. We can talk on a chat for hours without tiring of one another, or on skype for over 6 HOURS and not wanting to leave. That’s 6 hours STRAIGHT in one day. What do we talk about? Everything. Anything. We just have FUN with each other, and that’s so important.

She even listened to me READING A story to her one day over skype for an hour. She loves to draw, and she felt comfortable enough to draw while I read. I felt actually very happy about that. Not everyone would be comfortable with that, and she WAS listening. I could see her in my little window off to the side as I read. She smiled, laughed…cried. It was quite the experience, and we wouldn’t mind reading again. I loved finding someone who APPRECIATES and ENJOYS the things I write. She’s very creative herself, as I said, she loves to draw and she’s VERY talented and good at it.

Gosh, we have so much fun. We can laugh at the silliest things and we just get it and we’re not tired of it. I don’t think I ever could be. It’s also amazing how comfortable we are together. We both can just tell the other ANYTHING and be comfortable. Maybe a bit shy about it, but comfortable. It’s really wonderful to find someone like that. I can just be ME and she can be HER.

Another thing I love about her is her love of the works of Tolkien. I’m a HUGE LOTR fan. We met on a LOTR chat. It sounds so nerdy, and I guess it is, but I always prayed for someone to come along that would love LOTR. Being nerdy and geeky to some is just silly, and worthless…but to me, it’s important. I really treasure the works of Tolkien. He was an inspiration of beginning to write in the first place. With Jana, I can just talk about it and she gets it completely. She LOVES LOTR. She loves The Hobbit. She loves Tolkien. It’s so freeing to just talk about it and someone GETS IT.  She even wouldn’t mind watching all 3 LOTR Extended Editions with me! For those who don’t know, that’s about 12 HOURS and if we did a marathon…well goodness. Not everyone would agree to that or would consider it boring if they did. Not us. Oreos and LOTR (and milk with the oreos for her) – not a bad combination.

Another thing I love is being able to WRITE a story with her. I tried that before – it turned into THEIR story and it just felt empty. I wasn’t enjoying it. I thought I would never enjoy writing a story with someone after THAT. I mean, contrasting ideas and writing styles…nope not going to work. Then…well, you guessed it no doubt, Jana and I began to write stories over the chat. It’s really fun, and we actually WORK TOGETHER to make the story better. She has ideas, I have ideas, if some ideas may not work we talk it out and try to figure out what CAN work. It’s so enjoyable to write with someone else that just wants to not take over, but write as a team. It’s so much better than writing by yourself as well, I must say. It’s fun, can be serious, and it has even expanded my horizons as far as story telling and character writing.

Also, we don’t plan out every step together – so much of it is improv and neither of us know what the other is going to say next which keeps you on your toes. Very enjoyable.

I LOVE writing stories with her. I love doing anything with her really. I love just talking to and with her. Some people would probably think I’d be bored of talking to someone almost all day long, but never with her, as I’ve said. When she’s not there, it doesn’t feel the same. I miss her. I look forward to just talking to her everyday. She is the highlight of my day, really.

I don’t know what’s going to happen for sure in the future with Jana and I, but I will say I’ve TRULY never met anyone I’ve enjoyed being around so much, that shares so much of what I like and appreciates it and I can just have fun with. We have so much in common it’s pretty crazy, but in a great way. I could really just talk to her all day and I don’t think I’d ever get tired of it. I think even if we were to not say a thing with each other, we’d still have a wonderful time together. I do really believe that.

I know this has been long, but also it needed to be said. I feel great saying it too. I could go on and on about Jana, but needless to say she’s an amazing person that I’m so thankful to have met. She’s really everything I hoped to find in a girl. She really is. A needle in a haystack really, one of a kind.

That all said, I’m always in wonder about finding someone like her. Whether we remain best friends or perhaps more, it’s amazing to meet someone that’s so much like me and I can’t wait to see what happens, for this is part of my story now, each day a new chapter, unsure from one thing to the next, but right now, this chapter is very good and I hope that it’ll just continue to get better and Jana has been the main reason for that. I can’t help but smile when I think of her.

Alright well, I’m sure some people out there would be bored of it, and I keep going on, but that’s ok. I could go on, but I won’t, not now. What I said is what I really think. Some things have changed in my way of thinking, but for the best, and there’s one person who really helped me in thinking them and that’s Jana.

So thank you, Jana, for helping me see things differently in a way I never have before, and for being you.

So, for whatever reason, I haven’t posted since December of last year. It’s already March. I think it’s time for some more posts! First off, my review of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

I’d like to start off by saying that this will have VERY minor spoilers. Most of what I say will be stuff you could have gleamed from the trailers, commercials or basic descriptions on the net to summarize the film. That said, let us begin.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is the first of three films based on the book “The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien, who, of course, wrote The Lord of the Rings trilogy. These films are done by the same team from those movies but the Hobbit takes place before the events in LOTR.

It is the story of a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins who is taken on an adventure with 13 dwarves and the wizard Gandalf the Grey. The film is more lighthearted in tone than the LOTR films. The fate of the world is not at stake here, but there are events that are directly connected, some obvious some not.

Many have given their input about the length of the film, along with the three film treating of a fairly short book. Having seen the first film, I must admit I’m not sure how they would have made it even into TWO films and been able to tell the whole story. I can’t really explain why without going into major spoilers, but as a huge book fan, I can say the treatment of the source material was well done overall and I even liked the additions that weren’t in the book.

Some people also had complaints about various storylines or characters not in the book, some completely made up. I went in with an open mind, and I think it worked. Nothing irked me at all and I think it will work well in the long run once all three films can be seen as a whole and their connection to the bigger story with LOTR as well.

The acting in the film is top notch. Martin Freeman really becomes a hobbit, and I think he played Bilbo perfectly. He wasn’t wanting adventure, and he just wished to be left alone to his hobbit-hole in the Shire. However, fate had something else in store. I remember people saying that they wanted Martin Freeman for Bilbo long before he was cast. I have never seen anything else with him in it, but from what I’ve read, he’s a very capable actor in those other things and I think he wins my vote as Bilbo.

Ian Mckellen returns as Gandalf the Grey, and I don’t think anyone else could be Gandalf at this point. Nothing more needs to be said – he’s a great actor and I’m glad he was able to return to the role.

As for the other major actors – Richard Armitage does a good job as Thorin Oakenshield, the leader of the dwarves. He’s a king without a kingdom, and he wishes to change that, to win back their home from the dragon, Smaug, who long ago took their home, Erebor (The Lonely Mountain).

Some returning characters also connect the series, and again I am glad they didn’t have to change actors for any of the returning roles, especially Gollum, who shows up here in his first meeting with Bilbo and an event that would have a great impact on the entire overall story. Again, Gollum was shown in the trailers and posters, so that is not counted as a spoiler, though I won’t go into what transpires here.

I thought that the production design was top notch this time around as well. I liked the various dwarven looks so they didn’t just look like clones of each other was well done, along with the personalities of the dwarves that we know so far. Some people complained we didn’t get enough of some, but I would like to take the time to remind people that not only are there two more films to go, but there are EXTENDED editions of those films (including this first movie) that will be coming out as well that will no doubt have some of the smaller, personal moments.

Much has been made about the time spent in the beginning before the adventure really starts. I would like to remind people that the first chapter of the Hobbit is mostly all talk, and pretty much how the movie had it. I was honestly pleased with how they stayed true to the book in this, including some lines word for word from the book! As a fan, I loved it.

Another thing about it is that it’s a set up movie – it’s a movie that has to set up all the characters and story so the first bit HAS to be a bit slower in going. Remember, they have to introduce Bilbo plus 13 dwarves and Gandalf (although Gandalf is fairly well known, you have to treat this overall in the idea that this might be the first Tolkien film someone sees one day). Even then, we didn’t get to know all the of the dwarves, and I don’t doubt we’ll get to know various ones in the other films and extended editions.

Overall, I have nothing negative to add except to say I was sad when it was over. I never felt it was overly long and I would have gladly stayed around for hours more (with some breaks of course) to see as much as I could. It’s a wonderful tale, filled with adventure, comedy and some thought provoking dialouge and story. It’s not for everyone, and that’s fine.

However, I think anyone who is remotely interested in Middle-Earth might want to give the movie a try. It’s less story heavy, more lighthearted but still has plenty of interesting things going on. If you’ve never seen LOTR, or read it, or The Hobbit, I think this might be a good introduction, and if you like what you see, go get the book. It’s not hard to read, and it’s well written and interesting.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is coming out on DVD/Blu-Ray in America, at least, on March 22nd 2012, with an extended edition no doubt coming later on in the year. I highly recommend it!

So, my youtube video was lagging therefore I had to do just audio only and put some pictures with it thus making it in a movie windows movie maker! It’s good enough! Here it is. I hope I did well enough. The topic is how I get introduced to Tolkien and some other related things.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2yfkI94EFI

This post is to announce, more or less, that I will try my hand at making some youtube videos.

What will they be about?

Well, (and I’ll talk about it in my first video too) they will just be me talking about whatever is on my mind. The topics will range from movies, tv shows, video games, books, food, whatever. Some of the videos will have many parts or some may be short. I hope to have guests (friends) on to join me from time to time.

I’m a bit nervous about being in front of a camera and being seen by people all over the world, but I think it could be fun and hopefully interesting.

This idea came from a friend of mine and I talking about this stuff often. I said, more or less, ‘We should make a podcast with us talking since we do it all the time anyway’. I figure youtube is the best (and it’s free) way to do this.

I don’t know the exact date on the first video, but I’m thinking soon.

My youtube channel is http://www.youtube.com/user/Brandalf85

Please go ahead and subscribe whenever you wish. I’ll put my first video here on my blog at any rate to ensure it is seen. The more people subscribe, the more likely I am to do videos. I mean, if nobody is watching what’s the point in making them?

I can tell you now that the first few videos will be about The Hobbit. I plan on doing a non-spoiler preview and how I got into Tolkien/The Hobbit and also a couple of Spoiler filled videos talking about what I’m looking forward to and what we know about those scenes/parts/characters.

As a huge Tolkien fan, expect videos on the subject here and there.

That’s all for now. Look forward to seeing you on youtube.

In 2006, I began to think that writing a parody of LOTR would be fun. At first I thought that doing a parody of the movies would be good, but then I realized if I did that I might want to later on do one on the books. So to save myself the hassle, I just decided to parody the books.

The website is www.theologyweb.com and it’s free to join. It’s a message board for mainly discussing faith (whatever that happens to be) but it’s also a place for fun and I put people from that site (some long gone from there) into the story using their own injokes and characteristics for the book characters.

Anyway, this is mainly here for easy access for people who want to read them in case they don’t want to join the website or anyone who just might want to read these. It took 3 months to finish the trilogy and another couple for the Hobbit parody. I’m rather proud of them. If you enjoy them, feel free to comment.

The parody preface sadly could not be found to upload. You don’t really NEED it, and you might catch on well enough with out it. I’m sorry if not everything makes sense, and even with the preface it wouldn’t ALL be explained.

The Tugger is the parody of The Hobbit, so that should obviously be read first.

LOTB: FOTJ is first in the trilogy, followed by LOTB:TTT and LOTB ROTPK.

In that order. I apologise up front for grammar mistakes etc.

Of course this is all my work so credit where credit is due etc.

Enjoy!

TheTugger

LOTB FOTJ

LOTB TTT

LOTB ROTPK

With the knowledge that The Hobbit would be made into movies and the first part coming out this December, I decided it would be a good time to re-read the book.

I had read the Hobbit about 8 times before and listened to the unabridged book on tape about the same. I love the story. No matter how many times I read it or listen to it, I am swept away into Middle-Earth as Bilbo Baggins adventures with the dwarves and Gandalf to reclaim the treasure from the dragon, Smaug.

I won’t say much more as I am not sure who has read the book or is waiting to do so. I will say that if you are wanting a wonderful fantasy/adventure story, The Hobbit is a great book for those things. It’s easy to read, amusing, well written and memorable.

As I mentioned before, I was first introduced to the world of Middle-Earth with the 1977 animated “The Hobbit” movie from Rankin/Bass. When I was about 12 years old, I went with my mom to a used book store and bought The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion. I still remember getting comfortable on a couch, having some chips and opening “The Hobbit” for the first time and reading it with eagerness.

After that I began to read LOTR. As I was somewhat young, I found some of the descriptions boring and I just wanted to get to the dialouge. LOTR is a lot ‘heavier’ in tone and story than The Hobbit is and for a child of 12, it’s a bit much though I did enjoy the story and the dialouge. I re-read it for the second time and THAT time I read every word.

I have since finished re-reading The Hobbit and am now on Book 3 which is contained within “The Two Towers”. I have the one volume copy of LOTR which I received for my birthday long ago. It’s a very nice volume, though heavy and thick but it is nice to have it all in one volume instead of three.

I am enjoying re-reading LOTR, imagining the places in my mind, and it’s nice just to read something and not watch the TV or play video games. It’s relaxing and comforting.

So, if you haven’t read any of these books, start with The Hobbit and move to Lord of the Rings if you enjoyed that. The first Hobbit film comes out December 14th of this year (2012), I believe, and I am looking forward to every second.

Do you remember growing up and you had that favorite show? Do you remember the theme song to it? Is it on the tip of your mental tongue but you can’t seem to remember the name perhaps of the show, but you can just see and hear a bit of the song in your mind?

There was a show I grew up watching on Nick Jr when I was quite young. I should say there were many shows like that from various channels.

I used to watch Inspector Gadget, Rescue Rangers, Rocko’s Modern Life, Hey Arnold, Maya the Bee, Eureka’s Castle, and I could go on and on.

Of course there was the obvious Looney Toons and the various Disney cartoons that everyone watches and watched. I also used to love the Hanna-Barbera (I hope I am spelling that right) shows as well.

I also watched the re-runs of The Muppet Show which is a classic for all ages. I didn’t know many of the stars that came on that show at the time, but I loved the humor and I am sure if I watched it now I would laugh along again.

I mainly wrote this blog because there was this one song I loved growing up which was a theme song to a cartoon show. I couldn’t remember the name at all. It was a variety of different stories with a moral message or something like that.

One day I was going through youtube just looking up old shows and their themes for nostalgic purposes. I saw a video on the right and something clicked in my mind that it might be the show I was looking for. It only took the first few notes for me to have that moment of “THAT IS IT!” and to realize that was the show and the song.

Even now I found it very catchy and fun.

The show was an anime called Grimms Fairy Tale Classics and here is the song

Pretty catchy huh? I don’t know if anyone else remembers this or not, but I used to watch this show (among others) all the time.

Anyway, I just wanted to share that bit of nostalgia from my past. If you have a favorite theme from a show you watched growing up, post a comment.

Well, today is the first day of Autumn aka Fall.

I love this season. The air gets cooler, the leaves return to the original colors and there is just a wonderful smell in the air.

This season brings Halloween and Thanksgiving. While I don’t participate in Halloween (I’m not a candy person), I still enjoy the scary movies or TV shows on or seeing what everyone dressed up as.

Thanksgiving is wonderful not just for the food but for a time of reflection. I am often thankful for the things I have.

Oddly enough today’s high is supposed to be 88. That annoys me a bit, but I guess Summer had to get in one last gasp (hopefully) before going away for the year. Tomorrow is supposed to be a much nicer 75 degrees. I personally love the cooler/colder seasons and dislike the hotter ones (Though Spring is very nice but I detest Summer).

There is honestly nothing like waking up in the morning to the cool breeze of Autumn coming through your window and the sound of the leaves blowing in the breeze. It’s just wonderful.

Well, the windows are open, a breeze is coming through for it is not yet 88. I look forward now to the cooling of days and tomorrow is Sunday which means I get to see my friends from church. I am overall very happy right now. I hope you are too.

It’s not every day that I am excited (I mean REALLY giddy) about something. Surely you know how it is: something you are anticipating that the very thought of it makes you feel just so excited about you can barely contain yourself. That is how is I feel towards this video game.

For those not in the know, Borderlands 2 is the sequel to, wait for it, Borderlands. There’s not much story to the first one, but the thing that made it so fun was the ability to play with others, the quirky sense of humor and the random weapon chests around the world. As one character exclaims, “it’s just like Christmas!”

I was debating whether to just wait until, well, Christmas, to get the game as I wasn’t sure anyone I played with normally would be getting it right away. Then a good friend, David, contacted me on Facebook and asked if I still had my copy of Borderlands 1. He uses gamefly mostly (basically like netflix where you get games sent to you via mail and keep them as long as you want then send them back etc) for his games, but from time to time there’s a game he knows he’ll buy.

Borderlands 1 has what they called the Game of the Year edition which contains all the stuff including the extra content you can buy. He picked it up for $30 and since he had only gone through the vanilla game once and never even played any of the extra content, he wanted to go through it all in anticipation for Borderlands 2. We also convinced another good friend of ours, Bryan, to get the game as well. Bryan had never played Borderlands at all before he got it recently but fell in love with it.

I am absolutely giddy about this upcoming game. There are many of my friends getting it, which is sort of a bad thing only because I can’t play with ALL of them at once so there might be some deliberation over who I play with at a given time, though my first runthrough I plan on playing with David, Bryan and his wife, Becca who will be joining us as well for the second game.

Since I’ve played the first one so much, for me it’s just about having the fun of being with friends. I know how to do most everything and what order to do it in and where everything is located. That’s fun and all, but there’s something special about NOT knowing where to go next, or exploring every corner of an area and finding new things.

Something else, more or less just plain special for me, is that David and Bryan haven’t played much with me in the past year and that’s only due to them having different games. I should quickly explain that both Dave and Bryan are two of the closest friends I have and pretty much grew up with them. It it really a joy to me to be able to spend time with them, even if we’re not in person, to just play games as we used to and have fun. That’s a personal thing for me and I am very thankful for all of it.

It reminds me of when I first played the demo for Left 4 Dead 1. Finding two others and forming an alliance of sorts, saying we’d all get the game on the release day and finding our fourth person to play it all through. It’s almost has a superhero quality about it in the sense that you are joining forces.

Some people have athletic things they go to or maybe a party out but my friends don’t live that close to me for such things to happen. This is really our only way of hanging out on a fairly regular basis nowadays. I guess some may call that lame that our hanging out involves sitting at home playing a video game for hours on end.

I don’t see why it should be regarded in such a negative light by those who do see it that way. Not too long ago you couldn’t even do that. It was phone calls or personal visits really. Maybe talking on an instant messenger program, but that removes some of the personal aspects. Now, there’s skype and Xbox Live that you can use to communicate in ways that when I was a teenager, I didn’t even have. It’s really amazing.

While we’re talking sometimes a mention of something going on in our ‘real’ lives will occur. For example, David is expecting his first child, a daughter, in a month or so. I find it still strange that someone I grew up with is not only married, but going to be a father! I can’t seem to get over that thought process. I remember when David young, dating a few girls (not at the same time) and now he’s married (I was a groomsman in the wedding) and about to have a child. Strange.

Anyway next month, September 18th is the release date in America, we might be all on. David isn’t sure due to his daughter being born literally (of course delivery could be earlier) a week before, but sometime around then we all plan on getting on and experiencing something new and exciting. I haven’t been this giddy over a game in some time, as I believe I said, and I think part of that is due to spending time with friends again that I haven’t in some time.

A strange but wonderous thought came to my mind the other night as I lay in bed about to sleep. I may have brought this up before, but I doubt I did an entire blog piece on it.

Many of us wish we were in the seat of power in whatever aspect that may be. If we were in control, this would be gone, or this would be in place. Most of us will never really attain any real power over anyone, save perhaps our own children at some point in the future.

However, as an author, I realize that in my stories I am the supreme ruler over all I have made. In effect, I become the god of that world; and if you are an author, you have that power of your own, though not mine.

Think about it – you create a world with your own set of rules, boundaries, characters and you control it totally. You can make a character go left, right, stay in one spot or get hit by a car. You can make it rain, snow, be sunny, or have a tornado rip through the small town you made.

If you were so bold you could even destroy everyone you made to make way for something brand new if you got bored. You have the power over life and death in this world of yours.

Of course the characters within are merely part of our imagination and even were you to base it on someone real, if you were making something up about them it would still be in your mind and on the pages you write but not in reality.

There is an interesting film that came out a few years ago called “Stranger Than Fiction” starring Will Ferrel. At this writing, it is free to watch on youtube – don’t worry it’s legal. I had never seen it before so I gave it a go and coming from a writer, I enjoyed it on a level perhaps non writers/authors couldn’t.

The story of the film is basically a man, played by Will Ferrel, begins to hear this female voice narrating everything he is doing. He soon suspects he is somehow in a story, just a character, and he soon finds out what is really going on. It’s a fun little film, and not your typical Will Ferrel fare.

It sort of bring up the “What If” of if your character turned out to be a real person (or creature), would that change how you approach the story?? Let’s say you were going to send your character off to war and you planned on having him mentally scarred from the things he’s seen. What if that character was a real person, and you were sending him off to that battle? Could you still do it knowing your authority (hey, it even has the word ‘author’ in it!) in the story would change a persons life forever? It’s an interesting thing to think about (but not too much or you may never write much again).

As fun as it is to be in power, let us be thankful that our power is limited to things that could be, but aren’t or we might wish to rid ourselves of the power right away. I doubt being president or king is as fun or interesting as we may imagine. Going to war means sending people to their deaths and so forth. Not something most of us may be able to live with, even if we knew it was right.

We, as authors, have an amazing power. Using fantasy or fiction especially is a gateway to telling amazing stories you can’t really tell in the ‘real’ world. Fiction, perhaps is the closest to that, of course, but it lets our minds change a thing or two here and there. Fantasy is, in my view, the richest of the genres – we can do anything we want no matter how crazy.

We also have the ability to put forth interesting ideas under the guise of a fantastical story, perhaps in a way that just telling a more reality based version wouldn’t accomplish.

I think of “Star Trek, well, the entire franchise. In many episodes they are able to address things such as race, religion, equality of life and all while not directly addressing the exact issue we face today, but the same overall issue perhaps an alien race is dealing with. It’s an incredible vehicle, but as the authors, we’re the drivers.

Our stories also have the opportunity to touch someones life. Perhaps you wrote it for them or perhaps not, but it might be that one sentence a character says that speaks to their heart and stays with them forever. There is much good we can do in this world, just by writing. There is also much harm that can come of it, but I hope not for it is an amazing thing we have, to be authors, let us use that gift of writing wisely.

Now, being that I, the author of this blog, have nothing more to say, I shall end this entry here.