A Few Thoughts...

Today I have a few thoughts on The Simpsons...

Oh The Simpsons, what can I say about you that hasn't already been said. This show has affected so many people over the years. It has paved the way for countless other shows and mediums to push the boundaries of what is considered politically correct. It helped shape an entire generation of kids into the cynical and skeptical young adults we see today. Despite all of its accolades, I mean it when I say, this show is stale as shit! It has been on the air for too long. In comedy, a joke can't be told too many times because after a while it loses its edge and stops being funny. Fox Network: stop making your show because it is no longer funny. In today’s modern entertainment world something like the Simpsons can no longer stand against the likes of Family Guy, South Park, or even its sister show, Futurama. I think the only reason it is still around is because over the years The Simpsons has developed into a mountainous brand that is so engrained in popular culture that nothing will ever move it. This doesn't mean that it shouldn’t be moved. I believe the show should have ended with the movie, and that the movie should have been made at least five years ago.

Fox Network, over the years I have enjoyed much of your Americanized programming, but by dragging this show on, season after season, you are ruining a staple of my young life. Stop it!

Daniel Chambers

Great Expectations

In writing this blog, it was my hope that people would actually read it. At this point I haven't advertised my blog anywhere, but I have told some of my friends it exits. However, I don't think they're actually readint it. None of them have given me any feedback, so I take that no one is interested in what I am doing here. This did hurt me a little, but I am over it. I could resent them, but I hate cesspool of bitterness I would have to bath in to feel that way. I realized that while I am very interested in the things I write, not everybody will be. I would hope that the people close to me would be interested in something creative I put out there, but if they are not I can't let that bother me.

Writing, like all art, is a medium of self expression. If one is going to create they have to do it for themselves, and that is why I started this blog. I started it so I would have an outlet for my thoughts on life, the universe, and everything. Sure, the prose is written for others, but I did it for myself. I like what I have done here, and I am not going to stop even though, for all I know, no one has read this blog. I hope my friends and family will eventually see this, but I'm not going to tear my hair out over it. If they do, it will be on their own time, and for their own reasons, not because I urged them to. You can't chase after a bird trying to feed it; you have to wait patiently for it to come to you, otherwise that bird will fly away.

In life, you have to put some things on different pedestals than others. Have great expectations for yourself, but know that everyone else is worrying about their own things. Try to not let that get you down.

Daniel Chambers

A Few Thoughts...

Today, I have a few thoughts on comics.

I recently finished reading the second volume in what I hope to be a long running series of graphic novels called Locke and Key. I can easily say that after speeding through both volumes, this title is one of my favorites.

It is an independent comic, and a fairly new one at that, so the characters are fresh and the story line is unique. It was released in single issues, but I read it as a collected novelized book. I find this format to be stronger when dealing with an over arching storyline. I like an entire plot to be contained within a single binding of a paperback, or hardcover. I think this is the direction comics should go in. There will always be a super fan who is willing to buy the single-issue book every week. Unfortunately, the general public will most likely not go that far. It is hard for someone to jump into a story with a single chapter, and then have to wait a week, or longer, for the next one. This goes double for the major titles: Batman, Superman, Spiderman, The X-Men, among others. Despite the fact these characters have penetrated the mainstream of popular culture, the casual fan doesn't want to take the time and effort to jump into the maze of continuity that drags behind each of them. I think focusing more energy on the trade paperbacks could solve this. People want a self-contained story line, and that is found in graphic novels, and collected series of the short, single issue comic books. Speaking as a casual fan, I have a stack of single issues and a stack of graphic novels/trades, and I care far more for the novels and trades than those twenty page teasers. That’s what those single issues are: just one piece of a bigger puzzle. Nobody wants to start a puzzle with missing peices.

Anyway, I like my stack of trade paperbacks more for the same reason I care more about an entire novel than a short story, or chapter; it's the same reason I care more about an entire television series than a single episode; and it's the same reason I care more about an entire album than a single song. Sure, I still have my favorite song, episode, and chapter, but I want the entire cake, not just one piece.

Read Locke and Key, it is an exciting and dynamic story!

Daniel Chambers

Own Your Space

Last weekend I was out with some friends, and in a moment of stark intoxication I had a brilliant thought. A motto of encouragement for life slipped into my mind. I’ve been using it at work, school, and anywhere else I feel the need for some extra motivation. I use it to boost my confidence in times it is shaken. In the past week, whenever I have been up against the brick wall called life I say, “Dan, own your space”.

The mantra came into being as we started our night with a few drinks. A friend of mine mentioned he was under pressure at work. He doesn’t get enough sleep, and it shows in his work ethic, so his boss thinks of him as a slacker. We told him to take responsibility for his actions, and own his job. We spent the remainder of the evening walking through the night discussing the finer points of life as our drunkenly skewed minds perceived it. Here and there I dropped comments about owning life. I started telling my friends to own their jokes when they said a bad one. “Own your insults,” I would say in the midst of friendly banter. Eventually, we stopped walking to play Hacky Sack in a park, and I told them to own their actions; go for that extra juggle. “Own your life!” is the slogan that eventually shot from my lips. That was it! The dam was broken, and this new idea flooded out. “You are the only ones occupying that space in this moment in time, so it is up to you to own it!” I announced to my friends, as we were ending our night. “No one else will, and no one else should. It is your space so you can’t let anyone tell you what to do, and because it is your space, it is your responsibility to make it worth while. If you don’t give everything you have in life, then you’re a waste of space. But, if you try hard; if you take responsibility for your actions; and if you face your fear, and overcome your problems, you will be an owner of your space.” I’ve been using this everywhere, and it has been working.

My brother has bought into the hype of my new slogan as well. However, when I look at him, I see that he has already been using it for some time. Maybe he was the inspiration for this idea of mine, or maybe I was just drunk. It is important to note that occasionally in times of inebriation the filter between what I think and say is turned off, and I tend to blurt out unique things. Still, my brother owns it! When he was a kid, my brother had a dream. He wanted to be a professional athlete. Now, in his late twenties, he is not a Beckham, a Crosby, or a Nash, but he is still an owner of his space. He is a lifelong player of soccer. I can tell that when he plays he is like an artist; he paints a picture on the field like a painter does on a canvas. He may not be famous, and he may not be a world class athlete, but when my brother plays, he does so with confidence. On the soccer field, he owns his space, and I can see that he transfers that to all other aspects of his life. I find that admirable.

You are the only one occupying that space at this moment in time, so it is up to you to own it.

Own your space!

Daniel Chambers

You Can't Sweat The Small Stuff

Recently, I wrote an essay about the nature of my relationship with three of my closest friends. Since then, I’ve been thinking of how I interact with everyone else in my life: my sister, my brother, my mom and dad. For the most part, we all get along, but there are times we don’t. Sometimes we bicker, and argue, like puppies fighting over a bone. This is especially true of the relationship I have with my dad.

In the last few weeks he has been home on disability, and for me, that is a few weeks too long. It is his obsessive habits that have me pulling my hair out in groves. I have had enough of him constantly pestering me about cleaning this, or tidying that. One night in particular, I had a few friends over to watch a pay-per-view fight. One stipulation of having everybody over was that I had to clean up after they all went home. That was fine with me. However, given the nature of the night, and how much I ended up drinking, I decided any clean up was best left for the morning. We did organize our mess so it didn’t look as though a war had been fought in our living room, but this was not enough for my dad. In his mind, I should have cleaned the entire kitchen at two in the morning, even though I was quite drunk. The next day, we had a yelling match that left me fuming for the remainder of the afternoon.

Why did I get so mad? Was it over my dad’s obsessive need to keep everything clean, or was there something more? I know that sometimes when dealing with my dad I get the same twitch of frustration I experience when troubleshooting a windows program. The difference between the computer and my dad: I doubt I would start yelling at the computer. I don't think it is worth it to get all worked up over a trivial thing like an error message, so why am I getting so overwhelmed by a simple argument with my dad? There are things about my dad I love. There are things about him I admire and am proud of, but the rest I put up with because he’s family. Soon, I will be moving in with a few friends, and what if they don’t accept my messy habits? What if they have the compulsion to ensnare my life in the same iron fist of cleanliness belonging to my dad?

My dad and my future roommates are people; they are able to change, learn and grow. Perhaps, if I argued with my dad enough times, he would become easier going. Maybe he wouldn’t care about the small pile of cans, or the two left over pizza boxes. I am sure these things will always bug my dad. I am sure that all of my messy habits twist into him like a rouge screw, so we are bound to argue again. I suppose we could both work at our annoying habits and find a middle ground, but what is the point? I don’t think it is the fact that my dad wants to keep everything clean that bugs me; it is his strict approach that does it. My dad is authoritative, where I am liberal; my dad is practical, while I am a dreamer; my dad’s life is like a one way street, but mine has lanes for all of life’s avenues. For these reasons, I think we will always argue over trivial things like a mess. I am able to live with it because he is my dad, but what of everyone else?
I can only trudge on through life with a strong face. There will always be that person who speaks slightly too loud, or leaves a big mess all the time, or insists that all messes must be cleaned up immediately. All we can do is live with them. Try to fix the foibles in your life, and try to guide people away from theirs, but don't lose control over something so inconsequential...

You can't sweat the small stuff.

Daniel Chambers