Month: October 2024

  • Happy Halloween!

    It’s not Halloween without The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

    And it can’t be The Great Pumpkin, without the Great Pumpkin Waltz, by Vince Guaraldi.

    Happy Halloween!

  • Short Story Review: “From the Wilderness” by Yukio Mishima (Translated from the Japanese by John Nathan.)

    (The short story “From the Wilderness” by Yukio Mishima appeared in the November 4th, 2024 issue of The New Yorker.)

    Illustration by Joanna Blémont

    How does the phrase go; “The unexamined life is not worth living.” At least, that’s the philosophical dictum that has been credited to Socrates. Some days, I think that is the job of a writer; to examine life and make it worth living. That was the mind space I was put in when I finished reading “From the Wilderness” by Yukio Mishima.

    Here’s my overly simplified synopsis: A mental unbalanced youth breaks into the home of the author, which causes the author to contemplate life and loneliness.

    Couple of things here. I appreciated the structure of this piece. The first part was from the author’s point of view of the incident. Then the second part was an overall description of the entire incident, showing how the other people in the home reacted. Then the final part was the author contemplating the event, trying to make sense out of it. In this structure, the narrative of the event goes from very narrow, to expanding to a wider view of the many people in the home, and finally taking in the world of the intruder, and the larger world in general. In this way, the narrator goes through a progression of expansions, which leads to the author having a new understanding of the world he lives in, and creating a feeling that a journey has commenced.

    But what I enjoyed most was that this was a story that took its time. Mishima was patient with his storytelling, letting the ideas of loneliness evolve and develop, which had a natural and authentic feeling to it. I know this is a work of fiction, but with the narrator also having the same name as the author, it creates a conundrum of how much of this is fiction, or reality? Sure, it’s a device, but played well here as it lends itself to give a legitimacy to the thoughts and conclusions.

    They don’t make stories like this anymore. Short fiction that enjoys language (Bonus points to this translation,) playing with language, and isn’t afraid to take time, but not waste our time. Maybe this wasn’t the most profound story I have read recently, but Yukio Mishima reminded me that life is meant to be examined.

  • When Halloween Was Fun, Then It Wasn’t, Then Was Again

    The other night, my daughter was asking me a bunch of questions about what Halloween was like when I was a kid. I mean, it was only thirty-eight years ago, not like it was a million years, but it was a million years ago. When it comes to this holiday, not much has really changed; you dress up, you get a bag, knock on doors, say the magic phrase, and you get candy. There are teenagers that are too old to be Trick or Treating, in both epochs, and grownups openly sneak their drinks on the street as they escort their kids around the neighborhood. Nothings changed.

    Then she followed up with asking me what I did when I stopped Trick or Treating? Like, when I was in junior high and high school. And I had a hard time remembering. I remember the last Halloween I went out, and I had this feeling that I was too old to be doing this. I think I was twelve. After that, it gets a little fuzzy. I think in junior high, I handed out candy at home, or watched horror movies at friend’s houses, which entailed handing out candy. As for high school, I was in theatre, so I went to some costume parties, but I remember them being really lame. One year, whoever hosted it, put “When Harry Met Sally” on the VCR, and they wanted everyone to watch it. So, there was like a six-year period where it wasn’t fun.

    Then I went to college, and it started to be fun again. Still was in a theatre department, but the costuming game was totally upped, and rather awesome. Having costume designers as friends lead to some really amazing outfits. But also, the parties got way better. Maybe alcohol and pot had something to do with that… not sure, might be up for debate. My point here, at least the one I want to make, is that I had to do a very delicate dance with my daughter as to why college parties were so much better, and I made the costumes the reason why it was better.

    Then I had a kid, and things got fun and sweet again. It’s fun when late September rolls around and the kid starts trying out ideas on us. “What if I went as…” or “Could I go as…” We let her decide what she wants to dress up as, and we help out as needed. Sometimes we are included in her costume, but not always. (I have been wanting to go as The Intergalactic Beastie Boys, but she still isn’t game.) Limited time on this, and trying to take sit as it comes. Maybe we have two or three left before she starts to feel too old. It will happen, it always happens, but that isn’t a bad thing.

    She’ll get older and we’ll all head out to the Village Halloween Parade.

  • Gone Voting

    There will not be a normal blog today, as I’m out early voting, and enjoying my civic pride.

    Which reminds me; make sure you get out and vote. Have a plan. Go early, or on Election Day.

    And say “thank you” to the poll workers.

    But go vote.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Candy, Tottenham Stuff, and Merch Store

    (So sue me if I go too fast…)

    The dirty secret of Halloween is that parents eat their kids candy when they aren’t looking. Any parent who denies this happens is a liar. We all do it. When we parents get together while taking the kids out Trick or Treating, it’s what we talk about; “What candy did they get? How much did they get? It’s just not healthy to let kids eat that much candy. We’re doing them a service.” The wife and I do buy a mixed bag of candy that we hide in the apartment and snack off of… but eventually, late one night, possibly after a few drinks, we reach into the kid’s bucket and see that she has three Skittles pouches, so she won’t miss one. And it’s awful when we do it, and we feel so guilty, but forbidden candy goes so well with watching Great British Baking Show.

    Seems like Tottenham is the only team I have left to support for the foreseeable future. Cowboys have crapped out, and I could care less about the World Series. Sure, I guess I could again try my hand at following the Knicks, they look like they should have a good season. No, it’s Tottenham Hotspur or bust! They are playing really well in the Europa League, and are sitting at 2nd in that tournament’s table. It just them in the Premier League that is pulling me down. Those three losses are like an albatross, and it also seems like they give up a goal right away at the start of each match… But… it’s still early.

    Oh, the Merch Store is open. Go get all your 1999 Blogging Gear are great low prices. Remember, each item sold goes to a good cause which is helping me buy a new MacBook Air, or sending my kid to college. All depends on how much we raise.