Random Writings

A couple writings of mine that are out there on the web right now. 

First up, a brief review of a little independent film I came across recently. Read it at Cinemaroll.com.

Second, a short-short story I wrote some time ago, now residing here at Authspot.com.

Enjoy!

And In the Darkness Bind Them

A while back, on one of their weekend programs, NPR was soliciting short-short fiction pieces. The one time I participated, the guidelines were fairly basic: One character in the story has to tell a joke and one character has to cry. The following is what I came up with.

 They had retreated to the honeymoon suite, extracted themselves from their formal-wear, and collapsed in a lifeless stupor on the bed.  They wouldn’t have had the energy to do anything if they’d wanted to.

Everyone had told her what a beautiful wedding it had been.  “Perfect” was the word they most often used.  And of course she smiled and nodded and agreed that everything had gone off without a hitch, exactly as planned.

But still she couldn’t get over his little impromptu amendment to their vows – the vows they had written together and worked on and reworked and polished to perfection.  And there, in the middle of the ceremony, surrounded by all their friends and family, associates and co-workers and distant cousins, in front of everyone who had ever been anyone in their lives, he put the ring on her finger with the words, “One Ring to rule them all, and in the darkness bind them”.

 “Why did you do that?” she asked him.

 “It was funny,” he said.

“You should have told me.”

“I wanted to surprise you.”

“You should have warned me.”

“It would have spoiled the surprise.”

“So instead you spoiled our wedding.”

“I didn’t spoil it,” he said.  “It was a great wedding.  Everyone had a great time.”

She wanted to tell him that was beside the point, but didn’t know how to say it without it sounding like she was being petty and selfish. 

Instead she asked him, “Anyway, what does it even mean?”

“What does what mean?”

“That ‘One Ring to rule them all…’?”

“It’s from Lord of the Rings…”

“I know that,” she snapped.  “What does it mean?  In our wedding ceremony, what does it mean?”

“Nothing.  It was a joke.”

“So why make it part of our wedding if it doesn’t mean anything?”

“Because,” he said with an exasperated sigh, “it’s an ironic commentary on gender roles in the modern marital institution.”

“Well maybe I didn’t want ironic commentary to be part of my wedding.”

“Well maybe I did want ironic commentary to be part of our wedding.”

“That’s why you have a blog, for all your ironic commentating needs.”

He shrugged noncommittally and lay quietly, examining the plain gold band on his finger.

“So my sister would be Gollum, then,” she mused.  “Did you see the way she went after the bouquet?  Practically tackled your cousin for it.  ‘We wants it!  We needs it!  Give it to usss!’”  she giggled.

He shook his head.  “But she’s never actually had the ring herself.  She’s going after some imaginary idea of what it means, what she thinks it could do for her.  She’s more like Boromir.  Or Sauruman.” 

She stared at him, watching him twist the ring on his hand, wondering if he was still joking.

“What does that make us?” she asked.

He shrugged.  They had allowed the metaphor to go too far, leading to thoughts of their future together.  A life prolonged, extended beyond its natural course until it faded into shadow, tired of life but unable to die, held completely in the thrall of a simple bit of plain jewelry.

A small sound escaped from somewhere in the back of his throat.  He rolled over, settling in for sleep and turning his back on his wife.

“Hey,” she said.  “Hey, are you crying?”

“No,” he lied, and shoved his face in the pillows.     

Webcomic Worth Checking Out

The Adventures of Superhero Girl by Faith Erin Hicks is one of the more delightful, enjoyable comics on the web.

Superhero Girl (who, despite her identity-concealing mask doesn't actually appear to have a civilian identity) is a young woman with typical young-adult issues. She struggles to come up with the rent money, she has a roommate, she has no social life, and she struggles day-to-day with trying to establish herself in her chosen profession.
Which just happens to be super-heroing.


Endowed with the standard super-powers of super-strength and  invulnerability (she can't fly but she can leap tall buildings in a single bound) she tries to make a name for herself in the competitive super-hero market. Which is hard for a young hero just starting out, with no established arch-nemesis, in a Canadian city with a very low crime rate. (Though it does appear to have the occasional malevolent ninja infestation -- my guess is that Ms. Hicks just really enjoys drawing ninjas.)

But slam-bang superheroic action is not the point of this comic. In the rare instances when SHG does take on an adversary she tends to dispatch him (or her or it) in a panel or two. The Adventures of Superhero Girl is simply a charming little slice-of-life comic about a young woman -- who just happens to be able to lift cars over her head -- trying to make her way in the world.

Join the Dance

It's about stories. When you get right down to it, it's all about stories. Stories are how we make sense of the world we live in, the people we meet, the things we do. Life is stories.

Each of us is the star of our own little miniseries, but it's the sharing of stories that makes life interesting. My favorite stories are always the ones that step back and take the oblique view -- "a look askance" as it were. That's where we find the ideas that throw us out into the middle of the ocean, and make us swim back to our own familiar shore, to regain the ground beneath our feet. But regain our footing with a broader understanding of how big a world we live in. It all comes down to joining the dance.

"What matters it how far we go?" his scaly friend replied.
"There is another shore, you know, upon the other side.
The further off from England the nearer is to France --
Then turn not pale, beloved snail, but come and join the dance.