He Was Legend

Last night I had to go to my parents house to move a bed. I had to move my bed, specifically, upstairs to set up a makeshift bedroom for my dad on the ground floor. I haven’t been in this room for six years, so naturally when we found a shoe box underneath the bed I was wondering what might be inside of it. It was a box filled with the articles I’d written for the college newspaper. Lots of them. Not that I gave a shit about that, though. The real treasure was buried beneath most of these. It was a paperback collection entitled “The Science Fiction Hall of Fame III”. I’d been looking for this book since I was 19 and I almost crapped my pants when I found this. I was never a huge sci-fi fan and still tend to roll my eyes when it comes to most of the genre, but these were the classic stories, the ones that were written between the thirties and the sixties and emphasized just how open-minded and out there the genre could be, even in an era where these characteristics were openly frowned upon. Anyway, this book was from a class in high school that I took, one that was taught by a middle-aged Trekkie and renowned drunk. It was an amazing class, where the discussion of these stories led to engaging conversations about metaphysics, social theory, and how to clean puke out of your parents’ rug. Looking back on it now, it was the sort of class that I always hoped my college courses would be like, but never shaped out to be. I guess taking an unpopular elective that forced you to read sometimes did that. We watched “Twilight Zone” and “Outer Limits” episodes, and I was startled to realize that I already knew the plots to most of them from old Simpsons Halloween episodes. I began a daunting mission to read the stories that they were based on. Rod Serling, Richard Matheson and Ray Bradbury (still a literary hero of mine, he's an ornery old bastard, but the motherfucker can write) replaced Kerouac and Fitzgerald as my favorite writers in some sort of de-nerdification process. They still are. A massive Serling biography still sits in a box in my parents’ house, reminding me that I have to read that again sometime. He really did lead an incredible life, I assure you. Anyway, all of these stories were flooding my mind and just slapping me in the face with how wondrous something can seem when you read it for the first time expecting nothing. So I’ve put down the 3 books I’m reading right now to make my way through this collection. I’m gona take my time with it, too. From “Country of the Kind” to “The Weapons Shop” to “The Nine Billion Names of God”, I’m gonna relish these stories.

Anyway, it was funny because in the middle of the night I was checking something online and saw a transcript of Keith Olbermann’s report last night, which might have been the most scathing attack on the administration I’ve read in a month. No mainstream media has dared to this far at all, and it made me happy to read it since I stopped watching network news a long time ago and swore off television last week to avoid the cavalcade of memorials and political backwash that was bound to take over the airways on this anniversary. I’m still glad I did (I got to listen to “Meet the Press” in a podcast and was sick to my stomach), but it completely bowled me over when Olbermann closed his commentary with a mention of one of my favorite episodes of “The Twilight Zone”. Apparently one of his favorites, too. I didn’t agree with all of his statements, but he hit pretty close to home, and one can’t deny the man for having the balls and conviction for saying what’s on his mind. Thanks, Olbermann. Tonight I’m going to read my book and if I’m lucky watch that exact episode before falling into what I can only hope be a dream-fueled slumber. It’s almost time to dream again.

I’m not positive if this is the book, but there’s one of the same title here.

If you’re pissed that you came here to find music and are pissed to find some sort of nerd rant about writers, check back later tonight.

I’m going pretty far with these 2 posts a day thing, huh? Probably a bit of overkill. I’m still trying to resolve this into a more regular format, but for now you’re gonna have to stick with me posting crap as if comes to me.