Pen to Paper

So I got sick about a week and a half ago.  And since then, I’ve been sadly absent on here.  I’m sorry for that; I just haven’t had energy for much outside of work.

And, for the next month or so, I’m not sure how regular I’ll be with updates here.  I signed up for National Novel Writing Month this year; my first attempt at it.  If you’re not familiar with NaNoWriMo, the idea is that you write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November.  Of course it’s not likely to be publishable without significant editing.  The idea is just to get something out there, that you can work with and turn into something to start sending out there.

True to form, I haven’t done much planning for this.  I have a general idea of what I’m going to do, and a vague outline, but for the most part I’ll be building this airplane as it taxis down the runway.

This will be tough.  I also expect that it should be fun.  See you on the other side.

Don’t get me wrong, I like Michael Bay movies (except for Transformers).  They’re fun, technically well-done 2-hour-plus romps through Suspension Of Disbelief (with Michael Bay, that phrase is capitalized).  Everything is larger than life, and tension and adrenaline ramp up steadily through the climax of the film.  And of course, stuff blows up.

The problem is that while his movies are fun to watch, they don’t have much substance.  As South Park pointed out (and their strawman version of Michael Bay failed to understand), explosions and action set-pieces are not the same as plot and character.  And while everyone enjoys a good explosion, it doesn’t earn you the respect of your peers (or wanna-be Internet bloggers) the same way that a powerful character-driven piece would.

This is where Armageddon stands apart from other Michael Bay movies.   While Bay does deliver plenty of high-tension slow-motion everything-blows-up action sequences, the actors and writers are determined to bring something more to the table.  Even though critics might complain that the characters are “flat,” they are delivered with an authenticity that makes the audience care.  We are given enough information about each character (he’s the funny guy, he wants to be a hero, those two don’t like each other, and that guy’s just crazy) to make a frame, and then each actor compells you to fall in love with him (or her – all three actresses in this movie are wonderful, but this aside gives them more attention than their combined screen time).

The various stories and characters are variations on old themes – the romance blocked by circumstance, the clown, the teammate with a different agenda, the Christ figure, the outsider who saves the day; heck, Owen Wilson would be a red-shirt if they didn’t name him Oscar.  The thing is, while these stories are told often they are not always told well.  Armageddon hits all the notes spot-on and crafts a masterpiece that is pretty much guaranteed to pull on every single one of your heart strings.  A brief montage near the end of the film reduced me to tears the first time I saw it, and still brings me close on repeat viewings.

So yes, Armageddon is a great end-of-the-world action movie.  It’s also a character drama, a romance, a comedy, and coming-of-age story.  The fact that it succeeds at being every one of those is what takes it from being a good Michael Bay movie to simply a wonderful film.

The past month hasn’t exactly gone the way I’d hoped.  I’ve taken beginning steps on a lot of projects – brainstorming, planning, writing – but I haven’t done a great job of following through.  I’ve let myself become busy with lots of small things, instead of giving time and energy towards my goals.  Over the past few days, though, I’ve realized a couple things I can do to help myself out.

On Thursday, I went back to my college campus to see one of my friend’s senior shows.  Afterwards, I spent several with a close friend I haven’t seen in months.  This time made me realize that, for a while, I haven’t really had much of community.  I have friends, and people I hang out with from time to time, but no one I’m really tight with whose presence energizes me.

Tonight I watched Run, Fatboy, Run, and was very inspired (19 word review: in addition to being a great running movie for runners who aren’t Steve Prefontaine or Eric Liddell, it’s funny).  What struck me about it was that Dennis (Simon Pegg) was supported and coached to success – even though his coaches were just a couple friends with no knowledge about running, and they supported him in order to win bets they had placed, his community enabled him and helped him in the right direction.  These two events (the friend and the movie) made me think that if I could find a mentor, coach, or comrade, it’d help a lot of put energy in the right places.

That’s all I’ve got for now.  I know that I’ve both failed and not entirely succeeded in the past – which I can’t change.  But I have ideas for how to succeed in the future now, and every little bit helps.

Here’s to tomorrow.