The Song

It's been awhile since I've done anything with this blog. When I created my new one, I wrote here that I would still post some new work from time to time. Lately, the only new writing I've done has been on the novel I'm working on. I don't want to post that here, as it's too long and not done and on the off chance it ever gets published, I don't want to have already released it. Anyway, that's a really longwinded way of saying, I did something new today, and I want to share it with you. Here's a poem I call

The Song

The road stretches on and on and on and on out of sight,

blending with the darkness of the wood and the stars in the night.

The old man saunters on, singing a lark of bygone days.

He sings of love and seasons.

Of fields and waves.

He sings a song of kings and peasants both alike to the old man in the night.

He sings of a wandering gnome who found a garden filled with bees.

The bees fought a great war, thousands died.

The gnome watched with glee as insects piled high

above the grass and flowers and in the end the garden was a waste,

and so the gnome sauntered on.

The old man pauses now, and turns off the path.

He walks into a glen and bows a stately bend.

He sings the trees and asks them for a boon.

The trees hear his plea, and grant him a bed.

The old man lies his head beneath the ash, yet sings still all through the night.

He sings of ogres and foxes.

He sings of sprites and gods.

He sings of a woman and a boy.

He sings of villages and lords.

He sings of life and of motion. He sings of death and of creation.

He stirs in the morn and saunters on

down the road stretching ever ever ever on.

A body lies still in the glen,

but from this body the song has gone.

delilah s. dawson: the best way to help your favorite author

This is an awesome post about how to support writers. This obviously resonates with me, and I hope if/when I finally get my big break I am treated as kindly as outlined in this post. delilah s. dawson: the best way to help your favorite author

New Blog. New Day.

For anyone who cares, I'm moving to a new blog location. The blog address is christotaylor.wordpress.com. It's not going to be quite the same as this one. Actually, I'm not sure what it's going to be, but I needed a change. I'll keep posting new short fictions I write on here, and we'll see what the future brings. Thanks for everyone who took part in this. I hope the journey continues.

A Memory of Light: My Farewell

Warning: Contains minor spoilers

When I was ten years old, almost sixteen years ago now, I began reading a series which would change me forever. Tonight, at 2:04 am January 13, 2013 I read the last book of this series. Men and women don’t struggle against the Shadow anymore. Or maybe they do? The Dark One is gone…for now. The Third Age is ended. How does one cope with the end of an Age? You may not understand what I mean by all this, and for that I am truly sorry. Let me try and explain.

Sixteen years ago, just as I finished reading The Lord of the Rings for the very first time, I was presented with a book by a few of my older siblings. This book was a paperback copy of The Eye of the World: book one of The Wheel of Time. The paperback version of this story is a staggering 782 pages long; not something a ten year old normally finds appealing, especially when it is merely the first of a then seven book series. Although I can safely say when it comes to books, I was not an average ten year old, this was still a tremendous undertaking. My sister promised me as I started though, that if I just kept on to Chapter 5 it would be well worth it. That night, I reached Chapter 5, and continued reading well past my bedtime. Unfortunately, I still had school so I couldn't devote all my time to reading, but as luck would have it I was quite sickly that year, so I had more time than usual.

The following summer I lived on the living room couch, only stirring for brief moments when I had to eat or use the toilet or do some chores. I fell asleep on that couch late at night when I could no longer keep my eyes open. Then, I awoke sometime during the day, and—barring any necessary chores or food or other trivial necessities—I returned to my books. I would take this moment to apologize to my parents for being so useless that year, but I’m really not sorry. Not in the least. I devoured all seven books that summer. The day I finished I sat still for a moment. I then showered, called a friend and rode my bike to his house to play something. I believe it was the first time all summer long I had actually done something recreational outside of my own house.

I've waited since then—sometimes patiently, mostly not—for each successive book to be released. When they were, I usually devoured them within a day or two of their release. I recommended these books to friends, and bonded with those I had just met over these books. I met three separate people in one week in the middle of Germany who I bonded with over these books. Two of them were already friends. When I asked how they met, they told me they were serving in Iraq together when they discovered they each read “The Books.” They were instant friends, and I knew exactly which books they were talking about without anyone saying a title. I’m certain many other people in the world have had similar experiences. The clever moniker these men gave The Books says it all. These aren’t simply books, or a series. They are so much more—like Doctor Who, but fiction.

That’s the point though, isn’t it? These books may be a clever story created by a mere human, but they are not fiction—not truly. The Books are real, and don’t you dare think I’m talking about the flimsy paper and ink which contains them. As I read the finale of this masterpiece, I knew everyone would be okay. I knew good would triumph in the end. It didn’t stop me from feeling anxious. I don’t cry. It’s not a macho thing. I feel emotions just as strongly as any fourteen year old Twilight fan. My body just doesn’t respond with tears. Thank God. I was so close to every emotion I can think of while reading about this book. I even felt bad when Gawyn died. That’s how crazy this was, and don’t get me started on…well…everyone else. These people aren’t just characters, or fiction. They are my friends. They have been my friends longer than almost every single one of my flesh and blood friends. Now that they’re gone…it hurts.

More spoilers, not everyone dies. They’re gone though. I don’t get to live with them anymore. I don’t even get to visit. I can go back and enjoy the times we’ve had together still. I can still be there when Mat becomes a general for the first time, and when Perrin starts acting like an idiot then totally redeems himself. But that’s it. I don’t get to check in with them and see how life’s going. I don’t even get a damn Bel Tine card. For all intents and purposes, they are dead to me. All I have are memories. It’s enough, I think. Even if it’s not, I’ll always feel blessed for having them. I’ll end with one quick thought: The Books have changed me and shaped my life. They’ve made me a better person. I’m sorry the journey has to end, but it is not the ending. There are no endings to The Wheel of Time. But it is an ending. Sorry as I am for that, I am so flaming happy to have been part of it. Thank you.

How Do We React to the Newton Shooting?

I had a great day today. I went to lunch with my sister, and we checked my niece out of school early to join us. We had a lovely lunch with good conversation and great company. I went to work, which is not great, but I’m almost over my cold and generally feeling good about my life. Today I received high praise from one of my favorite people on twitter (look up @KristaNDalton if you want your mind blown. Warning: a blown mind can never be put back together the same way again.). It was a great day for me. It was not a great day for America, China, or the World. It was especially not a great day for the many people personally affected by today’s tragic violence.

I don’t want to talk about what happened in Connecticut today. You probably already know all about that. If you don’t, google Newton Shooting. To briefly sum up, on the morning of Friday Dec. 14, 2012 at a Connecticut elementary school a mentally deranged man murdered 27 people including 18 children with a pair of handguns. This is merely the latest in a long history of random gun violence in America. It seems worse than the shooting at an Oregon mall just earlier this week, or that one at a spa in Wisconsin last October, or the one in a crowded movie theater in Colorado last spring. It seems worse primarily because of the number children killed today. Don’t think I am callous. I say ‘seems’ because I don’t know all the facts and because really any loss of life through violence is tragic and it’s horrendously difficult to rank tragedy in any coherent list. So, this one seems worse.

Every person on the internet has an opinion about this event. Some believe we need stricter gun control legislation. Some say we have plenty of laws, we just need to enforce them better.[i] Many people are calling for action from the mental health care community. Still others think the best way to solve this problem is to arm the citizenry. I wish to address each of these concerns in this piece, but before I wish to say something to the ‘too soon’ crowd.

Among every single one of the aforementioned camps people are saying, ‘It’s too soon to do anything more than mourn and comfort each other.’ I couldn’t disagree with this sentiment more. Phil Plait, aka the Bad Astronomer, wrote a beautiful, elegant piece on this earlier today. Click the link to read his thoughts.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2012/12/14/connecticut_shootings_gun_control_mental_health_and_our_responsibility_to.html

I wish to try, in my own way, to point out the flaw in this sentiment of “too soon.” Of course the obvious answer to this, “If not now, when?” This is not the first, nor I might point out the worst, mass shooting to happen in the U.S. in recent history. “What has changed?” is the mantra of many who wish something could be done about this. My personal response to the too soon crowd is simply, ‘It is not too soon. It is too late.’ Dr. Plait phrased it perfectly,

 “this topic is actively avoided, as if so soon after such an event is not the right time to discuss this. But it’s precisely the right time to discuss this. If not now, when? In the coming days, as the immediacy of today fades a bit, this will still not be discussed by politicians. Now, is the right time, now, when this is on everyone’s minds. It is out of respect for the victims that we must discuss this, not keep silent.”

I will return to this later, but for now let’s move on to possible solutions.

The first solution you will hear today is we need stricter gun control legislation. This seems the most reasonable solution to me personally. Statistics show that countries with stricter gun control have less mass shootings. Of the 20 deadliest mass shootings in the world for the last 50 years, 11 were in the United States. The US typically has much higher gun violence rates than any other country in the developed world, and this needs to stop.

Opponents of gun control laws often say, ‘People are violent and if you remove their guns they will just find another way to hurt people.’ Many of these people point to the horrific stabbing which happened at a school in China today, which you can read about here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/14/china-school-attack_n_2298430.html 

These people have a point. Incidents of violence don’t necessarily decrease simply because there are no guns. However, I’d like to point out that not one person was killed in the stabbing in China today. Furthermore, according to the article, in 2010 mass stabbings resulted in killing almost 20 schoolchildren. Today we matched that number in one incident.

Another common argument is that enacting stricter gun laws will disarm law-abiding citizens while criminals will simply purchase guns illegally and run rampant. I am not qualified to completely address this concern, but I will say that a lengthy study recently found that over three quarters of mass shooters in the US since 1981 obtained their weapons legally. So yes, it is possible that crime will run rampant in the streets if we disarm the public, but mass shootings are likely to go waaayyyy down. I’ll take my chances.

To conclude this chapter of the blog, gun violence in the US could very well be due to other factors, but for me there is a clear correlation, if not direct causation, and enacting stricter gun control legislation seems the logical first step to try.

This brings us to another common argument you’ll hear today from both pro-gun and pro-gun control people. The argument goes, ‘Most people who commit these atrocities are mentally disturbed. Taking away guns only treats the symptoms while the disease rages on. The shooters are victims too.’ None of this is wrong. However, I will point out that treating symptoms is often an effective way to treat a disease. At the very least taking guns away from violently insane people could keep them from doing anything too terrible until they can get proper treatment. Again, this argument is completely valid. Studies show that almost or possibly all mass shooters had some sort of mental illness which was not being treated properly. I don’t have much more to say on this subject. We as a society should be helping mentally ill people get treated and not ignoring warning signs. If you know somebody with a mental illness, please encourage them to get professional help, and do whatever you can to help them.

Finally, one thing you won’t hear a lot today is that if the children had their own weapons they could have defended themselves. However, in many of these cases you hear exactly that regarding the victims, and a form of this is sure to pop up on almost everybody’s Facebook newsfeed today. This might work. I don’t know. I don’t think it will, but I don’t know. In my opinion, if everyone went around armed it would create an environment much like the old west. Arguments would be settled with death, and any small sign of hostility would probably be met with violence because if everyone has a gun you’re better off shooting first. I think this is a terrible idea, but I can only give reason, not evidence.

At last I wish to bring up a personal concern I had about writing this entry. I’ve been vocal about gun violence before, but always shortly after a terrible tragedy. I don’t personally know anybody who is different. When tragedy strikes, I want to air my frustration, anger and despair. Just like everyone else. Everyone on Facebook is saying something about this today. Every news site is covering it. Everyone with a Twitter account is shooting out opinions in 140 characters or less. The net is saturated with voices. What do I have to say that others aren’t already saying? Nothing. What does one more voice mean? Well, it means we’re doing the right thing before it’s too soon/too late for another dozen children and families. I don’t want to be just another voice in the sea of anger and frustration, but dammit! that’s what we need. Now is the time to discuss this, and I cannot be the person who stands back because everyone else is discussing this already. My voice is important, and yours is too. If you have the means, let your voice be heard. I don’t care what you have to say, but say it. And please don’t dismiss anyone else who is saying something, no matter how absurd it seems to you. If you are for gun control, but your Facebook acquaintance avidly believes this is the direct result of removing public prayer from schools, congratulations I agree with you. But he/she has a mind and a heart and an opinion too. Don’t discard it. Hear it. Think about it. Talk about it. Come to a conclusion, and at the end try it. Doing anything is better than doing nothing. Maybe it will work, maybe it won’t. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that we try because through trying we will succeed in the end.

You can write your congressional representatives here:

http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

And the White House here:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

Please do it.

Also, if you agree with me about the gun control thing, you can donate to a good cause here:

https://secure2.convio.net/mmm/site/Donation?ACTION=SHOW_DONATION_OPTIONS&CAMPAIGN_ID=1202

Other articles you may be interested in:

http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/14/world/asia/china-knife-attack/index.html

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/mass-shootings-map?page=2

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/12/14/nine-facts-about-guns-and-mass-shootings-in-the-united-states/

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/huckabee-schools-place-of-carnage-because-we-systematically

http://journalofgypsy.blogspot.com/2012/12/an-open-letter-to-my-representatives.html

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[i] Many people believe our gun legislation is just fine, but needs to be better supervised and enforced. I am not aware of all current US gun legislation, so for all I know this may be completely true. Therefore, I will lump them in with the overall gun control crowd, as the solution is still dealing with guns through legal control of their sale.