Singlehood

So I was reading an article on the myths of being single, which was interesting because it actual defended single people.  I know, who’d a thunk it?  But it got me thinking about some of the misconceptions about being single.  I just wanted to expound on a couple of ideas that people seem to misunderstand.

 

            First off, being single and being alone are two completely different things.  Raise your hand if you know someone who is married but is lonely all the time…

Everybody who raised their hand knows that being alone has very little to do with having people around.  If you didn’t raise your hand and you’re not a hermit you’re a fucking liar. 

           

            But everybody knows that couples are more fulfilled than single people, right?

 

            Au contraire, some people are more fulfilled than others.  Happiness is mostly and individual emotion.  I’m not saying that you don’t get enjoyment out of other people.  Friendships can absolutely contribute to your appreciation of life.  However, people who are happy tend to have friends that contribute to their happiness.  Unhappy people tend to commiserate with other unhappy people.   Being with another person doesn’t make you happy or keep you from being unhappy.  It simply means that your happiness/unhappiness is happening with another person.  Whoop de doo for you.

 

            Anyone who spends any amount of time single (and some people are so afraid of being alone that they jump from relationship to relationship without ever really experiencing singlehood) knows how annoying it is when people try to tell you how happy they are not being single.  And who are the most adamant about making sure you know how shitty being single is?  Unhappy couples.  Hands down, people in failing relationships are the most adamant about how happy their relationship makes them. 

           

            One thing about failing relationships; being together does not make you a good couple.  I don’t care if you’ve been together for five minutes or fifty years, you could be a terrible couple.  So don’t try to use your timeline to judge me kiddo.

 

            I have a completely unfounded theory that people who are in bad relationships try to justify working so hard to make them work by demonizing people who aren’t in a relationship.  It’s like people who try to save their failing marriage by having a kid.  Brilliant idea.  Really.  Works every time.

 

            Look, I’m not saying that being in relationships is a bad thing.  It’s a fairly natural phenomenon that has some pretty obvious perks.  It also has some serious drawbacks.  There are things about relationships you miss when you aren’t in one.  Likewise, there are also things about being single that you really miss when you’re in a relationship.  To be perfectly honest, I don’t really lean one way or the other on which is better.  But being single is definitely better than being in a bad relationship.

 

            So from now on, don’t feel an overwhelming need to help single people from their unfortunate predicament.  We don’t need to know about every available friend you know.  Just the ones that are hot and easy…

Roland's Dream

Roland felt his mind wake in a place he had never been to before.  He arose in a great hall with a long stone table.  He saw a figure sitting at the end of the table, but had trouble making out its features.  It was as if his vision was blocked, but he felt that the figure was watching him.   More than that, Roland felt like something was looking through him and his body was fading.

            Eventually the room began to clear, and Roland could see more clearly the figure’s shape.  At first he thought it was a man and he was just looking through a mist.  He was too afraid to move, and felt his will breaking.  He thought about his father and what he would have done in this moment.  He didn’t think that he would stand still senseless in this situation.  Roland was ashamed.

            He felt laughter and heard a voice, but the sound felt like it came within his mind. 

            “Come Roland, and do not be ashamed.  Your father is no greater man than you, and he would have waited to be invited as you have.”

            As Roland walked to the end of the table, “How do you know my name?”

            “Sit down and we’ll discuss what you must know.  I know more about you and your family than any other save the One.  As you have been a watcher waiting for my call, I have also watched you and yours from generation to generation.  Your family honors the old traditions and you have been vigilant in your duty, though even now you do not understand it.”

            Roland sat down and finally got a good look at the figure, which looked like a person for the most part.  But its image was indistinct, and looked like a picture on a mist.  He was afraid that if he breathed too hard the figure would blow away.  The blurred image was ethereal and beautiful, but whether it was a man or woman Roland could not guess.  It looked like a person, but felt like something greater.

            “No, I don’t understand any of this.  Where am I?  And who are you?”

“You are nowhere at all, and I have been chosen just as you have.  All the many years of waiting have come to an end, and now it is time to prove your worth.  In a short time you will have a new calling, and instead of waiting you will need to take action.  It is a sad affair for both of us I think; your task may be more than you can handle.”

            “What task?”

            “I do not yet know exactly what your place will be in the events to come, but I know that you will have a role.”

            “Do you always speak in riddles?”

            Roland felt the laughter again, and it rolled through him.  It filled him with a kind of joy he never knew before, and he felt emboldened.

            “No Roland, not always.  You must realize that there is only so much that you can understand in this world, and sometimes knowing less is better for you.  There is much in the world that has been forgotten and left behind, some of it is coming back now.”

            “What is coming back?”

            “Why do you think you are here?  What were you waiting and watching for?  What has your family committed to all this time?  Young Roland, you know the answers to these questions.”

            “No.  None of us really know what we are watching for, just that we’re supposed to watch.  The reasons have been lost in time, but we held true to the old promises.”

            “Yes you have.  I was there when your family made the oath to be ever vigilant.  The first meeting of the twelve families was a long time ago, I know that some of the secrets have died before being properly passed on.  But surely Roland, you have a guess as to why you are here.”

            “I’d rather not guess, this is all bigger than me.  I’ll be honest, I wasn’t convinced that a day like this would ever come.”

            “It’s good to be honest with me, I know your thoughts as you make them.  I also had no reason to believe this day would come, but we’ve stayed prepared.  Tell me Roland, what does your heart tell you?”

            “Something dangerous.”

            “Indeed, go on.”

            “I don’t know what to say.  There are a lot of rumors of what the sign would mean, but none of them tells the whole story.  Even the old books have gaps, and I was taught it wouldn’t be wise to venture to guess at something we can’t know.”

            “You will know, but I think you know the greatest part.  It was always your favorite part of the old stories.”

            “Nephilim.” Roland spoke in barely a whisper, afraid to even say the word.

People are... interesting.

I was at my dentist's office the other day and she saw the tattoo on my leg and said "I didn't know you had a tattoo," as if it was something she should have known about.  Did I miss a page on the medical history sheet?

Lakers 2009 Champs

That's right.

Signals

Roland sat on his porch watching the night sky because it was his family’s month to watch.  Every February for the last fifteen years he stayed awake all night watching the sky for a sign.  He often wondered what he was looking for because even the old books gave only brief and cryptic accounts of the summoning.  The wisest of his order were far from convinced that it would ever come.

            It was a constant battle of will to stay aware amid all of the doubtful talk.  Roland’s watchfulness rarely wavered in spite of these battles.  Alone he sat and thought, always aware that the sign could come.   His father had waited every February his entire life, just like his father before him for as long as the family had reckoning.  None had seen any kind of sign at all, but the family remained vigilant.

            To his regret, Roland did not see the sign in the night sky when it began, rather he felt disquiet.  A cloud stood alone in the deep purple of the moonless night that he did not notice float by.  It began to swirl within itself in dark colors that seemed to glow against the blackness behind it.  Roland felt that all of the lights from all of the stars were drawn to the cloud, which seemed to absorb everything in it’s swirling.

            There was nothing to prove that this indeed was the sign that Roland and his family had waited for all these generations.  But he felt it was in the very least some kind of sign, and that had meaning of its own.  He thought it was better to honor what he saw as real, and as what he was waiting for.  So he thoughtfully went inside and started to boil some water.

            He fetched the bottle of herbs that had been preserved in the cellar and brewed the tea he never thought he would taste.  Roland and his family had gathered this set of herbs every ten years to set aside, just in case this day would come.  Whenever they gathered a new set the old bottle would be burned while the counsel of the watchers took place.   It was in the fifth year since the last counsel.

            After the tea stooped for some minutes, Roland took it and drank it down as best he could.  The flavor was mild, but the odor was foul.  He wanted to call the other watchers and let them know that the time had come, but knew that it was forbidden.  Sometimes he felt the old ways were useless traditions that needed to be thrown away.  He would have liked to alert the others and have their help now, since no one really knew what was supposed to happen next.

            Too bad he thought, they never would have answered his calls anyway.  The tea had made him too drowsy to think anymore so he laid down on his bed and fell asleep.

 

            He dreamed.

Unexpected Talent Pool

Who is the more surprising titan of sci-fi/fantasy films?

Christopher Lee

Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Saruman)

Star Wars Episodes I-III (Count Dooku)

or

Ian McKellen

Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Gandalf)

X-men Trilogy (Magneto)

I'm not talking about who is better, the X-men franchise was pretty trashy in parts, but the Star Wars prequels were epically trash.

Honorable mention to Harrison Ford for the better part of Star Wars and Indiana Jones.  But he is a less surprising choice (Blade Runner anyone?) and sold out to an epic proportion for the Crystal Skull.