RonVitale

Books

I finished reading “Memories of My Melancholy Whores” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez this morning on the way to work. At only 115 pages, the novella was an easy read. I rushed its reading in some parts, losing the plot somewhat, but c’est la vie. I remember reading Marquez’s “One Hundreds Years of Solitude” back when I was still in college and how moved I was to read that so many years had past and so many characters had died and been born only to be part of a great circle of events. Time went by, people’s names had changed, but they acted just as their ancestors did. How lonely the novel felt in its presence. I can still remember getting up from my twin bed at my family’s house and putting the book down. It weighed heavily in my hand. I had rushed through it and a somber feeling passed over me. After all the living, dying, struggling, fighting, and loving, the circle of life kept going on—without learning from the past.

I did not ready any of Gabriel Garcia’s Marquez’s books for some time until a few years ago. A coworker had suggested that I read Love in the Time of Cholera. I truly enjoyed the book. It was one of those books that I just became a piece of me. An emotional response awoke inside and I identified with the book on a personal level. It was not the environment or the characters that I took to but the expression and longings of love that I could relate to. An immensely powerful book.

“Memories of My Melancholy Whores” is a simplistic book on the surface: A old man turning 90 years old wishes to sleep with a virgin before he dies. He’s paid for prostitutes for his whole life and in the course of 115 pages he falls deeply in love for a young girl of 14. What I found touching about the book is the man’s longing for touch, compassion, and love. He’s not looking for sex, but for love. And although the story sounds perverted (a 14 year old with a 90 year old man), the process of his falling in love with a young girl appears to me to be symbolic of his maturing into love for womanhood. He falls in love with the ideal of love, longing to be caught up in the woe/angst of the emotion. His whole life is filled with responsibility, unattachments, and carefully selected and divided portions of his life through which he can control what he experiences. But when he allows himself to open and love, his world turns upside down and for the first time in his life he allows himself to let go and love. As strange as the premise of the story is, anyone who has longed to be with another or missed the touch of another will be able to relate with the real hurt of the old man’s longing. And the message: That no matter how old you are, it is not too late to love, it a powerful message. Of course our Western sensitivities are worried about the young girl being only 14 years of age, but I took the novella to be more of an allegory. I didn’t take the book so literally but rather a message of love. Love before you die because then it’ll be too late. Very true.

In other news, I spoke with the editor of a Magic magazine today and am hoping that my article will be published in the near future. The most recent issue filled up too quickly and an advertisement took the spot on which my article would have appeared. Will my article be published? We shall see. I sure hope so.

Not much else to talk about. It’s been a long day. Take care.

Of Football and Free Speech

Take a read of this Denver Post article article concerning a student who wore a Denver Bronco’s #7 (John Elway) to class. The teacher of an ethnicity class allegedly told the students not to wear Denver jerseys to class. When the student arrived at class dressed in Denver orange, the teacher, John Kelly, forced the 17-year-old student to sit on the floor to take a test and also had other students throw crumpled up paper at him.

I have to admit that I’m a bit surprised that a teacher would act so poorly. As a teacher of ethnicity, you would think that a teacher might take the opportunity to teach his students the importance of diversity or accepting another’s belief. Instead, he humiliated the student in front of the class. Now say what you will: “Oh, it was just in fun!” etc., but I do not believe that the teacher acted appropriately. In a classroom environment in which the teacher is being paid to teach (earning his salary from tax payers’ dollars), I don’t think it’s worth wasting time to berate a student. Shouldn’t the teacher be teaching? Now there’s a novel idea!

However, I’m also upset at the 17-year-old student. I’m really surprised that at such an age he handled the situation as he did. I remember when I was 17. I would have walked out of the classroom or tried to have teacher fired. I am just amazed that the student didn’t respond with something witty about only exercising his first amendment right of free speech by wearing the Denver jersey. Now the media has picked up on the story and the student is complaining that he’s worried that his teacher is going to treat him unfairly for the story getting so out of control. Well, I think there was a better way of handling the situation than getting the media involved.

What a scary country I live in: You can’t even wear a sports team jersey to school without having your teacher and classmates humiliate you? And on the other side of the coin: A student would allow kids to treat him that way. Why didn’t he get up and leave the classroom? Why didn’t he tell the teacher to stop?

I think I know the answer: It’s easier to remain quiet and be humiliated than it is to stand up for your rights. And what rights am I talking about? The student’s first amendment right. If he wants to talk about how great Denver is and everyone wants to beat him down, well then he should go ahead and do it. I know it’s only about football but what if the story was changed a bit. What if the student was told by the teacher: “No one better come into my classroom wearing a Senator Kerry pin. I’m a President Bush support and don’t you forget it!” If the story was changed slightly, wouldn’t we all be upset at how crazy our country has become? But instead, we laugh at the sports event and the teacher’s action when there’s a deeper message being sent here: “I’m the teacher and you should do what I want and listen to what I say. If you don’t, I’ll humiliate you in the classroom.” What type of message is that for a teacher to be sending to his students? Not an appropriate one and definitely not one that I’d want my son to learn.

In today’s climate in America, we’re living in a world in which what we say, do, or write is being scrutinized and reviewed to see if it’s “acceptable.” As to what group decides what is acceptable and what isn’t, that’s what I’m concerned about. People are too worried about seeing Janet Jackson’s boob on TV for ½ a second instead of dealing with the problems existing in our country: American soldiers are dying overseas (for what?), the NSA has spied on Americans without warrants, and it appears that no matter what you might think our President and the right wing agenda of Christian conservatives cannot do anything wrong.

Sure, wearing a sports jersey to school and being made fun of isn’t the end of the world. And there are greater problems affecting this great country of mine. But I have to ask: When are American citizens going to wake up and smell the coffee? Maybe I’m getting to be too liberal in my middle years, but I’m sorely disappointed in the way our country is being run and in how our kids are being raised. If that ethnicity teacher told me not to wear the shirt, I would have worn it on spite—for days. But that’s me. I can be stubborn that way.

I know that some sports fans can take things a little too far (one of the mothers of an opposing team’s player had to be moved to the ground level of the football game because Eagles’ fans were throwing things at her in the stands). Americans can be loud mouthed and ignorant when we want to, but why aren’t we standing up and shouting at the things really affecting our country? Maybe we’re all like the 17-year-old student: It’s easier to remain quiet and not rock the boat.

Except from the article:

A 17-year-old high school student said he was humiliated when a teacher made him sit on the floor during a midterm exam in his ethnicity class _ for wearing a Denver Broncos jersey. The teacher, John Kelly, forced Joshua Vannoy to sit on the floor and take the test Friday two days before the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Broncos 34-17 in the AFC championship game. Kelly also made other students throw crumpled up paper at Vannoy, whom he called a "stinking Denver fan," Vannoy told The Associated Press on Monday.

Kelly said Vannoy, a junior at Beaver Area Senior High School, just didn't get the joke.
"If he felt uncomfortable, then that's a lesson; that's what (the class) is designed to do," Kelly told The Denver Post. "It was silly fun. I can't believe he was upset."
Vannoy was wearing a No. 7 Broncos jersey on Friday, because he is a fan of John Elway, the Broncos' retired Hall of Fame quarterback.
Vannoy said he was so unnerved he left at least 20 questions blank on the 60-question test, and just wants out of Kelly's class because he's afraid the teacher won't treat him fairly now that the story reached the media.
"I'm going to have to deal with him for two more nine weeks (school quarters) and he's going to want revenge somehow," Vannoy said Monday. "I took the test. I'm shaking. I'm furious. I didn't know what to do."

Free Speech

I heard back from the editorial staff of a magazine that is considering my story.  I was told that my story is in the final list and that a decision will be made by the end of this month.  The staff assistant added that I should be happy to learn that my story has made it this far, considering the number of submissions that the magazine receives.  I’m remaining optimistic that my story will be accepted.  We shall see.

Speaking of stories, I need to make some time to do some house keeping.  I need to review my tracking stats and find out exactly what stories are out in the mail.  I’d also like to submit a story to Glimmertrain magazine.  Very good mag.  Excellent quality.  I’d be honored to have a story run in that.  I remember when I first pick a copy of that magazine up about a decade or so ago and I was extremely impressed with the quality.  I’m thinking of submitting “The Coin Collector” to Glimmertrain.  Can’t hurt to try.  And, if my memory services me, I believe they now have an online submission process.  I’m beginning to appreciate online submissions.  Considering the cost of mailing these days, being able to upload or e-mail a file saves me time and money.

Moving on to reading and such: I am looking forward to starting on our next house project.  Although we’re not finished with the basement yet (my wife is going to sew us some curtains, we have several light fixtures to put in, and have painting to do on the windowsills and banister), I’m itching to start on the “library.”  Basically, we want to take our living room and turn it into our library.  Two comfortable leather chairs have been ordered and we have an old sofa and a rug, and boxes upon boxes of books.  That’s about the extent that we have the library setup.  I’d like to put some nice color on the walls, buy some book shelves, get the chairs delivered, get some lamps, and then have a night in which I just turn the light on, grab a book, and start reading.  I must be honest.  I can’t remember the last time I sat down after work and just read.  Typically, I’ll work on the computer (writing, reading on the Web, playing games, listening to music, etc.), but I don’t often sit and read any more.  In the old house, there wasn’t a good place to do this.  If my wife had the TV on, I could hear the TV throughout the house.  There really wasn’t a quite place to read.  And there definitely wasn’t a place that was comfortable.  Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t expect our library to be a true library—with a 2 year old, I suspect that they’ll be toys littered in the room, but after our son goes to bed, I would mind having a cup of tea and just reading.  Might sound a bit old fashioned, but I would really like to do that.

Changing gears for a bit: I heard the opening of the Howard Stern radio show yesterday and have to admit that I did laugh.  Stern launched his Sirius satellite radio program and from what I’ve heard and read on the Web, it was a big hit.  Now I’m not a huge fan of Stern.  Some of his work I do like, but I think he tends to get old a bit fast.  I wouldn’t want to listen to him 5 hours a day.  Heck, I don’t want to listen to anyone 5 hours a day! But I am a big fan of free speech and in today’s world, I believe that much of what we choose to say is moderated and restrained.  I understand the need for civility, but the fact that our government has been using the NSA to wiretap people’s phone conversations, well, you can understand why free speech is an “idea” but not a reality.  I’ve touched on this subject before, but we don’t have free speech in my mind.

Or, if we do, people don’t honor free speech.  For example: If I’m against the war in Iraq and say that, often you’d be blasted by those who support the President’s decisions.  It’s common in American society to shout down the other side.  If you believe that the war in Iraq is necessary and you support the war, then the left (liberals) shout you down.  Both sides never hear the other side’s message.  What I think is extremely important is that free speech be allowed and listened to.  You might not agree with another person’s point of view, but he/she has a right to say what they want.

Where I get a bit blurry is hate speech and the like.  There’s a lot of hate speech being thrown around these days.  No matter if it deals with skin color, sexual orientation, or religious beliefs, I must admit that America is floundering in her melting pot of ideals.  I’m saddened by that, but at the same time, it’s difficult to stay calm and rational in a time in which America is at war and we’re still hyper sensitive about terrorism.  Our cultural climate has changed dramatically since 9/11/01 and I wonder if we’ll ever rebound again. 

Because I tend to spend a lot of time on the Web and not watching American TV, I feel a bit disconnected with the culture around me.  Ah, but I’m rambling.

But here’s my point: I don’t like everything that Howard Stern says, but I believe that he has the right to have his radio show.  I believe in free speech.  Now that Stern is on a paid satellite station, I hope that he chooses to create shows that are interesting, exciting, and not simply filled with four letter curse words.  What I’d really like to hear is for him to talk about the FCC fines he had received on his past program and what he really thinks about the people who tried to take him off the air.

America has had a shaky past with censorship and free speech.  Even today, there are schools that ban the Harry Potter books because they talk of witch craft.  That scares me.  I don’t recall that my mother ever raised me to think a certain way: Meaning that she never pushed me into science fiction books and fantasy.  Instead I stumbled into that area because it was popular in the ‘80s when I was growing up.  Playing Dungeons & Dragons is what you did.  You played D&D, with Star Wars figures, and legos.  And we used our imagination, having lots of fun.  I cannot imagine growing up in a family in which I was told that I couldn’t read a Harry Potter book.  However, in America, a parent has every right to raise a child as he/she would like.

With such disparate sections of America, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.  Intelligent Design vs. evolutionism.  Free speech vs. censorship.  Liberal vs. conservative.  Even with all the technology at our disposal, we’re still at odds with each other.  There’s such a digital divide.  I heard on This Week in Tech (their most recent episode from Jan. 8th, 2006) that the United States is ranked 15th in the world as a country in which its citizens have broadband connection to the Internet.  I’m still amazed by that.  Korea is blowing the USA out of the water.  And what concerns me is that for educational and knowledge purposes, the USA is falling behind the times.  I truly believe that opening children up to the Web (broadband connection) and allowing them to read, listen, and see content from other countries will help broaden their minds and hopefully allow them to see that there’s more to the world than their four walls that surround them. 

The Web allows me to watch and listen to content that I just wouldn’t have access to.  And let me tell you, that I wouldn’t just want to listen to what’s on the local news.  If I did, I’d grow up thinking that the biggest news of the day was a robbery at someone’s house and a fire.  By breaking the geographical boundaries that bind us, we, and our children, can see pictures from Mars and even listen to Howard Stern.  Yeah, content is that varied on the Web.  Almost anything can be seen or found on the Web (for good or bad).  Let’s hope that Americans can be tolerant enough to listen to what’s there without trying to censor it all.  I’m being a bit one-sized, I know, but I believe in the power of free speech—even when I’m being slammed myself.   

Episode 4B: Guildpact Pre-release (audio only)

Here's a short, under 10 minute, audio only podcast in which I discuss the Guildpact pre-release.
Download the podcast (mp3 format) (6.9 MB)

Show Notes
--Introduction: Episode 4B of The Magic Sock (audio) blog.
--Discussion of the Guildpact pre-release.
--Talk of various cards from the set.
--Ending music by Brother Love "Summertime" found on music.podshow.com

Total running time: 9 minutes 56 seconds
Creative Commons License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.

Closing:

Magic: The Gathering is trademarked and owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. The Magic Sock is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast or Hasbro in any way. To send feedback, send an e-mail to themagicsock@gmail.com. Audio feedback is welcome but please keep the mp3 file to under 45 seconds and be sure to mention your name and city/state/country.