This handsome young man:
…Wrote this undying story, and it was published 159 years and 1 day ago. What has made this story such an enduring treasure of western society? Why has it birthed no less than infinity adaptations to film, theater, radio, and graphic novel?
Jason Tanz of Wired shared this, the story Peter Molyneux. The famed video game designer behind Populous and Fable, Molyneux had fallen into the fish’s belly portion of his career, but then a fake Twitter account that poked fun at his foibles inspired him to quit his job and start afresh, to become as carefree and challenging as his alter ego @PeterMolydeux.
The story intrigues, inspires, and troubles. Most troubling, and most pertinent, was Molyneux’s struggles with his own finished products and his own disappointments:
Molyneux couldn’t fault the critics. They had a point. He too considered each release something of a letdown. For Molyneux, starting work on a new project was like stepping onto a stone outcrop, looking out over a blanket of fog, and waiting for the mist to clear and reveal what was lying underneath. He couldn’t stop himself from conjuring up the most tantalizing possibilities—the equivalent of finding himself atop a mountain, a lush landscape rolling beneath him. And so every time the fog lifted, he couldn’t help but be a little disappointed. Now, at the presumed twilight of his career, it seemed as though he’d never get a chance to create a game that was worthy of his dreams.
Few of my own writings, whether poems, essays or emails, feel finished. My father, an artist of a painting sort, says his works are never complete, never quite how he imagined them.
It is frustrating to never be able to complete the story we wanted and for which we hoped. It is frustrating, but it is also a side effect of the human frame. And it is what keeps us writing, what keeps Molyneux imagining new, bizarre worlds hewn together with pixels and code, what keeps my father practicing his craft.
Do not become satisfied with your own work. Refine it until your choices are between two goods, but not greats, and then wish it Fare thee well. And then turn to your next ambition. Turn to your next challenge. And blossom in your dissatisfaction.
The wise sushi eater takes a sliver of ginger to clear the palate, to prepare for the next piece of sushi, the next and new flavors. In the same way, a writer of fiction or nonfiction is wise to taste poetry on occasion — even bad poetry — to clear the literary palate and prepare for the next chapter or day of writing.
When my emails and text messages feel uninspired, I do little about it. When that same sickness creeps into my blog posts and long emails, I become concerned. When I see the words for my novel or short story fall limply to the page like a dead, wet leaf, I hook an I.V. of John Donne or William Shakespeare to my nearest vein.
If I were wiser, maybe I’d do this every day to avoid these trips to the emergency room. So, for the impending winter and the eager writer, I offer a dosage of Frost. May it cut through the blight of mixed flavors and refresh your palate.
If you’ve ever seen a photo of Emily Dickinson then you’ve seen the only known photo of Emily Dickinson. But now, thanks to a photo acquired by Amherst College in 2007, we might have another view of (arguably) the most important American poet. Taken in 1859, the photo depicts Dickinson (left) with her friend Kate Scott Turner, who is rumored to be Dickinson’s lover. From HuffPo:
There’s strong evidence it’s Dickinson, including comparisons of high-resolution digital images of the newer photo with the known image, from 1847, said Mike Kelly, head of the archive and special collections department at Amherst College.
Kelly said perhaps the best evidence is an ophthalmological report that compared similarities in the eyes and facial features of the women in the photos…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvDA3pNPfj0
For the full brief, check out the Amherst release which details the research that’s going in to confirming this photo’s authenticity. Included are fabric matching patterns and some biographical notes on ED and Turner.
School is about to start it would seem there’s a lot of spending going on before anybody has learned anything. Every major chain in the world is banking on the labor day school-year spending blitz. Dorms are being re-painted, swept and readied for all those cheap futons, the campus book stores are worse than a B&N on Christmas Eve, and the lecture hall microphones all have new batteries.
That’s why this year, even if you’re not going back to school, why don’t you dust off your academic think cap, sit in on a few top-notch courses and brush up on all those literature classes you missed, for free?