Recently, I realized that I had too many backpacks; I only use two, but I have all of the ones from my childhood. Throughout time, I have slowly shifted them out of use and ended up with my current configuration (a messenger bag (man purse as my friend calls it) and a backpack that can carry two laptops (corporate work and writing work – I keep my functions completely separated for obvious reasons)). So, while cleaning, I was pleasantly surprised to find that my old college backpack held a treasure I had been missing for some time: Grimm’s Complete Fairy Tales. I had looked for this leather bound volume for a year (picked it up for seven dollars on sale (I would never buy a leather bound book unless it was cheap as they are a pain in the ass to hold while reading), bought one for myself and the friend who calls messenger bags man purses but that isn’t relevant). While reading tonight, I realized that I love the morals of these stories and found a weird dichotomy playing out in my mind (there was the moral for the good characters, but also, a moral for the villain).
Because I am clearly not busy (as my hair turns white just writing this post), I have decided to create a new goal for myself. I will read these short stories and write blogs on each one. The format is simple:
- A quote will be pulled (something that hit me in the gut and I liked)
- An analysis of the good guy’s moral
- An analysis of the villain’s moral (if I find one)
- How I felt about it
- ??? – Something I haven’t thought about at the writing of this post
I am unsure if my initial format will hold true till the end of the project, but I believe projects are meant to shift and change. The outcome that matters: I will end up reading more of these short stories and thinking about them. As my old professor used to say and I am paraphrasing: “You must read everything and from different cultures, otherwise, you are only going to write in one tradition”. His advice has led me to my current writing style: the amalgam abomination. So, look forward to these new pieces on the website (I am still writing fiction and revising my manuscripts (Bohr’s Bathos is currently on the chopping block)).