Building: The Library of Austinandria

Been doing a large amount of reading lately.

Not just reading-reading, but very time consuming, in-depth media harvesting. And I really mean that -- I've been listening to many different albums, playing many different games, watching many different movies/shows, and reading tons (and I mean tons) of books. Everything from graphic novels, to contemporary fiction, to history of all things! Something I'd previously never done out of choice.

Now that I'm out of school, I've been able to take a step back and examine how I see things. All throughout my schooling experience, I struggled intensely in mathematics, decently liked science, adored language arts, and was bored to tears by history. Obviously I was a kid, but you have to remember how formative education is (I have many, many gripes about modern schooling, but a deep dive into that topic is for another time).

Yet it's important context for what I'm writing here. School presents education in a manufactured, regimented, factorial way meant to maximize turnout (both making money and simply cycling students through the system, especially colleges) at the lowest possible rate of effort. When everything is a conveyor belt of -learn math here- -read [insert board-regulated novel] here-, maintaining the structure and ignoring issues is, of course, the most viable option. Gotta sweep the problems under the rug, right? Out of sight, out of mind. 

Because of this broad-strokes approach, many students have issues in academia. I certainly did. Getting me to seriously do assignments past my sophomore year was nigh impossible, and I laugh still about my time in community college. Because it's all so boring. Even the most interesting things are watered down, with the fat trimmed basically right to the bone. I believe history suffers from this more than any of the other subjects. I had a conversation with my friend about this recently. Take a look; 

• Language Arts evolve with culture and change for many reasons, and the things we learn from it are constantly changing too. If a society is literate, then knowledge can and will be passed. Yes, boards can decide which books are read in schools, but anyone that can read can pick up a different book elsewhere.
• Math is a foundation upon which anything can be discovered. It's the most concrete, straight-edged form of logic possible, and adheres to the universe entirely. It is impossible to regulate mathematics. 

But the other two are a bit different.  

Science is dependent on all the other subjects in some way, and is subject to change/alter with new discoveries. This goes without saying.

History, however, can easily be altered. Think about it. In school, we almost never hear about hugely important aspects of our own history -- the genocide of the Native Americans in colonial times, the Cold War, the current conflict we're engaged in in the Middle East... even other important world events like the Nanking massacre, or the exact details of Hitler's rise to power in WWII (or anything concerning those wars, really). That includes the Library of Alexandria, one of, if not precisely, history's greatest losses. A fortress of knowledge in the city of Alexandria, Egypt, that had thousands of scrolls in literature, math, science, history, myths, and religion, all collected before the common era.

It's gone now. Julius Caesar's army burned it down when he invaded Egypt in 48 B.C.E. and 40,000+ scrolls of culture and information were lost forever. It's said to have set us back by 1000 years. 

In a way, board regulation is doing something similar. You can't censor math. You'd have a hard time hiding away language arts and science. But history? That's easy to cut and slice. I'm not saying this is some huge government conspiracy, but there's a reason a western Christian school system (or at least, one built on those principles) didn't tell you that the sun god Ra created the gods by masturbating.

Unless you had made the effort to go looking into this information, did you know about the Library of Alexandria? School didn't mention it... not my curriculum. Omitting information is almost as bad as burning it, because to minds unlikely to go hunting (like, for say, children), not only do you rob them of a chance to find a new passion in learning, you misinform them.

This factors into how it's presented, too. Ever read a school history book that didn't bore you out of your mind? Just thinking about the covers and pages makes me squirm. Every era, boiled down to a five page slog with block text paragraphs, all about our "history" in the most vague terms possible. It's like... they wanted us to be bored.

It's easy to point fingers here, and when a student is struggling it falls on all those involved (the kid, the parents, the teachers, and the school), but the school is doubly responsible, because they determine how the education is presented. When there's an issue they need to be the ones to look at it.

But what am I getting at?

My point is this. Now that I'm out of school, I'm free to study my way. And god damn, is history fascinating. I already know so much more in the past two months of going and hunting down history myself than I ever learned in public school. So, like Alexandria's great library, I want to build my own. No, I'm not saying I want to fund a huge public library for all to use (though if I had enough money I absolutely would), I'm saying I want Alexandria in my home. A big fortress of books, containing fiction, non-fiction, history, writings and articles, books and movies and games and all of our modern art, as well as art and knowledge of old. The knowledge we can glean from art and history is impeccable, and a stronghold where all of it is kept, accessible and organized, is more than appealing to me.

But I want to go a step further. I want my writings in there too; my fiction, my poetry, my articles and non-fiction. So I started recording history I learned by hand, what I know about it, and what I think about it. I intend to fill many notebooks. I also went back and started taking notes on the things I was reading/watching too, as I used to do for reviews. All of it is something we can glean knowledge from.

As of now, the Library of Austinandria has nearly 700 books (692 to be exact!) and I continue to keep building. I don't want to post a picture of it at this moment, for it's not in the most attractive setup, but someday soon (possibly as soon as next year) I fully intend to share it with the world. There are also many DVD's, Blu-Rays, and video games, but I have not yet inventoried those.

ALSO: go study history if you hated it in school. It's not as much of a chore as you were led to believe. Until next time -- stay literate, stay active, stay informed. 

To You, in 2000 Years

I was hit with a thought and I wanted to share it. 

Our thoughts are all our own. They exist entirely within our minds, and while emotions may bubble to the surface and we can share what we think, the abstract reality of our experience is inherently unknowable to anyone but ourselves. That's part of the human condition. Language arose from this. Our desire (and need) to communicate brought us closer, and formed the world we live in today. We're in an era of global connectivity unknown in eras passed, where we can talk to anyone from virtually anywhere whenever we want with a simple call, text, or post. Cultural divides, while still present, are shifting apart. But those thoughts -- our inner selves -- are still kept to the individual. 

That's pretty poignant, I think. Imagine, for a moment, Ancient Greece. Two people -- siblings, friends, partners, what have you; have met one another out on the grass during a starry night. They lie down together and look up at the stars, pointing out constellations, laughing about things they witnessed throughout the day. And each of them, despite the connection they share, can only relay so much of their inner thoughts to one another. The formless feelings and shaped perspective they experience is one of their own. 

And they're gone. They've long passed. Greece's rule ended well over two thousand years ago, and the thoughts and feelings of those individuals looking up at the stars are gone. The people they knew and loved are gone, and have been gone for many, many lifetimes since. The bond they shared -- the bond only they knew and only they felt, is known by no one.

Isn't that hard to comprehend? We sit around and worry about our lives now, but will our accomplishments matter in two thousand years? When you lie down beneath the stars with your significant other, your sibling, your parent or friend -- will the moment you share live on? 

In a way, it can.

These thoughts and feelings are kept alive with our art. Yes, we may not be able to share minds, but we can share the things we create with them. The pottery, mosaics, architecture, and writings of Ancient Greece are still around today. Things they conceived, things they imbued with their thoughts and feelings survive. 

But what if these people didn't make any art? What if these two people were farmers, and worked only in the fields, never to transcribe their thoughts or sculpt their creations? Well, then the things they shared truly are gone. History is recorded by those who've won, but even then, the common folk under their rule are only that. Common folk. They live, they work, and they pass. Their selves have returned to the soil, a place destined for all of us one day. But their lives mattered then. The market needed fruit, the family needed food. Even if they didn't leave a mark to last us generations, they left a mark to last a lifetime.

So I ask -- where will you be in two thousand years?

Reading Log and Writing Updates

Yo! 

I noticed a year and a half or so ago that Goodreads allowed users to set book goals for themselves. Now, I no longer use Goodreads, but I do still keep a record of the media I consume. Yet I've never done it monthly, nor had goals to hit. 

This year is different, though! I don't have a "goal," per se, but I am going to keep track of all the books I read per month. I'll make a blog post on the ones I have most to say about every trimester of the year. So on the last day of April, I'll come back and write about the books I've read in my time from January to then. I'll do this again in August and December, so if you're interested, stay tuned.

In other news, I queried my first agent! I haven't heard back yet, but any news is good news here. If I get rejected, It's another motivator in bettering myself, my writing, and finding ways to improve. And it goes without saying why a manuscript request would be a good thing. 

I've been normally pretty quiet on this blog, but I don't mean to be -- I'm just working on things right now. That includes a few MS's that I intend to finish by this year or early next year. One of them is 2/3rds of the way done, but I've sat on it for a bit to roll out the kinks in my biggest project. The other two I started within the same week, and write in every day. The fantasy-adventure I began this month is a project I write during the day, and the fantasy comedy/drama thingy I work on exclusively after 1 a.m. It's part of the flow, bro.

I'm calling them Oddity Collection Service, Where Sky Meets Sea, and Robin's Books respectively. I normally have a bit of discomfort in revealing my titles, but I think that insecurity is a little unfounded after seeing so many writers talk about their projects openly online. And even if it's taken, a title is a title. Many books have similar-or-same titles.

I've outlined all these books differently. Oddity Collection Service has a very detailed, three-part outline with bullet points on all major events coded in various bolds, underlines, and colors. Where Sky Meets Sea is a book in which I have outlined each chapter, but I go more by the theme of each chapter instead of the events, and let the story go where it needs to. Robin's Books is the closest I can get to being a Pants writer. I'm a Plotter at heart, so I always leave myself notes when I'm done with a section in Robin's Books on what I want the story to cover next, but other than that I just let whatever happens happen. It attributes to the tone as well, a kind of tongue-in-cheek sort of thing with solid direction but not much consistency. 

I can't say which one I enjoy writing more. Oddity Collection Service is a bit of a chore because I created extensive vocabulary the narrative adheres too. It's also set in our world, which is not my strong suit nor my preference. But the idea captured my imagination and I have big plans for the story, so I can't just not do it. 

Where Sky Meets Sea is set in a world unlike other fantasy worlds, but I'll keep the twist to myself for now. I have a clear vision of the moral and themes in that story, but characterizing is a bit of a challenge, especially with the "circumstances" of the lore, if you will. 

Robin's Books is honestly just an experiment. I love it to death, and I have no intentions of putting it on hold simply because of how I write it -- but I'm keeping realistic expectations. I know people out there would love it, I know it... but for now it's gonna stay my little secret. That includes the premise.

I hope I didn't bore anyone. I don't have many readers either way, but I'm a writer who rarely blogs about actual writing, which I have realized is not in my best interest. Regardless, I'm gonna keep chugging along, and this blog will be here to record my progress. 

Until next time. Goood bye.