#244. Modern Woe, Pacific Rim, Lost, Fringe, Heroes

#244.

The Modern Woe blog continues, for those interested in existential poetry. After the smashing success of "Living the New Fade," I'm going to be working on another long-form poem, "Advanced Genius," which continues on one hand a sequence that's dominated the last few weeks of the blog, "Book Terrors...!" while also building on the coincidental discovery I made the other week of another kindred soul in Jason Hartley, who wrote The Advanced Genius Theory, based on conversations he'd had with a friend for years, which, well, advanced to the point where he had to write a book about it. Basically, Hartley argues that "genius artists" like Bob Dylan and Orson Welles, who begin their careers with a tremendous amount of fanfare, hype, and acclaim, are over time perceived to have lost whatever mojo made it possible in the first place, when what's really going on is that they've surpassed their audience's ability to keep up with them, pioneers who continue to trailblaze long after the necessity to distinguish themselves. Anyway, I read the book in a day, which itself was pretty remarkable, and it's continued to be an inspiration, as well as the David Lipsky book Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself, which has given me extensive insight into the late author David Foster Wallace, whom I seem to disagree with on any number of philosophic levels. But then, he was a successful writer, and I'm not.

Meanwhile, I think I've discovered yet another angle to launch one of my oldest projects with. It can't be spoiled by saying the working title is Pacific Rim, and happens to star a guy named Satoshi Kojima, a name that also happens to be shared with a professional wrestler.

I believe my association with the Section 31/Lower Decks.com community is really nearing its end, which is a pity, because I really like writing, and that's been the most consistent place to write at that I've had for the past decade. You can catch my recent columns (HYGOTS) and reviews of Lost and it's finale, "The End," in addition to my thoughts on the second season of Fringe and what turned out to be the final hours of Heroes.

I'm thinking of ways to parlay my interest in movies a little more extensively, in terms of the public. That may be the project that succeeds the S31/LD experience.