The Portrait of Zool

Those feudal lords were a strange lot, especially after a few generations of the tradition of 'keep it in the family' - you know what I mean. A few generations of that certainly will produce a legendary heir - they should have taken you advice concerning that one, they should have. Killed the whole lot of them, he did - he did take your advice. Now he's in charge down at the abandoned lab, but he's sad. Seems he doesn't get much mail. It's his own fault though, fer sure. Family - yeah, I know what you're saying.

Enjoyable! I love that sci-fi stuff.

Come on Master P... You KNOW you want to!

Rushes to m-w.com to look up defenestrating... Oh. *imagines what a computer would do to a window...*

That's right! http://www.themightypen.net/public/style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif Well then, LotG...

Great poems, both of you. Hope you don't mind if I jump in See? I have the power I control what I do I control where I go I control what I feel Irrevocably, Like a drunk. I seek oblivion in the ultimate rebellion. I give my power away in an illusion of power. Only one thing for me to do now for I am free; free to dance free to love free to sow free to reap free to throw it all away. Freedom - yeah. That's what it's about.

Also, due to some of the mature themes (explicit inuendo, suicide), it prolly would've gone better in Randy's alcove.

Wow! What a tragedy! Cynicism does not begin to cover it - oh, yes it does. Well done, though I feel a little more focus and better editing would go far. You give plenty of punch, but mood, style, and form should work together to give it cohesiveness as well. Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite!

Well done, Thinas. It reminds me of Sun Tzu's The Art of War, and his ruminations on inertia. Too bad you didn't post it as an application...

As far as empathy, one book really comes to mind. I can't say it has really influenced me, but it really bowled me over. The Three Musketeers, by Alexander Dumas. I remember avoiding it like the plague when I was in high school, because it was so thick, and so OLD - now I can only groan at my ignorance. There is a reason books continue to be published for hundreds of years. While it did drag in parts, by the end this was such a gritty tale of treachery and friendship that it just blew me away. I really felt for poor Dartanien (sp), and Aramous, Porthos, and... that other guy - but I really can't say more without giving away the ending. (Hint: It doesn't end like it does in all the movies.) It's about time for me to read it again.

I was using an electronic word processor as far back as 1985. Before that rewriting was a laboriously long task, because I can change, throw out, or completely re-rewrite everything. Usually, I'm too lazy for that though. For casual posting, which is all I do lately, I simply open notepad, spill my raw ideas as fast as I can before I forget them, then try to put them in some kind of sensical order. I almost always make changes after the cut and paste into the post window.

Zool thinks a while... Now, if you were really curious about where my early entertaining perspective comes from, and we were to overlook the (literally) literary source part, then an easy answer springs to mind, and that would be the actor Peter Sellers. Even before Dr. Strangelove, and Pink Panther and it's many sequels, Peter Sellers was himself an institution. Seeing a Peter Sellers movie, such as the Millionaress or Casino Royale or The Party assured the viewer of an almost fairytale-like plot, usually with Peter himself as the journeying protagonist, starting the wide-eyed innocent, but receiving at least the girl if not the also the riches after the end of many a strange adventure. His outrageous characters and improvisations were, and are, legendary. And That is the type of character - the mythical comedic artist performer - to whom I really am drawn, sort of a meta-empathy, I guess... Err... What was the question?

Harry Harrison's The Stainless Steel Rat was a favorite of mine. That was a long time ago though, and thinking back now I don't think I was anything like him - but he had my empathy. I'm probably closer to Arthur Dent.

This is great Elwen. You really have a gift for dialog, and a wonderful imagination. I can't wait to see more of it.

That's good. It shows, once again, that wherever you go, there you are. All those expectations projected onto everything else - but they come from YOU... It looks pointed more toward marriage, but I think it holds truth for any 'relationship'. If only Osama, Saddam and George could have this conversation...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! To celebrate, here is a birthday song written by Kinslayer himself! It sounds suspiciously like the Beatles song though... You say it's your birthday, It's my birthday too, yeah, They say it's your birthday, We're gonna have a good time, I'm glad it's your birthday, Happy birthday to you. Yes we're going to a party, party, Yes we're going to a party, party, Yes we're going to a party, party, I would like you to dance ( birthday ) Take a cha-cha-cha-chance ( birthday ) I would like you to dance ( birthday ) I would like you to dance ( birthday ) Take a cha-cha-cha-chance ( birthday ) You say it's your birthday, It's my birthday too, yeah, They say it's your birthday, We're gonna have a good time, I'm glad it's your birthday, Happy birthday to you. (P.S. I'm a very bad man. )

Life awakens the seed splits warmth and moisture from above. Infinite cosmic chances - balanced - a miracle happens. Out of the darkness, reaching blindly Slender stem straining twisting 'round boulders the size of a grain of sand. Seeking it's healthier self Life knows only growth or not. Voices from the past A world apart Is this life? Telling you, You aren't good enough. Boulders the size of a grain of sand.

Heh, me honey needed some cheering up, so I whipped it out. Prolly the only original thing in it is the title, but I like the sentiment too.

A cosmic force at work Love I see it now Love I hear it now Love I feel it now Love I believe in it now Life paints art sings love sings art paints life... Our graceful guide is leading us on We are happening now! Two hearts are better than one sharing out our fortune. Life paints art sings love sings art paints life... As we flow down life's rivers I see the stars glow - One by one All angels of the magic constellation are singing us now.. Life paints art sings love sings art paints life... a cosmic force at work.

It's very passionate, passionsrejected.

I've been in that poem. Ay, you get used to it.

"Wow! Z's is today, and Runes's is tomorrow! I'd better get crackin'..." Zool runs around the lab throwing switches, launching a huge brightly colored kite into the stormy sky, and coincidentally tossing a dismembered leg into a dark cage. Soon the castle thrums with the pulsing power of another of his mysterious machines. A covered figure lies still on the central table. A crack of lightning fills the sky, filling the lab with sparks and a blinding white light. The figure under the sheet shudders, then begins to expand, glow, and throb in a very strange way. He runs down beside the table, laughing maniacly. "MuHahahahahahha! It's my greatest creation," he says, then whips off the sheet. "It's a..." HAPPY BIRTHDAY! (PS So I work for Hallmark now - it's a living. )

That's absolutely beautiful Elwin. That reminds me of a song I heard long ago. It has eased my loneliness, perhaps you will resonate with it's echoing sentiment as well. Question By the Moody Blues Why do we never get an answer When we're knocking at the door With a thousand million questions About hate and death and war? 'Cause when we stop and look around us There is nothing that we need In a world of persecution that is burning in its greed Why do we never get an answer When we're knocking at the door Because the truth is hard to swallow That's what the war of love is for It's not the way that you say it When you do those things to me It's more the way that you mean it When you tell me what will be And when you stop and think about it You won't believe it's true That all the love you've been giving Has all been meant for you I'm looking for someone to change my life I'm looking for a miracle in my life And if you could see what it's done to me To lose the love I knew Could safely lead me through Between the silence of the mountains And the crashing of the sea There lies a land I once lived in And she's waiting there for me But in the grey of the morning My mind becomes confused Between the dead and the sleeping And the road that I must choose I'm looking for someone to change my life I'm looking for a miracle in my life And if you could see what it's done to me To lose the love I knew Could safely lead me to The land that I once knew To learn as we grow old The secrets of our soul It's not the way that you say it when you do those things to me It's more the way you really mean it when you tell me what will be Why do we never get an answer When we're knocking at the door With a thousand million questions About hate and death and war 'Cause when we stop and look around us There is nothing that we need In a world of persecution that is burning in its greed Why do we never get an answer When we're knocking at the door

Frankly, I've found we all prefer our own drama, and frantically resist being pulled out of it, by resisting all other's views. That is why everyone wants to promote their view (to be heard), and resists everyone elses (doesn't want to 'hear'). To do so is to lose what little perceived cohesiveness we think we have in lives, even though our view is usually little more than comfortable habit. It is a very hard thing to let go. So much of what we do depends on subconscious emotional undercurrents - so where is the interest - the payoff - in letting go of our egocentric view? But probably you should just ignore this, if you all haven't already... Very perceptive poem Arch.

Ah.