Up To Speed:

I have been an awful blogger since last August. I have a few reasons which separately do not provide a legitimate excuse but which, in my opinion, collectively form a valid explanation when they are considered together. The first reason is that I have spent an enormous amount of time throughout the seasons of fall and winter applying to a total of nine colleges—a process which I have not even finished yet, due to a few late deadlines and upcoming interviews. This application process has been almost surreal, because in the back of my mind there is always the haunting truth that the result will seriously change the course of my life. Furthermore, I vaguely remember that I was once somewhat humble before I began applying to college. Now, I have written so many essays concerning my social strengths, my academic ability, and my all-around greatness that my ego is about five sizes too big. I am applying to two Ivy League schools. If I am accepted to either one of them, my ensuing joy will be limitless. That being said, I would be happy to attend any of the institutions to which I have applied. Regardless, I hope that every application reviewer at every one of these nine schools appreciates what I have been put through. The process is an undisputedly exhausting, ridiculous one, and I owe it to God to thank Him every day for the fact that I live in an age of computers that allow me to submit so much of this work via the internet rather than whatever predated the internet.

Speaking of God, I continue to play the role of God at speech tournaments with some success. By now, I don’t even expect you to remember that my friend Joe and I were simultaneously recruited onto our high school’s speech team in the category in Duo Interpretation, in which we perform a piece called “The Bible: The Complete Word of God (Abridged)” by Austin Tichenor. The whole performance is ten minutes long, and I play the roles of God, Goliath, Jesus, Joseph, Nimrod, and others. We have been to several tournaments since our start in October, six or seven of them to be precise. Some have been extremely competitive and have made us feel like the beginners that we are. However, there have been a couple of tournaments where we were received quite well by the judges. In only our second tournament (if I remember correctly), at Fordham, Joe and I took third place in our category. More recently, at the Chaminade tournament—which I bet was number five for us, but I’ve lost count really—we came in second place in Duo. Since that tournament, the competition has been too fierce for us, but I am holding on to hope that the graph of our victories and disappointments will take the form of a sine curve rather than a single parabola. (I’m still stuck in Calculus until mid-February.) Joe and I have earned half of a qualification for the state championship, so our immediate goal is to gain that other half before that event, which is in late March, unless I am mistaken. The idea of receiving just one half of a qualification still seems odd to me. I picture the qualification as a golden amulet that has been split in twain. 

Speaking of my acting roles, I have been out of the blogging habit for so long that I have not told you about a project in which I have been involved, called “Anti-Hero.” Before I explain further, allow me to back up for a moment. If you have traveled through more than a few of the tubes in this series called the Internet, then surely you have heard of Mur Lafferty, a talented writer and force of nature in the world of podcasting. Following the popularity of her yet to be completed “Heaven” series of serialized fiction, available at podiobooks.com, Mur began podcasting her novel entitled Playing for Keeps. The novel is set in a world of superhuman powers, some astonishing and others impractical and/or downright unusual. While there are plenty of superheroes and supervillains, the novel focuses on characters from the Third Wave, those born with powers deemed useless in the field of fighting crime. Playing for Keeps is rich with original characters and gripping action. Also, fans of the television series Who Wants to be a Superhero? ought to tune in to hear cameo appearances from some of their favorite characters, as explained in this press release. Only a few episodes remain in this series, but it is never too late to start listening from chapter one. Then, once you are a fan of Playing for Keeps, I invite you to check out “Anti-Hero,” a vlog created as a companion piece to the novel. “Anti-Hero” follows a teenager named Taylor, a Third Wave individual who has been forced into hiding by his father. What does that have to do with me? I play Taylor. Mur writes each script, and I have the responsibility of filming and starring in them. Three episodes have been released already, and the fourth is the final one in the series, so I recommend that you tune in right away. All of the episodes can be found in the “Playing for Keeps Experience” feed.

Speaking of novels on the internet (I’m not done making segues!), I have another recommendation for you. Christian Talbot, the man who has been my English teacher since September 2006, began his sabbatical earlier this month. His primary goal during these months away from his students is to write a novel entitled Dust to Dust, which he has decided to release on a blog in serialized form as he is writing it. At this point, four chapters have been posted, and it already proves to be an intriguing, psychological work focused on terrorism that I am reading faithfully. I have agreed to take some photographs that will accompany certain chapters of the novel, and a couple of these pictures have already been included. (Take note that not all of the pictures you’ll see are my work. I’m not that good.) Over the course of a year and a half, Mr. Talbot has had a great influence on how I write both analytically and creatively, so I hope you will all join me in supporting his effort by reading his work and encouraging him. I also hope that he can forgive me if there are any spelling or grammatical errors in this blog entry. It is very late at night, and I do not have enough time to proofread all of these paragraphs. 

Now I think I have brought you up to speed on what I have failed to tell you in the last month or two. Oh, I almost forgot one thing. I am eighteen now. My birthday was January 18^th. It was rather exciting and entirely pleasant. I have gotten over it now. I look forward to voting this November, unless the presidential race takes a different turn than the one I am expecting. Thanks for reading, and I hope it does not take me another month to write to you again.

End Post.