Near the beginning of the Millennium I, and the world, was going through changes. the world’s are well documented.
I, on the other hand, toiled in obscurity. Around 2002 I re-entered college seeking knowledge. My communications degree had served me in good stead, but I thought to expand my abilities to include Graphic Design. I had always had a good eye for color, shapes and design. I thought I would try my hand at learning to draw and design professionally, but it would not turn out as I intended.
I have no idea what made me believe this, but apparently I was under the impression that my natural creativity would manifest in drawing with the first stroke of my pencil on sketch paper. Since I’d never been good at drawing in the past, I have no idea why this fantasy would arise. Though many of my teachers were impressed and appreciated my choice of subjects, my creativity in creating interesting visuals and such… they remained less impressed by my actual drawing abilities. That is not to say that I was terrible at it. I was probably no worse than any other student, and like my first foray into college, I made sure to work hard enough to get the grade I wanted.
During this time I also had one of the most interesting game experiences of my life. On a whim I’d signed on to play Everquest II. When I was not drawing or studying, I would take a spin with a dark elf character, though I hated my surroundings. At the time that i played, Dark Elves (an evil race) began in the dismal, grey city of Freeport under the Iron fist of Tyrant Lucan D’Lere. I knew I had to get out. From the beginning I knew I wanted to “betray” my home city and move to the good and green countryside of Qeynos (Sony EQ spelled backwards).
After a bit of research I discovered that they betrayal quest/storyline was doable, but involved a fair bit of work, and that screwing it up could cost me a lot of time in trying to fix – probably more time than I was willing to devote to it if things went wrong. At that time the quest involved being thrown out of your home city with lowered stats and being “homeless”… then traveling across a forest of very high level creatures and finally making your way through a series of long quests to test your resolve. All during the time your character would be a person with no home or city to belong to, and could not advance in levels because the quests could only be done by characters of a certain range. Leaving that level range meant not being able to finish the quests and the character would be more or less useless after that.
With time at a premium I was able to maneuver my character through the difficult starting quests, through the forest of dread (where I was sure my character would be killed repeatedly only to grow weaker and weaker as I lost more and more “Soul Shards”), and into the green lands of Qeynos. Once there I spent some time killing ridiculous numbers of monsters with no experience point gain at all, and then had to answer a series of questions correctly or forfeit some of the little money I’d brought with me. Without enough money I might eventually not be able to finish this part of the quest either. Even so, I manged the entire affair and was able to join Qeynosian society as an acceptable outcast. The whole process was a lot of work (and fun), and was repeated soon after as a troll friend decided to make the same jump, and I ended up helping him make his way into this new and happier society. Looking back, it is still one of my favorite experiences in MMO’s.
Also during this time, Peter Jackson’s first “Lord of the Rings” film came out. All my life I’d had these stories running around in my head. These were the stories of my childhood, read to me by my own mother, and the more I read about Peter Jackson’s approach, the more I liked it. I liked it even more when I saw it demonstrated on the big screen.I liked it a lot, but it seemed very long in the theater. I’ve since come to appreciate the films more when I can start and stop them at my leisure.
But movies, games and school were not the only things on my mind. As my 40th birthday approached I had to deal with a problem. I was out of shape. As I was getting older, I was not happy with the way I looked and felt. It was something that needed to be dealt with, and soon. Several months of diet and exercise led to a fitter body and a stronger mind. Regular exercise was leading me to a clearer mind and better moods on a regular basis.
But as with most things in life, seeking good health can have its down side. In my case, I pushed myself too hard. In the midst of learning about what made me tick and what made me healthy I got sick. I pushed myself too hard and stressed myself out. Due to seeking medical treatment (necessary to prevent even greater problems) I was forced to drop out of my classes. In the time that followed (roughly two years) I was forced to reevaluate my life. I was unable to do many of the things I wanted to do. I felt ever more like an observer of life rather than a participant.
During this time I was introduced to two old friends. The first was The Doctor. The British series Dr. Who was being revived, and though I was sceptical at first, I found myself won over by Russell T Davies’ writing. A world that I had left behind was suddenly open to me again. A rich mythology that had formed a part of my youngest years was back in my life, and apparently I am no alone. I am constantly surprised by the people who have been touched by the new show, and shown interest it the long history of the original series.
The other old friend was Batman. A new film was being made: Batman Begins. The film surprised and thrilled me. Batman was finally on the big screen in a way that he’d never been before. This was Batman at full potency story-wise, and full-bore. Shades of Frank Miller and others crisscrossed the screen, and Batman as a force in cinema was back in a big way. Just a few years later Chris Nolan created The Dark Knight – and even more powerful film. It is odd that looking back, Batman Begins almost seems upbeat.
But in my personal life, things began to get better. I began to feel better and become more active – including a much wished-for return to physical activity and exercise that had brough so much energy and enthusiasm into my life. A somewhat dark period in my life was finished. After all that, my long and rambling story became more simple. I began a freelance writing career, and this blog as a place to write about my passions in life.
Which brings us to the present. Through these One, Two, Three previous essays on my past I have tried to give you a sense of who I am. What I think. And what I care about. These are the influences. These are the times. And as times change, it is exciting to be a part of a world that has (in my eyes) come so far, and is growing more and more each day.
Make no mistake. I have not told my entire story by any means. This essay is not the end of my trip through pop culture. There is the present and the future, not to mention the still-unrevealed past, yet to come. Though the primary narrative is over, the story has really just begun.
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I just wanted to let you know that I have really enjoyed reading this series.
Thank you very much. I enjoyed writing about my life (who wouldn’t?) and look foward to adding more personal stories of my interactions with popular culture as time goes on.
As I was learning how to blog, I learned tht many bloggers do this to connect better with their audience. I’m glad you found value in what I do.
Hey, nice read.
We have some things in common, which was nice to see since I was generally surfing around the web aimlessly, feeling like I lost my direction.
Thanks for giving me something to relate to and motivate me back to the hard work.
Cheers