kleio

"We are not fighting for money, for power, or for world domination. We are fighting solely for the American Dream. Our aim is not aggression or the reduction of nations to slavery. We are fighting for the Meaning of civilization. We are struggling for the Ideal of civilization; for Culture, for Poetry, for the Only Things Worth Preserving. This is a war for survival. WE are not fighting for ourselves, but for our Dreams; for the Better Things in Life which must not disappear from the face of the earth."

The quote there (which I previously referenced on another blog more than a year ago) is from a short story by Alfred Bester, who is my favorite science fiction author of all time. I chanced to read the story (The Disappearing Act, copyright 1953) last night. It was... strangely haunting, especially given the date.

I don't like talking about 9/11, because I hate it, but I know that it's so deeply important to so many people, to their memories of loved ones. But it just makes me angry, because of how afraid everyone in the nation still seems to be. I hate being afraid.

ANYWAY - a brief synopsis of this short story written fifty-four years ago.

The US is engaged in war. It is the war for the American Dream, and it is a very difficult war. A general comes to the forefront calling for experts of every sort. "We must become a nation of experts," he demands. "Every man and woman must be a specific tool for a specific job, hardened and sharpened by ... training, and eduction to win the fight for the American Dream." And experts he gets, until something peculiar happens, and there is no expert to discover the cause or solution - except from a historian who dared to speak against the War for the American Dream and had been in a hard-labor prison for years. "A poet," is the historian's suggestion. "You've been telling us for five years that this war is being fought to save the poets." And now they must produce a poet... but in a world of hardened, sharpened specific tools, poets have disappeared.

Auditions for Bride of the Monster are on Monday. I'm tremendously excited. I'm certain we'll get at least one of the actors that we really really want - we'll see how well everything else turns out. If we get a dozen people to show up and audition, we'll be happy. If we make enough money on this show to do another one almost immediately afterwards (I'm torn between Santa Claus Defeats the Martians, or Attack of the Giant Leeches), we'll be happy. As stressful as this will be for him, Nick will be happy, and that will make me happy.

I must remember to never take this feeling for granted.



Halloween is coming. I desperately need to play in Photoshop more... SERIOUSLY, though. Does ANYONE know of a good wig website? I just need a shoulder-length white wig, but I don't want it to be the uber-crappy type of thing that you can get so easily from WalMart at Halloween...