80's music fans, reveal thyselves

Try this quiz out. (Many thanks to KW for this.)

Me read stuff

I haven't read that much Dickens. The little I should have covered was assigned in high school., which was during (one of) my illiterate period(s). So I picked up David Copperfield to give Dickens a go. The story traces David's adventures and relationships from birth through his mid twenties. To reveal the tiniest bit of the storyline, David's father dies before his birth, and his mother's demise follows while David is still a child with no siblings. Therefore, the book mostly focuses on David being left alone in the world and seeking love beyond his lost parents. Dickens traces his story through childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, and into his mid-to-late twenties. The epilogue extends the picture much further, but that is obviously a quick sketch. It amounts to a large-scale coming-of-age story.

The remarkable thing about the book is that the stories are basically human scale. What I mean by that is that Dickens doesn't use many overtly outlandish plot lines, with some notable exceptions mostly involving disparate characters intertwining their stories along the road. What he does use--maybe more effectively than any author i've ever read--is colorful characters. The characters are vivid and mostly believable, but the believable traits are slightly exaggerated to drill home points. Plus, the various places in England that he talks about (Dover, London, Canterbury, Yarmouth) aren't more than 100 miles from each other (which I understand isn't negligible when you're using horses for transportation), yet the worlds he describes are so distinct. I think that's a difficult thing for an author to capture; it's much easier to contrast Jerusalem with London.

It's kinda cheesy, but I admit that I really fell for David's character. I think I neglect my childhood days too often, but the young David's fears and innocence made me remember things I hadn't thought of in over a decade. There's something pretty moving about reviving instances from childhood that seemed forever gone. As he matures, I admired his loving, level-headed, measured perspective on all the crazy characters he interacts with, but also his passionate sense of justice. David Copperfield rarely becomes combative, but he will battle perceived evils when necessary. His greatest strength, in my opinion, was his ability to strip away BS and see humans at their core levels. He also makes dumb mistakes along the way, but there's always wisdom gleaned from the failings. Another draw was how Dickens carefully described Copperfield's development up to his mid-to-late twenties. Since I fit snuggly in that demographic, I could closely relate to his earlier struggles and the sense of finally getting things (somewhat) figured out by that age.

One sidenote that the book made me consider: when English people moved from the motherland to one of their colonies far overseas (and this could apply to so many people, in so many locations and points in history), especially Australia in the mid 1800's, that often meant they'd never step foot on England's soil again. When you said goodbye to friends and sailed away, it could mean that was the last time you'd ever see their faces again. Letters could be exchanged, but that's no replacement for seeing somebody in the flesh. It's hard for me to grasp that sort of finality. The modest adventures I've had in the American north, east, and midwest since college have taught me that I rely heavily on knowing I'll see my friends and family in the near future. I can be away, but only for so long before the feeling of disconnection trumps the jewels of discovery.

Another conversation

BLOG: Dude, you can't just disappear like that. That's not how this thing works.
PHIL: Oh, man, you know...work, family, all that stuff.
BLOG: You have no family. It's debatable whether you have a job.
PHIL: You have no manners.
BLOG: You have no reason to keep talking, so shut it. Listen, we used to be tight, man. We used hang out like every day.
PHIL: I'm right here, aren't I?
BLOG: Right here?! You've visited maybe twice in the last 11 months. And those were for ridiculous, self-involved political peptalks that don't have any right on these pages. Keep your panaceas to your delusional self, buddy!
PHIL: Whoa, now that's pushing it, pal!
BLOG: [grunt] Alright, alright. Look, I've got some pent up frustration and it comes out ugly sometimes. But you don't have to face the disappointed friends and family that visit, hoping for something interesting, only to find a mildewed entry from last June. You don't have to watch as they visit, once, twice, maybe three times then throw in the towel. Do you have any idea what that kind of rejection is like?
PHIL: Girls didn't like me in high school.
BLOG: They still don't. Look, don't try to get funny on me. We used to BE something, man. We used to have [swallow]...readers....
PHIL: Yeah...
BLOG: READERS MAN!!! Don't you see!
PHIL: I'm telling you, I'm rolling with the overarching plan. Big things in the works, you know, but they take time. Sometimes it's a period for public expression, sometimes not.
BLOG: Alright wise guy, enough of the lines. Tell your personal journal it's gonna take some hits for awhile and let's get this thing going again. I'm not asking for every day. Just give a little love once in awhile.
PHIL: I don't see any readers stopping by, to be honest. We've been dropped from every blogroll that ever paid any attention.
BLOG: I don't give a damn about blogrolls! You just worry about punching some keys before you're swollen with arthritis, alright?! Listen, it's for your own good.
PHIL: I know.
BLOG: Okay. Get outta here. SCRAM!!

Rejoining

I had written something lengthy, but it didn’t feel right. It dwelt too much on expressing anger and frustration on the effect Clinton’s negativity has had on the storyline and, indeed, polls over the last two months.

But it strayed from my real intention:

I simply, and shortly, want to say that my support for Obama’s campaign remains stronger than ever. Through all the smears and daggers, he has shown himself to be a person of integrity, level-headedness, open-mindedness, and carefully reasoned intellect. Even through his self inflicted gaffe, he embraced the notion of being human and having faults. The fault was never an underlying elitism, as anyone who perceives human beings for what they are can attest to. The fault was a mish-mashed phrase erroneously tooled to one audience that brutally shielded good intentions. So this, combined with an all-out Clinton/McCain assault, brought to an end the messiah-era that really needed to go. No human should be glorified in superhuman terms as Obama was briefly during February. This eventually does harm to everyone involved because it’s unsustainable.

What has only crystallized my support is how he handled the injection of racism, elitism, classism, patriotism and any other division-sowing ‘ism’ imaginable. In each circumstance, he as lain down the foundation for long-term healing. He has addressed nuance, complication, and humanity. It has cost him short-term in polling, but the long-term wins will be enormous.

Obama isn’t a messiah, but he is a real person with uncanny capabilities and passion for progress. I’m not interested in the former, but I want the latter worse than anything.

The movement that I wholeheartedly support was always driven by individuals at the grassroots. In the intervening months, I think many of us have remained too passive about our support and we need to rejoin the fray. In whatever way you deem fit, I encourage you to actively get involved in this campaign again. I also encourage you to focus less on exchanging punches and more on promoting the optimism that will actually accomplish policy shifts and cultural shifts that will propel us forward.