More by me:
A Book Hunter's Journal
Confessions of a Parking Lot Nazi
Blaspheme Baxton
The Life of Ennui Prayer
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Read With Me:
Dead Sea by Brian KeeneMy rating: 4 of 5 stars Keene's novel records the tale of Lamar Reed, a gay, black man from Fells Point (can we say three strikes against the narrator in the real world?) who finds himself down on his luck before Hamelin's Revenge spreads across the nation, bringing the infected dead back to life - human and animal alike. After gunning down his friend and only surviving neighbor, Alan, Lamar is pushed out of his hiding place by a wild fire, spreading throughout the neighborhood and city. Upon his escape, he comes across two orphaned siblings, Tasha and Malik and a gun aficionado, Mitch. The four of them manage to escape the city, rescued by a motley crew aboard a naval ship turned museum. But the danger doesn't end there as Hamelin's Revenge begins to mutate and jump upon species previously assumed to be immune.
Haunted by his past, Lamar is regrettably the "hero" of the story and is told so more than once by a few characters. He doesn't feel like the hero they need, but the hero the book deserves (and that's not a harsh insult whatsoever). It makes him believable. After all he has done to fight the stereotype bestowed upon African-Americans from Fells Point, he feels that he has become exactly what he has fought against for so long. And to top it off, he feels his sexuality is just another thorn on his side. He carries excess baggage that he's unwilling to let go even as the world is literally eating one another.
His journey through it all, leaves him pondering the end. If the hero is supposed to be heroic, lead his flock into safety, bring knowledge forward at the dawn of a new age, then what happens to the hero when the world around him is filled with the groans and moans of the undead and the screams of those who cannot out run them? Who is left to tell the tale of the hero after all is said and done? And exactly why does it matter that he continues on?
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I decided i'm probably never going to college.
I dont care. i want it that way. The fucked up thing about people these days is that they have this mentality like: “you’re only going to succeed if you go to school”.
I beg to differ. I don’t have to support anyone but myself. My goal is to end up in san francisco some day. and i want to have several different “touristy” jobs. Meet people, be me. I can see myself being happy that way. In fact, i’m afraid that if i go to school, don’t know what i want to be, i’ll get stuck and i won’t be happy. i’ll be miserable. If i get married and have kids, maybe someday i’ll want that. but i’m selfish and i don’t want to commit to anyone because this is my life and i want to do whatever i feel like doing. it’s hard to support a family if you’re used to enjoying the lifestyle i plan to have. So it’s official. I’m going to be happy because i’m going to do what makes me happy. :) yayyy!
It’s gorgeous outside today. We’ve had like two weeks straight of just POURING down rain. And today is sunny. :) a bit windy for my taste, but who’s being picky? :)
I’m happy today. this is a big deal.
I agree with you on the whole having to go to school to succeed. We lived in a world where that was true. Something more than a high school education was required to move forward. But at the state of our current situation, finding a job even with a degree in something is fruitless.
However, I’m an education geek. Even if you don’t plan to using a degree in something, it’s still fun (yeah, I said fun) to go to college because you get to meet a lot of new and interesting people (crap, I sound like one of those speakers that went to my high school attempting to convince me to go to school - which I did, a year and a half after I graduated). You don’t need to course out what you want to take for a career - you have what you want to do set - so why not get a degree (or just take a couple of classes) in subjects like literature, creative writing, philiosophy, art, etc. You know, degrees that really can’t get your a career (hehe, I speak from experience here).
Simply a suggestion, but I do know that course like that are pretty nifty.
Everything you say makes a lot of sense. And i’ve considered art classes. I used to have plans to go to art school and become a graphic artist. but my art’s more of a hobby now. I don’t know if i could make it a job. So if i do go to school i’m sure that’s what i’d do.
I just don’t know. I don’t feel like going to school. I just want to do things and go see people and places. It could be fun? i think. :)
Oh most definately. I say do it. I was never one who jumped into something because society wants us to do it. What I suggested was only for consideration. However, I forgot to mention workshops could be fun to (cheaper & less time consuming, as well).
We’re not all made/ready for college (I know I wasn’t until after that year and a half) the moment our chums are going into it.
