What is the goal of a writer?

Recently I started reading Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice. It is typical Mann in that every scene is an intricately woven web; a coalescence of words so delicately crafted that you timidly turn the page, as to not disturb the sleeping ink. One passage was so powerful that I couldn’t resist sharing it. In it, Mann eloquently describes what it is to be a successful writer. He says:

For a major product of the intellect to make an immediate broad and deep impact it must rest upon a secret affinity, indeed, a congruence between the personal destiny of its author and the collective destiny of his generation.

Now, sit down and write!

|:| Zach |:|

Stickin’ it to the man!

Last night proved to have one exceptionally amusing incident. When I was getting ready to leave, I remotely started my car to give it a chance to warm up. As I was sitting, I noticed an incredibly bright light coming in the window. When I got up to get a better look, I realized that there was a police officer sitting directly behind my car shining that bright beam into it.

My first thought was that he would write me a ticket for my expired plates. However, I remembered that expired license plates is considered a moving violation, and since the car wasn’t moving, it couldn’t be issued. The officer got out of his car and went up to mine. He started shining his flashlight into the driver’s side window, but to no avail. Because of the extreme tinting, he couldn’t see in at all. He then got the ingenious idea of looking in the front windshield instead. However, the tinting on the windshield nipped that idea right in the bud as well.

At that moment, I turned my car off and armed it. He turned his flashlight off, hung his head in defeat, and walked back to his vehicle. He simply drove off, leaving my car unscathed by his supposed authority. Karl Marx would be proud of the proletariat’s victory over the bourgeois, or in this case, a representative thereof.

|:| Zach |:|

IMAX

Tonight, I went and saw my first movie on an IMAX screen. It was quite the experience! Not only is the screen large and the picture quality really impressive, but the sound is also larger than life. I saw the movie, Night at the Museum, with Ben Stiller. It was a mediocre movie, but definitely a good choice to see on an IMAX screen. Seeing the dinosaur skeleton come to life and hearing it tear through walls was unbelievable; I felt it reverberate through my entire body.

Even at a rather steep price of $11 USD per person, I envision many IMAX viewing in my future. 🙂

|:| Zach |:|