August 1, 2013 - What's on my mind?
I have spent a majority of my life researching science and technology in-depth, always being fascinated by the genre of science fiction. To me, the genre has be ghetto-ized by literary snobs. I would attend my language arts and english classes and have to thumb through a 500-page book with very little reference to a work of SF. In my sophomore year of high school, I think I only encountered some works of Ray Bradbury and "The Cold Equations" by Tom Godwin.
I have enjoyed Ringworld, 1632, Childhood's End, Area 51 novels, The Forever War and many others. I don't see why certain excerpts and even some other science fiction short stories couldn't be placed inside a textbook.
My top five favorite SF movies have become: Forbidden Planet, Minority Report, Blade Runner, Gattaca, and Planet of the Apes. These five (and if I really had a choice, it'd probably be a Top 100 list, I swear) encapsulate the genre of what it can be.
Deep down I am an explorer, I like to envelope myself within the concept when I'm watching a movie or playing a videogame. World-building is a very intriguing thing for me, especially as a writer and as a reader. The art of the craft of creating something new that no one has ever seen before also drives me. As long as, I'm not copycatting someone else's story 100% of the time, I think I can live with myself.
I think there was a time when (probably the 80s) people believed in the one-man army, that one person could make a difference. I think that without science fiction, and by extension the other ghetto-ized genres of horror and fantasy, we create a society of people who aren't willing to look beyond the practical at the impractical and dream big. We live in a post-modern culture that is "locally optimistic, but globally pessimistic."
"You can call me a dreamer..." As a dreamer, I choose to dream beyond my locality and consider the whole world and that an individual can make a difference in the world. But I don't think I'm the only one, as cheesy as it sounds...
FURTHER READING
I have enjoyed Ringworld, 1632, Childhood's End, Area 51 novels, The Forever War and many others. I don't see why certain excerpts and even some other science fiction short stories couldn't be placed inside a textbook.
My top five favorite SF movies have become: Forbidden Planet, Minority Report, Blade Runner, Gattaca, and Planet of the Apes. These five (and if I really had a choice, it'd probably be a Top 100 list, I swear) encapsulate the genre of what it can be.
Deep down I am an explorer, I like to envelope myself within the concept when I'm watching a movie or playing a videogame. World-building is a very intriguing thing for me, especially as a writer and as a reader. The art of the craft of creating something new that no one has ever seen before also drives me. As long as, I'm not copycatting someone else's story 100% of the time, I think I can live with myself.
I think there was a time when (probably the 80s) people believed in the one-man army, that one person could make a difference. I think that without science fiction, and by extension the other ghetto-ized genres of horror and fantasy, we create a society of people who aren't willing to look beyond the practical at the impractical and dream big. We live in a post-modern culture that is "locally optimistic, but globally pessimistic."
"You can call me a dreamer..." As a dreamer, I choose to dream beyond my locality and consider the whole world and that an individual can make a difference in the world. But I don't think I'm the only one, as cheesy as it sounds...
FURTHER READING
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