Without Bitterness

E very good story has to begin somewhere, and more often than not it begins at the beginning (unless you are genius filmmaker Quentin Tarantino who begins his stories wherever he damn well pleases). Let this serve as your illumination into the subject of storytelling. A somewhat decent set of instructions on how to tell a good story, and the essential information that is required in order to do so. Now to provide a quick disclaimer: what is said may be perceived as elementary. Whether you are predominantly a reader, writer, spokesperson, or even an actor, the unspoken truth is this: stories are what life is made of. In essence, human memory is a story. This being said, every great story has some necessities. Where did everything take place? Who are the main people involved? What is the conflict or struggle that those people encounter and face head on? Who (if anyone or anything) is opposing to the main characters, because the main characters don't have to be in opposition w...

Photo credit - Rob Loud/@robloud M usic. An entity that came into existence long before the day Beethoven first touched a piano. Whenever a vinyl is placed on the track and the needle cuts a groove into the record, a memory is revisited that takes the listener back to a time when life was simpler. It evokes a sense of emotion that is unique for every member of the audience. A prime example of this is what Columbus concert goers got to experience recently at EXPRESS LIVE. With Kentucky based band White Reaper serving as an opener, Columbus was delighted to have The Killers perform at EXPRESS Live. About the Band   The Killers have been a household name in alternative rock music for almost two decades. Since the time the band was formed in 2001, they have released five consecutive chart-topping studio albums: Hot Fuss (2004), Sam's Town (2006), Day & Age (2008), Battle Born (2012) and Wonderful Wonderful (2017). They have also released a B-sides and...

Can you believe that there was a period in time where America thought it would be a smart decision to outlaw the distribution and production of alcohol? Were they all surprised when it actually made things worse, and that the eighteenth amendment was useless? That crime (which because of the amendment bootleggers were lawbreakers) skyrocketed because of their mistake. If history proves one thing correct, it is how ignorant we all are! Still, I write with a bit of hesitation due to the fact that the subject matter on my conscience for this piece, is a bit “dicey”. Still, I am indeed talking about alcohol. Specifically my fascination, history, and moral arguments concerning the beverages that fall into the hands of practically everyone in American society. It all started for me, almost five years ago at Holden Beach, North Carolina. I was spending a week with my friends and it was a night where the single guys would ask the single girls out on a “date”. Now even though I was dating ...

PROUD MEMBER OF THE DAWG POUND RIGHT HERE! If you cannot tell by the HUGE BOLD LETTERS on the end zone, and the orange and brown decorated throughout the stadium, this past weekend was when I officially decided to identify myself as a Browns fan. Going to your first ever NFL game does that to you. Most of you take me as a bandwagon fan for any team that wins all the time. No disrespect to the other NFL teams, but one of the biggest reasons that I have become a Browns fan is simply because it is Ohio's NFL team! The TRUE Ohio NFL team. Better than those little kittens from Cincinnati. With that aside, allow me to entertain you with the story of my very first experience at an NFL Game. It all started this past Saturday at midnight. I was on a mini-vacation with my friends in what I like to call “middle of nowhere winter cabin forest” Ohio. My brother and a couple of his friends had an extra ticket to The Browns Game, and I was the missing link. So, my best friend and I arrang...

To dream bigger is to wish for a life of grandeur and fantasy. Consider Gatsby: the rich, charming, mysterious, and influential character in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s timeless masterpiece. Jay Gatsby is iconic for not only his rise to fame but his tragedy and his downfall. He would always reach out towards the shiny green light of accomplishing his dream. In addition, he had everything and more. The roads being smothered in gold everywhere he walked. A legacy of his own, made by cheating the system of hard labor and climbing the imaginary social pyramid. Little did he understand the life that he had, and how he had become a king amongst men. Unfortunately, his dream and his own vision had consumed him to the point of blindness. His desire for one single woman was the foundation for everything he ever did. It was the cause of his downfall. His dream to put all of the pieces of life’s puzzle together is what led to his demise. Falling in love with a dream only lead to his death.  Or ...

This past week was an experience that I can only compare to heaven itself. For those of you who don’t know, I have been a part of a Bible Study in Xenos Christian Fellowship. I have been involved with one of their Home Churches for about five years now (which has been since I graduated high school). Nautilus is the name of it. Ever since that fateful day five years ago when I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, I have been learning how to develop real friendships and learning how to not only allow people into the inner chambers of my heart and trust, but plunge myself into the relational rabbit hole that other people have in their lives. So...you can say that I have been on plenty of adventures. I have loved a lot and I have suffered a lot. As the Apostle Paul says in his second letter to Timothy: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith.” (2 Tim 4:7). It’s what I am living for. It’s what I am fighting for. As a matter of fact, ...

For the first time in a long time, I am excited to go on a search for knowledge. When I look through the online library catalog, it is actually exciting to realize that the power to learn through accessing books is at my fingertips. The fact that I will walk to the Thompson Library, and look for books that will hopefully expand my knowledge and my understanding of life on Earth. Perhaps this is a bit too promising? However, I am confident that the meaning of writing and the ability to read the writing of others has the intended purpose to expand the imagination. As Robin Williams said in Dead Poets Society: "We read and write [poetry] because we are members of the human race." What I would append to that quote is that we read and we write because we were born to create and name new things. Whatever Man named each animal in the Garden of Eden, God accepted each name. Based on the name given to it by Adam, God, therefore, named the animal such. Likewise, we were given the ab...

In light of a recently acquired fandom for the critically acclaimed HBO series Game of Thrones, I thought it would be interesting to tackle a topic that came to mind as I am learning more and more about the show. Wherever you are on the spectrum; at one end are the "die hard" fans, and at the other end are the innocent bystanders that know absolutely nothing about the show, allow me to give you a little hint as to what I have gained thus far. The reason for the title of the television series is because the Iron Throne (pictured above) is what has most of the characters in the series perseverant, determined, and even obsessed. It is what everyone is fighting for. Rule over the land, and victory over their enemies. Whosoever wears a crown on their head and sits on the Iron Throne be who makes all the rules. Their words shall become law and their judgment to be what is best for the world. If you are the ruler of the seven kingdoms, you have the whole world hanging on every ...

I have something to say to everyone who has heard about me and who I am as a human being. You may not know me personally, but nobody alive has met the author of every book they have read. This doesn’t change the fact that all of mankind shares in a pure untainted significance that cannot exclude a single living soul. Belonging to a race that every human being is a participant in. Not multiple races, one race for all. The human race. I am a writer, and I align my life with the undeniable truth. That truth is that we live in a fallen and imperfect world where evil is free to run around like a savage beast, consuming all that cannot fend for itself. The evil in the world will devour you if you allow it to do so. Thankfully we have a loving and generous creator, who out of his love went to great lengths and extremes to provide a way out of that darkness. As someone who has already turned their life over to God and accepted what he offers to all people through the death of his s...

For my sister's birthday, I treated her and myself to the movies. Having been shown the trailer for King Arthur: Legend of the Sword , I was convinced that I would find this movie to be either a big surprise or a big disappointment. I am glad to say that it was the first of the two. It more than met my expectations, it surpassed them.  The main reason why my sister wanted to see the movie is that the main character is played by Charlie Hunnam. You may know him for his iconic role as Jax Teller in the Sons of Anarchy television series on FX. Personally, that show and Charlie's dedication to that role won my family to watch the entire series. However, my sister also has a bit of a crush on Charlie. Rightfully so. He's got that charm that makes most girls go crazy. Anyway, let's talk about this film. Hunnam plays the well-known character of (King) Arthur. You know, the guy the pulls the sword from the stone and ends up becoming the King of Camelot? The pro...

Words cannot describe the feelings that evolve inside my human anatomy when conceptualizing the very thought of the word. The four letter word that contains so much meaning in every aspect of my life. So much thought, and so much history. History of using the word loosely, in contrast to when it is used with seriousness and sincerity. To elaborate, there were times where I have used the word without knowing the full gravity of its meaning, almost out of my initial lack of experience and wisdom. For example, when I whispered it to the first girlfriend that I had. Back in high school, saying it to her with the intention of elevating our relationship to new heights. To reach unmarked territory that had never felt the presence of a human footprint. Comparable to when NASA landed on the moon at the end of the 1960's, and Neil Armstrong proclaimed it a "giant leap for mankind" . Mind you this was my freshman year of high school, which in a matter of years will be a decad...

The only thing that would improve the quality of freedom that I experience from writing, would be if I were able to live in outer space. Unbound, able to to watch the Earth rotate around the Sun. Undisturbed by the things that thwart my focus and concentration today. Just me with an unlimited supply of paper, or just my laptop. I'm not quite sure if I would get good wifi reception from outside the planet. However, I am confident that Microsoft Word would still work.  Just imagine, not a sound to distract you from your own thoughts and feelings. You are alone. Being able to swim through zero gravity and get an up-close gaze at a star. Or being able to have the closest view of the Moon. To touch down on the surface as Neil Armstrong did, and reenact the event that made history. To jump higher than you ever could, almost as if you could fly. To be able to do the things that you would imagine only superheros doing. Then you remember, you are alone. Solitude is only a blessing f...

The character of Nick Carraway from  The Great Gatsby is probably one of the most useless protagonists that anyone will ever come across in all Twentieth-Century literature. If F. Scott Fitzgerald really did  base the character from himself, I would be highly disappointed. I have never thought Fitzgerald would create a main character like Nick Carraway. Why make him so passive? Fitzgerald has so much reason to not make a useless protagonist. I mean, didn't he fight in WWI? On top of that, didn't he struggle with alcoholism and have a weird relationship with his wife Zelda? I don't know. The history lessons from high school are becoming increasingly fuzzier as I get older. I'm going to have to refresh my memory with some recreational research. Regardless of this, F. Scott Fitzgerald is regarded as a genius who made a difference by writing, so I guess he automatically qualifies as a bold person. To me at least. Perhaps Nick Carraway is NOT the Protagonist of the nove...