Neo's Ship (Full Sail Assignment)

Mr. Thomas Anderson used to be a programmer for a “respectable” software company until he was informed of the fact that everything he knew was a big, elaborate hoax. He realized that the world he lived in was an immense computer program controlled by several million lines of green-character coding called the Matrix. It was this new knowledge that started a chain of events that led to him being freed from his computer written prison and become the hero that saves the entire human race from extinction. His name was Thomas Anderson, that day he became who you probably know him as, Neo.

The path to greatness and heroism is paved with many treacherous and dangerous missions. At any point in time it may be called upon you to give your life to protect what you fight for. What isn’t typically explained in these stories is that, even heroes must accomplish the same mundane tasks that the most common of people perform on a daily basis. Today is a day like that for Neo.

It was a day like any other when Morpheus came in to the Nebuchadnezzar’s hull and asked where Neo was. After being informed that he was in his quarters doing yoga, Morpheus set about to give him his task for the day. He knocked at the door and Neo answered. He explained that the ship was in complete disarray, the Matrix feed room was disgusting, the cockpit was covered in filth, and that the mess hall actually wasn’t all that bad. His urgency fueled Neo to promptly finish his downward dog stance and get on the task of cleaning this ship.

He began with the Matrix feed room. He looked around the room and there was dirt, dust, and grime on everything. The chairs were covered with a thick film of grease and the matrix monitors had smudges all over the screens. He looked around the room in disbelief and said only one word in his monotonous whisper, “Whoa.” He got to it, scrubbing the seats and wiping down the screens. He put an enormous amount of elbow grease in to the tedious back and forth motions that come with ensuring that everything had the right amount of shine. He didn’t seem to be getting very far despite his many hours of tireless effort. He stepped back to examine his incomplete work. It looked as though nothing had been done. He threw his head back in disgusted frustration and with a loud, exasperated cry he drew his nine millimeter and fired it loudly in to the air until the clip was emptied. The noise got the attention of Trinity who was in the next room eating noodles. She ran in to see what all the noise was about. “What on earth is going on in here?” she exclaimed angrily. Neo composed himself and calmly responded, “I know kung fu.”  She shook her head in confusion at what was just said, but this was Neo, he made his own kind of sense. He stared at her with a steely gaze of determination until she finally became uncomfortable and left the room.

Neo realized that he had to tackle this task from a different angle. So, with the help of frantic techno music playing in the background, he jacked in to the Matrix in search of the oracle. In a seconds time he was clad in all black with his signature trench coat and sunglasses. He looked around to make sure no one was watching him and he pushed off from the ground and flew over the endless cities that stretched out in maze-like patterns throughout the Matrix. He flew in through the oracles window and landed in her living room. From the surprised look on her face, no young man had been coming through her window in a long time. She relaxed a little and said, “I know why you’re here.” Neo’s jaw tightened at the thought of his unclean ship. “There is a special sort of mindset that you must have,” the oracle continued, “If you wish to complete this task. You must believe in yourself. You already know you are The One but you must believe you can become more.” With the slightest of nods Neo acknowledged the oracle’s wise words. Armed with his new mindset and a couple of new quotes for movie critics to make fun of, he flew out of the oracles room and started towards his exit. He landed a block away from a ringing telephone. He picked up the phone and was instantly back in his decrepit Matrix feed room.

He stood in the center of the room and looked around, “Something’s different.” He said in his signature cool monotone. He saw the room in thousands of lines of green code and knew what he had to do. He lifted his hand to the room and in a loud declaration shouted, “My name is Neo!” Instantly, a white ball of healing code lines eradicated all of the dust, dirt, grime, and insects. “It is done.” He declared with a huge sense of accomplishment. Morpheus walked in to the room and his eyes grew wide with amazement. Neo smiled a cocky half smile and as he walked past he put his hand on Morpheus’s shoulder and said, “I didn’t come here to tell you how this is going to end, I’m here to tell you how it’s going to begin.” With that, he left Morpheus standing there, in his newly cleaned ship, trying to understand what he meant.

The Great Misdirect (What If...? Vol. 2)

"Close one eye, step to the side..."


Take it all in and let it wash over you. Feel the air rushing to aid your aching heart. It will be over soon. Don't you worry, it will be over soon. 


Shift your perspective ever so slightly. Things just look different from here. Maybe you can use your newfound freedom here. Maybe you've just been looking at things incorrectly.


Such a perverse and malicious discrepancy her words become. Just step to the side. Let her words soar past you. Don't listen! Don't take it in!


What if things went the way you wanted? Would you truly be at peace? Shift your perspective. This could be a blessing.


What if you were sent to the right place at the right time? Is that such a bizarre thought? What if you belong here?


What if this is supposed to happen?


Her words exist to obfuscate everything in their path. You were not an exception. No one is an exception. Except for, maybe just maybe, this child.


Oh! What an encouraging thought that could be!


Close one eye, step to the side. You will see where you went wrong. You will always be part of this great misdirect.


You can embrace this or let it kill you! You have to be strong! There is SO much at stake!


But for now breathe...just breathe. Sit back and let the air wash over you. Let its cool calm your emotionally weary nerves. Rest now. 


:::::Listen to Mirrors and Obfuscation by Between the Buried and Me:::::

Broad Brushstrokes

Step back. Look at what you've created. My God! I wish I could've done something so great! You've taken steps that few others would have. Your accomplishments are etched so thoroughly into my mind!
 
But you still have a ways to go...

You can't allow yourself to focus on these miniscule and inconsequential trials. Step back. Look deeper! There is something better for you. Look at the things set in motion and find encouragement in the fact that it is being orchestrated so that you will be fulfilled! I know things are not where you longed for them to be. But they will be, even if it's in a way you don't expect! These overly-detailed strokes will cause the fight you have to dwindle. Your passion will become nothing but monotonous, apathetic routine.

At the end of this road, you'll find what you've been longing for! Take your hands away from the sides of your eyes and see the world in a widescreen splendor! Paint your destiny with a smile on your face and determination in your heart! I'm here, cheering you on! Even though my sense of longing may never be quenched. But even that is inconsequential to what I believe you can do. Just take your clear direction and go. And maybe, just maybe, we'll end up brushing the same painting...


:::::Listen to To Whom It May Concern by Underoath:::::

Reckoner

Your time will come. You will be judged. You will be tried. I will be your Reckoner! Sometimes you look at the dawn with a sense of unease. Your time is coming swiftly and you will be seen as the traitor you are. The light will rise and expose you! What sense of accomplishment will you hope to achieve? You look unto others with malevolent eyes. Oh your evil glare is so piercing. A sense of fear is struck but it is not I who will lose this war! It is not I! The sun will set on your reign of terror and I will emerge as victor. I will stomp your head in to the ground and you will be unable to recover. Your time is running out………your time is running out.

What chance do you think you have? I own you! You will bend to my will and it is my will that you will be crushed. You may have kicked me down once but I will not stay. I will not give up. I will not yield to this brutality! You know. Your face is painted with panic! Your time is almost up. You can weep and thrash all you want but your impending doom is at hand. I will conquer you! My weapon is raised and I’m poised to strike and kill! Your time is running out………your time is running out.

I sit back. Such hatred is flowing. I must flex my proverbial muscles. This literary beating has taken so much out of me! Oh! What am I to do? Such tranquility is fleeting! What am I to do? I know what will become of me! I can weep and thrash all I want but the end is inevitable. But why? Why must I endure this aimless hatred? It is destined to be so. For you are my reckoner and my time is running out……….my time is running out.

The Power of Progression (Creativity That Inspires to Press On Mixtape)

Often times music is the creative force that inspires someone to step out of their comfort zone and do something bold. These precious songs got me out of the rut of a stagnant life and compelled me to take my life to the next level.

1. “Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of” – U2

2. “Come Alive” – Foo Fighters

3. ”The Curse of Perfect Days” – Emery

4. “Pretend” - Lights

5.  “To Whom it May Concern” – Underoath

“Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of” – U2

"You've got to get yourself together, you've got stuck in a moment and you can't get out of it"

I was laying in bed one evening, just staring at the ceiling with my iTunes library on shuffle. On most days, it seems as though iTunes knows me better than most people do. I was chewing on the thought that, so far, I hadn’t really done anything in life worth mentioning. Just as my thought was taking shape, this song started playing on shuffle. It perfectly embodies the exact thoughts that were running through my head. I was now inspired to do something about this moment I felt stuck in.

“Come Alive” – Foo Fighters

"You saved me the day you came alive!"

During this period of time in my life I was writing a lot but, on this specific day, I stared at a blank paper, feeling completely dejected, flat, and lifeless. The song wasn’t even playing but the lyrics came flooding on to paper. It was as if the song possessed my writing hand and wrote the words “come alive” over and over and over until the page was completely covered. Possibly, it was a desperate prayer to God, asking to breathe new life and ideas in to my cold, blocked mind.

“The Curse of Perfect Days” – Emery

"The curse of perfect days, is you get just what you make and you find yourself just praying that there's something more to this life."

The reason, I think, that I felt so aggravated with the way my life was is that it was stuck in the same cycle. I had a great time spending time with people that I loved but it was empty. Just endless bars, movie theaters, restaurants and at some point everything starts to become monotonous. This song helped me learn that there is more to life than just making memories. There are deeper, more important things to attribute to being alive.

“Pretend” – Lights

"And when it's the end, our lives will make sense. We'll love, we'll bend, let's play pretend"

 This quote from the band Underoath signifies the way I was feeling on this day, “In the end we tend to think of how it began.” This beautiful song by Lights turns up the nostalgia dial. It makes me sad thinking about the much simpler days of being a kid. How the simplest things made me unspeakably happy, and I allowed my life to be touched without any of the emotional walls adults put up. This song helped me close the chapter of being a kid and bury the memories away in a precious corner of my mind as I step forward in to adulthood.

“To Whom it May Concern” – Underoath

"At the end of the road, you'll find what you've been longing for"

This song is reassurance that all of the hard work that I put in to making my life worthwhile will be worth it in the end. My grandmother had just died and it got me thinking about the end and death. I asked myself the question if it would all be worth it in the end. This song played on the way to the funeral (I swear my shuffle knows EXACTLY what I’m feeling!) and I added a quote from the song to my speech, “At the end of the road, you’ll find what you’ve been longing for.” I felt much better knowing my grandmother was with God - what she always longed for.

Attachment to Different Worlds (A Parenthesis)

Where you all ended up I could never have gone. It was painfully obvious even back then, even in the stupidity of youth. I didn't belong there. I was a blip, a seamless transition, something that must be passed through to press on. My time there was long and torturous. Was it necessary? Even the closest of companions ended up going where I could never follow. I can't help but think these parting of ways are the way things are predetermined to be for me. Your story is perfect, mine is bumpy. I'm not jealous, I don't envy monotony but there are times where it would seem as though things would run much smoother if I just snapped in to your grid. It wasn't supposed to happen and who am I to suggest it was?

Here I am now. Performing different roles in different shows. As soon as one is done I put on the costume for the next. Like a vapor. Here one moment and gone the next. Such a lonely existence this turns out to be. In some strange way I'm comforted by it. I hope that my performances on the stages of many were acceptable, possibly even admirable. When these characters look back on their stories they will see where I fit in during my cameo. They will see the parenthesis in their script and, hopefully, they will say, "This added much more enrichment to my story."

These are the wishes that I have. Hopefully, one day, the producer will see fit to give me my own show. Until then, I am perfectly content with lending my performances and, occasionally, writing scripts for these plays.  I've known and worked with many fine performers in my life. Some heroes and some villains. I can't figure out which one I am yet.


"All the world's a stage..." 


:::::Listen to "Pretend" by Lights:::::

How to Catch a Troll

I know that all of you have gone out in to your backyard one day to relax, catch some sun, maybe read a book, when you’ve noticed that what was once a haven of rest has been turned in to a smoldering array of chaos. Who is to blame for this you may be wondering. The answer is so simple and obvious; Trolls.

The process for catching these big ugly beasts is not only dangerous but also extremely tricky and challenging.

The items that you need can be found in any magical convenience store (Diagon Alley has the most extensive shops.) You need to find some magically unbreakable rope, an enchanted cage that is at least 20 feet tall and 10 feet wide (Trolls are typically anywhere between 10 – 15 feet tall and are exceptionally fat.) The cage can be made out of any material as long as an unbreakable spell has been enchanted on it. Trolls are like bears in the sense that they love honey so you should make sure that you have at least 3 gallons of honey (Bee honey is best.) You should also have the number for the Magical Creature Relocation Agency (MCRA) handy, as you do not want to harm the creature.

The first thing that should be done is to tie the rope to the top of the cage (make sure you remove the bottom panel by unlatching it from the rest of the cage.) Make sure that the knot is firmly fastened; you may want to make sure that you double or triple tie it depending on how heavy the cage is. Throw the rope over a tree branch (to be sure, you may want to cast an unbreakable spell on the branch as well.) and pull the cage up high over a popular troll spot in your yard. Tie the rope to something stable on the ground and proceed to coat the area underneath the hoisted cage with honey (Warning! Complete this step quickly as it will not take the trolls long to discover that there is delicious honey nearby!) Untie the end of the rope that is closest to the ground and find a hiding place. Remember that trolls are dumb but have excellent senses of smell so you may want to spray yourself with a grass smell or something else ordinary so they don’t sense you are near.

The next thing to do is wait for the troll to come out for a snack. Occasionally you’ll come up against a family of trolls, which is rare because trolls are very solitary creatures. If you find yourself dealing with a troll family then adjust the enchanted cage to something like 20 feet tall and 50 or 60 feet wide. When the troll is directly underneath the cage, release your end of the rope so that the cage falls right on top of the unsuspecting creature. If you’d like, you can add lead weights to the bottom of the cage so that the troll doesn’t knock it over but the unbreakable spell should be enough. Make sure you contact MCRA as soon as possible so that the poor creature isn’t in a cage longer than it needs to be.

That, my friends is how you catch an irritating troll.