Quasi
an outlet for young writers
June 30, 2002
Volume 1, Issue 10
Required: Reading
You must check out an article in Atlantic Monthly by a guy named William Langewiesche, called "American Ground: Unbuilding the World Trade Center." Langewiesche was granted full and total access to the World Trade Center disaster site following the terrorist attacks. He was the only journalist to have such access, and he has written a three part series; the first part is in the July/August issue of AM. It is full of fascinating detail and wonderfully written. Of course it would be hard to mess up a story with that kind of access.
On another note, this issue's "Mouthin' Off' has its roots in three very important and relevant books. The first two are 1984, by George Orwell, and Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley. More even than Mr. Langewiesche's article, you must read these books.
Orwell wrote his book in the late 40's, Huxley even earlier in the early 30's. Both of them wrote books showing what they thought the future would look like.
Which leads to the third important book, Amusing Ourselves to Death, by Neil Postman. In his foreword, Postman shows how the premise for his book centers on the fact that Huxley's older vision of the future, and not Orwell's, has turned out to be disturbingly accurate.
"Orwell warns that we will be overcome by an externally imposed oppression," writes Postman. "But in Huxley's vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think."
"What Orwell feared were those who would ban books," Postmans says, echoing the fear of Ray Bradbury's bookFahrenheit 451. "What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one."
Are you tracking with Postman? Listen to this, there's more.
"Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism."
Did anyone think of the internet when they read the words, "so much"? Once more, listen to Postman.
"Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us," he writes. "Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance...In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us."
A sea of irrelevance. That is what is wrong with shows like "Worst Case Scenario": shows like that contribute tidal waves to that vast body of water called irrelevance. And our culture is most definitely drowning in it.
This issue features pieces by two authors new to Quasi. Ginny Lawhorn has written an entertaining essay and Colleen Hedge a very creative poem.
We hope you enjoy, and as always, send us your stuff!
...
Am I That Guy? – An Essay
By Ginny Lawhorn
People-watching is an interesting past time, a past time I seem to enjoy a great deal. It's an intriguing
way to survey the actions and interactions of others, observing the great number of "That Guy" variations
life has to offer.
You know, "That Guy", the guy who wears the band's shirt to the concert, the guy talking too loud on his cell phone in public either for attention or in complete oblivion to the people around him or the guy sitting next to you at the traffic
light revving his engine while his stereo is three decibels louder than necessary. We all know a "That Guy" and we've all been a "That Guy" at some point.
As I caught myself watching a "That Guy" one day, I began to wonder who I am when I'm being watched by others and
who my friends are when we're watching everyone else. It's very difficult for some people to step outside of themselves and observe themselves honestly or accurately. Moments of clarity about ourselves can be quite rare.
I was slightly startled by me observation of myself: I'm that Artsy-Fartsy girl who knows where to hang out, where to eat, what movie to see, where to be seen. I'm also that emotional-baggage girl who never wants to talk about it no matter how much she should.
I'm that overly opinionated, politically charged girl who constantly yells on her soap box, who wants to help everyone and save the world but thinks everyone should help themselves. I'm a sister who loves her sisters more than anything in the world but doesn't ever know what to do about it.
I'm that alone in a coffee shop, art museum, movie girl who is always asked if she's waiting for someone and never is. Who is always happily independent and content being alone, who nevertheless desperately wants a boyfriend, a best
friend, but is terrified to put herself out there to love or be loved.
I'm that friend who moves four times a year, who has no idea what she's doing but desperately tries to pretend. I'm "That Girl" with so such amazing potential, who never fully applies herself only out of fear of failure or great success.
At the same time I long to be "That Girl" who everyone knows and every guy wants to date, who falls out of bed and looks brilliant, who has read and can quote every book worth reading or quoting. I want to be the girl who's been to that city and met that artist, who volunteers and makes a difference selflessly rather than for the personal validation. She has that cool
job, awesome hair, with the cute vintage clothes that never really match but look great and doesn't care what anyone thinks.
I want to be "That Girl" who I see and wonder what it's like to be her. I think I want to be her and then I think about how
much I enjoy being me, how much respect I have for myself, what it has taken for me to become the person I am and how curious I am to see the person I will become.
It's is my hope that you enjoy being "That Guy" and that we try to appreciate every other "That Guy" in the world for the contrast that they may offer to ourselves.
Ginny's email is ofgreatexpectations@yahoo.com
...
Slam This! Poet’s Forum
Delightful Things
by Colleen Hedge
No promises, not even little ones.
Life is difficult no matter who you are,
Little things.
Delightful things
They seem so far away.
But really, they were yesterday and
They will be tomorrow.
Today is overpowering because it can loom
As huge as a giant.
As HUGE as a GIANT.
Tomorrow it will be yesterday’s news.
Old
Faded
By the brightness of a new day.
Colleen's email is chedge@direct.ca.
...
Mouthin’ Off
Jon Ward
Upping the Inane
BECAUSE YOU JUST NEVER KNOW. That is the slogan of the latest "reality TV"
show, "Worst Case Scenario," which TBS will air on July 10.
But ya know, you DO know, and I do too, that this is getting a bit
ridiculous. I can just see the next step. It will be a show called, "Who's
Gonna Get It?"
"Who's Gonna Get It?" will feature three sordid criminals each program, and
will briefly detail, and maybe even dramatize, their most horrible criminal
acts.
Then, in the show's second half, the network will ask viewers to "LOG ON AND
VOTE!" for which scumbag they think deserves to get the chair or the needle
the most.
The execution will be the perfect hook to keep viewers watching until the
end. Advertising for the break just before the executions will sell through
the roof!
Networks spots promoting the show will shout such things as, "Had a bad day?
You won't think so after you watch 'Who's Gonna Get It?' And you just watch,
someone is really going to get it!!!"
"No," you say, "that's ridiculous."
Yes, it is. I agree. It is ridiculous, just like "Worst Case Scenario."
Let's take a look at some of the episodes.
This is from the show's official website. Episode 5 is called "Andy Judy's
Ride." Here's what will happen in that scintillating time: "Andy Judy is an
experienced skydiver who got caught underneath a plane as he was diving out.
We'll watch as he survives the landing, with him dragging behind the plane!"
For all the times you get snagged on that darned jet propulsion system! I've
been waiting for someone to show me how to wriggle out of that one.
Here's another one.
In episode three, says the show's website, "Our Volunteer is going to learn
to overcome her weak nerves and a fear of heights by jumping into a creek
from over five stories up!"
Ah yes, for the time I'm stuck on top of an office building in the middle of nowhere. Perhaps it will be the Montana branch of Environmental Studies and Conservation Efforts, where I will travel to inquire after their progress and find that they are really part of al Quaeda and are using their remote outpost to clone Mohamed Atta. They will let me past the front desk and then corner me near the elevator, where I will evade the fat security guard's grasp and race up the stairs to the roof, only to be confronted with a five-story drop into a flatbed creek.
And I thought I had no reason to watch this show! I'll be taking notes now!
I couldn't agree more with the host of the show, Mike Rowe, who declared to Entertainment Weekly, '''Friends' will make you cry; 'ER' will make you laugh; but 'Worst-Case
Scenario' will save your life.''
And I thought I should be spending time in prayer!
Other episodes will cover such relevant topics as how to escape from quicksand and fend off a shark.
"Jon," you say, "you may not think these things are all that relevant, but what about the guy in quicksand or scuba diving off the coast of Australia?"
Um, they're not watching TV. They're dead.
...
an outlet for young writers
June 30, 2002
Volume 1, Issue 10
Required: Reading
You must check out an article in Atlantic Monthly by a guy named William Langewiesche, called "American Ground: Unbuilding the World Trade Center." Langewiesche was granted full and total access to the World Trade Center disaster site following the terrorist attacks. He was the only journalist to have such access, and he has written a three part series; the first part is in the July/August issue of AM. It is full of fascinating detail and wonderfully written. Of course it would be hard to mess up a story with that kind of access.
On another note, this issue's "Mouthin' Off' has its roots in three very important and relevant books. The first two are 1984, by George Orwell, and Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley. More even than Mr. Langewiesche's article, you must read these books.
Orwell wrote his book in the late 40's, Huxley even earlier in the early 30's. Both of them wrote books showing what they thought the future would look like.
Which leads to the third important book, Amusing Ourselves to Death, by Neil Postman. In his foreword, Postman shows how the premise for his book centers on the fact that Huxley's older vision of the future, and not Orwell's, has turned out to be disturbingly accurate.
"Orwell warns that we will be overcome by an externally imposed oppression," writes Postman. "But in Huxley's vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think."
"What Orwell feared were those who would ban books," Postmans says, echoing the fear of Ray Bradbury's bookFahrenheit 451. "What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one."
Are you tracking with Postman? Listen to this, there's more.
"Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism."
Did anyone think of the internet when they read the words, "so much"? Once more, listen to Postman.
"Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us," he writes. "Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance...In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us."
A sea of irrelevance. That is what is wrong with shows like "Worst Case Scenario": shows like that contribute tidal waves to that vast body of water called irrelevance. And our culture is most definitely drowning in it.
This issue features pieces by two authors new to Quasi. Ginny Lawhorn has written an entertaining essay and Colleen Hedge a very creative poem.
We hope you enjoy, and as always, send us your stuff!
...
Am I That Guy? – An Essay
By Ginny Lawhorn
People-watching is an interesting past time, a past time I seem to enjoy a great deal. It's an intriguing
way to survey the actions and interactions of others, observing the great number of "That Guy" variations
life has to offer.
You know, "That Guy", the guy who wears the band's shirt to the concert, the guy talking too loud on his cell phone in public either for attention or in complete oblivion to the people around him or the guy sitting next to you at the traffic
light revving his engine while his stereo is three decibels louder than necessary. We all know a "That Guy" and we've all been a "That Guy" at some point.
As I caught myself watching a "That Guy" one day, I began to wonder who I am when I'm being watched by others and
who my friends are when we're watching everyone else. It's very difficult for some people to step outside of themselves and observe themselves honestly or accurately. Moments of clarity about ourselves can be quite rare.
I was slightly startled by me observation of myself: I'm that Artsy-Fartsy girl who knows where to hang out, where to eat, what movie to see, where to be seen. I'm also that emotional-baggage girl who never wants to talk about it no matter how much she should.
I'm that overly opinionated, politically charged girl who constantly yells on her soap box, who wants to help everyone and save the world but thinks everyone should help themselves. I'm a sister who loves her sisters more than anything in the world but doesn't ever know what to do about it.
I'm that alone in a coffee shop, art museum, movie girl who is always asked if she's waiting for someone and never is. Who is always happily independent and content being alone, who nevertheless desperately wants a boyfriend, a best
friend, but is terrified to put herself out there to love or be loved.
I'm that friend who moves four times a year, who has no idea what she's doing but desperately tries to pretend. I'm "That Girl" with so such amazing potential, who never fully applies herself only out of fear of failure or great success.
At the same time I long to be "That Girl" who everyone knows and every guy wants to date, who falls out of bed and looks brilliant, who has read and can quote every book worth reading or quoting. I want to be the girl who's been to that city and met that artist, who volunteers and makes a difference selflessly rather than for the personal validation. She has that cool
job, awesome hair, with the cute vintage clothes that never really match but look great and doesn't care what anyone thinks.
I want to be "That Girl" who I see and wonder what it's like to be her. I think I want to be her and then I think about how
much I enjoy being me, how much respect I have for myself, what it has taken for me to become the person I am and how curious I am to see the person I will become.
It's is my hope that you enjoy being "That Guy" and that we try to appreciate every other "That Guy" in the world for the contrast that they may offer to ourselves.
Ginny's email is ofgreatexpectations@yahoo.com
...
Slam This! Poet’s Forum
Delightful Things
by Colleen Hedge
No promises, not even little ones.
Life is difficult no matter who you are,
Little things.
Delightful things
They seem so far away.
But really, they were yesterday and
They will be tomorrow.
Today is overpowering because it can loom
As huge as a giant.
As HUGE as a GIANT.
Tomorrow it will be yesterday’s news.
Old
Faded
By the brightness of a new day.
Colleen's email is chedge@direct.ca.
...
Mouthin’ Off
Jon Ward
Upping the Inane
BECAUSE YOU JUST NEVER KNOW. That is the slogan of the latest "reality TV"
show, "Worst Case Scenario," which TBS will air on July 10.
But ya know, you DO know, and I do too, that this is getting a bit
ridiculous. I can just see the next step. It will be a show called, "Who's
Gonna Get It?"
"Who's Gonna Get It?" will feature three sordid criminals each program, and
will briefly detail, and maybe even dramatize, their most horrible criminal
acts.
Then, in the show's second half, the network will ask viewers to "LOG ON AND
VOTE!" for which scumbag they think deserves to get the chair or the needle
the most.
The execution will be the perfect hook to keep viewers watching until the
end. Advertising for the break just before the executions will sell through
the roof!
Networks spots promoting the show will shout such things as, "Had a bad day?
You won't think so after you watch 'Who's Gonna Get It?' And you just watch,
someone is really going to get it!!!"
"No," you say, "that's ridiculous."
Yes, it is. I agree. It is ridiculous, just like "Worst Case Scenario."
Let's take a look at some of the episodes.
This is from the show's official website. Episode 5 is called "Andy Judy's
Ride." Here's what will happen in that scintillating time: "Andy Judy is an
experienced skydiver who got caught underneath a plane as he was diving out.
We'll watch as he survives the landing, with him dragging behind the plane!"
For all the times you get snagged on that darned jet propulsion system! I've
been waiting for someone to show me how to wriggle out of that one.
Here's another one.
In episode three, says the show's website, "Our Volunteer is going to learn
to overcome her weak nerves and a fear of heights by jumping into a creek
from over five stories up!"
Ah yes, for the time I'm stuck on top of an office building in the middle of nowhere. Perhaps it will be the Montana branch of Environmental Studies and Conservation Efforts, where I will travel to inquire after their progress and find that they are really part of al Quaeda and are using their remote outpost to clone Mohamed Atta. They will let me past the front desk and then corner me near the elevator, where I will evade the fat security guard's grasp and race up the stairs to the roof, only to be confronted with a five-story drop into a flatbed creek.
And I thought I had no reason to watch this show! I'll be taking notes now!
I couldn't agree more with the host of the show, Mike Rowe, who declared to Entertainment Weekly, '''Friends' will make you cry; 'ER' will make you laugh; but 'Worst-Case
Scenario' will save your life.''
And I thought I should be spending time in prayer!
Other episodes will cover such relevant topics as how to escape from quicksand and fend off a shark.
"Jon," you say, "you may not think these things are all that relevant, but what about the guy in quicksand or scuba diving off the coast of Australia?"
Um, they're not watching TV. They're dead.
...
posted by Jon at
10:13 PM
