Absurdist Media

Theatrical Blather: So It Begins

I've always considered myself more of an idea man—someone with realistic approaches to writing originally. For instance, around a year ago I wrote a series of want-ads. They weren’t grounded in any sort of romanticism or directed to anyone in particular. Instead, they featured one inanimate object or idea speaking to their idea of an ideal life—a nail speaking to its ideal board or an evicted house searching for the right inhabitants. I was going to send these to certain high end periodicals and have them put in their “looking for…” sections, thus making me a “published” author in each of these magazines. Devious, but brilliant, this idea never came to fruition.

Instead, I’ve lost those ads. I searched through my “Old Shitty Writing” box, and old files to no avail. The old stories I found were predicated not on characters, plot or the standards of good story telling. Rather, they showed the desperate pleas of an incapable talent. I’ve come to realize that an idea man’s last resorts come early. Desperation set in by the time I was twenty three. Quite possibly, I am not cut out for solicited writing. With ideas like these, who needs publication? The question poses an oversimplified answer of “no one, obviously,” and that can be perturbing—a “so it goes” stratagem with which I have been all too familiar.

The idea man is one that constantly grapples with horribly contrived plots such as the want-ads. The variable is to construct these into the normal writing structure—essays, stories, poems and the like. In the last year, I have continually believed that the worst idea would be to contribute reckless ideas with absurd explanations to a general public. The danger of pretentiousness becomes too apparent, followed by the perils of an uncultivated audience (or lack thereof, for that matter). Though reticent to commit to randomness, I am clearly not committing to complacency either.

Therefore, I present Absurdist Media. An idea that once branched out to include a number of friends that I thought believed in their talents, now it dwindles to two (with guest hosting possibilities). Presumably, the blogging culture does not bode well for aspirations of grandeur. A website is in the works—at least it should be. For now, this is a blogspot-centric operation. Future plans involve the blogspot site being the random outlet for conversation about the website or honing the craft, if you will.

In a sense, this is ultimately giving up. The idea man is fine with that, and in fact welcomes this version of his favorite national pastime. If giving up becomes an expressive form, I should be pretty good at it. Realism, in effect, becomes a haggard form of quitting as well, especially when considered in any way original. Essentially, all the idea man is ever left with is quitting and those damn ideas.

posted by Jeff Laughlin @ 11:54 PM