cuz i havent posted

Begun - writing a childrens story, steve the bean farmer, reading All the Pretty Horses

Done - seeing avatar

Avatar actually opens an interesting discussion on the nature and value of reality for which I'd like to voice my opinion. It's impossible to actually define the concept of reality and the more technology advances the more blurry the line becomes. For me and my generation the boundary has barely existed at all, every hour there has been a new virtual life for any of us to assume at any given moment. Like phosphorescent bookworms, our entire concept of reality has been shaped through experiences and messages contained in worlds unrelated to our own present situation. Worlds created entirely out of imagination, and catered to our convenience.

As a child I was practically raised by video games, television, and movies as a third parent, I value the experiences of characters contained within these mediums on an almost equal level with that of the physical world. They have allowed me to live many different lives, many of you may even know me solely as an Avatar, I've had many names, MeltdownX, Altimax, Raj, Link, Ness, Etzio, etc. and each of them I directly connect with myself. By engaging in these imagined scenarios, stories of glory, triumph, hardship, love, betrayal, we are able to catharsize without any actual reprecussions. Well... when me and 39 of my closest online friends slayed the dragon Vaelstrasz (an idea of how complicated some of these worlds are) for the first time I was sweating profusely with about a 200bpm pulse, may or may not have release my bowels. Perhaps spending so much of my life virtually has put a damper on my sympathy and my ability to connect with the real world, but I don't really think so. Virtual worlds have simply provided me a point of relativity which I can learn of the potential consequences of my actions in the real world. They also can provide a sense of purpose external to the systematic and often nonsensical reality, and with enough passion you can translate what youve learned and felt in an alternate space to your psyche. Avatar really exemplifies all of these things. In the wise words of Colonel Quartrich it's all about "taking the initiative".

Clearly everyone is willing to accept alternate realities as something worth throwing money and time at. In that sense we all speak to their value. The understanding achievable with the assistance of modern media expression is something worth writing science fiction about ;)