Firstly, I should apologize for being terrible about updates. My life is, at best, organized chaos, but that really isn't an excuse. Trying to find a few extra moments to write a blog entry in between work, research, writing, sketches for the novel and the ever-elusive social life that has taken such a backseat to everything else... Well, needless to say it can be a bit stressful, but I'm determined, even if I'm not overly regular. The goal is to update this every other Wednesday (so it will probably show every other Tuesday night), and then eventually make time to update every Wednesday.
Okay, administrative notes aside, onto the actual entry! I thought I might give a bit of background behind the name that I chose for this. It has a new, but very special meaning to me. Several months ago I was thinking over some tweaks that I wanted to make to the Liberty Pole manuscript (if you don't know what I'm talking about, please visit here: http://takadasaiko.deviantart.com/gallery/12637317), and I stumbled across some lines that floated through my head that I thought would fit well. I grabbed for a piece of paper and pen to scribble the words down before they ran away. I attributed the words to Nathan Thompson, one of the leading roles in the book who has a passion for both quotes and historical figures. He and Dr. Joseph Diem are sitting in the back of a military vehicle, crossing land to their next battle site. I could see Nathan in my mind: exhausted, beaten down, and with his knees pulled up to his chest. He has been through hell multiple times over, and there is no end in sight. He is speaking to a good friend, a man that he trusts with a great secret that has been plaguing him. "It's funny... Standing in such great men's shadows, it's not that I'm afraid to die. I'm afraid I won't live up to their memories," he says.
Skip ahead and back into reality. A good friend and I took a trip up to Boston to see a mutual friend who was speaking at a convention. I had never been to Boston, and while I knew that we were going to play tourist to see all the historical sites (my friend and I both being HUGE American history nerds), I suppose I couldn't have readied myself for it. I am sure that so many of my posts will touch on this experience, because as Caera stated at the time, it was life changing, but the specific time that I want to focus on for this purpose was one of the three times that we made it out to Bunker Hill in Charlestown. As we lay out on that hill, staring up at the sky (frozen solid because we are, of course, two Texans up in Boston at Easter in nothing but our Sunday Best and a leather jacket) we took in everything around us: the cold, perfect grass that we could actually lie down one, the father and son playing soccer across the hill, the wind, and every bit of history that we could soak up just by our own proximity. As we lay there, we talked about the past, the present and the future, and how it all intertwines on various moments. She has, of course, read the Liberty Pole, and we had discussed the statement that Nathan makes to Joseph. It was that moment that I realized what weight it would hold. We were lying where men had laid down their lives for our country before it was even a country. They had laid down their lives for a thought, a theory, that all men could and should be free. My words were no longer just a few pretty words from the mind of an author, but reality. So many great men (and women) have come before us, and when we stand there (or in our case, lie there) it can be daunting. It should be daunting. It should shake us to the core in ways that we cannot possibly begin to understand, and it should make us want to be better people. It should make us want to give our everything to make this world a better place. Not for us, necessarily, but for our children, and for their children.
A few words can change the world. A few words like "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness...."
I hope to write a few words now and again to honor the Greats, no matter if they are from 1776 of 2006. I want to honor their memories, their legacies, and show my gracious readers that the past can and will affect us today. I hope you enjoy the ride as much as I will.
