Writing

There is a philosopher/academic/commentary writer by the name of Slavoj Žižek who drives me absolutely crazy because he seems to write in stream of consciousness, though I have been told that this is not the case. However, I believe it is true. I believe this because he seems to make leaps within paragraphs, that don't have any apparent connection. And yet, in his writing (which is brilliant and ridiculous at the same time) he manages to build and build and build until he reaches an apex of thought, and then he simply moves on. This often leaves the reader hanging with a wtf? expression on their face, but it always leaves you wanting more, even if you find his manner objectionable (which it certainly is). If I could find the text, I would give you an example on how he articulates, but it is buried in the closet with many other binders and skeletons right now. The point, however, is not to examine Žižek, but that I will probably be emulating him often here on this page, or rather attempting to emulate him, because of the breaks I have had in my ability to write. So, in order to make effective use of this here blogger, I am going to just write. I may jump around a fair bit, I may be focused and articulate, I may be babbling and incoherent, though I will endeavor not to do the latter but at the very least, I will be writing.

I once read a Stephen King book entitled On Writing: a Memoir of the Craft, which was surprisingly good. The first half of the book was an autobiography, explaining his own trials and tribulations with writing, and the second was a blue-collar writing guide. In it, though I have no idea in which half of the book, he stated that the best way to write was to simply do it. To try and write a minimum of 1000 words a day. I have no idea if I will manage to do that here, as I have writing to do for school, and life is busier now than I can ever remember it being - though I am sure that is simply a misremembering on my part - but I will do what I can to make sure I write something every day, or nearly every day.

There is a trend in advertising these days, to make an add seem like its creators had just dropped five or six hits of acid. I am sure you know the ads I mean - take the Wendy's ads with the men wearing the gender-bending Wendy's pigtail wigs as an example. Ads that you are left wondering just who in the hell thought this campaign was a good idea. (They don't air on CBC however, so I don't see them often during the day - the demographic for CBC Newsworld means that ads are for the Sleep Comfort Bed, Tax Lawyers, the no-slip sit-down tubs hocked by Ed McMann, and various other "old people" ads) At night, however, these ads permeate the airspace in between the dramas that I so love to watch. These ads are insidious in my opinion, they seep into our sub-consciousness and stick there, taking up valuable brain space. This makes them obviously a good ad campaign in some ways, and yet, in others it makes them poor, because even though I remember the ad, I have no inclination in that memory to avail myself of the goods being marketed. This would make it a bad ad campaign. These ads make me a little crazy, because I know how much they cost to make, they make me a little crazy because they suck, they make me a little crazy because they attach themselves to my brain in ways that are not immediately evident, and they make me a little crazy because they are not effective in their marketing schemes, making them completely useless in their purpose. Now, I suppose, as the old adage goes, there is no such thing as bad publicity, and I suppose the marketing experts are seeing enough of a turn around on their investments to keep making these horrendous ads , but it is a pollution of the airwaves.

Another ad campaign that is making me crazy is the Swiffer "I am breaking up with my mop and broom" campaign. Even worse is the courtroom scene where the accused is the defendant's old cleaning utensils - where they end the commercial with a statement that says "justice is served." What justice? How is there any justice in this situation? They are talking about an old broom. How can there be any sort of justice for or towards an inanimate object? This leads to a questioning of the nature of justice itself, as an abstract. Is there actually any such thing as justice to begin with? Beyond a judicial order, ruling or law, what is justice? It is a category of thought that has many roots, but today's concept is based on an enlightenment value, a universal concept of there being some sort of equal footing for all, where no one is above the law.... except we all know this is not true. Take a look at Paris Hilton's jail times if you don't believe me. It is interesting that so lofty a concept has been reduced to being nothing more than a commercial to endorse a cleaning product. Perhaps this is actually a very valuable social commentary. Justice actually means nothing more than a Swiffer ad in today's collective mentality.

Perhaps, I too am just as insidious. I have provided links for information, in a way, supporting the very ads I am critiquing.