“Alright Mr. Akio, if you would just step over here, and we’ll get a shot down Main. “
Haro Akio folded his arms and smiled as the photographer took one more picture.
“Congratulations Mr. Akio, you’re now on the cover of every major paper, Internet news page and television screen on earth. I’ll keep in touch, and once again, congratulations.”
The photographer walked off, but Haro Akio, still smiling, turned and stared down the river.
That night, the press turned out in droves. Haro Akio stepped up to the podium, smiled his smile to 53 video cameras, and began to speak into the 39 microphones he stood before.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I speak to you tonight from the metropolis of Akio Electronics and Entrepreneurs which is, in my opinion, the most beautiful city in the world. Over two decades ago I embarked on the most aggressive and imaginative business venture in the History of mankind. My associates and I bought an island in the south pacific, and 600 square miles of water around it. We gained official international recognition as a nation, and in 14 years, built an enormous thriving and completely self-sufficient metropolis nation. Tonight, as the CEO of this beautiful nation I wish to declare the AEE utterly and entirely self-sufficient in terms of both food and manufacturing. Our floating farms and factories are now able to provide for the entire country. The AEE needs only raw materials now, and we hope to begin manufacturing exports within the next three years.
I am also proud to now declare that our country officially employs 8, 300,208 people, and we currently own another 12,600,533 who will gain employee status as soon as they are old enough. Now many nations have openly criticized this aspect of AEE, but I assure you that you could walk up to any employee or property living in AEE and they would tell you that they are happy. As the most successful company on earth AEE provides excellent living space both in the city and on the floating apartment complexes that surround it, as well as unparalleled employee benefits. Our exchange rate is currently one Haro per every sixteen dollars. Now I ask you, would an unsuccessful company have such and exchange rate? And would AEE be that successful if its Employees and properties were unhappy? I think not.
I would like to address one small point before my closing news. I wish to remind those outsiders who have asked permission to open businesses in AEE that as a company owned city, AEE does not permit private entrepreneurship and therefore cannot allow you to open your own business. If however you wish to become and Employee or receive sponsorship from AEE, application forms are readily available online.
Lastly tonight, I wish to declare that the AEE military has reached an occupation number of one million. As Commander in Chief as well as CEO I wish to congratulate those brave employees who have joined up to protect their corporation. Unfortunately I must also announce that the continued acts of piracy and employee rights violations from our neighboring nation United Exxon will not be tolerated. Though we recognize this budding Natiobusiness’s need for supplies, we cannot allow this corporation to acquire these materials illegally. Furthermore, it is both my personal opinion as well as the opinion of AEE that United Exxon is in violation of both environmental laws and laws regarding the treatment of employees and properties. Therefore it is my sad duty to announce that at 0800 hours Pacific Time, AEE navy drop ships landed 300,000 military employees on UE soil. They will re-acquire the apartment ship as well as the tankers that were stolen several weeks ago along with the properties living on them. We will also reemploy those brave former employees who were on the ships at the time of the piracy and forced to quit at gunpoint. Along with this rescue mission, we wish to offer employee status to as many as 1,500 UE employees who wish to leave their oppressive employer. Finally we hope to hold a forced board meeting with the UE cabinet during which we can address the issues I mentioned earlier. I regret that this act of violence is the only way in which this matter can be settled, but I urge the international community not to get involved, as this is purely a business matter, and therefore should not concern other nations. Thank you, and good night.”
Throughout his entire speech, Haro Akio, CEO of Akio Electronics and Entrepreneurs, and the richest man on earth, never stopped smiling.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
WA-7 Draft two
“Alright Mr. Akio, if you would just step over here, and we’ll get a shot down Main. “
Haro Akio folded his arms and smiled as the photographer took one more picture.
“Congratulations Mr. Akio, you’re now on the cover of every major paper, Internet news page and television screen on earth. I’ll keep in touch, and once again, congratulations.”
The photographer walked off, but Haro Akio, still smiling, turned and stared down the river.
That night, the press turned out in droves. Haro Akio stepped up to the podium, smiled his smile to 53 video cameras, and began to speak into the 39 microphones he stood before.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I speak to you tonight from the metropolis of Akio Electronics and Entrepreneurs which is, in my opinion, the most beautiful city in the world. Over two decades ago I embarked on the most aggressive and imaginative business venture in the History of mankind. My associates and I bought an island in the south pacific, and 600 square miles of water around it. We gained official international recognition as a nation, and in 14 years, built an enormous thriving and completely self-sufficient metropolis nation. Tonight, as the CEO of this beautiful nation I wish to declare the AEE utterly and entirely self-sufficient in terms of both food and manufacturing. Our floating farms and factories are now able to provide for the entire country. The AEE needs only raw materials now, and we hope to begin manufacturing exports within the next three years.
I am also proud to now declare that our country officially employs 8, 300,208 people, and we currently own another 12,600,533 who will gain employee status as soon as they are old enough. Now many nations have openly criticized this aspect of AEE, but I assure you that you could walk up to any employee or property living in AEE and they would tell you that they are happy. As the most successful company on earth AEE provides excellent living space both in the city and on the floating apartment complexes that surround it, as well as unparalleled employee benefits. Our exchange rate is currently one Haro per every sixteen dollars. Now I ask you, would an unsuccessful company have such and exchange rate? And would AEE be that successful if its Employees and properties were unhappy? I think not.
I would like to address one small point before my closing news. I wish to remind those outsiders who have asked permission to open businesses in AEE that as a company owned city, AEE does not permit private entrepreneurship and therefore cannot allow you to open your own business. If however you wish to become and Employee or receive sponsorship from AEE, application forms are readily available online.
Lastly tonight, I wish to declare that the AEE military has reached an occupation number of one million. As Commander in Chief as well as CEO I wish to congratulate those brave employees who have joined up to protect their corporation. Unfortunately I must also announce that the continued acts of piracy and employee rights violations from our neighboring nation United Exxon will not be tolerated. Though we recognize this budding Natiobusiness’s need for supplies, we cannot allow this corporation to acquire these materials illegally. Furthermore, it is both my personal opinion as well as the opinion of AEE that United Exxon is in violation of both environmental laws and laws regarding the treatment of employees and properties. Therefore it is my sad duty to announce that at 0800 hours Pacific Time, AEE navy drop ships landed 300,000 military employees on UE soil. They will re-acquire the apartment ship as well as the tankers that were stolen several weeks ago along with the properties living on them. We will also reemploy those brave former employees who were on the ships at the time of the piracy and forced to quit at gunpoint. Along with this rescue mission, we wish to offer employee status to as many as 1,500 UE employees who wish to leave their oppressive employer. Finally we hope to hold a forced board meeting with the UE cabinet during which we can address the issues I mentioned earlier. I regret that this act of violence is the only way in which this matter can be settled, but I urge the international community not to get involved, as this is purely a business matter, and therefore should not concern other nations. Thank you, and good night.”
Throughout his entire speech, Haro Akio, CEO of Akio Electronics and Entrepreneurs, and the richest man on earth, never stopped smiling.
Haro Akio folded his arms and smiled as the photographer took one more picture.
“Congratulations Mr. Akio, you’re now on the cover of every major paper, Internet news page and television screen on earth. I’ll keep in touch, and once again, congratulations.”
The photographer walked off, but Haro Akio, still smiling, turned and stared down the river.
That night, the press turned out in droves. Haro Akio stepped up to the podium, smiled his smile to 53 video cameras, and began to speak into the 39 microphones he stood before.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I speak to you tonight from the metropolis of Akio Electronics and Entrepreneurs which is, in my opinion, the most beautiful city in the world. Over two decades ago I embarked on the most aggressive and imaginative business venture in the History of mankind. My associates and I bought an island in the south pacific, and 600 square miles of water around it. We gained official international recognition as a nation, and in 14 years, built an enormous thriving and completely self-sufficient metropolis nation. Tonight, as the CEO of this beautiful nation I wish to declare the AEE utterly and entirely self-sufficient in terms of both food and manufacturing. Our floating farms and factories are now able to provide for the entire country. The AEE needs only raw materials now, and we hope to begin manufacturing exports within the next three years.
I am also proud to now declare that our country officially employs 8, 300,208 people, and we currently own another 12,600,533 who will gain employee status as soon as they are old enough. Now many nations have openly criticized this aspect of AEE, but I assure you that you could walk up to any employee or property living in AEE and they would tell you that they are happy. As the most successful company on earth AEE provides excellent living space both in the city and on the floating apartment complexes that surround it, as well as unparalleled employee benefits. Our exchange rate is currently one Haro per every sixteen dollars. Now I ask you, would an unsuccessful company have such and exchange rate? And would AEE be that successful if its Employees and properties were unhappy? I think not.
I would like to address one small point before my closing news. I wish to remind those outsiders who have asked permission to open businesses in AEE that as a company owned city, AEE does not permit private entrepreneurship and therefore cannot allow you to open your own business. If however you wish to become and Employee or receive sponsorship from AEE, application forms are readily available online.
Lastly tonight, I wish to declare that the AEE military has reached an occupation number of one million. As Commander in Chief as well as CEO I wish to congratulate those brave employees who have joined up to protect their corporation. Unfortunately I must also announce that the continued acts of piracy and employee rights violations from our neighboring nation United Exxon will not be tolerated. Though we recognize this budding Natiobusiness’s need for supplies, we cannot allow this corporation to acquire these materials illegally. Furthermore, it is both my personal opinion as well as the opinion of AEE that United Exxon is in violation of both environmental laws and laws regarding the treatment of employees and properties. Therefore it is my sad duty to announce that at 0800 hours Pacific Time, AEE navy drop ships landed 300,000 military employees on UE soil. They will re-acquire the apartment ship as well as the tankers that were stolen several weeks ago along with the properties living on them. We will also reemploy those brave former employees who were on the ships at the time of the piracy and forced to quit at gunpoint. Along with this rescue mission, we wish to offer employee status to as many as 1,500 UE employees who wish to leave their oppressive employer. Finally we hope to hold a forced board meeting with the UE cabinet during which we can address the issues I mentioned earlier. I regret that this act of violence is the only way in which this matter can be settled, but I urge the international community not to get involved, as this is purely a business matter, and therefore should not concern other nations. Thank you, and good night.”
Throughout his entire speech, Haro Akio, CEO of Akio Electronics and Entrepreneurs, and the richest man on earth, never stopped smiling.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
WA-7 Draft one
“Alright Mr. Akio, if you would just step over here, and we’ll get a shot down Main. “
Haro Akio folded his arms and smiled as the photographer took one more picture.
“Congratulations Mr. Akio, you’re now on the cover of every major paper, Internet news page and television screen on earth. I’ll keep in touch, and once again, congratulations.”
The photographer walked off, but Haro Akio, still smiling, turned and stared down the river.
That night, the press turned out in droves. Haro Akio stepped up to the podium, smiled his smile to the 23 cameras stationed around him, and began to speak into the 39 microphones he stood before.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I speak to you tonight from the metropolis of Akio Electronics and Entrepreneurs which is, in my opinion, the most beautiful city in the world. Over two decades ago I embarked on the most aggressive and imaginative business ventures in the History of mankind. My associates and I bought an island in the south pacific, and 600 square miles of water around it. We gained official international recognition as a nation, and in 14 years, built an enormous thriving and completely self-sufficient metropolis nation. Tonight, as the CEO of this beautiful nation I wish to declare the AEE utterly and entirely self-sufficient in terms of food and manufacturing. Our floating farms and factories are now able to provide for the entire country. The AEE needs only raw materials now, and we hope to begin manufacturing exports within the next three years.
I am also proud to now declare that our country officially employs 8, 300,208 people, and we currently own another 12,600,533 who will gain employee status as soon as they are old enough. Now many nations have openly criticized this aspect of AEE, but I assure you that you could walk up to any employee or property and they would tell you that they are happy. As the most successful company on earth AEE provides excellent living space both in the city and on the floating apartment complexes that surround our fair city, as well as unparalleled employee benefits. Our exchange rate is currently one Haro per every sixteen dollars. Now I ask you, would an unsuccessful company have such and exchange rate? And would AEE be that successful if its Employees and properties were unhappy? I think not.
I would like to address one small point before my closing news. I wish to remind those outsiders who have asked permission to open business in AEE that as a company owned city, AEE does not permit private business and therefore cannot allow you to open your own business. If however you wish to become and Employee application forms are readily available online.
Lastly tonight, I wish to declare that the AEE military has reached an occupation number of one million. As Commander in Chief as well as CEO I wish to congratulate those brave employees who have joined up to protect their corporation. Unfortunately I must also announce that the continued acts of piracy and employee rights violations from our neighboring nation United Exxon will not be tolerated. Though we recognize this budding Natiobusiness’s need for supplies, we cannot allow this unlawful Business to acquire these materials illegally. Furthermore, it is both my personal opinion as well as the opinion of AEE that United Exxon is in violation of both environmental laws and laws regarding the treatment of employees and property. Therefore it is my sad duty to announce that at 0800 hours Pacific Time, AEE navy dropships landed 300,000 military employees on UE soil. They will re-aquire the apartment ship as well as the tankers that were stolen several weeks ago along with the properties living on them. We will also reemploy those brave former employees who were on the ships at the time of the piracy and forced to quit at gunpoint. We will also offer employee status to as many as 1,500 UE employees who wish to leave their oppresive employer. Finally we have a forced board meeting with the UE cabinet. I regret that this act of violence is the only way in which this matter can be settled, but I urge the international community not to get involved as this is purely a business matter, and therefore not the business of the state. Thank you, and good night.”
Throughout his entire speech, Haro Akio, CEO of Akio Electronics and Entrepreneurs, and the richest man on earth, never stopped smiling.
Haro Akio folded his arms and smiled as the photographer took one more picture.
“Congratulations Mr. Akio, you’re now on the cover of every major paper, Internet news page and television screen on earth. I’ll keep in touch, and once again, congratulations.”
The photographer walked off, but Haro Akio, still smiling, turned and stared down the river.
That night, the press turned out in droves. Haro Akio stepped up to the podium, smiled his smile to the 23 cameras stationed around him, and began to speak into the 39 microphones he stood before.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I speak to you tonight from the metropolis of Akio Electronics and Entrepreneurs which is, in my opinion, the most beautiful city in the world. Over two decades ago I embarked on the most aggressive and imaginative business ventures in the History of mankind. My associates and I bought an island in the south pacific, and 600 square miles of water around it. We gained official international recognition as a nation, and in 14 years, built an enormous thriving and completely self-sufficient metropolis nation. Tonight, as the CEO of this beautiful nation I wish to declare the AEE utterly and entirely self-sufficient in terms of food and manufacturing. Our floating farms and factories are now able to provide for the entire country. The AEE needs only raw materials now, and we hope to begin manufacturing exports within the next three years.
I am also proud to now declare that our country officially employs 8, 300,208 people, and we currently own another 12,600,533 who will gain employee status as soon as they are old enough. Now many nations have openly criticized this aspect of AEE, but I assure you that you could walk up to any employee or property and they would tell you that they are happy. As the most successful company on earth AEE provides excellent living space both in the city and on the floating apartment complexes that surround our fair city, as well as unparalleled employee benefits. Our exchange rate is currently one Haro per every sixteen dollars. Now I ask you, would an unsuccessful company have such and exchange rate? And would AEE be that successful if its Employees and properties were unhappy? I think not.
I would like to address one small point before my closing news. I wish to remind those outsiders who have asked permission to open business in AEE that as a company owned city, AEE does not permit private business and therefore cannot allow you to open your own business. If however you wish to become and Employee application forms are readily available online.
Lastly tonight, I wish to declare that the AEE military has reached an occupation number of one million. As Commander in Chief as well as CEO I wish to congratulate those brave employees who have joined up to protect their corporation. Unfortunately I must also announce that the continued acts of piracy and employee rights violations from our neighboring nation United Exxon will not be tolerated. Though we recognize this budding Natiobusiness’s need for supplies, we cannot allow this unlawful Business to acquire these materials illegally. Furthermore, it is both my personal opinion as well as the opinion of AEE that United Exxon is in violation of both environmental laws and laws regarding the treatment of employees and property. Therefore it is my sad duty to announce that at 0800 hours Pacific Time, AEE navy dropships landed 300,000 military employees on UE soil. They will re-aquire the apartment ship as well as the tankers that were stolen several weeks ago along with the properties living on them. We will also reemploy those brave former employees who were on the ships at the time of the piracy and forced to quit at gunpoint. We will also offer employee status to as many as 1,500 UE employees who wish to leave their oppresive employer. Finally we have a forced board meeting with the UE cabinet. I regret that this act of violence is the only way in which this matter can be settled, but I urge the international community not to get involved as this is purely a business matter, and therefore not the business of the state. Thank you, and good night.”
Throughout his entire speech, Haro Akio, CEO of Akio Electronics and Entrepreneurs, and the richest man on earth, never stopped smiling.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Target contest Draft #1
Dear Mr. Krakauer,
As a fifteen-year old guy living in the city, I spend little time alone with my own personal thoughts. However, I recently read Into the Wild and, subsequently, have found myself sitting sometimes for over an hour, and simply pondering this extraordinary tale. I was struck by the unrefined humanity of Chris McCandless and decided to do more reading into the case. I noticed that, as you mentioned in your book, a large amount of criticism towards McCandless was based around his disregard for common sense in the face of death. In my opinion, there is no beauty greater or more alluring than nature at its wildest. Therefore, I can identify with Chris’s desire to experience raw nature and test death. Before reading this book I had, from time to time, wanted to go and spend time in the woods alone. Into The Wild was both an influential and cautionary tale for me. I was deeply inspired to follow my own dreams of going out with little and living off the land. However, the story also made the dangers of such a trip a true reality for me.
I felt that Chris’s trip was almost a religious experience for him. In the story he often refers to it as an “odyssey” or his “great Alaskan adventure. Living in central Virginia, I am very close to the scenic Blue Ridge mountain range, as well as the Appalachian Trail. However, truly wild places are a rarity, and, hiking in the area is periodically interrupted by a road, or a development. This has driven me to desire a more excluded area where I can better enjoy nature. I empathize with McCandless’s yearning for a truly unexplored land.
Throughout your novel I noticed your comparisons between McCandless, other loners/wanderers, and yourself. I too feel that I have an understanding of what Chris truly desired. Though I have never spent time alone in the ice like you, or lost myself in the desert, I still feel that pull towards wild places that I believe we all share. As a believer in certain social freedoms and certain basic obligations of a government towards its people, I feel that I can understand many of Chris’s emotional problems relating to society. Such things as poverty and financially driven evils disgusted him as they disgust me. When I read of all the atrocities people commit these days, I have often wanted to find some place where I can be free of such burdens on my conscience. I found it interesting how some of the basic, almost subconscious thoughts that drove both you and McCandless are mirrored in myself. Both of you were driven by a desire to get away from normality and find yourselves, and this is one of my greatest desires. However, because of your first hand account of how such a trip can be both dangerous and disappointing, I have since decided not to depend on the thought that such a trip would completely fix my life.
Your novel gave me hours of contemplation and, again, I want to thank you for writing such an honest, raw account of what it is to journey through nature. I almost feel as if the book embodies some my own personal desires and dreams. It has inspired me to contemplate my past and my future, and to one day perhaps attempt an odyssey of my own.
Thank you,
Kai Irving
As a fifteen-year old guy living in the city, I spend little time alone with my own personal thoughts. However, I recently read Into the Wild and, subsequently, have found myself sitting sometimes for over an hour, and simply pondering this extraordinary tale. I was struck by the unrefined humanity of Chris McCandless and decided to do more reading into the case. I noticed that, as you mentioned in your book, a large amount of criticism towards McCandless was based around his disregard for common sense in the face of death. In my opinion, there is no beauty greater or more alluring than nature at its wildest. Therefore, I can identify with Chris’s desire to experience raw nature and test death. Before reading this book I had, from time to time, wanted to go and spend time in the woods alone. Into The Wild was both an influential and cautionary tale for me. I was deeply inspired to follow my own dreams of going out with little and living off the land. However, the story also made the dangers of such a trip a true reality for me.
I felt that Chris’s trip was almost a religious experience for him. In the story he often refers to it as an “odyssey” or his “great Alaskan adventure. Living in central Virginia, I am very close to the scenic Blue Ridge mountain range, as well as the Appalachian Trail. However, truly wild places are a rarity, and, hiking in the area is periodically interrupted by a road, or a development. This has driven me to desire a more excluded area where I can better enjoy nature. I empathize with McCandless’s yearning for a truly unexplored land.
Throughout your novel I noticed your comparisons between McCandless, other loners/wanderers, and yourself. I too feel that I have an understanding of what Chris truly desired. Though I have never spent time alone in the ice like you, or lost myself in the desert, I still feel that pull towards wild places that I believe we all share. As a believer in certain social freedoms and certain basic obligations of a government towards its people, I feel that I can understand many of Chris’s emotional problems relating to society. Such things as poverty and financially driven evils disgusted him as they disgust me. When I read of all the atrocities people commit these days, I have often wanted to find some place where I can be free of such burdens on my conscience. I found it interesting how some of the basic, almost subconscious thoughts that drove both you and McCandless are mirrored in myself. Both of you were driven by a desire to get away from normality and find yourselves, and this is one of my greatest desires. However, because of your first hand account of how such a trip can be both dangerous and disappointing, I have since decided not to depend on the thought that such a trip would completely fix my life.
Your novel gave me hours of contemplation and, again, I want to thank you for writing such an honest, raw account of what it is to journey through nature. I almost feel as if the book embodies some my own personal desires and dreams. It has inspired me to contemplate my past and my future, and to one day perhaps attempt an odyssey of my own.
Thank you,
Kai Irving
Monday, December 3, 2007
Wa#4 final draft
“Do you see me?”
Those were the first words he spoke to me. Yes I still believe that he spoke to me, he knew I would understand him, appreciate him, he trusted me
I set eyes on him while leafing through a portfolio of Art by Syd Barrett I had found in the bookstore. He was hiding in the most beautiful work I had ever seen: A sandy roman arena, with huge mouthed lions surrounding a woman and her two children who cower near her. The stands, awash with desert colors, are packed with hundreds of faces, smiling at the victims. Hundreds save one. Understand, please I have no love of violence, but this was such a token of emotion, I needed it.
“Do you see me?”
A single visage in that sea seized my attention. The only one completely devoid of features. Simply a gray slab staring back at me. It moved, I swear, the slate face turned and sightlessly looked at me directly.
“Do you see me Owen?”
“Yes” I murmured it, almost under my breath, only he could hear me, I’m sure of it, no one else could have heard me.
There was no question, even at that time, whether I should answer the faceless voice or not, I simply knew that I must.
“I’d like to have a little chat with you, if you’d be so kind. Please, buy this lovely little painting.”
I bought the book.
Surely, I thought as I drove home through a dreary rain, I had only imagined that voice; it was the art that had drawn me. In the apartment I waded through an ocean of brushes, half finished work, paints and junk food. I ripped down the dry dust crusted sheets I had once called art and tossed them into the trash. I could look at none of them, only the Arena was beautiful, only the Arena had a soul.
“Do you like this painting Owen?”
A deep calming voice wafted from the Arena. I swear, you could have smelled that voice. And, hesitantly I admit, I responded;
“Yes, yes I do like it, in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever appreciated any work of art as much as I like this one. But, who am I talking to?”
“Me? I am simply a guide and, I hope a model. I want to make you great Owen, I want to make you famous.”
I wasn’t making much off the meager sketches I’d done before, So I took him up on his offer, I know it sounds crazy, but it just felt right. I painted him for months, and I sold every single one of those paintings. A gray faceless man sitting on a chair, a family at the park, and a faceless father carrying a child. They were kind, peaceful paintings. Please, understand that, the other ones didn’t come until later.
One night I woke up, and found him whispering to me, he sounded weak and sad,
“You must paint what I show you, I will be gone soon”
I was scared, but I did as I was told. I had to. He sounded so desperate. I painted the murder, yes I painted that. He told me to paint his death, and his killer, he showed me and I did as I was told.
After that he was gone.
The next day I saw that horrible forgery being sold on the street, and under my name no less! That painting of him was the most revolting thing I have ever seen. I understood who, no, what had taken him from me. His murderer had sucked him from me with this painting, had crushed his soul and forced it into this horrible square of canvas. I was alone. I was an island in an endless sea. He was gone and I was alone. I went home, and I wept. The meaning of the last painting we had done took a while to set in, but when I understood, I knew I could save him from this hell he was in. I went and found his killer in a mockery of a studio. I did what I had to do. You say I murdered a man, but I simply destroyed a mad beast. And oh only if you could understand the relief we felt when it was done. We went back to my apartment, and painted together for days. A landscape and a lone faceless man, a woman dancing with a gray body, we did not eat we did not sleep, we only painted. we painted until the police came, and we painted as they dragged us away, it is the only thing that matters to us, can you not understand that? I know that you think me crazy, do you think i cannot hear you when you mutter your own answers to each other?
“Skitso”
“Split personality”
I am not a man to you; to you I do not exist.
Can you not understand?
Can you hear me?
Can you see me?
Those were the first words he spoke to me. Yes I still believe that he spoke to me, he knew I would understand him, appreciate him, he trusted me
I set eyes on him while leafing through a portfolio of Art by Syd Barrett I had found in the bookstore. He was hiding in the most beautiful work I had ever seen: A sandy roman arena, with huge mouthed lions surrounding a woman and her two children who cower near her. The stands, awash with desert colors, are packed with hundreds of faces, smiling at the victims. Hundreds save one. Understand, please I have no love of violence, but this was such a token of emotion, I needed it.
“Do you see me?”
A single visage in that sea seized my attention. The only one completely devoid of features. Simply a gray slab staring back at me. It moved, I swear, the slate face turned and sightlessly looked at me directly.
“Do you see me Owen?”
“Yes” I murmured it, almost under my breath, only he could hear me, I’m sure of it, no one else could have heard me.
There was no question, even at that time, whether I should answer the faceless voice or not, I simply knew that I must.
“I’d like to have a little chat with you, if you’d be so kind. Please, buy this lovely little painting.”
I bought the book.
Surely, I thought as I drove home through a dreary rain, I had only imagined that voice; it was the art that had drawn me. In the apartment I waded through an ocean of brushes, half finished work, paints and junk food. I ripped down the dry dust crusted sheets I had once called art and tossed them into the trash. I could look at none of them, only the Arena was beautiful, only the Arena had a soul.
“Do you like this painting Owen?”
A deep calming voice wafted from the Arena. I swear, you could have smelled that voice. And, hesitantly I admit, I responded;
“Yes, yes I do like it, in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever appreciated any work of art as much as I like this one. But, who am I talking to?”
“Me? I am simply a guide and, I hope a model. I want to make you great Owen, I want to make you famous.”
I wasn’t making much off the meager sketches I’d done before, So I took him up on his offer, I know it sounds crazy, but it just felt right. I painted him for months, and I sold every single one of those paintings. A gray faceless man sitting on a chair, a family at the park, and a faceless father carrying a child. They were kind, peaceful paintings. Please, understand that, the other ones didn’t come until later.
One night I woke up, and found him whispering to me, he sounded weak and sad,
“You must paint what I show you, I will be gone soon”
I was scared, but I did as I was told. I had to. He sounded so desperate. I painted the murder, yes I painted that. He told me to paint his death, and his killer, he showed me and I did as I was told.
After that he was gone.
The next day I saw that horrible forgery being sold on the street, and under my name no less! That painting of him was the most revolting thing I have ever seen. I understood who, no, what had taken him from me. His murderer had sucked him from me with this painting, had crushed his soul and forced it into this horrible square of canvas. I was alone. I was an island in an endless sea. He was gone and I was alone. I went home, and I wept. The meaning of the last painting we had done took a while to set in, but when I understood, I knew I could save him from this hell he was in. I went and found his killer in a mockery of a studio. I did what I had to do. You say I murdered a man, but I simply destroyed a mad beast. And oh only if you could understand the relief we felt when it was done. We went back to my apartment, and painted together for days. A landscape and a lone faceless man, a woman dancing with a gray body, we did not eat we did not sleep, we only painted. we painted until the police came, and we painted as they dragged us away, it is the only thing that matters to us, can you not understand that? I know that you think me crazy, do you think i cannot hear you when you mutter your own answers to each other?
“Skitso”
“Split personality”
I am not a man to you; to you I do not exist.
Can you not understand?
Can you hear me?
Can you see me?
Sunday, November 25, 2007
WA#4 draft 2
“Do you see me?”
Those were the first words he spoke to me. Yes I still believe that he spoke to me, he knew I would understand him, appreciate him, he trusted me
I set eyes on him while leafing through a portfolio of Art by Syd Barrett I had found in the bookstore. He was hiding in the most beautiful work I had ever seen: A sandy roman arena, with huge mouthed lions surrounding a woman and her two children who cower near her. The stands, awash with desert colors, are packed with hundreds of faces, smiling at the victims. Hundreds save one. Understand, please I have no love of violence, but this was such a token of emotion, I needed it.
“Do you see me?”
A single visage in that sea seized my attention. The only one completely devoid of features. Simply a gray slab staring back at me. It moved, I swear, the slate face turned and sightlessly looked at me directly.
“Do you see me Owen?”
“Yes” I murmured it, almost under my breath, only he could hear me, I’m sure of it, no one else could have heard me.
There was no question, even at that time, whether I should answer the faceless voice or not, I simply knew that I must.
“I’d like to have a little chat with you, if you’d be so kind. Please, buy this lovely little painting.”
I bought the book.
Surely, I thought as I drove home through a dreary rain, I had only imagined that voice; it was the art that had drawn me. In the apartment I waded through an ocean of brushes, half finished work, paints and junk food. I ripped down the dry dust crusted sheets I had once called art and tossed them into the trash. I could look at none of them, only the Arena was beautiful, only the Arena had a soul.
“Do you like this painting Owen?”
A deep calming voice wafted from the Arena. I swear, you could have smelled that voice. And, hesitantly I admit, I responded;
“Yes, yes I do like it, in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever appreciated any work of art as much as I like this one. But, who am I talking to?”
“Me? I am simply a guide and, I hope a model. I want to make you great Owen, I want to make you famous.”
I wasn’t making much off the meager sketches I’d done before, So I took him up on his offer, I know it sounds crazy, but it just felt right. I painted him for months, and I sold every single one of those paintings. A gray faceless man sitting on a chair, a family at the park, and a faceless father carrying a child. They were kind, peaceful paintings. Please, understand that, the other ones didn’t come until later.
One night I woke up, and found him whispering to me, he sounded weak and sad,
“You must paint what I show you, I will be gone soon”
I was scared, but I did as I was told. I had to. He sounded so desperate. I painted the murder, yes I painted that. He told me to paint his death, and his killer, he showed me and I did as I was told.
After that he was gone.
The next day I saw that horrible forgery being sold on the street, and under my name no less! That painting of him was the most revolting thing I have ever seen. I understood who, no, what had taken him from me. His murderer had sucked him from me with this painting, had crushed his soul and forced it into this horrible square of canvas. I was alone. I was an island in an endless sea. He was gone and I was alone. I went home, and I wept. The meaning of the last painting we had done took a while to set in, but when I understood, I knew I could save him from this hell he was in. I went and found his killer in a mockery of a studio. I did what I had to do. You say I murdered a man, but I simply destroyed a mad beast. And oh only if you could understand the relief we felt when it was done. We went back to my apartment, and painted together for days. A landscape and a lone faceless man, a woman dancing with a gray body, we did not eat we did not sleep, we only painted. we painted until the police came, and we painted as they dragged us away, it is the only thing that matters to us, can you not understand that? I know that you think me crazy, do you think i cannot hear you when you mutter your own answers to each other?
“Skitso”
“Split personality”
I am not a man to you; to you I do not exist.
Can you not understand?
Can you hear me?
Can you see me?
Those were the first words he spoke to me. Yes I still believe that he spoke to me, he knew I would understand him, appreciate him, he trusted me
I set eyes on him while leafing through a portfolio of Art by Syd Barrett I had found in the bookstore. He was hiding in the most beautiful work I had ever seen: A sandy roman arena, with huge mouthed lions surrounding a woman and her two children who cower near her. The stands, awash with desert colors, are packed with hundreds of faces, smiling at the victims. Hundreds save one. Understand, please I have no love of violence, but this was such a token of emotion, I needed it.
“Do you see me?”
A single visage in that sea seized my attention. The only one completely devoid of features. Simply a gray slab staring back at me. It moved, I swear, the slate face turned and sightlessly looked at me directly.
“Do you see me Owen?”
“Yes” I murmured it, almost under my breath, only he could hear me, I’m sure of it, no one else could have heard me.
There was no question, even at that time, whether I should answer the faceless voice or not, I simply knew that I must.
“I’d like to have a little chat with you, if you’d be so kind. Please, buy this lovely little painting.”
I bought the book.
Surely, I thought as I drove home through a dreary rain, I had only imagined that voice; it was the art that had drawn me. In the apartment I waded through an ocean of brushes, half finished work, paints and junk food. I ripped down the dry dust crusted sheets I had once called art and tossed them into the trash. I could look at none of them, only the Arena was beautiful, only the Arena had a soul.
“Do you like this painting Owen?”
A deep calming voice wafted from the Arena. I swear, you could have smelled that voice. And, hesitantly I admit, I responded;
“Yes, yes I do like it, in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever appreciated any work of art as much as I like this one. But, who am I talking to?”
“Me? I am simply a guide and, I hope a model. I want to make you great Owen, I want to make you famous.”
I wasn’t making much off the meager sketches I’d done before, So I took him up on his offer, I know it sounds crazy, but it just felt right. I painted him for months, and I sold every single one of those paintings. A gray faceless man sitting on a chair, a family at the park, and a faceless father carrying a child. They were kind, peaceful paintings. Please, understand that, the other ones didn’t come until later.
One night I woke up, and found him whispering to me, he sounded weak and sad,
“You must paint what I show you, I will be gone soon”
I was scared, but I did as I was told. I had to. He sounded so desperate. I painted the murder, yes I painted that. He told me to paint his death, and his killer, he showed me and I did as I was told.
After that he was gone.
The next day I saw that horrible forgery being sold on the street, and under my name no less! That painting of him was the most revolting thing I have ever seen. I understood who, no, what had taken him from me. His murderer had sucked him from me with this painting, had crushed his soul and forced it into this horrible square of canvas. I was alone. I was an island in an endless sea. He was gone and I was alone. I went home, and I wept. The meaning of the last painting we had done took a while to set in, but when I understood, I knew I could save him from this hell he was in. I went and found his killer in a mockery of a studio. I did what I had to do. You say I murdered a man, but I simply destroyed a mad beast. And oh only if you could understand the relief we felt when it was done. We went back to my apartment, and painted together for days. A landscape and a lone faceless man, a woman dancing with a gray body, we did not eat we did not sleep, we only painted. we painted until the police came, and we painted as they dragged us away, it is the only thing that matters to us, can you not understand that? I know that you think me crazy, do you think i cannot hear you when you mutter your own answers to each other?
“Skitso”
“Split personality”
I am not a man to you; to you I do not exist.
Can you not understand?
Can you hear me?
Can you see me?
Monday, November 19, 2007
WA#4
“Do you see me?”
Those were the first words he spoke to me. Yes I still believe that he spoke to me, he knew I would understand him, appreciate him, he trusted me
I set eyes on him while leafing through a portfolio of Art by Syd Barrett I had found in the bookstore. He was hiding in the most beautiful piece of art I had ever seen: A sandy roman arena, with huge mouthed lions surrounding a woman and her two children who cower near her. The stands, awash with desert colors, are packed with hundreds of faces, smiling at the victims. Hundreds save one. Understand, please I have no love of violence, but this was such a token of emotion, I needed it.
“Do you see me?”
A single visage in that sea seized my attention. The only one completely devoid of features. Simply a gray slab staring back at me. It moved, I swear, the slate face turned and sightlessly looked at me directly.
“Do you see me Owen?”
“Yes” I murmured it, almost under my breath, only he could hear me, I’m sure of it, no one else could have heard me.
There was no question, even at that time, whether I should answer the faceless voice or not, I simply knew that I must.
“I’d like to have a little chat with you, if you’d be so kind. Please, buy this lovely little painting.”
I bought the book.
Surely, I thought as I drove home through a dreary rain, I had only imagined that voice; it was the art that had drawn me. In the apartment I waded through an ocean of brushes, half finished work, paints and junk food. I ripped down the dry dust crusted sheets I had once called art and tossed them into the trash. I could look at none of them, only the Arena was beautiful, only the Arena had a soul.
“Do you like this painting Owen?”
A deep calming voice wafted from the Arena. I swear, you could have smelled that voice. And, hesitantly I admit, I responded;
“Yes, yes I do like it, in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever appreciated any work of art as much as I like this one. But, who am I talking to?”
“Me? I am simply a guide and, I hope a model. I want to make you great Owen, I want to make you famous.”
I wasn’t making much off the meager sketches I’d done before, So I took him up on his offer, I know it sounds crazy, but it just felt right. I painted him for months, and I sold every single one of those paintings. A gray faceless man sitting on a chair, a family at the park, and a faceless father carrying a child. They were kind, peaceful paintings. Please, understand that, the other ones didn’t come until later.
One night I woke up, and found him whispering to me, he sounded weak and sad,
“You must paint what I show you, I will be gone soon”
I was scared, but I did as I was told. I had to. He sounded so desperate. I painted the murder, yes I painted that. He told me to paint his death, and his killer, he showed me and I did as I was told.
After that he was gone.
The next day I saw that horrible forgery being sold on the street, and under my name no less! That painting of him was the most revolting thing I have ever seen. I understood who, no, what had taken him from me. His murderer had sucked him from me with this painting, had crushed his soul and forced it into this horrible square of canvas. I was alone. I was an island in an endless sea. He was gone and I was alone. I went home, and I wept. The meaning of the last painting we had done painting took a while to set in, but when I understood, I knew I could save him from this hell he was in. I went and found his killer in a mockery of a studio. I did what I had to do. You say I murdered a man, but I simply destroyed a mad beast. And oh only if you could understand the relief we felt when it was done. We went back to my apartment, and painted together for days. A landscape and a lone faceless man, a woman dancing with a gray body, we did not eat we did not sleep, we only painted. we painted until the police came, and we painted as they dragged us away, it is the only thing that matters to us, can you not understand that? I know that you think me crazy, do you think i cannot hear you when you mutter your own answers to each other?
“Skitso”
“Split personality”
I am not a man to you; to you I do not exist.
Can you not understand?
Can you hear me?
Can you see me?
(Hey, I know its a little choppy, but i want it to embody that insanity)
-kai
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