Friday, February 15, 2008

Quest

Most of you know, or at least have heard, that much of my accademic youth was squandered on rough-hewn scribbles and sketches, in box-frame format, upon poor-quality blue-ruled note book paper.

It started innocently enough, I believe, in Mr. Contreras's English class. Maybe it was Mr. Ihsen's history class. I'm not sure.

It started as a juvenile note, passed in class, a continuation of, and elaboration on, an earlier thought. It was Dave, I believe, who I forgot to mention by name in last night's video... It was Dave who passed the first incarnation. The first draft. The embrionic concept...

I imagine it has been the same in other places and other times. Perhaps John Belushi and Harold Ramis sat stoned, half conscious, in a room smelling of stale pizza and bong water, when John suggested that they could make a movie about a fraternity...

Perhaps Bill Murray and Chevy Chase lay about a fetid bachelor pad in Soho, up to their asses in coke and whores, when Bill got a half-cocked epiphany about making a golf flick...

Dave passed the first draft.

It was a poorly drawn pencil-sketched comic book cover. The moronic action-posed characters were recognizable. They were us.

Well, sort of.

In the beginning, there were four. Tom, Dave, me, and Mark. "Mark?" you ask. Yes, Mark. He has visited the Lounge, but not often...

"But what about Dr. Brian??" Shut up! I'm getting there...

We called it "The Quest." It was a serially-drafted collaborative graphic narative (comic book) and it was drawn, with varying degrees of talent, by Tom, Dave and I. This was late in our freshman year. I was doomed.

In the years that followed, many many many volumes were created. For no reason obvious to us, other folks found some interest in the work, and well-worn copies were handed about for subversive consumption. Guest contributors came and went. New friends were made. Eventually, pre-dental Dr. Brian joined the cast. However, the three core authors remained the same.

Collaboration. It was the key. We fed off each other. We riffed on themes and challenged each other's narative prowess with rediculously loose ends. Alone, it would have never happened. It would never have been anything like what it was. The whole became far greater than just the sum of its parts.

(Which isn't to say that Dave's comic, Dead Honkey, isn't spectacular. In fact, he's starting it up again HERE. For you new readers, yes, the "Brian" character is based loosely on me. "Dave" is a characture of Dave...)

And so, we come to Tom's comment from yesterday, and I have to stop and ponder the appeal. Collaborate with a team to perpetuate the Lounge? Fresh material daily to satiate the masses? Fewer nights spent scanning crapass news sourses looking for filler?? It appeals. Greatly.

Also, though, it brings about an unexpected wave of anxiety. The Lounge has been my baby, subject to my sole direction and design. To bring on a team means to give up control. But perhaps it is a sacrifice worth making to let it live on.

The question is, "who?"

I have ideas. I think I know who has the pazzaz; the Lounge ethic; the twist of lime, as it were...

But, I'm currious. Who would you want to read? Who would bring you to the Lounge? Maybe this is nothing more than an ill-fated boondoggle of hurt feelings, bruised egos and resentment...

Then again, those things are nothing new here in the Lounge.

10 comments:

  1. Collaboration has its bonuses, no doubt about it. But I don't know that it would have its intended effect applied here.

    My answer to your "who" question would be: you.

    Lest your ego begin to inflate, maybe I'm saying that because I'm just very averse to change.

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  2. Anonymous9:02 AM

    Nice. Lets have a committee bail you out and patch this up. Maybe afterward they can vote a new ending to the Godfather and re-edit Twin Peaks so that everyone gets it.

    The best option in any endeavor is to appeal to the broadest base possible. Seeing as how most of the population comprises mouth-breathing shit-eating retards, you are well on your way. All we need is for what little creative individuality you have to be diluted by consensus and, well, shit son. You will be on your way to being a Readers Digest Blog of USA Today.

    You can change the name from the G & T to "Vanilla Pudding."

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  3. I am abated. I hereby unfuck your ass.

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  4. I can't tell whether Inog is Appying for the team or not applying...

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  5. He's not really a team-player, per se. More of a team-ridiculer.

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  6. Anonymous12:54 PM

    What Dave said!

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  7. Something tells me that whatever "team" inog is suggesting for you involves tar, the loss of your pants, and activities that are outlawed everywhere except certain portions of American Samoa.

    I go with the - Keep the Lounge yours. Just take away the pressure to write every day. Write when you have something to say (though, like-minds may differ on what that actually is).
    Anyway - with The Syndicate and The Ranch, I felt like I had to say something all the time - and then realized, y'know, its not about readership, its about expression. If someone's there to see it as well, great. If not, oh well. Its out there.

    Then again - there's no reason why having another scotch, and updating the Lounge have to be mutually exclusive.

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  8. Anonymous9:57 PM

    The answer is so obvious - dance off!

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Be compelling.

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