Our First Annual Back-to-School Blog Entry

Yes, that headline’s meant to be a little tongue-in-cheek. One of the things that bugs me to no end is when promoters tout something as the “first annual” event: There’s no such thing as a “first annual” anything. An event cannot be an annual event until there have been at least two of ’em, spaced at least roughly one year apart. So sure, I could end up writing a back-to-school weblog entry every year, but since Prometheus Unelashed hasn’t been around for a year (yet), it’s way too early to start calling for an “annual” anything.

Besides, today’s entry doesn’t really have anything to do with the traditional back-to-school experience. Well, except maybe that the family and I hosted a Labor Day weekend cookout. Lesson learned: There are some music selections that people will not appreciate at a family cookout — Jimmy Buffett’s “Why Don’t We Get Drunk,” just to pick an example. Sheesh!

First, a couple of housekeeping notes. I’ve added a little “Currently Reading” module to the left-hand side of the page. It’s basically maintained via All Consuming.net, a little site I stumbled across when I noticed they were sending a decent amount of traffic my way. Seems they scour the blogosphere looking for Amazon references in the source code, and post a link whenever they find one. And since they offer a script-based way to keep track of your “current reading” list, I thought that might be a nice addition. I’ve also added a link at the top of the page (for now, anyway) to the Blogarama weblog catalog, where you can enter your own review of my little soapbox here. Be nice.

Speaking of site statistics, I noticed a bunch of hits coming from a site called Wilson’s Blogmanac, a weblog associated with the Australian alternative e-zine Wilson’s Almanac. Seems they picked up my story on Robert Anton Wilson’s entry into the California governor’s race. So hey, my little rants are getting out there. And to all Wilson’s Almanac readers who are stopping by for the first time, welcome! Don’t know if this’ll be your cup of tea, but that’s what the reader commentary is for. Please, do tell me what you think: I have been known to change my mind from time to time. Or so I’ve heard.

Also a reminder: We’re only one month away from DC’s incarnation of Fray Day 7, where I’ll be speaking, at Common Grounds in Arlington. I’ve had a chance to test-run my initially planned father-in-law story, but right now I think I’ve got another one I might do instead. It doesn’t have the “humor value” of the first, but it scores a lot higher on the “personally meaningful” scale. I’m not gonna say anything more about it right now, but I’m fairly optimistic about its potential. Yet another tale I’d been toying with hasn’t quite made the cut, but I’m reworking it into a memoir-style short story I may submit to Inkblots — if for no other reason than to give me something other than critiques published there. Criticizing the work of others is all well and good, but I’d like to demonstrate some of my own potential for creative output.

And finally, a recommendation for everyone: You must see Bill Maher’s HBO stand-up special Victory Begins at Home. Sure, it’ll offend you — that’s what he does. But he also does a fantastic job of laying bare the snow job that Bush and his cronies — and, to be fair, pretty much every other organized political or socially influential entity — have been doing on the American public. I also found it amusing that he uses the motif of World War II-style propaganda posters in much the same way as does the previously showcased “remix” artist Micah Wright. If you don’t have HBO, and can’t find any other way to see the special, drop me a line, and I’ll happily let you borrow the tape.

One copy, you understand, for borrowing purposes only. I wouldn’t want to run afoul of the motion picture industry, you see...