Here are some examples of what I have done in the past. Sadly I have nothing comic related I'd be interested in posting. But I do tend to write text pieces in my livejournal on just about any subject that pops into my head. So I figure I'll toss some of the better ones in here for analysis and criticism.

And awaaaaaaaay we go!

This is from a few months ago. A few lines here and there irk me but overall I like the way it came together.




One guarantee of life is that we all desire something. It could be love. It could be fame. It could be fortune. It could be anything.

With that desire comes a multitude of methods to achieve that goal. For everything under the sun there are books and gurus and teachers and experts that will tell you the "right" way to get what you desire.

After seeing so many different "right" ways to go I have come to a conclusion. I'll paint a mental picture for you to illustrate it.

Imagine you are in the middle of a raging hurricane. The wind and rain are all around you. You hold in your hands a bow and arrow. You must use them to hit a target that is nearby. The distance to the target depends on what your goal is. If your goal is something simple, like having the money to buy a fairly inexpensive item, the target is barely a foot away. If the goal is far loftier, like becoming a world renowned actor or musician, the target is at the limits of your vision.

Now remember, the storm is swirling around you. Depending on the direction of the wind you may make the shot easily. Even if it is a tough one. Some people have meteoric rises to the top of whatever field or pursuit they involve themselves in. Others toil for years or even decades and become an "overnight" success. The wind can be with you. Or it can be against you. There are plenty of tales of people who should have had it all. Try as they might they could not achieve their goals. The reasons would depend on whatever goal it was. Regardless, they did not get what they desired.

Back to the bow and arrow. The wind is picking up even further. You pull back on the string. The target is there. When do you take the shot? Can you see the target? When you are ready all you can do is let go and wait for the moment to arrive. And be ready for the next shot ..

This .. is. Well I don't know quite what it is. But I wrote it last year. The idea came to me and I ran with it. Enjoy.



How I cured Polio


Hey did I ever tell you of that time I cured Polio? I didn't? Aww crap. All right. Here's the story of how I cured Polio.



It was a blazingly hot day in Borneo. The year was 1964. My trusty African guide Steve and I were making our way through the forest when we hit the dreaded Borneo dessert. Things did not look good for us.

The trees had all vanished and we were stuck in the middle of all this sand. I was amazed because as far as I knew dessert was something you eat. That's when I learned that desert - as in a big expanse of sand - has only one S, whereas dessert - like the food you eat after a meal - has two S's. That's when I learned that Steve had been an English professor at Yale and actually had tenure there. The guide work was merely a sideline while he was on sabbatical. Once he explained what sabbatical meant we continued on our way.

I knew things were bad when my Ipod would only play 'Waterloo' by Abba over and over. I never put that on there. Damn kids and their hip disco music. I tried to illegally download some songs but was foiled by the fact that I didn't have a computer and that the Macintosh wouldn't be invented for decades.

Continuing on we started to run low on water. Steve was getting tired. As he was carrying me that meant I might actually have to walk. Seizing the moment I pointed to some nearby caves. The plan was made, we'd hole up there.

Once we made it inside Steve was to become the latest in a long line of sufferers. For in that cave lie the fiendish terror that is known as - The Dread Polio! If I wasn't able to act quickly Steve would be lost to it and I'd be next.

Grabbing a Lightsaber and a really badass machine gun like The Terminator would use or .. Oh, oh! .. Matrix characters. Nah. Matrix isn't as cool anymore. Ummmmm .. ah what the heck. We'll just say it looked like a Terminator style gun. Anyway. Grabbing my weapons I jumped into battle. Polio is not known for fighting fair and this proved to be true as it dispatched a legion of velociraptors, bears and several maladjusted monkeys wielding knives for me to face.

I made quick work of them and turned my attention to the true menace. But luck seemed to be on Polio's side as my badass gun was out of bullets and my Lightsaber was out of power. Realizing that fortune favours the bold I decided to grapple this terror and overpower it that way.

The struggle was fierce. Polio is not something you want to face. Especially in it's lair. We wrestled on and on. The hours became days. The days became weeks. The weeks to years. Years to decades. Eventually we made it all the way back to the beginning of time and up to the year 1955. That was when I finally triumphed and conquered the beast. Polio was no more.

Making my way out of the cave I was pleased to learn that Steve had not been killed by Polio. He had instead been merely wounded by Polio. It looked as though he'd recover nicely. Although from what I understand he did talk in a fake German accent for the rest of his life. So he was not left completely unscarred by the experience.

As for me. Upon exiting the cave I was immediately swarmed by the media ready to usher me into the heights of society. I was the toast of blogs everywhere. Shirts were made with my image upon them. On the back it read 'Made Polio his Bitch'. Obviously, that was because I had done just that.

As for me now. I appear to be in a tiny, sealed room. The walls are all padded. How curious. I have a rather unusual garment on as well. It's like a jacket but with extra long sleeves. And the sleeves are tied up somehow in the back. Perhaps the tailor is merely checking something out. It will be a fine jacket I'm sure. Only the best to be had you know for - The Man Who Cured Polio.

If you ever wanted to know my philosophy of how society should be (and even if you didn't) this is for you. It was done last year. Looking back on it I can see some changes I could (or should) make. Perhaps another time.



12 year old Trevor Krysak steps on to the stage and prepares to read his speech to the assembled crowd.

"My definition of a perfect world by Trevor Krysak."

"Everyone should be allowed to do what they want as long as it doesn't hurt someone else. The end. Thank you."

Trevor turns to exit the stage but is stopped by a teacher. "No. No." she says, "You need to explain it in more detail." 12 year old Trevor stares at the huge crowd and is frozen. It might take him a few years to be able to communicate this further.

Flash forward to a much older Trevor who does what he can to explain the concept. The crowd is mostly gone but he'll try anyway.

It really is quite simple. If society is free (local conditions may vary) then we should have zero entanglements to that freedom. Unless of course our actions would harm another person. Should you be able to use whatever drug or alcoholic substance you like? Certainly! Have my share if you want. I won't be using it. But if, for example, you get in a car and can't responsibly drive due to your substance intake you are wrong. Jail and treatment being the alternatives.

Rather than have farmers forced to live off subsidies imagine if they could add marijuana and other "illegal" crops to their range of choices. You might get a rapid change from a whole section of the population that is habitually cash poor to making a decent living or even better. That would spread to the smaller communities that at this point are dying out. Might be better than a war on drugs. But then again most wars aren't about freedom.

Should people be allowed to practice whatever religion they like? Should they be able to marry whomever they desire? Hell yeah! They are free. Go forth and worship and love.

Want to sell your body in the world's oldest profession, prostitution? Do it. Vast amounts of the planet sell their time and effort in other ways. Get naked and start working. But, you have to get tested extremely regularly. If you don't do it or your test results show signs of STD's you are done. And anyone who wants to be a client of yours has to be tested too. If they don't do it they can go to jail. But you can't be wandering around the streets if you do want to have sex for money. So we'd just have to have it run out of business/retail space. I guarantee you many XXX stores would gladly have a section where you can get your rocks off with a woman/man/whatever. Puts more money in their pockets. And the government too. That's taxable income.

It really is a very straightforward approach. Look at the benefits society gains. No more drug abusers in prison unless they were involved in some sort of vehicular incident or other crime. No more time needed to go after prostitutes or other nuisances. If there's a murder committed suddenly 50 cops are out investigating. Your ass will be in jail very quickly. If more help is needed there'll be other people in law enforcement there to help. They'll almost be happy to have something to do. And you get swift justice. With the removal of drug and other offenses the courts can quickly give your crime(s) the attention deserved.

What about big business? Same principle applies. If they are harming others they get to pay for it. Dump chemicals or dispose of toxic waste unsafely and you have the full weight of society on you. And since crime will be reduced you'll have plenty of people out there to keep tabs on those pesky large corporations.

More money. Less crime. Perfection. Tie it up with a bow and we're done. Thank you ladies and gentlemen.

Older Trevor heads over to his younger self, still on the stage, they high five each other in triumph and the resulting paradox destroys reality.

Oops.

"How I Cured Polio" made me laugh out loud at least four times. That's tough to do. I like that one quite a bit.

You and I seem to have similar philosophies on how society should be. I've got a jacket with an anarchy button on it, and when folks ask about it (or berate me about it) I say something similiar to what you just did. It's a bit pagan, too, "And it harm none, do what ye will" or some such.

Keep 'em coming.

Excellent. Thanks for the comments.

I like Trevor's take on life. Pretty much the same as mine.

Probably because I believe so much in personal accountability.

Personal accountability Exactly! That is the key.

Rather than start a new thread I'll just toss my progress reports in here.

Spent the better part of the night working on my main comic project. We'll call it "Mysterious Comic Project" or MCP for short. At least until I have things set that I can reveal it for all to see and (hopefully) buy.

My goal was to get 10-12 pages done. And that's roughly where I am right now. Page 10 is before me. I was set to call it a night and was laying in bed thinking over future issues I am planning when I realized I'd forgotten an important (to me) first page change to issue number one. An addition that can (and should) be added in. It definitely helps set the tone and adds in a nice bit of foreshadowing for future stories. So I made my corrections and am mulling over a few things. As this is planned to be a full comic I need it to end off at or around 22 pages. Which shouldn't be too hard. Though it does mean I have the meat and bones of the story to work on still.

Lately I've found that I have to forget about sleep and get back into whatever it is I'm writing at the time. I kinda like that I have the time and resources to do that. It's a luxury I could quickly become used to having.