David Boles: Human Meme

Why do so many dramatic stories fail in the final 20 minutes? Today, we will find out together using Denzel Washington's, THE LITTLE THINGS, movie as a template for a disaster in storytelling. We'll also discuss The Greeks, Aristotle, THE CURE AT TROY, THE TWILIGHT ZONE, CITIZEN KANE, and the SEVEN SECONDS television show. Here's your three-year, Ivy League, MFA in Playwriting earned in 36 minutes!

Be not enchanted by death. Take a risk with the living and propel your ideas forward into imagination, and not eternal dreaming. History is a context of what was about to happen, not about what is about to begin now. Wager against the headstone and insist on touching the horizon.

We use rituals to provide contextual meaning for human progress. In that systemic release of both joy and disappointment, the ritualistic flow defines the ongoing morality of a community. If we choose not to be a part of the flow, then we have become an impediment to the progressive means of humanity.

Here are some thoughts for young people. Sometimes we need to test our values beyond our boundaries, we must often forsake our happiness for the greater good; and, finally, it is only up to us to actually get something done that is everlasting. 

Bob Dylan betrayed us for a buck. What does an artist owe an audience? Faithfulness? Predictability? The assumption of kindness? Bob Dylan sold his songs for a fortune, and in the process, lost the world. Now let's use his own words against him.

Washington, DC is, and always must remain, a golden city. Here's my story of landing, fresh-faced from Nebraska, in our nation's capital during the summer of 1987 -- and how life there is now irrevocably changed by the January 6, 2021 insurrection.

Sometimes simple is not so smart. Americans tend to prefer the dumb over the keen -- just because one is easier to understand, and share, than the other. That lackadaisical mendacity must not be allowed to be a substitute for greatness. Reject Boaty McBoatface. Rejoice in the genius of others!

We spend our lives apologizing. We express regret for thoughts and feelings we cannot repress. Not every thought need be shared or spoken. Even when we know better, we still take a step too far, we still arrive at peace too late, we are still unable to stop the inevitable spew of hurt in reclamation.

Our system of law is broken. The guilty are set free. The innocent are doing hard time. Is there any way to get out of this moral morass that enrobes us like tar and sinks our highest aspirations? 

The night before is more powerful than the event of the day. We place great cultural value on moon anticipation of the moment when the result of the next sun often churns to disappointment and decay.

There is no doubt Bruce Lee was a SuperGenius. If you want an example of his brilliance beyond the screen and Martial Arts, learn here today how he viewed the form and the substance of water and how we are what we become.

Careless. Could care less. Couldn't care less. Caring is important, but too often too many of us focus on happiness and not caring, and that's when the monsters among us act to strike down our smiles in a walk-by grin sniping. 

Noam Chomsky warns us the real minority in America are the wealthy. We need to wise up and get smarter! The Founding Fathers created these United States, not for the benefit of the many, but for the few. Our government was constructed to protect the particular minority interests of the rich, not welfare of the common person, and the sooner we know that, and act upon that information, the better off we'll be accepting why 50% of us hates the other half of us.

No body chooses to go hungry. How do we feed a universal hungering that starts in the food desert and ends on the urban street corner? We are Constitutionally obligated "to promote the general welfare," and that includes getting food, and healthcare, to every body that needs the assistance. 

There is an Art to writing a good letter of recommendation. A right letter takes time, and thought, and today, we look at both sides of the recommendation writing dyad: the writer and the person of interest. Plus, as a bonus, we dig into the Nebraska Mafia to reveal a hit job that nobody saw coming -- except the superior one firing the gun. 

We kneel to show devotion and respect to others. We kneel for forgiveness, in joy, and to confirm deference; but there are those among us who kneel for other purposes of spite and betrayal. We must be vigilant to understand the motivation behind bended knee.

Vision isn't just about viewing, seeing is about knowing and recognizing. How do we determine friend from foe? We learn to observe, and then model behavior to help establish community. We belong by watching each other for cues on establishing morality, duty and courage.

Is gossip gender biased? It may be in the labeling, but not in the active living. Badmouthing and backstabbing are too common today and the end result is mistrust and moral dismay. How can we stop this sort of social brainwashing when it only takes one person, not two, to lift the gossip tide?

Today, we fight for freedom. Today, we vote. Today, we stand up. The vote is the most valuable asset you have that doesn't cost you any money. Your vote is a gift that is everlasting. The trick to creating an effective single vote is simply... the amplification of intention!

We are being assaulted by salt! Sodium is everywhere. We cannot escape its avalanche of prepackaged infusions! Can you limit your sodium intake to 1,500 mg per day? Not bleeding likely! Here's why.