Like Straightening Trumpets Out Now!
Like Straightening Trumpets is out today, which you can click on below:
I wish I had better commentary on this story other than to say I sat down, wrote a title, and this is what came out. I enjoyed writing it even though I’m no trumpeter, nor have any insights into military life. This story does make me feel things, though, which is what I go with as a writer.
As one of my favorite authors, Salman Rushdie, once said, “If you’re lucky, you can imagine the truth.”
***
My Good Cop, Bad Cop of Sleeplessness
I haven’t slept well for the past seven days. This has been a recurrent thing in my life; I can go a month straight sleeping 8-hours per night, and then comes a week where I cannot get to sleep whatsoever.
And when I can’t sleep, there’s a space between being fully awake and trying to slip off into REM where I lose control over my thoughts and they won’t shut up. Sometimes they are humorous, other times pondering story ideas…
But most of the time, I’m the key suspect being interrogated by my own past.
“Where were you the night of 28th, three years ago!”
(This voice doesn’t have a face, but I imagine he’s the BAD COP with one foot planted on a steel folding chair, a pistol sling harnessed a little too tightly, and wearing a pair of aviator sunglasses. He also has a thick, rugged mustache that somehow works outside of the 90’s.
BAD COP: “Let’s get this straight. You went to Brooklyn Bagels yesterday, ordered a Bomber with sauce on the side, and added the corporate lunch combo. Is that all?”
ME [Sheepishly, unsure]: “Yes?”
BAD COP: “Well why didn’t you fill the silence after you were done giving your order and the cashier was punching it in? Why didn’t you ask about how her day was going?”
ME: [a shrug, helpless] “It just didn’t come up.”
BAD COP [Taking his foot off the folding chair, disgusted]: “Of course it didn’t. Because you’re only focused on yourself. What are you, some kind of Solipsist? Nothing else exists because it’s an extension of yourself?”
ME: [Scrambling to account for any of this]
GOOD COP: “Hey, hey, take it easy. It’s not like this cashier struck up a conversation with him, either.”
[I sigh in relief, but only sort of. The GOOD COP has always been on my side, but I don’t like him as much. His long beard and ponytail, combined with overtly soft speaking voice, makes him gentle in a way that’s somehow more demeaning, like I’m a fluffball that needs to be coddled.]
GOOD COP: [cont’d]: Maybe this cashier should notice other people having a hard day. Isn’t she in the service industry? She should be of service, right guys?”
BAD COP: [disgusted]: “Of course you’re blaming the cashier, giving him an out. Well the world isn’t butterflies and rainbows, and if you want to make a positive difference in people’s lives, you have to step up and be a beacon! But I don’t see that with this punk. I just see a laundry list of missed opportunities and a lack of effort.”
ME: [confused by BAD COP’s vernacular] “Butterflies and rainbows?”
BAD COP: [Slams the table with a heavy fist] “Don’t try to write your way out of this bit! If you want to be a good person in this world, you have to show it! You can’t expect other people to be empathetic and observant like you are!”
ME: “Sorry.”
GOOD COP: “What my colleague is trying to say is that you’re doing just fine. We hope you enjoyed the sandwich.”
BAD COP: [a scoff] “That’s not what I’m saying at all, but a Bomber is a great sandwich.”
ME: “Yeah, it really is. Can I go to sleep now?”
BAD COP/GOOD COP: “No!” “We’re just getting started with your case file!”
**
And that was over a sandwich. Imagine what happens when ruminating over more serious problems.
Justice never sleeps, I suppose.
***
Sony Buys EVO
The biggest fighting game tournament in the world is the Evolution series. Held in Las Vegas every summer, players from all over the world compete to be crowned the world’s best at their favorite fighting games: Tekken, Guilty Gear, Street Fighter, Killer Instinct, and so much more. With COVID on the rise last summer, the yearly tournament was canceled and was to re-introduced as an Online only event until players could meet in person again in the coming years.
This was hard enough for tournament organizers until an even bigger scandal hit. One of the founders of Evolution had been outed with a series of hazing incidents that eventually shut down all EVO’s online events. Top rank players said they would not compete if this individual was still part of the organization’s team. Because of the outrage (justifiably) the tournament was shut down.
And it would be rebranded going forward.
Enter Sony this week who announced that they had just bought EVO.
Some feel this means many games not part of Sony’s library won’t receive prime-time treatment (like Microsoft and Nintendo) and won’t be featured at EVO. I’m not so sure; I think Sony will play ball with whomever wants to show up to showcase their games.
Where I think this deal is effective is the backend of things in terms of marketing and putting together an internal team with more resources and a renewed identity that is about the future of competitive gaming. I think Sony could be a big help, but I just want to see a day when the world’s best are brought together again.
With decent netcode in the meantime.
*Icy stares at Tekken, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and other Bandai Namco games*.
***
Wishing everyone as well as they can be. You’re not alone out there.
