Mostly because I haven't posted in a while

I learned recently that I've been fired. Well anyway, that's what one of my friends told me, her explanation being that she had wasted, collectively, five minutes of her life over the past month checking for new posts, of which there were, clearly, none.

I haven't thought of anything of ground-breaking significance to write about, so I'll have to fall back on something mediocre. Or maybe a disorderly assortment of mediocre things. Yes, that's more likely.

I watched Star Wars: Episode III yesterday for the second time in my life. My opinion of it has remained unchanged. Essentially, it is much like the kind of girl I try very hard not to date: Very pretty, but also very dumb.

Let me be very clear on one point--I do not like George Lucas. I don't care how great he is at telling a story, visually or otherwise. I have a feeling that there are quite a lot of much better people who, with the kind of money and power Lucas has been granted over the years, could do just as well with their own imaginations. Especially if they studied Westerns and Eastern mythology as thoroughly as Lucas has--but that's beside the point.

My problem is the writing. In each of the three new movies, the average-at-best, regrettably-silly-at-worst writing makes the story seem trite and unfortunate at almost every turn.

"The Sith only care about themselves. The Jedi are selfless."

Gee, really? This kind of on-the-nose dialog is exactly what you hope not to see in a 113 million dollar movie. I cringe when I hear that kind of thing in student films. Come ON, George!

To be fair, no one should be condemned for not being able to write well. However, to insist upon exclusive artistic control, as Lucas famously has for this franchise, including writing and directing every line in the script for a movie that meant so much to an entire generation...that, my friends, makes bad writing a shameful, damning sin.

Contrast this with the newest Indiana film. That one was right on par with the old films. Just as corny, just as silly, yes, but also just as fun, just as action packed, and just as witty. Thank you, Spielberg, for possessing some level of professionalism. You know what his big secret probably was? Collaboration. I doubt that word has a place in George Lucas's lexicon. Pity.

On a more personal note, I'm coming closer to finishing the second draft for my as yet still unnamed novel. I was coming to something of a standstill recently, so I decided to start something new. Who knows if the new project will ever go anywhere, but to any writers who find themselves reading this long, pointless post--let me here officially support working on multiple projects. No one should ever devote all of his or her time and energy to ONE novel. 'Cause that novel would end up, inevitably, as a piece of forgettable refuse. Diversity!

I believe I have now fulfilled my self-assigned quota of "a disorderly assortment of mediocre things."