A burned-out roast of quantity

Coffee never let me down

A note to my readers:

I suppose it’s considered a bit of irony in which someone like myself who can’t seem to shut up with his keyboard looks forward to something called “Dead Week.” It’s common knowledge to most Spectrum readers at this point that I have had a lengthy stint in reviewing old and new products of media for Variety. While they were fun, I am starting to feel about as exhausted as the censor bleeps for a single episode of “Kitchen Nightmares,” with all this quantity of stuff over stuff of quality in the mediated market.

 I’m starting to feel about as burned out as someone who misspelled Charleton — I mean, Charlton Heston’s name wrong in a review of his own autobiography, can possibly be. Now, with one week left before the last, what will I cover? How about I try something newer like Adele’s latest album, “30”? Oh please, go easy on me.

Or how about that movie by Sony and Marvel (two companies who have the relationship of distant relatives who only ever see each other during their other family member’s funerals), “Morbius”, in which a man cures his own disease by trying to get bitten by bats? I suppose I should be grateful that none of my Spectrum contributions aged as bad as that plot did in two years.

No, they will never stop making music, films or books and I have no problem with that. I’ve just come to realize these days that the more attention I pay to the finer details of these “arts” cranked out for mass-consumption, the more I realize the little jabs at my personal principles. If you can’t tell already, I am quite opinionated on what I think is morally right and a bit bull-headed when I profess this. However, when I feel my faith is the aspect being jabbed, that’s where my sensitivity flares.

I’ve known all along how superficial all these mediated distractions were, but now this knowledge is compelling me to step away from them (except for books, they didn’t let me down). I remember a time in which the Entertainment section would express headlines like “What is DC doing” or “What is Marvel up to.” Everybody knows how insignificant mediated entertainment is, but they were enjoyable. Now, I just don’t enjoy them because they are all exactly that, insignificant.

Now that I’ve labeled a few negatives, why not a positive? I do like coffee and drink it every day. I buy a cannister for cheap at a grocery store, bring it home and brew it so I can stay awake in the morning. Did you really think I go to a coffee-shop and socialize like a normal human being with important values? Come to think of it, maybe I should do that.

I am not specific on brands, nor how it is prepared. I drink it straight, bitter and dark, much like my personality. Hmm, come to think of it, creamer and sugar don’t sound like they spoil anything. I must try something like that sometime.

The other day I saw one of my coffee cups and noticed the handle was a bit skewed, not straight but slightly tilted. Much to my satisfaction, I realized that wasn’t my view of the world seeping into my natural vision but in fact a skewed handle. It’s always nice to find something wrong in your life that’s not your fault.

If you’ve paid attention, you will have noticed I started out in an exhausted formation, whining — I mean, expressing concern about how little interests I have in any output from mediated entertainment these days. I feel I was one of the few who cared much about movies or books, writing of such products in the Spectrum for so long. But part of growing up is letting go of such unneeded distractions. I think it’s time I put away these childish feelings and focus more on my life, jobs and personal responsibilities.

Coffee is the one quantity that doesn’t bother me. They will make more, and I will drink more (so long as its caffeinated). It will wake me up in the morning and I’ll go about my daily life. There’s plenty of importance you have without distractions of anything mediated, and you really notice that when you’re burned out reviewing such little things.

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