"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live . . ."

If you were given the choice, who would you be--George Bailey or Harry Bailey?

George Bailey, the star of Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life (as played--surely you know--by Jimmy Stewart) is the dutiful son and family man. He longs to hear "anchor chains, plane motors, and train whistles" but he stays behind in Bedford Falls to live the life of a ordinary father and husband. Harry Bailey is George's younger brother, the one who leaves home to go to college, the one who goes to war and becomes a hero, the one who lives the exciting life with the fancy job and the congressional medal of honor that was pinned on by the president.

George is convinced that his life is meaningless and less significant. He comes to believe that it would be better to end his life and earn his life insurance payout (thereby becoming more valuable to his family) than to continue down a path of "bankruptcy and scandal and prison." It takes divine intervention for George to realize that the small increments of a life well-lived do have meaning . . . and just might make you "the richest man in town."

Who would you choose to be? Which path would you choose . . . or which path would you allow to choose you?

(I'm pretty sure you can guess which path I have taken and if you haven't it might be a telling clue that I have this poster framed in my house.)

I raise this question, because it got me thinking the other day when I ran across an Internet story about a new documentary that just showed at the SXSW movie festival last week. We Are Wizards tells the story of several people within the Harry Potter fan universe and in the process of the telling, illuminates some interesting aspects of the HP fandom.

(Here's the trailer:)

The topic of the movie excites me for what, I am sure are obvious reasons, but it is also significant that I am familiar with some of the people profiled in the film. But I am also saddened by the sense that these people are out there doing it, working hard, carving out a niche for themselves. As the movie site says these are "the influential figures leading the creative subculture surrounding the popular Harry Potter book series." I hear about these people that are (other than this part of their lives) pretty normal and unremarkable and I wonder "Why them?" I compare their blog sites, critique and am envious of their HTML designs. I observe their hit count statistics and I am (yes, I admit it) jealous of their success, jealous of their ability to go out and DO . . .)

To use another movie analogy, I might be like Richard Dreyfuss's character in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." He became absolutely convinced that what he saw was real, even though no one else understood or believed him. But he allowed his conviction and his obsession to rip his life apart in order to follow his obsession to its conclusion

Maybe these people achieve the "success" I am jealous of by putting so much of their extra life into it. I am simply a participant in it, an observer of it. To do anything else requires a reshaping of my life that I am not willing to do/am not capable of doing/am afraid to do/have no right to do. For what, exactly? How does any of this make my life more important, better, more meaningful? Ultimately, I'm just jealous of something that may seem easy, but I'm sure is anything but. (And once I some day watch the documentary, I'm sure I'll recognize how hard it actually is.)

So, in the end, I'm George Bailey.

And isn't the point of THAT movie to show you that this is actually a great person to be?

Sadly, he did NOT have angel eyes . . .

Sorry I was slow noticing the latest Hollywood death, the unfortunate demise of guitarist Jeff Healey.

My only connection to Healey is that he played the Double Deuce guitarist in the Patrick Swayze powerhouse vehicle "Roadhouse."

Friends of mine are well aware of my unnatural obsession with this movie, so it is in respect to the cinematic arts and the basic recognition at the loss of a fellow human being that I offer condolences to the Healey family and to all who enjoyed his blue-inspired guitar stylings.

I know you join me in quaking with fear, while realizing that the murderous Tom Cruise has awakened from his annual Oscar slumber. Likely enraged that he was not nominated for any films, nor given the Irving Thalburg award for a lifetime of achievement, his blood lust was reawakened at the snubbing he received when he was not chosen for the "Roadhouse" role of Dalton the cooler that eventually won Patrick Swayze such acclaim. Since Cruse was (wisely) afraid that Swayze might attempt to rip out his larynx if he tried to murder him, the Murderous One inflicted his anger upon Healey instead.

For that we are all sorry . . . and afraid once more.

Random thoughts while watching "The Empire Strikes Back" with Sarah and Grace

1. Why didn't Luke's sensor sweep readings on Hoth detect the massive snowbeast that was only a few feet away from him in the films opening minutes?

2. Why, when Han is berating the deck officer for not verifying that Luke was still out in the bitter Hoth cold, does it shut up C3P0 to put a human hand over his "mouth hole?" Threepio doesn't use air to make sounds, so placing a hand over what is, essentially a speaker grille, should make no difference at all. Does Threepio know enough about humans to understand that this gesture means shut up a minute?

3. While watching Chewbacca wail morosely at the possible frozen plight of Luke and Han in the cold Hoth night, Grace asks "What is the monkey doing?" The idea that Grace mistook wookie for monkey, and (let's face it), Chewie does look like a monkey . . . I laughed and laughed.

4. Lynda asks a good question . . . why does the tauntaun die, which is (presumably) a native Hoth species, before frail Luke and Han die?

5. Oddly, I did not hear Hermes say "Great three-toed sloth from ice planet Hoth!"

(We might have observed more, but the girls stopped watching. I'm update with more at a later date.

Prodigious

I don't have anything important or interesting to say about myself today . . . but I did want to stop and acknowledge some interesting stuff that kids are doing out there.

First, Sarah is hard at work on a new story. It is inspired (as you might guess) on the Harry Potter universe. I haven't read it yet, as she is still working on it, but it seems to be set in the "second generation" group of characters, carrying on the future of the Harry, Ron, and Hermione's children and their own struggles and triumphs at Hogwarts (and beyond?).

What's interesting about this . . . beside the fact that Sarah is really energized with this idea (she's been working on it hard for a few days and generates lots of manuscript every day) is that tons of people are out there doing this now. Existing fan fiction sites have been writing alternative HP stories for many years now, but since the publication of Deathly Hallows, the possibility of plot threads in a Next Generation world has grown steadily. My go-to HP website, The Leaky Cauldron has now begun an ongoing fan-directed story set within this universe.

If Sarah is willing, I'll reproduce the finished text on her blog when she is done. Based on random sentences I have heard, her attention to some details, her sentence construction, and her ability to generate believable dialogue construction is pretty impressive for someone who's seven-and-a-half. I promise you that I read some "college-age" essays when I was a grad student teaching assistant that didn't approach her writing ability.

So, look for that. And while you wait . . . check out this hilarious, kid-centric review of Star Wars.

Bob Evans=newscaster heaven

After church today, we decided to go to Bob Evans for lunch.

While we are juggling the positions of 2.5 kids and coats, a car seat, warming up a bottle, and trying to get our name in the queue for a table, I notice a familiar face walk by in a black turtleneck and jeans.

Why it's none other than local TV anchorman Kent Brockman . . . I mean Kent Justice. Yep, another trip to Bob Evans and another close encounter with a local TV personality.

Years ago, the family saw Bob Nunnally at a Bob Evans in Hilliard. We were having a lunch with our old church's priest at that time.

Now its Kent Justice at a Bob Evans in New Albany.

(And once before, we worship alongside Clay Hall at the huge Lutheran church in Hilliard.)

One can only assume that the newscasters of Ohio are a godly bunch that really enjoy that farm fresh taste.