Personal Update: The Inspiring Green Arrow

Some might call the character a Batman knockoff or a DC Sideshow Bob.However, I draw great inspiration from the character Oliver Queen, known as the Green Arrow.

For those not familiar with the Emerald Archer, Oliver Queen acts as a sort of Robin Hood (the character and the writer drew inspiration from both Robin Hood and a 1940 film The Green Archer) to fight for the middle class of his home of Star City. The Green Arrow fights crime with an arsenal of trick arrows (except for in The Longbow Hunters, the one time he uses deadly force), the most memorable being the famous boxing glove arrow.

While this may sound like a Batman spin-off character, the core personality of the character sets him apart from the Dark Knight. While Bruce Wayne is a calculating and often angry character, Oliver Queen solves many of his problems with wit and a sense of humor, making him (in my personal opinion) a bit more likable.

One thing that put the Green Arrow comics in the spotlight was the 1990s series known as Green Lantern Green Arrow, in which the two titular heroes went on a journey across the country, encountering several small situations that looked at social problems. These included racism, pollution, and most famously, drug addiction. While other superhero comics focused on developing and bringing back a small set of villains, the Green Arrow comics tackled problems in our society, allowing the reader to connect more with the good deeds Queen was performing. Sure, we love a good Batman/Joker showdown, but Oliver discovering his sidekick, Speedy, is a heroin addict? That’s an impacting story many can connect to.

Going back to the trick arrows mentioned before, Green Arrow is also a bit more creative than the other members of the Justice League. While Batman has a utility belt of a few multipurpose devices, an arrow can only be used for one purpose at a time. So, Queen has to get creative. Just a small list of trick arrows include the jack-in-the-box arrow, the fire-extinguisher arrow, Greek fire arrows, chimney sweep arrows, mummy arrows, umbrella arrows, donut arrows, and even an arrow to hack computers.

And there’s my comic rant for today. Just thought I’d share exactly what makes the Green Arrow as much an inspiration for me as Batman is to the other main writer on this blog. Until next time, I wish you all good night, and good luck.

Personal Update: Writing Inspiration, Greasers, and Dead Poets

I love to write. Simple as that. Whether it be an informative essay or a short story, the act of putting words on paper (or a screen, as it were), has always held a certain interest with me. It’s funny that I like putting my thoughts into words, considering that I am terrible at conversation. But despite my issues with conversation (mainly being lack of self-confidence and a habit of making jokes at my own expense, but I digress), I was inspired by several authors to write, and keep writing. I thought that I would share that with whatever readers are interested.

Most kids hated reading William Shakespeare in school, but he was one of my many inspirations. Whether writing a comedy or a bloody tragedy, Shakespeare focused on the development of his characters. In The Merchant of Venice, for example, the villain, a Jewish merchant by the name of Shylock was fleshed out more than any other character. Shakespeare gave him motivation for his actions against the protagonist (he was an abused, minority of a businessman who wouldn’t take any more), and portrayed Shylock in such a way that left the viewer sympathetic for the villain. Shakespeare was also extremely creative in his plays, in every aspect. He does not simply kill a character, he serves poetic justice. One only has to look so far as the play Titus Andronicus (meat pie, anybody?). How is that inspiring, you may ask? Perhaps I don’t write my essays in Victorian Middle English, but in my fiction, I try to focus on character development as much as possible.

Mark Twain was another biggie. Unlike other authors of his time, Twain’s work is often very down to earth, sarcastic, but still packing that emotional punch. The star work in this case is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I also read Tom Sawyer, and enjoyed the book, but Huck Finn far surpasses with an emotional story riddled with humor and different takes on society. More than that, what I’ve read about Mark Twain as a person was inspiring to me. Even before he wrote his big hits, he wrote commentaries and lectures. He had a comment about everything, from government to writing to religion.  He didn’t try to pretty up his writing, he simply wrote.

While I don’t see myself as either a Greaser or a Soc, S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders really hit me. I remember reading it during middle school, and it was actually the first story I’d read that nearly made me cry (the only other one that came close was John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars. Don’t judge me). I think that was my first taste of just how powerfully emotional fiction can get.

Last but certainly not least, we have the 1989 film Dead Poets Society. While it may be more proper to say that the writer or director of the movie was the inspiration, I have to say that it was Robin Williams’s portrayal of professor John Keating. He is the one who taught me to love language, and the meaning of Carpe Diem. May he rest in peace.

And so, there you have it. I wish you all good night, and good luck!

Personal Update: New Year’s Resolutions

Well, a new year is upon us, and so is the tradition of setting goals. A lot of this is hindsight (the only sight that is 20/20 for me) on past situations, but I am hoping that these are attainable goals. So here goes.

1. Less self-deprecation

It is one thing for me to be aware of my flaws, but assuming that every issue brought up is somehow my fault is quite another. This has led me to apologize too much, and thus do nothing but bring down my self-esteem. I am going to try and fix that. I don’t really know how, but perhaps some extra analysis and asking “Was this really my doing?” will help.

2. More socializing

I am not really a social person. Which is funny, because my job requires that I talk to people. Sure, I can keep small talk for about five minutes before another customer comes up, but by the end of the day I’m usually exhausted and don’t really feel like doing any sort of socializing. I’m not trying to stop being an introvert, but perhaps more moderation is in order. This is another one that I don’t quite know how to fix, but we’ll play it by ear.

3. More writing

Ever since I have started this blog, I’ve been addicted to posting articles. But in the back of my mind I’ve been paranoid that this will become another “hobby” of mine that will fade away and gather dust (just like the guitar, programming, art, and exercise). I don’t want to this blog to die. The fact that this blog has multiple writers will make it a little bit harder to simply throw away, but I don’t want that to be a plausible outcome. I also enjoy any and all people who actually read and follow the blog, and I don’t want to disappoint.

And so, there you have it. A couple goals I have for this coming year. We’ll see how they fare. I wish you all good night, and good luck.

Personal Update, Entry Zero: Hello, World! Again

by Steven Gates

This does look familiar, doesn’t it? Well, that would be because I have considered getting other people to join my blog. More writers means more ideas, more opinions, more content…and it looks like a sociopathic public diary (although if that’s what my viewers prefer, then I will continue :P)

So I am going to shut down Rants of a Geek. Notice this blog has a similar title, but the plural is very significant to me. I plan for some of the same content to be used on this blog (for example, the Top 5 lists and Personal Updates), but I want this to grow.

I also will be putting fewer limits on what will be written about. I do not plan to offend anybody in my post, so the wording will have to be precise in order to not give the wrong idea, but some topics need to be talked about. So we shall see what happens

So that’s what’s going to happen. Think of this as a Hello World, but for version 2.0 of my last attempt at a blog. Hopefully soon it will be more than just me writing articles. Ta ta!