Everyone's a critic

There are a lot of things I would like to be, proverbially when I grow up, however I never really knew I wanted to be them until recently. There are many reasons for that some I can put my finger on and other’s that are more uncertain. The list is far too long to put down and this issue of invisible don would only be a list of things I want to be, there may be something to be learned there as well. Perhaps another time. Onward. The title should lead you to where this rambling verbal path is going but if it has not, I would like to be a tester of things and then talk(write) about my experience with said thing, in other words a critic. This would be the ultimate job. Hell, I would even go to the producers in my own house on wheels. I don’t currently have a house on wheels but in theory if this were my job, I would have my very own traveling yurt. The problem is that everyone seems to be a critic these days and the art of the critic seems to be lost. Mostly people think of being a critic this is spouting on and on about what I did not like about this or that and the open forum of the internet has produced a tsunami of bad vibes and ugly words for everything. There are trolls enough for every bridge no matter how small. The art of being the critic is not just to say oh this sucked and here is why. It is to explain how a product, did or did not meet it’s intended purpose. A film has a purpose to tell a story and to entertain. For example, the film “Star Wars The Force Awakens”, it is certainly entertaining and it tells a story, unfortunately it tells a story we already know. I’m not going to fully review the film here in this issue. The job of the critic is to offer commentary concerning facts about that the film, such as it borrows heavily from episodes four and six for the story and plot lines and how this does or does not impacts the overall entertainment value of the film. The argument can be made that purely from an entertainment standpoint that it is a good film especially for the genre or Fantasy Action Adventure; there is a lot of action and likable / unlikeable characters. But as a film in an ongoing series of stories it does falter in establishing/explaining the world the characters are in, moving the series forward and leaves more questions than answers. The more questions thing can be and is really a good thing in that it paves the way for the next film in the series. Ultimately it is not a horrible film but it is one that is not a great film either, but it does entertain and is a must see if you are going to continue watching the series because it does establish new characters and story arcs. Being the critic means balancing the good and the bad and coming up with a useful analysis of the product to inform the next consumer if they want to invest their money / time with the product. The “This thing sucks and I am unhappy” critical review is all that seems to be out there. Which is less than helpful, because for all I know you are always unhappy and your idea of a good dinner and movie combo is Micky D’s drive through and the director’s cut of “Joe Dirt”. Having useful critical reviews is necessary, especially when you do not have unlimited funds for whatever budget area you are spending your time and money be it housewares, food, or entertainment. If you are going to be a critic about something put some effort in to it. If you are not going to put in the effort go be unhappy elsewhere and stop using up the bandwidth. My adventure as a beer reviewer or critic has really meet this dream job desire thing on some small level but as you may have noticed I have not really been reviewing any lately. I hope to change that soon many things have stood in the way of that but fear not they will be returning. I do not have the time funding to be much of a critic of other things but in the interest of reaching for my dreams and to some degree informing the readership I will review things as I can in a somewhat regular or irregular part of the reemerging of the invisible don writing series. Sponsorships are welcome and encouraged. So, if you would like to fund Invisible Don get in touch with me at the PO Box listed below and I will review your product or just send a post card from your patch of the mudball. Well, that’s all for now, other stuff to follow most likely Happy Birthday if it is your birthday and a very merry un birthday if it is not your birthday Thank you for reading, please subscribe, follow, and or like, depending on where you read this issue. Have a great day and play nice in the neighborhood. Ciao, Invisible Don PS 3 / PS4 Gamer Tag: invisible don Invisible Don PO Box 4425 Roanoke VA 24015 Send me Post Cards … I love Post Cards

Michael Finnegan

Most of my life I have kept a haphazard journal. Journal is a bit misleading in that you might expect to gain some insight into my life by reading the thoughts put to word, both in paper and digital form, however your expectations would be incorrect. Likely you would arrive at the conclusion that some ordinary guy, living a rather ordinary life put down a lot of random stuff for no distinguishable or meaningful reason. How is that for some inspirational self-affirming internal dialogue. I know and that is the PG version of things. My own debasement is not why I decided to write down my musings though. Too much I have become the consumer of entertainment and relied on the external to stimulate my mind and I have put off diving into my own mind for motivation, inspiration, and entertainment. Too often the dark thoughts spoke too loudly or I just allowed them to push back any desire to produce anything that wasn’t vapid or mindless. Passivity and repetitive things filled the little free time I have in the evenings following work. Phobos and Deimos have stood prominently in the way of my doing anything remotely creative. Plans fell undeveloped and even the encouragement from friends with similar interests lost their weight to move me toward producing anything and easy mindless things came up as alternatives to being creative. I could sense their frustration and my own at this growing apathy. Once before I had let “life” crowd out those things I enjoyed. I say “life” in quotes because it isn’t really the truth it is work which is not what I want my life to be. Life shouldn’t be work, especially my work. It is draining and spirit crushing and there are very few shiny bits in all the dust and grit. I’ve seen the toll it takes on people, those who consumed by their work and have nothing really to look forward to at the end of the day. Sadly, putting work before life is seen as a virtue by much of our society. Being alone hasn’t ever really bothered me because I usually would fill my time with art, stories, poetry, and a few other activities. I’ve shared more (but very little) of my art than my poetry (which is to say hardly at all) and rarely (once maybe twice) have I let anyone read any of my stories and no one has ever read a word of my journals. However, my online writing has been read by a few people. Most of that is censored and veiled so that there is a barrier to knowing me from the words I post. I am not completely an introvert but I share very little in common with extroverts, hence the censoring of the things I write. Language has been a kind of magic to me in that, I believe that words can change the world. The trick is knowing which words and who to speak them too. Unfortunately, too many people use words for the wrong reasons. The abuses of words by others has stifled a lot of the things I would write about. I don’t care to debate things with people in my online writing so I avoid many topics because people don’t care to see another perspective and the art of debate or informative argument is largely lost. The exercise of writing and reading for that matter are dying and I was one of the killers because I had stopped putting words into the world. What I write may not mean much but it is something I enjoy doing and who knows perhaps one day I will let someone read a story, but that means they must be somewhere other than in my mind. When I started my online writing over 15 years ago I mused on how does one begin this journey… with one entry and then another. So now to begin again. Well, that’s all for now, other stuff to follow most likely Happy Birthday if it is your birthday and a very merry un birthday if it is not your birthday Thank you for reading, please subscribe, follow, or give a like. Have a great day and play nice in the neighborhood. Ciao, Invisible Don PS 3 / PS4 Gamer Tag: invisible don Invisible Don PO Box 4425 Roanoke VA 24015 Send me Post Cards … I love Post Cards