[Portraits from Life, David Collier & Paul Arthur, second half]

Thanks to "Easy-E," I've realized that I knew close to nothing about LSD. I knew mescaline had something to do with cacti, but all I knew was that LSD was acid. Wikipedia says that LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) is, of course, closely tied with the late-1960s hippie movement, due in large part to doctors Leary and Alpert secluding themselves to study the drug. Instead, they became modern gurus, and coined the famous phrase, "Turn on, tune in, drop out." Before that, LSD was used to give religious experiences, or to study mental health. LSD can be swallowed, shot up, or blotted onto the tongue (using blotter paper). It is not known to be an addictive substance, and many people stop taking it due to "bad trips."


Children were given LSD as experimentation prior to 1967 (when it was still legal).


British soldiers were given LSD. I'm not sure why, but it's worth watching. Unsurprisingly, they have issues working both the radio and the rocket launcher.


Paul McCartney reacting to the backlash he received after answering a question honestly. He kind of bashes the media for spreading the story, saying that they're increasing the likelihood of fans trying LSD more than his honesty is.

[Portraits from Life, David Collier & Paul Arthur, first half]

I'm really not sure what to say about this book so far. My initial impression was, Oh, wow, this is boring. I hope I can make it through. I didn't, entirely. I've got a tiny bit more to finish before class. And yeah, it's still boring. The subject material just doesn't interest me, I guess. I'm not thrilled to read about old people and the Canadian wilderness. Sorry.

I googled the book, and I found out that, yes, these are real people that he's writing about, just with his own twist or opinion. It's a shame, too, because his grandfather is what "Getting Dead" is about, and he actually sounds fascinating. If the story was all about his time in the military, I'd be interested. I wouldn't be yawning my through it at 4 in the morning.

Just. It's dull. I'm sorry. Blankets had a different structure, and the story flowed smoothly and, well, interestingly. Watchmen had superheroes. V for Vendetta had anarchy (and explosions). Portraits from Life has nothing but old men and old-school Canada. I'm not bashing either, I just don't care about either, and I doubt I'm the only one. If this were a straight-up book, I doubt I'd've made it ten pages in.


In other scholarly news, I started to expand an old idea for a "short" story I have due Wednesday. It's supposed to be 12-20 pages long. I'm happy if I get 1000 words normally (four pages). It's going to be about assassins, eventually, and I want it to be a business. Like an assassin business. It runs like a normal office building, and has a front as a publishing company (I think), but, secretly, they kill people. It'll probably be black comedy, or something like that. I'm excited about it, but it's literally causing me to lose sleep.