Ritual

Augustin passed the goblet to Alex and watched with anticipation. Alex accepted it with a smile, hoping none of the men gathered around the oaken table could see his fear. As for himself, he could smell it strong and ripe, the effect similar to racing five miles on pure adrenaline. His heart beat as if he had.

It was heavier than he anticipated, the dull gleam it gave off belying its nature; his hands sank then rose as he adjusted and held the goblet before him as he’d seen the others do. Alex marveled that he once thought it to be made of anything but solid iron. The surface was intricately engraved with tall grass and trees, their roots reaching down to strange beasts gathered around the base, swaying counterclockwise around the exterior. The moon and sun occupied the same sky.

His heart clamored in his chest. Across the table, Benjamin Peliseus frowned, and Alex was struck with the notion that the man could actually hear the rapid thump-baddump echoing through his chest – perhaps better than Alex could hear it. He took a deep breath.

And drank.

The first mouthful cloyed him, coating his mouth and throat with as it went down. The pungent smell rose to his nostrils, catching him by the throat. Alex gagged into the cup but held the drink down, eyes watering.  He prayed it would be enough to satisfy them.

His head swam when he lowered the cup. The men watched him expectantly, six faces with hawkish eyes that seemed at odds with their youthful features. Alex felt the wrongness of the men, the eons of blackness hidden behind a mask of young skin like a shadow on the surface. A word came to mind – monsters – but it seemed impossible. Intoxication must have exaggerated his unease.

“How do you feel?” The voice sounded distant, stretched across miles of telephone wire.  Alex looked around the oppressively oaken table for its source but found nothing but tight lips and hungry eyes between him and the door.

“It’s strong,” he managed with a cough.  His limbs were too heavy now to run.  “I’m afraid I’m not holding my liquor well.”

“It is better at second draught,” Augustin assured him, his face bestial behind a paper thin smile.

Somehow, Alex doubted that.

… taken from an excerpt of my short story, “Ouroborus.”

Membership Rules of The Readers Club

1. You don’t have to read Shakespeare to be a reader.  
2. You don’t have to quote Pride & Prejudice or to even like The Scarlet Letter to be a reader.  
3. You don’t need to read a book a week to be a reader.
4. You aren’t required to read Tolkien or C.S. Lewis to be part of the club.  
5. You aren’t expected to own every book by Dickens or Twain or carry a tattered copy of On the Road about as if it were a bible.
6. You don’t need to pick sides in the e-book debate, and it might be better that you didn’t.
7. You don’t have to prove your loyalty by reading books that don’t appeal to you.  We see you reading The Millennium Trilogy, devouring The Hunger Games (pun intended) and mourning your favorite character’s death in the “A Song of Ice and Fire” saga.  That’s proof enough.
8. You must defend a book’s honor when someone won’t read it “on principle.”
9. You should read the book before watching the movie.
10. You must corrupt the minds of children with books, diverting their attention from television and video games wherever possible. 
11. You must respond to the claim “I don’t have time to read” in any manner you see fit.
12. You must understand that not all fantasy is the same and argue against comparisons. Harry Potter is not Lord of the Rings is not The Dresden Files.
13. You may dislike an author or book, but be prepared for deliberation before denouncing style.
14. Above all, you must proclaim the truth:  ”BOOKS AREN’T BORING!”

Dear American Public: Media Literacy

Dear American Public,

When I hear my peer group (I’m 21, so think college students) say they don’t care about politics enough to vote or that politics “is bullshit,” I get extremely disappointed, but I also understand.  The American government is freaking complex, and the news media hasn’t made a recent attempt to explain it to any of us.  There are so many ways that the media enables us to be passive observers of our own government that I get a sinking feeling when I think about it sometimes – and I’m a journalism major!

But, guess what?  America is a participatory democracy, and that means participating.  It means voting.  It means making an effort to understand why your property taxes are going up next year instead of dreading the budget announcement.  It means going to city council to ask for a bicycle safety ordinance when you’ve had too many close calls on the road. It means taking some effort, of course.  Hasn’t anyone told you that it is better to earn than to receive?

Perhaps most strikingly, it means being media literate so you can separate the issues from their coverage.  I’m sure you, the reader, have at least one example of watching, listening to, or reading political news coverage that made you want to pray for the future of society.  Remember what I said about bad media practices a minute ago?  Here are a couple examples that I’ve observed:

1. a tendency to make political coverage more exciting/horrifying/otherwise attractive to the “average person,”
2. covering politics as if it is a horse race to be observed – not a matter of public participation. (“ahead in the polls” news, “what does this mean for the polls” news)
3. restricting coverage to candidates who have already received enough media attention to be considered popular in the first place!
4. a tendency to polarize political issues by interviewing experts who contradict each other and have no moderate stance on the subject at hand,
5. using sound bites out of context… or covering the irresponsible publication of said sound bite while using the freaking sound bite!
6. When was the last time a candidate had the time to discuss his/her policies for more than 9 seconds during the news?  In the 1980s, that’s when.

The media, which now includes print, radio, TV, blogs, Twitter, annoying chain emails, Facebook pages and government press releases… all of which either have something different to say or a different way of saying the same thing.  The information is deafening and not always accurate, so check multiple sources and, for the love of God AND science, make sure those sources are actually credible and relevant to the issue.  Just because it says “Senior Whitehouse Analyst” beneath the expert’s name does not guarantee you any further understanding of a complex topic.  Realistically, if it’s about politics it can’t be covered in the 30 second sound bite they offer him to explain it anyway.

I get why you don’t care.  You have questions about society, and you need to make a good opinion of what to do.  To get that opinion you need accurate information, and you need to hear it expressed rationally, not in two-minute debate sessions on cable television.  There are three sides to every coin; it’s just that no one talks about coin’s edge.

Practice media criticism for me during the election season and let me know whether you’re as frustrated as I am with “2012 Election Coverage” (<– seriously, Google that phrase), will you?

Sincerely,

Hannah S.