Creative Paper for Class

So yeah. This is a paper I wrote for class. It was basically a creative prompt on how I think the world will be in the year 3009. And I mean c'mon, creative writing = Dalziel story so how could I not write about Dalziel :D

Here's the 1st draft for your reading pleasure, if you can't tell from my paper this is a class about sustainability/energy/population growth/etc. big 'problems' of our time.

- - - -

Sunny with a Chance of Rain: The World in 3009

It was a bright, chilly morning in the year 3009. Dalziel awoke with a start to the annoying buzzing of his solar powered alarm clock. He rolled over in his 100% recyclable fleece sheets hoping that he could snatch a few more minutes of his precious beauty sleep. But alas, the sun kept on shining and as it rose higher into the sky and the rays became stronger, the buzzing got progressively louder and more obnoxious until Dalziel had no choice but to flip out of bed and turn off the annoying alarm.

After finally having gotten out of his bed Dalziel stood dazed and half-asleep in front of his alarm taking in the beauty of his surroundings. It had been three years since he moved into one of the new Super Efficient Cube Communities (SECC), but every morning he was still astonished at the sleek, pleasing, and most importantly energy producing living arrangements. Every movement that he generated was not gone to waste. The sheer fact that he jumped out of bed each morning was a source of powering his living space. The cube in which he was enveloped converted every small motion, from walking to dancing, into an energy source. How exactly the whole system worked was beyond his comprehension, but all he could do was just stare in wonder and thank the great minds that had composed such a system.

The SECC that Dalziel was a part of was one of the first that had sprung up in the United States. The Japanese were one of the first to start constructing these cubes of art and science. They melded the two so perfectly together and the final product was so appealing to the rest of the world that after Japan raised three communities, every country had at least started blueprints for a SECC, every country except the US that is. Even after eight hundred years, the United States were still bitter from their unceremonious fall as the world power. They were determined to reclaim their post as a country that essentially ran the world and tried for ten years to develop an even more efficient system than the Japanese. But finally after countless failed attempts and even a few fatal accidents, the US conceded their loss and started constructing a SECC using the Japanese model. Ever since news of SECCs surfaced Dalziel had stared in amazement and dreamt to one day live in on of those coveted cube spaces. As the rest of the world followed the example of the Japanese, Dalziel’s dream became more and more realistic until finally news of a SECC construction starting in his own city reached his ears.

Finally Dalziel got all of his morning chores done and headed out the door. As he took his first step outside of his cube he was hit in the face with a slightly pungent odor.

‘The backlashes of poor living from one thousand years ago,’ Dalziel thought to himself as he walked to the shuttle stop. Even after the government had started slowly cleaning the air with giant airships, the process was a slow one. Five hundred years later the air was only neutralized, no longer damaging to the ozone layer. But much of the ozone had been destroyed by the centuries of massive pollution and only in the year 2953 had a group of scientists finally devised a way to repair and replace the damaged and destroyed ozone layer. To Dalziel the future looked bright and optimistic. With so many minds working together and the world no longer in a deteriorating condition he was sure that the mistakes from a thousand of years ago could be fixed. The one thing that had yet to be dealt with was the acres of land that had been used to dump trash, the landfills.

Dalziel’s thoughts were abruptly interrupted as the crowd around him started moving into the shuttle that had arrived silently to carry them all off to work. The shuttle was completely electric powered and was almost perfect in efficiency. Running at 98% efficiency they were the only type of transportation around. Private transportation had been outlawed two hundred years ago and an elaborate system of automated shuttles had been put into place. There was no need to have drivers and if you needed to go somewhere from your house at a specific time all you had to do was call in ten minutes beforehand and there was sure to be a shuttle ready and waiting at the nearest stop.

Dalziel’s ride was short as the SECC he was living in was especially designed for the workers of the recyclable materials plant where he worked. What they did at this particular factory was they compiled a wide array of different materials that had been worn down, used or were a ‘waste’ product from some other line of production. Here they reprocessed all of the initially useless goods and remanufactured everything into something useful. They took old worn down cloth cushions and boiled and bleached everything back into thread that could be dyed and used again and melted scrap metals down back into usable sheets and wires just to name a few processes. Essentially Dalziel’s plant turned society’s trash and made it into a valued good. His job gave him a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment that was unparalleled. Seeing the fruits of his labor was something that would never grow old for him.

Time flew by as Dalziel worked methodically until finally it was time for lunch. Dalziel had made two very close friends, Bedelia and Quilliam, in his three years working at the plant. Oftentimes over lunch they would have deep philosophical discussions about whatever was on anybody’s mind. Their topics of discussion ranged from what they had for dinner last night to what they thought the meaning of life was. Today was a day like any other, they spent the first three minutes brainstorming ideas and wolfing down their food.

Bedelia was first to speak saying, ‘I was in the library the other day reading up on some history, and I would just like to say, screw the people who lived a thousand years ago. Thanks to them developing such a wasteful system of production and overly excessive lifestyle we have to deal with the way things are now. The air is terribly polluted and brown. The pictures of those blue skies and white clouds a thousand years ago were so pretty! Now all we have are these drab grayish black clouds embedded in a brown sky.’

‘Yeah! Screw those wasteful slobs!’ agreed Quilliam, ‘They produced things that would not decompose and also couldn’t be reprocessed! They threw all their trash in the “extra” land that they had with no thought of the future. All those hundreds of acres of land taken up by those ridiculous landfills just screwed me over! My wife and I wanted to have more than one child but they government paid $25,000 to get a vasectomy. When they make an offer so high it’s hard to deny it. And to think if those landfills weren’t around we could be producing enough food and energy to support at least two million more people if not more by the time our food production becomes even more efficient than it is today! Stupid industrial revolution screwing up the world so the population has to be controlled…’

‘C’mon now guys, they weren’t ALL bad. I mean at least they wizened up after a few hundred years of living and started reforming,’ Dalziel retorted.

‘Pffft. A few hundred years too late if you ask me!’ shouted an aggravated Quilliam.

‘I’m not too sure where I stand on this issue…’ said an optimistic Bedelia, ‘I mean it was so long ago that I really don’t think it matters what they did. The point is that we’re here now and the world is getting better. I mean there is almost no waste in all of our productions. All of our energy is “clean” compared to the industrial revolution. Even the pollution from a thousand years ago is starting to disappear thanks to all of our new technology! Just give it some time and I’m sure the damage from those few hundred years will be healed. We’ll have blue skies, white puffy clouds, and clean rain in no time!’

‘Yeah, c’mon Quilliam, there’s no use in being bitter about something you can’t change. Let’s just look forward to the future and try to do what we can. I mean we’re all working in this field so you must have some type of hope for the future. But let’s continue this discussion later because our lunch break is over,’ agreed Dalziel.

‘Fine…’ grumbled Quilliam in response.

‘Okay! See you guys later!’

Dalziel walked back over to his station mulling over all that had been discussed over his lunch. He certainly had thought about that topic quite a bit with all the technological advancements being driven by the issue of past pollution. Despite all the negative consequences of the past, the future was looking bright. He smiled as he imagined one day when he would be able to stand out in the rain dancing and look up to see the blue skies and white puffy clouds. For now he was content living his day to day life in the extremely energy efficient way that had become the norm. As all these thoughts were passing through his head an air purifier flew overhead stretching the smile even further across Dalziel’s face.

College Orientation

To everyone who actually reads this blog, it's time for another story. The 1st one in quite a long time.

Dalziel opened his eyes and peered at his unfamiliar surroundings. The blanket covering him was not the same old typical blue drab blanket that had covered him for ten or so years. It was a crisp new multi-colored blanket. The starchy newness had not yet been worn out and the scratchy texture was slightly uncomfortable against his bare skin. Directly above him was the stucco ceiling with a strange smooth patch directly above his head.

He was about to sit up like he did every morning, smack his lips and wake up a little more, but the ceiling was much too low and he was not able to partake in his morning routine. Many of the small mannerisms he had picked up sleeping in the same place every night were no longer applicable. He was in a new place. He was starting new. He was immersed in a place where no body knew his name. He was at college.

Orientation was a very strange deal. A group of 943 high schoolers assembled from mostly New England used to a life of rigorous scheduling and structure were being introduced to one of the most unstructured and lax periods of their life... following a 'very strict' schedule.

The day started with breakfast bright and early at 0730 and running until 0830. Then there was a speech titled "Winning at Life". Unfortunately this was a misleading title as the whole speech was supposed to be about alcohol abuse education. Dalziel being the extremely obedient boy that he was, slept in past breakfast and the whole morning of substance abuse workshops, lectures, and speeches.

The first day of orientation Dalziel mindless and a bit fearfully followed the schedule laid out for him. Then after that day, he realized that nothing was really mandatory and he could pick and choose which events that he wanted to attend. Most of the morning activities were fairly useless, but the afternoon and evening activities were actually quite entertaining.

One particular evening, Dalziel found himself waiting outside the auditorium in a large group of freshmen. All he could hear was loud pulsating music coming from inside of the building, his first thought was, 'Oh great. Really? A dance with 31% females? Awesome...' At first he just internalized all of these thoughts, but then he realized that he was at college orientation. He would be spending the next four years of his life with these people, he might as well utilize his practiced extroversion and try to meet some people. Surprisingly, or perhaps unsurprisingly, everyone around him all uttered their agreements once Dalziel worked up the courage to voice his opinion.

All the while the line was slowly inching its way slowly into the deep, dark chasm with the mysterious pulsating beat. Each person slowly but obediently shuffled in packed like sardines being led to the slaughter. Drifting closer to the unknown opening of the throbbing building, Dalziel felt a sense of anticipation growing inside of him, he slowly walked closer and closer until he was finally in the building.

Once inside Dalziel was greeted with yet another chokepoint, the stairs leading down to the gym floor. He made it down to the gym floor. There he was greeted with the loud cheers of the RAs, CAs, and his other classmates that had already made it down to the floor. They were standing in two lines with a space in between for everyone else to run through and give high fives and scream and yell their little lungs out. Needless to say, with 943 people the whole process took a ridiculously long time and by the time the whole class was done giving high fives, Dalziel's hand felt purely and utterly disgusting. But the activity was not over! Now they were instructed to hold hands with the people next to them and play what Dalziel retrospectively deemed, "Train Wreck". There really was no purpose of this activity as Dalziel saw it. It was just sprinting while holding hands, but of course with 943 people holding hands there's bound to be some safety issues. After sprinting for about 10 seconds the line would come to a stop but the people farther away from the stop would have no idea and it would just end up having the people in the front be smooshed up against the people in front of them exactly like a train wreck.

To make a long story short, because SOMEONE won't finish writing, college is nice. The room mates are pretty chill and we get along nicely. Still have yet to meet multitudes of different people, but hey, It's been just about a week of class now. Or some might say already 1 week of class... only 6 weeks left for the courses I'm taking. Alright finals in 6 weeks let's go!

P.S. A slight inconvenience of blue highlighted text. I apologize if it bothers you as much as it does me.

Shuffle Story #1

Here is what happens when I put my playlist on random and I write a story to the lyrics of what I hear.

 

            Dalziel found himself in the movie theater. He was unsure of how he got there, but it seemed to be a pretty interesting film. There was a protagonist, of course, and he was a striking man. His jaw line was well-defined, his flowing long, blond hair always blew perfectly in the wind, and his blazing blue eyes burned holes into the hearts of women everywhere. Sadly, he was enlisted into the army when he had finally found his true love.

            As he lived his army life, it was pretty uneventful at first. Then, one dark and stormy night, his platoon was playing cards when they suddenly heard explosion outside and screaming. At this point, Dalziel was getting tired for some reason, and he fell asleep. Head resting on his right hand, body slightly tilted to the left but head slanted to the right. With a well-practiced positioning from years of sleeping in high school, Dalziel quickly dozed off.

“Can’t touch this.”

MC Hammer surrounded by hippie-colored flowers hopped into Dalziel’s vision. The strange man continued to float around in his vision until suddenly…

            “STOP! Hammer time!” Hammers slowly rained down from the skies until one hit Dalziel in the face. He awoke with a start and saw that the movie was just about over. The protagonist had just come back home and was reunited with his true love. They were sitting in the shadow of the train kissing passionately. Suddenly, the credits cut and old school 8-bit Mario popped up. He was racing passionately to catch up to Bowser who had taken his precious Princess Peach. After much turtle stomping, Mario defeated the spiky-shelled maniac and broke out into song for Peach.

            “Baby it’s fact, that our love is true. It’s as simple that. My love is true it’s a matter of fact!” But before he could finish his lovely song with clashing cymbals and a crescendo, Peach walked up to him and slapped him viciously across the cheek. Finally the credits came to a close, and the theater lights came back on. Dalziel picked his way through the popcorn bits and spilt soda and made his way to the door. As he made his way out, he suddenly found himself in the middle of a mosh pit. There was a rock band playing, jumping up and down, jerking to the beat of their own music. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw this girl she had bright green eyes and long blonde hair… Then suddenly, Dalziel looked at himself, in his cell phone’s portrait mode. He was not himself. He had long, flowing blond hair that seemed to blow perfectly out behind him in the wind and his blue eyes looked very striking in contrast to his sharp jaw line…

 

Yes, extremely random. But that’s the nature of my playlist. On shuffle.

Now I leave you with a song that may or may not have played while I was writing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N3BjVMWziE

 

Random

I find myself with a new interest in werewolves for reason undisclosed...