The Now Progression: Zeroed In.

Cavorting with a pair of comrades this evening we briefly discussed the progress of my novel, at which point I mentioned my “Now Updates”. Each of these will be followed by a number, from ’00-’09, providing a balance statement of sorts for that particular year. Those of us who have come up in the Zeroes have witnessed both immense progress and radical decline within a period less than half of most of our lives, technological and economic respectively. I can see the almost baroquely designed picture upon the cassette to Michael Jackson’s “Dangerous” vividly in my mind and remember the spilled mess of pasta upon the tape to “The Spaghetti Incident” from Guns’n’mfn’Roses well. Superman II and The Empire Strikes Back were VHS tapes watched so often as a small child I wore them out entirely, horizontal lines and gravel all that remains. “All Eyes on Me” from 2-Pac was the first CD I listened to in my personal CD Player, and afterwards pieced together a rap-library by borrowing and burning my friends music onto writable CD’s upon my custom-built and home-delivered Dell computer. That is, until at a speed of 56K I downloaded whatever music was necessary through first Napster, then Limewire and Bittorrent, until broadband and license certification swept in across the wireless networks used to jack my Vaio lap-top into the Net.

“Down for Whatever” by Ice Cube was the first song ever purchased legitimately upon iTunes, and I can assure you, given particular prerequisites, I most righteously am. My shelves filled with the new technology of DVD’s from across the globe, amassed through online purchases, as I wrecked Mario 3 with a raccoon-tail in 8 bits, stepped it up as Ken in Super Street Fighter at 16, double that and on to Tony Hawk II as I played Playstations and X-boxes, going full circle and stepping up to the next level as HD and Blu-Ray came into play. Ecstacy came and rolled off into the shadows. Marijuana is rapidly being decriminalized while tobacco is publicly demonized and same-sex marriage is banned after having been voted in to such progressive states as California, indicative of the contemporary conservative backlash, but a majority of that demographic is aging, and the tides are turning in our favor.

This is the last year of the Zeroes people, the progress that is made in the eternal and historic Now is all that matters. An acquaintance told me of a recurring dream she has, in which she’s hiding, trapped, within the musty walls of a great concrete building not unlike an elementary school amongst likewise distraught strangers, seeking refuge from a firefight outside between parties she neither knows nor cares to, hoping only to maintain safety within the uncomfortable, unfriendly environment. This is not the way to live and to think in such a way is tomfoolery, as it is a mandate of life to step outside, check out the scenario, pick a side or maybe create one, and start busting shots. One may only hit a target if they first have one, and my sights are on point.