the bucket’s origin: a mission statement
Allow me to begin by introducing myself. My name is Lance, and I am an English major at the University of Kentucky. As an English major, I feel obligated to do my best to not butcher this great language, but I often find myself doing exactly that―mainly because I have a nasty habit of writing by ear. I am interested in all sorts of writings spanning every genre that you can imagine, but I am, at the moment, rather far from what I would consider “well-read”. I’m working on that, though. I also enjoy a good video game, a good adult beverage and a good movie―if you can find a way to combine the three, we’ll be friends forever.
Having read a sizable―though not even beginning to approach exhaustive―amount of Wendell Berry’s work this semester, it is near-impossible for me to not be influenced, even in such a small way, by his words. In his essay “The Work of Local Culture,” Berry speaks of a galvanized bucket that hanged, unmoved, for several years on a fencepost that he passed frequently in his daily routine. After such a long period of time, the bucket accumulated various debris; leaves, bird droppings, dead bugs, bits of animal fur, and anything else one might expect to find in an outdoor―non-urban, mind you―setting. Over the course of the years, a singular event took place: Berry noticed that the bucket, making use of all of the bits of the natural world that it had gathered, began creating soil. While this may not be the most astonishing occurrence a human has ever witnessed, it is certainly not one to shrug off as less-than-important. I have envisioned this blog through the lens of knowledge of what took place in that bucket―the forming of a new whole based upon the parts provided by the outside world. For my purposes, the bucket is not constrained to a lonely fencepost on a farm in Kentucky; instead, it is allowed to travel at its own accord, hanging itself wherever it sees fit and picking up whatever debris it finds along the way, so that I may (I hope) use its contents to create a new “soil” for my readers.
As for what this blog will eventually contain, I can’t really say. I suppose that I’ll post whatever strikes me. My mind tends to wander to all sorts of strange places, sometimes with startling frequency. I do intend to post original writings of my own that I find to be among my best work. These writings will come in many forms, but will most commonly be short stories or poetry. I also have intentions of reviewing, in my own way, video games, music and movies that I find to be particularly good or bad. This introduction feels a little stiff, I know, but it covered what needed to be covered. Now no one can ask me, “Bucket? Wat?” or some equally awesome question along similar lines.
I think that it’s time to get into the important stuff, the real stuff. It’s time to move on to my first real post. It’s time… for Mega Man. Stay tuned, or whatever exactly it is that you do to keep track of a blog (stay RSS’d?) for a less-stiff, more-awesome post about everyone’s favorite blue bomber and the impact that he has had on my life and, I’d wager, yours.
he isn’t kidding about his wandering mind. he once connected butter to a unicorn.. it was a long, trying journey and he may never be able to do it again… but he did.
<3 you lance