Below is an e-mail exchange between the author of this blog and the author’s friend, whose first name happens to be “Socrates”. It nicely summarizes the purpose of this blog and the underlying work from which much of this blog’s material is taken:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Jan 20, 2012, at 7:50 PM, ______ < <_____@gmail.com>
>>>>> ______@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> I do not normally do this, but there is a new musician named Johnny
>>>>> Scuffles whom I discovered and who seems interesting. He has a blog,
>>>>> though
>>>>> it's not completely functional. For some reason he's huge in
>>>>> Almaty and
>>>>> Gdańsk. Apparently he's got some appeal for Kazakhs and Eastern
>>>>> Bloc hipsters who know of him.
>>>>>
>>>>> The link is:
>>>>> <http://johnnyscuffles.blogspot.com><http://johnnyscuffles.blogspot.com
>>>>>>
>>>>> johnnyscuffles.blogspot.com
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Jan 20, 2012, at 7:50 PM, ______ < <_____@gmail.com>
>>>>> ______@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> I do not normally do this, but there is a new musician named Johnny
>>>>> Scuffles whom I discovered and who seems interesting. He has a blog,
>>>>> though
>>>>> it's not completely functional. For some reason he's huge in
>>>>> Almaty and
>>>>> Gdańsk. Apparently he's got some appeal for Kazakhs and Eastern
>>>>> Bloc hipsters who know of him.
>>>>>
>>>>> The link is:
>>>>> <http://johnnyscuffles.blogspot.com><http://johnnyscuffles.blogspot.com
>>>>>>
>>>>> johnnyscuffles.blogspot.com
>>>>> On Jan 20, 2012, at 8:27 PM, Socrates <______@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> Stfu!!!!
>>>>> Stfu!!!!
>>>> On Sat, Jan 21, 2012 at 12:19 PM, ______
>>>> <______@gmail.com> wrote:>>>>> Haha...I have another, too:
>>>>>
>>>>> Werehuahua.blogspot.com
>>>>>
>>>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>> On 1/21/12, socrates <______@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> you are hilarious. love that johnny scuffles still exists.
>>>> you are hilarious. love that johnny scuffles still exists.
>> On Jan 21, 2012, at 7:43 PM, _____ wrote:
>>
>>> S____!! I quoted your e-mail directly below and then responded with a
>>> Socratic Dialogue...have some patience, because this may be the best
>>> of all possible e-mail exchanges if an e-mail exchange were used to
>>> introduce the central theme of my novel...that's why I copied ____,
>>> ___, and ____: because I thought they would find it hilarious:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 1/21/12, socrates <____@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> you are hilarious. love that johnny scuffles still exists.
>>>
>>> Still exists? But Socrates, you must be using the Socratic Method!
>>>
>>> Johnny Scuffles is the central character within my novel [which I MUST
>>> finish no later than June 24, 2012, as I refuse to turn 30 without
>>> having finished: I will go so far as to stop all of time if I must!],
>>> *Scuffles and the Stained Strumpet*. The novel, of course, is a
>>> fiction, but Scuffles is a fictional rock star within the "fictional
>>> reality" of my novel. He is [to be, or not to be?] a rock star wholly
>>> invented by the central characters [fictional, of course, but very
>>> real within my fiction], but he takes on a life of his own, a real
>>> life, within the fictional universe.
>>>
>>> So...I see where you were going with your comment: "love that johnny
>>> scuffles still exists"! Great Socrates, what you have given me is a
>>> simplified Socratic Dialogue:
>>>
>>> Socrates: "Does Johnny Scuffles still exist?"
>>>
>>> Disciple: "Johnny Scuffles never existed. I invented Morgan,
>>> Brooklyn Gordon, Cornelius Coldwater IV, and Valkyn Kyrll, who then
>>> invented Johnny Scuffles as a fictional rock star who never really
>>> lived. They published his fictional biography and his lyrics, but
>>> there was never any music and never a live Johnny Scuffles, even
>>> though their ruse tricked the world."
>>>
>>> Socrates: "People all over the world sang his songs, always in the
>>> same melody, and Scufflemania became a global craze, and Morgan had to
>>> kill 'Johnny Scuffles the Idea' in order to become 'Morgan the
>>> Person', before later being recognized as the Mayan god Ah Tupp Kabal
>>> in a Guatemalan fishing village where he spent the rest of life. Did
>>> Morgan ever exist?"
>>>
>>> Disciple: "Yes, Morgan existed, but only in the novel."
>>>
>>> Socrates: "Does Morgan exist within the fiction, even though he,
>>> himself, is a fiction?"
>>>
>>> Disciple: "Within the fiction, yes, I suppose he can exist."
>>>
>>> Socrates: "For so long as the words exists, does Morgan still exist?"
>>>
>>> Disciple: "Yes, for so long as the words exist, Morgan still
>>> exists."
>>>
>>> Socrates: "For so long as the words which created Morgan still exist,
>>> do Morgan's words create Johnny Scuffles?"
>>>
>>> Disciple Chris: "Morgan's words, the words which created Johnny
>>> Scuffles, for so long as they exist, those words create Johnny
>>> Scuffles."
>>>
>>> Socrates: "Do those words still exist?"
>>>
>>> Disciple: "Yes."
>>>
>>> Socrates: "Does Johnny Scuffles still exist?"
>>>
>>> Disciple: "Yes, Johnny Scuffles still exists."
>>>
>>> Socrates: "Did you finish the novel?"
>>>
>>> Disciple: "No, not yet."
>>>
>>> Socrates: "So finish the fucking novel already! You've been talking
>>> about it for 10 years and now you're blogging about it? FINISH THE
>>> FUCKING NOVEL!"
>>>
>>> Disciple: "I will, oh wise pedagogue!"
>>>
>>> xoxo
>>> Chris
>>>
>>> PS: if I redact our last names and e-mail addresses, can I post this
>>> e-mail exchange on my blog????
>>
>>> S____!! I quoted your e-mail directly below and then responded with a
>>> Socratic Dialogue...have some patience, because this may be the best
>>> of all possible e-mail exchanges if an e-mail exchange were used to
>>> introduce the central theme of my novel...that's why I copied ____,
>>> ___, and ____: because I thought they would find it hilarious:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 1/21/12, socrates <____@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> you are hilarious. love that johnny scuffles still exists.
>>>
>>> Still exists? But Socrates, you must be using the Socratic Method!
>>>
>>> Johnny Scuffles is the central character within my novel [which I MUST
>>> finish no later than June 24, 2012, as I refuse to turn 30 without
>>> having finished: I will go so far as to stop all of time if I must!],
>>> *Scuffles and the Stained Strumpet*. The novel, of course, is a
>>> fiction, but Scuffles is a fictional rock star within the "fictional
>>> reality" of my novel. He is [to be, or not to be?] a rock star wholly
>>> invented by the central characters [fictional, of course, but very
>>> real within my fiction], but he takes on a life of his own, a real
>>> life, within the fictional universe.
>>>
>>> So...I see where you were going with your comment: "love that johnny
>>> scuffles still exists"! Great Socrates, what you have given me is a
>>> simplified Socratic Dialogue:
>>>
>>> Socrates: "Does Johnny Scuffles still exist?"
>>>
>>> Disciple: "Johnny Scuffles never existed. I invented Morgan,
>>> Brooklyn Gordon, Cornelius Coldwater IV, and Valkyn Kyrll, who then
>>> invented Johnny Scuffles as a fictional rock star who never really
>>> lived. They published his fictional biography and his lyrics, but
>>> there was never any music and never a live Johnny Scuffles, even
>>> though their ruse tricked the world."
>>>
>>> Socrates: "People all over the world sang his songs, always in the
>>> same melody, and Scufflemania became a global craze, and Morgan had to
>>> kill 'Johnny Scuffles the Idea' in order to become 'Morgan the
>>> Person', before later being recognized as the Mayan god Ah Tupp Kabal
>>> in a Guatemalan fishing village where he spent the rest of life. Did
>>> Morgan ever exist?"
>>>
>>> Disciple: "Yes, Morgan existed, but only in the novel."
>>>
>>> Socrates: "Does Morgan exist within the fiction, even though he,
>>> himself, is a fiction?"
>>>
>>> Disciple: "Within the fiction, yes, I suppose he can exist."
>>>
>>> Socrates: "For so long as the words exists, does Morgan still exist?"
>>>
>>> Disciple: "Yes, for so long as the words exist, Morgan still
>>> exists."
>>>
>>> Socrates: "For so long as the words which created Morgan still exist,
>>> do Morgan's words create Johnny Scuffles?"
>>>
>>> Disciple Chris: "Morgan's words, the words which created Johnny
>>> Scuffles, for so long as they exist, those words create Johnny
>>> Scuffles."
>>>
>>> Socrates: "Do those words still exist?"
>>>
>>> Disciple: "Yes."
>>>
>>> Socrates: "Does Johnny Scuffles still exist?"
>>>
>>> Disciple: "Yes, Johnny Scuffles still exists."
>>>
>>> Socrates: "Did you finish the novel?"
>>>
>>> Disciple: "No, not yet."
>>>
>>> Socrates: "So finish the fucking novel already! You've been talking
>>> about it for 10 years and now you're blogging about it? FINISH THE
>>> FUCKING NOVEL!"
>>>
>>> Disciple: "I will, oh wise pedagogue!"
>>>
>>> xoxo
>>> Chris
>>>
>>> PS: if I redact our last names and e-mail addresses, can I post this
>>> e-mail exchange on my blog????
> On 1/21/12, E____ <e@____.com.> wrote:
>> ....is writing the novel a fiction?
>>
On Jan 21, 2012, at 9:24 PM, ____ <______@gmail.com> wrote:
> Everything is a fiction, remember? No...writing the novel probably
> was a fiction before I realized how miserable my life would be without
> writing. I do "lawyering" and I bleed fiction. I guess a lot of
> lawyers bleed bullshit (no offense,_____), but not many people bleed
> for fiction, so maybe that's what I mean.
>
> “If I could stick my pen in my heart, and spill [blood and ink] all
> over the stage, would it satisfy ya? Would it slide on by ya? Would
> you think the boy is strange? Ain't he strange?”
>
> --from "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But I like It)" by the Rolling Stones
>
>> ....is writing the novel a fiction?
>>
On Jan 21, 2012, at 9:24 PM, ____ <______@gmail.com> wrote:
> Everything is a fiction, remember? No...writing the novel probably
> was a fiction before I realized how miserable my life would be without
> writing. I do "lawyering" and I bleed fiction. I guess a lot of
> lawyers bleed bullshit (no offense,_____), but not many people bleed
> for fiction, so maybe that's what I mean.
>
> “If I could stick my pen in my heart, and spill [blood and ink] all
> over the stage, would it satisfy ya? Would it slide on by ya? Would
> you think the boy is strange? Ain't he strange?”
>
> --from "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But I like It)" by the Rolling Stones
>
If Socrates, the person, acknowledges that his predecessor, Socrates, was not only a reality but also a fiction, wouldn't it be fair for Socrates, the person, to acknowledge the inherent right of Johnny scuffles (aka Ah Tupp Kabal) to exist not only as a reality but also a fiction within or outside of a novel?
Ps: you may take that as my approval to redact names and post this conversation to your blog about the fictitious reality of novel subjects
Ps: you may take that as my approval to redact names and post this conversation to your blog about the fictitious reality of novel subjects
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