Why 'Twang'

New things. New ideas. New pair of Chucks.

I've recently discovered that if you throw things into the wind things come back. So here I am throwing my oranges into the desert from the window of my car.

Most of the people who step in here first will know the title and why it sticks with me. But here is a bit of the history:

Science Fiction author, genius, cat-lover and crazy-person Philip K. Dick wrote a novel called Valis that dealt very directly with the 'divine invasions' he experienced. It explores the nature of perception and reality and madness. Early, there is this:
"That's when Fat began to go nuts. At the time he didn't know it, but he had been drawn into an unspeakable psychological game. There was no way out. Gloria Knudson had wrecked him, her friend, along with her own brain. Probably she had wrecked six or seven other people, all friends who loved her, along the way, with similar phone conversations. She had undoubtedly destroyed her mother and father as well. Fat heard in her rational tone the harp of nihilism, the twang of the void. He was not dealing with a person; he had a reflex-arc thing at the other end of the phone line."

Up beat, huh?

The phrase "twang of the void" has lingered with me for years and I constantly adopted it for my little "projects."

Special shout out goes to Lily T., Matt S. and Allan K. for the short screenplay under that title. I almost went with What I Did on My Summer Vacation as the title here but it would only make sense to the four of us. Still cracks me up when I picture that title card though.

For me, that twang is something that I know is out there and so want to avoid. But it has also become changed in my mind. It is the scream in the darkness that assures you that you ARE here. The key is that as long as there is a 'twang,' there is no 'void.'

So let's all laugh.