IN THE REALMS OF THE UNREAL

Feckless(FP): Here we are again, for another season of Los Rhodomontados.

Oddvark(OC): What do you mean another season? We don't have seasons, we write year around.

FP: I know, I'm just using my imagination to explain why we haven't posted in so long.

OC: We haven't posted in so long because we have been too busy trying to make a living.

FP: Oh yeah. But I didn't want to admit to such a banal reason for not posting.

OC: Let's tell our readers about our most recent cinema discovery.

FP: Oddvark and I recently viewed In the Realms of the Unreal, the story of Henry Darger, a reclusive writer, illustrator and painter.

OC: Yes, Darger was a recluse like Feckless and I, only he was about a million times more imaginative than we are and a million times more talented. In addition to an autobiography, Darger wrote and illustrated a 15,000 page fantasy novel.

FP: The book is about a long war of rebellion between seven angelic sisters and a male dominated society that enslaves children. The sisters enlist allies that join their war and rebellion on moral grounds. Darger was a devout Roman Catholic and spent many years working as a janitor in a Catholic school in Chicago. He lived in a small room of a boarding house for most of his adult life. He was very poor.

OC: That's another thing we have in common. We are also very poor.

FP: Not as poor as Darger. He could barely aford to feed himself.

OC: What do you mean not as poor? I live in a storage unit.

FP: You're right, we are as poor, I just don't like admitting it. However, you wouldn't be so poor if you didn't drink so much.

OC: If I didn't drink so much, I couldn't go on living. So, in my case, alcohol is medicinal because it keeps me going.

FP: I see, just like Darger's fantasy world kept him going.

OC: Yes, something like that. When he was no longer able to write, draw and paint freely his health went down hill quickly. He lost the will to live.

FP: That's right! Pass the bottle.