Talking about Authors of the Past | The Modern Hidalgo

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Dumas, Hugo, Rizal, Asimov, Clarke, Bradbury, etc.
THE MODERN HIDALGO: Entry_003
Written: Friday. July 5, 2019.

Today’s journal entry is written at my friend Kurt’s house. I’m having a bit of a hard time focusing on trying to write right now because my attention is divided on conversing with my friend, and typing down whatever it is that pops in my head.

I guess I’m just gonna start it off again by giving a random word. I’m gonna keep this up until we've reached the 26th day. To which, on the next day, I’ll repeat the cycle of the alphabet. Hopefully I don’t run out of fine words to share. The Dictionary hasn't failed me on that part, so far, at least.

The word of the day is Clout.
  • the power to influence or control situations.
  • a hit especially with the hand.
Clout is Power.
Clout is a word I used on the previous entry. It’s a word most used right now in the Youtube Community. I don’t know why though. I’m not so sure about the story behind it or the problems that are happening around famous Youtubers. But I do know that they’re having some fight over fame, and some egoistic stuff, that I just really have no time to spend caring about.

Clout is Power. Power over inferior individuals by those who think they are superior. I guess that’s all I have to say about that word. Moving on.

I’m here at my friend’s house because we’re prepping for a shoot tomorrow morning. So I’m probably not gonna be able to post tomorrow, cause shoots normally last the whole day. But I’ll try typing on my phone every time we get a quick break from shooting scenes. So it’s gonna be like a live-but-not-so-live take on writing a daily journal. Because I mostly write at the end of the day. That’s what I did for the first two entries. And that’s what I’m doing right now. So the fourth would consist of quick anecdotes of what’s going on in real time.

That should be fun.

Today sort of became a cheat day for me. I didn't do most of the tasks I do everyday (like exercise, morning walk, transcribe, etc). But I did finish reading Glory Lane (Look it up. It’s been three journal entries, what have you been doing?) The book’s okay, I guess. If you’re somebody who’s a fan of sci-fi flicks from the eighties, Glory Lane’s your kind of book. But if you’re someone who’s looking for Asimov/Clarke/Bradbury grade sci-fi, you’re looking at the wrong direction. This book’s not for you. This book is tissue paper compared to those legends. That’s not to say the book is bad. It’s just…okay. Not on par with the Greats.

So I have that done, and now I’m at my last book for the 2019 Reading Challenge. This year’s goal is about 12 books. I've already read 11 so far. And it’s only July.
I’m already set to read “The Three Musketeers” by Alexandre Dumas.
The reason for picking up the classic tale is a very long and complex story on its own. But the gist of it is because Dumas is a great influence to Jose Rizal’s writing. Especially when it came to Dumas’ novel “The Count of Monte Cristo”, which was Rizal’s basis for his two novels, “Noli Me Tangere” and “El Filibusterismo”.

Jim Caviezel as Edmond Dantes

Not that Rizal copied Dumas’. But he was just heavily influenced by the Monte Cristo story. Most people would even go so far as saying that Edmond Dantes was the basis for Crisostomo Ibarra. But on that, we would never know for sure. We just have to appreciate both works of these two brilliant authors.

So yeah. That’s what I’ll be getting myself into on Monday. Cause I’ll be out of the house until Sunday. And I’ll probably have a minute ounce of energy once I get back home. So I’ll probably get back into the spring of things by Monday. Yeah, Monday for sure.

It’s a thick book. An ambitious one, I hope. Before I left the house, I took a few minutes and opened up ‘Three Musketeers’ and browsed through it’s first pages.

I have the Collins Classics version, which I think is the one that’s unabridged, and not the one with the solo d’Artagnan book cover. The Collins Classics version costs way less than most copies. So I was for sure gonna pick that one instead of a copy that’s, one: Abridged. And two: costs more.

Although I’m not so sure if the Collins Classics version is actually unabridged since it doesn't actually indicate what type of version it is. But the book is 800+ pages long. So it’s gotta be unabridged, right?

For those who are not aware of what unabridged and abridged means, the former is the complete version, the latter is the incomplete and shortened version.
Unabridged = Complete
Abridged = Incomplete or Edited or Shortened.
You’re Welcome.

So as I’m reading through it, I find out that Alexandre Dumas and Victor Hugo were contemporaries. Meaning they knew each other the way you would your close friends. Hugo wrote Les Miserables, a novel I was not interested in. But that was before finding out that Dumas and Hugo knew each other. Now, I’m probably gonna read Les Miserables in the future.

Also, I can’t find a copy of “The Man in the Iron Mask” and the mid-sequel to the Three Musketeers. Collins Classics has a version of it. But I've never seen a physical copy of it ever before. I might have, but I also might have skipped it since I probably wasn't interested in it back then.

If I find a copy one day, I’ll for sure update you guys. And maybe you guys could help me out as well. If you know where to find a copy of the two sequels to “Three Musketeers”, let me know. Message me, or leave a comment. Whatever works for you.

Or email me at elmohidalgo@gmail.com.

Anyway, I guess that’s it for this journal entry. I feel like this one’s all over the place when it comes to structure, cause my attention is really divided right now. I can’t function well. I’m sorry for that. Hopefully the next entries are better.
Am I gonna talk about an idea or am I gonna immortalize a moment that just happened?
I’m still figuring out the right flow of how this Daily Journal is gonna be. I haven’t talked about my major projects yet. I’m getting to that. I’m just finding the right time to do so. Maybe when it’s a slow day and nothing worth telling has happened within the day, that I would then tell my major projects.

It’s just that most days, especially since I've started this daily journal, everyday has offered a good story to tell. And my mind works like this: am I gonna talk about an idea or am I gonna immortalize a moment that just happened? Because ideas can wait. Ideas are cheap. Moments are delicate. They’re rich in quality. I don’t wanna forget a good moment.
Do you?
See you on the next entry.

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