I (Don't) Play Rocky...

Dear Juliet

Maybe I'm being a bit self-indulgent, but I just saw the trailer for I Play Rocky and it gave rise to a few mushy thoughts...

Back in the days of Dear Miss Landau, it did seem like I was washed-up. I'd taken the literary beating of all time about Macnab in 2009 and, creatively exhausted, I shelved it.

Then, for a bit of fun, I thought I'd write a short story about a certain character in Buffy. It was maybe a bit like suddenly getting a shot at the title. Hollywood royalty and one of the greatest IPs in the world.

It takes a while for heavyweights to hit peak form, and I had no idea that grinding away chiefly on Macnab for twelve or thirteen years had beaten my neural networks into top shape.

As Dear Miss Landau and New Scientist explained:

“It seems you have to put in at least a decade of focused work to master something and bring greatness within reach ... both the number and strength of the nerve connections associated with a memory or skill increase in proportion to how often and how emphatically the lesson is repeated. So focused study and practice literally build the neural networks of expertise.”

So I peaked, and out came Roses.

And I went back into the boxing gym, too. The Kelvin on the Southside. Trying to take myself back to the way I'd been before, at least in part.

I got myself in halfway decent shape, although my ankle nearly went out at one point.

If it had, none of this would ever have happened.

And I made the crossing, and it was like going the distance:

"Of all things, a line from Rocky IV kept going through my head as I waited for departure:

'Mighty long way to go, baby!'

Rocky’s trainer was advising him he was in for a long, bruising fight against Ivan Drago, that the fight was probably going to go the distance. I only had a long distance to travel, but I felt a bit like an aging heavyweight boxer trudging into a lengthy contest."

(Dear Miss Landau)

Thing is, people usually think Rocky is a boxing movie. I'd say it's a love story with boxing at its core.

Because Rocky couldn't have done it without Adrian, and I couldn't have done it without you.

You and Adrian even look a bit alike.

You were worth it. You were worth going the distance for.

That's it for today.

Love,

James






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