Brian Cook's, "The Age of Miracles".
MGoJen has resurfaced this amazing piece. While going through a life-changing decision, MGoJen relied on "The Age of Miracles" to offer some clarity. While I hope you find what you are looking for and ultimately, your heart is what you should follow, you have brought back into my conscience this piece.
"The Age of Miracles" (http://mgoblog.com/content/age-miracles) to this day, is strikingly poignant. This piece, as it was published in my own post college malaise, struck me to my core. While I still sit in a post-college semi malaise, it still holds true, and likely will throughout my life. I just can't get over how well-written and how all-encompassing that piece was.
I apologize if using a new thread for this annoys any of you, but I wanted to say again to Brian, Bravo man. Bravo. Read it again, if you haven't recently of course.
No problem using another thread for this - of course, I don't make up the rules.
No problem at all. The Age of Miracles should be read and re-read, and then read again.
Does it explain how magnets work?
+ > < -
+ < > +
- > < +
- < > -
)) <> ((
fofofofofofofofofo
/movie ref. no one will get
Is that the "back and forth?"
At first I thought you'd posted the Konami Code.
I can't wait until I read this article again in five years when we're back on top where we belong. We'll remember these days as the ones that forged us as true fans, and writings as such that kept us going.
Exactly, I can't wait until we're back where we belong, and I read the final two paragraphs, and smile an infinite smile.
"What you build will be yours. Few in the great history of his university have had that opportunity. Everything came based on what came before. They were part of a great chain, now broken.
Those of you who stay will forge a new one, starting today. When we are done we will fix the last link to the broken chain, and break the first link, and tell those who come after us to live up to it."
I like Brian's style of writing. Now that that nascent blog thing is doing much better maybe it's time to think again about the great american novel. I know I would read it. Make sure you include the Ninjas
Reminds me of Tony Bourdain's "No Reservations" program. There is a similar cadence to the text.
As awesome as a novel by Brian would be, I'm worried he'd probably have to take months off from writing the blog to focus on it.
I COULD NOT HANDLE THAT WHAT THE HELL WOULD I DO WITH MYSELF HEAD ASPLODE
he could do it in the offseason
All the rest of us should have no problem providing fresh, interesting, and informative content in his absence, just like we've done this offseason!
Uh, on second thought . . . .
Negative, I still need my dose of Unverified Voracity every day, even when there's next to nothing to talk about
We don't get UV every day.
i had the same sort of career trajectory.. except i'm still in engineering. maybe outlook tragectory is more accurate.
Age of Miracles is repeated at least once a week by me... to myself. I am 27 and I have a job which I was not trained nor educated to do. I work with data, not people. I never travel. I work to live and sometimes it feels as though I live to work. Sometimes it is bleak. This piece reminds me that I am not alone. I am glad others see it as valuable as I do. Biff, you are quite talented and congrats on doing what you love and sharing it with us.
I'd been lurking for almost a year when I read that post. I had to register an account to say how great it was.
I'll never forget when I first read it. I was in my office, constantly refreshing MGoBlog to see what Brian would have to say about the OSU game. My friends and I were making the trip to Columbus for the first time the next day and I wondered what anyone could possibly say about the game. Of course Brian knew exactly what to say.
It had been a difficult year for me personally and sports-wise, and that post completely spoke to me. I instantly burst out crying (it takes a lot to make me cry and I don't cry very often) and just read and re-read the post all afternoon. I printed it out that day and hung it up in my office.
For me and most of my friends, the post college hangover montra was "things didn't turnout the way we had planned, but they turned out OK".
but damn, good column Brian.
Once you write that book, I'm buying it. You could write a book called "Brian from MGoBlog wrote a shitty book with nothing good in it" and I'd still buy it.
GREAT idea. Brian, you need to write a book cause I'm buying it too.
i was hoping this was some sort of MGoRolePlaying Game or line of Fantasy Novels.
oh God, i am a loser.
I remember reading this post when Brian first posted it and thought it perfectly embodied the malaise everyone feels when you graduate college and for the first time in your life have to "deal" with the rest of the world, with all of its imperfections and potholes. Even now, sitting in an office doing something I am only tangentally interested in and trying to see how I'll support a family doing this for the rest of my life, you need pieces like this from Brian to just keep pushing on, to be happy you have something and to use it as a building block.
Great work by Brian.
I don't remember reading it. Will have to check it out.
It was on my office wall until the day I left to return to school, and oddly, I finished my 1L year today. It is something worth reading for all time, and why I keep coming back here.
That is really well written and I think it is so relevant. Good work.
There needs to be a sort of place where all of Brian's best articles are saved. Even on this site. Sometimes I just want to go back and read the best ones.
Unless there's already one of those. Then I feel stupid.
Also, I'd just like everyone to know that as I was on MGoBoard, I was listening to the song "Golden Age" by TV on the Radio and realized, for the first time ever, that they're saying "age of miracles" in the song's chorus. Spooky.