Ten Stories From 100 in 1 is my first book. The stories look at life and relationships. Examples include a relationship which can be like a soda machine that refuses to give you what you want or your money back. It can frustrate to the point you forget why you came. And, some people go through relationships like television channels. They constantly change channels. Zoroaster said that we could never know God, but we could fathom the characteristics of God through the intellect. Paul Ricoeur said that truth could only be found in play, and Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche said that truth is illusion which we chose to forget is an illusion. For me, life is the three statements. Through intellectual play we create truths that are illusions which we forget are illusions. I marvel at the universe and I am amazed by the brilliance of man. Yet that same universe can seem cruel, and the same person that seems to be genius can be a total idiot outside of a particular discipline. Lovis Corinth had a stroke and his work became distorted from brain damage. The distorted work was seen as genius. Was he genius or did society create the genius? Facts are based on some level of belief. In grammar school I came across the paradox of the arrow. Mathematically the arrow can never hit the target. Even the logical and concrete are flawed. Two things are important to me, relationships and creativity. Relationships being the most important and gives meaning to my life. The second being creativity, which is what keeps me semi-sane. I think I know myself, but do I? How many times have I asked myself why I did or said something? I have done many things incongruent with how I see myself. What I see in the mirror is a two dimensional reflection filtered by expectations. The more concise our understanding, the greater the entropy. All these thoughts are what define me and the stories. I have always had to create. Whether or not it is good is for someone else to decide. and, as many people know, the observer changes behavior and outcome. Writing always comes from experience. This experience could be direct or indirect, and writing requires some source of worldly influence if it is to have any coherence, including what has been lived in books which the author has read. We each live a story differently. Sex, politics and religion are contested topics. I learned in the art world it almost didn't matter what was presented. Opinions would vary and carry a range of emotions and thoughts. When writing I frequently try to write from the perspective of an opposing character. To prove a point I once displayed, under an alias, an empty and broken Styrofoam cup as part of a group exhibition (think Marcel Duchamp, "Fountain" 1917). The comments "ranged from "this is a high school mentality, terrible, and must be a joke" to, this was "the only well thought out and worthwhile piece of art in the exhibition," because it was a statement about the environment and waste of man. What it was . . ., was a Styrofoam cup nailed to the wall. I tried many styles, but in the end, I can only write from the head and heart. I have to forget the current Zeitgeist, and just write what I think and feel. Yet, as Georg Hegel said, "No man can surpass his own time, for the spirit of his time is also his own spirit." Writing is a form of play, and unlike the young child of Piaget, rules can be and are broken. I set out to write each day with the goal of finishing one hundred stories in a year. I guess the term story is a misnomer. Perhaps, they would be better called moments, thoughts, or pieces. It is a stream of consciousness in writing. It is an attempt to communicate and understand who I am, and who I am not. "I" is not a static word. I wanted to share ten of the first forty thoughts. I hope they have something for you. If not . . . it couldn't be helped.
About the Author: Stephen Martin Gang was born August 21, 1948. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and spent his high-school "Hippy" years hanging around Greenwich Village in the company of musicians, writers and artists. His dream was to become an artist and he studied art at Windham College in Putney, Vermont. He completed a master's degree at FAU in Boca Raton, Florida. The Graduate School in New York was attended for post graduate study in Clinical Psychology. The majority of his life he lived as a gallery owner, owning galleries in Vermont, Philadelphia, New York, and Budapest. He sailed, and part time taught sailing. Writing and painting never stopped throughout his life. He published articles on art, as well as, writing for his personal enjoyment. He also wrote a column for a small Philadelphia publication, and wrote for aNYthing magazine, which was a magazine that he created. Most all of his work has been lost. For a short time, after closing the New York gallery; he worked as a Charter Captain, Delivery Captain, and Sailing Instructor in the Virgin Islands. For the past several years he has been living in San Juan, Puerto Rico, writing, and reading at open readings, while also continuing to occasionally paint. During the past five years he has been involved with Poetry Out Loud as a judge and mentor. He is presently divorced. His first wife was a short marriage, and he had a son with her, Damon. His second wife, he was with for twenty seven years, and had a daughter, Alexandra. He feels fortunate to have two wonderful children. His life revolves around love, creativity, and trying to understand being. He claims the most important thing in life is relationships: To love and be loved. This is his first published book, and he hopes to have many more. . . life and creativity willing.