Limitless

Two weeks ago I was inspired to dig out my pile of old writing and get to work on cleaning up that mess and finishing some projects. Ultimately there were more than a few things that inspired me to tackle such a large project but one of them was a new idea for a story.

Let me back up a minute and explain how dorky I can be sometimes. About once a week I hit up a website called Science which has a bunch of science news. For me it is a great way to unwind and it is also an interesting read. You can usually find me sitting on the futon reading their site on any lazy Saturday or Sunday.

So a few weeks back I was reading Science when I came across an article about drugs that help you remember. You see there are currently drugs that can help you remember what you are learning and there are drugs that can erase your memory. Until recently there hasn't been a drug to help you remember something you learned a long time ago. According to the article (which I can't find right now) a group of neuroscientists isolated a single enzyme in the brain that can help long-term memories remain vivid and clear. Using rats the neuroscientists found that increasing the enzyme can help the animals recall old memories. Lowering the levels caused the rats to forget old memories quickly. Now assuming this works just as well in humans this could be a very big breakthrough for age related memory loss.

So an idea started to form in my head about someone taking this pill and remembering old memories once forgotten. Maybe they remember some terrible conspiracy they were a part of and a fabulous thriller can unfold. That was the idea that got me to write again.

So last night Jacque took me to see the movie Limitless. In a nutshell, the movie is about a down and out writer who begins to take a drug that allows him to use 100 percent of his brain. He uses his new abilities to focus his attention on becoming the perfect version of himself. Eventually some bad guys come around and I don't want to ruin the movie for you but I liked it and you should check it out.

My only problem with Limitless is the fact that it was pretty close in tone to the story I was about to start writing. Not that they were the same story but it is one of those moments where you see something and it feels like someone beat you to the punch. Now this won't stop me from writing my story but it did take the wind out of my sails a bit. Now if only Hollywood could beat me to the punch on that Zombie Western or LARPing movie we would be all set.