The City's Lights: Introduction

If you've paid any amount of attention to this blog, then you'll know of my fanatical-obsessive love of the show Clannad. As a matter of fact, I love Clannad so much that was originally why I started blogging! So I went and started up my own Clannad-based blog. That blog, The School's Trees, very quickly turned into something I was genuinely proud of. Which is why, when it was done, I ended it. As an artist, I knew that thing was done and needed stay that way. So I did the only thing I thought would actually do the blog any credit. Now, granted, I've made a few posts on The Kitchen Sink that are a continuation of The School's Trees, but that blog ended a year ago. It's done.

So why am I starting another Clannad-related series of blog posts and reflections? Well, beyond the obvious nostalgia in covering Clannad, there are a few good reasons. First is that The School's Trees was a blog that I let be derailed by my own need for catharsis. The Week of Tears (where I covered all the key emotional scenes in Clannad in a single week) was not something I had in mind at the beginning of the show. I wanted the blog to be a bit more objective, but realized it was something I needed to write about. Other people needed to know what had happened, so I wrote about it. But that one thing derailed most of what I had in mind for my portion of the blog. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm glad I did it! I don't regret writing about my experiences with the last half of After Story in the least. But at the beginning of that blog I had made a goal: prove Clannad was a Catholic/Orthodox work. I don't think I did that. Oh, sure, I made a case for it at the end of the blog, but I don't think that was really the best job I could have done. So I'm going to try again.

The second reason is, again, a matter of pride: I don't think I did a very good job writing down my thoughts. When I re-read The School's Trees I saw how convoluted and jumbled it was, and that if people followed me at all it was probably in spite of myself. Disagree if you will. I'm not going to change my mind. I think I could do a better job.

The third reason? Well, it's more of a variation on the other two reasons, but different enough. I have something a bit different to say this time around, so I want to say it.

The reason for the name change is simple: it fits the theme of what I'm going to cover. Clannad is about approaching life together. It's about community and family. I can't think of a better way than calling it The City's Lights (OK, I suppose I could call it The Big Dango Family, but that's been done already!).

So buckle up, people. This is gonna get interesting... (hopefully not in the Firefly sense, but with Clannad you can never tell...)