From Bob to Basil
Memoirs of a
Madman
Welcome to my contributor page, the journey from Bob to Basil. I’m Lord Basil G. Lightfoot III, (a.k.a. Bob Bruce). I am the Editor and founder of Misunderstood Mammal Magazine. I initially created Misunderstood Mammal as a personal blog, but the idea evolved and began to take on a life of its own as mammals tend to do. This is where you’ll find my writing, poetry, rants, reviews, and other bits of madness that flake off of this never-ending stream of consciousness from which I cannot escape. As well as the curated submissions of my likeminded mammalians. I hope you enjoy the musings, criticisms, and cynicisms here which have been crafted with love, anxiety, a heaping spoonful of sarcasm, and just a pinch of insanity.
Lord Basil: Origins
The character sheet describes Lord Basil as a vegan, Hindu-interested atheist, an existential philosopher, and an aspiring author. Front-end web development is a professional interest for Lord Basil. Although, his formal education includes an MBA and a BS in Psychology.
Lord Basil was born out of the ashes from the existential death of Bob Bruce. Bob was born and raised in rural Kentucky, his parents were Baptist Christian Republicans, mostly because that’s what their parents were. He married young and his critical thinking skills became dormant. Bob walked in his father’s footsteps through society, until the path became too muddy.
Turning Point
Firstly, Bob’s marriage began failing, so did his faith. After waking up to the lies of Christianity and Capitalism in his early to mid-twenties, Bob found he’d become lost on an unrecognizable, hostile, and illogical alien planet. Secondly, Bob found that tenets of morality he’d been taught were lies and misconceptions, or just outright denials of reality.
Additionally, Bob met Shayna, a young photographer with mesmerizing hazel eyes. Shayna supported Bob in his growth knowing that he would need to tear himself down to build himself new again. Shayna didn’t love Bob for who she wanted him to be, but for who he wanted to be. She gave Bob permission to grow.
Becoming Basil
The Christian belief system which saturated his perspective began to evaporate. Bob could see the truth. His upbringing had instilled Bob’s psyche with prejudices, fears, and divisions from others that were unnatural; He discovered he only ate animals because he’d been given false justifications for doing so; his purchases and consumerism were literally destroying the planet.
With each realization, Bob became further lost in the senseless chasm of modern-society. He began speaking out and trying to make others see the destruction and madness happening around the world. Ultimately, Bob became an angry atheist, and then an angry vegan, finally he was just angry and the pressure continued to build. Bob couldn’t make others hear the message. Consequently, the pressure became too much for him, he cracked. Bob disappeared into the Summerland where Lord Basil found him and agreed to take control.
Join me on my journey
As a socially conscious person, I’ve found myself scrambling to keep my footing atop the crumbling pillar of society below me; Ultimately, the insanity of this reality consumed Bob, but I will persevere. I’ll be here to provide commentary amidst the gaggle of humans bouncing around as if the daily disasters are normal, not noticing the floor falling out from beneath them. These pages are the result of years of personal introspection and diving deep into my psyche to understand more about myself and the world around me. This page is a portal to my useless endeavors to share my perspective, experiences, dream, fears, and art; and hopefully, through these musings, I can find a way to live in this world.
-Lord Basil G. Lightfoot III