281. Jonathan Crane

I am one year old today. Stlll too young to make my presence known, but soon, very soon I will bring honor to the name and work of my mentor--and earn my own new name and work the respect they deserve.

There is no escaping the fact that this has been a year of setbacks. Declaring oneself the master of fear is one thing. Raising the funds to carry out a widespread campaign of terror is another. At the moment I struggle to make ends meet, eking out a living in the lowliest corners of academia. I am an adjunct at a community college: oh, the ignomy! My ideas are simply too radical for the psychological establishment, it has been made clear to me time and time again. I could hardly care less what they think. Dr. Tanhoger, the chairman of my advisory committee, is the one man who understood my true genius, and look what they did to him. Moreover, without him around, mine has been a lonely pathi indeed. But no matter. No point in dwelling on the past. It is the future that matters.

And that future belongs to ...

The Scarecrow.

280. Gustavus

I have walked through the valley of the Shadow.
I have tasted the fruit of the tree of knowledge.
I have been to the bottom of the ocean and now I am heading back to the surface for air.

My eyes have been opened.
My purpose is clear once again.
They will call me a madman because they fear what they do not understand.
I will make them see the light

by whatever means it takes.