Navel Gazing – Page 12

Couldn’t Have Said It Better, Myself

The writer me is mono-syllabic, doesn’t care if his beard grows down to his ankles, scribbles notes on little bits of paper, takes long walks in the woods mumbling to himself, maps out character positions in rooms and notes where the light is coming from, doesn’t answer the phone, and isn’t fond of talking to people.

Comments off for this one, I think.

I Dunno…

I want to buy this, but would it feel right to me? I’ll have to think about this a bit more.

Yes, you have to finish what you start and send it out if you want to get anywhere in this business. But you don’t have to finish everything that you start. Everybody has unfinished projects. I personally have hundreds. Literally, I was just looking through my unfinished story files.

Despite the Tweet, I made the Sign of the Cross and sent out my first story in months. The summer was just so crazy, what with cramming for the GRE and having to quickly formulate and reformulate my grad school aspirations about twelve or so times. I had to cram in the editing time I could. I think I’ve lost count of just how many stories I have in the trunk to revise–three or four. Well, at least I got one down.

I seriously forgot how hard it is to just let a piece go. I had to make myself do it! Just like that first swim in the summertime when you’re a kid, and you’re dreading how cold that water is, no matter how many times you’ve already jumped into the damn pool. Finally, your only options are to walk away or just say “Fuck it…”

Kmart Magical Realism

This term, literally, popped into my head the other day. I Googled this and found that Lisa Zeidner, from Washington Post Book World, had used it in a blurb for story collection The Jew of Home Depot by Max Apple.

I know nothing about Apple or Zeidner, but the term intrigues seems to fit the stuff I’m working on.

Eh, or not…

Admishuns FAIL!

$fail-owned-pwned-pictures$
see more pwn and owned pictures

This sort of shenanigans is why grad school is going to get put off for another year. And when I say, “put off,” I really mean, “put back on my original time-table.” So, the plan is to brush up on some math courses (mostly paid for on the company’s dime) and, if things look good, I should be in. Should be. It’s a gamble–I was never, ever promised a spot in the program of my choice. But as far as gambles go, I think I’ve got a better-than-even shot.

The upside is, of course, I’ve got another year free to write!

June Scorecard

Um, there is no June Scorecard. I’d spent the month studying for the GRE and finally underwent the ordeal yesterday.

I guess I need to update the Trading Card in the menu bar–I know what program I want to go for next.

Anyway, the program I want to apply for** at the local Big Red school on the Hill doesn’t state their minimum GRE requirements. My scores can only be described in one word: Meh. But I know from my Intarweb research of other programs that my scores are more than good enough.

On the other hand, I’m still waiting to see my latest story go live. Why don’t you keep an eye out and read what’s already there while you’re waiting. You won’t regret it!

**There’s a story here, but I’m not gonna tell it until certain things become definite.

Chapter XXXV

The best birthday presents a writer can get, and I got them both today: a new 600-page leather journal from the wife and a contract for the story I mentioned a little while back.

And it’s not even 9:00 AM yet.

I’m waiting on some non-writerly news as well, though it could impact my writing. You’ll know when I (and my wife, and several of my friends) know.

###

Edited to add: Sent the contract back and I gots the money!

Russert Was One Thing

…now this?

Comedian George Carlin, a counter-culture hero famed for his routines about drugs, dirty words and the demise of humanity, died of heart failure at a Los Angeles-area hospital on Sunday. He was 71.

Some Catching Up

Happenings on the “life outside writing/blogging/anything artistic” front have been flying. News on those if/when things germinate. For now, here’re some things I’ve been meaning to post for the past month…

1
Now what am I supposed to watch on Sunday mornings?

2
[Michael] Chabon defends mass entertainment against the accusation that it is merely a formulaic product. At times it is; yet commercial culture’s focus on deadlines and profits can also act as a “quickening force” on an artist’s imagination. He demonstrates this with discerning essays on Arthur Conan Doyle, Will Eisner and Howard Chaykin, all of whom, like Chabon himself, attained the ultimate goal of the “pop artisan”: a delicate balance between “the unashamedly commercial and the purely aesthetic”. He disagrees with those who equate literary entertainment with mindless escapism, passive consumption or unproductive activity (“guilty pleasures” is “a phrase I loathe”). Instead, he finds that different forms of writing offer distinct satisfactions to an alert reader.

3
It’ll probably still be a while before you can neurointerface directly with the internet or your friends and lovers, but psychologists are testing implantable brain ‘pacemakers’ that regulate brain activity and so far appear really useful for treating the most stubborn forms of depression.

But we can dream, can’t we?

4
Some people may think that a monk is somewhat reclusive — kind of isolated, in a bubble, meditating all day. But it’s quite the opposite. I’m on the computer, e-mailing. I’m driving, using cell phones and using Facebook. I have my own Web site.

Maybe becoming a monk isn’t so bad after all.

Home Alone

I saw The Wife off this morning on her trip to Boston to visit family. So now I’m home alone, looking at all the little things around the apartment crying out to be done: dishes, the cluttered living room, my inbox, my tickler files, the book I’m close to done with. i.e. anything other than finishing the damn story I’m working on right now.

“Take a break,” you might say. “Enjoy the sun! Have a cookout!” Already did those things, though, in small bits and pieces. But you’re right, let’s take a moment on Memorial Day to remember…

All right, I feel motivated now.

Category: Navel Gazing