Schedule Kept... Time for a Nap

Towards the end of 2009 I inadvertently got re-involved with the development of a few aspiring writers. It was, quite honestly, an accident... mostly to help friends out or people who have recognizable talent but seemingly no direction. I, for one, hate to see wasted talent and always help a friend when I can.

I also became increasingly annoyed with "aspiring" writers who seem to do anything but write. For those who haven't figured it out yet, the profession of writing (creative, technical, what have you) requires output. In that sense, it is no different than any other.

When confronting these "writers," I always got the expected responses: "I'm too busy," "I'm not motivated," "I'm not inspired," and (the worst of all) "I have writer's block." So I set out to prove, in a sense, that all of that was bullshit. The result: a disciplined schedule requiring myself to write something every day and posting it as proof.

Yes, many things were written in a rush (I was too busy), many were written when I were rather doing something else (I wasn't motivated), many were written when I didn't feel like writing (I wasn't inspired), and many were written in violent defiance of a blank page (I had "writer's block"). A great deal of what I put up was and is crap, and will never see the light of a publishing day outside of this blog. But, some of what I wrote this past year is workable material (and, surprisingly, already published) and there are at least a dozen stories that an editor or producer would like to get his or her hands on.

Was this past year's experiment easy? Oh, Hell, no. But writing is not an easy thing to do, even for the so-called naturals. Did I prove my point? I would say yes. Many would say no, I suspect, but I'm fairly certain those who would are the very people I point my finger at.

At any rate: schedule kept; mission accomplished. I did it for a year and could continue on, but I have other things to do (like my real job). It's time for these aspiring "writers" to own up and, well, write no matter what. As for me, I'm not a writer... so, I'm done.

In short, this:

Sundays: Touché, Cliché

Mondays: ranting and raving

Tuesdays: creative writing

Wednesdays: ranting and raving

Thursdays: creative writing

Fridays: usually nothing

Saturdays: Irrewinds and indices

is now replaced by this:

Whenever: whatever

Happy New Year! And write anyway!

***

In other news, as mentioned in my Extracurricular Endeavors rant, Panoramic Mindscapes will be launched 24 hours from this posting. Thanks for the support.

Here's to You, 2010

Just rambling off some thanks and stuff.

• Adam - for the spur-of-the-moment inspiration to buy airfare to Australia (also need to thank American Express Travel for that one... wow, what an awesome service).
• Adam G. - for putting me on the lists to watch movies at the AMPAS theaters... even though I never show up.
• Andy and Nicole - for letting me crash in Dallas... and the copious rounds of ammunition.
• Carrie - for the So You Think You Can Dance gig.
• Dan and Kaity - for the furniture... even though I had to drive Laurel Canyon overloaded... twice.
• Dan and Zoe - for the extended-stay.
• Dasan - for the emergency assistance... even though it didn't work. Can we say Worst. Bank. Ever?
• Erik and Kurt - for letting me crash in Vegas... twice.
• Gerard - for reminding me to check the AAD on the parachute. That could've been an oopsie.
• Helen - for the cookbook, a gorgeous daughter, and just being awesome.
• Helen, Katelyn, Pete, Terry - for having patience.
• Ivan - for the HBO gig.
• J and Brea - for hanging on to my shit longer than you had to.
• Jessica - for the boxes of Goody's and BC's. I'm pretty sure you broke some laws shipping that much medication.
• Jonathan (among others) - for the Amazing Race gig... and the line on the guest house.
• Johnny O. - for introducing me to Hugo's Tacos.
• Jordan - for the emergency assistance... remind me not to pay bills from a mobile phone while on a bumpy road.
• Jose - for the Albuquerque offer.
• Kay and Sagremor - for clearing out the rats... but those fucking squirrels are getting out of hand.
• Krys - for agreeing to take 10thDoM off of my hands.
• The Parents
• Pete - for finally pulling your weight as a game designer.
• Sono - for the extended stay, even though I want to kill you for abandoning my dogs.
• Starbuck - for being disturbingly loyal. Who'd have known?
• Steve - for predicting, in 2004, exactly where I'd be living in 2010... right down to the intersection.
• Studio City - for putting an awesome park at the end of my street.
• Terry - for the best appliance I've ever owned: my coffee grinder. And the offer to take the dogs.
• Tom and Helen - for some kick-ass collaborations.
• Tori - for the Birmingham offer.

I'm sure I forgot people. Feel free to berate me for doing so.

Chase the Day

Ah, shit yeah... Or "shichya," as it's more phonetically spelled. It's a saying I picked up from an Australian friend of mine and, truth be told, people around my neck of the woods often wonder why the Hell I'm saying it. I don't really know the technical reasons behind why I say it, but I use it for the same reason I use anything: it works.

My closest friends know what a fucking roller coaster I've been on since early 2006. Really, long before that, when I went from having more money than I needed to having almost none at all. Lots of factors played into that - some external, others self-inflicted - but, damn... you learn who your friends are when you're that close to rock-bottom. And I've got the best of the best. It took everyone I know to help sift through four years of utter confusion. Everyone I know and then some, for I'd be remiss in not mentioning the kindness of many strangers. Through it all, I've found that my enemies are insignificant and easily ignored. In fact, I wish them all the very best in life. As long as they don't cross my path again, of course.

I don't know if the Sufi or the Jews coined the term, but "This, too, shall pass," is about as certain as death and taxes. Oh, I've touted it, but I know it now. Some things take a little longer; need a little more patience; require a little more effort, but they'll pass. Tomorrow's coming whether you want it to or not. How fucking wonderful is that?

I've not yet returned to the physical shape I was in back in 2007 - arguably the best shape of my life - but I'm almost there. There's even an added bonus this time. In 2007, my left foot wasn't being properly rehabilitated. It is now... and I can almost taste the mountain air and the deep ocean water I'll be able to expose myself to again. It's been far too long. Someone I admire once said that if you stop moving, you might as well be dead. Yeah... totally. Never mind that moving too fast can kill you, as well. Been there, done that... I'm still here. At least speed is exhilarating.

It's been an eight-year journey to get to where I'm at. Eight insane years. Outside of maybe 1989 - a year that's value in my life has only recently become truly realized - and 2000 - a year I wasn't yet mature enough to deal with - 2002 through 2010 marked the biggest changes in my outlook, my perspectives, my beliefs. Everything I thought I knew up to that point was effectively proven wrong amid a rapid-fire succession of change. Locations, loves, schools, careers, you name it. No stability whatsoever. Just a pretty convincing facade of it. No, that's not entirely true... I was stubbornly resisting change in some fucked up desire to win a conflict I had no business fighting.

Taking chances - something I'd long been accustomed to - suddenly seemed foolish. Instead of rolling with the punches, I tried to hold on to some ill-conceived plan of world domination. It almost fucking killed me - figuratively and literally. But, after 2006, that all slowly started to reverse itself. Four years down, as it were, and four years up.

That's not to say this resurgence was of my own making. Not entirely and, I'll probably have to admit at one point or another, not even primarily. There were plenty of well-placed slaps and kicks in the ass that got me back to where I needed to be... where I should've been the whole time. Slaps and kicks from both friend and foe at the most unexpected - and opportune - of times. Face it, people... those around you know you better than you know yourself. And when strangers figure you out before you yourself do... it's just all the more profound.

So I started taking chances again, albeit in the wrong direction. But, hey, I'm not perfect. And, besides, that first wrong-way chance got my career kick-started. I knew something was wrong, though. I knew I was in the wrong place and for all the wrong reasons. At least I knew, though... which is more than I can say about all of the previous fuck-ups.

And then came 2009. The year I let the career go down the drain. Not sure what I was thinking, but I'm betting it had something to do with my physical location. I was, literally, in a place I did not want to be. But that summer was pretty awesome. Again, the right people - friend and stranger - at the right time. And I got off my ass and took a leap.

Then another. And another.

Now, I'm almost running again. It feels great. The wind is blowing the bullshit out of my hair. That can't happen sitting around. 2011's looking good. I'm sure that everything I think I know will effectively be proven wrong amid a rapid-fire succession of change. But this time, that's the point.

Next April I'm reengaging my quest to visit every country in the world, beginning with a month in Australia. I've always been a creature of momentum, ever since I left the roost at 17. That I got stuck is beside the point. I ain't stuck now. There are some things I want that are elsewhere in the world, and I'm going to go see if I can have them. Carpe diem? Nah...

It's a saying I've used a lot, but its is a false premise; a false promise and a false hope. We are incapable of seizing any day, never mind any other moment in time. But we can, however, chase it. And, as another saying goes, the chase is where all the fun is. C'est la vie.

I'm coming. Shichya.

***

* It's all about the moment, the here and now, and perhaps a little about what comes next. * Go out on a limb once in a while... somebody's there for you, you know. * Having no direction isn't necessarily being lost, though being lost is a prerequisite for finding your way. * The world is moving faster than you ever will, and will move longer than you can possibly be remembered. * a stubborn refusal to accept an overwhelming sense of embarrassment or shame prevents any acknowledgment of such defining moments of life. * The more beautiful it is, the better to kill you with. * The days when a mirror was just another toy are long gone. Reflections no longer reflective, the face staring back just another enemy, allied with the onslaught of time. * A lie is a weight the wind will not carry. * It's remembered how it wants to be. The chase, the trap, an act of foolish bravery or cautious abandon to feel what couldn't be said. * Tomorrow, sunrise will begin the chase again. * Are you going to do something, or are you going to watch it burn? * No worries. The sunrise will greet you in the morning. Whether or not it lights the way home is another matter entirely. * You'll know when the clock is right, for motion and thought will blur into one. And when it does, don't hesitate. * There's a scream of triumph as youthful lust streaks through cloud, finally knowing what it means to fly. * Why you’re smiling as the world starts tumbling finally makes sense. It’s too late to stop, and you didn’t want to, anyway. * If it's going to happen, there's no need to worry about it. * Life's picking up speed, and people you don't want to leave behind are going to be left behind. * The world is a large place until you've seen it all. And when that happens, you can just make up another. * Maybe that's why so many people choose to live in the desert... the grass isn't greener on the other side, because there's only tumbleweed. * Whoever made the mistake of attributing Red to love never understood what it meant to be angry. * Mirages are a good thing to follow, however, when you think about it. They do have a tendency to keep you moving. * Precipitation on the precipice, flowing down the path of least resistance while wondering what it would be like to be a flake of snow. * This is not a summit's peak, but a cliff's edge, and the difference is unimportant. Get up. If you're going to fall, do it here, do it now. There's still air beneath you. *

Procrastination II: More Adventures Before a Deadline

There's work to be done this week, and a lot of it. Wait, forgive me, that's how I began the last "Adventures Before a Deadline." Pardon me for a few moments while I consider the implications of plagiarizing oneself. Wait, forgive me, you're reading this all at once and won't notice the delay.

Forget I mentioned it.

Truth be told, this entire year's been a procrastination. No, seriously, practically all of 2010. Yeah, there was the occasional gig that required me to physically show up somewhere and work (which, this year, happened to typically be in Las Vegas, which isn't exactly conducive to working hard), but for the most part everything's been a work at home deal (which isn't exactly conducive to working hard).

Met a lot of cool people this year... both via the virtual world and via the real world (what a hazy line that's become, eh?). Some are people who were already writing when I met them, many of whom should pursue publishing (and some who should not). Some are people who I - cough, cough - "strong-armed" (as they'd put it, no doubt) into giving creative writing a shot (surprise, surprise - or not - they're actually good!). Other than that, though, everyone I've met has been a bastard.

Okay, not really, but I'm going for symmetry here. Because, well, looking for symmetry is keeping me from my work, which is what this is all about.

So how else has 2010 been a procrastination? Well, I'll tell you. I've been "trying" to get to my current location for a long time. I left a previous location in October of 2009... and got all of 80 or 90 miles to a friend's house. At which point two of my dogs ran away for five days and screwed up my entire schedule. And instead of getting immediately back on track, I stayed put until March of 2010 (which is when things got a bit... tenuous). From March until July of 2010 I let myself get a tad too comfortable in yet another location that was not my intended location.

Until, finally, I got here. Not that any of that will make sense to anyone (well, it will to a handful, but probably not to you).

I'd have been here earlier, mind you, but a dust-up with a landlord and a delay in work material screwed up my entire schedule. At least no runaway dogs were involved (although a runaway cat almost played a hand).

So here I am, once again rushing before a submission deadline for publication. I thoroughly enjoyed the research portion, but am now caught in the mire of actually producing what my contract dictates I produce. It's not helping that there are a couple of people I prefer wasting my time with (not that I consider them wastes of time... far to the contrary, in fact). Then again, I've given away all of my televisions, brought none of my video games with me, and have temporarily given up any semblance of a nightlife (to and including a substantial personal life).

One would think there'd be nothing to procrastinate with, eh? Ah, Hell no! There's Facebook!

Hang on... time for a status update. "JeffScape is a lazy bastard."

Yeah, that seems to fit at the moment.

Hello, 2010

It's the New Year and I've a question to ask of it.

2010, are you gonna suck? Because if you are, I'd rather just keep living 2009. Actually, I'd rather keep living 1987, but at least the San Diego Chargers are a good team now. Anyway, please don't suck... I'm gonna be too busy to deal with too much adversity. Leave that shit to 2006, if you don't mind. Thanks in advance!

Let's see... resolutions for 2010... quit smoking, get published (not counting the three pieces in January, since those were commissioned and sold in 2009), and... no, that's about it. Same as every year.

Calendar Musings

Why do seven calendar months have 31 days, but February only has 28? Why not cut a day each from July and August and give February an equal shake? Sure, the knuckle trick won't work anymore, but we're long past honoring Roman Caesars.

Besides, those two bastard Romans are the reasons that September, October, November, and December aren't the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth months of the year, as their prefixes clearly imply. So how about that? Let's ditch July and August completely and go back to ten months in a year! Five months with 36 days and five with 37! No? Too much?

How come the calendar year isn't tied in to the solstices and the equinoxes (is that the plural of equinox?)? Why not make the winter solstice fall on January 1 and the summer solstice fall on July 1? Is it too much to ask for civilization to have some logic?

Can we please, PLEASE get rid of Daylight Savings Time?

There's a lot of hubbub concerning when the new decade starts. Some claim that today is the first day of the new decade; others claim that January 1, 2011 is the first day of the new decade. Well, to be technical, every January 1st is the first day of a new decade, depending on how you're counting your years... but, for the sake of argument: if you're counting cardinal decades, then 2011 is the correct starting year (and is the first year of the 202nd decade). If you're talking about the colloquially accepted "2010s," then, duh, of course it's 2010.

The same thing goes for centuries. The 21st century didn't start until January 1, 2001. But, again, the "2000s" started in... you can figure it out. Millennia  follow the same rule set.

Anyway, Happy New Year. Hope it becomes a Happy Old Year.