Category: Writing

  • Purpose of Being

    I guess the positive thinking thing worked. I have an interview next week, and it is a relief just to have that. As I stated before in the earlier post, I was beginning to get worried that there was something wrong with me. I’m not sure if this is the job for me, or even if I will be offered a job, but I’m glad that I have been scheduled for the interview, and let’s be honest, if they offer me a job, I will be taking it.

    Okay, so, what have I learned from this month of getting constant and consistent rejection?

    Besides that it sucks…

    I do need to feel productive and help contribute to my family. Right now, that feels like I have to have a job and bring money in. But I started to have a thought; what if I didn’t have to work? Such as, what if my wife brought in enough money that it wasn’t required for me to have an income?

    We have already been in the situation where she earned more money than me, and that didn’t threaten me in any way. I am confident that her earning all the money wouldn’t be an issue.

    I think that this situation would manifest itself into my need to have a purpose. As long as I had that, a goal, then I would be okay. If I was the house husband, supporting her career, and looking after the kid, while still having the time to write, that I would be okay with.

    Not that we’re are in that situation.

    I just need to get a job, and I am one step closer.

    And things don’t look so bad anymore…

  • It’s the Debt, Stupid

    I like reading David Brooks. Today, I read his opinion piece about how it’s not about the economy anymore. That things seems to be going well with the economy; stock market is up, GDP is up, growth is booming… but somehow no one is happy. He points out the many ills in society right now, especially the report that showed that American life expectancy has decreased due to suicide and drug overdose. He draws his own conclusion on what we should do, but my gut tells me that what he prescribes is just old thinking for new problems; as he put it, policy makers will need to “…figure out how economic levers can have moral, communal and sociological effect.”

    So… Jobs won’t solve these problems, but jobs will solve the problem?

    I have heard that before. Polices have been made around that idea, and yet here we are. A job without dignity, both moral and economic, creates more problems than it solves.

    The thing is that if you don’t earn much money and if you get a minuscule raise, though statistically a significant increase, you still don’t have shit. And if shit keeps increasing in price, you never get ahead.

    Why do people under forty spend more money on “experiences” rather than homes, retirement, or even a savings account? Because that’s all they can afford.

    A dollar value-based society, whose capital is not easily accessed by any economic levels except the top, creates a debt culture, and in the end, will start to eat its tail to survive.

  • Roots of My Humor

    As I was writing in my journal this morning, I asked myself the question; when did I find a certain thing funny? When did I start looking at funny things as an art, and not a reaction to a situation that involuntarily made me laugh?

    The first thought that came to mind was Monty Python’s Philosophers’ Football Match sketch.

    I remember first seeing it when I was about 10 or so, on PBS. One of my older brothers was watching Monty Python on a Saturday night, and I happened to still be up and watched it with him. Just about all of it went over my head, and I couldn’t figure out why my brother found this funny at all. Then the Philosophers’ sketch came on. What I remember finding humorous about it was that ancient Greeks were playing football against Germans. The silly nonsense of it struck me as funny.

    Jump ahead a few years to high school, and I take a Humanities class, which was basically an intro to world philosophy. We learn about the ancient Greeks, the early Christians theologians, Renaissance thinkers, the Age of Enlightenment, all the way to modern existentialists. Arty/farty me just ate that stuff up. I was, in my mind, a brilliant high school artist, and all this philosophy stuff was exactly what someone like me needed to become… an artist?

    About this same time, the Comedy Channel debuts, and they happen to show Monty Python. As all nerdy boys will attest, you have to watch Monty Python; it a rite of passage. So, as I watched, the Philosophers’ sketch came on, which I remembered watching with my brother… And then I really watch it.

    It was a lightbulb moment for me.

    Funny could be really smart, and you should never talk down to your audience.

    It seems silly now, but for 17-year-old me, it was like learning that, yes, you can do this; you can be smart and funny at the same time, they are not mutually exclusive.

    As I write this, it also taught me another valuable lesson, they funniest people are usually the smartest as well.

  • The Beatles (The White Album) Super Deluxe Edition

    I listened to the 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition of The White Album yesterday and today. I have been waiting for this to come out for some time, as I am a super Beatles fan. Over all, I am very happy with what they put out in this edition.

    My first impression is that the remixing of the original album is great. The music on this mix is much sharper, clearer, and also, they pulled forward sounds that had been lost in the background due to the use of a four track in the initial recording.

    The other treasure is the Esher Demos on the third disk, which were recordings made at George Harrison’s house of the songs that John, Paul and George had been working on for the new album. Some of these tracks had been released on the Anthology Three way back in the 90’s, but on this edition, 27 tracks were included. In these demos, we are given an amazing insight to the first drafts of some of these songs; some songs evolved, while others were pretty much complete and ready to go.

    The final three disks are outtakes from the studio, a few jams, and instrumental tracks. It is interesting to get a glimpse of the building of these songs, but in this presentation of this material, a false reality is created. These outtakes leave one feeling that The Beatles were having a great time recording in the studio, when the reality was quite different.

    Of the 30 original songs on The White Album, only 16 tracks had all four playing on them. The real sessions had arguments, and walk outs, and lots and lots of tension that would start the process of the band’s eventual breakup. I know the recording exists, as I have heard stories about it, and I wanted to hear the tape where John calls Paul a “fucking idiot,” because they were a band that was making great music while they didn’t like each other. That is an amazing accomplishment as well, and I want to hear how they did that, but that is not what is being presented. What we have is a celebration of a great album, and not a historical document.

  • To Do List

    After I took the kid to school, this morning, I hit on the idea that I should just make a list of everything that I want to accomplish today, and that way I will see that I got something done.

    It’s just a mind trick, but it is an affective one.

    Of the 10 things that I had on my list, I only have two left to go, and writing is one of the two, so I am checking that one off as we speak.

    Another item on the list was to start looking up freelance writing work, and I did find some listings. All of them want a list of published work, and writing samples. Well… as of this minute I have only one web-publish review of a “D” horror movie, and plenty of samples! I know that I just have to put myself out there and see what happens. When I read up on starting a freelance writing career, all the books suggest that one should focus on what they want to write about, and go after that. My problem is that I sort of want to explore everything.

    But I think everyone says that when it comes to career advice.

    And I often wonder about people who follow that advice. Do they actually know what they want to focus on, or do they pick one thing and go with it, no matter what?

    My gut tells me people pick something and go with it.

    I would like to stay open to things.

    Let’s see how long I can stick to it.