The Jake of All Trades

There is a certain thrill, certain excitement when you work with others on something. Art is not generated in a vacuum. It comes from

Collaboration comes in several forms as well. There is the obvious, the “let’s get together and write a story together about Martian broadway performers who fight crime in their spare time.” And then yourself and your friend sit down and start to write. Sometimes you email, sometimes you use markers, always you fight and eat pizza. In the end is something that either you both hate or both love, and if you did a good job perhaps you both still speak to each other.

And your alien squirrel dopplegangers will make music.

The other kind is more of a moral support sorta collaboration. This one goes more like this: “HEY! GET YOUR ASS WRITING YOU LEFT ME HANGING AT THE END OF A CHAPTER AND I HATE YOU.” Or something similar.

Basically you send something to an artist friend and they read it. They send something to you to read as well and then together you write, using the other as a sounding board and a bit of motivation. Because sometimes getting off of our butts is the hardest part.

Have you seen my pen?

This type of collaboration is more important, I think. Working with someone is fun, creating a world/story/character/Metallica album with someone can bring ideas out, or together that might not have before.

But, by simply talking with other writers/artists/friends/doppleganger squirrles, you give yourself a sounding board. Maybe making your main character actually an exiled tomato isn’t the best idea… When we work together it also helps talk through the hard parts, the ones where you write yourself into a hole. Sometimes all you need is a rope. Sometimes you need a helicopter, some repellers, a bottle of Batman repellent spray and a six pack of Guinness (STAT!).

So find someone you trust, give them a story, take one of theirs, get working together.

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As people we can get too attached to objects, to things, based on history, or cost, or sometimes just because it is pretty.

For me, there was this pen.

I already have this thing about ink. I prefer blue ink when I write. I am not sure why or when this happened, some of my oldest notebooks do in fact include the forbidden black ink, but not in years.

Getting attached to a pen, saying things like “this is my WRITING pen” isn’t such a great idea. I would spend more time searching through my desk or pockets or car for a single missing pen rather than write. I would push aside piles of blue pens, for the ONE pen, as if it was the only thing I could use to put down my ideas, as if it was the only thing keeping me from writing.

Meanwhile I am not writing. Whatever was in my head is slowly sliding out, and I am proving, yet again, that I excel at procrastination more than anything else.

Throw it out. If you have one of these pens, throw it out. I left mine in a bar, seemed appropriate. Use cheep pens, nice pens, use your keyboard or hammer and chisel, whatever. Just write.

And yes, I am writing to myself, but you can do it too.

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So I am big on toys. I mean, they are important from the ?wow that makes life easier? so simply ?oooh! shiny!?. Well this new toy is definitely shiny. I got the new Mac Promo package which had some programs in it from organization to iTunes. One of them, this one in fact, is called Mac Journal.

But! I hear you think, this is not Mac Journal! This is a Wordpress blog!! And you would be correct. For you it is. But for me, now, it is a program living on my computer.

Now why, oh why, would this be useful? Well the idea is that if I have somewhere to collect my thoughts, spread stuff out, work on it, save it for later, etc, that I wouldn?t have to ponder so much about entries, and, well, post more.

So this is my first post from my new shiny toy, let?s hope it isn?t the last.

Edit: now here is a question.. what happens if I edit one of these? Let us, you and me, find out together, no?

Tags: software, Apple // Add Comment »

The Day That Shouldn’t Have Come

I heard the new Metallica song on the radio this Friday. The DJ then asked for us to call in with our thoughts, all the while saying how they were “trying to get back to the old Metallica” and various other phrases that lead you to believe this is going to be the one.

You know which ‘one’ I am talking about. The ‘one’ that you have been waiting for since the last note of the black album. The song that shows that Metallica is still awsome.

Well, this song isn’t it.

I listened to it. It starts off strong musically… and then he starts to sing. And seriously, he sounds like Weird Al Yankovic. Only that isn’t fair to Weird Al, because if he was singing it, he’d do a better job.

Then the song continues. Forever it would seem. The begining which sounded like a good build up, never actually builds up, it is the song. Where is the metal, METALlica?? Where is my crunch? my double bass? Near the end you get a hint, a taste, like someone had a beer in your glass before you poured water in it, but you know that isn’t going to do anything but make you want a real one.

So then it happens. The callers start up. The first one sounds like he is younger than my shoes and proceeds to tell us how much this song ‘rocked’. OK fine. The DJ agrees. Next caller, same. Next. Next. The “I’ve been listening to Metallica for 20 years” caller, rocks.

Then the DJ says it. The DJ says it sounds like this song came right off of “In Justice For All.” I am speechless. No, that is a lie, I am cussing up a storm. I grab my phone and proceed, for the first time in YEARS to call a radio station.

This song does NOT sound like it came from “In Justice For All.” That album was art. “Ride The Lightning” practically defined a genre. THIS song was not made by that band. If the Metallica of that era walked on stage while Metallica played “The Day That Never Comes” they would have beaten them off the stage for disgracing their name. The only thing I can think of is that Metallica was replaced by alien doppleganger squirrels. Nothing else makes sense.

I can’t get through to the DJ, which is probably a good thing. Calling him a moron on the air would have probably resulted in my getting a sound byte and mocked incessantly.
Look, the song isn’t awful, but it is not good either. It isn’t Creed, or Limp Bizkit. It just isn’t old-school Metallica either. It is their right to change, to sound however they want. And it is my right to pretend they broke up after Enter Sandman.

Tags: ramblings, music // 1 Comment »

“What do you want to do when you grow up?”

The question was asked to all of us at one point. Where is your direction in life? Where are you going? What is it you want to spend the rest of your life doing?

The rest of my life.

That is a bit of time for one thing, one task, one GOAL. Seems too much for any one thing to take, a burden even Atlas would cringe at.

So perhaps instead of what do I want to do, it should be what do I want to do for now? Now I seem to be doing well as an engineer, part time writer. If I had a say, it would be the other way. Writing every day and consulting as an engineer. One of these days, no?

That being said, I was a web programmer once upon a time. Something I still dabble in, still mingle at parties with. I’d go back there too if it was something interesting. Database programming for corporate websites would not be my ideal.

So what do I want to be when I grow up? Well, since I don’t have plans to grow up, I suppose I have time to figure it out.

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