Uggggghhhhhhhhh

Good news: my artist continues to rock on levels I scarcely imagined being associated with. Also, the movie script I'm working on is coming along very well - in the process of getting the scene breakdowns ready, I've solved some problems my little siblings created, and I should be ready to start scripting very soon.

Bad news: work is to the point where I'm sore all the time, and I'm exhausted. Oy.

I got word that at least three good friends have had to break up with their partners recently, so it's been a stressful time for all of us. With some, at least, we can share pain over drinks before long, which will be cheerful I hope.

Ahhh, June

I'm currently sitting in my boss's chair at her desk trying to track everything I am working on and wish I were working on and what I don't need to be working on and I realize a couple of assistants could be very handy at such a task. A couple other points that spring to mid are 1) coffee should not take the place of actual food, no matter how tasty it is, 2) Zero Punctuation is a hilariously aggressive review site that'll amuse whether you play video games or not but can affect the way you speak or write in potentially disastrous ways, especially if you've been drinking a lot of coffee.

The temptation to write about my negative feelings is unusually strong these past fews days, and given that this is the internet, it seems the proper forum, but screw that. Having a rough time isn't in itself very interesting, especially if you quote alternative song lyrics to make your case. There's a fine line between feeling down due to recent happenings and feeling down because it's too much trouble to pull yourself back up. As anyone with a basic understanding of narrative structure will tell you, any problem is just half a story until there's resolution, and even if that resolution is "and then the dog died," at least there's the pleasure of that particular problem being over and done with. So I'm going to take a cue from proper storytelling and applying it to my blog: no pointless bitching without some sweet ending to tie the thing together, like the rug from "The Big Lebowski."

You might have seen one of the many pictures or articles featuring Lady GaGa. I saw her on the cover of Rolling Stone a while back and proceeded to exclaim "What the shit?!" The article implied that we shouldn't think of her as a pop singer because she has some musical aptitude and isn't another cute person with someone surgically melded with a mixing board in the background. I have listened to an album by Lady GaGa, and I can comfortably say I'm done seeing her everywhere. I'm happy you pop dance club music lovers have someone you can listen to that's not hyper-filtered and remixed, but sadly this girl still can't think of anything more interesting to sing about other than how nice it is to be pretty and rich. I don't have anything against people that are either pretty or rich, but when all you do is self-aggrandize it reeks of psychological incest/ masturbation and I for one will not stand idly by and help you act either out.

Sorry, just had to get that out real fast. The outline for the movie script is very solid, getting to the point where I'm going to have no choice but actually start scripting soon. I'm reading "In the Land of Invented Languages" by Akira Okrent (probably spelled wrong) which is giving me some keen insights into the novel I plan on writing, and between that and the graphic novel I'm writing some random scenes that I may not use anywhere, but it feels better to have them out of my brain.

Anyway, I should get back to the day job.

And Then There Are Weekends

Edgar Allen Poe would have loved my Friday after work. The dog dug up a dead raccoon. What's worse is that he had to have done this a day or so ago, nothing else could explain that smell, or his recent eating and crapping habits. Matt (my brother) and I put what was left of it in a garbage bag, put that in another garbage bag, and are going to put it with the trash this week. It's communal faith that will keep other animals from tearing into the bag - faith or the universe recognizing that we will not give it a third burial.

I talked with Kwee on the phone Friday also, with helped balance the day out. He seems very excited to work on a comic that will be published, sounds interested in the story, and showed me some of his more recent work. We talked about artists that we liked, some ways not to write a comic script, and what we're doing when we're not aspiring to be the next great artists in the world.

Today I helped my father and brother get an old broken refrigerator out of the basement. This is one of those fridges made from metal that could store your household adventurer through large explosions, and the basement was not made for tall people (I'm 5' 10" and the runt of the three of us). It came up to a twisted ankle, a wrenched shoulder, assorted bruises and pinches and a few near-crushings between the three of us, but we got it out there, and if heavy trash pick-up isn't this week I'm a gonna cut somebodah.

Everything's an Effort

So I'm going back to the gym early mornings. I can't do a whole lot, seeing as I have maybe an hour to work with between the time the gym opens and the time I have to be at work, so I swim. It's a good way to get a balanced workout fast, and I personally love swimming, even if I'm not a very strong swimmer. Problem is I haven't worked out regularly in something like two months, and I seem to be developing insomnia, so between it all I think I'm too tired to feel the pain I'm probably in.

My mother's birthday was yesterday, and everyone seemed to have a really good time. It was a quiet little thing, dinner and cake, and she loved it.

the script for the thing I'm not comfortable talking about is coming along. For all the potential impact it could maybe have on my career, it's not a serious project, and I think that's helping me stay motivated - it means I can throw what I want in there and not worry. This kind of story is very friendly to my brand of crazy as it is, so hopefully I can pull something off.

Losing Yourself is coming together. The web address is bought, will be speaking on the phone with the artist for the first time hopefully tonight, and some of the more bureaucratic details are coming together. I wonder if this is what's causing my sleep problems - I told myself I was prepared mentally for the reality of publishing my own work, but actually being here's a very different thing. I do wish my subconscious would get used to the idea soon, because I truly am exhausted.

You don't believe me? Well, I'm going to stop blogging and start sleeping, you just see if I don't!!

It's Not You, Blog... It's Me

So this once-a-day deal isn't working out that great, is it? I'm trying to keep the pressure on myself so that I update at least almost-daily, but I don't know if I'll be able to put in 30 updates this month. We'll just see.

Yesterday I had an accidentally productive day. I emailed a lawyer to make sure he was going to work for me, I reset my iPod to work with my desktop, I went to the gym (more later), helped Mom and Dad in the yard, and cleaned my room a bit. If I'm going to not go out in public much, I might as well get crap done.

Saturday's visit to Evan went awesomely! They've made incredible strides with the back yard, their cat is huge and shy, and my baby brother has developed truly mad skills with a grill. Evan's installation in Milan seemed to go pretty well, Erin's job is working out, and they have plenty of opportunities to spy on the neighbors. It seems great, I'm happy for them.

Running Til I Pass Out

I spent yesterday working on parts of the script for one project, waiting for a lawyer to contact me, and in the evening playing Rock Band with Tim and his closest friends. I felt young.

Just a quick update today, I'm spending the day with the family traveling to and from Chicago. May the traffic gods watch over us and smile!

For My Next Trick

I'm going to blog about nanomachines!

Nanomachines are small like brain cells. Brain cells hurt because they argue, and arguing hurts my ears. Ears of corn are delicious, and one time they told Nero Wolfe who the murderer was. Nero Wolfe doesn't listen to vegetables very often, maybe that's why he's rich.

Rich foods can be delicious like fudge, or overwhelming like a meteor. Why is it one meteor kills the planet and makes people go "AAUUGHHGHG," but a whole shower of them is pretty and makes people go "ahhhhh?" Isn't it nice when we can say one little word and mean everything we want? That's why swearing's fun. Another thing that's fun is backgammon, butI haven't played in forever.

Four could be the loneliest number if it wanted to. It's one lonely number that happens to be with three other lonely numbers, and someone said you're never lonlier than when you're in a crowd. It might have been the guy that sold breath mints, but I don't know why he'd do that, except that he thought people felt lonely due to bad breath anxieties. I don't like mint, it feels like I'm setting fire to my mouth, only it's cold, but I have to brush my teeth anyway. I like my fires hot, it's kind of how I know they're fires. Fire's another thing that makes people go "ahhh" or "ARHRHGHGHGH" depending on the details.

The tails are connected to the butt.