Jots and Tittles

Saturday is going to rock so much that I think there needs to be a new happy dance. Except that my happy dance will be going to the ball. So I guess the waltz is going to be my official happy dance for the night.

Either way, I know am the proud owner of a top hat, white gloves, and dress shoes with attached spats. And that's only what I bought permanently. What I rented from Wear it Again Sam is quite possibly the coolest thing I've ever worn thus far. It's a grey tuxedo jacket with tails, a somewhat matching tie and vest, and black tuxedo pants. I'm gonna' wear my black tuxedo shirt with it. It's going to look freaking sweet. I realize it's not quite Victorian, but I'm going for Gothic here, so a black shirt seems like it will do. I would go with a walking stick, too, but that seems a bit much, especially since I'll be mostly dancing.

Still, it is gonna' be fun.

DANCE TO THE MUSIC! DANCE TO THE MUSIC!

http://www.stuckstandard.com/2008/05/09/hey-look-an-update/

Right now, I’m finishing up the second of a string of six stories that are, essentially, commissioned pieces. I’m writing stories for other people, rather than myself, in order to force myself to write things I wouldn’t normally write, about character I wouldn’t have created, in tones that I tend to avoid or have no interest in.

It’s a learning experience, but I know I need practice and that I need to learn.

I will likely post them to this site when they’re finished.

I’m also reading Cory Doctorow’s “Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom”. It’s a total trip so far.

And now it’s 3:30 am. I’m fading fast and am all tapped out for pretty words of the sense-making sort.

Meaningless dribble, this update is. (Read Cory Doctorow so that I can talk to you about it.)

...you know what would be awesome? If everything wasn't so complicated. I was going to say "if girls weren't so complicated", but the girl has so far turned out to be the easiest part of this. People and geography and logistics, on the other hand, are really annoying. Haha. I sometimes wonder, when God was putting people together, if He didn't think it would be a laugh to only have me fall for people that it doesn't make sense to be with. "Where should we put all these people?" "Let's put them around T, he doesn't have a chance with any of them..."  ... I'm mostly kidding, but a look back at the last three or four years really does have me saying "wft?" quite a bit.

But this might work out yet, we'll see what the next few weeks hold.

T

...is where I found myself Sunday afternoon. I had to run into walmart to grab a couple of things, and I sat back down in my car before heading home and fell asleep for AN HOUR. Good grief. I must have been tired. Whether or not that explains my generally black mood at youth group I don't know... I was just generally out of it, and the youth groupers' ADD-ness helped a whole lot ;-)

I dunno...I felt a lot of the usual frustrations I have been feeling, but it looks better this morning than it did last night. We'll see what the rest of the week holds.

T

http://www.stuckstandard.com/2008/05/02/i-wanted-to-stab-her-in-the-eye/

As of yesterday, May 1, I’ve set a goal of 1000 words per day, every day.

Part of this is borne out of the sheer, undying hatred I have for my day job, and the fact that I suspect that it has ruined me for day jobs for life. There are also other contributing factors, such as knowing that I just need to practice, I need to write, and the greatness of the Calgary Expo.

At the writer’s panel, which started off the first day of the con, Greg Rucka was telling the story of how he got started in comics, which was that he was a novelist first. But he wrote his first published novel by forcing himself to write 3000 words a day, over 8 hours a day, and he just did it.

So, as I stated in my last post, I’m going to do something about the fact that I’m done with day jobs, that I only want to be a writer, nothing else, and that I need to get going with it. So far, 1500+ words over the course of 2 days (because I spent a good part of today cleaning to make my room more conducive) and I’ll catch up to the full 3000 by tomorrow’s bedtime.

I will post new short stories as I finish them.

http://www.stuckstandard.com/2008/05/01/sometimes-reality-is-lost-in-translation/

Here’s a short piece I’ve been working on for a while. Enjoy!

Linked for those that aren’t allowed to read unpublished works: Translation

http://www.stuckstandard.com/2008/04/29/back-in-the-saddle/

It’s been a very long time since I updated this blog, for a number of reasons. I could make excuses, give reasons, but really it was just that I’ve been rather lazy and out of the mood to post anything. It happens, but I’ve got to fight it.

 I spent this last weekend at the Calgary Comics and Entertainment Expo, staying with my friend Jill Johansen and having a blast in a hive of dorks, geeks and professionals. It was a lot of fun, I spent way too much money on way too much stuff, and I plan on going again next year.

 But even with the luggage full of action figures, trade paperbacks, and awesome sketches, what I really walked away from the con with was ambition for my writing, a new format for my goals, and a renewed and intensified level of loathing for my day job.

This is NOT what I want to be doing with my life, with my time, and more and more, it is eating away at me that I’m 27 and still treading water.

I’m going to do something about it.