I know that this heading title is not exactly a news update about me.
Many years ago, I wrote some articles for a website that is no longer around. They closed the site and never paid me the money they owed me. Hey $5 is $5. One of the articles was entitled “My Mind is Wandering Without a Compass”. I decided to create another category for my blog called “The Mind Wanders”. It is going to be about some the observations I notice. It is also another category to put out material from my mini notebook out. The material may not always have a “humorous” angle to it. I am just going to basically go with the material and it will guide me on how it should be written out. In other words, I may have to get out of the way and just go with it. I may add more categories to this blog to help me get some additional focus to my writing.
Here is the first entry in the new category.
It is great that we are now living at a time when there are vast amounts of information available at any moment. The problem is not only is available but it is also right in your face at any moment. 24/7 news cycle of modern life is quite literally becoming a pain in the ass. 24/7 is exactly 10080 minutes. And they need to be filled. With anything. The worse is the weather updates are about every 5-10 minutes. These serve one purpose. To scare the shit out of you. They remind you that you are not in control so just stay right where you are watching TV. And whatever you do. DON’T GO OUTSIDE. It is dangerous. And they have sold plenty of advertising for products you need to combat that danger. Have you noticed that the law firms are now sponsoring as many illnesses as the pharmaceutical companies? But back to weather forecast. Forecast is just a fancy way of saying “Guess”. They cannot most predictions right for the next 48 hours. And I am supposed to believe they are going to be accurate about the future weather in the future. Call me just a bit “Skeptical”.
I am beginning to sound a bit like comedian Lewis Black on the weather.
Global warming is still a major guess of a so called weather report. I am still not convinced but I could be. I am open to discussion. And I want to be some other than Al Gore involved. I just want to say being a “politician” is not synonymous with being an “expert”. Face it. A politician is just a person who knows who to kiss, when to kiss and where. Keep it all a secret and get a nice donation in return.
Maybe man is responsible for global warming. It started when the cave man learned to make fire thousands of years ago. There is another source of global warming that they started too. And we still use it today.
BLANKETS
So if you think you can have a role stopping global warming then get out from under your blankets.
Freezing your ass of maybe the answer to warming temperatures.
Back to the sponsors. The pharmecutical companies have the drugs for your cold. The lawyers will sue on your behave because you were not smart enough to dress for the weather. And nothing will be accomplished but everyone will get their “pay”.
Here is a tribute to only politician who said it right when it comes to dealing with bad weather conditions.
The former mayor of Buffalo, NY the late James D. “Jimmy” Griffin.
It was during the Blizzard of 1985 when the snow was piling up and people were looking for ways to deal with the bad weather. He said, “Go home. Buy a six pack of beer. And watch a good football game.”
MUSIC: Stone Sour
This posting is the first to appear under in a new category on this blog.
In order to be able to create real and interesting characters you have to pay attention to the details of their lives. I remember hearing a podcast about what they teach in a class for baseball umpires. The first thing was on how to remove your protective face mask while keeping your cap on. You see the cap represents your authority. If you lose it while taking it off the face mask it appears like you have lost some type of control. There was the famous story about the band Van Halen not wanting to have any brown M&M’s backstage at their concerts. It seems like a prima donna rock star type of request. The reason was the band needed specific technical items for their concerts which they laid out in the contract. They knew if they saw brown M&M’s in a bowl then promoter had probably not read the contract. And there was about to be problems for the band.
I mention these things because they are the small details about a person that can be made into interesting characters. In order to write better characters you have to notice the small details of their behavior. Character (or characteristics) is what really make their actions seem believable. What am I mentioning this? I have been going back to basic with the writing. There is an exercise in which you just do people watching and try to write scenarios based on how they go about doing things. It is really amazing to quietly 
watch and listen to others without passing judgment on them whether you agree with them or not.
I have been making a lot of notes lately on these observations. I will post them from time to time in this blog category.
However, I have to be fair to start. If I am going to be writing about others then I have to also at times point the “looking glass” at myself too. And if I really did not want the attention then I would not be writing a blog. Friedrich Nietzsche said, “He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you.”
Fashion and being practical are two separate issues. They have nothing in common even though people try to force them together without a lot of success. I will never be a fashion icon. But I do have a trademark when it comes to clothing. I like it to simple and practical. In my case, it means economical and easy washing instructions on laundry day.
I have always been a quiet person. In college, for the winter months I wore a camouflage Army field jacket. It was warm. It was affordable. However, would never be in “fashion”. And that was the problem. I wish someone would have told me. No one is going to approach the quiet person wearing an Army jacket while wearing headphones listening to the music I like. I was basically dressed like mosquito repellant.
I guess I should have been able to write a better Manifesto. I should also been a better engineering student. That way I could have really delivered the fireworks.
Like this guy.
I know many of my friends at the time were hoping that sketch artist rendering would be close enough for them to get the reward money.
Guess who the prize was for once.
Yesterday, I watched the movie Gran Torino. It is a story about acceptance and transformation leading to some form of ultimate salvation. This is a perfect film that feeds into the idea underlying a New Year’s weekend.
Usually, I link to some music that I am listening to while I am writing a blog posting. However, I am listening to a full album today. The Who’s 1971 classic Who’s Next. It is a complete album because none of the songs on the album exist as just “filler”. It has one of the best opening songs for an album ever with “Baba O’Riley”. (OK. I linked to one song. However, do yourself a favor and get the whole album.) It is kind of sad that now a day’s many music artists cannot construct an entire album’s worth of songs. The ability for many people to listen to an album as a whole seems to be a fading memory too. Channel surfing in the digital Internet age is too easy and also too arbitrary at the same time.
I am like many people at this time year trying to figure out how to make a fresh start to the year. And how to achieve that break through you desire. I am not going into the details of a few events that happened to me in late November through December of 2009. It was hard enough. The other problem is that I cannot write anything in detail that would provide any noticeable insight or any ultimate wisdom that was acquired. All I can hint at is that my perception of things that I have held on to for a long time may not be actually true. Or they really may be true. It is a conundrum. (Yes. I had to look that word up.) Sometimes when looking at the equation of your life you have to remove yourself from that equation. Sometimes your own ego is a killer in the equation.
I also need to recharge the mental battery a little bit while I am going about things. I have been reading the book. Ignore Everyone and 39 Other Keys to Creativity by Hugh MacLeod. He started by making comics on the back of business cards. He also posts on the site GapingVoid.com. He had one of the biggest downloads with “How to Be Creative” and it form the basis of his book. I got back into checking out his website recently. He is very insightful on how to use the Internet to promote your creative endeavors. It is good to know there are resources out there to look to for support. Even if you are just a “browser”. I recommend this site for anyone trying to be “creative” and needs some insight.
He posted this comment on his FaceBook page.
“What’s the one thing that ALL of the SUCCESSFUL artists I know personally have in common…? They crank the shit out like short order cooks.”
This is a key to me throughout this year. I need to be more prolific in my postings. It is like exercise. You cannot get stronger if you do not keep exercising the muscles. I need to put out more content. Hopefully, it will lead to more opportunities. It is better way than using fast food to expand my horizons.
In the picture is a small notebook I carry around with me through the day at work. I make notes of any thoughts I may have that may help at some point in my writing. I make notes from various podcasts I listen to. There may be books I need to read. Films I should 
watch. I note websites I need to check out. I have been asked from time to time about how I know some much “weird” shit. I just watch and listen. But more importantly I make notes.
I then need to get to writing out on the notepad on the clipboard to expand out the ideas I noted. And make them appear on the website.
I also need to clean up the home office. But that is another sad story. I wish I had enough money to pay for a “support” staff. I wish I could outsource the petty things I need to accomplish so I can get to the major items on my “to-do writing list”. Sadly, “No man is an island”. However, I have made a good case for a man being a “landfill”.
