Dead Television Report 5
Mood:  cool
Topic: R-Dead Television Report
5:47am Tuesday 1Aug06

Still happily not watching the tele and have reached week two.
I did the fake blogathon which upped the posting quotient substantially. I changed my furniture around in my quest to minimize the clutter that I live with. Both my desks now have clear surfaces again, for as long as that lasts. I bought a couple CD wallets. I've decided to take all the CD's that don't have liner notes out of those stupid jewel cases they come in and stick them in the wallets. I'm tired of trying to find a place to store all those CD's and I'm even more tired of those jewel cases that break the moment you look at them. Yeah! I'm going to get organized one way or another.

I went to a summer outdoor get together of which if I still had a tele, I would have convinced myself with some lame excuse why I should just stay home. I have this quirky almost agoraphobic-ness that if I can't picture myself having a good time at an outing, I just won't go. Without the television, I've been telling myself, I really should get out. If I don't like it I'll just go home early. Because I went out I got the opportunity to be driven home in a smart car. They rock! Plus I had some major laughs which is something I always enjoy. And I met some new people.

I told my famous cat story about how I composed two songs for my cat Picasso, who I felt may suffer from middle child syndrome, and sang them to much appreciative laughter. There were lots of silly humoured people, my favorite kind.

I've been finding in these last two weeks especially that I've been thinking about what I want to write as I do my other chores. Writing has become foremost in my thoughts. I chalk that up to blogging, the blogathon and going without a television. Sometimes everything does come in threes!

EY

Oui, C'est Muggy
Mood:  smelly
Now Playing: Canadian Radio
Topic: WC - Daily Practice
Tuesday 5:15am 1Aug06

I went to an outdoor summer get together last night. I had fun but it was so hot out that every once in awhile I would zone out and hear bits off conversation out of whack. I heard things such as, "Sex isn't good after 2 or 2:30." and "I'm going to bite my garbage."

They were great sources of laughter for me when I used them as the closing remarks of any conversation, "We'll that's because sex isn't good after 2 or 2:30."

We discussed such world ruling topics as mosquito bites, of which I received a few. How some people are more mosquito-bly edible than others. How a mosquito will ignore all the exposed skin of a person, say me, who is wearing a summer dress and work its way through tight shorts to bite that juicy butt cheek.

I'd forgotten about mosquitoes. I had to go through my homeopathic notes yesterday morning to find that remedy that wards off mosquito bites and/or makes them less long lasting. I found Apis Melifica 30CH but for what ever reason my memory was that there was some better remedy. I had to email an old boss to ask her if she still used the remedy and what was it called. Of course it was the Apis. I didn't go with the remedy and now have to suffer the mosquito consequences. Stubborn false memories.

EY

Daily Practice Rules
Topic: WC - Daily Practice
The Precepts of blogging an entry a day from The Writing Life 2

This blog is an exercise in anti-perfectionism, discipline, and practice.

1)Write 250-1,000 words per night.
2)Post first drafts only.
3)Write it in under 30 mins.
4)Never blog about blogging.
5)Be nice, fair, and honest - without selling out.

Why Unpublished Writers Should Blog
Topic: WC - Daily Practice
Sunday 9:07pm 30July06
Well, in one of my many blog entries yesterday, I said I would attempt the blog a day entry in honour of Katey. Here we go...

I think unpublished writers should blog and here's why:

We have these visions of what life will be like when we are published and to some extent blogging gives you a taste of what might happen. We think that all the people we've ever known will support us when we finally sell that novel but will they?

When you send out that first announcement to all your friends about how you now have a blog and you'd love it if they drop by and read some of your entries you will get the following:

Some of your friends will read it. Of those friends some will tell you what they think and some will never mention that they've even looked at it. That could be because they like it and don't know how to say that or they hate it and don't know how to tell you. Some people may think you are full of yourself or that you have absolutely no talent.

Some of your friends will ask, "What's the purpose of a blog anyway?" And that will be the only acknowledgment you ever get that they received your announcement of your new blog.

Some of your friends will say, "Oh yes, I keep meaning to check out your blog"

Those few examples are a good thing. It's a taste of what being published will be like. You want thousands of readers to buy your novel but maybe only a few will. You want those thousands of people to read your novel and love it. Maybe half those people that did buy it will get around to reading it all the way through. Most won't.
Critics will either get your work or hate it or worse yet, not get it.
Everyone will have an opinion one way or the other.

If you are lucky enough to have a book launch maybe two of your friends will show up to support you. Can you handle that?

If you can blog and handle the fact that your friends, people who care about you, have no interest in reading it, you are closer to handling what life will be like as a published writer. There are always going to be people that like your work and people that hate it and people that are indifferent to it. And some of those people you will know intimately.

I know, I've experienced all those blogging examples and when I got over realizing that only some of my friends had checked me out I realized that it actually doesn't hurt. The point of putting myself out there was to share with whoever wanted to read my stuff. And the benefit has been that people I don't know have also checked me out.
Maybe they'll buy my novel when it's published. Mind you, there's no guarantee in that either.

EY

Stick a fork in me
Now Playing: Luther Vandross - Make me A Believer
Topic: WC - Blogathon
Well this is my last entry for my Fake Blogathon. I lasted twelve hours. Far longer than I'd planned or expected.

It was fun, I'm sure it would be more fun if I did the real thing and raised a few dollars for my favorite charity.

But I did learn a few things. You certainly can't slow yourself down about worrying about what to write about. You think of a topic and go with it. Some of my topics were better than others but that's to be expected. This wasn't to be award winning writing or anything.

I wish I worked more on the piece I started but alas, I feel like I'd would have had to do more writing on it while I was waiting for the timer said it was 30 minutes again.

The other good thing is that my mind was in writing and then I was off doing other stuff and then in 30 minutes my mind had to be back into writing. That's something to take away. To Bracket my focus. Sit down and focus on what I'm doing here and then when I'm there focus on that... Ha Ha! Otherwise known as being in the now!

It's been a slice. I think I'll do it for real next year. Add that to my calendar...
Blogged out!

EY

P.S. notice all those grammatical errors? That's what 12 hours will get you! i'm not even going back to correct them.