- Back in creative writing, Vollertsen demanded we cleanse our writing of cliches, and rote turns of phrase.
- Like I said, I probably learned more about writing from him than I did any of my instructors in college.
- Weaver told me I needed to use bigger words.
- “Shibboleth”
- Irrelephant.
- The one I’m about to throw down, well, we need to discuss it.
- “Use it or lose it.”
- …
- Before I get started on that, it occurs to me these lists contain a bit of oversharing.
- Some hacker’s out there reading the blog and adding that to my data file.
- I mean, I don’t have any money anyway, so … good luck, buddy.
- I also don’t base my passwords on personal info.
- But yeah, oversharing.
- Part of the “healing” portion of this show, which I’ve mentioned, is that I can only walk while I have the PICC line in.
- My days are spent on the couch, more or less.
- Lots of writing. Lots of reading.
- But not a lot of activity.
- I can feel the muscle leaving my body, my resting heart rate climbing.
- I dislike it.
- I know the antibiotics are killing the thing in my head.
- The area around the PICC is inflamed as hell.
- They used a different dressing yesterday that’s supposed to be a little nicer to the skin.
- Seems to be working.
- Anyway, I have a bad back.
- Have had since eighth grade.
- Threw it out playing soccer.
- And up until the pandemic, it went out two or three times a year.
- Like, pick up a sock, back’s out.
- I tore the meniscus in my right knee at one of Kaia’s soccer practices.
- Did PT for it.
- The PT doc (and I can give you a referral if you need it) told me I tore up my knee because my hips, core, and ankles were jacked.
- Knee had to deal with more than it should’ve.
- PT fixed all of it.
- Like, if PT were a religion, I’d be a zealot.
- He did tell me I had to do my take-home exercises for the rest of my life.
- I’ve been good about it until this surgery nonsense when they told me I couldn’t do anything but walk.
- Never again.
- I am never letting this level of unfit happen again.
- Thinking about starting Tai Chi when I get cleared.
- In addition to running, biking, and weight lifting.
- I have advisors and training partners standing by.
- I’ll start a blog.
- Another blog.
- A different blog.
- Maybe one that makes money?
- On the server, we continued that music/podcast/audiobook conversation from yesterday.
- Crazy how different we all are.
- Someone commented they can’t listen to music they like/know when they’re working because they end up singing the song.
- I was like, “Yeah, I used to fall asleep to ‘Master of Puppets.’”
- Someone else dropped what podcasts they listen to.
- Which made me think about using podcasts and books as personality profile components.
- What podcasts would I even listen to?
- Can my a.d.h.d. brain focus?
- I did listen to a Brene Brown book once on a trip to Texas.
- It was spectacular.
- I wouldn’t even know where to start to find favorite podcasts.
- And here I am thinking about starting one.
- Well, a few.
- I saw an article from The New Yorker about how reading is changing.
- AI is going to fuck up everything.
- Is fucking up everything.
- There’s already studies about how much of a negative impact AI has on the brains of writers.
- Idiocracy is here!
- Anyway.
- Pocasts.
- I don’t even know what I’d listen to.
- Weird that I’d make one before listening to one?
- I actually had notes for today’s list.
- I didn’t want a repeat of yesterday.
- The sad part of that is my journal for the last two or three months is just full of bulleted lists of topics for the bulleted list.
- I haven’t properly journaled but once or twice.
- When I was down in a hole and had to get it out.
- Paper therapy.
- I believe in journaling as much as therapy, but it’s another habit you have to establish and stick to whether you want to or not.
- All that self-help stuff about habits determining the course of your life …
- I feel they’re right.
- That’s why I’m here, after all.
- Where was I?
- Oh, right.
- Music.
- Ha.
- I’d forgotten about all those Lofi mixes I’d listen to on Youtube back during the pandemic (and beyond).
- I guess I’ll have to track some down on spotify.
- I’m not paying for another service and I’m sure as hell not suffering through commercials.
- I often laugh at the fact that I write commercials for a living and can’t stand them.
- Most people suck at marketing.
- They do it to do it, and to be clever, but don’t consider the psychology of it.
- Most of them are just checking boxes.
- Then again, that’s kinda modern work, isn’t it?
- Check those boxes, get to pay your bills!
- One of the parts of our conversation post “The Life of Chuck” was screenwriting.
- I told the kid she might be happier writing screenplays because you can knock those out much faster than books.
- Talked about my screenwriting class in college.
- I actually still have the screenplay I wrote for my final.
- It’s in a box with a bunch of creative writing assignments from college, a couple of my journals from creative writing in high school, and …
- You remember when I talked about writing sequels to “Friday the 13th” in sixth grade?
- There are two of those in the box.
- I don’t know how or why I still have them, but I do.
- I’m afraid to read them.
- Kinda.
- But also kinda proud?
- This is what I’m supposed to have been doing all along.
- I guess that’s good?
- Do we do what we’re good at, what we’re passionate about, what we’re interested in, or do we just do whatever industry says we should because that’s what it needs?
- Make money, friends, so you can buy back your … freedom.
- Sure.
- Have a Wednesday!
Use It
skepticlysm 
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