Moving is Disruption.

c2011 (S)


If the occasional disruption is good for us, then moving is probably a good thing.

Every time I come over to my sister's house to use a borrowed laptop and someone else's internet service, I seem to forget my reading glasses. I strikes me that I have a hundred accounts and a seemingly endless stream of passwords. It occurs to me that I forgot my notebook, good old ruled lines on white paper, with a lot of crucial stuff in there, like all them passwords.

It's always cold in her basement. I can't smoke in here. So far I haven't tried to burn a disc on my home PC and bring it here and load it into this (actually my mother's/lent to my brother's/borrowed by my sister's/but she's out of town and now I'm using it) machine. That one box is in a closet at home, and presumably I have at least one blank disc. There are no card slots on this machine.

Clearly the internet is vital to my business and a modern writer can hardly compete in today's marketplace without it. It's only a matter of time. Theoretically I can order it online, right here and now. But there are always other considerations. My mother can save $25.00 if she signs me up...if I order the thing myself, do I have to use my sister's phone number, and then come back and sit here day after day waiting for them to set up an appointment for hook-up? Because I don't have a phone yet, right? That's one of the things I might be ordering...right?

Moving is disruption, which brings fresh insights, or at least makes older ones clearer in some way.

My newly-repaired computer does indeed have new programs on it, (just as predicted in a previous post,) including upgraded Windows XP/professional, and a bunch of new icons on the desktop. The program for taking photos off my camera is gone, so it needs to be reloaded.

I do need a vacation, but in terms of my business, this is all happening at a crucial stage. To backslide or even just waste a whole lot of time is kind of heartbreaking.

The New Newspaper

When pop went into the old age home, one of the first things I did was to cancel the daily newspaper. The Sarnia Observer also includes a weekly paper, Sarnia-Lambton This Week, which is inserted in there mid-week.

The total weight of paper going into the recycle box every week was considerable, probably eight or ten, or twenty pounds per week. This doesn't include paper packaging that goes into the kitchen garbage.

The problem was that there was so much in there that I simply didn't read. I never go the the bars, or a movie, or shopping. I'm not likely to buy a car, or purchase some lawn service. That takes care of the ads. What about editorial content?

I'm not a sports fan. I never read the lifestyles section, because I don't have a lifestyle. I'm not hung up on food, and drink, or recipes for same. I don't care for poltical and economic columnists, who always have some sort of bourgeois agenda, always go back to the same sources time and time again, each of whom also has an agenda, and none of whom want to offend the publishers of newspapers, all of whom also have an agenda.

Anything that comes out of a poltician's mouth is suspect, yet the media seems unable to draw even the most obvious conclusions.

Why pay good money to have someone spew out crap that is patently nonsense, ninety percent of which I don't read, and by the very act of subscribing, support an agenda which I don't accept whole-heartedly?

The paper is mostly online anyway. If I want something, I can go right to the firm's website. When I wanted an apartment, I went straight to the free online ads that are popping up in every community.

The big difference is that I miss the local headlines on a daily basis, and that I don't always go online to that particular site to check the day's news in the local sense. That is the difference: the newspaper was shoved in the box every day. One way or another, we dealt with it, and were perhaps more aware of it.

But there must be a better way. Until someone can sort of justify receiving the New York Times, or the Sarnia Observer, in the e-mailbox, with no paper, no ink, and none of the crap that I don't want in my paper, at a fair price that actually reflects a rational cost-profit structure, then I don't and won't suscribe to a newspaper in the former sense of the term.

In Canada, the journalists just do too damn good a job of justifying things which are expensive to change. You're too damn good at defending the economy from the enemy, who turn out to be a bunch of working people. You're too prone to defend the poor, downtrodden rich against the greedy unemployed.

They say you get what you pay for. The problem is when they try and shove a whole lot of crap that I don't need and didn't ask for down my throat, and never listen to any of my concerns.

You want propaganda? You pay for it, because I ain't interested. You're a gatekeeper? I don't give a pinch of coon-crap, no matter who's doing it.

(Argh!) Borrowed laptops with jammed buttons.

c2011 (S)

(Argh!)

I’m not using my regular machine here today. The trouble with a borrowed laptop is that I can’t put a CD in it, and therefore I can’t work on my new novel. I’m hoping to get my computer back in a few days, or maybe another used one, which will cost money.

If I end up with another used machine, if the programming is all different, it might take a few weeks to figure out where everything is and what all the buttons on the toolbar are for.

The frustration of waiting is a factor, the uncertainty is a factor, and the big concern is that some things on the hard-drive will be missing, although I do burn backup CD’s from time to time. I’m moving in a couple of days, and I haven’t even arranged for internet service. That’s for two reasons. One; I don’t know if or when I will have a machine, and two; there is the whole ‘bundling’ of services thing. So that means no phone or cable in my new place until I get with the program.

With a screwed-up vehicle, back problems and no money, of course moving is another potential nightmare. It doesn’t make sense to fill up the last two boxes and then just sit in relative discomfort and stew for the next forty-eight hours.

It’s cold. It’s really cold for late June, and I for one am sick of it. All that bike riding yesterday took a lot out of me, but it’s just too cold to go anywhere today.

I have too much time to think today. One of the buttons on this laptop is jammed. Try writing your way around that one! They say Winston Churchill had a lisp, and wrote his speeches to avoid the letter ‘s’ as much as possible. I don’t think it’s even possible to do that, but I guess he tried.

There are two things I despise, one of which is waiting, and the other is depending on other people to do what they say they are going to do, and to be there when they say they are going to be there.

The thing to do is to put on a parka and go for a bike ride with my broken camera. As for the minivan, the right front brakes are metal on metal, which stops the vehicle just fine, but it is incredibly irritating, and just when I could do with a little less stress. I plan on moving, and then having it towed. I have to keep insurance on it, or after thirty days, I become a ‘high risk driver,’ and they have the right to charge me $5,000 for car insurance. I haven’t had a ticket in fifteen years, I have never had an accident, and I have thirty-seven years of experience. Oddly enough, I have no idea if I will ever have a vehicle again. City buses take two and a half hours to go four miles locally, so the reader may understand my concern. (You could crawl faster.)

This impacts my life as the government has determined that daily attendance at soup kitchens and food banks is the permanent solution to the challenges faced by all of the adult independent disabled persons of this province. They will hear more about that this October.

Facing Different Challenges

c2011 (S)


When I read different blog posts, there is often a temptation to go into the comments and contradict the writer, or even to 'explain what they're saying.' But the information we seek depends upon our goals, first and foremost, and secondly on our circumstances.

I have never been published by a traditional or legacy publisher. I do not have a backlist, or any previous sales numbers, favourable reviews, or any cadre of loyal fans, followers or readers. What I have is a front-list of three unpublished books, a poetry collection, and a major 'work in progress.'

In the sense that I suffer from the same general angst as any writer, and some of those more specific to independent or self-published artists in any genre, I would prefer not to get into it more than I have to. Some subjects are more hot-button controversial than others. Am I really contributing anything?

What I would counsel or caution other 'writers in the same boat' is this: determine which information it is that you require, and then try to figure out where to get that information. If I'm not submitting to 'brick and mortar publishers,' and have no intention of doing so, what do I need to know about publishing contracts? Ah, but if I do want to do that, why not read up on them? Only then do you require the data.

It's that simple. When I got paranoid about my grammar, I went and looked it up.

Every so often I read a favourite writer's blog, get a few simple lessons in the craft, and then I polish up my work. Stephen King doesn't need to read that blog. I do, and it helps, and maybe I'm not so insecure now!

If I go to submit a manuscript to a publisher, the first thing I want to do is research that publisher. (The second thing, is to figure out if I really am committed to it. I would challenge myself with questions long before submitting.)

Top-selling authors face one set of challenges, mid-list authors out of a contract face another set of challenges, debut authors who are thinking primarily in terms of print and ink with traditional publishers face certain challenges. What might work in a general sense for one group might not work at all for another group.

The challenge is to identify goals and implement well-conceived strategies that bring them into effect. That takes appropriate data, and appropriate decision-making; i.e. some kind of logical thought processes.

My challenge is to acquire data that is relevant to specific challenges, and other than that, it's for the sake of interest, or keeping up with general changes and trends in the industry.

Circumstances and goals define challenges, which helps to identify the required information. It's a filter, and a very specific one.

What we share in common is our working environment, and these are interesting times.

Bad Film: Why Make It? Or, ‘Just Killing Time.’

If a hundred movies were released this week, only about ten of them will make a lot of money right off the bat. Another proportion of those movies will earn their costs back over time. A fairly large proportion will lose money, and quietly fade into obscurity.

Should the ‘bad films’ have been made in the first place?

I say yes, as many films as possible should be made in any given year. It’s pretty simple.

To expect every debut director to have the Oscar-winning touch is unrealistic. Where did they get their experience? Their training? When did they learn the tough lessons of when, where, and how to follow standard procedures, and when to break the ‘rules?’

If a film lost money, should the key grip have worked for free? Should he have remained unemployed? What about the sound people, or the art director?

The basic training comes from film school, or fooling around on your own time. The best training comes on the job. (What if there are no jobs? Work on this subconsciously as I must move on.)

How would you know up front which professionally-directed film will succeed, and which will flop? How would you set a fair ticket price? This one’s worth eleven bucks and this other one only three? Why would the theatre chain run a movie that earns eight bucks per seat, per screening less than the one last week? Perhaps the box office employees will volunteer to work for free.

Taking something that looks good on paper and putting it up on the silver screen is a tough job. None of the films would have been made without a large investment of time, capital and effort.

Is it fair to expect the movie-going public to subsidize the on-the-job-training of Oscar-winning directors, actors and producers? Should every single one of them get an Oscar? I’m not suggesting that in the interest of ‘diversity,’ we should ignore all professional and ethical standards, and just go ahead and make any old film and then line up for an award with every other ‘professional’ working in the field.

From day one, I got paid six bucks an hour while training as a welder, many years ago. All of that work was paid for by customers who placed orders for things that they needed, and they had certain expectations of quality, price, time frame and delivery.

I never became a welder, and the odds of one of my books or stories ever being made into a movie are rather slim. As writers, much of our work is given away for ‘free.’

This includes our own blogs, posts and opinions here and there, helping out other writers, and giving away stories for free exposure, or to get criticism, feedback, or merely experience.

Experience of success breeds confidence. Oddly enough, so does experience of failure: because we survived, we learned something, we moved on. We picked up a buck or two, fed the babies, put gas in the car, or made the mortgage payment.

We lived to write another day.

So here’s how it works. Film directors make a bad film so that they can hopefully make a slightly better one after that! They charge money for their services, so that they can feed the babies, put gas in the car and make the mortgage payment. If they do a really, really good job on a film, someone will surely notice, and then there is a chance they will reap the rewards of pursuing their dream of excellence. Then they get to stand out head and shoulders above the crowd.

It’s simple, really, once you think about it. How they get there is no concern of mine.

***

At my age, there are a few regrets in life. All the time spent with shitty people, or in the wrong place at the wrong time, for all the wrong reasons. I spent many years just wasting time and filling up my days.

Okay, a bit of a loner. But why in the hell would I be on a beach forty miles from home, or driving down some endless and featureless country road on an empty winter’s day, essentially doing nothing? I’m not David Attenborough, Dr. David Suzuki, Les Stroud or the late Steve Irwin.

I was filling up my days, and not incidentally, getting as far away from other human beings as I possibly could. That’s just sad—and that I regret.

It seemed like a good idea at the time, and yet I wasn’t going anyplace at all!

I’ve been writing for twenty-seven years, and reading for forty-something. But I’ve only been on the internet for a little over two years. I knew there were risks and rewards, as the internet can be your best friend or your worst enemy. But I had a theory, a kind of simple game theory, one that could be learned as I went along. In the writing of a book or story, I have this bizarre ‘gaming’ approach, which is actually pretty simple. This principle can be also applied in other venues.

“If you don’t play, you can’t win. Any skill can be learned, by study, practice, application and hard work. Learn from the best. If you are afraid to take a hit, get off of the ice,” and so on and so forth.

It’s a system. So now I spend endless hours staring at a blank desktop—I prefer black, by the way—and plotting my next move in this endlessly-fascinating game of ours.

It kills the time.

***