Worked a another 10 hour day, this time hung over. But hey, I am off tomorrow and can write all day. Good night.
Tag: Daily
Ask Me Anything
As Julian Casablancas croons on the song which gives this entries its title, I’ve got nothing to say. When I gave myself the task of posting on here everyday I never considered ideas for content to be a problem but between my fairly mundane life, the exhaustive work schedule which keeps me from pursuing adventures and my desire to keep working on my best ideas in the hopes that they can be published somewhere I feel like I’ve ran out of things to say on here daily. I don’t always have a small story or piece of nonfiction that I want to throw up here.
Still, I will persist. The parasocial relationship that I formed with the void demands that I keep my promises and I do think that practicing writing everyday and putting it where it there is even a possibility that it is seen by others helps me as I move towards sending my work to strangers. As I move forward perhaps the blog will take a firmer shape that makes it easier for me to find something to write about everyday, maybe it becomes solely fiction, or more angled towards travel or even a Strokes blog, who knows? For now I am just going to continue turning out whatever pops into my head so if you are out there, please ask me anything because there isn’t much there.
Some Perfect Things
Today’s perfect thing is Off Menu, a podcast hosted by comedians James Acaster and Ed Gamble. In the podcast the pair have a guest come on and explain their absolute perfect menu, all the way from the water (Sparkling or still) to the desert (James will go apoplectic on you if you say a cheese tray). There are several small hooks like a secret ingredient that will end the episode if mentioned and lots of in-jokes that have developed over the course of the show.
I actually started listening to the podcast at its very inception which is odd for me as I usually discover things that I will go on to love well after everyone else has moved on, but I was a major fan of Acaster’s special on Netflix and had binged all the random clips I could find on youtube so when he tweeted that he would be doing a new podcast with his friend I decided I would try it out. At the time I was not very into podcasts but was starting a new job that would see me driving all over the greater Portland metro area. The show is light hearted fun and the two hosts play off each other very well. Over the years they have had a wide array of guests, some who take the menu building seriously and others who push the framing story of the podcast (that Acaster is a genie that can get them any dish imaginable whether its from the past or even nonexistent) to its limit. Along the way they share great stories of the meals they’ve had and the memories that have gone along with them.
When the podcast started airing I did not really cook at all, I had just graduated college and was still very much in the “lets buy taco bell and chocolate milk” stage of my life and while I am no Balagog gro-Nolob (real ones know), I have begun to cook more and more over the years and the initial burst of that was thanks to the podcast.
There are times where it can be a little too much like having a conversation with your rich aunt, with lots of “Oh my god, you have to go to this Japanese-Colombian fusion restaurant in SoHo next time your in New York.” but that is largely dependent on the guests. Too me at least the appreciation that the podcast has given me for food outweighs any inadvertent snobbery that sometimes comes across.
Off Menu is also a great game to play while getting to know people and you hear some great stories when people start explaining why they would have oatmeal for an appetizer. Food is such a powerful force in our memories and this podcast makes me think back on some of the greatest life experiences I have enjoyed when I have to decide between having Chocolate lava cake from dominoes or my moms chocolate chip scones for my perfect meal.
The Habit Sticks.
Well, I didn’t forget two days in a row! I accomplished all the things I needed to today and am reminded of Wendy Cope’s the Orange, which will someday make an appearance in my Some Perfect Things series. This morning I forced myself to only write one thing, recently I have gotten pretty bad about working on four or more projects at once because sometimes it feels easier with my ADHD but today made it quite apparent to me that I need to just focus on one specific story at a time, at least mostly. Tomorrow I will work on the story for three hours and then for about thirty minutes before I go for my run, I’ll let my mind wander.
I am going to start working overtime at my job but it will still be less than I was working a few months ago when I averaged 60 hours a week. Will all my old bad habits catch back up with me? Tune in next time to find out. But for now, I am tired and content and going to bed.
Writing woes.
Writing has not being going well lately. I want to blame the heat, work, my concussion and my new obsession with running but if Sassoon can write from the trenches and some dude in Ur can write on a stone tablet I guess I can really only blame my own lack of discipline and skill. I can fix one of those things. Going forward I will write first thing in the morning before anything has had a chance to diminish me.
Hemingway said that writing is architecture not interior decorating which makes a lot of sense to me. Still, I can probably blame a little of it on the concussion.
Electric Absalom 