So,
I was completely throwed off (yes, I said ”throwed”…please understand I know better…just roll with it) this morning at the metro station today. While approaching my post up spot where I tend to wait for the train, a young lady did something I’m clearly not accustomed to. Are you ready for this? She said, “Good morning”. I know, right?! Shocking. I naturally said “Good morning,” back, throwing in a “how are you?” to up the ante. She responded that she was fine, which I told her it was nice to hear. Common courtesy/niceties…in the morning…in this day and age. Wow.

But, it’s gotten me to thinking (please don’t be alarmed, I actually tend to do this more than I let on): I think I should start a day for common courtesy. The aim would be small initially, but the overall gist to get the ball rolling would be to say Good morning to three perfect strangers in the morning, and Good afternoon to three more strangers in the afternoon. Just to see what happens. You may get nothing, or a casual return in kind, or—(gasp!) an actual conversation might occur. I have long lamented that we as a society have become too withdrawn into our own little worlds, and as a result, our social skills have suffered.

We don’t speak to one another as much, too busy with smart phone, e-readers, and mp3 players to actually talk. Kids talk online to people down the street from them. Adults send email to coworkers 5 feet away from them. I say enough! Let’s just have a day where we actually make it a point to acknowledge each other. Hell, I’d like to throw chivalry in there, but let’s start small and build. All the dudes that sit while elderly men and women or pregnant women, or women in general stand on the train is irksome. I’ve done it on ,rare occasion when famished and exhausted…but that’s few and very far in-between. That’s a whole other issue, and let’s not forget, part of chivalry is for gentlemen to be courteous to ladies. However, ladies…you should damn well know how to say thank you/smile when a guy does do it. It’s kind of what goes with being a lady and all. That’s another issue, though…

So, a day—I will come up with an appropriate name. From there, I’m going to push this idea. “Who’s with me” – Jerry Maguire

What do I lose if I find a muse
Who’s not amused by my musing
One who paints my blues in lighter hues
than pigments I’m used to using

You know, with all of my different writings, I don’t think I’ve ever tried my hand at limericks. There’s some great poetry to be written in the form of a limerick, often dirty, but still—whatever. I think I’ll make a mini-challenge for February to write some limericks. They’ll probably be awful, but hey, I can add it to the list of things I can say I’ve tried my hand at.

So anyways, I am in a small lull. Trying to figure out what to do as a next step. I have some ideas that I started scripting out, and I’m not sure if I should continue to write, or draw up character concepts. I downloaded some trial software for my digital tablet monitor called “Painter Sketch Pad”, which is basically a digital sketch pad. Pretty cool concept; a stripped down painter app that focuses on the process of drawing/conceptualization. You can literally flip through different sketches and what now, use standard media tools, shit that geeks like me—well…geek out to. Only thing I dislike from what I’ve seen thus far (aside from price), is that it doesn’t allow me to move the work space to my tablet monitor window. I instead, have to switch my monitor setup, which changes a lot of stuff including the monitor calibration for the tablet. Just saying—this is what I’m dealing with right now.

Also, I think I need to really just dive back into my script. The longer I sit on it, the more it meanders in my mind, and the less doable it feels. This is why I like writing poems and songs—finite windows of time. Longer time scales with no funds to allow you to focus solely on them don’t really work well for me. I have so many thoughts and ideas, and as time goes, I just come up with more. BUT, this is the year I will be bringing things into fruition. I’ve planned and plotted and positioned for long enough. It’s all about progressive and proactive movement.

Curious as to whether or not this jon’t will make it onto my buy list, though. Sketch Pad that is. Also downloaded some software I have yet to run through the paces called Curio (at least I think that’s what it is. It’s supposed to enable the user to visually brainstorm, joining images, charts, notes and more all in one work space. Sounds like something I could definitely use. Plus!), I could use the export feature alone to help make my ideas easier to grasp for others whenever I decide to present them.

OK, so this is a good thing. Because I have been so not feeling creative for so long I can’t even tell you. Well, gotta go, will catch up more later I suppose.

“Stan” Lee (the Poet)

So,
I have been feeling a bit of a shift back to me prior to ’06, which is good, because that was a time before all the malarkey—technically no, I was stressing out in ’05, but more so because I was concerned about the well-being of my loved ones in certain situations. Not my business really…well, that’s not true either. The fall out happened in November ’05, but I digress. I’m simply saying that I’m getting back to being more creative just for the sake of being creative. I’ve had a couple of false starts, so I’m not going to get all happy and what not, BUT, I am optimistic.

Sidebar Tangent #12,345: I firmly believe that my reliance on Microsoft Word’s automatic spell check feature has caused my spelling to erode. If I don’t readily see a red line, I’m thinking I’m good. I could be on a typewriter for crying out loud. No red line? Shit, I’m good! Good thing I don’t rely on the grammar check, too. That green line would have me inarticulate as $#!+.

Anywho—on another note, I find it hard to be something when I have no interest in it, even if I believe it’s right. Like, I don’t steal, and typically don’t lie, because I believe in it and I have an interest in doing it “the right way”. Being celibate? I believe in it, and I wanna do that shit…but it just ain’t sticking right now. I’m good for a few days, maybe a week or more, and then I’m looking to use like I’m an addict or something. I ain’t on that Tiger Woods (Tiger Whoo)/Eric Benet bush, but damn man… It’s hard to be disciplined when you’re a ronin, y’dig? I mean, if you’re a samurai, you sword only works for one master, but when you are a ronin, and have no master—it’s like, whoever crosses your path can get cut (of course not literally...I do have standards, morals and ethics--and paranoia/hygienic concerns). For the record, that was funny as hell, and I’m laughing on the inside (loti).

A positive note is, I’ve recently (re?)discovered that I can tune that out a bit the more active I am in other areas—chiefly creatively speaking. If my mind is working on some creative stuff, and I’m actually writing, drawing, charting, etc., I’m much better off—which has to be how I did it before. Lord knows, I can’t think of any other way I pulled of that miracle—twice.

Yeah man…really light today. Just blessed to be alive and healthy.

B.Easy

So, the New Year is under way. Although I don’t tend to make resolutions specifically for new year, a major goal is to be more productive creatively. The last couple of years I haven’t been producing really, and what I have produced, I haven’t really put out there. That’s gotta change. So, this year, I’m taking inspiration wherever I can find it. I’m working on a couple of micro projects right now that I want to finish up and submit to this corporate entity; see if maybe my writing can get used.

The other things is, I’m going for the big things moving forward. The places I want to go, people I want to see, and things I want to do—start with how aggressive I try to be in making them happen. I believe that I have a tremendous amount of vision and ability, but it means nothing if I don’t apply it. This means I have to be more focused and disciplined, which I will be this year. I’m gonna get my hustle and flow on by getting a little keyboard to hash out my ideas, although mine will be better than ya boy DJ’s from the movie. That’s part of my tax return money—after I pay off my Mac and sock away a predetermined amount of cash for rainy day/savings--that and a RAM boost to my Mac (yum).

I have to really start sketching out and storyboarding my story concepts, because I’m actually at that phase with a couple of my ideas, I’m just not doing it. I think I might have to Jedi mind-trick myself by doing really crude sketches and storyboards, which will prompt my perfectionist self to get it in gear. Bottom line, I’m a dreamer. However, it’s a waste of time and energy to JUST dream. At some point, you gotta pursue that dream. SO, I’m pursuing that dream, man. If it’s a private island, or the girl that got away…I have to know that I did what I could (within my principles and ethics). Right now, I can’t say that about any of my dreams.

At this point, I feel like I need to take it hard to the paint, because I’m not getting any younger and I’m starting to feel like I really want a family. This means I need to start putting things in place quickly, or really consider grad school as the next step. I also feel like I can relate to The Little Red Hen, and right now I’m baking up some lovely shit.

Let’s get it.