Lazy

I have had such an amazing time with my family for Thanksgiving.  Just a whole lot of eating, watching TV and generally being super lazy.  I could definitely handle this kind of thing happening more often.

So, the family went to see the new Muppet movie today.  I thought it was fantastic.  Delightfully awkward and weird in the way that only the Muppets can be.  I think my favorite moment in the entire film may have been when Gonzo’s chickens performed their version of Cee Lo Green’s “Fuck You”.  And I am positive that those chickens were performing that version and not its sanitized, family friendly radio counterpart.  You could just tell.  Naughty chickens.

And, honestly, that’s all that I have the power to write about today.  Quite frankly, I’m just too lazy to do anything else.

On Being Thankful

I have a confession to make: I have traditionally been a rather thankless person.  Focusing on what I don’t have and looking on the dark side of things are what I’ve always focused on in life.  Or, rather, that used to be the case.  In the past few years, I have learned how to combat that negative tendency in my life.  And it has made a great difference for me.  It took me a very long time to realize it, but life really is all about your attitude.  And I am extremely thankful that I finally did realize that.

In the last few minutes of Thanksgiving 2011, I want to take a few moments to list some other things that I’m thankful for.  I’m not going to list the obvious things, such as health and friends and family and all that jazz.  It goes without saying that I’m thankful for those things.  These are a few things that might not be as obvious.

• Writing.  I’m thankful that I have started writing again.  I am especially thankful that I am having patience with myself in developing my writing.  I know that it’s going to take time and I’m ok with that.

• Personal growth.  I’m thankful for the personal growth that I’ve experienced in the last decade.  My 20′s really sucked.  I was unsure of myself in every way that a person could possibly be unsure of themselves.  Overcoming the constant, gnawing self-doubt that plagued me for all of my 20′s (and the first few years of my 30′s)  is one of the greatest accomplishments of my life.

• A place to live.  I’ve always had a place to live.  However, I’ve never really had a place of my own until this year.  Living on my own has been great.  Also, I once again live and work in the same city and that has made me ridiculously happy.  I was not meant to be a commuter.

• A job.  In these uncertain economic times, I always have to remind myself to be thankful that I have a job.  It’s something that I really take for granted, but I could be one of the unlucky unemployed.  Hell, I suppose that could still happen.  But, for the time being, I have a job and I am quite happy to have it.

And there you have it.  My short list of things that I’m thankful for.  I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving…you know, if that’s the kind of thing that you celebrate and all.

Time Off

I am officially taking today off from real blogging.  However, by posting this announcement, I am still blogging, therefore, I am still living up to the arbitrary rules that I have set for myself for this month.

Now both sides of my personality are happy! 

On Writing Well

Today, I realized that I really enjoy writing about writing.  This realization actually poses a bit of a quandary for me.  For a long time, I have wanted some sort of focus for my blogging.  However, the act of writing was not the kind of focus that I expected to emerge as the centerpiece for my blog.  Still, that seems to be what I have for the time being, so I’m just going to go with it.  Hopefully, I will eventually move on to writing about other topics.

I am in the process of reading On Writing Well by William Zinnser.  It is one of three books about writing that have caught my attention lately.  This one, however, has held my attention more than the other two.  I am very impressed with Zinnser’s writing style.  It flows well and is a pleasure to read.  That’s the kind of style that I hope to develop someday.  (That day…definitely NOT today.)

Also, Zinnser has lots of great advice.  He focuses a lot on simplicity in writing and avoiding clutter (which he defines as “the laborious phrase that has pushed out the short word that means the same thing”.)  As I was reading his advice in regards to these ideas, it struck me that I suffer from a lack of simplicity.  And instead of avoiding clutter, I freely incorporate it into my writing.  Breaking these habits will be very difficult for me.  They’ve been ingrained in me ever since I learned how to write.  Excessive words and phrases are what academic papers are made of.  And, let’s face it, the majority of what I’ve written in my life so far has been academic papers.  Furthermore, well, that’s kind of how I talk.  And, since I write like I talk…I can see this being quite problematic.  Still, I think it’s a goal worth pursuing.  Simplicity in writing really does make life easier on the reader.  Not just easier, but more enjoyable.  And the end goal for my writing is for me to create something that someone finds interesting and enjoyable.

So maybe the focus of this blog will be my journey to being a better writer.  At least for a little while.  I think that it will be interesting to have something to look back on a year from now to see how far I’ve progressed.  At any rate, I’m learning a lot about writing and myself.  I’m having fun with the whole thing right now.  And that’s what really counts, right?

Augusten Burroughs

Augusten Burroughs is one of my favorite authors.  I watched a video of him today.  He was talking about writer’s block.  Basically, Augusten doesn’t believe in it.  His advice for writer’s block?  Write that you have writer’s block.  It’s not perfect and it may not be what you want to write.  But it gets you writing.  I think that’s completely genius.  And, honestly, that’s pretty much what I’m doing right now.

I had the chance to meet Augusten several years ago.  Back when the library system in Charlotte still had money, they sponsored a yearly literary festival called Novello.  One year, Augusten was one of the invited guests.  I felt so lucky to be able to hear him talk…despite the fact that I have no idea what it was that he talked about now.  I felt even luckier to be able to shake his hand, tell him how much I liked him and get a photo snapped with him.

I have found all of Augusten’s books to be extremely readable, however, I think my favorite one has to be Magical Thinking.  I find it to be extremely inspiring.  Honestly, it’s the kind of book that I would like to write – if I were to ever write a book.  At this point, that idea is a bit ambitious, I think.  I’d be happy with just writing an article.

And writing an article of some sort is a personal goal that I have.  In fact, within the next year, I would like to have something published somewhere – either in print or online.  I suppose THAT particular idea is rather ambitious too.  Although, I find it overall more doable.  Of course, that will require a LOT of work on my part.  And focus.  But I believe that I can do it.  If not within the next year, then the one after that.  Or the one after that.  The point is, I will do it at some point.

This new found belief in myself is rather refreshing.

Epiphany

I had an epiphany today.  Perhaps “epiphany” is too strong of a word.  But I’m going to use it anyway.  I like how it sounds.

So, back to my epiphany.  Yes, my epiphany occurred today while I was doing laundry.  You see, the apartment that I live in doesn’t have connections for a washer and dryer, so I use a local laundromat.  I have developed a routine where I head to the laundromat every Sunday afternoon for the weekly cleaning of the clothes.  And I quite like the laundromat.  I find it strangely peaceful.  Frequently, I get some good reading in while I’m there.  I also get a lot of good thinking done at the laundromat.

Which brings me back to my epiphany.  Sorry for the sidetrack there.  I do that sometimes.

Well, quite a bit actually.

Anyway, while at the laundromat today, I was reading a book that I bought this weekend called Crafting the Personal Essay.  It seems like it will be a good investment.  Goodness knows, I need all the help that I can get. So, as I was reading this book, it occurred to me that I’m not devoting nearly enough time to writing that I should be.  I can’t exactly explain why this epiphany occurred to me when it did.  The book that I was reading wasn’t talking about setting time aside for writing.  And yet, the idea appeared nonetheless.  And the idea is 100% true.  Without fail, I am writing a blog entry at 11:00 at night, just trying to get a post in for the day.  I don’t put nearly enough thought into the process as I should.  I really need to start truly devoting myself to this endeavor of writing.

At the same time, at least I’m writing something.  I’m getting into a daily writing routine – no matter how half-assed it might be at the moment. And that’s a step in the right direction.

Still, the truth of the epiphany stands.  I really have to start devoting more time to writing.  Especially on the weekends, when all I have is time.

Confession(s)

The following post was originally written in 2006.  For some reason, I never finished it.  At this point, attempting to finish it would be silly, since everything that I’ve written is no longer true.  It’s amazing to me that in just five years, I’ve gone from wanting privacy on the Internet to being much less concerned about it.  (Truthfully, I probably should be more concerned about it than I am.)

“I have a confession to make.  It’s not something that I am proud of really.  It just is.  So, here is goes: I am afraid of the Internet.

Yes, dear reader(s), you read that right.  Me…Man of the Thousand Blogs is afraid of the Internet.  Now, I suppose that this (like nearly everything that I declare) deserves some elaboration.  My fear is not the same as, say…the fear of heights.  Or the fear that someone, someday is going to murder me in my sleep.  The thought of the Internet does not sends chills up and down my spine, nor does it give me nightmares.  Traditional fear in this context is out.  When I speak of my fear of the Internet, it’s more the fear of being “discovered” on the Internet.  You see, unlike a good number of people my age (and the vast majority of people several years younger than me) I do not necessarily want to have everything about myself out there on the Internet.  Of course, despite feeling this way, I have somehow managed to do just that…more or less.  I have a MySpace account with a vast amount of personal info about me on it.  And while it is set to private…I have about 81 “friends”…a number of whom are not actual friends and would feel perfectly fine sharing my profile with anyone that came along.  Despite this, I continue to maintain the account.  And I blog.  I blog a lot.  Well, not a lot really…but in many different places…over a long period of time.  Despite the fact that I attempt to maintain some semblance of anonymity on my blogs, I suppose that it would be very easy for someone who had a lot of time on their hands to figure out exactly who I am and exactly where I live.”

Team Edward

Let me clarify something for you right up front here.  Despite all appearances, this post is NOT about the Twilight series of films, the Twilight series of books or Robert Pattinson.  This post is about none of those things.  Just to be absolutely clear.  If you are here to read fine prose about any of these things, this is not the place for you.  Like most posts on my blog, this post is about me.  You see, I am Team Edward.

Kinda.

For you see, dear readers, my middle name is Edward.  Sometimes, when I think about my middle name, it makes me laugh.  Edward is such a regal sounding name to me.  And I am so NOT a regal kind of person.  Not at all.  It completely doesn’t fit with the picture of myself in my head.  And, quite frankly, if you asked any of my friends, you’d probably find that it doesn’t fit with their picture of me either.  I am so NOT an Edward.  And yet, I am.

Having never been a fan of my first name, there was a time when I considered going by my middle name.  I figured that when I went to college, it would be a fantastic time to star anew.  It would be the perfect time to finally escape the horrible first name that I had been saddled with for the first 18 years of my life.

But, like I said, I’m really not an Edward.  However, I thought that I might be able to pass as an Eddie.  So, in my mind, that was who I was going to be once I escaped the tyranny of the name “Doug”.  I even went so far as to create an email address using Eddie as my name.  Eddie, sounding much less sophisticated than Edward, was definitely something that I figured I could pull off.  But then, for reasons that are not entirely clear to me now, that idea never came to fruition.

Well, that was rather anti-climatic, now wasn’t it?  Yeah, I’m really good at that.

Detroit

Ever since I first visited Detroit two years ago, I have been fascinated by the place.  Driving around the city, you can’t help but notice how grand it once must have been.  Sadly, recent years have not been that kind to the city.

Here are just a few of the shots that I have taken during my visits to Detroit.  I am not entirely pleased with them.  They always seem to be less than I want them to be.  But, for the time being, they are what I have.  I would love to someday spend a nice long time in the city documenting it.  It is a city that now has a special place in my heart and I have big hopes for its future.

I have to confess that this “photo essay” post really came about because I was running out of time to post today and I wasn’t really sure what to post about.  However, looking over these photos, I am reminded of just how much I have fallen in love with Detroit.  Undoubtedly, it was a beautiful city long before it began to decline.  But, even now, it all of its decay, it still seems beautiful to me.  I truly hope that the city of Detroit can find some way to redefine itself and rise from the ashes.

Blogile Dysfunction

I had promised myself that I would stop blogging about blogging, but please indulge me this one last post about the topic.  I haven’t been making quite the progress lately that I would like to with my blogging.  My biggest problem with blogging right now is finding inspiration.  What should I write about that people will find interesting?  Because, while I am definitely doing this in an effort to improve my writing, I also want to be contributing something of meaning to the infosphere.  Who knows?  Maybe that’s a completely ridiculous idea to have.  After all, the amount of information out there today is simply astonishing.  In the end, I really am just one tiny voice in a sea of thousands of other voices.  Perhaps I should give up on the idea of writing something that other people want to read and just concentrate on writing for myself.  Then again, if I wanted to do that, I wouldn’t need to write in a public forum.  I could just keep it all to myself.  In the end, I suppose blogging is about sharing with the world and hoping for some sort of sharing in return.

So, how about this?  If you are reading this and are a blogger (or writer of any kind, really), how about sharing some of your tips?  How do you decide what to write about?  What topics do you find get the most reaction from your readers?  (How do you even get readers in the first place?)  Any sites or books that you would recommend on the topic of writing or blogging?

Hopefully, this will be the last time that I visit this topic.  I’d really like for it to be.  But, to be honest, I know myself well enough to know that it most likely isn’t the last time.

Until next time…

…which would be sometime tomorrow…