Fashion Statements

From time to time (for example, right now) my place of employ has required me to wear a badge. I am lazy and forgetful, so I often forget to take it off when I leave the building. As fashion statements go, a ratty laminated picture of myself with my name printed underneath is not really a winner.

Still, on my way home from work today, I spotted a woman wearing — I kid you not — a ceramic vagina tied around her neck with a piece of string. So things could really be a lot worse.

When it Rains...

You may have noticed that I've neglected this blog for...yikes. 2+ weeks? I hit a bit of a nadir in my life of leisure. Maximum leisure = minimum productivity.

Today I started a 3-6 month full-time contract and I couldn't get to sleep last night because I kept having one writing inspiration after another.

One of my most productive times as a writer was when I was living in Santa Barbara, working at my dream job. All of that positive productive energy during the day just overflowed into my personal writing projects. Work begets work. It's just like going to the gym. Once you get in the habit, it gets easier and easier to go.

Why We Write

One of the coolest writers I know, my old college roomie Sera, wrote an interesting piece for a project called "Why We Write."

Sera is insanely talented; she's been published in best of anthologies and she also happens to be a fancy schmancy producer on a tv show.

My favorite story about Sera goes something like this. Years ago, when we met, she wanted to be an actress. But as she very matter-of-factly explained to me, if that didn't work out, she'd become a professional writer instead. As someone who was pursuing writing as a first choice, I found this statement to be a bit presumptuous. After all, some people think writing is a fairly competitive field to break into. But damned if she didn't do it.

I'm going to choose professional rock star as my backup if this writing thing doesn't pan out.