Tag: life in general

Sometimes you don’t notice something until it’s gone. In this case it’s TV commercials.1 I watch most of my shows on HuluPlus. Usually via an AppleTV box plugged into the main screen. As for the AppleTV, it’s probably in the top ten of tech items I’ve ever bought. It just works. The hardware can only go so far. The apps are what make my life better. Hulu is one of the better deals.

No, I just got through it. Stories are always really, really hard. I think it’s totally rational for a writer, no matter how much experience he has, to go right down in confidence to almost zero when you sit down to start something. Why not? Your last piece is never going to write your next one for you. § An old photo editor of mine always said you’re only as good as your last shot.

Those who try to master perfection will always fall to those who iterate, and reiterate, and create, and recreate. Art is better than philosophy. Creation, however clumsy, is always better than sitting on your hands and fearing what damage they can do. Kill the perfect. Slay the angels. Fuck the gods. You’re human. You’ll get it wrong. Everybody gets it wrong. But getting it wrong is the only way you get close to getting it right.

I’ve been trying to fix my sleep for the last several weeks. The last few days have been mostly normal.1 In that I’ve been going to bed around midnight and waking up with my alarm at 8:30. I’ve felt much better, and I don’t need a mid-day nap so often. This has been good and a welcome change. But I’m finding that the wake up time is just not working for me.

Film isn’t cheap and won’t develop itself. That was the message I heard growing up. We had a family camera. First it was an old Exakta without an internal light meter. An example of an old Exakta, via Flickr. This was the camera-not-to-be-touched. It was so truly awkward to use, photo-hipsters would love it today. Because of the time needed to get a photo “right” and that we shot slide film1 exclusively, I wasn’t allowed to touch the camera as a child.

Tell us a story about little known fact about yourself. § A little known fact about me is: my father built spaceships. Building spaceships takes a lot more than what’s shown in the movies and news. Today media focuses on the strong personalities that drive a space program. This is new. In the recent past, before the NASA resurgence we’re seeing today. Before the ISS, even. Before the private investment in spaceflight we have.

It was the one thing I owned with the most inertia attached. A 2001 Ford Ranger, with alloy wheels and dent in the bed. I haven’t been driving it as I prefer my motorcycle. The insurance was coming due tomorrow. I needed to either renew the insurance or tell the state it was parked. This gave me a deadline to decide. It’s been shambling along for a while now. I bought it with 101,000 miles and drove it for another 40,000 more in four years.