It's Friday Already? or-- Free Associating My Way Home

I am surprised at how fast most of this week has gone. Unfortunately, all that excess time seems to have been squeezed into this afternoon. I should have known I wasn't going to get off this easy. Doesn't the Lords of Time know I have stories to write and daikaiju monsters to watch??

So--how do we feel about sleep? I personally think that if I could live a healthy and long life without sleep, I would opt out. I'm driven by projects and tasks. An extra eight hours a day, 40 hours a week, why... I could write a novel a month in that time. I could start that graphic novel and screen play I keep putting off. But gods, imagine if every creative person suddenly had an extra 40 hours a week to devote to their pursuits. We're already drowning in work. Competition is incredibly stiff. We'd be buried in good work if the need for sleep were abolished. Unless of course we were all required to consume for a portion of those newly freed up hours. Yes, that's it--state mandated leisure reading and film viewing!

An entertained populace is a complacent one, you know. God only knows how this election is going to turn out if the writer's strike doesn't end soon. Turnout could be almost reasonable! Regardless, the first act in office of our new president should be forcing the AMTPA-whatever to agree to the WGA's demands.

We should make sure that we elect a Lost fan is what I am saying here.

Anyway, I'm in a relatively good mood because I know I'm going to end my first story of the year tonight when I get home. It's not the best thing I've written, but it's progress at some level. The time for improving will be when I either write it all over again, or edit this one into something good.

News of a fresh design for the Clarion West almost ruined my good mood. You see, I'm terribly jealous of anyone who gets to go to Clarion. Some have said I wouldn't handle the critical atmosphere well. To them I say--YOU'RE WRONG! I CAN TOO HANDLE CRITICISM, SO SHUT UP. And then I apologize for being such a jerk. Criticism generally just pisses me off at first anyway. Pride gets in the way of my brains. So maybe I need an experience like Clarion to teach me to handle criticism better--to break that stupid stubborn attitude that I know right. When I'm thinking clearly, I know that I have an infinite amount of improvement ahead of me, and I'm willing to try anything that might transform me into the writer that I daydream of becoming. But Clarion is a clear path to improvement that I am kept from using by life's circumstances anyway. Stupid student loans. Stupid need to keep a day job so I can keep my wife and I well fed and clothed. I like spending my vacation time in Europe better anyway. Hmph.

2008 is going to be the year I get things right. I've had some mild success in writing, but I have markets to crack. Achievements to make. I'm a level 3 writer. I wanna get to level 20 before my bad health and lack of exercise kills me at the age of 50. I've got 20 years. I've got to make the best of them, or I'll be a bitter old man for that short period of time between becoming old and my death by beef-clogged arteries.

All this is not to say that I have forgotten priority number one--a hot little number by the name of Sarah Jean. No sir. But you're all tired of hearing about that. Actually, if you've made it this far in this entry, you'll probably read anything I write! Bless you for that. People like you are gonna make me mildly less poor some day! Go forth and spread your seed. Raise your children with simliarly low standards for entertainment! I got an audience to build!