New Reviews:
Home to Oblivion: An Elliott Smith Tribute - Christopher O'Riley
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EWBKIA/ref=cm_aya_asin.title/103-0634004-2164616?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=5174
Stadium Arcadium - Red Hot Chili Peppers
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EMGAOY/ref=cm_aya_asin.title/103-0634004-2164616?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=5174
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Monday, May 08, 2006
I got Electra-cuted
If you live in Chicago and like artsy-fartsy stuff, check out Electra this weekend, before it goes bye-bye.
Greek tragedy's one of those things we're all supposed to like. Fortunately (for me), this is an exceptional show--I only went to see it because a friend's in it, but I ended up impressed, surprised, disturbed, awed, and challenged. Take the Red Line to the Morse stop, and it's right there. The venue's a bit of a hole in the wall, but it really works for this show--I've seen much worse performances in much bigger theaters.
http://www.bohotheatre.com/home.html
Greek tragedy's one of those things we're all supposed to like. Fortunately (for me), this is an exceptional show--I only went to see it because a friend's in it, but I ended up impressed, surprised, disturbed, awed, and challenged. Take the Red Line to the Morse stop, and it's right there. The venue's a bit of a hole in the wall, but it really works for this show--I've seen much worse performances in much bigger theaters.
http://www.bohotheatre.com/home.html
Saturday, May 06, 2006
First Week as a Writer
There are two problems with being fired from a job you hate:
1) That "Man, I should've dumped them before they dumped me" feeling, which is also common after failed romance.
2) The knowledge that you can't blame your unhappiness on your job any more.
It's a little scary knowing that I have to get out there and sell, sell, sell my book and my screenplay. I'd rather just write, write, write. (You'd think I had all the time in the world to write now, but still I find I need to clean my plate a little if I'm going to have a decent amount of time for it. I'm sleeping a full 8 hours now--that alone takes a big bite out of my workday. Add in workouts, errands, and other commitments, and there isn't an overwhelming amount of writing time left over.) It's scary, and it can be depressing, knowing that writing alone won't be enough--but then when I stop and think about it, I know I'm happier than I've been in any work week in the past year or so. The writing's been going well, and I will figure out the selling. My goal is to have the newest draft of the creenplay done by the 23rd. Wish me luck.
1) That "Man, I should've dumped them before they dumped me" feeling, which is also common after failed romance.
2) The knowledge that you can't blame your unhappiness on your job any more.
It's a little scary knowing that I have to get out there and sell, sell, sell my book and my screenplay. I'd rather just write, write, write. (You'd think I had all the time in the world to write now, but still I find I need to clean my plate a little if I'm going to have a decent amount of time for it. I'm sleeping a full 8 hours now--that alone takes a big bite out of my workday. Add in workouts, errands, and other commitments, and there isn't an overwhelming amount of writing time left over.) It's scary, and it can be depressing, knowing that writing alone won't be enough--but then when I stop and think about it, I know I'm happier than I've been in any work week in the past year or so. The writing's been going well, and I will figure out the selling. My goal is to have the newest draft of the creenplay done by the 23rd. Wish me luck.
Amazon Reviews
New reviews this week:
Pearl Jam, by Pearl Jam
Yeager: An Autobiography, by Chuck Yeager
You in Reverse by Built to Spill
Enchiridion by Epictetus
Helpful votes are always appreciated!
Pearl Jam, by Pearl Jam
Yeager: An Autobiography, by Chuck Yeager
You in Reverse by Built to Spill
Enchiridion by Epictetus
Helpful votes are always appreciated!
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
May Day and all...
An overcast Chicago day.
I rollerbladed over to Grant Park and caught a little of the immigration rally. Lots of people, lots of flags (mostly American), lots of signs (mostly in English). All in all, it was quite an impressive assembly, and it would have doubtless been more so if the weather'd been a bit sunnier and warmer. On my way back downtown, their cheers echoed off the towering buildings as they paraded down Jackson; a lot of the nearby streets were closed off, or clogged with people streaming back to the West Side.
There were a couple leftist-demagogues about--I noticed one Che Guevara sign and one "The White Man Stole Our Land" poster--but not a super great amount considering it was, you know, May Day and all. By and large I get the sense most of them just want to keep doing what they're already doing: working hard so they and their families can have a better life.
Meanwhile, my lazy ass got up at noon and spent the early afternoon filing for unemployment :-)
I did get a lot of work done later on my screenplay. And I helped my buddy with his student film. But I couldn't help but note the clash of cultures. So many native-born Americans I know are looking for relatively easy, fun, self-actualizing jobs, while foreigners are beating down the door and marching, actually marching in the streets, for the right--the right!--to work hard.
I rollerbladed over to Grant Park and caught a little of the immigration rally. Lots of people, lots of flags (mostly American), lots of signs (mostly in English). All in all, it was quite an impressive assembly, and it would have doubtless been more so if the weather'd been a bit sunnier and warmer. On my way back downtown, their cheers echoed off the towering buildings as they paraded down Jackson; a lot of the nearby streets were closed off, or clogged with people streaming back to the West Side.
There were a couple leftist-demagogues about--I noticed one Che Guevara sign and one "The White Man Stole Our Land" poster--but not a super great amount considering it was, you know, May Day and all. By and large I get the sense most of them just want to keep doing what they're already doing: working hard so they and their families can have a better life.
Meanwhile, my lazy ass got up at noon and spent the early afternoon filing for unemployment :-)
I did get a lot of work done later on my screenplay. And I helped my buddy with his student film. But I couldn't help but note the clash of cultures. So many native-born Americans I know are looking for relatively easy, fun, self-actualizing jobs, while foreigners are beating down the door and marching, actually marching in the streets, for the right--the right!--to work hard.
Monday, May 01, 2006
First Post
I am a blogger now. Hooray for me.
Something rubs me the wrong way about blogging--perhaps the notion that everything I think or do is worthy of consumption by others. But I like reading blogs. So maybe I'll like writing one, too, now that I'm starting.
Anyway, I'm a 28-year-old Chicagoan with almost a year and a half of sobriety, and I'm between careers, going through some major life changes, and all that blah blah blah. Friday was my last day at a job I worked at for damn near five years. I survived the bursting of the New Economy bubble and watched my company go from about 480 employees to somewhere just north of 60 once we got out of Chapter 11. (When I started, we had free snacks and pinball machines in our lounge, and I used to take a pinball break in the morning and another in the afternoon. That didn't last.) I survived all that craziness, but I couldn't survive my own lack of motivation once I realized the bulk of my day was wasted on work I truly loathed. Not because it was bad, but because it was keeping me from things that were truly good.
So now I'll be spending more time writing and helping people, and hopefully I'll figure a way to make money with the writing, but if not, I'll just have to figure a way to live more cheaply. I have a book, Pottersville, that's available on Amazon, a 50s Las Vegas crime thriller called The Impostor that I haven't published yet, an untitled World War II screenplay that exists as only as a rough first draft, and another book, Rhinoceros Skin, that's about 2/3rds done. (I think.)
Tomorrow I have to start trying harder to find an agent and sell these things in earnest. Maybe it'll happen and maybe it won't; I've learned in sobriety that life doesn't happen on my terms, but on God's. But I'm excited about finally having the time to really give it my all.
Something rubs me the wrong way about blogging--perhaps the notion that everything I think or do is worthy of consumption by others. But I like reading blogs. So maybe I'll like writing one, too, now that I'm starting.
Anyway, I'm a 28-year-old Chicagoan with almost a year and a half of sobriety, and I'm between careers, going through some major life changes, and all that blah blah blah. Friday was my last day at a job I worked at for damn near five years. I survived the bursting of the New Economy bubble and watched my company go from about 480 employees to somewhere just north of 60 once we got out of Chapter 11. (When I started, we had free snacks and pinball machines in our lounge, and I used to take a pinball break in the morning and another in the afternoon. That didn't last.) I survived all that craziness, but I couldn't survive my own lack of motivation once I realized the bulk of my day was wasted on work I truly loathed. Not because it was bad, but because it was keeping me from things that were truly good.
So now I'll be spending more time writing and helping people, and hopefully I'll figure a way to make money with the writing, but if not, I'll just have to figure a way to live more cheaply. I have a book, Pottersville, that's available on Amazon, a 50s Las Vegas crime thriller called The Impostor that I haven't published yet, an untitled World War II screenplay that exists as only as a rough first draft, and another book, Rhinoceros Skin, that's about 2/3rds done. (I think.)
Tomorrow I have to start trying harder to find an agent and sell these things in earnest. Maybe it'll happen and maybe it won't; I've learned in sobriety that life doesn't happen on my terms, but on God's. But I'm excited about finally having the time to really give it my all.
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