Pieces of Something #4

So you know that feeling where you are writing and you get to the point of feeling tired like there is no more that can be said. . . KEEP GOING! Dig further, push and push. Like Natalie Goldberg's book Writing down the Bones, there is so much more you can put out there on paper after you think all is written. It is always those dire moments where we are at our whits end and the voice is dead or the detail isn't fully there. Push yourself to paint the scenery more clearer, describe the emotion of a character with more truth. Don't be afraid of this. You will not spontaneously combust (though, I would hate to be liable for such a promise). Give it your all. Even when you feel there is no more, THERE IS ALWAYS MORE. I think of writing those last moments like the cream of the crop. That is the best part, that is butter! And if those extra ten minutes of writing is the cream, then it is the savory stuff you put on your potatoes or toast that take your tastes buds on a journey. Stick with it, try it out, see where it takes you.

Pieces of Something #3

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Here is something that came to me in the wee hours of the morning. Did you ever think of how your kids would act and talk 15, 20 years down the road? Or how about imagining yourself meeting a public figure, historical figure, celebrity, or a hero - ANYONE like Sacagawea (I know I probably butchered that). With this writing exercise, try to imagine meeting anyone you have ever wanted to meet. Get creative with how they would act and respond to your comments and questions. What could be their interests, favorite food, good book to read while on the John. Try imagining the outcome, and create a fictional means of how you were able to speak to your now-grown-up-son. Maybe you only meant to set the Microwave on HIGH for 30 seconds and the door blew up, shooting out rays of high radiation causing you to warp into the future. How would you speak to them? There are no rules to this, just write it out.

Pieces of Something #2

Hello everyone and welcome back to a sort of creative writing blog designed to help anyone break the ice of the halted inspiration every writer needs to bring to life their words and imagination. I have before you a scene from a really good film about a con man always on the run. This exercise deals with the art of observation. Sure this film has been shot and featured to millions, but from you watching it. . . how would write this scene? How would you explain the characters' reactions and expressions, the atmosphere of the room? There are no rules to this, just write it out. Enjoy!

Pieces of Something #1

So Missy and I the other night were sitting on the couch dead tired after the kids went down for bed. I was about to fall over and succumb to my five-hour coma when she came up with this neat idea of writing words on torn pieces of paper which afterwards goes into a mason jar. We would shake the jar up mixing the papers and then we'd each pick out one. We were given about 10 minutes to write whatever came to our minds from the words we received. The word could be anything like oranges, New Zealand, farting - ANYTHING. It didn't have to make sense, it didn't have to be correct. The important thing was we were in the moment writing. It's a really neat exercise, you'll be surprised with what you can come up with. Try it out!

monkey bars or the slide?

Very often after a grueling day of activities including the long hard commute to work, answering and making phone calls, trying hard to look and sound "important" and the commute back, homework with my daughter, the steam rising at my face while in the kitchen, the screaming generated from the inevitable sibling rivalry that is my off-spring and many other things (gasping for breath, because I am overdue for a comma), there is a place where I take my children. . . the playground. There are many social queues that tie to this event. For the kids either option is presented to them. They could 1: Run away bolting to that magical place that they have longed for and finally have it within their sights forgetting completely about you the parent. Or they could 2: stay as close to you as possible seeing that they have feared ever leaving your sight. Once you arrive to the bench you tend to feel like an athlete leaving the field going to the sidelines and now your kids take over. There are times where you are feeling adventurous and join them on the swaying draw bridge, the twirly slide that shocks you 50 times as you go down, or the monkey bars where your feet already reach the ground just from standing. Most likely after an already "adventurous" day, you might tap out. Other parents gather in the fold monitoring their kids while accompanied by their phones. You get to witness the various styles of parenting. There are those who make their kids overdress with helmets, knee pads, or even that marshmallow suit that the police wear to test out their K-9's ferocity. Then you have the ones that argue with their kids about having to use the bathroom even though the kid already went before coming out to play. It's like their watering grounds with how animals come together to socialize (no, are kids are not animals, I'm simply giving an analogy, although my children tend to bark and quack). We really have no idea how to interact when other kids tackle yours down. You don't want to be anyone else's authoritarian (it's more awkward than dancing with your sister). You leave it to good faith that that kid's parent will step up and relieve you of having to bring balance back into the playground. One time, my son and another kid were wearing the exact same outfit and had the same haircut (only the other kid spoke French). I had this thought that my wife and I would mistaken the French kid as ours and the other parents would take home our son. What if they raised him as their own and likewise with us and their kid? And then after 20 years they meet back up somewhere in college? What a crazy idea. So I guess the moral of the story is to mark your kids with a Sharpie before heading to the park.

the "super toy run" theory

Life is too short and so is one minute - sixty seconds. There used to be a kid contest sponsored through Nickelodeon where the lucky winner would be deemed one minute to run through a Toys R Us store with only one shopping cart, he had to shovel in as many toys as he could. This kid had to really book it seeing that there were Legos, action figures (the timeline was around the early 90's, so you know this was all high quality) Matchbox cars, and countless NES/SNES/Sega Genesis video games to be claimed without the nagging of parents and washing your dog for a couple of nickels twice a week to someday be able to afford a fraction of what lied ahead of him. What made it even more "at-the-edge-of-your-seat" was the finish line. It didn't matter the bulk spoils he piled in his cart, if he couldn't cross that finish line within the minute time frame, game over. All would be lost. I can't shake the feeling of how precious time here can be modeled after this contest. For me it might have to be books and music. With music there is sooooo much out there. It's like outer space. You could spend a lifetime in a single genre (or sector of planets) and still have galaxies of other really good sounds sitting there unexplored. Like that kid on the Super Toy Run contest, I bolt through the spacious warehouse with my left arm out scraping in everything from the shelf into my cart while struggling to steady my direction. With books, it's even more difficult, I do enjoy reading A LOT, however I can be a slow reader and it takes extra time for me to soak into a book while work and family are my main concerns. Have you ever felt like that? There is only so much we can be exposed to, also like a gourmet buffet line, there's only so much your stomach can hold.

Interstella 5555

My friend showed me this when we were installing security alarms in Tallahassee. It might've been our day off but we got onto youtube and here it was. Daft Punk made an album and the songs on them are designated to a animated movie titled Interstella 5555. For 14 tracks there are 14 videos. It totals about an hour and some change if you have that much free time to spare this is a real treat. I think I pulled it all off from a sick day. There is no sound except for the tire screeches with the car chase scenes. It is beautifully done with a unique plot and GREAT music. So there is this "guy from the oatmeal box" (you can't miss him, they make him out to look like the most evilest man alive) and there are distant worlds were these smurf people jam out on their home planet and are taken (almost like poached by this ninja force) and brought back to...Earth? Anyways I don't want to spoil it for you but they definitely illustrate the "no-nos" of creating music STRICTLY for marketing purposes instead of just letting it out in true form and spirit. That's probably a good reason why fans today are insecure about the music they love because maybe they feel that if the artist gets too good they will "sell out" and become "corporate". The number 5555 is the number of gold records this evil man wants (he's a big time producer). He is like a game collector almost like how a hunter travels exotic locations specifically to add to his collection (how does he sleep at night). There are so many neat things out there with the dilemma of not having enough time to enjoy those out-of-the-blue marvels that so often cross our paths in life. ENJOY!

Track 1 - One More Time

Track 2 - Aerodynamic

Track 3 - Digital Love

Track 4 - Harder Better Faster

Track 5 - Crescendolls

Track 6 - Night Vision

Track 7 - Superheroes

Track 8 - High Life

Track 9 - Something about Us
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Track 10 - Voyager

Track 11 - Veridis Quo

Track 12 - Short Circuit

Track 13 - Face to Face
Track 14 - Too Long