I have this life long goal going…

Specifically, I desire, want, dream of, and work toward being a fiction writer – a story writer. I like the idea of writing stories. I dream about them. I seek after them. I look for good writers, good teachers, good friends, and good people I can get to know to better my desire and dream of doing what it is that I do (and want to do): write.

Some years ago I was given the opportunity to take a job where I went to work and wrote every day. Since that job I’ve been able to take jobs (and do jobs) that allow me to do the same thing over and over and over again. Sometimes I’m not so fortunate, at other times I’m more so, to find things that help me to advance the aspirations and career that I desire (so much) in my life.

As such, I’ve intentionally dealt with other matters, other interests, on this website than is my passion. For the most part, the reason for this is because I am not producing in the direction I want to be producing. Sure, I’ve taken classes and found people that, for a time, can point me in the right direction; but for the most part, for me, writing fiction and telling stories is a solitary activity. Of this, I do not complain. I like my peace and solitude.

With that said, I will not be talking about writing (today) so much as what I enjoy online that, in some cases, deals with what gets me going in the morning, afternoon, and evening. What I am about to share, some of it anyway, will end up in the links section when I finally decide to change it. Others, you may never see again (except for this post). Regardless, my internet/computer day starts as follows:

Every day of the week I go to these sites –

http://www.comics.com/comics/hedge/
http://www.gocomics.com/nonsequitur/
http://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury/
http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/dilbert/

On Monday’s Wednesday’s and Friday’s I go to these sites –

http://www.thewotch.com/
http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/

On Sunday’s (or Monday, depending) I go here –

http://www.gocomics.com/bloomcounty/ *
http://www.uclick.com/client/wpc/wpopu/

On Monday’s and Friday’s I go here –
http://headtripcomics.livejournal.com/

On Tuesday’s and Saturday’s I go here –

http://bobadventures.comicgenesis.com/

On Monday’s, only, I go here –

http://emmaverse.com/ **

Then, everyday of the week, after I get done with the various drop-ins for comic websites I hit the blogs. They include:

http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/
http://artfulwriter.com/
http://www.screenwritinglife.com/ ***a
http://thinkingwriter.com/
http://www.journalscape.com/tim
http://bztv.typepad.com/
http://acertainkindofsomeplace.blogspot.com/
http://www.brassgoggles.co.uk/brassgoggles/
http://www.dragonmount.com/RobertJordan/
http://johnaugust.com/
http://www.dwell.com/
http://www.megcabot.com/diary/
http://www.tobiasbuckell.com/weblog
http://fencingwiththefog.blogspot.com/ ***
http://pubrants.blogspot.com/ ***
http://www.davidanaxagoras.com/ ***

After which I go here –

http://www.nomuse.com/
http://www.unknowledge.com/
http://www.gekco.org/
http://milbergers.blogspot.com/

And then I go here –

http://news.yahoo.com/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/
http://www.cnn.com/

Because I am an addict of various kinds of storytelling, and TV is a kind of storytelling, and I like TV AND storytelling –

http://dynamic.abc.go.com/streaming/landing
http://www.myspace.com/fox
http://www.cbs.com/innertube
http://www.nbc.com/Video/
http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/index.shtml ****

Finally, here’s my I go to occasionally list –

http://www.comingsoon.net/
http://www.scifi.com/
http://www.hollywood.com/

Now that I have better access to a television I also have this one open a lot –

http://www.tvguide.com/

What you will notice in this list is that I hit online comics, I go to blogs that are, primarily, about writing in some form or another. Then I hit news sites. I watch some of the television shows I like online. Then, when everything else has been gone through, I check out informational sites on forthcoming movies, etc. I find it interesting how quickly one can get into a pattern of searching through the interwebbythingamajig on a daily basis. If I can’t go to certain sites, if, for some reason, they are not available to me, then I have to entertain myself in other ways. This is not always a good thing.

The point is, when people wonder what some of my websurfing habits, there you go. As I said, some will be added to the links and I will update them soon enough. Others will be dropped entirely because my interests, or the reason I go to those sites, has disappeared.

There are a couple of places I go rather frequently, multiple times a day whether they are updated or not. These include Neil Gaiman’s website, Tim Pratt’s website, and now Meg Cabot’s website. I go to news.Yahoo.com several times a day and MSNBC.com. CNN.com is one of those hit or miss, and, for some that know me, I have dropped Foxnews.com from my list of places I go.

For those who are wickedly curious, I do go to each of my brother’s websites and would go to any other siblings or sibling-in-law’s website if I knew they existed. I also, daily, go to Erin’s website. I know, in advance, that the likelihood of these being updated is pretty small, so, it requires no effort to drop in and pop out again. On top of that I also go the Steph’s website because, well, I am curious. I think it interesting that people keep blogs and then, conveniently forget (or neglect) to update them.

This isn’t a surprise. What is a surprise (repeatedly) is the number of people that come and visit my website. This might be one of those things that is merely because I am more frequent in updating. I’d hope that’s it. Sometimes, when I am reading news, I decide to share feelings about things that are happening. That hasn’t happened as much, lately, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t be back in the political realm soon enough.

Believe it or not, all of this actually helps me with the whole writing thing whether its for school or personal edification or merely as fodder for updating the website. In some cases, it’s just pure, unadulterated fun that I am going for. Nothing fancy, nothing new, just something that has drawn me in and keeps me interested enough to come back the next day, or second day, or once a week to see what is happening. In other cases, I am simply curious as to what is happening or what developments are taking place. Take Tim Pratt as one example, I loved his book Strange Adventures of Rangergirl and, after reading it, wanted to know more about the guy. He’s interesting and I believe he’s going somewhere as a writer/author. There are aspects to his short fiction and his freelance (non-novel writing work) that I don’t like, but then I think of the Dr. Seuss’s and the Shel Silverstein’s of the world and move on.

Anyway, I think that’s enough for the moment.

John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Denny Crane | Bond. James Bond

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*This will become a daily when they restart the strip.

**This is one that may not be on my list for lack of good writing; drawing better, but not enough.
***These are on a trial basis… as I am interested in what other people are doing in screen writing, I am only interested in other people so far… if’n they don’t have anything good to say about the craft (or their exploration of it) then I am likely (as not) to drop them.

***a Still sitting in a trial basis, this guy, though, may get dropped for lack of updates.

****I like cars and Jay Leno is, quite possibly, the king of cars with a lot of them and a lot of information – you should check out the steam engine bits… very interesting.

Surfing the interwebbythingamajig I occasionally come across news on movies and various other sundries. It should be no secret that I enjoy television and I enjoy movies and books and, to a slightly lesser degree, music. On top of that, I enjoy plays and musicals. Pretty much if its entertainment oriented I am probably going to find aspects of it that I enjoy. Because of the popular nature of movies and television sometimes it is easy to find things (from other people) that I can comment on.

I guess you should probably know that horror movies and most of the modern suspense movies are not items that I enjoy. When people talk about Grindhouse a new pair of movies by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino that return to the double features of, what, the 1950’s and 1960’s where the filming was about “B” grade and the acting not much better, but you got a pretty tight movie and story that seemed to enliven and entertain people. The point is, the subject matter of a Tarantino movie is just plain bloody; and I can’t say that I’ve ever seen a Rodriguez movie that I am familiar with.

I decided to do the whole IMDB.com thing and look up Robert Rodriguez. He directed Spy Kids, Spy Kids 2, Spy Kids 3D, The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3D, El Mariachi, Desperado, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, From Dusk Til Dawn, and the Sin City movies. Keep in mind that this is not a complete list of what he has done and I have seen the Spy Kids movies, I want to see the Sharkboy and Lavagirl movie, and I want to see the trilogy of movies beginning with El Mariachi which is where Rodriguez got his start. None of that, for me and Grindhouse is really very applicable to what this movie is.

The movie, from what I see trailer-wise and what I’ve read, pretty much a blood fest al la Tarantino.

Once upon a time I watched Pulp Fiction. That was the comeback movie, as I recall, for John Travolta who’d found himself wallowing in movie obscurity. He played a mafia hitman. The movie touched on a lot of subjects that I’ve never found enjoyable. I won’t list them. They aren’t important; but, at the same time, for many people that movie proved to be a defining cinematic moment for them. It would be, I’d imagine, akin to George and his Star Wars franchise. That series of movies changed the way studios make movies.

Since Pulp Fiction movies have made another change. Think Kevin Smith who’s claim to fame includes Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, and others. There are, occasionally, rumors that he is going to be working on the Star Wars television franchise. Whether or not that is true is beside the point, what is the point is that he’s along the same line of movie maker (according to IMDB.com he has an untitled horror movie project coming down the line) as Tarantino.

Tarantino did for horror movies, the blood and gore movies, what George did for movie making in general. When a horror movie is made (al la Saw and Saw II) there is a lot more blood and gore and a lot more violence than I feel (or think) is necessary. You might say that Tarantino heralded in an era of uber realistic movie making.

This has extended into television. What people should know is that Erin is a fan of Alias. This is not a show I am exactly thrilled with. I think, honestly, that J.J. Abrams created a series that was meant to fail. Well, not really, but when he decided to focus on other projects he left Alias alone. As a result, the show faltered and failed. According to news reports at the time, Jennifer Garner was the reason ABC kept the series alive because they were betting on her as an actress and as a draw. During this time ABC was suffering from low ratings. Interestingly, J.J. Abrams helped create and mastermind the return of the network to some prominence with LOST.

Tarantino was also a fan of Alias. I don’t know what Erin’s opinion of his character in the series is; or how she felt about the episodes that he wrote and directed. But, I think he detracted from the series and was a foil used by ABC to bring additional viewers. The thing is, though, I don’t like his movies and I think he is this weird, freakish, visionary.

Grindhouse is this interesting pair of movies. I’d imagine it was well funded and, from the trailers, they’ve got some pretty big name talent. If I were only interested in who was in movies, there would be a lot of movies I’d see just because. Yet, I don’t really feel that this movie is going to do more for cinema than promote a new way of looking at movies, especially shorter filmed movies designed for back to back showings. This will, probably, open the door for a lot of young filmmakers to become expressive in a new form of storytelling. Where critics believe that video podcasts and content written specifically for cell phones and iPods will change the way video is made, I think that Grindhouse, if it makes it a couple of weeks in the box office, will change the way in which studios and directors choose to make movies.

This, believe it or not, actually leads into The Black Donnelly’s as a story-telling medium. Television is one of those things that allow for some measure of experimentation with the kinds of shows that are broadcast. I’d imagine, all tallied, a lot of American Television comes from successful experiments in England or other places. Right now, The Office is a remake of the show originated in Britain. We take an idea and we remake it and then continue that same idea until it’s been done a few dozen times.

However, The Black Donnelly’s really is one of those experiments that I wonder whether it will work or not. In the pilot episode, we are introduced to the Donnelly brothers: Jimmy, Tommy, Kevin, and Sean. Tommy is the responsible one who, allegedly, takes over the Irish Crime Syndicate in New York City. I’ve shared this before. What makes this pertinent to what I am writing about is that the story isn’t really conducive to television; but I’d imagine it will break ground for other shows to follow in its footsteps. The Donnelly’s will create a new wave in television – Studio 60 one of my current favorite shows that might not last another year, can’t even claim the same thing. It’s great television, but it’s not groundbreaking television.

The problem with The Donnelly’s is that you have to invest in the characters knowing how they might turn out. You have to set aside disbelief of the narrator of the series (Joey Ice Cream) and trust that what he is telling the public is actually real. All of this is important when you consider that the story is leading to some semblance of a (at least) seasonal conclusion which will have Tommy taking over some aspects of the Irish Mafia. You know it’s going to happen and yet, as a viewer you have to wonder whether or not this is even going to really go anywhere. It’s experimental, it will usher in new TV, and yet, what’s the point.

Tarantino does the same thing for movie. He breaks ground. Grindhouse will probably be a big pull at the box office if for no other reason than people are tired of the same-old-same-old fare that the studios pump out. It will change the way we watch movies, though it will not change, for any length of time, the way studios make movies. And yet, unlike The Black Donnelly’s I have no interest in going down the Tarantino road.

John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Bond. James Bond

When wedding.sw-c.com was set up I noticed (while configuring the site) that there was an option about when posts are removed from the front page of the website. I’d chosen the option that if a post was more than 9 days old it disappeared. I’m sure I had a reason for this, but at present I’m not (really) certain what it was… well, truth told, I may not have been aware that I could have it in raw posts rather than number of days. As a result, I set-up the wedding site with a requirement for total number of posts (I think) rather than number of days (www.sw-c.com). Today, I made the change on this website from days to total number of posts.

So, in case I get in a mode where I am not updating as often, or frequently, as I should (or could) the website will still show the last 9 posts.

Every once in a while someone will say, to me, “John, why don’t you tell me all the things you have done.”

My response (especially in recent years) has been, “That is a waste of my time. You are asking me for a laundry list. My experiences are only interesting when discovered. A laundry list is boring.”

The Laundry List, to me, is listing out experiences, jobs, etc. so that the individual receiving them knows that I may (or may not) have done certain things, but really holds no other context than the individual was curious about the various elements of my life.

An example of this:

After my mission I came home. In spending two years (twenty-four months) where I always had someone right next to me, I wanted some time when I was not connected to someone else. As a result of one companion I had, and his stories; as well as experiences as a child riding in the family car everywhere we went, I decided that the best (for me) solution to this want was to drive semis. The result was that I found a job working for a large trucking company who also agreed to train me at no (training) cost to me.

I drove for about six months. It was fun (at first) and then it was boring and, I discovered, dangerous.

This, for most people, is not a discovery. I am very open about my time driving semis. For a while, that was one of the first things people learned about me. There is something, to me, about having that as a notch on my totem. However, I also discourage people from that as an occupation by stating something like, “If you have the ability to live with your own thoughts, I think it is a good job to have. If you can’t live with the noise in your head, then driving semis is a bad idea,” For most people it really is a bad idea.

That is one example of something most people don’t have to discover about me. Well, the discovery generally comes quickly and early. At the same time, I have a lot of other experiences both professionally and personally. These experiences, most I believe, require the individual discover them. I really mean that. If I hand you the laundry list you get a list of things; if you discover, you get to find out more about me than I might, otherwise, normally share.

Erin made a discovery this past weekend. This was used in relation to a couple of other people we both know and communication problems. The idea of discovery is not new, even in communication. Different people say (and do) things in different ways. Sometimes you find yourself not communicating well with other people and wonder why. The outcome (as discussed with Erin in relation to others) is that the discovery process is necessary to determine whether or not the individuals (in question) really want some kind of a lasting relationship. If they do, they will learn the process of communicating with the other party (or parties); otherwise, the relationship will come to an end.

Discovery in relationships is, in part (I think), what makes the relationship interesting. How boring would it be if you new everything about a person? You’re in their head. You know what they are going to do about the same time they know what they are going to do. That is boring. You don’t have the excitement of finding out new things. You don’t get the joy of growing with the person and sharing connected and disconnected life experiences, ideas, feelings, or anything else.

And yet, that’s not really the thought I am working through.

Education is about learning things. What I learned, early in my life, was that sitting in class rarely taught me something I didn’t know. I do have a class, now, that presents new information – but most of the information is really new ways of looking at old data. There is one exception: China. I’ve had an interest in China for a while, now, but I didn’t really have any clue about the rich cultural history of that nation or most of Asia. In my mind these are, generally, third world countries with a really barren and boring background.

China and Japan’s histories are anything but boring. This discovery came, in part, as a result of my studying for a test where I was told, “You need to know something about China’s and Japan’s histories after 1500.” I bought a book. The book deals with a lot of Asia’s history which, I learned, is very rich and very different from Europe’s.

That is an exciting discovery for me and one that only increases my desire to visit and/or live in China.

Another, recent, discovery (also dealing with China) is a short film about the cost of a water buffalo and the economic boon this puts on a family when gifted. A water buffalo costs about $250.00 U.S. dollars. This is more than the average family earns in China in a year. Buying a water buffalo will feed the family (if they slaughter it) for half a year; it will also assist, for more then fifteen years, in the plowing and preparing of ground for crops. This increases yield and increases the money the family can make in a year; thereby improving their situation.

When I spoke to Erin about this (we’ve actually talked about it more than once), this is, in my mind, similar, in nature, to the LDS Church’s Perpetual Education Fund for third world nations. Education is better, but all things in steps. In China, a water buffalo can literally bring a family out of poverty and prepare them for a future where education (or the possibility for an education) is possible.

Quite literally, I am interested in making discoveries. Discovering what I like. Discovering what I don’t like. Discovering new ideas, new information, new knowledge, and new methodologies. It was an interesting discovery, several years ago, to find that I like working on Jeep Cherokees. They, to me, are one of the more fun vehicles not only to drive but to do mechanical work on. I don’t, normally, enjoy being a mechanic, and yet, when it came to my Jeeps, I loved going out and getting dirty crawling around the engine, transmission, and transfer case. This really was a discovery.

Discovering a new method of writing is also exciting.

Discovering a new author is actually more exciting than almost anything else I can think of. I was talking to Erin about different authors I enjoy and I started talking about specific authors. I don’t know why it has taken our entire relationship (so far) to get to a point where I can share specific authors and specific books that I’ve discovered over the years and why I love them. As I talked to her I wondered if, by introducing Erin to the authors and books, if she would have the same kind of discovery that I had or if exposure to what I’d discovered by being willing to take a chance on the unknown without giving her the same opportunity (if no more than discovery on the bookshelves) would taint her experience.

The idea of discovery is something that extends well beyond the simple borders of personal experience. We find movies and music, television and books, cars and walking… I rediscovered (and this actually happens a lot) that I really love to walk; and I discovered that some of my favorite (dead) authors were walking writers – meaning they would write and then walk for hours; or walk for hours and then write.

I am rediscovering my commitment to writing – and this in part is accompanied by Erin’s discovery of my excitement at writing something and having appropriate (to me) feedback that what is produced is good.

I’m not, exactly, sure that what I started out intending to write is what I’ve actually written. What I intended to say dealt with finding something on your own and being excited and changed by that discovery. I started out writing that someone can’t walk up to me and just ask for a list of experiences or jobs and expect to get the same response as when we get to know each other and they discover what I’ve done with my life and how that can affect them. I started out writing with the intent that the discovery is really the enchantment to life, the fluid that pumps through life’s veins and keeps the experiences alive, and yet, I don’t know if any of my examples (in these areas) has succeeded in expressing that.

For tonight, though, I think I am done trying to discover how to write about these things.

John Hattaway | Alicia Grey | Ansel Adams | Denny Crane | Bond. James Bond