I call myself a "recovering recluse" for a reason...I'm a work in progress on the social front. A VERY slow work in progress. Like pouring a bad concrete mix. Oh well. I suppose I'm wondering how to find inspiration beyond parks, pretty sunsets and cute puppies (or kitties, or sloths, or whatever else). I'm hoping … Continue reading Looking for Inspiration in an Insular World
Let's say my To-Do list for this week has totally gone by the wayside. I should be working on a bunch of stuff and getting my instruments in tune to play. Part of me blames a day-long headache for what's happened, and a lousy nap that barely took the edge off. Maybe it shouldn't be … Continue reading Waste of a Hot Sunday… a little of this and a lot of nothing.
This is the one play I'd say you should read as a dare...at least, the version I have. Which may well be the version everybody has other than the original copies in the great British libraries behind vaults or something. And it's not entirely by Shakespeare, either. Heavily edited and worked on by several people, … Continue reading “Sir Thomas More,” from The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works, (partially) by William Shakespeare
I've been trying to write for three days now, and this is one thing that's come into and out of my mind the past week. Namely, how to achieve such an interesting idea, when you have a mind like mine. I've talked about my job and related issues several times over the past month, but … Continue reading Work-Life Balance for Dummies When You Have No Life (and I’m the dummy in this one…)
Yeah, I bastardized a Tom Petty song, but it's become a part of my personal soundtrack and wouldn't leave me alone, like it was telling me I needed to listen and keep it in mind. I let this world get to me. A year and a half ago, I wrote about why I was a … Continue reading I’ve been letting this world keep pushing me around…
My Copy: 057117891X (image from austinchronicle.com, differs from mine because I got a British copy) I have to thank Werner Herzog for pointing this book in my direction, and it's so worth it. You could apply the labels of autobiography, shooting diary, and how-to to this book and it'd all be accurate. Rebel Without A … Continue reading Rebel Without a Crew, or, How a 23-Year-Old Film-maker with $7,000 Became a Hollywood Player, by Robert Rodriguez
It's one of those basic things I've read about so often when it comes to editing and/or before submitting your stuff. I've lost count the numbers of sites telling you to get your family reading what you have. Get them reading your work, because you'll get some useful criticism from people who care for you, … Continue reading Why I Probably Won’t Let My Family Read My Works, Now or Ever Again…
My Copy: 9781582973579 (image from pinterest) Comedy Writing Secrets is just as advertised: a book about how to work with comedy in writing. Not much more than that, but at the same time, MUCH more than that. The premise seems too simple, but there are plenty of great examples of how different aspects of comedy … Continue reading Comedy Writing Secrets (2nd ed.), by Mel Helitzer with Mark Shatz
My Copy: 0553259334 (image from pinterest) I've read a few dozen Nero Wolfe novels and novellas so far, and this is one I barely remembered. I mean, I knew I read it, but it didn't leave much of an impression on me, apparently. Well, now I have an idea why. I thought the setup was … Continue reading The League of Frightened Men, by Rex Stout
My Copy: 9780764147128 (image from amazon.com) Well, it's up to a 4th edition right now, but no matter what edition we're talking about and how many links and internet apps and such, Barron's Painless Grammar is still a great guide for anyone who needs either a brief refresher on grammar rules or needs a new … Continue reading Barron’s Painless Grammar (3rd ed.), by Rebecca Elliott, Ph.D.
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