Like I Was Saying...
Here’s the thing, I miss writing - a lot.
I don’t know why I don’t do it as often, but I need to get back into the habit.
So here is my umpteenth attempt at keeping something daily. I’m taking Richard Herring’s *Warming Up* as an inspiration. Write whatever is in your head for thirty minutes and then post it. No corrections.
I don’t know when I got writer’s block, but I did. I’d like to blame the iPhone, the single biggest buyers remorse in my life.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s been some good things I’ve found in odd corners of the internet, especially on YouTube. Like Sean Tucker who taught me how to use my RX100 M7 on YouTube. That was worth watching, but other than that, I can’t count how many times I’ve watched the rescue scene from *Dunkirk*. I watched that clip a couple of times last night, in light of what’s going on in Afghanistan. Where I keep waiting for miracle, but I don’t think one is coming.
I spend too much time on my phone, looking for that next bit of inspiration, that never comes because I just don’t sit down and do the work.
So maybe this time it’ll be different. We’ll see.
One thing Herring mentioned was taking a bit from yesterday and talking about it.
The one thing that happened yesterday, that I was impressed by, was that I had started this program at work. Of course, I’ll have to keep this vague, but what was cool is that when a question was asked, by upper management, the two guys that work under me answered it as I hoped they would. Not that I was ever concerned that they couldn’t answer it, but they did.
They got the vision I was trying to convey and talk about it.
That made me feel pretty good.
This was also interesting: I commandeered a tripod from Marcos yesterday.
His Dad had given him an old DSLR he had hanging around with a tripod. Apparently he had used the camera to shoot houses he was selling. I had never seen a tripod like it before.
I have mixed feelings about tripods only because I don’t really know how to use one. Okay, I know how one works, but I’ve never like using them. I just fumble around with them and they’re so unwieldy.
Now, I know I’m supposed to use a tripod, at times. I’ve even spent some good money on nicer tripods, but I’ve never been able to get them to work.
I finally broke down and bought myself a table tripod just to split the difference. I do use it to grip my compact camera, and have used it occasionally. Still, using a tripod isn’t my bag. I feel foolish using them. Don’t ask me why.
But yesterday or maybe the day before yesterday, I walked into Marcos’ room and saw it collecting dust.
“Can I borrow this,” I asked. Marcos said, “okay.”
I set up and took a couple of self portraits and the tripod seemed different.
I think it has to with fact that I’m shooting with a compact camera and so the tripod doesn’t dwarf my poor little camera.
I still need to practice with it. But using it feels ten times better than the other tripods I’ve used.
Maybe I’ll post one of the pictures I took with it.
I don’t know, the pictures weren’t great, but hey, at least I took a picture.
So anyways, that’s all in my head today. I guess I’ll save today’s story for tomorrow, after I process them a little.
If I could, I’d love to do my thirty minutes of writing in the morning.
I’ve been waking up early enough.
Plus, I’m not waking up exhausted. Of course, I credit the Carnivore Diet.
I wish I could say I’m a 100% consistent on the Carnivore Diet, but alas, I’m not. I really wish I was. I don’t think I cheated today, but I could be wrong.
Man, thirty minutes is a long time when you have nothing to say. Of course, there’s a lot of things on my mind. It’s just trying to articulate what it is I’m trying to say.
FYI, I like shorter paragraphs.
I don’t know why, maybe that comes from my old screenwriting days. I’m trying to be efficient with language.
What’s so weird is that it’s such an interesting time to be alive.
There’s Afghanistan. COVID. Mask mandates. Rising inflation.
I always knew life wasn’t going to be comfortable, but this is just crazy.
What’s the old Chinese curse, “may you live in interesting times.” I think its always interesting. Of course, life was much simpler, say two, three years ago. And then our life patterns got interrupted and we’re all just trying to readjust to this “new normal.” We were supposed to go back to normal, but that wasn’t in the cards.
I don’t think it’ll ever go back to normal. I think that ship has sailed.
So this me, just trying to figure out what the “new normal” is and maybe my new normal is documenting my life from the age of forty four onward.
We’ll see what happens.