It's funny how things can change in a day...
Word spread like wildfire that I was eyeballing the store's inventory and looking to start my own location. Several regulars who have come to like me more than the current owner have pledged their support to my goal, and a number of the wargaming regulars showed up in the shop yesterday with the sole intention of helping me conduct my inventory. Thanks to this extra help, I've done as much of the inventory as I needed to do to confirm that, yes, this is probably a smart option.
Steady work will not be an issue, as I'll be running the store full-time (likely 55+ hours a week MINIMUM!). I should be able to keep most or all of the existing regular customers if I can negotiate a favorable lease in the same location (and given that 2 stores in this plaza have been empty for over 2 years, I think I can get this spot for a fair bit less than the current store is paying for it). And, most importantly, I'll own a business - something I can take a stab at making my life's work.
Moreover, Bree and I want to do this.
The wildcard now is the asking price. One of the store owners laid out the initial price for the inventory... but I don't think he went over it with the other store owner (his wife). The bad news - this means they may try to ask for more... the good news: she's more desperate to walk away from the shop than he is... so this could pan out. I should know by Tuesday-ish.
That said, it's not all sunshine and lollipops. Apparently, my landlord is losing the house Bree and I are renting. So over the next few months, we need to be looking for a new place to live. Of course, if we're going to buy the store and stay in the area we can just lok for something near our new business... but we need to make sure our deal goes through first.
New home... new business... at a time when I felt the need to just throw out everything from my old life and start over... looks like I'll get my chance.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
My Store-y
I apologize for being absent from the blog for a little bit. There's been a lot going on during the last week or so.
First up was Bree's birthday week. Since I've met her, I've been able to enjoy her family tradition of having a week long birthday. During that entire week, you're sprinkled with presents and taken out to dinner any number of times. The birthday week led to a number of events that kept me nice and busy.
There was the night out at the Alehouse that left Bree so hung over that she spent most of the next day vomitting everything she'd eaten over the last month. Charming, I know.
A trip to Sea World with her parents occupied another day - a very pleasant day, I might add.
Simon's Bakery for dinner on her birthday was an occassion of note - a charming little bistro here in Sarasota that is just delightful. Food of note: Sesame Tuna with Seaweed Salad appetizer. To die for.
Since Bree's birthday, I've started to find time for myself again (she's too obsessed with the Nintendo DS I bought her to notice the universe around her). Item of note there is my store-y of the week.
It looks like it would be entirely feasible that I may be starting my own business within the next couple of months.
The owner of my local comic and game shop is looking to close down by the end of the year or so, and is willing to sell me his entire inventory and fixture set for a seemingly low cost. Bree and I have both wanted to own a comic shop to call ours for some time now, and we've got dozens of ideas just pouring out on how to run a successful shop (they range from expanding the miniature gaming section to video games to reintroducing the anime crowd from the area, as they currently have nowhere worth going).
We've projected that we'd need about $50,000 worth of startup capital to get the ball rolling in a serious direction. And the funny thing... we've got it! Just have to cross the 't's and dot the 'i's and the money is ours. This is where the questions come up...
Are we absolutely serious about this? Can we put in the time to make it work? Can I put in the time to make it work? I'd be the primary handler of the store - Bree would remain working at the hardware store while I did this.
But I guess the biggest question is this: is the store worth what the current owner wants for the inventory? There is a good deal of product that hasn't turned over in years... but it's hard to tell whether or not a change in marketting strategies would remedy that.
Over the next few weeks, I'll be doing a complete inventory of the store to see if the viable product outweighs the currently inviable product, and just how much of the "worthless" product I'll be stuck with in the end. If the decent product is at or close to the asking price, this would be worth my time... if it isn't... well, we'll see what happens.
Hopefully, in a few months time, I'll be posting about what it's like to own my own business.
First up was Bree's birthday week. Since I've met her, I've been able to enjoy her family tradition of having a week long birthday. During that entire week, you're sprinkled with presents and taken out to dinner any number of times. The birthday week led to a number of events that kept me nice and busy.
There was the night out at the Alehouse that left Bree so hung over that she spent most of the next day vomitting everything she'd eaten over the last month. Charming, I know.
A trip to Sea World with her parents occupied another day - a very pleasant day, I might add.
Simon's Bakery for dinner on her birthday was an occassion of note - a charming little bistro here in Sarasota that is just delightful. Food of note: Sesame Tuna with Seaweed Salad appetizer. To die for.
Since Bree's birthday, I've started to find time for myself again (she's too obsessed with the Nintendo DS I bought her to notice the universe around her). Item of note there is my store-y of the week.
It looks like it would be entirely feasible that I may be starting my own business within the next couple of months.
The owner of my local comic and game shop is looking to close down by the end of the year or so, and is willing to sell me his entire inventory and fixture set for a seemingly low cost. Bree and I have both wanted to own a comic shop to call ours for some time now, and we've got dozens of ideas just pouring out on how to run a successful shop (they range from expanding the miniature gaming section to video games to reintroducing the anime crowd from the area, as they currently have nowhere worth going).
We've projected that we'd need about $50,000 worth of startup capital to get the ball rolling in a serious direction. And the funny thing... we've got it! Just have to cross the 't's and dot the 'i's and the money is ours. This is where the questions come up...
Are we absolutely serious about this? Can we put in the time to make it work? Can I put in the time to make it work? I'd be the primary handler of the store - Bree would remain working at the hardware store while I did this.
But I guess the biggest question is this: is the store worth what the current owner wants for the inventory? There is a good deal of product that hasn't turned over in years... but it's hard to tell whether or not a change in marketting strategies would remedy that.
Over the next few weeks, I'll be doing a complete inventory of the store to see if the viable product outweighs the currently inviable product, and just how much of the "worthless" product I'll be stuck with in the end. If the decent product is at or close to the asking price, this would be worth my time... if it isn't... well, we'll see what happens.
Hopefully, in a few months time, I'll be posting about what it's like to own my own business.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
A Crabby Day...
As I've said before, I'm an ass. It works for me. But that doesn't change the fact that people are too sensitive these days.
I'm well known among my circles to be outspoken and, at times, abrasive. I tend to think of it as not being afraid to say what should be said.
Do I think you were an idiot for staying in a bad relationship with X?
Yes.
Do I think you look fat in that dress?
Probably.
I'm not going to hold back. That's not who I am.
That said, I'm not an ass in that "deliberately hurtful" sort of way. I'll tell you what I think - be it negative or positive... IF I'M ASKED. If you don't ask me, I probably don't care enough to tell you.
So it tends to grind my gears when a friend on mine, whom I did a hell of a lot of legwork for when it came to setting him up with his new girlfried, eggs me on into saying some quasi-offensive, then turns around an turns into a little bitch because what I said was 'out of line.'
Kind of funny... considering that (a) he should know me better than that and (2) even his new lady friend picked up on my personality type and wasn't offended by it.
Best of all - apparently, the only person who actually got in trouble here was him... because she didn't like that he bitched out on me.
Karma... you are a most powerful force, indeed.
In light of all this drama (that I never care to be a part of), I decided to treat myself this morning to a delightful little cafe here in Sarasota called Word of Mout. For anyone in the area, they have a location on the corner of Bee Ridge and Cattlemen, and you'd be foolish not to go.
The atmosphere is simplistically comfortable, with simple colored tables and little wooden chairs to match. Word of Mouth doesn't need to create a dynamic environment to lure people in, however, as their service is top notch and the food is unique and delightful.
This morning, I had a remarkably prompt cup of coffee, a fresh baked blueberry muffin (still piping hot from the oven), and a crab frittata. That's right, a frittata served with a heaping pile of real crab meat, cheese, spinach, and some other stuff I don't know the name of. I'm not a food critic, but I do get around and try a lot of things (still need to post about that low country boil)... and I can tell you that this was the best breakfast joint I've been to in a long time.
Best of all? I paid maybe a dollar more than I would have on a trip to the local Denny's.
If you're in the area, check out Word of Mouth Cafe. If you're not, do yourself a favor. Get out to those little food joints in your area. The smaller, the better - forget that chain nonsense. Let me know how you enjoyed them - we'll post some of your comments up here and start giving your local favorites some 'word of mouth' of our own.
I'm well known among my circles to be outspoken and, at times, abrasive. I tend to think of it as not being afraid to say what should be said.
Do I think you were an idiot for staying in a bad relationship with X?
Yes.
Do I think you look fat in that dress?
Probably.
I'm not going to hold back. That's not who I am.
That said, I'm not an ass in that "deliberately hurtful" sort of way. I'll tell you what I think - be it negative or positive... IF I'M ASKED. If you don't ask me, I probably don't care enough to tell you.
So it tends to grind my gears when a friend on mine, whom I did a hell of a lot of legwork for when it came to setting him up with his new girlfried, eggs me on into saying some quasi-offensive, then turns around an turns into a little bitch because what I said was 'out of line.'
Kind of funny... considering that (a) he should know me better than that and (2) even his new lady friend picked up on my personality type and wasn't offended by it.
Best of all - apparently, the only person who actually got in trouble here was him... because she didn't like that he bitched out on me.
Karma... you are a most powerful force, indeed.
In light of all this drama (that I never care to be a part of), I decided to treat myself this morning to a delightful little cafe here in Sarasota called Word of Mout. For anyone in the area, they have a location on the corner of Bee Ridge and Cattlemen, and you'd be foolish not to go.
The atmosphere is simplistically comfortable, with simple colored tables and little wooden chairs to match. Word of Mouth doesn't need to create a dynamic environment to lure people in, however, as their service is top notch and the food is unique and delightful.
This morning, I had a remarkably prompt cup of coffee, a fresh baked blueberry muffin (still piping hot from the oven), and a crab frittata. That's right, a frittata served with a heaping pile of real crab meat, cheese, spinach, and some other stuff I don't know the name of. I'm not a food critic, but I do get around and try a lot of things (still need to post about that low country boil)... and I can tell you that this was the best breakfast joint I've been to in a long time.
Best of all? I paid maybe a dollar more than I would have on a trip to the local Denny's.
If you're in the area, check out Word of Mouth Cafe. If you're not, do yourself a favor. Get out to those little food joints in your area. The smaller, the better - forget that chain nonsense. Let me know how you enjoyed them - we'll post some of your comments up here and start giving your local favorites some 'word of mouth' of our own.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
De-Cluttering to Expose the Simple Joys
I’m a gatherer.
I collect and store and keep and save almost everything.
I’ve got a closest full of cards from defunct games that I’ll never play again. Video games that won’t ever light up another console pack a storage chest in my front room. Books I’ve read a dozen times are crammed between bookends on my coffee tables. I’m actually beginning to think that I’m running out of space to store things.
And you know what?
I don’t need most of it.
Here’s what I need: to start going through all this junk and start trashing the worthless crap, and cataloguing the decent stuff for sale.
I was a bit bored last night, so I started de-cluttering by emptying out a closet in my game room. What I found was a whole lot of new storage space, and what turned into an evening of fun. I uncovered Bree’s old collection of LEGOs from her childhood. We busted it out and went LEGO crazy… building a LEGO boat… and a LEGO research station… and all that other good stuff.
It was good, old fashioned, thoroughly entertaining fun. Exactly what we both need to get our minds off some of the menial stresses of the weekend. And we’ll probably do it again another night when we just need to unwind.
Take 10 minutes today… clear out drawer, or closet, or a crawlspace… see what you find. Make you can use it to make a couple bucks on ebay to spring for a nice day out, or maybe you’ll just find something good and wholesome to play with and recapture just a little bit of your childhood.
I collect and store and keep and save almost everything.
I’ve got a closest full of cards from defunct games that I’ll never play again. Video games that won’t ever light up another console pack a storage chest in my front room. Books I’ve read a dozen times are crammed between bookends on my coffee tables. I’m actually beginning to think that I’m running out of space to store things.
And you know what?
I don’t need most of it.
Here’s what I need: to start going through all this junk and start trashing the worthless crap, and cataloguing the decent stuff for sale.
I was a bit bored last night, so I started de-cluttering by emptying out a closet in my game room. What I found was a whole lot of new storage space, and what turned into an evening of fun. I uncovered Bree’s old collection of LEGOs from her childhood. We busted it out and went LEGO crazy… building a LEGO boat… and a LEGO research station… and all that other good stuff.
It was good, old fashioned, thoroughly entertaining fun. Exactly what we both need to get our minds off some of the menial stresses of the weekend. And we’ll probably do it again another night when we just need to unwind.
Take 10 minutes today… clear out drawer, or closet, or a crawlspace… see what you find. Make you can use it to make a couple bucks on ebay to spring for a nice day out, or maybe you’ll just find something good and wholesome to play with and recapture just a little bit of your childhood.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Rays Lose, But Fans Still Win... and a Perspective on Family
Last night, I sat in the stands surrounded by fans who flocked to Tropicana Field not to watch the floundering Tampa Bay Rays, but to wait eagerly through the ball game for a live performance by the Beach Boys.
The game, itself, was a disappointment on the Rays' part - but this is something to be expected of the team (so much so, that it seemed that almost everybody there was either waiting for the Beach Boys, or went solely to cheer on the Detriot Tigers).
While the final box score was 8-6, Tigers favor, this was a larger gap than it seems. The loss was only salvaged by Rays 'savior' Evan Longoria, who pounded a 3 run homer in the first inning. After this at-bat, Longoria, like the rest of the team, acheived little for the rest of the night. I recall no 3rd base plays, and I watched him either strike out, or had any of his plays cut short by the Tigers' first baseman on each of his subsequent at-bats.
This was, sadly, the highlight of the game.
The real joy last night came at about 11 o'clock when the Beach Boys made it on to center field. Mike Love and Bruce Johnston failed to disappoint, drawing tremendous cheers from the crowd as they, and the newest generation of replacement Beach Boys played up that same ol' routine that's thrilled for years, and left everyone leaving the stadium with a smile on his or her face.
I may hate the beach, but I don't thin anyone could hate the Beach Boys.
And, like they reminded up at the end of their show, everyone have a safe and enjoyable Labor Day.
As for me, I'll be spending Labor Day with the missus and her family, partaking in some kind of something-or-other boil thing... I have no idea what it is - though, I'll let you all know sometime next week.
Happy Labor Day!
The game, itself, was a disappointment on the Rays' part - but this is something to be expected of the team (so much so, that it seemed that almost everybody there was either waiting for the Beach Boys, or went solely to cheer on the Detriot Tigers).
While the final box score was 8-6, Tigers favor, this was a larger gap than it seems. The loss was only salvaged by Rays 'savior' Evan Longoria, who pounded a 3 run homer in the first inning. After this at-bat, Longoria, like the rest of the team, acheived little for the rest of the night. I recall no 3rd base plays, and I watched him either strike out, or had any of his plays cut short by the Tigers' first baseman on each of his subsequent at-bats.
This was, sadly, the highlight of the game.
The real joy last night came at about 11 o'clock when the Beach Boys made it on to center field. Mike Love and Bruce Johnston failed to disappoint, drawing tremendous cheers from the crowd as they, and the newest generation of replacement Beach Boys played up that same ol' routine that's thrilled for years, and left everyone leaving the stadium with a smile on his or her face.
I may hate the beach, but I don't thin anyone could hate the Beach Boys.
And, like they reminded up at the end of their show, everyone have a safe and enjoyable Labor Day.
As for me, I'll be spending Labor Day with the missus and her family, partaking in some kind of something-or-other boil thing... I have no idea what it is - though, I'll let you all know sometime next week.
Happy Labor Day!
Friday, September 4, 2009
Giving Myself Some Credit...
Like most Americans, I have some credit card debt.
Unlike most Americans, I'm proud of that credit card debt.
All the debt I've accumulated via my credit cards is a symbol of my independence. It was all garnered helping me get through school.
Don't get me wrong - I still had a job in college, and I still had scholarships and student loans... they just weren't quite enough. And I didn't really have family to fall back on. As I've hinted before, my family doesn't exactly recognize me as family 99% of the time, so my mother was too busy paying for most of my older sister's schooling and purchasing brand new cars for her husband and my younger sister.
So with no money left for me, it was time to fall back on some credit cards.
Now that I'm "all grown up" and looking to jump into freelance writing (a field that can be extremely PUNISHING in the first two years to people without the barest of bills), it's time to hit my debt. Up until now, I'd been making moderate payments above the minimum for my two credit cards, my student loan, and my car payment. But I really want to start hammering chunks of this debt out of the way.
I've been reading about a debt elimination plan known as "snowballing" over at Get Rich Slowly.
Basically, the idea is that you pay the minimum payments on all your debts, EXCEPT for the one with the lowest payoff amount. Put all the other money you've got towards hitting that small debt, then move up the line when you pay it off. The psychological boost is supposed to help you overcome the daunting task of paying off debts and getting that monkey off your back.
Give it a try - I know I will. Hopefully, in a year's time, I'll be close to debt free.
Unlike most Americans, I'm proud of that credit card debt.
All the debt I've accumulated via my credit cards is a symbol of my independence. It was all garnered helping me get through school.
Don't get me wrong - I still had a job in college, and I still had scholarships and student loans... they just weren't quite enough. And I didn't really have family to fall back on. As I've hinted before, my family doesn't exactly recognize me as family 99% of the time, so my mother was too busy paying for most of my older sister's schooling and purchasing brand new cars for her husband and my younger sister.
So with no money left for me, it was time to fall back on some credit cards.
Now that I'm "all grown up" and looking to jump into freelance writing (a field that can be extremely PUNISHING in the first two years to people without the barest of bills), it's time to hit my debt. Up until now, I'd been making moderate payments above the minimum for my two credit cards, my student loan, and my car payment. But I really want to start hammering chunks of this debt out of the way.
I've been reading about a debt elimination plan known as "snowballing" over at Get Rich Slowly.
Basically, the idea is that you pay the minimum payments on all your debts, EXCEPT for the one with the lowest payoff amount. Put all the other money you've got towards hitting that small debt, then move up the line when you pay it off. The psychological boost is supposed to help you overcome the daunting task of paying off debts and getting that monkey off your back.
Give it a try - I know I will. Hopefully, in a year's time, I'll be close to debt free.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
State of the Union Address...
Let's start today's post with a bit of a shout out. Conventionl Cognizance got its first comment yesterday from either Patrick or Melody over at He and She Reviews. Can't be more specific than that, since I don't actually know which one of them wrote it. Come to think of it... I don't actually know ethier of them, anyway. Which is great, by the way. It means that somewhere on the Inter-Webs out there, at least one person is reading Conventional Cognizance.
So a big thanks to Patrick or Melody (or both) for reading and commenting! And, apparently, those two crazy kids (I have to use the term loosely, as they're both older than I am) are to be wed sometime in the future - so congratulations to them on that!
If you've got some time, you might want to check out He and She Reviews. It's a nice little blog from what I've read so far, despite the lack of a review for Batman: Arkham Asylum (although, let's face it, any review for that game should read "Greatest game ever... can't keep reviewing... must play more Batman"). So go check it out, I know I will.
Okay, now that I've have my 'up' for the day, here comes the 'down.' I came across an article in the Sarasota Herald Tribune today. Check it out.
Done reading?
No?
I'll wait...
Okay then... are you kidding me?!
I've said this before to my friends, and I'll say it again here: Teachers' Unions are the worst thing to happen to America... EVER. PERIOD.
And that statement, ladies and gentlemen, is by no means a knee jerk reaction. I spent the last 2 years of my life working for the Sarasota County School Board as a teacher. As far as the classroom work is concerned, I loved absolutely every minute of it. I loved exciting the kids' imaginations; I loved when I drew them into a topic enough to get them asking questions and thirsting for more answers; I loved when parents felt the need to come and meet me because their kids just couldn't stop talking about what I taught them; I loved the calling.
That's what teaching is. A calling. Rather... that's what teaching should be. That's also why I got out of the teaching game.
I was surrounded day in and day out with other teachers (in many cases, I have to use the term very loosely) more concerned with how far their parking spaces were from their classes than the progress of special needs students. More concerned with how much of a financial bonus they could earn from AP testing than making sure their students truly understood the material. More concerned with getting that full half an hour for lunch or leaving right at the end of the paid duty day than giving the extra 15 minutes to a student who was struggling.
Too many teachers obsess over their contracts and want to run off to the union every twenty seconds. My own mother is one of those teachers. They care about the paycheck over the students, because "hey, they're not my children." First, if you became a teacher for the fabulous pay... you're an idiot. Second, they are your children. For a year of their life, you're going to have a great deal of influence on them. If you can't accept that, you need to get out of that profession, because you're hurting America.
And now I see that the union is willing to fight for the "rights" of a teacher who has abused what I consider to be a quasi-sacred trust?! Oh... did I mention that there's a chance the school district is going to pay for her legal costs?! Or that and other teacher in the county has a problem with this doesn't seem to be speaking up?! Who is protecting these children?!
I'm so disgusted by this chain of events that all I can is that this is why I'm done with the Sarasota County School Board. I spent two remarkable years with two equally remarkable sets of students who still contact me from time to time to let me know how they're doing. I made an impact on their lives. Hopefully, it was the positive impact I wanted to make. I don't want to risk becoming as jaded by the system. I don't want to forget why I did what I did. I don't want to become as much of a mockery and a humilation to the calling that these so-called 'teachers,' who hide behind their contracts and their all-powerful union, have become.
And that's all I have to say on the subject.
So a big thanks to Patrick or Melody (or both) for reading and commenting! And, apparently, those two crazy kids (I have to use the term loosely, as they're both older than I am) are to be wed sometime in the future - so congratulations to them on that!
If you've got some time, you might want to check out He and She Reviews. It's a nice little blog from what I've read so far, despite the lack of a review for Batman: Arkham Asylum (although, let's face it, any review for that game should read "Greatest game ever... can't keep reviewing... must play more Batman"). So go check it out, I know I will.
Okay, now that I've have my 'up' for the day, here comes the 'down.' I came across an article in the Sarasota Herald Tribune today. Check it out.
Done reading?
No?
I'll wait...
Okay then... are you kidding me?!
I've said this before to my friends, and I'll say it again here: Teachers' Unions are the worst thing to happen to America... EVER. PERIOD.
And that statement, ladies and gentlemen, is by no means a knee jerk reaction. I spent the last 2 years of my life working for the Sarasota County School Board as a teacher. As far as the classroom work is concerned, I loved absolutely every minute of it. I loved exciting the kids' imaginations; I loved when I drew them into a topic enough to get them asking questions and thirsting for more answers; I loved when parents felt the need to come and meet me because their kids just couldn't stop talking about what I taught them; I loved the calling.
That's what teaching is. A calling. Rather... that's what teaching should be. That's also why I got out of the teaching game.
I was surrounded day in and day out with other teachers (in many cases, I have to use the term very loosely) more concerned with how far their parking spaces were from their classes than the progress of special needs students. More concerned with how much of a financial bonus they could earn from AP testing than making sure their students truly understood the material. More concerned with getting that full half an hour for lunch or leaving right at the end of the paid duty day than giving the extra 15 minutes to a student who was struggling.
Too many teachers obsess over their contracts and want to run off to the union every twenty seconds. My own mother is one of those teachers. They care about the paycheck over the students, because "hey, they're not my children." First, if you became a teacher for the fabulous pay... you're an idiot. Second, they are your children. For a year of their life, you're going to have a great deal of influence on them. If you can't accept that, you need to get out of that profession, because you're hurting America.
And now I see that the union is willing to fight for the "rights" of a teacher who has abused what I consider to be a quasi-sacred trust?! Oh... did I mention that there's a chance the school district is going to pay for her legal costs?! Or that and other teacher in the county has a problem with this doesn't seem to be speaking up?! Who is protecting these children?!
I'm so disgusted by this chain of events that all I can is that this is why I'm done with the Sarasota County School Board. I spent two remarkable years with two equally remarkable sets of students who still contact me from time to time to let me know how they're doing. I made an impact on their lives. Hopefully, it was the positive impact I wanted to make. I don't want to risk becoming as jaded by the system. I don't want to forget why I did what I did. I don't want to become as much of a mockery and a humilation to the calling that these so-called 'teachers,' who hide behind their contracts and their all-powerful union, have become.
And that's all I have to say on the subject.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Getting Comfortable...
I hate the term “comfort zone.” I’m always hearing people tell me that I need to leave my “comfort zone.”
When I took writing courses in college, class was instructed to “take a chance” and “leave your comfort zone” with our writing. By and large, my instructors were referring to the standards and laws of grammar. This is, of course, preposterous. Grammar is so arbitrary that I doubt anyone has ever considered following grammatical laws to be comfortable anyway. So… to write successfully we should leave our grammatical “comfort zones” by going back to our own logical conclusions as to how an idea should be conveyed? Capital!
I worked in sales for a brief time. Insurance sales, of all things. My “comfort zone” was about as far away from insurance sales as Tibet is from freedom (but we’ll have to save the insurance rant for another time). This is true of most people I worked with. Sometimes, you just need a job to pay the bills. Sometimes you have to stoop pretty low to find that job. But I digress… whenever I was told to leave my “comfort zone” in that job, it was usually followed up with a lecture about pushing a particular product that I believed to be little better than a turd. Okay, occasionally the product was a turd wrapped in aluminum foil, but it was a turd nonetheless. Here, I suppose the “comfort zone” is comprised less of rational thought and more of ethics.
First a “comfort zone” is rational thought… next a “comfort zone” is ethics… this is exactly why I hate the term. “Comfort zones” are everywhere. There are dozens, if not hundreds of them floating around our lives. To paraphrase Churchill, “to have too much of something is to have nothing.” I’m pretty sure Churchill said that…or something like that…or someone else said it…the point is that the term “comfort zone” has become as meaningless as “support our troops” (come on… hanging a yellow ribbon outside your house or thanking an soldier stationed in the States is not supporting our troops – volunteer some time at the local VA or send a care package, for goodness sake!).
I guess the point I’m trying to make is that “comfort zones” don’t really exist. Write that nonfiction account of that time you shot some bad heroin that you climbed a tree disappeared for three hours, came back, and another blazed friend of yours tried to knife you to death because he was concerned that you were a zombie. After all, the cops can’t do anything about it now – the drugs are way out of your system.
Recall that childhood moment in which you pilfered a chocolate from the local thrift store, or broke your mother’s favorite vase with a football, or pushed the dorky kid in the mud (sorry about that, Tommy – I was only slightly less dorky than you and had to score some of that sweet playground rep with the cool kids). After all, they aren’t embarrassing memories to be ashamed of…that probably taught you some valuable lessons that you integrated into your being, like; swiping a candy may be tasty of a moment, but that bar of soap used to ‘cleanse’ the taste from your mouth negated any gain and taught you to be wary of ill-gotten gains; that football in the house is only awesome until you’re busted and that real pigskin NFL football you saved three weeks allowance for probably would have had a longer existence had you developed the patience to wait 30 more seconds until you were outside the house; or that, sometimes, the way to get someone else’s attention is to hurt the little guy (sorry again, Tommy).
Share that story about the time in college you felt the urge to experiment and engaged in a homosexual relationship for a semester. Guess what… all that high school and college drama bullshit melts away after graduation – the only people who will shun you for it are the ones with the extremely close-minded worldviews, and you don’t need them anyway. I have a buddy who shared a similar story, and the generally supportive response he received gave him the confidence to admit that he was bisexual, and now he’s getting more action that most of us put together! He’s got an extra life experience that the rest of us don’t, and it’s hard not to be a little jealous (buying drinks for girls can get expensive… must be nice for someone else to be doing the buying once in a while). Of course, I have a female friend who has a similar story and the experience didn’t do much for her except leave a few horn dogs at the table a nice mental image for late, but that’s not the point.
I wonder, though, did they really ‘step out’ of the “comfort zone?” Or did they just expand it? And if all they did was expand it, could they really step out of it in the first place? Does it even exist at that point? Really, they’ve both stumbled onto a whole new stage… one where the potential for negative peer or societal judgment becomes irrelevant compared to the self-expansion.
All the world may be a stage… but why be players when we can write our own show? If it is truly paramount to thine own self be true, then don’t we owe it to ourselves as writers to not hide our pasts? How can people be interested in what we share if we hold back and aren’t willing to share everything? Don’t get me wrong – you shouldn’t share everything. Way too much is too boring and pointless to ever be repeated. Probably. But you should be willing to.
And for the record – I only have one comfort zone: that part of the day that comes before I have to put on pants and start being productive.
When I took writing courses in college, class was instructed to “take a chance” and “leave your comfort zone” with our writing. By and large, my instructors were referring to the standards and laws of grammar. This is, of course, preposterous. Grammar is so arbitrary that I doubt anyone has ever considered following grammatical laws to be comfortable anyway. So… to write successfully we should leave our grammatical “comfort zones” by going back to our own logical conclusions as to how an idea should be conveyed? Capital!
I worked in sales for a brief time. Insurance sales, of all things. My “comfort zone” was about as far away from insurance sales as Tibet is from freedom (but we’ll have to save the insurance rant for another time). This is true of most people I worked with. Sometimes, you just need a job to pay the bills. Sometimes you have to stoop pretty low to find that job. But I digress… whenever I was told to leave my “comfort zone” in that job, it was usually followed up with a lecture about pushing a particular product that I believed to be little better than a turd. Okay, occasionally the product was a turd wrapped in aluminum foil, but it was a turd nonetheless. Here, I suppose the “comfort zone” is comprised less of rational thought and more of ethics.
First a “comfort zone” is rational thought… next a “comfort zone” is ethics… this is exactly why I hate the term. “Comfort zones” are everywhere. There are dozens, if not hundreds of them floating around our lives. To paraphrase Churchill, “to have too much of something is to have nothing.” I’m pretty sure Churchill said that…or something like that…or someone else said it…the point is that the term “comfort zone” has become as meaningless as “support our troops” (come on… hanging a yellow ribbon outside your house or thanking an soldier stationed in the States is not supporting our troops – volunteer some time at the local VA or send a care package, for goodness sake!).
I guess the point I’m trying to make is that “comfort zones” don’t really exist. Write that nonfiction account of that time you shot some bad heroin that you climbed a tree disappeared for three hours, came back, and another blazed friend of yours tried to knife you to death because he was concerned that you were a zombie. After all, the cops can’t do anything about it now – the drugs are way out of your system.
Recall that childhood moment in which you pilfered a chocolate from the local thrift store, or broke your mother’s favorite vase with a football, or pushed the dorky kid in the mud (sorry about that, Tommy – I was only slightly less dorky than you and had to score some of that sweet playground rep with the cool kids). After all, they aren’t embarrassing memories to be ashamed of…that probably taught you some valuable lessons that you integrated into your being, like; swiping a candy may be tasty of a moment, but that bar of soap used to ‘cleanse’ the taste from your mouth negated any gain and taught you to be wary of ill-gotten gains; that football in the house is only awesome until you’re busted and that real pigskin NFL football you saved three weeks allowance for probably would have had a longer existence had you developed the patience to wait 30 more seconds until you were outside the house; or that, sometimes, the way to get someone else’s attention is to hurt the little guy (sorry again, Tommy).
Share that story about the time in college you felt the urge to experiment and engaged in a homosexual relationship for a semester. Guess what… all that high school and college drama bullshit melts away after graduation – the only people who will shun you for it are the ones with the extremely close-minded worldviews, and you don’t need them anyway. I have a buddy who shared a similar story, and the generally supportive response he received gave him the confidence to admit that he was bisexual, and now he’s getting more action that most of us put together! He’s got an extra life experience that the rest of us don’t, and it’s hard not to be a little jealous (buying drinks for girls can get expensive… must be nice for someone else to be doing the buying once in a while). Of course, I have a female friend who has a similar story and the experience didn’t do much for her except leave a few horn dogs at the table a nice mental image for late, but that’s not the point.
I wonder, though, did they really ‘step out’ of the “comfort zone?” Or did they just expand it? And if all they did was expand it, could they really step out of it in the first place? Does it even exist at that point? Really, they’ve both stumbled onto a whole new stage… one where the potential for negative peer or societal judgment becomes irrelevant compared to the self-expansion.
All the world may be a stage… but why be players when we can write our own show? If it is truly paramount to thine own self be true, then don’t we owe it to ourselves as writers to not hide our pasts? How can people be interested in what we share if we hold back and aren’t willing to share everything? Don’t get me wrong – you shouldn’t share everything. Way too much is too boring and pointless to ever be repeated. Probably. But you should be willing to.
And for the record – I only have one comfort zone: that part of the day that comes before I have to put on pants and start being productive.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Finding Topics to Write About
Some nights, you’ve got a veritable fountain of topics to write about. You write about games, movies, friends, family, how much you love comic books, how much you hate comic books, places to eat out… the sky’s the limit. Those are good nights, when ideas flow freely as water and you’re able to harness each drop as you deftly craft each idea into a goblet of fine wine.
Then there are nights when you’re sitting in your office, becoming acutely aware of the pencil marks the house’s previous tenant left when he installed hideous shelves on the walls. You vaguely wonder why you haven’t taken the time to repaint the room when you took the shelves down. You aren’t writing, even though you know in your heart of hearts that you should be.
One of the cats wanders into the room, looking particularly ripe for a game of ‘catch the kitty.’ He bounds up onto the trunk serving as a makeshift, yet strangely effective coffee table and just stares at you. The next moment, the cat is gone and you’re lying on the ground, trying to pinpoint the exact moment that the chair tipped over. And also, what made you think it was a good idea to lunge at the cat? Seriously? Who does that? And yet…you still… aren’t… writing…
Tonight is one of the latter. So maybe instead of dwelling on the fact that you can’t seem to get anything written, you should step back from that hastily scrawled novel opening or that long-winded and tediously hashed out rant, and think about where you can find something to write about.
Some writers insist that you should write what you know. This tends to wander down the path of writing what you know well… which is just another way of saying “write about your expertise.” Well, maybe you don’t feel like writing about comic books, miniatures games, and turning a floundering small retail business around. Maybe you feel like writing something else. So do it. Write about something else.
Write about what you experience, rather than what you know. Did you watch/read the news this morning? Did any of the stories strike you as something you can relate to personally? Or did any of the stories come across as something so ridiculous that you can’t help but poke fun at them? So maybe you don’t know as much about Obama’s proposed health care bill as you could… guess what… no one does! It’s a 1000 page document! Doesn’t mean you can’t have an opinion on the media circuses known as the town hall meetings. Maybe you’re not 100% up-to-date on the presidential budget, but it doesn’t take genius to figure out that federal budgeting comes from tax dollars and you pay taxes (no one’s talking to you, Wesley Snipes) so you’re entirely entitled to an opinion on how Obama can justify spending $16,500 per night for a hotel room! Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have been supporting their financial well-being for years just by poking fun at national and international news.
So what is it that we experience that can be an inspirational source for writing?
1) The News
TV, radio, newspaper, Internet… they’re all equally good sources for this one. Just spend twenty minutes perusing Yahoo! News or Google News and I guarantee you’ll find something that rubs you the wrong way (Brett Favre’s on-again-off-again retirement has been a good one for this)… or you’ll find that absolute gem of a story that’s screaming to be spoofed into something hilarious (anybody remember the guy who got drunk and crashed a motorized bar stool a few months ago?).
2) Friends/Family
I call this writing about what you experience rather than what you know because I’ve been living with a remarkable woman for a year and a half now, and I still don’t know what she’s thinking or doing 90% of the time.
Friends and family can be fantastic sources for inspiration, though. Surely someone you know must be in a different job than you with some wacky on-the-job stories to tell, or someone in the family has done something crazy enough to spark a whole article on familial traditions or foibles. These stories are begging to be told because we can all relate to them. Practically everybody has at least one friend or family member and not only is it fun to laugh at a few good stories, but it’s also comforting for a reader to know that someone else’s family is as crazy as his or hers.
3) Your Job
Pretty much the same as #2, but this time, the stories about the overbearing boss or the slack-y lackey are your own.
4) Pets
There are entire magazines dedicated to specific kinds of pets. And we’re not just talking about magazine racks raining cats and dogs here… we’re raining specific cats and dogs here! We have Basset Hound magazines, Terrier magazines, Beagle magazines, and so forth. Pet owners love to hear about what they can expect from their pets, or what diets keep the animals happier, or how to teach them new tricks.
So if you’ve developed a foolproof method for luring your cat into a bath (mine still involves oven mitts and a SWAT issue Kevlar body suit), thought up a new technique for Fido to play dead, or just have some amusing stories about the crazy things our pets like to do, then there is definitely a market out there for your work.
5) Your Personal Errands
Unless you’ve got a monkey butler, an overeager boy scout looking for another merit badge, or some kind of awesome servant robot, you’re going to eventually need to leave the house to run some of your errands (if you’ve got the monkey butler or the robot, call me immediately… I want to know where I can get one and/or both – you can keep the boy scout).
While you’re out and about, check out your surroundings. Is there construction going on where you live? Terrible or stellar service at the local grocery store? Did you stop off for lunch at a little independent restaurant you’ve never noticed before that you just couldn’t get enough of? People in your town want to know what’s going on where you live… don’t you think you’re qualified enough to tell them? And, if you aren’t, then who is?
There you go… 5 everyday sources of experience that will probably give you more to write about then everything you know put together.
Why are you still reading? Get out and write!
Then there are nights when you’re sitting in your office, becoming acutely aware of the pencil marks the house’s previous tenant left when he installed hideous shelves on the walls. You vaguely wonder why you haven’t taken the time to repaint the room when you took the shelves down. You aren’t writing, even though you know in your heart of hearts that you should be.
One of the cats wanders into the room, looking particularly ripe for a game of ‘catch the kitty.’ He bounds up onto the trunk serving as a makeshift, yet strangely effective coffee table and just stares at you. The next moment, the cat is gone and you’re lying on the ground, trying to pinpoint the exact moment that the chair tipped over. And also, what made you think it was a good idea to lunge at the cat? Seriously? Who does that? And yet…you still… aren’t… writing…
Tonight is one of the latter. So maybe instead of dwelling on the fact that you can’t seem to get anything written, you should step back from that hastily scrawled novel opening or that long-winded and tediously hashed out rant, and think about where you can find something to write about.
Some writers insist that you should write what you know. This tends to wander down the path of writing what you know well… which is just another way of saying “write about your expertise.” Well, maybe you don’t feel like writing about comic books, miniatures games, and turning a floundering small retail business around. Maybe you feel like writing something else. So do it. Write about something else.
Write about what you experience, rather than what you know. Did you watch/read the news this morning? Did any of the stories strike you as something you can relate to personally? Or did any of the stories come across as something so ridiculous that you can’t help but poke fun at them? So maybe you don’t know as much about Obama’s proposed health care bill as you could… guess what… no one does! It’s a 1000 page document! Doesn’t mean you can’t have an opinion on the media circuses known as the town hall meetings. Maybe you’re not 100% up-to-date on the presidential budget, but it doesn’t take genius to figure out that federal budgeting comes from tax dollars and you pay taxes (no one’s talking to you, Wesley Snipes) so you’re entirely entitled to an opinion on how Obama can justify spending $16,500 per night for a hotel room! Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have been supporting their financial well-being for years just by poking fun at national and international news.
So what is it that we experience that can be an inspirational source for writing?
1) The News
TV, radio, newspaper, Internet… they’re all equally good sources for this one. Just spend twenty minutes perusing Yahoo! News or Google News and I guarantee you’ll find something that rubs you the wrong way (Brett Favre’s on-again-off-again retirement has been a good one for this)… or you’ll find that absolute gem of a story that’s screaming to be spoofed into something hilarious (anybody remember the guy who got drunk and crashed a motorized bar stool a few months ago?).
2) Friends/Family
I call this writing about what you experience rather than what you know because I’ve been living with a remarkable woman for a year and a half now, and I still don’t know what she’s thinking or doing 90% of the time.
Friends and family can be fantastic sources for inspiration, though. Surely someone you know must be in a different job than you with some wacky on-the-job stories to tell, or someone in the family has done something crazy enough to spark a whole article on familial traditions or foibles. These stories are begging to be told because we can all relate to them. Practically everybody has at least one friend or family member and not only is it fun to laugh at a few good stories, but it’s also comforting for a reader to know that someone else’s family is as crazy as his or hers.
3) Your Job
Pretty much the same as #2, but this time, the stories about the overbearing boss or the slack-y lackey are your own.
4) Pets
There are entire magazines dedicated to specific kinds of pets. And we’re not just talking about magazine racks raining cats and dogs here… we’re raining specific cats and dogs here! We have Basset Hound magazines, Terrier magazines, Beagle magazines, and so forth. Pet owners love to hear about what they can expect from their pets, or what diets keep the animals happier, or how to teach them new tricks.
So if you’ve developed a foolproof method for luring your cat into a bath (mine still involves oven mitts and a SWAT issue Kevlar body suit), thought up a new technique for Fido to play dead, or just have some amusing stories about the crazy things our pets like to do, then there is definitely a market out there for your work.
5) Your Personal Errands
Unless you’ve got a monkey butler, an overeager boy scout looking for another merit badge, or some kind of awesome servant robot, you’re going to eventually need to leave the house to run some of your errands (if you’ve got the monkey butler or the robot, call me immediately… I want to know where I can get one and/or both – you can keep the boy scout).
While you’re out and about, check out your surroundings. Is there construction going on where you live? Terrible or stellar service at the local grocery store? Did you stop off for lunch at a little independent restaurant you’ve never noticed before that you just couldn’t get enough of? People in your town want to know what’s going on where you live… don’t you think you’re qualified enough to tell them? And, if you aren’t, then who is?
There you go… 5 everyday sources of experience that will probably give you more to write about then everything you know put together.
Why are you still reading? Get out and write!
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