[crouton] Nathaniel Trost: But in my book, they'll be ZOMBIE robots!

[crouton at lists.powerblogs.com]

Posted by Nathaniel Trost:
But in my book, they'll be ZOMBIE robots!
http://crouton.powerblogs.com/archives/archive_2006_02_26-2006_03_04.shtml#=
1141282096


   Inane construction supply company banner =E2truism=E2 of the week: "A go=
od
   anvil does not fear the hammer."
   My DSL connection has decided to become persnickety. This causes no
   end of irrational discomfort, sad to say I usually feel very grumpy
   and upset when the sync light just won't stay lit. However, probably
   will help me focus and do a little writing.
   I'm finally coming out of a long phase of personal catatonia. Aside
   from the requisite minutiae of errands, bills, and living I've done
   very little of consequence these last few months outside of work, at
   least if one doesn't count World of Warcraft or the odd book or tv
   show thrown in for good measure. I definitely wouldn't count WoW.
   At the moment I'm feeling tired and grumpy that I don't have the
   energy to do more writing. I actually desire to scribe at length.
   While I don't few the past months as wasting time, I needed the
   downtime, I am now mentally chafing at the bit. Going forward, WoW
   will seem like a waste.
   There is the matter of having the mojo to be productive in these
   evening hours. Some of the problem is my fault, I still need to cut
   back on the demon sugar molecule. I think I'm doing better, at least
   I'm guessing the cravings are a sign that my consumption has been
   reduced, but I need to keep going. As much as I love the sweet sweet
   Coke Classic and Mountain Dew, I know it's heavily to blame for
   running out of gas later in the day. The lack of regular exercise
   doesn't help either. And, God help me, I've actually done the coffee
   with Mountain Dew chaser not once but several times this month. I
   blame McDonalds for that, my odd meal schedule results in sometimes
   being ravenous right before I hit the office. It's not that I love
   McDonalds, but for some bizarre reason the admittedly grotesque
   McGriddle is something I actually enjoy putting in my mouth. I know,
   I'm ashamed. Another major factor in this equation is that the
   McDonalds near my office is actually fast food. Not any of this, order
   and maybe eight minutes later you'll get your order handed to you
   without even a sorry, no, we're talking time to order at the counter
   to walking away with foodlike substance in around forty-five seconds.
   Sixty tops.
   It might kill me, but at least I get to eat it sooner rather than
   later.
   For some strange reason I'm getting blog deja-vu, have I written this
   before? Will I write it again? The curse of writing infrequently yet
   often enough to make it unwieldy to search means that if anybody
   besides myself read this, I might be mildly embarrassed.
   One of the issues that weighs heavily on me as I mull future personal
   endeavors is that of strategy. There are a great many things I could
   do. There are even a great many things I could do which would pay the
   bills. However, moving towards some very large, very ambitious long
   term goals requires focus on what will scale and what will make money.
   Quite a bit of money. This isn't so I can retire early, drive a flashy
   car or feed some sort of material or chemical addiction, it's to have
   the resources to tackle some seriously large projects. I'm not going
   to get there by puttering around writing say, an Xbox Live Arcade
   game.
   It's going to be tough, I've had a long last decade of learning and
   constant responsibility. Part of me wishes I could kick back and take
   a year to dabble and browse and work on little projects of amusement
   and intellectual stimulation. But, I do hit 30 this year, and in many
   regards as blessed as I've been the last few years, I have felt in
   many ways like I've been spinning my wheels.
   On top of that, the writing bug is biting me again. I blame [1]John
   Scalzi. I have a plethora of story ideas. Yes, all of them sci-fi. I
   still owe an old friend and colleague a hardboiled noir sci-fi
   detective novel. I wrote around 1,800 words in August of 2000 and it
   has sat ever since. Of course, I'm reflecting upon the fact that what
   I really want to do is make aspects sci-fi novels reality, not just
   write about them, but I still have stuff in my head wanting to get
   out. I'm under no allusions how much work writing is, but I might just
   not be able to help myself.
   I think I have finally come to grips with laying to rest doing
   anything with technological items of nostalgia other than to=E2=A6wax
   nostalgic about them. As much as I want to write Apple IIGS System
   Software 7.0 or the bestest most spiffy Sega Saturn emulator ever,
   life is short, even if you do go cold turkey on the World of Warcraft.
   And now I want another Mountain Dew. Dammit.
   I think I'll start turning on comments. Just because someday people
   might read this silly blog. Moderated, not because I hate you, but
   because all I expect are spambots!

References

   1. http://www.scalzi.com/whatever