I write and draw every day.
The new plan is a simple one - which is arguably the biggest reason that I like it so much. Call it positive affirmation, call it a daily chant, or call it whatever you like, but that opening sentance is something I will write down every day.
Then I will do it.
My intent is to try to do 1/2 hour each in the morning and in the evening for a total of one hour writing and one hour drawing every day. If it's a crazy day, and I have no time, I'll allow just 1/2 hour each. Then the next day I will get back to the full hour each.
It might seem like a lot, but it's really not when you realize how much free time I should have each day. That, of course, assuming that I'm not screwing around and wasting my time.
Set my timer and go. I like that.
The best part? Sure, there will be some garbage, but there will also be some good stuff, and it will pile up. I'll have a collection of work in a very short span of time. It's the best way I can think of to make that happen.
All my illustration and writing projects can happen - I just need to eat that elephant one bite at a time.
So, what's on the list now? What are my current projects that I want to focus on?
Art
- The Greek Gods - A new project with an old friend. He's designing a card game and I'm doing most (all?) of the illustration work. I'm really looking forward to this, but it's not a small order. 14 gods by the end of November. Good thing I'm planning on spending an hour on art every day.
- Relics - Yes, I'm still plugging away on this - slowly but surely. I drift off at times, and at other times I've had paying clients that took priority, but it' long past time I finished the third faction so we can send out a beta version for public release. This is the third year that I've been hoping I could complete the work in time for an X-Mas beta release.
- Sketchwork - I doubt I will have much time to focus on anything but the above items before the new year, but if I do, I would like to put together a free digital 'sketchbook' to give away. This might include anything and everything from random doodles to WIPs for client work.
Writing
- Patch Book - writing is the easy one. I really only want to focus on the book. Maybe it's because it's NaNoWriMo, and I have that sense of missing out, but I really want to get this damn thing done. Much like Relics, this one has been gnawing at me for a while, and it's past time.
- Another Blog?! - I was thinking about where I would want to post chapters for ARCs. I could post here, but I get so damn worried about eating up my 'daily post' on random things, and this place seems, well, personal. The very nature of the single post per day seems like it makes it more intimate. So probably not here. LJ? Maybe. Hell, GRRM posts there (still, I believe). But probably no. Same issue as here. I have a LOT of old posts there that are pretty personal to me. So I'm thinking that I might clear out any / all posts over at mrlich.wordpress.com and post there. It's not like there's a lot there, and it would make a good spot to just post 'book updates'. My 'professional writing' update location. But it means another location online that I'm updating. I already feel too scattershot online. That's the whole reason I set up mrlich.com as a menu for where to find me online. I need to narrow my focus a bit online, but that seems like a project for another day.
Journal Update
I went and visited the King yesterday. I had the option to route my travels through Memphis, so I did. I'd never visited Graceland, so it seemed like an ideal opportunity.
It was interesting. Not the $40-$80 price for tickets interesting to me, but interesting. Not upset that I did it (how would I know what I thought of it otherwise) but I probably wouldn't go back unless it was with a group of friends, and that would likely be more for the company than for the tour.
They give you an iPad to use through the tour which has a complete guided tour narrated by John Stamos. Why John Stamos? I have no idea. Still, it was neat, and I like that it allowed us to choose our own pace. I took a crap ton of photos, so if any of you would like to see some, let me know below.
I had to make my way back to Decatur last night to pick something up though, which made my trip to Memphis a 6 hours of driving detour. Bah. Worth it.
I did, of course, enjoy a grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich after the tour.
Now I'm working my way to Kansas City for my next project. It's not a YUGE project, so I'm not sure how long I will be there, but a few days at least. It's a small enough region (for the project portion) that I should be able to stay at one hotel for the duration. That's such a good thing for me. I love my job, but these smaller projects tend to mean bouncing around every night. It's a bit annoying to pack up everything every day. Even two nights / hotel seems so much more worthwhile. Ahhh, the life of a nomad.
The election. I'm over it. Yes, I understand how important it is. I have a low threshold though for repetition, and both sides (and their supporters) are saying so much of the same damn thing over and over again that I'm really just ready to scream and start breaking shit.
Also, it breaks my faith in humanity that anyone could think that Trump would be even an acceptable president - let alone a good one. I mean that sincerely. I don't see any plus to him. The only thing I've heard said about him (that I believe) is that he won't be 'business as usual'. Probably true. 1. Not being equal to is not the same as 'greater than'. 2. I will never have kids, but if I did, I would never want them or my beloved nephews to ever act like he does regularly. Why would I want someone like that representing out country? I honestly don't know as much as I should about Hilary, but what little I do makes her an infinitely better choice than him. Infinitely. Even if she was going to be 'business as usual' (which I have no reason to believe she will be).
Already over my 1/2 hour. More later.
ETA:
First
I was terrified. I felt like I was clinging to the edge with bloody fingernails. It was that moment in the movie where you see the killer moving in and the next victim is oblivious to what's coming.
Then
I wanted to be physical. I wanted to smash, to break, to rend and tear. To smash whatever I could get my hands on.
All the while knowing it wouldn't help, but it's what I understand.
Now
This is a different kind of fight. It's a kind I've never taken part in before. I don't know the first thing about it, if I'm honest.
Looks like it's time to learn.
The Christmas We Get
12/13 '16
I don't think Americans are averse to information. I think it would be more accurate to say that we're overwhelmed with it. Saturated so thoroughly that manipulation becomes a much easier game. Not only that, but the science of pyschometrics—at one time more of an Asimov's-Foundation-Series sci-fi notion but now a very real science, one augmented by powerful modern data computing systems—ensures that vast swaths of people exposed to propaganda will respond as desired. Which is a breathy way of saying, be careful not to blame the victim too much here.
While social structures and technology have gone through vast upheaval and change in the cosmological blink of an eye, humans have not had a similar rapid evolution. We're wired pretty much the same way we were 1,000 years ago, 10,000 years ago. HARD-wired anyway. And there's another problem--that current SOFT-wiring. Our grandparents cognitive exposure and our own and our children's exposure to technology has had profound effects, layered on top of a hardware system never designed or evolved to cope with such things.
It hardly surprises me that some of us monkeys have figured out ways to use the current set-up to their exclusive advantage. Nor is it surprising that such ancient instincts overlaid on modern times has/is/will cause no end of suffering and confusion.
But the technology (soft and hard) that is causing this mess is also the very same stuff that can rapidly advance solutions. While some of the monkeys are selfish, some act out ancient altruistic patterns, and all of this happens at a faster and faster rate.
Which is another breathy way of saying, "Don't give up on us quite yet." And maybe even, "Pay attention, and lend a hand when and how you can."
You make an excellent point that media evolution has outpaced human evolution by a crazy-ass factor. I hadn't thought of it that way, but it's undeniably true. It's also pretty damned impressive, if I can pat the collective we on the back for a moment. But thank you so much for bringing all that up - you've given me a different perspective on the issue.
I mean, it was a cranky post. And I use "us" as a way of including myself in this mess. But you're right - I am indulging in some victim-blaming here. I know that's pretty obnoxious, but I decided several months ago (before the unfortunate phrase "fake news" became a thing) that the collective "we" are going to have to be the ones who take responsibility for our own info-filter. We can't count on our media sources, especially social media. Our worldview used to be shaped by our values + facts - but we now live in a world where we can find "facts" that support our worldview. We don't have to tolerate challenges. The internet should be a source of truth, but I think we are culpable for letting it be a source of comfort instead. I've been shouted down (to put it kindly) for putting actual data where it was clearly unwelcome. Just today, in fact, I let a conservative friend of mine (an 80-year-old gent, I love the lug) know that, in fact, Obama did not open the floodgates for, sigh, "illegals" to enter - that he's responsible for deporting more illegal immigrants than any president to date - so many that immigrant advocates call him "Deporter-in-Chief." I provided data - I even gave 'em a DT tweet in which he agreed to the very same thing. His, and his friends', response: "I'm going to choose to disbelieve these facts and go with my feelings."
So that's what I mean. If we aren't demanding to get to the bottom of this, we are to blame. I'm to blame, too - I gave up. But I'm going to stick with it. Maybe, when the gold-and-orange dust settles, we're all going to get a crash course in incredulity. If we accept it, maybe we'll be much better at this in a few years. But if we let ourselves be ruled by what we want to be true, rather than what is true, don't we deserve what we get?
It's such an intractable problem, isn't it? How we pick and choose what to believe, what to discard.
And I'm as guilty as the next person for lounging back and stating problems but having little constructive input into *solutions.* Lately I've been passing around this article, which I think both speaks to what you and I are mulling over but also offers a way to chip away at what to do about it. It's a bit of a long read, but I'd love to know what you think.
https://georgelakoff.com/2016/11/22/a-minority-president-why-the-polls-failed-and-what-the-majority-can-do/
I'm sad to say that I think you hit the nail on the head. The quoted paragraph is (in my personal experience) 95% of the issue. Even when I grit my teeth and tried to better understand 'the other side', all I received as a response was factoids, and I'm not a big enough man to keep from shutting down at that point.
Yes, I could have done more research (rather than personal interactions) but that sounds dangerously like making an effort.