Work

I've been thinking. Bad habit, I know. What have I been thinking about? I've been thinking about my job.

One of my more annoying traits is the fickle nature of my 'blood feuds.' I can easily be roused to anger, offense and the cry of "I summon forth my ancestral rite of the blood feud, Domino's Pizzeria!" Of course, this tends to evaporate like so much soda on the counter top within a day or two. Which leaves me a little puzzled why I made such a big deal about whatever slight in the first place.

In the same way, I have -with absurd frequency- claimed my mandate to find new employment. I have had it up to here with the place so many times that I have honestly lost count. But every time my iron wrought conviction that 'this shall not stand!' gurgles and cools and I return yet again to my safety and my paycheck and my surreptitious internet browsing. Perhaps by putting ink to page, or pixels to internet as it were, I can finally break this vicious cycle of setting out on the grand quest only to be sidetracked by the shiny boots that match my armor.

Here is my problem with my job: I am not learning anything. Oh there is more too it, there's always more to. I don't want to be promoted as I would lose my quite vital 'overtime eligible' status. My internet access dwindles till I fear one day it will be gone entirely. I am not making the connections I need for where I want to be. But basically, essentially I am not learning anything.

I like being the provider, and I think that it is an unfortunate fact of modern life that I will make more working with words and symbols and feelings then I ever could making or fixing actual things. I like the fact that by looking stable, by staying put it will be easier to get financing when we want to buy a house. Also, having health insurance is cool... I guess.

But more then anything, I want my work to teach me something new.

So here's two mini-careers I've been considering: Certified Financial Planner (with a strong emphasis on doing pro bono work and or free workshops, Mechanic as I want to preform work that can actually be explained to my ancestors or children.

Thoughts?

New Fiction: Mimes

I had my first twitterized piece of fiction published. Link (http://twitter.com/TheDrabblecast/status/2107770006) I think the shorter fiction, the more it tends to rely on violence, extremes and overall high wierdness. Or at least that's true for me!

New Fiction: Ignoring the Overlay

I had another story published by 365 Tomorrows called 'Ignoring the Overlay' a near future story that features wearble computers, changing social norms and teenage romance. Link (http://www.365tomorrows.com/05/27/ignoring-the-overlay/)

Theme Song Blog

I am trying an entirely mercenary project called 'Theme Song Blog.' Trying to see if there is money to be made with a blog that just aggregates theme music for Movies and Television via Google Adsense and Amazon Affiliate program. I am taking a crash course in search engine optimization in the process. Theme Song Blog

Twit Fic

Also know as Twitter fiction, but sometimes characters are just too precious to waste on silly things like typing out the whole word. According to many a pundit and future chaser, this is the future. That they are chasing. I don't know about that, but I do know that flash fiction and nano fiction or pico fiction (fiction done in one character!) can fill a niche and an itch that longer forms can't. So, lots of people -yours truly included- are rushing to pick clean this new orchard of low hanging fruit. (If you don't get the reference, do yourself a favor and wikipedia 'Low Hanging Fruit theory').

I think as our fiction gets shorter we will tend to rely more on sex, violence and wierdness. Or perhaps these elements are more jarring without the protective flab of the broader story. Of course there's always the worry that we'll lose character development, actual plotting, depth et al; but we gain -to paraphrase Alan Moore- the wonder inspired if we can escape the straight jacket imposed by tight (in this case character) limits. Speaking of Mr. Moore, my favorite bit of twit fic by the mega bearded magician.

'time. I've built a machine'

Heh.

Today I challenged myself to see how many pieces of twitter fiction I could write on my breaks. I got about 5. One's done, and already submitted for publication. (It features mimes and the apocalypse, so I guess I have everything I mentioned earlier except the sex. Which gives me an idea...) And another two might get incorporated/made into larger workers. All in all, a dang cool exercise and probably one of the better uses I've ever made of my work breaks.

I am checking out a some twitter fiction from a couple sources, but my favorites so far are twitter.com/outshine and twitter.com/thedrabblecast (where I submitted the aforementioned mime apocalypse story). The only longer form work I am reading via twitter is twitter.com/othar which is the continuing adventures of Othar Tryggvassen (and you should read Girl Genius). Anyone know of any other worthy long form narrative blasted through the tubes in tiny, tiny particles?

Waiting for wife, resisting the urge to not delay devouring the sandwiches I've bought.

Two days after airsoft, my thighs are still sore. My wife finds this hillarious.