i didn’t necessarily see a lot of my dad growing up. he wasn’t a deadbeat or anything; far from it. he worked the second shift (2:30 - 10:30) at the local corrugated paper plant, meaning i was in bed by the time he got home. during the week, the most i probably saw him was the five-minute car ride from our house to school. i’m not resentful, not in any way. his back-breaking labor allowed me to go to a expensive college, and has allowed me to have a job where i make money while sitting, vs. sweating, like he does.

Read the rest of this entry »

As a founding member of simpleprop, and a prolific writer for the first several years, it actually pains me that my writing production has tapered off so dramatically over the past year.

The reasons for this are plentiful: loss of access to SP from work, increase in workload at work, General Malaise (code for “sheer laziness”), etc. Although if you graph out my writing output next do a graph of my general stress level over the past few years, you’ll notice a stark inverse proportional correllation.

Regardless of the reasons, even when I do set time aside to write, or find a spare couple hours at work (like right now) I seem to have what is classically referred to as Writer’s Block.

A popular solution for getting around writer’s block is to actually write about writer’s block (hence this post).

I have no shortage of topics I would like to tackle: Global Climate Change, Why Society Is In The Crapper (working title), ROWE, and Gay Marriage. And maybe that’s my problem. Those are all big, heavy, mammoth topics. Perhaps I should start with some lighter fare to get things moving.

Thankfully my co-conspiritors here at SP have done a marvellous job of picking up the slack in the meantime, and I’m grateful for their continued blathering, er, writing. Just know that I miss all of you more than you miss me, and hopefully I’ll find a way around this and get back to form in the near future.

An upcoming road trip may just be the thing to spark my creative juices… ew, that just sounds gross… who comes up with these sayings anyway? Some of them are horrible.

so, i’m trying to be better about posting content that i actually come up with, vs. just borrowing things from other sites. trying to be less meta, if you will. however, for those who are as appalled by joe morgan specifically (and by the murdering of the english language, in general) as i am, this must be shared:

hat tip to firejoemorgan, of course.

so. i know two things. first, capitalism is a good thing. and, second, things are usually more complicated than they appear. but, on the cusp of $4 per gallon of gas…

Republicans block Democrats’ attempt to impose windfall profits tax on oil companies

oh, and:

Separately, Democrats also failed to get Republican support for a proposal to extend tax breaks for wind, solar and other alternative energy development, and for the promotion of energy efficiency and conservation. The tax breaks have either expired or are scheduled to end this year.

super.

(courtesy of the supposed red star. natch.)

for some reason, i’ve always been drawn towards live music. even before my days in the band (c’mon, it’s been a while since i mentioned that), i’ve loved the raw sound of a live performance, vs. the perfection that can be generated by studio recordings. it actually might have been this double-disc set that turned me on to live performances– from jim morrison’s extended scream in “backdoor man” to the extended organ solo in “moonlight drive,” i was suddenly aware of how cool a live take on a known song could be.

Read the rest of this entry »