Oh, Hello. That's Too Much Tuna.

Hi. Hope the weather finds you well.

I'm really beginning to learn that life has no central narrative that will win out in the end. Just.. whatever you make of it. Liberating and terrifying at the same time, no?

It's raining here right now and it's making me wish I could be in Paris right now, eating in cafes, visiting museums, going to bars, seeing the sights. Ahhh... so nice.

In closing, never give up, never surrender.

Ballerina Dancin' Across The Sand

Hello.

It's been a while, how've you been? Did you get that promotion/job/cat/car/date/meal/house/etc you wanted? I hope so, you deserve it.

I've been busy working and worrying about work, you know how it goes.

Hold me closer tiny dancer.

I don't really remember where I left you all in regards to my writing "career" (pause for hearty laughter) but here's an update. I'm about 1/6-1/4 of the way through the first draft of the sequel to my first book Rising Sun. It's about the same as the first one; not that great, full of grammatical errors. A real first book if you catch my drift.

Lay me down in sheets of linen.

My music taste has changed again. I'm extremely into 70's folk-pop music. Honestly, I have no idea if it's from the '70s or if it's folk-pop. It's just the feeling I get from it.
Some examples:
-Jim Croce
-Cat Stevens
-Fleetwood Mac
-Simon & Garfunkel
-James Taylor
-Gordon Lightfoot
Yeah, I've become an old man.

Wish I was homeward bound.

Hope you're doing well. Say hello to your mother, tell her I love her.

Sincerely,
Mike

What It Is To Burn

Found out I have really high blood pressure. Not surprising. No more salt for me.

I'm excited for the challenge of learning to change my palet.

Holy Roller

I have started writing again. Ah, the subject of 90% of my posts on here. Honestly it probably won't stick but it feels soooooo good to say it will.

I have decided I need to... Oops. Can't really say this online where everyone can see. EDIT

Game of thrones is legit, son!

The new Panic at the Disco is pretty rad.

Ummm... what else be new in me life?

Started working out AGAIN. I say that probably as often as I say I started writing again.

Noteworthy podcasts I've recently started listening to:

-The Cracked podcast
-Risk!
-Get Up On This
-This American Life
-The Andy Daly Podcast Pilot Project
-Never Not Funny

VIVA LA PODCASTS!

The Rain In Spain?

I wrote for the first time in over 1 month today. It was awesome. Hard initially but very rewarding once I got into it.

I realized today that I will most likely never be a successful author. And that's okay. I will continue writing and writing and self publishing and if a few family members and a handful of friends are the only ones who ever read my stuff, that's okay. I'm okay with that. I just have to keep writing.

My financial future, on the other hand, is in better shape. I have some plans that are years in the doing but will hopefully pay off handsomely.

Another huge realization I've made is that I don't want the biggest job. I don't want the most important position in the company. I just want to make a good living in a low stress job I enjoy and spend my emotional energy on things I love instead of things that make money.

Ideally I want to live somewhere that I produce most of my food myself with not very many possessions and lots of friends and spirits. That sounds glorious. And a way to write, of course.

Picture Tiny Shrimp Crawling All Over This Boat

I have a few irons in the fire right now. I'm working full time, writing a book, a novella, and now I'm trying to get some freelance writing work. Which is hard. It really makes me feel inferior, idiotic, and dumb. But I can't not do it. I've gotta keep going because it's what I want to do with my life. I feel the drive to do these things so therefore I MUST!

I MUST!

If you haven't seen It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, watch it. It's the best.

I have this thought on a daily basis. Just kidding! Hahahaha... ha... eh... ratssssssss

When You Believe

Ello. Oim Br'ish, oy am!

I've been writing Drabbles lately. What are Drabbles? A Drabble is 100 word story, popularized on the Drabblecast podcast.
Trying to do something creative when I can't bring myself to work on le novel.

Here's an example:

My heart pumped with fear. 

The tall, flamboyantly dressed figure standing in front of me had to be a hallucination, part of the schizophrenic past I thought all the pills had overcome. Behind the figure, Professor Jones droned on about 17th century European history. The class, listening in their typical bored way,  showed no sign of anything out of the ordinary.

“It’s not real,” I repeated over and over to myself. 

The figure just laughed and pulled a knife from its fur coat.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Jackson. I AM for real,” it said, and slashed the blade across my face.

Fun stuff eh?

A good quote:

“Sometimes I write drunk and revise sober, and sometimes I write sober and revise drunk. But you have to have both elements in creation — the Apollonian and the Dionysian, or spontaneity and restraint, emotion and discipline.” 
― Peter De Vries, Reuben, Reuben