notebook / @tww

Yes, I decided to do these again because I like to and they’re called Status because that’s what they are, minus the military connotation of SitRep, so here I am. Just a way to end the morning.

Spent the morning drafiting that T1D piece, a way to see if there’s something there, a diamond in the coal; 2400 words later, there might be.

(Yes, Scott, you were right.)

Shot in the dark: definitely want it to be published somewhere - if I’m going to write about this fucking disease, I’d like to get something out of the experience beyond the general indifference (read: professionally edited and published again) of the void - so if you know of a place or are part of a place that might be interested in publishing what this piece might become – as I have no clue where to take it or what to do beyond write it – shoot me an email, tww(AT)parentheticalrecluse(DOT)com.

If it maintains its current mood and trajectory, it will be angry, brutal, and unflinching against me and I won’t recommend my family read it.

Speaking of: lawncare Saturday at the in-lawn. Let the good times roll.

Also: TSR interview rough cut complete (there is an interview). On track to release next Weds.

I need a hobby.

Reading:

EarBliss, 11jun2021: VARIATIONS ON A MELANCHOLY THEME, by Brad Mehldau & Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.

New desk friend.

Kirby’s last puppy vet appointment: all shots complete, 40 pounds (+13 since last time) and perfectly healthy.

EarBliss, 10jun2021: AETHER ALEATORICA, by Modelbau.

Spent much of yesterday afternoon hypnotized by the live progress bar as TweetDelete did its thing. From 68k+ tweets over the last 13 years down to 2099 (still among my favorite Marvel lines), keeping only the last year. Will make these deletions a yearly thing, I think – easily the best $15 I’ve spent in a long time; not that I’m particularly horrified by my twit-past, but 68k is a lot of baggage, especially since I was 27 when I started and find myself now teetering (tweetering?) upon the precipice of 40. Clean slate, fresh start, pushing these spaces into what I want them to be now, if I were starting from zero.

Weekly essays still on my mind, though I know they’re a waste of my time unless they’re published somewhere else OR, like I said in Wednesday’s episode, I manage to fully readjust my thinking to the idea that THE GROUND LOOP has taken the place of that weekly essay. At least I sort of know where I want to take it though, so that’s something.

(Theory: they’re on my mind because they’re a waste of my time. This is a trick my mind loves to pull. Duly noted.)

As for these daily pieces, I write them because I like to write them (and as for why they live here, at Micro, instead of on PR it’s simple: I loathe writing anything on a regular basis on Squarespace. It’s great for the pods and for single page-based things, but the blog is just a mess). And I do THE GROUND LOOP because I like to talk to myself. And THE SOCIALIZED RECLUSE because I occasionally like talking with other people. And RE/EMERGENCE because I like working with EJK. And the newsletter, and the Stories, and…; I suppose much of this is giving myself permission to write what I want to write, enjoy myself, and let the chips fall where they may.

Made the switch also to working with an alarm instead of a timer. Much simpler. Current schedule: wake at 0430, do my morning ablutions, tend to dog-children, journal, work on the Main Project until 0750, have breakfast, tend to dog-children, peruse news, hate the world, then return to the desk and write these pieces and any other proof of existence until 0950, publish, and get on with the day ahead. Reading times will switch to afternoon (as a break between Life stuff) and evening (as a break between whatever stuff).

This was far longer than I anticipated. Oh well. On with the day.

The shelves.

Fantastic time last night chatting all things Ann Dvorak, Jane Russell, GNR, My Little Pony, and more with Christina Rice. Her new Jane Russell bio, MEAN…MOODY…MAGNIFICENT!, arrives next week - and is a must-read. Our interview lands next Weds.

New, on THE GROUND LOOP: early morning experiments, story and form, getting out of my own way (kinda), thanks to EJK, and more in this week’s attempt to answer a frequently asked question that I’ve never been asked: It took seven years for THAT?

New GROUND LOOP inbound…

Dynamic duo.

You know you have a (very large) puppy when the majority of your workspace design decisions revolve around finding that balance of privacy, play area, and least distance to travel when you hear suspicious noises. (And when your slippers are on your desk so they don’t get devoured.)

Working on his new puzzle.

Went out, bought potting soil: that’s enough excitement for one day.

Beginning the tweetdelete process. Massive spring cleaning, about eight years past due.

(Did I use the words correctly? I think so but if I didn’t to hell with it; I like the way they sound together.)

Lesson being: Following yesterday’s diabetically-mandated breakfast, I neglected to put a lone piece of egg shell (appropriate) in the freezer trash and, in the evening, saw it, opened the freezer … and had a box full of mini dog treats fall on my head, an occurrence which led to the next 20 minutes - which would have been, had I not neglected this lone scrap, my YAKUZA gaming time - being spent in the profanity-laden throes of picking up said treats while fending off the lip-licking German Shepherd puppy (das puppy grande) and The Morkie who just had to help.

Cause/effect… setup/payoff…etc etc

Other things, the first: considering writing a script, comic or screenplay, as my side project, if for no other reason than to make sure the muscle doesn’t atrophy.

Other things, the second: recording my TSR interview with Christina Rice tonight, so tomorrow’s TGL might be delayed by a meal or two. Or not.

Beast-sustenance time.

Someone helped in the garden today.

Ancient wisdom dictates that, when the highlighted and annotated ARC of your interview guest vanishes from your tablet the day before your interview, you must, as therapy, haul many shovelfuls of dirt to fill in the Morkie-pool-sized hole in your backyard patio.

Reading:

Note to self: ye must always do evening yoga, lest ye wake sounding like a bowl of rice krispies.

Having emerged from the post-story launch with ideas and notions of the way forward - and with the long-term project free of its rhythmic and narrative shackles - things are moving forward, such as they are.

Week ahead: SOCIALIZED RECLUSE recording with Christina Rice on Tuesday and subsequent assembly for launch next Weds, 16jun; GROUND LOOP on Wednesday, Kirby’s final puppy vet appointment on Thursday. There’s probably other stuff too but I don’t remember.

The beasts require sustenance.