So Yeah.... Earthquakes...

It's been a rough few weeks in the land of the Rising Sun.  Living in an area of the country affected by, but not in ground zero of the massive quake two weeks ago, it's been understandably difficult to keep up my writing quota.  I'm putting my story on momentary hold as I work on a piece about the Quake.

So, because I haven't posted in a bit, and I might as well share, here is an essay that I wrote for a teacher's bulletin at work.

NOTE:  I was asked to write a three page essay...  about something...  in two hours.  Shoot me, shoot me, oh shoot me now.  If anyone cares, this was The Result.

March's Death List

Recently I asked for support when it came to my writing.  I proposed that monthly I would collect a list of punishments and rewards from my Support Team, dependent upon my writing 15,000 words a month.  Wellp, this is month one.  March 2011.

                So far, it’s the 4^th, and guess what.  Nope.  Nada.  Nothin. I seriously need to find a word counter widget that works like those stat bars on the Nano site.  You know the ones, they tally how many words a day you need to write to reach your goal, how many days it’ll take, how many you’ve written, how close you are to your goal…  etc .  Seriously.  Someone get on that.   Make me one, dammit! 

                Well, the math is easy so far.  I need to write 2000 words today to catch up.  Is that going to happen?  I kinda doubt it.  I got five hours of sleep last night.  Another bad excuse, right?

                Well, either way, here’s the list for this month.  Wish me luck, Guys!

·         Rewards

o   Flowers for my Kitchen

o   A night at the onsen

o   Cake!!!  (so not a lie)

o   A romantic picnic with Darren

·         Punishments

o   Wear that shirt that I hate

o   Eat Natto maki

o   No WOW!

To new Beginnings

Welcome to my newest attempt at blogging.  Over the years I’ve seen more than a few blogs come and go, most abandoned within a few posts of starting them.  I’m lazy, I’m not disciplined, and I can always find something better to do with my life. 

            Lately I’ve been watching the way the internet is growing around me.  Through the Pendragon Variety podcast I’ve watched networks form, inspiration bloom, and wannabes become writers.  Watching the internet social networking scene expand, from myspace, to facebook, and now sites like twitter, I’ve stubbornly resisted it.  Though I did let facebook sneak in unexpectedly, (in my defense, at the time it was the only way to meet people on college campuses) I remained a rebel.  All the negative press, the dislike of the net spreading our lives out for all to see, the irritation every time I heard the words, “I’ve GOT to tweet this!” it really got under my skin.  I don’t like writing letters.  I don’t like writing blogs.  I don’t like updating my status, and I don’t want to tweet.  I could give up months of that kind of contact for just one day face to face with a friend.  Talking, joking, and sharing our lives the old fashioned way.  The way that can’t be misinterpreted or shuffled to the bottom of the ‘recent news’ pile.  Our stories are one thing, but I firmly believe that our lives shouldn’t ever end up in the internet’s ‘slush pile’ to be sorted through for editor’s picks.

            That said…  The thing that drives me the craziest about ‘japanthink’, as I call it, is the stubborn refusal to change.  “That’s the way it’s always been.” They say, and I want to shake them until they learn to stop recording things on cassette tapes. 

            So maybe I need to move on to MP3s.

            I want to be a writer, and I want to be a professional, and I want to do it in a time when job security is an international joke.  Maybe it’s time to learn to use the new tools that are at my disposal.

            This blog has several purposes.  It’s not going to be the story of my life.  It’s not going to be my adventures in Japan.  Might that show up?  Sure, maybe.  It’s going to be my inspiration.  It’s going to be my monthly encouragement to write, and pursue my dreams.  It’s going to be the place I share the essays I write for work, and trumpet my little triumphs to the world.  It’s going to be my coffee lounge, my writing closet, and my platform.  If I want anyone in the world to know my name someday… first I have to tell someone what it is.

            So here I go.  Into the unknown, hoping third…fifth… maybe sixth time is the charm.

            But I make no promises about the tweeting.