finally being honest with myself

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about my single creative desire: to write and self-publish strange, weird novellas, short stories, and the occasional non-fiction thing that function solely as my way of exorcising whatever's in me at the moment; all self-directed aspirational efforts not only at being published traditional-like but at screenplays or comics are, for now, dead: I'm weary of creating things that require others for a life that never seem to materialize; I'll let them come as they come and if they don't oh well. Not going to worry about it.

A lingering question: am I not seeking traditional publishing anymore because I'm worried I'm not good enough? Because I can't imagine anyone wanting to publish me? Or is it because I prefer the agency of self-publishing and really, at this point, feel no need to prove myself to anyone beyond myself?

Probably a bit of all of the above.

Would it be nice to have that extra representation to help me through the business end of things, to lend moral support, to light fires under my ass? Certainly. Do I see that happening anytime soon? Not particularly. Am I worried about it? Not as much as I thought I was.

Basically, everything current – TSR, PRESS (A) - the delivery system for much of the strange and the weird – and RE/EMERGENCE (still the happiest creative collaboration I've had) will continue. All that's being relegated to purgatory are the aforementioned self-directed aspirational efforts at tradpub, screen, and comics, a deliberate practice of letting go of one or two hopes and dreams to let the truest truth (of the moment) come to life.

noteshift, part iii

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(previously…)

Two additions to the noteshift workflow:

First, my Coal Creek Leather cover for my recently-beloved Field Notes Note Book (I dig the paper and it's beyond wonderful to not have my hand fall off the top of a thicker notebook into illegibility at the start of each page) arrived and it's as stunning as the smaller Memo Book wallet I've had for years. And it smells so good.

Second, since I shifted to smaller notebooks, I've been using this fold-up pocket dry erase board for thinking by hand. If I end up with something useful, I take a photo of it and load it into Obsidian for future reference or forgetting. Erase and repeat.

Note: I ordered my Noteboard via Amazon: the website listed on the board and bag seems defunct and I can't find it on the site they say it moved to…

Still getting the Obisidian Daily and Weekly notes feature configured – but I think I've got something closer to what I'm looking for. Dumped Toggl because it was redundant data; when, in some mythical future, I have actual clients, I can definitely see the value. But, since it's just me myself and I, I'm fine with how I've been managing that particular aspect of my workflow.

To be, as ever, continued, I'm sure.

DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS (2022)

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A fascinating exercise to watch Raimi's SPIDER-MAN 2 and DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS back to back and to see in action what I found myself thinking: that SPIDER-MAN 2 is a Sam Raimi film which happens to feature Marvel characters while DOCTOR STRANGE (love the easter egg in the former – prescience, much?) is a Marvel film which happens to be directed by Sam Raimi.

While occasional Raimi-ness flared up in the third act of STRANGE - that music note throwdown was pure, giddy genius - I was, as almost always with the Marvel films, disappointed by the weightlessness of it all, the amusement park line-ride fan service, and Raimi's disheartening - though unsurprising - MCU restraint.

For all that DC's done wrong with their approach to their films - and they've done plenty -, they let their directors do their thing: the James Gunn of the THE SUICIDE SQUAD and PEACEMAKER is a far more exciting James Gunn than GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY James Gunn.

(For what it's worth, SPIDER-MAN 2 is still the greatest comic book film of all time, a note-perfect examination of what being a hero is - and the train stopping sequence remains the best 15 minutes of superhero cinema ever. So very very good to see it again.)

tentative release schedule

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(If only for my own reference)…

  • Jun / open

  • Jul / PRESS (A)

  • Aug / open

  • Sep / TSR

  • Oct / TSR

  • Nov / TSR

  • Dec / open

  • January / PRESS (A)

  • Feb / open

  • Mar / TSR

  • Apr / TSR

  • May / TSR

… liking the idea of a monthly release for everything, with open months before and after PRESS (A) releases. Thought I could pull off quarterly, but every six months seems more feasible. Open months for extra TSR or PRESS (A) buffers or RE/EMERGENCE collabs?

noteshift, part ii

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I’m finding the digital shift far more useful in the long run though I write by hand when I need to think and try to decipher what I've written so it's useful later on, more often than not to no avail. My index card system is now defunct simply because I can't read them and, given that I write in fountain pen, the chances of degradation and data loss are just as good via computerized efforts – though with the added benefit of being able to read the latter.

(Will probably create a second Obsidian Vault for those and move them into the main Work vault when needed for projects.)

Also experimenting with adding Toggl to my workmix to get a better picture of how I spend my day. Divided into projects, including into "other peoples' shit"; as Annie Dillard tells us, "how we spend our days are how we spend our lives," and I'd rather it not be overwhelmed – as it has been for the last decade or two – by "other peoples' shit."

noteshift

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I've switched over to Field Notes Pitch Black 64-page Note Books for my journal and I love them. Smoother writing and, for the southpaw that I am, not having the huge gaggle of pages for my hand to fall from each time I start a page makes my handwriting somewhat neater. Waiting, impatiently, on Coal Creek Leather to ship my journal cover for this thing, since, thanks to the weird Note Book size, no one, except CC, makes a cover to fit them. More of a reliance now on sticky notes and Obsidian for making notes useful beyond the act of their writing (working on a new piece on how I use Obsidian and my Stream Deck for July’s MacroParentheticals0082).