TSR, volume three

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After 15 utterly enjoyable and rejuvinating - after a bit of a recovery from the production and completion of each - SOCIALIZED RECLUSE episodes and conversations, it's time for a new direction (ref: Principle 09), to keep it interesting for me (and for everyone else): instead of talking with someone about their work (though that will, inevitably, come up), we'll discuss one of their inspirations – film/book/comic/music/whatever, and let the work discussion come out of that. Basically a whole season of what were, in the first two volumes, second interviews (like Christina II / Wallace II, or my chat with Steve Niles about Universal Monsters movies... ), a thoroughly-researched hour-long discussion of "seen/read/heard/played anything good lately / all of your life." Might be able to do these more frequently too... more as I figure it out.

New TSR: Liam Wong

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THE SOCIALIZED RECLUSE returns with my conversation with director, game designer, and photographer Liam Wong (TO:KY:OO and AFTER DARK): I’ve long been a fan of his work – and getting the chance to talk with him about art, work, games, and inspirations, was one of those “this is why I wanted to do this show in the first place” moments. You can check out the whole conversation here.

fri/20221202

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Fantastic chat with Liam: came away with a feeling of how photographs could be an extension of someone as essential to their being as their brain or heart. Letting the recording itself sit until first of next week then will turn into the episode: need a couple of days after a deep dive into the work of others to refocus on my writing (even though the current isn't speaking to me this morning – hence why I keep two WIPs going at once, two different tabs, the hopes that maybe one can unlock the other – or lead to utter fuckall). Full interview should be live sometime, Weds-> Fri.

Might be time to partake in a little side project, something totally different from the main WIPs. Hard and fast deadline – a week or a month or so. Asking self, What would be to me as photography is to Liam – maybe that's what sketchy me below is trying to figure out?

CGM switch day today, from the Libre to the Dexcom. First phase of my cyborg pancreas changeover. Bit of trepidation (at least part of aforementioned utter fuckall?), but the covering bandages arrived yesterday so if nothing else I don't have to worry about a boisterous German Shepherd tearing it off my arm; little victories.

thu/20221201

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25ºF, clouds: Spent the morning, thus far, collating notes and prepping questions for this evening's TSR interview with TO:KY:OO and AFTER DARK author/photographer Liam Wong and remembering that the second part of the collation process is paring my questions down so they can be asked conversationally: I do a lot of prep to make things sound spur of the moment; when my questions seem long winded, I consider it a failure... Basic interview process: collect, collate, conversate (for lack of a better term), then probably throw it all out in the interview itself – but the cheat sheet's there, a useful roadmap through to socialization.

the morning's attendance card, a sketchy me attempting to stay vertical in this seasonal shift wind while my face is blown off by said wind.

TSR @ two

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Today marks two years to the day since the launch of my little effort at socialization / shaking the rust off the interview skills, THE SOCIALIZED RECLUSE: along the way, I’ve gotten to talk with a lot of cool, inspiring people whom I've long admired – I’m eternally grateful to ALL of you, guests and listeners, for taking the time to chat and to listen, to educate me, and to inspire me. Here’s to the next two years of socializations and conversations; all current episodes live here.

OLED void amelioration

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(Update, 1019: the SmurfPiss Chariot rides again.)

60ºF, clouds: gave in and bought myself the OLED Switch (podrelease reward) and will dive back into ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD on the big screen – though today’s main non-writing project is to replace the car battery in the SmurfPiss Chariot; spent much of yesterday afternoon caked in battery acid and corrosion what fun. The Lite goes to K so she can learn how to get thumbs working with dual joysticks, a hand-eye coordination complexity that has befuddled her since even before we started dating.

Pleased with the sound quality of the latest TSR: the Vocaster Two was definitely worth the price tag (though I could have gotten away with the Vocaster One; didn't realize that the second input was for a second physical guest but maybe someday I’ll actually use it) and the post-prod addition of music was easier than I expected (without a physical knob, I couldn't do the intro/outro over the music live).

The only solution to the post-release void is to work on more things (and upgrade to an OLED Switch). And so it is and so it goes. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

New TSR: Maud Newton

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The Fall season of my SOCIALIZED RECLUSE pod has begun as the inimitable Maud Newton, author of the absolutely brilliant ANCESTOR TROUBLE: A RECKONING AND A RECONCILIATION, joined me to discuss the ins and the outs of writing ANCESTOR TROUBLE; of “making the line well”; of Aristotle at two in the morning; of freedom from and fealty to form in books and in blogs; of creative evolution; of taking the time to get to the truth – be it via NYT-lauded books or via seven-year paragraphs published to a website; and of freeing oneself from the creative and personal boulders we push up the hills before us. You can check out our complete conversation – and pertinent linkage to buy ANCESTOR TROUBLE – here.