Odds and Ends

I've got this overwhelming urge to take a day off and head to AC to play some poker. I checked Mapquest and it's only about a three hour drive. Could head out early play for a few hours and come back...and none would be the wiser.

But, I know the smart half of my marriage wouldn't allow me to go. I can't bring myself to just go without telling her. God forbid there would be an emergency and she couldn't reach me. Also, this make her think (probably rightfully so) that I may have a problem setting limits and being truthful. To be truly honest, she doesn't exactly know I'm playing with real dough on-line, although I've made it clear that I would be playing at some point.

Oh yeah, I also don't have the money for a junket to AC. Small detail.

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Surprise, surprise, I actually did some writing yesterday and enjoyed it. Just some editing of an existing story, but it was productive.

One of the reasons, besides poker, for why I stopped writing was that the idea tank was dry. Just in the last week or so I've felt the old creative excitement come back a bit. We'll see. I don't have the time for all this! I'd like to write and play poker, but I can't devote the time to writing that I should and keep improving in poker. Plus, work has been too neglected and I need to catch up with that. Then there's the family... Oh well. Clearly, the family has to go.

Seriously, I've never understood people who list their passions as 'writing, hand-gliding, sculpture, and fencing' for example. I think part of it, for me, stems from the fact that I have to be at least somewhat successful for me to enjoy any hobby. I can't duff it up at the golf course a few times each summer and enjoy it, because I don't get any pleasure spending fifty bucks to completely suck. How does anyone have the time to devote to four, five, or even two hobbies so that they are good at what they do? I guess some people can mess around with something and have fun and not worry about trying to be as good as possible. Lucky bastards.

Writing is an especially time-consuming hobby because there really isn't any sense in writing unless you're trying to get published. It's the age-old justification of writing. Anyone who says "I just write for my own enjoyment, I don't care if I have an audience" is simply a bad writer who can't sell.

For me to get a story publishable takes at about two to three months of writing, getting critiques, and editing. And that's pretty much doing something with the story every day of those three months.

So I guess we'll see what happens.

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In some other writing related news, I'm going to be interviewed in a writer's forum on March 1st. I forgot the name of the site...I'll put it up later. It should be interesting as I explain my hiatus. "So...I'm not actually doing any writing now..."

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Can I just rant a bit about politics? Of course I can, it's my site and I'm the only one who's going to read it anyway!

Did anyone think, back in 2000, that America would have changed so much by now? I never thought that I would feel that my political views are a potential threat to my freedoms and, ultimately, my safety or that the Federal Government would show such disregard for the views of anyone who isn't already rich or connected. Also, I never thought that the Federal Government would join forces with fringe social groups to threaten the way the vast majority of Americans live. Finally, I never thought I'd see the day when the President would so openly declare himself to be above laws that he deemed contrary to his agenda.

My predictions are as follows:

1. We will soon see the Administrative Branch openly disobey rulings from the Judicial Branch.
2. We will soon see the open accusation of treason thrown at critics of the President. Political opponents will be charged with treason and major political organizations will be faced with espionage and may be declared as illegal.
3. Should the President's popularity extend to a change in power in Congress AND be deemed to significantly hurt the chances of the next GOP presidential candidate, there is a serious chance there will be no further presidential elections.

Call me crazy, but I'll check back in a few years (if I'm able to) and see where we stand.