Shallow | Center

Hiya, 2008

Giving in to the Resolution Temptation

NEWSPAPER STORIES dissing New Year's resolutions have become as ubiquitous as the actual resolutions themselves; yesterday's Inquirer had two such pieces (here and here) in its Magazine section. I understand the notion that irrational self-improvement commitments pegged to an arbitrary day are mostly invitations to failure leading to self-loathing and the kind of behavior one had pledged to change in the first place. Yet seeing that empty calendar, with all of its possibilities, is too tempting for me to pass up. Hell, last time at this year I was announcing a brand-spanking-new career.

Taking a Write-Off

For a Freelance Writer, It's Hard to Find Time to Write Stuff  You're Not Being Paid to Write

JUST TWO posts in the last three weeks may leave you with the impression that I've been rather too busy with paying jobs to find my way to write for my nonpaying gigs. That would be a correct impression. And so my ambitious drive to write a 50,000-word novel in one month will have to remain that for a while -- an ambition. No one's paying me to play Ian McEwan, so until I can figure out how to shoehorn that kind of stuff into an already packed schedule, fiction returns to the back burner.

But not permanently. I learned a lot in the two weeks or so I spent trying to crank out 1,666 and two-thirds words per day. I'd like to share some of that here in the near future, but the biggest takeaways are that (a) it's really hard work, and (b) it's a hell of a lot of fun. Too much fun to give up on. More later. S|C

Novel Ambitions

For the Next Month, Finding a New Dream to Chase

WRITERS WRITE, I posted early this year, and the freelance career I launched with that axiom in mind has gone better than I had hoped. Like so many of us who put fingertips to keyboard, though, I have a loftier goal in mind; more a dream, really. I can't say I have the Great American Novel clattering around in my brain somewhere, but for years I've harbored the desire to get some fiction published. Life has consistently gotten in the way, but more than that, I've never committed myself to the kind of discipline it takes, and there's probably been a fair share of fearing failure mixed in there.

Well, enough is enough.

Say It ... Say It!

Seriously, Is It So Hard to Spit Out Three Freakin' Words in Exchange for Free Candy?

THERE ARE certain moments in your life when you realize that the irreverence and carefree nature of youth are gone forever. For me, Halloween is one of those moments. Now that I'm a homeowner in a neighborhood with a lot of kids, I target October 31 as annual proof of societal breakdown. Festooned in their costumes, they knock on the door, you open up, and they ... just stand there, bags opened and held out at the ready. It's a simple transaction -- or it should be. They say three words, one syllable each, and you give them free candy. Yet too damn many of them stand mutely and expectantly, waiting impatiently for you to drop their loot into the bag. You have to beg them to say the words. And afterward, you know they're walking away, muttering to each other, "Man, what's with the old dude?"

Maybe I'll dress up as youthful irreverence today. Surely no one would recognize me. Happy Halloween, all.

And the Winner Is ... I Have No Idea

THE GOLDEN Globes were handed out last weekend. Various critics' groups have been identifying the best film performances from 2006. AARP Magazine's Entertainment Weekly's current cover, with three best-actress frontrunners, Judi Dench, Meryl Streep, and Helen Mirren, peering at the reader in all their veteran glory, promises a preview of the Oscar nominee race inside. Once upon a time these happenings would have scratched a serious pop-culture itch in me and sent me racing to compile my own lists for comparison purposes. But these days, my cinematic viewing consists of the stray DVD and the regular feature starring talking, animated animals. And so while the debates start up and the awards get polished and the monologue gets written, I look forward to a new episode of The Backyardigans and Higglytown Heroes, because, well, that makes my 5-year-old happy. I'm not complaining, mind you, just sort of wistfully thinking back. It'll be fun to return to periodic nights out at the movies, but until then, it's tremendously rewarding to create masterpieces for my own discerning viewers, in hopes of eliciting a smile, a giggle, a belly laugh, a delighted shriek. I'll take that over Ebert's thumb any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Today Is the First Day of the Rest of My Career

NEW YEAR, new beginnings.

New job.

Writers write, yet as my career in higher education administration advanced, I found myself doing less writing and more, well, administering. Last summer, seeking to shake myself up, I left higher ed to take a job doing marketing and media relations for a law firm. As different as that scratch was, the itch remained. I came to realize that an even bigger change was necessary, and so at the end of 2006 I resigned my position to do something I had dreamed of for years.

Resolved: Ah, Never Mind

IN YEARS past I've spent the first day of the new year contemplating the prior 365 days and, like the rest of America, determining how to better myself over the next 365. Also like the rest of America, I've historically resolved to eat better, exercise more, be a better husband, father, and employee, read more, and so on. Had I time to conduct such reflection now that 2007 is here, I'm sure the list would have read very similarly, with specific goals targeted toward where I am now and where I hope to go by the time 2008 rolls around. But with a newborn on the scene and a significant wrinkle in my employment situation (more on that tomorrow), I'm content to recycle previous years' resolutions and simply wish everyone a peaceful and prosperous (however you define that) new year.