There's a part of my being that craves to feed and grow and thrive. It wants to crawl out of my body and devour everything in it's path. I don't know what to do with this part of myself constantly clawing for fresh change and intellectual stimulation. There are times when I feel like mentally shutting down and checking out for a while but that aforementioned portion of myself refuses to remain quiet for long.
This insatiable craving for challenge and action seems to manifest itself in my continually changing ideas and thoughts. I rearrange my room from time to time just to satisfy that part of myself. I crave new music. I devour new books and new ideas without feeling the least bit full.
Some aspects of this beast scare me. Is it clinically acceptable to be partially afraid of oneself? For the most part, this beast is a welcomed part of my being. I worry about it getting out of control, but maybe that's what needs to happen from time to time.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Someone you Need to Read.
I've fallen in love with T.C. Boyle and his excellent writing. Upon reading the first novel I've read of his, I'm desperate to read more.
The best way I can think of to describe his writing would be to say that it's like a punk song with poetic lyrics. There is so much energy in his writing that it's hard to notice the other features of his writing but there's an abundance of beautifully written descriptions and gentle nuances that wrap you up in the story and make you care about the characters.
I'll definitely be reading more of T.C. Boyle and I want to thank him for the inspiration he's lent me as a writer myself. Cheers.
The best way I can think of to describe his writing would be to say that it's like a punk song with poetic lyrics. There is so much energy in his writing that it's hard to notice the other features of his writing but there's an abundance of beautifully written descriptions and gentle nuances that wrap you up in the story and make you care about the characters.
I'll definitely be reading more of T.C. Boyle and I want to thank him for the inspiration he's lent me as a writer myself. Cheers.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Writerdom
What does it mean to be a writer? After a long bike ride to the house of a friend, we were sitting on the porch talking about what it meant to be a writer, a poet in particular. He boiled it down to the notion that writers are either interesting or fucked up, meaning something has transpired in their life that has caused them personality-altering trauma.
While I agree that a lot of writers aren't the most normal people, I think lumping the rest of the non-traumatized ones into one overflowing group is rather silly. Everyone is interesting to someone out there.
I suppose what I'm getting at is that I'm struggling with what it means to be a writer. With attempting to write my first novel, the weight of "Authorship" is finding it's way onto my shoulders.
I'll sort it out one way or another.
Speaking of the first novel business, my writing is coming painfully slow. Molasses on a cold day slow. It's not that I have no time to write, it's that I find myself getting wrapped up into other things when I should be using that time for writing. I'll just have to make myself find the time, on top of a paper that I need to write this weekend.
On a lighter note, I've been listening to more Incubus recently. I haven't listened to them in a long while and I dusted off their album and gave it a listen. Amazing stuff.
While I agree that a lot of writers aren't the most normal people, I think lumping the rest of the non-traumatized ones into one overflowing group is rather silly. Everyone is interesting to someone out there.
I suppose what I'm getting at is that I'm struggling with what it means to be a writer. With attempting to write my first novel, the weight of "Authorship" is finding it's way onto my shoulders.
I'll sort it out one way or another.
Speaking of the first novel business, my writing is coming painfully slow. Molasses on a cold day slow. It's not that I have no time to write, it's that I find myself getting wrapped up into other things when I should be using that time for writing. I'll just have to make myself find the time, on top of a paper that I need to write this weekend.
On a lighter note, I've been listening to more Incubus recently. I haven't listened to them in a long while and I dusted off their album and gave it a listen. Amazing stuff.
Friday, February 12, 2010
God told Me to Do it.
I'm typically not one for news from the Middle-East. It's always something that makes me think less of humanity. In this case, it's Religion with a capital "R" that is rearing it's ugly head.
At the end of January, two men were executed for being Mohareb, or enemies of God.
Religion does a lot of nasty things on which I could write an entire book about but when it comes to things like this, it's a truly sad moment. Most likely, these men committed some political crime the details of which are too sensitive to be released, so they are made into demons instead.
It gets so tiring hearing about crimes that are brought on by faith in one form or another. For all the people dying for Religion, you would think that more people would have figured out by now that it's not really a positive influence in the world. Whether it be the crusades or a young Christian man who feels ashamed for having sexually explicit thoughts, Religion, particularly fundamentalism is a damaging force in the world, whether it be on a large scale or on a small scale.
At the end of January, two men were executed for being Mohareb, or enemies of God.
Religion does a lot of nasty things on which I could write an entire book about but when it comes to things like this, it's a truly sad moment. Most likely, these men committed some political crime the details of which are too sensitive to be released, so they are made into demons instead.
It gets so tiring hearing about crimes that are brought on by faith in one form or another. For all the people dying for Religion, you would think that more people would have figured out by now that it's not really a positive influence in the world. Whether it be the crusades or a young Christian man who feels ashamed for having sexually explicit thoughts, Religion, particularly fundamentalism is a damaging force in the world, whether it be on a large scale or on a small scale.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
T.C. Boyle and Exploring the Sexual Mind
I've been reading a lot of books lately and I landed picking up a novel by an author I've never read on the recommendation by an old professor, a novel by T.C. Boyle. After the first 5 pages I was really absorbed in the novel.
The plot of the novel revolves around Professor Alfred Kinsey, the first person to publish legitimate research about the sexual behavior of the human animal. You can find an extremely short biography of the man here.
http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/about/kinseybio.html
The novel is so intriguing because it's about what might have happened. The protagonist is a young man by the name of John Milk. He works under Kinsey as he tries to collect as many interviews as possible, trying to discover the true nature of human sexuality.
As an author, Boyle is quite entertaining. It's hard to think of a better novel that I've read in the last couple of years. Boyle knows how to most effectively pace the story to peak the reader's interest without making the novel read like a movie.
I would highly recommend this novel to those who find the premise interesting and I'm definitely going to be reading more T.C. Boyle. Cheers.
The plot of the novel revolves around Professor Alfred Kinsey, the first person to publish legitimate research about the sexual behavior of the human animal. You can find an extremely short biography of the man here.
http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/about/kinseybio.html
The novel is so intriguing because it's about what might have happened. The protagonist is a young man by the name of John Milk. He works under Kinsey as he tries to collect as many interviews as possible, trying to discover the true nature of human sexuality.
As an author, Boyle is quite entertaining. It's hard to think of a better novel that I've read in the last couple of years. Boyle knows how to most effectively pace the story to peak the reader's interest without making the novel read like a movie.
I would highly recommend this novel to those who find the premise interesting and I'm definitely going to be reading more T.C. Boyle. Cheers.
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