After a month of nothing but frustration and some (likely self-created) stumbling blocks, things are starting to click for me again. Getting this #$%#$(@#$ site transferred was a part of both equations, but I think there’s more to it than that. Exactly what that source of creative energy is, I’m not certain, but I’m not super worried about that right now.
Last night, as work was winding down, Nicole sent me this message: “Tea and tarot?”
I wouldn’t say either of us is into tarot, but it’s fun to pretend and get out of work-brain. The first card I pulled was the Fool because of course it was. Anyway, while I’m sure it’s a coincidence, everything I pulled suggested creative energy and the removal of obstacles and I’m not going to with a random deck of cards.
The song I was working on is all but done. The only question is whether or not to cut down the extended, slow-build opening which is probably the right answer but…maybe I’ll do both versions. The um, “hit single” version (snort), and the “album” version (guffaw). It’s good, though, and I don’t normally say that about my own stuff.
My super-secret-side-hustle is going well, too. There’s been a little burst of interest at an unusual time for interest in this particular subject, so that’s gratifying. It’s still just a hobby and pays accordingly, and I think it is extremely unlikely that it will ever be anything else, but it’s fun and it lets me stretch a muscle that had been dormant for a good while. And yes, I’m being vague (unless you know me personally, in which case I’m just being silly), but I’m more comfortable that way.
One thing I haven’t done much of lately is fiction, but I’m getting that urge again and the burr under my saddle is an odd one: The Taco Bell Quarterly. It is, as near as I can determine, a legit literary magazine, albeit one where all of the material must relate in some way to Taco Bell. The fact that they are not in any way connected to the fast food company only makes it more intriguing. I’m one of those folks who generally works better with some arbitrary restrictions or a prompt of some sort, so this is right up my alley. And, I am having ideas. Dark ideas. Probably not-good ideas. But ideas nonetheless.
We finally got library cards here in Seguin. For such a small town, we have a shockingly nice library. We’ve visited several times but never filled out the paperwork prior to this weekend.
I’ve done a poor job maintaining my reading levels since I stopped taking the train to work. I have a stack on my nightstand awaiting my attention, but there’s nothing like a “return by” date to get me motivated. I picked up A Blink of the Screen, a collection of Terry Pratchett short stories. Pratchett feels exactly the right choice for my First Library Book in town.
Now, I think I’ll retire to the bedroom, do some reading, and try to ensure that Pratchett isn’t also my First Library Fine here as well.
-RK