Update

Wow, has it really been like three weeks since I've done a blog?  

Well, I'm kind of in the calm before the storm. I've been busy getting my slacking in and otherwise preparing for a metric fuckton of various kinds of activity. Which starts tomorrow, pretty much. 

First off, I'm helping a dude out with his business. He's working on a curriculum for aspiring writers to learn how to, among other things, get their own stuff published without going to traditional publishers. Now, I don't know if that's really the way to go, but I'll learn all about it because I'll be proofreading all of his materials. It's sort of a pro bono in that he's not paying for the service - but the exchange will be that I get all his data (he'll be selling the courses for something on the order of 3 grand) and on top of it, he knows a lot of people who need proofreading, so he'll send people my way. 

I could make some serious bank doing this, even on a part-time basis. 

Next up, I'm getting my bank loan extended so I can buy all the shit I need to get my webcomic going. This includes all the software I need to ALSO do freelance graphic artist work, which could really come in handy. 

But the loan will also go toward some debt consolidation, which ought to give me some stress-relief. 

This weekend I'm going to the Writers of the Future Awards Gala. I'm not, regrettably, one of the winners, but because I submitted, I got an invite. This means I have a chance to meet the judges, which include such literary luminaries as Anne McCafferey and a bunch of others I can't recall at this precise moment. So that will be cool. 

Still all suck on the relationship front (and not the good kind of suck, either) but I've recently observed that trying to ignore that facet of my life isn't doing me any sort of good, so... I've also had it hammered home in a number of ways that I really haven't been looking in the right places on those occasions I have looked. And that, as they say, opens the door to a handling. So we'll see how it goes. 

On top of all this, I'm determined to get SOMETHING rolling on my own writing projects. I've procrastinated way too fucking much on the second draft of my novel, so most likely it will be that. I still really do want to get that particular show on the road, and soon.

So yeah, my life is about to become a whirlwind of activity -- I've also gotta maintain my exercise schedule plus there are still MORE things I haven't even mentioned that will be going on next month.  But this is good, you know? I'd feel like a complete fucking tool if all I ever did was talk about my plans and how I'm gonna do shit. Well, it's happening. 

So I might still be a tool, but at least I'll have something to show for it. 

Expectations Addendum and other stuff

Just wanted to say that yes, I do realize those "sitcom" expectations were unrealistic.  Especially now that my face has been smushed into that truth. But I don't think it's unusual to paint an overly rosy picture when planning the future.  You gotta picture the ideal, so there's something to strive for. Otherwise, what? No plans or expectations means a ho-hum, accidental sort of life. Not for me.  

Also I didn't mean to imply that I'm just going to dump all of my existing friends. Because that would be unbelievably stupid. No, in truth I'm simply going to acquire more friends, and given that many of my existing "cast" have moved to a different plane of existence (marriage and family), this is only sensible until I rejoin those ranks. 

In other news:

Wizard magazine has answered prayers I didn't even know I was making. The latest issue has a rundown of everything I need to get in order to start my webcomic, including hardware, software, web hosting and tips from successful creators.  Some of the recommended tablets are DIRT CHEAP (30 bucks!) which is a lot better than the two grand I was expecting to shell out.  I can get a software application for roughly $50, which should do me until I can afford to shell out a grand or so for Adobe software.  

That's really good news, because it means once my paychecks are flowing regularly and have taken the necessary hike, I can get that project back on the front burners. 

Brings me to the money scene: Things are tight, can't lie.  But this is primarily due to things still being slow at the new workplace.  Once production kicks up, that should improve. Add to that a guaranteed raise (which should already have happened, actually) when the guy I'm replacing checks out in two weeks, and I should be sitting pretty by August if not sooner.  All requisite knocking on wood applies, of course.  

I'm currently in a bit of a battle with the Evil Credit Card Company, which is being a consistent pain in the ass.  This is my first credit card and honestly I should probably never have got involved. Or at least gone with a bank credit card, because those guys (one would think) are more trustworthy.  The account I have now is a sinister web of hidden fees, unreceived statements and whispering customer service representatives.  As soon as I possibly can, I'm paying those fuckers off and terminating my account.  I don't need them anyway, I really don't.  Not anymore, at any rate.  But things are slowly getting sorted out as I continue to insist they give me the information I need to pay them (you wouldn't think this would be hard to do). Eventually I'll get through to someone. It's harder to do via email than you might think. 

I almost asked a girl out today but I sorta chickened out.  I mean, truth be told I'm not sure I want to go out with her, but on the other hand, why the hell not? Plus of course it's just as likely, if not more so, that we'll share an awkward moment while she shoots me down.

On the writing front: Not going that well. But I recognize the need for me to buckle down and start slaving away on the second draft. What little feedback I've gotten tells me what I need to work on (and that's as much from the feedback itself as the fact that there hasn't been much).  So I shall grit my teeth and get my ass to work on what every writer hates: The second draft.  

Meanwhile, and more pleasantly, I've got some ideas simmering for the rewrite of another short story (which is only slightly related to the current project), which could well be the second publishable book, as well as being the genus of another full series. So that's good.

Finally, I am a mass of twingey, misfiring muscles from my exercise last night. I ran (mostly) a mile, did about 50 reps of 15 pounds per hand (which sounds kind of weak when I write it out) and a bunch of things with the weird pulley gadget. And lots of sit-ups.  Gonna do it all again tonight once dinner settles, and it's going to continue until I've dropped 30-50 pounds of blubber. I want to be in the same shape I was when I got married -- only better, because instead of being skinny I'll be all ripped.  I figure that'll take a couple months at least. But maybe I'll end up being a Spartan for Halloween this year after all, ha ha.