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Apologies and Update and News! December 19, 2009

Posted by pacejmiller in Blogging, Indiana Pacers, On Writing.
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It’s been more than a week since my last post on this blog, and for that I am truly sorry.  I actually have 7 or 8 totally awesome drafts in preparation, but I just haven’t had the time to fill out the content.  Hopefully they will all come in the next day or two.

Needlessly to say, work is still the main reason I am dying here.  Long hours and lack of sleep and stress is not a good combo.  I’ve literally done nothing for like 3 weeks except sit at a desk for 14-16 hours a day, and yet I’ve somehow managed to lose 3kgs.  Stress can do nasty things.

The good news is that one more week of this crap and I’m on holidays.  Get prepared for a gourmet extravaganza through Taipei (Taiwan), which I will diligently detail on this blog.  It’s going to be sensational.  When I come back in January, I’m searching for a new job (need to think long and hard about what that’s going to be, but it’s going to be a change).  Then my part-time editing and publishing course will commence in March.  It’s going to be an exciting year and I’m looking forward to it.

My other blog, Pacers Pulse, is still around, though MVN (the network that runs it) is about to shut down.  It’s actually a blessing in disguise as the blog is now being moved to the Bloguin network, which will finally earn me my first cents as a blogger!  It’s going to be an ultra savvy, beautiful looking blog and I’m going to put a lot of effort into that.  In other exciting news, I’m trying out to be a writer at the great sports blog Bleacher Report (following an unexpected invite).  I’ve delayed it for a while but I’ll have to put together a neat article over the weekend to submit.  Fingers crossed.

Another good thing to come out of all this crap at work is that I’ve come up with a new idea for a book.  A non-fiction memoir chronicling my insane experiences at a commercial law firm.  I have a co-writer who is also very enthusiastic about the project and I will expand on this fully in an upcoming post.  In short, it will be crazy, outrageous, unbelievable, hilarious, and absolutely 100% true.

Stay tuned.  Lots of good stuff coming up!

Epic Fail: My NaNoWriMo Challenge December 4, 2009

Posted by pacejmiller in Blogging, Novel, On Writing.
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About a month ago I tried to attempt what many may have done before me – attempt NaNoWriMo without actually entering into NaNoWriMo.  That is, write 50,000 words on my work-in-progress fantasy novel in the month of November.

The verdict: epic fail.

Try 10,000 words (which, to be fair, is not that bad under the circumstances).  I tried, I really did.  But I just couldn’t find the time.  For most of the month, I was working 13-15 hour days, 5 days a week.  Travel time to and from work took up 1.5-2 hours per day.  Factor in 7-8 hours of sleep a night, keeping up with blog posts and needing almost the entire weekend to unwind and recover, that didn’t leave much time for writing.

Where does that leave me?  Two positives came out of this experience.  One, I progressed another 10,000 words on that first draft.  Two, and more importantly, I know for certain that if I ever want to finish this book, I need to find another job.  At this rate, it would probably take another 10 years, so it doesn’t really leave me much choice.

The good thing is that after yet another brutal week, I don’t feel like all hope is lost.  Even though I should be catching up on some much needed sleep, I ended up getting up earlier than usual because all I wanted to do was write.  That’s a good sign, isn’t it?

Movie Review: Julie & Julia (2009) November 29, 2009

Posted by pacejmiller in Blogging, Movie Reviews.
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When I first saw the poster for Julie & Julia, I literally went ‘meh’.  A drama with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams as the two leads?  I enjoyed Doubt (which they starred in together in 2008) but this so didn’t look like my type of movie.

However, I later found out that the film was about food.  And that it was based on not one, but two intertwining true stories.  And most of all, the book upon which the film was based arose out of a blog!  That was when the aspiring writer inside convinced me I had to watch it.

I don’t like to spoil the plot, but in this case it helps to provide a bit of background.  Julia Child (Meryl Streep) is a famous American chef and author (pardon my ignorance), and Julie Powell (Amy Adams) is an average woman who attempts to cook every recipe in her cookbook in a year while chronicling her experiences in a blog.  The movie somehow manages to switch seamlessly between the two women – Julia in the 1950s as she learns to cook and piece together her cookbook, and Julie in 2002 she develops her blog project into a web sensation.

So how was it?

Written and directed by Nora Ephron (who last worked on Bewitched in 2005, but also did Sleepless in Seattle), Julie & Julia is very much a relationship drama that seeks to appeal to a predominantly female audience.  The main male characters, Julie and Julia’s husbands (played by Chris Messina and Stanley Tucci, respectively), are portrayed as virtual saints who are completely devoted to their wives.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it made me wish there was more tension in their lives than just burnt stews in the oven.

To be frank, it still wasn’t my type of movie.  The stories of the two women were somewhat interesting.  The food appeared to be absolutely divine.  The performances were superb (as you would expect from Streep and Adams).  Some bits were quite humorous.  And yet, it didn’t do a whole lot for me.  It’s not that it was bland.  It’s just that I wasn’t as absorbed as I thought I would be.  Maybe it’s just me.

On the other hand, the inspiring climb to success of both women was pretty cool.  There’s just something about watching other writers ‘make it’ that gets me all excited.

So to sum it all up, a good movie, but not really for me.

3 stars out of 5!

Update on Everything October 22, 2009

Posted by pacejmiller in Blogging, On Writing.
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Writing and Blogging

As you may have noticed, blogging has become a scarce occurrence these days, thanks to the life and time-draining thing I do called work.  This week things have gotten busy (and I’m not sure if on a temporary or permanent basis) and I’ve had to endure the (surprisingly good) after-hour meals every day this week.  This effectively means that the time I have to write (on stuff non-work related) has dwindled down to practically zero.  Depressing, I know, but what can you do?

My other blog, Pacers Pulse, has recently been moved to WordPress, so hopefully I’ll be able to recommence blogging on that again soon, especially with the upcoming NBA season about to kick off shortly.

However, there are two pieces of information that I am glad to talk about.  First, I have enrolled into a part-time course in editing and publishing next year.  It’s one night a week for the first semester and two nights a week for the second.  Very excited about that and hopefully it will lead to some opportunities down the track in a field I actually have some interest in.  Secondly, I found out yesterday that a guy at work is the grandson of a famous Australian writer – one of those guys that set out to achieve his dreams of becoming a writer against all odds and got there through sheer hard work and perseverance.  Very cool. 

Oh yeah, and my blog recently broke through the 100,000 hits barrier!  Woo hoo!

Reading

I am still reading Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s The Shadow of the Wind, recommended to me by theninthdragonking.  It’s taking a while to finish because the only time I get to read it is on the train to work (and sometimes from work if I’m not catching a firm-paid cab home), but it’s a ripper of a book.  I’m up to the ‘final revelation’ climax and it kills me when I have to stop reading (makes me wish the train ride was longer!).  I promise a glowing review is coming shortly.

 A friend recently sent me Gandhi’s autobiography, so I guess that’s up next!

Movies

Couples Retreat, Astro Boy and The Final Destination (3D) – I haven’t been watching a lot of good movies lately.  Not sure if the movie I want to see next, Saw VI, can reverse that trend.

In any case, a friend of mine is encouraging me to write to the film publicity companies and ask to be put on their invite lists for previews.  Apparently it works, so I’ll have to give it a try!

Novel Update: Balancing Writing and Work October 9, 2009

Posted by pacejmiller in Blogging, Novel, On Writing.
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First week back at work has been rough.

A regular day before I recommenced work consisted of getting up in the morning feeling full of energy.  The day would sweep by and leave me wondering where all the time went by the end of it.  Now, things are drastically different.  I get up at 7 in the morning feeling like I need infinitely more sleep.  I’m out the door by 7:30 and don’t get home until 9 (on an average day), and by the time I walk through the door I am exhausted, having utilised by formerly seldom-used brain all day.  To ensure I’m not a zombie the next morning, I make sure I get into bed around 11, leaving only 2 hours of waking, non-work time which I generally spend cleaning stuff, showering and preparing for the next day.

That leaves me with zero time to write during the week, except maybe during some down time at work (like now) where I can squeeze in a quick post.  But working on the (fantasy) novel is virtually impossible, especially since I need a bit of time to get into the proper mood and spirit.  And all this noise around in open plan is always a distraction.

I bumped into a friend this morning who used to be full of vitality before he started in the same profession, and now he’s a shell of who he once was.  Sent me an email after he got to work informing me that he just found out he’d have to work all weekend.  The worst part, he tells me, is that you get so bogged down by it and get so used to it all (from the never-ending grind) that you simply accept that it’s the way things are and you forget that they could be better.  That’s the type of mentality I want to avoid developing.

It’s looking bleak right now but I am confident I’ll manage to find some time somewhere.  If anything, it’ll motivate me to go find a job that doesn’t drain my soul!

[PS: Coincidentally, I just got a newsletter from Ginny Wiehardt's Blog which has a whole bunch of comments on finding time to write while coping with the other stresses and distractions in life.  Take a look.]