Monday, February 27, 2012

J Edgar

I watched J. Edgar yesterday and it was such a great movie. What surprised me was how pensive it made me feel.
One thing that was particularly interesting was that it was a true biopic covering a huge portion of J. Edgar Hoover's life.
I guess after watching a movie like that, it's hard not to consider one's own legacy.
This guy gave his life to a cause he was passionate about. Some of his techniques may have been misguided and his sexuality has always been a question, but I think what might be the saddest piece is that whether gay or straight, misguided or not, J. Edgar never seemed to find whatever it was in life he was looking for despite gaining the highest level of achievement in his chosen profession.
The movie itself has a great quote that I will paraphrase, " All to often, historian's judge the past as if it were today and thus do not apply the appropriate context".
I have read this sort of notion before and I find it to be true. After watching the movie, I refuse to judge J. Edgar, other than to feel a bit sad for him and wonder if he ever found the peace and acceptance he seemed to seek.
It's a stark reminder that an office and an income can't bring us happiness.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Unlimited Power (another post)

I think I already posted about Unlimited Power. I just wanted to add a few thoughts.
I still love this book Very concrete suggestions, some may be a bit metaphysical for me, but even the author (Tony Robbins) admits a reader will take and use what sounds right and discard what doesn't seem right.
He has some interesting ideas about diet (Vegan). I am actually considering a vegetarian diet for a few months to see how that affects me...but I digress.
What I wanted to write about was goal-setting. I have reached my favorite chapter where we spend fifteen minutes with a blank sheet of paper deciding what we want. It's exciting, it's liberating and it's scary as hell!
What do I want? Do I want to be George Lucas? Walt Disney? Jimmy Buffet? Something in between?
I have a hundred dreams, but I can't pursue them all. I need to distill them down.
Obviously telling stories is a huge part of my dream. Now I just need to spend the time writing down what I want...specifically. The key is to dream big. Aim for the moon. Even if you miss, you might land among the stars.
I think about football players (cue the song "Ghetto Dreams") who start in poverty but picture themselves playing in the Super Bowl until one day, there they are. It can happen for any of us, but first we have to have a target...otherwise, it's pretty hard to hit.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Free the Gubs!

I don't normally shill products, mainly I like talking about writing, movies, etc, but I also like roleplaying games, strategy games and any game that presents an immersive world to play in (Think Talisman).
GUBS is just such a card game. It's not complicated in any way, so it takes no time to learn (unlike Magic). It is fun, immersive and cute. I had a great time playing it and it left me wanting to go look under mushrooms for Gub colonies.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Damn you 2012!

2012 has been a real bitch to me thus far! Professionally she kicked me right in the stones at the first of the year. Sure, the Giants won the Super Bowl, which was AWESOME! And I cranked up my running again, which is also awesome.
Writing though? not a bit!
I need to get the website updated, have a contract signed for the first GGE published work and I need to write some on our new horror novel which even scares me!
Then I need to edit Return To Glory and edit The Forsaken and edit Warchitect and about a hundred other things.
So far though I have just been stressed, spun my wheels and been a giant grouch! Let's change that!
So confession is good for the soul. Let's start a new day!