Crippled = Perspective

I may have broken my wrist the other night. I'm not going to give those thieves at Kaiser any more of my money than I have to, so I'm not going in for tests just yet. But for all I know my wrist is broken, and this cock-up splint is just delaying the inevitable.

I spent most of yesterday stressing about posters and designers, all the while missing the proper use of my left hand. It's not so bad that it's useless, but it's definitely not well. Certain rotations are excruciating, and I can't put too much pressure on it. It's gotten me thinking though.

There's no such thing as an excuse. I know this, I've heard Sean Stephenson talk (and anticipate his new book), and he's accomplished more than I likely ever will, despite being trapped in a wheelchair and suffering from osteogenesis imperfecta. We all saw Unbreakable, but it's real.

I've been making excuses of late. There's always tomorrow. I'm tired today. Not like I'm getting paid for any of this... I just need to do a little more reading before I start. They can all be true, but they're still standing in the way of me doing what I need to do. I need to write. This is a constant need, but over the past 6 weeks or so, it's become a professional necessity as well. Get paid to write or die trying needs to do the motto. But while I'm getting some work done every day, I'm putting things off when I really can't afford to.

I hit upon a really good idea on New Year's Eve that became the basis for the first screenplay I'll ever finish. You can mark my words on that. I made a promise to myself that I would finish by the end of March, and though I've been stalling, I'm going to keep that promise too. I don't have all the details worked out, but Brian keeps reminding me that I need to just start writing. The answers will come, and I can always revise later. But delaying the start, looking for an excuse to not do something... That's easy. Doing what you need to do, doing what you want to do... It's not always going to be easy, and it's not always something people are in the position to do.

I've spent the last 35 hours or so mulling this. Simple things like putting on shoes, cutting a bagel, hell, even typing are much more difficult without proper functionality. It makes me appreciate just how good I've got it, unemployed in a tough economy though I may be.

I can make them up with the best of them, but at the end of the day, there are no excuses I can hide behind. Time to buckle down and get shit done.

Goodbye, Oyster House

Phil Smith, aka The Hardest Working Man in Comics, has been a bartender at the Oyster House in addition to his duties at Top Cow for as long as I've known him. I think if you add a couple more years, that's how long he's been tending there. Tuesday night marked the end of an era, as it was Phil's last night behind the bar.

Despite possibly having a broken hand, nothing could keep me from experiencing my first "Rage Night" (not WeHo style), and Phil's final night. The Oyster House has a very special place in my heart. Not only was I always treated like a king there (thanks, Phil), but it's been there for me through good times (2 New Year's and 2 birthdays) and bad (post break-up). I've long considered it my local bar, despite the fact that it's 14 or so miles away.

I don't even know what else to say. There's video of Cuban Rage taking center stage, and a cameo from the Dusty and Frutti show, so maybe that's something to seek out one day if you want to be entertained. The bar still exists, and I recommend going for the stiff drinks and the food. It just won't be the same without Phil behind the bar.

So here's to Phil, and to an era that will likely never return. A great man and a great bartender. Also, a great friend.

TGIM - New Things

Well, it's Monday, and you know what that means.  We're all struggling to get our asses out of bed, in gear, and the like.  So what keeps us going?

Today I'm going to suggest trying something new.  Like being woken around 7am by an anonymous phone call, or not hitting snooze twelve times.  Or, more aptly, going out for Chinese Breakfast.  Never done it, not sure it's better than the bagels and whitefish that won't take me an hour to drive to, but...  Variety is the spice of life.

As you head into this week, take a minute, reflect, and plan to do something you've never done.  Chinese breakfast, talking to a stranger, going to a new restaurant, joining twitter, etc.  Give yourself a reason to take a chance.

Now go take on the day.

"Welcome to Heartbreak"

No, I'm not suddenly getting personal on the blog.  I've made that mistake in the past, and it's bad reading.

What I'm talking about is the new Kanye West video for the song of the same name (which I found courtesy of Pete Chatmon).  It's pretty damn hot.  Lyrically the song is just so-so, but it's one of the better tracks on the album in terms of the production and the vibe.

And the video.  It's below for you to watch, but...  Man, I think there's a very untapped, unironic return to the 80s coming.  I can feel it.  There's so many video effects in here that are based in the worst origins of music videos, but this thing is totally working for me.

KANYE WEST "Welcome To Heartbreak" Directed by Nabil from nabil elderkin on Vimeo.

***

In other news, one of my potential gigs just got a lot more serious.  Not in terms of me being any closer to landing it officially, but in terms of what it is.  It transmogrified, and I'm excited for it.  More news as I have it.

Marz and Hill Talk Craft

While they may not have the highbrow connotations that take place when you get two Vertigo editors together (click for a nice interview between Brian Wood and G. Willow Wilson), Ron Marz and Bryan Edward Hill are both two of my favorite writers, and two of my favorite people.  I don't just mean in comics, I mean people in general.  I feel really lucky to have been in the position to work with both as much as I did, and plan to in the future.

Marz/Hill on BTA & Craft

Bernardin/Freeman

I don't know how it happened, but Marc Bernardin and Adam Freeman were not on the links list on my sidebar until tonight.  They each have blogs, and deserve to be read.

Adam and Marc are two of the finest writers working in comics.  To my knowledge they only have a few books on the stands - Monster Attack Network from AIT/Planet Lar, Pilot Season: Genius from Top Cow, and Push and The Highwaymen from Wildstorm, but they are seriously the tits.  

Up until a pitch this past September, Genius was probably the best pitch I had ever gotten.  I spent months trying to figure out the best way to do the project, and luckily, even though it was a part of Pilot Season, the discerning public saw fit to grant the book some more time, and the new series is going to be all kinds of fantastic.  I had the pleasure of editing the outline and first issue, and I can think of very few books I'm as excited to check out as it.

It's actually kind of funny, especially considering the level of talent I was lucky enough to work with while editing, but I had insulated myself to the point where I always assumed the worst.  Every script I got from someone not named Marz or Hester I prepared for the worst before reading.  I was all set to give all kinds of notes and have to do tons of work to get the new Genius #1 into shape but...  It was actually pretty damn amazing.  It just came in close to a year after we got the Pilot issue done, and I had forgotten how awesome these two guys are.  To say nothing of artists Afua Richardson's immense talent (and art is merely the tip of the iceberg for her).

So yeah, basically Adam and Marc are amazing, and will be huge in no time flat.  And Genius is the best book you haven't read.  Do.  Not.  Miss.  Out.

TGIM - Rainy Days

I'll be perfectly honest. After 5.5 years in Los Angeles, I kind of hate rainy days.

I used to love them. Growing up I relished chances to stay in and watch movies or play board games while the rain beat down outside. When I got to Towson freshmen year of college, I still felt the same way. The rain mirrored my mood most days and I would put on Counting Crows songs and just wallow in it. It wasn't misery, it was... Something else, and it made me happy in a weird way.

But LA ruined all that for me. I've come to expect perfection out of 70-degree days and 0% chance of rain. But the reason I'm so glad for the rain when it does come is the gift of perspective. Jason Lee's character said it best in Vanilla Sky (and I fully recognize that this is not an original statement), "Just remember, the sweet is never as sweet without the sour, and I know the sour."

So the rain is the sour that helps us recognize and be thankful for the sweet perfection that is Los Angeles weather about 360 days a year. If you're like me, living in Los Angeles and lamenting the rain, just pause for a second to put it in perspective, and I guarantee you'll enjoy today (and the next day) even more.