The Blog

I'm gonna quit smoking

Tuesday, 09 December 2008 19:21

I have four cigarettes left.

My wife has been very patient and understanding and even designed my logo with a guy at a typewriting engaged in the vile act. This way when I quit I can always feel like I'm getting the benefits of smoking (via my avatar) without hacking up a lung every morning and clogging the sink with lugees.

Oddly enough, I ran into a woman trying to promote the cause of the Fulan Gong (more later wrt this on Attack of the Flak) whilst smoking outside the KUOW studio in prep for my Marketplace Money interview. She tried to convince me the detrimental effects outweighed the benefits. I stopped myself from decrying the anti-smoking agenda as a plot devised by the nicotine patch people.

Apparently, after reading some Fulan Gong materials her father (a long-time smoker) managed to quit. I was respectfully impressed. I employ a host of rationalizations. My mom didn't raise no quitter. It's my ginseng. A temporary crutch during periods of high stress.

Enough.

I've got four more.

It's hard to be a stay-at-home dad and a smoker. I'm far from the ideal father. I drink too much; too much coffee after I wake up, too much beer before I go to sleep. This makes me irritable in the AM and lackadaisical in the PM. My standard quip, "Stimulants in the morning, depressants in the evening" needs to be modified, or at least moderated.

You may not care. I don't even know if you exist.

Which reminds me, my lovely and talented wife/IT person set up "comments" so comment away, oh imagined readers.

"Please Do Not Enter"

Tuesday, 09 December 2008 18:25

File this under "Only in Seattle."

Somehow, it's too rude to just put a sign on a door saying "Do Not Enter" - they had to preface it with "Please."

Another eg, at the Seattle Direct Marketing Association meeting last Wednesday there was someone who also went to DMA events in San Francisco; the current SDMA president, Sue Engdahl, thanked him for coming and bought him a drink. A nice thing to do. It had never happened in SF, even though his company was a sponsor.

Little things.

When we moved up here from the Bay Area, we were suspicious of all this common courtesy. Is it "real"? Do people mean it when they say, "Let me know if there's anything I can do to help"?

I'm still skeptical. My pithy summation of humanity was "People Suck" - that if someone believes they can do something that will benefit themselves, regardless if it impinges on someone else, they will do it if they think they can get away with it. From all I've seen and done, through all the interactions I've had with Pacific Northwesterners in the almost six years we've been here, I am now obliged to reassess. 

I'm not 100% convinced, but I'm willing to concede there are exceptions, and Seattle has more exceptions than elsewhere.

At least here people say "Please," and that's a good start.

Youvie Idea

Tuesday, 09 December 2008 00:22

It is just past three o'clock in the morning so take this thought with a grain of salt...The Youvie. You film scenes from my script and I'll link to them and vice versa.

I originally pitched my Magic Circus idea to Gunn Productions, they did College Road Trip and Adam Sandler's latest, Bedtime Stories. The woman I talked to liked it, and asked to see pages, but has yet to get back to me (Hi Heather!). The likelihood of getting a movie made is pretty slim, the average pic costs more than $100 mil to do, so no one's going to take a flier on just any shmoe.

However, anyone can make a movie. My 7-year old has made a movie. It was short and he needed help, but still you see my point.

Or maybe you don't.

Here's the challenge, get a camera, find some friends, film a scene and send me the link. If we get enough people making Youvies, we'll have a real movie one day.

It is now 3:26 and I'm going to lie down.

OK, OK, commas matter...

Monday, 08 December 2008 18:30

In my haste I've been less than diligent about grammar, punctuation, and whatnot.

A good friend and constructive critic has pointed out my need to be a wee bit more careful, as I'm guilty of the comma splice, and the run-on sentence, which considering the source (he of Cal English degree and an MFA from USC) is advice I should more closely heed: however, I'm an incorrigible smart-ass and reluctant to change.

So, my friend, I am heartily sorry for having offended the gods of good writing, and I firmly resolve with the help of their grace to splice no more and to avoid the near ocassion of splicing. 

Now, what's my penance?