A Blogging Tradition since 2007

YDS just noticed that he missed his two year blogging anniversary back in November.

That could well be because I don't really have any remarkable insights on the blog over the last year.  I'm proud of my four part piece on the trip to Baghdad (posted here, here, here, and here) and the companion piece, where I explained why I volunteered to serve here.

You would have thought, and YDS would have agreed with you, that living on a sealed compound like the US Embassy in Baghdad would have led to more writing, not less.  Instead, my post total from 2009 was almost exactly the same as that of 2008.  I think FaceBook has served to take the place of the short posts about goofy stuff and the links that I want to share about ridiculous news.  So perhaps, while the quality has stayed about the same, the quality may have improved.

More concerning to YDS than the fact that I have not written more here, is the fact that I have not written more on the two full length plays that I am working on.  I'm not sure why that is.  It may well be because there are only 24 hours in a day and many of them are consumed by working and working out.  YDS set as a priority for this yet losing weight and getting in shape.  I've been successful, but it takes significant time and discipline that has not left me with a great deal in the tank to turn to more creative pursuits.

Anyway, YDS has two followers now and is proud of the fact.  Thank you Dear Followers, and thank you Dear Reader.  As I said on my first anniversary, I write this for me, but YDS is happy to have you along for the ride.

A Good Gauge of my Mood

When the Smiths come on the iPod and I crank them up, it's pretty good hint that I'm feeling somewhat maudlin.

Also, I don't tend to write (either here or on my plays) very much when I'm depressed. I don't know how Sylvia Plath or Sarah Kane managed. Of course, they both ended quite badly. The tradeoff is worth it, of course, but writing seems like it ought to be therapeutic, an exercise that helps me to work through my feelings and relieve the angst, but so far, it isn't doing it for me.

The Bard has a go at Predicting NCAA Hoops

Courtesy of the American Shakespeare Center:

http://www.americanshakespearecenter.com/v.php?pg=397

An American Shakespeare Center Exclusive

People can debate the identity of William Shakespeare, but the one thing we know for certain is that Will Shakespeare was a huge fan of March Madness and famously admonishes basketball fans to "remember March, the ides of March remember!" Now that the Ides of March is past, we have our basketball Sweet Sixteen, and Shakespeare through his friends at the American Shakespeare Center is weighing in on the Bracket to the Final Four and the 2009 national championship.

East Regional
In the East the Pitt Panthers are up against the Xavier Muskteers and Shakespeare says of the Muskets that they are "leaden messengers" (All's Well, 3.2) and thinks the game will "rouse the proudest Panther in the chase" (Titus, 2.2).

As to the other game, where the Duke Blue Devils take on the Villanova Wildcats, Shakespeare tells Coach K that in "despite of the Devils and hell," (2 Henry VI, 4.8), there will be "Wildcats in your kitchen" (Othello, 2.1).

Elite Eight Picks: Villanova Wildcats will play the Pitt Panthers.

Midwest Regional
In the Midwest, the Louisville Cardinals take on the other Wildcats, and though Shakespeare thinks that out west Arizona is "the king of Cats" (Romeo and Juliet, 3.1), he says quite clearly that in choosing between the two teams he "would the college of Cardinals" (Henry VIII, 3.2).

In the second game, the Michigan State Spartans battle the Kansas Jayhawks, and in this one Shakespeare says his favorites are "bred out of the Spartan kind" (Dream, 4.1) and are "of more delight than Hawks" (Sonnets: XCI).

Elite Eight Picks: Louisville Cardinals meet the Michigan State Spartans.

South Regional
The Oklahoma Sooners meet the Syracuse Orange, and despite Syracuse's valiant six-overtime win against Connecticut, Shakespeare is emphatic: "Give not this rotten Orange to your friends," (Much Ado, 4.1) and urges bracketeers to choose Oklahoma with this advice: "Sooner, Sweet, for you." (Othello, 3.2).

In game two between the North Carolina Tarheels and the Gonzaga Bulldogs, Will has no patience with the underdogs from the Northwest - "Down, down, dogs!" (1 Henry IV, 2.4) - and that for those of us who love the ACC "our grace is only in the Heels" (Henry V, 3.2).

Elite Eight Picks: The North Carolina Tarheels will meet the Oklahoma Sooners.

West Regional
In the West, the Connecticut Huskies go against the Purdue Boilermakers, and here Shakespeare gets downright nasty in with Purdue - "You shames! you herd of Boils" (Coriolanus, 1.4) - and predicts that "what's to come is strew'd with Husks" (Troilus and Cressida, 4.4).

In the second game, where the Memphis Tiger plays the Missouri Tigers, Shakespeare predicts unhelpfully that "Tigers must prey" (Titus Andronicus, 3.1), but tells us later that Memphis will "triumph upon my Missouri" (Shrew 4.3).

Elite Eight Picks: The Memphis Tigers to play Connecticut.

And here are Shakespeare's picks for the Final Four:
Villanova Wildcats versus Pitt Panthers - Will's Tip: "Deep Pitt" (Titus, 2.3) ...
PITTSBURG

Louisville Cardinals versus Michigan State Spartans -- Will's Tip: "The Cardinal's not my better in the field." (2 Henry VI, 1.3) ... MICHIGAN SATE

UNC Tarheels versus Oklahoma Sooners -- Will's Tip: "the Heels of worth" (All's Well, 3.4) ... CAROLINA

Memphis Tigers versus Connecticut - Will's Tip: "The empty Tigers" (Romeo and Juliet, 5.3) ... CONNECTICUT

NEXT WEEK: Check the ASC's site for Shakespeare's prediction of the national champion.

I like the way ole Will thinks!

Maybe Now Everyone Will Stop Using it.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081117/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_new_word
Often, once something hip is institutionalized, it soon becomes unhip and everyone stops using it. If that were the fate of "meh," it certainly would not bother YDS. It's now as overused as "D'oh" and all of the other Simpsons catch phrases.
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Although, I've never heard of the Collins English Dictionary. Maybe I'll hold out for Miriam Webster. Until then ... meh.

A blogging tradition since 2007

So, I’m celebrating one year since starting this blog. Thirty odd posts in twelve months would suggest a slow but steady pace, but being the smart person that you are, dear reader, you will notice that way more than half of those posts have been in the last couple of months. I guess I am hitting my stride as a blogger and enjoying this more.
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I look back at some of the things that I blog about and compare them to the things that I mention in my first post here. I have not really blogged about anything personal. Nothing about my X or my son, nothing about my family, and very little about my writing. I’ve even left my sports out of the discussion for the most part, choosing to go elsewhere (mainly here http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=f5aa559ffadbf2873e7224c247352eca&forumid=13 and here http://www.tarheelfanblog.com/) to read, and sometimes write about my favorite sports teams (DC United and North Carolina respectively).
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I guess that I am the kind of blogger that likes to make wry observations about the world around me and see if I provoke anyone to think about what they’ve seen. Maybe folks are having similar experiences and a small smile of recognition will play across their face as they read my latest. Maybe not. But if it does, well, that would be pretty strong satisfaction for me.
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But ultimately, this blog is for me. A blog, somewhat counter intuitively, given that it is posted on the worldwide web, is a personal undertaking. And as such, a blogger needs to write in the way that makes them comfortable and that makes sense to them. Because even though a blog is out here for everyone to read, chances are quite strong that no one actually will.
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But it is that chance, and that public nature of the blog, that makes me shake my head a little at bloggers who seem to live their lives just waiting for something juicy to happen in their real lives, so that they can run to the computer and blog about it immediately. Reporting about a fight with a loved one. A family squabble. A power struggle at work. A difficult client. Whatever. This part of blogging seems exhibitionist to me, and while I guess that is okay, it is not for me.
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David Sedaris writes quite openly about how his family is sometimes guarded around him, letting him know that they don’t want to read about whatever is going on in their family in his next book, or hear about it on NPR. It’s understandable on their part, but an assumed risk that they seem to accept time and time again. Having him as part of their family becomes more important to them than keeping their stories out of the public eye. And though his stories are unforgiving in tone and viciously funny, it is clear to anyone who can understand, that they are written with love. And perhaps, that makes it okay.
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Ultimately, if David Sedaris wasn’t willing to bare his soul, and that of his family with such complete vulnerability, he wouldn’t be one-third of the writer that he is. But he is an artist, and few can show through their writing the love that he does. And as a result, so much of the blogosphere comes off as whiny complaining by people about issues too trivial for anyone else to care about.
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And perhaps my blog is just the same with a philosophical patina laid across the surface. If that is true, I apologize and encourage you to stop reading. But if it is not true, the come along for the ride into the second year of Your Darn Skippy.

The right words

http://new.music.yahoo.com/videos/AnnaNalick/Breathe-2-AM--18656347

Occasionally (well perhaps rarely), a songwriter finds just the lyric that speaks not so much to your brain, or even your heart, but to your soul. Anna Nalick wrote a lyric like that for me in her song “Breathe (2AM).” She sings, “It’s 2AM and I’m still awake writing this song/If I get it all down on paper, it’s no longer inside me/Threatening the life it belongs to.”

That is definitely the way that I feel about the play that I’ve been writing. It’s dark and violent and when I let it loose to work on it (or let loose the emotions needed to drive it), it scares me. It really “threaten[s] the life it belongs to.” I’m jealous of twenty something singer/songwriter Anna Nalick, who can stay awake writing a song at 2AM because she doesn’t go to work to support a child every morning (or maybe she does, but I don‘t know that she does). And who writes songs, rather than plays. This play is inside of me and I have to wall it off pretty seriously so I can go about going to bed at a reasonable time, getting up and going to work, taking care of my son on the weekends, and generally living the life of an ordinary person, and not the life of a writer. Even when I have the rare occasion when I can write, I can’t always tear down that wall between the play and the rest of my psyche in order to really do good work on it.

It took me four years to finish my first full length play. This one won’t take that long, because in finishing the first one, I gained the confidence that I can actually do it. But it will take a long time and all of that time it spends inside me, it “threaten[s] the life it belongs to.”

Maybe I'm a Bad Blogger

January was my last post?!? I'm not sure why I don't blog more. I guess I'm not always motivated to do it. Just back from a family vacation. One house, two parents, two siblings, one son, one niece, and two foster daughters. It was nice, but it wasn't exactly margaritas on the back porch at sunset. Ah well, I guess that's gone for a while. Perhaps one day again.

Watching the Lady Tar Heels lose right now, but the men have advanced to the Final Four for a record 17th time. That I like....