Motivation
I quit my job last week and I still feel like I'm too busy to write.
Wednesday was my last day of work. On Thursday I played dodgeball. On Friday Fat Penguin performed at Laila Lounge. On Saturday we shot another episode of the Vulva Van and attended the Thank You, Robot One Year Anniversary Show. Sunday was Fat Penguin practice followed by Presentational Group Games with Erik Tanouye.
In the free time around those appointments I purchased an outdoor television antenna from Radio Shack and installed it on the roof of my apartment building. Thanks to the Internet, I was able to convince some doubtful salespeople that they really did have one in stock and also learned which direction to point it in.
Whenever I mention the antenna, somebody points out that analog broadcasting will cease in about a year. In case you were about the join the chorus, the antenna won't become obsolete. My television can already decode the digital signals, and they are beautiful; it's the analog tuner in my aging tuner that will be the problem. (Oooh, maybe I can fix that with a coupon!)
The reason I started this post, however, was to make a record of a piece of wisdom that may be useful to me in the coming months. From Shawn Blanc's interview of John Gruber:
Ernest Hemingway said this:
You write until you come to a place where you still have your juice and know what will happen next and you stop and try to live through until the next day when you hit it again.
He was talking about writing books, but I find his advice perfectly apt for what I’m doing with Daring Fireball. Without having a boss or editor, I could do anything at the start of the day. Leaving off the day before with something specific in mind for what to do next is an enormous aid to getting going.
Wednesday was my last day of work. On Thursday I played dodgeball. On Friday Fat Penguin performed at Laila Lounge. On Saturday we shot another episode of the Vulva Van and attended the Thank You, Robot One Year Anniversary Show. Sunday was Fat Penguin practice followed by Presentational Group Games with Erik Tanouye.
In the free time around those appointments I purchased an outdoor television antenna from Radio Shack and installed it on the roof of my apartment building. Thanks to the Internet, I was able to convince some doubtful salespeople that they really did have one in stock and also learned which direction to point it in.
Whenever I mention the antenna, somebody points out that analog broadcasting will cease in about a year. In case you were about the join the chorus, the antenna won't become obsolete. My television can already decode the digital signals, and they are beautiful; it's the analog tuner in my aging tuner that will be the problem. (Oooh, maybe I can fix that with a coupon!)
The reason I started this post, however, was to make a record of a piece of wisdom that may be useful to me in the coming months. From Shawn Blanc's interview of John Gruber:
Ernest Hemingway said this:
You write until you come to a place where you still have your juice and know what will happen next and you stop and try to live through until the next day when you hit it again.
He was talking about writing books, but I find his advice perfectly apt for what I’m doing with Daring Fireball. Without having a boss or editor, I could do anything at the start of the day. Leaving off the day before with something specific in mind for what to do next is an enormous aid to getting going.