Cleaning Up The Past

As part of the relaunch I decided not to edit any of my previous posts. I realize there could be some embarrassing posts from back then. I was a much different person back then. Whenever you hear that your brain automatically leans towards the pejorative. Back then I drank a lot. Back then I had yet to be challenged. I don't have anything so dramatic, but my blog was meandering and masquerading as cohesive. Now it is just 100% stream of consciousness!

Getting back to the original point, I did tweak some of the colors on the template for the relaunch. I am notoriously awful when it comes to matching colors and formatting. You see a lot of teal and orange in movie posters nowadays and I had no idea what that was until I read some review blogs and learned about the color wheel. I mean, there is an actual tool that helps you match up colors!? What voodoo is this!?

Now if only they had something to tell me if this tie goes with this shirt

When I tweaked the template and looked back through the archives I realized some of the older posts are unreadable because the colors merge or clash. I am slowly fixing them, but just wanted to let you know. I would love a comment or two one day but I don't want them to be "GAH! MY EYES!"

Relive your blog...again

Three years ago, I signed off on blogging. It must have been the second or third time I killed one of my blogs. I always thought of myself as humble, but I was surprised that people did not come in droves to read my first drafts of short stories or observations on how fire stations and air conditioners are indeed quite very loud.

Much has changed in those three years. I found stability in a job I have no had for four years. My wife and I bought a house. I got a car. I went on my first ever international trip (I did not get cool wings from the pilot, this being a post 9/11 world) We had a kid! A beautiful son who will have a divot in the center of his forehead by age 2 from how much I kiss him.

I had a writing teacher in college, whom I very much respected (Jason Ockert..give his books a buy) who told us at the end of the year that, "If you find yourself not writing on your own after college, then don't get an MFA. Give something else a shot." Of course, at the time in the year of 2006, this would not apply to me, but it sure became that way as I bounced from job to job and then moved to Ohio and got a career. Oh, I always scribbled and I have left all my archives up for you to see, but dreams of books are better left to those much more skilled.

All that said, I recently found myself struggling to sleep not because my son would refuse to sleep in his crib, but because I wanted to get something down. To pound out thoughts that creep in during the drowsy topsy turvy of going to bed. Of something I daydream about in a work meeting. When I stare into my son's eyes and I am paralyzed because I am going to become my own father and that means dying when my kid is eight I want to talk to someone. I strain my wife's patience too much already during the day so I return to the Internet!

That's right! We are back and posting, hopefully, much more often because I now hopefully have something else to talk about besides Chia plants and comic books.

Another goodbye

I have tried my hand at blogging on and off for four years. Whether it was the original Blog of Plenty, the second Blog of Plenty, or Fear of the Blank Page, I always wanted to find a unique voice that would bring some readers. While I don't think myself as particularly vain, blogging is an inherently self-satisfying exercise and for those four years, I have been pretty much satisfying only myself.

Yes, I am officially closing Fear of the Blank Page.

I realize this is sudden and that I should have closed out on something better than the latest Sherlock Holmes movie, but I can realize that I don't have the blogging power. While the record may stand against it, I am not the person that likes to quit, but I can realize that my talents may not rest in snarky blogging. That includes both the craft and the patience to blog continuously. If you have a blog you follow routinely, then make sure to thank the blogger because it is tough to come up with thrice a week posts. Much less daily.

There are plenty of other places online where you can read funny movie reviews. Dave Campbell may be gone, but you can still find lots of great comics blogs, which also feature witty movie, book, and TV commentaries. If you want a good story, then check out your local library.

For anyone that read any of the blogs and their posts, thank you so much. I really appreciate your time and interest. I hope that maybe one of these blogs struck you in the same way as the websites that convinced me to put thought to HTML. Actually, that may be too much to ask, but I do hope you had some fun. I certainly did, but now is the time to put it to rest.

Peace!

Organize

Astute readers may notice that the newer posts feature tags. The older posts will soon all have tags and by the time you read this, most should be annotated.

We may have few patrons, but we are organized. Just like the corner hardware store.

Peace!

Relive Blogging...for the fifth time

I am way too good to go one whole year without an update.

I am going to give the whole blogging thing another try. Still not sure on the topic or theme. No more comics references. I still love Chris Sims and Dave Campbell, but there was not point in trying to recreate their voices. Maybe some more fiction. Stay tuned.

Peace!

Stumble in

Hey! If you came across the blog from the Lucy magazine site, then thanks for coming here! And thanks for reading Lucy, which was so kind in letting me write something for them.

As for this blog, I am always thinking about posting something new, but then...

Peace!

Why No Post?

In the words of blogger extraordinaire, Dave Campbell, why no post Garik?

Well, I have been busy of late, which is always the excuse, but this time I am busy doing something dear to this blog.

I have been writing. A lot. Nothing really huge. Some news briefs three times a week and some articles for small Cleveland area publications, but people actually read those pieces. And, I do all of this for free! So it is exactly like blogging!

I will have another installation of "Books I Should Have Already Read" up soon. So look forward to that. All two of you, that is.

Peace!

Ball Dropped

Chuck Palahniuk released a new book* back on May 20th and I missed it!?!?!?!?! Where the hell was I? Oh yes, sitting here trying to unpack and sending off resumes at the same time. It must be mine and I put a hold on the library's copy faster than Sgt. Slaughter administers the Cobra Clutch.

While I dropped the ball on that and on posts this week, I will have something for you later. I am working on another piece of fiction. Excited? Well, probably not, but isn't that the reason I started this blog? And the reason why you tuned in?

Expect that sometime next week. I write all these fiction pieces on paper before putting them up on the blog. It helps center me and my writing (The posts would be worse if I did not use this paper filter), but it takes time.

Maybe some other pieces between now and then as well.

Peace!

*I have not read any reviews, but I get the sense that they are primarily negative. Is it another X-Files: I Want to Believe? Bah!

Santos Cielos!

After a full week of posts I come to you with some cosmic justice. I was getting into a blogging groove and then my computer crashed. I just woke up the next day and my desktop was making all kinds of horrible noises and failing to start up.

Thankfully, in a serendipitous turn of events, Amanda just got a new laptop and that is where I am currently blogging from.

Not really an excuse, per se, but this will seriously hurt my "Great Works Defiled" tradition of putting funny hats on the varmints. I had several pictures of the animals on the desktop and last thing I want to do is clutter up the laptop with such silliness.

I still have the blog, thankfully. Unless Google's computers crash, but, if that were to happen, I think people would want their G-Mail back up before FOTBP. When I could no longer access my files this morning, I realized that almost all my short stories are up on the blog. And all of my work for Tompkins Weekly remains on their website. I take a lot of pride in these little posts. Sure, they are riddled with typos I made in haste and lame jokes. But if trying to get someone to read any of this is my dream (My person, if you allow me to be so bold) then it is comforting to know that it will remain up and active. My work remains as "cloud computing," even though I really want those varmint pictures.

Peace!

A Post Coming

Hey, I have a short story for you! I wrote up a draft in my journal and will soon put it to blog. I would do it right now, but I am bit nervous today. Just job stuff. I am waiting to hear back from a few interviews and applications. Pretty nerve racking stuff considering that Amanda and her family have been completely supportive and my sainted mother has been...well...my mother.

But, I try to avoid from a rants, even though I do not always keep that promise. An old boss in college used to describe his life as "Still swimming upstream." I think we can all relate to that.

So the story will come up, but until then...enjoy this picture of Carson eating pizza!

I know he isn't wearing a funny hat, but, look at that! Both out animals love junk food, which means they hang around us way too much.

I think I hear Animal Control coming.

Peace!

Bad Advice

Write what you know is the worst piece of writing advice I have ever heard. Well, OK. The actual worst piece of writing advice I ever heard was "You can do it, Garik!," but that is enough self-pity for one post.

While in college, I had the pleasure to hear author Salman Rushdie speak. I have yet to read anything by Rushdie, but the guy is scintillating. He had a death mark put on his head! Like Han Solo! Or Lorca, if you want to keep with this literary theme. In his speech, Rushdie mentioned how "write what you know" was silly. It endangers writers who dare write about something embrassing or vicious. Rushdie mentioned how he struggles with critics considering his work autobiographical and how in one such piece (where the protagonists commits rape) people then assume that maybe he raped someone. Of course not!

That little nugget of ancient advice dismisses writers and imagination. And in the Information Age, it underestimates how we can all relate to one another and explore life minutiae. My favorite form of procrastination is just surfing on Wikipedia, seeing where each link will take me. And because of those Wikipedia trivia sections, you can play a simple game of one to three degrees of separation between anything.

Hey, what exactly is FM radio? Ah, I see. Oh, look, a section on pirate radio. Oh, sweet, that one pirate radio episode of Pete and Pete! Remember that!

Another issue with "write what you know is that...I don't know anything. Well, nothing useful outside of a game of Jeopardy.

Thanks to my current job I can refer you to several community colleges in 35 states that might or might not recycle! And I have this weird obsession with municipal boundaries. And little tidbits from History Channel specials like, did you know, the record for most pizzas ordered in one night was the day of the O.J. Simpson White Bronco car chase!?

I know plenty of goofy shit too like that the Autobot Prowl in the Transformers Animated universe practices Metakallito and that the Daredevil villain Bullseye could kill you with a piece of poop and, hence, when in captivity he is only fed a liquid diet.

The Sum of My Knowledge. And I have a B.A. in all this crazy stuff!*

I think it might be time to give up on this high art stuff and try my hand at the goofy observations blogging realm. It worked for David Campbell and it might work for me!

Nerds, upload and blog up!

Peace!

*Well, one I honorarily gave myself. Self made nerdy man! Even though mom did buy all the Magic Cards.

Breaking Radio Silence

It's not an April Fool's gag, because I am back today! After two solid months of nothing, I read something so mind-boggling that I had to blog.

Ithaca, NY now has not one, but, two homegrown dog park advocacy groups!

Ithaca: "Progress" by Division.

Meanwhile, pot holes continue growing unchecked as possible organizers fix the alignments of their cars or dig their bicycle out of the pit.

What else happened during the two months of radio silence?

AMANDA AND I ARE ENGAGED! YAY! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT, IMAGINARY AUDIENCE! Well, you should since I make most of you up!

I saw a few more "Movies I Should Have Already Seen," but I already forgot all the funny. Instead, you can laugh at me for not having seen L.A. Confidential and Clueless until the year 2008. Yikes!

Easter came early and I felt like Romanticizing bunny rabbits some more and advocate to Make Mine Chocolate, but that data already passed blog-less. However, seriously, please take a minute before buying a rabbit as a child's pet.

I saw 10,000 BC, which was horrible. Out of everything irksome about it, I took specific mind pains to the hard segues between ecosystems. One minute the heroes are on snowy Kilimanjaro and next in the rain forest, with the snow coming right up to the palm trees! Sets brought to you by Misses Kennecke's fifth grade Earth Science dioramas!

I honestly do hope to get some serious posts in the near future. The new job I got in January will soon wind down and there are some solid job prospects beyond Ithaca. If we do leave, expect my long series of planned Ithaca wrap up posts! PEACE!

Do'h!

John Edwards dropped out of the presidential race! BAH!

No, I don't know who I will vote for now in the primaries on Super Tuesday, but I am still looking forward to them.

Yes, the hiatus still goes well. Busy busy busy!

Stay in there blog readers! And remember to vote on Super Tuesday, in November 2008, and any and all elections beyond that. PEACE!

Slumber Party

Happy New Years, faithful blog readers!

I know that you were all looking forward to a 2008 filled with blog posts here at Fear of the Blank Page, but the situation has changed.

I got a new part-time job right before Christmas! I won't say with who, but its in the field and its work from home. However, between my day job at the law office and working for the paper, I am stretched for time. At full tilt, I should be working about 55+ hours a week now and the blog has got to go before anything else.

I rather admit to it right now in a formal post, then leave you readers languishing for more content. The new gig only lasts until the end of April, so look for more regular posts come May and early summer. I will always try to squeeze in a post here or there, but as of today, January 8, 2008, Fear of the Blank Page is officially dormant until late spring.


Hey, my blog is like a bear! With big teeth and paws the size of a catcher's mitt! Ursus bloggus, the bear blog.

I hope everyone out there has fun and enjoys some of the other offerings of the blog-o-sphere. It's amazing how many voices go up on the web sometime and that we can be only be seconds away from something fascinating, hilarious, or angering. Still look for some odd posts here on the blog.

Also, a big reminder to stay active this election year and go to your primaries! GO VOTE! NO EXCUSES! This is one of the most exciting elections in years. No incumbent presidents or vice-presidents are seeking office and look at the potential firsts we could get. The first Mormon president. The first female president. First Italian-American. The first black-president. A self-made man, like my endorsement.

And, of course, here is the Fear of the Blank Page's long awaited presidential hopeful endorsement. You still need to wait a few weeks for whatever those amateurs at the New York Times endorse, but in this primary season, the Fear of the Blank Page endorses....

JOHN EDWARDS FOR THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE USA!

Hilary isn't the underdog! Edwards is, but I hope that his populist message can take him through the early primaries and into Super Tuesday. If not, maybe a second run at the vice-presidency. Why Edwards? He actual makes public comments on the whole "Two Americas" idea and the divide between rich and poor. Instead of saying we all need to come together, I like Edwards stance that we need to close that gap and actively fight poverty. He is a long shot, but not as long as my first choice, former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson.

Not to say, I find the other candidates revolting. I am always a Clinton loyalist and regret my parents couldn't have conceived me in enough time to vote for Bill and then Hillary when she ran for Senate. Damn you mom and dad! It had to be 1984, huh?! Barack Obama is a strong candidate, but I reciprocate with Edwards vocal statements about the rich-poor gap. We need a fighter in America and I can see that in Edwards.

Peace!

On Second Thought...

I should use Helium with caution. I read the fine print of the user agreement and they keep everything you write. Forever. I (the writer) still retain rights and ownership to whatever I put up there, but by putting anything up on Helium I give them the ability to do pretty much whatever they want with it, except sell. But, if somehow I do make it to the big time then Helium can flood the market with free, electronic copies of my pieces! NOOOOOOO! Of course, that is one HUGE if.

So I think I am going to put up stuff I would eventually want published/further explored up on the blog and anything else up on Helium. I will also continue the usual blog features and any post that needs some pictures. Helium is really a great sight and lots of fun, but got to read that fine print. I never read Blogger's fine print either, so who knows what they can do with such classics as the Co-Op of Justice!

Peace!

Some Updates

Just a quick note. After ignoring about a dozen tempting Google G-Mail ads, I decided to sign up for Helium, the online write and review site. I linked to it in my newly organized links section for future reference as well.

So far, the site has proven to be plenty of fun! It's great to see other people rating your stuff and see your writing climb up the rating ladder in each category. You write about anything and post it to specific channels. So, an example of one channel breakdown is: "Creative Writing>Short Story>Meeting Someone On the Bus." Some of the categories are broad "Mourning" or "Life." Others are damn specific like "Contemporary Britain" or "Talking politics and religion in bars." Some have lots of articles/pieces that mean yours has to really shine to get all the way to the top. Others only have two or three pieces, so you can be the big fish in the small pond. And you can make money, too! Helium gives everyone on the site a cut of their advertising profits (VERY SLOOOOOWLY I must admit. So far I have made one cent.) and you can also try to sell articles to the small publishers that host portals there!

I have put up a lot of the stuff that I already have on the blog up there. Just to get the Helium machine going. But I hope to write a lot more over the next few weeks, both online and in print at the local newspaper. I made it on the front page this week! And above the fold, too! WOO!

Peace!

In Sickness and Health

Been a while since I blogged, but that doesn't mean things haven't kept busy.

Right now, I am helluva sick. A I have been taking knock-off dollar store Nyquil to boot! So this, cold from hell hasn't gone away just yet. But my lovely girlfriend Amanda bought me some of the real stuff today, so eat it sickness! Whenever I am sick, I try a two-prong approach of western bio medicine and alternative therapies. Basically, I wash down some Nyquil with a whole packet of Gypsy Cold Care Traditional Medicinal tea. It rocks.

Other news...

1) Got a real, new job! WOO HOO! I am going to be a paralegal for a downtown law office. WOO HOO! It is only a part time gig, but it pays well and has health care! WOO HOO! Because of the part time basis, I will still be slinging coffee in the shop, but that is fine as the adjustment to the new store has gone well.

2) The paper I write for freelance has officially listed me as a contributor in their credits! WOO HOO!

3) I have Nyquil! WOO HOO!

I am actually going to Ohio later this week, so I hope to slap some posts up before I go and have a legitimate excuse for not posting.

Peace!

We're back!

The moving is complete! Well, sort of. I am all settled in, but Amanda still needs to bring her stuff at the end of May. So we still got some hauling to do, but I can now blog without having to worry about what box I put the mouse in or fending off high school kids at the public library. 30-minute limit, kids!

But, even in this hiatus, I have been writing. I have produced six pieces for one of the local alternative newspapers! WOO! The freelance writing gig is pretty nice. This paper has some decent resources behind it and gets published every week, instead of when everyone can get their stuff together. The Tompkins County area possess plenty of citizen-alternative journalism ventures, but plenty fail to gather enough steam to actually become a periodical. Also, the job pays! WOO!
Finally, I love being able to say that I am actually doing freelance writing. I love that word, "freelance." I want to put it in front of every activity. My friend Jing and I were having a discussion on the topic. He wanted to do "freelance eating." Awesome.

So I will try to keep the posts coming and cook up other excuses for future droughts. Just like normal! Peace!

"I clear my head and concentrate. My emerald girl is waiting for me. Throttling like an F-16. I strap in, and let her fly."

Hal Jordan knows a thing or two about coming back!

An excuse

Long periods of time with no posts on the blog should not be much of a surprise. Especially to people that have stuck through all y blog shenanigans. Most times I don't post because I just plain suck, but other times I have an excuse! And this I have one!

I am moving out of my place and between packing, cleaning, working, and all other "legitimate" things, I have, once again, sacrificed the blog. So posts will be sporadic and stingy, but, this time, you understand why! I will leave you with one little story below (in a separate post), to hold you over.

As for the move, Amanda and I will be staying in Tompkins County for the next year and who knows after that. The stay is kind of bitter sweet. TC is a nice place to raise a family, but a horrible place if you want to develop as a young professional. However, we both remain optimistic, and I will continue sending out the applications. PEACE!

Ack!

I just realized that I haven't blogged in about three weeks. I suck.

However, what a time to blog with the big news that CAPTAIN AMERICA IS DEAD!!!

Wow. I guess this is my big, first comics "death." I wonder how I will feel when they bring him back. Or will Steve Rogers just stay dead and have someone else take up the Captain America mantle.? I don't know, but I was pretty shocked.

I have kept this post a bit restrained to spare those non-geeks out there, but, I could not help resist putting up this video.



Yes, I know I suck even more for posting YouTube videos as real content, but a real post will come soon! I might even get published in a real live paper soon! I'll keep ya posted!

Peace!