Pedantic Romantic - Latest Comments

Re: Just thinking

hannahbee — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 21:51:48 -0000

What would happen if you did let it go slack?

Re: Just thinking

Sandra — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 11:21:28 -0000

OK, so I sometimes imagine my existence as a thread that connects my now to my Next Important Milestone. I feel I need to keep that thread taut at all times in order to move through my life "properly" and get everything from it that I can. It's almost an obligation that I feel, to move along the thread. My own existential crisis, then, is that some days I just want to cut it off, just let the other end of it go slack, into nothingness. I just want to "be" and at the same time be as good of a human as I can. The fact that I can't do it is what keeps me up at nights, so I guess I'm way past the stage of worrying that there are things I cannot know in my lifetime - that reality has long since sunk in.

Re: Just thinking

El Sabor Asiático — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 18:26:50 -0000

Hello! Just seeing if the comments work.

Re: Pedantic Romantic: Under Reconstruction

El Sabor Asiático — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:00:27 -0000

Maybe you can use your "problem" of short attention span to your advantage! I was just reading an article about writing tips by writers, and one writer mentioned having multiple projects going at once, working on the one that was most "hot" for him on any given day. I wonder if that person has a similar issue to yours.

I don't think it's a bad thing to have a lot of different goals, as long as you're working on something every day. I think one of the societal norms that screws people up is the traditional work ethic model of working at one task every day until it's complete. It's very romantic and virtuous, and nice for people who are wired that way, but I don't think everyone is made to be like that, so a lot of us end up feeling like failures because we can't just be rolling that same rock up the hill every single day.

Maybe the point is not the focus of your work or the product of your work, but the act of working itself. Working on something meaningful every day, no matter what it is.

Re: Pedantic Romantic: What happened??

El Sabor Asiático — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:14:55 -0000

I think the writing more/more frequently notion is true. When one writes every day, one's writing tends to reflect more aspects of one's life. (Okay, I'm going to stop saying "one" now.) The happy, sad, angry, funny moods, they all get represented in the writing.

Since I know you in your daily life, I know that every day I hear you saying something deep, funny, or deep and funny. So it's not like those qualities are now missing from your life. It's just that, when you're not writing regularly, your writing isn't woven through the fabric of your daily life, so there's a lot that doesn't get captured in words.

And then it's easy to get into a thing where, when you do write, there has to be some Damn Good Reason for it, so you can't write in a relaxed, breezy way, because, well in my case anyway, I feel kind of stupid not writing anything for six months and then post something about how the cat made a bad face after smelling my hand.

So yeah, I think daily writing is the key.

Re: Pedantic Romantic: What happened??

hannahbee — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:04:17 -0000

But do the swings have causes? How can I swing back? Do I just need to write more/more frequently? I suspect it's something like that, like some muscle that was loose and limber is all tight and nearly atrophied. I know it needs to be worked out, but it's uncomfortable bordering on painful. Blarg.

Re: Pedantic Romantic: What happened??

skutir — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:57:33 -0000

I think it's natural for writers to swing back and forth like that.

Re: Pedantic Romantic:

Jim — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:11:51 -0000

I haven't read Outliers, but I have heard it's a bit of an outlier (ha!) in that there's actually some real insight there, but Blink was total shit. It was sloppy as hell, and quite a few chapters in which his anecdata actually supported the opposite of the conclusion that he was pushing forward.

I guess my problem with these guys is that, in the course of being encouraging, they are willing to cut all sorts of corners. Usually, they start with one valid idea (like the idea Godin advanced in The Dip that you should pick your battles) and then try to make it into some kind of magical overarching principle. Something about this sort of dishonesty really disgusts me. Maybe I'm just especially huckster-averse.

Re: Pedantic Romantic:

El Sabor Asiático — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:14:26 -0000

I'm not that familiar with Godin. He seems to have some good ideas, but from what I've read/heard from him he also seems to be the kind of marketing guru who's always looking for some kind of gimmick, rather than deeply exploring any particular Big Idea. I skimmed through Linchpin the other day and it kind of reinforced that impression. There was a lot of motivational talk, but the book didn't seem that deeply researched. I was much more impressed by Gladwell's Outliers, where it was at least obvious that he'd done a lot of homework before drawing his conclusions.

Re: Pedantic Romantic:

Jim — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 18:14:57 -0000

Ah. I should have known better, but I think there was some part of me that was concerned you'd become a Godinaut. I read one of his books on the Resistance, The Dip. He likes to say that to conquer the Dip, you must want to be the Best in the World at whatever it is you're doing. Seriously.

Re: Pedantic Romantic:

hannahbee — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:31:03 -0000

Yes, I'm not sure I'm on board with Godin's "you must SHIP" theories, or his advice to someone who can't make money from their art ("find something else you're passionate about that can make you money"). But I like his perspective on the inner critic/lizard brain (he calls it the resistance). Finding techniques that encourage me to take risks are where I'm at, right now.

Re: Pedantic Romantic: More poetry

walldrug — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:47:56 -0000

Coincidentally I've been listening to a lot of Paul Simon recently...Nice!

Re: Pedantic Romantic:

Jim — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:25:18 -0000

I think Seth Godin is mostly correct in your blockquote above. However, I'd watch out for him. He's a peddler of easy conclusions, somewhere between Malcolm Gladwell and the author of the Secret. I don't want to harsh your buzz, though, and solving interesting problems is definitely good!

Re: Pedantic Romantic: Sleeping

whirlingbladesofkick — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 11:37:40 -0000

What if someone dresses or adorns themselves in a way that you describe as provocative and they are not looking to specifically engage in some kind of communication with others? What if someone adorns themselves in a particularly UNprovocative manner and they ARE looking to engage themselves in communication with others? As you pointed out, someone needs to come up with ways to know these things. In the mean time, I'll stick by my assertion that unless one is brave enough to say to someone, "you look (insert adverb of choice: dirty, fancy, attention-seeking), can I talk to you about it," one ought to make it a practice to actively unjudge and instead repeat the following "how and why people look they way they do has NOTHING to do with me."

Re: Pedantic Romantic: Sleeping

El Sabor Asiático — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 11:27:13 -0000

I'm definitely onboard with what you're saying when it comes to people who are just minding their own business or dressing how they like to see themselves. But what about "urban attention getter" types, who dress or adorn themselves in deliberately provocative or attention-seeking ways? I feel that if someone takes on a look specifically to engage in some kind of communication with others, then they're subject to the judgment of others. How to tell one type of person from the other is something I'll leave to those less busy and important than myself.

Re: Pedantic Romantic: New Years 2010

walldrug — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 04:41:34 -0000

Hey hey! I like the sound of that! (Sorry for the late reply...my excuse is coincidentally explained in my latest post)

I too hope fervently to see you in 2010! We can compare notes on life in the desert.

-Stryker

p.s. I appreciate your note on my bravery. This is a quality of mine that all to often goes unnoticed.

Re: Pedantic Romantic: Got literally nothing better to do

walldrug — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 14:59:18 -0000

Great post! I remember encouraging you to see Titanic way back in the day. Glad to hear you finally caved in. Also glad to hear that we're not the only ones who have "disagreements" over trivial issues. Our example for the night: fierce (but non-sensical) verbal jabs and some clothes throwing which had escalated from an accidental mixing of a few washed and dried clothes with some of the already ironed clothes.

Re: Pedantic Romantic: Got literally nothing better to do

hannahbee — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 15:45:34 -0000

I think amblyopia is just what you described...the two eyes not seeing in "stereo." Anyway, no, I don't think we special-eyed people can even see this newfangled 3D. At our theater they are showing both a 3D version and a non. We saw the non, but I think B will go back and see it in 3D because he can.

Re: Pedantic Romantic: Got literally nothing better to do

Drunkbunny — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:06:06 -0000

I didn't even think seeing a 3d movie was a possibility for me - I'm not sure if what I have is amblyopia, but I do know I don't have consensual vision (my brain doesn't merge images from both eyes - either one eye is "on" - seeing - or the other one is, I can't see out of both at the same time). So it's nice to know that I could sit through a 3d movie without seeing just red and blue blurs (I assumed Avatar was like the old 3D?)

What is it about men that see any dismissal, disapproval, or rejection of something they like as a dismissal/rejection of them? Maybe it's not just men - maybe I've been guilty of those feelings too...

Re: Pedantic Romantic: But whhyyyyyyy???

hannahbee — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:39:57 -0000

Agreed.

Re: Pedantic Romantic: But whhyyyyyyy???

skutir — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:01:00 -0000

I think your inner critic needs to be more constructive in her criticism...

Re: Pedantic Romantic: DAY 1 1:11pm

hannahbee — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 19:22:13 -0000

Thanks for all the kind words, friends & strangers alike!!

Re: Pedantic Romantic: DAY 1 1:11pm

a passerby — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:20:56 -0000

i just stumbled on your blog by accident and read this post, and i just want to say GOOD LUCK! work hard and enjoy the rewards that will come.

Re: Pedantic Romantic: DAY 1 1:11pm

jima — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 18:35:00 -0000

Best of luck to you both! We're rooting for you here in "the Inter-net".

Re: Pedantic Romantic: DAY 1 1:11pm

Jim — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:25:13 -0000

Kick ass. So, it is a different business, at least in a non-"shareholder's meeting" kind of way.

Enjoy your freedom!