Friday, October 16, 2009

Blah

Hey everyone --

Sorry for the non-posting this week. I don't know what it is: the weather, or the fact that I'm turning 40 in a few months, but I've been in a seven-day long, non-blogging funk. I've tried blogging like a dozen times and it just isn't happening. I was supposed to write a review of Scarface (1983) today...and didn't!

I trust I'll work my way out of it soon, so please be patient with me.

Anyone have any personal or proverbial wisdom to share on mid-life crises, the blues, or plain old writer's block? Or...anyone know any good jokes?

11 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:08 PM

    Take a day and go see “The Invention of Lying” and then write about it. - I think it's right up you alley, and will cleanse the palate.

    -rc

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  2. I remember 40 (he says, fondly). Yes, you are getting older (I wouldn't lie to you), but you are getting better. I have no doubt you'll keep moving forward - the pause you feel is normal (and it's not writer's block). Take your time and come back when you're ready to do so.

    My Favorite Turning 40 quotes:

    "I'm not 40, I'm eighteen with 22 years experience." ~ Author Unknown

    "Age is strictly a case of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." ~ Jack Benny

    "We don't understand life any better at forty than at twenty, but we know it and admit it." ~ Jules Renard

    "Do not regret growing older. It is a privilege denied to many." ~ Author Unknown

    Take care, John.

    ReplyDelete
  3. RC and Le0pard13:

    Thank you both so much! I am already feeling better today. Maybe I just had to say (or write) out loud that I was in a funk...

    I apprciate the concern and the advice from both of you!

    best,
    John

    ReplyDelete
  4. Take some time off, say a week, then come back to it. We all need breaks...

    pb

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  5. Sorry you're in a funk John. I turned 38 in June and so I have a general idea of what you're feeling. I guess I would say to you, don't push yourself. When I do that it just makes me more blocked and depressed. In fact, don't even think about it. Even if you take a break, I'm sure you know we'll be patient readers.

    Feel better!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Pete and Amanda by Night:

    Thank you both for your helpful comments. I woke up feeling much better today, and ready to write.

    So...a week off and I think I'm back from the grave and ready to party, to coin a phrase.

    best,
    JKM

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dude! Two of my idols, Karloff and Timothy Leary, hadn't even gotten started by forty! There are dozens of other examples in the genre alone (if one assumes Leary as genre) but those are the ones I look to... remembering that forty then is about sixty now! Here's some good advice to killing a funk, though... take up a new skill. When I was around forty I decided to teach myself juggling (not learn, but teach myself, discovering the principals through logic and intuition). I don't know if that kept away the mid-life blahs but they never developed. Also learning difficult languages like Greek and Russian is fun and challenging. You don't have to get good at them, the learning itself limbers up the mind and reminds one's self juts how cool you can be - "Wow! I learned Russian!". This, I find, rejuvenates the creative force as well (bonus!) Really, take a week or two off, like Pete said, and start learning a new skill. You'll be amazed!

    Also, I personally find Scarface depressing and following Redacted with that may have also contributed. Might I suggest a comparison of "Phantom of the Paradise" with the Monkees' "Head" (which I think you should revisit anyway) even if just for fun?

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  8. Hey DLR:

    Thank you, my friend, for that. I think that probably the one-two punch of Redacted and Scarface did have an impact: both great movies, but they don't exactly make you feel happy about life and human character! :)

    I know 40 isn't the end of the world, but sometimes it feels like it is...which is crazy. Thank you for reminding me of Karloff and Leary...

    And you know, I've been thinking about brushing up on my Latin lately. I've had an urge to re-read Caesar's diaries in Gaul, for some odd reason. Twenty years ago, Latin was one of my areas of study, and I've been thinking about it a lot again lately...

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  9. you have such good friends/readers/fans, John.

    I know it won't make you feel any better, but you might get a laugh out of this:

    I was born the year "Scarface" came out. :*)

    But I'm still your Return of the Jedi baby.

    Love you.

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  10. intherough,

    Oh my goodness -- born the year of Scarface?! That's just...terrible to be so young. :)

    But yes, I have wonderful friends/readers/fans, that's for sure. I'm a lucky guy...and I'm feeling much better. Just admitting that I felt low, I think, helped a lot.

    best,
    JKM

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  11. Anonymous8:09 PM

    Yeah, growing old sux but it's better than the alternative. I too am staring down the barrel of the big 4-0 but try to remember people I've known who weren't as lucky as me and passed away much younger.

    ReplyDelete

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