Scriniary

Here’s an appropriate post for a day when I didn’t get much writing done because I had to stay late at the dayjob:

Fred Gratzon, in Your Calling and The Real World, writes:

I see squandering the better part of one’s day when one is most energetic, most alert, and most creative on some “tolerable” job as a tragic waste of one’s gifts and time. Far better is to identify, develop and enjoy those gifts.

and

Whenever I seemed to need money, it appeared. It’s the damnedest thing (or better put, the undamnedest thing) but I have found that it is all a matter of deserving and desiring. If I thought I deserved it then I desired it. And then it came. I’ve never gone without. It has nothing to do with work or effort or jobs or careers. It seems to do the trick because I live comfortably.

Now, on the one hand, he has a point: Why waste time and energy on something unimportant while the Great American Novel languishes unwritten?

But it’s a bit simplistic. I mean, wow! All I have to do is what I want and my rent will magically pay itself? Sign me up!

I think what Gratzon fails to note in his post (and I’ve only briefly skimmed other parts of his blog), is that he’s lucky. What he wants to do, what he enjoys doing, is something *that earns money*. (I believe he’s started some successful businesses. He said he got out when they weren’t fun anymore.)

Do what you love, and the money will follow — as long as what you love is something society values.

Otherwise, you get a choice: do something “tolerable” to pay the bills while pursuing your dream in your spare time, or starve on the street. Being dead does not make pursuing dreams any easier.

[I suppose I should point out that I did, in fact, once quit something I no longer enjoyed to do something totally different that I do enjoy, and I do make a living at it. So I'm my own counterexample. Though I'd rather have more time to write novels.]

Filed by scriniary at 6:58 am under Life
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Tall, Dark & Dead is a very fun urban fantasy/romance that I was unable to put down.

The plot moves at a rapid clip as Garnet, a witch who works at a magic store, tries to help Sebastian, a dead guy being hunted by Vatican witch-killers. There’s a host of other colorful characters to help and/or hinder her efforts. The characters make this book: even the minor ones are vividly drawn. I especially liked the sarcastic Matyas and William, who has been looking for magic without any success.

A few of the characters didn’t quite ring true (and one minor character seems to be forgotten about part way through), and Garnet’s growth as a person is pretty lightly sketched, but the rest of the story is entertaining and funny enough that those aren’t really distracting enough to be called problems.

I bought this book after the author read at Wiscon, but if I’d picked it up in the store and read the first few pages, I might have put it right back down again. It begins with a big chunk of backstory, and I didn’t really get interested until the dead guy walked into the magic store and asked for mandrake, which also happens to be the bit the author chose for the reading. At that point the plot started and I was hooked.

Filed by scriniary at 5:28 pm under Books
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Please post any questions, comments, or complaints about the web site, including broken links and errors in the research notes.

Filed by scriniary at 4:10 pm under Uncategorized
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Added a blog. Nothing to see here yet!

Filed by scriniary at 10:00 am under Site Changes
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Monday I went plant monitoring, looking for puccoon again. Unlike last time, it was a highly successful trip: over 1,000 plants in three hours.

Also saw a bluebird, a red-headed woodpecker, and an oriole. Heard lots of orioles, too. I had to ask the naturalist what the orange bird with dark wings I’d seen was, because I really don’t know much about birds. My parents will laugh.

Filed by scriniary at 4:59 am under Outdoors
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Gene Weingarten of the Washington Post gave the University of Maryland J-school commencement address:

I want to congratulate you all upon your graduation from the University of Maryland College of Journalism, and wish you luck as you prepare to embark on exciting careers in telemarketing or large-appliance repair.

And also,

Our field is changing rapidly. Technology is overtaking us at an unheard-of pace. The journalists of tomorrow may not look anything like the journalists of today. I mean, literally. For all we know, they might have gills and three buttocks. That's how fast things are changing.

The whole thing (nearly) is fabulous.

Filed by scriniary at 3:06 am under Uncategorized
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