Traveller's Tales

Also, I know about the pop-up.

I’ve got a post up on the LibraryThing message boards to suss it, as I already use their service and would like to use their widget, given I’ve already done the hard work of cataloging a tiny fraction of my library there.

In the meantime, click OK and ignore the second Sherlock Holmes.  We all know there’s only one.

I’m noticing something odd:  ever since I got my new little netbook and started writing on the bus, my job has gotten easier to stomach.

Now, maybe it’s a coincidence, which is entirely possible given it hasn’t been all that long since I started using it, but I’ve got this weird feeling that giving myself more time to do my own writing is resulting in me being better able to deal with the massive piles of bullshit that tend to get flung around at work.

So now I’m wondering if there’s a direct correlation between one’s personal artistic frustrations and one’s ability to do the “day job.”

Let me elaborate a little.

With all my time consumed by work during the week, I’ve grown resentful of all the time the paycheck steals from me, and the rigors of the job itself, combined with a not-negligible commute, have resulted in me often coming home too tired to write, or waking up too late to steal half an hour before the last bus shows up.

Enter the netbook.  While I can’t write for part of the ride (yes, I do get mildly motion sick, and the twisty windy rural roads near my house are way too twisty and windy for me to keep my lunch down if I’m trying to write), the latter part is smooth sailing, and I can get a good 30-45 minutes of writing in before we pull into NYC or leave the highways.

So now that I’ve done that for a week, I’m suddenly finding a bit more energy available for the job, find myself willing to make a bit more effort to keep things rolling along.  Which in a way doesn’t make sense, because I’m doing more than I was, but in a way it does, because I’ve recovered some great opportunities to do what I love to do.

So I guess I do think there’s some sort of correlation between having time for artistic expression and being able to deal with the mundane crap we all do to bring home the paycheck.  Don’t get me wrong, if I win the lottery I’m still outta there — but for now, this is a nice little discovery, and it’ll do nicely.

Finally, by way of backhanded review: my Acer netbook is the best money I’ve spent on myself in a long time.

(And no, I still haven’t installed World of Warcraft on it!)

Finally picked one up; they had a model that lists for too much money on sale for just barely cheap enough for me to consider, and then when I convinced myself I’d actually write on the bus with it, I finally succumbed.

So there it is, the little devil — and to justify the expense, I have actually been writing on the bus with it!  Well, attempting in some cases, as there are definitely some lessons to learn when trying to use it.  Like, those twisty windy roads near my house?  I shouldn’t try to use it when we’re driving on those.  And when some rude SOB leans all the way back in their chair?  Yeah, it’s not real useful then.  Especially because the keyboard layout is a little modified from the usual — scale is slightly smaller, and keyboard layout is scrunched a bit, so typing blind won’t work until I’ve relearned the keyboard.  Soon, but not yet.

Aside from that, though, this morning was a great proof of concept.  I napped until the highway, then broke out the little beast, lit up OpenOffice and went to town.  Already knew what I wanted to do, and while I didn’t finish, I certainly made enough of a dent to know I’ll be using this even more.

If I can snake some lunchtime I’ll pop the hood open and do some more, but at least I can start reclaiming some of the travel time I thought I’d sacrificed forever to the gods of Transit last year.

…must… resist temptation… do not install… no WoW… no WoW!

I had no idea that the latest versions of WordPress were usable through my crummy little BlackBerry* (yes I have one, yes I hate having one, or at least one where people who are not my friends know its number, and no I can’t throw it into the East River without having to pay for a new one, so I may as well just get used to the leash instead of trying to gnaw it off).

So this means that, one, I have no more excuses for not making dumb entries here. Check.

And two, I’m betting that I can even use this little trick to get Real, Actual Writing (in the context of the novels, that is) done.

And yeah, it’s been since, what, July? For what it’s worth, that’s kind of how life in general feels right now: autopilot to survive the bullshit that seems to have suddenly become the norm and not the exception. Work-life is hugely imbalanced and weighing in at totally the wrong end of the scale, but for a wageslave like myself this isn’t a smart time to start getting overly precious about being overworked.

Anyway, done bitching. Here’s to using my new discovery for evil purposes!

* and no, the default browser can’t handle it. Thank you, copy and paste, and thank you Opera Mini.