I love National Novel Writing Month. Every November, I pit myself against my word count, and I inevitably improve as a writer and a storyteller. The first few years, I crafted novels. First draft, story arc, plotline, character development, novels. Long-form works of this scope are exhausting, creatively. I love writing them, and I love [...]
This is a pretty heavy commitment for me. I generally work 4-5 nights a week, after the kids are off to bed, from 7:30 to 10 or 11. Many Saturdays I work in the afternoon, as well. Once or twice a week, I stay up late with my wife and we watch movies, or take [...]
It was within predictable circumstances that I achieved a moment of enlightenment. The house was silent, and I took a scalding hot bath, soaking for half an hour. I spent the time feeling grateful for my life, from the grand unexpected circumstances that brought me to living in Costa Rica, to the small [...]
Like many arts, you must attain the proper frame of mind in order to access your muse. Music, atmosphere, time of day, ingestions in the body, these all must be carefully managed before you can relax your conscious mind enough in order to allow the muse to whisper through your actions. She’s fickle, that muse; [...]
Sometimes, it's best to stop working. Sunday is the second day of my workweek. One of the advantages of being your own boss is deciding when you get time off; and this morning, as my own boss, I played hookie for two hours. Friends came over with their kids, to play in the pool. Did [...]
I’ve been doing a lot of existential-type exercises lately, because I run my own business, and as my own boss, I need to a) keep myself on track, and b) substitute imaginary friends for a board meeting. Napoleon Hill describes the process of creating an ‘Imaginary Cabinet’ in Think and Grow Rich. You relax your [...]
Photo by Psovart I've left my home country. I went through a grieving period where I had to finally face my expatriation as a citizen, as a member of the collective that is America. The mourning lasted about a half an hour. But still, it was tough, to face those realities that I [...]
I am fascinated with Anonymous. They are the perfect antagonist to Wall Street, and the fitting figurehead of #occupywallstreet. (If you don’t know what Occupy Wall Street is, turn off your TV and get on Twitter.) Anonymous is the only entity that is fluid enough to disrupt the idea of ‘corporations,’ because they exist, literally, [...]
I've been a bad blogger lately. Sure, I've been busy - running a business, moving to Costa Rica, chasing after two toddlers, etc. - but there's no need for me to neglect my blog like this. Aw, great. I just took ANOTHER crap on my blog, and opened my post with an apology [...]
I’m broke. Or nearly so, anyway. I came to Costa Rica with a few hundred dollars and a couple of clients. It’s been six weeks, I’ve finished all the client work, and used up all my cash. At the Feria the other day, the weekly farmers market where we buy our groceries, [...]