“The man in black fled across the desert, and Surfer Rob followed.”
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“Who we admire most in the world, and why? The person we admire most in the world is make-up artist and creature creator Rick Baker. His wonderfully gruesome slime bladders and slobber tubes in an American Werewolf in London won him a richly deserved Oscar.”
– Chainsaw & Dave, “Summer School”
Science and surfing crash together in the most unexpected ways — click through to read Thirsty Thursdays . . . because blogging is thirsty work.
A Christmastime story about a guy who just wants to get away . . .
Previously on Rob’s Surf Report, Clan Ross was on the Summer Surf Adventure: a trip around the Pacific Northwest, to Seattle, Portland, and back. Along the way, we saw the sights, we did the stuff, and I even got to surf.
Ever feel like you’re not trying hard enough? Have you ever accused yourself of not trying hard enough, and then realized that you don’t care?
Have you ever found yourself indulging one of your hobbies in an unlikely place?
[ changó ] / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND Waiting for the bus – Stander, Loner, Lounger. Same venue, Different lives moving in different directions. Destined to disappear Into days of violence and silence – Digital footprints Just shadows, Evidence of their auspicious passing. This week’s … Continue reading Trifextra: Week 79 – Shadows
I have been posting here pretty much every day for about two weeks now, and it feels like the more I write, the more ideas I get for writing. Is this how it works then? Because if so, I’m glad I didn’t follow my first instinct – I almost threw in the towel on the blog. In fact I almost deleted the whole thing altogether.
I mean, who wants to live with knowing that they started something and never finished it, not for any legitimate reason, but because they let other stuff get in the way? Some things take precedence of course, but playing Guild Wars for hours on the weekend? Trolling Facebook for no clear reason? Listening to podcasts while pretending to organize the basement? Please. So I started looking for ways to steal time, because I’m pretty sure nobody will notice it missing, but I can sure try to get people to notice my writing if it magically appears on a regular basis. That’s what I’m about now – building a daily “write anything” practice. Post once, good. More than once? Great! But just post something, and show the world that you have what it takes to be a writer, a blogger, because you can’t write the occasional big stuff if you don’t build up chops – the ways and means to write little stuff daily. Do it Rob, you can do it!!
Needless to say, I didn’t delete and in fact am pushing forward. I will be slow and relentless, Sisyphus pushing the stone. This is how anything gets done: one step at a time. One post at a time.
One more cup of coffee, and then I have to get ready for work. I’m still wearing my wrist braces because I’m too lazy to take them off until I have to, but that’s okay because I feel ergonomic while I’m typing – they always tell you how to hold your hands, but they never tell you it’s practically impossible to hold that position without wrist braces on! And I’m thinking about blogging.
I swear that I’m a writer, and I’ve always had this laziness where I would start a daily practice, and then let something get in my way and steer me away from it. Usually it’s time, but that’s everyone’s crutch, isn’t it? “Not enough time.” “I couldn’t find the time.” That seems to be my crutch for everything, and what did I do yesterday? I rode my bike to work, I worked for ten hours, blogged on my breaks and lunch, had a short text conversation with my wife, rode my bike home, mowed the lawn, turned over the compost pile (as best I could since it’s bedded with the grapevines we wrenched from the clutches of Mother Earth a couple years ago), took a shower, and spent less than three hours with my wife and daughter (including supper) before I was falling asleep and had to go to bed.
Three minutes ago, the alarm went off. I should be getting ready for work now, but I want to finish this post. See? I have to steal from life in order to write. That’s where the time comes from; I’m a time thief, and am I qualified to attest honestly to the quality of what I’m stealing to do? I can’t wait for this weekend – a three-day, one-day-paid weekend where I might be able to attack one of my better ideas. I have a little book I’ve been writing article ideas in, things that require more time and attention than I can give them in the space of the broken hour I get at work, or rather 75 minutes on my ten-hour days. When I don’t have a Saturday morning (because I have decided that I have the option of taking Sunday off) to work on something prolific (two-pager or better) you guys miss out on something I can really craft.
In the meantime, I have to write something to keep you busy. Fortunately, I have the Lumineers and my coffee to keep me motivated. Unfortunately, I gotta push and get ready for work. I have an idea for later – I always have some kind of an idea, but the words come in blurbs and they’re written hastily into an iPhone app because I have less than 30 minutes to get them down, proofread, and posted. That makes it tough.
And so, the challenge of writing moves on.
Eleven minutes ago, the alarm went off.
Gotta go.
Rob's Surf Report 