Thursday, January 27, 2011

Da Blues

I don't know if it's the lack of sunshine, the overwhelming amount of work, my so-far unsuccessful summer job hunt, being in the Midwest, or what but I've been feeling a little down in the dumpster lately (it probably helps that my apartment faces a dumpster). In the past, three things have helped me get out of funks: food*, new music, and writing. Food is hard to come by here in the wilderness of south Hyde Park, but I bought some ice cream yesterday so I'm hoping that helps. I'm also in the process of buying new music and welcome suggestions**.

This brings me to writing. I certainly can't say I miss writing, but all the writing I do these days is analytical and I feel like I'm neglecting one side of my brain. In fact, I think all three of my funk-evading solutions are creative pursuits. So I've decided to add one more thing to infinite list of to-dos for the remaining month of January and for at least part of February. I'm going to try to produce one short story per week. I'm not setting a length requirement, but each new story must have a story arc and at least one good*** character. I'm not setting a requirement for "good" either.

I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to accomplish this ridiculous goal, but I'm already feeling a little uplifted at its prospect. This is one endeavor that won't be graded on a curve.


*I'm including beverages in this category.
**Uplifting music preferable. 
***Good in the sense of realism, not morality.