Intentionally Enjoying Beer

“Beer is proof that god loves us and wants us to be happy.”  – attributed to Ben Franklin but apparently mistakenly.

Beer_PumkingIn the supposed source for the quotation he is actually talking about wine (his drink of choice). Now, this is Internet research so who knows, maybe at some point he did say something similar about beer.

If he didn’t say it, he should have.

I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment. Let us not quarrel over history and merchandizing, let us instead appreciate our cups.

Mostly confident

Since launching this blog I’ve second-guessed my choice of “beer” many, many times.

In Be In I described the additional meaning of “beer” – symbolic of life lived with intentional joie de vivre – whatever joy means to you.

For me the enjoyment – often but not exclusively – is beer.

I am not a lush. I can go a week or 3 without having a beer and usually I hold myself to 1 or 2 when I do imbibe. It is a social and almost culinary passion for me – ditto for coffee. I don’t have many other vices (see: coffee).

Beer is my invitation to myself to have fun.

As I wrote in my intro to “tales from my local” – I don’t like beer because boys like beer (though definite side benefit and yes, I am judging you by what you order). I don’t drink beer to get drunk (bourbon is much more efficient for that). It isn’t the idea of doing something naughty or verboten (tons of better options for that) but alcohol does have its effects and so, of course, ordering a beer is a conscious choice to relax and relish.

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Why Reading Makes You a Better Writer

Graffiti BridgeYou’ve been saying something that you think is profoundly true for a while. You feel like you unlocked a great secret, hack or have an inside track on the universe.

Then either you can’t express it well or someone with a larger soap-box comes along and says it before you can,

You have a moment of “ah-ha! I really am so brilliant!” and then “Damn! but now I can’t take credit because he said it first.”

This affirmingly frustrating situation happened to me recently.

Good writers read.

I re-tweeted Jeff Goins the other night (MT=Modified Tweet, I changed his a little):

@CoffeeBooksBeer: Hear, Hear! MT @jeffgoins: Good writers read. It’s just that simple. http://t.co/5ocIVqPd

His article makes the case that reading makes you a better writer. Not exactly groundbreaking material here and I promise that isn’t my entire brilliant idea.

I got a response saying simply: “data?”

At first I was going to dismiss it (troll?!) but I reconsidered. Sure, there is abounding anecdotal account of reading influencing great writers but is it a truism or actually true? Is there data to show causality?

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confidence =/= competence

Here I sit… watching bars grow.

Bars Grow

Again.

In my life as a video editor I am intimately familiar with the “blue render bar of joy” and the tense waiting that accompanies it building pixel by tiny pixel from left to right. I both curse and thank the wise geeks who programmed it for adding the shimmer effect so it appears to be moving even when it is not.

“I hate waiting” – Inigo Montoya (not his most famous line but the one I hear in my head and more applicable)

Here is what not to do: replace or delete files before you know what you are doing.

There are lots of applications where being a rebel and going your own way is an incredible high. Dealing with computers/tech/electronics, unless it is in a total fun sandbox space, is not usually the time to be adventuresome though.

I could have saved myself a world of hurt by looking up the solution before diving in. Google your geekery before you go it alone.

Follow directions and always have a working back-up is the order of the day. [Read more…]

How I embraced my Multipotentialite self

See something or say something: London

I have been struggling to write my “about me” statement over the last several weeks and months.

It’s been a hilariously frustrating process. I know most people don’t like writing about themselves, I don’t generally either and I’m additionally flummoxed by the attempt to inclusive, cohesive and still brief (unlike this sentence… you see my problem).

I discovered Emilie, puttylike, and the idea of “multipotential” awhile ago. I initially thought “huh, interesting, but not really me.” I only had one career after all… until I took the leave of absence… and that other one… oh. As I heard and tuned in more I realized “right, that just might be me.”

One of the things that I always loved about freelance editing was that I dropped in on an industry, life, mini-world for a little while and then moved on to the next thing. I would be cutting mexican wrestling one week, corporate biz speak the next, a cooking demo the next month, promos on movies and video games after that and then work on a show about entrepreneurial college students, kids competitions and drug addition all within the same 6 months. True story.

So, um, maybe I’m a multipotentialite?

Lots and Lots Of Tatty BooksConstantly scanning the world at large for the interesting? Check.

Falling in love with an idea/sport/hobby/activity and being jazzed about it. working to a point of non-ineptitude and then dropping it for the next thing? Check

Enjoy talking to wildly different people with different experiences? Check

Problem solver extrodinaire who gets bored quickly after the solution is found? Check.

Respect for experts and aficionados because you don’t have the stick-to-itiveness to be one yourself? Check.

Love learning a little about a little? Check.

Heart-pounding fear of commitment to a job — or really anything — for a year or more? Oh hecka-Check.

Sound familiar? You too might be a scanner! But wait, there’s more…

And then… and then… and then… [Read more…]

Today I go Vegan

Please before you judge and start tisking about my protein intake let us talk of diet choices.

Eat MeSustenance is the base of the hierarchy of needs. For family, for culture, and for daily life what we chose to put in our body is the basis for almost all other habits and customs. It isn’t an accident that the kitchen becomes the center of a household/party and many a vacation is centered on what and where to eat.

Nothing is more personal than food.

This is why as soon as you talk about changing your diet, all of a sudden everyone becomes a nutritionist. It ranks up there with having a baby in terms of unsolicited advice and inappropriate questions.

I was a vegetarian for years and found it easier not to say anything about it under most circumstances. Those who get it, get it. Those who don’t… well… suddenly I’m in a food-pyramid contest with pointed questions about “well where are you going to get x, y, z.?”

I’d like to think that the “concern” comes from a place of genuine care for me. But, not to put too fine a point on it, I know how to do my own research and make well-informed decisions. I’m not worried about getting my protein, iron or any other nutrient that you weren’t worried about me getting until I mentioned that it is my choice to habitually, categorically not eat something that you do.

I decided on a lifestyle outside of the traditional norm and so, as an outlier, I get (ahem) grilled.

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