I’ve been reading people’s complaints about Lost and feel I must chime in. After all, if there are to be this many detractors, someone has to come to its aid.

Lost has, since immediately after season 1, completely gone off the rails. I don’t mean that in the sense that story or suspense has become too much or purposefully attempted to jump any sharks. What I mean is that people’s obsession with the show has gone from any other show to obsession. People have decided that instead of remembering that it is entertainment to it becoming a very large part of their lives. This, I cannot understand.

I live for stories. I thrive when I hear them, I feel energized when I’m writing them, and Lost is a fantastic example of what great storytelling can become. But they’re just that: stories. They mean only as little or as much as we put into them.

At first, the show was simply a show. The show runners didn’t seem to think of it as anything more than that. That is, until the internet showed them what they were missing. Bloggers began aggregating hypothesis and considering establishing a conference for like minded Lost fans to talk and pontificate. This show became more about questions and thoughts than simply storytelling with questions and answers.

It’s at this moment, I surmise, that the writers and producers realized they could have a goliath on their hands. They jumped at the chance to feed those bloggers, to create a podcast that spawned other podcasts, and helped to create what was called the ‘Lost Experience’, an adjoining product that would provide depth to the Lost universe.

As a money making venture Lost became a powerhouse, but as a story it ebbed and flowed. There was a time during season 3 that the show lost much of it’s fanbase and viewership. Viewers claimed the show, the storyline and not any adjoining material, became watered down, and opted for different programming. Me? I was one of those.

Mostly because I became restless and annoyed with how the story seemed to have taken a back seat to melodrama instead of the complaints that there were “too many questions, not enough answers”. In that exodus, I was with the first camp. But the show improved. I picked up where I left off, watching what I missed commercial-free, and the show became great again. How did it become great? It returned to the structure that producer J.J. Abrams so lauds: the Mystery Box Model.

Abrams believes that there’s something innately delicious in not knowing something and wanting to learn. He plays with our tendency toward discovery and fascination with the unknown and it paid off. Just as the show began with questions, the show continued with questions. However, as mentioned above, there was a large camp of people who loathed the massing questions. They cried out when new questions were unveiled and no answers were provided. Their impatience was understandable, after all, because the mystery box had begun encompassing and bleeding into all media.

Last season the show was able to pump out not only answers to questions but a sustained rise and fall structure that made viewing it like reading a mystery novel. I reveled in the questions, trying to piece things together, and the season finale was one of the most inventive cliffhangers every conceived; something the show is well known for.

I’m a fan of the questions, and sometimes I like to think about them while I watch the show and devise my own answers; knowing full well I’ll probably be wrong. This season, my viewing experience changed. I started watching it for what it was, recognizing that it’s just a television show, albeit a brilliantly choreographed one, and enjoying it simply for that. Mostly, my analytic brain was turned off and I thought about the storytelling that was being presented to me. And it was great. It picked off directly where it left off. Not only do I feel the intensity from the season finale, it’s been ratcheted up.

And now I’m left with the complaints that people have. Those vocal watchers who say “enough is enough” with the questions, and why do Jack, Kate, and Sawyer continue to follow blindly what the Others say based only on trust like the analogues people refuse to draw obvious connections to? To those things I say, calm down. Most of you complain as if your voice are the only ones heard by producers. Sure, there are plenty of you angry but there are just as many, if not more, that love the show and will continue watching because they value it as entertainment, entertainment that they can control. Because they remember that they have the ability to turn the tv off.

Sure, I realize its been a while since I’ve written a post, and I’m hoping to get back to weekly drops in the infinite, but I wanted to leave something for you all to listen to.  The Invisible Fish is an indie artist from Seoul, South Korea that last.fm found for me today.  He’s in the vein of Sigur Ros and Mogwai; a kind of folk strummed on an acoustic guitar with electronic, atmospheric background swells.  Truly beautiful and haunting.

I’ll slap the page again with something longer tomorrow, but in the meantime, enjoy the ‘Through the Glass Wall’ EP streaming here. (Note: the controller can be found near the middle of the post)

Here’s a word cloud for this site. Impressed, eh?

Create your own crap at Wordle.  And now I’m back to work.

There are words to describe <redacted to protect anonymity>.  You will find them in the following word cloud.

I’m sure you now know why I couldn’t post that on Linkedin…because they would yell at me.

Laziness set in quickly.  Then, boredom.  Then, I got yelled at by my wife.  And now I’m trying harder.

That sounds much harsher on my wife then it should.  She didn’t “yell” at me, per say, as much as read an essay by George Orwell (Politics and the English Language) about the downfall of writing and excerpts from a book about one writer’s schedule.  There was no raising of voices or angry eyebrows, just pointing out something that I cleverly ignored.

Snuck away, is a better way to say that [annoying double 'way'] as I’m sure, at some point I read books or articles or essays by writers about their work schedule.  In fact, I know I’ve read Stephen King’s On Writing – or some of it – and remember a scene about his mother…so, I didn’t read all of it.  The point is, these things are important to the life of a guy that will be working at home.  A guy that will take ideas and pictures and words from his head and mash them together onto a page, hoping they’ll form something coherent enough to be readable.  And that’s what I’m aiming for.

So, I wrote out a schedule and planned on sticking to it.

Thursday worked out pretty well and Friday even better as I forced myself to do writing exercises followed by plotting and editing and research, and then getting as much actual writing as I could at a coffee shop.  It seemed like a good plan, and it was, like I said, for those first two days.  Problem was, the weekend happened.  Laziness found its way back into the schedule and I’m sitting here, in bed and in my pajamas, having written or thought about nothing.  It’s shameful most of all.  And not just because my wife will get home from teaching erratic and painfully energetic children English and be disappointed, because she would have read this by then, but because I’m annoyed with myself.

I need this to work out.  It can’t be a fly-by-night operation of inconsistent workloads and a “flexible” schedule that lends itself to hours of ‘Friday Night Lights’ watching.  No, no, good readers.  This needs to be a well oiled machine.  I have two books to write.  One of which needs to be complete by the end of the summer, and that includes art.  It means a script mostly written and a chapter drawn, inked, colored, and lettered so we can present said pieces to publishers in hopes of getting published.  And that’s something that can happen…if I can kick my ass more often.

I already know the plan, know the goal, and it’s all execution from now on.  Execution of work and not self – even if I am a sad sack because nothing has been completed today.  I’m off to do that.  On this cold, December day.  Where the temperature wavers but the blankets on the bed keep my legs and hips at a constant temperature…damn you, Stupid.

Off to get started.

Just received word from the phenomenal Josh Elder that the proposal deadline for the Reading With Pictures Anthology has been bumped back to December 15th.  So, if you were longing to write, draw, ink, color, and letter your own comic about education or work as a team on one, you still have time.

It’s great exposure as I know of some solid artist/writer teams that have proposals in already or are working on them, so, if published, you’d be in great company.  Remember, this is a fundraiser for Reading With Pictures, and therefore you will not be paid for your work.  You’ll simply have to deal with the fact that you’ll be helping a non-profit organization, you blood-suckers.

For more information, slide on down to the bottom of the Fundraisers page.

That’s it from me.  We’re off to find an inexpensive wireless router and some fried dough…don’t judge.  They’re addicting and delicious!  Now, if only they could find a way to inject horse tranqui…never mind.

Some quick notes before I get back to work…

We’re nearly at our 1 month mark, here in Korea, and considering purchasing a wireless router as a reward.  Wouldn’t that be swell!  Anyway, it’s Friday afternoon here, nearly late night Thursday for those in the U.S. und Ahh, and I’m thinking about relaxing over the weekend and the kilograms of fried dough I would like to eat.

This week hasn’t been terribly crowded, but still exhausting.  I continue my meetings with Seeyong and Daniel to edit the five elementary and middle school textbooks I proofed last week.  We have arrived at our the last book and, thusly, our last meeting to take place tomorrow at…some point, somewhere. (This is not on me, I’m waiting to hear from Seeyong.)  With that said, I’ve enjoyed proofing these books.  While I wouldn’t choose this as a career path, it’s nice to be reading, writing, and editing something that is guaranteed to be in print soon.  And it doesn’t sadden me as I thought it would.  Sure, the writer of this textbook doesn’t have a great grasp for the English language, especially nuance, and will still be payed/published for work they’ve done, but that doesn’t hurt my current situation.  In fact, it bolsters my resolve.  If someone that requires that much editing and proofing can be published, even in the world of textbooks, why can’t I?  I mean, I would require, what?, 10% less editing.  That’s bound to count for something…moving on.

The great and powerful Henry Warren and I are frantically attempting to assemble our proposal for the Reading With Pictures Anthology that was mentioned in the last post; earlier in the month.  Sure, it should have been done a long time ago and Thanksgiving has made it nearly impossible for Henry to get much drawing done for the proposal, but I’ve been busy trying to find work and coping homesick pangs and all that.  Yeah, that’s the excuse I’ll use.

Also, Kira has delivered unto me some basic sketches for a book we’ll be working on in the next three weeks.  They are fantastic.  I could not be more excited to be working with her on this project as it is not only right up her alley but…she’s also excited about it and can probably use it for college credit.  Hey, look at that.

Sadly, I’ve neglected the ‘Page of the Month’ and ‘Now?’ sections of the blog as I don’t have a camera and the one on my phone is generally terrible.  Until we either get new phones or a boss camera, that section will begin to whither, only to be resurrected later.  That’s mostly the issue with the ‘Page of the Month’ section as well.  I don’t have a lot of material that’s ready to go, so I don’t know how I feel about posting it up yet.  Maybe that opinion will change, but in the mean time…sorry.  If you’re interested in how things are going out here in Korea you can visit my youtube page as we’ve been able to use our iPod Nanos to shoot some short bits.  As well, if you have anything you’d like to see, leave all requests in the ‘comments’ section and I’ll find the time to shoot and post it.

I’m working on some review-type entries that may or may not see the light-of-blog in the coming days but that’s what you get.  I’m trying to remain busy and stave off my obsession with street foods.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  Please send us pie.

Bye, bye.

It has been some time since my last post.

After two computer problems, two visits to the Apple genius bar, being sick for a week, packing, and flying to the other end of the world we’re alive.  And that’s figurative and realistic…or something.

We’re here in Songpa-Gu, Seoul, South Korea settling into our second apartment in a week and trying to rearrange and clean the dust bin that it once was.  Sounds dramatic?  Yeah, we found a computer caked with dust, and five Korean trash bags (they’re small) full of various crap through out the apartment.  Not to mention the odd stuffed animal, dust under the bed, and caked grime on the refrigerator in the laundry room.  If that sounded strange to anyone, you should try coming out here.  Things are different.  Very different.  Shower head attached to the bathroom sink different.

Anyway, since my wife has been preparing to teaching 5- to 12-year-olds English, I’ve been trying to write, research, and read.  The research aspect had been difficult before this move as our internet connection was borderline 1995.

I’m currently working on a submission for an anthology being put out by Reading with Pictures that will feature comics by various well-known comic book writers, artists, and teams.  As soon as we hear more I’ll post something up, especially with information on it’s release date and whether this humble duder will be in it.

Aside from that, it’s been a no stop focus on the two new-ish concepts I’m working on.  One with my good friend Kira and the other remains unlinked to any artists.  So, if you’re interested in drawing a sci-fi-esque book, holler at me.

That’s all for now.  We need to relax after a long day of moving and getting a pay-as-you-go phone.  Take care, calm and resilient readers.  I know I keep claiming that posts will come more often but now that we’re here…they will.  BYE.

Recently, I’ve gotten into some new music that I thought I’d share with the world.

• God is an Astronaut is from Ireland, I just found out, and sounds like a mixture of Sigur Rós and Explosions in the Sky.
• Matt & Kim is a bit like Mates of State, especially in that they’re married, but different in that Matt is the keyboardist and sings and Kim creates some solid beats on drums.  Not to mention their song ‘Good Ol’ Fashion Nightmare’ was featured both on an episode and on all the promos for the brilliant NBC series ‘Community‘.
• Manchester Orchestra is part grunge revival and part early indie rock revival.

Enjoy!

The creative process is mythical and never clearly defined.  At no point in college does anyone say “this is how to write a story” and offer step-by-step instructions.  We required to figure it out for ourselves.  So, we spend time on ideas, accumulated into Moleskines or folders on your hard drive, and structure, on notecards or post-its stuck across our dorm rooms, until each one of us arrive at a method that best suits us.  This process is complicated and never stays constant as the writer moves from story to story.  There’s need for flexibility and evolution.  One must recognize the innate drive to redesign and restructure our stories.

After college, I would get into conversations with people about their creative process.  Writer, artist, dancer – it doesn’t matter, it’s all about disseminating our m.o. so that the other person may find something in there that may help them on a later or current project.  But since I’m far away from people, aside from my wife, who are overly creative, especially those interested in writing, I’ve had to find new ways of digging up these nuggets.

Right now, I’ve found the best way to observe an artists creative process has been on television and, more specifically, on the show Project Runway.  Now that you’ve finished your snickering let me explain.  Most reality shows are set up to spend some time with the “contestants”, mostly in interview form, and a sizable segment with the “hosts” of the show.  In those contestant focused moments we watch and listen as they attempt to explain something that has happened in their world – ie. the world of the show.  Usually, this means people being catty, divulging their plots on how they’ll win the challenge that has been set forth, and spending as little time as possible talking about “process”.  With Project Runway, the focus is on process 80% of the time.  Whether that be the process of deciding what kind of “garment” each designer will be making, showing each designer’s sketch, sewing, or being critiqued, it’s all part of process.  And none of that faux process.  This is nitty-gritty stuff.

Each designer sketch, most do anyway, out their garment then frantically rip through a fabric store to see what will make their creation come to life.  They then begin setting up their mannequin, draping fabric to see how they lay and move on the dummy, pinning pieces here and there to display the overall structure of the piece they’ll be attempting to create.  Then begins the actual creation.

Designers sew and glue and stitch pieces together in hopes that they can go from idealized, formulated thing – that thing they created in their minds – to finished product.  Soon thereafter, Tim Gunn, a professor of design, walks through their space and speaks with each about their piece(s).  He critiques the fabric, design, and lay of their creation on their mannequin as a teacher would; not a lot of pointless comments, all helpful, loving advice on his viewpoint and with an aim at letting the designer make the decisions and figure things out for themselves instead of being outright told what to do.  And with this you see each designer’s approach change.  Some for the better as they’ve been bolstered up by Tim’s walkthrough and positive or creative comments and others for worst.  It’s those worse people that fascinate me the most.

Just like in the world of writing there are people able to accept criticisms and advice and those who are so trapped in their own head (to be polite) to recognize that what they were attempting to create may not look like what they initially set up to create, or, simply, that they’re way out of touch.  It’s those people, those completely out of touch with what is supposed to be going (the challenge), that are asked to leave early on, leaving those with the will, drive, and ability to sacrifice ego for the betterment of not only their career but the product they’re trying to create.

After all is said and done, each garment is paraded down the runway in front of judges, mostly those writers or designers who would hire or purchase the items from the designers in the real world.  It’s here that we not only see the finished, oft rushed product but the exposure of self.  Each designer has done something that they’re either proud of or insecure about.  Those with pride can be spotted immediately: standing tall, head up, often smiling and accepting of cheers or jeers.  It’s ownership and recognition that what you’ve created on that particular day is just an indication of what is to come, positive or negative.

With all that said, I’m currently in the “planning phases” of several books and strips.  One of my artists and I had a conversation earlier today about a strip we’ll be working on and hopefully debuting in the next month or so, another one is off in school and waiting for me to settle somewhere (physically) and write a script so he and I can talk more about what it is, could and will be, and when we’ll begin full-scale production.

All other items in the planning phase are attached to no artists or illustrators, but that’s part of the process.  You have to figure out what you’re trying to create before you can sign an artists up.  Steps are required, draping of fabric on the mannequin, so to speak.

That’s it for now. Bye bye.