Why Would I Write

Category: Thoughts

  • Anti-Modern-Radio Me

    When I was young, I remember being bored to death whenever my parents switched radio channels to listen to oldies. Songs they listened to growing up. They would tell me that they don’t make songs like they used to anymore. I would fervently disagree with them, defending my tastes in Limp Bizkit and Eminem. I assumed they didn’t know better.

    Now that I’m older, I don’t listen to the radio anymore – mostly because they mostly play songs I dislike, have terrible DJs and too many advertisements. When I have to (because I’m driving someone else’s car), I tune into Light and Easy – a channel that mostly plays oldies because I can enjoy them, unironically. I enjoy listening to songs that I heard growing up even though I wasn’t a big fan of them back in the day because, amongst the cesspool of modern radio, they sound euphonious.

    It can’t be that music has gotten worse – there must be a reason why these artists on modern radio are getting airtime and making new records. There is a demand for them even though I might not like their music. It’s just not for me.

    But why do I not enjoy a lot of current music? I think it comes down to a few factors:

    • I’m listening to the wrong stations – maybe, but I can’t be bothered to give other radio stations a shot. It’s not worth the time, so I stick with what I know and enjoy.
    • My tastes have already developed and I’m rejecting what’s new and unfamiliar. I have noticed that it doesn’t apply to a lot of new music I discover that’s not on the radio, so probably not the case.
    • Mainstream radio has always been trash and the only reason I enjoy old pop hits now is that I grew up listening to them – the nostalgia and singalong factor is what draws me to them. This seems like the most likely reason.

    Is this what my parents were experiencing when I was growing up? As kids did they face the same chagrin for their music tastes from their parents? I’ll have to ask them to find out.

    On the other hand, if you think I’m just some whiney old boomer who is wrong about modern music, feel free to share some songs to change my mind. I’m open to listening to new songs and artists. I know there’s a lot of good stuff out there I have yet to discover.

  • Why Write?

    Over the past week, I found myself doing a lot of things I put off in the past. I finally set up a LinkedIn account, used it to apply for some jobs. Logged in to my many years old Jobstreet account, also to apply to jobs. Created accounts on brand new sites to look for jobs. It made me realize that for the longest time I didn’t have to look for jobs – for most of them I was just given the opportunity to do something by other people and I took it. It would also have been true for my next job but alas, things didn’t work out as intended. So now I’m doing the job hunting on my own.

    Nothing to report so far, but I find myself questioning my lack of productivity. After all, since I’m jobless – I should make the most of my free time right? Spend it drawing, writing, making music, etc. Instead, I’m gaming and watching shows on Netflix. I guess I need to get into the rhythm of working again. Tomorrow will mark the second month of unemployment. Woot.

    On the bright side, I can say I am ready to return to work again after this breather. It reminds me of the break I took after leaving Big Bad Wolf Books, but with 100% less Cameron Highlands. I think traveling around Malaysia would be nice, but irresponsible in this time of contagion. Better to sit home and do things in front of my computer. After all, that’s what I’m great at.

    The other day I was asking myself – is writing a phase? Is it something people only do once in a while? I know some people who have stopped writing even though they used to write tons only a few years ago. What changed? Do people eventually run out of ideas? Don’t ideas constantly refill? I’m not sure.

    Anyway, I’ve decided that I’ll update my blog every weekday. Back to writing topics, fiction and so on. It was a thing of the past and I’m bringing it back. I just want to tell myself that I’m capable of churning out content daily. It’s good writing practice after all.

    Wow, over three hundred words just to spout a bunch of bullshit. I think I still got it. See you guys next week!

  • An Interlude

    “What happened to my drive to write?” some of you may have asked. Not really, I see the stats, people don’t come here for my rambling. But that’s okay. This blog is just an outlet for me to release what’s pent up on my mind (most of the time).

    You see, I’ve had a lot of time to myself over the past month. There’s not much else to do when you’re not working. I guess I kinda took for granted how much of my time work took up. And to clarify: I’m not complaining either – I’m far from unhappy or bored, I’m enjoying my break a lot. I enjoyed it the last time it happened as well.

    What I am anxious about though is my next job. I’m still not completely sure where I’ll be ending up (I’m supposed to have an answer tomorrow). I’m also tired of having to explain to people I don’t know where I’m going yet – because I don’t. Can’t wait to get that out of the way.

    In any case, I’ve been spending a lot of time catching up on shows I’ve been meaning to watch, playing games that have been sitting around in my Steam library, and even picking up the guitar to figure out some new chord progressions. Heck, I even completed a Unity 2D platformer tutorial the other day! Life has been great – I know this state is only temporary, so I’ll enjoy it while it lasts.

    Speaking of being productive, I’ve been updating Animal Bus weekly. It’s been pretty tough trying to maintain the schedule, but I can tell you firsthand that it’s not easy. I understand why people work in teams – honestly, if I had the money I’d probably hire a letterer, colorist, and artist to help me out. Mainly because I’m lazy, but also I’m terrible at visuals and would like to stick to just writing. However, the comic isn’t dead yet, so I’ll keep pushing out new chapters until I’ve decided that I’ve had enough. In the meantime, if you haven’t read it yet – check it out.

    I rarely write about books, despite my book sales background (lol). However, I feel that Richard Dawkin’s Outgrowing God is too important to not share about. If you want to read about why religion and believing in it is inane, look no further. Dawkins gets his points across in a succinct, sometimes funny, and easy to understand manner. Highly recommended if you’re interested in challenging your faith or reaffirming your beliefs in a godless world.