Bleh with Barry

Random with a cynical twist of lime.

Posts Tagged ‘writing’

A Troubled Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste

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By Jonathan Joseph Bondhus (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

So, I’m not going to bore you with details, but needless to say, I am a little frustrated of late. However, I find that this is getting me to write on my blog more. Now, some may say that this is weird, but I find that it helps keep me busy  while I am mentally working out a problem. So, yeah… anyway, I thought that I would let all my subscribers know that I am going to try to find more time to write in between my work week at grad school and my time I spend studying and such Here’s to writing!

–Barry

Written by uncannynerdyguy

September 19, 2011 at 10:19 pm

Posted in life, writing

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Thinking about Writing and Illustrating a Children’s Book

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So, most of the time my inspiration to do artsy things comes at the most highly inappropriate places as deemed by the rest of society. I’m sure that many of you probably wonder what I mean by this, and yes, I’m going to tell you. Yesterday, while I was sitting in the mother’s day service at church with my mom and dad, I had a though which I believe was pretty interesting to write a children’s book about. Now, I’m not going to divulge any of my ideas because 1) I’m not completely through the idea step of making it and 2) I don’t want my idea to be leaked to the world at large (maybe I’m just paranoid…possibly).

Anyway, I just wanted to see what you guys out in the blogosphere thought might need to be in a children’s book. Any ideas that might make the writing / illustrating of it easier or produce a better product in the long run? I’m just curious what others think because I know what I believe helps produce a higher quality work…so yeah…

Written by uncannynerdyguy

May 9, 2011 at 6:18 pm

Posted in Art, Books, Entertainment, Literary, writing

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Kindle Publishing: A Forray

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So, recently, I’ve had a lot of people I know direct publish short stories and novels to the Kindle. So, I decided that I would try something, too. So, I found a story that I have been working on for quite a while and am currently testing the waters on Amazon.com. So, if you would like to read some of my stuff on your Kindle, I might recommend either downloading my short story “Why? A Ghost Story” or getting my blog sent directly to your device. As always, good luck and happy reading!

Buy my Short Story for only $0.99 :  http://www.amazon.com/Why-A-Ghost-Story-ebook/dp/B004RPS86M

Written by uncannynerdyguy

March 19, 2011 at 12:24 am

Posted in Art, Books, Entertainment, Literary, Short Story, writing

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200

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No, I’m not talking about Joan Rivers’s age. I’m not talking about a legendary group of Spartans played by Gerard Butler…sans about 100 of them….I might be talking about monetary compensation that you could give me if you want, but that’s entirely up to you (please say yes). Really, I’m talking about the number of posts that I have made on my blog. 200 is a big number for me. Why? Because usually I can’t commit to something that long and keep going with fresh randomness…or B. S. whatever you wish to call it…

One might ask me at this juncture why is it that I choose to blog? This is an excellent question because when I first heard of blogging I wondered what kind of people do it, and what is the motivation? Soon after starting I discovered why. It’s an amazing outlet to bounce ideas off of other people…it allows you to write something that isn’t judged upon its academic merit…you are judged by the interest in your piece. It’s actually quite freeing. You write for an audience of bloggers or friends that they might receive some of the knowledge that you have to impart.

The main reason that I blog though is to alleviate frustrations that I may be feeling in everyday life…basically, it’s like an online journal except that I know other people might be out there reading and thinking “Oh God! That sounds exactly like me.” There’s something about feeling connected to the world at large via words and rhetoric that makes you feel one with humanity that a social networking site cannot do. Maybe I am spewing a load of crap here…maybe it’s my slightly sleep deprived brain…who knows? Maybe I’m not real at all. Maybe I’m a figment of your collective imaginations….

Written by uncannynerdyguy

October 6, 2010 at 8:38 am

Posted in Language, life, Random, writing

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Hi, I’m Barry, and I’m a Procrastinating Perfectionist

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Being in Graduate school now, I’m realizing that some of my old ways will not fly simply because of the amount of work that I’m having to do for school in tandem with teaching time and preparation. I am having to break some of the habits that I have acquired in my undergrad and that I’ve developed as of being out of school for the past couple of years…*sigh*….however, the biggest one of these is my procrastinating perfectionism.

It’s a terrible thing to be actually…if I didn’t give a shit it would all be okay. However, I do care about the quality of my work and will stay up late the night before an assignment is due trying to bang it out and bring it up to my standards at the same time. Now, I will not say that I have ever been a “great” writer because believe me I can improve. Yet, recently, I’ve realized that with the amount of reading that I do for classes in a weeks time teamed with this is likely the recipe for disaster. So, I’m trying to do a few things to help me keep focused and moving forward.

1) Having a schedule. At least mentally, I want to have my days nailed down so I know exactly what I need to do to get my work accomplished and still have some time for Barry. I know some people might say that I need a planner, and maybe I do. However, they have never worked for me in the past. I can’t see them working for me now…

2) Try to finish drafts of paper in advance of the final due date. This may seem like a no brainer to some people out there, but to me, it seems practically foreign. My mind says that I will do better if I work under pressure. Still, a part of me knows that it would be a great relief to have the stress removed from my mind earlier, and then, I could polish the drafts to make them better, rather than turning in a first draft. Doing so could also help me get people to look over my work and check for those dreaded grammatical errors…people are much more willing if you do it in advance…

3) Try to remain organized. Now, I won’t say that I’ve ever won an award for being the most organized person in the world, but I do try to stay on top of things. My theory is if I keep things were they are accessible and evident that I might not lose something…which is the worst feeling in the world (I’m actually looking for a copy of Microsoft Office right now that I have misplaced…it’s old, but I need it for a new PC).

Maybe with a little determination and force of will, I can keep up with these few guidelines that I’ve set for myself and won’t be freaking out at the time of finals wondering how in the hell I’m going to finish everything that I’ve let pile up around me. They say the first step in fixing a problem is to admit it…so, yeah….that one is out of the way.

Written by uncannynerdyguy

September 27, 2010 at 2:44 pm

Posted in life, writing

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The Power of Good Writing

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With the overflow of new creative works coming into being each day, it’s a wonder that so much of it gets acclaim for being “good” writing. In fact, most of it that is considered “good” writing is quite mediocre in comparison to some of the greats. However, that being said, there are some literary based works that have come out within the past little while that have caught my attention and intrigue me even more each day.

There are many television shows that have come out in the last several years that rely heavily upon the writing. In the midst of the Reality TV storm, shows like Heroes, Pushing Daisies (although it was canceled), Supernatural (the writing is good for what it is…a realationship between two brothers), Dexter, and many others astound me because they play with words and dialogue. Their sheer quality astounds me because up until recently the plot driven, story-based program has been crippled by the frugality and quick production time of the reality shows. I’m glad that good tv is starting to be back on the air because honestly there are few reality tv programs that I can stand.

My main example of amazing writing  is the musical Next to Normal which follows the mental breakdown of Diana, a suburban housewife, and the effects of this on her family. I will openly admit that I have become a little obsessive about the musical. For the past few weeks (ever since I saw it in New York), I have listened to at least selected songs from it…some multiple times. However, it’s because the writing and the music itself have so many layers that each time I listen I gain something more. The word choice is immaculate, and the themes, both musical and verbal, are quite awe-inspiring because they do something that a lot of writing/music nowadays doesn’t do. They make you think. They make you have to mentally interact with them to create their meaning instead of putting everything out there from the beginning. Each time I have listened to N2N, I have started to understand more of the subtext and am allowed another peek into the ethereal realm that it delves into…the unseen…Amazing writing does this…it makes us think.

Good writing whether in TV, novel, play, music, etc. should take us to places that make us think. It shouldn’t leave us feeling like we’ve reveled in the squalor (like many reality tv shows do). I hope that over the next few years we see an emergence of more clever, creative, and wonderful writing and that the crappy stuff saunters towards extinction…

Written by uncannynerdyguy

April 5, 2010 at 2:41 pm

Posted in Books, Entertainment, Movies, Musical, Plays, writing

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Writing Mood

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As I’ve mentioned before, the main point of writing my blog is to get myself to write. I am currently trying to get myself back in the mindset of writing on an academic basis, and while my blog is not strictly (if at all) academic, it is getting me to write something whether it be a poem of 10 lines or a rant about actors playing certain characters in movies. I need to write. I’m also currently trying to get myself to continue writing some short stories and children’s stories that I’ve been working on for a while. Yet I cannot seem to get myself in the mindset to write fiction…this is also a big reason why I have been writing so much poetry because it allows my creative juices to flow without having to focus on a cohesive narrative. Let’s face it that is what makes a novel, a short story, etc. function. It’s all about the conflict and the narrative story arc.

Lately, my stories have been pretty lack luster at best from my stand point. I mean I have so many ideas swirling about it’s hard for me to separate the good ones from the crap ones…I mean seriously I don’t know which ones that I desire to write about or not which in turn creates my writer’s block. I have writer’s paralysis due to the overflowing of ideas. It’s hard for me to pick one…and so my mind doesn’t want to write at all…which is kinda sad. Unfortunately, I have yet to get myself motivated enough to break out of this “funk” (writer’s block, not the 70’s disco movement)…It’s quite a vicious cycle actually. I hope as the end of the school year approaches part of me will seek to make this artistry come out again…

Written by uncannynerdyguy

April 5, 2010 at 1:13 pm

Posted in writing

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