George Carlin: R.I.P.

Damn. First Sydney Pollack, now another of my favorite performers has passed away. But George Carlin, who died yesterday, wasn't just a performer. The man was a walking middle finger in the face of a close-minded establishment. From his rants on child safety to the classic Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television, Carlin knew what buttons to push to get us thinking and reacting to what was going on around us -- and most often, to us.

Here's a few samples of the man at work: (WARNING: NSFW...or children)

On children:


On germs:


On the ruling elite:


Thanks for thinking out loud, George. We'll miss you.

Read My Wife...Please!

Okay, I don't know if she's doing this to make me look like a total slacker (not difficult, I assure you), but Shelley, my wife, has started a blog and it's already kicking butt! It's called Eclectic Eccentricities, Etc. and it's all about our family's adventures, with a generous helping of her brilliant philosophipolitical musings. So, if you ever wonder why I haven't posted here in a while, check over there and you'll probably find out.

In her inaugural post, Shell discusses the concept of SOS. Not the distress call, but Shiny Object Syndrome.

"Shiny Object Syndrome (SOS) is the art of being right in the middle of a great project when something new, fun, and alluring comes along. At that point, the 'old' project becomes boring, mundane, etc. You long for that new project. You fantasize about it. Finally, you give in."

I can say both from experience and from talking with other writers that SOS can quickly derail your current project. In fact, I'm going through this right now. I've been at kind of at a sticking point with Left of the Dial for the past few weeks. So, I'm shelving it for a while. In the meantime, I'm going to start on a sci-fi script that Shell and I have been knocking about for years. It's based on a short story and has an incredibly cool hook. More about that...in the future.

But, I wonder...is it wrong to drop my current script in favor of this "shiny object"? I'd have to say yes and here's why: The new story is so enticing and attractive to me at this particular moment that it's providing me the momentum to crank through all the mind-sucking pre-writing tasks, such as research, story development, outlining, etc. I figure if I can remain jazzed enough about it, I'll be in good shape when the actual script writing comes around.

It's not that Left of the Dial wasn't an attractive story. It's just that I've hit some walls with it and I need to distance myself from it for a while so I can come back to it with a clear and non-biased viewpoint.

So, what am I waiting for? Get writing, me!