...so I'm not doing a very good job of keeping up with the whole "new routine" business. I had hoped that getting my computer back would lead to a more rapid succession of productive endeavors, but it turns out I'm not that different a person as I was three or four weeks ago.
Part of the trouble I've had is a lack of significant 'blog fodder. I have a few desperate ramblings saved in my "drafts" folder, but none of them felt like they were going anywhere and I couldn't really get on enough of a roll to fill them out into something worth posting. I'm going to save them and see if I can use them for ideas later, but I'm not gonna put them up for public consideration. At least, not now. Not in the condition they're in.
I saw an interview with Jon Stewart recently, and it reminded me of all the reasons I really like him. He's right about everything he says in terms of his position in politics and the responsibilities that come out of it, but even still... he's probably the most clear-headed person in the punditry business and I tend to agree with his attitude toward politics and government.
He says something in it about the nature of satire and how, essentially, satirists are parasitic organisms: they don't create anything of their own, they just comment on the things around them. He doesn't make the statement in any sort of derogatory way, it's just a very matter-of-fact, "This is how it is" statement. And I never really thought about it that way before, largely because satirists are some of my favorite sources of humor and I've always sort of wanted to be one. I like the tongue-in-cheek, over the top way of getting a point across, but I never really stopped to consider the nature of the game itself. In the interview, Stewart used an illustration of 24 hour news networks being "on the field" and considers himself to be sitting in the stands shouting things. And this is not necessarily a new idea or a new stance for him. He's always maintained a sort of genuine outsider attitude toward the political/punditry process and, as I said, I think he's right. But I had never really thought of him as dependent on that process to be successful or funny. At least, I never did until now.
If Jon Stewart never made it into comedy, he'd still be one of the smartest and funniest people in America. He'd probably have a ton of friends at work who liked being around him and liked having lunch with him because he'd always make them laugh and have something intelligent to say. And, if it weren't for the last 12 years of political happenings and the news media's evolution and response to it, he might have gone down that road. But, because of the nature of comedy and the way satire works, he's made himself and his program into a hugely successful operation with a massive following. I'd be lying if I said I didn't admire and, in some ways, envy him for that, but at the same time, I really don't want to be that.
Creativity is less about doing something with style or flair and more about just doing something. It doesn't really even matter if it's been done before; it's about bringing something into existence and trying your best to make it work and, if it doesn't, trying again. It's a mind-boggling and, in a lot of ways, maddening process, but in the end it's what I really want to do. I want to show up on an empty lot with a blank canvas and put something on both that didn't exist before I got there. It may not be good and I may not make any money at it, but I'm going to try my best and work as hard as I can at it.
I think I'm going to spend the rest of my week/weekend coming up with some goals for myself to accomplish by the end of the year. One will be to write a short story, something I've never done. Who knows what the rest will or ought to be. I guess we'll find out soon enough, though.
See you tomorrow...
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