Level Orange

Back in 2008, after PiQ was abruptly put to an end, some of us were still itching to do something in entertainment media and publishing. The only problem was that here in the Houston area, there’s not a whole lot of opportunity in that field, so we all scrambled to find whatever work we could. Me? I managed to snag a contract job at Shell that turned out to be one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had (not my fellow designers, mind you, just the corporate treatment) and all the while I kept the idea in the back of my head that one day I’d be back in publishing. I’d even started to blog about entertainment-type news and goings-on here to sate my appetite.

A few months later, I met up with some of the old PiQ crew and a kernel of an idea turned into a discussion, and that discussion turned into a plan. Myself, Scott Howard and Paul Starr decided to put together something along the lines of what we originally envisioned with PiQ. Entertainment coverage with some depth and character, but without all the all-too-easy snark that seems so prevalent these days. As “the magazine formerly known as Newtype USA“, we’d seen the blind hatred and spite of anime fans first-hand and made it our mission to fight the trend of just hating on things because it was easy. We wanted to celebrate the things we (and apparently, more than a few PiQ readers) loved and had fun talking about.

Enter Sodapop Journal. Sounds like a mouthful, but we found it catchy, meaningful and even a bit timeless, if you will. Unlike PiQ, this baby is all ours, free of interference from silly coked-out execs who can’t sit still and cagey money men who bend numbers to their will. If it fails, it’s all our own fault, but like PiQ, this is a labor of love first and foremost, so just the fact that we’ve actually started doing something is already satisfying in itself.

So remember the name. Sodapop. Journal. Even “SPJ” if you like. We’re just getting things rolling but feel free to jump into the discussion on your favorite movies, music and other entertainment. We won’t bite.

That was pretty much our attitude this last Sunday as we agreed to the purchase of our new home. It’s not an easy thing to do, but we finally found the right time and place. It’s what we’ve been dreaming of for a few years now, and it’s finally happening. An exciting time it is…

Here’s approximately what it looks like at the moment:

Not much, eh? It won’t be completely built until sometime around February, we’re guessing. Sort of works out as a nice present for our baby boy, don’t you think? Of course that’s when the real hard part comes, when we have to sign that big ol’ check, but we can at least look forward to the fact that we’ll receive our keys soon afterwards.

Seeing as how I’m so busy that I’m averaging about one entry a month, I figured I’d better make this one count. Because not only will I be taking a much-needed vacation in a couple of weeks, but my birthday is also coming up. It’s that saddening-yet-oh-so-wonderful trifecta of September 11th (we all know that date, I’m sure), September 12th (my birthday) and September 13th (exactly one year since I started my job at America’s greatest anime magazine). So with that, I intend to spend the 11th counting my blessings, the 12th celebrating what new treasures life will bring me, and the 13th… well, let’s just say I’ll be off from work that day.

With my wonderful blessings and vacation already in place, that only leaves me to determine what treasures I could possibly receive this year. It’s not always easy thinking of things that you’d like to have, but I’ll give it a try.

Um…

Uh…

DADDY NEEDS A NEW PAIR OF SPEAKERS!

That’s the best way I can put it. Now that I’ve completely blown out the front door speakers in my car, I’m sick of listening to what remains of them rattling and popping as I drive down the road. There’s not much I can do to get around it either. I’ve tried adjusting the fader controls to move the sound to the back speakers, but since they primarily provide the low-end, everything sounds like it’s coming from behind a pillow or something.

DADDY NEEDS A NEW PAIR OF SPEAKERS!

Not a fancy DVD player, GPS navigation system or even satellite radio, just two speakers. Good ones at that. They need to be able to handle quite a bit of business, because that’s what they’re gonna get. I don’t like to mess around when it comes to cranking it up.

This will require some fine product from CARTOYS, Mobile-One or even Best Buy. Accept nothing less, right? So if you know me and are pondering what you should decide to give me this year, let’s stick to the previously-mentioned items above, eh?

And with this, I’ll promise to make more unnecessary demand of my time and energy to bring meaningless and nonsensical content to you on a consistent basis. If I can, I’ll try to sprinkle something meaningful on occasion.

For the last two months now, we’ve been busy working on our new home, painting and repairing, removing and replacing. The whole process has dominated every spare moment we’ve had, resulting in my lack of presence just about everywhere else. There was even a war in the meantime.

It’s been a lot of work, especially for a house that we’re just renting, and we so totally expect to see the payoff come around in the long run.

That was just the beginning, because as you may already know, moving doesn’t just require that the new place be in good shape, but you must also box up all your shit and then proceed to move it there. And as it turned out, that was the harder p. Things like connecting utilities, forwarding mail and updating addresses…that’s all a walk in the park. Even repainting the entire inside of the house, purchasing new appliances and repairing all sorts of broke shit was relatively painless.

Oh yeah. The pain didn’t kick in until it was time to pack up everything at Location A and move it to Location B in a straight-forward, organized manner. When the day your supposed to move is just one day after your big monthly deadline at work, things can’t end up well.

It wasn’t enough that I hadn’t been resting much since we’d started working on the house, but then work began to demand more of my time than I was willing to give. So the packing had to wait. This created a very unfair situation for Carol, having to pack what she could and take care of our baby boy. I was not pleased with this, and neither was she.

Then came that moment when I realized that I hadn’t reserved a truck.

The last time we moved, I had made it a point to get a U-haul way ahead of time, thereby negating any worries about availability and unexpected costs. This time, I kind of let that whole step slip right by me. Of course, using the last experience I had with U-haul, I expected this time would still be just as simple and accommodating. And, you know, up until the part when we actually got into the truck, it was.

When they told us that they only had a 24′ truck, we kind of shrugged it off. I mean, what’s a little extra space?

Even when they revealed to us after we’d already signed for it that it was a 5-speed truck, I figured that wouldn’t be a problem. After all, my car is a 5-speed. How much different could it be?

I’ll let you take a guess.

Here’s what you do.

#1 – Read a book. In fact, read several books… as many as you can. Not just the good ones, but any book. After a while, you’ll know the difference between good and bad writing when you read it. It’s all a matter of picking up on natural rhythms and language, and learning how to deal with context. Most importantly of all, you’ll learn how to spell words you probably didn’t know.

#2 – Talk. It’s not easy for everyone, I should know. I’ve been pinned with the label of not being a “talker” or conversationalist or whatever. Fine. A lot of that is my fault, I’m sure, but not all of it. I can sit in a room full of people and listen to them all just spit out whatever comes to mind, notice that they’re not listening to a word the others are saying, and simply wonder how anyone manages to communicate. When I open my mouth, I’ve usually considered what I’m going to say at least a couple of times. Granted, we all have those moments when our guard is down, when shit just starts rolling out, and I’ve been known to say some really inappropriate things. Okay, I confess. My point is that you’ve got to know what you want to say before you say it. Not weeks or days in advance, but if you’ve got something to say, just run it through once and see if it makes sense. It’s all about communication.

#3 – Practice. Write down some random thoughts, your opinion on a crappy TV show, or try and convince someone that they really ought to buy the new iMac. It takes a lot of practice to get a point across when you’re dedicated to one medium. Today’s world makes it even more of a challenge, because unlike the age of the telephone, people are communicating more and more by the written word. Whether it’s by e-mail or chat or forums, the tech-savvy (and some not-so-tech-savvy) are using their phones as a means to get online. In the last ten years, the value of the written word has sky-rocketed, and it’s your duty, everyone’s duty, to make ‘em count. So as you practice, go back and read what you’ve done, and re-read it. In my book, grammar is subjective, but spelling… well, that essential.

#4 – Think. Number 3 is good, but it’s all for naught if you don’t have anything to say. Which leads back to Number 2. As important as it is to know what you want to say before you say it, you CAN create it as you go. This entire entry is nothing that I set out to write, but this is just an example of where thinking can lead to. You may have one thing you have to get out, but another jumps in the way and screams “OOH! OOH! ME FIRST!” Makes for good practice, and occasionally, you’ll go somewhere interesting with it.

#5 – Let go. Say you’ve gone through the first four steps. Sure, sometimes it’s hard, sometimes it just comes naturally, but it always takes work. It’s a combination of these things that gets you to the point where you say to yourself, “Hey, someone might actually want to read this!” Now, depending on what you’ve got to say, and who you’re saying it to, the results may vary, but the hardest part is being able to let it go, to release it out into the world and see what happens to it.

Now, if you’re still with me at this point… well, hey, you’re all right. Lately, I’ve been getting several comments on how I’m developing as a writer. My personal opinion is that I’m still somewhat lacking, but others seem to think I’m coming along fairly well. The most obvious suggestion comes in the form of writing a book of some sort, and while I’m not totally opposed to that, I don’t know that I’m quite there yet.

In the meantime, I’ll continue this site as what I once called a “record of my life” for myself, for friends and family, for anyone out there scouring the web, for Cash Money fans, and now, most importantly, for my children. Ironically, I’ve had less time to devote to my writing and development of this site as of late, but it is now my intention to keep it functioning as long as possible. My great fear is that I might be taken from my children before they have a chance to know me. This, in essence, would be gift to them, in my own words.

So if you ever want to write a book, listen up kids (and anyone else out there who read this entire entry). Consider my five steps above, and even though I’m not sure when or how (or if) it will happen, when you’ve got the skills to write one, you’ll know it.

The following opinions and views expressed here are mine and mine only and in no way representative of Newtype USA or its parent company or affiliates.

As this is sure to be a difficult week for some, and a normal week for others, this is turning out to be an unusually spectacular week for me. Not only is my birthday on Thursday (number 27 to be exact) but now I’ve got a JOB!

After nearly a month since my first interview at Newtype USA, I received a phone call this morning. Unexpectedly, I was asked if I’d like to return for another interview, and I assumed, a chance to discuss things further. You know, another chance for me to make a case for myself. After nearly four months of being out of work, any inkling of a possibility of finding work is something to behold. So we set a time and agree to meet, with the contention that I’m still “one of the finalists” and the presumption that nothing is promised.

When I got there, I unwittingly walked in on a conversation (of which I overheard nothing) and immediately drew looks of embarrassment and laughs from around the room. That’s fine. I didn’t hear any of it. All I knew is that I was there to get a job, and I wasn’t leaving without one. Let me talk to whomever I have to talk to, wherever I have to find them, whenever they’re available… but I was going to walk out of there a Newtype employee. Determined was an understatement.

Turns out, however, that it wasn’t that hard. There was the little matter of coming to an agreement on the pay, the ducats, the skrilla. But once that was worked out, and I officially accepted the job, we moved to the paperwork stage. Filled out the emergency contact forms, the W-4, the confidentiality agreement and BAM!, it was done.

I start on Friday, which if you’ve been keeping up, still gives me my birthday off. After that, the gloves come off. The first issue of Newtype is due at the end of the month, and by the looks of it, my first few weeks are going to be the toughest I’ve seen in some time.

Getting the job, hell, that was the easy part! Now it’s time to make good, to come through with the hotness and knock ‘em dead.

To be continued…

Now that I rarely step out of the apartment these days, I’ve become less and less aware of the city around me. I’m sure people are still stuck in traffic every morning, and curse their jobs at five o’clock, but it’s not the same when you don’t see it in person. I’m shut in today and feeling unusually groggy. After the soreness and headache this morning, I suspect a fever isn’t too far behind. I managed to take a shower, but it didn’t do much good. I even took a walk outside to move my car, which I had moved a couple of days ago for the complex to do their pavement sealing or whatever. And the day just… keeps… draggin… on.

I’m not sullen, or somber, or depressed. I just feel like shit. I’m getting fat, lazy and a little nervous because I’ve got absolutely nothing to do. I’ve already received one unemployment check, and another is already on the way. Not even the thought of spending all day on my PS2 is appealing anymore. I’ve worked sporadically on this site, trying to maintain some sort of routine. Used to be that I’d come up with something, have a thought, or just experiment with everything. Now… I just meander and squeeze by.

Watching American Beauty today, I found some relief in Lester Burnham and his antics. Too bad that when it comes down to it, that only happens in movies. Freedom of any and everything is a noble idea, but it doesn’t pay the bills, and honestly, it doesn’t make for happiness either. I should know.

Surprising thing is, even in this state, I’m not really unhappy. That’s not the word. In fact, it’s not even close. I’ve got a wife that loves me and wants the best for me, and now, I’ve got a child on the way. I’ve got two other lives under my wing, and it’s coming down to that part where I have to do anything I can to provide for them. Mr. Smiley’s may not be far off.

Carol’s going to have to stop working at some point, and that means I have to get my act together before then. Or else it’s Ramen noodles and Wal-Mart brand diapers. And while that’s not necessarily bad, it not something to look forward to.

Uggh, wait a minute…

Yeah, it’s official.

Temperature: 100.9

Now that the office has been completely shut down and cleaned out, I’m stuck at home. I’ve still got work to do, but it’s just not the same when you don’t have a place to go to. It always seemed like a great idea to work from home, but I’m finding out just how miserable it can be.

I certainly don’t plan on doing this forever, but since folks aren’t exactly knocking down my door to give me a job, this may have to do for a while. Now I’m in that area where every day I try to figure out what’s coming next. And that ain’t easy.

Even though Carol’s still working, the world continues to conspire against us. You know the feeling. The end of the month’s coming up, and your car isn’t acting right, and you’ve got mouths to feed, and bills to pay…

Meanwhile, I get to pretend that I’m working from home and having a good ol’ time. The people I used to see in their cars on the way to work each morning, sipping coffee, putting on makeup, rocking out to music

Today marks the day that I will no longer be gainfully employed.

Well… that is, until I find something else…

The online job search hasn’t been going too well, and I can’t help but wonder if maybe I’m doing something wrong. When it comes down to it, this is really the first time I’ve ever had to look for a job. When I started this job, I was basically led to it by chance. The freelance work that I did before that was more a gesture of gratitude than anything else.

Even the shit-work that I did before that, like working at a video store and running the projectors at a movie theater, just kind of happened. They were fairly easy jobs to get and didn’t take much effort to maintain. In truth, I just stumbled upon them.

Just like I did five years ago with this one.

(more…)

For the last couple of weeks, Carol and I have been wondering just how it is that we’re going to be able to afford one (or any) of these houses we’ve had our eyes on. While I do consider us maybe a little better off than some, we’re apparently still not making the grade. Just how is it that people can afford these things?

The simple truth is that we have too many bills. Debt is a sure-fire dream killer, and we’re fighting it every day. While I’m not thrilled about it, I’m already contemplating the thought of taking on a second p-time job, maybe some freelance work, maybe flippin’ burgers. I like my job and where I work, and the pay’s fine, but it won’t be for much longer. Maybe it’s time to start looking for something bigger and better. I don’t know.

One thing I do know is that we’re going to make it work. I’m not going to compromise myself to get what I want. We know what we like and what we need for our future family, and that’s what we’re aiming for. Finding a better deal or better way to handle money… well, that’s another matter. Believe me, we’re looking at things from all the angles and even though it seems like things should fall in place, we just can’t get ourselves into the game.

The Word of the Day, kids… frustration.