Intolerable Cruelty

For the last week or so, I have been working on my late uncle's old house in Burns. I'm trying to get it in better shape as it has fallen into disrepair since he passed, at some points being actively coaxed toward disrepair. As it stand how, it's fully functional and the yard is well on its way. The next gig doesn't start for a bit yet, and V is off on a short project, so what else do I have to do?

There is no TV, really, signals are apparently weak nowadays - Burns used to get several broadcast channels yet over the years and now few have the strength to be picked up without a large antenna. There is only dialup internet. No cellphone signal in Burns to speak of. I am not, as anyone who knows me will attest, any kind of Luddite. Okay, well, anyone who knows me and knows what a Luddite is would attest to that.

Have you used dialup lately?

If you haven't, keep in mind that however slow it used to seem, even the most basic content on the internet now is considerably larger than it used to be.

Take what you remember of its slowness and imagine that about four times slower.

Intolerable cruelty.

Anyway, amongst the many questionable decisions in my life, I recently saved a dog from going to the pound. He's staying here with me right now, and he'll go to the farm when I leave for the next job. He's a 9 month old shar-pei / Australian shepherd mix, and his name is Charlie. I didn't name him, he was already named and is well accustomed to it. He's very smart and house-broken and no work at all besides his puppyish need for attention and approval. His primary talent is catching insects, which is frankly amazing to watch.

The goal in deciding to do this house thing was to give myself time and room to breathe in order to begin undistracted a writing project I've talked about for years. Thus far I have done everything except that. I am TOO undistracted. I guess I need stimulation, and unlike Charlie I am unable to find it in the scent of urine on trees or the sounds of a distant bark. Would it were so easy. If I wrote right now it would be a rehash of "Marley and Me."

Last week I did a commercial, had a line or two that should be (apparently) very funny. It was a fun shoot, I'm not sure when it will air. It's in the style of THE OFFICE and I'm a big jerk. Those are unconnected statements.

I do have one announcement: Partially as a function of my next job, I am (finally) going to release a CD. It will be done by December and I will offer it for sale through the website here. I may offer pre-sales to help defray production costs, because I'm doing most of that myself. Let me know if anyone's interested. Presold CDs will come with an action figure version of me, an autographed 8x10, and a lifelong sense of fulfillment.*

Last night I hardly got any sleep for no good reason. No bad reason, either... right now I'm writing this entry because I'm trying to keep myself awake until it makes sense to go to sleep. I'm almost there. Okay. Sleepy.

*Supplies limited on 8x10s, nonexistent on action figures.  No guarantee on sense of fulfillment.