1. I got into a discussion with a friend of mine who passed along comments he'd gotten from a friend who attended a lecture by a well-known author. The author said that he tended to write in restaurants because if he tried to write in his office (he was a college professor), he had too many people bothering him to get any work done. As I tend to turn every discussion into something about myself, even when it's completely unwarranted, as it was in that discussion, I added my piece on the creative process. How I had the gall to insinuate myself into comparing what I do to a published author, I have no idea. I chalk it up to my Carpenter-ness. Nonetheless, 2 cents on writing:
"Though, of course, not a selling author, I do my best writing in bars and restaurants, but for a different reason. If I'm secluded, I'll think of something else to do: read a book, call someone, play a videogame, watch a movie. Anything but write. If I'm in a noisy place, where I've gone specifically to write, then I focus. Also, and this probably sounds horrid, but I get caught up in details that the reader wouldn't think about ordinarily. A few drinks frees the pen, at least for the draft, and I get a lot more done. Also, much of what I write, fiction-wise, is dialogue based, and I get great material and ideas from listening to the banter around me. Or a lot of cuss words. Plus, if you're really, truly writing when you're in a place like that, and not just pretending in order to attract women, you are virtually guaranteed of attracting a woman; ordinarily, one interested in books, writing, and/or weird men: the trifecta of qualities I look for in a woman."
2. I find what soldiers write on port-o-potty walls to be quite instructive. Apparently, situational homosexuality isn't homosexuality at all. "I'm 100% straight, but when you're deployed, there's nothing wrong with letting a dude..." I had no idea.
3. I hate cell phones. I've always hated cell phones. I got (illegally) ordered to get one when I was in the army. When I got out of the army, I deactivated it and then swore I'd hold out as long as I could. I find them to mostly be codependency enablers or electronic leashes. The year after the army, I bounced around from place to place, traveling to all manner of places and I did what the hell I wanted and my family and friends understood that if they wanted to get in touch with me, that email worked just fine and that if it was truly an issue, they could email me and I'd use a calling card to check in.
Finally, at law school, I broke down and got a cell phone for personal use. I was pretty darn broke and after my first semester of landline, the cell phone was simply much cheaper. I got the phone and tried to stick true to my beliefs. I left it plugged in at my apartment for maybe a month. Then I got used to the convenience and it was attached to me for the next two years. Argh! I felt like a hypocrite, but what to do? When I got the job in Afghanistan, I was thrilled to be able to deactivate the cell phone again. Woohoo! Autonomy!
Except that over here, every employee gets issued a cell phone. The cell phone network we use is called Roshan. It's an Iranian company. We have to be careful what we say because the assumption is that everything is being listened to by various foreign intelligence services. For the most part, they get to listen to me make supply requests. The thing that I despise about this particular cell phone is that the one they issued us had a battery life of, no lie, approximately one hour. It failed to recognize the SIM card 50% of the time. It shut itself off occasionally when you pressed a button. I hate cell phones, but I really, really, really hated the cell phone they issued me. What the hell was the point of saving a few dollars for those horrible phones when they didn't work? After 3 weeks, I broke down and bought the cheapest phone I could find ($57). The battery on this one lasts four days and it doesn't shut itself off. I hate it, but at least it works.
I don't give anyone my number unless I'm basically ordered to. When I finally leave Afghanistan, I'm gonna try to hold off from getting another one again. Probably not gonna last long on that one, but sometimes you have to fight the fight, even when you know you're gonna
lose.
4. One thing that I always annoys me when I've watched movies set in the future is the patent stupidity of the weapons. The weapons in those flicks are the same weapons we have now, but just with assorted crap bolted on. Yup, patent stupidity...except that 5 years after I got out the army, I discover that the weapons all have assorted crap bolted on (scopes, laser targeters, bipods for M4s, rail systems).
5. When I first starting running to get myself back in shape, while I was in Bagram, I was surprised by the fact that my speed and cardio were a lot better than I thought they'd be. Within a week or two, I was running 2 miles in about 13:30. Not bad for being, by my estimation, 30lbs overweight. I had to wait a week after I got sent here to the base in Kabul to exercise. The first time I tried to run here, I felt like I was gonna die. I barely made the two miles in 18 minutes. I've dropped it down to 16 minutes in a couple of weeks, but, still, it's brutal running here. Bagram is 4400 feet, Kabul is approximately 5900 feet. I knew I was susceptible to altitude, but I thought that was really only an issue at over 10,000 feet. Nope. This lowcountry boy ain't made for heights. Which is strange, considering I love the mountains so much.
"Though, of course, not a selling author, I do my best writing in bars and restaurants, but for a different reason. If I'm secluded, I'll think of something else to do: read a book, call someone, play a videogame, watch a movie. Anything but write. If I'm in a noisy place, where I've gone specifically to write, then I focus. Also, and this probably sounds horrid, but I get caught up in details that the reader wouldn't think about ordinarily. A few drinks frees the pen, at least for the draft, and I get a lot more done. Also, much of what I write, fiction-wise, is dialogue based, and I get great material and ideas from listening to the banter around me. Or a lot of cuss words. Plus, if you're really, truly writing when you're in a place like that, and not just pretending in order to attract women, you are virtually guaranteed of attracting a woman; ordinarily, one interested in books, writing, and/or weird men: the trifecta of qualities I look for in a woman."
2. I find what soldiers write on port-o-potty walls to be quite instructive. Apparently, situational homosexuality isn't homosexuality at all. "I'm 100% straight, but when you're deployed, there's nothing wrong with letting a dude..." I had no idea.
3. I hate cell phones. I've always hated cell phones. I got (illegally) ordered to get one when I was in the army. When I got out of the army, I deactivated it and then swore I'd hold out as long as I could. I find them to mostly be codependency enablers or electronic leashes. The year after the army, I bounced around from place to place, traveling to all manner of places and I did what the hell I wanted and my family and friends understood that if they wanted to get in touch with me, that email worked just fine and that if it was truly an issue, they could email me and I'd use a calling card to check in.
Finally, at law school, I broke down and got a cell phone for personal use. I was pretty darn broke and after my first semester of landline, the cell phone was simply much cheaper. I got the phone and tried to stick true to my beliefs. I left it plugged in at my apartment for maybe a month. Then I got used to the convenience and it was attached to me for the next two years. Argh! I felt like a hypocrite, but what to do? When I got the job in Afghanistan, I was thrilled to be able to deactivate the cell phone again. Woohoo! Autonomy!
Except that over here, every employee gets issued a cell phone. The cell phone network we use is called Roshan. It's an Iranian company. We have to be careful what we say because the assumption is that everything is being listened to by various foreign intelligence services. For the most part, they get to listen to me make supply requests. The thing that I despise about this particular cell phone is that the one they issued us had a battery life of, no lie, approximately one hour. It failed to recognize the SIM card 50% of the time. It shut itself off occasionally when you pressed a button. I hate cell phones, but I really, really, really hated the cell phone they issued me. What the hell was the point of saving a few dollars for those horrible phones when they didn't work? After 3 weeks, I broke down and bought the cheapest phone I could find ($57). The battery on this one lasts four days and it doesn't shut itself off. I hate it, but at least it works.
I don't give anyone my number unless I'm basically ordered to. When I finally leave Afghanistan, I'm gonna try to hold off from getting another one again. Probably not gonna last long on that one, but sometimes you have to fight the fight, even when you know you're gonna
lose.
4. One thing that I always annoys me when I've watched movies set in the future is the patent stupidity of the weapons. The weapons in those flicks are the same weapons we have now, but just with assorted crap bolted on. Yup, patent stupidity...except that 5 years after I got out the army, I discover that the weapons all have assorted crap bolted on (scopes, laser targeters, bipods for M4s, rail systems).
5. When I first starting running to get myself back in shape, while I was in Bagram, I was surprised by the fact that my speed and cardio were a lot better than I thought they'd be. Within a week or two, I was running 2 miles in about 13:30. Not bad for being, by my estimation, 30lbs overweight. I had to wait a week after I got sent here to the base in Kabul to exercise. The first time I tried to run here, I felt like I was gonna die. I barely made the two miles in 18 minutes. I've dropped it down to 16 minutes in a couple of weeks, but, still, it's brutal running here. Bagram is 4400 feet, Kabul is approximately 5900 feet. I knew I was susceptible to altitude, but I thought that was really only an issue at over 10,000 feet. Nope. This lowcountry boy ain't made for heights. Which is strange, considering I love the mountains so much.
No comments:
Post a Comment