Caffeinated Dispatches 004
The Horrors Persist (things keep breaking) but so do I (I keep paying to fix them!)
The Money Pit 💸
Earlier this week I posted a note that was something along the lines of: “Describe your Substack with a movie still.” I used one from The Money Pit. Today, that image really resonated with me.
Speaking of Substack Notes
Last week
posted a Note asking:To which I responded:
I know, I’m hilarious. But as the week went on, I started to think about it a little more. When I’m writing, I do like to listen to instrumental music. In university I listed to a lot of 2CELLOS. Their music (on my playlist) was mostly covers of existing songs, but without the vocals.
After university, I would listen to a lot of Matt Berry (You probably know him best from the IT Crowed and What We Do in the Shadows.) He does music too, which tends to be more instrumental and great to have on in the background when writing.
This past year, I started listening to jazz when working from home. My upstairs neighbour at the old apartment decided to play basketball in the room above my desk, and practice trumpet in the mid-afternoon. A jazz playlist and noise cancelling headphones kept me employed and out of jail. The Dave Brubeck Quartet was a favourite of mine. It was also good for keeping my road-rage in check.
Job Search 🔦
I have been actively looking for a new line of work. I did almost a year and a half of marketing work for a company right out of university and I’m not sure I want to do that anymore. To say it was soul crushing would be melodramatic, but not inaccurate. I went to school to get my film degree. I did that. It’s done. But while I was there, I found I was far more passionate about writing than I was about setting up shots or working on budgets. So, I took an extra year of university to get an English degree with a specialization in Creative Writing. I was excited to put that degree to use! I got my first short comic published in an anthology almost right away and I had begun work on a novel that I was very excited about. Then, I was offered a job in a marketing department and all creativity and joy for writing had vacated my body within weeks of starting. I haven’t done another comic since, and my novel remains unfinished. Even though I have been using this newsletter to talk about the joys/horrors of purchasing a new/used home, I feel it has begun to reinvigorate my love of writing. In time, maybe I will have the courage to start a paid newsletter where I post early drafts of the novel chapters as behind the scenes content.
TVs Mounted! 📺
I have become fanatical about wall mounting devices. The kid is now 11 months old and trying to get ahold of everything, so I purchased some wall mounts for the televisions. We don’t really have CD or DVD players anymore. So we really don’t have a need for stands in the living room. I just have to take the feet off the TV in the picture, and then I can push it up against the wall when it’s not I use. I even picked up a wall mount for the Nintendo Switch so I can move that bookcase to the basement with the other bookcases. Now I just need to get some build-in shelving so I can get those plants somewhere safe, out of soon-to-be toddler reach.
Hard Wood? 🪵
Because I can’t take a moment to catch my breath or finish a project, I started pulling up the carpet the other day to see how bad the floors were underneath. To my surprise, the hardwood flooring underneath is in better condition than the carpet! Ripping out all the carpets just got added to my todo list.
What about the dirt pile? 🤔
It’s still there. Like all the other inconveniences in life, I’m just ignoring it while I focus on other things. Like ripping this fence apart.
I got a half dozen quotes from arborists last week, and they are all dependent on me taking down that fence before they’ll do the work.
With the help of my daughter and my neighbour, we were able to take down two panels of the fence today, but the heat got a little unbearable so we’ll finish taking it down another day.
Busy week, eh?
Yes, and I just found out we’re out of coffee, so I need to get to the store at 7am tomorrow and buy a new tin. Otherwise the caffeine withdrawal headaches will be crippling by 9am.
Editor’s Note: Here is a video from The Next Day.
Thank you for enduring another week of me being me. Next week will have more fun and less “I hate everything what the hell am I doing?”
Also, possibly a video post. I hope. 🤞
Enjoy your weekend!
Mark