blog of ice

An Admission

2009-01-07T02:13:00.006-06:00

Okay, I’m willing to forego the “why I haven’t been blogging” blog, if you are. Good. Let’s move on to something more entertaining, shall we.

I’ve noticed that the older I get, the better I know myself. Amazing insight, huh? But, really what I’m saying is that the more years I have behind me, the more I’m able to recognize patterns in my life. There are a few that I’ve been turning around in my devious little brain as of late, but one that’s particularly relevant at this time. I’ll share some of the others in future installments of this white knuckle thrill ride I call a blog.

Those of you that have the distinct and utterly mind-blowing pleasure of knowing me in person will know that I hate being cliché. For the rest of you, I’m willing to wager that you can infer this loathing from the previous sentence. So, we’re all on the same page, here--me no likey the banal, the commonplace, or the trite. But, let’s not beat a dead horse, this fact is now as plain as the nose on my face.

And so it is not without trepidation and consternation that I admit, first to myself and now to you all, that I have a great affinity for the dawning of a new year. At a time when the world is a flutter with phrases such as, “a new you for the new year” and “make a fresh start”, I’m...well, I’m ready to make a fresh start for a new me.

Such inner turmoil...you see, just typing that last sentence I felt invigorated, while at the same time, I threw up in my mouth a little. But this is not the bile of denial, my friends, this is the vomit of promise....(yeah, I really don’t know what that means, either...but, it has a ring to it.)

So, yes, as I reflect on my life and times, it has become apparent to me that January finds me energetic, optimistic, motivated, and eager. The failures, sorrows, and lost opportunities of the previous year seem insignificant with a new calendar sitting in front of me. Twelve new luscious, plump months lie ahead full of possibilities and promise. Fifty-two delicious, succulent weeks of hope and happiness. Three hundred and sixty-five scrumptious morsels of...did I mention the diet and losing weight thing?

Indeed, I have a list of several things I wish to accomplish as the Earth makes yet another elliptical trip around our Sun. I won’t bore you with the lists and details of such, but rest assured it involves providing you with many more of these fascinating and thought provoking insights into what it is to be me, as well as a few skewed observations on people, places, and things that are not people or places.

Much thanks to those of you that have taken the time to read my meanderings here, given me feedback, and prodded me to write more. Your comments and emails are always welcome and encouraged!

Here's to a prolific 2009~

The Politics of Email

2008-07-16T13:33:00.006-05:00

Let me preface this blog with a caveat. You see, this blog is going to be about American politics. I know that some of you that read my ramblings here do not live in the United States, and so you may have no interest in this topic. I respect that fact, and am therefore giving you fair warning. Feel free to skip this entry with my blessing.

Occasionally, I hear someone make the comment that it is getting harder to tell the difference between Republicans and Democrats. I don’t find that to be true, these days. Let me give you a very personal example. I receive chain emails daily from a wide variety of my friends, as I’m sure most of you do. Most of them are jokes, pictures, or “prayers” (that must be passed along to ten people for good fortune...blah, blah, blah...delete!). But some of them are political in nature. Now, let me tell you how many of those are anti-McCain. 0. That’s zero...zilch...nada...none. So, I’ll bet you can guess how many of them are anti-Obama...that’s right, all of them.

Now, when I receive one of these Obama bashing emails, I always check with Snopes.com or other internet sources to see if there is any validity to the contents and claims made within them. Most of the time they are completely false or have a hint of truth with some malicious spin lavished upon them. I usually just hit “delete” and send them to the trash and move about my business. But, every so often, when I’m in the right mood or I find one to be too unjust, I will respond with facts and web links to point out the misrepresentations.

I did this recently, when an old friend of mine sent out a mass email containing an article about Senator Obama written by Ken Blackwell, who the email refers to as an “African-American columnist”. In the piece, Mr. Blackwell asked his readers to take race out of the equation and view the Senator on his political history and stances, alone. The remainder of the article was a less than favorable account of that history and his reasoning as to why Mr. Obama would not be a fit candidate for the presidency, followed by some quotes from Revelations warning of the rise of the Anti-Christ.

And so I was moved to respond.

My first point was that, in my opinion, the reason the email was popular and people would forward it was that, even though the article was asking that race be taken out of the equation, the fact that the author was a black man was prominently pointed out and that somehow was supposed to give it some sort of credence. This, to me, made it racial. Secondly, I pointed out that Mr. Blackwell was a Republican with some rather dubious connections to Bush’s re-election as both the Chief Elections Official of Ohio and the honorary co-chair of the “Committee to Re-Elect George W. Bush”. Obviously, he would not be writing favorably on any Democratic candidate. I also pointed out that the biblical quotes were added to the email somewhere along the line, and were not a part of the original article. In conclusion, I expressed that one of the great things about this country, is that we get to make choices about who we want to lead us, and that “I am choosing not to cast my vote for four more years of Republican leadership”.

It was a fair and reasonable response, it seemed to me, to an unsolicited email that was sent to me without regard to my political beliefs. And since this individual had sent it out as a mass email, I assumed it was an open dialogue and sent it as a “Reply All” instead of just a “Reply”.

Apparently, that was my mistake.

So, perhaps this is an issue of email etiquette and not politics, but I doubt it. I am quite certain, that if my response had been, “Hell yeah! Obama is the devil!!”, that would have been the end of it. But, that wasn’t my response. And that wasn’t the end of it.

Over the course to the next few hours, I received some pretty nasty emails. Some telling me that I should “pontificate privately” and not try to humiliate others. One said that I was an “arrogant asshole”. Another said that people can think for themselves and that "Pro-Life votes were not up for grabs". The basic consensus being that I should have just replied quietly to the original sender and not include everyone in my condescending rebuttals.

This was a real eye-opening experience. It has become very apparent, to me, that the conservative right, i.e. Republicans, are very frightened right now. Whether it’s because of the very distinctive possibility that a Democrat will be taking over the highest office in the land, or that that candidate is a black man, I’m not sure. My guess is that it’s a bit of both.

Another popular email making the rounds these days is a picture of Obama with the caption: “Change...because that’s all you’ll have left when I’m done with you”. Now, I know that most Republicans equate Democrats with higher taxes, which is the basis of this joke. But...really, people? Really?!

What economic reality are these people living in? In my world, gas is $4 a gallon, diesel nearly $5, which has caused everything else to go up in price. In my world, the dollar is losing value across the globe. Oil companies are raking in record profits while American car companies are experiencing record lows in sales. People are losing their jobs and companies are downsizing and/or sending jobs overseas. In my world, this country is already in economic shambles and heading toward disaster. I think maybe they should alter that email to have Bush’s picture, instead.

So, where’s the McCain emails? Are they out there? I would think they are, but I don’t get them. Are Democrats or Obama supporters just so confident that they don’t feel the need to spread lies and spin about McCain? Perhaps that sort of character assassination is just beneath them? Or, more likely, they are just too busy replying to and debunking all the bullshit Obama emails flooding the internets.

My advice: Don’t hit “Reply All”.

The Plan

2008-06-24T15:39:00.001-05:00

So, here it is. My sophomore effort at blogging. This is where we find out if my wildly successful first blog was just a fluke, or a "burst on the scene". Will I be catapulted into the blogdom elite, or will I be relegated to the bargain bin of the internets? Time will tell, my trusted reader(s)...time will tell.

I must admit, I’ve already fallen behind on my intended blogging schedule. When I decided to start this, I made the decision to set aside some time each week to add a new blog. A blog a week. It’s a reasonable schedule. A manageable expectation. In a word: doable. (That’s really a funny looking word, by the way.) Now, two weeks have passed, and I’m just now getting to my second post. Two weeks. Forgivable? Yes. But, I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to forget. I mean, just who the hell do I think I am, anyway?! It’s called, “discipline”. Maybe I’ve heard of it, before? Alright, I’ll take this up with myself at another time...back to the blog.

The writing is going well. I’ve been searching for a really great screenplay idea, and in the meantime, re-working some short stories that I had lying around. That idea finally came, and it’s going swimmingly. (No one uses that phrase, anymore. But, I’m bringing it back. Use it.) As of this writing, I have copious notes on the story, a rough outline of the entire script, and some work done on the first act. My goal is to have a tight, polished script ready to start entering into competitions by the middle of September.

My main focus will be on screenplays, which are by no means easy to write, but they can be written relatively quickly and have the most financial return if you can sell them. I also want to get a few short stories finished and submitted for magazine and/or anthology publication. They offer me more opportunity for descriptive narrative and internalizing characters, which satisfies a different aspect of writing for me, but they offer mostly meager compensation.

Novels are a whole other animal. I have at least one BIG novel in me, right now. Tackling such a story will take quite some time, most likely a couple of years. And the average advance from a publisher for a first-time novelist is in the $3,000-$5,000 range. Even for most published authors, the advances aren’t much more. Therefore, that project is going to wait or at least be an occasional effort for the foreseeable future.

I know it’s not easy to break into this business, but that’s not going to stop me. Do I expect to make millions? Nope. But, I definitely won’t if I don’t try. If I can make a decent living sitting in my little office making up stories and never have to go and punch someone else’s time clock, I will be a very happy camper, indeed.

Okay, so probably not the best second blog ever. But, the backstory and the character development are necessary. The momentum is building, the motives are in place. You can now look forward to the conflict, drama, and wacky hijinks!

The Next Chapter

2008-06-12T15:07:00.001-05:00

Here it is. My first blog. So, you might be wondering why I titled this post, "The Next Chapter". I know you're not, but play along with me here. I mean, if we're going to have any sort of "writer/reader" relationship, I'm going to need you to work with me, here. You really do have the easy part, I have to make this shit up, you just have to sit and try and make sense of it....okay, maybe you don't have the easy part...I'll try to make it as painless as possible, though.

Actually, before I get to that title, let me tell you a little bit about who I am, and maybe all of this will make more sense. No promises, though.

My name is Marc Hunter. I'm 41 years old, and that part is hard for me to fathom, at times. I am quite happily married and the father of two rambunctious boys, aged 5 and 1. I've spent the better part of my life either running bookstores or managing others that do. As you might expect, I love books. In actuality, I love the written word in all of it's forms. And in all those years of being in the business of selling and celebrating the works of others, I have myself dabbled in the art of storysmithing ( I say it's a word!). Seldom seriously, and never consistently. But, I have dreamed of one day making a living as a writer. That dream seemed nothing more than mere wishful thinking, until recently. A series of events transpired at the beginning of this year that brought me to an unexpected place in my life. The place where I now find myself.

In January, I reached my third anniversary with a company and position that was making me increasingly unhappy. When an opportunity came along for me to accept a position with another company in an entirely different field, I jumped at it. With hope and enthusiasm, I took on that new endeavor by the end of the month. Unfortunately, it turned out to be even worse, and after about five weeks of dealing with one of the worst bosses I've ever had the misfortune of answering to, I'd had enough. After a few lengthy discussions about finances and happiness, my wife and I decided my time would be better spent trying to secure employment elsewhere. She had just received a nice promotion, and our tax refund was on its way, so money would not be an issue, at least for awhile.

The middle of February found me unemployed and soul-searching for just what kind of career I might like to pursue. I spent the next few weeks enquiring, applying, and interviewing in various fields, but to no avail. Things just weren't coming together for me, but we were in no financial bind, so I was happy to take the time to "find" a new career and not just take a job.

In March, I was speaking on the phone with my father about his decade old Mac and his desire to buy a new one. His fixed income of Social Security was barely enough to live on, so I offered to buy him a new one. I ordered it online and received it about a week later. I loaded it into my car and made the two hour drive to his home. Upon arriving, I found him passed-away in his bed. He lived alone, never re-marrying after divorcing my mother when I was two. He had been dead for a couple of days, and had I not been delivering his new Mac, he might not have been found for a week or so. There is no need to go into more regarding this, and perhaps I will write a post about the man that was my father at another time. Needless to say, March 19th had a profound impact on me.

So, almost four months into the year, I was unemployed and dealing with the death of my father. In some ways, I was fortunate to have no job obligations while dealing with his passing and all the things that must be taken care, as a result. Time to grieve, time to pack and sort, time to reflect on a life and where and how I wanted mine to end up.

That time to think led me to some new decisions and directions. I'm taking the remainder of this year to seriously write and try to become published. I'm chasing a dream before it's too late to do so. Starting this blog will provide another venue for me to write in and to share my journey with anyone who may be interested. I can't tell you what to expect here, I suppose it will be very free-form in nature. I can tell you that I'm excited at the possibilities and the opportunities that await me in the next chapter.