There's a limit. It's not a line you can see clearly; in fact, there's nothing precise about it at all, but that doesn't mean I don't know that I've reached it.And I have. Finally, it's time to ease away from animating, from learning more about animating, from cooking up another idea that will let me test something else.
(It's February. Our wisteria's blooming.)
Actually, I reached 'finally' a few months ago and started doing a lot more writing. Fiction writing. It's a curious twist that's probably been mentioned before, but while fiction is not my favorite thing to read, it's my favorite thing to write. It seems impossible to write fiction, to create characters and give them voices that are true for them - not you, and not write your way to higher or deeper or greater - pick your superlative - perceptions.
Anyway.
Strangely, instead of not being able to find time or impulse to animate, the opposite happened. Suddenly, ideas they came a-crowding. They came at all times, during waking hours and sleeping hours, demanding I do something with them.
So I did. The results are nothing to ooh over. I've subjected you to quite a few here (or on Facebook) so you know exactly what I mean. There are bits and pieces that worked well enough that I'll be happy to use them in a real project, but just as many want to be put away.
And that's fine.
Of course, while I've been doing this, the world's gone ahead with the business of being the world - erupting. You can't be from the midwest and not have numerous friends in a big state of agitation. And I've said nothing. Not a word.
I wondered about my detachment. And then I decided to re-frame that. Because I'm not detached at all. I'm just not feeling the need to be talking about these things. What's the opposite of detachment? It can't possibly be 'tachment.' Whatever that is, I'm not persuaded that passing links around makes you tached. Oh. Attached!
Anyway, all my writing and animating anything my little brain's fingers light upon might very well appear to be unrelated to current events, but I know that everything - every thought, reflection, shifting point of view, discovery, transcript, fact check - goes in. It goes in, it marinades and when we get around to creating something, no matter how silly or frivolous, it's been informed.
* * * * * *
Shit. I typed away on the above, hoping my very VERY tiny video would have finished uploading on youtube by the time I finished. If it had, I could have and would have erased the above.
It's at a sloth-like 36% with 2 hours to go. It's 4mb. If there's a worse internet provider, I don't want to meet it.
10 comments:
There are plenty of voices talking about current events. It's kind of nice to just hear some quiet chit-chat from a productive life.
Mom: I'm going to wrap your comment up and tuck it away because that's probably the first and last time I'll be described as quiet. Of course, to MY ears, I am ... :)
You made me Google Dan Fogelberg.
Back to fiction, eh? Well the world is better for it. And isn't interesting how working on one thing creates all sorts of ideas for other work. My "best" writing ideas usually come when I'm coloring with charcoals or pastels. I say sneak off with whatever Muse has the biggest picnic basket that day.
will you share some of your fiction too? I'd love to read it.
Anonymoose: Know what I think is interesting? Every time we discover an arrangement that ignites us, we waste all this time trying to turn it into a recipe. It's a recipe that I, for one, can never quite recall, not exactly.
Maybe that's just the deal.
It's so odd that fiction isn't your favorite thing to read, but it's your favorite thing to write. (I love reading fiction--so maybe you will share yours.)
Well is you is or is you ain't going to show us your little tiny video?
p.s. It's our opinion that you can write fiction and keep doing videos, too.
Churlita and Linda: Oh. I never thought about putting any of it on a blog. Hm. It seems so hard to read on a computer screen, don't you think?
Either way, I'm going to think about that. Thanks for asking, though.
Linda: Is it odd? I can't help it. I love history more than anything. Actually, history and fiction might be the same thing. :)
I didn't mean to suggest I wasn't making videos or animations, just that I wasn't going to keep push, push, PUSHING at learning everything I don't know.
You're on quite a roll--I envy you your momentum. Now I have to add "Masha'allah" which is the Arabic cousin of knocking on wood three times, uttered to ward off the evil eye (a jinx). Me? I need a brain laxative right now. Any old school remedies you might have in mind, I'm desperate to try anything. I know I have a lot of dialogue welled up, but cleaning up the vulgarities whilst avoiding gratuitous potty mouths has me stumped. Now that Rahm Emanuel has a higher profile these days, I'm hoping he'll numb us all to gratuitous potty mouthing.
Mimi'sDaddy: Let's do a blog post about that. Not for a second do I think MY remedies would work for anyone else, but they work for me and that's what counts.
And now that I've written that, I realize I'm a big fat liar. They've worked for all sorts of people. In the end, we all navigate the same cultural obstacles and if someone can point out a faster route around them ... yay.
PS. Sorry. I had to delete and re-enter since I was signed in with a work email. Eek.
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