Book - The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck

Was my favourite character Tom or Casy?

Despite being a reluctant consumer, I have allowed myself the reading of books as a legitimate use of time. In particular books which could either be considered 'classics' or contribute to my understanding of a subject.

I came to know of Steinbeck by accident, I was gifted East of Eden when the original recipient was no longer able to make best use of the book and so it ended up in my hands. I immediately fell in love with Steinbecks style of writing, it is seemingly known as realism, but particularly 'american realism'.

I had already claimed, at that point, an appreciation for american literature and being immersed in the story of californian settlers with its biblical analogies proved a great experience. The Grapes of Wrath delivers similarly in scale and in capturing a momentous moment in american history. It has certainly prompted a growing interest in the US in the early 20th century.

Real 'Okies' going West: cars hacked into trucks and loaded high.

The book weaves the story of a single large family, making their way west in search of work and in escape from the dust bowl of middle america, with short expositions on the general experience of migrants going to California during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Interesting fact is that Steinbeck wrote his first draft over some 190 days, day after day, aiming for 2000 words a day. Following that first draft he only then added 2 paragraphs and removed one other; quite the aceivement of prose!

I've created a blog

I'm nearly done with these introductory, slightly meta posts. I'll soon progress into posts of actual substance for the time being I am just getting into the swing of things!

So this is a post about creativity, and about creating this blog.

Too many memes already?

I mentioned in my previous post that I have had a blog in the past, it was during my teen years and was quite the sight to behold. Questionnaires, attempts at poetry, bitching and moaning to my friends and making claims to not be as angst-ridden as I thought I was. It died a death as friends migrated to Myspace and then Facebook.

It's been a long time since I've done anything you could call personal or creating writing, certainly nothing longer than a Facebook post or twitter update. It is something that given enough time I could perhaps enjoy more for the pleasure of writing it, rather than what it might tend to be, which is for the pleasure of receiving views and comments. I hope that will be the case.

I have not done much in regards to the template for the blog or gone to much effort being 'creative' in formatting or such - I know that procrastination trap and it has caught me on other personal projects. It is easier to do the superficial and time-consuming tasks (which font, what size, green or azure?) than it is to just get started on the real meaty stuff.

A bit of self-awareness helps me know my own weaknesses.

Introduction Part 2: Incapable Creator

Establishing that I no longer want to be the consumer I have to find some other way to fill my time! Some other, actual past-times. This blog is creation Numero Uno, the first of many opportunities to exercise some creative muscles (Hey, we are all creative right?!).

This would be a good start.

My plan of action is as follows:

1. Anything I do consume, I must recreate! The simplest guise that this can take will be in the form of reviews or simple commentary on. If I watch a TV series, I need to produce something as a result. Everything should have a creative end.
2. I must not worry about the quality! I have to recognise the inevitable fact that no-one will read this, very few will pass comment, and ultimately the dubious quality of what I produce will be questionable to say the least. Acknowledging this and getting over it is a very important step!
3. No Thoughts and icky Feelings! My last blog was full of teen angst and woes; that won't be happening here. Ok, so some comment's may pass but only in relation to Rule 1.

There will be no schedule, that might be counter productive, and I also have a small back log of recent consumptions to post about which will account for any initial flurry of activity. Anyway, as stated step one, this blog is now on its feet! Hoorah!

Achievement Unlocked!

Introduction Part 1: Reluctant Consumer

Hello, World.

The contemporary western world is dominated by consumption. We consume at incredible rates and consumption is pervasive through many aspects of our lives. Produce, products, media, even friends.

Personally, I consume information - useless information at that. I browse sites like Reddit, LifeHacker, Youtube and superficial news sites consuming irrelevant information, jokes, memes and pointless gossip. It is incredible the amount of time that I, and others, can waste swallowing up useless factoids. Entire evenings ruined by cats, and interviews with someone with no hands or feet.

I'll watch endless TV shows, watch too many movies ripped from the internet and I'll watch crap daytime TV if I'm not at work.

And the truth of it is, I don't enjoy it. I sit there until 2 a.m. and I want to goto sleep, but deeper down the rabbit hole I go. This blog is a chronicle of this consumer state of mind and my reluctance to be influenced by it! I'm not going cold turkey but I want to reduce the way I waste my free time.

I hope I get to feel this once i break out of the rhythm of consuming...

I don't think consumption is a good use of time. I want to create things, or at the very least not waste my time learning about pointless things. This blog is going to chronicle that effort.