Reasons, Lame and Otherwise, for My Recent Silence

In November, inspired by Nanowrimo, the event where instead of writing a novel nobody will read over the course of many years, participants write one in a month, I decided to blog every day that month. I didn't, but November featured more entries than any month up until then. They were not all good entries, but as with Nanowrimo, that wasn't the point.

I fell back into my old infrequent writing ways when December rolled around. I really wish I could say I developed and overcame a crippling meth addiction, or have been working on a grand new idea that will make me millions and make all of you love me for my gift to humankind, but I can't. Here are the actual things I've been doing instead:

Listening to The Best Show on WFMU - this 3-hour call-in radio show featuring Tom Scharpling and sometimes his comedy partner Jon Wurster has a very loyal following, including myself. It requires a bit of warming up to, as it's not boom-boom-boom punchline-a-minute comedy, actually some of the funniest bits have set-ups that are several minutes long. A recent classic moment had Tom and comedian Paul F Tompkins dissecting an infomercial for the 10th Annual Gathering of The Juggalos.

Listening to Comedy Death Ray - There is a bit of a theme here. I don't really listen to the radio at all anymore (except for WFMU online), it's all podcasts now. This one features comedians as guests, but it has a lot of comic characters doing bits - Nick Kroll's 'Bobby Bottleservice' character, Paul F Tompkins as Ice-T presenting his latest boneheaded side business, and Brett Gelman as Billy Crystal doing a one-man show of impressions including a very profane Miles Davis.

Looking for a Job - I'm lucky to have my current job and all that. But I'm kind of an ADHD dude, and am bored out of my fucking mind by the current dayjob. Hence the recent descent into comedy addiction. If nothing else, I've found other distractions, which is good. People, I am finding, are not keen on hiring somebody to do something they haven't been doing for the last 15 years. I don't suppose I blame them.

Spending time with the kid and family - Turns out that, contrary to our experience watching people drop out of the Bush Administration, you don't have to quit or lose your job in order to 'spend more time with the family'. You just have to cut down on some of the stupid time-wasting shit you do, like:

Goofing on Twitter - I am @SoundSystemSDC there. I have nearly 600 followers, some of whom may actually be people and not just programs. I've especially loved playing what I'll call hashtag-games for lack of a better term. People will start a hashtag game and then everybody piles on with their version of the joke. Today's is #domesticatedrockstars, which has featured comedy gold like those listed below.

• Minivan Halen (@SoundSystemSDC)
  
• Cleanin' Jay Hawkins (@SoundSystemSDC)
  
• Massengill Scott-Heron (@sexbiscuit)
  
• U2 Knock It Off Already--Can't You See That Daddy Is Trying To Watch the Game? (@JoeBerkowitx)
• Better Homes and Soundgardens (@klyph)

Hey, having done that, can I have a book deal? Nick Douglas put that book out: 'Twitter Wit', but there's no reason I can't cash in too by cutting and pasting other people's creative blurbs into print form. If I'm gone for another month or so, you'll know that's what I'm up to.