Derry, Northern Ireland

Derry, Northern Ireland
A book I'm working on is set in this town.

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Music helps...

Depeche Mode's song gave me the light to see a path through the tangled words, and I now have a clearer sense of the chapter and what it needed. I've probably added a couple pages, but some of it's repetition and plot points that can be moved to earlier points in the book. What matters is, it no longer feels forced or ABC. Much better.

That's how I spent my birthday -- getting Jake into some deep shit and then finding a way out, again. I'd thought I'd take a jaunt over to Canada and have a nice meal at a steakhouse I like, but I didn't feel up to handling the nonsense of afternoon traffic beyond what it took to get me home. So instead, I dozed a little as I streamed Raul Campos' most recent show on KCRW, then woke up, grilled a hot dog and got to work on my own version of Revelations.

BTW, if you ever want to see a case of a decent website redesigned into something that is impossible to deal with, check KCRW's out. I used to be able to go straight into the archives and pull up any DJ I wanted. Now? Just try and find any of them being linked to. The main page is so full of crap, you can't find anything. You have to search by name, and then it brings up a dozen different possibilities, only one of which is their latest program. Damn, it's a chore.

I have no problem with change, so long as it makes sense. When it's done just for its own sake, it irritates me, because 9 times out of 10 it's not for the better. Our computer setup at work is like that. We had an okay system that did need upgrading, but what's replaced it is insane. For example, I can't save documents from a program to our server unless I first save it to my desktop and then shift it over, when it used to be a one-click process.

That's not to say other things aren't better, but when a new system adds steps to what used to be easy you have to wonder what the idiots who wrote the thing were thinking.

Probably fell in love with their code, says he who often loves his words too much.

2 comments:

MAC said...

Happy Birthday, my friend!

Music is a constant in my life. There's not a day goes by that it it's not part of my routine. It inspires, motivates, comforts... and most importantly, brings me joy.

I hope you have a great weekend!

JamTheCat said...

Thanks, Mac.

I know from whence you come, as regards music. I can't really get the rhythm of a story until I know the song of the main character.

And I love just about everything of Depeche Mode's.