A blah patch

I'm going through a blah patch of sorts.

Writing is difficult, interest is dwindling in most of my regular activities, and I am just generally bored with almost everything. What is the solution? I'm not entirely sure, but I expect that this patch will be shortlived as every feeling I ever have is. I at least hope that's the case.

I recently finished a good book, Harry, Revised by Mark Sarvas. I hadn't read anything for a while before this one, and I got lucky with a good, wholesome story with quite a bit of humor, though at times leaning toward the dark side. If you recall I had attempted to read The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald, but abandoned it after some time, because it was just too intense. Didn't have that problem with Harry, Revised, as it was a pretty lightweight story about a good guy doing bad, self-serving things that are hilarious in the end. Harry, the main character, struck me as a cross between John Cusack and Robert Downey, Jr., having the same awkward air as most of the characters that these two actors tend to play.

Also, I've been trying to go through some short stories I had started in the past, but never finished. My attempt is to find some kind of springboard to help me get back on the creative writing path. This is proving difficult, as most of these stories are either badly written in my opinion, or lacking any kind of direction... they're simply creative writing-type sentences that don't amount to much of a story. I'm finding that in order to have a springboard, I must do a whole lot of editing and rewriting, in which case, I am basically back at square one and must strain to find a story I want to tell. I'm not through all the stories I have yet, but so far, I'm not feeling too good about my stockpile of fiction.

Fiction is so difficult and intimidating to me. Many writers prefer fiction to non-fiction. It requires less accuracy, they say. For me, I feel that with non-fiction, i.e., columns, or articles, there is a trail I only need to pave. With fiction I must start from scratch and make way for the trail myself, and pave it as well. One of these days I imagine that fiction will become less intimidating to me, but right now I feel it is an insurmountable challenge I must struggle to overcome in order to become the writer I would like to be. But like they say: Practice makes perfect. Practice is all I can do to advance my skills in this area.

Physical activity has also become on the boring, stagnant side. I've been wanting for quite some time to take up some kind of light sport (aside from golf) that doesn't require too much athleticism. Tennis has been a sport I've wanted to get into for the last couple of years, but I was always too late for the session of classes offered in my area. Perhaps with the demand, tennis instructors are offering more sessions and making the sport more accessible in my area, which is great. I've been looking into it and I think I might be able to get the basics of tennis down for a few Saturdays in July at a very reasonable price. Yes, tennis requires a little more athleticism than say, golf, but I do have some experience with tennis and like it enough to give it a try as a form of exercise. I feel comfortable with tennis, mainly because it's an independent sport. You only need to be as competitive as you'd like to be, and it's all up to you. I don't do well in teams where my teammates are competitive and think winning is everything. Gym class made that very clear to me.

I'm not watching many movies, as you can tell. My movie reviews have taken a rest for a while, and the few movies I have watched, or do watch are usually ones I've already seen, or ones that I don't feel too inspired to write about. I did watch Clueless recently and enjoyed the walk down memory lane from my teenagehood. The music, the clothes, the jokes... it all brought back so many pleasant memories.

This blah patch will go away soon, I hope. In the meantime, I hope I can get back on track with my creative writing and improve it to my satisfaction and move a whole lot forward.