A Random Update

As things return to calm in my life I hope to once again post more here on this blog. But there are still things that will probably get in the way of that. Life being what it is I doubt I’ll be able to post as much as I used to. Once a week seems well out of reach for the time being. And the fact that I still have other projects I’m working on that require my attention is another factor I’m going to need to take into consideration when the time comes.
Also it needs to be said that my other project is more important to me right now, and it has the possibility of making me money, something that this blog simply can’t do right now.
Of course I still love writing and will continue to do so as often as I can here on this blog.

Another matter of business: This blogs name is–well it doesn’t make as much sense as it used to. I no longer just post Poems here, and I have lots of fiction and other fun idea’s as well. But I have not really found a good name to replace Wandering Poems with. So for the time being I think I’ll keep things as is, and if changes need to happen then I’ll worry about them then.

I think that’s everything for now, until we meet again.

I’m Still Alive

Hello everyone, you may have noticed I have not been posting as much lately. Don’t worry–I’m still alive. And am in fact still working on various writing projects and idea’s. But nothing that would really work to post here–and with everything going on here in the US the poetry part of my brain has not been working very well.
I’m going to be spending sometime meditating on how to post more here on this blog and if that’s even possible at this point in time. Life being what it is, I’m not sure I’ll be able to post more then once a week.

Well that’s all for now, until next time.

It’s That Time Again

Hello everyone, it is once again time for me to reflect on the number of projects and things I’ve been working on. And for me to ask the question: is this to much? It’s a tad redundant but if I don’t do this from time to time I find that I can overwhelm myself with too many different things.
But since this is the 2020 version of this problem I have a slight variation on this theme: is this too much going forward?

2020 has been good in terms of being able to work on a bunch of different projects. But I have to ask myself if this is something I’m going to be able to keep up. And the honest answer is–no–I really will not be able to. I’ve spread myself a tad to thin, and I need to once again re-consolidate, and re-focus.

So in that spirit here are some of the changes coming soon to a blog writer near you:

1. I will be getting rid of my Cryptix Blog.
The link for that blog will lead here instead. I only have two followers on that blog so it seems like this is a good call. I will be posting things I would have posted over there over here instead.

2. Write more of what I want, and less of what I think I have too.
This is one of my major lessons from 2020, don’t pressure myself to write–unless someone is going to be paying me for it.

3. Re-brand.
It might go without saying but image is everything. And while this blog has been doing fairly well for it’s self it may be time to move beyond the “Wandering Poems” label–after all–I have a lot more projects that are going to be living on this blog now. And I might try to find a better name. Mind you I don’t know what that’s going to be yet. But I do intend on doing it.

Well–that’s about it. Over the next few day’s I’m going to be implementing 1 and 2, and I hope to get around to 3 sometime in 2021. But I am glad to have all of you along for the ride, no matter how wild things get.

Until next time everyone.

This is Important

Warning: the following post is political.

I have spent a lot of time trying to come up with something meaningful to say about this election we have coming up. And I kept failing, I’m not a political annalists by any stretch of the imagination–though I do have a sociology degree my focuses has never really been on standard politics–I’m more a Pollock person. Even then I’ve spent most of my life using my words in poetry and fiction. And as such I’m really out of practice when it comes to these sorts of things.

So after spending way to much time thinking about it this is what I’ve decided to say: this is important. Yes all elections are important, but right now this one is more important. And it is essential that we don’t lose sight of that. I have seen far to many people become disillusioned with our political system and start to think that these things don’t matter–but they do.

You may not get the politicians that you want, you may not get the political system you want, you will most likely not get to live in the kind of world you want. And you have every right to be angry and frustrated about that. But this election right now, it still matters. And dismissing the two sides as being the same in this moment is simply false.

I would hope we can all be mature enough to understand that getting what we want isn’t the only reason to vote. And it isn’t the only reason to care, that’s selfishness. We must care even when we have every reason not to, even when we get nothing for ourselves from the deal. A world where people care enough about others to vote on their behalf is a good one, it’s hard to achieve, but it’s worth striving for.

I only have 300 or so followers–and I know not all of you even live inside the US. But even then I think this is still worth writing–still worth thinking about.

You matter,
This election matters,
And your vote matters,
Even when the system and everyone in it tries to tell you it doesn’t.

You may not be able to get to the world you want to live in, but I think it’s very possible to get to the world that someone else needs right now.

That’s all I have–try to get some sleep everyone–until we meet again.

Checking In

So how’s 2020 been going for all of you? I’ve been fairly productive all things considered. But for whatever reason I’ve been struggling on what long term projects to work on. As usual I probably have too many and I need to cut down on things.
Also there is another thing you’ve probably noticed. I have not been writing Wandering Thoughts blog posts at all since the start of 2020. The year is almost over, surely I must have some thoughts on things. Well I do, but putting things into words has been hard in 2020. I know it’s a writer’s job to put things into words, and I can still get poems, and fiction written no problem, as well as my table top RPG project (Though things have slowed down a bit with that).

Part of me suspects I’m going to have a ton of things to say at the end of 2020. Spiritually and politically, it has been an eventful year. But in terms of major life events I’ve mostly been sitting around, not doing anything. At least I have the option to do that though, we have plenty of money saved and a good living situation that isn’t to expensive. So we can survive until the worst part of the winter is over. I know a lot of people don’t have that option.

Which brings me to the final thing I wanted to write about. Up until this point I have mostly opted to focus on writing poems and fiction and avoid political topics. However I have a few ideas for posts around the 2020 election, and I think I’ll work on those. Don’t worry–it’s nothing really in your face. When it comes to politics I’ve always preferred to be a deep thinker and less of a reactionary (I’m no twitter rage poster). However, I still feel that I should warn people so they can be prepared. I’ll tag the post as political and maybe even make a blog category for it so people know what they are getting into before they read.
I could just make a political blog but–I already have to maintain Cryptix Monsters and the last thing I want is to have another Blog to worry about (this is just a hobby after all). Also I don’t think I’d be able to post enough to be able to maintain a political blog–I just don’t have enough content Idea’s outside of sharing news posts and things I agree with–which doesn’t make for very engaging or important content.

As things stand I think I’m ready for 2020 to be over. But there’s still a lot of living to get through before that happens….

Finding the Word

As someone who has always considered himself a halfway decent writer, I’m having a bit of a crisis right now. I can’t find a word for something. You probably understand what I mean but let’s be clear anyways. What we are living through right now, the experiences and the odd emotions that come along with it. I’ve been looking for a word, or even a phase to help me compartmentalize this experience. To put it in a box and to help me understand.

I’ve heard people call it: “this moment,” “this Covid thing,” “this era,” and many more, I’m sure you’ve heard some yourself. But those all feel like their avoiding the problem. And I’m not sure that’s the right way to go about things. No for me, things need to be given voice and form. And that’s really quite hard. We just don’t seem to have the word. I could of course, make up a word. But I would need the correct sounds, the right letters, with just the right inflection. To make the word that I envision in my head.

But the truth is, that kind of perfect word for this just doesn’t exist right now. And it’s entirely possible it never will. And we will end up never able to fully express how everything made us feel. We will all just have to learn how to live with that.

More Updates

Hello everyone,
I hope you are all doing as well as you can giving the world we now all live in right now. I’m not very good at writing about these sorts of things. And as such I have stuck to my poetry and fiction for the time being. Perhaps maybe soon I’ll be able to write something meaningful about everything that’s been going on.

For now I have a few things to say. First my views have been going down, I’m not sure why and I don’t think there’s anything I can do about it. And I get more out of posting on this blog then just the raw catharsis that is my view count. But that does mean I need to take that into consideration when thinking about how much time I spend working on my blog and how much money I put into it as well.

For now my lowest view posts are actually my Strange Worlds. So while I will keep working on that for the book project I’ve been working on, I’ll stop posting that here. Poems are going to continue and I may even have a short story or two to post. But for now, it is what it is.

I’m probably still going to have more staggered posts for Poems. I’m doing a lot less right now, and that means less inspiration for the most part. And yes I am trying to do more positive poems and less negative ones, but that can be a struggle as well.

Thank you for your time and understanding everyone.

The Inevitable Update

I’ve been furloughed from work starting today.

And that is probably the most ominous opening sentence I’ve written in my life, fiction and poetry included. It really is a scary time, but I’m staying calm and doing all the things that I feel like I should be doing.

I intend to start a daily schedule to keep my sanity and be prepared should I get another job or be called back to the old one. Who knows if that’s even possible at this point. But we seem to live in unprecedented times, so who knows.

I intend to keep updating this blog, I’m just not really sure with what at this point. My more depressing writing project, Lost Sun, is being put on hold. I think I want to keep working on Strange Worlds. But if that becomes my main writing project I may not want to keep posting that story here. But I’m just not sure, I’m going to be trying to keep my writing habits strong in any case.

As for details, I don’t really have any, I was staying home still sick and expecting to return to work next week on Monday. When I got the email from work telling me that they didn’t have anything for me to do and that I should return my work-phone and badge.

Sorry this blog post lacked my usual flair, but I’m also using this to update my family and friends as well.

Until we meet again.

Update: Things have not gone well.

Hello everyone,

Unfortunately I am ending my Lenten meditation poem spree early. As well as my abstinence from social media. Can you guess why? Yup its Covid-19 aka carona virus. I came down with cold like symptoms last week and have been forced to stay home from work. The symptoms are not that bad. But some of the worry and the stress has taken it’s toll on me and trying to maintain this blog has fallen by the wayside for right now. It’s strange–I have plenty of time to write–but I have not been able to get my motivation going enough to keep up with the daily posting schedule I had planned.

So while I do intend to post as I come up with things to post. From now until I can get my act together there are not going to be any guaranteed posts, on any guaranteed schedule.

Thanks for your understanding everyone.

Wandering Thoughts 2/21/2020

So I’ve been fighting with myself about something for a long time. Namely should I start a second blog for my fiction and let this blog just be a poetry blog. Honestly it’s a much harder question then you would think. There are so many things to consider, and it’s not like I’m a big blogger with thousands of followers who can start a second blog and have a good number of people follow me there. What will actually probably happen is I will be shrinking my install base on each blog. And popularity is a huge part of how your site shows up on search results.

But having a more clear purpose for my blog would be nice instead of having the “whatever I want” kind of blog I have right now. While this is mostly a creative writing blog even then there are some things that I post here that don’t fall under that already broad category. And I’m thinking of adding even more kinds of posts that might not so easily fall under that category.

But the thing I keep coming back to is the cost. Free blogs are nice and all but to have a lot of control over a wordpress sight you need a subscription plan. Which is per site not per user, meaning the perks I have for paying doesn’t cross over to any other blogs I might make. That’s a real hit for someone who isn’t making any money on this endeavor. I could always just run a second free site, but then I feel like I wouldn’t come up as much in web-searches.

Maybe I’m thinking to much about this. But for now I think I’m going to stick with the one blog. Life is far to short to be losing sleep over something this trivial, and one website is clearly easier to run then two.

Oh boy this is like the third time I’ve felt the need to justify having a blog called Wandering Poems where I also post things that are not poems–even though nobody asked. I need to get more sleep.

Until next time everyone.