Book Academy

Today I went to The Book Academy, a writing conference at UVU, and enjoyed myself. It was fun meeting with people like me who love words and nice to be around people who don't talk about their characters like that one guy in one of my college writing classes who said that his characters weren't doing what he wanted them to do. (My teacher looked at him like he had celery growing off his face and said, "You're the author. You get to pick what they do because you're God to them." And that reminded me of when Kilgore Trout gets to meet Kurt Vonnegut in Breakfast of Champions.)

It was fun to learn more about the industry and though I would have liked to get more into the business end of things, the conference wasn't about that. It was still fun and I met some interesting people. Writers are a fascinating bunch. I don't just say this because I consider myself one, they really are interesting to talk to because they generally have more things going on in their heads than most people.

I'm also kinda bummed that I don't have enough of a handle on my place in the industry because it would change how I would relate to people. I didn't network as well as I wanted to, and I have no one to blame on that but myself. I'm not the kind of person who goes around the room like the typical business major. I've got to find my stride on that kind of networking and I'm not there yet.

Can you tell that I've discovered a number of weaknesses today? The trick now is to work on fixing them.

If you didn't hear about it, they're going to have it again next year. Come with me, will you?

What comes first?

Booking Eddie Van Halen or having a triumphant video?

That's one of the things I'm trying to figure out with what I want to do with this SixUnpossible site I've got. It seems like a classic Van Halen-and-the-video conundrum.



Kind of like why Facebook is so popular or why Paris Hilton's famous. Facebook is so popular because it's popular and Paris Hilton's famous because she's famous. It's tautological and kind of maddening. I'm thinking of doing something related to books, but I still don't know enough about the industry or have a clear enough vision of where I fit into the future of books to have a chance. I'm still learning, but soon, very soon, I think I'll have a plan and a vision and be looking for a place to make it happen.

Master of my domain

I know that all three of you are cringing about that title, but yesterday I took the plunge and registered a web domain that I thought suited me. Okay, so it's not the exact one I was looking for, but it's close and possibly better than the one I originally wanted. There are two next steps, I think. The first is to get a design for a logo. The next is to design a placeholder webpage and contact cards. Okay, so that's probably more like three steps.

Image via Wikipedia

Sir John Tenniel's Red Queen

But the new domain is sixunpossible.com. Because the Red Queen thinks of six impossible things before breakfast and it's kind of my natural state of doing things as well. What I'm going to do with it yet, I have no idea. But I've got email and stuff set up for when I actually decide what I want to do with my nifty domain. Don't go there now, there's nothing there yet. I don't know whether I want it to be a consulting business, publishing house, or even an online opium den where you can digitally drop in, tune out, have some pancakes and disappear from reality for weeks at a time and not care. Okay, maybe not so much that last one, but I'm hoping to have some reason for people to visit and say hey. Again, one of those things I'll have to work out.

In the meantime, I'm still looking for a job and still optimistic that there's a company out there looking for me. If you hear of something, let me know, will you?

I'm still here

I'm still here, just haven't been keeping up as well as I could have. I've been really busy with looking for a job, helping other people out with things (since I figure I've got time now) and doing school work.

I've been thinking a lot about Althusser's concept of hailing, about the power of naming things. I also think it's interesting that he seems to be the only person who's done significant work in this area and I'm thinking of writing something up about it as well.

In a brain flash I had frighteningly early this morning, I've come up with a name for my business, when I finally get around to starting one. It's vague enough that it can fit whatever I want to do and descriptive enough that it totally suits me. I'm not telling what it is until I've got the resources to control the identity. I may tackle it in the next few hours.

The other thing I'm doing right now, because I have time, is I've got a friend who's doing a presentation to the youth at church about dating. I figured I would also have some good insights, so I'm working on that. If you were giving a presentation to the teenagers at church about dating, what would you want them to know?