7 Quick Takes Vol. 36

1.       So, been a long time since I’ve blogged at all. Kind of a lot going on:

2.       I’m actually getting writing gigs now. I’m writing for a group called ‘Freedom Kids’ which is all about getting kids interested in history and using it to teach American Values. There were some creative differences for a while which made me wonder whether I should keep going, but those seem to have been straightened out and they say they loved my first ‘official’ story for them, so that’s good.

3.       Also may have a job writing shortish (10-12 K words) stories for a guy in Prague (!). I’ve sent him my signed contract, but he hasn’t gotten back to me yet, so I’m not quite sure of the state of that one. In any case, I’ve started work on my first story for him.

4.       For that, and for a short story contest that caught my eye, I’ve developed a new fictional universe (that’s, what, six now? I’ve really gotta start knocking these off) involving the End of the World and what happens after. Naturally, what happens after involves giant snakes (I think I have one, maybe two fiction ideas that don’t involve giant snakes in some way. What can I say? I like snakes), giant mutant insect monsters, and a lot of pseudo-western type elements. Oh, and Michigan gets transformed into a Mordor-like evil empire (insert ‘Detroit’ joke here).

5.       I had been planning on going down to Houston next week to do some on-the-spot job hunting, but that has now been pushed back to two weeks from Monday. There are a number of reasons for this (my intensely frustrating last-minute attempts to book a flight were kind of the catalyst), but primarily it’s because I’ve suddenly taken my career search in a new direction and want to work more on that before I go down. It came about when I suddenly realized “wait a second: I’m a moderately intelligent, college grad with three years professional experience under my belt; why am I looking at retail jobs?”

6.       My chief area of focus right now are zoos, because come on; how cool would it be to work at a zoo? So cool that I even applied for what, effectively, was the same type of job I have now (which would be a lot more interesting if I could make ‘feeding people to the crocodile’ jokes). I actually applied for a position at the Houston Zoo Reptile House, but that’s probably a long shot, since I don’t have a natural science degree or any real experience handling venomous animals. Still, can’t hurt to try.

7.       Quote:

“Have you ever heard of some fellows who first came over to this country? You know what they found? They found a howling wilderness, with summers too hot and winters freezing, and they also found some unpleasant little characters who painted their faces. Do you think these pioneers filled out form number X6277 and sent in a report saying the Indians were a little unreasonable? Did they have insurance for their old age, for their crops, for their homes? They did not! They looked at the land, and the forest, and the rivers. They looked at their wives, their kids and their houses, and then they looked up at the sky and they said, ‘Thanks, God, we’ll take it from here.’”

-John Wayne, Without Reservations

Vivat Christus Rex!