Archive for June, 2006

• 6.11.06 "A Little More Competition…" is posted in Reflections

Last night I had a late night chat with Perk Chris about the nature of competition–when to internalize it, when to help out competitors, and when to fight. We weren’t talking about business, but relationships.

Tony, Sara, and I were at the Barking Dog the other night and there was this couple dancing. They were conspicuously incongruous, at least in the most obvious way. She looked like a Katie Holmes on Dawson’s Creek–you know the girl next door who you only wished lived next door (and hadn’t yet turned to scientology). And let’s just say the closest actor he could be compared to would be one of the guys fighting for a remote in a Budweiser commercial. And no, he wasn’t much of a dancer either.

I’m not sure exactly how T & S felt, but it was kind of weird for me; I mean, wtf! Every once in a while I get one of those odd competitive feelings…but especially in scenarios like that it’s obvious the whole story isn’t represented. To go back to Perk Chris, he brought up the point of some Lithuanian nymph he dated. Even with a little bit of a gut, it’s pretty obvious why that had worked out–a more grounded, traveled, and captivating person you won’t come across.

But it all made for some interesting debate. Needless to say, in all cases the best approach seemed to be to keep your mouth shut. I guess this ties in with my other recent post on competition–you’re never going to know the whole them and the world’s not going to know the whole you…even if it seems like respect or praise isn’t distributed to your liking.

All of this talk does make me feel a little uncomfortable overall. I was just reading my cousin’s post about his successes in the book publishing/editing world. One of his comments was: (more…)

• 6.11.06 "Needing a break." is posted in Reflections

I’ve disappeared for a while from writing…mostly because life has been busy on all sides. In particular, I’ve finished everything on that Making Progress post, and am knee dip in projects at work & (gasp!) homework for a night class. I need a break. Fortunately, next weekend Caul & I are heading out to the Eastern Shore with no particular agenda in mind. I can’t wait to rush off and relax…