Techno-Frantic

When I don't write a blog for a longer period of time it doesn't mean my life has come to a grinding halt. It is in fact the opposite. My life has taken on a frantic pace to which there is no slowing down. And since my last blog my pedal has indeed hit the metal. I had actually even written a few blogs, while away from the computer, but for some reason I haven't figured out yet how to get them off of my OpenOffice app on my iPhone to this blog. And this struggle with technology and software seems to have set the tone for my frantic state of being.

It all started with another inquiry from my wife Nancy into my working schedule. Sure I am redrafting 'The Tree of Life', but it is admittedly slow going with little to show for. 'Why not do our maps thing?' she asked me. 'Quickly put together a design we can send to a publisher and while that is in the pipeline return to writing.' It seemed easy enough. The 'maps thing' is a project we came up with last year November while travelling in Cambodia. Visiting Angkor Wat our 4-year old had declared he only wanted to stay at the guest house instead of viewing old temples and ruins made up of faces. In a sudden flash of inspiration Nancy asked if I could come up with a scavenger hunt map for him so he would find renewed interest in tagging along. On a paper place mat I did just that and he was back in the game while we could explore Cambodia's rich history in peace.

We did it again when visiting China over Christmas and it worked like a charm. I made three maps in total, Beijing, Shanghai and Ningbo and Alex had a blast finding the things on the map while staving off the bitter winter cold. Thus field tested with redesigned, full color and with added stickers we had found a hole in the market: localized activity maps for young kids. Now parents all over the world could visit famous cities while involving their kids in the fun of exploration and discovery. But of course that's also when I lost my main job as a web designer. So I started writing 'The Tree of Life' and nine months later here we are back at the maps. Because this blog is mainly about the process of writing, I have left it as it is for now except whenever an idea or concept pops up, which I feel ties into the story of Simon & Sally.

It is also because of the nature of designing a map on Adobe Illustrator (and several other peripheral software packages) that I have neglected a whole slew of routine activities, of which one is this blog. Getting through the learning curve of software can sometimes be dauntingly slow and work intensive. It actually feels like work again (in a good way). I fail to notice when its lunchtime or when I really need to stop because I need to cook dinner. Shopping for groceries gets neglected and meditation and exercise? Forget it. I am on fire when doing visually creative work on the computer. It's very much a digital exploration where there seems to be no limit to what you can do. But it goes at the cost of everything else. I don't write. I don't look for work. I stop eating properly. I neglect chores and sometimes even to dress myself (as I type this in my night clothes).

So there it is. Technology in service of art has hijacked this vehicle and there is no end in sight (much to the frustration of Nancy who had hoped for faster results). Rest assured the Muses are still whispering in my ear, but their inspiration comes not in the form of words and plot lines, but of vector images and anchor points. Until this changes expect a little less blogging. Sorry, but I am no Julie & Julia after all. Writing a blog a day truly is only for Hollywood or the rare true guru's of blogging. Me? I'm just a guy struggling with technology.