08 | January | 2013 | Seething Apathy

OK – the dreams are getting weirder and weirder… this one now has me eating tubes that look like hard plastic models of intestines and being concerned what I’m eating. I don’t know what to make of this particular one, but I’m hoping that it’s just another phase of sleeping. I’ll have some intense dreams and they’ll peter off for a few months and I can go back to having just a normal sleep cycle. I also woke up this morning to a headache which was easily taken care of with a couple of aspirin. On the brighter side – I had biscuits and gravy! The best breakfast in the morning is Hawaiian Rolls and sausage gravy – especially in the cold Louisville mornings. Wait – did I just complain about the cold? I must be getting old.

I/O Error has entered into the ‘dribbles and drabs’ phase of the writing relationship, so if I get a thousand words today, it will be a miracle. I used to get frustrated over this part. Now, I just let it go and keep on going. As long as I am putting words on the page, I am moving forward and getting the book done. That’s all that matters in the end. Well – that and getting the Hugo… and the Nebula… and a Stoker and a Poe while we’re thinking about it. As long as I keep my expectations realistic, I should do fine. J

I just watched the premiere of Deception. The deception is that this is a show worth watching. So far, everything in it is predictable: rich, corrupt family, poor little rich girls, and the return of the prodigal friend. Broadcast TV (in my humble opinion) is producing good shows few and far, far between that don’t seem to keep up the quality for very long (Fox – I’m looking at you). I can understand that they are having problems in getting good writers to commit when cable TV (especially the premium channels) can come along and make a more substantial offer. Now, am I saying that cable TV is an oasis of entertainment? Heck, no – SyFy and the other Universal channels continue to take the Aldi’s approach to TV regardless of what the fans say. So far, FX has some of the best shows so far: Sons of Anarchy, American Horror Story: Asylum and the upcoming The Americans. If you want to low brow it – there’s Wilfred and Anger Management. What do the big studios need to do in order to get eyes back on them? Short answer? Attract the talent. Longer answer: wave the money under the nose of the writer (… and fellas, I am competitively cheap) and be willing to take some risks. Yes – there are people who are going to have their feathers ruffled, so screw them. There is no such thing as bad publicity. If you get a good product out there, the money will come. Ask HBO and FX.