About Me
M.A. Brotherton is many things, a mad genius, a gluttonous buffoon, and on occasion a dark avenger of the wronged. Mostly he's a man in his late twenties that has clearly made some bad decisions in life.
Of course, this rabbit hole goes much deeper.
Day 30 – You Favorite Song this time Last Year
My memory from this time last year is a little fuzzy. I was throat deep into Reverb 10, cycling around through my own internal turmoil. I decided I would go sliding through all of the songs that were out this time last year and figure out exactly what I felt about them. It took a bit of sifting to figure out what really stood out above the rest, and there was some really good music last year.
In the end, though, I felt it came down to a choice between two songs. One that I actually listened to last year and can remember bebopping to with friends way back on the night we went to the Record Bar, and one that I don’t really think I’d ever heard until recently. For that reason, I’ve decided one of them wins out and the other just gets a place on my mp3 player.
The winner is:
C-Lo Green – F**k You
C-Lo Green has a sense of humor that any geek would get. Of course this probably comes from the fact that he is indeed a giant geek. I’m not sure when the first time I hear F**k You play was, but I do remember that it was the radio edit, which cleverly replaces the primary expletive with the word “forget,” although I’ve also heard an edited version of the song just say, “eff.” Anyway, I clearly remember thinking to myself, “Damn, this is a fun song that I want to play loudly all the time.”
It turns out, many of my friends felt the same way.
Seems to me that we all have a relationship we are bitter about ending, and this is just about the best song for it ever.
I think 20 years from now, it’ll be a classic.
Day 29 – A Song From your Childhood
My parents are music people. My dad had a pretty awesome and extensive collection of vinyl albums. I grew up listening to some of the truly great classics, everything from Pink Floyd to Peter, Paul and Mary. Actually, when I was a small kid, Peter, Paul and Mary was probably my favorite group ever.
Now, reading that, you would probably assume that “Puff the Magic Dragon” is the song that I remember most from being a kid, and it is definitely in the old memory banks, but it wasn’t my favorite. In fact, my favorite song probably influenced me quite a bit later in life when I started writing. It taught me about the importance of dancing around the censors, and when I was in a position to do so, smash them with a hammer.
I can remember when I was a kid, I would listen to this song, and really the whole album, over and over again on my knock-off walk-man. The message really struck home for me in a way that I didn’t really get from all of the other songs in their collection. I mean, I understood there were lessons there, but this is the one that stuck with me the most.
Damn the man, save the Empire.
Day 28 – A Song That Makes You Feel Guilty
Guilt. Awe, Guilt. I am a connoisseur of guilt. I like to try out different varieties like taste testing fine wine. It rolls around my tongue and I savor it. I guess you could say, I’ve got a complex. It doesn’t take too terribly much to send me into a spiral of guilt and self loathing. The hard thing about it is, music is what I use to comfort myself most of the time. I don’t find a lot of shame in music. Just the opposite, really. Music is about redemption.
Of course, just about any music is great for this. Anything that pumps up the brain juice and gets blood flowing will pull you out of a funk. Of course some songs are obviously directed at redemption, for example Redemption Songs by Bob Marley, but those aren’t the best songs in my opinion.
I like songs that are about the struggle to be a better person in general.
See, try to have a negative emotion now. You can’t, there is too much awesome for that.
Day 27 – A Song You Wish You Could Play on a Musical Instrument
I once wasted an inordinate amount of my little brother’s time trying to learn to play guitar. He did his best to teach me. He believed that anyone can learn to play guitar with enough practice. After a handful of lessons, it became clear that not only did I have no musical talent, I had negative musical talent. I had a talent for being incapable of learning to play the guitar. It was sad, I really wanted to learn it.
I guess at some point in their life, every guy wants to learn to play guitar, probably because it impresses women, or so we are programmed to believe.
I had a real reason for wanting to learn, though. I wanted to play one particular song, and sing along with it. I love this song, and the show it is the theme song for.
The Ballad of Serenity
I really do want to play this song, preferably sitting under a tree near a camp fire with the stars shining down from the sky. I would pause every once in a while to take drag from a cigarette or eat a cold hot dog.
Yeah, that would be pretty awesome.
Slow Week for #NaNoWriMo as I enjoy November
It rained most of this week, which you would think would give me plenty of time to get some writing done because I wouldn’t be able to play outside with the other kids, but you’d be wrong. The cold rainy days of late fall are always the hardest for me as far as getting up the motivation to do anything goes. For some insane reason work decided to pick up this week, too. These aren’t excuses, I managed to get all of my words in during the week and am still running about three days ahead.
Of course, November is a magical time of year in Missouri, where the weather transitions from the beautiful leaves and crisp winds of October into the dreary, raining sludge filled 
early winter. It’s a great time to get yourself into a good funk, which can actually be pretty good for the creative spirit. Since I was too busy at work to get a good writing flow going, I instead started doodling.
In a fit of boredom, I even made a trip to Office Depot to check out their giant wall of pens and convinced myself it was time to take the plunge and buy a Sharpie Pen. Since all of my pens are black, I decided to get a blue one. So far, I’m very happy with my decision.
Have you ever had a Sharpie that you didn’t like?
I haven’t.
Anyway, I’ve slowed down my progress on my NaNoWriMo project. I hit the second week blues, when you start to look at your project and realize that it Is the absolute worst thing anyone has ever written. It took having a pretty great cheerleader asking me every couple of hours how many words I had written to get me through it. All that matters is the word count, it can be rewritten into something good later.
I also got a great piece of advice from my Dad that I think everyone participating in NaNoWriMo should read:
No such thing as unusable. It just may not fit this project. Beside, remember the old saying, from tiny acorns giant oaks grow. If only a portion of your 50000 words fit the storyline then that start will grow to be a big finished product. Keep up the good work and fine tune it another time.
So, keep plowing away, and if you get stuck, there is always doodling. No one reads your 50,000 words, so even if you just write, “I am a giant looser” over and over again, you are technically a winner.
But don’t do that…. I’m copyrighting that idea.
Day 26 – A Song You can Play on an Instrument
It is a little known fact about me that I used to play the Clarinet. This generally comes as a surprise to anyone that has known me for a while, because I very much lack any form of musical talent, or rhythm… or the basic eye hand coordination required to not poke my own eye out with a spoon while eating soup. In fact, I even make the joke pretty often that all of the musical talent that seems pretty prominent in my family just flat out skipped me. It’s sad really, because I love music.
I’m okay with that. I just assume that means my little brother got a double dosage of musical talent, and thanks to that, there will one day be a rock star in our family that I could potentially mooch off of if I needed to.
Of course even though I haven’t played my Clarinet in close to 15 years now, I still remember some of it, and have here and there over the years applied that to playing Recorder, which is played very much like a clarinet.
I have a couple of songs I can bust out on that thing, but of course, the one that I can play the best is pretty simple:
I do, of course still have a goal of learning to play the harmonica, if for no other reason than to complete my “John Popper” Halloween costume.
Maybe I can get my little Bro to teach me.
How I am Kicking #NaNoWriMo’s Ass after The First Week
I clearly underestimated how equally exhausting and exhilarating this project was going to be. I’ve been in the zone, hammering out word after word, making real progress. It is a strange combination of being drained emotionally and creatively, and also energized by the building sense of accomplishment. Section after section builds off of each other and before you know it, you’ve hammered out 10,000 words on the second night. You’re suddenly a week ahead already, but that doesn’t mean your mind will let you rest. It makes you stay up late and get up early. It is intoxicating.
What Makes this Year Different
In the few short days since the beginning of November, I have already completed more for this year’s NaNoWriMo than I have for all of the last three years combined. I attribute this to a couple of reasons. I think they are just a couple of things I have done a little differently this year, tiny things that anyone can do to help achieve more success with their NaNoWriMo, or any other writing project really.
Writing Every Day – All Year Long – 750 Words
This one is probably something that anyone who is attempting NaNoWriMo already knows, but the best way to learn to write a consistent 1700 words a day is to make sure you write 1700 words every day. For me, this really triggered when I started writing on 750words.com every day. I didn’t realize it until I began working on a serious writing project, but it helped me in two huge ways that I’d never thought of before:
- The more often I write, the better I become at doing so quickly.
- It got me used to looking at word counts and words per hour instead of nitpicking every word I put down.
A really important part of the writing process is just getting the story down in the first place. If you’re anything like me, you can get in your own way of getting that first draft out because you are spending too much time agonizing over every turn of phrase, trying desperately to create a final draft all at once. The reason that is a bad way to write is because it kills the flow of words coming out of your mind and takes you out of the zone. When you just focus on the task of telling your story, you will find that you’ve written way more and farther into it than you ever realized.
Outlines Have Power
I have never tried to write anything off of an outline before. I know that when I was doing debate in high school they taught us to use outlines to organize our thoughts for speeches, but I never really got into that. I put them together because I was supposed to and then sort of ignored them from there. I did the same basic thing with other writing projects, and it’s even a phenomenon we experience with the podcast. It was Chris, though, that really turned me on to how to use them properly. He uses outlines in almost all of his writing, and he is the reason our topics on Half Drunk are organized that way.
What I have learned, though, is that what makes outlines great for writing is the same thing that annoys Chris while we’re podcasting. You can skip all over them when you want to. As I write one part of my book, if I hit a roadblock there, I can switch my focus to a different part of the outline and work on it there. It might not be pretty, but it works amazingly to keep my productive. I never feel like I’m stuck working on something that isn’t flowing naturally. When I get to a barrier, I just jump to a different part of the book. Usually doing so will unlock my brain and let me go back to the other part with a clear, new idea.
Pen and Keyboard
Quite by accident I discovered a technique that keeps my mind running in high gear. I do quite a bit of writing at work, where I have a really crappy, old computer. After losing the first 600 words I had written for NaNoWriMo due to it’s crash-tendencies, I started writing my book directly into Google Docs. Google Docs has auto-save features and is running in the cloud, meaning I can work on my book from any computer connected to the internet, or even from my phone if I needed to. That didn’t stop the complete suck factor of my computer from slowing down my writing though. It would often freeze up if I typed too fast, and I would have to wait for it to work out the traffic jam and play catch up.
I started pulling out a little notebook each time that happened and continuing to write by hand. Handwriting is slower, but at the same time, the tactile experience of pen in hand squiggling away across paper has a potent value to it. Psychologist have even done research to indicate that the act of writing by hand actually increases the response levels in the creative sections of the human brain. Most importantly, it keeps me going even when my computer is seizing up.
When I come to a point where I finish a thought on the notebook, hit a writer’s block, or just need to give my wrist a break, I switch back to typing. I copy what I just wrote longhand into the document, and before I know it, I’ve hammered out even more words. It’s like the act of switching mediums refreshes my mind and gives me an ability to just keep going longer and faster.
You should give it a try.
Be sure to head over to the NaNoWriMo Site and sign up to participate, if you do, be sure to add me as a writing buddy. We can keep each other on track.
#NaNoWriMo – A Journey of Sorts
I first learned about National Novel Writing Month back in 2008. It intrigued me back then, and has come around each year to capture my attention again. I a willing to admit that though this is my fourth year participating in NaNoWriMo, I have never actually finished the challenge of putting 50,000 words onto paper in one month. In the past, I have gone into the entire project with the belief that if I just want to get it done, then it will magically become finished. I even took a month off of writing the blog last year because I was convinced that I’d just be able to do it out of desire to get it done. I did not actually dedicate myself to doing it, or spend time working on it. I didn’t keep myself in a place of accountability for it.
This year, I’ve decided to do things a little bit differently. Firstly, I’ve spent the last couple of weeks hammering out blog posts in advance. It’ll be a shame to have done all of that work if I don’t spend the time it gave me to finish something.
I’ve also put together a bunch of notes and an outline. I’ve never worked off an outline before when writing. I don’t know if I will actually benefit from it this time, but it can’t possibly hurt. Of course, anything I can do will be better than the last three attempts, which have actually resulted in, well, nothing.
Anyway, I plan to keep you updated on my progress each Friday. That way, you’ll all be able to say, “Shouldn’t you be doing some writing?”
Only time will tell if it is successful.
If you want to track my process or become my NaNo-Buddy, you can find me on NaNoWriMo.Org here.
Day 25 – A Song that Makes You Laugh
Ok, I suppose it’s fair to say that I’m a pretty big fan of comedy in music. I grew up listening to Weird Al, and it wasn’t long into my early twenties that I learned about Jonathan Coulton and MC Chris. In fact these days, I probably listen to more comedy music than serious music. That’s probably because comedy is such a huge part of the Nerdcore and Geek Rock movements, which I absolutely adore.
That being said, there are a lot of songs out there that make me giggle, chortle and chuckle. The true test of a song is if it is funny enough to make me absolutely guffaw, and my friends, I think there are only a handful of those out there. Of course, I love them all.
Baby Got Back
Baby Got Back isn’t necessarily comedy gold in and of itself. Don’t get me wrong, Mix-A-Lot was a clever genius when it came to the parody game here, but what really makes this song have the potential to put you into the hospital from laugh exhaustion is the reaction that every single person in the country has when a DJ starts to play it at a bar or wedding. If you’ve never noticed, just about every person you see will jump up and suddenly start wooing, usually while smacking someone else on the ass.
Oh yeah, thank to you, Sir Mix-A-Lot, for the brilliant slapstick that plays out when jiggly, uncoordinated people go into some sort of anal obsessed orgy of convulsions on the dance floor. It has, and will again I am sure, kept me from killing an entire room full of random and annoying strangers with fire. That makes you a hero for everyone.
HONORABLE MENTION: Like A Boss
I have to throw out there how much I enjoy the Lonely Island. If it wasn’t for the fact that I am either sleeping or doing something productive with my life, these guys would have actually gotten me to watch Saturday Night Live again. I am aware that their particular humor isn’t for everyone, but I think most people my age at least thoroughly enjoy it.
Also, they get bonus props for the phrase, “Like a Boss,” becoming part of everyday conversation for most Gen-Yers.
Day 24 – A Song You Want to Play At Your Funeral
I believe it to be fairly obvious that I have absolutely no intentions of dying, ever. I’ve written before about how I will have my brain implanted into a robot body in order to not only avoid death but to gain an ultimate understanding of the universe. That’s just my bag, baby. Of course my immortality as a cloud of nanobots doesn’t entirely prevent my family from morning my passing, so I can understand why they would still want to have a funeral for me, which I would of course attend, possibly in the form of a penguin or unicorn. You know, something that would really make them think, “WTF, Mate?”
Of course, the purpose of a funeral has very little to do with the dead person in the casket. Generally speaking, outside of a truly elaborate hoax, they aren’t very likely to be aware of what is going on anyway. My personal, spiritual beliefs lead me to think that once a person’s corpse is laying there, they really don’t care what we do with it at all, and my preferred way of dealing with death is to celebrate the life of that person, even if it is REALLY hard to do that sometimes.
After all, funerals are a completely selfish act, entirely designed to assuage the pain of the bereaved. That is a good thing, because the guest of honor doesn’t have to worry about those sorts of things anymore, and unless they were a completely dick, wouldn’t want us all suffering on their behalf.
That’s why, on the off chance that I do die in a freak accident or something before the robot body upgrade, I’ve put together some of my own wishes for my funeral, most of which will probably be completely ignored.
1) Cremation – I don’t understand why this isn’t a legal requirement already. Cemeteries take up a lot of space and pollute the environment with human rot. Plus, there is absolutely no chance of a person coming back as a pile of Zombie Dust. The worst you can have here is dirty ghost.
2) Open Bar – My friends are drunks, give them cheap booze and they won’t even miss me by midnight.
3) Viking Funeral – After you’ve made sure I’m 100% ash, and thus ensuring that I can not ever become a zombie, or hemophiliac’s new friend, put my ashes in a boat and burn it on a lake. The best part of doing it this way is not only do you ensure I burn up completely, but you only have to burn a tiny little toy boat. Added bonus: put little models of my stuff in the toy boat with me, that way you honor the full ritual and get to keep my stuff.
4) After everyone is drunk and my remains are scattered by fire across a lake, making it completely impossible for any of you to desecrate them, then you made read my journal of letters to be delivered after I die. Preferably out loud while they are all assembled. This gives me the last laugh, you see. Some of them will feel warm and loved, and some of them will be publicly embarrassed. It’ll be just like I was still there.
5) Techno Rave Party
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RV3-fFVNAA
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