The Demon Computer
I'm lucky, really.
I live in a beautiful (if wet) part of the world, far from the hustle and grind of city life. I have a number of jobs, only one of which I hate, and between me and my partner, Barbara, we earn enough to have a good standard of living. We're going off to Canada for a fortnight's skiing on Friday, and whilst we can't afford to do that every year, I'd be a churl if I were to complain.
I get to spend most of my time sitting in front of the computer, either writing novels no one wants to publish or designing, building and maintaining research databases (yawn). There's also the touchy-feely farmer thing, but the less said about that the better.
If I've had enough of the flickering screen, I can always take my three small dogs for a long walk (even if it is raining, which in Wales is more often than not) and it is here, in the endless woods and rolling green hills that I have my great and deep thoughts.
A good stroll takes an hour to and hour and a half. Plenty of time to fulminate on the meaning of life, the reason for cheese straws and why it is that terriers do the things they do. I sometimes have ideas for novels and short stories; often come up with resolutions to tricky plot problems. I worry and hypothesise and occasionally wander for miles without a single coherent thought. All in all it is quality time.
The problem comes when I get back home. Fresh with a boiling mess of ideas, I rush upstairs to my study and switch on the computer. But as soon as the screen starts to flicker, all creativity begins to ooze out of my brain. The thoughts, concepts, imaginings and other useless stuff scurry away to a dark recess somewhere near my occipital lobe and hide, giggling into their hands at the joke like adolescent schoolgirls (I was going to put a link in there, but thought the better of it.)
The upside of all this random wittering is that I often can't think of thing to say. Pathetic, isn't it.
But my last blog was about having nothing to say, so this time I'll have to think of something interesting and thought-provoking.
I live in a beautiful (if wet) part of the world, far from the hustle and grind of city life. I have a number of jobs, only one of which I hate, and between me and my partner, Barbara, we earn enough to have a good standard of living. We're going off to Canada for a fortnight's skiing on Friday, and whilst we can't afford to do that every year, I'd be a churl if I were to complain.
I get to spend most of my time sitting in front of the computer, either writing novels no one wants to publish or designing, building and maintaining research databases (yawn). There's also the touchy-feely farmer thing, but the less said about that the better.
If I've had enough of the flickering screen, I can always take my three small dogs for a long walk (even if it is raining, which in Wales is more often than not) and it is here, in the endless woods and rolling green hills that I have my great and deep thoughts.
A good stroll takes an hour to and hour and a half. Plenty of time to fulminate on the meaning of life, the reason for cheese straws and why it is that terriers do the things they do. I sometimes have ideas for novels and short stories; often come up with resolutions to tricky plot problems. I worry and hypothesise and occasionally wander for miles without a single coherent thought. All in all it is quality time.
The problem comes when I get back home. Fresh with a boiling mess of ideas, I rush upstairs to my study and switch on the computer. But as soon as the screen starts to flicker, all creativity begins to ooze out of my brain. The thoughts, concepts, imaginings and other useless stuff scurry away to a dark recess somewhere near my occipital lobe and hide, giggling into their hands at the joke like adolescent schoolgirls (I was going to put a link in there, but thought the better of it.)
The upside of all this random wittering is that I often can't think of thing to say. Pathetic, isn't it.
But my last blog was about having nothing to say, so this time I'll have to think of something interesting and thought-provoking.
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