#235: What About Brian, Year Six

I came to the realization a few weeks ago that I will never be an author. At least not an author who doesn't need a real job. For one thing, I can't finish a damn thing within a reasonable amount of time. It took over five months for me to write Carrying Valerie and that was a story I had already planned out in my head. I've been working on my currently untitled story about ghosts since early May. I've been working on my book Wilbur and Kolak since 2004. And a few weeks ago, as I was working on the outline for another book, 87, I realized I will never finish it. I have it all planned out. It was going to be my magnum opus. A blend of coming-of-age, historical fiction and the paranormal. I'm going to switch my focus to my short stories, Story Series and this blog. I do plan on finishing Wilbur and Kolak and submitting it but when I will actually get done with it remains to be seen. If you want to read what 87 would kind of be about then you can read my short story Tank N Tummy.

I've been wondering if I should talk more about my family. I see on Twitter and other blogs people specifically talking about their family and while I have mentioned them occasionally I don't go into deep detail about them but I see other people easily writing about them. Maybe it's because I don't want my parenting being judged or my marriage but I've also been more private about my life since I was a teenager so it's not something I'm just keeping from the Internet. My middle name, birthday, both I tend not to tell people. I've also considered myself more of the black sheep of the family. I do things the way I want to and not how I think other people do, I also think I am more daydream-y and flighty than the rest of my family. For better or for worse, I think it's that aspect that has made me a better person.

Another reason I probably don't talk about my family much is because I am kind of a jerk. What I don't like may make people look at me differently. I don't think how you were raised or how you are raising your family makes any difference in how I perceive you but there are some people where that is all they wonder about. Don't get me wrong, my mom raised me well but I think it was watching her do things wrong that ended up making me the responsible adult I am. That's why I don't like and don't give a damn about the families of politicians. So you gave birth to five children, so have other women. So you are a happily married husband with five grown boys, so are other men. I don't care. And neither should anybody else--they need to look at the policies of the individual and learn how to do a simple Google search.

So I will attempt to write more about my family--at least myself, my wife and my son because people seem to like stuff like that. I do a decent job of talking about myself through POB and my comic strip commentary but my family not so much. Sure, there are some things I will not mention. Names, where my wife works, my son's school and I am still keep my middle name and birthday closely guarded.

Until next time, I remain...
~Brian