Real-Life Side Quest: Backyard Weeds

Remember when I said recently that life is like a video game? Well, it is. To me, at least. And while I'm focusing most of my attention on the main story quest, occasionally side quests will pop up, some of them more annoying than others.

The one that I'm talking about this week is called "Backyard Weeds." It shows up in my side quest log every summer. Most of the time, I'm able to complete it, but this year I think it might be a lost cause. I'm telling you, those blackberries and dandelions and what-have-you are relentless. Remember this post I wrote about weeds ten years ago? Yeah, not much has changed!

The annoyance level of this side quest is probably on par with Fun Fun Island (aka No Fun Island) and Salvatore's Squids from The Legend of Zelda (various titles). I mean, I know I said in this previous post that thinking of these side quests as adventures rather than nuisances makes them more enjoyable, but when the amount of weeds seems to double every week, the adventure starts to wear a little thin.

So while I work on adjusting my attitude (*deep breath* honestly, I am grateful that I even have a backyard), in the meantime, I will try to borrow a chainsaw from my drummer and/or wait until winter arrives and takes care of things naturally.

Stage Play Status Update: Haiku Edition

Two weeks ago, I announced that the script for the stage play adaptation of Joel Suzuki, Volume One was done. And now this week, I give you another status update... in haiku form.

The final title

Just might be Joel Suzuki

and the Wavemakers

I have continued

To make small tweaks to the script

And I'm not done yet

We have a venue

For a practice table read

It is Stephen's Place

We also have friends

Who will be reading for parts

To be cast later

No director yet*

Or any crew besides us

But hopefully soon

* Last-minute update

After doing more research

Now it will be me

Self-Help Book Recs

This week, I want to recommend a couple of nonfiction self-help books that I've recently read. The first is Strengths Finder 2.0.

Although it's more of an introduction/guide to an online assessment than a complete manual in and of itself (don't buy or borrow a used copy if you want to take the assessment, as you'll need an original, unused code), I still found it interesting and inspiring. Basically, it helps you identify your five strongest traits and how you can apply that knowledge toward achieving your goals. I thought my assessment was pretty accurate, as my top trait was "Futuristic," meaning that I envision what the future could be and then try to turn that vision into reality. I especially loved one part of the book that said that "(by) continuously applying your strengths...you can honestly become...a famous author." Okay, book, if you say so!

The other recommendation is The ONE Thing, which basically tells you to focus on, well, one thing in order to achieve success. Identify what your "one thing" in life is, and then put most of your energy into it while cutting out extraneous stuff. The part that really resonated with me was when the author cited Stephen King as an example, saying that King's "one thing" is writing, and that even when he had to work a day job to make a living, he still managed to devote a four-hour block of time every day to his craft.

Both of these books found me at about the same time, and I felt almost like they were magic tomes containing hints about what I should do as I attempted to navigate through a period when life seemed like a video game (more so than usual). Maybe they might do the same for you?

Stage Play Status Update

As I promised last week, here is a status update on Joel Suzuki, The Musical!

If you recall, a month ago I told Joel and Felicity that I would be producing a stage play adaptation of the first book in the Joel Suzuki series. Originally, it was going to be called Wavemaker: A Rock Opera, but then I changed my mind, as I am prone to do (I still may change it back). But regardless of what the title ends up being, a month later, I'm happy to announce that -- drum roll -- the script is done!

A first draft of it, anyway. Or maybe you could call it a 1.3 or 1.4 draft, as I've gone through it a few times and made some revisions. And I'm sure there will be many more revisions to come. I've heard that the writer of the Stranger Things stage play wrote hundreds(!) of drafts of her script, so the bar is set pretty high. Not sure I'll be writing as many, but hey, if that's what it takes to make something that people will really enjoy, then that's what I'll do.

Of course, I'll also be asking other folks to review it and give notes, including whoever ends up being the director. That's right, even though I directed the Hold My Beer short film, I have no intention of directing this. Not only because I want someone with actual live theatre experience to do it, but also because I will be busy as part of the pit band! As I told Joel and Felicity, the play will be a musical that incorporates songs from my band Second Player Score's catalog, so we will be playing the music while the actors do the singing.

So that's where we're at. Stay tuned for more updates!

Stuff I Did This Past Weekend

I've been so busy solving puzzles and fighting boss battles in Life, The Video Game that I forgot to mention the stuff I had going on this past weekend.

On Friday, my sometimes-a-band Second Player Score was actually a band, playing Day Two of the inaugural PDX Pop Punk Fest at the Wyrd Hut in Portland. It was all-ages and a good crowd turned up, so that was cool. Big thanks to Lexi and Chris of Crisis Averted Booking for having us, and to bill-mates First-Class Martians, The Disorderlies, Ninjas With Syringes, and The Sh*tfits (this blog is now officially PG-13) for sharing the stage with us and rocking out.

Then on Saturday I taught a workshop on Independent Writing and Publishing for Autism Empowerment's Neurodivergent Creators Collective. It was an encore presentation of a workshop I did last July, and it was a lot of fun. If you missed it, you can watch a replay here.

Coming up next week: a status report on what was called Wavemaker: A Rock Opera but is now called Joel Suzuki: The Musical (don't tell Joel and Felicity)!

Random Post About Random Thoughts

As the title suggests, this is a random post about random thoughts. And here is a random picture of some blinds.

Why am I writing a random post about random thoughts? Because I am currently in the middle of a boss battle (see "Life Is Like A Video Game" from last week) and am too busy to come up with something less random while still sticking to my once-a-week posting schedule (which I have stuck to ever since this blog started back in 2012, with the exception of a couple of weeks in July 2021).

I apologize for the randomness. Hopefully I will be able to get back to writing actual content soon.

XOXO,

Brian

Life Is Like A Video Game

A Zelda-style video game

And right now I'm in a temple

With a puzzle I have to solve

To get to the next level

The game is giving me clues

That I need to decipher

Before my heart meter runs out