Why We Write (or don’t, as the case may be)

I’m still here, still a bit odd if not altogether queer… I’m getting used to it.

Haven’t been posting too much of late. What with the holidays and all, not really anxious to commit my thoughts for posterity. Maybe this’ll be the year I get through the holidays without a meltdown of some sort. But until I know for sure, mum’s the word.

Got a new computer that I can’t use because all of my publications that I do for a living are still in Quark XPress (I know, I know, but it’s the application my employers have chosen to throw their money at). My new Mac is running on 10.5, and Quark, in its infinite wisdom, didn’t design their new upgrade to install onto computers running 10.5. It’s been on the way for months, but Quark failed to anticipate it just the same. I tell you, if those idiots at Quark spent half the money on R&D that they spend on security (go ahead, see if you can pilfer a copy of the damned thing!), they’d be up to Quark 11 or 12 by now instead of just 7. And an 11 or 12 that actually installs onto the latest version of the Mac operating system, for Christ’s sake.

The result being my desk looks like the bridge of the original starship Enterprise except for the absence of the cool Captain’s chair (and the multiracial bridge crew):

My work chores are spread out over three discrete computer systems that I have to switch back and forth between by plugging and unplugging cords the whole day long. It is super-frustrating, and but for the fucking dullards at Quark XPress, I would be fully transitioned to the new computer and I could pitch half the hardware off my work space. Have I mentioned that it’s frustrating?

Meanwhile I’ve been exploring the A/V opportunities my new hardware and software affords me (since Quark has helpfully rendered our considerable investment useless for actual work). I’m already regretting I didn’t spring for the model with the 200 gigs of storage – these movie files eat up shitloads of space! Unbelievable. I’m already having to trash files as soon as I’m done messing with them.

So far, my success has been limited by my extreme technical shortcomings, and the fact that even when I do crack a manual it doesn’t make any sense to me. But I was able to figure out on my own how to do one cool thing so far. Using a multiplicity of unrelated movie-type programs, I was able to load up, extract and export a single performance from a DVD of an old “Johnny Cash Show” and upload it to YouTube. I’m picking up copy from a freelance web client tomorrow, so my A/V experimentation is probably at end for the year. But it yielded me the following, and it’s definitely a step in the right direction.

“The Johnny Cash Show,” episode 19, February 2, 1970, Neil Diamond debuts a new composition, “Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show.” I’ve always loved this song, and never more so than in the performance below, where Diamond’s spoken-word bit in the middle is integrated seamlessly into the body of the song, and actually draws attention to the song instead of what has since become Diamond’s signature hammy showboating.

If the good Lord’s willing and the creeks don’t rise, I’ll be back soon with happier tidings to report. In the interim, and with all the faux holiday good will I can muster, I give you a young Johnny Cash and Neil Diamond. Enjoy!