IDA shot the man plum to the other side from which he came, then ida drug the body in a hole then ida gone had that whiskey and dinner yep thats what ida done…:) i love your stories!!
" I will never “make my rent” writing this stuff. But that’s okay. I write as a creative outlet (I need to have one regularly to stay sane)." Yes, Mark! Exactly so for me as well. Your clever, beautifully constructed poem represents everything I fear would happen if I tried to make a living by writing. As you say, we have heads so full of ideas we have to get them out or go insane. It is enough for me. Thanks for an excellent publication.
One of my very favorite PowerPoint presentations is the Brand-Gap (MARTY NEUMEIER https://vdocuments.net/the-brand-gap.html?page=1). It's dated now (came out about 2000 or so). The gist of it is your brand is not what you say it is, but what others say it is. It's a gut reaction to you. Our products are stories. There seems to be a lot more talking about writing than writing itself. There's a Substack short story writer I subscribe to, Dascha Paylor (eclecticink.substack.com). She doesn't write about the struggles of writing and the trials of publishing. She just writes her stories and that's it. I don't know her other than her Substack page, but I think I could say that's a Dascha Paylor story if her name was never on it. That's a brand . . . And I still enjoyed the poem.
Getting in Shape: I did *not* see that one coming!
Hollister Bootstone: I like this series. Sometimes has me scratching my head, though.
I’m A Brand!: I would say, “Aw shucks, can’t just be a writer anymore!”, but sorry, any profession where you’re self-employed means you spend half your time (or more!) being in sales. (And then the sales rules keep changing.) We’ve seen writers who have devoted huge amounts of time, talent, and effort promoting their work; sometimes it works, other times they just disappear quietly.
And it’s not just writing — many years ago, just out of the Navy and living out of my ex-wife’s guest room while I was trying to find work during a recession, I thought about going into freelance tech consulting. So I found someone online (through a CompuServe chat room, this being 1990) for advice. “Do you like being in sales?” he asked. “Um, no, I want to do technical consulting,” I replied. “No, you want to do sales, if you want to make a living. THEN you can be a consultant. Even then, you need to spend at least half your time finding new customers. That’s life as an independent, sorry.” (I eventually found a job with a real company.)
I loved it all, Mark! Did I just recognize my prompts I sent you a while ago? Nah, maybe I’m mistaken. Being that I’m in the desert right now, I really enjoyed that one! The poem WAS brilliant!
Thanks, Terey. It was tough being a trusting soul in the Wild West. 🤣
IDA shot the man plum to the other side from which he came, then ida drug the body in a hole then ida gone had that whiskey and dinner yep thats what ida done…:) i love your stories!!
Spaghetti Noodles - Wow those chains are huge! I hope that one noodle has a lot of flavour, otherwise it’ll be very boring to eat all of that.
Getting In Shape - Ah, so it was a different flavoured push up then? 😉
I’m A Brand! - Ugh. I felt this one in my SOUL!
Hollister Bootstone And The Tale Of The Night Robber - I’m surprised the outlaw was still able to walk after getting a cactus stuck in his foot!
Loved this week’s newsletter, Mark. The ten push ups gave me a good laugh. 🤣 And it was great to see an appearance from Hollister Bootstone!
Thanks for the fun read.
The whole newsletter was great. Love all the humor today.
You so smart!
" I will never “make my rent” writing this stuff. But that’s okay. I write as a creative outlet (I need to have one regularly to stay sane)." Yes, Mark! Exactly so for me as well. Your clever, beautifully constructed poem represents everything I fear would happen if I tried to make a living by writing. As you say, we have heads so full of ideas we have to get them out or go insane. It is enough for me. Thanks for an excellent publication.
One of my very favorite PowerPoint presentations is the Brand-Gap (MARTY NEUMEIER https://vdocuments.net/the-brand-gap.html?page=1). It's dated now (came out about 2000 or so). The gist of it is your brand is not what you say it is, but what others say it is. It's a gut reaction to you. Our products are stories. There seems to be a lot more talking about writing than writing itself. There's a Substack short story writer I subscribe to, Dascha Paylor (eclecticink.substack.com). She doesn't write about the struggles of writing and the trials of publishing. She just writes her stories and that's it. I don't know her other than her Substack page, but I think I could say that's a Dascha Paylor story if her name was never on it. That's a brand . . . And I still enjoyed the poem.
I never understood poetry. Weird? I think I understand yours, Mark.
Getting in Shape: I did *not* see that one coming!
Hollister Bootstone: I like this series. Sometimes has me scratching my head, though.
I’m A Brand!: I would say, “Aw shucks, can’t just be a writer anymore!”, but sorry, any profession where you’re self-employed means you spend half your time (or more!) being in sales. (And then the sales rules keep changing.) We’ve seen writers who have devoted huge amounts of time, talent, and effort promoting their work; sometimes it works, other times they just disappear quietly.
And it’s not just writing — many years ago, just out of the Navy and living out of my ex-wife’s guest room while I was trying to find work during a recession, I thought about going into freelance tech consulting. So I found someone online (through a CompuServe chat room, this being 1990) for advice. “Do you like being in sales?” he asked. “Um, no, I want to do technical consulting,” I replied. “No, you want to do sales, if you want to make a living. THEN you can be a consultant. Even then, you need to spend at least half your time finding new customers. That’s life as an independent, sorry.” (I eventually found a job with a real company.)
I enjoyed your 'brand' new poem, Mark.
The phrasing seemed familiar. Almost as if I read it daily in my inbox.
But you skewered all those others with your lively cadence and rhymes.
I haven't seen a better send up of these pitches.
I loved it all, Mark! Did I just recognize my prompts I sent you a while ago? Nah, maybe I’m mistaken. Being that I’m in the desert right now, I really enjoyed that one! The poem WAS brilliant!
Good poem
The poem is brilliant