Writing and reading

I went to a MeetUp.com event I found yesterday, a group called the "Casual Critique Group" which meets every Monday at a local chain restaurant. They were a small group, three women and one guy, that I almost didn't find. I saw the bald/shaven head of Matt, the organizer, and approached and said, of course, "Are you Matt?" They were all younger than me and they still have dreams and aspirations, so that was refreshing.

So today I am trying to think about some of the things we talked about after the critique of a short-story ended. I had mentioned self-publishing, and blogs, and the relationship between them, and today I read James Altucher's blog, which was the normal "just believe in yourself and follow your dreams and you'll become fabulously successful" pablum, which is getting rather monotonous and has gone beyond sickly-sweet, but I still read because it gets me rolling, and he can occasionally just be a good writer.

Anyway, I still have my old avatar, Grey Wolf, here, (which I contemplate changing but it reminds me of the "old" days, so I leave the avatar for sentimental reasons,) and I noticed that interests and location were actual links, and I clicked on "Rabbits". That took me to a page that listed others who had "Rabbits" as an interest. Those two people actually love rabbits, whereas I had put rabbits as a joke, implying that I am a wolf and eat rabbits.

Well, from there I had to click on the "Charleston" link and viewed the thousands of other bloggers who had their location as Charleston. And now I've decided to at least list a few of those that seem interesting in a new sidebar.

I found "WHAT I GET FOR A BUCK 75" somewhat amusing. A girl, who I think might be named Rachel, has been writing a blog giving summaries of crap she experiences riding the local bus. First off, I love her photo, where she has this grimace-type smile, and then here no-nonsense writing sealed the deal. She hasn't posted since April so I may leave a comment just to rouse her and see what she if she is still around …

Another blog I noticed was a painter … I was a decent artist twenty years ago and, based on the prices on his website, I should have stayed the course there, rather than going to law school …

So, just following up on my interests (writing and art, not rabbits, you silly goose) I have expanded my horizons. Obviously I  should "just believe in myself and follow my dreams and I'll become fabulously successful." Yeah, and I'll be eating rabbit tonight for dinner.