If I ever get back to Georgia...

No, I'm not from Georgia. I've been to Georgia, though. Mostly just through it on the way to Florida, which seems to take forever. And I'm not a big fan of Atlanta traffic, and I still begrudge Georgia Tech a certain basketball game nearly 20 years ago. But that's another story. Overall, though, I like Georgia all right.

So what has that got to do with this post? Well, I was a fan of newspaper columnizt Lewis Grizzard once upon a time. And one of this Atlanta writer's books about his wanderings was aptly titled "If I Ever Get Back to Georgia, I'm Going to Nail My Feet to the Ground." I've been thinking about a portion of that book the past few weeks. You see, at one point in his career, Lewis found himself out of work in the newspaper business. So, he set out to be a freelance writer. For some reason, I've always remembered what he said: "I had no idea how to become a freelance writer except to say, 'I'm a freelance writer.' So that's what I did." So, that's what I'm doing.

I have my first assignment, which I should be working on instead of blogging, but there you go. The move did not turn out to be a very lucrative one for Mr. Grizzard, and he ended up back as a newspaper columnist and eventually churned out a few books. Given the current situation at casa de macwriter, it's going to be a tough row to hoe here, too. But it's worth a shot, right?

Brewing update

Get three or four writers together, put them in a row of offices down a hall in one corner of the building, and they are bound to come up with a name for themselves. Ours was the "Writers' Block." Witty folk, writers. So what better name for my Belgian witbier than Writers' Block Wit? Of course I came up with the name and designed the label before being cut, but I decided to keep the name. Last night I decided to violate the 2-2-2 rule (look it up with Mr. Beer fan sites) and crack one open 2 days early. And was it good, if I do say so myself. Very pale in color, with a mild spicy and fruity taste, with a refreshing finish. Mmmm. Another success for Up the Creek Brewing.

(All writers are welcome for samples.)

Unemployed writer in a Mercedes?

Unemployed writers probably aren't supposed to be tooling around town in a Mercedes. We're probably expected to be driving banged up '92 Chevy Cavaliers or something. But when your father-in-law runs a European car repair shop, you never know what can happen.

I didn't have much better to do, so I hung out at the shop yesterday afternoon. Drove some customers home who dropped off cars for repair (including the aforementioned Mercedes), made a parts run. Basically a gofer.

I should have done it years ago. Taking a closer look at how things are done actually might have helped on some old writing assignments. Oh, well.

We'll see what today brings.

I read a book!

That might not sound like much of an accomplishment. If you are reading this, you've probably read plenty of books in your day. Maybe you even read one yesterday. But it's been a rare feat of late from where I'm sitting. I used to be a voracious reader. Not so much these days.

First the one I haven't finished: My wife got me a great book for Christmas - a biography of Samuel Champlain. Interesting stuff, laying the groundwork for what eventually would become our fine neighbors to the north, Canada. Dangerous sea voyages, warring Indians, deadly diseases and harsh winters, topped off with political intrigue and vying economic factions, the book has everything. But with work, the babies, the babies and the babies, it's been a long read.

So after the events of last Monday, I decided I needed some lighter fare, some mindless beach book. I found it in Clive Cussler's "Blue Gold." His books are always good for some good action adventure. Narrow escapes from a primitive Indian tribe in South America, a plot to control the world's supply of fresh water, Mexican mafia coverups, Bosnian war criminals, Vikings, secret Cold War plots to sabotage the Soviet nuclear weapons program, assasination plots on the Speaker of the House, high speed boat races, dead whales and missing WWII bombers in Alaska. All in one book!

Just what this reader needed to take his mind of other things for a little while.

Rejection progress

Everything happens faster in the electronic age. When I got out of college, I remember typing (on a typewriter) letters and resume and dropping them in the mail. A few weeks would go by, and I would get a nice form letter saying something like: "Thank you for your interest in ACME. While we have no current positions available that meet your qualifications, we will keep your resume on file." Which I suppose literally meant a file somewhere. Some folder way in the back, but an actual drawer nonetheless.

Well, today I experienced a much swifter version of the process. I emailed a note with a resume attached as a pdf in response to an internet posting for a contract writing position. Based on the posting, I felt qualified. Within two hours I received a nice reply from a gentleman saying that while the position had been filled, he would keep my resume in case anymore become available.

At least with email, in this case it was an individual response from a real person with a real name, rather than some of those form letters I remember.

That's progress!

Take me out to the ballgame

Minor league baseball has to be one of the best dollar value entertainment options out there. I love it. I actually feel bad I don't get to more games. I mean we live just 2.5 miles from the stadium.

Tonight we were able to take the two girls to their first ballgame. My mother-in-law won a pair of tickets at a local supermarket promotion and gave them to us. And since kids under 2 get in free, our family of four was able to enjoy an evening's entertainment for nothing. (Well, I did indulge in one adult beverage. But I purchased it at the concession stand being manned by our school's track boosters, so it's OK.) The weather was chamber of commerce perfect, the babies were angels throughout and were enthralled looking around at all the new sights, and the home team was winning 11-1 when we left in the 8th inning. Can't beat that.

Back to reality tomorrow.

At least I have paddles

Well, the economic downturn finally caught up with me yesterday. I got the dreaded tap on the shoulder. The conversation was brief. There's really not much to say at that point. There's no ill will. It's just the way it is, and honestly not unexpected.

So now after eight years I find myself back in a position I never thought I would be in again: jobless, with no immediate prospects. But the circumstances are much, much different. This time I have a wife and two amazingly cute new daughters. And last time I was renting a dump barely fit for college students. Now I have a real house.

While I find myself "up the creek" so to speak, I am not without a few paddles. I qualify for unemployment this time. I can go on my wife's insurance through her work. And I have more savings than I did last time. And more friends in the field keeping an eye out for me. Never discount that.

In the short term, I'll be a stay-at-home dad. I'll start the arduous process of sending out resumes. And a few other things I haven't had time to get to. Clean the house. Play around with my home brewing hobby - Up the Creek Brewing, the namesake of this blog. And perhaps best of all, I hope to write some things that I want to write.

Updates as events warrant.