Monday, July 10, 2006

The Write Stuff

All good things must come to an end, including this blog.

Is this the end? Maybe. I hope not. But maybe.

People want to pay me to write, which is another good thing, and one that I don't want to pass up. And I am currently in over my head.

I am writing more than ever for Paste Magazine. I recently finished a lengthy feature article on poetry slams, an article on San Francisco band Birdmonster, my regular back-of-the-issue column on Talk Talk, and three album reviews.

I just finished my first batch of album reviews for All Music Guide. Reviews of Birdmonster, Bernard Fanning (Powderfinger), and Ollabelle should be available online over the next few weeks as the albums are officially released.

I am trying, somewhat feebly, to put together a book -- tentative title Confessions of a Born-Again Asshole. Look for it at a Christian Family Bookstore near you, right next to the posters of puppies and kitties with inspirational Bible verses. Or maybe not.

And I am about to accept the job as Music Editor of a new website called RiverWired.com. Don't look for it yet. It's not there. But it will be there. Nick Purdy, founder of Paste, recruited me, and I'm excited about the prospects. Basically, the idea is to combine the best aspects of sites such as MySpace and Flickr with the more community-oriented aspects of newsgroups and discussions lists. Members will be able to share music, videos, and photos, and read site-supplied content on a variety of channels -- with the Arts (music, films, books), and Social Activism (Bono's One Campaign, Environmentalism, etc. ) -- being prime components. Members can also add their own content via postings within the channels, links to blogs, etc. It's not exactly a brand new thing, but nobody's combined the elements in quite this way before, and I'm pretty psyched. This will require 15 - 20 hours of my time each week.

And, oh yeah, I'm also working a 40+ hour per week job designing a training course for one of the cumbersome organizations that make up the unwieldy bureaucracy known as the State of Ohio. Gotta love that regular paycheck, too.

The bottom line? I'm maxed out.

It's all good. Really good, in fact. But something has (or somethings have) to give. I won't say goodbye. I trust I'll be back when I can. But if I am uncommunicative here, I hope you understand. Thanks, loyal readers (both of you) for reading.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

oqdgrRe your tentative book title, I didn't know you were born again--Just kidding, Andy. I recently finished reading Blue Like Jazz, and I could see you writing something similar with a lot more jazz (and rock, and blues, and country).

Congrats on the latest writing/editing gig. How close are you to not needing the day job? It's nice to see all this success coming your way. Talk about delayed gratification. Just think, some day parents will use you as a lesson to their impatient children.

I look forward to seeing you at my daughter's upcoming wedding. I think you'll approve of most of our song selections delivered to the DJ.

Andy Whitman said...

"I didn't know you were Born Again."

Ha!

Okay, that gets my award for the best one-liner I've read in ages.

It's hard to know how close I am to not needing the day job (and if any of my co-workers happen to stumble upon this, I love my day job. Love it. I can't imagine anything more fulfilling than teaching workers at the Bureau of Unemployment Compensation about Unemployment codes.) If the book becomes a bestseller (move over, Dan Brown), then I'm set for life. If the new website takes off, and if Nick sells the company for $50,000,0000 in a couple years, I'm set for life. If neither of those things happen, I keep the day job, continue to write fun stuff on the side, and make a comfortable living. If the day job goes first -- well, on the bright side, my kids might be eligible for financial aid for their college educations.

Yeah ... delayed gratification. The good news is that maybe I've acquired a little wisdom in the process. Maybe. The bad news is that I've also acquired various prosthetic devices.

I'm really, really looking forward to the wedding this weekend -- very happy for Jess and Kyle, and thankful I can share in their (and your) joy.

Karen said...

i'm excited that all these opportunities are presenting themselves to you, andy!

i will, however, miss reading your blog. just so you know.

Anonymous said...

Best wishes to you Andy. Looking forward to catching up in person when I see you and to the book when it comes out.

mg said...

i'll miss your blog, but am glad that you can write more which is your passion. hopefully these extracurricular activities will become more of a fulltime deal.

(nice book title)

;)

Andy Whitman said...

Scott, thank you for your nice words. You're very kind.

And everybody else, too.

So I guess this isn't the end of the blog. :-) Hey, the new work project got postponed for a couple days. So there's a little life left in me yet.

nikkip said...

i LOVE the book title, andy.

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Phil said...

>I am trying, somewhat feebly, to put >together a book -- tentative title >Confessions of a Born-Again Asshole.

Oh, MAN! I am so ready to write a glowing review of this book and it doesn't even exist yet.

This means I'll have to come up with a new title for my memoir, though.