People, Fate, Memes, and a Really Boring Friday Night

I have some time on my hands tonight.

My wife and daughter are two states away at a Drum Corps tryout, my son is spending the night at a friend's house, and all my friends (all two of them) are either working in the morning or have obligations with their their family. So here I am, sitting in front of my computer (where else would I be) having just finished the second sweep of a chapter.

These "A" chapters are killing me. I keep having to add them, like "19A" because "19" is already too long. Maybe I just talk too much.

Quite the Friday night for Mr. Matthew Keith, let me tell you. Thank goodness someone left a bottle of Woodford Reserve here on New Year's Eve.

Inevitably, with no one in the house and silence my only friend (I have to have silence when I write. The only sound that I can have around me that doesn't put me in full-stop mode is classical music and I get enough of that from my son... so silence it is) my thoughts start to wander. And so does my internet browser. Click-click Facebook, Twitter, and suddenly I've wasted 30 minutes of my day on memes and videos of people getting hit in the nuts by God-knows-what.

But one video really got my attention. It was one of those, "What would happen if I had just made this one choice differently" scenarios and of course, sitting here all by lonesome, I started thinking about any number of times in my life if I'd zigged instead of zagged how things might have turned out. There must be a hundred -- no, a thousand -- of those little moments I could zero in on. And for every one of them I could dream up a thousand outcomes if I'd just done this or just done that.

Honestly, though, once I got over the daydreaming part of it I had to wonder... would any of it really have made any difference? Or would I just somehow have made the same mistakes (and had the same triumphs) at different times or in different ways? What about you? What do you think? Would you? I mean, we all have regrets sure. But for every regret, there is inevitably a positive associated with it. The "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" thing, I guess. And yes, I know, there will be some that read this and say Nope. No way. That was the worst <day, moment, week, year> of my life and NOTHING good came of it! And to that I have to say you're just not seeing the bigger picture. Call me Mr. Glass-Half-Full. Whatever. I'm still right.

It's easy to remember all the bad shit. Usually when it happens, we're pissed off or sad or scared. It makes sense that you'd remember things that produce such a visceral reaction. But if you really think about it, it's pretty awful that we focus so naturally on the negative and it's actually work to remember the good things.

If I'd have kissed <that girl> would I be married to my wife today? I think: absolutely. If I'd have moved up north instead of staying where I was, would I be living in Kentucky today? I think: you bet I would. Too much of my life has lined up. Too much just makes sense.

It's nice to think about the 'what ifs' and daydream about a different life, but (in this very bored and mildly mentally exhausted writer's opinion) it's just as important to reminisce about all the moments that got you to where you are today. If you really work at it, you'll probably realize there's been a lot more good moments than bad.

It's Been a Good Day

Today has been a good day. Honestly, it's been a good year. I have no complaints.

My writing has slowed down, but that's been a result of so much more going on both at work and at home. The pizza business is booming. As a matter of fact, sometimes it booms too loud. But that's a good problem to have. It means we're doing things right.

I got as far as Chapter 17 of my current project and had to stop. I think that was sometime in November. I fell out of love with the main protagonist, had to step back for a while, allow myself to redefine who he really is. I've done that and now I like him again and I'm back in full swing. I've reworked most of previously-written chapters and, as a matter of fact, just finished the first proof of Chapter 21 tonight.

I had the pleasure of sitting across from one of my oldest friends today and presenting him with legal papers that made him a partner in two of our locations, something I feel is long overdue. He's been with us as long as I have and he's a good guy--the real deal--so I was proud to know that his future is cemented (at least financially) from here on out. It took 8 months for that deal to become a reality through negotiations with our majority stakeholder. Good stuff. I'd say congratulations to him on this blog, but he's not a reader so... no point. LOL!

My newest side project, one that I started with the help of my technically-astute but reader-retarded brother, is going gangbusters. If you haven't had a chance to stop by our site yet, please do.

www.scififantasyfreak.com - or click on the graphic at the right-hand side of the page. I really believe this is going to end up being a great resource for authors. I know for me, I could never have enough outlets for advertising and this one in particular is great because of the way it focuses on specific genres.

Looking forward to posting items of more substance soon, just wanted to check in because it's been so long. As always, thanks for reading!