It’s Tuesday, and I’m up and off to a good start. That’s in part thanks to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which I’m reading now. I can’t believe I waited this long; it’s the kind of book that is so talked about, you assume it’s kind of lame, or that you’ve basically absorbed it from hearing bits and pieces. But it’s pretty awesome, and helpful to me in terms of what I’m writing now. (I won’t say a lot about that, because I’m sort of superstitious about my writing, but I’m working on a novel that would work well with the episodic, one-adventure-after-another structure of Huck Finn.)
As I go along, the idea for this blog is morphing. I’m married to the blog title “Down and Out in Pittsburgh,” but I’ll readily acknowledge that I’m neither down nor out. This isn’t really going to be an account of my hard times. And the fact is that a lot of what I’m going to write won’t be terribly supportive for other unemployed people—at least for the moment, I’m pleased to have the time to write, read, watch movies, and hang out. And I suppose my idea for this blog is to emphasize the little free things, such as those and some Pittsburgh-specific things, that can make life pleasant for those who have no job.
But I don’t want to lose sight of the stresses of joblessness. So while I can’t and won’t chronicle that aspect of the situation, I’ll try to point out useful and interesting resources when I come across them.
With that in mind, I’d recommend Survive Unemployment, a really interesting blog that does focus on the don’t-go-crazy aspects of unemployment. The post that jumped out at me, scrolling through, was this one, “Ideas for the Unemployed.” It’s a nice reminder of the possibilities of this time, that offset the stresses. (And I like that the blog’s author, Chuck, goes ahead and mentions taking a leisurely dump as one of the things to be thankful for.)
Full disclosure, though: Chuck gave this blog its first comment, meaning he’s the first confirmed reader of the blog who isn’t me. I do seriously like his blog, though; it’s not just tit for tat.
The situation gives me the opportunity to post one of my favorite pieces of TV ever: it’s from the short-lived Tenacious D series on HBO, an episode called “The Fan” in which the D stalk their one and only fan:
Hope your Tuesday is off to a great start as well!
