Elvis Montero

Blocked

I’m not going to lie or sugarcoat this one: I must surely have one of the greatest writers’ blocks in human history. I sit in front of my laptop and I can’t write anything. I just go blank. No ideas. No voices in my head telling me what to type. No thoughts of cohesive form. Nothing. Nil. For a person aspiring to one day being a published writer, and one who also happens to enjoy everything about the writing process and generating ideas, this is unequivocally not cool. So pardon me for doing this to you, dear reader. This is my retaliation. I’m putting a permanent moratorium on all the blocks in my head right now. Writers’ blocks, beware.

My thoughts can be perfectly depicted by the yellow block. Yeah, no way out!

Source: Stephanie Choplin

Dear block inside my head…

What’s up with not being able to write? Are you freaking kidding me? Thoughts should be free of this tyranny. Yes, YOU are a filthy tyrant, block! You’re an oppressor whose only goal is to castrate my thoughts and smile merrily while you’re at it. I. Don’t. Need. You! Block, I’m talking to you. Leave me alone! I was having dandy ideas and putting them in writing beautifully before you walked into my life. Who called you? I certainly didn’t. And yet, here you are. What’s your gain? Why are you here? I’m talking to you! Are you ignoring me? Can you believe this, dear reader? He’s not talking back! (Side note: Yes, I know it’s a HE. Mental blocks must definitely be male. It takes some BIG balls to interfere like this and get away with it. I’d have a more enjoyable time dealing with the bastards if they were female). Block, can you hear me? OK, fine! I’m not talking to you any longer.

OK, maybe one last word. Listen, before I finally get this over with, I’d like to express my discontent with these words: back the f*** off! I mean it! My words are free to travel from my brain to whatever medium, device, or format I damn well choose. You have no rights (none whatsoever!) to be meddling into my affairs and stopping me from unravelling my thoughts free. What’s wrong with you?! Do you enjoy my suffering? You, sir, are a pathological sadist. This is the last you’ll ever hear from me. You’re officially a pariah. My brain will no longer be clogged by your insidious presence. You have 24 hours to promptly leave the scene.

Still not talking to me? Please, be advise that if you don’t leave immediately, I’ll buy a freaking scalpel, cut my head open and get you out by force. You’re coming out either by your own volition or whichever other way I deem necessary. By the way, I find your pretending act rather childish. Why aren’t you at least defending yourself now? Oh, that’s right. You can’t! There’s no logical defense for the existence of your kind. You deserve nothing but swift extermination.

You’ve been warned.

Yours truly,

Me

PS
Feel free to stay away forever. Can’t you just wither away and die already?

The Obligatory Disclaimer

I can’t believe I just spewed my thoughts like this all over my laptop. This is definitely not my fault, dear reader. I sincerely apologize. I must be coming across as a gigantic, self-centered, melodramatic douche bag. I concede that’s me sometimes. But not now. Well, at least not right about now. Right now, I’m dealing with this freaking writer’s block! So please bear with me while I try to expel this baleful demon.

[scalpel shines radiantly on my hand...]

Ah, that was cathartic! Now that I’ve finally let my pernicious block know who’s the boss in Elvisland, I can probably try to write something, anything, again. Maybe I’ll be luckier this time. I’ll see you guys around in a bit. No, don’t hold your breath please.

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Climate Change

Another blog action day is upon us! It seems it was only yesterday when the discussion about poverty was front and center all around the blogosphere. This year’s topic, climate change, promises to reach even more people, thanks to the incredible number of participating blogs.

To commemorate this auspicious occasion, I’ve decided to share some of the links I found were both interesting and revealing. Enjoy!

• BBC’s Climate Change: BBC’s comprehensive site has a plethora of sources and links covering climate change. If you wanted an informative and descriptive take on the topic, this is a site you’d definitely have to read.

• Guardian’s Climate change section: Another awesome, educational source. Guardian’s climate change section has news, Q&As, pictures, videos and a lot of up-to-date content packed together nicely for our viewing pleasure.

• Information technologies vital to tackling climate change: A timely message from UN’s secretary general Ban Ki-moon: “ICTs are also very vital to confronting the problems we face as a planet: the threat of climate change. Indeed, ICTs are part of the solution. Already, these technologies are being used to cut emissions and help countries adapt to the effects of climate change.”

• Avoiding False Dichotomies: Chris Guillebeau dispels the perceived, false dichotomy of being either totally pro or against the environment. Chris also touches on a very important aspect that all of us trying to make a difference should be mindful of: balance is key.

Source: SorbyRock’s photostream

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Back home

The long blogging hiatus has come to an end. In case you’re interested, I did very well in my MS project. RIT is sending my degree certificate in November. Yay!

I’ve been struggling to get back in the writing mood since I moved to DR. I can’t seem to find a quite, nice place to do this, mainly because I haven’t actually gotten a respite. Life’s been a constant barrage of chores and work, and I’ve only been back for a little bit over 3 weeks now. I expect this situation to change soon. There are a lot of cool ideas that I’d like to explore and share with you. The pusillanimous writer in me is not making more excuses though. I’ll be right back with some cool stuff.

Oh, I’ve picked up Twitter recently. So if you want to follow my updates, feel free to do so here.

View of the Dominican Republic from an airplane during landing. I’ve seen this view many times throughout the years. It never gets old.

Source: iconise’s photostream

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Drought and reading

The blogging drought will likely continue, as I’m very, very pressed for time (I’m supposed to defend my thesis in early August!). Before I go completely MIA, I thought it’d be cool to share a few of the interesting books and articles I’ve read recently. Let your mind dwell freely on the following list:

• The Fountainhead: I came to know about Ayn Ryand’s work after I read Mark Cuban saying that every hopeful entrepreneur should scrutinize The Fountainhead. I shared the following comments with a friend of mine upon finishing the book (slightly edited):

“The book is amazing! Ayn’s cogent ideas blew me away. At first, I thought Roark was nothing but a rebel, an antagonist, as I made clear to you in my previous remarks. Even as I found Roak’s ways charming, I still couldn’t really understand why he was so adamant, so unyielding and borderline stubborn in his views. ‘What’s up with this guy?’, I thought more often than not. But it all eventually made sense. Howard is not a second hander. Howard was, as you so adequately put it, true to himself. He wasn’t looking for recognition. He wasn’t looking for money. He just wanted to create. He aspired to create, and create, and create some more for the sheer sake of creating, as any other earnest creator in any field would naturally do. His devotion was not to other men or their approval, but to his true passion. This is one of the most important messages I’ve received from any book, fictional and non fictional alike, in a long time. I now understand why this book is a recommended reading to any aspiring entrepreneur. I’m glad I read it.”

• Sustainable Energy — without the hot air: The debunking of many misconceptions about sustainable energy ensues. From the free book’s section “Can we live on renewables?”:

“You can’t power  a TV with cat food, nor can you feed a cat from a wind turbine. Energy exists in different forms — chemical, electrical, kinetic, and heat, for example. For a sustainable energy plan to add up, we need both the forms and amounts of energy consumption and production to match up. Converting energy from one form to another — from chemical to electrical, as at a fossil-fuel power station, or from electrical to chemical, as in a factory making hydrogen from water — usually involves substantial losses of useful energy.”

• Silas Marner: I found Silas Marner at a Barnes & Noble bookstore when I was looking for a short novel to keep me busy during class breaks. George Elliot’s story was first published in 1861. The moral of this story is far from outdated though. I highly recommend it.

• When I’m dead, how will my loved ones break my password? I think this is a question many of us should entertain at least once to some extent. Doctorow’s overly sardonic tone is just a plus.

• Why do the rich keep working? Yet another interesting question. From the article:

“Some of the men craved the chance to keep proving themselves, perhaps to a doubting authority figure from their past. Others saw work as a getaway from a stale marriage. Still others said they wouldn’t know what to do with themselves if they weren’t working. More time with friends? Many of them had no close friends. Hobbies? You can only play so many rounds of golf. Travel? “They probably want to burn their passports,” says Mintz.”

• How much of live are you actually living? The existentialist element of this list that’ll undoubtedly make you go “Huh?”. Forget about the author’s metaphorical twists and rethorical gymnastics for a second. Focus on the crux of the matter. And? You’re welcome.    ;-)

There you have it. Suit yourselves. Now, if you’ll excuse me, yours truly needs to log off and focus on some heavy-duty coding. Ciao.

Oh, hai! Wana codez too?

Source: ju.ju.bees’ photostream via Flickr.

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“Strolling in the Cloud” number one

Strolling in the Cloud, one of my first Reporter articles, came about after I’d endured a few frustrating attempts at accessing my Gmail account. Surprisingly, I found out yesterday the article had the most positive votes for the 09.05.2008 issue.

So this is how it feels to have your work recognized… Let me tell you something, it feels pretty damn good! This makes me want to do a better job at future installments. Unfortunately, I won’t be at RIT next year. As a result, there won’t be anymore opinionated articles at Reporter from yours truly. I’ll now have to find another wacky, too-smart-for-her-own-good editor at a gritty college magazine willing to cope with my patronizing and overly satirical tone. Oh, wait. I can always blog!  

You can see Reporter’s People’s Choice 2008 – 2009 here.

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