Sunday, April 10, 2005

Shyness is nice but shyness can stop you

Lots a times I sit down to write something and my mind's a blank. Today my mind's awhirl, which can make writing difficult, too.

The fine weather sure helps my mood. We had a winter storm come through this week and I know it got me down. One day I waited more than ten minutes at the corner for the bus with gusts of cold rain affixing leaf crumbs to my damp pantleg. A girl without an umbrella or raincoat, just a thick scarf she'd wound tightly under her chin, shivered under the tree next to me, raindrops glistening on her nose. I tried not to cast her too many pitying looks. Of course it has to be the miserable weather day that the bus is late. Usually I walk to work. It's only a 15 minute walk. But one can get well soaked in those 15 minutes.

Enjoyed A.P.E. yesterday. Though we were pretty burnt by the time we left. Glad there was a crowd and hope that everybody sold lots of stuff. Saw everything from the amateurish to the amazing. Zan of Prism Comics said he gets emailed work by young creators who are full of enthusiasm -- "I'm the Next Big Thing!" -- and the work is gawdawful. He tries to say encouraging things and connect the youngsters to resources. A year later, he says, the same artist will be doing stuff that's just incredible.

Am I bold? Will I ever be bold enough to self-promote efficiently rather than haphazardly?

I'm always impressed when I see an example of someone who really takes advantage of opportunities. After last week's Poetry & Pizza a man who'd been in the audience came up to me to praise the evening and, because it's what he does I suspect, he launched into a spiel about his own work, toothpick sculpture. He gave me his card. He rattled off a sort of resume -- shows here and there, mentions or feature articles in this or that newspaper or magazine. He also recited for me a poem he'd written for his mother. Was he shy? No. But yes. He seemed personally shy, a little nerdy. All the great flirts believe themselves shy.

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