The Missing Post

Since I missed posting yesterday, does that mean today's has to be twice as long? Survey says no.

Last night was a rough one, mainly due to a bout with what I suppose could most accurately be called "a head-cold". I wasn't particularly sick but I was bone-tired. I'm guessing it was the swine flu. As a result I fell off the strict "one-post-per-day" commitment I struck out with when the blog started. To all loyal readers (in other words, nobody) I pledge to make it up to you somehow.

Meanwhile, in self-evaluating previous posts, I noticed a crucial element was missing - links! What self-respecting blogger doesn't spend hours fine-combing the internet for interesting and enlightening fare (read: the rambling, self-righteous thoughts of other bloggers) and then put up five-word hits telling everybody to go read it. It's the ultimate get-out-of-jail free card - I fulfill my promise (to myself) to put up a blog post, while somebody else has already taken care of the independent thinking and analysis for me!

Kidding aside, there is one blog I do find particularly inspiring and try to catch up with whenever I can - Kung Fu Monkey. I do this not only because of its awesome title, but because the main contributor is a former writer for Bill Cosby who currently works as head writer on the TNT series Leverage. Anybody with serious writing ambitions should check this guy out for his plain-English navigation of the s&*tstorm that is trying to land steady work as writer in Hollywood. As a true renaissance man (he holds a degree in Physics and has dabbled in stand-up, film, TV, comics, and video games), he's got a unique take on what clicks and what doesn't in the world of arts and entertainment, but his thoughts don't stop there. Do I rank him as one of my writing heroes? Well, he's the savant behind such classic scripts as American Outlaws and Halle Berry's Catwoman. So...no. But there are a lot of interesting takes on a lot of subjects to be found. It's the kind of site that typifies what a "blog" should be: minimize the soapboxing without wading down into the "when I woke up I had a bowl of cheerios" personal tracking data that belongs on Twitter (although it actually belongs nowhere, but that's a rant best saved for another post).

This was one of KFM's more enlightening posts, on the process of hiring writers for Leverage - if nothing else it underscores the shark tank world of Hollywood, as they fielded 210 potential applicants for four staff jobs (that's a 2% hire rate for those keeping score). Of course, it stopped at 210 only because they stopped taking apps, not because there weren't about 700 more aspiring writers out there ready and willing to take their cuts. Most of the time, getting the "big break" centers around being lucky enough to be among the 10% of potential employees who get the chance to be among the 2% of people who actually get hired.