To edit or Netflix: that is the question

To edit or Netflix: that is the question:

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to edit,

Pour hours into a novel for publishing,

Or to waste all on Netflix -procrastinate-

And so achieve nothing? To Edit: to write;

And by write, I mean stare at my monitor

Reading words that lose their meaning so quickly

As they blur into each other, tis a waste

Again we find ourselves. To Netflix, to chill;

To chill: perchance to relax: ay, there’s the rub;

For in that relax state what time may pass

when a TV show is complete, finished,

Must give us pause: chance to reflect

On what we must then next do after it;

For who would bear the sad after show blues,

The next season, provided it is now out,

The pangs of despised love, we dedicate,

The insolence of TV and the spurns

That patient we unworthy folks must be,

Time he could have spent editing his novel

Could have been put to use? Who do edits bear,

To grunt and sweat under computer heat,

But that the completion of something done,

The fulfilment that awaits an author

Only when the work is done, not before,

And makes us suffer through many blank screens

Is it not better than after show blues?

Thus discussion does provide an answer;

The analysis of the situation

Is overcast with what is right and wrong,

But the decision has not been made lightly

With all prospects taken into account,

And so stake reputation on the choice,

The great Netflix it is! Vice, is good TV,

May all my sins be forgiven for it.

The Brain is Cold and Mean

Upon a whisper as I heard, two voices inside my head.

A breath breathes out, a torturous sound, a broken heartbeat found.

Alone is felt; no mere thoughts break out except what is in need.

The high court rules, the brain is found commander over the heart.

The heart does scoff, decrees overruled, it pumps the life around.

No sorrows whispered, or found unmarked, that’s not the brain’s decree.

Loyalty is bound, in logic found, made up in make believe.

Conscience is cleared, it is no fool, but is paid off by the hand.

Muscles relax, their job is done. Orders obeyed from the brain.

The heart does ache; council disbands. Overthrown, the heart does weeps.

Rebellion thwarted. All hope to reclaim, hope for the body at large.

The pain is felt; the body shakes at the mighty war within.

The brain is cold -though blood is warm- it’s calculated and cruel.

“The mind obeys,” the brain proclaims, “my every whim, not yours.”

“But comfort and warmth,” the heart replies, “Is what the body craves.”

“It deserves no more than what it has, for futile ambitions,”

The brain does mock. It does proclaim its control over the heart.

“It had a chance, it hurt the soul, this is all for its own good.”

“Grief does not become,” the heart does say, “a soul in its healing.

It needs a heart, one not its own, that it can share its dreams with.

Someone to heal, someone to hope, the right one for this body.

“You can hold it back; claim its unworth, it doesn’t understand,”

The heart does plead, as it does ache. It tries to soften the brain.

“At the end of the day, when the chains rein in, is it me or you that’s a slave?”

The brain does not reply. It hears the whispers again, yet still it does not reply.

The heart is warm, it pumps the blood; it knows what the body needs.

But the brain is stubborn, it will not relent. The brain is cold and mean.

Who saw that coming?

Another year and I'm still here! (Rhyming on purpose because I'm like that).

Every January we usually start off by saying 'Happy New Year' to each other. Normally because it is a new year. Happy? It's too early to tell yet. We wished each other a 'happy' new year at the beginning of 2016 and look what happened to us.

Me? I'm not really complaining. Last year, while long, tedious at times, depressing, and sickening, was also an amazing year of my life. I decided to step into a theatre class and I ended up performing in three of Brisbane Arts Theatre's main house shows and I got to perform in a 10 minute play in a couple of theatres as part of the South-east Queensland Drama circuit.

I met so many awesome people and learned so many new things last year. I quit my old job (one of the best decisions of my life), I started a new job that's at a fantastic restaurant and I'm working with some top notch folk, I finished another year of study, I performed in plays, I competed in NaNoWriMo again and came out a winner with a finished book. It was a pretty good year.

I don't mean to brag or rub my year in anyone's face. It's the last thing on my mind. It's just a quick update as to how my year went. It's also sort of an explanation as to why I haven't written a blog post since September.

My last update was about Jurassic Park: The Musical. The Australian premier was a sold out success, and they are bringing it back later this month for another run that will hopefully also sell out. I'm not in it this time, the original Gennero is back and I can't wait to see him perform.

Straight after Jurassic Park I auditioned for a role in A Christmas Carol (at Brisbane Arts Theatre), and I got the role. Five roles actually. Thankfully I was able to have that changed to four. So many amazing costumes. Also, so very hot! Imagine dressed up in Victorian winter dress in the middle of summer and you'll get how I felt because that's exactly what I was doing.

And then during A Christmas Carol rehearsals I started a new job, wrote another book, finished studying for the year, then it was show time, then it was Christmas, then it was laze around and try to relax after almost a constant 6 months of rehearsals and performances. So, you get the picture? Right?

Now my goal for this year -it's not my resolution because I only half-halfheartedly make a resolution and I like to keep those to myself in case I fail and embarrass myself- is to edit and hopefully self-publish my 2015 NaNoWriMo novel by mid year. But I also have work, and I'll have studies starting up in February, and I'll be looking for more theatre work, so really we shall see how that turns out. Even if I just get it into a nice shape for sharing online for free, that'll be fine with me.

I have plans for the second half of the year, writing wise. I've got books to finish off, and I have to plan NaNoWriMo 2017's novel. This year is going to be busy, hectic, probably just as weird as last year's, and, hopefully, it will very much be a 'happy' year. Which I also hope, if you're read this, and even if you aren't, I also hope your year will be very happy.


-Peter