A Talk About Boredom

Boredom… it's something we all dread. It can also make us do some pretty crazy things. I don't mean commit crimes, no. What I mean is that boredom, sheer boredom, can lead us to doing things that we wouldn't have found ourselves doing otherwise. In my case, it was downloading a series of Mac emulators (SheepShaver, BasiliskII, and the source to Mini vMac) to build the computers that exist in another story I'm working on, entitled «The Golden Record». The particular shot in question is a screenshot of Seth Davis's computer (a Mac IIci with a few upgrades) showing the Wikipedia article for the computer via Gopherpedia in Netscape 2, easily loaded over his 28.8k dial-up connection.

It takes place in the 1990s. No specific year, but I'm trying to go for mid-90s. It's one of those stories that I've always wanted to try and write, but no matter how I did it, I couldn't get the premise to go right- I will admit, some of the world building was inspired by Steven Universe, so there's a few hints in there (and the rest of my writing) for eagle-eyed readers, but mostly, I just liked a Mid-Atlantic location more than a New England location… I used to write a lot of my stories in the New England area or try to make them «Anytown, USA» kind of generic. Anyway, crap happened, Steven Universe came out, I went down a bunch of rabbit holes, and found out that Mid-Atlantic locations are easier for me to write than Jonesburg, Maine.

Boredom also can make you fill up a device with recordings of yourself screwing around on a piano, something I find very relaxing.

Anyway, this week has kind of proven that I'm at that point where my days just kinda blur together, and being on the «Stalin Sleep Schedule» (yes, the man's waking hours were from 12:00 to 03:00 Moscow Time) certainly doesn't help matters any. Granted, that being said, I am coming to enjoy the peace and quiet of working with nobody else awake to disturb me, even if I have to worry about waking up some people when I go to have a midnight coffee. As long as I step lightly (or manage to not break my neck in a pair of socks), I usually get things done without causing too much of a disturbance.

I tended to have similar sleep issues in high school, but managed because the teachers learned that me having a Good Ol' Cuppa Joe wasn't the end of the world.

Anyway, I've been doing some thinking over the past several days, and I've come to the conclusion that I should've taken up writing a lot sooner. I know I probably would've been brought to the front of the classroom and expected to "show the class" what I was working on (Except for Mr Spoon in seventh and eight grade English… he put that spark there for me, so if you're reading this, Thank you so much!). I probably would've gotten in trouble, but I've also seen enough reaction to my writing over the years to be able to make a fairly-sure assumption that it would've been the right thing to do- if nothing else, other than to help me "come out of my shell".

There's a lot of things I could've done different or sooner, but there's no use in regretting them- that only eats up time, and reality, unlike fiction, doesn't allow you to change the clock or go back and and add details or change things later on.