[this report is unedited…]
Not the best of starts for Day 1 of my Creative Writing class. My sports watch failed to sync over the weekend, it was still on Central Standard Time. Instead of being a 1/2 hr early, I was a 1/2 hr late for the first class.
I also missed an email from Schreiner, got my Username and Password after class. This is what I should have prepared:
What brings you to creative writing class?
I was wearing a SXSW t-shirt in a yoga class one day and it led to Kathleen striking up a conversation. A SX t-shirt is perhaps not quite as good as a puppy to meet interesting women, but you can’t bring a puppy to yoga. We’ve been connected on Facebook since soon after, I spotted an announcement she made about this class. I like to write.
What is your experience with reading/film/video games?
I’m not an avid book reader, but I loved “A Gentleman in Moscow” by Amor Towles, one of my more recent books. I am an avid journalism reader, I’m hoping to develop some skills in that area. I follow Dan Rather’s blog, Steady.
My younger daughter, Hilary, was an English major at NYU. She works in film, mostly documentaries. We both like films that involve real life situations, ones that evoke deep emotions with characters and situations we can relate to.
I don’t do video games, I’m a pretty good backgammon player.
What is your reflection on creativity?
On creativity I often find myself more of a voyeur, I find art and artists of almost any form fascinating. I rate myself as a good photographer. I’ve spent extensive time doing photo jaunts, especially when I lived in NYC. B&W medium format, my own darkroom. I hope the creativity I do possess shows in my writing.
What do you want to get out of this class?
I’m a procrastinator. Left on my own, I start far more projects than I finish. I was a math major, physics minor, in college at UVM. A very good computer programmer at IBM, Morgan Stanley and managing computer operations for a financial firm on Long Island. I always needed deadlines, but they had to be for projects I believed in. I’d leave companies, good paying companies, always finding work soon after. Over the years I’ve accumulated easily enough credit hours for a masters degree, but I never finished my B.S.
This class has deadlines and structure, I need those. It’s also something I believe in. We’ll see where that takes me, but I believe I may actually surprise myself, finish the class with something of value.
And tell us something interesting about yourself.
I’ve already mentioned at least a couple things that I find interesting about myself. I’m a voyeur (not in the shady sense) and a procrastinator. I think of both as being assets, not liabilities.