Rim Shot

Did you know the doldrums were a real place? I didn't. But that's a picture of them, at left. I guess people go sailing in them. It looks like they're somewhere between South America and Africa, in a place where those two aren't too far apart (perhaps this is nonsensical, but that's what the map seems to show).

I hate to sound like a broken record, but I am feeling totally hopeless. The comedy writing dream seems laughable. Rim shot! Well, laughable without being actually funny. The fact is, New York is chock-a-block with aspiring comedy writers -- they are everywhere -- they literally make up about 30% of any subway car you're on.

This was brought home to me this morning when I Googled How to Break Into Comedy Writing in New York and there was an ad for a class at The Pit called "How to Write for the Daily Show." It's sold out. It promises to teach you the tone of the show and how to choose the kind of material they use, and then you get your work read by the producer who looks for new writing talent.

Sounds exciting, right? It makes me want to buy an old beater of a car and take off for the hills and live in the mountains like Ted Kascinzky, but with less facial hair.

I hate the feeling of being part of a feeding frenzy for something so popular.

I was surprised how good looking Ted Kaczinsky (sp?) was when he was finally caught. He's on my mind lately as I think a fair bit about running away to the wilderness and trying to eke out a livelihood from the woods.

People in the woods would be interested in some lively TV parodies, wouldn't they?

Well, the snow looks pretty today. Last night at my video store, the owners had put out a big heart of Valentine candy on the counter, free for customers. I got a good piece -- milk chocolate caramel. I walked slowly, eating it, trying to be in the moment, in the Buddhist way. It worked, because it was really good chocolate.