The Cowtown Chronicles

Instructions: “Five Ingredients”

Write something–anything–that includes the following five words/ phrases:

~urged

~When the servant entered with the soup

~show him the way

~zeal

~dead flies

Few things compare to the zeal with which a budding young writer likes to talk about his new passion. He’ll regale you with stories of how he’s reading the latest blogs about creative habits and getting things done — hoping they’ll show him the way to productivity and success.

He’ll start stupid mystery novels with lines like “When the servant entered with the soup” — hoping that a story will follow, or that just the act of beginning will propel him down the road. He’ll feel urged to take writing workshops, and he’ll probably start a blog (or knock the dead flies off his old one) where he shares his daily outputs and creative bursts.

Then he’ll realize that like any other job, writing is damn hard work. He’ll truly understand the quote he heard once: “A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than the average person.” He’ll experience all the same struggles that he’s heard the masters dealt with, mostly the feeling of inadequacy and self-doubt.

In the end, something may come of it, or nothing may come of it, but hopefully he at least gives it a go.

Instructions: Today’s exercise is this: in five minutes, write as many beginnings as you can that have to do with food. Write one, two, eleven, whatever you can do. Again, by a “beginning” I mean anything from a sentence fragment to three full sentences, but no more than that per beginning.

Eggs don’t stick to painted walls, but they will stick to the ceiling.

The ancients talked about breaking bread with friends, but I have found that a fajita buffet is better at bringing people together.

David sat down to his usual lunch, a Cobb salad and a fifth of Beefeater Gin.

When cooking bacon, it’s usually best to keep the dogs outside.

Last night’s pizza hung around this morning like a girlfriend that wouldn’t stop calling, even after you’d broken up with her.

On my quest to find the best BBQ in Texas, I found myself in some unusual situations. Last week, for example, I stopped at a roadside hut surrounded by white supremacists. Bad company, but good BBQ. (Adapted from an interview with Matthew McConaughey in Men’s Journal.)

In beer, as in life, it’s best not to shake the bottle.

Meringue is the funniest food word I can think of. It’s important to have a list of funny words from different genres, like food. My favorite aviation word is “Bernoulli.”

You obviously came here for a reason — some of you subscribe to my feed, some of you searched Google for “what goes with pizza” (the answer is beer, BTW), some are looking for pictures of the “prettiest dog“, and then there are those loyal few who just come directly to the site and read whatever’s on my mind for the day.

Here’s what’s on my mind today — What do YOU want me to write about? What’s on your mind?

Inspiration Credit: Merlin Mann and his “Most Days” video series.

I was tagged by Linda Ld Jacobson who was tagged by Richie Escovedo to take up this writing exercise. This is a good thing, because I need some exercise right now.

1. I weigh 265 pounds. But I carry it well. Most people are surprised to hear that I weigh that much. I tell them that it’s because I’m dense in every sense of the word.

2. I don’t have many secrets. I’ve even published most of the intimate details of my financial life right here so that hopefully people can learn from me.

3. I made a total ass of myself in front of Bill Paxton during the inaugural Lone Star International Film Festival. Essentially, I behaved the way I do around everyone and immediately assumed the role of best friend with people that I had just met, and let’s just say that Bill wasn’t open to me tagging along with “his crowd.” There wasn’t an ounce of Hollywood celebrity haughtiness to be found, just 265 lbs. of local yokel who doesn’t know when to shut the hell up. I’m surprised they didn’t yank my press pass right there and then.

4. I get weirded out when people take sports seriously enough to actually come to fisticuffs with fans of opposing teams. That’s just stupid shit. If you want to fight an “enemy,” join the military. I like to win as much as the next guy, but unless it’s life or death, losing isn’t the end of the world. Projecting that level of import on a football (it’s always football around here) game THAT YOU’RE NOT EVEN PLAYING IN is just juvenile.

5. I’m seriously overwhelmed by all the web 2.0 social-network-media-web stuff that I feel obligated to wrangle. That’s just one small reason why I’m making the move back to analog in ’09.

6. I had never eaten anything with jalapenos in it until about 6 years ago. I couldn’t manage even mild wings — too hot for me. My mom used to make tacos with ketchup. (I still think they’re awesome, mom, but I like the spicy stuff now, too.) My favorite meal as a child was beef (canned beef, natch) & noodles with mashed potatoes and corn. Yellow, white, and beige, with a hint of brown and drowned in salt, shoveled into my mouth with slices of County Line Colby Jack cheese.

7. I’m still genuinely surprised and flattered when people tell me that they read West and Clear. Doubly so when they give it a compliment!

I’m supposed to tag seven people, so I’ll give it a shot… (I’m not even sure I know seven bloggers!)

Kevin Buchanan
Steve Smith
Suzette Watkins
Allen Patterson
Pete Geniella

Aaaannnddd that’s it! Bernie doesn’t have his own space anymore, so I’m stuck with just the 5 people.

The rules:
• Link your original tagger(s) and list these rules in your post.
• Share seven facts about yourself in the post.
• Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.
• Let them know they’ve been tagged.