SEMI-Automatic

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Or, as the turkeys call it, Murder Day.

Ok, people really have to stop using the word ‘passion’ so much. It’s to the point that it’s losing any real meaning. Especially when it’s used by companies trying to sell their services or attract possible employees. “Do you have a passion for in-store merchandising?” “We at Boston Basement Technologies have a passion for basements!” “Follow your passion for retail sales!” (all actual ads screamed at by yours truly)

A passion for basements? Really? Not for nothing, but if your passion in life is installing sump pumps or removing mold from somebody’s damp cellar, you lead an empty life. Truly you do, and for society’s sake you must be monitored at all times and slowly drained of your bodily humours so we can study them and develop a vaccine for that sort of nonsense. If your mission in life is to sell sweaters at the Gap, you need a team of psychiatrists – stat.

I always thought when somebody had a passion for something, it meant that there was something in their life that they just had to do no matter what. I’ve known a few artists, musicians and actors through the years, and a few of them just had no choice about it: creating was something they just did- like breathing- every day. If any money was earned doing it, then that was gravy. It was something that was a part of them always (incidentally, that’s when I realized I was not cut out for the creative life – I enjoy having food in the fridge on a regular basis). Now that is passion. Sorta like the way I have a passion for watching television. 😉

But cleaning basements or selling overpriced clothing made in Malaysia – that’s a job, nothing more. Let’s call things what they are, and we’ll all be better off.

Like Bill Maher once said: If your morning coffee has crushed ice, whipped cream and caramel – it’s a milkshake!

For those of you who are writers, you may want to check out this link for the word processing software Writeroom

http://www.hogbaysoftware.com/products/writeroom

Writeroom is billed as ‘Distraction-free writing’ for those who “prefer a typewriter but live in the digital world”. You can download the software for free to your Mac if you don’t want to make the $24.95 donation. For people in the Windows world (my sympathies), they also make an app called “Darkroom”, which basically is the same thing for the Windows OS.

It’s like having a fullscreen Alphasmart.