The treat days are killing me

December 4, 2009


There is a box of malted milk balls on the table by my desk. Lynell’s candy jar is filled with leftover Halloween candy, and will be constantly half-full – like an optimist’s sweet tooth – for the rest of the season. Boxes arrive daily with summer sausage, crackers, spreads, chocolates, bars.

Sometimes the treats are homemade. Other times, they’re prepackaged with preservatives and archaic logos, their origination betrayed by “made in South Dakota” rustic charm.

And that’s just what we get from vendors. Factor in a couple of potlucks, a Christmas party, and a holiday “treat day” countdown, and there’s no wonder I roll home every night.

I like carrots too. But I certainly never see those landing on the break room counter. What, are they all being saved for the Easter bunny?

Tags: Random |

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Alltop

March 15, 2009


This happened a few weeks ago, but I’m a little behind.

Black Marks on Wood Pulp is (one of) the newest site(s) on Alltop.

I can be found in the Twenty-Something category. That’s what happens when there’s no central topic - you get lumped into a category you’ve already grown out of.

But until there’s a “Nothing” category, here I am. Go check out the site. It’s pretty awesome.

Alltop, confirmation that I kick ass

Tags: Random |

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Do it better

January 22, 2009


Eyes watering, lying on my back, I stared into a fluorescent light. Metal scraped against my teeth, the taste of plaque cascading across my palate. I thought about how fitting it would be to write about how much I hate the dentist – how it’s both cliché and intensely real; a necessary evil that we’re all forced to live with in order to keep, you know, chewing things.

And then I got to work. I started to type. Something hit me.

I’ve already talked about this.

”Intrusive. Awkward. Banal. Antisepticised and stretched taut with rubber.

Have you ever chewed on your fingernails? You know the taste you get, like a grinded piece of old plastic, dark and deep yet earthy and natural?

Mix that taste with cinnamon, then scrape at your eyelid.

That, to me, is the dentist.”

That’s from June of 2007. From this site. From my mind.

With over 1,000 posts in the backlog of Black Marks on Wood Pulp, I’m finding it increasingly harder to find topics I haven’t already written about. And at work, after only three years of writing copy, I’m discovering a newfound mental block, where the only ideas I can come up with are old ideas.

It’s not writer’s block – that would assume I can’t think of anything at all. It’s more like writer’s blockage, with thousands of previously written ideas are flooding back at once, blocking the progress of anything new or creative.

When this happens to us – in any form of creative work – it’s easy to give up. To say, “Oh, all of my ideas are dry,” and move along with something trivial, or accept a less than stellar idea in the name of Getting Work Done. We are led down the simple path. The path to hackdom.

But it’s important to realize that, indeed, thoughts are rarely original. Except in the case of new forms of media, everything’s been done. Creativity isn’t coming up with new ideas – it’s taking the existing ideas and mixing them in a way you don’t expect.

There’s a quote from director Jim Jarmusch (which I discovered just a few weeks ago on Please Feed the Animals) that sums this up:

”Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination.

Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic.

Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery – celebrate it if you feel like it.

In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: ‘It’s not where you take things from – it’s where you take them to.’”

So I can write about going to the dentist again. Or, I can write about writing about the dentist. Or, I can forgo the dentist completely and talk about what would happen if I didn’t go. I can write an ad for a dentist. I can look for anagrams. Describe my walk from the car to the dental office in the same vein as an executioner’s walk. Speak from the vantage point of my teeth.

It doesn’t matter if it’s been done. It matter if it’s done well.

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Facebookery

December 16, 2008


It’s the slow season around the BMOWP offices. Actually, it’s the busy season everywhere else, which leaves the phones at BMOWP on “Away.” Or something.

In the meantime, you can check us out on Facebook. Kind of. Through the “Blog Networks” add on, you can become a fan/friend/follower/whatever of Black Marks on Wood Pulp.

So do it, to it. Join the BMOWP Blog Network. I think that link works - it’s hard to tell, Facebook sucks most of the time.

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New domains

July 31, 2008


It’s been busy around the office and at home, and it doesn’t look like things are letting up.

With that, a quick note. I have been sitting on two domains - mrvilhauer.com and coreyvilhauer.com - for a few months now. I’ve finally gotten around to activating them and sending them here.

So go ahead. Now you have three ways to get a hold of me! HOORAY!

More real BMOWP goodness to come. Eventually. I think.

Tags: Blogging, Meta, Random |

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Swallowing small amounts of saliva

June 23, 2008


“The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I’m just not close enough to get the job done.” – George Carlin

George CarlinSome comedians depend on physical humor. Some search for political twists or pop culture foibles. Some just try to be cute.

George Carlin was simply real.

He took the inconsistencies of language and turned them upside-down. He made logical and crucial observations on life in our country and made us realize that, at times, no jokes were needed – at times our country could be screwed up enough as it was.

He made words funny. Not jokes. But words. A linguist, a talker, a thinker. He was smart before it was cool, counter culture before it became a way of life. You could tell that he spent every minute of every day thinking. Thinking about life. Thinking about words. Thinking.

Imagine that – a comedian that made you think.

It was more than the seven that got him arrested. Every word was genius, every thought well-crafted. From tame to curmudgeon, he was the best voice on the comedy stage. And, in his own words, he lived by the creed that it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.

I’d say we’d miss him. But his words and his personality transcend his death. His influence on million – including myself – lives on even in his absence. And best of all, he’s left us enough material to last us decades.

Goodbye, Rufus. Good luck crossing that final line.

“By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth.” – George Carlin

Tags: Random, Words |

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Fresh baked

June 14, 2008


Queen City BakeryJust a quick gush.

Queen City Bakery in downtown Sioux Falls has some of the best baked goods you can imagine. Using fresh fruit and veggies from Warner’s (where we get our CSA) and a healthy dollop of butter, they’re heavenly. Seriously.

And as if that wasn’t enough, they’re in this great little loft-style bakery next to Latitude 44 - a classy, rustic looking downtown building filled with great food. It’s like a little bit of big city bakery mistakingly dropped into the middle of Sioux Falls.

The best part? They’re doing well. There was a sizable line the last time we went. Which is refreshing. If you’re in the Sioux Falls area, you owe it to yourself to visit. And tell Mitch hello.

Of course, our pear muffins and lemon-citrus scones and asparagus quiche from Queen City weren’t the only baked goods we ingested. On a day where we wondered how we could use our super-healthy CSA share, we spent more time devouring delicious pastries and donuts.

Donuts? Not from Queen City - from across the state: Wall, SD. Specifically, Wall Drug. They’re about as tasty as you can get. I suggest the maple frosted donuts.

(And yes, the Wall Drug donut mention is really an excuse to post some pictures I took with our new Canon. I love food porn.)

Donuts from Wall Drug

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