Nonsequitur Life

Minnesota Weather Update:

It snowed.

Two days in a row.

We got about half a foot of snow, which is way more than the rest of this winter combined.

Will we get more? It’s only the end of March, so we very well could.

I’ve been digging around in my iTunes library because I still have a couple thousand files that have fucking DRM protection on them. Remember when songs you bought off iTunes were DRM protected? JFC.

I want to convert/replace those files with unprotected versions so I can listen to them outside of iTunes. I have a method of doing so, so I don’t have to RE-BUY a few thousand songs I ALREADY OWN. It’s a boggy, cumbersome process and it involves using a very old laptop with a program that can burn virtual CDs to create free and clear mp3 files. iTunes killed compatibility with later versions (because piracy is bad) so I’ve been keeping my previous computer in service solely for that one program. Yes, I suppose I am more or less pirating music from myself so I can listen to shit I paid for.

One thing I’m finding as I sift through thousands and thousands of files and folders, is that I have A LOT of music I barely recognize. I might remember the name, but I could not tell you what those songs sound like. I also have a lot of stuff that I just don’t listen to anymore for varied and sundry reasons. I’m starting to wonder if I should start purging stuff I don’t care about anymore. I might clear out some hard drive space that way. My whole library is a royal cluster and really needs a massive overhaul and reorganizing.

It is an undertaking, I can tell you that. And it’s taking up a lot of brain space right now because, as I might have mentioned once or twice around here, writing is not happening lately.

Or rather, there’s only one story Basil seems to be interested in these days, and while the idea amuses the shit out of me, it is not what I WANT to be working on.

Or he keeps dredging up things that are of no use to me, so I’m just left to spin my wheels.

Because Basil.

—

Basil: HEY!

Me: …one…two…three…four…five…

Basil: Heeeeeey.

Me: …six…seven…eight…nine…ten…

Basil: Hey. Hey. Hey listen.

Me: What.

Basil: Ben and Marina.

Me: JFC……What about them?

Basil: What if the roles were reversed?

Me: What roles?

Basil: The brothers. Ben and Chris. What if Chris was older and Ben was younger.

Me: What would that accomplish?

Basil: Ben would be the annoying little brother instead of the obnoxious older brother.

Me: And what would that accomplish?

Basil: Different dynamic between Ben and Marina. More believable conflict. Also the Jake factor would have far more impact on their relationship.

Me: Alright, I’ll concede the Jake part. But NO. It would change the dynamic of the entire story. I would have to rewrite the whole thing. There’s no way the family would be so invested in the inevitable relationship between them. She’d be 33 and he’d be 23 instead of 40. He’d be just starting grad school instead of middle age. They would not have the years of baggage behind them that defines their whole relationship. Plus then No Signal wouldn’t work because Ben would only be 12 years older than Tyler. Nowhere near old enough to be his dad. He would be less than twice his age at that point.

Basil: Cut out the No Signal plan. It’ll totally work.

Me: That story needs character adjustments but that definitely ain’t it.

—

Troposphere Steve Burns