Well...I had no idea...
Thanks to all for all your kind sentiments. Far more numerous than I would have expected.
Actually, I frequently got the idea that my writing style was so hated, that most would rather I was gone. Maybe that is still so. But, I gotta be me.
And, after writing technical reports for 30 years, it doesn't seem likely that the style is going to change.
It's hard to imagine anyone liking a book done in that same style.
Perhaps it would sell on the "controversy" aspect alone? Do they make 10 copy production runs of books?
A book project... yeah add that to the pile of other projects I have in the queue to be completed. I simply can't live long enough to complete the ones I've already started (a fact that has been weighing on me of late).
I've been known to say, "I work on the principle that I must start at least one new project every week!"
Unfortunately, I never included finishing a project in that creedo.
While I certainly do get work done, it is far more interesting to start something new than to finish a project. It wasn't until about mid-life (so far) that I understood why.
(Begin boring story...)
I once took a "project leader" class while working for a company that needed them. One of the salient points was that, in a work environment, their are at least two diametrically opposed personality traits that become dominant.
There is the "list oriented" person, and a "new beginnings" person.
The list person runs their life with check lists. Nothing gives these persons a better, satisfaction or feeling than checking off that last item off the check list, and they will work furiously to do so. These people usually have neat, clean, organized desks, cubicle, office, or work space.
A new beginnings person just cannot resist exploring whatever idea has just entered their day. Learning something or starting something new is what makes life interesting. Finishing something is like death, the end, and a very sad thing. Lists irritate them. These people usually have messy "littered", desks, cubicles, offices or work spaces that "look" disorganized (there is often order in the piles of stuff that is not obvious).
A list person looks at a new beginnings person's work space and asks, "How does he get anything done?"
A new beginnings person sees the neat workspace of the list person and claims, "This person doesn't do anything!"
It turns out that this seemingly divergent behavior is precisely why teams can be far more successful than individuals, as a combination of these traits are needed for a project. And, the leader must temper both these traits for channeling energy towards a product deliverable.
"New beginnings" add multiple avenues/ideas/options into the product. The "list person" checks off unnecessary items (outside product description) or completed items in a drive toward completion and a product delivery date.
A new beginnings person must allow the project to end, or die. This is contrary to their desires.
The list person must allow things to be added to the list when required. This is contrary to their desires.
Yes, I'm a new beginnings person...
Most likely any book I started would never be completed to a "finished" state, without some king of flogging going on. For the same reason, it's why all the songs I've written are never "finished", just how they sound thus far. It's so bad that I can't even record them for fear of them being "done".
This is also why I like bikes/machines. They are never really "finished", just the state they are currently in now. They'll need further attention at something "new" in the future. I think it may be why I have so many of them. They are so reliable, I have to acquire another, to fix the "new" problems found on the derelict (the kind that usually gets my attention).
Perhaps the "new beginnings" bit is why I have trouble ending a post? And it just goes on and on and on and on.....
But really, thanks for your kind words.
