by Anton Martin Smith antonmartinsmith@gmail.com or martinantonsmith@gmail.com
QUICK (WordPress AI GENERATED) SUMMARY: In his recent update, Anton shares his busy week involving home renovations, guitar playing, and writing a serialized story on alternative history. He reflects on struggles with music theory and cleaning up after DIY projects while expressing gratitude for his growing audience, especially in the U.S. Amid challenges, he appreciates creativity and companionship, including his cat, Squeeky.
Now the 100% Human (I guess I am human)written Blog Starts Here:
Hi all.
Well what have I been doing? Well I’ve bin busy! I’ve covered a lot of bases this week. I’ve hd my usual domestic tasks of trying to do the basics well – home cooked meals, getting to the supermarket, working on my home reno project. Over and above the basics I’ve got the old electric guitar out again (recently I pulled it out after not playing for two years). Let me talk of electric guitars.
So I know i have a problem with playing guitar – long ago I got to the point where I learnt the basics, well SOME of them. I know what’s in key or not BUT I still can’t play bar chords. The problem is a guitar is not designed very well to ply bar chords. My fingers don’t like them. So I can only play the powers cords, notes AND the basic chords on fret one and two. I don’t really have any appreciation for the I iii IV chord sequence etc. You see the problem with music theory is you hi the HARD PART and then it’s a grind. I started guitar too late. It is what is is. So my history has been 1) Bad cover versions 2) Writing bad half good guitar tracks. So really I simply jangle about for fun – I like to play some overdrive riffs, then I add a few notes. It is what it is. Maybe one day I’ll be bothered to learn guitar properly. You can’t win ’em all. Maybe I just don’t like how to be a good musician you have to ignore all other parts of life – and I like to do lots of different things. Ok enough about that.
What else – well I’ve been working on my reno project – this week I painted some tired looking wooden storage racks. It IS amazing what a lick of paint does. It’s boring so I’ll stop talking about that.
I also am trying to deep clean all the “Gib Dust” (i.e. powdered plaster) that has gone through my room because I decided to do my own ceiling replacement job. I did th “Joint Plastering” and “Drywalling” myself. We calling it Gib-Fixing and Gib Stopping in NZ/Oz. The fine particles are everywhere. I’m bad at cleaning at the best of times. Did I mention I was also sleeping in the room while I did the job? That’s a tricky process where you try to live in one half on the room while you work on the other, with a canvas sheet sectioning off the messy dusty area from the living/sleping area. It only half works. The dust seeps through. Ok enough about that.
On a writing front I’ve came up with a new idea for a serialized story. It’s what might be called ‘alt-historic political fiction’. i.e it’s half based on real life and characters but half not. So the half true part is Thatcher and English Politics and society in the mid nineteen eighties. With these things you come up with the story as you write it. Actually I wrote part 1 a week ago and then went back tonight to finish and improve/add to it. I’ll post the link here:
Anyway I’ve tried to be humorous with a nod to reality as well. Not much point in banging on about it. Go read it (I’m beggin of you!). I plan to record it as a voice file in my own voice – give me a few days for that.
Outside that – the site is going well. You Americans seem to like my stuff. That’s awesome! Say what you like about the Americans – they are great supporters or the arts which includes writing (of course!). American traffic is actually 6X as much as the next country – NZ (my home country). Weirdly Australia doesn’t like me – but I’m not so surprised – I don’t thing they are massive readers per capita (but I might be wrong). Of course my site is tiny overall. I should probably be on Substack – maybe one day (I actually do have an unused account). Anyway – thanks to you Yanks! Maybe it’s just because I mention Bukowski all the time? He was very good after all a great feather ruffler!
Other that that I’m just trying to survive. This is not easy these days. Especially in small town NZ. Especially since you can’t work in a offices anymore and you find working with others too toxic. Oh well – maybe I’ll get more handyman/garden work this season. So long as I don’t die under a bridge I guess. At least I’ve made it to age forty-eight this August. Almost fifty. Man time is being eaten up like some giant bookworm might eat up entire chapters of Buk’s ‘Ham On Rye’ every five seconds or so. I always lament how hard it is to just survive in NZ. In my more black minded moment I think it’s like we never made it out of the ‘Great Depression’ of the nineteen-thirties…..well perhaps it’s not that bad…we did boom in the fifties…maybe we’ve never got out of the ‘oil shock era’ of the mid nineteen-seventies. That’s fifty years of eating mince on toast. Oh well thank god I’m a quasi-bohemian who doesn’t need a fancy Maserati and trips to the South of France. My mind can conjour up enough fantasies and ideas of various types I guess. I just wish I had more people do have conversations about ideas and the world with. Oh well at least the internet is here to (potentially) reach billions.
Anyway that’s covered a few bases. I’ll update you more later! Good luck on your creative pursuits and the books/writing you are reading.
Oh I should mention my cat ‘Squeeky’ is well. Cats are great little furry things. They are like real life angels looking over us – are they not? Except when they are ‘hangry’ of course.
Take Care All!
Anton Martin Smith Sat 22 Aug 2026 11:48Pm
Anton Martin Smith Writer 