249 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
249 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
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'##::::'##:::'#####:::'########: VIVA LA REVOLUCION! CERDO DEL CAPITALISTA!!
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##:::: ##::'##.. ##:: ##.....:: ===========================================
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##:::: ##:'##:::: ##: ##::::::: THE HELOTS OF ECSTACY PRESS RELEASE #271 !!
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#########: ##:::: ##: ######::: ZIEGO VUANTAR SHALL BE MUCH VICTORIOUS! !!
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##.... ##: ##:::: ##: ##...:::: ===========================================
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##:::: ##:. ##:: ##:: ##::::::: "An Interview with Ben Ohmart" !!
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##:::: ##::. #####::: ########: by -> Mogel !!
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..:::::..::::.....::::........:: 11/6/98 !!
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!!========================================================================!!
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For the few of you who are still asking the question, "who is
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Ben Ohmart?", I've managed to snag him from his busy schedule for a brief
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interview. I ran into Ben (AKA Findline) back in the early days of HOE,
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in '94. At that time, and since he's been continually submitting article
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and story after article and story to dozens of e'zines around the world.
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I'd *even* go as far to say that Ben Ohmart would be my proud posterboy
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for what it takes to be a e'zine legend!
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Here is our conversation, dated November 5th, 1998.
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!!========================================================================!!
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Mogel: Hey there!
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Ben: Might I start off by saying YOU SUCK. Therefore, the conversation
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can only get better.
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Mogel: Good idea. In fact, feel free to completely ramble at any given
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time on any tangent. But not to a point, mind you.
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Mogel: Alright, let me first start off by saying that I've noticed that
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you've been involved in 'ezines for quite a number of years,
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submitting and being published in various ones... but I'm going to
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ask you about yourself first. How old are you right now?
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Ben: 81... or 28, you can pick.
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Mogel: 28! Where are you from? As in, what location do you live in?
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As in, where would we find you normally living? (WHICH CITY!)
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Ben: Born and spent 17 years in Albany, GA. I would like to normally
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live in AZ. And that's the truth. Great climate there.
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Mogel: What do you "normally" do when you're not writing? I assume, from
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one e'zine guy to another, that you could not actually make money
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from the web.
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Ben: hahahahahahaha! good one! I type for a living. Therefor I'm in
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front of the computer all fucking day.
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Mogel: Do you type anything specific?
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Ben: That's actually why I haven't written a poem or story in a while
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now, probably over a year, because I'm tying to concentrate on the
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areas of writing THAT PAY. I know the zine kingdom frowns on
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payment and how money roots on all evil... but on the other fist,
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poverty SUCKS the big wind.
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Mogel: The big wind, indeed! One might as well exploit their talents, so
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long as nobody gets directly hurt, huh?
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Mogel: So when did you get involved with e'zines exactly?
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Ben: I had my first 'thing' published in '93. That's 1993 to you.
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I'm not sure if I have talent, but I'm a damn good hack. I Got
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some poems and stories taken then. And success fucked success, so
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soon my family of wares grew and I could send out for rejections
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left and right.
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Ben: I chose ezines and zines (zines first) because they took
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alternative writing. I don't write the kind of washing that fits
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in the pages of Discover and Reader's Digest.
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Mogel: Hey, Discover is a good magazine!
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Ben: They would be great if they took my stuff, eh?
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Mogel: So is that how you'd generally classfy yourself? As an
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alternative/experimental sort of writer?
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Ben: Well, everyone who reads my stuff gets around sooner or later to
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saying it's 'surreal'. However, I never read that stuff myself.
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I don't have the patience for it. I read mysteries and comedy,
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I'm afraid. Anything heavy weighs my brain down. Hell on the
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shoes.
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Mogel: Would you say you had any particular style, though, in regards to
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content, characters, theme, plots?
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Ben: Of course there are times I forced myself to read journals and the
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books that are 'good' for me. But I tend to keep away from them
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like I keep away from the movies critics call great and brilliant.
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I'd rather an action movie or thriller than something great.
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great to me = fun. Fun is an old 30s mystery. My Actpot series
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was based on the Saint and Falcon films of back then.
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Mogel: So I suppose you'd consider your writing more existential -- that
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is, living for the pleasureful experience rather than having a
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Grand Message attached to it.
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Ben: About style... I don't know. I never took the writing classes and
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have forgotten all english classes, so I wouldn't want to thin
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about styles. I'll let others figure it out. As long as I don't
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have to be dead or drunk to be famous.
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Mogel: But I'm sure there are common character types that appear in what
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you write, at least. Most of what we are ends up being channeled
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into characters in some form.
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Ben: Well, when I write, I try to think of what I know or what i've
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seen in other writing or films, then I write what Hasn't been
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done. This gets me in trouble a lot of times because I think
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secretly people like stereotypes or things they can plug into.
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Writers in journals like writing about drunks, and there are Lots
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of sane subjects that are okay. I tend to stay away from those.
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For instance, I'm not a Bukowski (?) fan, like a lot of people
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are. I've read some of his stuff, since I try to get around to
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*everyone* sooner or later, but sometimes the range of emotion in
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his work puts me off. I am a GREAT fan of british comedy. The
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Goon Show is great. I have letters and signed books from Spike
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Milligan and a few other Goons, but I don't suppose anyone will
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know what I'm talking about here.
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Mogel: Do you have any particular favorite writers, on that note?
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Ben: Writers? Not really. Actually I have very few favorites, period.
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I would make a LOUSY editor, because I think everything is good in
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its own way. That is the dead Truth. I think everything is good,
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and I can't tell the shit from the catholic gold.
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Mogel: That's very much the philosophy behind HOE e'zine!
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Ben: The trouble is, that lack of shit detection has landed me as far
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away from being famous as you can get and still be white.
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Mogel: White?
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Ben: Easier for a white man to rule the world, of course.
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Mogel: You've been involved in e'zines for quite some time, I think. I
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mean, you've seen the evolution from 1993 where e'zines were
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primarily newsletters and ascii text, and now they're primarily
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based on the web. What do you make of that?
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Ben: True. I would be a lot more, too, if I actually *got* something
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out of it, besides just seeing my name up there. See, my dad has
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MS and he HATES his job, so time is running out. I want to get
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him to a place where he can retire and write music or rape horses.
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Ben: I tend to write everything in plain text since it's the quickest
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way to things out there.
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Mogel: Yes, I tend to lean towards the most simple stuff myself. I use
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PINE instead of GUI mail programs, PICO or DOS EDIT instead of
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Wordpad, etc.
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Ben: I got my first computer with a modem in the summer of 94, so I'm
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not positive. I'm also NOT a tech-head so I'd lay off those
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silly words if I were you. I'm NOT going to answer them. You
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might as well type Russian. But I write in wordpad, but mostly
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the little simple thing that comes with Mindspring's mail program.
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Mogel: Ahh, but how do you think the media of e'zines has changed/evolved?
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Ben: I'm either very stupid or haven't noticed Any changes. You can
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pick which. I do believe the internet has given some freedom to
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writers. They can get the stuff out for free. However, lots of
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people claim that lets a lot of shit loose and that they should
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just use a toilet like everyone else.
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Mogel: You said you don't have any favorites -- do you have any e'zines
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that you find particularly well produced?
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Ben: Well, www.disobey.com has been very good to me. It's kinda my
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homepage now. I like the way the guy thinks, and of course the
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fact that he's nearly famous helps a lot, too. He's been
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mentioned in national mags or newspaper. Of course it hasn't
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helped *me* any, but I think that's what keeps writers going.
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The threat of possibility. The threat that they'll get famous or
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shot dead.
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Mogel: But you have had things published there?
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Ben: He's put up a lot of my plays and skits, yes.
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Mogel: That's good. I suppose the whole submission-process with e'zines
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can get frustrating at times, hmm?
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Ben: No, not at all. It's free. It's having to buy stamps and send
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to paper mags that really wastes your time. You waste money,
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paper, hope. I have none of that sitting around in boxes.
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Mogel: How many e'zines, roughly, would you say you've been published in?
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Ben: Hard to say... well, over 100, I'm sure. If you do a web search
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for my name you'll keep finding me until the dead walk the earth.
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But of course places go under, so who knows if I'm still alive on
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certain sites.
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Mogel: I recall a friend of mine, Edicius, put one of your stories into
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his e'zine Jonas.
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Ben: I wish I could remember him, but it's got nothing to do with him,
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I have a terrible memory. Really bad. I loose so many good ideas
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at night falling asleep or in the car, it's stupid.
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Mogel: You've still had an impressive number of writings... I suppose you
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manage to save enough good ideas! You've said you'd been into
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writing screenplays and scripts lately, right?
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Ben: Yes, I'm pretty prolific. Some film ideas that are very good make
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me scared. I'm so scared that by the time I write it up, people
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will have done it. I'm going to get to write a government video
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soon, too. And worked on rewriting a commercial for the Albany
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Symphony Orchestra (NY). And there's a German guy, Young, who
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wants to do my short film Quark, which is about Santa coming down
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the chimney and getting the shit kicked out of him.
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Mogel: Do you think that's the direction you'll be going into?
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Ben: Yes, I *must* get into film and TV. It's the only thing that
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pays. Since my short story writing style isn't in vogue.
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Mogel: What do you see in the future for Ben Ohmart? Both in writing and
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in life...
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Ben: I don't know. I just know that EVERYONE fancies himself a writer,
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and everyone has a story or script. I have a couple contacts in
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california, and I'm writing screenplays for people who have their
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own connections. I'm working on Their ideas, since it's the only
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way people will become involved with you. I also did a pretty
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good pilot for a tv show which is getting in a place or 2. I
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really REALLY really want to be writing for a living (that means
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it pays for food and heat) by my 30th birthday. Sept. 20, 2000.
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That's the goal.
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Mogel: Ahh, setting goals is certainly an effective way to get things
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done. Do you have any final comments for other potential writers
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out there?
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Ben: Yes, I would say if you have any other skills at all -- don't be a
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writer. It isn't worth it. If you can be happy doing something
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else, do that. There are so many writers in the world... do it as
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a hobby. Anyone who tells you you can do *anything* is just
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blowing up your zipper, unless you're wearing a dress, guys.
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!!========================================================================!!
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!! (c) !LA HOE REVOLUCION PRESS! #271 - LOGGED BY: MOGEL -- 11/6/98 !!
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