1/30/08 - I'm not a big fan of the NBA. I think the season is too long. November into mid-June is too much basketball. I'm beginning to feel the same way about this election season. I follow politics closely in some vain attempt to feel informed, but we're a long, long way from November and I'm starting to get burned out. And I have this awful feeling that once the oath of office is taken next January, two weeks later it'll all start over again.
2/22/08 I was talking with a friend the other day and he was telling me how though he was running late to an obligation, he decided to stop at a convenience store and pick up one of those bottled flavored coffees. What struck me was the way he told the story. It went something like this, "You know, I work hard. I'd had a rough day. Really busy. I should have already been there (his appointment) but I thought, 'You know what, I deserve this.' So I stopped."
I guess it's a pet peeve of mine, but the whole, "I deserve this" mentality bugs me. I wonder if the next time he's running late and he has a flat tire if he'll think, "You know what, I deserve this too." Lord knows I deserve a lot more of the bad than I do of the good. If you want a coffee, stop and get the coffee, but don't tell me how much you deserve it.
There - I feel better already.
5/6/08 From time to time I find myself driving down the road thinking that I need to get back to the website and update it a little, then my mind drifts back to whatever project I'm working on at the moment. Lately it's been edits of When Darkness Falls and another novel. I don't see how other part-time writers manage to keep their websites updated, write a daily weblog and take part in all of these discussion sites and message boards and actually write. With two young children, a wife who likes her yard mowed from time to time, a business to run and a dog (laying at my feet at the moment), I'm content to let this page of my site suffer a little from neglect.
5/12/08 I've got to thank a couple of people. First is Nikita Gordyn who edited When Darkness Falls and also designed the cover art. She did a terrific job. Second is Melody Metzger-Swor, who did the initial line edit of When Darkness Falls and several of my other stories also. Mel does a lot more than simply correct spelling errors or point out grammatical crimes. Because her taste runs parallel to the type of stuff I write, her assistance runs pretty deep. Thanks Mel.
5/13/08 If you're considering plunging into the world of writing, you'll want to make sure you develop some patience. The publishing world revolves . . . s . . . l . . . o . . . w . . . l . . . y. I'm not a person blessed with a lot of patience, so it's been tough. I'm still searching for an agent for Melanie's Gift. An agent has the full manuscript, but I've not heard back from her yet. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow. I'm not holding my breath. In the mean time I'll just keep writing because ultimately, that's all I can control.
10/13/2008 Yeah, I know, it's been a long time since I've been here. Sad, huh? I've been busy writing fiction and haven't had time for a good rant, but the other day one came to me. I'm not against video games. I'm a child of the 80s and it was we 80s kids that were there when Pong begat Asteroids, which begat Sonic the Hedgehog and so on and and so on, etc. That said, I guess I simply don't understand the explosion of interest in Guitar Hero. Cool television ads aside (and yes, I've played the game briefly - and no, I'm not that good) I just don't understand why a kid would want to invest that much time playing a pretend guitar. Pick up a real one and guess what, with half the devotion, you'll actually be able to play Barracuda. When I was a kid, we played guitars with strings on them. Yes, it required a lot of mundane practice, no there was no instant gratification nor were there any cool video game graphics, but now I can actually PLAY a guitar. Just something to consider.
12/10/2008 I've been pondering Christmas a bit lately. The notion that the God who created the universe came to Earth as a baby, born in a barn, is absolutely the most powerful lesson in humility that mankind has ever received.
12/17/2008 How would you like to sell fish door to door? There are days when my gig doesn't seem so thrilling, but there is always something worse you could be doing. I've got a set of large windows in my office that look out across the street at the Post Office. Today I was watching the bustle of people running in and out in the snow and a small refrigerated box van pulled up in front of my office. I knew what was going to happen next - they were going to try to sell me some meat.
I watched as a guy jumped out and ran around to the rear of the truck and swung open the doors. For some reason at that moment the driver pulled away from the curb and five boxes of meat fell out on the ground at this guy's feet. He wasn't happy. He ran the driver down and they loaded the meat back into the truck. Then he came into my office and explained how they'd been to Florida and picked up a bunch of seafood and wanted to know if I wanted to buy some. I don't know what it is about buying meat out of the back of truck, but it's a little creepy. I declined. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it was fine and there must be a lot of people who buy fish from door to door salesmen or these guys wouldn't be in business, but it just seems creepy.
