Doomed To Obscurity

What Dreams May Come

2012-01-21T21:24:00.000-08:00

It's strange how life unfolds, sometimes bringing us back full circle to something we encountered ages ago. I'm speaking about something which might very well seem insignificant to an external observer, perhaps even childish. Yet it had a such a profound impact on us that it shaped our life in a significant way.

In my case, a series of events led down a path that brought back a childhood memory long since forgotten. A memory of something I cherished deeply during those wonderfully naive years of dreaming about the impossible. What am I babbling about? Let's find out. While this might not make sense to anyone other than myself and might seem childish, what I'm talking about was and is still is something important in my life regardless of what others see it as.

Moving back a month or two in time, somewhere across the globe, a butterfly flapped its wings. Shortly thereafter, a friend of mine feels the urge to gently prod me, er, ask me if I've taken active steps towards writing books for young adults. “There's a sizable market you could tap into for extra income,” she says. I'm paraphrasing, but it hits the mark close enough. Besides, I doubt my friend would worry if I misquote a word or two. Not to mention my memory is like that of a fish – anything past nine seconds and I seem to forget anything in the short term. But I digress. Slow to move, I'm like molasses, but I'm a juggernaut too. Once in motion, I churn along with a seemingly endless supply of energy as I move tirelessly towards my goal. My purchase of the book on authoring children's story is part of the slow but steady movement forward. Again I digress by presenting background material. I'll meander back on topic to keep from losing everyone.

Fast forwarding from the past to this afternoon, I'm roaming about in a used bookstore, I whittled away the Saturday afternoon in a useful manner. Seeking materials to help improve my writing style, I browsed through the shelves lined with books. Some how-to books, others fiction and fantasy oriented. While rooting bout in the how-to section, I stumbled across a tome dealing with writing stories for younger readers. My memory managed to function and I could hear my friend, “Hey, that book there... yeah that one! Pick it up.” Okay, I'm an agreeable fella so I pick up the book entitled, “How to Write a Children's Book and Get It Published”. I thumb through the pages. The style is agreeable as is the prose. Nothing stuffy or stilted. It's quite approachable and seems to have a series of good suggestions so I add it to my other how-to books. After a bit more browsing through the science fiction and fantasy books, I pay for my booty and set sail for home.

Upon arriving home, I grab a bite to eat then sit down to take a look at my books. I'm perusing through a chapter entitled “Turtles All the Way Down” when the author of this particular essay begins to speak about alliterations such as “One ring to rule them all”. Vague memories of childhood books began to surface. I recall reading “The Hobbit” and even far stranger works such as the likes of H.P. Lovecraft. I set aside my memories and return to reading. The author drifts along making interesting points about the voice employed by an author when they are painting their character to the reader. The subject of C.S. Lewis arises with how a child is placed into a role of an adult through such a voice. Down goes the book. Something interesting is rumbling in the mind but it hasn't surfaced. While I'm pondering the concept of how younger readers can be pulled into the excitement of reading a story, a tidal wave of thoughts about my youth take control. Stories I'd read come flooding back. I start to recall how wondrous those stories were. Then it hit me. One of those nagging thoughts where you have something you're trying to recall but it's just out of grasp. I recall a book, one that I read numerous times when I was in the dreamer stage some young boys go through. It was through this particular book that I imagined vicariously, the thrills of pulling off clever pranks filled with mystery. The title, what was the title of that book? Something about a scientific boys club. A bit of searching turned up an anime reference but that wasn't it. More browsing and searching. Then, with a bit of detective work, I hit pay dirt and found my author, Bertrand R. Brinley along with the title of his cleverly written “The Mad Scientists' Club”. I pulled up an Amazon page selling the book, and sure enough, there was the cover I had burned into my memory as a child. That oh see delicious set of stories filled with excitement of youthful endeavors.

Now one might say, “Yeah, so? It's a kids book. What's so important about that?” Well now, for me, this seemingly trivial book wasn't so trivial. As a child, I found myself reading and rereading this book numerous times. It was the hook that got me, the bait that pulled me into the world of reading. And from there, greater things were able to transpire.

Allow me be more specific, when an author such Bertrand Brinley writes a series of stories that wrestles a kid's attention away from watching TV, would you not consider that a feat well worth praise? From that seemingly trivial book, I found myself reading stories from well known authors, some of the stories being deep in nature such as “Animal Farm”. Yep, I found a whole series of classic books on my oldest brother's bookshelf including numerous other wonders such as “I, Robot” and “Lord of the Flies”. Some books were too deep for me to understand at the time, at least their symbolism, yet the exposure was good in my opinion. And through all the reading, I was able to survive against my own laziness in school. Not motivated (interested) in typical school studies, I was able to retain some level of intelligent edge through reading. But when it's all said and done, books such as the one I mentioned are the ones that draw in a child with such intensity that it has a profound impact upon their life. Influence, it comes from unexpected places at times.

An iForce to be Reckoned With

2012-01-20T08:08:00.000-08:00

Opening the news yesterday, a barrage of captions vied for my attention. One of the easier to overlook stories vanishes behind headlines touting tales of cowardly captains or questionable US behaviors about SOPA/PIPA failure-inspired retaliatory strikes by governmental agency against websites of equally questionable behavior. Hidden amongst all the other brouhaha, would-be author's will find something of potential interest. Apple intends to make a big splash with its iBooks Author publishing software. It [Apple] aims to revolutionize the digital text book publishing industry by offering easy to use tools for publishing aimed at a large target market of iDevices that uses standardized hardware the books can be displayed upon. Sweet! What more could an author ask for?

Cue sinister music along with a dark shadowy figure.

But not all is sunshine and smiles it seems. Taking a deeper look, one might see something more troublesome. The oft repeated phrase J.R.R. Tolkien coined, “One ring to rule them all” should be pulsing in an author's chest, reminding them of the corruptible power of the ring which represents the double edged sword a monopoly uses to control/subdue a market. What am I speaking of specifically? The buried EULA which states all published works can only be sold in the Apple iBookStore. Further qualifying, this applies to books sold for profit and does not include books given away for free.

To be more direct, as an aspiring author, I find Apple's buried-EULA restriction unacceptable. I'm confident more than a few Apple supporters would be quick to say, “You don't have to use Apple software. Nobody is forcing you. Apple doesn't want you (but they do want my money), we don't want you so go @#&^ off! Feel free to fill in your own colorful term but how @#&^. I prefer to use the term kiss off! Has a nice feel to it doesn't it?

But in my opinion, people claiming the “no one is forcing you” angle are missing the point. When a company such as [insert your favorite evil empire name here] has sufficient clout over a market that it resembles a monopoly, any pretense of a free market dies. Innovation builds on the ability to be flexible. If I can only sell my works to the old western store front facade in the form of an iStore, how can I reach my own Android phone? Oh, well, you can use a handy converter app and pay Apple a royalty if the Apple decides to permit it... wait a cotton picking minute. Sound familiar?

Heavy handed EULAs are not something Apple invented. They've been around for ages, but we shouldn't allow an entity to force a mandate down our throats when it comes to how we, as authors, are allowed to distribute our material unless there is room for negotiation on both sides of the table.

Buddy, can you spare a "Change"?

2012-01-15T18:55:00.000-08:00

Seems my own personal snake in the grass decided it was time to bite me, serving as a reminder of my flaws.

It's the second time in the last week where I've encountered an issue I need to confront within myself. Allow me to qualify.

Keep in mind, there are times when the things I write are not flattering commentary about myself. I'm not here to impress people. I'm here to make my life have value when it's all said and done. In other words, I'm a human who is brimming not only with quirks and flaws, but also possess a redeeming plethora of good qualities too. With that said, let's dive into the muck.

Okay, so there I was, writing a blog entry using my trusty ol' PC. An email appears in my in-box. Drat, it's from a local dating site I'd registered with eons ago. Noise, nothing but in-box noise I tells ya! Since I'm in a take charge and change things type of mood, I decide it's time to put an end to this particular source of clutter in my in-box.

So off I went to the site, hell bent on deleting my account. I logged in to find the necessary page that will allow me to play Terminator – minus the “I'll be back” phrase. Just as I'm about to hammer down the “delete profile” button, an intriguing photo of a woman in the “recent activity” list catches my eye. Rrrrrt, the finger comes to a screeching halt. Yeah, yeah, I know. I can already hear the ladies saying, “You guys are all the same, you shouldn't use your eyes to decide whether or not to look at a woman's dating site profile.” Well, I'm a guy so we all know what I did. Rather than click delete, I clicked browse. Little did I realize it would mean I must confront the need to start a trek down a very painful road to further enlightenment.

Hmm, she definitely looks attractive and has the ethnic origin I strongly prefer (as if anyone couldn't guess, I prefer women of Asian descent). But what about her age? Time to browse further. Okay, so she's my age. Alright then, how about her background and interests in regard to the type of partner she's after? Certainly that has to be the final nail in my coffin lid ay? Surprisingly, no evident problems there.

Now one might say, “Fantastic, you've found a local girl who you'd like to get to know. You sent her message right?” Ah, um, well, er, ya see... no.

So some of you might say, “If you don't even try, you can't move forward. You've dated in the past so why not now? What da #($* is wrong with you?” I could make more excuses like saying the last time I dated I had time to establish a connection in a paced manner, easing the social stresses involved. Ah, but she made the first move so I guess I can't use that excuse. Rats, I'm cornered and must cop to the truth.

I realize that even when things look like a reasonable match from my side, I falter. Just take a look at my list of “but this won't work because...” checklist items I ran through beforehand. When all is said and done, what was my justification, er excuse, for not messaging her? My dumpy vehicle.

Stripping away one layer of obfuscation, I won't argue that driving a crappy vehicle clearly communicates I have some quirkiness within me. Whether or not that particular issue is a serious problem in itself is debatable. But very few people drive non-reliable vehicles out of choice. Still, it may or may not be a nail in my coffin lid for getting to know someone. To some extent, it depends not only upon how the other person views life around them, but how I present myself. Ah but then there's the second issue besides finances. Deeply intertwined with my choice to drive a crummy vehicle exists another issue revolving around self-image. The concept of self-esteem surfaces and now requires attention on my part. Sigh.

While the first issue of financial stability does raise its ugly head in my life at times, it's not the key issue here. And to my credit, I have been actively taking steps to stabilize my financial “state of being”. Clearly, the most dangerous culprit is the the issue of self-image, self-value, or self-esteem. I can make excuses about where these issues source from, but in the end, I bear full responsibility.

It's odd how our problems rise up like a snake in the grass, waiting to bite us venomously as a reminder, “Hey pal, I'm still here. Your attempts at self-improvement hasn't eradicated me.” Looks like I have far more work to do this year than I anticipated.

Like the Hands of Time, Always Move Forward

2012-01-15T15:30:00.000-08:00

In the past, I've talked about setting goals along with planning steps to achieve those aspirations. More specifically, I'm not talking about day to day activities, but about the grand scale of what one does with their life. For me, I'd boiled it down to four fundamental dreams I sought to achieve: writing stories, becoming involved with shooting films, creating an award-winning garden and last but not least, establishing a healthy relationship.

Looking back not quite a year after establishing my initial plans, it's time for an assessment. Are these still my major interests? Has anything changed such that directions need to be adjusted? How far have I progressed? While to some, this may feel like a rehash of the tired old topic, it's a bit more as I'll talk about changes in priorities. For those who are brave enough to tread down this path again, let's dive in shall we? As Mario of Super Mario Bros fame would say, “Here we go!”

In regards to major interests, flux is afoot. While I still have desires to be involved with my big-4, I find there has been some changes in levels of interest. First off, I'm focused on writing more than film making or creating a garden which is the eighth wonder of the world.

While the idea of shooting a film still seems intriguing, I've expended little effort in the arena. Even with having access to an HD “consumer” grade camera, I have not been expending effort on editing, composing shots, or anything else along that lines. A wise person realizes when the desire is not strong enough, resources shouldn't be diverted for such endeavors. It doesn't mean I won't tackle a small project here or there, but it does mean I understand it's a secondary priority and is simply about fun or relaxation. So, scratch one dream from the list, but not in a bad way as it allows me to focus my energies on more important matters.

Yet there are more major interest changes. What about the garden dream you ask? Well, my interests haven't subsided but I do realize it takes substantial financial resources and/or time. While I love the garden, trying to focus on creating an “award winning” scenario is not in my best interest. Adding the necessary features such as stone work or gazebo-like structures adds up fast when it comes to both time and money required. More importantly, what I like and what others find aesthetically pleasing (in terms of award-winning) are two totally different beasts as I've learned. For example, last summer after speaking with a very opinionated Comcast “pusher” who delved deeper into the topic of the neighborhood gardens more than selling a product, people don't always find beauty in the same things. What I see as interesting, they may see as disorganized, unkempt, or sometimes downright slum-like in nature. With that in mind, I'll once again restructure my list of dreams to move this to a secondary position. The garden now becomes my leisurely pursuit. What I create, add, or change in the garden is done for myself alone (or a partner). Damn the torpedoes when it comes to opinions from others. So scratch one more "primary" dream, reducing the list to a far more manageable set of two major goals – writing and a relationship.

Both of these are complicated enough individually, let alone as a combined focus of life. I'm gonna be a busy boy trying to figure a way to juggle the daily grind, trying to establish a relationship along with penning out a novel. But that's why they're major goals. They require intense amounts of dedication, commitment and energy. Sometimes they even cost blood, sweat and tears, but that's how you achieve greatness in your pursuits. For me, leaving a publicly recognized legacy in the form of books I've authored has become crucial. In ways, it gives meaning to my life much like religion or other beliefs provides motivation for many.

On to the subject of change. Ah, everything changes, or at least should. And many a change has come about in my life. Some have happened in the recent past, others are happening in the present, and some changes are still approaching on the horizon. Changes in the past included a big push to finish remodeling about the house such that the environment would be more conducive of creativity. Not having large heaps of tools here and there definitely helps in that manner. In the present, well, that includes such activities refinancing to reduce the mortgage interest rate. Or increasing my level of reading various materials. Taking in a multitude of new concepts is always a good thing. Be it from the reading the daily news, visiting a part of town I never went to before, or simply sitting down to enjoy reading a chapter from a SF book, it helps expand the mind. And then we have the ever-changing future. While it's impossible to perfectly predict what's on its way, one can see trends or potentials that are likely and I'm making adaptions in anticipation. This year will likely be just as filled with change as last year, perhaps even more so.

Progress? Well now, I'd say it's not a good as I hoped but I suspect it's been far more profound than I realize. When one is right in the middle of it, progress is hard to see. Yet, the house is moderately airy and open. I have a PC setup well for writing which includes two rotatable monitors to allow easier access to material in a ergonomic manner. One monitor serves to have research materials open for reading while the other monitor contains a portrait oriented document file where I can compose my thoughts. A simple thing that makes a surprisingly helpful difference. And let's not forget the glasses. Even though it was a painful fiasco that brought up some anger, I did finally manage to obtain a compromise that is workable. After a discussion with the office manager, they agreed to provide what they termed as computer lenses. I am finally able read fine-print without the tilting my head back so far that I feel like a Pez dispenser. Net result, I can read books again. Hello old “Analog Science Fiction and Facts” magazines!

I'm also investing time in writing a little more often but that's still under the level it needs to be. It's hard to kick start the creativity so I think more reading is in order.

And what about a relationship? Well, that's a difficult objective for me. I'm certainly putting forth effort to talk with the girls, but I've been talking to girls for as long as I can remember. Overall, I'd say it's still a “Steady as she goes Captain,” meaning there is no status change. But the year is young and so am I – at least at heart. Focusing, refocusing, and moving forward energetically with plans even when failures abound, that's what it's all about. So novels and the idea of a relationship move from being the dark horses in the race to the front runners.

How about you? Has anyone else been busy with laying groundwork and setting plans into motion? If so, how about sharing details about your progress?

Making Difficult Choices

2012-01-02T12:36:00.000-08:00

There are times when I wish I could have an “Aha!” moment where the difficult becomes simple. A moment in which a realization about how one is over-complicating a matter reveals itself and the simple choice discovered feels completely appropriate. But that's not always the case. While a simple solution frequently exists, it might not make you feel good to make the choice. Sometimes taking care of your own state of well-being becomes the priority.

Common sense dictates that before we can help others, we must take care of ourselves first. We must maintain our health, our emotional state of mind and keep our resources sufficiently balanced so that we can function properly. Otherwise we risk the possibility of not only doing detrimental damage to our self, but inadvertently taking down others with us in the process if we experience catastrophic failure in some aspect of our life.

Making the choice to take care of oneself isn't always easy. I know this from experience as I frequently struggle with trying to regulate a personality trait centered around this type of issue. I do understand there is a balance between self care and being too selfish. But knowing the appropriate times to say “no” is one thing while not feeling guilty about saying “no” is another.

It doesn't have to be that way. But it isn't easy. Sometimes people will become emotionally displeased because the rules are changing. When we establish a precedent through our past actions, people come to expect consistency. And introducing change won't always be accepted as being a wise choice by others. Understandable, but change is also something everyone needs to accept as a natural part of life.

In the grand scheme of things, approval is not something one should seek externally. Having people upset with us for some of our choices is an inevitable part of life. While hard choices are on the surface of this discussion, the underlying principle is about not looking externally for approval. Being able to say, “I understand your feelings and do have compassion for the scenario, but I must take care of myself first,” is an acceptable answer.

An Unwavering Presence

2011-12-30T11:04:00.000-08:00

Allow me to pose a question: ever look at something and realize it's an intrinsic part of modern culture? A seemingly always-present factor in life that has not only had an influence on society as a whole, but has had an impact on individuals too? Sometimes it's not an object, but a person.

It's not common for me to talk about celebrities, but there are times when an individual deserves additional positive recognition. I'm not talking about idol worship or any other such thing, but more to point out the positive impact an individual can have on the public.

Having read the news this morning, I was reminded of a celebrity who has had an influence on many people from my age bracket. With New Years Eve rapidly approaching, many of us from the post baby boomer generation are reminded of an iconic presence – the indomitable Dick Clark. A man who never seems to age regardless of what happens to him. Being in the public eye with his hosting of American Bandstand which started in 1952 and continued on until its cancelation in 1989, he become synonymous with Top-40 music and dance.

Even the demise of American Bandstand did little to remove Dick Clark from the public eye. Like the Rock of Gibraltar, he holds strong and makes his appearance on the Rocking New Years Eve event which is aired as a live event. As a further testament to his determination, after suffering a stroke in 2004, it has not subdued his desire to share his enthusiasm with the public. He continues to rises up, meet the challenges caused by stroke-induced speech impediments along with mobility issues and makes his appearance on New Years Eve as always.

I for one, tip my hat in respect to Dick Clark for tackling life head-on to share his positive can-do spirit with all of us. His unwavering presence, his sheer willpower along with his timeless appearance provide inspiration in so many ways. Good on ya Dick Clark!

A Year of Living Dangerously

2011-12-25T12:28:00.000-08:00

I'm sure at least one or two of you have noticed how I've been playing Houdini, seemingly vanishing for long periods of time. My coworkers have been not been spared from my “Be back soon” syndrome either as I've turned down numerous offers to go out at night, attend BBQs and I even passed on attending a rare appearance by Ramstein (they play German industrial music) here in Seattle in order to keep marching on my mission.

True enough, I've been absorbed in my plans and more focused on action this year but it felt necessary. I started the year off running full pace already knee-deep in a bathroom remodel that didn't wind down for months. Non-stop nights and weekends were invested so I could finally stop taking showers in my kitchen and return to normal life. Well, in April, the sun came out and plants started blooming. That was all it took. I'd been working on the bathroom remodel from the start of the previous December and I was sick of spending all my time working in one little room every single spare moment of my life. So outdoors I went ready to take in some sunshine.

Needless to say, it was out of the frying pan and into the fire as I took one look at the front yard and said, “This looks terrible.” Next thing you know, I'd cooked up a plan to rip the entire front lawn to shreds. With pick and shovel in hand, I dove in head first acting more like a badger than a human. Spring zipped by as I feverishly dug up the traditional suburbanite grass and left behind what looked like devastation from a strip mining operation. Summer raced by as I replaced the barren soil with compost and an entire new landscape of plants. It wasn't until late fall that I found myself slowing from the break-neck pace.

Ah, but something wasn't right. I found myself sliding into a bad place. My motivation dried up completely along with any feeling of creativity. I lost my inspiration. I found myself sleeping late on weekends, not wanting to do anything. After a few weeks of feeling down, something unusual happened. My oldest brother called me out of the blue one day. Seems he had a pair of tickets to attend a seminar and asked if I wanted to take a trip to see some fella by the name of Tony Robbins down in LA. “Tony who?” I replied. A quick conversation with my oldest brother enlightened me to the fact he was a very successful motivational speaker. After a few calls from my brother asking “A few changes would do you good... how about a trip to LA? Are you up for it?” I finally decided to give it a try. Mind you, I rarely travel. I'd never experienced traveling during any of my formative years as my family never took trips, never talked about vacations, and, well, you get the idea. Quite simply, it wasn't anything I'd learned to incorporate into my life. Well, here was an opportunity and I decided not to squander it. Fortunately, it didn't take much to convince my boss at work to let me take off time off. He was happy to see me finally take time off to go on a trip out of town.

The day finally arrived for the trip to the seminar. It started off a bit rocky as we missed our flight out of Seattle due to bad traffic holding us up on the freeway. But, during that time, I found my first hint of inspiration returning. I spotted a piece of art at SeaTac airport that piqued my interested. While quite small, it was symbolic as it was the first sign of change.

Eventually, we caught another flight and arrived in LA around midnight. It wasn't until about 1:30 AM that we arrived at the motel. Ah, a few moments of sleep before getting up to go register for the convention. Now for anyone who has never heard of Tony Robbins and his motivational seminars, let me tell ya, these things are taxing physically. Imagine being in a large auditorium for no less than 12 hours a day over the course of four days. Then imagine leaping up every fifteen minutes or so and kicking it to some dance music. I'm talking really dancing your tail off too where you're jumping around, shaking your booty and sometimes shouting out as loud as you can. Think of doing that in an area filled with 4000 other people all doing the same thing. The small group I'd bonded with was jumping about so much at one point that my calf muscles started cramping. Even more humorous, the event was also focused on letting go and being a kid. Well, one of my seat mates rather enjoyed grabbing hold of me and pitching me up in the air at times. Keep in mind I'm small for a fella so it's not too hard to wing me up high in the air. For that matter, it became a habit over the four days for several different people to suddenly grab me under the arms and toss me up high in the air when the dance music really started jamming. I'd help out by flinging my arms up so I would make a bigger spectacle out of it for those around us. Seems the crowd got a big kick out of it too as I had more than a few people come up to me and say, “Your energy is amazing! Keep it up!” Shoot, I even had a couple ladies tell me they had a fantastic time dancing to the music with me in the aisles. Nothing like a positive thinking seminar to get people relaxed and willing to have fun. Heck, it was worth it just for the dancing.

Ah, what's the point you ask? The seminar was fundamentally about facing fears to realize they don't have to control our actions. To prove the point to us, on the first night of the seminar, we walked on fire. Yup, I walked barefoot on a hot bed of coals and had a blast doing it. The purpose of walking on fire was to show us we can face fear. When we can face fear, we can achieve more in our lives as a result. And that's exactly what happened. As each day slid by, I felt more charged up and ready to change my life. When it was all said and done, the seminar did have a large impact on me so in ways, I'm a changed man – cheesy as that sounds.

So when I returned home, I was exhausted but inspired none-the-less. I set about making changes such that my emotional state of mind would remain positive. First and foremost, I had to clean up much of the clutter in my life – physical and emotional clutter. Sometimes one has to make a big mess to clean up a mess. For the physical aspect, I set about cleaning up the house which had become a disaster after the bathroom remodel. The utility room was the source of chaos in the house, sort of like an inverse eye of a hurricane so I dove in head first. Down came that crummy old wood paneling along with the glue-covered drywall behind it. The heaps of drywall on the deck went bye-bye to the dump. And the floor finally become visible again as I picked up the heaps of tools, vacuumed up the dunes of drywall dust and most importantly, fixed up the lighting around here. Now one can go into any room and find not only sufficient reading light, but some rather atmospheric ambiance mood lighting. The latter being a nice touch to improve my emotional state. When you look good, you feel good. The same goes for where we live.

And in the midst of all this, I started making other changes. A quick call to the credit union kicked off a a refinance application for lower interest rates on the home loan. That in itself will save me a lot of interest money. As you can see, I'd neglected many things but all that is changing daily. Ah, but more changes needed to be done. Being a caveman, I had to come into the twenty first century. After all, how can anyone get a hold of me if I don't have a cellphone? So out went the old land-line to be replaced by a rather cool Motorola Droid Razr smartphone. Yep, I'm digitally connected now. While there are many more changes waiting such as acquiring a reliable vehicle, I'm actively taking steps to make things happen.

And as for a relationship, I've realized my approach needs some revamping too. I've been trying to linear task everything in my life. I'm either fully focused or completely disconnected. That doesn't work, especially with finding a relationship. A person can't focus solely on hunting for a partner, it scares the hell out of people. Nobody wants a bulldozer coming at them wouldn't you agree? Nor should I focus entirely on my goals. A little socializing will do me good so I'll do my best to balance my approach properly. :)

All in all, it's been quite the year and next year is looking to be equally as interesting. Change is not just in the wind, it's here and happening now.

Gone With the Wind

2011-11-24T11:18:00.000-08:00

Earlier this morning I was working on installing drywall in the back room. I started thinking about something one of my friends and I talked about recently when I asked for a favor. While I articulated what it was I hoped he would help me with, I stopped short of asking for quick action within a specific time frame. Ah, but my friend intuitively asked if I had a sense of urgency in the matter with the holiday season coming up. For that matter, he had to ask me directly several times about the time frame “I” wanted. I kept saying “Only if and when it's convenient for you,” until the third time when I finally realized what he was pointing out: my pattern of not fully expressing what it is I want. My attempts to minimize the inconvenience was completely unnecessary as he was more than happy to help me out. That triggered me to think deeper about an issue I have centered around my interpretations of what selfishness is.

When it comes to voicing wishes, one would think it would be a simple matter. After all, human beings are selfish creatures by nature. Our competitive spirit coupled with the desire to improve our lives provides motivations which steer our wants and needs to some extent. In my case, I know there are times when I ask freely for help. But at other times, well, it's a totally different story. Taking actions which might be viewed as selfish or even talking about them after the fact isn't always easy for some people. And why is that one might ask?

When we become self-aware in life, one of the primary activities we carry out is to seek role models. We learn from them and as we grow. We incorporate some of their beliefs and ideals into our own psyche. While our role models are far from perfect, they provide us with essential building blocks that shape aspects of our personalities. We try to incorporate that which is useful in meaningful ways that advance our standing or prospects for success. But along with the good comes some characteristics which are less desirable. Our role models, like their role models and the numerous role models before them, rarely possess well-balanced personalities. This is not necessarily a bad thing. We can learn from all aspects of human nature if we look closely enough and examine traits for what they are.

But all too frequently, we pick up not only positive traits, but negative aspects from our role models and proceed to intertwine them into our personalities. Upon realization of said deficiencies, we might cry out, “But my parents, [siblings, friends or whoever it might be] taught me this.” Those words serve one purpose and that's to dodge the responsibility of our actions. Maybe we're trying to avoid responsibility for our own flaws or short-comings. Or we might be trying to avoid the responsibility of making difficult choices where failure is a distinct possibility. As adults, we are no longer constrained by what our parents said or by the pressure others might apply to us. We have free will. We can change who we are but it isn't always easy to do so. At times, we take the easy route and fall into denial or resort to the blame-game.

The choice is ours and we can opt for a different path. In my case, positive changes are in order for myself at this juncture in life. For me, it's not simply about asking others for favors, but more so about understanding it's not inherently selfish to satisfy my own wants. Needs of those around us are important but they should not be our only criteria for making choices in life. First and foremost, taking good care of ourselves allows us to help others around us at the appropriate times.

I have many people in my life who provide help in my times of need. For that I am grateful. But I also need to learn balance in how I interact with myself overall. Rather than over-analyze the situation, sometimes it is best to trust our intuition to guide us properly. In my case, change is necessary to confront my tolerance and self-induced willingness to accept discomfort in my life.

While I'm not saying I intend to be like a pendulum and swing towards complete selfishness, I am willing to satisfy my needs and wants without feeling guilt or shame in taking care of myself. Nor should I feel shame in doing something indulgent for myself. I take responsibility for my own actions and define who I am in the present. I do not need to be constrained by what I thought I learned in the past. Change is always in the wind. We can be rigid and fight it or we can move with the wind and leverage its power. Ahoy matey! Hoist the main sail!

Cleaning Up!

2011-11-02T07:02:00.000-07:00

When old game systems die, surely they've earned the right to reincarnate. And I have the photos to prove it.

From top to bottom on the left side we have an electronic round-board Monopoly controller, a Sega Saturn, and a Sega Dreamcast. After having passed from the land of the living into the shadow world, these systems reincarnated as electronic floor cleaners. From top to bottom on the right side of the photo we have the Monopoly controller reincarnated as a iRobot Roomba 770, the Sega Saturn returned as the Mint Floor Cleaner, The Sega Dreamcast became a Neato Robotics XV-12. Wonder if I can play Sonic the Hedgehog on any of these? :D

Horror Films: Defining a Genre and a Generation

2011-10-01T22:36:00.000-07:00

Seeing trailers for the upcoming release of “The Thing” made me pause momentarily and think. While I loved John Carpenter's version from the 80's and rather enjoyed the 50's original which started it all, I have no desire to see the upcoming 2011 remake.

I'm not going hash out why I dislike the thought of a remake as IMDB has numerous comments from others voicing their opinions on the matter. Rather, this started me thinking about what truly makes a film scary.

John Carpenter's remake hit it perfectly. With eerie settings filled with distrust, effects that made one cringe, and violent interactions, the film touched upon the very core of what makes a good film. When it's not directly evident what the source of the terror is, success has been achieved from the film's perspective. And John Carpenter shot a fantastic film in this regard. Stomach turning at times, and down right foreboding, the film had one on edge not knowing where the action would come from next. A perfect tone for a movie of this genre.

But not all films are so successful. Going back to the 50's and 60's, the B grade giant monster movie was the norm. A huge spider perhaps serves as the element of fear. Spiders naturally frighten a sizable percentage of people, yet these films fail miserably and are sometimes laughable. Why?. A film which directly uses creatures like spiders in an attempt to frighten people is too blatant. We like a mystery we have to unravel. Not knowing what it is that frightens us heightens the impact. But if we take the instinctual fear of spiders and wrap that in another guise, real potential emerges. Remove the spider and represent it with the fear of a heartless killer that is driven by hunger alone, then you have something to work with. Something cold blooded, something that can't be reasoned with, something that kills from the moment it is born to the moment it dies. That's fear and that's what an audience of horror films truly wants. Not remakes of films which already achieved the goal of making us frightened.

Bye Bye Birdie

2011-06-25T21:48:00.001-07:00

As I step into the front yard to examine the 8 feet of new pathway I laid down last night, I notice something wrong. A number of the freshly poured concrete paving stones have been damaged.

What the heck? Looking closer, it seems as if the spacing closely matches that of a human stride so I rule out an animal such as a dog. Was I sleep walking last night? Nah, couldn't be.

I step back and look for more clues. Clearly, an intruder walked along the pathway so I inspect the area thoroughly. As I pass the flamingos, I notice two pairs of legs without their corresponding flamingos.

A meter or so further, I find more proof – a shoe print smaller than my own in a heap of compost.

You can see my footprint on the left that I used as a size reference, while the vandal's footprint on the right. Considering I'm the only person who's been in the yard since this particular mound of compost was shoveled in, it logically follows that the flamingo thief is the culprit who destroyed the pathway. Seems they decided the pathway was an easy way to navigate the yard. In through the front gate and out through the back.

I have an urge to make a sign for the yard.

"Days without a flamingo fatality on the job site: Zero."

Down to six in the flock. If this keeps up, soon there will be none.

A Girl's Best Friend!

2011-06-22T22:16:00.001-07:00

Sweet! It's lunch time at last! It's the second best time of the day right behind quittin' time as lunch time allows for an opportunity to mingle with the female wildlife at the ol' watering hole, er, cafeteria. Striding into the chow-hall, I twist and turn my thin physique as I work my way through the sea of bodies towards the microwave ovens. Feeling a bit like a salmon swimming upstream, I realize the only thing I truly share in common with those delicious fishies is that I'll eventually kick the bucket. As for finding a mate... well only the dice know that outcome and snake eyes seem to be my luck. “Hey, maybe today will be different” is what I tell myself.

As I round the corner to microwave alley, I notice an interesting looking girl idly waiting for her food to warm. She looks up briefly and makes eye contact with me. Instinctively, I tilt my head and hold eye contact. She senses danger as I see that look of fear in her eyes. Quickly, she reaches into her pocket and pulls out her Personal Defense System ™. No, I'm not talking about pepper spray or mace. I'm talking about the ubiquitous smartphone. In a flash, she buries her face in the screen as her expression says, "For God's sake, I have to find something to browse! Anything!" Her peripheral vision keeps a close watch to the side I'm on. While the watering hole has rules, wild animals are cautious none-the-less when around the opposite sex. As I pop my food in the oven, she swipes away at the screen, probably browsing for “101 Ways to Tell a Man Off With Style.”

Several minutes tick by as our food cooks. A number of other people pass by until one particular fella steps into the area, I see the girls eyes flit upwards. A look of relief appears on her face as she blatantly calls out to him in the “Hey, help me out here and just talk with me about anything!” way. Sigh! I've just experienced for the Nth+infinity time something the locals call the “Seattle Freeze”. Yes folks, it has a name. It's what some might call the cold shoulder. And it's a common occurrence here in the center of the “You ain't gonna date the likes of me!” universe.

Mind you, I understand that no one wants unwanted advances. But there's a big difference between unwanted advances and simply trying to see if there might be a possibility of coaxing a smile with benefits out of the opposite sex. And by benefits, I mean the, “Hey, you look interesting. Wanna get to know each other?” type of benny. But when a city has a name for the phenomenon such as the “Seattle Freeze”, it makes one question why it's even worth continuing to try. Human nature I guess. Still, those snake eyes turn up consistently. Not to mention all those annoying Personal Defense Systems ™. Sorry diamonds, looks like you've taken a backseat as a girl's best friend to the smartphone. And with that, I shall retire to bed alone as usual. Hah! At least there's a constant I can predict! :D

My Momma, the Gangsta!

2011-06-13T22:36:00.000-07:00

Hah, when little old ladies approaching their nineties start having run ins with the cops, one wonders if the day of reckoning is at hand? Will cats and dogs to start living together? If I see Zuul in my refrigerator, I'm a thinking the end is near.

It all started out so simple. So there I was, working away in the yard as usual when I run out of landscaping fabric. Well now, this just ain't gonna do so I track a little more dirt into the house as I find the phone to call trusty brother Lyle. Good thing I don't have a GF, she'd be playing the role of Judge Roy Bean, the hanging judge after seeing all the stardust I'm tracking into the house. :D Back on topic.

Dale: “Hey brother, can you and Ma stop at Costco and see if they still have some landscaping fabric this late in the year?”

Lyle: “Sure, Mom and I will grab ya a roll. The Costco folks need their chance to say 'Hi' to mom to anyway.”

Back to work I go. No absence of weed-block is gonna slow this guy down. Out comes the pick and whack, whack, whack it goes as I attack the poor ol' sod. After accumulating up a rather large heap, up pulls the dynamic duo, brother Lyle and Ma. We all head over to the bench where Mom and Lyle sit down while I perch myself on the newly laid pathway.

Lyle: “We had a bit of trouble coming over. Remember when we were helping you haul dirt away last year? Remember the cop who pulled me over for the taillight being out? Guess what. He pulled us over again.”

Dale: “Same cop? No way!”

Lyle: “Yep. After we left Costco the sunlight was getting pretty bright. Mom was trying to shield her eyes from the sunshine and just as she's leaning forward to put her hand in front of her face, a cop car drove by.”

Dale: “Oh man, I can see where this is going.”

Lyle: “The cop did a quick U-turn. It's the type of quick U-turn where you realize he's coming after ya. Sure enough, flip, on goes the lights so we pull over.”

Dale: “What? Bonnie and Clyde didn't try to out run the coppers?”

Lyle: “Hah, we didn't have enough gas. And I'm not talking about the kind of surplus of gas we had from the beans Mom and I ate for lunch!”

Mom: “Beans... pewwww! We had to roll the windows down. I'm surprised the police officer didn't pass out when he approached the window.”

Dale: “From the beans?”

Lyle: “Heh heh heh, fortunately for him, no. When the cop peered in the window at the passenger side the expression on his face was hilarious. He realized he made a mistake in his assessment of the situaton. The only thing he said was that we hadn't turned our turn signal on 100 feet before we turned. He told us to be careful and drive safely then he returned to his car and took off.”

Dale: “So why did he really pull you over?”

Lyle: “When we drove by, him he saw Mom trying to hide her face. Because she was all bundled up and was hiding her eyes, we think he assumed she was a gang member who was trying to hide from view.”

Dale: “A gang banger? Man, that takes it! Mom, you're such a trouble causer! ”

Mom: “Hey, you kids caused your share of trouble so now it's my turn.”

Silly momma bird! Gang bangin's for punks! :))

The Element of Surprise

2011-06-12T16:22:00.000-07:00

While weeding in the garden, I meandered about with my head down puling weeds. Oblivious of anything other than the task at hand, I scurried from weed to weed. Hard at work, it seems I needed a bit of a reminder about the element of surprise. While pulling a tenacious thistle, I looked up and this little character caught me totally off guard.

Growing near the back fence, I had no clue it was even there. As I frequently use analogies, today is no exception: one needs to step back and see what's truly important at times I think. :)

Horror Films and Aging

2011-06-11T21:40:00.000-07:00

I love watching movies! :D I couldn't sleep worth a darn last last night because of numerous muscles cramps. Why didn't someone tell me that there are some unexpected things that causes really bad cramps to happen when you get older? Sheesh! What a drag. But on to the point, I watched two films, "UP" and "Legion". Let's talk about Legion.

Legion

Legion is one of those films that totally torqued me off in a bad way. It had potential. The moment I saw the elderly woman doing a Spiderman impersonation up the wall and onto the ceiling, this one had my attention. The most awesome scene was the ice cream truck dude! When that freaky guy started growing the long arms and legs, it made me wanna jump out of bed and go "Yeah buddy! Now that's what horror is all about!"

Ah, but Legion bought the farm big time shortly after that. Mixing religion with a film is always tricky. And for me, it can be out-right infuriating unless it's handled with the utmost of care. This film was no exception to bring up my flash fury point. I'm not going to dive into that area as it would set off a few fires with other people in the process. Needless to say, the religion aspect wasn't handled well for me here. And what's worse, the ending was mediocre at best. Had Legion stuck to the over-the-top violence and special effects sans certain religious overtones, I would have liked it. But it did a nose dive in the end. Such potential. Mr. Good Humor really kicked it up a notch too! Sigh!

The Sands of Time

2011-05-28T22:06:00.000-07:00

If a person could rewind time, would they follow the path not taken?

From the moment we crawl until the time we pass to the grave, a multitude of choices rise before us. Day by day, we make decisions as we march forward. Sometimes we pick a path because it is safe and we give little thought about how it will impact our future. When we make choices based off what feels safe, are we doing ourselves any favors? Could a person achieve the unthinkable had a different decision been made?

As a middle aged zombie, I wonder? Could I have contributed a fiction book of worthy quality had I pursued a career in writing literature rather than writing software? Nurtured and polished after years of usage, what would those latent writing skills be capable of? As a software engineer, what will I contribute that lasts beyond my days? Or what if I had opted to show my vision of the world around me through a camera and film? Would people have something to watch and enjoy long after I am no more?

We can't rewind time, but we can try to make the most of our days. While people frequently say “Make the most of each and every day”, the real world is more complex than that. We can't just throw caution to the wind, stop making our house payments, and go base jumping every day. But we can try to push aside that which is unimportant and live life as if each day is our first in a wondrous world. Do no fear the path which has shadows of uncertainty. Because when all is said and done, if we strive to be our best, an inner light will shine brightly enough to chase the shadows away.

Relaxing under a Shade Tree

2011-05-27T21:48:00.000-07:00

The only thing sitting under a shade tree around here are my implements of destruction. The task-master says: "You're here for one reason and one reason only... to work!" Welcome to Gulag Number Nine!

Todays agenda at Gulag Number Nine:

1) Wake up at way to stinking early AM. Have the most painful cramp in the calf of my leg that I have ever experienced. Eight hours later, I still have a limp I'm hiding as a result of the darned thing. Talk about painful!

2) Go to work but skate out early around 1:30 PM. It's Memorial day weekend after all. Three days of labor in the yard are up on deck. Sweet!

3) Stop at a home improvement store on the way home to buy concrete for the path and mortar to set the stones in place for the bench foundation.

4) Make a trip to a garden nursery to buy a couple of plants. Before leaving, purchase a cubic yard of compost for landscaping.

5) Unload the cubic yard of compost as it rains on my thinning hair. Curse you thinning hair!

6) Enjoy a visit from brother Lyle and my Mom. :D Mom always has a big smile on her face!

7) Dig up two square meters of sod from the yard using that trusty ol' pick.

8) Mix up a batch of concrete to add another segment to the garden path. Yellow brick road it isn't!

9) Take a few fleeting moments to add a plant to the landscape - a very funky looking sedum.

10) Collapse in exhaustion and hope tomorrow is slow to arrive. :D

Lesson to be learned? Life never stops!

The Fountain of Youth?

2011-05-22T11:18:00.001-07:00

On occasion, an inspirational idea, be it aesthetically pleasing or an abject failure, strikes as our brains start connecting images we've seen at various points in time. Connect the dots as it were. In my case, an image of a weeping wall triggered an light-bulb moment.

A weeping wall is a water feature where a trickles of water from point sources drizzle down a concrete wall. The minerals in the water source stain the wall with the passage of time. And these stains add the artistic character which can be quite pleasing.

In my case, once seeing the weeping wall, I thought, "That would look pretty cool in the yard somewhere." But I couldn't come up with a good location so I filed the idea and went about my business.

Several days later, while roaming about in a garden center, I stumbled across a unique water fountain.

While quite interesting, the price tag was not. It's construction was something that didn't look overly complex so being the devilish sort, the first thing that came to mind was to snap a series of pictures for my nefarious purposes - imitation. After all, isn't imitation a form of compliment? :D

Still, i had no concept of where this would fit in my garden, so once again, it went into that file-13 I call a brain.

Once again, the flow of time marched forward. And as one would anticipate as they read this article, I did indeed find a location I thought would be quite fitting.

Ah, but the original fountain idea just didn't feel quite right for this. So I sat on the bench and eyeballed the wall for a bit. Different variations of the fountain buzzed through my brain. Perhaps I could bore holes in the brick and hide a pump on the inside of the planter box. Ah, but the bricks are of such a color that any mineral stains would pretty much blend in. None-the-less, the idea of hiding the pump in the flower box felt like a keeper idea. Back to the drawing board for a while longer it seems in regards to the fountain itself.

Then, while laying down the garden path, another lightbulb effect hit me. If I lined the semi-round area beneath with EDPM rubber and had fountain head hang over the top of the flower box draining into the basin, it might look pretty good. What's more, last year, I had stumbled across these in a stone yard:

My concept was to place a pair of these on top of the wall, route a copper pipe through the mouth and let it dump into the catch basin. Sadly, the dragon heads were not to be had. Someone else had designs on these critters as the dragon heads were no longer available. Looks like time to think for a while longer. Hmm, it would seem good things take time. Considering the pace of this sub-project, by the time I finally implement the idea, I'm definitely going to need the fountain of youth.

The End is Near

2011-05-21T23:18:00.001-07:00

So there I was, Friday night and me with no hot date. Same as always. Dead tired from dealing with things like an encounter with a person who has extreme cultural background differences from mine (rephrased from my earlier gnashing of teeth style statement), I decided hit the hay. Snoring in moments, the chaos stopped briefly. That is until my body decided to say, “Wake-ey Wake-ey!” at 2:00 AM in the morning. Oh the joy of insomnia.

Now around 2:00 AM, there's not much on usually except infomercials or M-TV glitz. Tonight, was a bit of an exception though as one of those wonderful cheap B-grade science fiction flicks was in progress. In this case, I was blessed with viewing “The Day the World Ended”.

Saved from watching the drivel on M-TV, I felt a bit of gratitude even if I couldn't sleep. Settling in to my already settled in state of a failed attempt at sleeping, I watched the campy acting. Ah, some good ol' fashioned Corman goodness. One thing can be said about films of this era, not only were they filmed in black and white, but the portrayal of good and evil mirrored the sharp delineation of light. No muddy gray evil-good guys or charcoal stained good-nasty women – no sir! The villains are easy to spot. And not only that, but the good guys triumph to boot. Sweet Sugar-Ray Leonard... it's a TKO!

While B-grade films like this might not hold up to the standards one expects from films today, it still has net value. And there's something to be said about black and white film. The artistic feel of it is simply awesome. So while I'm not really going to cover the content of the film, I'll say this: I had a bit of fun watching the film even if the acting was stiffer than an over starched shirt. Thank you Roger Corman – you made insomnia a bit more tolerable.

Liberty and Justice for All?

2011-05-13T22:42:00.000-07:00

Indulge me for a moment as I tell a tale of two different people I've encountered during my past. While neither were, are, or likely ever will make history, they had a lasting impact on my life. Both shared something in common, something which I am compelled to discuss. Let's start with the latter encounter, a district attorney involved with trying cases in the downtown Seattle municipal court. A little background is necessary to help paint the picture.

Like most citizens, I've been called in for jury duty. During my tour of potential jury duty, I spent the majority of my time in the waiting area until late on the afternoon on my final day. Being interviewed as a possible juror on a trial of a suspect accused of stealing a pair of shoes from a department store, I listened to the opposing attorneys probe the candidate jurors with questions. When my turn arrived, a question was posed by the prosecuting attorney about whether I would believe the word of a police officer over that of a citizen. I answered in my own way, but was silenced before I could complete my response. None-the-less, the entire court room understood my stance. During the final selection process, I was one of the first to be dismissed.

Now, let's move backwards in time, to another encounter I had with a schoolmate during my young adult years. Early one morning, a number of my classmates and I congregated in the school cafeteria for coffee. One member of the group made a statement about the legal system and punishments. He proclaimed his opinion clearly and without hesitation. I shall paraphrase his statement to communicate the point:

“Anyone who commits a crime against a government official or civil servant must be dealt with in the most severe possible manner above and beyond the justice which is administered for a common citizen. The criminal must be made an example of.”

While I attempted to argue the issue, it was clear my opinions were not welcomed by the group as a whole. My comments were met with satirical jeers and rude comments by the majority of the circle.

One might ask, what do these two different scenarios have in common. I will use words from one of the most influential documents it the history of United States to point out my anger, hostility, and shear frustration with people like these two people I had the displeasure of encountering:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal...”

These incredibly deep words speak volumes. As an American citizen, I recognize not only what the forefathers of this nation intended, but I also fully understand the sacrifices made by people like my father who endured inconceivable hardships during conflicts like World War II to ensure the freedom for people like myself. Way to go Dad! You're a bigger man than I will ever be. But the universe loves a balance. For all that is good, there is that which evokes feelings of intense anger in my heart. While the district attorney I mentioned might very well claim, “I'm merely working within the system”, I would be remiss if I didn't point out the trial of John Demjanjuk. I'll leave it to the reader to draw conclusions here. As for my prior schoolmate, I have no question about his lack of understanding in regards to the Constitution of the United States. Our country was built upon the concept that no man or woman is above another. I'll close by saying this: Freedom, appreciate it, support it, and give honor to all those who sacrificed to maintain it. Fight ignorance to the very end!

Love is in the Air - Take Two

2011-05-05T21:02:00.000-07:00

Dang, every single place I look there are symbolic images :D

There's something in the air alrighty... this time it's spores. :))

Love is in the Air

2011-05-04T19:06:00.000-07:00

Love is in the air,
for my eyes, they weep,
Are they tears of joy?

My heart, it pounds,
my breath is short,

Oh certainly it must be love,
No, wait... it's only pollen.

Badger Boy

2011-04-30T09:56:00.000-07:00

Oh that pesky badger-boy. He's back at it again. Ever wonder how a garden path starts out? Nah, probaly not. But that's not going to stop me from showing anyone. :D

What was a grass lawn on Friday night, now looks a bit different early on Saturday morning. What you see in the picture is some weed-block fabric covered in a layer of crushed 5/8 minus rock with a topping of sand. The weed-block is a futile attempt to stop the weeds. :)) The crushed rock provides a firm base to keep the pavers from sinking and the sand provides a nice bedding for the pavers to keep them level. By late this afternoon, I'll have mixed up a batch of cement and will fill the path using a pre-made form to construct the pavers. It's only a start, but it's a good start.

Contraptions, Contraptions, Contraptions!

2011-04-29T21:41:00.000-07:00

When it comes to life, I do everything in, well, my own way. Some might call it over-complexification. Others might call it insanity. Me, well, I call it the spincycle way of doing things. And as for complexity, when have I ever done anything simple? :D

With that said, here's my contraption of the week.

A bit worse to the wear, this rain water collection system has been in use for the over ten years. And it works quite nicely. Being mostly sealed, it doesn't provide any access for mosquitoes to breed like many other open tanks water collectors do.

Looking at the picture, we can see there are two "Y" pipes. that feed into the barrel. These pipes contain a basket and strainer arrangement that filters out pine needles and other detritus. The plug on the top "Y" allows me to reach in and pull out the strainer while the lower "Y" provides access in case the strainer gets jammed. The lower "Y" is overkill and unnecessary on the most part though.

If one looks closely, you can see a the yellow capped spigot at the bottom of the barrel. This allows me to release water into a watering can I use to feed the flowers. The white pipe that leads towards the ground is an overflow for the winter time when the barrel fills beyond capacity. And trust me, here in Seattle during the winters, it rains a lot so the overflow is quite handy.

The only problem my rain water collector suffers from is the occasional raccoon marauder who figures out that tugging on the spigot will make it come loose and spill out all the water. Pesky raccoons!

Working in the Coal Mine

2011-04-24T20:20:00.000-07:00

Let's see what my day involved shall we? First, we start off with the assembly of a bench for the front yard.

After that, it was off to the garden nursery to buy a few flowers.

And while I was there, I bought a half cubic yard of sand for building paths with.

Then it was on to weeding. This yard waste bin was empty this morning but look at it now!

Making a mess is something I'm good at. And let's just say I dove head first into making a mess as you can see here.

I also dug up a sin from the past - a tree root I left in place.

A few whacks with the ax and voila - one stiff set of muscles. :D

And throw in a lot of weeding in one flower bed that was overrun by weeds during the winter.

No after pics of the weeding though so you'll have to wait. And that brought about the end of the day along with need for some aspirin to sooth those aching muscles. Where's that Emperor's bath now? :)

The Manhattan Project Begins

2011-04-23T22:31:00.000-07:00

It's that time of the year again - spring! A time when a young man's fancy turns to girls. Well, I might not be so young, but I still think about girls. Regardless, that's not the point of this post now is it? :D Being a guy who can't sit still unless I'm totally exhausted, I constantly seek new challenges. And I've found my challenge – the front yard.

Having landscaped the backyard into something totally unique that reflects my personality, I've struggled with the front yard. Filled with rather generic grass accented by two beautiful miniature trees, I've contemplated an English garden of sorts. But boxwood hedges and Celtic knots felt rather “non-Dale”. So with my typical style, I set about to pondering a solution to the problem. A few trips to the local garden nurseries finally gave rise to inspiration. And the next thing I knew, I heard myself blurting out loud in a Spongebob Squarepants voice: “It's on!”

What does that mean? It means I have some creative mojo cranked up and flying full mast. And today felt the full brunt of my mojo. Total destruction mode is on. I pulled the trigger and finally committed to what I'm calling “The Manhattan Project”.

Will my ideas pan out artistically? Only the Shadow knows. But I'm gonna indulge myself in the process as I forge ahead and try to create a garden that's uniquely “Dale”.

As with all things, it starts with an innocuous looking beginning - in this case, a half a cubic yard of crushed rock. For that matter, it looks rather blah.

But when it's done, expect anything but boring. Even ol' “Row two, where are you?” is undergoing a facelift. For those who don't remember, “Row two” is my Space Invaders tribute. More to follow. Oh how I love spring. :) Twice the projects, twice the madness, twice the exhaustion, and twice the sharing with everyone else.

Authorization Required!

2011-04-18T21:21:00.000-07:00

I heard a rather amusing song lyric recently. Mind you, my sense of humor is warped so your mileage will likely vary. And at over four dollars a gallon, don't expect much. :D You've been warned!

So I'm listening to some Goa tunes, just sort of run-of-the-mill stuff. Certainly nothing as memorable as a say, well, maybe Winston Churchill or JFK rapping and rhyming. But then, out of the blue, I hear this computerized voice speaking in time with the beat:

“Voice authorization required.”

followed by a very nervous fella stammering:

“Uhh, uhh, uhh”

Before he finishes the third “I'm boned!” utterance of 'uhh', the computerized voice responds:

“Authorization accepted.”

Take that Skynet!

Do Clothes Make the Man?

2011-04-17T12:31:00.000-07:00

Take a look at this small tree, a weeping cherry:

Planted late last summer, the tree has had precious little time to even root in. Yet, it bears blossoms. It's small, scraggly, and certainly not prominent in any manner. But is it any less of value? Regardless of how the weeping cherry tree grows, it will have its own unique character. What will it become tomorrow?

Rise Phoenix Zombie, Rise!

2011-04-14T22:41:00.000-07:00

I've been talking with several of my friends about how I'm becoming seriously disheartened with many things including the dating scene. Like it or not, my style and approach are incompatible with what the majority of people want or expect from a partner. So rather than becoming tangled in a web of bitterness and cynicism, it's time to switch gears and take a hiatus from my attempts at dating. I'm a doer after all, or "Get-r-done Dale" as one my friends calls me. And being a doer means I'm constantly diving into some unique project as it raises my spirits.

For months now, I've been spending the bulk of my free time in a little 5 by 8 room here in the Temple of Doom. All the while showering in the kitchen with a portable contraption that fits my personality to a tee – oh so unconventional. So what's an unconventional boy to do such that he can break out of a downward spiral of frustration? What else – night classes of course.

Yes indeed, it's that time of the decade again when the legendary Phoenix Zombie must rise from his ashen grave. Well maybe there's no legend, but if it did exist, it would tell tale how the zombie Dale, like a symbolic Phoenix Bird, would rise from his ashes and shamble off to the local community college to mingle with the young un's half his age. Seeing it's been about 10 years since this zombie last attended college, it's time to rise yet again. Fortuitously, I've been craving sweet delicious cinematography brains, er classes, for quite some time.

Now is the time for the procrastination to stop. Otherwise, how can I immortalize myself? My giant watermelon sized ego demands I must do something of noteworthiness during my life. And being the most boring man in the universe is not my idea of noteworthy. Time to teach some of them whipper-snappers at the college that old age and treachery can overcome youth and energy. :D

And if by off chance you do enjoy reading my sporadic posts, worry not. I'll continue to write. For that matter, I might be posting pics of the emperor's bath soon.

I Can't Reply Right Now, I'm Busy Ignoring Your Email

2011-04-12T23:57:00.000-07:00

Well hello there, umm, Mr Brown Shoes! How about that local sports team?

Now that you've read my non-descriptive opener line, I'll do my typical brain dump. Feel free to depart the train early as there's nothing new here.

Okay, so there I am for what seems like the ten thousandth and fifty sixth time sending out an ice breaker message to an interesting girl I discovered on a dating site. I know better but I keep banging me head against that brick wall because attempting to find a date (or GF in this case) is sort of like doing cocaine, you just can't walk away from it all that easily. For that matter, my heads still smarting from the last head-on charge I made against the dating wall of shame but hey, it's going to be different this time, right? Right? Why do I hear crickets suddenly?

So I compose what I hope is a message with a bit of substance. I bring up several points she wrote about in her profile and add a few thoughts of my own to show I've done my homework so to speak. I finish the message off with a question to open the door for communication. After all, asking a question is an invitation to start a conversation, at least that's my opinion. I press the send button and begin the waiting game.

The majority of the time, the messages go into the ether never to see the light of day again. Nothing unusual in that as it's not unreasonable to eat static after sending a first (and last) message. After all, receiving an unsolicited message could be compared to opening your front door only to see a salesperson hawking the latest knives from Slashco.

But when I do receive a reply, I usually wish I hadn't. Why? Frustration, that's why. When the typical reply goes something like this: “Nice to meet you. Have a nice day.”, it's a bit, well, I just don't have the words to describe how it feels. How the hell do I respond to something like that? Saying “You too.” really isn't of value and isn't going to trigger any deeper conversation. As a rhetorical question I would say, why did they even reply? No answer required of course because only the Shadow and the writer's of said messages truly know. And they aren't about to divulge that tidbit – at least not to the likes of me. Sigh!

Sure, sure, one or two people are probably contemplating: “He's just thinking sour grapes”, “Just take it in stride dude as there's not much you can do about it.”, or “You ain't no different than anyone else. Suck it up and deal with it.” Maybe so, but there's nothing wrong with occasionally venting what you feel. No joy in Mudville tonight. Back to my Temple of Doom. At least that pain has a purpose.

Jack of All Trades? Or Master of None?

2011-04-10T21:27:00.001-07:00

There are a number of talents I don't possess and you know what? I'm fine with that. At 5 feet 4 inches, I'll never be a professional basketball player. Being 48 years old, I can't join the CIA and become a secret cold war operative. Big whoop. Nor am I a tactical genius, I'll live to see another day unless I go up against the likes of Sun Tzu.

But with a number of other skills, I'm quite proficient. I can rebuild a car engine. I can rig up plumbing, do electrical wiring, or even masonry work. And when it comes to landscaping or solving unusual software programming problems, I'm quite skilled from what I've been told.

But even with having well rounded number of talents, occasionally someone will take a jab about one or more of my skills. It can be quite humorous at times. For that matter, I'll even take a jab at myself now and then. When you come down to it, we all have an Achilles heel that's downright laughable in our inability to perform certain tasks well.

What I do mind is when people make fun of me by using a comparison to another person – be it direct or indirect. That's crossing boundaries into the area of what I consider as character assassination. I'm me, I'm not this other person who I'm being compared against. Am I a professional actor? No. Why should I be compared against someone who is? It's apples and oranges. It minimizes the person who is the amateur.

So it begs the question. Why would someone compare a Pro against a Joe? What's to be gained? Bad feelings on one side and perhaps a sense of cynical satisfaction on the other. Be careful what you say, it might have more impact than you intended. What goes around, comes around even if said “victim” is not the agent of justice.

Ah, but I'm not quite finished. This is my supper tonight – burritos made from scratch. While it's nothing extravagant, it does require a reasonable level of competency to make. I, for one, put my money where my mouth is.

Paraphrasing the words of the immortal Seymour Skinner, “I'm a small man in some ways, A small, petty man.” >:|

I was a Middle-Aged Zombie

2011-04-07T23:11:00.000-07:00

Remember the old “I was a Teenage (fill-in-the-blank-monster)” movies? Well, I do because I'm middle-aged. Now, one might ask, where the heck is he going with this? I'll tell ya where – straight into the dumpster I call my mind. Deep down in all those numerous thoughts about scantly clad women, over-indulgent consumption of top notch food, and even a finished bath, a kid is hiding away. One that's been suppressed by self-appointed responsibility. “Oh wait,” you say, “but isn't responsibility a good thing?” Sure, responsibility in reasonable levels shows maturity and the ability to handle daily life in a healthy manner. But, when responsibility becomes the main focal point such that moments of fun dwindle and die away, well then, it's no longer living. That's where the zombie part comes in.

I recall having a conversation with a friend about such matters. Sometimes the questions raised start me thinking about difficult subjects to dive into as they target the core reasons behind my motivations. In this case, I began to realize while some bear crosses, others like myself, bear shields. That shield hides me from change and the associated fears that sometimes arise from change.

If I were to spell it out with my trusty ol' Speak-n-Spell (some of you might remember a Speak-n-Spell from one of my short stories), it would go something like this: Once upon a time, I recall having fun. I did things, I went places, I took chances. I asked girls out even though it inevitably ended with me being shot down in flames time and time again. I went to night clubs with my friends and came home stinking of cigarette smoke because of all the smokers in those days but I had some great stories as a result. And I even took classes at night to learn new things. Pen and Ink classes anyone?

But unfortunately, the key words I used in the previous paragraph were - I recall. Somewhere along the line, I slowly stopped doing things that put me out there in the eye of the hurricane we call society. I decided to take on a large financial responsibility because I believe it is the right thing to do. What's more, the most I do in regards to classes is think, “one of these days I'll take that film making cram session.” Yet I never quite get there. And last but not least, I've been doing the online dating scene for the last few years. One question I keep hearing is:

Lizzy Borden: “What do you do for fun?”
Dale: “Landscaping, remodeling, fixing stuff, ...”
Lizzy Borden: “No Badminton? No dancing? No axe for 40 whacks?”
Dale: “Ummm, well, umm, ya see, umm...”
Lizzy Borden: “Thanks but no thanks. Call me when you have a life.”

Seems I've lost the meaning of that three letter word somewhere along the way. Come to think of it, I've lost the meaning of two key “three letter words” for that matter. :)) I'm a zombie. Neither dead nor alive, rather stale and stagnant. Looks like its' time for me to say “Damn you excessive behaviors! You're not going to rule me!” Time to face those fears, kick complacency out into the street and chase it to the nearest night class. Because when the end comes, does anyone truly want to face it as a zombie? Time for me to consult my Speak-And-Spell oracle for words of advice and it better not be any of that “Dial M for...” otherwise it's time for some reprogramming. :))

Hurts So Good?

2011-03-19T16:59:00.001-07:00

Ever see a movie that's so bad that it's good? Well neither have I - sort of.

In this case, I've only seen part of the movie so it's a partial review. Ah, but before I reveal the good, the bad, and the ugly in regards to what I have seen and read about the movie title, I need to reiterate a point we all know - “so bad that it's good” is entirely subjective.

With that said, when it comes to bad movies, the Sci-Fi genre comes to mind immediately. And in this case, the seemingly campy style of “Mutant Chronicles” tries hard as it oozes with not only over-the-top violence, but with dialog one wouldn't go home and repeat to momma. But it's the dialog that makes it so good. The violence, yeah, I could care less about. Plot means more to me. But where else could one encounter the ironic lines between two characters such as the following?

Steiner: “Any last words?”
Hunter: “Yeah, shut the [bleep] up!”

Yeah yeah, just about anyone who knows me realizes I have a sense of humor that sometimes finds humor in the most unusual places. And without fail, I find the lines truly funny in an ironic way. Oh, but there's better. Then there's Devon Aoki's line I won't repeat, but it's one of those lines that make a guy wonder if he's going to start hearing that cheesy yet easily recognizable music nearly every red-blooded, healthy, single guys know all to well - “Bom-chick-a-bow-bow!”

Ah, dialog, it makes or breaks a movie and in this case, it makes the grade. So if you want some B-grade fun, lots of over the top violence, and a bit of dialog that occasionally rises up like a Phoenix Bird from the ashes to add to the movies camp factor, give it a try. But you've been warned. :D

MacGyver Returns

2011-01-02T21:46:00.001-08:00

One thing that can be said about human beings is that we are resourceful creatures. When confronted with a problem, we puzzle with our puzzler until we either find a solution, or give up and tell everyone we could have solved the problem if we really wanted to.

It's about pride to some extent. When something blocks our way, we decide that wall is gonna come down no matter what. No problem is too big. We're not going to let some silly little problem beat us at the game. We'll come up with a solution even if we have to change the rules.

For those of you who've read my recent posts, you've heard me talking about my little expedition into the crawlspace, or the down-underverse as I like to call it. After yesterdays foray, I ended the day by discovering a number of issues the previous home owners created during their “hatchet job” remodeling. As I retired for the evening, I pondered on how I would go about attacking the issues at hand.

Waking periodically throughout the night, my brain occasionally came up with different ideas for approaching the problem. With the sub-floor beneath the existing tub needing attention, I recognized the fact that once I start the repairs, my shower will be out of commission for a number of days. The thought of using the kitchen sink to take sponge bathes simply doesn't appeal to me. What's more, keeping the floor dry while sponge bathing would be problematic. My brain attacked the problem indirectly as it usually does. My thoughts turned from how to fix the sub-floor and began to focus on how to obtain a shower. I could always purchase a gym membership for a month or two and use the facilities, but it would be a poor investment if I'm too busy with my job and the remodeling project to make use of the exercise equipment.

Then my brain happened upon another idea. I recalled seeing someone fabricate a temporary shower with a limited budget. The memory of purchasing a 20 gallon storage bin several years ago popped into my mind. Hmm, With a frame around it to hang shower curtains from, I could make a place to at least soap up and scrub down within. And if I placed it next to the kitchen sink, I might even be able to rig up a shower head to the faucet if I could find the right adapters. I thought to myself, “Sounds like a plan.” as I watched a home improvement series on the TV.

As morning arrived, I set about locating everything I needed. Roaming around in one of the local hardware stores, I began my search for the necessary parts. After several hours of looking around, I spotted a shower head that looked usable as it allowed turning off the water flow. And some PVC pipe along with a handful of Tee connectors and 90 degree elbows could probably be used to make a frame for a free standing shower-tub. A couple of cheap shower curtains and rings should fit over the PVC pipe. By the time I rounded up all the necessary parts, the sunlight was beginning to vanish.

Grabbing a PVC pipe cutter, I set about making the frame for my PVC shower stall. Taking a few measurements from the storage bin, I quickly cut up some pipe and fitted the pieces together. While the frame wouldn't withstand a typhoon, it proved it could hold up a couple of shower curtains. After spending a few minutes applying Teflon tape to some fittings, I hooked up the shower head to the kitchen sink. With the shower head attached to the faucet, I turned on the water pressure. A couple of leaks presented themselves but they were easy enough to seal. Tomorrow, I'll connect up a couple of short garden hoses to a cheap power drill operated water pump. This should allow me to pump the residual bath water out of the tub and back into the sink. I'll have to wait another day before I can give it a test run.

While it's nothing spectacular, I bet MacGyver would find some level of pride in my little contraption. While I'm not looking forward to using this contraption, at least I'll be able to keep clean even if it is awkward to use. One problem down, only a couple hundred more to go on the Sisyphean bathroom project. Oh, the joys of remodeling a bathroom!

A MacGyver Moment

2010-12-24T21:34:00.000-08:00

For those of you who have been following my “Bathroom of Sisyphus” project, you know I've been knee-deep in remodeling during my spare time. If you took a peek now, one would swear a flock of woodpeckers took up residence in the bathroom walls. There are holes everywhere from exploratory surgery attempts to discover what lurks behind the drywall in a number of different locations. I bet I could even give Geraldo Rivera's infamous “The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults” a run for the money.

Several weekends ago I ripped out the vanity cabinet. In the process, I discovered that none of the water shutoff valves to the plumbing fixtures functioned in any manner one expects from a shutoff valve. Lets just say that I had a brief moment where I recreated the Old-Faithful geyser in my bathroom. While I hadn't intended on having a shower at the moment, the plumbing had other plans.

Well, it didn't take long before I took a trip to the local home improvement center to pick up plumbing supplies. After acquiring the replacement valves and associated copper fittings to make several adjustments, I set about showing off my plumber's crack to no one in particular. With a pipe cutter in one hand and a propane torch in the other, I dove in head first. But not before I shut off the water main and opened a faucet to drain the water so as not to have another geyser effect from those pesky malfunctioning valves.

Things moved forward as I slowly replaced the leaky valves by sweat soldering new fittings in place. Ah, but no project goes without a hitch and I encountered one that had me scratching my noggin. In one location, the pipes were low enough that what seemed like an endless reservoir of water was still present which I couldn't purge. Let's just say soldering and water are mortal enemies as the process simply won't work. Curse you laws of thermodynamics! To vanquish my watery enemy, I thought about pressurizing the pipes with air but that seemed too complicated. What I needed was a simple solution. Hmm? What would MacGyver do?

The running joke I heard when I was growing up as a kid said that a truly handy person could fix anything with bailing wire and chewing gum. How about with a slice of bread? Yes indeed! I leveraged a loaf to get myself out of the pickle, er a jam, ah heck, you know what I mean! :D

I once heard that if a piece of bread is crammed into an open copper pipe, it would block the water flow and prevent the heat from wicking away. And once you turn the water back on, the bread dissolves to free the blockage. So off to the kitchen I raced for a slice of Rye. Mmm, I had to have a bite before I blocked the pipe. After a few minutes of packing bread into the pipe, not a drop of water was to be seen. Presto-chango, like magic, the fittings soldered on like a champ. An instant MacGyver solution!

So what is the state of the Sisyphean bathroom? Looks like I'll have to write about that at another time otherwise I'll have a mini-novel in place.

I'm Right - You're Wrong

2010-12-12T16:45:00.001-08:00

Is there a time when what you think is the right thing to do is the wrong course of action? And why should a person feel uncomfortable taking what they believe is the morally correct course of action?

The first question is rather subjective in nature. Right and wrong are moral values we have formed due to our experiences in life. In part, some of those beliefs have also been shaped by the role models around us. Even current environmental conditions such as panic or prolonged hunger could cause us to ignore our beliefs about what we consider morally right or wrong. I won't even dive into the political beliefs where conservative and liberals crash head to head over ideologies which are most likely deeply rooted in how the brain itself is wired. When you get down to it, one person's right could very well be another person's wrong.

Considering how amorphous the concept of right and wrong is, I wonder what others think about when they witness something that triggers one of the feelings that's most likely instinctual – greed. Today I had a brief opportunity to be the target of several people's attention. And that leads to the second question I posed about feeling uncomfortable taking an action. Okay, let's get along with the core of the story shall we?

Over the past few weeks, I've been working on renovating the bathroom in my house. It keeps me busy in what little spare time I have and it also keeps me running back and forth to the home improvement stores for parts on a regular basis. Today was no exception. After tearing out the vanity cabinet and the sink top in the bathroom, I discovered something an experienced contractor would have well been aware of – the new vanity sink top didn't fit square against the wall. A rather large gap over 150mm wide existed between the front edge of the sink and the wall. Plain out, it looked nasty as could be. Unbeknownst to me until I ripped out the old sink, the previous fixture was embedded into the wall. Fine and dandy except the edge of my new sink has a bevel. To solve this, I need to hand craft a side=splash from one of those tiles that have multiple pieces of ceramic attached to a flexible meshing. So off to the home improvement center I did dash.

After poking around in several stores, I still couldn't find anything that would match up well with the sink tops color. Eventually I arrived at one of my usual haunts. Pulling into the parking lot, I started making a beeline for the door as it was drizzling. My eye picked up that oh-so-familiar color, the color of green. There on the ground lay a rather large bill folded in half. Twern't no Alexander Hamilton neither, something a wee bit larger.

At this point, most of us consider what action to take. Do we keep the money or do we look for the rightful “bond-bearer” if at all possible? Now we arrive at my second question. Potentially, one can feel a level of edginess no matter what choice we might make. Let's say a person decides to take action A – go to the lost and found department and turn in the money. Now, if one does such a thing, the result one encounters may vary anywhere from an acknowledgment of honesty, blank stares, or in some cases – criticism. The last being the most unique of the reactions. It's not unusual to hear someone call another a fool for trying to return lost money. Hence, this leads back to the initial question, are there times when doing the right thing is wrong?

I'll leave it as an exercise in thought for those of you who read to this point, did I keep the money or did I try to turn it in? Only the Shadow knows. Well, the Shadow and the person who would have been at the lost and found desk. :D

The Rhythm's Gonna Get Ya

2010-12-05T22:05:00.000-08:00

Ever notice how one's body has a mind of its own at times? Mine certainly does. In ways, it reminds me of an ancient dinosaur. When I was a kid, the authors of some books theorized the bigger fellas like the Brontosaurus had two brains to control their body due to their massive size. Okay, so I'm showing my age as it's been renamed to Apatosaurus. Supposedly, not only did they have a kitty-cat sized brain in their head, but they also had a little bitty thinker back near their tail. Well, soon it will become pretty evident why I suspect I directly descended from one of those fellas.

Being that it's winter, I'm trying to fight off the gray-sky blues by making a few improvements to the house. Change does wonders for altering the mood. Since I'm by myself, I enjoy jamming to music rather than listening to the cars drive by outside on the street. A quick check on the Internet turned up a trance radio station I liked. There's some dance music playing so I crank up the volume and make a beeline for my painting tools because I'm ready for change.

Earlier, I'd painted a few color swatches on the wall. Testing the waters so to speak. Seems that maroon color I thought might look nice as a focal point was less than spectacular. While applying some white primer paint over the color samples, I unconsciously start moving the paint brush up and down to the rhythm of the music. Next thing I know, what little junk-in-the-trunk I do have just can't resist the bass line as I start swinging my tail feathers back and forth. As the beat kicks up the pace so does my shaker.

Normally it wouldn't be a big deal as I'm inside the house. But today, since I wanted to enjoy the sun as much as possible, I have the blinds wide open on the big picture window out front. As my can is swaying back and forth I turn to fill my tray with more paint. From the corner of my eye I see something move. Walking by on the street is teenage girl and she's looking straight at me. Let's just say her expression spoke more volume than the tunes I had playing.

Girl: “What's that old dinosaur doing in there? For the love of God, close your blinds!”

I wonder if I traumatized her for life?

From Here To Eternity

2010-11-25T13:44:00.000-08:00

Every night as the moon rises, the sound of cursing can be heard echoing from the darkest corner of my house. While renovating, I grumble and swear from within the shadows of a seriously dated 60's style bathroom that's a mere step above the less than sheik style of a stereotypical truck stop dumper, I ponder, “Who cast this foul hex upon me?” Shoot, the only thing missing is a vending machine on the wall that sells caffeine pills, condoms, and dehydrated tuna salad sandwiches otherwise it really would be on par with a truck stop dumper.

As a result of the hex, I slave for hours to remove that evil remnant from the past – a gawd awful flower print wallpaper! And with each hour of my life that slips away as I battle the paper monkey on my back, I chant a curse with the hopes that dozens of feral cats will defile the grave of Jean-Michel Papillon by marking their territory upon his headstone.

Why would I wish hordes of mangy felines to leave Papillon's grave smelling less than mountain fresh? Well, now, it seems Jean-Michel Papillon is the fella some credit with being the inventor of “modern” wallpaper. Yes, yes, the Chinese had various forms of wallpaper eons before the Papillon family line would spawn Jean-Michel and his blasphemous legacy. But Papillon is given credit primarily because he used printing press technology such that mass production could happen. And that accursed innovation allowed the former home owners to transform the bathroom into the exact opposite of the Taj Mahal – something sorely lacking in any form of aesthetics. To use a few selective words to describe the scenic outlay, “Ouch! My freaking eyeballs!” May those dozens of cats mark Papillon's grave from now until I'm done with this crummy task which may very well be an eternity. Welcome to the bathroom of Sisyphus where the removal of wallpaper never ends.

The Small Print

2010-10-09T16:10:00.000-07:00

Don't ya just love life? For some of us, when we were young everything was crystal clear. We knew it all and there wasn't a thing that didn't make sense. Our wits were quick, our senses were razor sharp, and we were going to change the world. Never mind all those old fogeys around us, Those old duffers were simply bitter when they laughed and said we had illusions of grandeur. We'd show them a thing or two.

Then as life moved on, things changed around us. Not everything was what we thought it was. Things became fuzzy - in more ways than one. No, I'm not just talking about our thoughts on the world around us. I'm talking about the wonderful little trick life plays by slowly reminding us about the way of the world. Not only does our hair thin out, but our memories become more like those of fish. Nine seconds after we've thought of something, we've already forgotten it. And we sometimes feel like the Grinch when he had his epiphany - except it wasn't our heart that grew three times larger but our waist lines. :))

But for me, one of the biggest kickers is vision. In the last couple of months, I've reached a point where I can't read a thing up close. It hit home recently when a co-worker turned his cellphone my direction to let me see a text message on its screen. You guessed it, all I could see was a serious case of the fuzzies. Sadly, I'm pretty darned familiar with the fuzzies now. I think somewhere along the line, they even added a 27th letter in the English alphabet, but I just can't quite read what it is. :))

Sigh! I've become my father in ways, especially with the eye sight. I remember the old man always reaching for a cheap pair of dime-store reading glasses he had for the newspaper. Guess what I have? A cheap pair of dime-store glasses for those times I simply have to read that not-so-small print. Guess it's time for a visit to the eye doc soon.

Life - it comes full circle. We start out thinking we know everything. But eventually we learn life isn't always as crystal clear as it was when we were 19. But you know what? One thing hasn't changed - I still have my illusions of grandeur! :D

Hamburger 'Helper' Hill

2010-09-25T19:55:00.000-07:00

There's a war being waged on the hill - a war against entropy! Let's take a look at Hamburger Helper Hill:

Less than six months ago, an unused greenhouse sat idle on this spot. Not having sufficient sun to make effective use of a greenhouse, I decided to make better use of the space. So over the course of two weekends, I demolished the greenhouse and brought in seven cubic yards of compost, one wheelbarrow load at a time. With a freshly contoured hillside springing up in my backyard like a volcano, it was time to plant a few signs of life on the desolate landscape. So off to the nursery I did go. See D!ck run! See D!ck run to the plant nursery! Oh wait, wrong story. >:)

So I planted a few colorful choices of plants at strategic locations throughout the landscape. Now it was time to sit back and care for my new mini-garden within the garden. That's when nature decided to declare war on the hill.

First, nature decided to attack using the elements. The first attack wave was a heat wave. The summer heat baked the still barren soil while rains were few and far between. No watering can exists that's large enough to handle keeping this soil moist like the buttery leg of roasted Thanksgiving turkey. But even through the occasional 24-consecutive-hour shifts I at work that plagued me, I managed to keep the bulk of the plants alive. That's when the second wave hit.

Now the second wave announced it's arrival with the smell of “Mountain Pew!” What's that you ask? Why it's the “byproduct” of canned cat food. Yes, I'm talking about my yard becoming the neighborhood litter-box for all the cats. Let me tell ya, these cat's wield weapons of @ss destruction! :))

Of course, to get to the litter-box, the cats take a trip down scenic route 666. Anyone remember the cat superhighway? Or even more specifically, “Satan”? I bet Waitlisted remembers Satan because she coined the name. B) Well, the superhighway still exists and is going strong. In fact a new exit ramp exists and it cuts right through Hamburger Helper Hill. I'm almost considering some natural barbed wire fencing like blackberry thickets were it not that they're nearly impossible to eradicate.

Still, throughout all that, I've managed to keep Hamburger Helper Hill alive. And if the winter isn't too brutal, I may have some spectacular pictures to post next year.

Eye in the Sky

2010-07-06T07:33:00.001-07:00

Remember the bird's eye view post I took of the garden about a year ago? Well, if not, here's this years view from the sky.

Row 2 Rehash

2010-07-04T11:16:00.000-07:00

Here's a rehash of an older post. I don't recall having provided the full street view of my brick mosaic tribute to Space Invaders so it's time to go retro once again. Enjoy!

Row 2, where are you?

And here's what you see from the sidewalk:

Humor, it's what's for supper tonight!

Flocking Flamingos

2010-07-04T11:07:00.000-07:00

Seems my flamingo flock moves about the yard periodically. They appear to be greeting anyone driving by.

And one more picture for additional perspective:

Wonder what they'll do next?

Spare the Rod and ...

2010-03-21T11:55:00.001-07:00

… spoil the worker.

Okay, today's post is a cynical jab at a common event I've watched repeat over and over in various business environments. Watching this drama unfold is like hearing a record album skip back a few grooves when it encounters a scratch, resulting in an endless loop. The scenario occurs in far too many companies and the sad, yet typical reaction from above is a slap in the face to anyone who carries out their duties in a professional manner.

Memo Subject: Mistakes

To: All employees

Our illustrious company, Rumpelstiltskin Incorporated, struggles against a plague. For days, management has carried out the ceremonial stamping around in circles and yelling like our namesake. As of today, management has had it up to our executive issue gold-plated epaulets from dealing with said unacceptable incompetence. In a flash of brilliance, it has been determined the problem rests solely upon the shoulders of the... ahem, workers. Let it be known, a prior directive to employees demanding an end to making mistakes has been a fruitless effort. It is clear that punishment is the only tool for keeping workers in check. A new directive from corporate hereby mandates suitable punishments for the crimes any worker is convicted of.

To correct the problem of employees committing any mistake, a public humiliation policy is now in full effect. After facing a kangaroo-court trial, the worker will be found guilty. For the first offense, workers convicted of said mistake will receive no less than five lashes from a cat of nine-tails. Should the employee commit a second infraction, a stockade has been placed at the entry of the building in which the guilty party will be imprisoned. Rotten vegetables have been stocked in convenient handicapped-accessible baskets to allow those entering the building to pelt the transgressor. For any worker foolish enough to be convicted of a third strike, a suitable punishment awaits. Perillos of Athens has been resurrected and forced to reconstruct a brazen bull. Convicted criminal employees will be roasted alive within the Sicilian bull. Many an employee will know what it is to roast in the depths of the bull!

Let it be known, management shall not be burdened with locating and resolving the core reasons why problems occur. Clearly, the employees are at the heart of the problem. Management has no responsibility in resolving problems logically and in a manner that reflects professionalism. In the end, no problem exists such that a wall of shame, corporal punishment, or any other form of public humiliation can't resolve using schoolyard style politics. Remember - never solve the root problem, always inflict punishment as it instills fear and subservience.

The Devil's in the Details

2010-03-13T19:00:00.000-08:00

Ever notice how people have agendas to nearly everything we do? And would-be movie critics are no exception. For some, their personal goals influence their view in such a profound way that they fail to see anything beyond what they intend to see. My case in point revolves around a Seattle minister who made the local news by going medieval on the movie Avatar with his comments about the film's intent. The minister dished out harsh negative commentary about the movie promoting worship of things versus worship of what 'he' believes is the creator. I won't go into the whole intolerance discussion about “There can only be one... one religion that is!”, but I suspect he simply looked at imagery and passed a quick judgment to fit his agenda.

If one focuses people upon specific aspects while ignoring the sum of the parts, it becomes apparent there is intent to manipulate others into believing paganism or satanic issues are key concepts involved. The impact of hearing statements about subversive intent for anyone who hasn't seen the movie could easily bias their judgment. I don't know about you, but when I think someone has intentionally left out details about the overall picture, I view it as misleading the audience.

For example, take a look at this photo of a famous building in Barcelona designed by Gaudi. I could claim the design emanates a demonic aura. But would my statement be true or a blatant factoid? Considering this is a church, I wonder what the vocal Seattle-based minister might say? Would it be more of the same propaganda he offered about Avatar. Allow me to quote a statement he made while discussing the underlying problem, not only in relation to Avatar but targeting what society suffers from en masse: "Well, the visuals are amazing because Satan wants you to emotionally connect with a lie." I wonder, when architects design churches with such grandiose scale, does it promote worship of the wrong ideals? Should people worship from churches akin to generic cardboard boxes instead to avoid the flashy temptations of Satan?

If you ask me, the local minister is attempting to bolster his public presence by playing spin-doctor through proclamations of films like Avatar serving as tools for Satan. What of the minister's local congregation and followers? I suspect some will accept his word at face value and either avoid or condemn the film which is unfortunate because I simply don't believe James Cameron intended to send such a message.

The media PR makes the public become more aware of the vocal extremist due to his inflammatory statements about a movie many people have enjoyed. It's a win-win situation for the minister. Paraphrasing P.T. Barnum - no publicity is bad publicity, at least in this context. One might think the minister ultimately has a goal to his further his own publicity seeking, but has he done Cameron justice by delving into what the director truly intended to communicate? I'd say the minister failed miserably, not only at understanding the film, but by showing intolerance religion has been accused of time and time again.

Simply put, I suspect the local minister used misrepresentation to achieve his personal goal. A sad state indeed considering what Cameron's core message of the movie appears to be. With Cameron attempting to promote basic awareness about human tendencies, its unfortunate to see his work represented out of context. Especially by someone who fundamentally appears to be doing what Cameron is decrying - using greed and the lust for power to overshadow all else. And when it comes to message in the movie, is it promoting evil as this local minister says or is it seeking to raise cultural awareness? If it is striving to raise cultural understanding and acceptance, can Cameron's movie be considered a tool of evil? To me, the controversy such as this are created by extremists who attempt to leverage the situation for their own goals. People will warp things to suit their own goals. Sigh! When it comes down to it, we need to use own mind to determine if something is morally offensive.

If I had a Girlfriend, She'd Kill Me!

2009-12-01T15:09:00.000-08:00

Turn on your techie buzzword filters boys and girls. Today's post is going to be loaded with old school talk about gadgets, and indirectly, about the hazards they pose to anyone entering the domain of a technology junkie! :D You've been warned. Ha Ha Ha And off we go!

Ah, thrift stores! Bane or boon, I'm not sure which they are for me. Are the stores filled with treasure or junk? Again, I'm uncertain. But of one thing I do know, thrift stores would be my undoing if I indulged my retro-device addiction more than I already have.

With the number of thrift stores here in the local area, it's almost impossible to make a pilgrimage and not find something. For instance, on Monday, I decided to go hunting for an old laptop I could use to record research topics while I'm at the library. I've seen laptops in the thrift stores before so it's not too much of a stretch to find an older unit that could handle my basic word processing needs. When you do find one, it's usually dirt cheap - sometimes costing roughly the price most people pay for eating out at typical fast-food joint. It's just a matter of being persistent in searching for one. Oh, but what wicked temptations we are presented with in the search process!

Yesterdays temptation proved to be a pair of Hi8 tape recorder decks for the grand total of twelve dollars each. One rarely encounter anything other than VHS tape decks so these were an unusual find. Considering the fact that I'm tinkering with low-budget film making, a Hi8 deck would be a nice companion to a Hi8 camera for rough editing and viewing footage without putting wear and tear on aging camcorders that have numerous moving parts just itching to fail. And having a camera fail while shooting filmvideo can be catastrophic, or at least inconvenient. So saving wear and tear on cameras is viewed as a good thing from a film makers perspective.

But being unemployed for a lengthy time now, spending money needs careful consideration. It took great effort on my part to walk away from the little gem. And even now, I have nagging pangs of regret telling me I'll be hard pressed to find a Hi8 deck again as this is the first and only time I've seen one in a thrift store. But, those are the temptations of thrift stores. And right now, I only have a SVHS-C camera so a Hi8 deck would be a useful tool only when I borrow my friends Hi8 camera. Yep, I hear a few people saying, "But that's really old equipment, everyone is using Digital Video cameras now." Well, Hi8, SVHS-C, and other such things as Super8 film cameras are old tech, but they can be pretty effective tools in the right hands. And you can still learn the basics in some form while using older tech tools. And in most cases, you can't beat the price. I can usually find a way to scrape together five or ten dollars to pay for a Super8 or SVHS-C camera, but can't part with the high dollar price associated with a DV camera. With all that said, one can easily see that I fall into the school of thinking that it's good to have a variety of tools on hand to work with.

*** A serious techno-babble warning is now in effect ***

As for the treasure versus junk issue, frequently, things find their way into thrift stores because they are obsolete, have a problem, or sometimes both. A prime example is the debug PS1 console I nabbed the other day. It turns out the unit has problems reading discs so I'll have to research and find out if a normal PS1 laser assembly can swap in for repairs. If so, I'm now going to have to wait for one dollar and twenty nine cent tag day at The Goodwill thrift stores and find a donor PS1. Otherwise, the little unit will have to sit on the repair shelf right alongside the cheapie NEC 98NOTE laptop that has floppy problems. Of course the 98NOTE is sitting next to the freebie Coleco Adam my friend gave me that needs a keyboard and Printer/Power-supply. But that too, is hidden behind the Commodore Amiga 500 which doesn't have an OS diskette. Curse that NeXTStation that a CraigsList member gave me for free, for it commiserates with the Amiga 500 as it suffers from a lack of an OS disc.

*** Techno-babble warning off ***

One phrase would describe the situation in my little retro wire-jungle I call a home, "If I had a girlfriend, she'd kill me!"

PS Blue, I love You

2009-11-16T11:56:00.000-08:00

Yes indeed, such a fine day. A fine day for retro computing and gaming that is! It all started about 10 days ago. I roamed into a second hand store, The Goodwill, looking for a cheap used cell phone with a camera in it. Keep in mind, I don't own a cell phone... and yes, this proves there are a few knuckle draggers around that don't have the seemingly ubiquitous device attached to the side of most people's ears. The intent being that I could keep it in the truck for emergency situations because the 911 number works even for deactivated phones. The camera part is just icing on the cake to make it serve a purpose, to snap pictures of random things that I think look interesting. Okay, so while I roamed the electronics section hunting for a cell phone, I stumbled across an old external Philips CD-ROM drive. My NeXTStation is in dire need of an external SCSI to allow loading an OS on the replacement drive, so I crossed my fingers and took a peek at the back of the drive. Sure enough, it had a SCSI I port. Next, I checked the price, seven dollars and ninety-nine cents. The price tag had the words "AS IS" written on it, a bad sign for certain. Anything with "AS IS" tags means someone has determined a problem exists with the device. It may or may not function as a result. The unit had been opened and reassembled incorrectly, leaving part of its internals hanging out so I guessed that was the likely issue. As for the price, that's too pricey for the iffy scenario. The tag color is pink so I only needed to wait 10 days before they hit the one dollar and twenty-nine cent day for the device. Patiently I waited until this morning, the one dollar and twenty-nine cent day. Off to the store I jaunted. Sure enough it sat on the shelf. I swooped in and grabbed the little fellow. On the way home, I decide to hit another of their stores. This time, I found something a little more unique.

Walking back to the electronics section, I spied something - something blue. Closer inspection of this blue objected revealed that it was a Sony PlayStation.

This is a DTL-H1102, my unit is a DTL-H1001.

Deep back in the catacombs of my mind, I recall hearing that blue units are different from the normal retail units. Supposedly, their debug consoles used by programmers. Once again, I crossed my fingers and flipped the unit over to peek at the labeling. Hand written on the bottom, it said "CPU-0, ROM 2.1" and on the label it had the words "Debugging Station, model # DTL-H1001". That clinched it, it's a debug unit alright. Next, I eyed the unit for flaws and a price tag. No flaws, but no price tag either. I took a peek at the other Sony PS unit on the shelf and it had a price tag of nine dollars and ninety-nine cents. That gave me a ballpark price range for what they might price it at when I check at the cashier counter. So off I went to the front. Waiting my way through a time consuming line, I finally handed the unit to the cashier and asked for a price check. She walked off to another area and returned, "Nine dollars and ninety-nine cents sir. Would you like it?" to which I replied with a straight face, "Yes please." Ah, sweet score!

While not the latest technology, the PS will play discs from any region, and will play pressed games or burned games from what I read. I shall play with it later on and determine if it works and what it's capabilities are. Overall, I'd say I fared out quite well.

Later this afternoon, I'll try to repair the SCSI CD-ROM case and see if my NeXTStation will recognize it. If it does, I'll try and load an OS onto the machine. It's been eight or nine months that I've waited to try and boot the machine, so I'm somewhat excited. Hopefully everything falls into place and I find myself booting up the NeXTStation for a bit of fun.

Cynical Sam

2009-11-02T12:21:00.000-08:00

Booksie – sigh! Another misunderstood niche on my part. Perhaps it skewed over time, but the vocal/influential reader base at Booksie appears to be in the 12 to 16 year age bracket. The result? After my initial creative-advertising generated spike in read counts, I'm receiving roughly one or two reads per week on what I consider innovative short stories such as “Circumstances Beyond their Control”. It's ironic when picture-based content of the Twilight cast members receives thousands of reads, thus stomping the crap out of literature written with considerable effort and thought. One might liken the resulting feeling to a poke in the eye!

Perhaps the next publishing site I try will end up being dominated by Maximum Ride fanatics. Then my works can be ignored by readers who fall in love with the idea of a human/bird hybrid they idolize as a hunk. Oops, Maximum Ride is probably old hat. Well, it's quite simple really. The natural progressions implies that we replace a sparkly “hunk” vampire with a blind “hunk” bird-man, or whatever else might make a good hunk symbol, and you'll be laying the foundation for success!

Only on Halloween

2009-10-31T21:53:00.001-07:00

Keeping with the spirit of Halloween, here's something unusual I stumbled across. Some Craig's List postings are so unusual that I just can't help but share. With that in mind, here's a free section listing that would only show up on Halloween:

Why Talk Peace?

2009-10-28T15:32:00.000-07:00

Time for a bit of satire. I modified this World War II era poster to have some fun with a good friend of mine who discussed a potentially hot topic of using violence to achieve a goal.

Fall Garden Pictures

2009-10-25T12:39:00.000-07:00

Time for more pictures from the yard. Lets start out with a picture of the rose garden. Click on the pictures to see the full sized photo. :)

Rose garden fall 2009
The roses did not fair out well this year due to major problems with blackspot fungus. There's always next year. Smiley

The mulched garden fall 2009
Lots of drought tolerant plants here like red hot pokers. And the mulch helps retain water so I rarely need to do any watering in this corner.

Side island garden fall 2009
The side island garden contains grasses, California poppies, and some herbs like red creeping thyme. The thyme has gone dormant due to the summer heat and is just now returning with renewed growth.

Pond fall 2009
The pond is filling in too, but still needs lots more work. The waterwheel project still needs be worked on so the lower corner of the picture will eventually look a lot nicer.

Center island fall 2009
The plants have started to fill in a bit here. Next year, they will look even better. Lots of aster and mum blooms are visible.

Side profile of the center island fall 2009
Here's a view of the center planting island as seen from the garden path.

If at First You Don't Succeed – Get a Bigger Hammer!

2009-10-19T10:29:00.000-07:00

Inspiration strikes and you sit down at the keyboard. Typing away for hours, you come up with a first draft to a clever science fiction piece. Off it goes to a few close friends for a quick review. Impatient, you wait for replies to see if the story piques their interest. The emails start rolling back in from your friends – they loved it. To help out, they've pointed out a few sticky points that need work.

Now begins the hard part, sitting down to turn the rough draft into a final draft. Brewing a pot of coffee for a long night of work, you dive into the story and start editing. Painful as it is, you cut pieces here and there because, while funny, they don't move the story forward. Those adverbs have to go because they're pure evil. A little tidying up here and there and it's ready for a final litmus test. You read the story out loud to yourself and listen to the cadence. Ugh, still more work is required because a few sections are so hard to read, it's like taking a bite out of a two year old fruit cake. Out comes the thesaurus to help find a few words that have the right musical tone. Another read through and this time it reads like a well written poem, smooth, concise, and exciting.

Off it goes again to your friends. Everyone loves it! The story meets not only with their seal of approval, but yours too now. Time to pick a publisher. You sift through the lists of possible minor league publishers and find one that looks hopeful. They print science fiction shorts so they sound like a good match. For good measure, you pick one of the many stories they have published on their site and take a read to verify your style is up to par. Sure enough, your work is comparable. A few minutes later, a cover letter and application are on their way to the publisher. Time to wait.

Weeks pass by and nothing. Several months pass by and still nothing. Finally you see it, an email from the publisher. You hold your breath and open the email.

"Dear Author, we'd like to thank you for submitting to Wankelmeyer Press, but we regret to inform you that your story has been rejected."

You stare in disbelief. How could they reject the story? Once again, you go back to the publisher's site and take a look at a few more stories. it's enigmatic and hard to understand what the problem is. Your story lives up to the same quality of what they have accepted and printed. So what's the problem? You read a few more stories and a pattern starts to emerge. Their stories all seem to be centered around elves and steampunk. Then it hits you like a geiger-esque steampunk freight train! It might not be the quality of your work, but instead, is your lack of sufficient research about the publisher's target audience.

Searching for a publisher involves a lot of research, especially in the area of reading works they've already published. One needs to know what market and specific niches the publisher caters too. In my case, I've submitted what I considered several decent quality works to minor league publishers and received flat out rejections. The publishers sometimes complained about dull and lifeless verbs, or boring subject matter. Yet, my test readers found the pieces exciting. In at least one case, a more in-depth investigation of the publishers stable of authors revealed some surprising facts. My stories, while interesting, didn't quite fit the publishers market.

Okay, so I have a new story working its way through the editing pipeline. Its in first draft stage at this point. So what's my plan? To start early with searching for a publisher that handles science fiction embedded with biting, sometimes sarcastic humor. While I'm working through to the final draft, I'll be reading various publisher's works in parallel to find the closest match. Research, research, research! Its just one part of the equation to landing that first precious payment check for a published work.

I haven't achieved that critical first step in my quest for the ultimate holy grail yet, but I keep trying by refining my efforts. Networking with others, researching publishers, along with reading and critiquing other author's works. It's all part of what is required to start down the road of becoming a successfully published author.

Publisher versus Author - An Iron Cage Match?

2009-10-15T15:52:00.001-07:00

For any aspiring authoring, getting our work out into the public eye is important. We struggle to find sites that will publish our work when we are starting out as unknowns to the rest of the world. Many new authors seek out electronic publishers on the web to get their name circulating. Exposure and networking are key when you're starting out. To that end, East of the Web is a prominent example of a non-paying exposure based short stories publishing site many authors attempt to leverage. With quality stories and a moderately well known reputation, one would think all is well on the Eastern front so to speak. But think again. Ever try submitting an article to East of the Web? If you have, it's likely you've encountered the black-hole submission strategy they employ. In a nutshell, the black-hole policy is to skip replying to any submission that is not up to their quality standards. An author submitting a story doesn't receive a rejection notice, or anything other than radio silence. In fact, the only communication an “unsuccessful” author receives is a generic automatic reply to their story submission email. The automatic reply states it can take up to five months or more for an editor to read your story and only accepted authors will receive any form of additional notification. They provide no concrete review-by date and no rejection notices so it's up to you to guess when enough time has passed to consider a story a wash out.

I'm sure some might say, “What's wrong with that? It's their site after all and they can make up the rules since they didn't solicit the story in the first place.” True enough, but consider the whole equation first. The primary benefit East of the Web offers is exposure. They do not pay. A publisher makes some form of profit based off an author's work and their own ability to deliver the author's content. It's a symbiotic relationship. Without the author, a publisher has no material to work with. But sadly, supply and demand works in the publisher's favor, at least for now. Fortunately, as time advances, independent publishing matures. While independent publishing is minimized as vanity publishing by those in the traditional publishing business, it's popularity has grown. While independent publishing may never reach the mass market in the same way large publishers can, the distribution options for non-established author's continues to improve. Sites such as East of the Web may eventually find themselves facing a new challenge, a dwindling source of material.

In general, the publishing industry adheres to old school thinking in the same manner as the record industry or any other established entity that dominates a niche market. The thought seems to be, “Well, you're coming to us with a request so we'll make the rules.” Considering the way the publishing business works, they have no reason to work with an author in an equitable and respectful manner when supply and demand is in their favor. I, for one, hope the publishing industry undergoes a shift just like many other industries have. Change and thrive, or hold onto old ways to eventually fail when the industry moves forward.

Inspiration

2009-10-14T11:14:00.001-07:00

Frequently, inspiration strikes a person from out of the blue. In my case, the inspiration for a short story came after reading a comment a friend posted on Facebook. My friend posted the following quote from William S. Burroughs:

After one look at this planet, any visitor from outer space would say "I WANT TO SEE THE MANAGER."~ Willliam S. Burroughs

Considering I'm unemployed partially due to outsourcing, and my friend once worked in a business the US outsourced to the Philippines, my sense of humor kicked in. I simply couldn't resist adding the following comment to the post:

We apologize for any inconvenience to our alien visitors. Due to competitive economic conditions, planet Earth outsourced the manager position to an off-world provider. Please call our toll free 1-8000 galaxy number if you have any further questions. :D

My friend had a good laugh at my comment. That started me to thinking about whether I could spin off a story based off the premise. And sure enough, about three hours later, I had a rough first draft of a 2500 word short story staring back at me. Not bad for a flash of inspiration.

My ghost editor is looking at the story to see if it's an interesting idea or cliche and better suited for the ashcan. :D Should it meet with a thumbs up, I'll start phase two of the process, editing the first draft into an enjoyable read. Phase three, if it ever happens, will be either submitting the story to a publication or placing it online if it doesn't appear marketable. I'll add a link to the story if it ever goes online. :)

Critter Calamity

2009-10-13T11:21:00.000-07:00

As an aspiring author, my writing frequently reflects my feelings at a given instant. Various moods fill my days. They cover a broad spectrum ranging from emotions such as happy, melancholy, introspective, sad, or angry. Writing based off strong feelings can yield powerful pieces. With that said, not everyone will like this piece. Such is life. It says what I feel in a just a few short words.

Straight to Hell

One Thing Leads to Another

2009-10-12T11:29:00.001-07:00

At 4:30 AM, I couldn't sleep. Nothing of interest graced the airwaves other than infomercials and I simply couldn't stoke myself up to watch some abdominal exercise machine 30 minute commercial regardless of the numerous bikini clad girls they threw at the screen. So what's a guy to do? Pop a disc into the DVD player and check out a movie from the gotta-watch pile of course. Ghost World winked at me from the stack of waiting movies, defiant and devilish looking it seemed. So I thought to myself, "What the heck!" and decided to give it a go.

Best described as a quirky, stylistic, bit of fun, Ghost World proved to be enjoyable. At times, I couldn't decide whether I loved or hated it due to the character's actions, a sure sign the movie hit the mark in an "I've seen people do that!" manner. The inhabitants of the film felt oh-so familiar to the real world counterparts we so frequently encounter in our life – at least in my world. I've seen the equivalent to nun-chucks twirling fanatics and the likes so the movie immediately took on a just-like-life tone for me.

The characters proved quite likable, especially the two main parts. In fact, the characters are what make the film fantastic in this case – excellent acting and easily identifiable. Music? You can't go wrong with the mix of tunes covering different parts of the musical spectrum blaring out at you on occasion. The plot proved to be fun and entertaining, nicely quirky at the correct times too. The movie is well worth the watch if you ask me.

How did I come up with a title about one thing leads to another? Well, I'm not talking about The Fixx with their Reach the Beach Album. I'm alluding to something I heard in the movie. In one scene, someone mentions the movie 8 ½ to a video store attendant. The attendant is clueless about the movie – perhaps a commentary of some sort from the movie makers? :D Now I'm compelled to find the mentioned Fellini film and give it a watch. Yep, one thing leads to another alright.

If It Ain't Broken

2009-10-04T18:48:00.001-07:00

Taking several hours of time to unwind today, I decided to watch a movie. Two movies sat patiently, vying for my attention to watch them. One I’d seen many years ago, Tampopo, but had forgotten enough detail to make it worthy of a re-watch. Unfortunately, the copy of the movie had issues and wouldn’t play. Scratch watching noodles and love. The other movie, Solaris, just didn’t feel right for the moment. Time for an alternative plan.

I flipped on the SyFy channel to see what was playing. Lucky for me, a thriller movie entitled, The Broken, was about to start in a few minutes. The description seemed odd so I decided to check it out.

Within the first few minutes, I found myself enjoying the movie substantially. Primarily because the camera work looked top notch, the audio sounded crisp, and the actors played their parts in a believable manner. Of course, this pearl isn’t flawless. Problems surfaced quickly in the form of cliche scenes like those one would expect from a run-of-the-mill slasher movie. But overall, the scenes didn’t overpower the movie. Easy enough to overlook in this case. And as far meeting the bar of a thriller goes, several scenes delivered an eerie feeling, bordering on hair raising, even if only for a brief moment. Another interesting characteristic, repetition in various forms, reared its head several times but didn’t prove to be a problem. Instead, it worked as an effective plot device - sometimes serving to remind the viewer of the mysterious aspects involved, other times, adding to the atmosphere.

While some reviewers disliked the movie to the extent of rating it poorly, I’m going to give it a solid thumbs up. It seems, some people found the open ended nature unsatisfying. As for me, I’ve seen enough import movies where closure never entered the film writers mind so I felt comfortable with the ending. All in all, if something ain't broke, don’t fix it is my motto. And that definitely applies to The Broken in regards to the cinematography, sound, and acting - all of which felt nicely done.

Nope - The Pants are Still On

2009-09-30T12:17:00.000-07:00

Ever notice how things change in life? As we grow older, our hair thins, the opposite sex stops noticing us, and we realize our parents knew a little more than we gave them credit for when we were teenagers.

Just like with life, movies on occasion, go through similar changes. Sometimes a film starts out serious, with the intent to scare the pants off people. Having the pants scared off someone might be a good thing if our date, GF/BF, or wifey/hubby is hot. But not all movies have what it takes to be scary just like there are people who might cause us to cringe if we witnessed their pants flying off.

Let’s take Dracula, (the Dirty Old Man) as an example of how movies can change. When the film started initial production, the intent was to create a scary film. A low budget, poor acting, and in an ironic twist of fate, an unusable audio track plagued the film. The ruined sound track may very well have saved the film from being recognized as one of the worst films ever. The producer, taking a step which I considered as a wise move, opted to re-dub the audio with a comedic tone. The new dialogue served to poke fun at the films lack of scary qualities.

He must have the same hair stylist as Don King.

Now all is not perfect in the world of a blood sucking dirty old man, dialogue timing being one of the more noticeable problems. One is left wondering at times where the associated body is for the voice we hear speaking the dialogue. And the puns! Oy! With that one word, I’ve said way to much and will say no more on the matter.

If you don’t mind wasting 80 minutes of your life to have an occasional laugh, then take a peek at the film.

Only the Lonely

2009-09-29T09:06:00.000-07:00

Some things simply weren't meant to fly. Dodo birds, my fifth grade teacher, and this old contraption are prime examples of flightless wonders that even if they did manage to get airborne, would crash down to the ground like a ton of bricks.

On the other hand, crashes sometimes yield stories that shock us when we discover the unusual events involved. Film writers occasionally translate their vision of a tragic event into a filmed sequence for the viewer to become involved with. At times, it leads to unique films that draw the viewer in through the connection to reality. Although, in some cases, the basis in reality is altered so dramatically that the story takes on a life of its own.

One example of a movie based in reality, yet deviating substantially from the facts, is the movie, Sole Survivor. Initially aired in 1970, the movie takes inspiration from a real life incident of a World War II bomber crash which happened during 1943. A B-24 bomber, the "Lady Be Good" crashed while on a mission from Naples, Italy. The wreckage for the "Lady Be Good" wasn't discovered until 1959. An exploration team searching for oil, discovered the wreck resting in the Libyan desert where she originally crashed,

After an exhaustive search of the surrounding desert, eight of the nine crew member's bodies were retrieved. Among items recovered, a crew member's diary proved to be quite informative, providing details of the harrowing experience leading to the crew's demise. As in many cases, real life stories provide the inspirational seed of creation for movies. And the “Lady Be Good” crash served as the basis for the movie Sole Survivor.

The story line, a rather haunting one, is well done in my opinion, embodying considerable originality. The writers twisted the context of the crash in a novel way to give the viewer an eerie experience revolving around the death of the crew member's. The fact that it has some basis in reality is what makes it even more interesting. To add to the interest, throw in the actor William Shatner, who many of us grew up watching on TV, and you're sure to have an interesting presentation when it comes to the spoken dialogue.

The film, nearly impossible to find, has never been officially released on tape or DVD, making it a rarity. If you find this movie, what ever you do, don't let it get away if you like unusual films! Buy it, copy it, do anything within reason to get a copy. While it may not be a blockbuster, it has reasonable substance worthy of watching. What's more, you can claim you've seen a movie many people have never even heard of.

Wanted: Definitely Not You!

2009-09-27T10:00:00.000-07:00

Ever browse through the job listings and find a posting that makes you wonder whether the job is even available? When a company slaps together a sad excuse for a job posting with odd requirements, one wonders.

I’ve seen better examples, but the following posting reminded me of the occasional practice of listing jobs which have already been filled ‘unofficially. Note how the pesting wuzn’t evan spill chicked – so vary profezional:

We have a position for…

Required skill set:

-- 5-6 yrs total experience required
-- No more than 7yrs of experience
-- Candidate must be ablel to develope CODES on SQL 2005 and / OR 2008
-- CRM experience is a big plus

Start - 2 weeks
Duration - 4-8 months ( extension depending on clinet )

A well thought out posting like this next one is far more likely to stoke people up for a job versus the first example.

The ideal candidate will have:

* 5+ years experience with C / Objective-C / C++ / C#
* 2+ years experience with Macintosh software development tools
* Experience as part of a multi-person software development team

The really, really ideal candidate will have:

* Experience in biblical Greek and Hebrew
* Experience in the field of information retrieval
* Fluency in a second modern language
* A fantastic recipe for chicken curry

Experience in biblical Greek and Hebrew might not be a commonly found skill, but the fantastic chicken curry recipe is a nice touch to make the listing stand out! :))

Moonlight Screening

2009-09-26T10:07:00.000-07:00

I love science fiction and fantasy. Not only films, but stories too. So much so that in my spare time, I write short stories in the fantasy genre. While professional publishing momentarily evades me, I currently display my work on sites like Booksie. It isn’t just an interest in writing stories though. In the grand scheme of things, I would like to hone my skills enough to create and shoot a short science fiction Super 8mm film of my own creation. It was my interest in science fiction films that led me to look into something new, the subject of today's post. No, something new is not right. More like something old to be more precise.

Having had a conversation in a previous post about the movies “Alien Trespass” and “The Host”, I found myself stoked up even more about science fiction and fantasy tales. Poking around on the Internet for a few minutes, I turned up something quite interesting. There is a thriving interest in 8mm and Super8 film shorts of old science fiction movies from select die-hard film buffs. Take a look at this box cover from the film "Destroy All Monsters":

The films have fairly short play time, usually in the 5 to 10 minute time frame. What’s more, the films are sometimes silent so don’t expect a blockbuster presentation in full surround sound. But the idea of pulling out a projector and show a film on the living room wall late at night for a moonlight screening is too cool! For me, it’s the grainy feel of the film that really grabs me. I just love the odd atmosphere it creates. I really want to track down a few of these 8mm shorties some day. Guess it’s time to add more projects to the list of things to do!

Make Mine a Stepford Wife... NOT!

2009-09-25T10:11:00.001-07:00

Anyone else think this looks like a scene from The Stepford Wives - plastic dolls with no minds of their own?

Speaking of The Stepford Wives, it certainly was a unique horror movie for its time. The original film, released in 1975, carried an interesting message about what men might do if left to their own devices and given ample opportunity. Certainly a unique premise that proved to be influential, embedding itself in US culture in a lasting sort of way. On occasion, you can still hear people use the term "Stepford Wife" when talking about someone. As for the film's general feel, while the high-energy action or gore of a typical horror film are absent, it definitely shares aspects with the thriller genre. And thrillers can be quite interesting to watch as they slowly expose the plot for your enjoyment.

Apparently, upon initial release, disagreement ensued about the message the film intended to communicate where some believed it meant to degrade women. It's up to the individual to watch and judge for themselves, but I think it took a poke more at chauvinistic men who would rather have a plastic barbie-doll servant instead of a thinking counterpart.

Say no to a Stepford Wife if you move to Stepford, Connecticut - or anywhere else for that matter. I want my girlfriend to have a mind of her own - one that is creative, spunky, and full of a zest for life. Life is far more interesting with a girl who is willing to be true to herself, challenging other people's ways of thinking and viewpoints when she sees or hears something that she doesn't agree with. But say yes to watching the 1975 version of The Stepford Wives if you enjoy unique thrillers.

Al Gore: How He Invented Twilight

2009-09-24T09:43:00.001-07:00

A short fictional interview with Al Gore about the true author of the Twilight saga.

Al Gore: How He Invented Twilight

2009-09-21T11:22:00.000-07:00

If you enjoy fantasy, horror, or humor, you might enjoy some of the short stories I upload to Booksie. One of my latest works, Circumstances Beyond Their Control focuses on the horror genre. As an aspiring writer, I welcome any comments about the story. Comments can be added by using the textbox control at the end of the story.

No Progress With the Old School Computers

2009-07-24T12:30:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've talked about where things stand in regards to retro projects around here. On the most part, I'm dead in the water since I'm still unemployed. With no cash flow, things are more than tight budget wise. But, that doesn't mean I don't try to kick things into motion.

The Coleco Adam console is still languishing away in the washroom on a work table. With only having the main unit on hand, there's not much I can do with it at this point. My friend claims he has another friend who might be willing to part with a working system. Unfortunately it will be a while before he visits his friend who lives in a small town that's off in who knows where. Meanwhile, I keep watching Craigs List for a keyboard and printer to get the system up and running.

The NeXTstation is stuck on hold too. I'm trying to locate a functioning SCSI CD-ROM for booting the system with. While I have a Yamaha SCSI CD-ROM on hand, the cabling I have does not work. I need a series of adapters to go from the NeXT Station to the 50 pin SCSI connector on the CD-ROM drive. And since the CD-ROM is an internal unit for the PC, it doesn't have a power supply. That can be hacked around temporarily by using a powered external drive USB case probably. Just more hacky hacks though. Hopefully, I can put something together and get the little beast booted.

I'm still on the hunt for an old Apple II of some variety. It's one of those machines I always wanted as a kid but didn't have the greenbacks to acquire. It's more of something to tinker with than anything else.

Someone Finally Noticed the Space Invader on my Lawn

2009-07-23T13:52:00.000-07:00

For the first time ever, someone finally noticed the brick mosaic pattern I have on the front lawn. When it happened, I was working on the computer. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a guy walking towards my fence. At first he appeared to be looking in my vicinity. As he approached, he came right up to the fence and focused on something for half a minute before walking away. At the time, I couldn't figure out what caught his attention. It was later that I realized he saw this:

At least someone finally saw it without me pointing it out. In fact, at one point, I even had one of my friends stand directly in front of it and asked him if he noticed anything. He scratched his head and said no. I then said the words "space invaders?" Hi just shook his head and said he didn't get it. The shame of it was that he does a fair amount of trading retro video games and consoles.

Note: I made a correction to the brick mosaic from the original. Somewhere along the line, one half of a red colored brick was placed wrong, throwing the Invader out of balance. Some quick reorganization and a rubber mallet corrected the problem.

Guerilla Filmmaking

2009-07-19T17:30:00.000-07:00

After reading a post from another person about video blogging, I started thinking about film. In the past, I've tinkered with the idea churning out a short film of some variety. Off and on, stop motion always seemed like an interesting technique to go with at times. But regardless of whether it's non-mainstream like stop motion or just a narrative of something, the tricky part for me is coming up with an initial storyboard concept that is interesting. I can come up with ideas, but novel and truly interesting ideas are another story. Looks like it's back to the storyboard for me. At least for now.

As for equipment, I don't have jack around here. I do have a few pieces of old Super-8 gear that I snagged at the thrift stores. Sadly, it is less desirable gear in the grand scheme of retro-gear. Here's a picture of my pitiful collection which includes two Yashica Electro 8 LD-8 cameras, a Gaf projector, and a pair of 8/16 mm editing stations.

I really need to give myself a kick in the backside and tackle a project. Dang, now I'm gonna bug my brother's neighbor and see if he has any Super 8 gear he might be willing to part with for a song and dance. Film on a budget... hahahaha! Nothing like using quartz halogen portable shop lights, a tripod that reminds you of a weeble, and who knows what else. I don't think people like Quentin Tarantino have anything to worry about from competition.

Retro Computing Interests

2009-07-02T12:49:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, one of my friends stopped by on his way to a flea market. At the time, he was using my house as a drop off point to store some bicycles he'd bought at a yard sale. While we were unloading the bicycles, the conversation turned to the old Coleco Adam console unit he'd dropped off a few weeks ago. Since the unit is missing a keyboard and the printer, I asked if the fella he got it from might have either. Sadly, the guy only had the CPU box.

We talked for a while longer and it sounds like my friend knows another person who has several functional Coleco Adam units. Now, it's a matter of finding out how much cash they want for one of the computers. Not that I'm in a position to buy anything, especially considering I'm still unemployed. But it's good to know someone has several of the Adam computers available. I can't help but feel an addiction to those old Z80 based machines!

If I ever get any cash flow going again, my friend also has several Vectrex units. I'd really like to snag one for the coffee table in my living room. It would make for a great conversation piece, not to mention being a lot of retro fun at the same time. That will have to wait too. Until I snag a job, spending money is out of the question.

On the plus side, I did pick up a free game this weekend though. Another buddy of mine stopped by and dropped off a Sega Genesis cart he found laying around his house. It was Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Sounds like I'm gonna have to fire up the old Sega Nomad and give it a spin. :)

Yard Walk Through Video - June 13th, 2009

2009-06-13T14:30:00.000-07:00

Here's a two part video showing a walk through of the garden. Only some of the flowers are in bloom and there are still some plants that haven't grown enough yet so you'll see some empty areas that will eventually have ground cover plants or flowers eventually. And here we go:

The Endless Stream of Yard Photos Continues

2009-06-06T20:31:00.001-07:00

Okay, so here are just a couple pics of things blooming in the yard.

A yellow tree rose.

Some red creeping thyme blooming quite nicely.

Surprise! More Garden Pictures.

2009-05-27T12:25:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the first Japanese Iris blooms appearing beside the pond:

And one of the oddities in the yard, a stand of purple Iris:

Now purple Iris aren't unusual. But what is usual is the fact that last year, there were many different colors available in this stand, including white, yellow, and maroon. This year, nothing but purple exists. One might claim that the purple variant choked out the other Iris, but I'm highly doubtful this is the case. What's more, the soil conditions are good with this bed being completely made from Cedar Grove compost. I have no idea why only purple blooms are present. Next year, I'll try splitting the bed to provide more growing room for the existing Iris. Hopefully, some of the colors will return if it's a competition or stress thing going on.

Here's the only Iris that isn't a blueish purple:

It's in the front yard away from all the other Iris and is isolated all by itself.

Poppies in Bloom

2009-05-25T20:59:00.000-07:00

Some of the poppies are now blooming. Here's several pictures of first few poppies blooming along with some other garden pics.

A poppy with an orange colored blossom:

A poppy with a light pink colored blossom:

A nice shot of the poppies with the large boulder in the back ground:

Some of the rhododendron blooms:

Unlucky Clovers

2009-05-24T12:23:00.000-07:00

If a four leaf clover is lucky, and a three leaf clover is just typical, then it seems the number of leaves has an impact on how much luck the green clover imparts. It stands to reason that a two leaf clover must be unlucky. Found me a two leaf clover this morning. Oh oh! I don't like the sounds of where this is going. Hahahaha!

Flowers Blooming in the Yard

2009-05-20T16:09:00.001-07:00

Here are just a couple of pictures of some of the flowers that are blooming in the yard.

The rhododendron is now blooming and has a very nice red color to it this year:

Here's a close of of the rhododendron flowers:

And a picture of a gloxinia:

Next is a photo of my very first poppy blooming this year. It's a beautiful deep red and is quite a large blossom:

Yard Walk Through Video

2009-05-19T13:10:00.000-07:00

Here's an attempt at a quick walk through of my back yard. I panned around far too much because I wasn't thinking about the video quality. So don't expect anything other than a general overview of what the yard looks like. Unfortunately, the sound is off by about two seconds. Seems Windows Movie Maker caused the shift when I split the video into two parts. And if you get dizzy watching, sorry about that! :) The video is split into two parts.

Part 1 of 2:

Part 2 of 2:

A Weekend of Coleco Collecting

2009-05-11T08:59:00.001-07:00

I haven't blogged about gaming related stuff for a while so here's an update for a small change of pace.

Over the weekend, one of my friends went to a number of yard sales and flea markets. One of the more interesting items he found would have been interesting to acquire for tinkering with. The item was a "Mr. Backup" unit for the old Nintendo N64. The seller was asking for around fifty dollars for the unit. As for me, still being unemployed, I just couldn't justify spending that kind of money on a development tool for an older technology. It would have been cool to tinker with though.

The next device my friend came up with was an old Coleco Adam memory console. It's missing the keyboard and printer so I don't really know whether it works or not. But considering it has an old Zilog Z80 processor, I couldn't turn it down. Especially since he offered it to me for free. If I can find anyone who has a free Coleco Adam keyboard they want to give away, I certainly won't turn it down. :)

Still not finished yet, he pulled out a couple more goodies he found at the flea market. There were a few ColecoVision game cartridges, including the following:

Time Pilot
Venture
Miner 2049er
Mouse Trap
Lady Bug
Turbo
SuperAction Baseball
Smurf Rescue in Gargamel's Castle
(and possibly) Nova Blast

The above carts were one dollar a piece so I'll have to find some money later on to
pay my tab with. :)

And last of all, he found a ColecoVision expansion module #1 which allows playing Atari 2600 game carts in the ColecoVision. Considering I gave away my Atari 2600 console but kept the game cartridges, this will come in handy. The following picture is for the expansion module #1:

Overall, a few recycled items turned up in the house but I can make space for these without too much trouble.

More Photos of the Landscaping

2009-04-29T13:00:00.000-07:00

More pictures of the yard. Taken on April 29, 2009.

Picture 5 - creeping thyme bordering around the edges of one of the planting islands.

Picture 6 - creeping phlox growing around one of the other planting islands. The phlox is just starting to flower at this point.

Picture 7 - A creeper ground cover spilling over one of the stone borders.

Picture 8 - The trellis I built for the climbing rose. It's nothing fancy but it does the job nicely.

Garden and Landscape Photos

2009-04-29T12:45:00.000-07:00

Fortunately, the digital camera became available for me to use again. So I wasted not time with running out to the yard today and taking a few pictures of how things are growing. So, without any further delay, here are a few pictures of the yard as of April 29, 2009.

Picture 1 - Some grape hyacinths next to the hand pump fountain.

Picture 2 - a rhubarb plant.

Picture 3 - my very anemic dwarf rhododendrons. They flowered but have almost no foliage. The pink blossoms are from the rhododendrons.

Picture 4 - Poppies next to a very small palm tree.

I have more garden photos I'll post soon!

Spring is Finally Here

2009-04-22T15:02:00.000-07:00

As always, it's been busy around here. Between hunting for a job and working on things around the house, I rarely have time to relax.

On the plus side, the weather has been improving substantially. I've been able to go out and do yard work on several occasions recently. Plants are starting to green up with new spring growth bursting out everywhere. Of course, the weeds have been growing ferociously along with the desirable plants. And growing weeds translates into lots of weed pulling efforts.

Around the backside of the house, I had to spend a bit of time working on a trellis. There was a climbing rose which needed something to grow against other than the siding on the house. I took most of yesterday afternoon and came up with a basic solution for the rose. I picked up several wood 2x4s, along with a dark green plastic lattice. The two by fours were attached to the eves of the house and into cement footing blocks on the ground. The lattice was attached to the front side of the 2x4 framework. Afterward, the rose was carefully wired to the lattice in order to train it to climb upwards. Sadly, I can't post any pictures because the digital camera I borrowed several weeks ago was requested by someone else. So, for the moment, I have no camera again. Hopefully, I can find another camera before things grow too much around here.

A Leather Couch

2009-04-12T18:52:00.000-07:00

The weekend went flying by just like that again. As always, it was a busy week looking for work, doing taxes, and handling all the small tasks that need to be done.

One of the tasks I handled was to go pick up a leather couch from a friend of mine. My friend had heard I was looking for a leather couch and had one in storage. Since it was in storage, they had no need for it any longer and were appreciate of my taking the couch and freeing up the space. The couch is pretty comfortable and just about the right size. It's a nice dark green leather which is in pretty good shape.

While I was out picking up the couch, my battery on the truck decided to fail. Fortunately, my brother had driven his car along too so we were able to jump start it easily. I guess I'll have to take a trip to the car parts store tomorrow and spend about $75 and get a new battery. Spending money is not something I like doing while I'm still unemployed, but not having a reliable battery is a problem. I'll pick up the replacement battery tomorrow afternoon.

It's back to normal weather around here again with rain coming down quite frequently. It rained most of today and will probably do the same for the next few days. Of course, that's only to be expected since it is spring time here now. :)

The Weekend Warrior

2009-04-08T10:17:00.000-07:00

We had some totally awesome weather over the weekend. It was, without question, the warmest days we've experienced this year. With temperatures in the low 20's C, it was very nice. I ended up working outside on both Saturday and Sunday as a result.

Saturday, I spent the whole day working on assembling a trampoline for my neice and nephew. Basically, one of my brothers had picked the trampoline up off Craigs List as a gift for my sister's kids. First, we had to figure out how to assemble the trampoline as it was in pieces. That took a while because some parts weren't exactly intuitive for placement. Then we had to figure out how to repair some damages but finally managed to assemble the unit. I did a bit of jumping on it to test it out. The springiness was quite as good as it could have been but it would have to do for now. We tore it down again and took it down to my sister's house. The evening was spent reassembling it. The kids liked it and apparently had some of their neighbor friends over playing on it the next day. Brother says he found a better trampoline for them off Craigs List again. This one has better springiness and should be a lot more fun for the kids. On the next sunny day, we'll probably get together and haul it down to my sister's house to replace the other trampoline with.

Sunday, I worked on the back deck a bit. I have some outdoor stereo speakers my oldest brother gave to me a year ago that needed to be mounted. It took the whole day to fabricate some brackets or holding the speakers to the siding on the house but I managed to put together a fixture that would work. Now I need to run wiring from the stereo to the speakers. That will mean I can play music when family or friends stop over and want to sit on the deck in the sunshine. Cool!

Video of the Lava Lamp

2009-04-03T11:22:00.000-07:00

Here's a video I made earlier but never found the time to upload. I was tinkering around with the webcam and wanted to know how well it would capture images in low light. The video shows the purple lava lamp with most of the lights off.

Disassembling an iMac G3 - Part 2

2009-04-02T12:50:00.000-07:00

Here's the second installment of the video showing an iMac G3 being disassembled in order to allow upgrading the hard drive and memory. This video segment shows the disassembling process of the CD-ROM drive in order to remove the hard drive from the CPU assembly board assembly.

Disassembling an iMac G3 tray loader

2009-04-01T18:30:00.000-07:00

Here's a video showing an iMac G3 being disassembled in order to allow upgrading the hard drive and memory. The intent is to upgrade the memory from 64 megabytes up to 128 megabytes. Also, the hard drive will be upgraded to something larger than the 4 gigabyte capacity drive that is in place currently.

I don't know much anything about Apple computers so this is a bit of a learning experience for me. I'll upload a series of videos as time passes showing the progress with the upgrade. This video segment shows the disassembling process up to the point where the CPU assembly board is removed from the machine.

Filming Techniques

2009-03-30T16:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, it was really sunny for a change here. I ended up going outside and sitting on the swing by the pond for a while at first. It was rather relaxing to just listen to the water flowing from the whiskey barrel fountain into the pond. In fact, it was so relaxing I almost fell asleep. My head was nodding more than a couple times as I watched the goldfish come up to the surface of the pond to occasionally nibble on some fish food I had tossed in. It was a group of four goldfish and they kept in a fairly tight formation. I'm pleased to see they have survived the raccoon visits throughout the winter.

Afterward, I went back to the deck and sat down to read a book in the sun. I found my copy of "The Five C's of Cinematography" by Joseph V. Mascelli. There is some excellent material in the book and I highly recommend it if you're interested in film making. If nothing else, it gives one a new appreciation for what goes into making a film. I found myself looking at a movie running on the SciFi channel with a totally different perspective than before. Reading through about 25 pages, I learned a considerable amount on camera viewpoints. Specifically, the text talked about how to avoid distracting or confusing the audience with unexpected camera angles and perspectives. Pretty cool stuff. I'm going to try some of it out if I can borrow my friend's Hi8 Camera. Mostly, I'll be attempting to create a documentary style video clip for the backyard garden. Just gotta convince my friend to loan me the camcorder now. ;)

A week of hunting for jobs

2009-03-28T14:54:00.000-07:00

I haven't been blogging much recently as I've been busy with job hunting. With the economy in bad shape, finding jobs to apply for is difficult. And if a person doesn't know anyone at the company, it's almost a given that your resume won't even make it past the garbage can. On the surprising side, a number of companies at least respond and say "We've reviewed your resume and do not feel you are a good match." In the past, it was quite common to not hear anything after submitting a resume. On the funny side, I received one response talking about how the put deep consideration into the review before rejecting my resume. This happened about two hours after I submitted my resume... hah! Two hours is barely enough time for my resume to find its way into anyone's inbox. Oh well.

On the plus side, I might be able to borrow a video camera from my friend soon. He found a working Hi8 camcorder and is still searching for another working camcorder. If I can borrow the camcorder, I'll be able to provide a walk through of the yard. Digital pictures give a nice overview of the yard, but a walk through with a video camera would show how it all fits together.

Cat on a fence

2009-03-21T14:51:00.000-07:00

Today's post is a fuzzy picture of my neighbor's cat sitting on the one and a half meter tall wood fence looking at me. Nothing special, I just thought it was funny to look outside and see the cat watching me.

A short story video: The fire that burns.

2009-03-18T20:01:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd try playing around with recording video using the cheap webcam I picked up off a Craigs List seller a couple of years ago. For fun, I'm reading one of the stories I'll post up on my usual stomping grounds. Without further delay, here's the link to the video.

And here's the text for the story to follow along with should my diction be too difficult to follow. :)

The Fire that Burns

As I walked by the gas station at the end of the block, I noticed the driver of a truck panicking by one of the gas pumps. His truck engine had back fired when he attempted to start it and a small fire had burst out from beneath the hood. The driver was busy vainly trying to put out the flames with a small cloth rag. Seeing he was in trouble, I ran over to assist. Instinctively, I pulled my coat off and threw it over the flames hoping it would be enough to choke out the fire. While the fire dwindled down substantially, it wouldn’t go out. Looking around, I spotted the gas station attendant inside the store. I charged through the doors of the store and yelled, “I need a fire extinguisher!” I was completely caught off guard by his response, “No!” I pointed outwards and said “Give me a break, that guy’s truck is on fire dammit!”. The attendant responded, “That’s not my problem! This is for store use only!” I thought to myself “What the F...?” but I didn’t have time to argue with this idiot. My mind searched for another option. It was then I remembered I had a fire extinguisher tucked away in the trunk of my car back at home. Running to my old Chevy Nova, I popped the trunk open and grabbed the fire extinguisher. Sprinting back to the guy’s truck, I pulled the locking pin out of the extinguisher, aimed at the fire while squeezing the handle. As the extinguisher's white powder sprayed out, the fire died down rapidly and finally went out.

Stopping to catch my breath, I backed up and took a look at my now charred coat. It was clear the coat was no longer useful as it was burned heavily in several places and smelled of smoke. The driver looked at me sheepishly and apologized. I responded, “Well, at least we were lucky the truck didn’t start a larger blaze.” Considering the truck was right next to a pair of gasoline pumps, it could have been a total catastrophe. Too angry at this point to deal with the gas station attendant, I furiously stomped back home. Unfortunately, I now needed both a new fire extinguisher and a coat because some jackass gas station attendant wasn’t being helpful.

It wasn’t until later that my one of my friends chided me by saying, “Hey man, you could have simply called the Fire Marshal on the gas station attendant, right?” Awww crap! Being that I was fresh off the farm and only 21 years old, I was simply too naive at the time. I didn’t realize the Fire Marshal would have taken a dim view on the gas station attendants refusal to hand over the fire extinguisher. To this day, I still regret not having called the Fire Marshal afterward to have the gas station attendant dealt with appropriately. As Paul Harvey would say, "And that, is the rest of the story!"

Again with the snow

2009-03-15T09:25:00.000-07:00

And here we go with the same old thing again. :) When I woke up this morning, I looked outside and saw an unexpected but familiar site again, snow coming down in large flakes. The previous snow from a week ago had long since melted off but has now been replaced with a new layer of white powdery snow. If you look really closely in the photo, you can see the flakes of snow falling.

On a different note, I replaced the failed harddrive in the NeXT computer yesterday. I tried booting the machine and it at least got to the point where it displayed the built in monitor software which is a good sign. Now all I need to do is make a boot floppy disc and try to reinstall the operating system. Easier said then done though as I have some problems related to floppy drives on the Windows machines. I'll get it ironed out eventually.

Snobol4 and U2’s "the Edge", is Snobol4 an evil twin?

2009-03-12T10:46:00.000-07:00

Someone recently sent me a comment saying I look a bit like the Edge from U2. A quick search on the Internet turned up a photo of the Edge. I decided to have a bit of fun a post a side by side photo for a comparison. Check it out:

Funky Lava Lamps

2009-03-10T20:14:00.000-07:00

Recently, I traded away a lot of stuff I wasn't using or knew I'd never have a chance to work with due to time and space constraints. But I did keep some odds and ends that are pretty useless but plain out fun. For instance, I kept my lava lamps. For those who aren't familiar with them, lava lamps are basically glass containers which have a wax like substance suspended in a liquid. A light bulb beneath the glass container is used to heat the waxy substance and causes it to flow about inside the glass container in interesting ways. Here are a few pictures showing my green lava lamp in action. The pictures were taken with the camera flash enabled:

And these pictures were taken with the lights off and the camera flash disabled:

Hi8 camcorders and video for the blog.

2009-03-10T12:51:00.001-07:00

One of the projects I'm trying to move forward with is to borrow a Hi8 camcorder from a friend of mine. My intent is to wander about in the yard and capture some video of the various landscaping features. Using a video capture card, I can convert the video from the analog tape format into a digital format. The digital video can then be uploaded to this blog for people to see better detail of what the backyard looks like. My friend has several Hi8 camcorders and is in the process of checking to see if any of them function. So hopefully there will be a few video clips on the way. Now you might wonder why I don't use a digital video camera instead of going through all the effort of conversion of the Hi8 format. I'm a cheapskate and don't want to spend money on a digital video camcorder, plain and simple. :) So instead, I'll find a work around.

I've mentioned the old NeXT computer the fella on Craigs List gave me a couple of months ago. At that time, he couldn't find the mouse or keyboard. Recently, he moved and found the peripherals and sent me an email to ask if I still wanted them. This morning, I took an hour and drove downtown to pick up the much needed specialty keyboard and mouse. I have to admit, some of the people on Craigs List are very decent! Now, my NeXT Step (pun intended) is to find an operating system for the machine. But that's a project for later. Here's a picture of the computer sitting on one of my tabletops. It's not much to look at, but it's a pretty cool piece of computing history.

Interesting weather and progress with the NeXT machine

2009-03-08T12:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, the weather was really unusual. It was initially overcast, then started snowing. Afterward the sun came out very briefly, then it went back to snowing, followed by hail. I snapped a couple of photos for fun. The first photo shows the back deck with snow on it. The second photo shows some of the small hail, but it was mostly melted by the time I took the photo.

On another note, the fella with the NeXT computer just emailed me. He found the keyboard and mouse! Yahoooo! That means I'm one step closer to having a very cool retro computer up and running. I'll post more about the progress on the NeXT machine once I have acquired the specialized mouse and keyboard.

Latest updates

2009-03-05T20:14:00.001-08:00

I managed to do a little more clean up around the house today unexpectedly. My next oldest brother stopped by with his neighbor and hauled away the unused washing machine I had stored on the deck. I also got rid of my barbecue grill as it needed a lot of repairs. I can always find a new barbecue grill off Craigs List quite easily so I'm not too concerned about not having one for the moment.

For fun, here's a picture of one of the few flowering plants in my yard at the moment. It's a primrose of some variety. Next fall, I intend to add a number of primrose like this to provide some late winter color to the yard. Staggering colors for the different seasons definitely helps to add character to the yard.

Here's another shot of the yard, taken late at night. While it's not the best picture, it shows most of the lights around the pond in action. Kind of cool looking if you ask me. Adding a light or two inside the pond and below the water level could add an interesting look. When the banana tree starts growing back again I intend to place a spot light under it and up-light the leaves for a cool night lighting effect.

Daily Dig - Mar 3, 2009

2009-03-02T17:25:00.000-08:00

Ah, the stump has met it's match today. With considerable effort, I was able to split the stump up into thirds using wedges, a sledge hammer, and an axe.

Some of the chunks are still pretty good sized and will require additional splitting at a later point. For now, I just heaped them up off to the side so I could fill the hole back in.

I also snapped a few photos from around the yard of various imagery. For instance, here is a small batch of crocus blooming in the front yard just a few feet away from the stump I removed.

And in the back yard, I snapped a photo of the Moai Island head and the stone bench. Cool looking stuff if you ask me.

The front yard had some frost damage from the two week long snow back in January. The poor cactus shown here have had it and will need to be replaced once I have some cash flow going again.

And one last shot with no intended point. Here's the side fence with some smaller golden cypress along with patches of sedum.

Daily Dig - Feb 23, 2009

2009-02-23T19:47:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures of the front yard with all its plastic flamingo splendor.

And of course, in my yard, digging is a perpetual process. Here are a few shots showing what the ol' badger is up to lately:

The old stump just has to go baby! Time to find a chainsaw soon and start hacking away at those big roots.

Writing and publishing

2009-02-22T11:19:00.000-08:00

Very recently, I received a response for one of the stories I submitted to a publisher. In my opinion, the story was well written and I had a level of confidence in it being accepted. Sadly, my writing style was not considered professional. To say I am disappointed is an understatement.

Of course, one must be willing accept rejection on a consistent basis when writing. People are justifiably selective in what they read. I can understand as time is a scarce commodity. Yet finding the appealing balance point of mixing descriptive words with action is a serious challenge. Carefully crafted words and subtleties mean nothing if the reader does not appreciate the style. In the style of stories I write, I've found people require highly active and concisely written material. Add just one too many descriptive words and you've lost them as a reader in an instant. The story becomes valueless from that point forward.

Finding an audience, or being published in general, seems to be a challenging issue many of writers face. In my attempts, I've published work through a variety of different avenues and found each to have quirks.

In some cases, the more vocal participants fixate on a current popular trend or sub-genre. Typically, there is a predominant in-crowd who form closely knit circles. The in-crowd works closely together, providing word of mouth advertising for their cohorts. Unfortunately, the outsiders, along with their work are usually ignored. I've seen well written pieces remain in obscurity while less polished pieces flourish wildly. Yes, I clearly understand the readers are in control. But if the site is general in nature and is taken over by a single group, I still don't have to like it. :(

One of the other types of site I've encountered is haunted by the hardcore writer. At times, I've encountered more than a few who were hell bent on telling others how to write their style, passing along the occasional subtle insult in the process. Hmm, if I rewrite a story in their style, is it still my story? Not in my book.

Ah, the life of an aspiring writer. Rejection, I better become accustomed to it.

Creativity

2009-02-20T13:22:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about the creative process recently. Creativity is such a strange beast. At times it comes along in massive waves, so many ideas at times one can’t possibly keep track of them all. And other times, it’s like a dry season where not a single creative drop of rain is to be found anywhere.

Off and on, I’ve been going through a series of dry spells where I just can’t get my groove on. My ability to write comes to a halt, thinking up new ideas for my empire-in-the-sun yard just won’t flow, and my brain simply feels like it’s out to lunch permanently.

It’s like experiencing the blank page syndrome where you stare at a blank sheet and go, “What the heck am I going to write on this thing? It looks so intimidating all blank like that.” Finding the root idea from which good ideas spring is always a challenge.

I noticed the same pattern in the yard last summer. As the landscaping project moved along, more and more ideas raced about my totally tweaked out and wired up little brain. It’s almost as if a fever hit me and I just couldn’t stop trying out strange and unusual ideas in the landscape.

The feeling of creative expression is quite satisfying. Yet these darn mental blocks that happen afterwards feel so irritating. Maybe pauses are necessary to allow the brain to regroup in some fashion. But I for one, love finding motivation to drive me to skip meals at times because I’m so into what I’m doing I don’t want to, or can’t stop creating. Curse you non-creative downtime!

A Busy Morning

2009-02-05T09:52:00.000-08:00

I've been very busy networking up a storm with my previous co-workers. It seems to be having a positive impact. My email folder has been filling up with people providing suggestions and hints on how to get my foot back in the door at MS for a new contract. It's taken over two hours this morning just responding to emails and I'm still not done.

The economic downturn is definitely making things more difficult due to the recent downsizing event. It seems there are hiring freezes for many teams. But fortunately, some teams are still hiring. On the plus side, I've received an excellent recommendation from a previous co-worker. She provided a very accurate assessment of my strengths and weakness. That is the best type of recommendation in my book because it paints the real picture of the person involved. A hiring manager will clearly know what to investigate during an interview after reading such a recommendation. Useful for both myself and the perspective team I would be interviewing with.

The remainder of today will be spent working on my resume, creating some writing portfolio samples, and reading the "Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications". In the least, reading the manual will help to improve my writing portfolio samples.

Networking with old co-workers

2009-02-04T15:16:00.000-08:00

Most of today was spent networking to see if I could turn up any possibilities of a new contract job. I spent over half the day finding email addresses of previous co-workers out at Microsoft. What followed was a series of emails sent to each of the PM's, Dev Leads, SDE's, and Technical Writers that I worked with during the last contract. Hopefully someone will respond back with a potential for a new contract. With the current economic downturn, it's making the task more difficult than it should be. On the plus side, I know a lot of people at Microsoft considering my last contract spanned over a year and a half before my it ended. Just about everybody on the first floor of building 119 saw my face at some point in time. I'm a pretty easy guy to remember and had a well known reputation for doing meticulous work. In the grand scheme of things, I'm hoping my reputation will work in my favor.

I'm going to visit one of my neighbors tonight as he works at Microsoft too. Time to burn a copy of my resume onto a CD and see if I can convince him to hand deliver it to someone. Somethings going to turn up. It's just a matter of finding the right person to wave my resume in front of.

Other than that, I've been sticking my nose back in some of the dreadful interviewing tip books. Interviews at MS are quite challenging. I typically use a book titled "Programming Interviews Exposed" to prepare for the ordeal. For v-dash contractors like myself, an interview consists of meeting with up to four people for an hour each. Each person gives you a problem to solve on a marker board in front of them so they can watch how you solve problems. The biggest problem is that only one person has to give a no-hire recommendation and you get rejected. For slow but meticulous thinkers like myself, it is quite the challenge.