The More I Do, The Less Gets Done

You would think after a few decades on this planet that a routine would be established, a rhythm, even a damn game plan to follow.

I write a list of 'Things To DO' but there's always leftovers, SNAFUs and other impediments to the completion of said task list. Which leads to the old frustration situation.

How the hell to pare the dreck from life while getting on with what really matters?

No matter what I do, someone brings their emergency to my door.

How the hell am I responsible for your screw-up?

Time to move deeper into the woods.

Ignornet or internet of Colin Kaepernick

During a recent review of my social networking sites I found that I'm 'ignornet'.

Yes, that word is not in your dictionary. I coined it as I'm ignorant of the mainstream internet news, TV/radio chatter and otherwise important blather that constitutes 'news'.

I am so disconnected that I didn't even know who the hell Colin Kaepernick is...and to tell you the truth, I really don't care.

Which would surprise most of my old friends, as I was a diehard footballer back in the day. Even played for the old high school and all that...

There are too many other things to worry about than an overpaid athlete. His opinions and actions are his own.

If only we could get people to get this outraged over important issues.

The Agony of Ted Koppel

It’s tough, having foresight. Knowing of the coming train wreck before it happens. Yelling your head off, only to be ignored, ostracized by our fearful leaders. To borrow one of their quotes, “I feel your pain.” 

I read this article http://www.insidesources.com/koppel-homeland/ with the hopes that maybe someone is paying attention.

Ted Koppel is now experiencing something with which I’m quite familiar, disdain and dismissal by those empowered to protect us. He’s crying out about the woeful lack of protection against cyber-attack in our country. Join the club, Mr. K. Some of us have been writing about this for years without getting any traction with the powers that be.

Specifically, Mr. K. is upset about the fragility of the electrical power grid. He right, it’s not being guarded properly by those in Washington. Then again, they really don’t care. 

When, not IF, the power grid goes down, they’ll have plenty of back-up generators and, in worst case scenarios, they’ll escape into their underground bunkers with their supplies of food and water to wait out the disaster.

Maybe Mr. Koppel would like to get on The List. That very exclusive club of those ‘worth saving’ who will be allowed to partake in the hidden supplies. It’s a very short list and you, my fellow Americans, aren’t on it. No, my chumps in arms, we will be limited to fending for ourselves.

So, look down at that cord which stretches from your computer, TV, air conditioner, phone, etc. etc….trace it to the source. Then realize that it’s all that’s keeping your life, as you know it, going. When the power goes off, your party is over.

As for the solar people, yes, you’ll have a fully charged whatever, phone, TV, computer….but who you gonna call when the main switching center, the cell towers, all the servers are down?

Take comfort, they make handy night lights, when the power goes out.

Buy lighters, matches and candles now, before they become scarce.

Remember the last time the folks in Washington helped you?

Yeah, me too. 

I can’t recall the last time.

As for Mr. Koppel, hang in there, the lights aren't out yet.

Fun With Miss Snark or Janet Reid's Winter Writing Contest

I don't have an agent. Have looked high and low, but no takers just yet.

Do follow a couple or three of them, got to keep up on the book biz.

Miss Snark, AKA Janet Reid, has always been one that has excellent advice.

Had fun a few years back when I informed her that a SNARK was a US missile from the 1950s.

Here's the link, get in on the contest!

http://jetreidliterary.blogspot.com/

Time? What Time?

Will you look at the time...my how it's passed me by, another year gone.

Great writing is timeless. So we are told. I've been busy doing all those recommended things that need to be done to become more social, as in being on social sites. Which is important to anyone who wants to be published in the Internet Age.

The question is, how much time must you spend on the social sites, which multiple like rabbits, to 'get the word out' about your writing? If you spend all day working on your Facebook, Google+, Reddit, Twitter, Instagram, Sh**tbucket...oh, wait, that's not a social site, at least not of this posting. How the hell do you have time for writing?

I won't even go into the rest of the fun and games, but I'm still kicking. The book has been rewritten, twice, in the meantime. It's ready to go.

On to the next step.

To publish or not to publish

Is there any question?

All of these years, decades now, of writing screenplays, tech manuals, songs, novels, notes, etc. Paper piled up in 4 drawer file cabinets.

The question now becomes how to publish. I've tired of the jumping through hoops, playing 'chase the agent'. Need I write my query in blood to convince thee of my will to write?

So, it's to the masses I turn.

Will they find me and if they do...will they read?

Into the New Year

Like an old car with a weak battery, I'm hard to crank over when it's cold outside. Once I get started, I can run with the best of them.

The past few weeks have been taken up with research for the books I'm working on and doing the agent hunt dance.

When I get away from the keyboard I've been helping a neighbor repair his barn roof. Which is not exactly the type of activity most people engage in during the winter months. It's more of a spring, summer, fall kind of job, which you don't want to fall down on. Tied to a safety rope while sliding across the 45 degree slope of a 60 year old barn is not a leisurely situation. Sure it's not mountain climbing, but then I'm not living in the mountains.

I'm running roofing screws down through crusty tin and corroded aluminum panels, securing them to weathered wood which is more rot than wood in some places. It's a good thing that I'm not too heavy at this time in my life.

Anyone else might go through the roof. Which as those of you who have experienced the vertigo, acceleration and then abrupt deceleration of any fall knows that it's not how it happens, but what lies between you and the ground that can hurt you.

It's good, old fashioned, physical work and it pays off in keeping me sharp plus giving my balance and muscles a work-out. My 80 year old neighbor appreciates it and it keeps his barn roof together.

Getting my mind off my writing brings me back to the computer refreshed and ready to get on with the project at hand.