Vacation Update: Terrific Times!

Weather is here; wish you were beautiful.

I guess I'm royalty...

I've been elevated to the status of royalty recently. Someone eminently qualified to identify true value has linked to my blog and referred to me as Haiku/Novel King. A great honor, and I am humbled.

when will this day end?
clock, in slow motion, ticks once
vacation pending

Persistence

"Press on. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not. Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not. The world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."
- Former US President Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933)

Words for me to remember when my novel boomerangs back at me at a hundred miles an hour, having caught a rejection letter on its spinning arc. For the twentieth time.

coming to grips with my role

I have always thought of myself as a midfielder, wanted to be a midfielder. I played midfield for the past five years. I have the fitness and speed to be a very good winger, but this season I was forced into central defense because we had so much quality in midfield.

That was hard for me at first. As a sweeper, I don't run as much. I don't get involved in the attack. I have much less room for error--one mistake, and I'd better recover or it's one-on-one with the goalie.

Over the past several weeks, though, I've come to realize that I am a sweeper by nature. What seems to me to be natural and relatively effortless, other players have been praising as "great" play. I see the field and the play developing. I have good closing speed and recovery speed, and I couple that with good anticipation of where the play will go. I have even learned how to direct my other defenders on the field.

I still wish I were in midfield, attacking and building the game, but I have finally come to grips with the fact that I should be in central defense. That's just who I am, in my skills and in my personality. I have always loved watching great defensive play, whether it's football or soccer or even baseball (maybe that's why I never really got into tennis or golf or track, for example). And I do get a sublime satisfaction in thwarting an offensive threat and deflating the attackers' hopes.

Aw, hell, I never scored many goals anyway and wasn't about to turn into a serious offensive threat. Better to do what I'm good at and accept who I am than try to be something I'm not.

Polemicist

CLICK THIS LINK: [link]

My 16-year-old nephew, Max, is the bassist for this band in the DC area. They have two tracks on this web site at the time of this writing. "Numb" is great. The other is good, too.

Anchors Aweigh

Remember that feeling when you first had to ask a girl out? (OK, since more than half of my readers (2 of the 3) are women, perhaps you don't remember that.) Anyway... the hours of working up some semblance of nerve, the sweaty palms as you try to dial the phone, the absolute terror as you hear her voice on the other end of the line... and the anticipation of a rejection with a laugh track louder than the Cosby Show's followed by snickering and pointing at you all the next week as you walk down the halls of your junior high?

That's a little like the feeling I have as I print out my cover letter and first 40 pages of my manuscript to submit to a midlist publisher I think would be perfect for Across The Stream.

Wish me luck. Or don't. I guess it's up to you.

Proofreading Failure Leads to Distrubing Result

I'm happy the Cal Bears basketball team won their game over Akron tonight, but I was stumped by this portion of Yahoo! Sports' game summary:

Theo Robertson gave Cal a 62-49 lead with 12:50 to play on the front end of a fast break. Dambrot was forced to put Travis back on the floor, and he responded with two quick baskets that helped cut the advantage to 64-48 with 10:20 remaining.

I am not certain I would call going from a 13 point differential to a 16 point differential "cutting the lead." More distrubing is the fact that Akron appears to have lost a point despite getting two quick baskets. Curiouser and curiouser...

That Darned Survey

So here it is because someone asked for it. Blame that person.

1. WHAT COLOR ARE YOUR KITCHEN PLATES?
   We have plates? Seriously, mostly they are white, but I prefer the plastic ones with drawings on them done by my children.
2. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
   I don't read books; I only write them. Last book I read was... um... hold on... nope, can't remember. It might have been the four books of the Hitchhiker's Guide trilogy.
3. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
   A renaissance-style map of the world.
4. FAVORITE BOARD GAME?H
   aven't played it in 33 years, but I used to love Uncle Wiggly. Watch out for the Skeezix!
5. FAVORITE SMELLS?
   evergreen; desert dust during a thunder shower
   
6. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING?
   what time I have to be somewhere
   
7. FAVORITE COLOR:
   generally forest green, though rich, dark blues are good, too
   
8. LEAST FAVORITE COLOR:
   Red
   
9. HOW MANY RINGS UNTIL YOU ANSWER THE PHONE?
   I am getting used to ignoring the phone, and it is quite liberating.
   
10. FAVORITE CHILD'S NAME?
    I love both of my children equally and don't have a "favorite." The name for a child I liked best but didn't get to use is "Tess" for a girl. NOT "Tessie," though.
    
11. CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA?
    Usually vanilla.
12. DO YOU LIKE TO DRIVE FAST?
    I tend to drive fast, yes, but I don't look at it as a thrill or a recreational activity.
    
13. DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL?
    Nope.
    
14. DO YOU LIKE THUNDERSTORMS?
    Brilliant.
15. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CAR?
    1979 Subaru wagon. I was a junior in high school. There was a girl on the track team who had a white 1965 Mustang with red leather interior. It was sweet. My Subaru was not so sweet, but it got me around OK.
    
16. WHAT IS YOUR SIGN?
    Cancer. But in the sense that BSP took the question, my sign is "DO NOT DISTRUB."
    
17. DO YOU EAT THE STEMS OF BROCCOLI?
    Ayep.
    
18. IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY JOB WHAT WOULD IT BE?
    If that isn't the best straight line I've seen today, I don't know what is. Anyway, one of the best jobs in the world is former president of the United States. You get like $200,000 a year, you get your own bodyguards... sweet.
    
19. IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY COLOR HAIR, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
    I kind of like the color I used to have, when I had hair.
    
20. IS THE GLASS HALF FULL OR HALF EMPTY?
    Half full. And if I leave it out in the rain, it will soon be entirely full.
    
21. FAVORITE MOVIE?
    The Sting, Pirates of the Caribbean, Lord of the Rings, Mary Poppins, Singin' in the Rain
    
22. DO YOU TYPE WITH YOUR FINGERS ON THE RIGHT KEYS?
    Urd/
    
23. WHAT'S UNDER YOUR BED?
    a big basket full of wrapping paper. some books. slippers. lots of dust.
    
24. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
    Football and soccer. I can like hockey, too, and sometimes like to watch a good boxing match. Can't stand tennis, golf, baseball, etc. on TV.
    
25. YOUR SINGLE BIGGEST INTENSE PAIN?
    A good friend totally crunched my ankle playing soccer several years ago. Needed crutches for a couple days, but it was OK. I've been fortunate otherwise.
    
26. PERSON YOU SENT THIS TO WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND:
    No one, because I won’t send it.
27. PERSON YOU SENT THIS TO WHO IS LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
    Everyone that I don’t send this to
28. KETCHUP OR MUSTARD?
    This question needs a context.
    
29. HAMBURGER OR HOT DOG?
    This question also needs a context, but I think I'll go with hamburger.
    
30. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SEASON?
    I think it would be fall. Living in northern California, there really aren't any seasons.
    
31. THE BEST PLACES YOU HAVE EVER BEEN?
    The Vermont mountains, Yosemite Valley, Lake Tahoe. Kauai is nice for the weather. Otherwise, I mostly like New England.
    
32. WHAT SCREEN SAVER IS ON YOUR COMPUTER RIGHT NOW?
    It goes blank, like my mind when it's not used for ten minutes.
    
33. FAVORITE FAST FOOD?
    Whopper and fries, probably.
    
34. WHAT IS YOUR BIRTH NAME?
    Same as my given name, I think.