am I a real Californian now?

Someone accused me of being a "real Californian" now. That person's nose will heal somewhat less quickly than my fist.

The reason for their insult is that part of our large backyard makeover includes installation of an in-ground spa. That's "hot tub" to you on the east coast, but a true "hot tub" is actually one of those redwood tubs you think of when you envision naked people in Marin on a big deck overlooking the Pacific Ocean at sunset with glasses of wine in their hands. But that's not us. (And don't pretend you don't envision naked people. I know you do.)

For one thing, we're not in Marin and you'd have to be in a damned tall building to see the ocean from our town. In fact, I don't think you can see it from the top of the mountain because the Oakland hills are too tall. For another, it's unlikely we'll spend much naked time in the spa because we have no fence, so we have about thirty feet of clear, unfettered exposure to the street. Plus, we're about two hundred yards from the local elementary school. So that's pretty much out, at least until we get some sort of barrier up.

But no, I'll never be a true Californian. My heart will always be where my home was when I was little, and I don't think that's terribly uncommon. I've lived in this state approximately half my life, yet I still feel more at home in Seattle than I do here, and I only lived in Seattle one year. Hell, I felt more at home in Santa Fe, and I spent only three days there. But "home" will always be in New England.

Anyway, the point is, we have this new spa, and the installation was completed Saturday. The boys jumped right in, but I'm waiting until the patio is finished at the end of the week. It'll take a long time to pay it all off, but at least I'll be relaxed when I write the checks each month.

stop being so vague

OK, so I loved this sign in the kitchen at work today. But it came down this morning. Not sure who took it down. Maybe they thought it was in poor taste given the recent Virginia Tech thing.

I thought it was hilarious.

Needless to say, it is not my food, and I am not the bandit.

I'll show you mine if you show me yours...

Saw this link on Miss Snark yesterday. Or rather, on Miss Snark's blog. I've not seen anything on Miss Snark. Which is not to say I've seen Miss Snark with nothing on. That's not what I'm saying, not what I'm saying at all. No, I saw that link. The first one. On her blog. So I clicked it. One has to be careful clicking links from Miss Snark's blog because quite frequently they go to YouTube videos with sound. But this one doesn't. It goes to a decidedly quiet place, LibraryThing.

I've only just started trying it out, but it looks very well done. I'm trying the free version now and may even pony up for the full version if I really like it, but that's off in the future.

I'm still trying to figure out how to get the "recent books" list to show the books in the right order, and when I do I'll replace my hokey book list here with a more robust LibraryThing.

Writing Update
Nothing written recently. I did submit something to the "stolen" issue of Thereby Hangs A Tale, but work has been so busy that I haven't had time to think about writing let alone write anything. Although I need to change that, I don't see it changing any time soon.

snow in Flagstaff?

So we're staying overnight in Flagstaff on our way from Santa Fe to Ventura for a wedding that became a non-wedding when it was called off at the last minute. The drive through New Mexico was beautiful--green high plains hills, the colorful and dramatic mesas stretched across the skyline. The Arizona desert wasn't so beautiful, but it was an easy drive, until we got to the Meteor Crater. We didn't go see the crater because it seemed expensive and because we had a tight schedule, but shortly after that highway 40 dips down into the Flagstaff area... and that's where the hail and sleet hit. And snow. Snow? It's April 12th. I'm not sure I've ever been snowed on this close to tax day.

Anyway, we went out to dinner while large flakes drifted down. I won't be surprised if we get an inch or more overnight. The roads seem clear, but it's still coming down outside.

So tomorrow is our penultimate day of long-distance driving on this ten-day vacation, which has become a nine-day vacation due to the wedding's cancellation. The itinerary:

• Friday: Drive from San Francisco to Las Vegas (550 miles)
• Saturday: Hike to the top of turtle peak in Red Rock Canyon. This is a "difficult" hike that both boys completed with energy to spare and no whining at all. Everyone we passed was thoroughly impressed.
• Sunday: Easter baskets in Vegas. Lunch in Kingman, AZ. Dinner in Gallup, NM. Check in to the hotel in Santa Fe near midnight. (650 miles)
  
• Monday: Santa Fe museums and shops. Dinner at Maria's New Mexican Kitchen. The best chile rellenos I've ever had. Although we did not have the $45 margarita, the $12 margarita was outstanding. HIGHLY recommended.
  
• Tuesday: Seeing long-lost relatives and work colleagues in Albuquerque, along with a walk through Old Town and a visit to Explora. Highly recommended. (120 miles r/t)
  
• Wednesday: More Santa Fe shops and museums.
• Thursday: Driving from Santa Fe to Flagstaff. Finally, high speed internet! It's like returning to civilization after camping in the wilderness. The Santa Fe hotel had only dial-up, which worked at 26k most of the time! Can you believe it? (330 miles)
  
• Friday: We will drive to Ventura and visit with other long-lost relatives. (550 miles)
  
• Saturday: We will visit Mission Santa Barbara and head home, trying not to think too much about the wedding we won't be attending because it won't be happening. (300 miles)
  
• Sunday: Laundry, lawnmowing, cleaning the litter box, dreading the return to work on Monday.

Total road dogging: 2,500 miles in six days of driving in a nine-day vacation.

how to pronounce my name

I just found out that Merriam-Webster can help people pronounce my name! There are three possible ways to pronounce it. Click the links below to hear your computer say them out loud. These links will pop up a new window.

First

Second

Third

Thanks to Miss Snark for the tip.

it can--and does--happen in America

The exact reason I abhor government secrecy and the "war on terror" is described in this op-ed in the Washington Post.

Liberty is rarely taken away from a population all at once. Invasion from outside, or a coup from inside are about the only times that happens. More often, it is eroded over years in what appear to be small concessions... a little more unrestricted authority for police here, a little more censorship there. Twisting language to turn someone with a differing opinion into a dissenter.

The most obvious recent example of this is the yellow "Support the Troops" ribbons on every Republican's car. Anyone who does not "support the troops" must hate America because... well, because who would oppose the brave men and women who risk their lives for our own security and freedom and way of life? The implication is that you can not support the troops while opposing the war, and this is dangerous thinking within our republic. It implies that if you do not support one political idea, you are un-American and un-patriotic.

When you take subtle, insidious ideology control through language and symbols, and you match it with decreasing restrictions on the power of law enforcement, you start on a slippery slope toward totalitarianism.

Four More Years!

Not.

Happy 4th anniversary, Iraq war.

Peace.

Writer: Beware scammers!

If you write and hope to publish one day, read this post and get used to visiting this site often.

Not King George... King George III

George Washington thought the office that was ultimately named President should be named King. He thought he should be America's King George.

George W. Bush is America's third president named George. That would have made him King George III of America, if the Father of Our Country had had his druthers.

Way back in 2003, even before W announced the "shock and awe" that had started in Baghdad on March 19th, I started calling him King George III. A relative (actually, an in-law) sent me an email saying how similar W was to... I forget, but it was either Lincoln or Washington. It was just too easy to reply with all the ways W was similar to Hitler in the days leading up to the war. So I didn't. I replied with all the ways W was similar to England's King George III.

You may recall that England's King George III (EKG3) presided over the war that eventually heralded England's fall from the strata of superpower: The American Revolution. EKG3 was also reputed to be slightly insane. He also didn't care for facts but surrounded himself with people who thought of the American colonist agitators as "a few dead-enders." He led the most powerful army in the world. He wanted the natural resources available in a land across the Atlantic Ocean, and he was willing to do anything to support the economic interests of his friends running major industries at the time (think East India Trading Company to W's Halliburton). He exhibited hubris unparalleled, wilfully blinding himself to the fact that invasions are difficult, costly, and often unsuccessful. The reasons continue to mount the more you look at the situations.

AKG3 (America's King George III) has been at this imperialistic warmongering for his corporate buddies quite a while. You'd think he'd get better at it with experience, but apparently he doesn't.

I will admit there is a difference in the two Georges' starting points for their failed wars. England's George started with friendly colonists and alienated them through bad economic and political policy, then turned to force to try to shut them down. America's George started with a strong world position and growing cultural influence and positioning worldwide, and through his awful policy he has started America's political, social, and cultural standing down the slippery slope of ruin and has spawned an entire generation of America-hating religious zealots.

I am happy that four years later, the political columnists are finally seeing things my way. (Actually, they've always seen it my way, but now they're just realizing they should be calling him King George. I wonder when they're going to clue in to the whole III thing.)

Little shakey-poo? (cool site bonus)

I think we just had an earthquake. It was not very large, in fact it seemed pretty tiny. Maybe a three. It felt like a really, really, really fat guy jumped off a desk about ten cubicles away. Windows whuffed and the floor trembled once. No big deal. But it does put you on edge, waiting to see if that was a precursor to "the big one."

When I was in New Orleans two weeks ago, someone asked the obvious question: "Why would anyone build below sea level in the direct path of hurricanes?" (The best answer I heard: "You don't build a port on a hill.")

They might as well ask, "Why would anyone build where the ground moves suddenly and violently and without warning?"

While I was typing, the USGS updated their page. Apparently, it was a 3.4 in Berkeley. Felt like about a 3.0 here in my office in San Francisco.

And the link to the cool site? The USGS recent earthquakes site.

thursday thirteen (#7)

Thirteen Movies I'd Own

The Sting Lord of the Rings (all of 'em) Pirates of the Carribbean (Black Pearl) Singin' in the Rain Mary Poppins The Sound of Music The Road Warrior Monty Python and the Holy Grail Memento Band of Brothers (OK, it's a series, not a movie, but still...) Shakespeare in Love Bridge on the River Kwai Heavy Metal And an honorable mention: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly or Fistful of Dollars (or any spaghetti western with Clint). These are honorable mention because there's no need to own them when they show up on TV pretty frequently.

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THEMA in print!

THEMA literary journal, Spring 2007 issue, is in print now! My story, Joseph's Mother, appears in this issue and arrived in my mailbox today. The theme of the issue is "rage over a lost penny."

THEMA is a small operation out of Metairie, Louisiana, which is in the metro New Orleans area. The editor of Thema was displaced for sixteen months by Katrina, and she published two issues from the living room of a bed and breakfast a long way from her home.

Supporting THEMA is a good idea. If you can, hop on over to their web site and subscribe.

ugh, home sick today

I haven't taken a sick day in over four years, but it's finally caught up to me. Sore throat, stuffed up. Otherwise, not too bad. So what do I do on my sick day? Taxes seems appropriate. So maybe I'll try to get that done. Also, my presentation for Thursday night's cub scout pack meeting. I've volunteered to run the Friends of Scouting (FOS) for our pack this year. That's asking everyone to put in even more money than they have so far.

I'm going to try a little experiment. In the past, the FOS presentations have typically been about how the money goes to fund things like the day camps and dinners and graduations and other events. This year, though, I'm going to try a different tack: Our pack is well funded. The neighborhood is affluent compared to 99% of the world, though we're the "poor" neighborhood in our town. Our scout council covers some pretty tough areas such as Richmond and Antioch and Pittsburg, areas where scouting can really help young boys learn leadership and life skills that they may not get in other ways.

I read recently that of every 100 scouts, one of them will save a life some time during his lifetime. While I was in New Orleans, I heard a story of a 12-year-old boy scout who lived in a hard-hit area with his parents and grandparents. After the food and clean water had run out and they were still stranded in their little house, this scout got some pants, tied off the legs, and blew them up to create floats. He'd learned this in scouting. He was able to float his ailing grandparents from house to house to a place where they could be rescued. I also know that boy scouts and former scouts are leading teams of volunteers in demolition, cleanup, and reconstruction efforts.

We in the Bay Area are, as the CEO of the United Way of the Bay Area puts it, right in the middle of the bulls-eye for disasters both natural and man-made. When the "big one" hits here, I am certain that scouts and former scouts will be right up front in helping people who need it. It is important to support building the type of leadership skills and readiness/survival skills that scouting promotes, and it is important to ensure that kids in areas that could be hard hit by disasters get those skills, too. Friends of Scouting is less about pumping money into our own pack's events and more about the community as a whole and scouting as a whole.

I admit to some apprehension because of the Boy Scouts' policy of bigotry (anti-gay policies) and their focus on Religion with a capital R (to be a scout leader, you must overtly profess a belief in God), but the fact is that the scouting program does teach many good things to boys and gives them a lot of experiences they would not otherwise have. And we're fortunate in the Bay Area to have an atmosphere of tolerance, so the God/Gay thing is muted, often to the point of being equivalent to saying "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. Locally, there is deference to the family's sentiments, so the boys are not being indoctrinated into beliefs that I do not hold, just by being Scouts.

So, hopefully, my presentation will resonate with the folks in our pack. I have my doubts, though, because this area seems to be insular and selfish. About half the families here say that if their donation isn't going directly to support their own children and their own area, then they aren't donating... even though we are blessed (augh! a God word!) with all manner of abundance that communities just a mile or two away from us do not have.

What a strange world it is.

thursday thirteen (#6)

Thirteen Cool Projects I've Worked On

The B-1B Bomber The B-2 Bomber My first job out of college was at Boeing, running paperwork in an engineering group on the B-2 (I spent three months on the B-1B waiting for my security clearance). What a great job: I got to see everything that went into making such a complex piece of machinery from design to test to materiel to manufacturing to flight test. I never actually saw a completed B-2 in person, though I was on site when Dick Cheney, then Secretary of Defense, visited the facility. Gotta admit he's not one of my favorite people these days. GEOS SDK I was the first technical writer Geoworks hired, employee #45. There was another writer/pubs guy on staff, but he was user manuals. I was in charge of the software development kit. With a small fiefdom of tech writers at my disposal, we created over 5,000 pages of technical description and reference in about three years, across five volumes. I still have a copy of the behemoth that resulted. I actually think it was quite good for a team of college kids led by a 23-year-old. Geoworks Bindery My first real project as a Product Manager. This was a great idea when the World Wide Web was still wearing diapers. Back in the days before anyone realized it was possible to charge money to register domain names. Back in the days when Internet Explorer did not exist. People actually used Lynx to access world wide web sites. Back when "Cool Site of the Day" had only a few thousand to choose from. We built a content authoring tool for handheld devices. That was really fun to show off. MyTurn.com's GlobalPC Again, I was involved in the development kit and documentation. This was a good idea, but the execution was two years too late. If they had shipped two years earlier, or if they had switched to Linux two years earlier, they would have had a world-beater. Still, it was fun while it lasted. My favorite moment from this company was when they held a meeting after market close one day and said, "We can pay you through yesterday." They were good about letting everyone do job searches out of the offices for a couple of weeks, but it was tough on a lot of people having the funding just disappear like that. PledgePage This was one of the coolest things I ever worked on. It was a startup with four friends, before the internet bubble burst. We actually were featured as Red Herring's Catch of the Day on August 17, 2000. In the end, we donated the entire thing to CharityFocus. It's still going strong. The Nokia 9000 Communicator The first ever smart phone, I worked on (again) the development kit and documentation. I got to go to the launch at CeBIT in Hannover, Germany as my first ever overseas business trip. United lost my luggage, which meant I landed in Hannover without a coat in a snowstorm. But I got it the next day. It was an adventure trying to figure out how to dial the German hotel phone and get in touch with United. Oh, the N9000: What a cool thing. I still have one (the 9000i, which was the American version). The HP OmniGo This was pretty cool, too, though HP never really figured out what they were trying to do. They had their very popular handheld PC which ran DOS, and their first foray into graphical handhelds was sort of a mishmash of requirements if I recall correctly. Still, it had some very cool and innovative features. The Casio Zoomer (Z-PDA) This one launched Palm Computing. It was a direct competitor to Apple's Newton, and though it didn't have the "cool" factor, I think it compared favorably. The operating system was Geoworks' GEOS, and Jeff Hawkins started Palm Computing in order to create a few applications for the Zoomer. After that experience, he got the brilliant idea to make a simpler operating system to run his applications on. Thus was born what became the company that came out with the first Palm PDA, then was sold to some modem company, then was spun off again and is now the Palm we know and love today. RapidControl for Web I helped rebrand Rapid Logic leading up to the sale of the company to Wind River. This was another small company (I was employee #12), and I think I helped a lot. It was fun, though there were difficult times. It was a good product and, as I think back on it, a lot of good people. Vouchsafe, Inc. My buddy Chris and I decided to enter the Haas School of Business' inaugural Business Plan Contest in 1999. Our plan, for cross-media gift certificates (on-line and print), was a finalist in the competition. We had meetings with at least seven different venture capitalists, but again, we were slightly late to the party. Two competitors got big-time VC rounds as we were beginning to flesh out the plan, and we both decided we didn't want to play catch-up. We did have a very strong response from Nike when we met with them, but we realized we just couldn't deliver what they wanted in the time they wanted it. Ha! We had to be honest. Most real entrepreneurs would have promised anything Nike wanted and then used that to get the real venture money. What can I say? We were young and had integrity. Three novels, a buncha short stories, a one-act play, and oodles of poems The third novel, "Forced Air," is what I'm working on now. I actually have high hopes for it. If I ever get time away from my day job to finish the revisions, I think I have a shot at selling it. The internal pledge capture and reporting tools for Wells Fargo's charitable giving campaigns. (Sorry, no link; it's an intranet site.) This is something I'm very proud of. When I signed on in 2001, the online pledge tool served about 15,000 people. The tool I built now serves over 70,000 in the 4-week campaign period and captures over $15 million in pledges each year. That's a lot of money going to charity, and I am helping facilitate it.

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3,125 and STILL counting

It's worth saying again. 3,125. Dead. American. Soldiers. I'm guessing that what will eventually end up on Bush's tombstone is "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

What really chaffs my hide, though, is that our National Guard has to serve over there, fight over there, die over there. They could be over here, helping rescue New Orleans. Believe me, they still need rescuing. Did you know that the two ports in New Orleans are the largest in the nation, by tonnage? Did you know that a third of all the nation's seafood goes through New Orleans ports, and a quarter of all the nation's natural gas? New Orleans ain't just some quaint little historical place for college kids to puke on the street and for girls to show their tits in return for beads (what, is this some strange tribute to the original purchase of Manhattan or something?).

Not only that, but over 200,000 people who used to live in New Orleans are still living in other states, and they want to move back home. Basic services like hospitals, grocery stores--even showers!--are still unavailable in some areas. The workforce is not sufficient yet. And relief--particularly government relief--is slow to come, if it comes at all after dealing with unbelievable red tape.

There are great things being done there. I witnessed work the local United Way is doing. I saw the tremendous courage of the founders of the Just The Right Attitude food bank. I saw the frustration and perseverance of the founders and workers at the Beacons Of Hope. Strong people, working hard to rebuild their city better than it was. People who need help and deserve help and who have been forgotten and abandoned by the rest of the nation.

If you are planning a conference, consider planning it in New Orleans to bring them some business. Plan a day or half-day service project. All kinds of agencies can get you involved in a project.

One final note: I often rail against organized religion. I personally have no use for it. But one of the big success stories in this disaster has been the relatively efficient and effective response of faith-based relief groups and organizations. When the government failed utterly, the nonprofits and faith-based community have responded. But they need help.

Too bad our National Guard and military are deployed and depleted and dying in Iraq.

thursday thirteen (#5)

	Thirteen Things That Piss Me Off
cancer cancer cancer war these guys especially this one wireless networks that don't work (or only sometimes) W (even though I met a very nice advisor of his this week) rejection voice mail about half of all letters to the editor computers that don't work people who think they have all the answers

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New Orleans: Devastated

You have to be here to appreciate it. A year and a half after the hurricanes, and the damage and poverty are just amazing. And that was just on the cab ride through some areas not that hard hit... on Thursday I go on the bus tour of the "affected area." Tragic. Heartbreaking. A little eerie driving past gutted businesses with dark lines (high water mark) up to your chest, bashed-out windows and plywood over openings.

Yet the spirit to rebuild and improve is here.

More photos are here. [link]

The problem with television is that everything becomes statistics. Everything becomes a Hollywood or Madison Avenue production. Viewers become numbed. Yet stand amid the wreckage and see little girls walking home from school, construction workers laboring under a sign that says "One building at a time," damaged houses draped with banners that proclaim "Doctor's office open"--you remember that these are all people, and every person has their own story. Some areas still, after all this time, have emergency shelters where people go for such basics as food and showers.

It is going to be years before this community and the people who live here are healed.

thursday thirteen (#4)

Thirteen Random Notes From My Recent Trips

The Express Bus is a comfortable, cheap way to get from JFK to Grand Central. There are almost as many Starbucks per block in New York as there are in San Francisco. I met a woman in one of my meetings who went to the same college as I did and looks remarkably like another woman I know who didn't. Although JetBlue was on time (mostly) for me and very comfortable, I'm glad I wasn't one of the people in JFK whose flight came in late and JetBlue didn't hold the connection flight five minutes for them. I can't believe I watched three episodes of "Top Chef" and one episode of "American Idol" while flying over the midwest. 30 degrees with biting wind chill can feel tons colder than 20 degrees of windless sunshine. The New York Public Library should be on everyone's destination list when visiting Manhattan. Wow. The library's symbol is a lion. Their card catalog database is called CATNYP (Catalog New York Public, I guess.) Cute. Although I still pretty much hate New York (how could I love it growing up a Red Sox and Patriots fan?), there are institutions I really like in the city. It's a great thing when you can have lunch with your sister and buy your dad a cup of coffee while on a business trip. Everone says New Yorkers walk fast with their heads down. I find that to be entirely false. The next time I visit Minneapolis or New York, I hope it's not in January. I will be going to New Orleans for the first time in my life next week. That will be quite a different experience, I imagine.

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sweep! sweet!

Last Thursday night was our Cub Scout pack's Pinewood Derby. The scouts, with varying levels of help from parents, create pine cars of certain dimensions and weight, then race them. It is a lot of fun. This was Ethan's fourth year and Sam's first.

Unfortunately for them, their father has neither the patience or the skill to make really fast pine cars. You have to grind down the axels, get the weight exactly at 5.0 ounces, reduce the wind resistance, etc., etc. Just a lot of work that a 10-year-old has little patience for. And if he's not doing the work, then I'm not doing it for him.

Fortunately for them, the race committee also offers awards for best design (craftsmanship) and best design (originality). Part of the fun is to see the cars--many are exquisitely crafted and beautifully painted, glossed and sanded to a high sheen. Since their dad does not, however, have the patience to make a fast car, it follows that the dad also has little patience for creating beautifully crafted works of art.

Thank God we have originality as an option.

This year Ethan earned his second trophy for "most original design" for his PodRacer. Ethan's a Star Wars nut, and Episode One is his second favorite episode, even though it sucks. He also received his very first iPod for Christmas this year, so when I suggested a PodRacer with an iPod theme, he was all over it and designed the car you see pictured here.

In Sam's first year, the competition was a little easer. A Tiger Cub, Sam mostly had to compete against dads who had never been to a Pinewood Derby before and therefore were unaware of the Tiger Division's originality award. When I suggested to Sam that he do more of an art project for his car, he came up with the idea for The Campsite, and we had a lot of fun building it together. Getting the little Elmer's Glue marshmallows on the ends of the sticks was tricky but seems to have worked.

So it was a clean sweep--most original design trophies in both categories. Pretty sweet.

thursday thirteen (#3)

	Thirteen Songs I'd Be Embarrased to Admit Are On My PDA
"The Sign" by Ace of Base "With a Little Luck" by Wings "Hot Blooded" by Foreigner "Down Under" by Men At Work "It Can Happen" by Yes "Walk This Way" by Aerosmith "Intuition" by Jewel "Altamira Elegy" by Leda Atomica "Big C" by the University of California Marching Band "Tom Sawyer" by Rush "Hot Legs" by Rod Stewart "Feelin' Groovy" by Simon & Garfunkel "Bat Out of Hell" by Meatloaf

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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did I win yet?

Vote for me.

Click here and rate my chapter a "ten." Or don't. Actually, I don't much care. The Gather contest is well underway, and they have over 200 entries, I think. My chapter currently has a rating of 4.5 out of 10, and readers have been courteous enough to leave four somewhat helpful comments. I admit disappointment in the points total, but as I said earlier: I don't much care.

The voting and scoring really is a popularity contest for the most part. I entered because (a) it was free and (b) 25% of the manuscripts that move on are selected by the editorial panel, not by the vote totals. I certainly did not enter to get votes. I'm not sure anyone I know is even registered on Gather.

Anyway, if you are registered and would like to see my score go above 4.5, go to this page and vote: My Gather Contest Entry: Jumping The Stream

I'm off to Minneapolis in the morning for a turnaround business trip. It is the first step on my road through work hell over the coming few months. I am hoping I can continue to make progress on Forced Air during that time, but it's not looking hopeful.

thursday thirteen (#2)

Thirteen Quotations About Writing

Writing, at its best, is a lonely life. — Ernest Hemingway Writing [for the novelist] is not an activity, but a condition. That is why one simply can’t resume the work when one has a job and a free half-day. — Robert Musil Writing books is the closest men ever come to childbearing. — Norman Mailer The profession of book writing makes horse racing seem like a solid, stable business. — John Steinbeck Sometimes I think [my writing] sounds like I walked out of the room and left the typewriter running. — Gene Fowler I always start writing with a clean piece of paper and a dirty mind. — Patrick Dennis No stile of writing is so delightful as that which is all pith, which never omits a necessary word, nor uses an unnecessary one. — Thomas Jefferson In writing and politicking, it’s best not to think about it, just do it. — Gore Vidal Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand. For all one knows, that demon is simply the same instinct that makes a baby squall for attention. — George Orwell Writing stopped being fun when I discovered the difference between good writing and bad and, even more terrifying, the difference between it and true art. And after that, the whip came down. — Truman Capote The writing of a poem is like a child throwing stones into a mineshaft. You compose first, then you listen for the reverberation. — James Fenton Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don’t feel I should be doing something else. — Gloria Steinem Planning to write is not writing. Outlining … researching … talking to people about what you’re doing, none of that is writing. Writing is writing. — E L Doctorow

And, as a bonus, a revival of a post I made some time ago related to Evil Editor's remarks on brevity in writing.

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rainbows

Sunday had a chill, which for Walnut Creek means about fifty degrees. The tiger cubs (cub scouts) were playing hide and seek in the playground, when for some reason I looked straight up into the blue-blue sky and saw this:


I had never seen a rainbow straight above in the middle of a blue sky before. One of the other scout dads thought it was due to ice crystals high up in the atmosphere. Whatever caused it, I have to say it was amazing to see, and brilliant in both its brightness and richness of color.

Writing Update
Yesterday I sent Jumping The Stream to Gather's First Chapters competition. Although my submission has not yet made it up to the site, I see there are already 61 entries posted. I am not going to campaign for votes or encourage people to sign up for Gather just to vote for my novel. Feel free if you want to do so, however. After it gets posted, which should be within the next few days.

Candles on a Cold Night

I joined my first peace rally tonight, with M and the boys. I'd say about 250 or 300 people showed up, held candles, sang songs. We walked among the crosses on the hill and talked about what the memorial was about, what it meant that Americans were dying in Iraq, and what some of the signs and slogans meant. We listened to a woman talk lovingly about a young man whose photo was pasted to a cross. We marveled at the number of crosses (1,300) and then marveled that the actual body count is well north of twice that. We wondered what a large drawing of an eagle's head meant pasted on one of the crosses.

I am happy to say that although I suspect the politics of the crowd leaned somewhat anti-Bush, this was a peace rally, not an anti-Bush rally or even an anti-war rally. The talk and songs were about peace. When a driver passing by yelled "F**k Bush," the response was tepid. I think the mood was definitely pro-peace without a lot of politics rolled in.

Here are the pics:

thursday thirteen (#1)

Thirteen Places I've Been

Finland (Helsinki and Tampere) Japan (Tokyo) Germany (Frankfurt, Munich, and Hannover) England (London, York, Stratford-Upon-Avon, etc.) Scotland (Dumbarton and Edinburgh) Portugal (Lisbon and Evora) Mexico (Tijuana and Cabo San Lucas) Canada (Nova Scotia) France (Paris) Austria (Salzburg and Vienna) Continental USA (AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, IL, ME, MD, MA, MN, NV, NH, NJ, NY, NC, OR, PA, RI, SC, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WI) Hawaii, USA (Kauai) ... and I flew over the North Pole when I went to Finland. I guess that counts.

Most of those trips were paid for by one of the companies I worked for. I no longer travel overseas for work, though I've been all over the country for conferences recently. Every trip was fun. Some brief memories from some of them:

• Evora, Portugal: On the "outing" day arranged by our host, we toured this historic town and rode in hot-air balloons over the farmland and countryside. We huddled in a little farm shack when the rain hit, waiting for our chase car.
• Hannover, Germany: My first overseas trip for work, and although I made it all the way to Hannover, my luggage enjoyed an overnight in London. It was snowing when we arrived, and I had no coat, no shaving kit... basically nothing. Great parties at CeBIT, though... Annika, Heidi, and the other girl whose name I don't remember. Plus the beer hall at the CeBIT center. Enormous. Thousands of people singing some song about Alice ("Alice! Who the f*** is Alice?") along with an oompa band. Priceless.
• Tokyo, Japan: Our corporate liaison grew up in Japan. He went to college in North Carolina. We went to a restaurant with him that had no pictures on the menu. His translations went something like this: "I think that says 'chicken.' And that one definitely has an egg in it. This one... I don't know." Tokyo is the most foreign place I've ever been. In other countries at least I could attempt to sound out the words.
• Tampere, Finland: A seasoned world traveler by this time, I arrived in Tampere with no Finnish money. Silly me: I had assumed that the Tampere airport would have an exchange booth. It did, but the booth was closed that day. The girl in the coffee shop could not help me, but the taxi driver was happy to take US dollars. Everyone I met spoke English. Finland and Wisconsin look a lot alike to me, when you get outside the city. In Tampere, I enjoyed a true Finnish sauna with a coworker, taking breaks to jump in the lake. In Finland, a true Finnish sauna entails no clothing. Unfortunately, the coworker was male. (Side note: When I was there, the rage was TexMex. Finnish TexMex is not a cuisine experience to be sought out on purpose.)
  
• York, England: I love this city. I'm not entirely sure why, but I do. One thing I don't love about it is the Jorvic (pronounced "yor'-vik") Viking Museum. Oh, it had some neat things about it, but it really was incredibly cheesy.
  

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

oh, so now I know

You Should Be a Film Writer

You don't just create compelling stories, you see them as clearly as a movie in your mind. You have a knack for details and dialogue. You can really make a character come to life. Chances are, you enjoy creating all types of stories. The joy is in the storytelling. And nothing would please you more than millions of people seeing your story on the big screen!

What Type of Writer Should You Be?

Thanks to Written Wyrdd for the link.

mallapropisms

mallapropism: an incorrect price tag on an item in a store

There is an email going around crediting the Washington Post with a contest that challenges the entrants to take any word from the dictionary, create a new word by adding, subtracting, or changing a single letter, and supply a definition for that new word. Although I can not find any reference to this on the Washington Post's web site, I'm willing to believe the attribution. Below are the 2006 winners, according to the email that's going around like a flu virus in a day care center:

Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.
Ignoranus: A person who's both stupid and an asshole.
Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.
Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.
Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The Bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.
Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.
Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.
Hipatitis: Terminal coolness.
Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)
Karmageddon: It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.
Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.
Glibido: All talk and no action.
Dopeler effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.
Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating

Finally, some contributions to the list from me (not submitted to the contest):
meducation: self-diagnosis of fatal diseases by use of Google
poutside: where children are taken when they're being naughty in a restaurant
relinquash: to give a whining child the toy they want in order to get some peace and quiet
cornsider: to go into the cornfield to set 'n' ponder a while
harboor: the sailor who doesn't know proper sailing etiquette
iconfusion: not understanding what all those darned little pictures on the computer mean
vergitarian: someone who has almost decided to stop eating meat

(Yes, that first one, mallapropism, is mine as well.)

poetry and religion

A haiku I wrote.
Magnetic poetry rocks.
Blogging makes it so.

I think I got religion today [link]. I mean, how can you argue with the idea that the supreme being is a Flying Spaghetti Moster? Bonus: Heaven includes beer volcanoes as far as the eye can see, plus a stripper factory. And you get to call yourself a Pastafarian.

And all this time I thought religion was at the stem, if not the root, of all evil perpetuated in the world. Well, OK, maybe that's a bit harsh, but... well... yanno.

May you be touched by His Noodly Appendage.

aging sucks

After years of good health, I'm now besieged by niggling imperfections. I've been to the doctor's office three times in two months (OK, once was an annual physical), which is one more time than in the past six years. Worst, it's affecting my exercise. I'm off the soccer pitch for at least another two months with this knee thing, and I missed half of the season with foot and groin injuries. Good thing I got my MVP last year.

Another way aging sucks is that I can't keep up any more. Grownups used to joke about getting their seven-year-olds to program their VCRs. I'm not a total Luddite, I suppose, but in the last fifteen minutes I stumbled upon two different blogging memes (what a poetically constructed word for its meaning and for the blogosphere) that left me, like going to the skate park, both eager to participate and terrified that I might break my neck if I try.

Who has time to participate?

On the other hand, I gained a minor victory for being lampooned on another popular blog. An anonymous coward posted a satirical set of comments, including one from me. I'm terribly flattered. It means I've become recognizable at least one place in the blogosphere. That's enough for now; I'm sure, however, that everything will keep flowing past me at increasing speed until one day I'll find I'm asking my seven-year-old to program my new cell phone.

Aging sucks.

Writing Update
I have completed the first draft of my synopsis of Forced Air, though I must knock it down from six pages to five for the PNWA contest. I've got a good hook, and I've revised the first few pages to the point I think they're almost readable. I am hoping that in another week I'll have my PNWA entry ready for critique. If you're interested in critiquing it, let me know.

three thousand

... and STILL counting

pac-10 is pac oh-fer-three

Hopefully the Bears will stop the Pac-10's winless bowling streak this year. They have a difficult game, no doubt, and it won't be easy to be the first Pac-10 team to win a bowl this season. But they can do it. With only Oregon State vs Missouri and USC vs Michigan left, at best the Pac-10 can end up .500. A loss by the Bears tonight guarantees the Pac-10 will look like chumps when the fat lady sings.

I have not written anything significant in nearly two weeks due to holiday activities. I'm also back at work this week, with many year-end issues to wrap up. Argh. Still, I am feeling good about hitting the PNWA contest deadline with a quality entry.

letter to Santa

speeding ticket!

Bend, Oregon is a friendly place. Lots of people being courteous and smiley. I counted no fewer than three pretty girls smiling at me yesterday (not including shop clerks, which are obligated to do so). Of course, it might have had something to do with the new jacket that Maria bought me, which makes me look sort of like that gay cowboy (the blonde one) in Brokeback Mountain.

Anyway, the mountains are beautiful, but I don't really dig the high desert in the winter. It's got that dirty feel with sand all over the roads and crusty, white dust coated on all the cars, and people bundled up in hats and gloves and bulky jackets. Mud in the afternoon, crunchy ice in the evening. I can imagine it's gorgeous in the summer, and I can't wait to come back then.

But I like the area. It feels much more real and down to earth than Walnut Creek. Not so much new money, not so much financial pressure, not so much judgment in the way people look at you. At least, that's my first impression of Bend. Favorable.

Vacation's been enjoyable. We've spent a lot of time with the friends we've come to visit and will see them even more in the next few days. Today we go to the High Desert Museum. Yesterday we xmas shopped downtown. The condo we're renting is huge and quite nice out at Eagle Crest. Friday we'll day-trip to see relatives in Eugene. All quite a nice break from the "reality" of work.

what tarot card am I?

You are The Hierophant
Divine Wisdom. Manifestation. Explanation. Teaching. All things relating to education, patience, help from superiors.The Hierophant is often considered to be a Guardian Angel.

The Hierophant's purpose is to bring the spiritual down to Earth. Where the High Priestess between her two pillars deals with realms beyond this Earth, the Hierophant (or High Priest) deals with worldly problems. He is well suited to do this because he strives to create harmony and peace in the midst of a crisis. The Hierophant's only problem is that he can be stubborn and hidebound. At his best, he is wise and soothing, at his worst, he is an unbending traditionalist.

Thanks to Written Wyrdd for the link.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

remembering and pondering

Yesterday was Perl Harbor Day, a day that will live in infamy. I did put out the flag, but I neglected to blog something about it. As we close in on nearly 3,000 American military deaths in Iraq, I think it is important to think of what happened back in 1941.

On that day, the US military lost about 3,100 soldiers (some died in the days after the attack due to injuries suffered on the 7th). Compare this to the 2,925 American military deaths in the Iraq war so far, and you get a sense of the devastation caused that day, particularly to the Navy and Marines. Then consider that the Iraq war in August became a longer conflict than the American part of World War II in Europe (that is, from the day of the Iraq invasion until mid August was the same number of days between Dec 7, 1941 and VE Day).

A WWII veteran lives on my street, and he was 25 when he heard of the attacks on the radio. Within days, his draft papers showed up in the mail. He said he could have gotten out of service on a work exemption, but he went. Eighteen months of training in San Francisco, Missouri, and Florida, followed by deployment to England.

If you did not take a moment on December 7th to think about the attach on Pearl Harbor, take a few moments now. Whatever your thoughts, take a few moments to focus on Pearl Harbor and what it did, what it caused.

3,100 soldiers killed in that attack
2,996 people killed or missing in the 9/11 attacks
2,925 soldiers killed in Iraq (so far)

An estimated 214,000 deaths in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
An estimated 50,000 civilian deaths in the Iraq war so far

And still people criticize someone for putting a Peace Wreath on their house during the Christmas season. Will we ever learn?

O, O, O! Merry Solstice!

Now this is a good idea.

why does it make you uncomfortable?

I saw a memorial on my train ride home yesterday. A large number of white crosses occupied a visible hill in Lafayette, CA, accompanied by a sign that said the crosses were placed there in memory of American soldiers killed in Iraq. Apparently, it has caused quite a stir because some think the memorial is more of a political statement than an actual memorial.

Recently, I read of a woman in Colorado who was going to be fined $25 a day by her homeowners association because she wanted to put up a Christmas wreath. It wasn't just any wreath; it was in the shape of a peace symbol. Other residents complained that the Peace Wreath was an anti-war statement. They said that they worried that if they allowed it, they'd have to allow all kinds of political and social statements to be put up in their neighborhood.

God forbid that we allow freedom of speech on private land. God forbid that anyone actually would want there to be more peace in the world.

Regarding the crosses in Lafayette: Critics of the memorial say that it's just liberals using the tragedy of death to make a political statement. Huh. I don't recall that ever being illegal. In fact, I seem to recall our very own president referring to the tragic deaths of the 9/11 bombings to his own political gains--again, and again, and again. He also invoked the memory of the first 1,000 soldiers killed in Iraq in order to quiet war critics, saying that leaving Iraq at that time would be a cowardly disgrace to their memory.

Regardless, you can argue the aesthetics of such a memorial and the taste of such a political statement all you want. Bad taste does not make something illegal. Unpopularity also does not make it illegal. The people trying to get Lafayette to take down the crosses should learn a lesson from President Bush: When Cindi Sheehan's supporters camped on private property near Bush's ranch in Crawford, TX, Bush did not try to expel them. Instead, he ignored them, which was proper, all things considered. The critics of the Lafayette memorial have every right to criticize the memorial vociferously and energetically, to argue their points, to put up counter-memorials or whatever. What they don't have a right to do is declare anti-war statements illegal. The free speech laws exist to protect the existence of unpopular opinions. When unpopular opinions are outlawed, only outlaws will have unpopular opinions.

Regarding the wreath wrath: Unfortunately, the homeowners association probably has a right to compel the removal of the wreath. Such is life in a neighborhood governed by small-minded people, when you voluntarily sign on to obey their rules. I hope the other residents relent, however, as the symbol of peace should always (in my opinion) be welcomed. The owner has said that it is not an anti-Bush statement or even an anti-war statement. She said she wants to make a positive statement in support of peace rather than any negative, anti-anything statement. Put in that light, the homeowners association looks like pro-war, anti-peace neanderthals. In fact, they look downright anti-Christian as well, considering the message of every Christmas sermon I've ever attended has been peace on earth and goodwill toward men.

But the critics of the cross memorial in Lafayette should stop and think a minute about why it makes them uncomfortable to see it. They can say it's offensive because it uses tragedy for political gain. That means that either they're upset about the political gain or they're upset by the deaths. If they're upset by the political gain, they should ask themselves why 2,900 American soldiers dead does not upset them. If they're upset about the deaths, they should ask themselves why they would want to hide those upsetting deaths, ignore them, bury them without understanding the war's true cost.

They should ask themselves what about the memorial truly makes them uncomfortable, truly upsets them. And then they should take a long, hard look at the answer. Then, and only then, they should decide whether they want to protest its existence.

We want The Axe!

This year's Big Game is expected to be so lopsided that some Cal fans are actually bemoaning how it might ruin the tradition of the series. Screw that, I say. Things go in cycles, and Stanford is in a down cycle while Cal is in an up cycle. I am riding the joy because I know it will cycle back some day. It's the nature of college sports. With scholarship limitations and having to turn over the entire roster every five years, teams tend not to be too down or too up for too long.

All that said, time to revel in Stanford's state of abject woefulness while we have it.

The Bears are a 29 point favorite, and the over-under is 46 points. That means the bookies don't give Stanford much chance to score more than, say, a couple of field goals or maybe a kickoff return for a touchdown. Given the strength of Cal's kicking game, it is quite possible that Stanford not only doesn't score, but that they might not even make an appearance in Cal's end of the field.

OK, OK, Cal lost to Arizona. The difference: Arizona isn't all that bad. They were, but then they got their quarterback back from injury, and they matured. They beat Cal, Oregon, and WSU in a string. It is possible that Stanford could start their own string tomorrow. But don't count on it.

Stanford has improved in the second half of the season. In the first half, they were giving up a laughable 455 yards per game. Now, though, they've trimmed that to a respectable 315 yards per game in the last five games. Stanford's nonconference slate included bowl-bound San Jose State, Navy, and BCS-bound Notre Dame. Their only win was a 20 to 3 dismantling of the Washington Huskies on the road on November 11th. The following week they returned to form to get blasted by an Oregon State squad that had just lost at UCLA.

Statistically, Stanford is last in the conference in seven of eight major categories. They have the dead-last offense and are awful at defense except in passing yards per game, where they are a surprising #2 in the conference. This may be due to the fact, however, that teams have run so successfully on the Cardinal that they haven't had to pass. Opponents have rushed 486 times against Stanford for 4.9 yards per carry. Compare that to the rest of the league, which on the whole average 382 running plays by opponents. Meanwhile, the Cardinal's opponents have attempted only 294 passes; the other 9 pac-10 teams have faced an average of 357 passes. Basically, Stanford's opponents get so far ahead that they spend the second half of the game running the ball to kill the clock. And they do it successfully. (Stanford averages 4:20 less in possession time than their opponents.)

It's almost pointless to go deeper into the stats. Stanford went a month without an offensive touchdown at one point. They average 10.0 points per game, second-worst in division 1-A. They give up nearly 32 points per game, worst in the Pac-10 by far. Cal is the highest-scoring offense in the league at 32.4 ppg, but the defense has given up 20.4. Good but not stellar. Facing a woeful offense like Stanford's, Cal's defensive speed should dominate.

When the Bears do go to the air, they bring the league's second most efficient passing attack. Stanford's pass defense efficiency is terrible, 9th in the Pac-10. They allow 62% completion (worst by far) and have given up 13 TDs to just 7 interceptions. While 13 passing TDs is pretty good, the 7 interceptions is very low... and the TDs are offset by the fact that Stanford has given up 26 rushing TDs, which is 8 more than the second-worst in that category. Half the league has given up 11 or fewer rushing TDs on the season. Stanford's 26 is a real head-shaker. Teams don't have to pass for touchdowns; they just run the ball in.

An interesting comparison is that Stanford is not the worst in the league in yards given up per play. The worst is... California. Cal gives up 5.8 yards per play on average, while Stanford gives up 5.5. Both are awful (4.9 or better would be considered good).

Perhaps the biggest bane to Stanford this year (besides injuries) has been turnovers. Stanford is dead last (again) in the Pac at -10 overall. Only Oregon has fared as poorly. The Bears sit fourth in the league at +5.

A glance at one of the stats pages from this week's Pac-10 football release tells a compelling story. Of the twelve statistical tables on the page, Stanford is last in nine of them (Turnover margin, first downs, opponent first downs, 3rd-down conversion, opponent 3rd-down conversion, sacks by, sacks against, field goals, and PAT kicking) and 9th in one (pass defense efficiency). The two tables where they are not at the bottom relate to penalties. Stanford is the league's least penalized team, and Stanford's opponents get penalized about an average amount of time.

Stanford is also last in red zone offense, appearing there just 22 times this season and scoring only SIX touchdowns. Compare that to the next-worst team, Arizona, with 29 appearances and fifteen touchdowns. This means that of Stanford's 11 offensive touchdowns, five were scored from outside the red zone. I don't think the Bears will give up any of those on Saturday; the team speed on defense is astounding.

The Bears have 22 red zone TDs in 35 appearances. This means that Cal has scored 17 touchdowns from outside the red zone. The Bears have as many red zone touchdowns as Stanford has red zone appearances, and Cal has scored nearly as many outside-the-red-zone TDs as Stanford has red zone appearances. Yikes. Talk about a discrepancy.

On the other side, Stanford's red zone defense is just as bad. Their opponents have shown up in the red zone a whopping 53 times and scored an eye-popping 34 touchdowns while visiting. Compare to Cal, who have allowed opponents into their red zone only 29 times overall and have given up only 14 touchdowns on those tries. An interesting thing is that Stanford has given up only five offensive touchdowns this year from outside their red zone. This, of course, is in keeping with the idea that teams tend to run the ball successfully at the Cardinal. Run a lot, and you're likely to end up inside the 20 at some point. In addition, it's interesting to see that of the 34 TDs they've given up inside the red zone, 24 are rushing TDs. This means that they give up more rushing TDs from within the red zone than the number of times their offense has appeared in the opponent's red zone.

Are we getting the picture yet?

Here's a cool stat: Cal has made 44 of 44 PAT kick attempts. Stanford has attempted just 13 and made only 11. Egads.

Another: Stanford has kicked off just 27 times. Eliminate 11 for having to kick off at least once each game to start a half, and you're left with 16 scores in 11 games. The Bears have kicked off 65 times, which makes 54 scores in 11 games. Holy smokes.

No wonder the point spread is 29.

The good news for the Cardinal, and the tough call for those considering wagering on the game, is that the Bears already have their bowl invitation sewn up. They can't improve by running up the score. There is only the need to win the game and to get all the seniors on the field at some point. If the Bears take a big lead into the second half, expect to see second- and third-string players the rest of the way. Running up the score is not coach Tedford's style, and it serves no valuable purpose in this game. So, while I'd like to see Cal hang a hundred on the ailing Cardinal, it ain't gonna happen.

Final score: Cal 49, Stanford 6.

Go Bears!

we have a winner!

Got to 50,000 words on Monday high in the air somewhere over Colorado. I needed about 4,000 for my final push to the NaNoWriMo goal, and I hit it thanks to my mother-in-law, who sat on the other side of Southwest 267's aisle with the kids.

I figure I've got about 10,000 or 15,000 more words to finish before December 15th (self-imposed deadline). That will be my short rough draft. Then I'll do the synopsis and ferret out the holes that need filling, then I'll add in the new scenes with the goal of getting it up to 75,000 by the end of the first revision. Then I'll let someone who likes me read it.

If you'd like to read the rough draft, email me or drop me a comment here. Caveat: It needs a lot of revision, though it does hang together as a coherent story. I think it even has no significant plot holes.

42000 and counting...

I feel quite confident that I will hit my NaNoWriMo goal of 50,000 words by the 30th. I might even make my personal goal of 60,000 by then. The story is really falling into place, and I am beginning to think that some sections of the writing aren't awful enough to make your eyes bleed. You know, a word here, a phrase there. Even the occasional sentence.

The trick now, since I find I'm writing an accidental thriller, is to tie up all the loose ends. When you do 50,000 words in 30 days, though, it's hard just to identify all the loose ends, let alone corral them and force them into something resembling a knotted rope. But the story is almost writing itself at this point, and my main concern is that I will only get to about 65,000 words and it'll be all over. I could then either write a 20,000 word denoument or add some scenes and plot twists and such upon revision. I think I'll go with the latter.

Anyway, this is my third novel, and I think it will be the most commercially viable after revision. I'm actually feeling pretty good about it.

oh... shme!

I did not know that a friend I'd lost touch with had cancer until I read a post on the Cal footbal message board saying he passed away today. I hadn't seen Dave in several years, but he was utterly unforgettable. A nice guy, funny and zany, and about the biggest Cal sports fan you would ever want to meet (or maybe not want to meet).

Some quick memories of Dave:

He wore a black and white striped referee shirt and a whistle around his neck to Cal basketball games, sitting courtside and yelling at the referees from tip-off to the final whistle. Although I remember a newspaper photo with Dave prominently in the background, I can't find it via google. If you find it on line, send me a link!

Dave coined the term shme, which became part of The Jargon File. Although it was popularized mostly by Geoworks employees and spread from there, Dave was its originator.

Dave had an awesome room in his house in Berkeley for viewing football on TV. When he bought a big-screen TV, he wasn't satisfied with just picture-in-picture, so he put another smaller TV on top of the big screen so he could have picture-in-picture-AND-picture.

We roadtripped with Dave to the Cal v USC game at the LA Coliseum (I think it was 1992, when Cal led early and looked to be on the way to victory before a Bear lineman went down with a terrible neck injury and was driven off the field in an ambulance; after that, the fight went out of the Bears and USC came back to pull out a close, and undeserved, victory). The night before the game we stayed with Dave's mom. Many things about that trip I will always remember, including the mini pumpkin muffins, Dave yelling at the slow drivers in the left lane on I-5, and the bizarre, illustrated Swedish cookbook (in English): It looked like a kid's book, but all the illustrations were nudists, including a picnic with a kid in it. One of the recipes was Lutefisk. It went something like this: Go to the store and buy some Lutefisk. Soak it in water. Serve it.

One sentence: "Put the kitty in the Hobart!"

Another: "Where could he be?" (said with the whiny voice of Mark Hamill as Luke in the original Star Wars)

Another: "Third quarter gin and tonics!"

I will experience Cal football in a different way from now on knowing that Dave is no longer out there watching, too. (At least not in the same way I've always known him.)

Plugged in Utne Reader!

OK, I don't exactly get a plug in Utne Reader, but the debut issue of Thereby Hangs A Tale does, and that means my pub credit will be seen by a wider audience, sort of. Hey, you take what you can get when you've only got three pub credits so far.

[link]

On another note, my NaNoWriMo novel has taken a turn. My characters told me flat out that my original script was boring and flat, and they didn't relish the idea of taking 80,000 words to get to the tedious end. So they murdered someone and informed me that they would much rather take part in an action story. And the words are flowing a lot more smoothly; another 1100 and I'll be at the golden 25,000 (half way, a day early).

yip yahoo

Yes, you know I'm talking about election day.

animals rejoice
yay for the environment
pombo rejected

And, here's to the hope that my guys do better than their guys. I mean, the bar was set pretty low in the last six years, but politicians have a way of surprising us all.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Hit 17,022 words this afternoon. Ahead of the 50k pace, but not enough to make up for Saturday's and Sunday's projected combined zero word count. Have begun thinking my story is weak sauce. My plot is pathetic. My characters are flimsy cardboard cutouts with bad voice-overs. The writing has as much lyrical quality as the flock of Canadian geese I heard fly south today. And there's about as much tension in my story as there is in a rubber band that's been left on a Phoenix parking lot through the entire month of July. In other words, I am thinking that it sucketh. But I will finish it, quality be damned. I do believe there is a nugget of story in there that can be saved by hard work and revision.

To quote Thomas Edison, "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." Once the rough draft is done... that's when opportunity shows up in its overalls.

Huh. Sort of like election day. The Democrats that won the legislature had better not turn away opportunity just because it's dressed in overalls and looks like work.

way behind but keeping up

Wednesday I struggled to get to 2400 words. It just didn't feel right, wasn't flowing, wasn't the kind of quality prose I had written for my published short stories.

Thursday I rocked my way to 4500 words and felt the rust flaking off, the energy coming back to the writing. Partly because I got the hell out of my own way and jumped right to the action.

Friday I got caught up in work but managed to get 1400 words done on the train home and then another 8oo later that night to end up around 6700 for the first three days. Ahead of even my goal of 2000 words a day!

Saturday I went camping with E on a Webelos campout. Sunday... well, it's still Sunday and I've got an hour or so of energy left after dishes, laundry, more cub scout den meetings, housecleaning, getting the kids to bed, and catching up on emails. Let's see if I can accomplish anything in that time.