Friday Ramblings

My mind is all over the map today so, sit down, strap in, and enjoy the ride... In these rough times i have considered adding "Ad Sense" sense here to my blog. I have no idea if it will really generate any income because i really don't have too many readers. Besides, i think it may interfere with my hyperlinking to everything under the sun. If anyone has an opinion on this please take a moment to share it with a comment below. I need to confess something to my readers here... i am addicted to Facebook Flair! Perhaps you've noticed that my pictures have all been round - well, at least mostly round of late. That's because i love flair! I have almost 200 pieces of flair on Facebook, and over 2200 credits. It's become an obsession. LOL I have even created over a dozen individual pieces. My most popular has 70 adds so far... not anywhere near the top 10, but... i check on my creations at least once a week, think of new ones to try and make, and search the top ten pages probably at least once a day. The next time i fast something i think i seriously need to consider facebook flair. 8) Recently i was invited to come on a battlefield tour of Sharpsburg (Antietam for my Yankee readers) with the officers and senior NCO's of my old unit next month. Unfortunately my beloved has a Ladies' crafting day scheduled with several of her friends. I actively encourage her to take such days away from the house. It helps her unwind and spend time with people in adult conversations (because we all know how well we men do at it). Well, i had also been invited on a similar tour of the Gettysburg battlefield last month. Unfortunately that weekend my beloved was on a Ladies retreat getaway, and i was also only given a single days notice. Well, this time i made arrangements for my wonderful children to spend the night at friend's houses so that i would get the opportunity to go this time. I have been wanting to do a non-self guided tour of these battlefields since i learned about them in my grade school history classes. I replied to the young man who invited me and told him that i'd be there. I started to look into getting a replacement battery and memory card for my Kodak z740. Then yesterday i realized that one of the homes that my children were to spend the night and day at was that of one of my beloved's friends who will be going to the crafting day. *sigh* So, as of right now i am back to not going... but i am not going to give in yet. On Tuesday the NFL released the regular season schedules for all of the teams. The Carolina Panthers have three prime time games, plus one game against the Washington Redskins, so i will be able to watch at least four games. There are a lot of things going on, but i am not an insider - nor am i a prognosticator. As a Panther fan from the beginning, all i want is a 9-7 season. That would give the Panthers their first back to back winning season - ever. Last year i was wanting an NFC South championship and they delivered! So, here's hoping for at least a 9-7 season. Last night i hauled my laptop out to DS1's soccer practice, hoping to get another 250-500 words done on my story for the competition (mentioned earlier this week). Well, i stared at the screen for about five minutes and realized i needed to just clear the head and brought up the games folder to play a round of solitaire when i saw the icon for Virtual Villagers. Bad move... that game is highly addictive. It's not a really face paced deal, but it has problem solving and little bit of Sim-like interaction. In the end i got NO writing done. 8( Wow... well, i will probably pay the $9.99 to download the full blown version... but for now i have to study for tonight AND get the last 500+ words done on the story so that i can get it turned in on time. Ok, i was all set to wrap up today's blog when a co-worker sent me the link for a YouTube clip. I had heard about this new singing sensation in the UK, but i had never bothered to try and track down the clip everone was talking about. Well, there it was before me and so... i clicked the link. The guy who sent it to me said that he cried when he watched it. Me, being the tough sceptic thought, "whatever". I am here to say that i was proven wrong. I admit it... my eyes watered up some. I was not able to embed the clip here because that option was removed by request - but... i highly recommend you click on the link here: Susan Boyle - You Tube Click from "Britans Got Talent" - I have watched this clip three times already. I cannot endorse this clip enough... WOW!

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. ~ Philippians 4:8, ESV

The writing process

I go through seasons... and i don't think that i am the only one. It starts with beginning projects. You know, looking to develop interests and hobbies - agreeing to take on more things for work/church/friends. Then, as the projects pile up a sense of being overwhelmed. Then, a purging so to speak - where you allow the plates to crash to the ground. Then a general retreat into the "countryside" to isolate and recover. I am in the "gathering" phase so to speak... i really do try and regulate myself on how much i take on, but i am not very good at it. Especially since i am an involved father and husband, so there are times when "additional duties" are assigned to me. Well, recently i tossed my "kabuto" into the ring of a writing contest. It's not a big deal, no prizes (that i know of), and it's only for a maximum of 5k words, but the handicap is that it is due on the 30th... while all of the other contestants have had a month and a half head start. I am not concerned about my chances of winning, i would just like to get some constructive criticism from a new source. My main concern right now is that a book that i've been using to try and self teach myself has received a pretty harsh critique from a source i am not all that familiar with. Being such a noob/outsider to writing i am concerned that i am steering myself wrong. Aside from the harsh review of Strunk & White's The Elements of Style, i find myself struggling with the very basics of English. Things like verbs, adverbs, adjectives... i honestly could not dissect a sentence if my life depended on it. I have submitted a few small pieces to various sources for critique and in general i receive favorable reviews and some helpful remarks, but i don't have a mentor. Nor could i afford a tutor, or to go back to take a college course. So, in the meantime i will plug alone and self-teach myself as best i can. If anyone can suggest a ground level, basic English grammar and structure book... i would be indebted to you - thank you in advance. Another "plate" i've started spinning is a nearby battlefield tour of Sharpsburg will be taking place on May 2nd. My 'problem' is that i have already encouraged my beloved to take a day and go out and be with her friends that day. Now, i am not trying to shirk my responsibilities of being a father, but i've never had a professional tour of any battlefield and it's been something i have longed to do. With the opportunity of going and spending the day with some old army buddies, touring the Sharpsburg battlefield i have been trying to find some friends of my kids who might be interested in having a sleep over. Coming back to the topic of writing... i think i would need the following basic reference materials... 1) A basic grammar reference. You know, to teach me about things like verbs, adjectives, punctuation, etc. 2) I could really use a citing reference. Something that would help illustrate how you are supposed to reference titles of books, articles, magazines, movies, etc. I am most definitely clueless on this. 3) Last but not least, a beginners reference to writing style. Maybe something that helps me know what kind of sentence structures to avoid... something to help me know about passive, present tense. Perhaps something that would help me improve upon my subject references so that who/what i am talking about in my writing doesn't get lost. Again, thank you in advance for any helpful references... Well, i have more to ramble on about... but i am out of time for today...

Wednesday ramblings

There was two changes that i made in my preferences during my twenty two year National Guard 'career'. One was i started using plain old soap to shave with. The unit i started out in did a lot of "flyaways" and i found out pretty quickly that shaving cream had two side effects. One was that the scent attracted bugs... lots, and lots of them. The other was that the contents were usually under pressure and after spending several hours in an unpressurized C-130 had a tendency to spray out its contents... the air pressure as well as the stacking of rucksacks on top of each other. Messy and a bug magnet. Not a good combination when you would get dropped off somewhere and have no repreive for several days or weeks. The other thing was i grew to really hate how my watch felt on my wrist. My ruck or web gear would snag on it, dirt would collect under it, and it could reflect light and draw attention to me when i was not wanting to be seen. As a result i began to wear and use a pocket watch. One thing about the American GI's uniform is that there are (usually) a lot of pockets to be had. Especially on the newer uniforms. My first pocket watch was not like the one pictured to the right, but you get the idea. I have a thing for watches and would love to collect them, but i don't really have the money or space to really do so. Which is a good thing. One type of watch i would love to someday get a hold of would be an old fashioned mechanical pocket watch. the kind you have to wind up. I currently own two watches. One is a Carolina Panthers watch, the other is a classic style that a dear friend gave me as a Groom's man's gift (i was his best man). He took the care to make sure my initials were engraved on it as well. It is currently in need of a battery, but that will be taken care of very soon. I HAVE to know what time it is pretty much regularly. When i was living with my dad in New York City, one of the things that used to do, and remember quite fondly, is when i took lessons to play the recorder. It didn't last very long but as i grew older i remember hearing a "penny whistle" (it has several names, but the latest i've heard is 'tin whistle') and i sort of fell in love with the sound. Eventually my fascination grew into a desire to learn how to play, but by then i was married, trying to go to school full time and working full time. I went so far as to purchase a tin whistle and song book at a "Country Store" near the Antietam Battle field. I practiced for a while on my own, but i never went far enough to find someone to help encourage it, so it eventually faded. I still own the instrument but i've long since lost the song book. But my children are getting a little older now and i am spending a couple of hours a week sitting somewhere while they are practicing, etc. I might look into picking it up again and practicing somewhere out of hearing range of others... at least until i can get to a reasonable proficiency. I have no clue as to how many people regularly read this blog. I doubt it's very many, but that's ok. I blog to ramble and work out my various thoughts. It's funny how the things come to mind that i blog about. The watch came to me by reading the recent article about the recent confirmation of an inscription within President Abraham Lincoln's pocket watch. It baffled my beloved that i was so interested in the story. The whistle come to mind as i watch catching up on my friend who gave me my favorite pocket watch (mentioned above - he recently took part in a cooking competition and i was trying to find out how he did), and i saw an ad on Facebook for Irish Tin Whistles. I think music is the most beautiful and universal language. My inspirations can come from anywhere.