Last night, I saw one of the most disappointing rock concerts I have ever attended: Death Cab for Cutie (DCFC) touring in support of their new album “Thank You For Today” at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. Some of the problems had to do with Ben Gibbard, the brains behind the band. Other problems were created by…
Bought three smallish pocket knives to test and then send at least one back to Amazon. My mini Swiss Army Knife is generally useful and I love it but I’m always apprehensive I’ll cut myself with the non-locking blade when I’m opening boxes and such. I have a Buck knife given to me by a…
As I mentioned in a previous post, I am dreadfully illiterate when it comes to films. It’s fair to say I have not seen most movies that would be considered essential to people I deal with on a daily basis. Because of coworkers especially, there are dozens of films I can quote without ever having…
Here’s a favorite from Conjure One’s latest album, Holoscenic. Without looking at the credits, I would never have guessed the singer was Leigh Nash of Sixpence None the Richer. From the lyrics: I keep my cool for one more day Laugh along enough to keep getting paid I’m losing my hold on hope Is this…
Roland Geelen returns to Chuku, his home planet, on a mission — but with reluctance. Memories of his mother’s death haunt him, plus he still owes Slow Eddie a lot of money. However, if he succeeds in buying artwork from the Ulle artist Vialiki Kazurka, his wealthy client will reward him substantially. He knows it…
My urban fantasy “The Triple Life of Alyndra Rivikin” has been published by Slink Chunk Press! People who do not know me pulled my story from their slush pile, liked it, and decided to use it! I could not be more delighted! You can read it for free here: The Triple Life of Alyndra Rivikin.
Are you brave enough to sign a waiver absolving us of all responsibility, just in case your fear should conquer your reason and cause you to drop dead when you visit these intense sloughs of despond!? 1. The Haunted U-Shaped Red Pleather Restaurant Booth! 2. The Haunted Pickup Truck Bed Liner! 3. The Haunted Library…
I recently replaced my last remaining desktop PC with a $50 Raspberry Pi 2, a $25 USB DVD drive, and a $90 USB hard drive. So far, I’m very pleased with the results. The Raspberry Pi (RPi) is a series of small, single-board computers developed in the UK by a charitable organization supported by the…
In September, Lovely Spouse and I visited Portland, Oregon. During the flight there, I found myself reading over my traveling companion’s shoulder. She was whipping through Cheryl Strayed’s 2012 memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. She’d been advised by a friend to read the book because we were visiting Strayed’s…
I just wanted to acknowledge that my initial blog post about my Movie Literacy Project went up about a year ago. I’ve watched 52 movies since I started in June 2014. This is amazing for me, since in my life up to that point, I averaged five films per year on video or in the…
These are the main Facebook rules I began using when I starting thinking of it as a platform for growing my writing career. There are probably some I’ve omitted by accident, but I think I got most of the key ones. Some of these are basic Internet etiquette and therefore kind of obvious. Others are…
If my informal polling of friends and coworkers is any indication, the odds are good that you either have no backup system for your computer or your backup system is woefully inadequate. Remember that “data” doesn’t just mean spreadsheets, databases, PowerPoint presentations, and word processor documents; I’m also talking about your vacation pictures, your music…
For reasons I don’t understand myself, I’ve never taken the time to watch many movies. Until a few months ago, it was remarkable for me to see four movies in one year, either in the theater or on video. The practical upshot of this is that I don’t understand a lot of movie references that…
I struggle with distraction when I try to do pretty much anything that takes more than five minutes. In the case of writing, it’s wonderful that modern computers are capable of accessing so much useful and interesting information relative to my projects on the Internet; however, those same resources can turn into a neverending parade…
I was trying to coax Google to make a panorama but this is what I got.