Oopsie, I forgot, my bad

Greetings, readers. This is the first of two blog entries I will write today, for I completely failed to post one as promised this past weekend. I got so wrapped up with football and other events. For the time being my plan is to do a blog entry for Wednesdays and one to post on Sundays every week.

Unfortuanantly my writing projects have stalled again, but hope springs eternal. I’m having a dinner meeting with my co-creator to discuss project number two. I think when I take more detailed notes, I will be able to get a much better start. I tried to write the ending she wanted first, which was a tactic I used in a very successful writing project of my own many years ago. That decision failed miserably this time around. I’m going to have to pick my co-author’s brain for character traits and start at the beginning.

Over the last week and a half, I’ve tried to keep my creative brain moving by watching three films from the library: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan; Rebecca’s highly recommended film Invincible; and the classic, The African Queen. Invincible, about Vince Papale of the 1970s Philadelphia Eagles team, was a feel good story and highly inspirational. You have to love those true stories. STII is still considered the best Star Trek film. I saw in an interview, with Ricardo Montalban, that for the first two weeks of rehearsal he was reading the lines like Mr. Roarke from Fantasy Island; he had to go back and watch the original series Star Trek episode “Space Seed” to get back into the character of Khan. And believe or not, The African Queen is my first Humphrey Bogart film, you can’t do better than Bogart and Hepburn.

Watching STII inspired me to go to YouTube and re-watch all of the episodes in the Star Trek fan fiction series called Star Trek Continues, which was produced by Vic Mignogna. Vic does a better William Shatner’s version of Kirk than William Shatner did. Amazing. Too bad Paramount shut them down. Their reason was copywrite infringement. I think it was because they were too good.

On to sports news, the Pittsburgh Steelers are 1-4 and barely have a pulse. Quarterback Mason Rudolph was clobbered by two of the Baltimore Ravens’ players and got knocked senseless. It didn’t help matters that he had to walk with help into the clubhouse because the cart broke down. A black mark for the Heinz Field staff.

Staying within our division, the Cleveland Browns got pummeled 31-3 by the San Francisco 49ers Monday night, thus rendering the AFC North the weakest division in the NFL. When a team is 1-4 and they still have a good chance to make the playoffs, that is a sad division.

That’s going to wrap up blog entry number one, for our weekly meeting is going to take place any minute. This entry will go live today. Entry number two will be written today and will be scheduled to go live on Sunday afternoon. Again, I apologize for my faux pau. In a week or two’s time, I shall try to find a time of day that I can pump out a Sunday entry by myself.

Until next time, take care, have a great few days, love one another, and happy reading.

Getting back into the groove

Greetings, readers. When vacation is over it is true that I do like to come home and get the year in between camp started. However, it seems to take me a long time to get out of what I call camp mode. That is, simply, not watching TV at night, looking at a YouTube video of a bonfire, or listening to a recording of crickets. It is a simpler way of life up there and I love it. Granted, I do pack my computer bag and go into town for coffee and internet at least once during the vacation week.

With fresh writing ideas in my mind, I’ve been jotting down notes and will soon be ready to begin one of two writing projects. I have two strong candidates but I’ve not narrowed it down yet. I take phone calls for a company part-time and that brings in a little bit of money. I don’t work very many hours yet but at least it is something. I’ll probably have to get a second job somewhere down the line. The more income for next year’s camp, the better.

On to a different topic, I just reached for my water bottle and the proverbial sword went into my shoulder. I cannot wait until September 4th; for those of you who didn’t read the last blog entry, I am having an arthroscopic procedure done to get rid of bone chips and “shave” the area around the bones of the shoulder. Thank goodness my rotator cuff is fine. You see, readers, I am allergic to pain and I think if my rotator cuff was torn, I would be screaming right now. I’m getting queasy just thinking about it. Prayers please for September 4th and beyond. There will be rehab needed.

Lastly, the building next door is growing by leaps and bounds. I have lost some of the view of the nearby Days Inn and the new apartment building is nowhere near finished. I’ve been told by two people now that it is also going to have a tower on the roof (reason unknown) so next July 4th I’ll be watching my fireworks from the parking garage across the street. Boo hiss.

As I close, prayers go out to all who were effected yesterday by all the violent storms, and for those in Pennsylvania, batten down the hatches for we are expected to get storms today.

I’m not certain if I will put up a Sunday blog entry or not, so we will say until next Wednesday, take care, have a great week, love to all, and happy reading.

Tis a strange day, it is

Greetings, readers. It seems as though, recently, when Rebecca and I start our work day, it is taking longer for us to get down to brass tacks. I’m not exactly sure why that is, but I have a feeling. With my low motivation factor for work right now, I think I am just putting it off as long as possible. We’ll talk about politics, the weather, or last week’s blog numbers, but both of us have come to the conclusion that it is taking longer to get down to something called work.

Last Thursday, near the end of the work session, Rebecca and I tried a dictation test on a possible work project to see if Rebecca could keep up with me as I acted out my script. To my delight, she could. Yay, Rebecca. 🙂 There is some talk on the grapevine that we will have to close down operations at the end of the year or thereabouts, but if I can get this new work project going, working together will still be a viable option. The pressure is still on me to work on something that will quickly sell. Therein lies the problem. Any TV script or play that I write will require several drafts, an agent or a publisher, and will probably take years. I’m not sure if we have the finances for years worth of paying Rebecca.

Ta da! It is now after Bill’s meeting and we have to reinitialize our thought processes. Princess Josie has been sprung from her time-out box and is proudly prancing about the apartment. It is true; this is really her place and she allows me to live here. Haha. Princess Josie has calmed herself down over the last couple of months, and is beginning to learn right from wrong. Her only big issue left is not jumping up on my computer table when I am working. That is a big no-no. I’m sure in another year or so she’ll have all the ins and out of a being “good kitty cat” under her belt.

On a very serious final note, prayers go out to the victims and their families of the Pittsburgh Tree of Life Synagogue massacre. Why can’t we have more love shown in this world of ours? It seems to me that we are surrounded by more death and destruction than joy and unity.

Well, there is today’s blog entry. I’m planning some major changes in the apartment and those plans will be revealed to you tomorrow as part of the blog. So until then, have a great day, say a kind word to someone, take care, and as always, happy reading.

Top ten list of things I hope to accomplish this autumn

Greetings, readers. I asked Rebecca to check when the last top ten list was and on what topic, it was back in April with a list of things I wanted to do this summer. Eight out of ten isn’t bad folks. So here is a list of things I want to do or continue doing in the autumn of 2018.

#10. To get it out of the way, To continue selling copies of Four’s a Crowd. [I sold seven out of eight copies while up in Maine, which was wonderful, but sales on Amazon are as of yet sporadic at best. If you purchase my book, tyvm. If you like it, pass the word on to your friends.]

#9. Find a place for everything and put everything in its place. [In an apartment slightly bigger than ten shoeboxes, to do that is difficult. But I am proud that I am trying  and that I am making progress.]

#8. Find gainful employment somewhere here downtown. [Unfortunately, I burned all my bridges at my former fast food job and I do not think they would take me back.]

#7. Continue working on a TV series pilot script. [I have two ideas in mind, both of which have hit early road blocks, but it is nothing I cannot overcome.]

#6. Find a new way to take care of my nails. [The salon I used to go to across the street is closed, and between the cost of the service and the added price of a Zipcar, the road trip to the other location in East Freedom, Pennsylvania is an unfortunate impossibility.]

#5. Try my hand at either Match.com or eHarmony.com. [I think it is time I try my hand at a relationship one last time. I’m 0-8 but I feel it’s time to give love one last shot. You never know.]

#4. Either get back to my religion, Roman Catholicism, or join another church closer to my apartment. [Long story short folks, I need more religion in my life. I am searching for some big mid-life crisis answers right now.]

#3. Continue working with my cat, Princess Josie. [I am making progress at teaching her certain things, but she still does things I don’t want her to do, like nipping. She is so different from Keekee, and I am still adjusting to the changes. I need to get some things she needs, like chew toys, while still training her away from bad behavior. I love her so much, and it is a completely blessing to have her here at home.]

#2. With the help of my therapist, learn to become stronger at setting personal boundaries. [I’ve always had a problem saying no to people, and it has bitten me more than once. I must learn to say no, and no means no.]

#1. Upgrade to a refurbished PS4 so I can get back to watching my Netflix and YouTube on my big screen TV. [Again, this will take money and money is tight right now. I might put this on my Christmas list as a gift to myself.]

There you have the list, in no particular order. Tomorrow we’ll be back with another stimulating blog entry. So take care, stay cool, thank God this heat wave is almost over, and as always, happy reading.

My summer writing schedule so far

Greetings, readers. Although I have had a number of good ideas for writing projects, getting words on the page are like pulling teeth. I yank and yank and yank, and then say oh, look, there is one sentence. Back in my 30s, before all my petit mal seizures, my creativity was much better. Ideas just flowed. I’m not certain if I really do have brain damage because of the seizures, but I feel as though I do. My medications work fine for what they are meant for but they may dampen my creative process as well.

The other day I started the sequel to Four’s a Crowd and got about a page down on the computer. I don’t know if it was because I was using the speech recognition program, or the outside noise at the time, or if something else was in the way, but words would not come easily, even with these characters that I know so well. I must admit that depressed me for the rest of the day. Kimberly, Lyle, and the rest of the Four’s a Crowd clan should have inspired me, not dragged me into the mud. Thank goodness for therapy every three weeks.

Rebecca usually tells me to just keep plugging away at it, flex those writing muscles and eventually it will come. I hope she is correct. I have my entire day planned out already. We have work hours this morning, a brief stop for lunch and a couple of groceries, and then I am going to try to work with the speech recognition program again. One of the problems might be that it hasn’t quite learned my voice enough for me to dictate a novel effectively.

My friend Dave suggested I try writing a children’s book. He was most impressed with how I, a few years ago, told his young nephews and nieces stories around the camp fire at Bear Spring Camps. Not a bad idea. And I know someone who just might be willing to illustrate it if she has time. I have already started a story, The Secret House, and have posted the first two parts of it here. I hope to write more of it and share it with you in the near future.

I’m being a little mysterious here, because I don’t want to divulge my ideas. It seems like every time I do it is the kiss of death. One time I remember telling my Godmother a story idea and she stomped the flowers out of it until it was dead. I admit that it was after one of her strokes and some of her social filters might have been gone.

I have next to me what I call my inspiration pad. If I have a dream or a day-dream and it really hits me and I have a great idea I am prepared to jot it down long hand. For as I may have mentioned before, my short-term memory is crap.

There is today’s update. Next Wednesday Rebecca and I will be back with another blog entry and I have already chosen the topic. Unless something comes up, I’m going to blog about the legendary former New York Yankee public address announcer, the late Bob Sheppard.

Until then, I hope everyone has a great weekend, take care, and happy reading.

Things happening today during the snowstorm

Greetings, readers. Even though it is officially spring, old mother nature has decided to play a trick on us in the form of 3 to 5 inches of snow! Ha-ha-ha. I’m not laughing at the joke. As most of you know, I suffer from a mild case of cerebral palsy, and good balance is not one of my strong points. I do have errands that must be taken care of after work hours with Rebecca. If we really get 5 inches of snow, it’s going to be a challenge walking down slippery sidewalks.

Today and tomorrow are two days off for my fast food job, and that is good for my feet. The day off I had to take last Monday for my doctor appointment and stress test is not going to be good for my wallet. Maybe in a week or two, I’ll be able to pick up an extra hour here or there. In the end, I think it will all even out.

On to other news, my new writing project is coming along slowly, yet splendidly. This voice recognition program is outstanding, and it allows me to act out the dialogue between my characters. Yes … I am writing at least the first drafts of this project in script form. Whether or not I will change it into a novel has yet to be determined. I know I’ve been working on this for two weeks, and I’m only on the bottom of page three, but I do have many other things going on in my life. If I was loaded with money, I could stock the refrigerator with food, snacks and beverages, and type, type, type. I am not loaded with money. I have to go to work four days a week (part-time), and I work with Rebecca two days a week. That is plenty to keep me busy.

My gaming channel will have an updated game added to it. Out of the Park Baseball 19 has arrived in beta form. The full version, which I’ve already paid for, comes out tomorrow. The game developers have improved the graphics tenfold. Now the players actually look like little baseball players, not like little stick figures or Weebles. Yes, I remember those commercials: “Weeble’s wobble, but they don’t fall down.”

Finally, thoughts and prayers go out to all the victims and their families of the senseless violence that has gone on in the last few days, including the Texas bombings and the Maryland school shooting, and also for the victims and families of the bridge collapse in Florida. All are so tragic.

Rebecca and I will be back tomorrow with another blog entry, but I already know that next Thursday will be a personal day for me. I have a doctor follow-up appointment. Please keep your fingers crossed that I get good news during that appointment.

Until tomorrow, please do take care if you’re in the snowstorm, stay warm, enjoy your day and as always, happy reading.

Getting into someone else’s head is difficult

Greetings, readers. The last couple of mornings I have been working on my writing projects and I can’t tell you how good it feels to be writing again. One of my projects is based on a TV series from the 1970s. Those characters I know quite well; what they would say, what they wouldn’t say, how they would act, etc.

My main project, however, has characters that are pretty much blank slates. The female lead character is based on someone I met in a chat room many many years ago. She sent me her picture but that is literally all I have to go on, the rest of her character will be constructed by me. I’ve never tried to get into a female character’s head before. You might say I wrote my play Kimberly, and this is true. But I knew the person I based her on. The whole first draft was basically a carbon copy of a friend from high school. This new project’s female lead has a name and a face. That’s it. I get to decide how tall she is, whether or not she smokes, what her habits are, and how provocative she is. In a way, I have to become this character during writing hours. I was working with this project this morning and I could feel myself begin to think like her and thought to myself, now we are in business. I know I am going to have fun with it.

It’s been years since I have put signs on my front door saying Do not disturb, I’m writing, and I even get angry if I am writing and it is time to go to work. To me those are good signs. If I can go to some cabin near a lake … magically with internet included for research … I would do it and I could probably pump out a great play or film script. I just need to be left alone for a few months. Unfortunately I am not independently wealthy, and besides that is not how the real world works. Moreover, I like my real world job.

I got a sobering dash of reality a few moments ago. Rebecca and I were on the CreateSpace website trying to send an email to get a question answered. As we were going through the automated set-up system, a huge list dropped down with not only my three books for sale but all the stalled, dead, abandoned projects I’ve tried to do since latching on to CreateSpace. Seeing that list made me feel like a failure for a moment. Don’t worry, I’ll bounce back soon. As a matter of fact, now that I know where that list is, I might even go back, choose one of those dead projects, and resurrect it. You never know.

The idea I had for tomorrow’s blog has been put on the back burner, for it requires research and development. It deals with this past Super Bowl. I think you will find it most interesting. I just found out moments ago that I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow. So yet again, Rebecca will get the day off and post the entry from home. We will see you right here next Wednesday. Keep those comments coming, enjoy, take care, and as always, happy reading.

A short blog entry today before I call bingo

Greetings, readers. I am still under the weather, but feeling well enough to call bingo tonight until our regular bingo caller gets back from work. Around 5pm, I’m going to Panera and get some turkey chili and coffee. That will not only clear my sinuses, but it should give me all the energy I need to get me through until 9:00.

It’s been a long time since I’ve called bingo and I hope it goes okay. Every once in a great while there is drama in the community room. When I call though, it’s my game and I let people know that I won’t take any shenanigans. As Katharine Hepburn said in On Golden Pond, “Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all just get along?”

I canceled my afternoon appointment because I wanted to sleep. I need to kick this cold in the butt and be ready to go to work tomorrow morning. Unless I am hacking up a storm, I’m going. I love my customers and I can’t miss any more money. I wonder if any of my customers asked where I was on Tuesday? It’s not like me not to be there. Because I handle money though, I decided it was best not to go to work.

This blog entry is being created with me using my speech recognition program and I must say, it’s amazing. So far, I’ve ‘typed’ 239 words. For me and my writing career, this is the best thing since ice cream … and we all know how much I love ice cream. After my cold goes away and I’ve read and edited Four’s a Crowd, it will be time for me to begin the first of two projects I have in mind. Oh boy, I can’t wait.

Well, that’s it for this short blog entry. Very soon I am going to go outside and breathe some good air. Dinner should perk me up as well. When I get back from bingo calling, it will be lights out.

Until next Wednesday, I bid you a great weekend, take care, and as always, happy reading.

My Summer Car help request and other topics

Greetings, readers. I know I just blogged about My Summer Car not too long ago, but it continues to bother me. In the latest update, the creator of the game added a wonderful moped (to me it looks like a dirt bike) and it is the only vehicle that I can drive with my frame-rate problem. Yes, that is my issue. Even on the crappiest settings, my frame-rates are horrendous. The van barely moves, as well as the diesel truck, and the boat won’t start, so I am forced to use the moped to get to town. That in itself was fun, I was finally able to buy things at the store, however I have no vehicle to get the items back home, as there is no basket on the moped.

I created a YouTube video approximately 5 minutes in length describing my woes of playing My Summer Car. If anybody can give me some tips or pointers on how to make the game run better, or any game with frame-rate problems, please leave your suggestions in the comment area either here or on my Facebook page. I would greatly appreciate any help.

Okay, on to other news. I found out that my idea for my new writing project cannot be done. Not only are the folks I was going to write it for basically finished with their productions, but the list of restrictions from the Star Trek world governed by CBS and Paramount are so ridiculously stupid that I can’t even work with them. For instance, your project can only by 15 minutes long or 2 parts for a total of 30 minutes. It has to be family friendly, so there goes any fight scenes or phaser battles, and I wouldn’t even be able to show them having a drink. Lord forbid little Johnny or Susie see the characters drinking Romulan ale. The whole thing is so frustrating.

I actually had a good idea with a strong story and subplot. I was excited about the project, and then just for giggles I wanted to see what the guidelines actually were. My excitement faded away quickly. I think I’m still going to do the project just for the writing experience. It would definitely get those writing muscles working again and boost my creativity. Will the story be able to be produced by anybody? I doubt it. Oh well, so it goes.

Okay, I’m done ranting and raving. I do have one other thing I want to share with you. Last week I had a comment in the spam filter that I deleted, but the question was close enough to a real one that I thought I’d answer it, in case I was wrong about it being from a spam bot. It asked about how I do the coding for this blog, and do I use html code. WordPress is a great host that does the work for me, even though I am using their free version. I log into my account, see a dashboard with different categories, click Add New Post, and I have a window to type the blog entry into, with easy to use features to put in a category and tags. When I am ready, I click Publish, and WordPress puts it live on my page. I would recommend WordPress.com to anyone who wants to do a blog, even if they are not tech savvy.

There’s my blog entry for today. Again, please if you would, watch that YouTube video and give me any help you can.

Until tomorrow, have a great day, take care, and happy reading.

From Rebecca: Busy book day for Joe and Darren

As many regular readers know, Joe wrote a play called Kimberly and my husband Darren is turning it into a book called Four’s a Crowd. It is close to finished now, and Joe was over to our place today to meet with Darren and go over the latest changes. I told Joe I would write today’s post for the blog and I apologize for being a little late with it; I did something else for a few hours and it went right out of my head until a few minutes ago. (Sorry, Joe!)

Darren has worked hard on the novel, and I hope it goes far and wide someday. They are planning to self-publish with CreateSpace when they finish the final writing and edits.

From what I heard today, that time might be soon, maybe in the next six months. Both the play and the novel are about two couples, Alice and Henry, their son Lyle, and his wife Kimberly. The parents move in with the younger couple and there are some adjustments to be made if they are going to live together. The play takes a lighter tone than the novel, which adds some personal problems to the characters for a more serious tone. There is still humor in the novel, and the play forms the skeleton of the book. Part of the hard work Darren did was to keep most of Joe’s play while fleshing out the characters and action. I am so proud of my husband.

We will keep you posted on this book and on Joe’s current project. Joe will be back next week.

Until Wednesday, as Joe would say, have a great weekend, take care, and happy reading.