Avoid These

I’ve been reading a wonderful little book called The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White. I feel that I am learning a lot from the book, but at the same time I know that I’m going to have to really work hard at its principles in order to fix some of the problems in my writing.

Right now I’m in a section of the book called Misused Words and Expressions. I believe this section was an addition by E. B. White, but that is irrelevant to you. I wanted to quote a few segments from this section for you, because I found them humorous.

OK, since this is grammar related, most of it is just interesting (I still got a good chuckle from a few of them). Here’s one that many people get wrong, or they may realize that one variation is wrong and fail to latch on to the correct one. Let us allow Mr. White to enlighten us:

Care less. The dismissive “I couldn’t care less” is often used with the shortened “not” mistakenly (and mysteriously) omitted: “I could care less.” The error destroys the meaning of the sentence and is careless indeed.

I know that has come up more than once with several of my friends, some being grammar fanatics. I think most people get it right, but those who fail to stop and think about what they’re saying probably get it wrong.

Some of the words and phrases listed seemed to pierce me to the core. The author used sharp language that left me wishing I could take back some of what I’ve written in the past:

Character. Often simply redundant, used from a mere habit of wordiness.

“A mere habit of wordiness?” Ouch. I understand that he said “often” and by this he probably means that referring to good character is permissible. However, he gives the example: “acts of a hostile character,” saying it should be replaced with: “hostile acts,” and I know I’ve probably used character in that sense before. I think I do have a habit of wordiness, and I’ve been aware of it for a long time now. That’s why I’m reading books like this. I want to drop the habit.

This one was just interesting:

Clever. Note that the word means one thing when applied to people, another when applied to horses. A clever horse is a good-natured one, not an ingenious one.

I had heard of clever horses with this meaning, but failed to understand.

This one was funny:

Enthuse. An annoying verb growing out of the noun enthusiasm. Not recommended.

He then lists two examples of it in use with his recommendations of how to fix it using the noun rather than the “annoying verb.” I think it’s funny that he used “annoying” to describe this. I too find verbs that grow out of nouns annoying. In fact, I find most modern, lazy speech annoying.

This one was the last one I read this morning, but it made me laugh out loud and I had to share it with you. Careful, the author might be calling you illiterate!

Flammable. An oddity, chiefly useful in saving lives. The common word meaning “combustible” is inflammable. But some people are thrown off by the in- and think inflammable means “not combustible”. For this reason, trucks carrying gasoline or explosives are now marked FLAMMABLE. Unless you are operating such a truck and hence are concerned with the safety of children and illiterates, use inflammable.

The author is obviously expressing his opinion that only children and illiterates would be confused by the proper use of inflammable. If you didn’t know this, or had doubts before about this word (or any of the others I’ve listed), perhaps it’s time to brush up on your English.

Of course, I’m not perfect. Several years ago I saw something correctly labeled inflammable and was thrown off by the prefix. I looked it up and have ever since been aware of this. What a relief it is to not be illiterate!

That makes five words or phrases I’ve shared with you. The rest of what he listed was either uninteresting or unlikely to come up in every-day use. If you’d like to know more, read the book. As I finish reading I might find something else funny, and you can bet I’ll share it with you.

Dear John

I have two friends that have been dating for a while now. They are good for each other, but I have noticed something in them that many couples struggle with. So, I write this letter to my friend, but it could be for anyone:

Dear John,
I think you’re a great person, please don’t ever forget that. As I think back to the first time I met you, I remember not knowing quite what to make of you, and I remember discovering that you were someone I could like.

I also remember when I found out that you and our friend [Sally] began dating. At first I wasn’t sure what to think, then I saw how you loved her and how much she loved you. All of my worries disappeared. The most important thing between any two people in a would-be couple is love, and you two had it. Through the time that has passed since then, I have watched the two of you grow and work together. I am aware that you have sometimes spoken together about marriage (I think I asked you about that once) and I remember thinking it sounded like a great idea for you guys.

John, I know you are a good man doing his best to succeed in life, keeping up with work, keeping the girl happy, keeping yourself happy, etc. I know how difficult it can be to do all of this, because I have been doing it for a while and sometimes I’m not sure how I’m going to keep going.

The reason I wanted to write to you is to tell you one thing: Don’t be stupid.

This is good, free advice that may seem readily available (and it is) but it is often missed or misunderstood. I bring it up because I have noticed something amiss between the two of you, and especially in [Sally]. Keep in mind, I don’t know anything outside of what I can see, but I see much more than you think. I do not know everything, but I know relationships and I can see it when there is something wrong.

Again, I don’t know exactly what is going on with you guys, and I don’t feel that it is my business. However, I decided to write this for you because I wanted to send a few messages to the two of you, as well as sharing these ideas with others. I have noticed in [Sally's] face and demeanor that she is sad. It’s the kind of sadness that happens when a guy is being a guy. Men are naturally jerks (as everyone knows) and as hard as we try to fight it, we will invariably be a jerk from time to time, mostly by accident without even realizing it, sometimes on purpose only to realize our mistake after it is too late.

Besides being jerks, I believe that men are absolutely stupid when it comes to women. Being naturally stupid jerks, we have a huge responsibility when it comes to relationships with women. This responsibility has two, simple parts: 1) love our woman more than we love ourselves and 2) remember that the man is always at fault when there is something wrong in the relationship.

I don’t care what happened. You are to blame. Keep in mind, you can only take this to a certain point, but it always needs to be the first reaction. It works as long as both the man and the woman of a relationship are of similar levels of maturity and have similar levels of commitment to the relationship.

Thus, if there is something wrong in your relationship (and I really think there is), you need to start by asking these two questions:

1. Am I about as mature as she is?
This question may seem difficult to answer, but as long as you both are close in age (within five years or so) and close in mental capacity (none of you is retarded or mentally ill) then the answer is yes. You two are both smart, so I know the answer is “yes” to this one.
2. Are we both 100% committed to this relationship?
You may need to gently, lovingly bring this up in conversation with her when you both are thinking straight and you aren’t mad at each other. If either of you has his/her heart somewhere else, then nothing can save the relationship except recommitting and trying again. I happen to know that her heart is in the relationship, and I thought yours was too. We’ll assume it still is, and the answer is “yes.”

If you can answer “yes” to both questions (and I know you can), then you are ready to fix the problem. Are you ready for the solution? Here’s the answer: take responsibility and fix it.

Do you want to lose her? If you are both at similar levels of maturity and mental capacity, and you both want the relationship to work, but there is a problem, there is nobody to blame but yourself. I don’t care if she started the argument, or you did, or the neighbor did. Once the two questions above are in the affirmative, it is your responsibility to make things work, not hers.

That’s right, not hers. Sure, you can go ahead and leave her, telling yourself, “If she were only willing to admit she was wrong, then we could still be together,” or, “If only she weren’t that way, then we could get along fine.” Is that what you want though? Don’t you love her? If she never admits she was wrong, or if she never changes that one little habit, you would still love her. Rather than trying to change things you have absolutely no control over, why don’t you take charge and do what you can to keep her? Don’t lose her, she’s special, beautiful and in love with you!

Over time, if you patiently accept her for who she is (mistakes, bad habits and all) she will eventually mature and grow past those little things. Besides, don’t you think you probably have things that you need to change too? Are you so perfect? What if it’s your mistakes and errors that she’s always getting mad about? So what? If she really loves you, and you are patient and loving with her, then she too will learn to look past those things on her own.

You are adults. You are an adult, and so is she. If you treat her like an adult (without trying to “help” her grow up), she will learn to see you as one too. This is part of the process of growing up. Everyone has to do it on their own. It takes time, support, and tremendous effort, but it can be done.

Don’t be stupid. Don’t let that woman go. Do everything in your power to keep her. Remember, do everything in your power to keep her. You cannot change her, that’s not in your power. You can change you. So do it. Just get it done.

I think you are both really wonderful. I have met a lot of people over the course of my life and travels, and people like you and [Sally] are not common. You will never find another woman as great as she is. Take my advice and stake your claim. Let your love for her tell the world that she is yours.

Good luck, and if you ever need someone to talk to, you know where to find me.

Your friend,
Brian

Premature Magnum Opus

Nearly a month ago I announced a new project. I had been toying with the idea in my head for several weeks at the time, and finally decided to do it. I had a plan. I designed and wrote out the details. I never got the first piece finished.

I started it, but didn’t finish.

This actually isn’t very uncommon for me, but it was not supposed to happen. I know what went wrong, and now I’m trying to recover from the wreck that was my great project.

The idea was to interview people who I found attractive (not on the outside, but inside) and write about each one revealing their beauty in my writing. It pains me to remember that I had some wonderful ideas on how to do this. I had parts of the essays about certain people written already in my head. I had all of the details worked out for what the essays would be like. I should have written all of that down. Lesson learned.

I failed to write down those particulars, but I didn’t fail to begin an essay. The plan was to write essays about three or four people I already knew to get the project jump-started. Being the social klutz that I am, I didn’t want to hurt the feelings of my wife by leaving her out, and I really wanted to write about her anyhow, so I made hers the first essay. For fun, I went ahead and did the interview with her (so she could help me test the questions). I took notes. I got an idea. I started writing.

What I wrote was ridiculous. It was horrible. Here was my dearest, most beloved among all mortals, and I was writing an essay about her that even she wouldn’t like. What was I thinking?!? Where had I gone wrong?

Yesterday it occurred to me that what I was trying to write was my magnum opus. My wife is my eternal companion, my greatest lover, my best friend, the most beautiful, significant person in my life, and I was trying to put my thoughts and feelings for her into written language. I may write well, but not that well. Not yet. In my fear of offending her through omission in the project, I actually blundered the whole thing. I tried to do what I am not yet able to do.

Now, a month after the project’s inception, I have the beginning of an essay I can’t use and the train has wrecked. I have long since forgotten the taste of the project in favor of other, newer ideas. I already have plenty of troubles with the thoughts and ideas that race around in my mind, avoiding capture and dodging my view. While I don’t believe the ship has sailed for this project, it will certainly have to simmer in the background for a time while I attempt to let my subconscious reconstruct the ideas and rekindle the energy I’ll need to pick it back up.

When I do begin again, I will begin with someone I can write about at my current skill level. Perhaps another close friend, or a complete stranger. When I get the train going again I will be prepared to accept my limitations and there will be essays to read. I’m sure my wonderful wife will understand, and she will have something to look forward to down the road when my skills have advanced and I feel that the time is right. Someday I really will write my magnum opus. Someday those words will come. Until then, I shall have to write about people who mean much less to me; people for whom I have the words to write about them.

Movie Feelings

I had plans for my writing time tonight. I had big plans. Then, something horrible got in the way - my emotions.

What are emotions good for? Really. They don’t seem to do much for me, other than get in the way of logic. Emotions are like that one slab of sidewalk that is sticking up a little, and you always see it and walk past it, but even still you manage to trip over it every once and a while.

Lucky for me, my emotions get in the way rarely. I am a very logical person, and most of the time I keep my emotions at bay. Every once and a while, though, they trip me up. There is usually a trigger, and tonight is no exception.

I just watched a movie. It was a good movie, and I would definitely recommend it, but beware - it has a hard-hitting emotional edge that may render your logic useless until you can sort out your feelings. You’ve probably heard of it - Bridge to Terabithia.

The funny thing is that my son actually spoiled it for me. I won’t do the same to you (in case you haven’t seen it), but he claimed he hadn’t seen the movie, and when he remembered that he had, he blurted out, “Oh, I remember…” and in somewhere between two and five words (I can’t remember exactly what he said) he gave away the entire ending of the movie. Even still, when “that part” came, I was caught unawares. Perhaps I was already feeling a little emotional, but from that point on my brain no longer functioned. Even now I am using this writing time as an outlet to try sorting my feelings out and regaining a state of order in my mind.

Hopefully, once I get this out, I can move on to that wonderful piece I had been looking forward to writing all day.

Not that the movie was bad, it was actually a very nice movie. In fact, I loved it. It’s not one of my favorites or anything, but it takes an extra special movie to wring tears from me. Also, if I were an English literature teacher, I would use this movie to teach allusion and foreshadowing. It had some wonderful literary devices employed skillfully and effectively. If you haven’t seen it, wait for an emotionally stable day and watch it. I’m sure you’ll like it.

OK, maybe not, but it’s not that bad, so I don’t expect that you’ll hate it.

I’m going to try writing that other thing now. Wish me luck. I hope I’m over this…

Web-Enabled Community Spell-Checker Dictionary

I want to share with you a web-enabled community spell-checker dictionary idea I had this morning.

The technical details may bore you, but the simple description should help generate interest. How many times have you written a word that you knew was spelled correctly, like “blog”, and had your spell-checker tell you it’s wrong? What do you do? You can either ignore the “error” and leave it there, with the squiggly red line under it, or you can add the word to your user dictionary (and in a lot of cases, like new Internet words, that means hoping you didn’t spell it wrong).

The user dictionary, I’m sure you know, is simply a database of words stored on the local machine (your computer) that is compared against each word you type in that program. A separate user dictionary is generated by each individual spell-checking program you use (the word processor, the web browser, etc.), and there are no safeguards in place to prevent you from adding a wrong word to one of your user dictionaries. Have you ever tried to go in and remove an incorrect word from a user dictionary? I have. It’s not any fun. Plus, adding a word to one user dictionary doesn’t add it to another one so if you frequently use a new word, you’ll end up being told it’s spelled wrong by all of your spell-checkers until you add it to all of their dictionaries.

What if you could download one program that would check all of you spelling in every program and website? What if that program was linked to other computers running the same spell-checker so it could collect data on misspelled and unknown words from a large number of people and figure out which words belong in the dictionary and which ones really are just spelled wrong?

Such a program could easily exist with current technologies, but as far as I know it remains only an idea in my head. Just imagine a dictionary that maintains itself updated with all of the newest, correctly-spelled vocabulary! A service could be offered to export the master dictionary to other spell-checkers’ native formats as a download on-line for people who don’t want to use the actual spell-checker program but want updated and accurate dictionaries to check their spelling. Periodically, fun statistics could be generated and shared via RSS, including the most frequently misspelled words, most popular words of the day, and a yearly list of new vocabulary generated by progress and technology.

Here is a more technical description of how the program could work:

First, the main functions, in order, would be:

1. Track and monitor all spelling in all programs on a user’s computer.

2. Use that data to calculate a score for the user, giving more weight to situations where more people use correct spelling and less weight to situations where less is expected (like chats).

3. On-line, the program allows users to endorse words that are not in the dictionary but frequently marked as correct. The higher the user’s score is, the more weight his/her endorsement will have.

4. Words endorsed by enough trusted users are incorporated into the dictionary.

Locally, the dictionary integrates with all programs and tracks user spelling habits, counting each time he/she misspells a word found in the dictionary (the user writes the word, the dictionary says it’s wrong, and the user corrects the spelling) and each time he/she writes a word not found in the dictionary (the user writes the word, the dictionary generates suggestions, and the user selects the option to ignore the misspelling). The particular words misspelled, spelled correctly and unknown to the dictionary are stored in a database on-line.

The program calculates, then, certain statistics for the user based on these numbers. For example, a user may have an overall spelling accuracy of 70% but frequently misspells the same 15 words, though the misspellings only represent 3% of everything the user writes.

The program also tracks where and in what situations the user is using correct spelling, punctuation and structure (capitalization, etc.), giving less weight to the chat sessions with poor structural performance, greater weight to e-mail writing, and the greatest weight to blog entries, Wikipedia articles, local word processing, Google Docs, etc. If a high percentage of people use correct punctuation and spelling in a specific program or at a specific website, the program knows to give a higher weight to the performance of other users in the same situation. If the spell-checking program is unsure of a situation (there is little data about a program’s weight, for example) the weight of the situation is calculated based on the length of the written material. This data would be stored on-line and be incorporated into a central algorithm for calculating a user’s spelling proficiency.

Words frequently not found in the dictionary but deemed by users to be correct (i. e. modern terms) can be reviewed by users with a low frequency of misspellings of known vocabulary, high number of words written per day, and high total proficiency score. Words endorsed by enough trusted users are then automatically added to the central user dictionary database. Admittedly, this is a difficult calculation. How much endorsement would be needed and what percentage of the endorsements would need to be from users with a high score? What constitutes a high score? An algorithm would need to be developed that would permit words to be added to the dictionary without too much delay, but not without first receiving enough endorsement to ensure the word is proper.

I believe that a dictionary maintained by such an algorithm would be invaluable to society. Even current institutions such as dictionary publishers could benefit from such data being collected. The idea could be applied to dictionaries in other languages. This idea represents the movement of dictionary maintenance techniques from the 20th century into the new 21st century era of community efforts and social data.

I think it’s the next logical step. What do you think?

As a final note, I was doing some searching and digging around to see if anyone else has done this or written about it, and I stumbled upon a great way to handle the dictionary database. I also found that programs to check spelling in any application also exist, but I found no mention of a community enabled program collecting data via the Internet to append the dictionary rather than trusting the user when he/she decides to “add to dictionary.”

The Pursuit of Something

Driving home I make all the same movements, every time, every day. The car bumps here, there’s a turn there. Take the long curvy turn on the inside, near the lines. I miss the bumps that way. That house has three motorcycles in front, this one has a DeLorean. Golf course greens on the right, more houses on the left. Watch out here for cars that slow to a near stop before turning. Almost there…

Sometimes, though, my mind is doing something else. It’s searching. Reaching for something that rests just out of reach. Barely beyond grasp, something is waiting for me. I just can’t get my mind around it.

Today, rounding a familiar bend, looking out my side window at some familiar houses, I spotted something unfamiliar. No, not with my eyes, but in my mind. It was there for a moment, then gone.

Gone? What was it? Will it ever be back?

Gone. Where did it go? I had it. Now I don’t.

Did I need it?

Sure feels like it. Then again, I have been known to pursue even that which I don’t need from time to time. Knowledge, though, is power. These elusive thoughts, these evasive ideas could help me form new connections and relations in my logic, opening my brain up to new, radical and exciting abilities. Every new connection I form in my mind equates to hundreds of new answers to the thousands of questions that came following my last discovery.

Imagine, I almost had it.

I’ve always been looking for it though, so I doubt it’s simply going to fall into my lap on the way home from errands.

It would provide a key to unlock some of the darkest secrets the world of logic has been able to keep from me. Secrets so profound and tightly sealed that they are indescribable, their keystrokes are missing from the keyboard.

If I could only have grabbed it while it was there, on the way home.

It’s not the only one though, the one that I saw today. I have seen many of them, and while I cannot describe any of them, I know that there are many. Not too many though. There are enough.

Enough for what?

It’s almost there… I can almost make it out.

Sitting in bed, another day, staring at the wall. What am I thinking about? How did I get here, to these thoughts? There’s one! There’s one of those mysterious ideas, the ones I never get enough time with to comprehend them. I can see it. I begin to understand, then it vanishes. Did it dissipate or instantaneously vaporize? I’m not sure. It’s gone.

Again.

What will it lead to? What would it mean to fully understand just one? Would it be enough? Would I be able to follow the logic into new, exciting areas of thought I have never explored?

How do I make it click? How can I make one of these slippery ideas stick around long enough to understand it and learn from it?

Where do they come from?

Why can’t I get one? Just one…

Someday, perhaps.

I hope.

New Page!

I know a lot of you have visited the page I wrote about me called About the Man. Now, due to my belief that a lot of my friends and family could use a little schooling on what I’ve got going on here, I’ve written a page that I’m sure plenty of people could benefit from. This new page is called About the Site. If you are already subscribed to my web log, you don’t need to read it. The new page is for people who I would like to see subscribed so they can keep in touch with me, but they don’t understand what all of this is about.

So, if you’re subscribed already, I thank you. If you’re not, go visit the new page!

Oh, and by the way, I spent two hours on that page then quit without rereading or revising it. I’ll probably go in tomorrow morning and do some editing, but for now I need to get on with my day. If you find errors or find any of it confusing, just let me know and I’ll fix it.

Oh, one more thing. I know a lot of people visit this site to find my Google Web album (not that it’s that special, but we post family pictures there), so I included it in my list of links (Blogroll) on the right so there is a more permanent place to find it rather than coming here and looking for the original posting I had the link in. It’s listed as the Family Web Album.

Favorite Superheroes

In an effort to distract myself from all things stressful and real, I decided to dedicate my writing hour to honoring the greatest men in faux-history, as far as I see it. What follows is an exploration of a few of my most favorite superheroes. Among them there are three that got their start in the comic books, and one that didn’t (as far as I know).

First up is the man who has always been at the top of my list. I think the greatest appeal any of these heroes has with me is that they are ordinary guys. None of them has a super power that separates them from me by a super-margin like the one between me and Superman. The only thing that keeps me from actually being any of these heroes is money, and in some cases technology that hasn’t yet been developed.

Again, first up is one I have had at the top of the list since as long as I can remember. Batman. Rich, secretive, loves technology and gadgets, and is a smart crime-solving detective. That’s me in a nutshell… Well, if I had it my way, that is. Sure, a lot of the toys and gadgets he uses are a little out of reach (for now), but it’s nice to dream.

I’m especially in love with the Tumbler, his Batmobile in Batman Begins and The Dark Night. Sometimes, when I’m driving around in my car, I imagine that I’m in the Tumbler.

Even better than having to drive in the first place would be flying, and my next two super heroes can do just that (without mystical powers).

Next, then, is Iron Man. Batman’s resourcefulness comes from his gadgetry first, then from his costume. Iron Man is the costume. No gadgets here (which does make me a little sad, since I love gadgets), just pure awesomeness in the form of an exoskeleton suit and some pretty impressive computer programming, both of which I love.

I’ve always been into robotics, and exoskeleton research is a big spin off/byproduct/sister project of robotics. With the recent release of the Iron Man movie, many people have been talking about the technology behind such a suit.

Oh, if you haven’t seen the movies I’m talking about, you really should. They’re all excellent films.

Since I saw the Iron Man movie, I’ve been wondering what it would be like if you combined the two heroes, Batman and Iron Man, into one really cool hero. I’ve decided that, while it might be overkill, it would be pretty cool.

For the final of my comic-book-based heroes, I give you an older one: The Rocketeer. This one goes way back to my childhood. In fact, I’d venture to say that I wanted to be the Rocketeer before I wanted to be Batman (but I’m not sure because it’s a close call).

Though not as technologically advanced, the Rocketeer does have something we’re still working on - a jet pack. Even without an exoskeleton or a bunch of gadgets, having a jet pack would be awesome.

I think the Rocketeer must have made a great comic too, because he really is just an ordinary guy with one thing that sets him apart from the rest of us, that cool rocket pack. Other than that, he’s not a super genius, he’s doesn’t have a ton of money to buy whatever technology or gadgets he wants, and more of us can identify with him for it.

The movie is still one of my favorites, and it never gets old (right up there with Short Circuit , but we’ll talk about robots another time).

As you may have noticed, we’re working our way down from most gadgets to the least, but we’ve covered varied amounts of technological integration. My final hero is just a man with a bunch of gadgets, but he’s got so many other qualities I love that I had to add him to my list.

I suppose he’s really not considered a “superhero” by most, but James Bond has always been a favorite of mine. I especially loved the portrayal of him in the recent film Casino Royale.

Though I wouldn’t ever want to be the womanizer that he is, I admire just about everything else in the character. I especially love his resourcefulness, intelligence and wit. Plus, he always dresses pretty sharp, which is great.

You know what’s funny? As I’ve written this, my list of heroes has been growing. So far, I’ve realized that a list of my favorite heroes in fiction would never be complete without Sherlock Holmes. It was his work (well, the writings of Sir Aurthur Conan Doyle) that helped me realize how much I love using my mind to solve problems and analyze the people and world around me. When it comes to awesomeness, you would be pressed to find a better man than Jason Bourne from the Bourne series of books and movies. Though I don’t actually know much about him, there is one more comic book character that I was a big fan of when I was young. Dick Tracy. I think the main reason I loved him was for his video phone watch. Anyhow, that just illustrates my deep love for gadgets.

No matter how many fictional heroes I may want to be like, there is one real guy (well, two) who I’ve actually met and I model my life after him (them) every day. I say two because the first, obviously, is my father. I don’t just say that because it’s what everyone says. My dad is a true hero and someone that more than just his children can look up to for a great example of how to live. The second is someone I served with for just over a year and a half, but in that short time he helped me more than any one person aside from my parents. He was my mission president in Mexico, President Alonso.

I love and look up to both of them, but I really want to be like the fictional characters here because it would be fun.

Blah, I’ll come up with a title later.

I decided not to bother coming up with another title. That will do fine.

Just a quick note before I begin my post today: This is not going to become a habit. My goal in the morning of getting up early every day is not to provide me with more opportunities to blab on this “thing,” but to write short stories, fiction novels, or nonfiction essays that push my skills as a writer and provide me with adequate creative venues. I do not intend to blast my subscribers with nonsense thoughts and minor life events on a daily basis. Eventually, these kinds of posts will be once, twice, maybe three times a week, and the rest of my mornings will be spent crafting stories you will get to read when they are finished.

But, for today I just wanted to tell you about my day yesterday. Thanks for reading.

I’m a little bit tired this morning. Of course, it’s all my fault this time. I was going to defrag my laptop after clearing some space off the hard drive (several gigabytes worth) so I wanted to back some stuff up online before going to bed and beginning the defrag. OK, most of what I was uploading was already mostly backed up online, but not full resolution. You see, I have some really good photos that were the result of good luck and timing that I wanted to share so I put them on my DeviantART account last night. Not all of them, mind you, but it’s a start. I think I’ll upload a few at a time for the next few weeks until all the good ones are up at DeviantART. For now, you can view my web albums in two locations.

The first is my Google web album, the second is my Kodak web album. Frankly, I’m not a big fan of the Kodak service and I think I’m going to start using the Google/Picasa service more often. I even prefer the DeviantART site more than the Kodak one, but I feel bad uploading anything to DeviantART that isn’t art.

I wish I could share more than just this one photo with you here. OK, I could share more than just this one photo with you here, but adding more photos would be a lot of work and I’m too tired to do it right now. Be grateful for the one photo I managed to get up here.

Doesn’t she look like she’s just loving that cereal? For more photos of her enjoying the rice cereal, check out the the Picasa/Google web album. You can download a full resolution copy of this photo from this DeviantART page.

Yesterday was a pretty good day. We took it easy. In the morning, after breakfast, we played some of that great game, Defend Your Castle, then we went to the store and prepared for a picnic in the park, which could have gone better. Overall, it went well. Sometimes, though, I forget that my legs get super white compared to my normally tanned skin because I wear pants a lot. Yesterday, at the park, I wore shorts. My shins are in a lot of pain right now.

After the park we came home, rested, got some work done, and then fed the baby some rice cereal for the first time, which went extremely well (as you can see). After that, the five-year-old decided he was done being nice and following rules for the day, so we had an early dinner and put him out of his misery with an early bedtime. Then we watched a two hour movie in just under five hours (not bad with the baby). You know the rest of the story - I stayed up too late updating my DeviantART account with some good photos.

Well, I’m happy to say that I can finally return a movie to a friend. We have borrowed movies from her before, and the last time was a disaster. We returned the movie in good condition, so it could have gone worse, but we held on to it for far too long (many months). This time we managed to watch it in something like three weeks, which is great.

The movie wasn’t my style. It was a drama, which is already a huge deduction in points on my part, and it didn’t really get me pulled in that well. I rate dramas and other movies that don’t appeal to me on their ability to pull me into the story (the plot and other story elements have to be crafted really well) and evoke an emotional reaction from me. This one did evoke that emotional reaction from me, but I wouldn’t have been devastated if I had walked away from it halfway through, meaning the story could have grabbed me better. This is not, by any means, actual criticism for the film, because this is simply a question of taste. The friend who loaned us the movie, for example, just loves this movie. The story must have really pulled her in, it must have connected with her deep down, and it probably evoked a stronger emotional reaction from her because of it.

Overall I’d say it was well made and fun, but not for me. I enjoyed watching it, I’m glad I watched, and I’m glad I don’t own it.

Oops, I suppose you’d like to know what movie we watched last night now? Ha. Silly me. We watched “The Holiday.”

Well, as much as I’d like to extend my writing time this morning beyond the hour I usually write, I think I’m going to lay back down and close my eyes in the hopes of falling back asleep and waking up feeling like I slept a full eight hours in stead of less than four. Or, I might finish writing, or not, and find that the day is starting whether I like it or not, and have to skip on the rest until we get home from church. Either way, my bed and I will probably be seeing each other before the actual end of the day.

If I don’t make it back to bed, I feel that I might cry. I know, my fault. Tonight, nap or no nap, I’m going to bed at ten. That’s final.

Getting Up

I know they say it’s better for the body to get up at the same time very morning and go the sleep at the same time every night, but my body is not yet thanking me for getting up consistently at five forty-five every morning. Perhaps this is because we have a three-month-old daughter who prevents us from getting to sleep at the same time every night and who prevents us from getting very good sleep at night.

In the end, today is Saturday and I am up but my body has not decided that this is acceptable. In fact, my customized iGoogle homepage has a dynamic header consisting of a cityscape scene which is home to a monster who does various activities throughout the day and night. I log in at midday and he’s sweeping the city, I log in in the morning and he is taking a bath in the bay (I think the city is San Fransisco, but there is no Golden Gate bridge), late at night he battles a robot monster that looks like him. My point being that I just pulled it up to get to Google Docs and he was still fast asleep. Oh, how I envy him.

I may envy the little red monster, but I’m not really complaining - I’ve actually really enjoyed and benefited a lot from getting up and writing every morning. I’m currently contemplating slowly getting up even earlier to add another hour or half an hour to my morning writing time.

Just so you all know, I write and post short stories up here to get feedback and comments. If you happen to take the time to read one of my stories, I would be grateful to have even a brief bit of feedback from you in the form of a comment (most appropriately commented on the actual story, not on this post, for example).

I don’t think that’s too much to ask. Anyone who undertakes any creative effort wants to know what other people think of their work. Even if the creative endeavor is something domestic like parenting or cooking, it feels good to know that someone else things you did a good job and it can be helpful if someone shares some constructive criticism to help you do better next time. The idea is not to learn and bow to the popular ideas, but to look for good advice and tips then decide which ones you’ll follow.

Of course, even if everyone reading my stuff is a deadbeat, at least I’m getting writing practice in. I think want I need is a dedicated writing partner, or at least one or two good friends who consistently read my work and provide feedback. I should place a wanted ad. Here’s how it could read:

WANTED: Writer seeking Reader

I am an aspiring writer seeking an avid reader to consistently and tirelessly read my ramblings and provide constructive criticism and feedback.

The applicant must be interested in a wide variety of subjects and be willing to tell the truth nicely. Even when the reading material is uninteresting, skimming will not be appreciated or helpful, and an objective view must be taken remembering that if the writer is interested there must be a reader somewhere who is interested too.

Any interested in the job must be willing to work for free and commit to a longterm relationship that is only as deep as the words on the page. Of course, if the applicant already enjoys another relationship with the writer this job would only add another dimension to our interactions.

If you are interested respond via any means possible to discuss the terms of your surrender, er, um, terms of your voluntary service.

Of course, even personals need to be shorter than that, I think. If I were to really post such an ad, I can think of at least three or four really great friends of mine who I would hope to have respond and commit.

While I suppose the above ad is hypothetical and, to a certain extent, in jest, it would be nice to know that someone is always going to provide me with thoughtful responses to my ideas. I usually feel like I’m in the dark about what people think of me as a person, at the very least I would like to know what they think of my writing.

Wow, last of all, I’d just like to add that I’m not as desperate, depressed or negative as it may seem. I’m going through a transitional stage right now where my body is mad and grumpy about getting up in the morning and my heart is asking if it’s even worth it to write. Deep down, I know I have to write. When I’m not writing enough, it shows in my daily life. So regardless of what you or anyone else thinks, I’m going to write. It’s not about getting feedback or being happy about waking up early, it’s about fulfilling my need to express myself and get words together to tell stories and share ideas.

Right. Now I’m going to work on some fiction or something.