Scheduled post is a great thing. It allows me to have posts even when I am away from a computer. (Except it didn't work . . . this was supposed to post while I was gone to Tahoe. Oops!)
In an upcoming post I will write about the new word I made up, pestimist. While I was pondering that word, I began to think that each of you probably have a word or two that's not in the dictionary, but belongs in the common vernacular.
You might have also noticed the Verbotomy link down at the bottom right on this page.
All of these things have culminated in my decision to proclaim a contest. I'll leave it open for a week or so. Send me your word and definition, either as a comment on this post or to my e-mail, akbob3@yahoo.com. I'll post all the words and definitions, and declare a winner. The prize won't be anything spectacular, maybe a stuffed penguin or some other item that I have previously posted about.
So what are they, fellow penguins? Send 'em in!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
On the Wander
Well my fellow penguins, I will be out of the service area for the next week or so. The bags are all packed, the truck is loaded and the kids are in bed with visions of sugar plums . . . wait, visions of camping dancing in their heads.
We are headed up to the Tahoe Family Encampment. This may be our first and last chance to enjoy this experience, so we are going to make the most of it. This will be our whole family's first camping experience that lasts more than a night or two.
No, it won't be a true camping experience because we will have access to electricity and showers, but it will involve real tents, cookstoves, coolers, etc. We do have to keep the food locked up so the bears don't get to it, so that seems to raise the level of campingness. This causes me to wonder, what defines camping versus a non-camping experience? Does it only count as camping if you are completely off the grid? How much can you bring with you? Does a pop-up tent trailer still qualify as camping? Help me out here, please.
P.S. I'll let you know how it goes when we get back!
We are headed up to the Tahoe Family Encampment. This may be our first and last chance to enjoy this experience, so we are going to make the most of it. This will be our whole family's first camping experience that lasts more than a night or two.
No, it won't be a true camping experience because we will have access to electricity and showers, but it will involve real tents, cookstoves, coolers, etc. We do have to keep the food locked up so the bears don't get to it, so that seems to raise the level of campingness. This causes me to wonder, what defines camping versus a non-camping experience? Does it only count as camping if you are completely off the grid? How much can you bring with you? Does a pop-up tent trailer still qualify as camping? Help me out here, please.
P.S. I'll let you know how it goes when we get back!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
The art of illusion
I wandered across a new website today that I thought I would share with you. It refreshed my sense of wonder. I have always enjoyed good illusions; be it on the silver screen (The Illusionist, The Prestige), the small screen (The Masked Magician, David Blaine, Penn and Teller, etc.), as well as artistic and optical illusions.
This new (to me) website (www.moillusions.com) has over 200 pages of various optical illusions; some animated, some still photos and some videos.
If you would like your sense of wonder restored, please check it out. DISCLAIMER: Not all of the material is suitable for children or discerning adults.
Below is one sample:
If you would like your sense of wonder restored, please check it out. DISCLAIMER: Not all of the material is suitable for children or discerning adults.
Below is one sample:
Peacock Brothers Illusion
July 18, 2010 by Vurdlak with 27 Comments
Old time viewers will probably experience some form of deja vu, but there is no harm repeating good stuff! Even the motive is a little different in today’s photo. So, how would you react if someone was trying to convince you that both of the peacocks in the painting below are exactly the same? I’m not talking about dimensions here, what I’m saying is that both of the peacocks are in the same color. Don’t believe me? Try expanding the solution below. Then you’ll see how this very same image looks like if we remove the background.
(26 votes)They are also on FB - search "Mighty Optical Illusions - Photography Fan Page." There is also an ap if you happen to have an I-phone or I-Pad or I-Pod touch. ENJOY!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
The Write Stuff
I've discovered something recently that I thought I would share with you. Those of you who have ever struggled to capture your thoughts in written word will probably recognize most of what I have to say, while those who have never attempted to write outside of a school assignment may gain a little insight.
Writing is hard work. When I was younger, it seemed as if stories and papers flowed effortlessly from my fingers, a magic that worked simply by wishing it to be so. Now, as I have had the opportunity to re-read some of my youthful works, I discover that while the writing might have seemed easy, it could have stood a great deal of editing. Much of it I now find juvenile. Perhaps that is the hallmark of a mature writer, the ability to recognize that a first or second draft does not have the polish, the flair, the presentation that a carefully worked, well reviewed and edited final draft can have. Do I still have moments when the creative juices flow and the story crafts itself on the screen as fast as my fumble fingers can type? Yes indeed, I do. However, those moments are few and far between and usually occur late at night when I should be sleeping. When I set down with the intention of writing, I no longer have access to the ease that once was there. Maybe I'm just out of practice?
I, use, too many, commas! I wonder if it's because so often in our daily conversations that we speak in great run-on sentences and my writing merely reflects that? Or is it simply that I learned to love the comma and my mind subconsciously structures sentences so that they must be included? I don't know. I have made great efforts in editing to decrease the comma content of my writings, but still find one or two in nearly every sentence. At this rate I will wear out the comma key faster than I will the period!
Thirdly, characters do not always speak. I have often heard writers say that" the story practically writes itself," that "the characters tell me what to write." I hereby cry hogwash and hooey hokum. I have been working with some of the characters in my stories for over 15 years, and while I have a general idea of how they might phrase something, especially in a peculiar situation, there are often great parts of recorded conversation that are not so clear. No matter how often I reread my manuscript, I find myself revising a word here, a sentence there, so that the characters voice becomes clearer and truer.
Point number next, character development is hard. I have never been one to write much beyond a few pages, so I have managed to avoid this task for the most part. I've found that developing the characters in a story is much like getting to know a group of people. First impressions are easy, and often vague. As you spend more time with them, you begin to notice complexities, subtleties and nuances that make them distinct from every other ex-soldier turned farmer you might have met in the past. Finding a way to convey those distinctions in the written word in a way that is both insightful and retains the reader's interest, that's hard.
All that being said, I still really enjoy writing. It allows me to spend time with people I really like, and people that I (mostly) have control over, which appeals to my OCD tendencies. I have the privilege of seeing them grow and develop as people, almost like watching children, but with less whining and dirty diapers!
I am coming to the conclusion that I will probably never make it as a published author, or a professional writer. Yes, I will continue my feeble efforts as a blogger, and as a novelist. Someday, maybe, it will all come together. In the meantime, please bear with me as I learn and grow.
Writing is hard work. When I was younger, it seemed as if stories and papers flowed effortlessly from my fingers, a magic that worked simply by wishing it to be so. Now, as I have had the opportunity to re-read some of my youthful works, I discover that while the writing might have seemed easy, it could have stood a great deal of editing. Much of it I now find juvenile. Perhaps that is the hallmark of a mature writer, the ability to recognize that a first or second draft does not have the polish, the flair, the presentation that a carefully worked, well reviewed and edited final draft can have. Do I still have moments when the creative juices flow and the story crafts itself on the screen as fast as my fumble fingers can type? Yes indeed, I do. However, those moments are few and far between and usually occur late at night when I should be sleeping. When I set down with the intention of writing, I no longer have access to the ease that once was there. Maybe I'm just out of practice?
I, use, too many, commas! I wonder if it's because so often in our daily conversations that we speak in great run-on sentences and my writing merely reflects that? Or is it simply that I learned to love the comma and my mind subconsciously structures sentences so that they must be included? I don't know. I have made great efforts in editing to decrease the comma content of my writings, but still find one or two in nearly every sentence. At this rate I will wear out the comma key faster than I will the period!
Thirdly, characters do not always speak. I have often heard writers say that" the story practically writes itself," that "the characters tell me what to write." I hereby cry hogwash and hooey hokum. I have been working with some of the characters in my stories for over 15 years, and while I have a general idea of how they might phrase something, especially in a peculiar situation, there are often great parts of recorded conversation that are not so clear. No matter how often I reread my manuscript, I find myself revising a word here, a sentence there, so that the characters voice becomes clearer and truer.
Point number next, character development is hard. I have never been one to write much beyond a few pages, so I have managed to avoid this task for the most part. I've found that developing the characters in a story is much like getting to know a group of people. First impressions are easy, and often vague. As you spend more time with them, you begin to notice complexities, subtleties and nuances that make them distinct from every other ex-soldier turned farmer you might have met in the past. Finding a way to convey those distinctions in the written word in a way that is both insightful and retains the reader's interest, that's hard.
All that being said, I still really enjoy writing. It allows me to spend time with people I really like, and people that I (mostly) have control over, which appeals to my OCD tendencies. I have the privilege of seeing them grow and develop as people, almost like watching children, but with less whining and dirty diapers!
I am coming to the conclusion that I will probably never make it as a published author, or a professional writer. Yes, I will continue my feeble efforts as a blogger, and as a novelist. Someday, maybe, it will all come together. In the meantime, please bear with me as I learn and grow.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Things I have learned about gardening this summer!
Growing up, I had the "opportunity" to spend a lot of time helping my parents with the garden. For those of you a little less enlightened on what gardening in Alaska entails, allow me to dispel your ignorance. This was what I learned about gardening growing up.
1. Till the garden whilst the soil is still slightly frozen.
2. Plant the potatoes, carrots and other vegetables in the still extremely cold soil.
3. Water, hoe and pick weeds for hours almost daily all summer long.
4. Harvest the crop after the first frost. This entails pulling up each slimy potato plant and grubbing in the cold dirt for each and every potatoe.
5. Store the harvest in burlap bags and canning jars.
6. Repeat on a yearly basis.
I thought I knew about gardening because of my educational childhood. How wrong I was. Following is a list of what I have learned about gardening this summer.
1. Tomatoes require lots of room, much greater than one square foot per plant than we allotted. The plants have escaped the garden box and become creepers, extending over an area almost as big as we gave them in the garden box.
2. They also require cages to support them, not stakes. Our current tomato plants look like a massive tangle of vines. I have been through the jungles of Ghana, the underbrush of the Alaskan bush, the forests of Missouri and Arkansas and I have never seen such a dense growth of plants.
3. Fresh garden dirt is an invitation for burrowing animals. We seem to have a critter who has made our garden box his home. I counted 8 tunnel openings the other day.
4. Burrowing animals like zucchini! Our first zucchini was found half eaten, resting nibbled side down at the edge of a tunnel opening.
5. This burrower also likes zucchini blossoms, the tender ends of zucchini plants, and pepper plants.
6. He doesn't seem to like tomatoes, tomato plants, cucumbers or their plants, or radishes.
7. There must be a trick to growing straight cucumbers. The two we have harvested make politicians look like straight arrows.
8. Not all tomatoes are tomato shaped. We apparently got an heirloom tomato plant which is producing ridged tomatoes, which a quick google search informs me are termed oblate. How bizarre!
That is all I've learned so far. As the summer is far from over, I am sure I will learn many more things. Any one else have gardening insights they would care to share?
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Softball
My bubble is burst. I guess I am officially the old guy now. I knew some hairs were falling out, and that those remaining were turning gray, but I still feel young. I had an experience today that served as official confirmation of my status as old.
I signed up to play softball on a team one of the high schoolers at church was getting together. I went to my first practice tonight. I knew I was older than the other kids on the team, but didn't realize how much older until one of them was complaining. His comment was that he was "getting too old for this." One of the other guys pointed out that he was only seventeen. And that's when I realized I am twice as old as he is. So not only am I older than the rest of the players, but twice as old.
I have never been the old guy. And I realize I'm not that old, but still. Twice as old as a high school graduate? I would argue that there is a mistake in the math somewhere, but my kids are happy to point out my wrinkles and balding spot, so I guess maybe I am the old guy.
One good thing came of this incident though. When I mentioned I was twice his age, the kid looked shocked. I said I still look awfully young, AND HE AGREED WITH ME! I don't think he was quick enough to come up with a lie on the fly, so I think he really thought I looked younger than I am.
Am I just an over-the-hill ex-jock trying to relive the glory days of his youth? Absolutely not. I was never a jock, and from where I stand the hill is still going up. Am I enjoying the chance to play with the kids again? Absolutely.
They say you are only as old as you feel, and I feel fine. But I better go take some tylenol and ice my knee, or I may feel a lot older in the morning!
I signed up to play softball on a team one of the high schoolers at church was getting together. I went to my first practice tonight. I knew I was older than the other kids on the team, but didn't realize how much older until one of them was complaining. His comment was that he was "getting too old for this." One of the other guys pointed out that he was only seventeen. And that's when I realized I am twice as old as he is. So not only am I older than the rest of the players, but twice as old.
I have never been the old guy. And I realize I'm not that old, but still. Twice as old as a high school graduate? I would argue that there is a mistake in the math somewhere, but my kids are happy to point out my wrinkles and balding spot, so I guess maybe I am the old guy.
One good thing came of this incident though. When I mentioned I was twice his age, the kid looked shocked. I said I still look awfully young, AND HE AGREED WITH ME! I don't think he was quick enough to come up with a lie on the fly, so I think he really thought I looked younger than I am.
Am I just an over-the-hill ex-jock trying to relive the glory days of his youth? Absolutely not. I was never a jock, and from where I stand the hill is still going up. Am I enjoying the chance to play with the kids again? Absolutely.
They say you are only as old as you feel, and I feel fine. But I better go take some tylenol and ice my knee, or I may feel a lot older in the morning!
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