The REF’s are BACK!

GOD I LOVE FOOTBALL!   My wife lucked out that I am not one of these guys that is obsessed with sports, sports trivia, who follows every sport, knows the stats of all the players, and goes into withdrawal if there isn’t something with sports on the radio or television. I do not enjoy going to the CHIEFS games at Arrowhead Stadium as I have a much better and cheaper seat at home in my living room.  If you never have experienced a game at Arrowhead Stadium it is something to behold at least once in your life.  Kansas City is famous for tail gating and Barbeque, so the magnificent array of food and barbeque you could encounter in the parking lot before the game will blow you away.  The Chiefs may have their ups...

Read more »

Posted in: Football Ref's Chiefs Armies Companies Players elements aspects back

Don’t Bullshit A Fiction Writer

I should have known in High School when I convinced a kid, that a guy in my neighborhood had Reindeer that he kept in his backyard because he trained them to fly for Santa Claus that I would someday end up as a writer.  I never had a clue!  My BS meter has always been stuck in overdrive as being able to spot it and never missing an opportunity to mess with somebody with some wild tall tale. I remember being told all the time to pay attention and quit day dreaming, and I am so glad I never listened to them or stopped fantasizing about crazy what if scenarios.  Looking back I am sure I was paying attention, probably more so than most people.  I think that is one of the premier traits of a writer and storyteller, is...

Read more »

Posted in: Reindeer Bullshit Fiction Writers Research tidbits thinkers Google Wikipedia Encyclopedia Writing Information

Literary Stephen King History Tidbit

In 1996, on September 24, author Stephen King, released two new novels at once.  The first, “Desperation,” was released under Mr. King’s name, while the second one, “The Regulators,” was published under his pseudonym, or pen name, Richard Bachman. King’s first book “Carrie” was sold to Doubleday for $2,500 and the paperback rights a few months later earned $420,000.  He has been a prolific writer from the start with six novels being credited to and published under the name Richard Bachman. Mr. King’s books have sold more than three hundred million copie...

Read more »

Posted in: Stephen King Richard Bachman Desperation Regulators Carrie author writer

Red Flashlight Lens Covers and Laser Blips

When you bore sight the main gun of a tank it dialing in the actual direction the main gun tube is aiming and the targeting lasers that the tank uses.  To do this you use a laser which literally gets mounted into the gun tube of the tank, so the gunner can adjust his gun sights to the spot on a giant white target created by the laser in the gun.  What the gunner sees all day while doing this exercise is a red dot on a white back ground when they hit the button on the targeting laser. One tiny part of tank training is teaching young officers how to bore sight their tank and adjust the gun sights accordingly. It just so happened that our unit had ordered that nobody use the red flash light lens covers on their flashlights anymore...

Read more »

Posted in: bore sight PFC Lieutenant Sergeant M1 Abrams tank service blips laser reload

Elements of the Greatest Stories

Your book, your story, your baby, is as much about how you tell (Write) the story as it is about the elements of the story itself.  Let me explain. First and foremost is the story elements – But Rarely do you come across that tremendous story that must be told and almost everybody would enjoy some aspect of hearing (Reading) it. Secondly, since most stories are not tremendous masterpieces in themselves, it is just as important in how you tell a story as to how interesting it comes across.  There are many good stories which could easily be slid over to the great category just in revising how it is presented, written or told. Readers know when they are reading a good story.  It will grab them, hook them, suck them into...

Read more »

Posted in: Great Stories Write Plot Climaxes Readers Puzzling

Luscious Life, Fantasy and Escapism

Life is Tantamount to Marvelous, Tumultuous, Sumptuous, Wonderful, and Magical. Your daily life, your day, Today, is what you make it.  It is what you accept it to be. You are exactly where you should be based off your life decisions, education, training, environment, and the daily choices that collectively make up who you are. If you don’t think rich people have problems you’re delusional. They may be dressed nicer and have more serene surroundings but they have problems, even money problems, except theirs have more zeros involved.  Money doesn’t fix anything!  You can’t buy happiness, so if you’re miserable now you will still be miserable if you were rich. Everybody has problems with money, relationships,...

Read more »

Posted in: marvelous Tumultuous Sumptuous Wonderful Magical Fantasy Escape Problems fiction day dream candle music happy

You might be a Writer

I have written about many aspects of writing through the various posts on this blog.  I have also mentioned these blog posts are my warm up for writing for the day.  It’s kind of a mental stretching exercise. Today the history calendar on my desk is about how the Washington Post published a thirty-five thousand word manifesto by the Unibomber on this day in History, Sept. 19, 1995. It goes on to explain about his extended reign of terror that started in the late seventies and continued until April of 1996 when he was apprehended at his remote home in Lincoln, Montana.  He is serving out his four life sentences without the possibility of parole in the supermax federal prison in Florence, Colorado. When I read...

Read more »

Posted in: Day Dream Writer criminal Hitler Ted Kaczynski Unibomber ideas story

Conversations and Cleaning the Bikes

My first motorcycle was a mint condition 1976 CB750 Four with the four cylinders straight across. I was given the bike from a motorcycle shop I did the accounting books for around 1990 in lieu of payment for services rendered when the shop closed up.  Subsequently, the Honda was flipped into the grass later that same year and the top of the handle bars were smashed up and the rear fender and light.  I have kept it all these years in the hopes of rebuilding her and riding on it just one more time.  It’s way too tall for me as I only have a 29 inch inseam, meaning I have short legs for a person of five foot eight inches tall. Since that time another 76 Honda CB750 Four was purchased by my daughter’s boyfriend with the...

Read more »

Posted in: Honda CB750 Four Kawasaki Vulcan 800 Garth Hayden motorcycle riding

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

While doing research for my post yesterday about my irrational fear of Flying Monkeys, I was surprised by what I learned about the story of the “The Wizard of Oz.” So today I am going to share some of the information I uncovered about the book, the story, and the movie. “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” is a children’s novel written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W.W. Denslow.  It was originally published by the George M. Hill Company in Chicago on May 17, 1900.  This is a picture of the front cover of the book. In a letter to his brother Harry, Baum wrote that the book's publisher, George M. Hill, predicted a sale of about 250,000 copies.  In spite of this favorable conjecture, Hill did not initially predict the...

Read more »

Posted in: Wonderful Wizard Oz Land Witch Franco James Gone With the Wind Baum Denslow

Fear, Trauma and Flying Monkeys

When studying aspects of fear you will find it is classified into two categories the Rational and Irrational.  It can be classified into countless Phobias in the context of clinical psychology, a type of anxiety disorder, usually defined as a persistent fear of an object or situation.  Although I could not find a specific phobia for flying monkeys, I think they should add that to the list as I am sure from doing research for this post that I am not alone, as others share this irrational fear along with me. I don’t have any fears that are to the level they are debilitating or hinder me from doing things.  I have a problem riding in closed up vehicles but it is subsiding as I get older.  I understand exactly where...

Read more »

Posted in: Phobias Fear Spiders closed spaces Flying Monkeys Oz Wizard rational irrational