I've been looking for new words I'm unfamiliar with to add to the next short story or novel. For instance, zeitgeist. It just sounds cool. I had no idea what it meant when I first heard it, so I had to look it up.
zeitgeist - the spirit of the time; the spirit characteristic of an age or generation
Now to find some way to use it. I love the word ointment too. It just has a funny ring to it along with the possibility the use may invoke some uncomfortable response from the reader.
He applied the ointment to the infected area hoping the rash would clear up before his date.
Here's another one just heard from KBJaxx in a response to this blog: bemoan. It's not a new word to me, I mean I've heard it before, but it's one of those words you don't hear too often and frankly I just forgot it even existed.
bemoan - regret strongly.
I've got to find a place to put that one. Slang words are fun too. A co-worker told me I needed to use this in my next book
'rug' - slang for the combination of a redneck and a thug.
I don't think anyone would get it unless you were able to explain the slang to them, but it's funny.
I'd love to hear some interesting or funny words to add to my list. Let me know what ya' got.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Christmas Lights Part 3
If you haven't read them, click on Part1 and Part 2.
As far as the bad stuff that happened, they were thankfully few and far between, but they played a major role in my decision to give myself a break from the show.
In the first year I had a group of drunk people show up with the radio blasting and the windows open. I had heard a few loud radios and usually they toned it down after a bit, but when I could hear my neighbor yelling at them to turn it down, I decided to investigate. They wouldn't listen to reason and said they could listen to it as loud as they wanted. I didn' t argue with them, just went inside, locked the doors and shut the show off. After about 15 minutes they got the hint and left.
Then there was the neighborhood teenager in the beat up truck. This kid really scared me. He was probably irritated at the traffic I created and having little or no patience, would come barrelling round the corner with his hand pressed constantly on the horn. He never stopped or slowed down and narrowly missed some car doors. What scared me the most about this was people would be out of their cars with their little ones, standing in the street watching the show and he would never even slow down. I tried stopping him a few times, but he ignored me. I was on my way to talk to him one day and my wife stopped me. "You're just going to get yourself thrown in jail. Just leave it alone." She was right. I just did my best to warn people about it when I heard his loud exhaust fire up. Luckily last year he never was an issue. I believe he was away at school. Thank God!
The second year was going well and I thought it was going to be uneventful, but as the crowds increased, people's patience decreased and I thought some folks were going to duke it out. They would get angry because a car's lights were blinding them and they would start yelling, or some car was in the middle of the road and wouldn't let anyone around them. Somebody even turned a different radio station on and then turned it all the way up.
This was supposed to make people happy not create anger and angst.
Then the software malfunctioned one night while I was at work. It kept playing the intro over and over again, never moving past it. I was getting e-mails on my phone at work and then my wife called in a panic. I tried to troubleshoot it with her over the phone, but we couldn't get it worked out so I had her shut it down for the night. The next day I had 20 to 30 nasty e-mails from people. I had a hard time NOT writing them back asking for an address so I could send them a refund. Sheesh!
But the straw that broke the camels back came at the end of the season when I made a huge error disassembling the Mega Tree. I somehow got the strings of lights all tangled (144 strings to be exact) and I ended up with a giant ball of lights. I had to throw away almost a $1000.00 worth of lights. I couldn't afford to replace them. At that moment it just wasn't worth it to me. I was so angry at myself I vowed to never do the show again.
Needless to say, I've had somewhat of a change of heart. I miss it this year and I've had a few little ones very upset at me. I'll give it a rest this season and since I haven't sold anything yet, decide over the course of the next year if I want to do it again. I'm leaning towards yes. We'll see.
If you'd like to watch some videos of the show from years past, you can find them here.
Merry Christmas!!
Rich
As far as the bad stuff that happened, they were thankfully few and far between, but they played a major role in my decision to give myself a break from the show.
In the first year I had a group of drunk people show up with the radio blasting and the windows open. I had heard a few loud radios and usually they toned it down after a bit, but when I could hear my neighbor yelling at them to turn it down, I decided to investigate. They wouldn't listen to reason and said they could listen to it as loud as they wanted. I didn' t argue with them, just went inside, locked the doors and shut the show off. After about 15 minutes they got the hint and left.
Then there was the neighborhood teenager in the beat up truck. This kid really scared me. He was probably irritated at the traffic I created and having little or no patience, would come barrelling round the corner with his hand pressed constantly on the horn. He never stopped or slowed down and narrowly missed some car doors. What scared me the most about this was people would be out of their cars with their little ones, standing in the street watching the show and he would never even slow down. I tried stopping him a few times, but he ignored me. I was on my way to talk to him one day and my wife stopped me. "You're just going to get yourself thrown in jail. Just leave it alone." She was right. I just did my best to warn people about it when I heard his loud exhaust fire up. Luckily last year he never was an issue. I believe he was away at school. Thank God!
The second year was going well and I thought it was going to be uneventful, but as the crowds increased, people's patience decreased and I thought some folks were going to duke it out. They would get angry because a car's lights were blinding them and they would start yelling, or some car was in the middle of the road and wouldn't let anyone around them. Somebody even turned a different radio station on and then turned it all the way up.
This was supposed to make people happy not create anger and angst.
Then the software malfunctioned one night while I was at work. It kept playing the intro over and over again, never moving past it. I was getting e-mails on my phone at work and then my wife called in a panic. I tried to troubleshoot it with her over the phone, but we couldn't get it worked out so I had her shut it down for the night. The next day I had 20 to 30 nasty e-mails from people. I had a hard time NOT writing them back asking for an address so I could send them a refund. Sheesh!
But the straw that broke the camels back came at the end of the season when I made a huge error disassembling the Mega Tree. I somehow got the strings of lights all tangled (144 strings to be exact) and I ended up with a giant ball of lights. I had to throw away almost a $1000.00 worth of lights. I couldn't afford to replace them. At that moment it just wasn't worth it to me. I was so angry at myself I vowed to never do the show again.
Needless to say, I've had somewhat of a change of heart. I miss it this year and I've had a few little ones very upset at me. I'll give it a rest this season and since I haven't sold anything yet, decide over the course of the next year if I want to do it again. I'm leaning towards yes. We'll see.
If you'd like to watch some videos of the show from years past, you can find them here.
Merry Christmas!!
Rich
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Christmas Lights Part 2
If you didn't read part 1, you'll find it here.
The night I turned them on for the first time, I stood in the street with this huge grin on my face. After all the planning, building, programming and setting up, it actually worked! A few little tweaks needed to be adjusted, like one of the arches was leaping backwards and some of the bushes weren't lighting up correctly, but 15 minutes later, everything was running perfect. Now to wait for my audience. Nobody came. Ha!
It took a couple of nights, but people eventually started stopping and wondering why all the lights were blinking on and off in a pattern that didn't seem random. Some folks didn't realize they were synchronized to music since I had the songs broadcast through an FM transmitter so the neighbors wouldn't have to listen to speakers blaring all the time. When I pointed out the lit up sign displaying the correct FM channel, they got it and then you would see their faces light up. Sure was a lot better with the music, they would say.
As the holiday season progressed that first year, people would tell other people and they would e-mail their friends who would facebook somebody else and pretty soon I was having crowds of folks all just from word of mouth. I didn't want to be on the news or in the paper, so I didn't solicit any of that, and as it turned out, I really didn't need any advertising. By the week of Christmas, cars were wrapped around the block from 7:30 until 9:30. I started to get concerned. Maybe it was going to get out of hand. Luckily it never did.
The good things about that first year were numerous. The neighbors didn't seem to mind (at least they didn't tell me), everyone who saw it loved it, people for the most part were well behaved with the exception of a few I'll mention in a moment, people would clap when they would see me walking around the display, attending to some minor maintenance or checking wiring and set-up. On Luminary night, I received numerous standing ovations and even one, "I'm gonna do this next year." I tried to warn the fellow about what he was getting into, but he didn't seem to care. I still don't know if he ever followed through or not.
I even had one couple send me a Christmas card with money in it to help pay for the electric bill. That floored me. But the thing that touched me the most was the little 5 year old girl who insisted on giving my wife $5.00 of her allowance so we would keep doing it every year. Her parents wouldn't take the money back and said it was what she wanted to do. These are the ones that make my decision not to do the show this year regrettable. I'm sure I've let some people down.
Tomorrow, in part 3, the bad things that have happened.
The night I turned them on for the first time, I stood in the street with this huge grin on my face. After all the planning, building, programming and setting up, it actually worked! A few little tweaks needed to be adjusted, like one of the arches was leaping backwards and some of the bushes weren't lighting up correctly, but 15 minutes later, everything was running perfect. Now to wait for my audience. Nobody came. Ha!
It took a couple of nights, but people eventually started stopping and wondering why all the lights were blinking on and off in a pattern that didn't seem random. Some folks didn't realize they were synchronized to music since I had the songs broadcast through an FM transmitter so the neighbors wouldn't have to listen to speakers blaring all the time. When I pointed out the lit up sign displaying the correct FM channel, they got it and then you would see their faces light up. Sure was a lot better with the music, they would say.
As the holiday season progressed that first year, people would tell other people and they would e-mail their friends who would facebook somebody else and pretty soon I was having crowds of folks all just from word of mouth. I didn't want to be on the news or in the paper, so I didn't solicit any of that, and as it turned out, I really didn't need any advertising. By the week of Christmas, cars were wrapped around the block from 7:30 until 9:30. I started to get concerned. Maybe it was going to get out of hand. Luckily it never did.
The good things about that first year were numerous. The neighbors didn't seem to mind (at least they didn't tell me), everyone who saw it loved it, people for the most part were well behaved with the exception of a few I'll mention in a moment, people would clap when they would see me walking around the display, attending to some minor maintenance or checking wiring and set-up. On Luminary night, I received numerous standing ovations and even one, "I'm gonna do this next year." I tried to warn the fellow about what he was getting into, but he didn't seem to care. I still don't know if he ever followed through or not.
I even had one couple send me a Christmas card with money in it to help pay for the electric bill. That floored me. But the thing that touched me the most was the little 5 year old girl who insisted on giving my wife $5.00 of her allowance so we would keep doing it every year. Her parents wouldn't take the money back and said it was what she wanted to do. These are the ones that make my decision not to do the show this year regrettable. I'm sure I've let some people down.
Tomorrow, in part 3, the bad things that have happened.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Christmas Lights Part 1
I finally came to my senses. Well, actually I needed a break. After only 2 years of the animated Christmas Light Show, I have successfully burned my self out. Don't get me wrong, it was fun to see it running and everyone who saw it raved about how cool it was, but man, it was a lot of work.
If any are not familiar with animated Christmas Lights, just google 'animated Christmas lights to music' and you'll see what I'm talking about. Some are spectacles in themselves. Behind the scenes, it takes quite a bit of planning and time to put a good show together.
My first year, I started thinking about it in January. I bought a lot of the equipment on sale in July and at that point had already decided what I was going to do and had begun practicing with a free limited version of the software that runs the show. Over the summer I built a lot of the pieces and spent countless hours soldering together the controller boxes that would send the signals from the computer to the actual lights. I bought controller kits and they took about 5 hours each to build.
The rest of the summer and fall was spent programming the music so the lights would turn on and off to the beat of the song. With each controller (8 of them) having 16 channels, that gave me 128 different things to turn on and off and I had to program each one for each song. It usually took about an hour to program about 15 seconds of a song. You get the idea.
I still remember having my littlest one operate the drill as we spun lights onto PVC pipe to make the leaping arches. She said she had fun, but I could tell she was sick of it after only two.
Set-up started the day after Halloween and the next three weeks I spent every waking hour that I wasn't at work, putting it all together. I did not exist in my family that year during that time period. No one saw me the whole buildup to Thanksgiving which was my target date for the show to start. You can probably figure how that went over with the family. Obsessed was a term I heard a lot.
Tomorrow part 2.
If any are not familiar with animated Christmas Lights, just google 'animated Christmas lights to music' and you'll see what I'm talking about. Some are spectacles in themselves. Behind the scenes, it takes quite a bit of planning and time to put a good show together.
My first year, I started thinking about it in January. I bought a lot of the equipment on sale in July and at that point had already decided what I was going to do and had begun practicing with a free limited version of the software that runs the show. Over the summer I built a lot of the pieces and spent countless hours soldering together the controller boxes that would send the signals from the computer to the actual lights. I bought controller kits and they took about 5 hours each to build.
The rest of the summer and fall was spent programming the music so the lights would turn on and off to the beat of the song. With each controller (8 of them) having 16 channels, that gave me 128 different things to turn on and off and I had to program each one for each song. It usually took about an hour to program about 15 seconds of a song. You get the idea.
I still remember having my littlest one operate the drill as we spun lights onto PVC pipe to make the leaping arches. She said she had fun, but I could tell she was sick of it after only two.
Set-up started the day after Halloween and the next three weeks I spent every waking hour that I wasn't at work, putting it all together. I did not exist in my family that year during that time period. No one saw me the whole buildup to Thanksgiving which was my target date for the show to start. You can probably figure how that went over with the family. Obsessed was a term I heard a lot.
Tomorrow part 2.
Friday, December 3, 2010
My Dog Snores
My dog snores. She hasn't always done this, but as she's gotten older it seems to worsen by the day. I mean sometimes it's so loud it drowns out the TV. I could fall asleep in front of the TV and wake 20 minutes later from her snoring. When she walks or runs, she oinks now like a pig and that in itself is somewhat humorous, but when she sits in front of you, staring at your food and snoring at it while she is wide awake, even I crack up.
My Dad had a ukulele when we were kids. If you've never seen one, it's like a baby guitar but with only four nylon strings. You tuned it by singing these four words: My Dog Has Fleas. Now, when you look at those four words it's hard to imagine tuning an instrument to them, but if you heard how they were sung just once, you would never forget. It always worked.
If I could just use that theory on my dog I might be able to make her snoring just a little more pleasing to the ear: My Dog Snores Loud. You know...tune her up or something.
Anybody else out there have pets or animals that make uncharacteristic noises? Love to hear about it.
My Dad had a ukulele when we were kids. If you've never seen one, it's like a baby guitar but with only four nylon strings. You tuned it by singing these four words: My Dog Has Fleas. Now, when you look at those four words it's hard to imagine tuning an instrument to them, but if you heard how they were sung just once, you would never forget. It always worked.
If I could just use that theory on my dog I might be able to make her snoring just a little more pleasing to the ear: My Dog Snores Loud. You know...tune her up or something.
Anybody else out there have pets or animals that make uncharacteristic noises? Love to hear about it.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
I'm scared
I saw this post on Facebook the other day:
"I'm scared."
That was it. Two words. Maybe if you say it fast enough, one word..."I'mScared." The response was phenomenal. Comments were being left, left and right (or right and left if you're right handed):
"What's wrong?" "Why?" "Who scared you? I'll kick their ass!" "???" and the best, "I had a scar once too, but I put some cream on it and it slowly faded away."
And then there were the 'likes'. 42 people liked this! What the F? Did these 42 people know the reason this person was scared? Did they care? Or did they just click on the 'like' button by mistake. I did that once when a friend of mine made some depressing comment about their dog Gigi dying after 15 long, blissful years in the family. I couldn't figure out how to cancel it. I'm down one friend now.
This went on for a whole day and this person never explained what he/she meant by "I'm scared." Silence on their part and this made it worse. It drove people nuts so they just started making shit up:
"I heard he/she came out of the closet." "Maybe the dog became violent." "Carnies scare me!" "Can I come over and hold you?" "I had herpes once. Scared the crap out of me too!" "Cabbage juice is good for your stomach. Keeps everything flowing."
Those two terrifying words had created panic and bedlam among this person's 'friends' and if somebody didn't give them some information soon, they were going to shut the website down!
The next day, this person posted on their wall "Oops! My bad! I meant 'I'm seared'. I'm fried... I got super sunburned at the beach. Sorry."
Sheesh!!! Tomorrow I'm gonna' try it. I'll put:
"I'm worried." instead of "I'm hurried." Or "I'm late." instead of "I'm lame." Or "I've got ointment." instead of "I've got appointments."
Be careful what you type, it might just lead to embellishment...I mean embarrassment.
"I'm scared."
That was it. Two words. Maybe if you say it fast enough, one word..."I'mScared." The response was phenomenal. Comments were being left, left and right (or right and left if you're right handed):
"What's wrong?" "Why?" "Who scared you? I'll kick their ass!" "???" and the best, "I had a scar once too, but I put some cream on it and it slowly faded away."
And then there were the 'likes'. 42 people liked this! What the F? Did these 42 people know the reason this person was scared? Did they care? Or did they just click on the 'like' button by mistake. I did that once when a friend of mine made some depressing comment about their dog Gigi dying after 15 long, blissful years in the family. I couldn't figure out how to cancel it. I'm down one friend now.
This went on for a whole day and this person never explained what he/she meant by "I'm scared." Silence on their part and this made it worse. It drove people nuts so they just started making shit up:
"I heard he/she came out of the closet." "Maybe the dog became violent." "Carnies scare me!" "Can I come over and hold you?" "I had herpes once. Scared the crap out of me too!" "Cabbage juice is good for your stomach. Keeps everything flowing."
Those two terrifying words had created panic and bedlam among this person's 'friends' and if somebody didn't give them some information soon, they were going to shut the website down!
The next day, this person posted on their wall "Oops! My bad! I meant 'I'm seared'. I'm fried... I got super sunburned at the beach. Sorry."
Sheesh!!! Tomorrow I'm gonna' try it. I'll put:
"I'm worried." instead of "I'm hurried." Or "I'm late." instead of "I'm lame." Or "I've got ointment." instead of "I've got appointments."
Be careful what you type, it might just lead to embellishment...I mean embarrassment.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Deadlines
I decided to impose upon myself a few deadlines, this blog being one of them. I wanted to see if I could write something everyday for 30 days. Today I'm going to cheat a little. I wrote something so now I'm done. Oh...alright, never mind.
All of us have deadlines. Just the other day, I needed to pay a certain bill by a certain date, so I wrote a check (people still use these things?) put it in an envelope, licked it, put a stamp on it, and mailed it. Pretty simple. I still hate it. I'm somewhat of a procrastinator and If I can let it go, I will. For some reason, when somebody imposes a deadline on me, I take it as a personal assault on my time. A demand for attention I'm unwilling to give. A violent thrust of a wickedly sharp knife slicing into the guts of my existence.
Ok...it's not really that bad. I just put stuff off sometimes and then forget about it until I either have to rush around to finish the task or realize no amount of hurrying will complete it on time and I must be satisfied with it being late. There are a few exceptions to this basic flaw of mine, but for the most part, putting stuff off has become an art form for me. Let me give you an example:
Never mind...I'll think of one tomorrow.
Most writers deal with deadlines all the time. Whether you write for a newspaper, magazine, or blog, you are usually required to have a completed, polished, article ready by a certain time and date or risk having your work passed over or at the worst, losing your job. Popular fiction writers are usually no different. They must adhere to deadlines dealt them by their publishers and are usually paid in advance for work expected within a certain timeline. Thus, I'm practicing for when I'm cool and popular (if ever). If some future publisher wants me to hand in to them 500,000 words of polished material by Christmas Eve, dammit I want to be ready.
Or at least close. Maybe by Christmas day. Wait....that's a holiday so...the day after Christmas. Whatever.
All of us have deadlines. Just the other day, I needed to pay a certain bill by a certain date, so I wrote a check (people still use these things?) put it in an envelope, licked it, put a stamp on it, and mailed it. Pretty simple. I still hate it. I'm somewhat of a procrastinator and If I can let it go, I will. For some reason, when somebody imposes a deadline on me, I take it as a personal assault on my time. A demand for attention I'm unwilling to give. A violent thrust of a wickedly sharp knife slicing into the guts of my existence.
Ok...it's not really that bad. I just put stuff off sometimes and then forget about it until I either have to rush around to finish the task or realize no amount of hurrying will complete it on time and I must be satisfied with it being late. There are a few exceptions to this basic flaw of mine, but for the most part, putting stuff off has become an art form for me. Let me give you an example:
Never mind...I'll think of one tomorrow.
Most writers deal with deadlines all the time. Whether you write for a newspaper, magazine, or blog, you are usually required to have a completed, polished, article ready by a certain time and date or risk having your work passed over or at the worst, losing your job. Popular fiction writers are usually no different. They must adhere to deadlines dealt them by their publishers and are usually paid in advance for work expected within a certain timeline. Thus, I'm practicing for when I'm cool and popular (if ever). If some future publisher wants me to hand in to them 500,000 words of polished material by Christmas Eve, dammit I want to be ready.
Or at least close. Maybe by Christmas day. Wait....that's a holiday so...the day after Christmas. Whatever.