Is It Coffee Yet?

Forgiveness

September 30, 2009 in Digital Conspiracy, forgiveness, writing | Tags: coals of fire, Digital Conspiracy, forgiveness, Life, Lost, novel, writing | 20 comments

So, I guess since I’ve already typed the word Forgiveness in the Title field I’ll have to write about forgiveness…since I’ve already typed the Title field and all…and I would look pretty silly if I wrote about something else. And then, I want to write about forgiveness because I have to ask it of my readers, since I haven’t written for a bunch of weeks.

There are several definitions of forgive at dictionary.com. You can look at them if you want by clicking here. But here is the important one (paraphrased):

4. to cease to feel resentment against: to forgive one’s blogger.

I thought that one was particularly apropos – especially after I modified it. And I didn’t even need Photoshop.

I guess you may be more inclined to forgive me if I gave you a good excuse for not writing. But isn’t that an oxymoron? “Good Excuse”? I’m pretty sure my dad used to tell me that I was “making excuses” if I did the wrong thing and he was yelling at me. And I’m pretty sure I did that to @BaristaBro and @Peggerspregers when they were younger as well. So, therefore, if it’s an excuse it can’t be good, right?

So, what I’m going to do is give you a few reasons why I haven’t written. The first and least likely to elicit forgiveness: I didn’t feel like thinking that hard. Yep, I said it, it’s too much work. Another reason: I’ve been watching the show Lost from the very beginning on Hulu. Yeah, I got hooked on Lost. It gets pretty confusing at times, with the visions, dreams, flashbacks, flashforwards, dreams of flashbacks, visions of flashforwards, good guys, bad guys, good bad guys, bad good guys, good guys that were bad guys that are now good guys going bad….well, you get the picture. But it’s a pretty good show. And we don’t have cable or satellite TV (why should we, Hulu is free and has everything on it – disclaimer: I am not now nor have I ever been affiliated with Hulu.com ) and we can stream our shows to the 60″ projector with the xBox 360.

OK. Those have just been excuses. The real reason I haven’t blogged: I’ve been editing the final draft of Digital Conspiracy for my friend Patrick. It’s almost ready folks and I think it’s gonna be a winner. Chapter One has my character, Chance, rock climbing on 400 foot high Looking Glass Rock (you can see it in the image at the top of the page.) And yes, I’ve actually done that on several occasions. It’s been a few years (sadly, probably 10 or so.) But it’s still one of my favorite places in the world.

But I guess, as usual, I have digressed (I just love that word.) In all seriocity (how’s that word? Sounds real, doesn’t it?) I have to say, forgiveness is not really for the benefit of the one being forgiven. Forgiveness benefits the one doing the forgiving. That’s why refusing to forgive someone of something actually hurts you, not them.

So I’ll wrap this with one of my favorite verses about forgiveness.

“ If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Romans 12:20

Don’t you just love it? Forgiving your enemies is like heaping coals of fire on their heads! Mwahaha! That’s so much better than telling them you’ll never forgive them. Better for you, too!

Oh, yeah. One more thing. Forgiveness, like Love, is a decision, not a feeling or emotion. Decide to forgive and keep deciding to forgive and your feelings will follow along like a little puppy dog.

So, forgive me for not blogging. I’ll try to do better. Oops! I’ll do better. (“Try not, do or do not. There is no try.” ~Yoda~)

Coffee, coffee, coffee, capucheeeeeeno! ~Greg – Dante’s Peak~

To Shoot Or Not To Shoot

September 2, 2009 in Photography | Tags: cameras, Hamlet, King Richard, Photography, Shakespeare | 16 comments

That is the question.

A camera! a camera! my kingdom for a camera!

With a nod to Shakespeare, Hamlet and King Richard III.

Wow! That makes it sound like I read Shakespeare, doesn’t it? Well, they may have forced me to read Hamlet in college… Or maybe I just saw Mel Gibson one time, I don’t recall.

But that is how I feel sometimes. I want to shoot pictures, but I never seem to have my camera when I see something shoot-worthy. And when I do have my camera, it’s annoying trying to keep up with because it’s like a big rock. A rock with a strap…and a case, which actually makes it easier to carry than just a rock. But you get the idea. I think my friend Chris (@pbchris62) has the right idea. He goes driving purposely to take pics. That way he’s sure to have his camera when he sees something to shoot. He must close his eyes the rest of the time.

Yellowstone Prong - Graveyard Fields NC

I guess my love of shooting things goes back to my teen years. I wanted to produce a slide show of the creation story, complete with self-performed music and narration. I was shooting real slides. I used Kodachrome for you old school photographers out there (that name would make a great song wouldn’t it.) Hey, it was before Photoshop, PowerPoint, digital photography – even dirt, if you ask my kids. I never actually finished it (I seem to have to say that way too much), but I did shoot a LOT of landscape shots with an eye for keeping man-made objects out of the frame. Of course, living in the mountains of Western North Carolina made it pretty easy.

Back in the day, I had this awesome Minolta SLR with a bunch of lenses and accessories. I would shoot just about anything. But not weddings. I wouldn’t shoot weddings, because my shutter was so loud it sounded like I slammed a vault door shut. You know, one of those movie vault doors that are really deep and loud and continue reverberating for what seems to be hours? Just imagine the silence of the wedding vows pierced by KA-CHOONK-choonk-choonk-choonk (how’s that for onomatopoeia? How’s that for sounding well-educated?) Everyone turns and stares at me as I try to disappear (anyone who has seen me, knows that I am unlikely to disappear.) “Oh, I’m sorry, I just threw my camera through the wall.” It didn’t end well. That was my last wedding attempt.

Saluda River - Possum Kingdom SC

I primarily shot candids (they weren’t candid after the first shot), landscapes and nature. I tried shooting wildlife, but that daggum Minolta gave me away every time. But it had awesome lenses and I loved it so when it was time to buy a digital, I looked for a Minolta. In retrospect, I prefer Nikon, but since photography was only one of my several hobbies, I couldn’t justify the additional expense. I ended up with the Minolta DiMage 5 that I’ve had for years now. I like it, but, since I decided not to rant in this blog, I won’t to go on and on about the focus issue and the cost of getting it checked out (and not necessarily repaired.)

But anyway, I still shoot candids (ask some of the folks that I’ve surprised over the years), but I prefer landscapes. The shot of Looking Glass Rock at the top of this page is a portion of a panoramic that I shot a couple years ago. The Saluda River to the right was a cold January morning with fog hanging over the river. One of those times when I saw a great shot and actually had my camera with me. And the shot of Yellowstone Prong, was a backpacking trip that I actually carried the DiMage along (a lot less trouble than my old Minolta.) Someone once said “I’m not responsible for the beauty, only the recording of it.”

Well, I don’t shoot as much anymore because of the aforementioned focus issue (very annoying), so if any of my readers wants to give me a Nikon D90, that would be OK. I still carry around a small Fujitsu point and shoot, but it’s just not the same.

So, the coffee maker just made the gurgling sound that I love so much so I’m outta here!

Cats, Dogs and People

August 22, 2009 in Life | Tags: cats, dogs, enigmas, Fable II, german shepherd, types | 5 comments

Maybe I’m an enigma.

Maybe I don’t even know what enigma means, but I always wanted to say that. Wait, did I say that out loud?

I’ve been told that you can be either a cat person or a dog person but not both. Why can’t I be both? I wanna be both!

OK. I’ve decided I’m going to be both.

I suppose the dog person was born long ago when I was just a baby. My mother had a Boxer (Arno) that was her companion in Germany while my father was stationed there in the ’50s. My mom says Arno was more protective of me than she was. She would put me in the yard in my car carrier and Arno would lean against it and bark at the man mowing his lawn three doors down. I regret it, but I don’t remember him at all. I have seen pics, though, so I’m pretty sure mom isn’t lying. (Just kidding, mom. You don’t have Internet yet, but you will probably read this one day.)

Since then quite a few dogs have passed through our household. Some stand out in my mind. Others have receded. I guess the most prominent dog memory for me is Lonnie. He was born in 1979 and registered as Ludwig vom Windemere Wold. I’m told that means Wendy’s Woods in German. I haven’t had German since the 8th grade, so I’m not sure. That was too much of a mouthful anyway, so we just called him Lonnie. He just looked at you funny if you tried to call him Ludwig. Plus, he didn’t wear a powdered wig, so he didn’t look like a Ludwig.

But I digress (I’ve always wanted to say that, too.) Lonnie was a German Shepherd and a trained search and rescue dog. I trained him and searched and rescued with him. He went everywhere with me, including my office. It’s easy to take a dog along when he’s properly trained. (Oops! Didn’t mean to start moralizing.) We spent lots of hours in the mountain wilderness together. Practice searching, backpacking, he did it all. He was my friend and protector. He was awesome. He’s been gone many years. I want him back even more than my Fable II dog. And that’s quite a bit (ask any Fable II fan about their cool dog.) Oh, and for the uninitiated in the audience, Fable II is a video game. One of the few upon which I’m hooked. But that’s a blog for another day.

So I guess you would say I was a dog person first. Well, maybe YOU wouldn’t say that. At least, not out loud. Because then someone would think you were a little crazy or something, ya know, talking to yourself.

Did I digress again? Anyway, sometime soon after our wedding (1977) my BFF bride and I got a kitten. All you have to do is raise a cat from a kitten and you’ll be hooked. Yes, cats are independent and pretty much take care of themselves. No. they won’t come when called (well, maybe our cat Tai Lung is an exception to that.) No, they won’t meet you at the door, tongue out, tail wagging. But hold one close, rub it’s head, scratch it’s ears and listen to it’s quiet purr. There’s nothing like it. Until they poop behind the couch. BAM! How’s that for ruining a mental image.

Many cats have passed through our household. Current reigning queen of the household would be Callie. She was a gift to our daughter for her kindergarten graduation. Peggy (twitter: @peggerspregers) is now 21, so I guess that makes Callie about 15. She keeps all the other dogs and cats in line or runs away and sulks. She’s so emo.

Callie - Queen of the Manor

Fact is, as soon as I sit down, Callie comes and sits in my lap. Whether I want her to or not. Whether I try to get her to move or not. She just digs the old claws into my living tissue and holds on, daring me to move her. And when I finally get her talons out of my flesh, she runs away and sulks. Give her 30 minutes or so and she’ll be back to go through the whole process again. What can I say? She’s a sweetie.

So, can we agree that I’m an enigma? And not the kind of enigma that encodes/decodes messages? (That was for the history buffs that are reading.)

OK. I’m done for now. I’m definitely going to have to find more controversial subjects to write about. I was considering writing about stupid things people post on the (very public) Internet. We’ll see how that works out.

Now, where did I leave my cup?

Digital Conspiracy….

August 12, 2009 in Digital Conspiracy | Tags: conspiracy, ebay, guitars, novel, writing | 12 comments

Ha! I got you! I’ll bet you thought this post was going to be about some nefarious conspiracy afoot within the federal government replete with sleazy politicians, genius computer geeks with no life, moody self-deprecating protagonists, sex, drugs and rock and roll, didn’t you? But it’s actually about a novel by my BFF that’s about a nefarious conspiracy afoot within the federal government replete with sleazy politicians, genius computer geeks with no life, moody self-deprecating protagonists, sex, drugs and rock and roll. And, since my BFF is writing it, you’ve gotta know that the main protagonists are loosely based upon he and I. Very loosely. In fact, it’s so loosely that no one will recognize either one of us. They are actually based upon what he and I would like he and I to be like.

But anyway, it’s a fun story and I get to drive an H1 (that’s a big, honkin’ Hummer for those of you who don’t know) and shoot guns and climb rocks and do all sorts of cool things. I got to do most of the research for the novel and I’m currently editing his rough draft, but we expect this story to be ready in a month or so. I’ll post information about it right here, so my good readers can have first crack at it.

So, I’m thinking this isn’t enough words for my second post, so I want to talk briefly about something that’s near and dear to my heart… eBay. Yes, I’m an eBay seller. I sell vintage guitars, amps and other musical doodads for a local music store. Sometimes it requires a lot of research to identify these instruments. A lot of the major guitar manufacturers were pretty sloppy in handling serial numbers back in the day. Plus, there are so many variables in guitar specs (acoustic/electric, pickups, tuners, nuts, bridges, controls, wood, you name it… it’s variable.) THEN, there are after-market modifications that need to be identified. It’s tough for this old keyboard guy to keep up with. Thank the Lord I’ve got a few guitar guys around to give me a hand. Thanks @baristabro and jwjenks (you need a twitter account so you can have a cool “at” sign too)!

Anyway, I didn’t come here to rant about guitar manufacturers. Back to eBay. I expect to (re) reach eBay Power Seller status the first of September. I’ve been there before. It’s a lofty place of preferred search status, reduced fees and other cool stuff. Come see me on eBay: keyguy2000

Please, please, please leave me comments. If you have a topic you want me to write about, let me know.

Oh well, I see the bottom of my cup again….

Is it coffee yet?

August 6, 2009 in writing | Tags: coffee, humor, writing | 18 comments

I ‘m standing over my coffee maker wishing a gravity well would appear under the coffee holder thingy. But that probably wouldn’t be good. Ya know, the whole space/time continuum thing. So minutes turn into years as I wait. What’s that maxim about a watched pot? Nevermind. Maybe if I walk back to my office and check tweetdeck it’ll be done when I get back. Or not, so I wait.

So, this is my first attempt at blogging. I’ve never been here before because I never could figure out what to write about. I still have no idea. So I will proceed with no theme whatsoever. There will probably be very little written about coffee, although there will most assuredly be a mug filled with that hot, liquid goodness within six or eight inches of my hand, hence the title.

I’ve had some experience writing technical manuals and software user manuals. I’ve had LOTS of experience writing software. That’s probably not appropriate for a blog. But I’m hoping there’s some inkling of creativity in this noggin. I also hope there are some folks out there who will find my writing interesting, provocative or amusing. I’ll give it a try.

I guess that’s a pretty good start for this blog. You know a little about me, share a little about yourself in the comments.

Time for a refill….

Is It Coffee Yet?

Forgiveness

To Shoot Or Not To Shoot

Cats, Dogs and People

Digital Conspiracy….

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