[Writer Post] Return to Balance — I Hope
I’m in the process of getting my mind back in the game after my hiatus week. Well…HAH. Last week was “hiatus” solely because all brain power was focused on the Day Job. We had an issue where I finally got to put some of my new Public Information Officer training into practice while putting the final prep on the department’s second largest (but higher profile) externally-facing event.
I was “Con Chair” for this Half Day, 2-track programming event. We had an “opening ceremony” (city leadership speakers and key note), two breakout sessions with three presenters each (6 panels), and “closing ceremony” which was a product demonstration. We had about 100 people who out rank me in so many ways (including my boss’s boss’s boss who was also one of my speakers). Everything had to go as smoothly as possible…SO NO STRESS THERE. Nope… and yeah, I totally checked my blood pressure that week (NOT). I took my meds, but I didn’t check the readings, don’t yell at me.
But everything is done now. I’m in “clean up” mode before hitting the road tomorrow for Spectrum Art Live! This is an artist/art convention. I have nothing to do there but be there. I’m not sure how to do that anymore – so like any good small press author (heck may also apply to big press authors) I will have a small box of books in the trunk of the car. Just in case someone asks, “Hey, where can I find your work.” And also… on Amazon in electronic format. Oh, and in just in case you were wondering, I can, indeed, take credit cards.
I’m totally treating Spectrum Art Live as the vacation it’s going to be. I might offer to spell artists who have booths/tables alone so they can have a break, but mostly I’m going to find a comfy chair in the (coffee) bar to talk to people, regroup, recharge, and write fiction. Because I need that. To be around other types of creatives will help recharge THIS creative and perhaps help me to relax – not that I know what that really means (just ask my yoga instructor and manicurist). And I’d really like to have that kind of energy back.
Until then, I are chore-like things that has to be done before hitting the road – like finishing the housecleaning for the dogsitter. Snuggling said dogs.
[Pen/Pencil Review] Black Polymer Skull Pen
It’s a recovery week from a super busy week at the Day Job last week and prep for going to Spectrum Art Live on Thursday. So it seems like a good time for a novelty pen that I picked up…somewhere. I don’t even remember – maybe World Market. Maybe Party City. I think I found it around my birthday – so well outside the traditional Halloween realm.
This sucker is super heavy duty. It’s not your basic cheap plastic. It’s a solid polymer – maybe clay? It’s not stone, but has a heft like stone. The skull is molded with the barrel, so you’d break something (like a bone) if you broke it off. If you NEEDED a pen that also worked as a weapon, this one would do some damage as a sap.
The ink is a fine point black ball point ink with a stainless steel point. The ink flows well and has a smooth action. The diameter of the barrel is minutely tapered and relatively comfortable if you’re okay with the overall weight. It’s about 6″ long, so it’s long enough to be comfortable. It’s a bit top heavy with the skull top.
If you want to make a statement? This pen will do just that. I picked it up to make sure I got one – and figuring if I didn’t I’d end up with four as gifts.
The Numbers.
1. How does it work? – 1 – It’s better than I expected. The flow of ink is nice. The length and diameter are good, and it’s better balanced than expected
2. Look and feel – 0.5 – It’s not bad for a novelty pen. It’s top heavy. That can be tiring. There’s no cap, so take that into consideration
3. Material – 1 It’s a fun novelty pen. It’s a solid polymer. There’s no real breaking of this.
4. Overall Design – 1 – It’s an awesome skull pen that writes well and can be a makeshift weapon if needed.
5. Price Point – 0.5 – I don’t remember how much it was, but I want to say about $4. Which for a novelty is a bit much, but it’s not going to break. I will have to figure out if I can get the ink out and how to refill it.
4 out of 5 bronze pencils.
[Write the Story] Wrapping Up a Business Trip
I am getting to this today. Everything that piled up to cause a hiatus week was done yesterday. Huzzah! You’ll notice a note at the bottom. This was my judgement on the story when I wrote it. Not all stories are going to be good or strong – and for anyone starting out, just know that it’s okay. There will be OH SO MANY words of crap to get through before the good ones. 😎
Here’s this week’s story:
Prompt: Wrapping Up a Business Trip
Words: bar, laptop, insect, Germany, baseball, nervous, embark, protest, swing, sentence
Story
I was a bit nervous being in a bar in Germany on St. Patrick’s Day. I mean Germans take their beer even more seriously than the Irish. Besides it’s too dark to notice if they deigned to color it green. I took a swig and it didn’t matter. Besides, I’m not really Irish.
I opened my laptop to stream a baseball game before heading to the airport and home. I couldn’t wait to embark on that journey.
“Brother, can you spare a sentence?”
I blinked, coming back to the environment in which I sat and not the virtual world of sports. Surely my basic German had failed me. “Excuse me?”
Then I realized who was speaking. The guy was short, like really short, but like a Christmas elf. “Can you insect me a moment?”
“Do you speak another language? My German is…small.”
“Ack, yes!” the little dude switched to a thickly accented English. “I need a favor. You’re heading back close to my homeland. I would like you to swing me home.”
Something rang in my head. “I don’t know…” I protested weakly.
“Ack, there will be a pot of gold in it for you.”
Then I knew I was in trouble. Nothing good ever happened with those words.
Word Count: 209
Written: 3/17/17 and 3/19/17 (weak)
[update] Hiatus Week
I’m just going to call this a hiatus week on the blogs. I might get a story up on Friday, but yeah. Not happening.
I’ve been planning an event for work that’s in 48 hours. Eek. And other stuff has happened that makes the day job even more…adventurous at the moment.
So… see y’all next week.
[Write the Story] A Day in the Life
Prompt: A Day in the Life
Words: identical, pot roast, decorate, sign, abuse, library, amnesia, butcher, submit, sensation
Story:
“Have you had this experience before?”
Kayla blinked twice, slowly at the councilor. Did she really have to submit to such a stupid question? “Um, no. I’ve never before found myself in a butcher shop holding a pot roast next to a dead body with no recollection of how I got there or why.”
“You realize that true amnesia is rare.”
Kayla bit her lip and scanned the library-like room with shelves filled with books. The pain sensation kept her from blurting out something snide to the court-appointed councilor. If she were trying to make distrustful people comfortable, she’d likely decorate the same way.
“Okay,” she said slowly. “But there have been nearly identical reports of other instances like mine. Have any of them remembered?”
The councilor gave no sign of whether or not he heard – much less believed – her. Kayla wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt but her trust issues now had trust issues.
“Maybe you should spend your time with the profilers.” Kayla was on a roll now. “What kind of person inflicts this kind of abuse and shouldn’t you be looking for him?”
“Perhaps. Or we could just forget this ever happened and see what else we can accomplish?”
The room and Kayla’s consciousness went black.
Word Count: 212
Written: 3/14 – 15/2017
[In Memoriam] Casey Sledge and Rita Keir
It’s been tough week so far. Really tough. I’ve got a major stressor at work that will be over one way or another next week – and went beyond what I thought the stresses of that were going to be. Compounded with that there were about 24 hours of super crappy (because according to Michael Stevens of VSauce there’s no such thing as suck) that involved losing TWO people who’ve played big parts in my life.
Saturday evening I saw a post by Alan Balthrop that said, “I say ye, Casey Sledge.” My brain freaked out. I couldn’t finish my thought – because I blurted – in order to explain to Jimmy while I searched for more details. Jimmy hadn’t learned – like I did in 2016 – that “I say ye…” is Alan-speak for someone is dead. And this was sudden and unexpected.
I can’t tell you when Casey became part of my life. I think it was early 2000s likely at one of Teresa Patterson’s House Pegasus Holiday parties when I was part of her writers’ group. He was also part of the conventions I was part of, and then I was really aware of him when I started working with Jimmy at Scarborough Renaissance Festival in 2006. He took over the music track of FenCon a few years back, so we’d see him at FenCon meetings. In fact, I went to the last meeting when I didn’t have to (my role has changed there) just a couple of weeks ago – and now I’m glad I did because that was the last time I saw Casey.
Casey was quick (and thorough) with the hugs. They didn’t call him Bearhugger for nothing. He was known far and wide as a “gentle giant” – for he was both a gentle, tender dude but also a towering one. He had his struggles over the last few years with employment and other things – like so many of us. And he loved Scarborough (and belly dancers or any dancers). He was fiercely loyal to the royalty of Scarborough and didn’t care for a recent change. He sang for Shannon Hopps a song of his own writing when she retired. He railed when news came down that Richard Patterson would no longer be playing King Henry. Because no matter what – he was loyal and brave (he served our country in the past) and will be terribly missed.
Then on Monday I heard word that Rita Keir, one of the strongest women I’ve ever known, finally lost the struggle with a rare lung condition that most medical professionals thought should’ve killed her decades ago. I met her in the late 1980s when I started going to McKinney Bible Church in Fort Worth. She and Chuck, her husband, worked with the college kids and the singles ministries. I knew their kids, Rich and Sharon. She was a mighty prayer warrior, a surrogate mother, a mentor, and a friend.
There would be itchy moments in my life when things wouldn’t be comfortable, and hard times that had a wash of peace. Those were the moments when I knew (or was told later) that Rita had been praying for me. She developed the prayer closet at MMBC. She’s prayed for us all – especially the missionaries. She guided so many women in their walks with the Lord.
Heaven is richer for having these two in their midst, and our earthly world is a little dimmer.
[Pen/Pencil Review] Hedgehog Pencil Sharper
This is going to be a completely ridiculous post because it’s been a rough weekend and challenging day thus far. We lost a good friend unexpectedly on Saturday. The world seems a bit dimmer without Casey Sledge in it. So, to try to return a bit of a smile and light – I give you the Tokyo Pen Shop Hedgehog Pencil Sharpener.
Seriously? Except for the potential rudeness of where you put the pencil, how adorable is this? These sweet sharpeners have a dual sharpener – one for the slightly smaller (probably hex) wooden pencils, the other is the slightly wider round pencils. The blades are sharp, giving a good point without twisting the lead or breaking it off immediately. I also started with a brand new pencil and felt it pointed the lead quickly and easily. I’ve used some that feel like they take a third of the pencil to get to a point – this doesn’t do that. Nor did it over twist or break the lead.
The body of the hedgehog holds the shavings. It’s easy but not too easy to open the reservoir (can’t say break open the hedgehog) to empty the shavings, but the pieces are also secure. And it’s just so freakin’ cute! It comes in an array of colors and styles and is available across the internet.
These sharpeners run $2 on Tokyo Pen Shop – which is a decent price for a functional novelty that makes me smile every time I look at it.
The numbers:
1. How does it work? – 1 It’s one of those things that if you love wooden pencils and functionally adorable things you have to have
2. Grip and feel – 0.5 – The body is wide and it has lumps to simulate hedgehog spines, but it’s not awkward to use.
3. Material – 1 It’s strong quality plastic with decent metal-bladed sharpeners that seats securely.
4. Overall Design – 1 – It’s super cute and functions amazingly well.
5. Price Point – – It’s not outrageous. It’s $2 on Tokyo Pen Shop. That’s cool. Nothing to break the bank over if you also like cute. But it’s still a good price, and available elsewhere on the internet.
[Write the Story] Today at the Amusement Park
There’s a “time shift” in the dates stories are written in this and the next couple of stories – pages stuck together, but I wanted to keep the notebook in order. So…
——
Prompt: Today at the Amusement Park
Words: Ferris wheel, revive, dinosaur, split, disk, assumption, exceed, narrow, snickerdoodle, join
Story
Flynn had no idea how he’d been talked into joining a group to the amusement park. The assumption was that he’d come and here he was munching a snickerdoodle in the Midway.
“Isn’t it great they managed to revive this place?” Diana threw her arms out so widely and so enthusiastically, Flynn thought she’d slip a disk in her back. “It’s the oldest known amusement park in the world.”
“Well, that explains the dinosaur running the Ferris wheel,” Flynn muttered.
“The dinosaur wasn’t at the Ferris wheel, silly, it was in the petting zoo.” Diana bumped him with a narrow elbow. “Come on. I want to go to the 19th Century Freak Show.”
“How is that PC?” Flynn followed Diana through the crowds, keeping a firm grip on her hand. He didn’t want to get split up in this hodgepodge of humanity that seemed to span centuries. He ducked and wove around large hats and wide skirts as well as mini skirts and skinny jeans.
“And we have to do the House of Mirrors.”
Flynn’s head spun with all the smells and sights. He’s swallowed a lot of horror with the oddities in the Freak Show, there was nothing else to call it, but his horror spiked in the House of Mirrors. The number of souls – all of whom he swore he’d seen in the Midway – exceeded his level of comprehension.
“Welcome to the Greatest Show on earth. Now you’re ours.”
Flynn bounced off a hard surface and he was no longer amused.
Word Count: 231
Written 3/10/17 – some pages of the journal stuck together so there are jumps in dates.
[Writer Post] Science as Entertainment
We had a highly “cultured” weekend this past weekend. Two cultural events made Monday a challenge, but it was awesome. And it got me to thinking…which may be a different kind of challenge.
First was Intergalactic Nemesis: Robot Planet Rising. This was the second installment of the Live Action Comic Book series that Jessica Reisman was part of developing. I love this because it’s like an old fashioned radio drama with multi-media elements – a great combo of Old and New technology. And come on, who doesn’t love a good melodrama?
Also got to know the sound guy, because our seats were RIGHT THERE. Networked a bit with him – as you do – because that kind of thing happens when you least expect it. May never hear from him again, or we might. Never know. But you don’t blow off opportunities something will happen when you least expect it.
The second thing was Brain Candy Live! at the Majestic Theatre. The show was beyond amazing and thought provoking. This is a science entertainment with Adam Savage (Mythbusters) and Michael Stevens (Vsauce). The line to get into the theater went half way around the building (thank goodness for assigned seats) for a sold out show.
Let that sink in. A SCIENCE SHOW was SOLD OUT. The audience was seriously all ages from 5-6 year olds to over 60 year olds amazed by AIR PRESSURE. And for the record, apparently there’s no such thing as SUCK – especially not in this show. Oh, and vortex cannons are SO AWESOME!
But that’s what got me thinking. Science as Entertainment. When did it really become a THING? I mean there were always kind of kids shows based on science (even before Bill Nye the Science Guy). But it wasn’t like THIS. Where did this come from? I actually said if I’d been able to experience this as a kid, maybe I would’ve been more interested in science.
I didn’t know there was a career called “science communicator” until I started listening to podcasts. Neil deGrasse Tyson is a pop culture ICON now. We have sitcoms about physicists with an actual Neuroscience PhD in it. One of my coworkers asked a question about SOMETHING I don’t remember but was something that MYTHBUSTERS did a segment on and could talk about.
And I know Tyson and Savage are not that much older than me. I know my generation was highly influenced by the Moon Landings as kids but there is and was a shift away from that. If there weren’t we wouldn’t be having STEM and STEAM pushes to get kids involved in science and “Maker” culture. But what turned MY generation into a set of people that decided to turn Science into Pop Culture? To make it ENTERTAINING? It’s FANTASTIC, but the part of my brain that asks questions wants to know WHEN, WHERE, HOW, WHY? Yup, journalistic/communicator/storyteller part of me always asks the questions. Anyone know? Sound off in the comments.
[Pen/Pencil Review] Adorable Stuff I Didn’t Need
Obviously I didn’t post yesterday. It’s a crazy week at work. Training and event planning and stuff – the blog suffered. However… I did do a teensy bit of shopping at Half Price Books this past weekend and got adorable stuff I did not need but had to have.
How adorable is this? I love these tiny notebooks with amazing artwork. But what’s better? The backs! Check them out…
The other purchase was a “notebook” of notepads, sticky notes and flags with a crappy gel ink pen. The selling point? The cheesy, hipster woodland creatures.
Seriously? How cute is this? I had to get both of them. The sticky on the notepads and flags could be stronger, but hey. It is what it is. Just join me in the AWWWWWW factor.