On Celebrating Our Differences

 So this has been a time where Traci and I have shown our true colors. Normally, we agree on many things, and we work out the few minor issues that crop up. But this most recent trip we’ve taken-this time to celebrate our grandson’s fifth birthday-really brought out our differences, and in a very good way. 

To set the table for this, you need to understand a few things. She grew up in Tucson, spent many years in Northern California, has made a number of trips to Mexico growing up and in her first marriage, and as a result the things that are most familiar to her come from a Southwest bent. She cooks Mexican food like there’s no tomorrow, and long ago in our relationship I came to accept (and enjoy) that part of her.

I also grew up in Northern California and have been to Mexico-once-but the things in my life have more of a Japanese bent, if not outright Asian. San Francisco’s Japan Center-among other places and good memories-remains a favorite place to go, as are places like the Japanese Tea Garden and so forth and a lot of my youth is tied up in those things and that cuisine. A good example is rice: in our house, it was often used in place of bread for dinner. 

Back to today. If you’ve met either of us at all, you understand that we bemoan the fact that we have yet to find truly authentic Mexican or Asian cuisine where we live, and with two exceptions in my case-Uwajimaya in Beaverton, and Sunrise Asian in Eugene-I have a hard time finding many things I like/need. Meantime, Traci goes crazy trying to find some of the stuff she is so used to being able to find everywhere. There may be places locally that carry them, but we haven’t found them yet and Amazon is only so helpful. (In contrast, if I order certain things, I have a number of online shops I use. Right now, however, I can only get them shipped if I’m willing to pay DHL for them; standard Japan Mail is still not coming to the States.) 

So as I write this, we’re in Southern California. Saturday night, my dinner was fresh made ramen; Sunday at the party we enjoyed fresh street tacos, excellent quesadillas, and mulitas, and today we got to do a little shopping and finding of needed/wanted supplies. We didn’t need much-I can find most food items between the four Asian stores in Salem-and Traci’s still looking at mercados. But the main point is that we found everything we needed/wanted (and laughed as we did so.) It’s going to be easy enough to get them home, and while I will still need to get to Uwajimaya before year’s end, Traci will be set for a small time with what we bought today. 

Meantime…we’ve had a ball down here, being Granny and Grandad, and watching our grandson play with his new toys and having a good time. 

On Stupid Attempts to Save The Environment

There are a lot of things that my elected overlords public officials do that I wonder about. (The rest of the time I’m convinced, but sometimes I wonder.) This is one of those times.

A little background: My day during the workweek starts at 5:30AM. Most of the time, I leave the house around 7 so I can get settled in at the office before I actually have to start working. Some days, however, I require a jolt of caffeine to get my brain in gear. So, I will stop either at Starbucks or McDonald’s, get some sort of tea, and head in. Today was one of those days; I stopped at the famed golden arches to get a large tea. (I usually get 1/3 a large regular tea, and 2/3 sweet tea; it makes it drinkable that way.) So I walk in, and there are signs all over telling me that now have to ask for a straw. They can’t just leave them out like I free-feed the cat anymore; oh no. No, I now have to bother the poor cashier for this. It seems my publicly elected idiots officials have made them illegal to just leave laying around. I have mental pictures now of some guy in a trench coat walking up to someone, opening his left coat side, and speaking sotto voce “Pssst. Hey, buddy…wanna straw? Got ‘em, cheap.”  Or signs on the post office wall: “Wanted on a dozen counts of illegal straw importation and distribution.” I can even see the inspection station on I-5 starting to ask “Any fruits, vegetables, or straws?” Even better: The USPS asking, “Does this parcel contain anything fragile, liquid, perishable, potentially hazardous, including lithium batteries, perfume, or straws?” This is looking to me like since they have outlawed straws, only outlaws will have straws.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I truly do believe we should reduce, reuse, and recycle. On the whole, as Americans we generate way too much waste. I’m getting better about taking my own reusable bags into the store, and I pack my lunch in reusable bags and boxes where I can. (I also recycle the aluminum can my Coke comes in.)  I very well remember having to reuse water we showered in to water plants in the 1970’s because of the ongoing drought in California. I do think that reducing waste is a good idea. But I’m also for a little common sense: The single use lids are plastic that cover the cups, for all that. Why are those still laying around where innocent children might get them? What about single use plastic cups? You start with those, and before you know it, you’re hooked on plastics! It starts with straws…and before you know it, the local constabulary has you cornered, a wild look in your eyes, with a few sporks in one hand, your back pocket full of straws from, and a few plastic bags from the local supermarket tied together around your forehead making a headband.

Hey, here’s a more serious thought: what about getting rid of the plastic packaging that you can never open without a military grade cutting implement? See, there are things that can be done that don’t inconvenience so many people. I mean, straws aren’t like the old Styrofoam clamshells some places used to use to put burgers in; I don’t think those have started breaking down, even now. 

In fact, I can see a fast food joint fifty years down the road. Before walking in, you’ll have to make sure your spouse and kids have their reusable cups and clean reusable straws, your reusable bags, reusable plastic boxes for your food, and cloth napkins (because, you know, trees need saving too) before you leave home. Or, even better: just stay home and eat, because we all know fast food by then will likely have warning labels like cigarettes and alcohol does. I can see it now: “Warning: eating here may be hazardous to your health. Food is prepared by frying, which studies have shown lead to higher levels of trans fats and LDL (bad) cholesterol, which may increase your chances of heaving heart disease.” You may even need to be a certain age to eat fast food: “Warning: People under 21 not allowed. We serve fried foods, and plastic straws are on the premises.” 

On Holiday Memories

Funny things happen in people’s minds this time of year. In all the hustle and bustle of making sure we have the right gift for the right people, we sometimes forget to slow down and think of Christmases past. Or worse, we get bogged down in those memories we forget to enjoy what we have here today.

I was fussing with a box of botaname at my desk today, when it hit me: This was one of the tastes I associate most with Christmas. Botaname, for those who really don’t know, is rice candy. It’s usually a sweet rice millet wrapped in an outer wrapper-which used to be made of waxed paper-and an edible inner wrapper, and has a vaguely citrus flavor. It used to come-like Cracker Jack-with a small toy; now it comes with stickers that I would swear are made from the same stuff they make political bumper stickers from…because if you put it on something, it’s never coming off. It laughs at Goo-Gone, and is flame resistant; you’re better off covering it with something new. 

Most people either love botaname or hate it; it’s better if you can get a newer box and it’s softer. Mom-God rest her-always made sure I got two boxes, or roughly a dozen pieces, every year for Christmas for more years than I care to admit to. And while I buy my own throughout the year, it’s a taste I always associate with Christmas. The same for those pernicious chocolate oranges, Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk, and Swiss Colony’s Petit Fours. (For all that, most of Swiss Colony’s and Hickory’s Farm’s products.) We also got some sort of citrus fruit-not sure if they were tangerines or mandarines-in the toes of our stockings.  

There’s also certain smells I associate with Christmas. Things like the scent of the cheap candles from Candlelight Services at the church, a vaguely burnt electrical smell that meant Dad was soldiering something…or the TV was dying slowly…or we were losing (or had lost) a bulb on the ancient Christmas tree we had. Also model paints and cement, the smell of dinner cooking Christmas Day, the freshly cleaned tablecloth we put over that impossibly old table we ate dinner at, and the scent of new books that had been received as gifts. Two other smells come to mind: from 1985 forward, the chlorine that Dad used in the hot tub, and the Christmas Eve pizzas…either Skipolini’s or Strictly to Go.

Of course, there are sights as well, most of which only exist in pictures and memories: Mom and Dad at the house, waiting to have Dad take our pictures at the top of the stairs (I remember one year all three of us kids pulled cameras and shot the same time Dad did; I swear the resultant flash could have been seen from space!), standing in the front yard and seeing snow on Mt Diablo. The house and front yard belong to a new family; but I know Mt. Diablo still gets snow. 

The sounds of Christmas for me are of family talking softly so as to not wake anyone who’s dozing, the laughter as the sound of torn giftwrap fills the air, and music my folks had on an old reel to reel tape. (Much of which has been played so much by now I’m ready to move on, thank you very much.) Talking with friends excitedly about who got what, and, when I got a little older and was in high school, talking with whoever I was seeing at the time. Now I live with a wonderful woman that exudes Christmas all year ‘round, and I always look forward to coming home after work is done for the day. I’m blessed to have friends near and far, and loved ones as well.

All this to say, whatever your memories are-sights, smells, sounds, or the taste of your favorite candy-treasure those memories. But don’t get so lost in them you forget to enjoy the memories you’ll make this year. And no matter how you say it-Nollag Shona, Merīkurisumasu, or whatever…have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday if you celebrate something else! And may your coming year be filled with grace, peace, and blessings.

A Few Birthday Thoughts-and My Birthday Gift to You

So…Today’s my birthday. This isn’t really about that, though by the end you’ll understand a little better. 

In October, 1972 I was at some sort of drum corps function in Santa Clara, CA. with my family. To occupy my time (and keep me from complaining about being bored) my folks bought me a paperback book titled “Star Trek.” I don’t think they understood at the time what they were about to create. Years-and several conventions, a number of books, and some very patient television watching-later, I was a full on Trekkie. (Still am, to an extent.) Over time, I got models, blueprints, books, a Tech manual, tribbles, drinking glasses, posters, patches (and more stuff than I’m admitting to)…and an unwavering belief that there is hope for the human race, despite ourselves. 

“So what?” you’re asking. Be patient-a good story takes time. 

Star Wars came out, and I ate it up. Battlestar Galactica, Message from Space, Quark, Close Encounters of the Third Kind…all of that fueled my younger days. So did Marvel Comics, Anime and Manga, and a little something called Elfquest. Asimov, Heinlein, Harrison (if you haven’t read the Stainless Steel Rat books, you really should!), Ellison, Clarke…and Myers, whose “Frontliners” I read over and over again. If you were to say I lived in the future-or at least in some other world-you’d have been right. 

Time had a way of flying by when you’re not looking. Now all these years later, I have books of my own for sale. I just wrote some 57,755 words of a second volume of the “Stories of Dai Nihon Teikoku” during November for National Novel Writer’s Month (Or NaNoWriMo); that book will see print sometime next year. I might have written more, but an idea got lodged in my head about the crew of a StarCruiser. So I wrote a little bit of it every day for half a month…and over 30,o0o words later I’m still working on it. Below is an excerpt from that work; it’s my birthday gift to you. Enjoy! 

-------

Location: GSF StarQuarters, GSF Unified Date 2319.02.27, approximately 1000 base time.

Colt Richmond stood there, waiting patiently. He was heading for his new ship, new Captain’s stripes adorning his sleeves. He would likely be traveling with a few of his crew; that was to be expected from this part of space. In the meantime, he was cooling his heels waiting for his transport. He overheard some people getting into a heated exchange; curious, he wandered over to see what the issue was. Standing there was a diminutive woman-she couldn’t have been more than 1.21 Unified meters (roughly four feet tall), pointed ears and wings, holding her own against three larger males. As he approached, he heard what sounded like taunting or teasing  from the officers of equal rank. “What is the issue, everyone?” She looked up at him and spoke. Her voice was like a cross between windchimes and a hummingbird’s wings; he raised an eyebrow and replied in kind. Turning to them, he pleasantly said “The young lady would like her translator pin back. Do one of you happen to know what happened to it?” “Sir! No sir!” He looked at them all again, mildly irritated. “I hope you all aren’t serving on my ship; if you are I will find ways to make your lives miserable. Now…do you happen to know what happened to the young lady’s translator pin?” One of them looked a little embarrassed. “Sir…I think it might be right here.” “Good. Hand it over to me…and get lost.” “Yessir” they replied, and scattered in three different directions. Calmly he turned to her and spoke; she replied rapidly. Nodding, he replaced the translator pin on her collar; it remained on for a moment, then fell off again. Sighing, he spoke to her in her language and explained what the issue was. Nodding she hummed and whistled at him as they walked to the station exchange. Five minutes later, he carefully repinned her translator pin to her collar. “Thank you enough, sir, I cannot. Hard it is to speak Unified. So…where headed are you?” “SC Shizukaze. Her new Captain I am; Colt Richmond my name is.” “Sir! To you I am reporting. Lieutenant Fae G’zlda I am. New Head Nurse of SC Shizukaze I am.” “The pleasure mine is.” “The pleasure mine is. Elvenspeak you well.” “Fae I am not.” “Guess well you have, sir. Fae I am. From Tsh’ree I am. Pointed ears have you. Elvish you have?” “Tsh’reen am I half. Terran am I half.” “Explains about you much. Ship departs when?” “Minutes Unified fifteen. To dock we should proceed.” “Agree with you I do, sir. Late we should not be.” 

Some thoughts on going to Disneyland

Yeah, it's been a few years since I've posted anything here. I've been busy...I now work for the State of Oregon; we lost Mom a few years back; and I'm editing a bunch of books to get out on the Kindle platform. 

Having said all that, I have an admission to make-or maybe better, a confession: I’d forgotten how to fly. Like Peter Banning-played remarkably well by Robin Williams in”Hook”-I’d lost my ability to fly. I’d lost my happy place, then became tired, a bit of a drag, and in desperate need of a real vacation. I got my vacation, and rediscovered in the process just how much fun Disneyland really is. I came here several times a year when I was younger; the choir performed here three of the four years I was in high school and I seem to remember marching here with the Blue Devils B corps. Barbershoppers have taken over a few times-1984, 1999, and 2009 come to mind. But over time, like many people I moved on and moved far enough away to not come as often. 

That changed when my beloved Traci came into my life. She loves Disneyland, she loves to come and play in the Magic Kingdom. And play we did, becoming teenagers again for five wonderfully fun days. When I originally wrote this it was  the end of day four and the start of day five. Day five was our last day here, and then we headed home. So I didn’t take much time on that morning to write. But I did want to jot down some of what I learned along the way. I wanted to share some of what I learned on my way to finding my happy place once again while it was still fresh in my mind. And while this is somewhat tongue in cheek there’s a few very serious tips here, written by a guy who’s no expert on park travel in the modern world…but who’s logged maybe a few too many miles over too many years. 

One: Time loses any serious meaning once you’re on the property. Oh, sure…the sun rises and sets, unlike in much of property where we live-the Pacific Northwest-where the sun sets sometime in September and the rain starts up and doesn’t seem to end until some time around June. But please be aware that time has no real meaning (unless you have a reservation for a character meal-see below). You may stand in line for fifty minutes and time pleasantly goes by, unlike say, standing in line at the local DMV where fifteen minutes seems like an hour-and an hour seems like an eternity.

Two: Speaking of lines, be prepared to spend time standing in them. Lots of time. Lines for rides, making a purchase, getting a meal, meeting a character, and going to the restroom. I’m not kidding; I stood in line for ten minutes just to throw my Coke cup away. It gets to a point where if you see a line, you’ll stand in it just to find out what it’s for. If you have a reservation for anything, figure out how long it will take you to get there-then add fifteen minutes, minimum. This is especially true for meals, character or otherwise. Why? Because there’s a line for everything! 

Three: If you’re on a diet, go somewhere else. While there is healthy food available, there are also churros, turkey legs (which are huge and smoked to perfection), awesome corn dogs, frozen bananas, a substance called Dole Whip, popcorn, pickles, and so forth. The best fried chicken I swear I’ve ever eaten is found just off Main St. USA, near Tomorrowland. And that’s just Disneyland proper. California Adventure has amazing food as well, including a mighty fine clam chowder in a genuine Boudin sourdough bread bowl. If you are seriously worried about calories, stop it. We were there five days; I averaged 5.5 miles walking a day over the five days we spent here.  Which brings me to….

Four: All the guide books tell you to wear comfortable footwear. They’re not kidding. At the end of day three, I took my shoes off and literally watched my feet swell two sizes in roughly ninety seconds. You will walk a lot, when you’re not standing in line. (Have I mentioned you will spend a lot of time standing in line?) Speaking of the guide books, get them, read them, pore over them, memorize them if you want…then leave them at home. They’re written by well meaning professionals who want you to maximize every second. They mean well-but believe me when I tell you that everyone else in the park has read the same books. Plan ahead, by all means; you should. Then toss most of those plans out the window when you get here, and plan as you go. The smartest plan we made before we left was to spend five days on the property. This allowed us to do a lot without feeling like we needed to march through and lay waste to everything.

Five: Everything in the resort is designed to separate you from your money. It’s okay to spend a little here and there. And when your granddaughter wants a blue slush with a glowing x-wing fighter straw you will spend nearly ten bucks to get her one, because it makes both of you happy. The same thing with mouse ears: if she wants you to get a set and wear them all day, I don’t care how big, strong, and macho you are…you will get and wear mouse ears all day. Spend the money and go to a character meal at least once; the food is pretty decent. We went to one for breakfast, got to meet five different princesses-Ariel, Cinderella, Belle, Rapunzel, and Tiana-and I had tri-tip, scrambled eggs, and hash browns-plus fruit, breakfast breads, and tea. That’s no kiddie meal, friends, and frankly was worth every penny. I’ve eaten in three star restaurants that could learn from this. 

Six: Believe it or not, there actually is an “official/unofficial” sport on the resort properties: Pin collecting and trading. You start by getting a lanyard and a starter pin. My beloved Traci has enough pins on one lanyard to anchor the USS Ronald Reagan in place. I have some “retired” pins; so does she. So we’ve started new lanyards together. Whilst in the park I’ve seen a few lanyards that look like they weigh enough to keep California Screamin’ from achieving its max speed of 55 mph. In fact, if the person wearing them fell down it would take a crane to lift them back up. If you’re smart, you’ll either get several lanyards or get a pin book. Bonus tip: don’t make the rookie mistake and trust the pin backs will survive all the rides; while they are firm and pretty well made, spring for a package of locking pin backs. Trust me on this one, if you trust nothing else I’ve written in this article. Keep the old pin backs for your retired lanyard at home or that pin book.

Seven: Leave your camera at home and get the one-week photo pass…then get as many pictures professionally done as you can. This is especially true if you’ve spent on a character meal. I know, I know…funny advice from a guy who will take his trusty Nikon just about anywhere. But not only will your back thank you for not lugging that extra weight around, you’ll actually be in more pictures. And with everyone using smartphones these days, you’ll have plenty of memories. Besides…it’s very easy to see it vanish on a ride, get broken, etc.

Eight: speaking of your smartphone, three things to consider: First, carry a sandwich sized baggie to put your phone in, and multiply that by each phone…then multiply that by the number of days you’re there. A wet smartphone is a very dead smartphone, and there are plenty of chances to kill your smartphone even if it is in a nearly indestructible case. Second, download the Disneyland app already. Don’t wait until you’re on the resort grounds to do this. It’s worth the bandwidth and memory space to see the wait times for rides, and the map function is very useful once you’ve lost the paper map they give you. Third, invest in a couple of FuelRods before hitting the park. These little lifesavers will recharge just about any phone or tablet you’ll carry, and are worth their weight in gold. Inside the park, they’re thirty bucks. We bought two on Amazon for forty bucks-and if you don’t recharge them in your room at night (provided you’ve used them) and they’ve done their duty, you can exchange them for a loaded one. Plus, after your vacation is over…you can use them at home. (Come on. Be honest…how many times have you been horrified to discover you have 10% charge left on your phone when you’re out on the town?)

Nine: If you can swing it, stay on the property. Sure, you can save a few bucks on a room offsite. But then you have to either (A) pay for daily parking-and the hassles thereof-or (B) walk to and from your hotel. If you want to haul the dead weight of an exhausted child halfway back to beautiful downtown Burbank at the end of a long day on your feet…be my guest; you’re a better man than I, Gunga Din. On the other hand, the Monorail drops you near the Disneyland Hotel-and about two blocks from Paradise Pier, where we stayed. Added bonus: you’ll be two blocks from the closest Starbucks. Speaking of which…don’t cry to me about the commercialization of Disneyland; you know good and well you want your mocha non-fat with whip in the morning and will cheerfully walk that two blocks to get it. Besides…when I was a kid, everything had a sponsor in the park. (Does anyone other than Traci and I remember the Sunkist Citrus House on Main Street USA or Casa de Fritos in Frontierland?)

Ten: Speaking of commercialization, let me take a moment to discuss Downtown Disney. It’s the outdoor shopping mall built by the House of Mouse and it’s a winner. Everything from a LEGO store to the biggest Disney themed souvenir stand sits there. All kinds of food and shops are there, plus a movie theatre. I may be the only person in the world that truly likes the concept, because I’m starting to think maybe Disney’s next empire should be shopping malls. Neat, clean, well lit, and lots of space to move around in even when busy. Hint for those of you whose kids are old enough to be in the park on their own: go there to eat an adult meal.

Eleven: Not that it’s a dud-not by a long shot-but as much as I love Disneyland and enjoy Downtown Disney…Disney’s California Adventure (or DCA) is a park in search of its identity. I don’t think it knows what it really wants to be when it grows up, and the fact they keep redoing so much of it is a clue. Part old time boardwalk, part Hollywood Blvd, and part…well…something. The Magic Kingdom has clearly defined lands, boundaries for each one, and its own etiquette. DCA seems to me like they had a whole bunch of ideas for new stuff, and they threw it all together and instead of a gourmet meal got goulash. For starters, it really needs its own Monorail stop, preferably linking it to the rest of the resort. (For all that, so does Paradise Pier hotel.) Next, either really do the California theme up and stay with it, or rename the place and lay the lands out a little better. Paradise Pier is not quite the boardwalk I remember from my younger days visiting the Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk, and the rest of the park is a hodgepodge of different lands and areas. In my opinion, if you only have a few days to spend at the resort, spend one here-you must do at least Soaring, California Screamin’, and eat in any number of the great food places and carts-and spend the rest of your time in Disneyland proper. (I know there’s been some changes since I first wrote this. That just proves my point; Paradise Pier is now being redone into Pixar Pier. California Screamin’ is becoming the Incredicoaster, for example.)

Twelve: You will want to overpack for your trip. Resist the urge to do so. This is because (A) airlines will charge you some serious bucks for an overweight bag, and (B) you will need a place to stow all your purchases for the trip home. This is as good as any place to mention not buying things you will never use again. The sole exception to this rule are mouse ears. (Remember, Mr. Macho type…if your granddaughter wants you to get a pair and wear them, if you value peace and your sanity, you will do this.) Most of the time, you’ll be in t-shirts and jeans…or shorts if it’s summertime. Guys, bring one polo shirt to dress up for that dinner in Downtown Disney. Wear sneaks…with padding. Ladies…I’m not going to tell you what to pack. But I can promise you that you won’t really need that floor length gown or high stiletto heels. (I have mentioned the lines and the amount of walking you do, right? On concrete? Around tens of thousands of people?) 

Thirteen: Turn off your e-mail and get your face out of your smartphone. I made few Facebook posts, and kept my phone in my pocket most of the time except for pictures and checking wait times. You’re on vacation…so unplug already! I promise that anything that was a problem before you leave will still be there and have friends with it…but you’ll be better prepared to deal with it. Plus, by putting your phone away, you won’t walk into people.

Fourteen: If you’ve been living living under a rock, don’t follow the news, or simply didn’t pay attention…Disney owns Lucasfilms and Marvel. This means that half of Tomorrowland has now Stormtroopers and lightsabers. DCA is where all the superheroes live, and that’s fine. But this also means that both franchises have a lot of merchandise in the stores, next to Mickey Mouse and Company, Buzz and Woody, and all your favorite characters. (Hey, Disney…speaking of characters, I’d love to see some new pins from Robin Hood, if you’ve a mind to make some.)  

Finally…this is the one time you don’t want to “wing it.” Use either Disney’s travel agency or Costco’s; I don’t care which. Prepaying for as much as you can-even if it’s just your park hopper passes-will save you some serious bucks long term. Walt Disney Travel Company asked for $200 up front, and the balance paid something like 30 days before our trip. The further ahead you plan, the better off you’ll be. (Of course, that’s true of any vacation, but a Disney vacation especially.)   Yeah, we spent a pretty penny on our trip…but we also prepaid our hotel room, five day park hopper passes, one character meal, and airfare. It was nice to know we didn’t have to save money to pay the hotel room at the end of our stay. 

I had a ball. We had a ball-Traci and I-plus Addy, Jordyn, Alex, Cam, Tylar, and Frankie-had a great time. We're talking about doing it again soon...not soon enough for me, though. I'm ready to go back now....

Thinking of Dad at Christmas....

Hi, Dad—

As you would have said, time flies like the wind…and fruit flies like bananas. It’s been a bit since I’ve written my thoughts down; it’s hard to believe you’ve been gone seven years. Still, I remember that Christmas was always one of those times that you seemed to enjoy…and it seems appropriate that I take a few moments and jot some thoughts down. This year’s a little more difficult; my thoughts are as scrambled this year as they were in high school.

Speaking of years…thanks for the backbone. Not the metaphorical one; the genetic one. I’ve discovered why you disliked cold and damp so much. (Given your current resting place, there’s a certain irony to that, you know.) I wake up in the morning and could sell Rice Krispies: Snap, Crackle, POP! and my spine aligns. Thanks loads! Yeah, I know living in Oregon isn’t helping. On the other hand, I’d rather be here than in the midwest-or the east. I can see why you didn’t want to live in New Jersey! You always said the meek would inherit the earth; with my luck I’ll end up with Bayonne. 

It’s been a busy year. I’m singing with the Salem SenateAires these days; no, I’m not directing-but I’m having a ball. Traci’s been a wonderful support; I doubt I could have done half of what I did without her help. I’ve also been learning a new career; I know you understand how that works, having gone from one to another more years back than I want to admit to. I also have family: Traci has two daughters-Adrianne and Jordyn-and third daughter, Tylar. Addy has a partner-Alex-who has a cute daughter of his own, Cammy, whom we call the Bug. I love them all like they were my kids; you’d have fun discussing many things with Jordyn-and the Bug would love on you like there’s no tomorrow. Traci and I share a relationship that’s much more than a marriage. You’d love her; heaven knows I do!

Speaking of the family…the rest of the family is doing well. Mom’s doing well enough, and Amy, Kim, Liz and Patti are okay. Mom isn’t getting around as well as she could…but frankly, non of us are. As you know, none of us are getting younger-and every time I see them it’s all good. We’re taking care of Mom as best we can, but sometimes it’s harder than others. 

Enough of that, though. Tomorrow is Christmas, and there will be gifts to open, pictures to take-no, I haven’t forgotten taking the pictures at the top of the staircase!-and food to enjoy. Know that you’re missed, and never far from our thoughts. Traci has a song playing called “Good to be Alive RIght About Now.” She’s right…it is, and while you’re missed, know that we’re all taking very good care of each other. I know you’d like to know that!  

Love you and miss you--

Matthew

On What's Eating My Hard Drive

Wow. I haven’t sat down to blog much in over a year. Part of that is due to my continued writing/editing of the The Cosantóirí Chronicles. Part of that is due to a rather large set of life changes; I won’t go into my divorce here as it’s not germane to what I’m thinking about and the job changes are, sadly, a part of that divorce. While my life is much better now, there’s still stuff I’m not going to discuss in such a public forum as yet. Suffice it to say I’m far happier, and to detail some of the stuff I went through and put up with isn’t where I’m at right now.

No, what’s on my mind is the aftereffects of some of all of the above and the effect its had on my trusty MacBook. I looked at the hard drive on said trusty MacBook not that long ago and discovered I had…oh, about 27 GB left. 27 gig of a 250 gig hard drive. I looked at that and what came out of my mouth is not something that a former pastor should be caught saying...ever. Where did it all vanish to?

Culprit number one: My Nikon. Shooting in RAW is wonderful stuff. But it eats memory like I munch on Reece’s Pieces (or any other form of chocolate). Pull 29 files of photos from 2014 off-plus some duplicates in iPhoto and a lot of shots from my old and new iPhones-and that gives me some space. A friendly reminder: always back up your work, kids. And yes, I have a nice new iPhone 6 that my partner Traci got from Verizon. She got her kids, herself and I new iPhone 6’s as part of Verizon’s Edge deal; we share a plan to save a few bucks.

Culprit number two: Those former ministries I held. I finally removed the last of the files from Master’s, the files from my pastoral work the last few years, and my dissertation files. Years of work logs (I logged every paper I graded, to account for my hours), classes I taught/took, sermons, powerpoint presentations, photos from various events…all neatly filed onto DVD’s. That gave me back even more space.

Culprit number three: Yours truly. Years of other files, scans, other photos that hadn’t been cataloged (and now have), other files that I need to keep for various reasons, and so forth had to come off. I mean, I use the MacBook for everything: work, music, photos, letters, my books, and so much more. And you don’t think about a few KB here, a few MB there. I mean, 250 GB was a lot of memory. A program here, a few dozen photos of the family there (shot in RAW, of course), an update over there, and suddenly the hard drive’s filling up like a teenager at a fast-food joint. The only difference is that the hard drive has a limit to how much it can hold. All that stuff has to come off and get filed. 

I still have a lot of stuff to go through and file or get rid of. Some programs have hidden files they keep; and I’m starting to consider trying to save or delete a number of apps for the iPhone I’m not using as there’s nearly a fifth of my hard drive getting eaten by the little buggers. But what I really need to find is what is eating nearly 100 gig; I don’t have that many programs for a reason and I’ve already discarded several-plus an older copy of Xcode-I’ve either not used or don’t remember where I got them.

But at the end of the day, I have a sneaking hunch that I’m going to have to remove a fair number of other photos and documents and file those as well. Still…I’ve managed to recover enough memory to account for almost 40% of the hard drive. That is a win in my book.

Enough for now.  

On My Newest Toy

Today is a little bittersweet for me. I finally get a chance to unpack my shiny new toy: A Nikon D5200. I’ve been saving for this camera for three years; I finally got a chance to really unpack it and see what a gem I’ve gotten. (Okay, I admit I was saving for the D5100, but they’re no longer available. I’ll just have to suffer through with the better unit. Darn.) It’s a beaut, and I can’t wait to go out and play with it. 

However, there’s a sad part to this. I have to put my trusty old Minolta dImage Z6 away, along with all the accessories. I’ve had to remove the really nice camera strap off of it-a Tamrac padded leather N45-pull all the accessories out of my old Velocity 7 bag, and put them away. This is harder than you think; there’s been a lot of happy miles and many great shots with my Z6. Bought the day before leaving on a five week trip back in 2005 for a road trip for work and pleasure in which we went (amongst other places) to the Grand Canyon for a day and I just knew the little Vivitar I had was not going to work like I wanted (with the Grand Canyon, few cameras do), it quickly felt at home in my hands. It’s been to Hawai’i three times, Canada three times, all over the west coast (I have no idea how many beach pictures the thing’s taken), and all over the United States. I’ve shot the Mexican border with it (then turned around and headed away from San Ysidro). I’ve gotten some wonderful shots: flowers, waterfalls, butterflies…sunsets. Family times: Christmases, Thanksgivings, anniversaries. I took a few shots before Dad’s memorial service with it. I took photos of Deena’s class reunion with it on my Slik U8000 tripod. It’s been crammed into backpacks; the whole kit’s been packed in my suitcase and survived. It’s been a good part of my life for the last nine years, dependable as the day is long-so long as I had batteries to feed it. 

But the reality is that time has gone by. Unlike an old 35mm film camera that you could use for years on end with proper care and maintenance, digital cameras have greatly improved. Case in point: Shots that Deena is catching with disgusting ease just aren’t possible with 6 megapixels. Consider this: my iPhone camera has 5 megapixels; great for candids and quick shots (Remember: the best camera you have is the one that’s with you) but not for the kind of stuff I really, really want to do. And since Minolta was bought by Sony, it’s not like I can move into another Minolta. Deena’s Canon suits her; she’s gotten some really great stuff. However, I knew this last trip to Hawai’i that the next time I go back I was going to have to have a better camera. Too many shots I should have gotten, too many shots my mind saw-but the poor thing was just never designed to get. So it’s all back in their boxes and bags, along with all my other older cameras, waiting for one more trip somewhere. It’ll probably make a few trips here and there, perhaps; like the little Vivitar it replaced, the Z6 will be something I might take to an amusement park or someplace I don’t want to run the risk of breaking the D5200-or having it stolen. 

And as time goes by, what is right now becoming a very light Velocity 7 slingpack will get heavier; a speedlight (flash) will likely be the next major purchase. There will need to be a few minor purchases: a second battery as even Lith-Ion runs down and needs a charge eventually; a few odds and ends including a lens protector ($30 beats replacing a $300 lens) and a polarizer; at least one more lens-and probably two will eventually get added. Why buy all this stuff? Because I’ve had to work at this the hard way. Dad taught me well, and a few classes growing up didn’t hurt-but the truth is that I want do better work than I’ve been able to. This should stay with me for quite a while; and even if I eventually need a new camera body I’ll still have the lenses and the flash to go with it. 

Enough for now. 

On Writing Far Too Much

Boy, I hate it when I discover something I should have known-or at least suspected. 

I’ve had to put a stop-well, sort of-to a lot of my writing, and instead have had to do a boatload of editing. (Dr. Frey, you were right. There is no such thing as good writing, but only good editing.) I’ve been writing the Cosantóirí Chronicles now for the last few years, and I’ve been writing them to average-before editing-roughly 300 pages of single-spaced, 12 point Helvetica font prose. Then I adjust the pitch and font-Georgia, 13 point, space and a half-and each completed book ended up over 400 pages plus. Add to that the glossary in the back, and I thought that was pretty reasonable for a self-published e-book. I mean, I can read about 300 pages in roughly an evening’s time.

Now, in talking with a fellow singer-who’s also writing-he mentioned that his editor wanted him to keep his book to about 100,000 words. So I did some research...and found the same approximate word count for the kind of books I write. On more than one website for writers, prospective writers, and those of us who write for fun. 100,000 words? Really? That didn’t seem like enough to me, but I decided to see what that looked like. 

Fionnachtain-my first book-ran 208,000-plus words. Ón Am Atá Thart-the second in the series-ran some 190,000-plus words. An Cailín Órga-the third book-ran 180,000-plus words. As George Takei would say...."Ohhh, Myyyyy.” 

I've been writing two books at a clip and didn’t even know it! That means, if these numbers hold up, that I don’t have seven books and an eighth almost completed. It means I have closer to fifteen books written, at that seemingly arbitrary word count, and a sixteenth nearly in the can. And the framework for the seventeenth and eighteenth started.

What writing I’m doing now is filling in some blank spots as I figure out how to split the existing works roughly in half. I’m still telling the story I’ve been given as a gift-it’s just that, now it’s going to be a lot more books than I first envisioned. 

The good news is that what is now the first four are once again available. Fionnachtain, Aibíocht, Scéalta Saol, and Ón Am Atá Thart are available. Aibíocht and Scéalta Saol are the volumes that came from what was the excess of the first two volumes. I’ll start editing An Cailín Órga this week in my free time.

Thanks for your patience and understanding!  

UPDATE: The first eight volumes are now available. In addition to the ones listed above, An Cailín Órga, Breithe Clan, Oíche Dáta Deasghnátha agus Cosantóirí Saol, and Scéalta na Breithlá Déag are now available. The Cosantóiri Chronicles website is currently being revised to reflect the changes. 

If you were on the Cosantóiri Chronicles website, you can return by clicking here.

On Moving to Two Places-and Why

I decided to take a short break from packing stuff to move, preparing a sermon, grading papers, and writing books (not all at once-I’m not that good at multitasking!) to catch up the blog.

For those who haven’t heard: I have returned to the denominational church of my youth: The United Methodist Church. After joining Ebbert Memorial UMC in Springfield, OR and completing my dissertation, I found I had too much spare time on my hands-and a need to do something with my calling. After a chat with my DS, I was sent as a lay person assigned (even though I hold ordination credentials) to Hope UMC in Drain/Yoncalla, OR as their pastor. Long story short, this past July first I have been sent instead to Pioneer UMC in Coquille, OR. This is a 1/2 time slot; I’m hoping to remain there while I undertake the things I need to do to become a full elder. That's a three year process, so I have some time.

The good news is, there’s a parsonage to live in. This means for the first time in over eight years, most of my books are on shelves-and have been thatched and duplicates pulled and donated to the church for their rummage sale next month. I have an actual office as well, and I have a church with good people who want to see things happen. (Not that the folks at Hope didn’t-they also want to see things grow and get bigger as well. Join me in praying for them and their new pastor, Jerry Steele.) The downside is that we’re in the middle of a move that is having to happen much faster than we’d planned...they want to rent the apartment we’ve been living for five years by the first of August. Geez, I hate moving. Nerves are frayed, money’s tighter as a result for a few weeks-but God is good. (There’s also the part about commuting 2 1/2 hours one way to get there, but I’ll come back to that in a moment.) 

Add to that I’m now the interim director for the Cascade Chorus, the Barbershop chorus I have been the assistant director of the last five or six years or so. Toss in doing things like attending Annual Conference and a Pastoral Transition conference...and you find that ol’ Doc Crandall’s been a busy cuss.

Little things one takes for granted-like working internet-are coming together. I spent most of my Monday getting that back up and running; my wireless HP printer was balky and the Airport Express needed to be "persuaded" to play nicely with the new wifi router. I can find things in the kitchen now, and many of the boxes and tubs we’ve hauled down there have either been sorted and their contents found homes...or will be in short order. (Have I mentioned how much I hate moving?) And the fun part is that it’s only half the stuff. 

See, Deena-who lost her full-time job the end of June-now has a part time job doing the same stuff with a different department, and some per diem hours as well. If she makes the CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) course she’s trying to get into, she’ll be busier than I am. As a result, she has to stay in the area to work. So we’re moving half our stuff into her folks place and will pay them some rent, and I get to commute that 2.5 hours one way I mentioned earlier. 

I want to make one thing profoundly clear: this commute is not a sign of trouble in our marriage. Just the opposite: we are having to work harder on our relationship as we won’t have the time together we’re used to spending. On the other hand, because we are both so busy, the time we do have together is made more special. 

So...to my students, I ask your indulgence for about another seven to ten working days; I’m starting to have enough time to grade like I’m used to-which means back papers will get caught up fairly quickly. To my parishioners, I ask your continued grace as I get settled into being your new pastor and find a routine that works. To my chorus, I ask you hang with me a little longer-and keep working on your music at home. And to everyone else...when you think about us, keep us in prayer. Now, more than ever, we need God’s grásta agus síocháin-His grace and peace-to help us through a tough period of time. 

More thoughts on St. Patrick's Day

This whole article started off with a simple thought. “St. Patrick’s day is coming, and wouldn’t it be fun to find an Irish flag to fly off the patio?” Now you have to understand a few things: One, I do have some Irish roots, and I have proven that to the Irish Government’s satisfaction. A Certificate of Irish Heritage hangs on my office wall to prove it. I’ve already mentioned my trip to Cill Airne agus Corcaigh (Killarney and Cork) in 1997, and the three things we learned about Lá Fhéile Pádraig-St. Patrick’s day-while there. (You can read about that here.) I’ve found that-besides all the obvious silly green paraphernalia-there’s not a small enough flag available locally to fly off our patio. The only one I could find was a 3’ x 5’ job, which might have doubled as a bedspread were I so inclined. The search for this has given me pause, however. (Hence this blog article.) 

One other thought comes to mind on how Americans celebrate St. Patrick’s day: it’s smack in the middle of Lent, which means consuming copious amounts of booze is generally frowned upon by the Church as there are some who gave up booze for Lent. I was pleased to find a sober St.Patrick’s Day party in New York; one could only hope that concept takes root elsewhere. (Check out the webpage for it here...after you’re done reading the rest of the blog, if you don’t mind.)

Back to my thought: If this one day is theoretically celebrating all things Irish, you’d think I’d find Irish flags all over the place. Granted, this year there’s a lot more push to market Easter-which is another blog for another time. This year, Easter is early. (Thought: is it proper to consume a chocolate cross at Easter? Should such things even be sold?) In North America, the day certainly doesn’t seem to be much about a sainted Christian, one who has been credited with bringing the Christian faith to Ireland. And after going back through my pictures and digitizing 42 of them to get a feel for that trip once again, I can’t say that I saw too many Irish Princess tiaras, shirts telling people about how much beer they planned to drink, or even men pinching women’s hindquarters if they weren’t wearing green. (And I pity the idiot who tried pinching a woman wearing orange, as there are a few Protestants living outside Northern Ireland. That chap would likely get slugged into the next county.) It’s no longer even a celebration of Irishness, it seems. It appears to be more and more focused on a stereotype the Irish are really starting to fight: the drunk. In fact, I suspect Patrick would be somewhat appalled at how Americans celebrate a day which was meant to honor him, his legacy-and his Christian faith.  

So...celebrate as you will, but keep in mind some of what I’ve said. Yes, I’ll be wearing something green that day; what that is will be depending on the weather. As for the flag that I’ve been looking for, the item that inspired all this writing tonight...I found one online, and even with shipping it’s ten bucks. It’s a nice looking cotton job with brass grommets, 12” by 18”. I’ll probably order it before the first of the month. The saddest part is the pole and bracket I’m going to have to get to fly it properly-as well as an American flag when those days to fly Old Glory come-will cost more than the flag will. 

Now that’s wrong in and of itself. 

Enough for now.

On A Lesson in Self-Publishing

Happy New Year, culture lovers!

For a number of you, you may not know this: I’ve been writing in my spare time. What started off as a short story to get a dream out of my head has blown up into what is now a six book series called The Cosantóirí Chronicles. There are plans and outlines for at least one-and as many as three more-books in the series, guaranteeing I’ll be writing more for at least the next year. The “average” book when I get done is in excess of four hundred pages each, including a glossary; in nearly two years I’ve written six of these. That’s three a year, average.

So you know: These books are not Christian Fiction. These are more Sci-Fi/ Fantasy, where there are moral people. They tend to be the kind of books I like to read-but I’ve said before these aren’t for children or immature teens. I choose to be a Christian that writes-not a Christian Writer-because I truly feel that the storyline I’ve been given is a gift. 

Late last month, I quit writing (after completing book six in the series) and did some editing. My supervisor at Master’s-Dr. Dennis Frey-has told me for years on end that “There is no such thing as good writing. There’s only good editing” and he’s right. Boy, is he right. (He’s right a lot by the way, and I don’t say that just because he’s the president of the school I work for.) Part of that editing was to take the time to create both Kindle and iBook editions, instead of just ePub editions, so I could enter both the Kindle Publishing Direct and iBookstore markets. 

But after creating three iBooks I’ve chosen to not create any more for now, and to focus instead on Kindle versions. There are several reasons for this, which I’ll explain below. But you need to understand that up front, it wasn’t an easy decision to make. I like the fact that iBooks Author now has a prose-only template. The program itself is easy to use; I can take a completed document and turn it into am iBook in roughly two to three hours. That’s the only upside, however. The negatives are many, at least to me:

1. The interactive nature of an iBook is fantastic. You can click a link and it will take you to a glossary description of that term. That means I have to create and populate the glossary. It’s also what takes better than half the time to create an iBook from a finished document. That takes time away from editing and writing other books in the series. By going with Kindle, it creates a .mobi file in a matter of seconds-and the only downside to it is that the reader will have to turn to the glossary in the back, just like I do when I’m writing and editing.

2. iBooks Author requires you to use an iPad to check the formatting for your book. In addition, it seems that any book you create using the program is only readable on an iPad. That’s great for sales of Apple product...but lousy business for a self-publishing author who does not own an iPad. (Yet.) iBooks is Apple-specific, and while I don’t have an issue with that, there is a marketing issue. There are Kindle programs for iPhone, Mac, and Windows that allow you to read the books you download, which allows for a broader acceptance of the work to be read. 

3. The iBookstore requires that each iBook has its own International Standard Book Number-or ISBN-number. That’s not inexpensive; $250 for ten. As I see six completed books-and maybe one to three more-that’s $250 for a bulk assignment. Right now, that’s money I simply don’t have. Kindle Publishing Direct simply assigns an ASIN number (Amazon Standard Identification Number) and is done with it. Of course, if I just want to sell ePub editions on my own, I don’t need either one.

4. Finally, I have to look at what is an easier sale. Not everyone has an iPad, and so just doing a version for that as a self-publishing job is more time and effort than it’s worth. It’s not a matter of being lazy. If I had to start all over again, I’d probably write each volume as an iBook and then export it as an ePub as well. It does become an issue in that it takes away from the rest of my life and the rest of the work I do. 

If all I did was write for a living, I’d be all over iBooks Author. I like it; it’s an easy enough program to use. But for me the downside outweighs the positives right now. I may change my mind later on, though, and finish the set out in iBooks. (But only after I get an iPad to check the product out on.) 

A final note: another good e-book program is Calibre. It’s available for Windows, Mac OSX, Linux, and as a portable system. They recommend a donation; I do as well. It’s a little clunky-but powerful, and will open all e-books except for iBooks.

Enough for now.

2012 Has Come and Gone....

Nollaig Shona Dhaoibh! (Happy Christmas to you all!)

It’s that time of year again. This is likely my last blog for the year, so I might as well make it part Nollag litir (Christmas letter). We’ve loaded the CD player with Christmas CD’s-some 51 of of them. (We decided it was better than letting some commercial station play off the wall Christmas stuff all the time.) Our tree is up, and the Christmas cards are all sent. A candle is in the window, and I have decided to take a few minutes to reflect on the last year. That reflection starts off with a question: Where the heck has 2012 gone?!? I mean, come on! I know I’ve been busy. I didn’t think I was that busy...until I sat down to write this. 

I’ve been writing, working, and singing. A lot of free time has been spent writing books in the Cosantóirí Chronicles series; the first five books are done and in epub format. Book six should be done by the end of the month, if all goes well; then I am editing all six books for iBook format. (There is part of an outline for a potential book seven, but that outline won’t even get finished until the others are edited and in iBook format.) You can check out what they’re about here: http://cosantoiri.wordpress.com. I’m also transcribing some old travels to the digital age; I have a few Hawai’i trips, some visits to Canada, a trip to Ireland, and if I can find them, a missions trip to Mexico. Then I’ll add some band and choir tours, and maybe a little Drum Corps and Barbershop stuff. It’s a long term project.

I also finished all the work for my third doctorate. All I have to do is pay the final bill (which isn't cheap) and they’ll send me the diploma. It’s a Ph.D in interdisciplinary studies; I’m done taking classes for right now. I’m busy both teaching and grading courses for Master’s International School of Divinity, and when I’m not writing on the fiction side I’m busy developing a course on a Celtic View of the Spiritual Disciplines. I am also developing a course on the writings of C.S. Lewis. Both of these should be done early next year if all goes well. C.S. Lewis will be done first; I’m still reading books for the other class-and enjoying them immensely. As a result of the fiction writing and the one course, I’ve been teaching myself Gaeilge (Irish Gaelic). It’s an interesting language-and easier than Japanese, Greek or Hebrew was. For fun and to clear my head I've also picked up the feadóg stáin, or tin whistle. I can play three songs on the thing already, and I've only had it a month or so.

Deena and I have traveled quite a bit this year. She competed with the Pride of Portland Sweet Adeline Chorus in Denver the first week of November; they took eighth in the world. Not too shabby! I taught Music and Performance VP for the Evergreen District’s Western Regional Leadership in Langley, BC a few weeks later. There have been a few trips to see Mom, and we all spent a week with 6,000 of our closest friends at the Barbershop Harmony Society’s International Convention held in Portland over the 4th of July week. We did a little camping, and I even managed to get in my first baseball game at AT&T park. (There’s more travels, but I’m not gonna go there right now.) Then there was this two week period at the beginning of August where it felt like everything stopped for the Summer Olympic games. Don’t tell me some of you weren’t up until midnight-or at least 11:00-watching some of that....

Speaking of activities, I’m still the assistant director for Eugene-Springfield’s “Cascade Chorus,” but resigned as the Music and Performance VP this fall due to health reasons...most of which are stress related.  After the Division IV competition in Medford the quartet I sang in-“It’s About Time”-stopped singing together. It wasn’t due to anyone or anything...we just decided enough was enough. We’re all still good friends and laugh about stuff at chapter meetings. And I’m continuing my work as Director of Education for the Evergreen District of the BHS-for now, at least. I’ve kept busy with our local church, Ebbert Memorial UMC; I’m involved on the Congregational Leadership Team. I also update their website every so often, as time allows. I dropped off the Worship Planning team and the Wednesday night dinner crew for the same reason: stress. I have had to learn I can’t cram eighty hours of work, volunteering, writing, and so forth into a forty hour week and not have it impact my health. Being epileptic does place limits on the output of energy I have, and frankly I don’t have the same energy at nearly 48 as I did at 33. As a result I don’t handle stress as well any more, and so have needed to reduce my stress levels. 

And oh, yes...we’re cleaning up around the place, sorting through stuff, and getting rid of things. That is both of us; I’ve been going through all kinds of stuff a little bit every day-old files in the filing cabinet, stuff in the storage bin, stuff in storage at Deena’s folks. It’s time; I have stuff I want to put up and haven’t been able to. For example, I don’t really need my class notes from TEDS and Moody any more. (I haven’t looked at them in years.) The notes from TEDS got sorted today, for example. I pulled the syllabi and tossed the rest. Yesterday, another piece from my collection of Royal Tara china went up: A china cat. (It sits next to the Waterford crystal panda Deena got for me years ago.)

Like I said-I’ve been a little busy, maybe too busy. So why am I telling you all this?

Because I haven’t been blogging much of late. And I felt you all deserved a reasonable explanation as to why. Unlike certain other bloggers, I have a little something called a life. And life gets in the way of blogging sometimes. My goal for next year on the blog is roughly fifteen articles; at the very least I’m aiming for one a month. (Heck, even if I only put up ten, that’s twice as many as this year.) Another part of the reason for not blogging: It’s too easy to get into matters political-and I didn’t want to go there. Not this year. Not ever, if I can avoid it.

And so I want to leave you all with this thought. 2012 is over, effectively. Instead of complaining about what is, work to change what you can-and try to make peace with what you can’t. Better yet, to paraphrase Adam Savage: Reject the current reality and substitute your own. No, you can’t become deity, or replace the President. But you should do what you can to make your little corner of the world a better place. That’s part of having a whole new year to play with, after all. And it is also the Christmas message: hope. Hope for a better eternity, hope of new life, in Jesus-who we celebrate the birth of this time of year.

Nollaig Shona agus Athbhliain faoi Mhaise Daoibh! (Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year to you all!) 

Hey, I haven't forgotten about this blog thing!

Wow...been a little bit since I've written anything...here.

That doesn't mean I haven't been writing much, though. Quite the opposite; I've been writing quite a bit. Since I last wrote something here, I took a week's vacation to Portland for the Barbershop Harmony Society's annual International Convention with Deena, Mom and my brother-in-law Dan (and 6000 of my closest friends), led an interfaith service the Sunday of the convention, saw a Giants game at AT&T Park (and then watched Matt Cain's no-hitter on TV), successfully defended my thesis for my third doctorate, led worship (and gave the sermon) in my local church, attended Harmony College NW, performed with the Cascade Chorus in Florence, stayed up way too late for two weeks watching the Olympics, taught a few classes (and graded a boatload more) for Master's International School of Divinity, attended a Yanni concert with Deena...and fed the cats.

There are now four volumes of the Cosantóirí Chronicles in ePub format, and a fifth volume is being written right now. (There may be a sixth volume yet.) I admit to having given up on iBooks; I wanted a broader audience than iPad owners. Each of the completed volumes will be available shortly. These trace the story of the modern-day children of Nuala of Innisfaire-called Cosantóirí, Irish for Those Who Protect-starting with a young man who has some mental abilities...and no idea of the background of any of them.

These are not Christian fiction. They were never intended to be, and they are not geared for tweenagers, young teenagers, or immature adults. There are no werewolves, vampires, or other undead people in them. (There are zombies, but those are cheese-filled yeast buns.) These are written about a world similar to ours today, but not quite so dark: the good guy gets the girl, people still have morals (by and large), communities pull together, friends help friends. 

These are stories of a nature that I like to read. 

Outside of that, I have a few other things that I'm doing, but more on that later. I have a meeting tonight, and have to feed both the cats and myself beforehand-and prep for teaching a class tomorrow and Saturday.

My doctor says I should slow down a little bit. Something about being too busy, and too much stress. I'm writing to relax. Does writing four 400+ page books sound like I need to relax a little more? :)

Enough for now.

Updates, iBooks, and What's New

Yes, I did remember I have a blog. I’ve been busy lately...more on that toward the bottom.

Every so often, I slow down and take part of my work day to run virus checks, malware and spyware checks, battery checks, and updates on the trusty MacBook. I do this during the week in case something goes wrong; I feel like I get better customer service during business hours than on weekends. (Not to mention I was camping this last weekend, and thus, not able to do the updates.) These updates inevitably take the better part of a morning, but always ends up giving me a laptop I can trust to do what I ask of it. 

The other day was one of those days. I’d put it off long enough, but with the update to my checkbook program, I didn’t have an excuse to put it off any longer.

Now, before you all snicker at me and remind me that “I thought Macs don’t have a lot of issues”, you need to understand: I work online, opening things that my students send me. Sometimes as many as 40 of these things daily. And bless their hearts, a fair number of them would be horrified to find out that there’s a nasty bit of code-a virus-attached to their homework, a little gift they don’t even know they have. While that code doesn’t affect the MacBook, it can reside on it-and then get sent to others with a Windows based computer. With as many students as I deal with, that could translate to a large number of computers that could be infected pretty quickly...plus some of the school’s units.

Add to that all the e-mail I get from barbershoppers, friends, loved ones and so forth-some of whom have admitted they don’t know much about computer viruses, much less computers-and you can see why I carry malware, spyware and anti-virus programs. It’s more to protect everyone else than myself.

Those all got updated because the operating system was updated. That means I am now running Mac OS X 10.7.4, otherwise known as Lion. That little chore-updating just the op system-took me the better part of two hours. Most of that is because I had to download Lion from the App Store...the download alone ran nearly an hour. I went and got some tea while it downloaded, came home and installed everything. 

I like it well enough...though I have had to make a few adjustments to my workflow. The two most obvious changes are Mission Control-the replacement for a switching program called Spaces-and another program I like better, called Launchpad. Launchpad lets me find my applications a lot faster. Mission Control-now that I’ve tweaked a few things-will actually be an improvement over Spaces. It’ll take me a few days to get used to the new op system, but it will be worth it as the MacBook seems to be running cooler and a little faster.

I still have one program to update, but that will have wait until my next paycheck. Fortunately, the programs I use the most were the latest versions, so I didn’t have to upgrade those.

The nice thing about all this updating is that I don’t have to patch everything every week. The downside is when I have do have to update, it can take some time and money. But it’s well spent in that I have a MacBook that can run rings around a Windows 7 computer, even now. 

The added benefit-and the one I’ve been the most wanting to play with-is a little gem called iBooks Author. A few of you know that in addition to writing a dissertation over the last year, I’ve also been writing some fiction on the side. It’s more science-fictionish than Christian, for various reasons. The main thing here is that I now have the ability to create both an iBook and an EPUB version of my books. I’m working on the iBook formatting for book one now; editing is taking some adjustments. Font changes, text size, and a few other tweaks that can happen now that I can see what a finished product will hopefully look like. It should remain about 300 pages in length, if all goes well. The EPUB version will have to be re-edited, and may end up about 350 pages plus. 

More about this little project when the first book is ready to go. I have three volumes completed that need to move into the final formatting, and am still writing a forth volume as well.  

Enough for now.