Use Your Words

On this day, in 1660, arguably the most famous diarist in history, Samuel Pepys, made the first entry into his personal diary.
He kept his diary for approximately nine years, detailing everything from his personal life to the news of the day to even what he ate.  Although he clearly kept his diary purely as a personal exercise, he must have suspected that it may eventually prove interesting to future generations based on the care he took to bind it and preserve it in his library.  He was, in fact, correct in that assumption and his diary has proven an incredibly valuable resource for historians.  His very personal, intimate look at every day life at the time, as it turns out, is one of the most valuable and, I think, interesting aspects of his daily record-keeping.

And, I think, journaling, or, yes, even blogging, today can serve the same purpose.  My first blog, Diary of a Network Geek, has been running for more than ten years.  Granted, the past several years of that have been somewhat less personal and, sadly, somewhat less frequent than it was in the early days, but it is still running and I do still add entries.
I have also kept written diaries, on and off, and, while I've enjoyed that, it hasn't always been as easy to keep them up as the blogs have been.  Still, there is something attractive about that format, and there are seemingly limitless ways to keep a written journal.  You could get a [amazon_link id="B00069DKYI" target="_blank" container="" container_class="" ]Moleskine[/amazon_link] and make entries as you feel called.  I know that that's a pretty popular method, though certainly, any cheap [amazon_link id="B0006SVBOU" target="_blank" container="" container_class="" ]spiral bound notebook[/amazon_link] will get the job done, too.
I have to admit, I've seen a couple other, pre-printed options that have a certain appeal to me.  For instance, [amazon_link id="0977648192" target="_blank" container="" container_class="" ]simple, five-year journal[/amazon_link] is one option.  Another one that struck me as possibly easier than a more free-form journal is the [amazon_link id="0811870197" target="_blank" container="" container_class="" ]One Line A Day, Five Year Memory Book[/amazon_link], which would keep my writing tight with the exercise of summing up each day in a single line or sentence.  Possibly a little easier than that would be the [amazon_link id="0307719774" target="_blank" container="" container_class="" ]"Q and A A Day" Five Year Journal[/amazon_link] that would prompt me with a question to answer every day.

But whatever way someone decides to make note of the events of their daily life, by blog or written journal, I think the exercise is always valuable.  Even if the journaler doesn't intend for their work to ever be read, the act of examining one's life and writing about it is theraputic in some way.  I also think the discipline of writing every day is beneficial, regardless of the content.
So, today could be the first day of your ten year journal.  Are you up to the challenge?  Can you keep a journal going for ten years?  How about one year?  Why not try?  I think the results could be worth it!

So, those of you familiar with my blog will recognize my annual New Year's Resolutions post.

Yes, I'm pretty shameless about it, but, well, it was one of the earlier things I programmed and I still find it amusing and the New Year will fast be upon us.   Besides, this is fun and so many people take their New Year's Resolutions too seriously.  Not to mention how serious it seems like  this year has been for people with the elections and...
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According to the official NORAD Santa Tracker, the jolly fatman that's keeping our economy running is on his way!

He's been spotting in the Pacific Rim and is headed East toward India, Europe and Africa as I post this.  He'll be here in United States and Central and South America before you know it!

Also?  On a slightly more serious note?
No matter what  your religious bent, please, join with me in celebrating the return of light to the world.  Friday was the...
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What do YOU consider "essential gear" on a photo shoot?

I'll be honest, most of the time, I'm shooting it's usually a pretty "run and gun" affair while out interacting with the public.  People generally refer to that as "street shooting", but I think of it as "impromtu portraiture".  Either way, I'm generally working alone in situations like that, so the idea of working with assistants is pretty alien to me.  Still, I have to admit I'd really love to assist a big-name pro like Joe McNally or Chase Jarvis or Syl Arena.  The problem is, I have no idea what I'd need to bring or do.

Well, this list of The 40+ Items Every Photography Assistant Needs from the PhotoShelter Blog gives someone like me a pretty decent idea what they may need to bring to a conventional, professional photoshoot.
What I love about the list is that there's so much more than the usual cables, cords and chargers.  Everything from Sharpies to a multi-tool to antacids to Tylenol, this check list has it all.  And, of course, what Drew Gurian claims is the most important tool in a photography assistant's bag; plenty of gaffer's tape!

But, go check out the whole article for all the tips and insight, too.  It's pretty eye-opening in regards to what all the assistants do for a photographer.  It's pretty impressive.
Besides, it's Friday and you're day-dreaming about your dream job, otherwise you'd be working instead of reading this blog entry!  So, why not go get a better idea how to really break into professional photography?
Have a great weekend, y'all!

No, not Santa.

Well, I suppose Santa is coming to town, soon enough, but I'm talking about something else entirely.
No, I'm talking about your favorite bands.  This past weekend, my girl and I went to see one of her favorite musical acts, who were playing at a real, Texas dance all over in Winnie, about an hour outside of Houston.  But, we only knew about it because one of her friends had been lucky enough to catch an announcement about them...Read More

So, today marks another lap around the Sun for me.

Honestly, I don't hang a lot on birthdays, especially my own.  I mean, for the most part, they're just another day.  Another marker of many in my life and, frankly, a rather arbitrary one at that.  I'm more impressed with the fact that I've paid a third of my mortgage than that I'm turning 44 today.  Of course, the fact that I've made it this far is actually sort of an accomplishment, I think. There are many who haven't, and, God knows, I've had my share of brushes with death, but, even that's not altogether unusual, really. In fact, according to the actuarial tables, I should expect about another 30 or so years.  Which is a good thing because, in spite of being statistically middle-aged, I come from fairly long-lived stock and I have many, many things yet to accomplish.

It's been a good year, in retrospect.
Oh, it may have started no different than so many have since surviving cancer, but shortly after Easter things did take an interesting turn.  No, I didn't win the Lottery or suddenly find a way to lose all that extra weight I'm still not overly excited about carrying around with me.  But, I did meet someone.  Or, to be more accurate, I rediscovered someone.  I reactivated my Match.com account shortly after my birthday post last year, which is over on Diary of a Network Geek.  There were a couple false starts and then I saw a familiar face.  She was someone I knew before I was married, but just shortly after I moved to Houston back in 1998 to live with my now ex-wife.  She was seeing someone at the time and we all were about the same age, so we tended to end up talking together at parties of shared acquaintances.  Her beau at the time is in the tech industry too and, in fact, inspired me getting the domain HavePalmWillTravel.com, back when Palm devices were all the rage.
Well, anyway, there she was, looking up at me from that Match.com profile, smiling brighter than the Sun.  I have to admit, I didn't think it was possible that I could be so lucky that she could be the same person I remembered from those days.  But, of course, I hoped it was.  As it turns out, I was right.  It took a little finagling on both our parts, but, eventually, we did manage to not only chat and text and talk on the phone, but get out on an actual date.  Things went well.
Well enough, in fact, that Sharon will be moving in with me in February.  And, yes, we both couldn't be happier.
Relationships may not be the only source of happiness in the world, but, damn, my relationship with Sharon sure does make everything else I do seem more worthwhile and enjoyable.

So, in short, life is good.
And getting better.
And, no, I did NOT expect this at all last year when I wrote my annual birthday post.  I hoped to be in a different place emotionally and so on a year later and, well, damn if it didn't happen!  Last year, I was starting to think I had either set the bar too high or had left out some other important ingredient that was going to make me forever alone, but, wow, what a difference a year makes!  So, yes, I am in about as different a place from last year as I can imagine.

And, of course, my birthday wouldn't be complete if I didn't mention all the other famous people who had the good luck to be born on this particular day. Famous people like Frank "Chairman of the Board" Sinatra, Jennifer Connelly, Bob Barker, Gustave Flaubert, who is the author of Madame Bovary, the painter Edvard Munch, and Wells Fargo founder, Henry Wells. Not to mention, Mike Pinder of the Moody Blues, Tim Hauser of Manhattan Transfer, Dickey Betts of the Allman Bros, jazz musician Grover Washington Jr, and former mayor of New York City, Ed Koch.
All heady company to be sure, but for whatever reason, it tickles me the most that I share a birthday with Frank Sinatra. I guess it's because he was such a unique and original character who really fought against and beat some long odds to become an amazingly famous, generally well thought of character. I can only hope to do the same, one day.
Also, I think it's interesting to note that on this day in 1896 Marconi first demoed radio and, again on this day, in 1901 made his first Trans-Atlantic transmission. (Though, of course, all right-thinking people know that Tesla was really responsible for those first advances in radio.)

So, I  really have no idea what the coming year will bring, but I'm looking forward to it.  That is if the world doesn't end in about nine days. Either way, I'm sure I'll be relatively happy.  No, not because I'm in a relationship, although that doesn't hurt, but because being with Sharon has taught me something about life; happiness is a choice.  That's more or less her philosophy, that happiness is a choice that we all can make, even when things aren't going our way.  It's one of the reasons I love her.
And, of course, it's a choice I'm making and glad to be making along with her.

Some music to create the Great American Novel by.

Or, you know, whatever it is you need to write.
Back in October, I brought you a link to soundtracks for your books, but this week, it's music that will hopefully inspire your writing.  I know a lot of people who write to music, whether that's PHP code, or fiction, or even blog entries.  And, of course, there are as many opinions about not only whether to listen to music or not, but...
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I don't know about you, but I love free stuff.

I do a lot of stuff on the web every day.  Yeah, I know you can't tell that from how neglected this blog is these days, especially compared to the old days when I was posting pretty much every day, but, trust me, I'm always buzzing around the web doing something.  Sometimes, it's building websites like this one.  Not very pretty, but pretty functional and sometimes, not even sites for me. ...Read More

The first rule is to WRITE!

No, seriously, in honor of NaNoWriMo, I thought I'd link to things about writing and inspiration this month and, even though, I'm no great fan of rules, especially about writing, some people are.  So, with that in mind, I thought I'd share the Guardian's Ten Rules for Writing Fiction.
They asked several authors, some of whom I am more familiar than others, and got each of them to list their "10 Rules for Writing".  Some are...
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Are you stuck for ideas?

It may be a little late for those people attempting NaNoWriMo this month, but it's never too late for the rest of us to come up with some great story ideas.
IO9 gave these as "10 Tips for Generating Killer Science Fiction Story Ideas", but some of them are just interesting ways to bump up some conflict and aren't limited to science-fiction at all.  Here's the short list of them, before I go into details on a...
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