Cleaning Up Words...Can Be Exhausting

Back when the Macintosh computer was only four years old, I was hired to work as a computer sound technician. My job was to edit digitized sound bits for a computer program. I enjoyed the job a lot and, truth be told, I think I was pretty good at it.

Unfortunately, the program didn't sell and the company shut down, but I've always remembered that job. Decades have passed and I haven't had the opportunity to edit many things, at least, as far as audio files go.

That changed last month when I was given an assignment to edit an audiobook for my publisher. I was given the audio file and a deadline. I thought it would be tough, but I also thought I could complete the assignment in no time.

Turns out, it's been a lot tougher than I thought it would be. Today I spent several hours editing several chapters of the book. I worked on it off-and-on all day. I'm beat.

I've wondered why it's been so hard. I'm basically doing the same work I did years ago. Then it hit me--back then, I was editing sentences. The entire program maybe had only hundreds of sentences that needed cleaning. With this audiobook, I'm responsible for hundreds, if not thousands of sentences, words, phrases, paragraphs, and chapters.

It's a tad daunting.

But it's also a lot of fun. I love zooming in on a word or phrase and zapping that "click" or "pop" out of existence.

I've got a ways to go yet. Little by little, chapter by chapter, I'm getting it done. There's something wonderful that happens when you listen to an engaging story written by an amazing author and read by a talented voice performer. I'm glad I can be part of that magic. 

A Marie Kondo De-Clutter Storm Has Hit Our House...

Both my wife and I saw the same meme when we opened Facebook tonight--the same meme posted by different people. A week ago, I'd never heard of Marie Kondo.

Now, she's everywhere.

That's how trends go.

And, as trends go, becoming a disciple of the Marie Kondo method is not a bad thing.

If you've been living under a rock you may not know who Marie Kondo is or what she does. I don't know much about her--I haven't read her book--but I do know she has a show on Netflix. What she does is help people de-clutter not only their living spaces, but their lives.

My wife has watched several episodes of Marie's show and yesterday, she began her de-cluttering adventure. She followed the plan and organized her side of the closet (notice I'm not showing pictures of my side of the closet...). She hit a home run. 

Of course, it's only the beginning. There's mountains of books, papers, and other things against which my wife will go to war--all the time finding joy in the process. It' something I should learn and do, as well. Then, I'll be converted to a Marie Kondo disciple, too.

That's not a bad thing.

Revisiting An Absolutely Amazing Film..."Raiders Of The Lost Ark"

Growing up, my youth centered around certain things, riding bikes with friends, hiking in the mountain in my backyard, swimming and hanging out in the Penny Arcade at Lagoon all summer long.

And then there were movies.

It's almost hard to believe that the only way to watch movies for me growing up was in the theater. And if you missed it in the theater, you had to wait--literally years--for that film to be shown on one of three television networks, and if you weren't home sitting in front of the TV, you'd miss it. There were no such things as a way to record a movie. You saw it in the theater or on TV and that was it. No other options.

I feel like a great-grandfather talking about nickel candy at the soda bar in the drug store.

These memories came back to me today as I re-watched one of my favorite movies ever, Steven Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark. It's quite simply a masterpiece. I admit--I don't see a lot of films nowadays so I can't with any authority say, "they don't make films like Raiders anymore," but I'll say it anyway. They don't make films like Raiders anymore.

I snapped a picture halfway through the film for this post. I could have included hundreds of pictures from the movie--it's full of scene after scene that invoke memories. The casting was marvelous. The writing--brilliant. And it just looks unlike many of the films that come out now. It's still a joy to watch and take in.

Fast forward to today. In thirty-eight short years I'm sitting in front of a TV using Bluetooth to beam a signal from my iPad to Chromecast to play the movie from Netflix. I can literally watch thousands of films, tens of thousands of TV shows, and millions of videos any time I want. Some shows are good, but most are not, and very few if any rise to the level of the film I saw today. It's like Dickens wrote, "it was the best of times; it was the worst of times," entertainment-ly speaking.

Each year there's a new crop of films. I'm sure there'll be some good ones, but I can always count on Raiders for movie-experiencing enjoyment.

Come On, LinkedIn...At Least Send Me People I May Remotely Know!

Years ago I created a LinkedIn account. I set it up and basically forgot about it. Since I'm not a constant user, I may be wrong in my summation of the program, but to me, LinkedIn is like Facebook for professionals. At one time I thought I ought to be on it, but as the years have passed, its usefulness for me hasn't presented itself.

I know there are many who use the program religiously and it must pay off for them, so I understand why people would reach out to increase their network numbers...

But really--it's gotten out of hand!

With the other social media platforms, I've gotten friend/follow requests from people I don't know. It happens all the time especially on Facebook. But many of the people who contact me on Facebook know some of the people I know. A lot of writers will connect with other writers, even if they don't know them personally. It's a calculated move and it makes sense.

To me when someone asked to be a follower on LinkedIn, you should at least know them, or have some connection to each other. I work for the government. I've had people want me to be in their LinkedIn networks who do similar work both inside and outside government. I usually decline/ignore those requests, but I can understand them. Lately, I'm getting LinkedIn network requests from people that are in no way associated with me, what I do, or have any people in common. It's not that I don't appreciate the request--it's just that without knowing these people, I can't understand why they'd want me in their network in the first place.

It's hard enough trying to figure out how I know someone on Facebook. I don't want to have to do it with another social media platform that--to me--is supposed to be more personal. Oh well. I guess I'll just keep declining/ignoring them as long as keep coming. Sorry Jeffery Higgins, James, Christina, Steve, Jeanelle, Patty, and Robert--I'm sure you're fascinating people, but I'm going to pass.

Getting Rid Of Stuff...And Why We Have It In The First Place

Last weekend we did a little de-cluttering at our house. We live in an area where there's an incredibly organized and efficient thrift store system. It's run by the LDS Church and there's major stores and donation centers across the state.

Personal note--shopping at these stores, called D.I. (short for Deseret Industries...), is one of my favorite things to do. I could hang out for hours just looking at stuff. I could, and when I had more time, I did. It's amazing to see things that have a history. They were not only produced, but most have spent time in people's homes. These items were bought as gifts, as necessary products, and as impulse buys.

We were re-organizing the boy's upstairs bedroom. When you re-organize, if some things come in, other things have got to go so we loaded up the van and headed to the donation center.

Apparently, we were not the only ones with the same idea.

We usually go on weekdays, not weekends. It's too busy. This time it couldn't be helped. We turned on to the road and realized we'd be waiting a bit--there was a back up just to get into the parking lot. Once we were off the street, I snapped a quick picture showing the line still waiting to get off the road. I posted the picture on social media and it got a lot of responses.

There was one that made me think.

A friend from Denmark wrote, "Hmmmm wonder if people should buy less stuff to begin with...less stuff, less to give/throw away..."

It's a fair point. We live in a land of opportunity and that means, many times, the opportunity to amass a ton of stuff. We're guilty of it. We have a storage room full of some important things, but also things we don't necessarily need. I remember growing up in a larger home that was full of a lot more stuff. Both my parents lived through the Great Depression and they saved. They saved recipes, they saved nails and screws and clothes and tools, and anything that they thought might be needed in the future. I think part of my "collecting" tendencies stem from my parents.

One room down. Hopefully, we'll keep going. And if we do, I'm sure we'll join dozens of others waiting to give stuff away.

Looks Like "Shattered Show" Is In The Forecast...WORLDWIDE...Starting Tomorrow!

Half the world is experiencing winter, but tomorrow, everyone should expect a snowstorm...a literary storm of new words, new sentences, paragraphs and chapters. Tomorrow (in addition to being my wife's birthday...) is also the launch of Immortal Works Press's latest edition, Rachel Huffmire's Shattered Snow.

What a great day for a book launch!

I haven't read the book myself yet, but here's an Amazon review from the book's home page:

Shattered Snow is an engaging story about people who want to do the right thing but end up at odds with each other. Rachel Huffmire has constructed characters of action with depth that kept me glued to the page. I felt their pain when they met misfortune and excitement when they triumphed. That kind of empathy isn't typical for me so this was a refreshing read.

This novel is a retelling of Snow White but it's so subtle at first that I didn't realize what the story was until half way through the novel! Yet, even after I caught on, Shattered Snow told its own narrative and I couldn't predict how it would align with the classic story. Several times while I read, I wouldn't realize events' significance until chapters later when I had an ah-ha moment and things fell into place. Those moments were fun as a reader since it makes me feel like I'm involved and discovering what's going on.

There's nothing quite like having a party for a book that you wrote. It's exciting, a little scary, and exiting. And a release for a debut novel makes it that much more special.

If you'd like to enjoy the Rachel's adventure, you can order it by clicking: HERE. You can also follow along with the release party on Rachel's Facebook page: HERE. At the party free stuff will be handed out! Give Shattered Snow a chance! After all, winter's the perfect time to read all about snow!

Absolutely LOVE The Snow...However

Living in an area of seasons brings with it the good and the bad. We live in an amazing climate where all four seasons are represented. Of the four, summer is my least favorite, followed by spring, then winter, and at last autumn. Many people I know and who here hate winter.

I love it.

I love the snow, I love the lack of pollen in the air, I love that yard work is not expected. Sure, there's some things that aren't the best--the pollution in the inversions is not only ugly, but unhealthy and even dangerous.

Then, there's driving in the snow.

I've lived on our hill for decades. I think I can count on both hands the times I wasn't able to get my car up the hill to our house. Today was one of those days. We had a storm that actually hit last night. It began with rain--this morning it started to snow. I didn't realize until I headed down the hill on my way to church (by the way, two-hour church is, well, heavenly...) just how slick it was under the newly fallen snow. The failure of my car to stop was my first clue.

The snow fell heavily while we worshiped, and I hoped the roads would be plowed when time came to go home. They were plowed, but not enough. I got within thirty feet of my goal of level road when the car would not go farther. I ended up going backwards until I got the the level road below ours. I parked the car and waited for the snowplow to make another pass. 

I knew my tires weren't the best. They're not completely bald, but I thought as I tried and tried to will my car up the hill that if I only had new tires, I'd be okay. When I walked down to try again, I saw the huge snowplow spin its tires as it tried to crest the hill. I knew then that this was not a normal storm and the roads were not normally slick. This was unusual and new tires might not have even helped.

Right now, my little car is parked off the street at our house. Yes, winter in the mountains can be a pain at times, but to me, it's worth putting up with the bad because the good is so great.