seven days after new year, twelve after christmas, it was the original christmas, the twelfth day, the epiphany, so i left the lights on on the tree overnight, though it didn't make much difference. my wife has come home; two weeks as a single father over, it will change the routine for sure. give me more time, maybe, but probably not. school will start soon, the pressure's on. i haven't finished a thing i started.
thought about resolutions, and i resolved, for sure, not to do the usual stuff like losing weight or cleaning the garage; both of those were maybe half-done or quarter-done last year and still loom over me as things i want but what's the point. no, i decided to make a few that inspired me, like get started on collecting and learning actualism (a poetry movement in iowa city coincidentally when i was, that has virtually disappeared)...or, better, get started on the art of fixing musical instruments, as i have several that need fixed and nobody around this rural area with any clue as to how to go about it. so i actually got started with this second one, and ordered strings and keys for a lap dulcimer whose keys were so brittle they broke apart when i got it out. the cello will be harder, i realize, and so will the second fiddle, which is like the first only has some inherent problems; the third is tiny; i have no idea how to go about fixing that one. but i'm musing on about this inspirational resolution idea when my ten-year-old gives me his: make a hundred youtubes and get a hundred "likes"...now that's inspirational. he had a new videocam under the tree but the problem was, it wasn't loading them up to the computer, and when we got on youtube to get some free advice, some guy was talking about a "cheap-a--" camera and this kind of stuck a knife in him, took the wind out of his sails.
problem was, the computer wouldn't read the little thumb-drive thing, just wouldn't see it, so couldn't upload any of the movies. the company had no clue that a card-reader might be necessary, though it was, and our computers weren't all that outmoded or unusual; neither could read the thing. we emailed the company and they had no clue, and their offshore advisor had no clue, though she had pretty good english and was able to read out of a script book pretty well. finally some guy at the best-buy geek squad plugged a card-reader into there and we were able to get the movies onto the computer. there are four or five of them, not a bad production record, and they tell people how to get through various pokemon games, online games, dsi games, etc. they are called "walkthroughs" and this believe it or not is how he spends an enormous amount of time, watching them, and so he was eager to get on the production end and share some of his knowledge, and get a loyal fan base. but he was disappointed to find out that youtube basically wouldn't let him start his own channel, being only ten, and upload them himself. he got angry, saying he didn't want his channel having my name, or lying about his age, or anything like that, so he'd just give up the entire dream, put down the camera, forget about it.
this was a cruel end to a long drama, because, in my mind, he was already getting better at making them. several things have occurred to me: one, i could put a few of them here, or someplace where i could see them more easily, maybe make my own movie out of what he made so far. two, i could use the camera myself, if he refuses to use it, even interview him so as to document what we just went through, and not lose these cool "starter" movies which, i'm convinced, show the beginning of some creative talent. is there a way to talk him down from the tree? somehow, upon my wife's arrival, she was able to convince him that it would be ok, somehow, to use one of our addresses, yet still have his pokemon name on the channel and develop the reputation he sought. this he may yet do - stay tuned.
the report from peoria is, the twins are fine, it's a lot of work, they eat and poop a lot but due to scheduling irregularities nobody gets much sleep. there's an urgency to getting a schedule, getting a routine, and getting them both on it, but they don't both want to follow the program quite yet so everyone is apparently trying to play catch-up on their sleep while the babies just do what babies do...
got three books on kindle, successfully, and now should be publicizing them, and fixing up this site where i do that, but as you can see i haven't quite started. googling my name on amazon kindle products, you'll find all three, but i shouldn't be making it so difficult for you, i should have little ads in my templates, i could be using all these sites to be advertising them. and i shall.
as i go steadily more commercial, you the reader will have more opportunities to click on these little ads and go and actually buy this stuff, but the more astute of you will know from the start that it's been available free, on the web, all along, and the main reason for that is that i like publishing them when i make them and ideally get some comments on them before i wrap them up and sell them or present them to the public. and what better audience than you, my faithful readers? of course, it's not working out perfectly well; for one thing, very few people actually go to my stories and read them, and fewer yet actually comment, even on the written stuff, and i have thin skin anyway, and don't change much based on what they say. and, am relatively impatient with either waiting around for good comments or actually revising what i've ever written, so it's not getting done very well. suffice it to say, i have three things on kindle. two are stories; a third is haiku; if you borrow them, or buy them, please "double-like" or whatever. i'm convinced that one of them, someday, will be snapped up for movie rights; that's my goal. if not, i'm likely to figure out how to make movies myself, and then do that.
ao i've said it, there was my vacation; the cello's out, and looking unused; the dulcimer is out, i'm making a quilt, i'm only partway done with my jigsaw puzzle, unread magazines all over the house, tree's still up, garage needs organized, yet i blog, or i bog, or i hang out with the boys trying to figure out how to upload movies. in general, i haven't been very productive with my break, except that spending time with kids is always productive in its own kind of way, and helps out when the chips are down and you have absolutely no time to spend. they're my allies; however this movie thing works out, they are the ones who probably might even read this blog, this far, sometime, and i hope i never say anything to dismay them. i'm proud of everything i've seen so far, and that counts for all the kids i call mine, and their progeny, things have worked out pretty well so far, as andy rooney said, i complain a lot here, and i complain about a lot of things, but one thing i can't complain about is my life.
and with that i wish you a happy new year...
thought about resolutions, and i resolved, for sure, not to do the usual stuff like losing weight or cleaning the garage; both of those were maybe half-done or quarter-done last year and still loom over me as things i want but what's the point. no, i decided to make a few that inspired me, like get started on collecting and learning actualism (a poetry movement in iowa city coincidentally when i was, that has virtually disappeared)...or, better, get started on the art of fixing musical instruments, as i have several that need fixed and nobody around this rural area with any clue as to how to go about it. so i actually got started with this second one, and ordered strings and keys for a lap dulcimer whose keys were so brittle they broke apart when i got it out. the cello will be harder, i realize, and so will the second fiddle, which is like the first only has some inherent problems; the third is tiny; i have no idea how to go about fixing that one. but i'm musing on about this inspirational resolution idea when my ten-year-old gives me his: make a hundred youtubes and get a hundred "likes"...now that's inspirational. he had a new videocam under the tree but the problem was, it wasn't loading them up to the computer, and when we got on youtube to get some free advice, some guy was talking about a "cheap-a--" camera and this kind of stuck a knife in him, took the wind out of his sails.
problem was, the computer wouldn't read the little thumb-drive thing, just wouldn't see it, so couldn't upload any of the movies. the company had no clue that a card-reader might be necessary, though it was, and our computers weren't all that outmoded or unusual; neither could read the thing. we emailed the company and they had no clue, and their offshore advisor had no clue, though she had pretty good english and was able to read out of a script book pretty well. finally some guy at the best-buy geek squad plugged a card-reader into there and we were able to get the movies onto the computer. there are four or five of them, not a bad production record, and they tell people how to get through various pokemon games, online games, dsi games, etc. they are called "walkthroughs" and this believe it or not is how he spends an enormous amount of time, watching them, and so he was eager to get on the production end and share some of his knowledge, and get a loyal fan base. but he was disappointed to find out that youtube basically wouldn't let him start his own channel, being only ten, and upload them himself. he got angry, saying he didn't want his channel having my name, or lying about his age, or anything like that, so he'd just give up the entire dream, put down the camera, forget about it.
this was a cruel end to a long drama, because, in my mind, he was already getting better at making them. several things have occurred to me: one, i could put a few of them here, or someplace where i could see them more easily, maybe make my own movie out of what he made so far. two, i could use the camera myself, if he refuses to use it, even interview him so as to document what we just went through, and not lose these cool "starter" movies which, i'm convinced, show the beginning of some creative talent. is there a way to talk him down from the tree? somehow, upon my wife's arrival, she was able to convince him that it would be ok, somehow, to use one of our addresses, yet still have his pokemon name on the channel and develop the reputation he sought. this he may yet do - stay tuned.
the report from peoria is, the twins are fine, it's a lot of work, they eat and poop a lot but due to scheduling irregularities nobody gets much sleep. there's an urgency to getting a schedule, getting a routine, and getting them both on it, but they don't both want to follow the program quite yet so everyone is apparently trying to play catch-up on their sleep while the babies just do what babies do...
got three books on kindle, successfully, and now should be publicizing them, and fixing up this site where i do that, but as you can see i haven't quite started. googling my name on amazon kindle products, you'll find all three, but i shouldn't be making it so difficult for you, i should have little ads in my templates, i could be using all these sites to be advertising them. and i shall.
as i go steadily more commercial, you the reader will have more opportunities to click on these little ads and go and actually buy this stuff, but the more astute of you will know from the start that it's been available free, on the web, all along, and the main reason for that is that i like publishing them when i make them and ideally get some comments on them before i wrap them up and sell them or present them to the public. and what better audience than you, my faithful readers? of course, it's not working out perfectly well; for one thing, very few people actually go to my stories and read them, and fewer yet actually comment, even on the written stuff, and i have thin skin anyway, and don't change much based on what they say. and, am relatively impatient with either waiting around for good comments or actually revising what i've ever written, so it's not getting done very well. suffice it to say, i have three things on kindle. two are stories; a third is haiku; if you borrow them, or buy them, please "double-like" or whatever. i'm convinced that one of them, someday, will be snapped up for movie rights; that's my goal. if not, i'm likely to figure out how to make movies myself, and then do that.
ao i've said it, there was my vacation; the cello's out, and looking unused; the dulcimer is out, i'm making a quilt, i'm only partway done with my jigsaw puzzle, unread magazines all over the house, tree's still up, garage needs organized, yet i blog, or i bog, or i hang out with the boys trying to figure out how to upload movies. in general, i haven't been very productive with my break, except that spending time with kids is always productive in its own kind of way, and helps out when the chips are down and you have absolutely no time to spend. they're my allies; however this movie thing works out, they are the ones who probably might even read this blog, this far, sometime, and i hope i never say anything to dismay them. i'm proud of everything i've seen so far, and that counts for all the kids i call mine, and their progeny, things have worked out pretty well so far, as andy rooney said, i complain a lot here, and i complain about a lot of things, but one thing i can't complain about is my life.
and with that i wish you a happy new year...
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