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What am I reading? Good question.

I’m going to answer this, but before I do, I want to be clear: I love audiobooks for consuming stories. They increase the volume possible to get through and, frankly, the storytelling mode of one person to another (or many) is one I favor. I do enjoy directly reading when I can, but some locations (such as driving) prohibit that. So, without further adieu, here’s my current list:

Darth Plagueis (Star Wars)

by James Luceno

“Did you ever hear the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise? It’s a Sith legend. Darth Plagueis was a Dark Lord of the Sith, so powerful and so wise that he could use the Force to influence the midi-chlorians to create life. He had such a knowledge of the dark side that he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying.”
—Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith

When I saw that moment in Episode III, I thought it might be interesting to actually dig into that story. Roughly a year ago, I was informed by a friend and fellow Star Wars fan that this story exists. I knew then that I had to at least wishlist this story, so I did.

American Gods

by Neil Gaiman

Gaiman’s a well-known author and I’ve enjoy a few of his other works, and the fruits of them, in other media, so I decided to add this to my list.

I should note that both of these are sort of “on hold”, but they’re available at the tap of a button on my iPhone, so I will endeavor to get through them. I think I’ll alternate listening to them with podcasts (oh, yeah, I love those as well, but that’ll be another post.)

A much longer list is the list of books I want to read. I’ll keep chipping away at that as well.

The System of the World (The Baroque Cycle, Vol. 3)

by Neal Stephenson

Confession: I like me some door-stopper books, but especially if they’re by Stephenson. I actually have this one digitally, however, to give my arms a break.

What are you reading these days and why? What’s on your reading list?

via Daily Post – 1.20.2015 – Daily Writing – Desk Community.

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“We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.

I’d be lying if I said I had anything deep or profound to say about the holiday celebrating the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. I can say that it was observed and even commented upon. I caught a bit of, but didn’t watch Oprah’s show about Roots, since the OWN station was being watched by our parents in the living room.

That reminded me that I had, a few years back, met Levar Burton (who portrayed Kunta Kinte), which was an interesting experience. I commented upon this, as I think my parents might not have remembered when I’d mentioned it shortly after returning home. It had been at a play he was a member of (I can’t recall if he’d produced it as well). He’d invited twitter followers, and even rented a restaurant out for a bit of a meet and greet dinner afterwards. Now that I think about it, while there were some of us who were basically fans there, I met a few people who had clearly been friends for a long time, even back to the days of Roots. It was definitely a diverse crowd. I heard a few stories from some who had been part of casts and crew on multiple productions.

The stories kind of faded since they’re the kind you might expect from people who enjoy working together. One thing’s for sure, he’s a warm and friendly person, and I’m glad I met even a single person involved in something that had an impact and is part of our heritage. Before he was the host of Reading Rainbow and Geordi LaForge, he was Kunta.

My younger brother did share his feelings on this with our parents, in a bit of an effort to influence a deeply ingrained thought pattern folks of their generation can seem “stuck” in, and I tend to agree. It’s this: we’re all people, not the separate races. If you just stop labeling and say “that man”, “that woman”, instead of “that black man”, and the like, it can go a long way towards continuing progress. I didn’t say anything, but kind of grunted affirmatively at the time. Of course, even then I remembered hearing a bit related to this on a recent Startalk podcast episode (with Sir David Attenborough as guest). In it, Sir David made the basic, but important point that, from a naturalist point-of-view, it’s just that simple, if there’s a birth as a result of mating between humans of any distinct racial background, the result is always human. Not some alien species, but homo sapiens. It’s just that simple.

I don’t usually think too deeply about this particular holiday because every day, the results, progress, and things that still need to be done are seen every day as I go about my daily business, but I might revisit this in time

prompted via Daily Post – 1.19.2015 – Daily Writing – Desk Community.

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It’s another post about writing tools! I’m strangely drawn to them…

Photo Credit: 24oranges.nl via Compfight cc
Photo Credit: 24oranges.nl via Compfight cc

Pencils are a great writing tool (amoung other uses.) They can quickly be used to jot down nearly any idea, as well as to sketch out designs, should that be your cuppa. If there’s something you don’t like that you put on the paper using a pencil, then it’s easily able to be removed, or reworked, with a few rubs of an eraser. The only requirements to making a properly made pencil work is exposing its tip, and moving the tip across a peice of paper, or other surface you’re allowed to use.

Pens, on the other hand, are also good for many, if not all of the same reasons. The key differences are that pens usually use a liquid or gel-based material to make their marks, and usually, their marks are more permanent, or at least very difficult to easily remove, especially on paper.

Photo Credit: landline000 via Compfight cc
Photo Credit: landline000 via Compfight cc

Now, each has it’s pros and cons, but those are usually determined with specific writing situations in mind. If the final product is to be something that can and should be edited on the same document, a pencil is a great tool for it. Another example is using it as a basis for something more permanent, such as a sketch, to be gone over with a paintbrush, or entered in a computer. Note-taking is good to do in pencil if space is limited on paper, or if something needs to be neatly replaced.

Ink on paper, however is the preferrer, or even required method for many things, such as things that need more permanence, such as submitted reports, or authorizing legal and financial documents. Memorabilia is also more awesome with signatures written in ink.

I recently considered a particular type of pen, the fountain pen, since it’s a favorite type for me, but I do also have a preferred type of pencil; the mechanical pencil. Wood and graphite shavings lose every time, for me, to the click-click.

The bottom line is that the choice is largely a personal (or professional) matter. For me, I actually, somewhat regrettably, haven’t had much use of either over recent years, and, even then, it’s mostly form-filing out or signing receipts. Even check-writing is a rare act for me. “Paperless” no longer feels novel, and hasn’t for quite some time.

What’s your implement of choice? Pen, or pencil?

 

Found this prompt over on http://writingprom.pt/database/

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Stipula fountain pen
I did an image search for “just write”, and the eleventh image that appeared was the first image in a post on a blog named Just Write.

This image (the image above is not the one I found) features a writing implement that I am fond of: the fountain pen. This immediately reminds me of the times I sought out, and purchased a few very basic fountain pens. For practicality, I chose a pen that was carried-loaded, as I anticipated heavy usage. I was in college, and anticipated copious note-taking.

I remember it was a Sheaffer pen, and I’ve had (and lost) a few since then. I’m very tempted to pick another up now, and perhaps to take better care of it, especially to keep my handwriting muscles in shape from more than just the act of writing my signature.

Of course, should I pick up another fountain pen, I really feel like I’d want a notebook to match, such as one from Moleskine.

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Image Search.” and also part of a writing workshop, 10 Days to a Better Blog, over at the Desk community site.

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It’s time for some free writing. I used to dread these exercises in high-school composition. The main reason being that I was always afraid that the thoughts wouldn’t flow for the entire time set and I’d feel a bit foolish when I had it evaluated by my peers. Yes, peer review is a scary thing at any age!

So, I sat down, set a timer, and just started typing. I think it might be easier to handwrite, but that’s only because my handwriting speed has suffered over the years due to less usage. I really ought to look into more practice there as well. Speaking of hand-writing, I want to pick up a fountain pen again. those actually felt pretty good to write with. Despite my analytical nature, advanced writing classes were a thing for me during the grade school years.

Another thought I had is a bit work-related, and it’s a bit of a view on how technical support should be very useful. I think it’s better being a “guide” for the person seeking help, and not simply taking over and doing some arcane task. It’s a fine line between being a teacher and a friend, looking over the person’s virtual “shoulder”, especially when you can’t be physically present to see what the person you’re helping is struggling with. Sometimes, frustration could be avoided by keeping in mind that role.

I sometimes see signs of a gradual change, sometimes irreversibly, into jaded, minimal help, with less human touches in a response, and more links to documentation. I try encourage bing sparing in giving links unless needed, and only as the “for more information” part of my response, following an explanation or step-by-step instructions, in my own words, if needed.

Well, that’s it, the timer is going off in a few seconds and I’ll be hitting publish soon after. That wasn’t as bad as I remember it.

Go for a 10-minute free-write: have no mercy on your keyboard as you give us your most unfiltered self (feel free to edit later, or just publish as-is).

via Ready, Set, Done | The Daily Post.

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This will be the year that I will end with a shorter, not longer, backlog of things to do. That’s really been my problem in recent years is that the things I’m able to do increased, but not the time to do them in. Time management is probably my biggest challenge, but I’ve got the tools at my disposal and am getting better at it, so less overlapping things will occur (I hope.)

That means I’ll be getting caught up in more of the reading, writing, learning, and playing of things. Getting more things done is what’s going to be different. I’m already doing good, I think, with 1/365 daily posts done.

Basically, I want to reuse the resolutions I made a year ago as well. I’ve pretty much lived all of 2014 with those in mind.

How about you, dear reader? What is going to make this year different than every year before?

via Daily Post – 1.1.2015 – Daily Writing – Desk Community.

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There were no donuts today (the picture is from yesterday), but apparently, there is a holiday for donuts, and, unfortunately, it’s in June. We had donuts brought in by an angel of a co-worker yesterday, which got me thinking that there might need to be a holiday for it and that I shall create it! Luckily, another had this idea (long) before I did.

 

 

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Mmmm… donut…

It wasn’t Homer. It was a bit before our times. Check it out here (and mark your calendars!)

National Donut Day

This bit of silly writing was inspired by a prompt over on the Desk community site. The Desk app recently got some big love by being included in Apple’s Apps of The Year list. Huzzah!

Anybody out there ever had an idea and was close to acting to making it happen and then discovering, it’s been done (and, did you do it anyway?) Sometimes, doing it anyway can yield surprising success.