Another day

So Friday has begun well. I had some blood work done and now I'm sitting at my favorite coffee shop in all the world, Marshall Coffee! All the world might be stretching it a little seeing how I've only been to the US, Canada, and Mexico. But hey, I dig it.

I'm not looking forward to work but I've gotta pay the bills. So to the cube I shall go and dwell away the day. I'm still looking for other means of employment. I've even thought with my degree I could join the Navy or Air Force. But alas, I have no desire to live by their strict laws and there is no need to put my wife through all that shit!

The masters program at UNT sounds good but I'm iffy as to what I'd do with it. It seems as if all my interests stray from the path of wealth and simplicity. Screw it, I just need some hobbies and an effort to put forth and it will all work out. I'm ready to go see Dr Syn next month and figure out how to right this ship. I'm sure that will help solve a few issues.

Until I write and you read again, peace be with you. And everyone take a moment out of your day to say a little prayer for those lost on 9/11! And for those over seas fighting for their memories and for our freedoms!

Ever feel like the puppy in the window

Well I'm back and the wine festival was wonderful. It had some kinks and curves thrown in but all around it was good. We found a wonderful pizza joint that I wish we had here. I actually remember all of the events that took place this weekend...good or bad unfortunately. But good times were had and vino flowed like well, wine/water take your pick. I got to meet a cousin and it was nice to meet her. She seemed like a very nice lady. Maybe we can hangout with her more soon.

Now we're back in work and it's wonderful or some such nonsense. And life goes on and we return to that oh so loving rut of work and living for the evenings and weekends. As ole blue eyes said, 'That's life' and so it is.

I can't wait to go back and see my friend Dr Syn, the man that helped to change my life. I'm hoping to get my act back together and progress through life some more. For the last few months I've been feeling light headed and having all sorts of issues. I believe that my system is out of whack with the way it should be. I think I've actually malnourished myself and this crumby diet that I have partaken in has really interfered with my day to day operations of how I should be. It's the ravings of a mad man. I know not for certain of that which I speak but I speak nonetheless.

I have felt like I'm floating outside looking in on myself. I am lethargic and stuck in that mindset. I have enough energy to stay upright and do my job but when I get home I don't do anything. I know it sounds lazy but here as of late I've taken it to a different level. I'm kind of scared...don't tell anyone. That's why I'm getting blood work tomorrow and going back to see my Dr in Lubbock. I really do think this will sort my issues out. I make it sound worse than it is. It's not all that bad, I'm just not the same person this way. I feel like I'm standing behind glass watching...hence the title of this raving.

I've actually got a solid story playing out in my mind for my manuscript...TO BE CONTINUED.

Opportunities

In life you are aforded only so many opportunities before they stop. Thanks to a good man and friend they are still here. I really hope this new opportunity comes through. It would be a perfect fit.

I've got my fingers crossed!

New Mexico Wine Fest...The Past

So it's almost Labor Day once again and that means it's time for the New Mexico Wine Festival. This will be our fourth year to attend. If you like wine and mixing it with a good time...friends, strangers and all sorts of other oddities...this is the place for you. It's a party in a park and I look forward to it every year.

There are so many stories from our past three trips and I'm looking forward to new stories from this year. When I have more time I'll write up some of these stories so stay tuned. We have been talking about it all week and we still have a week to wait. So I think this week I will tell some of the better stories.

Technology and it's effects.

Today I was looking at Amazon, and twitter, and Publishers Weekly and there is a lot of chatter out there about the Kindle. This world we live in moves so fast and you either jump on and hold on or just let it pass at it's own pace. I'm trying to transition and jump and hold but part of me just says screw it. So much is gained by technology yet how much is lost in the fray?

I can't help but think what wide spread usage of the Kindle will do to the book industry and reading in general. I'm a self proclaimed Bibliophile and my wife will attest that every week I'm bringing to books home. Some I won't ever read but they seem like something that would interest me. Some I'll read parts of and get bored with them, others I'll simply tear through as if they are a present under the tree on Christmas Eve. But every single book I have, will have and will never have are just friends that I will meet along my life cycle.

It puzzles me, the thought of curling up on the couch, in bed, or in a chair and reading a book on a flat screen hand held computer. It's so impersonal and uninviting. It seems to me that the imagination would suffer and the enjoyment would turn more towards torture than pleasure. Where are the pages that brown and yellow with age? Where is the scent of paper and ink and binding glue that creates that magical concoction of a book? Walking into a book store would equate to walking into a averagely white hospital waiting room with nothing but the smell of Ammonia to tide you over.

What happens to book stores in general? Will there be a need for bookshelves any longer or will it all be online downloadable content that further removes humanity away from the act of being human? Not only book stores but what happens to writers when there is no more scanning the isles for that next great read. The excitement of searching through a mountain of books for your next thrill ride or emotional release will be extinct. I fear that unless your a known entity within the writing world you will be lost in the wake of the technological marvels that will propagate and proliferate humanity.

Think about it. When you go to a book store you might already know what book you're looking for...especially if you fall into the Oprah book club cult (another rant for another raving)...but along the way you meet and greet new friends on the shelf or best seller tables. Hell, you might even adopt one and take it home with you even though you planned on buying just the one book. But when you go to Amazon or some other online book source you go straight for the kill and buy that one book and you might...MIGHT...checkout the 'other people that bought this book are interested in these as well' link that will lead you to a book you might come back for if you remember. But other people that bought said book won't really look at other books either so your source for the new up and comer is limited to the coding within the website.

Now to the 'meat and potatoes' of this raving! If you go to Amazon, or any of the thousands of sites that will surely poke their surly heads up in the future, to download a Kindle book, which I believe you'll probably be able to just down load from a list on Kindle, you don't even look. For all the aggression the populace has shown for rights and freedoms this seems to me like others have decided how to take the freedom and God given right of free will out of the mix. I assume they believe that everyone is far less complex then themselves and that the more simple and streamlined the process the easier we as humans will enjoy the process. I'm not a primate, I have free will and an intellect that allows me to gain excitement through knowledge and the hunt for a good if not great book. I digress! So you download a 'book' from Kindle and you will NEVER take the time to see what's new out there. You will follow blindly over the cliff like other lemmings that took the leap into the known. I believe that this will ruin the writing world and the market in it's entirety.

I guess nothing is free and with new technologies we give up 'small' things that others deem are no longer important. I love technology and I don't know where I'd be without it but there are certain things I don't want. I see the Graphic Novel soon to be movie Surrogates becoming real life. Why get your hands dirty and struggle with the challenge when you can sit back and let technology do the work? I won't own a Kindle and if I ever get published I hope to never put a book on Kindle. That being said if it comes down to my principles or my family and I surviving I'll sell out in a heart beat. So what I'm saying is let's stop this computer 'book' thing before it gets started. I don't want to be put in that situation and I don't want to lose the escape a book store and a great book brings to my life.

If you haven't noticed readers are seen as standoffish and aloof at times. We're not, we are just addicted to reading and the knowledge and escapism that pour forth as we devour books. Also, this is something that I'm passionate about but something I'm torn about as well. I hope to one day be nothing more than a writer, take that whichever way you will, and I want to be able to support my wife, kids if we have any, and all family by writing. I'd love to be the next JK Rowling or Vince Flynn or Robert Ludlum or Lee Childs and write for a living, but if the market switches to computer 'books' then it leaves me little choice...hop on or get run over...and I just hope it doesn't come to that. I just hope I can write good paper bound books that release the scent of the Gods every time you flip open the cover or turn the pages.

A blah day...

I don't know what it was today but it was just so...MEH. Nothing special happened, good or bad, it was just a strange day. Oh well I guess we all have them. My problem is my mind works over time, without any real assistance from yours truly, and it's nonstop. I don't know how else to explain it. It picks apart all plans, dreams, and ideas. It finds the worst in every situation and tries to encompass all possible solutions. Yet it wears me out no matter what the outcome.

On a brighter side of things I did dig into my Masters program application package. I forgot I had it so I went through it today and there are many great options for me to look forward to. So that was extremely nice to take my mind off of...well everything. I'm sure with this Masters under my belt in a couple of years my professional value will soar. I just have to focus and plan on missing out on a few choice things over the next two years or so.

I went to my parents tonight while my wife was in class. She works so hard it makes me tired. All go and no stop...I can tell she's found her passion in photography. It was great to see my mom tonight, I haven't seen her in about a week. I'm a mamas boy so that was quite a while for me. My dad is just melting away before our eyes. He's looking good, a little stiff still but doing well. I can't wait until he goes to get some new clothes in a few months. That will be good times all around. We can have a good laugh and he will amaze himself.

Off to bed for some reading. The way my mind is still churning I might blog again later, I might not so we'll see how the 'sleeping' thing goes.

Good news

Well a week full of Monday's has brought me to some good news. Last week a position in our department became available and it's something I feel like I could do well. I applied for it even though I don't quite meet the requirements. I would like to move up in the company but I'm not looking to stay forever. This would be a great chance for me to gain experience and have a job that meshes with my Masters that I will be getting.

That being said today I was pulled aside this afternoon and was told that even through all the drama of last week I handled myself professionally and took responsibility for my mistakes and fixed said mistakes. This position has had many applicants but my name is on the list and I do have a good working relationship with my company and boss so I'm hoping my name will be placed higher on the list. There were no promises made or any wink wink nudge nudge type actions. He was just letting me know that I would be good for the job. And you know what, it's kind of nice to know every once in awhile that your actions are being noticed even though you have to suffer through hoping for change.

Strange but hey it's how I roll as they say. So I'm hopeful that I can get this position for several reasons: experience in a field I hope to move up in, it will allow me to have a job and get my masters that goes with the job, and it will help my wife and I have an all around better life.

So I got that going for me...which is niiiice!