Are you suffering from a turkey hangover today? Have you seen more football than you can take? Here is a link to a list of books by authors I am familiar with. It has something for everyone from romance to thrillers, sci-fi, horror and fantasy.
There is some very good writing here folks. Definitely worth a look-see. All are available as Kindle ebooks and many of the titles can be had through Barnes and Noble, iTunes and Kobo. If you have an ereader, these are worth the look.
Hope you find something you enjoy and happy reading.
http://www.onlytruemagic.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/black-friday-books-best-of-2012.html
Ramblings of a 60 Year Old Man - My thoughts on just about anything, in no particular order; Robert Thomas - author.
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Sunday, November 18, 2012
A changing Christmas
As the season progresses and we enter the coming Christmas season I tend to reflect back onto my life and those times past. This season more than any finds me wandering into those times. Perhaps that is a reflection of happy times and a different age, at least in my life, an age of innocence.
When it was announced a few weeks ago that the singer Andy Williams had died, it somehow severed a link for me to a time long ago. Now, I'm not really an Andy Williams fan. He was a good singer and I grew up in a time of rising hopes as the world war was over and people were looking to the future. Christmas was transitioning to a time of prosperity for many and with the advent (no pun intended) for wide-spread television, the season was having an impact like nothing before. It was monumental, and he was a big part of that with his television show and Christmas specials.
This Christmas coming isn't really mine any longer. I will still have the memories and the good times but it seems more to me that it is now the purview of my children and grand-children. It is their memories and how they perceive this holiday that becomes the focal point. My Christmas memories still harken back to the days of my four siblings diving beneath a pile of spent Christmas wrapping paper for a picture by 32EM with my Sainted Parents looking on.
May the coming season be joyous to all.
When it was announced a few weeks ago that the singer Andy Williams had died, it somehow severed a link for me to a time long ago. Now, I'm not really an Andy Williams fan. He was a good singer and I grew up in a time of rising hopes as the world war was over and people were looking to the future. Christmas was transitioning to a time of prosperity for many and with the advent (no pun intended) for wide-spread television, the season was having an impact like nothing before. It was monumental, and he was a big part of that with his television show and Christmas specials.
This Christmas coming isn't really mine any longer. I will still have the memories and the good times but it seems more to me that it is now the purview of my children and grand-children. It is their memories and how they perceive this holiday that becomes the focal point. My Christmas memories still harken back to the days of my four siblings diving beneath a pile of spent Christmas wrapping paper for a picture by 32EM with my Sainted Parents looking on.
May the coming season be joyous to all.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Two bits, four bits...
I had an interesting discussion with some of the younger folks at work the other day. It was about my recent visit to the Chinese restaurant a few doors down from work. I eat there semi-often as it is quick and the food is decent. However, when I walk into the place I have always felt that the staff could simply care less that I was there; no smile no thank you, virtually, no anything. When I was stating that someone joked, perhaps it's just a front for drugs. (Yes it was a joke). I countered; even drug dealers need customers.
When you think about it, the discussion ran on, everything simply boils down to economics. Everything we do in life boils down to a financial mean. We work because we must. The establishments we choose often come down to price. When we change jobs, it's about economics. We live often based on our economic situation. We relocate, because of economics. Even our most personal events are severely influenced by the same. When do couples decide to have a family? When do we get married? Why do we get married? Marriage is ripe with financial gains and pitfalls. It is often said more marriages fail over finances than anything else. We can live with infidelity but not without financial mismanagement.
We invest tremendous amounts of time in our educational system both personally and payment. Why do we do it? To gain an economic advantage. The amount of money pumped into this system from Head Start to good old State U is staggering. We do it for a better job, a leg up, for financial gain. Even the college we choose comes down to an economic choice, value verses cost.
Take a look at life even away from our friendly confines. Primitive cultures all over the world rely on trade and agriculture as a system for economics. The stronger the trade or the better diversity of the agricultural system the stronger the tribe, or the family. Caste systems marry due to economics. There is no love involved in many situations. It may ferment and grow over time but the starting point is economics.
There is nothing wrong with economics as the underlying foundation of the structure of our lives. It has been that way since time immemorial, even before the caveman had a word for economics. More wood means a bigger fire. That's economics.
When you think about it, the discussion ran on, everything simply boils down to economics. Everything we do in life boils down to a financial mean. We work because we must. The establishments we choose often come down to price. When we change jobs, it's about economics. We live often based on our economic situation. We relocate, because of economics. Even our most personal events are severely influenced by the same. When do couples decide to have a family? When do we get married? Why do we get married? Marriage is ripe with financial gains and pitfalls. It is often said more marriages fail over finances than anything else. We can live with infidelity but not without financial mismanagement.
We invest tremendous amounts of time in our educational system both personally and payment. Why do we do it? To gain an economic advantage. The amount of money pumped into this system from Head Start to good old State U is staggering. We do it for a better job, a leg up, for financial gain. Even the college we choose comes down to an economic choice, value verses cost.
Take a look at life even away from our friendly confines. Primitive cultures all over the world rely on trade and agriculture as a system for economics. The stronger the trade or the better diversity of the agricultural system the stronger the tribe, or the family. Caste systems marry due to economics. There is no love involved in many situations. It may ferment and grow over time but the starting point is economics.
There is nothing wrong with economics as the underlying foundation of the structure of our lives. It has been that way since time immemorial, even before the caveman had a word for economics. More wood means a bigger fire. That's economics.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Election Day
Today, citizens all across the country will make their quadrennial trek to their local precinct and cast their vote for, among others, one of the candidates for president.
After today, your mailbox will be less full, your home phone will be quieter, and instead of hundreds of political commercials, you will once again be subjected to whatever product is to be offered for your pocketbook's consideration.
I am not sure why those who run political campaigns believe sending the same pamphlet, flyer, or postcard to five different people at X address is a good use of time and money. Commercials all show their candidate's picture in color, while the vile opponent is always shown in a supposedly less-flattering black & white photo.
This year I have heard and seen a number of commercials for local candidates, which normally start appearing only in the last 10 days of the campaign, that have mentioned neither the candidate's party affiliation nor, in the case of those running for state representative, which district the candidate is hoping to represent.
Another annual occurrence is the appearance on the ballot of candidates for the State Board of Education. Often these people are unopposed, but even when candidates are pitted against each other the only time you see their name is when you are asked to vote for them. No one knows anything about who they are, what they stand for, or what their background is. If you cannot bother to publicize your campaign for office, I certainly cannot be bothered to vote for you. The only candidate for SBOE of whom I have heard is running in a district far from where I live, and I have only heard he is running because he is a former football player for The Ohio State University and acts as an analyst on the radio for OSU pre-and-post-game shows, and that he is forbidden to do that job until after the election.
Thanks to Beloved Father and Sainted Mother, we have had a good education in the elections process, and, at least for me, this interest still holds.
After today, your mailbox will be less full, your home phone will be quieter, and instead of hundreds of political commercials, you will once again be subjected to whatever product is to be offered for your pocketbook's consideration.
I am not sure why those who run political campaigns believe sending the same pamphlet, flyer, or postcard to five different people at X address is a good use of time and money. Commercials all show their candidate's picture in color, while the vile opponent is always shown in a supposedly less-flattering black & white photo.
This year I have heard and seen a number of commercials for local candidates, which normally start appearing only in the last 10 days of the campaign, that have mentioned neither the candidate's party affiliation nor, in the case of those running for state representative, which district the candidate is hoping to represent.
Another annual occurrence is the appearance on the ballot of candidates for the State Board of Education. Often these people are unopposed, but even when candidates are pitted against each other the only time you see their name is when you are asked to vote for them. No one knows anything about who they are, what they stand for, or what their background is. If you cannot bother to publicize your campaign for office, I certainly cannot be bothered to vote for you. The only candidate for SBOE of whom I have heard is running in a district far from where I live, and I have only heard he is running because he is a former football player for The Ohio State University and acts as an analyst on the radio for OSU pre-and-post-game shows, and that he is forbidden to do that job until after the election.
Thanks to Beloved Father and Sainted Mother, we have had a good education in the elections process, and, at least for me, this interest still holds.
Friday, November 2, 2012
Age of man
There is a new word (at least now in favor) that is becoming commonplace in the geologic record. The term is Anthropocene.
The geological record of the world is embedded in stone and the layers covering the Earth. It is scientific discovery at it's finest on our terrestrial mother. The scientists look for layers among the hills and exposed rock strata that circle our planet. They pick through the strati and look for clues to the climate changes that have shaped our world. Our time frames are divided up by epochs, ages, periods and eras. The names are familiar to nearly anyone who loves to follow science and even those who don't. Many of these time periods have become common place to many as they are even referred to in the movies. We are currently and officially in the Holocene period which began around the time of the last ice age 12,000 years ago.
The clues they look for are many millions of years old, until now. We as a people seem to live to rediscover the past; our own past. However, as a species, we have made significant changes to our world, perhaps the most changes of any creature who has ever lived. What struck me when I began to explore this was how we have now come to a time when we are able to see the changes we have wrought to this blue marble. We are now depositing a record of our existence and our effects to a planet we once thought was unchangeable.
Anthropocene is the term now used to describe the age which the world has now entered (unofficially); the age of man. Previously all ages before were determined by great extinctions or other changes caused by asteroid collisions or carbon dioxide blooms or ice ages that changed the face of the planet. Are we the greatest change for the next ten millenium? Will we even survive our own age?
If we have the wisdom.
The geological record of the world is embedded in stone and the layers covering the Earth. It is scientific discovery at it's finest on our terrestrial mother. The scientists look for layers among the hills and exposed rock strata that circle our planet. They pick through the strati and look for clues to the climate changes that have shaped our world. Our time frames are divided up by epochs, ages, periods and eras. The names are familiar to nearly anyone who loves to follow science and even those who don't. Many of these time periods have become common place to many as they are even referred to in the movies. We are currently and officially in the Holocene period which began around the time of the last ice age 12,000 years ago.
The clues they look for are many millions of years old, until now. We as a people seem to live to rediscover the past; our own past. However, as a species, we have made significant changes to our world, perhaps the most changes of any creature who has ever lived. What struck me when I began to explore this was how we have now come to a time when we are able to see the changes we have wrought to this blue marble. We are now depositing a record of our existence and our effects to a planet we once thought was unchangeable.
Anthropocene is the term now used to describe the age which the world has now entered (unofficially); the age of man. Previously all ages before were determined by great extinctions or other changes caused by asteroid collisions or carbon dioxide blooms or ice ages that changed the face of the planet. Are we the greatest change for the next ten millenium? Will we even survive our own age?
If we have the wisdom.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Pay it forward
This coming Halloween will mark one year for me as a published author. It has been exhilarating and exasperating both at the same time. I have sold a few but not very many. I have received excellent feedback on both the writing and the stories themselves. One year ago I wouldn't have believed I would have five titles in 'print' but that is just the case.
Newly released is the last book of The Crystal Point Legacy series, Death of Kings. It is the wrap-up of an epic fantasy that involves an all-encompassing war, extreme heroics, betrayal and both personal growth and failure. It is life itself in all its many facets.
I look back at this year and remember how it was to put out something for public inspection. To be candid, I was nervous. I recently gave advice to another author who was putting up his first work. I belong to an author's forum that has been tremendously helpful to me as this year has progressed. His request was simple; read and give some advise. What I read took me back to the beginnings of my writing experience. I started over twenty years ago and received some of the same advice I gave to this new author. I believe he writes in a similar way to myself when I started out. He can craft a story and put words together that flow and have meaning. The trick is to learn some of the ins and outs of the techniques and structure of writing paragraph after paragraph. I have a copy of his work and he is on the path to success.
It's sort of pay-it-forward advice. Had I not received the straightforward yet respectful advice on my work twenty years ago, I may not have learned the lessons I needed to learn. Writing is not just about putting words down on a page to get to the end of a story, it's about creating emotion and placing the reader in the middle of the tale.
I had a complete stranger give me some of the best advice I could get all those years ago. It's simply my time to pass it forward. (Oh, the new book is on the right there at the top). ---->
Newly released is the last book of The Crystal Point Legacy series, Death of Kings. It is the wrap-up of an epic fantasy that involves an all-encompassing war, extreme heroics, betrayal and both personal growth and failure. It is life itself in all its many facets.
I look back at this year and remember how it was to put out something for public inspection. To be candid, I was nervous. I recently gave advice to another author who was putting up his first work. I belong to an author's forum that has been tremendously helpful to me as this year has progressed. His request was simple; read and give some advise. What I read took me back to the beginnings of my writing experience. I started over twenty years ago and received some of the same advice I gave to this new author. I believe he writes in a similar way to myself when I started out. He can craft a story and put words together that flow and have meaning. The trick is to learn some of the ins and outs of the techniques and structure of writing paragraph after paragraph. I have a copy of his work and he is on the path to success.
It's sort of pay-it-forward advice. Had I not received the straightforward yet respectful advice on my work twenty years ago, I may not have learned the lessons I needed to learn. Writing is not just about putting words down on a page to get to the end of a story, it's about creating emotion and placing the reader in the middle of the tale.
I had a complete stranger give me some of the best advice I could get all those years ago. It's simply my time to pass it forward. (Oh, the new book is on the right there at the top). ---->
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Another step toward over the hill
As we journey down the road on our blue marble, there are plateaus we all step upon. We grow a little older and a little more frail with each change in elevation. Years ago, (I think I have mentioned this before) I told my son that under no circumstances is he ever allowed to let me wear 'velcro shoes' or those big plastic 'blot out all light of the universe' sunglasses you always see the old folks wearing as they drive down the highway. That in itself is a scary thought.
Unfortunately, I have succumbed to a different aspect of 'old age wear', the dreaded eyeglass strap. Yep, I'm sportin' one of those.I like to think of it as a stylish accessory but even I must begin to admit it borders on uncool. I am vigorously working to convince myself that adventuresome and stylish rouges are seen sporting this accessory as they wander the markets of Algiers and Marrakesh. I don't think Indiana Jones wore this particular piece but it sure would have added to his mystique and been the piece de resistance of his ensemble.
Alas, for me it is just a nod to knowing that I can't see worth a damn any longer. I struggle with the glasses thing as they are an encumbrance, an annoyance to my work habits. They slide and slip and fall off at work yet to go into a restaurant and order off a menu without them would be an adventure of monumental proportions. "Oh, I thought I ordered the shrimp. What's this?"
Sigh.....
Unfortunately, I have succumbed to a different aspect of 'old age wear', the dreaded eyeglass strap. Yep, I'm sportin' one of those.I like to think of it as a stylish accessory but even I must begin to admit it borders on uncool. I am vigorously working to convince myself that adventuresome and stylish rouges are seen sporting this accessory as they wander the markets of Algiers and Marrakesh. I don't think Indiana Jones wore this particular piece but it sure would have added to his mystique and been the piece de resistance of his ensemble.
Alas, for me it is just a nod to knowing that I can't see worth a damn any longer. I struggle with the glasses thing as they are an encumbrance, an annoyance to my work habits. They slide and slip and fall off at work yet to go into a restaurant and order off a menu without them would be an adventure of monumental proportions. "Oh, I thought I ordered the shrimp. What's this?"
Sigh.....
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