Report on NaNoWriMo

I'm sure you're all dying to know the outcome of National Novel Writing Month. As you probably remember, the goal was to come up with a draft novel of at least 50,000 words. As you probably don't know, I simply don't write rough (nor hardly even first) drafts; I write a finished work, pretty much right as I go along.
Given that, I figure I don't have to get as many mere words placed one after another in order to count myself as successful. (Yes, this is, in fact, a big batch of rationalizing after the fact, but bear with me nonetheless.) As I finished more than 10% of the stated goal of 50,000 words (in fact, I have the first 6,992 words of a novel ready for publication as I write this), I figure I'm way ahead of those who now have to slog through 50,000 words of drek, mining those five or six thousand words worth keeping.
I may post an excerpt at some point, but only if you beg.

Have we all quit Phonics cold turkey?

Grrr.
OK, now that I've gotten that out of my system:
What is it with people who can't pronounce familiar? It's not spelled furmiliar, so why is it constantly pronounced as though it were?
It's not just random stupid folks either - it's supposedly educated television news personalities - oh, sorry, I "meant" journalists.
Good grief, people, look at the word, think about its origin, this isn't rocket surgery (I loved that line in the Eggo syrup commercial). This is coming from the same root as family - you don't go back to your furmily home for Christmas, do you? I didn't think so. Right then, everyone stop it; just pronounce this word correctly so I don't have to get phonetic on you.

Grand Excitement!

It's hard to believe, but we're nearing the mid-point of October. That, of course, means that it's barely more than two weeks to the beginning of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo to those in the know).
I've got far too many ideas for stick shaking, but I plan to press on with my newest concept, and I'll invite you all to view my progress. I'll post the occasional excerpt here, as well as basic info on how it's going. That way, my huge reading audience will be ready for the publication of the next in an ever-growing line of novels from Grand Teuton Press. (Interested in a great book? check out our online store at www.lulu.com/grandteuton)
I can hardly wait to get my words down on paper (or display, or whatever). If you want to be a part of National Novel Writing Month, check out the website at www.nanowrimo.org - you'll have a blast!

Tradition! 

What a trip!

Well, we just got back from our huge trip to Newfoundland which took us through Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Manitoba, Ontario, and back to Michigan. Oh, somehow we missed Newfoundland - perhaps it was the $5 and $6 gallons of gasoline? perhaps it was the $100+ ferry rides to and from the island? I pity the poor folks who count on tourism for their livelihoods these days, it can't be an easy time for them.
Still, we found Voyageurs National Park quite spectacular, even without a boat, and the Thunder Bay / Lake Nipigon region is still wonderful, and the Fall colours were in full swing, let me tell you. Bizarrely, once across the bridge into the UP, the colors went back to green, as if a switch had been turned, or a time zone crossed (no thanks to Rogers wireless - grr! the bane of my cell phone existence, at least as far as the time was concerned. Since when is Thunder Bay in the Mountain Time Zone? No one there seemed to think they were, as evidenced by the time checks on the Giant (www.giant.fm), but my phone resolutely pronounced a time off by 2 hours, despite being reset twice! Once we were near the Sault, however, things were back to Eastern Time, and all was well with the world.
I suppose I'll put pictures up somewhere, but man, that's good gouda up there, and amethyst to die for. Who knew that a Sleeping Giant and a quacking duck could coax a hydrophobic dog (no, not rabid) into the bay of Lake Superior? Not we, at least not until we saw it with our own, startled eyes!
OK, enough for right now, I just wanted to get back to a little blogging after my total withdrawal from the virtual world into the real (natural) one. More to come, eh.

Cooking is Art (but not baking)

You know, I find that cooking is an art, but baking is a science. Recipes can be altered as you go, based on what's in the cupboard or pantry, but if you change your baking recipe, you're most likely doomed. That's why I don't bake much.
Cooking is a creative outlet that lets the cook express his feelings: his love for the folks who will consume the food, his love for the Lord who created it all, his joy with the various ingredients. Beware, however, the food of a chef who is busy expressing darker feelings - angst, doubt, anger, despair, a desire for revenge - these will produce dishes best served to no one at all, regardless of the temperature!
I don't know what I'm going to cook tonight for dinner, but I know it's going to be good!

Cheers

Anybody remember Enable Software?

I was reading an article about some open-source software that's being used for extremely mission-critical type computing. It mentioned a website where one could find other users, in order to get help with the configuring and use of the software, and that got me to thinking.
Way back in the dark ages (before Windows started living on top of DOS and sucking up all the processor cycles), we had an integrated software package called Enable. It had a unified interface to a suite of applications: word processor, spreadsheet, telecom, graphing, and database.
We used to hang out at the enable bbs (that's bulletin board system to those not quite in the know), sharing our tips and tricks (and requests for enhancements) with other users, as well as with the company.
I guess I started using Enable when it was quite new - version 1.1A (back in 198x?) - and it was a welcome replacement to Wordstar and Lotus 1-2-3 in many ways. Stunningly, I still use it daily for many tasks - mostly database reporting, as it has an extremely rich and powerful procedural language which works with dBase IV dbf files, as well as a full implementation of SQL for those non-procedural tasks that sometimes rear their heads - even though the company has been out of business for several years.
One of the first things I do on my new machines is copy over the full installation of enable from a CD or zip disk (yep, it's less than 100MB for all that functionality!) so I can do what it is I need to do.
Anyone else out there still use old, supposedly obsolete software? I can't believe that in a world where tons o' folks are still using Windows 98, that there aren't tons of other older apps still churning out the good work for which they were intended. If you have other great abandoned apps which you still use regularly, why not post a reply here and share them with everyone? Here's a quick list to get you started:

• enable (where we started)
• pkzip (that's right, not WinZip!)
• pfm (a great little file manager and viewer)
• ted (a tiny editor)
• AOLpress (an html editor that lets me put frames in my site)

OK, your turn!