Sunday, chilly damp and still beautiful.

When summer decided to go it just split, man. No lengthy goodbyes, 90 degrees one day, the next it was 79 the next it was 68 and today it will be low 6os. Rain has moved in and it is starting to feel a little like Noah’s flood. The world has become a very violent place, and the similarities are there.  But according to the weather app Tuesday is supposed to be sunny and in the seventies. So, maybe the world is safe, or maybe the weather app is wrong. I’m hoping the rain stops and the world is safe. Of course, I don’t think there is another flood predicted in the New Testament which is encouraging. But, it is still wet, chilly and a little depressing. 

So, we move onto the Cornhuskers, who lost last night. It was a heartbreaking game, at least for the new coaching staff, and most definitely for the players. But, there were so many good things, so much to be happy about. And, I am still the worst kind of fan, a fan that always holds out hope. With the starting quarterback on the sideline with an injury and a walk-on backup I thought they would pull it out. Close but no cigars, missed it by that much, whatever you want to say. It was the first game and the first game jitters were on display several times, in very bad ways, and it was against a very good team, so I am excited for next week, when Troy comes to Lincoln. 

Also, fall brings the coming of November, and that means NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month, I think. I have decided to completely rework the novel I had been working on, making it more compressed, add some central characters, throw in some punch, push, pull and shove, a seer, and some much needed dialogue. For those of you keeping score at home this makes the fourth novel of my adult life, all of them incomplete, but all of them in progress, sort of. I only work on one at a time, but they will all be finished, someday, if I live long enough. Every attempt gives me more insight, more practice, a much firmer grip, on what I need to do. There is still the small problem of doing it, but like the Huskers I am just a few plays away. And, like I feel about the Huskers, I will break through.

So, happy September, I hope you find your place in a cooler world, except for my friends in the Southern Hemisphere who have the seasons in opposition, I hope you find the warmth and sunshine comforting and peaceful. Today is going to be a good day, even if it is a little damp. Don’t forget to head over to The Wild Word and pick your favorite song.

And this years Oscar for Greatest Potential Movie;

I would like to bring to your attention, I have been writing a fictional serial for some wonderful people. Every month I would send in a little story and they would read it, recommend a few edits, and we would work together to make it presentable. It was a lot of fun.

When they agreed to let me write the story they had no idea how hard it is for me to end something. I had no idea. But, I should have. Looking back at all the threads I've started here, only to leave them to die on the vine. It should have been a warning.

The motor for our time machine.

One day, they emailed me and asked how I was going to finish the story. 

Finish, heck, I'm just getting started, I thought. But, after more than a year it was time to bring that particular line of foolishness to a close. 

It almost killed me. I wrestled with the ending for two months. Two months of searching for a way to say goodbye to a world I had brought to life.* Characters, places, situations that only existed in my goofy imagination. 

Then one day, while driving to work, it hit me, kind of. I had the beginning of the end, and most of the end, and most of the end of the end. So I wrote it sent it off, and started casting about for the final piece. 

On the drive home that night it hit me. And I wrote it, edited it the next morning and sent it off. 

Jeff and Mark, from R and D.

So, for all of you people who think "yeah he can get into some pretty deep crap, but he can never find his way out again." Well, that isn't always true, sometimes, with an effort that is almost herculean in its self destructiveness I can.

Plus, it has cemented my desire to finish a novel, good or bad, finished, wrapped up and put behind me. At least until Hollywood comes calling. Man that will be so cool. I hope Hollywood has my phone number.

*Not really, it is where the seeds of my novel sprouted and grew. With new characters, more places, and animated wall paintings that help the protagonist through life (I'm not sure about the wall paintings, I love the idea, am crazy about the idea but am having real trouble with the execution).

An Absence

“The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not neccesary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.” Joseph Conrad.

I haven’t blogged much lately, and for that I apologize, or apologize for this post, depending on your view of this blog. I have been consumed with writing a novel. I recommend writing a novel, it has been more fun than I would have ever predicted, ever understood. People keep popping up demanding to be added. Come on in, the more the merrier.

As I have stated, ad nauseum, I write a column for the Wild Word, just kind of stumbled across it. It has been a thrill, a columnist, me, go figure. I also have started writing a fictional serial under an assumed name. It is based loosely on my life, very loosely. I really thought it would be an opportunity to roast friends, family, coworkers. But, it never really worked out that way. For one thing I don’t want to say a lot of bad things about people. It just doesn’t seem right. I just can’t burn that hot very long, it is too hard on me. And, I have enough stupidity in my past and present I don’t want to give anybody a reason to talk about that time I had a few too many beers and spilled a whole bowl of guacamole on their sister. Not that that ever happened. So, I just have fun, kind of like with my blog. Everybody walks away happy, but not too happy.

People who have been reading my blog for any length of time understand my complete obsession with talking dogs, messages from the ancient past in portraits, under coffee cups, in microwaved macaroni (I’m not sure I’ve worked that one in yet, so you still have something to look forward to). It is part of how I explain life, there has to be a reason for all of the inexplicable things, and I like to think it isn’t all our fault (not you and me, of course, mankind in general). Anyway, I have really reigned myself in while writing my monthly column, and my fictional serial. This would probably be shocking news to the editors of the publications. 

I know Joseph Conrad was right, we don’t need to find anything supernatural to explain the world, but it makes me feel better. I don’t like to think we are responsible for all of the evil, all of the stupidity, both the unintentional and that which is planned with a malice and malevolence that should scare us all. 

So, in my novel, which is based loosely on my fictional serial, which, as discussed earlier, is based loosely (very loosely, though the protagonist is much more reasonable, and definitely more independent) on my life I have decided to add a few of the things I love. In this case it will be divine (sort of) guidance. I can’t really say anymore than that, you will have to buy the book, and besides I haven’t got all the details figured out. It will be great, though. If there is one thing I can write about it is the absolutely ridiculous.

Anyway, I am a blogger, and I wanted to write a blog post, so here you go. A blog post, with my apologies

One Note and the Evolution of Life Explained.

I would like to take a minute and explain something to all of the people on Google Plus who have missed me. Mom, are you listening? Just kidding, my mom is not on Google Plus. Anyway, I have been very busy.  Work has been filled with all sorts of work. I had to finish a story, a column and I am working on a novel.

One of the best parts about writing a novel is the chance to try new things. Or, old things, like One Note from Microsoft. I have been using One Note for the past several years. If you count installing it on all my devices as using it. But, I could never really figure out what to do with it. I loved having that icon, though.. 

Occasionally I would open it and try to add something. It was almost impossible to understand. I would have been better off using a puddle of blood, a pointed stick and tree bark. Since that is a clear violation of OSHA regulations I just kept the information in my head. A bad idea.

Since there is so much information in my head, and the operating system and all the hardware is outdated, and no longer under warranty I would get the most erratic results. It took a lot of time to go back through pages of my novel and find out where a character had been, and I got bogged down in the details.

Today, I was putzing around and found out how easy it was to manipulate and search data in One Note, I spent hours. Sure it isn't writing, but it was fun. And it reminded me of the song Red Angel Dragnet by the Clash "One of those days I'm going to get myself organizized."

Well, it won't be today. Because I am designing and drawing all the buildings that play a small part in my novel. You see, One Note has an exceptional ability to store pictures and I have a terrible weakness for goofing around with CAD programs. 

Pretty soon I am going to know everything there is to know about the fictional world I am creating, then I will just have to tell everybody about it, in book form. I can't wait.

He’s Back, oh heck no.

I have not been blogging much lately. For one thing work is crazy. Almost as if they don’t care about my blog. It is like a homicidal version of the holiday rush. But, it is good for business, and that makes it good for me. 

There is some good news, though, I am now a professional writer. I sold a story for ten dollars. Not a fortune, but they might as well have handed me the keys to the kingdom. It is not the first time someone paid me to write, though. Once, I stumbled across a site that paid $8.00 for blog posts. You had to write about products or services for companies. I wrote a post about oil changes, (I don’t know anything about oil changes, but a little research was all I needed) and after I fixed the errors POW, eight samoleans in my pay pal account. I was thrilled.

Next I chose Toyota Forklifts. I love my Toyota and I have driven a forklift before so it was a natural. I sent it off, making plans for my eight large, and they sent it back saying it was too filled with errors. I double checked it, actually bought an app to check sentence structure, spelling, grammar, verb and subject agreements. There were a few things I fixed and sent it back. And they said it was not good enough, and I could no longer write for them. I could have lived with “you just don’t know enough about forklifts,” or “you are too wordy, and self important,” but they said I just didn’t write well enough. But, I didn’t quit. I just quit getting paid.

And now I hit the big time, ten dollars. 

It was a great story, too. But, the ending stunk. I submitted it to a lot of places and almost universally they said, “good story, weak ending.” I sent it to Smarty Pants, and they said. “You should make this the ending, it is really the climax, and add a line making a refernce to the opening.” And I did, and it was great.

Editors are amazing things. This story was transformed with one edit into something worth ten big ones. I write a monthly column  

for The Wild Word, (here is a link) and they have two editors. Sometimes I will send them a draft and they will send it back with notes and suggestions about what I should add. Once in a while it is almost scary. I will think, “Oh my God, they are looking right into me, they can see what I’m thinking.” But, they are always right, and it always turns out much better. I love editors.

Part of what has kept me away from my blog is my book. Most of you know, I am working on a book. And, if you didn’t know. I am working on a book. It is not the book I was working on last year. That is next, but a different book, and it was awful. Dead, wooden words staring with cold, lifeless eyes at me. And I said, this sucks. So I went back and started breathing a little life into the people, thinking about them as people, with a past and a future, things not even mentioned in the book. And, it got better. In one point a minor character, introduced briefly to explain a quirk in the protagonist loses his wife to cancer, and it was so sad, so heart breaking (to me, anyway) I almost cried. And I thought, wow this is good.

And now an update, #FixThePlus

As I have said recently, often, and to everybody who will listen, I am writing a book. It is a delightful hobby. One that I recommend with unbridled enthusiasm. The book is coming along better than I had ever hoped. Of course, dreams of fame, fortune and acclaim dance through my days, but harsh reality pushes those aside. And like my blogging it has to be for me.

But, as the novel grows and twists and takes paths it is an exercise of reason and management. It is like a building a model with from a pile of plastic scraps with no directions. There is a general idea of the appearance and the shape, uses and structure are indeterminate, but the form gives hints.

You have to breathe life into characters that have never existed. They need stories beyond the novel to make them whole. You have to tell stories that you don't get to share.

There are locations to be invented, filled with people and things. Shops, restaurants, gas stations, churches. It is your world, and it can be as wonderful, ordinary, or miserable as you please.The world in my novel is evolving, sometimes to match my desires, sometimes all by itself.

If you have ever thought about writing a novel stop thinking, start writing. It is in there trying to get out. You will have a lot of fun, and if you aren't careful you will learn a little something about yourself.

The more things change.

This is the third month of "the new tim" regimen.  In many ways it is going so much better than I had hoped, in others not so brightly.

Physically, I am thrilled with my progress, and effort.  This is the start of my third month of exercise.  And each week I push myself a little harder, and I feel so much better.  Part of it is, probably, the healthier diet, vegetables and fruit with almost every meal, and the addition of a multi-vitamin as part of my evening pill popping adventure, which has now reached 4, and sometimes 5, if I take Ibuprofen (only sometimes).

I need that discipline in other areas of my life, I am still not dedicated enough to writing, and researching.  Research is almost lackadaisical, ad-hoc, inconsistent, built around the things I want to study.  To expedite this, and build good habits, I have started a new blog, located here,

It will be a jumping off point for all of my research into the past to support a novel I have decided to write, about a scientist, time travel, ancient, and future armies, the potential destruction of a treasured national landmark, and several small towns in Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa, and South Dakota.

My cousin Mike has a Facebook page about a book he is writing, and I may try that, I don't know.  I have enough trouble with focus, and one more thing to update would probably be too distracting.

Sitting here, thinking about this, the question that keeps hammering away, pounding, and burning "why?"  Who knows, maybe it is the new Urban Armor case for the Surface Pro 3 (a wonderful computer, and a fantastic cover) it makes sense, trying to justify that purchase, almost $70.00 ($69.99).  Maybe it is the new iPhone app, TextExtractor, which is fantastic, and free, it can scan text and save it as text, which seems like it should be easy, apparently it is not, though.

Maybe it is a midlife crisis, I love my wife, my car and my kids, so I need to do something to prove I am not old.

Maybe it is a natural phenomenon, a longing for recognition, seeking a small amount of immortality, some dream of not being forgotten.  Maybe this is not unique, at all, maybe everybody wants these things. Well, they can start their own blog, this one is mine.

Or better yet, they can write guest posts for my new blog, located here.  It is now accepting guest posts about historic battles, armies or conquests.  If you have a post you would like to add, email me at tc.add3@gmail.com.  It should be accurate, and focus mostly on tactics, strategy, weaponry, and leadership.  The human costs were terrible, and the suffering was immense, but I would rather not cover that part.

Now, that is a plan.

It is time, maybe past time, it may be long overdue, but, I have decided to have a mid life crisis.  There should be some guidelines, some government agency to send you an email, "hey, Tim, your midlife crisis is due, and you should start looking at sports cars, maybe schedule some flying lessons, or sky diving."  That way a person would know, definitively, when to start.

When you hit a certain age or level of maturity, or point where your financial responsibilities are not so crushing, demanding that you have little extra coin to kick around, they would send you a packet with some suggestions, possibly a decision tree or a Markov Chain to help.  "If you live in the suburbs, and drive a sedan, and have two sons then consider trying to baseball camp with the Pirates."

Playing baseball with a bunch of pirates would be fun.  Drinking Jamaican rum, and plundering booty from the Reds, and the Nationals, just think, Alex Rodriguez walking the plank, oh the joy.  But, I am not really a big baseball fan, even if it includes pirates.  Besides, people get hurt running bases, and those grounders can take a nasty hop, pow, right in the mush.  No thanks.

"If you are not a baseball fan, try a motorcycle."  There is a mid life crisis staple, a motorcycle, a leather jacket, a wallet on a chain and the open road.  Man, aging has never been more appealing.  Best to think this through, though.  I don't want one of those motor cycles that are on two wheels, and fall over so easy.  Some of them are pretty darned heavy, and just holding them up at the street light can be a problem.  Maybe one of those outlaw biker trikes, but they are difficult to find, and expensive.  There is a new kind of motor cycle, with two wheels in the front, maybe that would work out, but they look a little silly.  How about a sidecar, that would be sweet, but it will make me look lonely because I know my wife will not climb in there and trust her life to my riding skills, maybe a motor cycle is not the answer.

I think, maybe I will try my hand at writing the great, American novel.  Or, the mediocre, American novel, or even the barely adequate, American novel.  If I do it on a computer I will not even have to worry about paper cuts.