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I had every intention of doing some writing today. I really did. I had every motivation, because I just finished a couple of installments of Witch Hunt, the second of which will be posted on Monday. I was going to edit a few chapters a day over the weekend in Ghost Hunters, too, and maybe have that draft cleaned up and ready for beta reading in a couple of weeks.
Reality is very different than my fantasies, however.
Well, I was going to do some weird search terms today, but alas — there are no weird search terms for me to highlight, frankly. My blog has been clean and bright, and people seem to be finding it more for valuable content than for weirdness lately.
That’s good news. At least if the Internet is stupidly weird, I don’t have to see it.
… it was stupidity itself not to own an umbrella in the Midwest? Do you know why I said that?
Let me give you the setting:
I don’t hurt as much today.
As much.
I have a blister on the ball of my foot threatening to manifest. It’s tender but not painful; just enough to make me aware of its presence. Changing shoes at the office has been beneficial in keeping it from blossoming full-on.
… DOG tired. Speaking of dogs, mine are barkin’. Big time.
My legs hurt too. Hear that, Stranger? You’re not alone. I didn’t do it with an elliptical machine, but the urban terrain of the Big City has been just as effective. For someone that hasn’t consistently done any sort of exercise for something like 20 years, I can’t believe this is only day two.
It went well again today. I have more assignments to complete, but need some help from the Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to complete them. I hope I prove competence pretty soon — at least to myself. I’m always a nervous little tick, but right now I’m downright jumpy.
I’m starting to panic about writing, too. I have no time. When I get home I have precious few hours to be with the kids, my wife and check email and such before it’s back to bed to go comatose for tomorrow’s strut from train station to office. Who the hell knew half a frickin’ mile could be so friggin’ far??
Well … I’ll do my best. I’m thinking about dropping a few dimes on that Neo word processing thing. Any thoughts on that bad boy? I have time on the train to do what I want: read (which I’ll be doing with some text books to help my skill set), write (when I can stay awake), stare at other trainglodytes (which I do a LOT of) … whatever. Anyone seen it? Used it? It runs on AA batteries, which is cool. No recharging issues. But I’m scared of making a bad decision. Does anyone know anything about that doo-hickey? I’ve seen it in Writer’s Digest, if you’re curious, and their website is here. Any input you have is desperately sought and dearly appreciated.
God bless, and good night, y’all. Patience, Raga … I have the next part of Witch Hunt laid out, I just can’t find time to write it.
-JDT-
Well, that’s one down.
I started my new job today, for those of you following along with this saga. It’s something I’ve never done before, and I’m a bit nervous about it, but in the end, the first day seemed to go pretty well.
I seem to be coughing a little more today that I was yesterday, but I have a full weekend left to get better.
I have perhaps the worst case of writer’s block I’ve ever had. If not ever, then certainly since I stopped writing for something like 10 years. It’s so bad I haven’t even done any editing. That’s bad.
I didn’t really have anything weird, interesting or even read-worthy to say, so I didn’t post today. I mean, I’m posting now, but … well, you know.
I sat through Alien 3 with my son yesterday, and today he and I watched the original Alien movie. He watched end-to-end, and seemed to really like it. It’s interesting how a movie nearly 30 years old can still hold my attention and the attention of a new audience.
Other than that, nothing — and I mean nothing — is going on.
Sorry. Just thought you should know. Not that you’d care, only that you deserved to know.
-JDT-
I was chatting with a good friend yesterday and asked her about her current WIP. We were talking, and she told me something about another project — one she has in an agent’s hands right now — which sort of startled me a little. Not only that, but it made me stop and think about my own writing in a different way.
Well, BlogDesk is yet another Windows offline, or desktop, blogging client, and it’s the last one I’m going to talk about for a while. I don’t have any more software to review after this, and I think I’ve done this one before (my memory ain’t what it used to be), so I’m going to take a break from doing reviews for a little while after this one. At least until I get some ideas regarding what might be interesting to review.
So, anyway — back to BlogDesk. BlogDesk is easily the least resource-intensive offline blogging client I’ve seen so far. It’s the smallest in terms of footprint and is very fast and agile when running. It has the benefit of being very simple and clean in its interface, but the Spartan GUI also means some things that could be useful may not be there.
Science fiction author and legend Arthur C. Clarke passed away today at the age of 90. He was a speculative fiction giant, to say the least, and a tremendous influence on SF as a genre.
His work will be missed.
Read more here.
It’s too bad Post2Blog - a desktop blogging client for Windows - has been discontinued. It was a neat product that did a lot of cool things. While I don’t think it’s as slick as Windows Live Writer, it had a lot of potential. None of that potential can be realized now, but it was there. A little dedication and time, a supportive user community, and Post2Blog could’ve been one of the great ones.
Their own website sends you off to download WLW, so that will tell you everything you need to know right there. However, despite the fact that Post2Blog hasn’t been maintained or updated in something like 2 years, it’s still a very good product.
My two year-old is laying on the couch. She’s alert and talkative, singing songs from Dora the Explorer (UGH), but she’s laying still. That’s a bad sign.
A little earlier, my six year-old was sneezing and coughing mildly, almost like he was faking. Now he’s trying to play video games and is still sneezing and coughing. A quick mommy-hand temp check brought about the digital thermometer confirmation: A slight fever.
This is interesting. I don’t know how accurate it is, but it’s interesting. I find it interesting as well that I and my loving wife turned up the same. And yet, we seem to get along just fine. Go figure — an Internet quiz that’s NOT right about compatibility?? My God — what does that mean for eHarmony??
Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends,
we’re so glad you could attend! Come inside, come inside!
-Emerson, Lake and Palmer
Yes, indeedy, ladies and gentlemen, and everyone that excludes, it’s time once again to see the weirdness in the DarcKnyt search terms repository! See the freaks — and be left shivering in creeping gooseflesh! See the comedy, and struggle to restrain your bladder! See the kookiness, the oddity, the bizarre world of my search terms.
Okay, let’s see what Uncle Fester has for us today:
Well … at long last, the change has finally come.
There are so many from whom we’ve asked, and received prayers. To each of you, every last one: Thank you. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
There are so many from whom we’ve received unbridled, unconditional support. To each one of you: God bless you. Thank you. We will never be able to express what it means to us. Never. We wouldn’t have made it as well as we did without your shoulders to lean on when we needed them.
It finally broke. I’m mostly relieved. Like everything that happens, there is light and there is dark. Some is good and some is not as good. It’s a series of pros and cons, and we hope it will mostly be pros. We have plenty of cons following us around now.
I think I can work on my new project again. I think. I hope inspiration will come, anyway. I really do. I want it to, badly. I really want to write, but it’s been so hard. Now that the hardest part is over, I hope it will flow again.
I hope.
Thank you. Everyone.
Later, maybe some weird search terms.
-JDT-
I found this over on the Blame it on the Voices blog.
I already like the song and the artist, but she really, REALLY won me over with this, and the whole thing kicks some serious ass. I don’t normally post these kinds of things, but the last two I’ve found are just … just … well, just see for yourself. You won’t be sorry.
See? Toldja!
-JDT-
You’ve got to be kidding me, right?
I mean, of all the things to turn up in my odd search terms — and I get some doozies as you all know — this one is somehow unique in it’s oddity. It’s a singlarity of weirdness. It’s just … well, it’s just kinda icky.
If this isn’t the coolest thing I’ve ever seen, it’s really. Dang. Close.
Enjoy, y’all. I sure did.
So, I’ve been noticing that Lime Wire has started to … well, suck.
Most people don’t use P2P sharing programs like Lime Wire, and the creators of such packages tend to get into a lot of trouble. But, I have a unique situation and haven’t really found a solution for it yet, so … what do you think, The Internet?
Here’s my problem: Comcast.
Okay, so … most of those who read this blog know by now that I’m a software slut. I respond to new (and FREE) software like other guys respond to p0rn. Don’t believe me? Ask my beloved one; she’ll tell you. I can’t get enough. Never have, never will.
And so it is with blogging clients. Windows Live Writer is the best one out there, bar none. Period. End. Zip it. Discussion closed. But, a lot of people to whom I’ve recommended it don’t like it for some reason. Sometimes, I think, it’s cumbersome. It is bloated with features. But it does so much for a blogger — in fact, it can do almost anything except write the dang post for you.
Hello, The Internet! Welcome to another edition of “DarcKnyt’s Weird Blog Search Terms!”
Yes, folks, it’s that time again … time for me to check the search terms that brought visitors to my blog, and the bizarre-ass stuff people are looking for on the ‘Net … and somehow finding on my blog.
So, without further, or at least too much more, ado, let’s see what we have today:
Well, tomorrow is the first of two interviews for technical writing jobs for me. I’ve put together a writing sample, but I’m not too sure about it. Since I likely won’t get any views on it tonight — and if I do it will be largely too late to do anything about it until after the interview anyway — I’ll post it tomorrow for folks to pick at.
I had a lot of good suggestions about doing a second one. A couple of you suggested I take one of my software reviews to show them, and that’s a tremendous compliment. Thank you both for your generous praise. But, unfortunately, the kind of thing the interviewers want to see is more step-by-step instruction. I cobbled together a process I had to document a while back from memory. I can only hope the instructions are clear and the information isn’t too … I dunno. Too much me trying to be a tech writer instead of just trying to communicate the information.
Anyway, wish me luck, y’all. I won’t be available until tomorrow evening, which is the really, really crappy part of this: location. I have to commute by train to get where I’m going, and it’s an hour and 15 give or take a couple minutes each way … on top travel to and from the train station and then walking to and from the final destination when I get to the end of the line.
So, until we see each other again, God bless, and if you’re the praying type, please pray for us. We can sure use it.
-JDT-
… you were being watched? Or hunted, maybe?
I dunno. These are getting creepy.
So, I really don’t want to talk about what I found in my search terms today in any depth. That would lead to more weirdos finding me, and as far as I can tell, this isn’t the sort of thing I want my blog known for, and it’s certainly not anything I want to be associated with. So the less said, the better.
I’ll let the terms speak for themselves.
I got an interesting call today, and as it turns out, I’m not through being considered as a technical writer after all.
But, in order for the consideration to continue, I have to come up with some “writing samples” to provide the interested parties. So that’s what I’m doing for the next couple of days. The topic is my choice, but I have to put together a technical document — like a user guide, for instance — on how to do something … techy. I haven’t started yet, but I have something in mind. The problem is, I don’t really know how to do this.
See, I’m not now a technical writer. Oh, to be sure, I’d love to be. I want to do something different with my life, and I’ve made no bones about that in life or on this blog. I want to make a career move, and since “author” isn’t one of the check boxes I can select on my life-card right now, I’m stuck choosing from one of the myriad other “options” I have.
For now, however, I have to write these samples. Sorry, Witch Hunt is going to have to be on hold. When I need a break, I may be able to do some editing in Ghost Hunters, which I still have to rename, but that’s probably not in the cards for now either. I’m going to be checked for all the basics — grammar, structure, clarity of instruction, visual appeal, and whatever “etc.” means to this particular interested party.
So, if there are any technical writers out there reading this right now, what insight can you offer a newbie trying to get in? Any advice, any particular pitfall to avoid, any especially tricky areas of that facet of life I should be aware of? Any one?
Shout out, y’all. I’ll find out next week probably, and will let everyone know when it’s relevant.
I’m out for now. If I don’t post for a while, you’ll know why. God bless, everyone.
-JDT-
Technorati Tags: Blogging, Life, New job, Random thoughts, Technical writing
I’m sure it’s just me, but I wanted to be sure.
In that vein, in that interest, I want to throw something out to other writers that may find my little corner of the blogosphere and ask a couple of questions.
I’m reaching a point in my writing process where I have to start thinking about query letters. Everything I hear about query letters makes me afraid; really afraid. I’m scared to write one. By all accounts, one wrong move spells certain doom for a project, regardless of how well-written it might be.
Well … after all the positive feedback from Sherri, and encouragement from the Love of My Life and Penfury, I took it upon myself to change my theme.
I needed the space for goodies on my sidebars. Now, I’m not a big fan of teeny-tiny little fonts, and this one definitely has those in the sidebars. But I do like the 4-column layout, which allows me to bring a lot of the sidebar stuff up from the nether-regions of the blog. So, this is an okay compromise. Not perfect, but it’ll do … for tonight. I’ll have to see how I feel about it long-term.
This is the only 4-column theme with even close to enough space for the posts in terms of width. However, it is more narrow, and I’m not sure how I feel about that right now. And I’ll miss my beloved Century font for the entries themselves. But, we’ll try this. If it doesn’t work out I can always move to the Digg theme Sherri’s using; she gave me her blessing. 
(Thanks, Sherri.)
Thanks everyone, and please let me know what you think. If this thing’s too hard on your eyes, or is too small, or whatever, I want to know about it. I’ll dump it in a heartbeat if need be; I ain’t married to it.
God bless, all.
-JDT-
WHUH??