Coming off a long Memorial Day weekend with no writing or work routine...

"The test of a vocation is the love of the drudgery it involves." - Logan Pearsall Smith, Afterthoughts, 1931

'Nuff said. Time to get to work.

Memorial Day

I'd like to wish everyone a happy Memorial Day out there. I'd also like offer you a little reminder as we all enjoy our beer, barbecues and time with friends and family that this day is more than just about a day off from work. It is a time to remember those of our Armed Forces who never came home from war. Those who will never again get to enjoy barbecues with their friends and family. Who will never go on to see their children grow into adulthood and have children of their own. It is a day to honor the fallen.

So, as you all wipe the sweat off your brows and beer bottles, I encourage you to take a moment to pause and think of those who will never see home again. They gave their lives for us and it is the least we can do for them.

Defying Death at 150 MPH

Now, I'm a pilot and can go sit in an airplane or helicopter and go fly it...

But this man can F-L-Y!

I mean the tolerances that he had to achieve to make this happen were ridiculous. No second chances in this game.

Had to jot down a few notes and post. Check it out.



http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2013/04/18/moos-pkg-batcave-wingsuit-stunt.cnn.html

Author = Idea Man = Entrepreneur???

I'm an author, and the way I see it writing is by its very nature an entrepreneurial pursuit. You are your own sole proprietorship. The only difference between an author's products and a brick and mortar business is that an author's workshop is in their mind. We manufacture our products -- our stories -- in our heads, pump them out through our fingers and into our computers, and, eventually, on down to the printing presses (or spit them out electronically to all you kindle/nook/ipad readers).

The point I'm slowly getting to is that I am always asking questions. Not just about writing, but about life in general. Business, personal and professional goals, careers, relationships, etcetera. And the ultimate follow-on question that ties them all together: "What am I going to DO with my life?"

I know, it sounds silly asking that in middle age. Especially when you would have thought I'd answered it years ago after college. But life these days is not as straight forward as it once was. Not all people stick with one profession their entire lives. Sure, doing so suits some, and kudos to them. Life is much less complicated. But for those of us who choose lives that have little to do with conforming to society's norms, those previously mentioned questions on life (and about what we/you want to do with mine/yours) are important.

To that end I've decided to post a link to a powerpoint presentation I thought very informative and inspiring. It was intended as a kickstarter for those freshly graduated from college, but I think it suits my sort of person too. It was pieced together by billionaire entrepreneur Reid Hoffman, the creator of LinkedIn.

Enjoy, and be inspired.

The Rum Diary and Hunter S. Thompson

Maybe I'm behind the curve on Hunter S. Thompson. Maybe I'm too new to his writing to make any credible summations. True, the only full H.S. Thompson story I've made it through is Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and that wasn't even his book but a Johnny Depp film made from it. And the only writing of Thompson's I've actually read so far is The Rum Diary, and here I'm no more than half way through the book. But I have to say, the man knew his craft. The Rum Diary is an exquisite example. He's created a protagonist that's at once crabby, observant, despicable, a lush, indecisive, but thinks he knows what he wants, and that, despite your own inclinations towards the man, you find yourself somehow liking and admiring.

I love a book that's built like Thompson pieces together his Rum Diary. Each chapter feels almost as if it is a little vignette, a story in its own right but really part of a larger whole that eventually brings to life an entire plot you never knew you were reading. His character descriptions make me feel nostalgic, like I'm remembering the character he's describing instead of listening to him form a picture of that character in my head.

I'll admit I'm still apprehensive to read his other works, Fear and Loathing in Vegas being one of them. But the reasons for my trepidation are different now. Before I'd read any of his stuff I'd known him really by reputation only, and later the aforementioned movie made from his work. Based on that, I thought reading Thompson wouldn't be worth my time. It seemed too off kilter to relate. Now, though, I don't know that I want to read his other stuff because I'm loving this earlier* work so much that I don't want his later writings to diminish the admiration I'm presently feeling for him as an author.

Strange, I know, but there it is. And if you're wondering what brought me to reading Thompson now? Well, if you must know, I'm a sucker for catchy titles and good rum.

(*Just FYI, though The Rum Diary was published in '98, Thompson originally conceived it in the late 1950s.)