I recently switched from using Bloglines(new beta version) to Google Reader for my RSS needs. I like Bloglines, but I thought it was time to hand Google another piece of my online lifestyle.
I like how Reader integrates easily with my GMail account and some of the added features (like my "Shared" items). What I wish Google had that Bloglines offers is anonymous email accounts.
With Bloglines I could generate a random email address (@bloglines.com) that would be added as a subscribtion in my feeds and I could use that address to sign up for services that require an email (if I didn't want to give them my real email). Also, I used that to subscribe to some user groups email newsletters, so I got to read them like feeds instead of having to mess with them in my inbox. Maybe Google will add this eventually, but for now I'll keep using Reader.
Until next time
Les
January 29, 2008
January 15, 2008
Just like any other geek I have always aspired to someday write a book. I guess the key there is "someday". So as long as I'm still alive I can dream that dream. I've often wondered what I should do to begin. I actually have started a couple of time on different projects. As I typically do though I start strong but then fizzle out. I guess it can't just be some off the cuff random thought, I have to find something that actually means something to me to make it work. As the saying goes I have to find my muse.
So where do I look for inspiration. When taking on a project such as this there are all the usual suspect resource pools to dip in for inspiration: personal history/beliefs, current events, or just mere imagination. I've tried the imagination thing. Wrote about one and a half chapters and hit writers' block. The pool of my imagination is pretty shallow it seems. So I've been thinking how about mixing it up a little bit. I could write based on my geographical background and use what other people imagine about that particular region. This could be interesting if done correctly since I come from an area that most people seem to associate with the movie Deliverance, which actually took place in Georgia, but Southeastern Oklahoma tends to have a reputation for being equal to the local of that story.
If I could find the right literary hook, add some plot to it, twist, and actually find the right audience I might be able to get it going. But let's face it; it's hard to produce a truly original idea since almost everything has already been done to the nth degree. So for me it's really a fear of having any potential audience just shrugging it off as if it's a rip off of something they're already familiar with.
Regarding the medium of delivery, I've actually considered starting a new fiction blog and write chapters at a time. Register it with creative commons and try some brute for self promotion on wikis and forums. This might be a better way to start for me but only if I could get a following that would put me in check when I stop posting chapters. But would I be able to sell a product that has been readily available for free on the information waves of the world wide web? I guess I could get a following (assuming I self promoted good enough to generate some buzz), I could then cut off the blog with a final post stating "To be continued in a bookstore near you!" But that would be a dangerous move especially for someone who from societies perspective is a no one. Don't piss off the audience, not until you've got a big enough name and pay roll to get away with it.
This needs more thought and obviously I would have to develop a working story line before any of this is even viable. So...
Until next time
Les
So where do I look for inspiration. When taking on a project such as this there are all the usual suspect resource pools to dip in for inspiration: personal history/beliefs, current events, or just mere imagination. I've tried the imagination thing. Wrote about one and a half chapters and hit writers' block. The pool of my imagination is pretty shallow it seems. So I've been thinking how about mixing it up a little bit. I could write based on my geographical background and use what other people imagine about that particular region. This could be interesting if done correctly since I come from an area that most people seem to associate with the movie Deliverance, which actually took place in Georgia, but Southeastern Oklahoma tends to have a reputation for being equal to the local of that story.
If I could find the right literary hook, add some plot to it, twist, and actually find the right audience I might be able to get it going. But let's face it; it's hard to produce a truly original idea since almost everything has already been done to the nth degree. So for me it's really a fear of having any potential audience just shrugging it off as if it's a rip off of something they're already familiar with.
Regarding the medium of delivery, I've actually considered starting a new fiction blog and write chapters at a time. Register it with creative commons and try some brute for self promotion on wikis and forums. This might be a better way to start for me but only if I could get a following that would put me in check when I stop posting chapters. But would I be able to sell a product that has been readily available for free on the information waves of the world wide web? I guess I could get a following (assuming I self promoted good enough to generate some buzz), I could then cut off the blog with a final post stating "To be continued in a bookstore near you!" But that would be a dangerous move especially for someone who from societies perspective is a no one. Don't piss off the audience, not until you've got a big enough name and pay roll to get away with it.
This needs more thought and obviously I would have to develop a working story line before any of this is even viable. So...
Until next time
Les
January 4, 2008
Guy stuff
One of my favorite all time guy movies is Desperado, the Robby Rodriguez flick with Antonio Banderas. 
I started listening to the soundtrack today for the first time in probably more than a year and it reminded me I need to watch it again just to reaffirm my manliness (as if I needed to do that). Well, I can't. I own it you see, but I own it in the out dated format of VHS. For you kids that read my blog that's what we used to watch before teh DVD became the thing and the internet was way too slow to download video (I know this is arguable). Anyway. I don't have a VCR hooked up in my house (that's the machine that plays the VHS). So, for my manliness' sake, I need to go pick up this movie on DVD.
Until next time,
Les
I started listening to the soundtrack today for the first time in probably more than a year and it reminded me I need to watch it again just to reaffirm my manliness (as if I needed to do that). Well, I can't. I own it you see, but I own it in the out dated format of VHS. For you kids that read my blog that's what we used to watch before teh DVD became the thing and the internet was way too slow to download video (I know this is arguable). Anyway. I don't have a VCR hooked up in my house (that's the machine that plays the VHS). So, for my manliness' sake, I need to go pick up this movie on DVD.
Until next time,
Les
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