Don Calame's Blog
August 5, 2018
The Great British Bake Off Is Making Me Plump
My wife and I go through phases where we will find a TV show we like and then binge watch the thing until we have watched every last episode. Normally, this does not pose any health problems. However, recently, we’ve started watching a program that has my doctor telling me I now have high cholesterol.
We can watch something like Fixer Upper and, while it may make me want to clean out the garage (I’ve yet to get around to it) it doesn’t make me want to buy a dilapidated house and spend a small fortune renovating.
Or, my wife and I can watch an entire season of The Voice and even though I do end up buying some music I don’t feel the need to break out my guitar and hit the local open mic night. (Okay, maybe it makes me want to do that a little but not so much that I allow it to happen).
Have I mentioned I’m the most suggestible human being on the planet? And that all advertising in the world is designed for me, personally? This might sound egocentric but the advertising people know it’s true because I’m the kind of person who can be minding his own business, driving down the highway, and out of the blue I will get a craving for a Big Mac simply because I glanced at a Big Mac billboard. And I don’t even eat Big Macs… very much.
Recently, however, my wife and I have been gorging—literally and figuratively—on the Great British Bake Off. Watching this show is like staring into an amazing bakery, pressing your nose against the window, and desperately wanting to eat everything you see. It has become imperative that we have some form of cake, pie, cookie, macaroon, or muffin available so that when we watch the show and the inevitable cravings come on, we can happily munch along with the judges and contestants. We have been watching past seasons now for a couple of months now and, I kid you not, I have put on a good ten pounds. Ten pounds I’d taken great pains to lose recently.
It’s both depressing and revealing and I’m not sure what to do about it. I’m certainly not going to stop watching the show. It’s about as addictive as the sugar they sprinkle on the top of a sweet bun. I’m thinking it might be time to swap out the La-Z-Boy couch for a couple of treadmills. I’ve recently started writing standing up so it might be time to start watching my baking shows while doing some for of exercise as well. Walking along, watching home bakers carefully kneed and proof their dough, all the while biting into a piece of my wife’s delicious coffee cake.
We can watch something like Fixer Upper and, while it may make me want to clean out the garage (I’ve yet to get around to it) it doesn’t make me want to buy a dilapidated house and spend a small fortune renovating.
Or, my wife and I can watch an entire season of The Voice and even though I do end up buying some music I don’t feel the need to break out my guitar and hit the local open mic night. (Okay, maybe it makes me want to do that a little but not so much that I allow it to happen).
Have I mentioned I’m the most suggestible human being on the planet? And that all advertising in the world is designed for me, personally? This might sound egocentric but the advertising people know it’s true because I’m the kind of person who can be minding his own business, driving down the highway, and out of the blue I will get a craving for a Big Mac simply because I glanced at a Big Mac billboard. And I don’t even eat Big Macs… very much.
Recently, however, my wife and I have been gorging—literally and figuratively—on the Great British Bake Off. Watching this show is like staring into an amazing bakery, pressing your nose against the window, and desperately wanting to eat everything you see. It has become imperative that we have some form of cake, pie, cookie, macaroon, or muffin available so that when we watch the show and the inevitable cravings come on, we can happily munch along with the judges and contestants. We have been watching past seasons now for a couple of months now and, I kid you not, I have put on a good ten pounds. Ten pounds I’d taken great pains to lose recently.
It’s both depressing and revealing and I’m not sure what to do about it. I’m certainly not going to stop watching the show. It’s about as addictive as the sugar they sprinkle on the top of a sweet bun. I’m thinking it might be time to swap out the La-Z-Boy couch for a couple of treadmills. I’ve recently started writing standing up so it might be time to start watching my baking shows while doing some for of exercise as well. Walking along, watching home bakers carefully kneed and proof their dough, all the while biting into a piece of my wife’s delicious coffee cake.
June 28, 2018
The Waiting Is The Hardest Part… Sort Of
What to do while you wait for your next round of edits on your new book? Well, Stephen King would say start writing your next book. Which is good advice, I think. It keeps your writing tools honed, it stops you from obsessively wondering if the draft you sent off is any good, and it sets you up for… well… publishing another book. And while I am mucking around with another novel and having great fun doing it without the pressure of a deadline, I would also like to make the case for refueling and enjoying your life when the opportunity presents itself.
As I said in my last blog, I’ve been thinking a lot about how one should spend the precious, limited time we have on this planet. I’m afraid the older you get the more you think about it because the less time you have. Although, in reality, none of us really know exactly how many days we are allotted. People die at all ages, of course. For all reasons. Unfortunately, though, it often takes too long to really come to terms with the hard fact of our mortality. But if you are lucky to live into your fourth, fifth, sixth, or seventh decade, you start to feel the days becoming shorter, the weeks flying by faster, the calendar turning before you have a chance to look up.
And so, while I still love and enjoy writing, there is so much more to being present in this world than staring at a computer screen and daydreaming (however much fun—or torturous—that can be).
For me the extra time I’ve had has allowed me to do something I’ve found I love just as much as writing: Learning how to be a better cook. I have spent the last months reading massive scientific cookbooks, watching cooking shows, going to farmer’s markets, visiting cooking stores and spending lots and lots of time in the kitchen. This is nothing I get paid for (well, except with the smiles and groans of delight I sometimes receive from friends and family). It’s just something I enjoy doing simply for the doing of it. It’s peaceful, it’s creative, there is no pressure, it makes me feel present in my life.
I think if you can find those thing in your world, and allow yourself to do them (this is the tricky part, not to feel guilty about doing something you love “just because”) you will not only live a fuller, richer, happier, healthier life, but, if you are a writer, and since everything you experience informs your writing, you’ll become better at your craft as well.
As I said in my last blog, I’ve been thinking a lot about how one should spend the precious, limited time we have on this planet. I’m afraid the older you get the more you think about it because the less time you have. Although, in reality, none of us really know exactly how many days we are allotted. People die at all ages, of course. For all reasons. Unfortunately, though, it often takes too long to really come to terms with the hard fact of our mortality. But if you are lucky to live into your fourth, fifth, sixth, or seventh decade, you start to feel the days becoming shorter, the weeks flying by faster, the calendar turning before you have a chance to look up.
And so, while I still love and enjoy writing, there is so much more to being present in this world than staring at a computer screen and daydreaming (however much fun—or torturous—that can be).
For me the extra time I’ve had has allowed me to do something I’ve found I love just as much as writing: Learning how to be a better cook. I have spent the last months reading massive scientific cookbooks, watching cooking shows, going to farmer’s markets, visiting cooking stores and spending lots and lots of time in the kitchen. This is nothing I get paid for (well, except with the smiles and groans of delight I sometimes receive from friends and family). It’s just something I enjoy doing simply for the doing of it. It’s peaceful, it’s creative, there is no pressure, it makes me feel present in my life.
I think if you can find those thing in your world, and allow yourself to do them (this is the tricky part, not to feel guilty about doing something you love “just because”) you will not only live a fuller, richer, happier, healthier life, but, if you are a writer, and since everything you experience informs your writing, you’ll become better at your craft as well.
June 12, 2018
Writing, Cooking, Paddle Boarding, and How Do You Want To Spend Your Precious Time
Look, I’m not going to pretend I’ve been the best blogger in the world. Or the best social media contributor. I find that when I am blogging or when I am glued to my phone all the time I am not writing or doing all the other things I love to do with my finite and precious life hours. Plus, I’m lazy when it comes to things I don’t love to do. Like blogging or contributing to social media.
Some people absolutely love sharing their comings and goings with the world. I’m a much more private person. Plus, you know, there’s the lazy thing.
Even as I write these words there is a niggling voice in the back of my mind that is saying that I should be writing my next book, or going for a walk with my wife, or reading, or learning a new recipe to cook, or taking advantage of the beautiful day to go out paddle boarding. All things that I love to do.
The simple fact of the matter is that the past few years have really made me reevaluate things. I won’t bore you with the details… well, okay, I’ll bore you with some of them.
I think it all started when my dad passed away five years ago. It seemed to start this avalanche of upheaval in my world. On top of my dad dying suddenly, my screenwriting agent had cancer and succumb to it, my mother had a series of strokes which sent her into a downward spiral, and my wife had some very scary medical challenges. All of these things really shook me. Down to my very core.
In a way, I was living in a haze of denial. Like my time on this planet was infinite. That I had all the time in the world to do all the things I want to do. But I don’t, of course. We don’t. None of us do. Not yet, anyway.
Maybe it’s an evolutionary survival mechanism. To be in denial of our mortality most of the time. The blessing of all the challenges I’ve been dealing with is it’s woken me up a bit. Not completely. I still walk through swathes of my days wasting time like it’s toilet paper. Like there will always be more of it when I need it. But more often than not I am trying to be more conscious of how I am spending my limited supply of time. Would I rather blog than play fetch with my dog? Would I rather Tweet than walk on the beach with my wife, holding hands, chatting about our day? Would I rather scroll through Facebook or sit down with a cup of tea and brainstorm my next book?
I know that it doesn’t have to be an either/or. And maybe I need to find a better balance in my life.
But then, you know, there’s the lazy thing.
And now, that niggling voice is getting louder, telling me to get back to writing that next book. Which is exactly what I’m going to do right now.
Some people absolutely love sharing their comings and goings with the world. I’m a much more private person. Plus, you know, there’s the lazy thing.
Even as I write these words there is a niggling voice in the back of my mind that is saying that I should be writing my next book, or going for a walk with my wife, or reading, or learning a new recipe to cook, or taking advantage of the beautiful day to go out paddle boarding. All things that I love to do.
The simple fact of the matter is that the past few years have really made me reevaluate things. I won’t bore you with the details… well, okay, I’ll bore you with some of them.
I think it all started when my dad passed away five years ago. It seemed to start this avalanche of upheaval in my world. On top of my dad dying suddenly, my screenwriting agent had cancer and succumb to it, my mother had a series of strokes which sent her into a downward spiral, and my wife had some very scary medical challenges. All of these things really shook me. Down to my very core.
In a way, I was living in a haze of denial. Like my time on this planet was infinite. That I had all the time in the world to do all the things I want to do. But I don’t, of course. We don’t. None of us do. Not yet, anyway.
Maybe it’s an evolutionary survival mechanism. To be in denial of our mortality most of the time. The blessing of all the challenges I’ve been dealing with is it’s woken me up a bit. Not completely. I still walk through swathes of my days wasting time like it’s toilet paper. Like there will always be more of it when I need it. But more often than not I am trying to be more conscious of how I am spending my limited supply of time. Would I rather blog than play fetch with my dog? Would I rather Tweet than walk on the beach with my wife, holding hands, chatting about our day? Would I rather scroll through Facebook or sit down with a cup of tea and brainstorm my next book?
I know that it doesn’t have to be an either/or. And maybe I need to find a better balance in my life.
But then, you know, there’s the lazy thing.
And now, that niggling voice is getting louder, telling me to get back to writing that next book. Which is exactly what I’m going to do right now.
January 26, 2017
New Year, New Book, New Tour Dates
2017 is turning into a busy one with lots of appearances (see tour dates) and a book deadline and a To Do List as long as my arm.
And do I ever need that To Do list. It’s funny but if I don’t write down the things I need to accomplish—from the big to the very small—they simply do not get done. It used to be I’d be able to carry all of the things I need to accomplish in my head but now I seem to need the satisfaction of crossing the thing off a list in order to get motivated to do it. And not a digital list either. It has to be a hardcopy and I have to be able to cross that thing off with a pen.
Which is why it’s taken me so long to get back to this blog. I simply hadn’t put it on my list. And so, getting the car serviced, and booking my plane tickets, and writing my new book, and changing the furnace filters, and a million other things got done but only because I wrote them down.
I’m sure there is some psychological reason for it—a feeling of accomplishment or something—but THE LIST is a magical thing. I even reverse-list things. Like, if I somehow accidentally do something that wasn’t on the list… I’ll write it on the list and then cross the sucker off.
The biggest thing on my list right now is completing the first draft of my new book. I’m so close I can taste it. Of course, I thought I was close last month. But then… you know… holidays and family and the flu. But now… now it’s really, really close. Which is another reason I don’t blog (and Twitter and Facebook etc. etc.) as I ought to. I am a single minded person. Not so great at the multitasking thing. I am easily distracted and so if I am doing other things I am not writing my book. Like at this very moment. I need to be writing my book.
And so, I am going to sign off now and get back to it. Because there is a very simple rule to finishing a novel. If you don’t sit down and do it—and you don’t put it at the very top of THE LIST—then it never gets done.
And do I ever need that To Do list. It’s funny but if I don’t write down the things I need to accomplish—from the big to the very small—they simply do not get done. It used to be I’d be able to carry all of the things I need to accomplish in my head but now I seem to need the satisfaction of crossing the thing off a list in order to get motivated to do it. And not a digital list either. It has to be a hardcopy and I have to be able to cross that thing off with a pen.
Which is why it’s taken me so long to get back to this blog. I simply hadn’t put it on my list. And so, getting the car serviced, and booking my plane tickets, and writing my new book, and changing the furnace filters, and a million other things got done but only because I wrote them down.
I’m sure there is some psychological reason for it—a feeling of accomplishment or something—but THE LIST is a magical thing. I even reverse-list things. Like, if I somehow accidentally do something that wasn’t on the list… I’ll write it on the list and then cross the sucker off.
The biggest thing on my list right now is completing the first draft of my new book. I’m so close I can taste it. Of course, I thought I was close last month. But then… you know… holidays and family and the flu. But now… now it’s really, really close. Which is another reason I don’t blog (and Twitter and Facebook etc. etc.) as I ought to. I am a single minded person. Not so great at the multitasking thing. I am easily distracted and so if I am doing other things I am not writing my book. Like at this very moment. I need to be writing my book.
And so, I am going to sign off now and get back to it. Because there is a very simple rule to finishing a novel. If you don’t sit down and do it—and you don’t put it at the very top of THE LIST—then it never gets done.
March 19, 2016
Dan Versus Nature
My new book, Dan Versus Nature, comes out in just a few weeks (April 12th) and I couldn’t be more excited. The book has received some amazing REVIEWS and gotten some really nice comments on GOODREADS
I am going to be traveling in the next few months to spread the word so if you can attend one of these events I’d love to see you there.
I will be at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on Sunday April 10, 2016 at 3pm on the YA Stage.
I’ll be in Houston for the Texas Library Association conference where I will be doing a panel on Humor in YA Literature on April 21st from 2:00 - 3:50 and signing books on April 22nd from 9:30 to 10:30.
Heading to Book Expo America in Chicago in May but don’t have my schedule yet.
Finally, I’ve got a book trailer all set to upload on Monday. Was going to do it this week but things got a little hectic.
All in all, a very exciting time for me. Can’t wait for everyone to read the new novel.
If you haven’t seen the cover already, here’s a peak at it.
I am going to be traveling in the next few months to spread the word so if you can attend one of these events I’d love to see you there.
I will be at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on Sunday April 10, 2016 at 3pm on the YA Stage.
I’ll be in Houston for the Texas Library Association conference where I will be doing a panel on Humor in YA Literature on April 21st from 2:00 - 3:50 and signing books on April 22nd from 9:30 to 10:30.
Heading to Book Expo America in Chicago in May but don’t have my schedule yet.
Finally, I’ve got a book trailer all set to upload on Monday. Was going to do it this week but things got a little hectic.
All in all, a very exciting time for me. Can’t wait for everyone to read the new novel.
If you haven’t seen the cover already, here’s a peak at it.
January 6, 2016
Happy 2016, Looking Back, Looking Forward
So, here we are again. It’s a new year, filled with clean slates and fresh beginnings. I’m not going to go into my resolutions for this year because I didn’t make any. I’m just going to wing it this time. I figure, why write down a list of things I know I’m going to fail at. Better just to have a vague idea of things I’d like to accomplish and if I get to them, great. If not, at least I don’t have a list of disappointments staring at me. I’ll lose weight and I’ll gain weight this year. I’ll eat healthy and I’ll eat like crap this year. I’ll exercise and I’ll be slothful this year. I will be generous and I will be selfish this year. And so it goes…
I’ve been going through my old notebooks the last few days. Trying to stir up a few ideas for a new book. I read a quote, can’t remember who it’s from, but the thought stuck with me. It was about how in writing we risk seeing that we are lesser beings that we had hoped. This is the exact opposite of how most of us live our lives, trying to present the best face we have, pretending things are great when they are not, pretending we are perfect when we are not. I think that is why I love reading and writing so much. It allows the muck of the world in. It allows us to see how things really are. And to be okay with it. Allows us to say, we are trying our best and sometimes that best isn’t so great.
This is not to say I am not happy. I am quite content at the moment. To be sitting here in my writing room. Playing around with ideas. The most fun part of the writing process. But there are also sorrows in my life. Disappointments. Grief. Struggle (haha, my autocorrect just changed “struggle” to “snuggle.” Maybe I need some autocorrect in my life…) Things I will use in my writing. Or not.
I’m not sure where I’m going with this. I planned to write about the holidays and how it was a busy time with friends and family. About how we moved last year, sold our house, moved our furniture across the country. How I finished my new novel, Dan Versus Nature and how I was looking forward to it being released in the spring. About Star Wars, and travel to England, and Sidney Crosby, and new iPads and the first snow of the winter…
But, like so many plans… like so many resolutions. Maybe next blog.
Happy New Year. I promise I’ll be more focused next time. Unless I’m not.
I’ve been going through my old notebooks the last few days. Trying to stir up a few ideas for a new book. I read a quote, can’t remember who it’s from, but the thought stuck with me. It was about how in writing we risk seeing that we are lesser beings that we had hoped. This is the exact opposite of how most of us live our lives, trying to present the best face we have, pretending things are great when they are not, pretending we are perfect when we are not. I think that is why I love reading and writing so much. It allows the muck of the world in. It allows us to see how things really are. And to be okay with it. Allows us to say, we are trying our best and sometimes that best isn’t so great.
This is not to say I am not happy. I am quite content at the moment. To be sitting here in my writing room. Playing around with ideas. The most fun part of the writing process. But there are also sorrows in my life. Disappointments. Grief. Struggle (haha, my autocorrect just changed “struggle” to “snuggle.” Maybe I need some autocorrect in my life…) Things I will use in my writing. Or not.
I’m not sure where I’m going with this. I planned to write about the holidays and how it was a busy time with friends and family. About how we moved last year, sold our house, moved our furniture across the country. How I finished my new novel, Dan Versus Nature and how I was looking forward to it being released in the spring. About Star Wars, and travel to England, and Sidney Crosby, and new iPads and the first snow of the winter…
But, like so many plans… like so many resolutions. Maybe next blog.
Happy New Year. I promise I’ll be more focused next time. Unless I’m not.
September 13, 2015
Life After Moving
You may have noticed that I have a new website design. I haven’t officially announced the new site as I have been absolutely crazed with moving from Toronto back to British Columbia and it still needs some tweaking. I am not going to go into the details of how insane this move was but if any of you have seen American Horror Story: Asylum, well, then you have a good idea of where my head was at this past summer. Not only did we move across the country at the height of moving season, not only was I in the middle of edits on the new book, not only did my wife have a movie to shoot and a book tour to do, but we also had non-stop houseguests for the past three months.
Now, you might be saying to yourself, “Don, come on, non-stop houseguests for three months? Aren’t you exaggerating just a little bit?” And to that I would say, “No. I am not.”
We love having guests, don’t get me wrong. But when you are literally dropping one person off at the airport in the morning only to pick two more up at the airport that very afternoon you know that you have overbooked your summer. To add to the stress, our furniture and bazillion boxes arrived a week late and so we only had a day and a half to unpack before our FOURTH set of guests arrived.
Of course, I know we are lucky and blessed to even own furniture and everything inside those bazillion boxes. Don’t get me wrong, I count my blessings every day. It’s just these days I am counting them a little more, shall we say, wearily.
The good news is that we are all moved in and the guests are all moved out and I can start writing a new book soon. My fourth novel, Dan Versus Nature will be out in the spring and I am just waiting for the go ahead from my publisher to show you the cover and the book trailer. I received the Advance Reader Copies in the mail last week and I have to say, I’m really excited about this one.
That’s all for now.
Well, except for this…
Now, you might be saying to yourself, “Don, come on, non-stop houseguests for three months? Aren’t you exaggerating just a little bit?” And to that I would say, “No. I am not.”
We love having guests, don’t get me wrong. But when you are literally dropping one person off at the airport in the morning only to pick two more up at the airport that very afternoon you know that you have overbooked your summer. To add to the stress, our furniture and bazillion boxes arrived a week late and so we only had a day and a half to unpack before our FOURTH set of guests arrived.
Of course, I know we are lucky and blessed to even own furniture and everything inside those bazillion boxes. Don’t get me wrong, I count my blessings every day. It’s just these days I am counting them a little more, shall we say, wearily.
The good news is that we are all moved in and the guests are all moved out and I can start writing a new book soon. My fourth novel, Dan Versus Nature will be out in the spring and I am just waiting for the go ahead from my publisher to show you the cover and the book trailer. I received the Advance Reader Copies in the mail last week and I have to say, I’m really excited about this one.
That’s all for now.
Well, except for this…
May 23, 2015
What’s going on?
Been a busy time for me lately. Beyond my rehab for my separated bicep I have been working on putting the finishing touches on my new book (due out next spring), designing a new website (looks pretty cool, very excited), filming a new book trailer (had tons of fun with this one and it’s turned out well thanks to my wife’s input), putting together my Facebook page (in the infancy stages here), moving from the east coast back to west coast (slowly but surely), working on a few new writing projects and trying to shed the pounds I layered on during all this time (some days my willpower is so strong other days… not so much).Add this to my must-see-TV (Stanley Cup Playoffs and World Championships Hockey) and I am finding it a challenge to stay sane.But regardless, I’m dropping in to give a quick update on anything and everything.1) Excited Canada won the World Championships. Been years since I was interested in this tournament but Sidney Crosby was involved for the first time since 2006 and so I watched and enjoyed! Like an All Star Game where something is really on the line.2) Not sure who I am rooting for to win the Stanley Cup. I vacillate between the Rangers and the Lightening. I like players on both teams. Of course, there’s also the Blackhawks and the Ducks, both teams are stacked with talent as well. The nice thing about not having a horse in the race is there is waaaaaaaaay less stress and palm sweats.3) Saw Avengers: Age of Ultron. First viewing I was a little disappointed but on a second viewing I liked it better. There is so much going on in this film that it bears a second viewing for sure. I wonder, though, if Joss Whedon’s original 3.5 hour cut won’t be even more entertaining and maybe fill in some of the gaping plot holes.4) Summer is coming and so are a plethora of visitors. I find it a challenge to balance the real want of seeing friends and family with the pull of being a hermit. I know that the wise people say that the most important thing in life is to keep contact with those you love, and I agree completely, but there is the loner part of me that just wants to barricade myself in my room and write a new project and see no one. Still, I am looking forward to everyone who is planning on visiting us - just need to make sure I give myself a few hours each day to be alone.5) My reading has really suffered over the last few months. There are so many books that are in my reading pile that I am feeling overwhelmed. I need to get more organized or maybe I need to unplug a bit. Although there is a real desire to make a big social media/internet push with my next book. I don’t know how everyone else does it. I think I might need to split myself in two or there or four or five. There are times I look at other authors who manage to keep up there internet presence with Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Blogs, etc. etc. and I feel sorely deficient.6) Apple Watch, yes or no?7) Finally, I am playing in the sandbox of new ideas. This is the most fun part of creating. The what’s next part. The jotting down of ideas. The infinite possibilities. So, there’s that, too. I feel like I want to leave you with a picture so here is a random shot of our dog Anna.
What’s going on?
Been a busy time for me lately. Beyond my rehab for my separated bicep I have been working on putting the finishing touches on my new book (due out next spring), designing a new website (looks pretty cool, very excited), filming a new book trailer (had tons of fun with this one and it’s turned out well thanks to my wife’s input), putting together my Facebook page (in the infancy stages here), moving from the east coast back to west coast (slowly but surely), working on a few new writing projects and trying to shed the pounds I layered on during all this time (some days my willpower is so strong other days… not so much).
Add this to my must-see-TV (Stanley Cup Playoffs and World Championships Hockey) and I am finding it a challenge to stay sane.
But regardless, I’m dropping in to give a quick update on anything and everything.
1) Excited Canada won the World Championships. Been years since I was interested in this tournament but Sidney Crosby was involved for the first time since 2006 and so I watched and enjoyed! Like an All Star Game where something is really on the line.
2) Not sure who I am rooting for to win the Stanley Cup. I vacillate between the Rangers and the Lightening. I like players on both teams. Of course, there’s also the Blackhawks and the Ducks, both teams are stacked with talent as well. The nice thing about not having a horse in the race is there is waaaaaaaaay less stress and palm sweats.
3) Saw Avengers: Age of Ultron. First viewing I was a little disappointed but on a second viewing I liked it better. There is so much going on in this film that it bears a second viewing for sure. I wonder, though, if Joss Whedon’s original 3.5 hour cut won’t be even more entertaining and maybe fill in some of the gaping plot holes.
4) Summer is coming and so are a plethora of visitors. I find it a challenge to balance the real want of seeing friends and family with the pull of being a hermit. I know that the wise people say that the most important thing in life is to keep contact with those you love, and I agree completely, but there is the loner part of me that just wants to barricade myself in my room and write a new project and see no one. Still, I am looking forward to everyone who is planning on visiting us - just need to make sure I give myself a few hours each day to be alone.
5) My reading has really suffered over the last few months. There are so many books that are in my reading pile that I am feeling overwhelmed. I need to get more organized or maybe I need to unplug a bit. Although there is a real desire to make a big social media/internet push with my next book. I don’t know how everyone else does it. I think I might need to split myself in two or there or four or five. There are times I look at other authors who manage to keep up there internet presence with Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Blogs, etc. etc. and I feel sorely deficient.
6) Apple Watch, yes or no?
7) Finally, I am playing in the sandbox of new ideas. This is the most fun part of creating. The what’s next part. The jotting down of ideas. The infinite possibilities. So, there’s that, too.
I feel like I want to leave you with a picture so here is a random shot of our dog Anna.
Add this to my must-see-TV (Stanley Cup Playoffs and World Championships Hockey) and I am finding it a challenge to stay sane.
But regardless, I’m dropping in to give a quick update on anything and everything.
1) Excited Canada won the World Championships. Been years since I was interested in this tournament but Sidney Crosby was involved for the first time since 2006 and so I watched and enjoyed! Like an All Star Game where something is really on the line.
2) Not sure who I am rooting for to win the Stanley Cup. I vacillate between the Rangers and the Lightening. I like players on both teams. Of course, there’s also the Blackhawks and the Ducks, both teams are stacked with talent as well. The nice thing about not having a horse in the race is there is waaaaaaaaay less stress and palm sweats.
3) Saw Avengers: Age of Ultron. First viewing I was a little disappointed but on a second viewing I liked it better. There is so much going on in this film that it bears a second viewing for sure. I wonder, though, if Joss Whedon’s original 3.5 hour cut won’t be even more entertaining and maybe fill in some of the gaping plot holes.
4) Summer is coming and so are a plethora of visitors. I find it a challenge to balance the real want of seeing friends and family with the pull of being a hermit. I know that the wise people say that the most important thing in life is to keep contact with those you love, and I agree completely, but there is the loner part of me that just wants to barricade myself in my room and write a new project and see no one. Still, I am looking forward to everyone who is planning on visiting us - just need to make sure I give myself a few hours each day to be alone.
5) My reading has really suffered over the last few months. There are so many books that are in my reading pile that I am feeling overwhelmed. I need to get more organized or maybe I need to unplug a bit. Although there is a real desire to make a big social media/internet push with my next book. I don’t know how everyone else does it. I think I might need to split myself in two or there or four or five. There are times I look at other authors who manage to keep up there internet presence with Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Blogs, etc. etc. and I feel sorely deficient.
6) Apple Watch, yes or no?
7) Finally, I am playing in the sandbox of new ideas. This is the most fun part of creating. The what’s next part. The jotting down of ideas. The infinite possibilities. So, there’s that, too.
I feel like I want to leave you with a picture so here is a random shot of our dog Anna.
March 19, 2015
Final edits and ruptured biceps
This blog is going to be very different for me. I’ve never used dictation on my computer before. It may read the same to you however I am not typing any of this. I’m speaking into my computer’s microphone.I’ll get this right out of the way and let you know why I’m dictating this rather than typing it. I was very excited to be finished with my final edits on the new novel. And to celebrate, I signed up at the local recreation center to play drop in hockey. This was not a competitive league, we were not keeping score, our goalie was a 70-year-old woman named Shirley who could barely shuffle from post-to post. This should give you a sense of the speed and tempo of the game. However, I was having fun just skating around when the puck was passed to me. I reached out for it with my right arm and I felt a snap. I didn’t think anything of it. I thought I just strained a muscle. I continued to play in a little bit of pain. Figured I would put some ice on it when I got home.When I got the locker room and I took off my equipment I looked down at my arm and saw that my bicep was not where it was supposed to be. It was floating up around my shoulder like a flabby piece of beef tenderloin. My initial thought was “that does not look right.” My next thought was “I need to get out of here before anyone else sees this.”I returned home, showed my wife, and she too thought that there was a problem. I called my doctor, he had me send pictures, he told me I was probably going to need surgery.And so here I am, post operation, trying to blog by dictating into my computer because I don’t have the use of my right arm. And while the itching under the bandage is driving me insane, and everything I have to do feels like an effort, I’m still grateful that it was just a ruptured bicep tendon and not something worse, something terminal. Because, there’s nothing that will make you feel more grateful for the life you have been sitting for six hours in an emergency room.I am going to stop here because I keep having to go back and fix the mistakes my dictation software is making. It does seem a miracle that I can just speak and the words are typed on the screen. However when words like “felt like a snap” are typed as ASAP and the word puck is typed out as something far more offensive, one can get a little frustrated. It also doesn’t help that my dog keeps barking at the neighbors in the hall and my dictation software starts typing out Anna Anna Anna quiet Anna quiet Anna.Until next time this is me signing out.
