Big Foot

It has become a busy Summer. I have missed my mid-month blog post deadline but hope to make up for that here.

Big Foot. Real or not the subject provides an unending investigation into the reactions of people when they encounter the fringes of existence.

How do people react to such experiences such as seeing Big Foot, the Yeti or some form of animated snow creature? Many believe such topics such as Big Foot taboo. They are afraid of being considered crazy if they tell anyone that they had seen any unknown creature. Big Foot believers claim there are countless experiences among the general public that people are too afraid to speak out about.

Then there are those people who claim long standing experiences with Big Foot that they would not tell people about at the time, for more altruistic reason.

Here again YouTube is an excellent source for the Big Foot experience. Several movies, documentaries, have been made centering around communities that claimed long standing encounters with the beast.

There is a YouTuber from up Ladysmith way, an area I am familiar with, that documents many testimonies and photographs.

I told my dad about this particular YouTuber from the north woods. It is not too far from the area where my dad grew up. I gave him a general description of the target beast. He simply said, mockingly, “We used to call those Swedes.”

While clearing a piece of hunting land I own up there, in the woods there, I have heard the typical wood knocks associated with Big Foot. I was there with my wife when she was hit with a powerful and repulsive smell, another experience associated with Big Foot. When I walked over the smell was gone. Our dog began acting very strangely, staying close at hand.

There is a small hunting shack across the rutted road (pictured on the cover of my first book) from my land. I was speaking with one of the owners when he suddenly changed the topic to ‘break ins’ of their cabin.

“Really?” I questioned, “Did they take anything?”

“No.” he answered, “Things were just messed up a bit.” Then he stood there looking at me as if he wanted to say more. Neither of us spoke for some time.

Then there are the unbelievers. They make many claims such as, “Why’ isn’t there trail cam footage?” There is. “Why don’t people find Big Foot turds?” They have.

You will find answers to all the doubters questions on YouTube if you search long enough.

Yet the majority of the population refuses to even consider the possibility that Big Foot exists. An interesting phenomena to understand.

“There are not enough deer to feed a viable population.” one millennial tried to convince her YouTube audience. Well… deer hunting has been bad in the North woods for some time now. And we have had typically cooler Summers and warmer Winters in the last decades. (large animals find it more difficult to keep cool than warm) I mean, I haven’t seen twenty below, nor common 100 degree Summer days, in like forever, unlike when I was young and such severe temperatures were more common.

Depending on your genre, taking in these types of observations of people and the public (and how the weather may relate), can only improve your writing. This is particularly true in science fiction where a world, a public is being created, or a people’s view of the universe is being challenged. (implications on religious beliefs requires a great deal of research also)

How real can you make your story?

And yes, there are aliens under the South Pole don’t you know. YouTube tells me so, and didn’t you see that TV show “Star Gate.”

Thanks for reading. The stories are progressing.

Multi-Tasking Blues

Get out of your multi-tasking blues. Do not do it. Leave it behind. Even Dr. Axe speaks out against it, in the name of focus. Contemplation and indecision rule when multiple tasks are set before you. Particularly if you are on your own, with no support structure to tie into. Sometimes it gets so bad I just go outside and start pulling weeds.

The garden is a work in progress. I may end up a farmer.

So I completely clear my desk, then lay out a single project to work on for the day. Whether it be my notebooks and computer for writing, or some trace paper for designing, the two processes will never again share the same space or partition of daylight.

The weekend retail sales business I feel holds both my wife and I back, but we need the money. It breaks my flow of thought.

It is actually easier for me to post here mid-month. The first of the month holds its own pressures and I have to just let it go.

I am working to illustrate the back cover myself for the print addition of the original Chuck Hammer. After that is out, nothing but new work; a volume of short stories to quickly follow.

Farming doesn’t sound so bad.

Thanks for reading.

Still

Sorry for the lateness of my post. The eyewear still isn’t right. I went back in today and the adjustment seemed to have helped but only time will tell. I have a lawyer waiting in the wings to put out Letters of Demand if I should need to get the lenses corrected yet again. Not having the proper prescription slows my writing endeavors tremendously, not having the proper reading vision in the case of my old pair of glasses. The progressive lenses are good when looking from note book to the computer screen, but I may get a second pair of no line bifocals, something more appropriate for sporting activities, something with those collapsible hinges.

But from life we can create original stories. (it took two months to get the eyewear I have now, see previous post)

A man, after dealing with millenials for six months (or a year), not being able to get a proper prescription for his glasses goes underground. He remakes himself, gets a job at the lab that kept screwing him and showers his fellow employees, all millenials, with praises over their ineptitude, driving the company to discord and failure.

Then on to the next target, and when his devious kindness drives someone to suicide he just cannot stop. Business to business, any company that has ever slighted him in the least, he goes. An investigator, put onto the case of a suicide by a family member, finds a few more deaths and links them to the man of the hour.

Eventually the man is in custody. Accused of killing through suicide by destroying people’s careers, the man responds, “All I did was tell them how great they were until they realized that they weren’t great at all. Is that a crime?”

He escapes and you have a fugitive storyline. Yes I am talking about a series. Part “The Fugitive” part “Dexter” part “Perry Mason” (because we have to find the real criminal. Let us say one of those suicides turns out to be murder and the man of the hour didn’t do it) and part “The Pretender”.

Then the investigator, digging deeper, finds many young millenials praising the man of the hour for waking them up and making them better human beings. Now we have part “The Incredible Hulk”, the series. The man wanders, having to face his own demons as with no place to rest, forced to wander, he cannot hide the torments of his mind in routine and familiarity.

$20,000 if any of you broadcast types want to use the storyline, and I will consult on and provide input for the storyline for the first season. If it is a success we will negotiate my fee for the following seasons.

Or you can keep making movies into television series. That will show them you are truly creative. I can do some of the writing also for an extra fee, but I am working on several stories much closer to my heart right now.

I have to try people.

So you can draw creativity from your daily life. Making old storylines (because they have all been told somehow before) original, creative and inspiring by putting your life’s twist into it and making it contemporary to the times. If it is really done well it becomes an eternal classic, when you connect with that universal experience we all share.

Thank you for reading.

Eye Wear

I have been making consistent progress on my books. Then, I went to the eye doctor and respectively ordered some new prescription eye wear. They made a big difference in the enjoyment, and the pace of my work in notebook and the computer. I shall have a major update next month.

But when I attempted to drive in my new eye wear the road was but a blur. I could not adjust the frame’s position on my nose to accomplish proper distance vision on my new progressive lenses. So back to Lens Crafters where the motto is “The customer is always wrong.” this is not just my experience but what my wife found via the Internet in reviews of the company. I wont go into detail here, but if they do not do the job right the first time just ask for your money back right away, or they will just keep messing with you. ( they are called millennials)

Going back to my old eye wear, as I wait for new eye wear from Meijer Optical, the strain is doubly troubling now and I have not accomplished much in this past week.

Definitely proper prescription lenses are important if you are trying to read or write. It had been six years since my last eye exam and I am now determined to get my eyes checked at least once every two years. It makes a difference in productivity no matter what you are doing at a desk.

Thank you for reading.

Across the Board

I did not finish my latest book of short stories. But I have made significant advances across the board. Advances on several stories, on much needed work on our home, some side endeavors including garden planning and we completed all our tax filings for 2016, finding ourselves better off than we expected.

With the tax burden off my mind, a soon to be acquired new pair of glasses (the protective coatings on my old glasses have begun to deteriorate) and some support from my wife to keep to my schedule and all should be good.

I went to a palm reader at the casino. The casino had a variety of fortune tellers free to their constituents for Mardi Gras. She was spot on about several things and accurate on everything else but most of all vary positive and bright. Made me feel I had a lot to be grateful for. Well,… she said my books would sell if I actually finished them. And also that I am a wonderful man.

Who knew?