Lifestyle, or, I Got No Abs

I have been known to procrastinate. So I made a new determination to alter my schedule to facilitate productivity and healing.

“Healing?” you ask.

Yes, with my recent medical issues and some worthwhile advice from that font of wisdom YouTube, I have discovered through my own trial and error that sleep is very very important in healing your body. As is fasting.

I wake up earlier, get the weight of my prayers in, they keep me up late when I procrastinate over them, and then head to the gym.

Physical fitness and activity are my strategy to drive my productivity throughout the day, as well as being awake more during daylight hours. It is just hard to get things done after dark; except writing. But if I start writing after dark then it will be nearly morning before I realize what time it is.

Yes, as I attempt to cement down this routine, my body is thriving, and the creative juices are flowing ever greater. With this weather soon I will have only writing to do, as work on the house pretty much ceases with the cold.

Yes, the gym. It has been possibly ten years since I have gone. Muscle memory has failed me, or perhaps it is just that I got no abs. Couldn’t do a single sit up. My only defense is that it was an inclined bench. A bit embarrassing but the back is strong (probably why my back has been so tight this last year: the difference in strength of abs vs. back) and everything else is in good to fair condition. I have always had trouble with exercising the abs, and you need those abs in the bench press.

The Chuck Hammer sagas are front and center though I can get those short stories, and drafts of a couple other novels, out quick if I set my mind to it.

Almost failed to meet post this month.

Thanks for reading.

Have to once again recommend a high school classmate of mine’s autobiography. It is a truly valuable read. Will make a great Christmas gift for a young up and comer.

Here is another valuable read. It must be valuable or people would not be warning you

Getting Undressed

An apropos title for a high school classmate’s autobiography. An appropriate analogy to the overcoming of the internal challenges we all face in making the changes necessary to achieve one’s purpose and to bring success. Success, in this man’s case, not only for himself but for others.

“Getting Undressed –From Paralysis To Purpose-“ is a must read for any young professional. It is not simply about finding hope in what many would find a hopeless situation, or in keeping faith and a sense of purpose when an uncertain future lay before you, but it is a story that highlights the necessity to foster the ability to change and adapt to ever changing life situations; whether from getting through college to maneuvering through ever changing work environments. Particularly hard in a wheelchair back in the day.

Understanding what drives people is essential to writing a good story. Conciseness makes a story all that more enjoyable and powerful. This tale of a life being lived well excels in its ability to be concise, written with the purpose of uplifting the reader through personal testimony. I have read a few autobiographies, and while I found all fascinating, some lingered in minutia and took me forever to finish (between naps).

This book is a lean 200 pages with, most importantly, pictures. A good picture book is hard to find and always a joy when found. I am center top in the track team photo.

I was in a calculus class with David Cooks at the Jesuit institution we attended: Marquette University High School. I always admire his glow in the face of such a seemingly devastating turn of events. But it certainly was not easy, as I could see on his face in more trying moments. I am sorry if he felt he received any uncomfortable stares.

I am certain I stared much more at our Jewish underclassman than I did at David Cooks, if that is any consolation, simply because he was not only tall but chubby, …actually fat. I mean our underclassman, not David Cooks. I am sure I could provide some sound dieting advice for him.

I never knew that he was not Catholic. I mean David Cooks, not our Jewish underclassman.

Not sure what that Chinese guy was.

For an all boys school it was and is a very diverse supportive environment. A great place to attend high school. I am wondering if they need a new diversity director; a position David Cooks held for some time, as well as the position of head coach of the varsity basketball team. Perhaps I should throw my hat into the ring, for diversity director, not basketball coach. I am a white male after all, which should make me a shoo-in don’t you know.

Or would it help if I said I was female?

There was one part of his autobiography that confused me however. After making it into the Fuqua School of Business at Duke, on page 113 David Cooks writes; “I was no longer always the smartest person in the room.”

I am thinking back really really hard and I am pretty sure we were all in the same room when Mr. Lazowski was teaching calculus.

I am scratching my head.

The dog has fleas.

Thanks for reading.

Almost missed posting this month, but I am grateful that I can connect you with something of profound value. I highly recommend the book. And book him as a speaker if you hold such power.

You can order a signed copy from his site.

I had to pay $20 for the book! Lucky ya’ll.

Maybe he is smarter than me.

I am scratching my head.

Medical Emergency

This household is full of excitement as our favorite band is coming out with five new hits tomorrow, after seemingly disappearing for quite awhile.

I hope I will not be disappearing anytime soon, but a scare, or what they call a scare, I really don’t allow things to scare me but needed to act with the utmost prudence, sent me to the emergency room.

The rumors have been confirmed true. I am just too sweet, or “beyond sweet” in my wife’s words.

The demands of the garden and the vision I have for our small piece of this world, amplified by the time restraints brought by a coming Winter, have kept me working in the physical realm. I have had little time to write, or rather build up the motivation to write.

Now a whole new distraction of investing in what is at this time required to restore my health keeps me listening to various YouTube doctors. And if a doctor is on YouTube you know they must be right.

I will focus on finishing up the short stories and a tale of “Life on the Farm”. The title may be misleading here, but maybe not. I have no new stories growing in my mind. I have to get these out first. My regained memories, not in the news, required no input from outside sources to come to mind, just the healing properties of time and goodwill to all, even to those seeking my destruction.

In my book, as the expression goes, that really creates content of significance for a writer. It is easy to see the evil, but submitting to the good gifts you with understanding.

A Varidesk may benefit my condition.

Thank you for reading.

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

I picked up a few books, real books, hard copy novels from my parent’s estate, as they have passed on.

The authors are names most would recognize. If you asked someone who any of these people are, they would most likely answer; “Don’t they write books or something?”

Amidst all the advice one may come across as a self publishing author, to show not tell, is amongst the most frequent. To develop content, such as a person’s character or back story through some dialogue, action or event; intertwining various threads. How someone reacts in a confrontation can convey much about them and their past.

So I start to read one of these crime novels. I had selected three books from three different recognizable authors. I am over 10% into the first book. Telling is 99% of what I have read so far.

And the repetition of background is just too tedious.

I am sure all that will change. Long storylines, back stories, for an assortment of apparently unrelated characters makes one wonder how these characters will all come together. It grabs your interest as it bores you into a midafternoon stupor guaranteed to ruin any intended nap time.

But these names, and perhaps there are several people contributing to each book, make big money; at least they are renowned for selling lots of books. Once in awhile a movie deal may come along.

How does this stuff make money when far better works, those approaching the level of literature, are completely lost in the crowd? Yes, I have read many a wonderful self published work that actually does show rather than tell. It makes a much more interesting read.

I am not saying best selling novels are not up to adequate standards for a good read and plot development. I am saying that there is far better stuff out there that few will ever see or be exposed to.

How does this happen?

Why have I not received the call, with the job market as it is now?

Actually I did receive a call, from a head hunter looking to fill some positions in Architecture, and responded enthusiastically. As of yet I have not heard back. There were suspicious aspects to the call, such as what sounded to me like canned crowd noises in the background. I had to wonder if someone had an interest in me saying anything that could possibly be construed as a lack of interest in my chosen profession.

There are lots of traps in life. Or you can stretch innocent but not so common experiences into something insidious for a good storyline.

Like being ordered to inspect a job site without a hard hat. Oh sure, I asked five people at the office (I was being outsourced at the time) if I could borrow theirs; “No.” The contractor offered to provide me with one. He was talked down by my boss, and as I am ordered up several stories on a cherry picker to inspect some work, pictures are taken. You have to know that it was not I who was in trouble with OSHA.

One could twist that into quite a tale of intrigue, but you need more for a proper plot.

I should have known better, with that virtual shell game of putting my initials on some work I was going to take over, save file here, save file there and so forth. Perhaps the work that I corrected was not the work they wanted to pin me with.

The intrigue builds. How will the story end?

I should say hello to Scott here. Hello Scott.

So I go into one of the civil buildings downtown last month to pull a permit to raze one of my garages. I speak with a delightful lady. A few moments into our exchange, a city official from the next stall slides over. He Leans in crossing the back of the desk divider. The entire time, more than a few minutes, he is perched at forty-five degrees gawking at me through some not so stylish eyewear.

But there’s more! What a story a vivid imagination could make of all this. Nearly everyone in the office is getting up an slow walking behind her, gathering for little chats and joining in the gawking.

The plot thickens. Forty-five degree man continues to gawk.

These are the kind of events I suffered through that pushed me to create an freedom of information request of my Alderman some years ago under the freedom of information act. I was told no e-mails in his system met the criteria, but have since learned otherwise. It may have been a technicality. After a second FOIR I again received zero e-mails. Not sure what I am going to do about that.

I have to say I have never felt any sense of malice on the part of my alderman or the city in my interactions.

Well, …two months ago I was the only one to get a parking ticket in our alley for parking our vehicle on our property overnight. I asked everyone else along the alley who parks their vehicles in the same way, “Have you ever received a parking ticket for parking on your apron in the alley?” The typical answer was, “No, never.”

So am I going back to work in Architecture, full time, working under the critical eye of another? A critical eye is good if you want to produce quality.

It is sort of like Polish jokes. The south side of Milwaukee was one huge mass of ethnic Poles back in the day. I was a young kinder back then. Many Polish jokes went around implying a lack of skill and understanding on the target groups part. Yet today if you look up any skilled trade, or seek out craftsman of the highest caliber, there is a strong likelihood they will be Polish.

We have a great Polish Fest here in Milwaukee.

So what was with the jokes? The Germans were running everything.

Things are not always as they appear. Standards have become arbitrary in a world of moral relevance. We want to believe we live in a moral and ethical world, but we fail when we mistake position with, even in some cases professional prowess, not to mention the righteousness of a person.

And in the digital age, it can be far worse. I will expound on that point in another blog; No Sanction. I haven’t posted there in awhile but… I’m back.

So the writing grows in prominence as the days grow shorter. I have some YouTube videos I am trying to piece together, one of me demolishing my garage, hard hat and work boots included.

Not too many months ago I had three dreams, yes some dreams I never forget, of hit men being hired to take me out. I even remember back into my mother’s womb. Too much information? Sorry.

They were just dreams of course, but look at all the material I have here to make a great story of mystery, intrigue and victory over all the odds.

Thanks for reading and tolerating my rant.

Analog

How I long for the analog world. A world of the moment where shiny screens do not drive one to false hopes and dreams, is the world I miss. A topic touched on by science fiction, but not too deeply.

Oh yes, evil computers or manipulative villains, human, robot or otherwise, are always foiled in their attempts to make humankind submit to an agenda man is supposedly completely blind to, is a well worn staple.

But what of the unplanned chaos of a world increasingly devoid of direction? A world that forms around an ever changing flow of light with no purpose or meaning, other than the pursuit of its purveyors for an even more exciting light.

Truth is stranger than fiction. …Yes it is.

Well… I had to get my post in this week. I am not reading much these days. Maybe I need to buy some real books? Those e-readers have lost their luster. At least an e-reader screen doesn’t destroy your eyes.

Have you noticed these days that your eye doctor demands you have your retina check? Every visit. You know, the eye drops. They are tracking something.

And do not get me started on LED lights.

The digital world is a very dangerous place in so many ways.

I liked watching “Green Acres” when I was a kid.

Oh how I long for the analog world.

I could never get those typewriters to function at a sufficient level to make use of them. I will have to check the Internet for Typewriter Repair shops.

Thank you for reading.

The light of truth will never lead you astray.