Month: May 2025

The Six Hundred and Twenty-fifth Post: The One Where I Discuss Another Obsession (Not Game Related)!

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I am picky about keyboards and pens. I only use fountain pens, and I like my keys to feel a certain way when I type. I like a lot of springiness in my keys. I love the clicking sound a good keyboard makes. It reminds me of a typewriter – which I own exactly zero. I love my computers far too much to go down a peg.

My current love is the Arteck HB192 Universal Bluetooth Keyboard. The springiness and clicking is utterly divine! I can switch between my game computer and my work computer with just a press of a button. Being Bluetooth means there are no wires to have to worry about. The keyboard itself is rechargeable, so there’s no need to worry about buying batteries. The battery life is very long, but I’m also the person who turns off things if they’re not in use.

I am totally in love with it. Low profile means I don’t trip over keys or mistype something (much). It can connect to three machines. I’m only using two, but it will allow for even Android connectivity. I know someone who writes on their phone, and I am suggesting this to them. It has all the bells and whistles are far as volume, player controls and brightness. Where has this amazing thing been all my life?

There’s more going on than just me rhapsodizing about keyboards. I’ve gone on ahead and started writing the manuscript to Tribal. In the outline, I am on chapter twenty-one, so I plan on writing it during the day, and working on the outline at night after work and gym. Twenty-one chapters should be more than enough of a buffer to keep everything going. I’m also putting myself on a deadline – stop laughing – and I want to have the second draft done by end of September. With an eye on publication the following year. This one won’t be vetted by the writer’s group because that’s going to take far too long. I want this book out before the current political climate comes to an end…which if you ask me, can’t come soon enough.

Other than that, I have also started outlining Serve Me Now out of a fit of boredom. When I get Tribal’s outline finished, I am going to throw myself into that. I would like to have two manuscripts done this year…even as I sit on two complete manuscripts that need attention. Why? Because I’m like a German Shepherd on a freeway. So many tires and so little time and teeth.

I Would Have Done It Differently: Thunderbolts*

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I haven’t done this sort of thing in a while…

WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE MOVIE THUNDERBOLTS* BELOW. DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE MOVIE YET.

Spoiler space floor. Everybody out…

I saw Thunderbolts* on opening day and I liked it a lot. I think it is one of the better Marvel films to come out this cycle and it has a lot of Guardians of the Galaxy vibes to it. There are a couple of things I would have done differently with the film, however.

  1. TASKMASTER: She would have died five minutes in. This is a big misstep by the movie to deprive us of a really good chance of character building for several people. Yelena could look at the Taskmaster with a very cold “there but for the grace of God go I” vibe. Taskmaster is there as a reminder that no one ever really leaves the Red Room. Taskmaster could also break through her programming – I heard through the grapevine that in an early iteration of the script, Taskmaster would make it to the end, but in the early parts of the movie, she would be constantly resetting herself and attacking the main characters. This was sadly dropped. – and help Bob overcome the Void, going so far as to say “I understand what you’re going through – we were both twisted in a lab, but you can get through this, and you’re not alone.” This fits well with the theme of mental illness in the movie and it works for multiple characters. Taskmaster overcomes her programming, Bob gets someone to help him through his own trauma in the end and Yelena gets a little hope that she can be a good leader.
  2. BUCKY: His story line as Congressman was abandoned a little too quickly. I think it would have been better for him to barely come out of the very first battle intact – when he attacked the convoy – and told Yelena that he would be better serving the group of he were back at Congress trying to dig up some more dirt on this project. It would force Yelena to try to rally Red Guardian without the Winter Soldier (although, to be honest, the scenes with the Red Guardian fanboy-ing on him were funny). The battled would have been a little harder, but it would have made their coming together a lot more powerful.

That’s it – those are the only two things I would have changed. Other than that, this movie had some great Phase One vibes to it. In fact, I am going to go again and see it. I may put up another blog post about it when I get back. Go see it! Ta-ta for now.

The Six Hundred and Twenty-Fourth Post: The One That I Solve That One Problem!

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The answer was proverbially staring at me in the face. Realistically, it was in my ears. My earbuds that I wear at lunch (I have a pair for work and a pair for everything else.) have a longer range than I thought. So, what I am doing now is putting on my earbuds and leaving my phone plugged in at my workstation at the dreaded day job. I can listen to music and not have the temptation to flip through Facebook, Reddit or the myriad other social media sites that capture my attention.

No more of that…

Now that little complication has been solved, I am getting a little headway into the outline. I finally got to write the outline for one of the chapters I have been looking forward to writing. It’s the chapter where the main character Edgar gets to confront his bully Carlton for the first time – it’s the chapter I got the idea to rewrite part way through coming up with the first draft. I can’t wait to sit down and write this particular chapter. It’s an ice cream scene to be sure.

The weather here in Kentucky is being Kentucky – if you don’t like it, just wait ten minutes. I think we’ve gone through three out of four seasons here in the span of a week: cold rain, hot rain, and determined drizzle. It’s nice coffee drinking weather, and certainly good working weather until the power goes out. One nice thing about my laptop id that if has a nice long battery. The weather will steady out pretty soon, so we can all look forward to Southern Humidity!

I did go see Thunderbolts Friday. It’s a good film, and it certainly says quite a bit about mental illness. There was only one thing I found wrong with it, but I’m not going to say what it is because I don’t want to spoil anything. I would give it 3 and half stars out of 5. A good attempt, but they’ve done much better. Didn’t get a chance to see Sinners in the theaters, but I am going to catch it when it comes out on streaming services. I tried to avoid any spoilers, and I ran into one anyways. It’s getting harder and harder to not come into a film completely unknowing.

Well, that’s it for now. I’m itching to get back to the outline to finish the chapter and start on the downward spiral that’s Edgar’s life. Take care, and ta-ta for now.

The Six Hundred and Twenty-third Post: The One Where I Address the Digital Monkey on My Back…

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I have to get rid of this thing.

Yes, you…

My phone sucks up more time than a black hole. I have an hour lunch, and I find myself spending more time on my phone rather than putting pen to paper. When I’m at home, I have hours of time I could be using to getting this outline done and moving on to the next project.

Nope – if it’s not YouTube, it’s the social media sites. I am horrible. If any of you thought that I was obsessively hacking away at the Great Works that are struggling in my mind to be loosed upon the world, let me let you in on a little secret: I have a horrible work ethic.

And I can’t just tell myself that I can’t use the phone. Music is an integral part of the writing process for me, and I use my phone to play music. What’s also on the phone? Reddit. Facebook. Instagram. Those old demons tempting me. Not really tempting me, but racing with me on the primrose path of destruction.

I’m also going to admit that I am getting a little impatient to finish this outline. Which doesn’t help with the guilt I feel over flipping through Facebook looking for more film clips from Monument Hobbies. I know what I have to do. I need to do this:

If I want to get anything done, I have to put my foot down. During the hour of lunch, phone is for music only. When I get home, I have another hour of work, and I can listen to music from the computer. I just need the phone in the bedroom getting charged up for the next day. I have to exercise some discipline here.

Does anyone here have that problem? The intrusion of that little hunk of dead dinosaurs and stardust into your life? Any hints or suggestions? I could honestly use some.

Hang on – let me send this cat video to my followers.