TO BLOG OR NOT TO BLOG - character S*

Over the past few months, 

I've had an ongoing internal debate about posting and have been leaning in the direction to forget about posting because I should be spending a lot more time on the novel I decided to write.


My writing style has flaws. Try as I might to tame the beast, there are more developing ideas, critical plot changes, character adjustment, and just plain old disasters in what I've already written.
I've tried to jot down important things in a notebook. A week later it largely indecipherable or lost in the margins. I've rewritten my outline at least three times. (I hate to lose anything in that outline that might be important later so I've taken to numbering them.)
I digress (or at least I would if I could spell). 
So this is my latest idea: If I jot down a few words on ideas that I've managed to grab -  before Alzheimer's spirits them away - here in a post, maybe I'll find some order to my efforts.
So the place to start, hopefully, is on the character development of S. In a nutshell, S is currently 4 or 5 years old. Long before he reaches puberty he needs to get an education in science. Science that hasn't been developed yet. I know I'll have to break it to him gently but where do I start? Thank God for copy, paste, and Ctrl Z. 
Speaking of God, I guess I'll list what I have I've done messed up so far and their wrinkles.

1. I thought I'd start with: Science good - Religion passe. (with good reason at that time)
2. Then I apologized tried to apologize to S because he still has to live in what is a real world for him. The apology is mired in coming up with: Science good/critical - Religion necessary critical
3. Some messy stuff: Teaching just enough science and not too much all at once. Or where to start - earth is no longer flat - there is no Fire God. How do I believably convince a 4/5 year old not to tell everyone else in the hunter-gatherer village (not an oxymoron, I've been doing my research) he lives in. Like his father the shaman or his best-friend?
4. Currently, he has to know there is no fire god and he has to know that his Teacher isn't a god either. However, the current (January 2014, North-America) culture's grasp of science probably gives me a lot of latitude. (Big-foot, anti-vacc'sers, global warming deniers, creationists etc.

To be continued:

* It's probably a good idea to keep his name S. It has already changed more time than I care to remember. It's like an idea-wind comes along and suddenly everyone has a new name. Also, shortly before I started this post I realized some of the characters might have the wrong gender (in 2014 I have many to choose from)
Off topic. I hope to introduce the character of his best friend soon.
Off off topic. Please grant some "spelling-error, punctuation-mess" 'cause I gots no time to fix'um. (An damn this Windows 7. It keeps mentioning that it's unable to save a draft of this post. Sh*t!)

Happy motoring - Dennis

Have a Merry Christmas and a Safe and Happy New Year

The Heart Key - by Robyn Braemer

UPDATES:

Robyn's newest novel, The Horse Keeper, is also available on Amazon.com

The Heart Key was published on Amazon for the Kindle or Kindle app in February 2013. It is also available through Smashwords for almost every other format, such as Kobo and Sony, as well as iPad directly without using the Kindle app.http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/320996

I got my copy from Amazon.com 

Just a peek inside:

When the FBI brought Tabitha Anderson in for questioning in connection with the disappearance of one of their agents Tabitha had no idea what they were talking about but she was more than willing to help them find the missing agent. Tabitha Anderson is an artist and a romantic and a woman of great imagination, yet nothing had prepared her for the greatest adventure of her life,…

Texas Yankee Fan

Well, Yes Of Course It's Not...

It was just one of those opportunities. The sun was setting and I was waiting for its appearance.

For the appearance of Comet-Pan STARRS of course. When this apparition just happened to show up I had my old BlackBerry in hand rather than my Nikon so the picture is lacking in quality. Well the comet remained elusive, hidden in the clouds.
You don't suppose it's a leprechaun do you?

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

Neal Stephenson Revisited

Recently finished all three volumes of this incredible work of historical fiction.

 The Baroque Cycle

• Volume I: Quicksilver
• Volume II: The Confusion
• Volume III: The System of the World

(links are to Wikipedia.com)

The first, Quicksilver, takes you on a verbal voyage from 18th century Massachusetts to an earlier time in Europe. Your first travel guide is Daniel Waterhouse, Natural Philosopher. If you've read Stephenson's earlier novel Cryptonomicon, the name Waterhouse should be familiar. Daniel is the ancestor of Lawrence Pritchard Waterhouse, the fictional WWII codebreaker. Another Baroque Cycle travel guide, Jack Shaftoe, the King of the Vagabonds, together with the  kidnapped princess rescued from a Turkish harem weaves a tale of love and treasures lost and found and lost again. Jack also has decendants in Cryptonomicon. But the Cryptonomicon connections are but tantalizing threads compared to some of the other Cycle guides. There is Isaac Newton, or Louis XIV of France, or Gottfried Leibniz, or William III of England, or Blackbeard the pirate, or a half dozen or so others.

Quicksilver the volume, was published as three books or three interwoven story lines. These story lines are continued first in volume II, The Confusion, and then in volume III, The System of the World. Together, these two volumes contain 5 more books.

Dennis

Visit with my Family

Thanks Toots, Ron & Carol

So glad you were here for a wonderful time. We miss you already and now it's back to work again.

Why I Changed My Mind About Gen. McChrystal

I've been calling the situation in Afghanistan a quagmire since the get-go and as I see it, that ain't gonna change. Duh! It's an F'n Quagmire.
Anyway, I had no expectations about McChrystal's tenure. He seemed OK. I was betting on him not making things worse.
So fast forward to Michael Hastings Rolling Stone's article. I read it.
Let me say up front that there was a lot in that article that could have been on McChrystal's positive side of the ledger. But, early in the article I came across the deal-breaker, the stake through the heart, the unforgivable.
"He prefers Bud Light Lime (his favorite beer) to Bordeaux,...
Bud Light? Bud-Water Light? The drink of losers who can't handle Bud-Water... let alone the taste of real beer?
'Nuf said.

Breaking news - Howell Township, Monmouth County, NJ

State Trooper seriously injured; Armed suspects sought:

(photo credit: Asbury Park Press)

One suspect, a 30 year old women, was captured and a male companion is the object of search by State Police, helicopters, and dogs.
more photos

(photo credit: NJ.com)

Shy Chickie? & Her Royal Highness Hennie

Actually, she's not shy at all. She's just not very trusting and is constantly assessing her surroundings. I’ve seen her stand her ground and give warnings when confronted with a monster (leaf blower).

I often wonder if her distrusting nature is because of the careless handling she received when very young. Her jaw was broken as a result. Flickr Link


The chickens have matured. They are about 16 months old.
Flickr Link