Category: Uncategorized
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“That” Hunting
I’m finishing up the editing of my next novel and realized that (ha!) I use the word “that” far too often. Now I am “that” hunting, in many cases just removing the word. It feels satisfying, but it takes longer than I wanted it to. That sucks.
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Silly AI Mistakes
We all love to hear about stupid AI mistakes. Whether it is bad output from some chatbot or someone using AI in a careless way. For example, a yearbook where someone had left some of the chatbot verbiage in place. Or images obviously created by AI that someone tried to pass off as a real…
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Now I have two
A funny thing happened in my angiogram–I got another stent. Ok, Joyce doesn’t think it is funny. Last week I had an annual heart test. In past years, it was an ultrasound of the heart to see how it was working. This year, because I mentioned I was occasionally short of breath (but who isn’t…
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Control Systems & Writing
Control System theory has a the concept of overshoot and undershoot. If you are control a system to a specific output, the actual output produced may be higher (overshoot) or lower (undershoot). When I say control systems, think the thermostat in your house or car. It turns on the furnace, the tenp goes up, perhaps…
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#PastaForBreakfast: SOS over Gemelli w/eggs
The SOS recipe if from my dad. S**t-on-a-shingle was army slang for chipped beef on toast, but he has modified it to use ground beef. Think of it as a ground-beef version of sausage gravy.
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Finishing is the hardest
Saying you are going to start something is the easiest. Actually starting is harder. Keeping the momentum through the tough times is really hard. But Finishing is the hardest.
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A casual conversation while bleeding
I went in for a blood draw for one of my meds today and was chatting with the person doing the draw. Those folks have an impressive sounding title but I can’t remember it. She was nice and it was painless. It was the middle of the day so she asked if I was heading…
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Saving lives is in their blood: Three generations donate | KVAL
Thirteen years ago, my daughter and I were visiting my dad in Eugene, OR. The three of us decided to donate blood. It was something that my daughter was new to, but my dad and I have done for years. So three generations stopped in at a blood drive and donated. Below is an article…
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An Unexpected Smile
One of the benefits of a writing career is that you hear from complete strangers that something you wrote made an impact. As I am relatively new to this career, this hasn’t happened much. One of the books I wrote is called Writing Into The Sunset. I mainly wrote it to help myself think about…
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Scrabbling
I play Scrabble with my 90+ yr old mom and her friends once a week. They like Scrabble for the brain exercise. Scrabble for words and Yahtzee for numbers. Seems to work pretty well for them. I’ve always loved Scrabble. Slightly better than average, I’m not going to win any competitions. Scoring points in two…
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Selling Books at In-Person Events
I’m not doing these yet, but I’m sure I will in the future. This is an interesting article, written by someone who consults for selling products at trade shows, that applies easily to selling books at a book fair or book convention. 5 Steps to Turn Cold Conversations into Sales Opportunities: https://kokoroinc.com/trade-show-staff-training/
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Finishing Your Writing
Finishing is a life skill. It is something that benefits us our entire lives. What does finished mean when we are a writer? Generally one of two things: (1) we have finished writing the piece, or (2) we have published the book and people can buy it. Or submitted it. Or whatever we do to…
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Flabby Guys Football League on TV
The Flabby Guys Football League (FGFL) was started about 30 years ago. Yes, we were flabby even back then. A bunch of weekend warriors, we have probably had over a hundred different guys playing. Also, yes, there have been trips to the ER. My personal favorite was long ago when Wolfie got smacked in the…
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St. Paul By Bike: Latest episode
Wolfie Browender has been riding all over St. Paul, MN for several years and writing about it. The whole blog is recommended. This is his latest entry. Two quotes from the piece. The first about some classic cars he saw on the trip. “Depending upon your perspective, words like ostentatious, gaudy, garish, opulent, magnificent or…
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Anniversary of my Heart Attack
Two years ago today, I had a heart attack. I was 62 when it happened. You can read the original posts here: As with many things, two years seems like just yesterday and also a very long time ago. The event is never very far from my thoughts and has had a pretty big impact…