What I've been up to (part 1)

Yesterday John got on a plane for Nicaragua yesterday from Boston. He arrived safely. Friday, I should get to see my women. They're coming in on the train. Here's some of the things Johnbo and I have seen on the way to and around Connecticut. Cuba, MO. This is a cool little town with an idea any little town could copy for the sake of tourism. Get a resident to paint murals everywhere and call yourself the "City of Murals." I took a bunch of pictures of this place and if you want, I'll send them to you. Just ask.
We met up with my cousin Sean at the ballpark formerly known as "The Jake" in Cleveland and saw the Indians take on the Texas Rangers. I'd list the current name of the ballpark but I'm not getting residuals from the sponsor.
Seeing the "sites" at Springfield Armory, NHP in Springfield, MA. New England was big with weapon development - never realized that before. This is a cool park for those with military minds. Actually Samuel Colt could have been my neighbor if it was 150 years ago and I lived a little to the north of where I am living this summer in Hartford, CT. (To make it too clear: I'm living in Wethersfield, CT. Hartford is north of Wethersfield. I'm indicating that if I lived a little north of where I live that I'd be in Hartford, and thus, Samuel Colt's neighbor)

More to come...

The Department of Spirit Research is out in e-book!

It took a year to write and another year-and-a-half to edit. In December it was released, going at least as high as No. 22 on Fictionwise's list of best-selling science fiction novels.

And I didn't even know about it.

It was only after the madness of the holiday season was over that I got a chance to catch up on my e-mail and go shopping for something more to read on my Palm cell phone. There it was displayed in Fictionwise's newsletter and on their website doing very well for a first-time novelist.

It was a pleasant surprise to say the least.

This fine novel is also available at Ereader.com and, of course, from the publisher at double-dragon-ebooks.com.

SF Trails #2 is out!

Getting something you wrote in the mail with a nice cover on it is a great feeling. Science Fiction Trails #2 looks cool and it is. To find out how to get your copy shoot over to www.sciencefictiontrails.com .

Halloween Bounty

I don't remember getting anything too weird in my bag when I went trick or treating as a kid. A neighbor gave me an apple dipped in carmel once. Then there was that ball of popcorn.

Like I said, not too weird.

It's another case for today's kids. On recent Halloweens past mine have gotten toothpaste, tooth brushes, stickers and a can of tuna.

Here's a picture of some of the stranger bounty from Halloween 2007. You've got the bracelet that says "God's Team." There's the coloring book. Some Arabic candy and goodies. Another Bible tract. The "I Love Jesus" notebook. Halloween pretzels.

It seems to me the neighborhood we went trick or treating in got a tad judgmental. Is the Bible tract intended to make some kid a Christian who otherwise wouldn't be? Too late, ma'm. We already are.

As for the coloring book - who's going to want to color pictures about Halloween when they're regularly getting two to three hours of homework a night and it's after Halloween?

Are Halloween pretzels going to make a kid thinner than he otherwise would be?

If you really wanted to be a judgmental about the American society of 2007, how about passing out little cards with exercises printed on them? Card No. 1: The Push-up. Card No. 2: The Sit-up. Card No. 3: The Jumping Jack . . .

That's a business idea just for you, for free.

Nevertheless, trick or treating is a great tradition - one I sincerely hope lasts for many years. Getting the strange thing in the bag every now and then only adds to the fun.

Landscaping of the Future

A map at the following link shows that where I live in Arizona is "abnormally dry" even by the minimal standards of an average of 11" a year of precipitation. Yeah, it's not bad as Georgia is right now, but it's pretty bad nonetheless.

What you're looking at is my bet at what the landscaping of the future will be. No, not the dirt everywhere (though if climate change is real dramatic, what else will it be?). What I'd like to call your attention to is the berm on the right side of the photograph. When it finally does rain, what the intention is, is for the flow of water to be captured by the berm and the one below. Instead of running down a bank into an arroyo, the water will stay, soak in and provide hydration for the grass that's planted there.

I finished this project three weeks ago. Now all I'm waiting for is some rain to see if it works.

http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html

Charles Atlas and Personal Exercise Fads

I have a garage loaded with old exercise equipment. These have been my last eight personal exercise fads going back the last five years:

1. Bike riding
2. Eye Toy
3. The Bun Roller
4. Weight Lifting
5. Running and jumping rope
6. Disc golf
7. Racquetball
8. Going to the gym

Yeah, I switched them around, so it's not like I did one thing and then stopped doing it and started another.

Anyway, my new thing is the Charles Atlas course - maybe not for the rest of my life but at least for the next ten weeks.

I'm very impressed. The course builds muscle mass without the use of one free weight or any other equipment besides a chair. They're isometric exercises - you need no equipment and they leave you feeling better than you started. You do the lessons for about 15 minutes every day and, at the end, you feel like you have more energy than when you started. Ladies and gentlemen THAT is a great exercise program.

It takes care of stretching and strength training - the only thing missing is cardiovascular training. For that, I plan to run a couple times a week.

Anyway, all the best -

Jim

Fried!: Fast Food, Slow Death

If you know me or my work, you know I like to write science-fiction westerns. However, as a former laborer in the "fast service" industry, I couldn't resist the opportunity to write a story for an anthology called Fried! Fast Food, Slow Death. With a few years worth of shifts at Carl's Jr. and Pizza Hut on my resume, I had plenty of experience to draw on.

This November, my story "The FNG" will appear in that anthology published by Graveside Tales.