Tag Archives: postaday2011

Getting ready for NanoWriMo

Posted on by Bill Chance
Underwood Typewriter

Underwood Typewriter

November is approaching rapidly and I have the usual annual decision to make. Do I do NanoWriMo?

One thing is nice this year. Usually November is a nasty busy month for me at work, which makes getting the time… and especially the energy, up for the fifty thousand words extremely difficult. This year, October is the tough month and November will be easier – except for the first week. The first week is brutal – so I’ll have a slow start but should be able to catch up. I have to take some vacation time, so maybe I can even go on a bit of a writing trip.

As you may have guessed by now, I am going to give it a go. (my Nanowrimo page) I have tried four times and made it once. The other three I wrote myself into a corner and couldn’t get out. They weren’t total losses – I still had a few tens of thousands of words that I might be able to use someday. Probably not. Crash and burned NanoWriMo paragraphs are hoarder houses of writing – piles of useless mouldering crap that seemed useful once, but really needs to be chucked into the dumpster out on the front yard.

I will say the one year I made it was a bigger thrill than I thought it would be. That year I picked a novel idea that I knew had no dead ends. It was an old man, caught in a life-or-death situation, reminiscing about his life during lulls in his struggle. I knew that if I was stuck I could always come up with another memory.

When my word processor said I had hit the fifty thousand words, I uploaded it and discovered that by the official count, I was still about ninety five words short. It was amazingly difficult to write one more little cluster of paragraphs at eleven fifty on the last night. I almost couldn’t squeeze it out.

So this year, my idea to avoid the dreaded dead end plotting is to develop the ideas ahead of time. I want to have about a hundred scenes listed out so all I have to do is write each one, five hundred words or so each, and then I’m done. No possibility of sliding off into the ditch.

The other day I saw The Tempest at the Wyly theater in downtown Dallas. I had seen it before, but I was still impressed. What I think I will do is update the basic plot lines of this last Shakespeare play to modern times. I’m tentatively making Prospero a deposed drug kingpin named John Prosper. Starting from that point, most the other characters start falling in line.

I’m working on Ariel… that is a key character. Setting too…. Maybe an actual island is doable… maybe in a lake. Do I want a supernatural element? Haven’t decided that yet.

Of course, I won’t follow the Shakespeare plot too faithfully. For example, somebody, probably more, will have to die. I do have my writing station set up nice… one less excuse.

So much writing. So little time. Wish me luck.

My secretary setup

One place where the magic happens

What I learned this week, October 14, 2011

Posted on by Bill Chance

I’ve been a big fan of Lana Del Rey for a while now. It looks like she might be on her way. This is her first television appearance, on Jools Holland.

http://youtu.be/IOP2Yd_jpYQ

25 Insights on Becoming a Better Writer

Creating Fictional Characters—Part 4: Fleshing Out Characters with Tags, Traits, and Relationships

Sometimes the Polls are Right

We Built This City” Named “Worst Song of the 1980s

2. Europe – “The Final Countdown”

3. Chris de Burg – “Lady in Red”

4. Wham! — “Wake Me Up (Before You Go Go)”

5. Men Without Hats — “The Safety Dance”

6. Falco — “Rock Me Amadeus”

7. Bobby McFerrin — “Don’t Worry Be Happy”

8. Toni Basil — “Mickey”

9. Taco — “Puttin’ On the Ritz”

10. Rick Astley — “Never Gonna Give You Up”

I can’t argue with this list… I will say that I loved two of these songs at one time. I won’t tell you which two.

Even if you don’t think it’s the worst song – you have to agree that this is the worst video.

http://youtu.be/TxGGckAc1rs

Grace Slick had fallen a long way from the days of  “White Rabbit.”

http://youtu.be/A0_uOfFkZ5A

Things you think work but actually don’t.

  • The Elevator “Close Doors” Button
  • “HD” TV
  • Walk Signal Buttons
  • Butt-Toning Shoes
  • Office Thermostats

Some Scopitones

http://youtu.be/gIkhh0V6Who

A modern version of the same song

http://youtu.be/VePpNvzY218

https://ted.com/talks/view/id/548

A Project

Posted on by Bill Chance

My greatest weakness is that of procrastination. I have so much to do I never get anything done.

One project I have had on my mind for a long time, long too long, was to find a way to watch movies on my recumbent exercise bicycle.

If you go to a health club, or purchase a high end exercise machine, they will have built-in flat screen televisions to help with the inevitable boredom of pedaling or running like crazy, but not getting anywhere. I have seen quite a few of these, and all of them work like crap. The reception is fuzzy and intermittent, the sound is tinny, and the selection of programming is inevitably as boring as watching the sweat drip off your own nose.

I have a cheap recumbent exercise bike I bought off of ebay years ago for a song. It works well, but it doesn’t have a video screen. I wanted to change that… and I wanted to put on one there that actually worked, worked well, and didn’t cost an arm and a leg. Actually, it couldn’t even cost an arm.

My first idea was to mount an old laptop to the handlebars. I could watch Netflix, Hulu, and DVD movies while I rode. There are a lot of instructional ideas on the Internet on how to do that, and I did my research. I designed a contraption of aluminum bars that would support a laptop… but it seemed awfully complex and flimsy.

Then I realized there was no reason to actually mount the laptop. I wasn’t going to be able to type – I only wanted to watch. All I had to do was to mount a screen and then connect it to my laptop with a cable. I keep my laptop on a stand next to where my bike is… easy peasy.

I bought a used monitor down at the computer sale for thirty bucks. I thought about it for a long time, long too long, and came up with a simple way to mount the thing.

The metal clip that attaches to the back of the monitor screwed to a piece of two by four.

I removed the metal plate from the monitor stand and screwed it to a block of wood I made from a two by four. A heavy angle iron went on the other side of the block. The use of the wood block gave me a little space between the monitor and the handlebars and made it easy to attach everything – screws in wood are a lot easier than bolts in metal.

I used a pair of heavy worm-type hose clamps to hold the monitor to the handlebar brace.

Then all I had to do was attach the angle iron to the handlebars with a couple of worm clamps. It’s surprisingly strong, yet I can adjust it and remove it easily if necessary.

The monitor attached to the bike. I need to clean the screen.

I connected the power and video cables and I had a picture. The sound was not satisfactory, though. I wanted the sound to come from close to the picture, not a tinny laptop across the room.

A trip to the thrift store a while back had yielded a pair of small Sony Vaio Powered Laptop Speakers for two dollars. I knew these would come in handy… they would be perfect for this – I didn’t need a lot of volume and they were of decent quality.

A speaker base attached to the cross bar with pop rivets.

I removed the screw that held the base on the speakers and pried it loose. I then mounted the bases to each end of a piece of square aluminum tubing.

The speaker bar attached.

It was a simple job then of screwing the aluminum to the top of the wooden mounting block I had put in earlier. I had my speakers.

The monitor and speakers attached to the bike.

Here’s the whole setup. Actually the biggest job was cord management. There was power to the monitor and speakers, plus cables for video and sound running from my laptop – it threatened to be a tangled mess and I didn’t want any of it to get down into the pedals. If you look closely, you can see a thick black cable tube running down – I was able to cram everything into this and then wire-tie it all down.

The pictures is excellent and the sound is good, if not too loud. The bike is comfortable and this is actually a pretty good way to watch a movie or TV show. I don’t ride very hard, but the idea is to get a long cardio workout.

Now I’m trying to ride at least an hour a day for a start – some in the evening (though I am so worn out when I get home from work) and I’m working on getting out of bed earlier and riding for at least a few minutes before I leave for work. There is Netflix, and Hulu, and DVDs from the library and my kids extensive collection.

Now, maybe a little table with a wireless keyboard and mouse so I can select what I want to watch without getting up. Also, maybe some small weights on a rack nearby so I can get some arm work in at the same time….

I’m so busy I never get anything done.

Big Mama’s Chicken and Waffles

Posted on by Bill Chance

It wasn’t very long ago that I had some gourmet Chicken and Waffles from the City Street Grille Food Truck. I ate it and it was good.

But it left me with a powerful hankering. I wanted some real chicken and waffles. I wanted some of Big Mama’s Chicken and Waffles.

I had been driving by the spot – a long abandoned drive through burger joint on a shady corner of the diciest intersection in my section of the city – but I had never actually stopped by. Now it was about time.

Big Mama's Chicken and Waffles

Big Mama's Chicken and Waffles. Does anybody know what this building used to be? It was a drive-through burger joint in the ancient past - but I don't know which one. I'd love to know.

I had to drive past the place and do a U-turn at an apartment complex to get into the drive-through. As I went through the intersection, the smell hit me. The wonderful smell of fryers and soul food. It floated through the neighborhood like a greasy cloud of deliciousness. The miasma of saturated fat was enough to give you coronary artery disease before you ever pulled up to the barred ordering window… but who wants to live forever?

I leaned out my window and looked the menu over.  They don’t have an intercom so I drove to the window to speak directly to a live human being and ordered a “three piece regular, with waffle.”

There are several things that separate a place like Big Mama’s from the vast conspiracy of corporate franchise clone grease-heaving locations.

  •  The prices on the board include tax. It said five-fifty, it cost five-fifty.
  • Your order comes in a plain brown paper sack. This adds a subtle flavor, in addition to the visual appeal of grease soaking through brown paper.
  • Heavy black iron bars welded on the drive-through and walk-up windows.
  • A confused history of decorations. The crumbling tower overhead boasted two old clocks, hands long gone missing. A big banner proclaimed, “Under New Management – Same Great Taste.”
  • Cash only.
  • Friendly, human service by people that give a damn.
  • They even serve Kool-Aid.

I paid my cash and collected my brown paper bag. There were two little metal tables on site, perched over a muddy drop down to a stagnant creek hidden back in a thick stand of trees, but I had some errands to run so off I went, eventually gulping my meal down in another parking lot.

Brown paper bag

You know something is good when it is delivered in a plain brown wrapper.

There is something terribly primitive about eating fried chicken in a car.

The food was great. The chicken spicy, but not too much. The waffle was big, soft, and waffle-y. They drop little tubs of Country Crock and Chef’s Quality Breakfast Syrup into the bag. There’s no way to keep from getting a little sweet syrup on the chicken… and that’s a good thing. If you don’t know any better, you might be a bit confused by the combination of Chicken and Waffles. Get over it. Waffles and Fried Chicken go together like grits and greens.

Big Mamas Chicken and Waffles

Big Mamas Chicken and Waffles. Three pieces chicken with waffle.

Everybody knows that.

Animated Train

Posted on by Bill Chance

Red Line DART Train reflected in the gold mirror of Campbell Center at Northwest Highway and 75.

Tacos!

Posted on by Bill Chance

I had been eating all day, but I had also been walking a lot, so I was developing an appetite. Not too hungry, but I wanted something… and there are still food trucks I haven’t tried.

The Yum Yum Food Truck spends most of its time in Fort Worth, so I wanted to be sure to try it while it was handy. I took a look at the menu… Tacos… perfect!

Yum Yum Food Truck in the Dallas Arts District.

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Notice all the sauces in little plastic cups. It makes me hungry thinking about it.

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The menu. Simple, but a lot of choices. I didn’t try the hamburgers, but I’ll bet they are good. Look at the sauces… Habanero, Chipotle, Red Chile, Green Chile…

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Chipotle Brisket with cheese and Green Chile/Tomatillo Salsa. It was delicious – as good a taco as you are going to get. The meat was tender spicy and juicy.

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