In the ink well

t’s interesting (in a bittersweet way) to see how things change. For some reason, this morning while getting ready for my bike ride in, I thought of World War One aviation. I think it was in response to the ideal of dawn patrol, of an early morning moment of getting ready for going somewhere few souls would dare traverse, kitting up, checking the crate, sniffing the wind, eyeing the sky. Yeah, it’s only a bike, but I’m a romantic. It got me thinking to a book I’d read over and over as a kid, Goshawk Squadron, by Derrick Robertson. Needless […]

don’t think I’ve ever gapped in posting my DOG EAR column (nor my book reviews, for that matter). Since 2012, I’ve been religiously posting up my observations on media, on writing, on techniques. I’ve talked about shows I’ve enjoyed (for TV and movies are just another form of storytelling). I’ve even talked about the societal changes to our reading habits (such as the impact of cellphones – people who know me are now going nooooooo! Say it isn’t so!) I’ve written while sick, while tired. I’ve written in the middle of the night. I’ve written from work (shh!). I’ve even […]

’m not writing with a quill on parchment – I’m using one word processor (Word) or another (the Joomla editor). I don’t write once, dust sand on it and blow-dry the beads of ink. I write something. I consider the flow and meter and meaning. I might break a longer sentence apart. I might glue two shorter ones together. I might decide I’m belaboring a point (now, perhaps?) or that I haven’t made my meaning clear. But I’ll mess around with the sentences, meander through the paragraphs,  figuring out how to make it all work out so my prose gets […]

t’s eleven at night. I’m driving home after eight hours of work, an hour’s commuting, two hours of dinner with the buddies and then three hours of model train operations. And now I need to blog about the latter. To define – model train operation is where a group of train enthusiasts use their layout to simulate how a real railroad operates. There is a dispatcher controlling things by phones from a remote office. There is a yardmaster sorting inbound cuts to locals, and outbound strings for export. And there are the train crews, dozens of guys running freight, passenger […]

o really, what was being anti-social in regards to social media (as a Lent objective) like? Freeing in some ways. Restrictive in others. First off – I’m a writer. Technically I create my own social media. I maintain a set of blogs and create content for them. I post broadly about the craft of writing and specifically about the craft of reading (i.e. book reviews). So I do have my creative outlet there. Without Facebook and an incessant need to click into it to see who liked me and who I needed to defend my views against (you trolls, you), […]

was pleasantly weary and hungry following my 40 miles or so of riding the D&L canal on a rented bike in a recent visit to my buddy in Easton PA. I’d dropped the bike off, strolled home to the hotel, took a shower, took a nap, and now set out for dinner, We are Pirates, my current written companion, under my arm. With the Sunday evening slowly settling over this small Pennsylvanian town I found an outdoor cafe – crowded inside, which I couldn’t understand – the evening was so perfect. Settled down on the last outside table on the […]

‘ll admit that it was an odd place to have this conversation, but that’s part of the story so I’ll include it. My co-rider and I were buzzing along the lip of an asphalt road, cars clipping by dangerously close, the rain hissing down. I was getting it from both sides – my tire was spraying grit up my butt, and the co-rider’s bike (in lead slot) was rooster-tailing water into my face. So I was already pretty speckled. The conversation, shouted over the passing cars and the patter of rain on helmets, was about anime. Japanese animation. I watch […]

ell, crap. Now what. You might have noticed if you came in the front way that my website has earned a little crossed-padlock symbol in front of the name. If you try to log in (well, to comment) you get a warning that bridge out, no trespassing, and there be dragons. I’ve gone through a lot to keep this website up. I pay bucks to keep host and domain together. When I got hacked a few years back I paid a guy on eLance (no longer in service) to restore it (as well as to create a backup method). I […]

e’re into the third week of Lent (or there abouts). I’m sure there are people going cold turkey, sweating that they aren’t getting booze or porn or sex or bacon or whatever. But me, with my Facebook ban, I’m doing fine. Better than fine. Oh, I still need to pop in. I have to post up my updates (if you are reading this, you’ve likely come down the linky rabbit’s hole to get here). That’s fine. That sort of business drives this site and (occasionally) sells books. But while I can go into face to post up notices, I can’t […]

ell, it happened again last night. I have this… idiosyncrasy. Most nights I have no problem falling asleep. I just open the window behind my head, the night airs breathing around me. A kiss to the wife, the lights out, the hop of the cat coming in the settle across my legs (only after the lights are out, mind). And then, the bliss of unawareness, the detachments from work stresses, the latest Go game, traffic, club issues, writing problems, everything. Gone. But some nights I start to think. When I was a kid I’d lay in bed at night imagining […]