- Jim
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Stalkers gotta stalk.
I used to think this guy might have had a reason for what he's doing. Now I just think he does it for attention.
- Jim
- Jim
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Friday, May 25, 2012
I know that statistically speaking, May is no worse than any other month for tragedies and sorrow. I know that it is superstitious to think so. And yet, May is not my friend.
My 4th grade Sunday School teacher died. I know it sounds odd, but he was one of the two people that got me really into the whole church thing. I'm sure he had his flaws, but if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be as religious as I am today. Why he put up with helping me as much as he did speaks wonders for his patience and dedication.
I'm not saying I was a bad kid, but there is always room for improvement. It's one thing to try and help your own kids, or the popular kids. It's another thing to help the kids that most of the rest of the church look down upon.
He's a good guy. The world is poorer for his passing, but I'm sure Heaven is much richer for it.
- Jim
My 4th grade Sunday School teacher died. I know it sounds odd, but he was one of the two people that got me really into the whole church thing. I'm sure he had his flaws, but if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be as religious as I am today. Why he put up with helping me as much as he did speaks wonders for his patience and dedication.
I'm not saying I was a bad kid, but there is always room for improvement. It's one thing to try and help your own kids, or the popular kids. It's another thing to help the kids that most of the rest of the church look down upon.
He's a good guy. The world is poorer for his passing, but I'm sure Heaven is much richer for it.
- Jim
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
One look at my year-long to-do list would reveal a problem: namely, that there isn't enough time in a year to get to everything on the list. In addition, a year is a long time, and things invariably pop up that are unintended. The recent book challenge was one of them. Yeah, I had put writing on the list, but that kind of book was unanticipated.
What I've done recently, is that I've cut the year up into segments of one to three months. The deadlines are just as arbitrary as anything else I do, but it helps to show where I am, and makes the list look more manageable. My success has been limited however, because well, there's still too much to do in such a short span of time. Some of the issues have been overestimating what I could possibly do, personal drama, family drama, and outside events. I'm not really going to go into details. May, as one example, is a horribly bad month for me.
Oh yeah, this is May.
That being said, it hasn't been just failure after failure. I've gotten my reading and my DVR more under control. While neither are perfectly managed, they are better so. Life is about learning, and the simple fact is that I want to do too much all at once. Sometimes it leads to overload.
The thing is that I don't have many day to day tasks. Reading the paper. Hygiene. Eating. That's about it. All of the other things I work on tend to be bigger, usually much bigger. Laid out end to end, my DVR last week would have required more than seventy-four hours to get through all the stuff saved on it. While some hours are worth more than others, I now have twenty percent free where I had three last week.
I will admit that watching television doesn't really pass as work, but it is often an effort that must be balanced against other demands of my time. Writing is something that can go on forever - I know, I've seen it. The task there is also to break it into more manageable segments without making it more work than it needs to be. The simple truth is that I'm still learning how to write and learning how to make it all come together. Being a dungeon master for an RPG game was good experience, but all the time in the world doesn't mean you get more done. It means each story can be endlessly polished. Forever.
I tend to babble. Anyway, things seem to be happening more, even with the whole May thing going on. Most of that stuff is over now, I hope. The rest is just life.
- Jim
What I've done recently, is that I've cut the year up into segments of one to three months. The deadlines are just as arbitrary as anything else I do, but it helps to show where I am, and makes the list look more manageable. My success has been limited however, because well, there's still too much to do in such a short span of time. Some of the issues have been overestimating what I could possibly do, personal drama, family drama, and outside events. I'm not really going to go into details. May, as one example, is a horribly bad month for me.
Oh yeah, this is May.
That being said, it hasn't been just failure after failure. I've gotten my reading and my DVR more under control. While neither are perfectly managed, they are better so. Life is about learning, and the simple fact is that I want to do too much all at once. Sometimes it leads to overload.
The thing is that I don't have many day to day tasks. Reading the paper. Hygiene. Eating. That's about it. All of the other things I work on tend to be bigger, usually much bigger. Laid out end to end, my DVR last week would have required more than seventy-four hours to get through all the stuff saved on it. While some hours are worth more than others, I now have twenty percent free where I had three last week.
I will admit that watching television doesn't really pass as work, but it is often an effort that must be balanced against other demands of my time. Writing is something that can go on forever - I know, I've seen it. The task there is also to break it into more manageable segments without making it more work than it needs to be. The simple truth is that I'm still learning how to write and learning how to make it all come together. Being a dungeon master for an RPG game was good experience, but all the time in the world doesn't mean you get more done. It means each story can be endlessly polished. Forever.
I tend to babble. Anyway, things seem to be happening more, even with the whole May thing going on. Most of that stuff is over now, I hope. The rest is just life.
- Jim
Thursday, May 17, 2012
I didn't finish the story by my self-imposed deadline. Part of that is simply the nature of the month of May. This is the where the whole "Month From Hell" came from and there are a lot of periods where I go to darker places. When I don't go there, I still remember them and mark the occasions. Part of it is simply the nature of the beast. It was an imperfect rushed job when I wrote it sixteen years ago, and rushing now isn't going to finish it. I refuse to spend forever on this project, but I want to make sure I do it right.
Oh yeah. May 16th. I used to mark that day too. I suppose I still do, in my own way, but with more bitterness and regret. No, I don't regret the things I had to do, but I do regret that they had to happen. I'm sure that won't matter to some, but I'm not living for the approval of others any more either.
- Jim
Oh yeah. May 16th. I used to mark that day too. I suppose I still do, in my own way, but with more bitterness and regret. No, I don't regret the things I had to do, but I do regret that they had to happen. I'm sure that won't matter to some, but I'm not living for the approval of others any more either.
- Jim
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Tuesday, May 08, 2012
Friday, May 04, 2012
May is never a good month.
Yesterday morning (Thursday), my Niece came home from work to find her dog being attacked by the pit bull from next door. My Niece's dog was chained with a heavy logging chain while the other dog had the advantage. Details are a bit sketchy, but the police weren't called until my Niece got there.
Her dog lived through the initial attack, though severely injured. Despite heroic efforts by the vet, the dog passed away this morning. The neighbor blames the chained up dog for being "aggressive". Seriously.
On tomorrow (Saturday), it will mark six years since my Brother passed away at the age of 40. I plan to mark the occasion as I usually do.
On the fifteenth, it will mark five years since my Mother passed away.
Yeah, this month sucks.
- Jim
Yesterday morning (Thursday), my Niece came home from work to find her dog being attacked by the pit bull from next door. My Niece's dog was chained with a heavy logging chain while the other dog had the advantage. Details are a bit sketchy, but the police weren't called until my Niece got there.
Her dog lived through the initial attack, though severely injured. Despite heroic efforts by the vet, the dog passed away this morning. The neighbor blames the chained up dog for being "aggressive". Seriously.
On tomorrow (Saturday), it will mark six years since my Brother passed away at the age of 40. I plan to mark the occasion as I usually do.
On the fifteenth, it will mark five years since my Mother passed away.
Yeah, this month sucks.
- Jim
Wednesday, May 02, 2012
The first rewrite is complete. Yeah, that's not as big a thing as it could have been. It was transferring a paper copy back to my computer. Yeah, I could have saved time and cut and pasted the digital file I recovered and then fixed the formatting, but retyping it forced me to reacquaint myself with all of the material. Not that it was entirely a good thing though.
I hate it.
No. I don't really. I'm just sick of it at the moment. Spend enough time on something and you get tired of it real fast, especially when it seems you're not making much headway. I'm sure I was making progress, but there are further changes and fixes that need to be made.
But, the first rewrite is complete.
I'm taking the night off and then I'll start back to work on it tomorrow.
- Jim
I hate it.
No. I don't really. I'm just sick of it at the moment. Spend enough time on something and you get tired of it real fast, especially when it seems you're not making much headway. I'm sure I was making progress, but there are further changes and fixes that need to be made.
But, the first rewrite is complete.
I'm taking the night off and then I'll start back to work on it tomorrow.
- Jim
Tuesday, May 01, 2012
Nearly sixteen years ago, I finished a short story for an online thing that I was into. It was entirely my own creation and it was one of the many steps I took in deciding I wanted to write one day. It was a um... unique story, and a genre that I thought dead. Silly me.
I found a publishing company (the original one, mind you) that takes submissions for these things. Though I finished the original story in just three days, I'm taking my time this time to get it done right. I've already completed several steps in order to do it. The originals were locked away on a 3.5" disk and I had to build a computer just to read it and copy it, for example.
Anyway, the writing was done sixteen years ago and I'm in the middle of the first major rewrite since then. Then I'll rewrite it again. And again probably.
Trouble is, I'm broke. I'll have money again in a couple weeks, so I figure that's as good a deadline as any. I want the book done by then, and I want it mailed a couple days after that. I'll allow that much time for the vagaries of time and space and the post office. Unfortunately, I'm not in control of such things. It doesn't mean that it'll get published, but I'm hoping so.
That process will take much longer, I'm afraid.
- Jim
I found a publishing company (the original one, mind you) that takes submissions for these things. Though I finished the original story in just three days, I'm taking my time this time to get it done right. I've already completed several steps in order to do it. The originals were locked away on a 3.5" disk and I had to build a computer just to read it and copy it, for example.
Anyway, the writing was done sixteen years ago and I'm in the middle of the first major rewrite since then. Then I'll rewrite it again. And again probably.
Trouble is, I'm broke. I'll have money again in a couple weeks, so I figure that's as good a deadline as any. I want the book done by then, and I want it mailed a couple days after that. I'll allow that much time for the vagaries of time and space and the post office. Unfortunately, I'm not in control of such things. It doesn't mean that it'll get published, but I'm hoping so.
That process will take much longer, I'm afraid.
- Jim
Thursday, April 26, 2012
I've been sick for a couple days. Nothing serious, just a cold, but I
was achy, which was annoying. Anyway, here's a link. As usual, this
article was stolen from The Beloit Daily News without permission or
goodwill. Attribution was left in, but that's more of a personal
preference than necessary this time.
Posted: Wednesday, April 25, 2012 4:00 pm
- Jim
‘On
Easter morning, 2011, the day began just like any other. I read the
news and called my Dad to tell him about an accident I’d read about. I’m
sorry to say that I’m horrible with names or I would have known, as I
was telling him, that I was reading about the death of my cousin and her
nineteen year old grandson.
While both were out
delivering newspapers in Janesville, another driver was legally
intoxicated by both alcohol and marijuana. He blew through a controlled
intersection and into the van carrying my relatives. The grandson died
nearly instantly and my cousin lived for several days, critically
injured, in the hospital. In addition to the two, their dog had perished
as well.
Severely injured, the driver at fault was
taken to a hospital, from where he escaped. It was obvious he didn’t
want to take responsibility for what he had done. He was caught and
returned to the hospital and then sent to jail, awaiting trial. We’d
lost family, but finally we thought that we would see justice.
Of the eleven counts the driver was
charged with, nine were dropped in a plea agreement. The prosecutor is
recommending no more than seven years incarceration for his taking of
both lives. Seven years. There are people in prison for far less who
will serve more time than him.
Look, I know the DUI laws in Wisconsin are
a joke. This morning another man was arrested in Janesville for his
fifth DUI. Fifth. How many lives were put at risk during the first four I
wonder? It’s time we demand more from our legislators, prosecutors, and
judicial system. Maybe we can’t bring back those we’ve lost, but
perhaps we can prevent any further loss of life.
James A. Long
Beloit
- Jim
Friday, April 20, 2012
This story was stolen from the Janesville Gazette without permission. Attribution has been left in place. First, here's the link to the original:
http://gazettextra.com/news/2012/apr/19/janesville-man-pleads-guilty-homicide-charges/
Seven years. Sure, the judge is talking tough and says he doesn't have to follow those guidelines, but really, how much is he gonna get? How much will get shaved off for time served and good behavior? If he does five, I'll be surprised. Look at the smirk on the guy's face in the picture. Carried a paperback novel into the courtroom. He's not sorry, he's preoccupied.
He won.
Oh sure, he's got to be locked away for a couple more years. If he wants, he can get an education. He'll have free medical care.
I'm at a loss for words here, but I won't be for long.
- Jim
http://gazettextra.com/news/2012/apr/19/janesville-man-pleads-guilty-homicide-charges/
Janesville man pleads guilty to homicide charges
Omar Tavizon Ramos, right, listens to his
defense attorney Michael Murphy during Ramos' preliminary hearing.
Tavizon Ramos is accused of killing Margaret Worden and her grandson
Jeffery Bauer by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle.
JANESVILLE — A Janesville man accused
of killing two people while driving drunk in 2011 has changed his plea
to guilty as part of an agreement with the Rock County District
Attorney’s Office.
In exchange, nine related counts will be dismissed but considered at sentencing.
Omar Tavizon Ramos, 22, of 2147 Mt. Zion Ave., Janesville, pleaded
guilty Wednesday in Rock County Court to two counts of homicide by
intoxicated use of a vehicle. He is charged in the deaths of Jeffery S.
Bauer, 19, and Bauer’s grandmother, Margaret Worden, 61. Both lived in
Janesville.
His sentencing is scheduled for July 11.
As part of the plea agreement, the prosecution will argue for no more
than seven years in prison, said Tavizon’s attorney, Michael Shannon
Murphy.
Judge James Daley does not have to follow the recommended sentences, he reminded Tavizon in court Wednesday.
Tavizon on Wednesday carried a paperback novel and wore a silver chain with a silver crucifix over his orange jail jumpsuit.
Bauer died at 2:49 a.m. April 24, 2011, at the intersection of Center
Avenue and Racine Street in Janesville. Worden died a few days later at
Mercy Hospital and Trauma Center, Janesville.
The two had been delivering newspapers.
Tavizon and a passenger were injured in the crash. Tavizon told a
nurse he had been drinking tequila in a bar, according to court
documents.
He tested positive for consumption of alcohol and marijuana, according to court documents.
Tavizon was hospitalized after the crash but in early May walked away
from University Hospital in Madison. He was captured two days later in
Janesville.
Dismissed charges include two counts of homicide while driving with a
blood-alcohol concentration higher than the legal limit, two counts of
homicide by use of a vehicle while using a controlled substance, three
counts of causing injury by intoxicated use of a vehicle and two counts
of first-degree reckless injury.
Seven years. Sure, the judge is talking tough and says he doesn't have to follow those guidelines, but really, how much is he gonna get? How much will get shaved off for time served and good behavior? If he does five, I'll be surprised. Look at the smirk on the guy's face in the picture. Carried a paperback novel into the courtroom. He's not sorry, he's preoccupied.
He won.
Oh sure, he's got to be locked away for a couple more years. If he wants, he can get an education. He'll have free medical care.
I'm at a loss for words here, but I won't be for long.
- Jim
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Life throws curveballs every now and then. They're not easy, they're not fun, and they're usually not pleasant, but they must be dealt with in some shape or fashion. I'm using more of my time and patience dealing with this set of curveballs than I'm used to though, so I've limited my online social interaction even more. I nearly quit for a while there, but I'm sure it's unhealthy in its own way.
Still, since I don't want to bring all my troubles online, I will be limiting myself online even further. Just some fan-based activities, and that will be about it.
I've gotten back into writing though, and I've managed to clear off a decent space with which to work. It's a work in progress, but it's far better than what I had before. I just need to keep it up.
- Jim
Still, since I don't want to bring all my troubles online, I will be limiting myself online even further. Just some fan-based activities, and that will be about it.
I've gotten back into writing though, and I've managed to clear off a decent space with which to work. It's a work in progress, but it's far better than what I had before. I just need to keep it up.
- Jim
Saturday, April 14, 2012
The basis for the things I do online is evolving. There are a lot of times I seek to shout out to the internet something inane and meaningless, or even not so meaningless, and then I reconsider. This blog is on the periphery of those recent changes, but it's not been immune. I'm not immune to the changes either. Some of what I might have previously posted on Facebook for example gets posted to my Twitter account, shown down on the lower right, simply because I sometimes still need to reach out.
It's silly, I know.
I have always been into what I've been into, liked what I liked, and sometimes wanted other people to like what I liked as well. I've always known that most people didn't share my interests, but it never really dawned on me how inconsequential my updates were compared to the cacaphony found in social media today. Too often we fail to listen because we are all shouting, trying to grab ever smaller shares of attention for ourselves. I used to wonder why that "one guy" would always resort to pratfalls to get attention but failed to realize that the rest of us do the same things, just in different ways.
Maybe I'm just becoming more antisocial.
I'm not judging others, for the most part. Some people have need of attention, but since I don't, or don't much, I'll leave those actions to them. I can live without it for the most part.
I'll still be here, in this little space of the internet that I've marked off for myself. I just won't be elsewhere as much. I'm not giving up on those areas either, but it's time to limit them to what I've done here.
- Jim
It's silly, I know.
I have always been into what I've been into, liked what I liked, and sometimes wanted other people to like what I liked as well. I've always known that most people didn't share my interests, but it never really dawned on me how inconsequential my updates were compared to the cacaphony found in social media today. Too often we fail to listen because we are all shouting, trying to grab ever smaller shares of attention for ourselves. I used to wonder why that "one guy" would always resort to pratfalls to get attention but failed to realize that the rest of us do the same things, just in different ways.
Maybe I'm just becoming more antisocial.
I'm not judging others, for the most part. Some people have need of attention, but since I don't, or don't much, I'll leave those actions to them. I can live without it for the most part.
I'll still be here, in this little space of the internet that I've marked off for myself. I just won't be elsewhere as much. I'm not giving up on those areas either, but it's time to limit them to what I've done here.
- Jim
Friday, April 13, 2012
As most of you have heard, my show, Breaking In has been cancelled - again. Supposedly Fox will show the unaired episodes eventually, but I'll believe it when I see it. I'd nearly quit watching it after the second season began, so I suppose I helped contribute to its decline. Still, I watched the shows, but only after I saved them on my DVR. It was kinda like going to the dentist. Ultimately, it was for the greater good, but I was pretty reluctant to experience it.
Sigh.
The last couple episodes of the second season made it all come back. I'm sorry to see it go.
- Jim
Sigh.
The last couple episodes of the second season made it all come back. I'm sorry to see it go.
- Jim
Sunday, April 08, 2012
Saturday, April 07, 2012
I think I had an advantage when I first watched Game of Thrones. I hadn't read the books, so I wasn't as excited about it as I could have been. I didn't watch the first season until it was over and about to be taken off OnDemand. After watching the first episode of Season 2, I find I don't like to wait between episodes. I may decide to skip watching the rest of Season 2 until it's all over.
Aside from that, there seems to be a lot of potential in Season 2, but the episode felt like the first episode of a series - tentative. Ah well.
- Jim
Aside from that, there seems to be a lot of potential in Season 2, but the episode felt like the first episode of a series - tentative. Ah well.
- Jim
My Niece was doing pretty well on her medicine and they seemed to control the seizures. Unfortunately, because of the side effects, she had to change medicines and the seizures started up again. In an effort to understand what's happening better, the doctors fitted her with a mobile EEG device. In a medical setting, these things are useful to understand what happens after a seizure, unless you're lucky (or unlucky) enough to one right there. The information gathered then, is indirectly useful. They're looking for more useful information now.
Aside, from that, I've been doing what I've been doing. Mostly reading, but I managed to get some writing in there, almost by accident.
High hopes,
- Jim
Aside, from that, I've been doing what I've been doing. Mostly reading, but I managed to get some writing in there, almost by accident.
High hopes,
- Jim
Monday, April 02, 2012
So, I posted that article last week. One of the reasons I did was because it dovetailed with some things I've noticed over the past... month or so.
A bit of background first, I suppose. Blah blah life story blah blah, I don't notice things around me very often, and when I do, I tend to notice things rather than people. Call me weird or whatever, but it's the way I am. Even I am subject to that restriction - I don't notice me very often either. Despite what others may sometimes believe, it's not because I hate myself or despise myself, it's just that unless there's something specifically wrong, I just don't care. It took me years to figure out what my symptoms of allergies were because I just never questioned it, or that I assumed it was something else. I never asked, no one bothered telling me, and that was that.
It's that way with other people as well. When I played Magic: The Gathering back in the day, or even when I was playing poker, I was far more interested in my own cards than I was about other people playing. While other people were reading me, I was eagerly awaiting my next card. I had fun playing my own game even if other people often got in the way by taking all my money. Dang people.
So, it probably comes as no surprise that the assumption that I have all the time in the world, combined with the fact that I'm curious about almost everything, meant that sooner or later, I would be inundated with projects that I often call work. There was no reason to control the intake because, as I said, I have all the time in the world. I would make deadlines to try and clear stuff out and I would fail miserably. I'd respond by saying that I needed to work harder. It was probably true, but it was also unrealistic.
So, recently, I've taken to cutting things out. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I'm still interested in everything, but I've taken to prioritizing my projects in order to finish some and leave others for later... or never. Internet debates have been cut, because they're nothing more than a waste of time. As someone once said, even if you win a debate on the internet, you still lose. I've cut the political stuff I've been watching, the shows I'm into, the movies I watch, and so on. It's not perfect, because I won't give up on every political event since I do still want to be an informed voter. I won't give up on movies entirely either, if nothing else, than to give me something to do during those times when the knee forces me to retreat to my recliner.
Even posting on here has declined, as you probably have noticed.
It's not perfect - the piles of unread books here bother me more than things that are probably more important elsewhere, so they will still be attended to. The interests that I have in the news and the research stuff I do for writing is still there. There's years of things to keep me occupied here, but the piles are shorter. I've even done some real writing in the past week.
Anyway, that's what I've been up to. I'll try and post more often here, when I am able.
Good luck,
- Jim
A bit of background first, I suppose. Blah blah life story blah blah, I don't notice things around me very often, and when I do, I tend to notice things rather than people. Call me weird or whatever, but it's the way I am. Even I am subject to that restriction - I don't notice me very often either. Despite what others may sometimes believe, it's not because I hate myself or despise myself, it's just that unless there's something specifically wrong, I just don't care. It took me years to figure out what my symptoms of allergies were because I just never questioned it, or that I assumed it was something else. I never asked, no one bothered telling me, and that was that.
It's that way with other people as well. When I played Magic: The Gathering back in the day, or even when I was playing poker, I was far more interested in my own cards than I was about other people playing. While other people were reading me, I was eagerly awaiting my next card. I had fun playing my own game even if other people often got in the way by taking all my money. Dang people.
So, it probably comes as no surprise that the assumption that I have all the time in the world, combined with the fact that I'm curious about almost everything, meant that sooner or later, I would be inundated with projects that I often call work. There was no reason to control the intake because, as I said, I have all the time in the world. I would make deadlines to try and clear stuff out and I would fail miserably. I'd respond by saying that I needed to work harder. It was probably true, but it was also unrealistic.
So, recently, I've taken to cutting things out. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I'm still interested in everything, but I've taken to prioritizing my projects in order to finish some and leave others for later... or never. Internet debates have been cut, because they're nothing more than a waste of time. As someone once said, even if you win a debate on the internet, you still lose. I've cut the political stuff I've been watching, the shows I'm into, the movies I watch, and so on. It's not perfect, because I won't give up on every political event since I do still want to be an informed voter. I won't give up on movies entirely either, if nothing else, than to give me something to do during those times when the knee forces me to retreat to my recliner.
Even posting on here has declined, as you probably have noticed.
It's not perfect - the piles of unread books here bother me more than things that are probably more important elsewhere, so they will still be attended to. The interests that I have in the news and the research stuff I do for writing is still there. There's years of things to keep me occupied here, but the piles are shorter. I've even done some real writing in the past week.
Anyway, that's what I've been up to. I'll try and post more often here, when I am able.
Good luck,
- Jim
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