The New Year - 2012

"New Year's Day... now is the accepted time to make
your regular annual good resolutions.

Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual."

- Mark Twain

It's a new year!  With it comes the promise of new opportunities and changes.

I've never been one to make resolutions each year.  Making a resolution to do things differently and then not doing them is great for one's self esteem.  WELL, I'm going to do things differently this year. 

What happened in 2011?  I did make a few goals but not at the beginning of the year.  I'm surprised to see that into the new year, I've actually gotten close to those goals.  The first was that I wanted to loose weight.  To date, I've now lost a little over 50 lbs!  I also decided I needed to learn how to swim.  A few lessons and some time in my sister's pool, I can now swim 10 feet without splashing around and sinking!  

I'm still not going to make any resolutions, but I am going to make some goals.

What is a goal?  Well, the official definition for a goal is: "An observable and measurable end result having one or more objectives to be achieved within a more or less fixed time frame."  Sounds perfectly reasonable, right?

Remember the old adage, If you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time?  That's why the idea of having and setting goals makes much more sense that making resolutions.  I'm converting ideas and wishes into specific, measurable targets.

What are these goals?  I've made a list of 40 for 2012.  Why 40?  Last year I turned forty years old (that will be a whole different post) and thought it just made sense to make 40 goals!

So here they are: (Some might be repetitive...try coming up with 40 for yourself!)

1. Pursue Happiness! (Currently I'm reading The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama)
2. Try harder
3. Eat better.  More organic, natural, healthy, purposeful.
4. Drink more water, less soda
5. Exercise again
6. Start taking vitamins and supplements again
7. Get outdoors more: camping, hiking, sunrises, sunsets, moonrise.
8. Run, walk, stroll, take more breaks
9. Organize office and work less
10. Photograph more, learn more about it, study light and exposure
11. Write more and more often
12. Handle money better and save more, find more free stuff
13. Read more!
14. Volunteer and help others
15. Organize self, home, life.
16. Skydive
17. Learn a new skill…
18. Continue to practice Swimming
19. Find the ONE and fall in love
20. Learn to Meditate
21. Travel more
22. Forget...
23. Be more open/honest
24. Solve world hunger…tell no one!
25. Stop the destructive thoughts that always lead down into depression
26. Don’t start smoking
27. Make bolder decisions
28. Stop procrastinating
29. Renew my wardrobe
30. Finish a novel/novella
31. Buy a Harley Davidson
32. Update the blog regularly
33. Connect better with friends
34. Be carefree
35. Hang loose, live free! Shaka!
36. Be more tolerant
37. Learn French
38. Win lottery, BIG
39. Garden more, grow more vegetables and fruits
40. Have FUN!

 There they are.  Will I meet all of them?  I'll let you know January 2013.  But until then, I've got a lot of work and a lot of fun to accomplish this year!

It's a New Blog

COMING SOON

JANUARY 1st
2012

NEW LOOK

NEW PHOTOS

NEW STORIES

"Yes. I am a dreamer. For a dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world." 

Oscar Wilde

Weekends in Charleston

Pineapple Fountain

What can you do on the weekend in Charleston?  

Well, there are usually different events happening all time.

You can visit downtown and stroll along Waterfront Park and see the Pineapple fountain or all the people around the fountain.  Or you can see the many music makers along the streets of Charleston.  Go out, take a stroll and carry your camera with you.

If you needed to get inside for a little while, a visit to the Charleston Wine and Food Festival tents in Marion Square provided a great way to beat the heat of the afternoon.

 

Wine, beer, gourmet food, and other products are a great way to spend a couple of hours.  There were a lot of vendors from local wineries and restaurants to bakeries and gourmet salt makers.  Of course, there's always cheese to go with that wine.

The Wine and Food Festival lasted four days and encompassed many restaurants in the Charleston area.  "The four-day event infuses home-grown flavor with the most celebrated chefs, culinary professionals and winemakers in the world." (source)  Go Charleston!

To change it up a little, you could have visited the Captain's Comic Expo put on by Captain's Comics in West Ashley.  The expo featured comic books, artists, action figures and super heroes in the expo hall.

 As well as the comics and collectibles, there were some really good local artists:

James Hill Studios

 Then there was the costume contest. 

From Superman vs. Lex Luthor to Bobba Fett vs. Predator.  

You be the judge!

What do you do on the weekend in Charleston?  There are a lot of options out there.  All you have to do is find a newspaper and see what's going on.  There are all kinds of events to visit and places to see.  Look for a guy with a camera and it'll probably be me.  (Didn't really mean for that to rhyme)  

Come up to me and say hello and tell me if you know of any other exciting events in Charleston.

KAPLA planks

Building is fun.  Lego’s, Lincoln Logs, Erector sets, all of these were the building materials of my youth.  While wondering downtown, as I’m often prone to do, I wandered into a most fabulous place, “Tom’s Toys.”

What makes this store an absolute find?  KAPLA planks!

Mansion (click photos to enlarge)

Lion made with KAPLA planks

The Charleston store is the first shop in Charleston to carry the KAPLA planks.  They opened in 2009 and are located on Market Street across from The Charleston Place hotel.  They had a great sign in front of the store, “Need a break from technology? Come inside and play!”  Walking into the store, this is what I saw:

Building area

So, what it KAPLA?  KAPLA is simply a wooden plank based on a formula of the “progression of the uneven numbers 1:3.5.  Three thicknesses for one width and five widths for one length.  This ratio between bricks and stones and beams and planks now opens a whole new way of building. With these identical planks the builder can construct with the precision of artwork and the stability of stones.”  Source:  http://www.kaplaus.com/the-history-of-kapla/

KAPLA planks

Lion made with KAPLA planks

The showroom floor is surrounded by wonderful examples of how creative one can be with the planks.  The first structure you notice walking in is the giant scale replica of the Eiffel Tower put together by the owner.  It took 3,000 planks to build.  Luckily, it’s glued together, so I couldn’t pull out a plank and yell JENGA!  Actually, I was warned to not touch it.

Eiffel Tower

In the middle of the store is a large play area.  You are invited to come in and play.  There were a couple of students ‘taking a break’ while I was in the store. 

Taking a break

Having fun

The wonderful young lady working at the store was a great source of knowledge and very creative.  Not only does she work there, she can also build wonderful KAPLA designs.  Many of the display pieces were built by her.  Here she is standing next to a dragon she built.

Maggie and the dragon

If you get a chance, take a break, stop by Tom’s Toys and play for a while.  You might build something totally cool.  If not, it’s okay, because building is still fun!

You can purchase the blocks at the store or in their online store.  Visit their website, Tom's Toys.  They also have galleries on their site of other really fantastic creations.  Better yet, just stop by: 125 Market St, Charleston, South Carolina.

(You can click on each photo to enlarge)

Up, Up, and Away!

What's better than a carriage tour of Charleston, SC? 

Downtown Charleston

How about a flying tour of Charleston, SC?

I received a gift certificate to go flying from my brother a couple of months ago to take a flying tour over Charleston.  I just redeemed the coupon last Thursday and took a flight over Charleston.  My brother didn't want to go up, so I took a friend. You can see some of his photos from the flight at Chuckography.

Chuck and Me

The flight was operated by Flying High Over Charleston. The plane was a Cessna 172, a four seat, high wing single engine aircraft. We taxied from the executive side of the Charleston International Airport taking off on runway 33. 
 
The skies were clear, with only a few clouds, it was slightly breezy and a comfortable 82 degrees. Great weather for flying, even better for photographs!

Arthur Ravenel Bridge

 

Riverdogs Stadium

The flight lasted about 70 minutes total.  In that time, we flew over downtown Charleston, along the Arthur Ravenel bridge, across Ft. Sumter, and along the beaches from Dunes West down to Kiawah.

Our cruising altitude was around 1200 feet and we sped along at about 96 knots or 110 mph.  It definitely didn't seem that fast from our perspective.

We finally headed back to Charleston International Airport and our pilot brought us down for a very smooth landing.

Four Corners of Law

Seeing Charleston from the air was an excellent experience.  I would recommend this flight to anyone if you ever get the chance.  If you do, send me a message and let me know how it was.

 

Ft. Sumter

Don't Even Think of Parking Here

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to join a writing salon offered by the Charleston Library Society.  Now, what exactly is a writing salon?  Well, it's simply a relaxed writing class. Leading this class was Bret Lott, author of Jewel, an Oprah's Book Club selection which was also made into a movie. The ten-week salon was wonderful.

We were given weekly writing projects that were critiqued by Bret and our fellow salon attendees.  The following is the first page of a story I was required to write.  The only instruction for this story was it had to start with the following phrase: "Don't even think of parking here."  (Please note: this is a work of fiction)

“Don’t even think of parking here!”

I just stared at Pete.  Nothing has really changed since Woodbridge High School.  The jocks are still jocks, the nerds are still nerds, and the bullies are still bullies.  Pete, well, he’s still an asshole.

“Well, you gonna move it, or do you want me to yank you out of that piece of crap and move it myself?” His face contorted as he spoke and he looked like a snarling pig.  I almost laughed.  Back at Woodbridge High, I made the mistake of laughing at that face once.  That earned me a couple of days at home; let’s just call it therapeutic rehabilitation.

"If you’re feeling froggy, jump!"  That’s what I wanted to say.  Instead, I reverted into timid high school student Dave.  Don’t make waves Dave.  That was me.

“Yeah, whatever,” I said softly, trying to sound casual and untroubled.  Who knew what my face looked like; I was hoping it was an ocean of serene unconcern.  I put the car in reverse and rolled back slowly.  Since I wasn’t fully in the parking space, I only had to back up a couple of yards.

Pete revved up the throttle of the motorcycle he was sitting on.  A loud roar escaped from the tailpipes.  His way of saying hurry up and move.  I purposely took the most time I thought I could get away with.  The motorcycle thrummed as it waited; a guttural growl continually escaping its chrome pipes, a hungry beast waiting for me to make a mistake.  I drove the car slowly past Pete in a show of defiance.  I wasn’t scared of him or his beast.

As I walked the two blocks to the office, I thought about high school.  I was the guy that was always in the background of all the year book photos.  I was never really in the photos, just a part of the background.  The only photos that did have my name under were the individual shots for each grade.  Dave Adam Smith written under each picture.

I like to think that I had changed since then.  Not to become the life of the party or anything, but that I was not the same, insignificant, backgrounder.  I have a wonderful girlfriend, close friends, a good job, and get along great with my coworkers.  I’m very happy and pleased with where I’m at and what’s happening in my life.

So why do I revert back to that insignificant backgrounder every time I encounter Pete?  I’ve had a couple of run-ins with him over the last six months and each time, I become a scrawny, timid fifteen year old kid.*

(please note: this is a work of fiction)

I hope you enjoyed that preview and want to read more.  Maybe I'll post all of it out on the web and provide a link to it from here.

* Bullies are not limited to children, teens, or the school yard.  There are adult bullies in the world as well.  If you know of someone being bullied or you are being bullied, please seek out help and don't give up hope!

NaNoWriMo

November is NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month.  One month of writing joy or hell.  In that month, you commit to writing at least 1700 words per day every day of the month.  The goal is to have a small novella of approximately 50,000 words finished by November 30th.  As I stated above, this can be pure joy or this can be unadulterated hell.  It's usually a mix of the two.  Some days are a delight to sit and quietly produce 1500 words while other days it is torturous to try and pull out even ten words that make sense.

There are no themes or guidelines to direct what you write.  The story is created as you go along.  Some writers spend time producing outlines and character studies prior to the month of November, while others dive blindly into the task not knowing what is going to be produced or where it will go.

For some, the idea of blindly falling into creation will seem pure abject horror.  To compose a story on the go with little thought to the ideas, text, characters or mood is a task in itself.  Sitting and staring at a blank screen and expecting to come up with something that is halfway decent will be a daunting task, even for many accomplished writers, but a task that will prove as adventurous as jumping off a cliff with little more than a 60 pound giant kite strapped to your back and hope that physics, dynamics and lift all behave as they are supposed to. 

But isn't that the same thing that a writer will do to his character?  The writer says, “Let me take an average Joe and thrust fate upon him to become the hero we so desperately wish him to be.”  Joe, a normal accountant, is used to working nine to five on the fifth floor of Barney and Chesterton.  Every day he manipulates numbers on spreadsheets and produces results that are fed to the directors on the seventh floor.  That is until the writer shows up and decides that Joe's life is exceedingly boring and he needs a little excitement to break him out of this dull and dreary existence and awaken him to life. 

Enter deadly, blind, zombie ninjas bent on taking over all ten floors of Barney and Chesterton.  Joe is not asked to make the decision to become a hero, but forced by the hand of fate to take up the mantle and successfully defend his co-workers, thus ending his dull and dreary existence and becoming the fully self-realized hero that he should be.  Poor Joe.  What a mean and cruel beast fate, I mean, writers can be.

But that is exactly what you are asked to volunteer to do for the month of November.  Put aside your dreary writing life full of outlines, deadlines, characterizations and punctuations and take up the mantle to become the writing hero you were always destined to be.

With little thought to carpal tunnel syndrome, you are tasked with slaving over a keyboard with lukewarm coffee sitting at your side accompanied by a bagel with only one bite taken out of it.  With the sacrifice of hot coffee to warm and guide you, you blindly type hoping the next word entered onto the screen before you will inspire you to continue to the next, in an effort to produce a story worthy of Steinbeck in less time than he crafted The Grapes of Wrath.   (That would have been about 100 days.)

We would all imagine that as we take up the sword of writing and begin to swing we could craft a story arc that would rival J.R.R. Tolkien, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway or George Eliot.  That our story would become legendary among all who will read it.  That our prose will be reminiscent of those that we admire, Dorothea Benton-Frank, Terry Brooks and Stephen King.

Alas, the true hope is that our stories will at least make sense and don’t end up in the annals of embarrassment like Brian Griffin’s Faster than the Speed of Love.

I’m looking forward to November to see what kind of writing chops I might have and hope that I don’t cower in fear and defeat after only finishing two pages while wishing I had never attempted to be the writing hero.

For more information on NaNoWriMo, please go to http://www.nanowrimo.org