I write books to earn my living. What gets published reflects on me, and my skills as a writer. Therefore, proper use of the English language is very important to me for everything I have written, especially any material to be offered for sale. Poor grammar and misspelled words absolutely drive me crazy no matter where I find the errors, even in the work of another writer. My primary editor, as well as small army of proof readers, repeatedly goes over any material intended for widespread distribution with a fine-toothed comb. Even when I have written a shorter opinion piece like this one for my blog, or an article for American Thinker, every last word was carefully scrutinized by me personally before I eventually clicked the "Publish" button or sent it off for review. That's why I don't publish more frequently. Good writing takes time. I care passionately about the crafting of any message I have decided is worth trying to convey to the reader, no matter how relatively insignificant the point, or how large or small the audience interested in that particular topic may be. Because I truly care so much about proper use of the English language, it really troubles me about the way universal health care is being marketed in Colorado. Earlier this morning I stumbled across the healthcare exchange website for the state of Colorado, a poorly named abomination called "doyougotinsurance.com." At first I thought the whole thing was intended to be a joke, sort of like the Onion. But it's real. Do you got insurance? Seriously? Every English teacher … [Read more...]
The Movie Test
My wife and I met twenty-five years ago, as of this December. She was literally the teacher, and I the student when I took a week-long UNIX system administration course just before the Christmas holiday in 1988, mostly because my co-worker friend Mark signed up, but decided at the very last minute that he didn't want to attend. I was looking for someplace to hide so my boss couldn't send me to another yet customer site. The single "fly-and-fix" debugging expert in my group,I'd been on the road for almost eight straight months, six of which I spent living in Hong Kong. I just wanted to stay close to home, so I took Mark's place, even though I had no interest or need to take the class. It seemed that Lisa and I were destined to meet, fall in love, and get married. Both of us were "on the rebound" as they say...Lisa came as a package deal from her divorce that hadn't even been finalized, with an adorable three-year-old daughter who is now the mother of our three grandchildren, and I remained a little gun-shy after a failed international romance. Needless to say, we were advised to slow things down after I announced our wedding date had moved forward from September to May, less than six months after we first met. We didn't listen. If I had any lingering personal doubts about my bride-to-be, it was that she seemed too good to be true. However, I wasn't completely sure that I trusted my own judgment. Perhaps a few of the naysayers advising unnecessary caution had some subtle influence on my thinking at the time, or perhaps it was fact I'd been burned … [Read more...]
I blame you for whatever is wrong with Miley Cyrus
Don't blame me. It's your fault. Yes, you. You buy her records. I don't. Obviously, you watch crap like the MTV Video Music Awards. Somebody does. I most certainly don't. You wrote about it on your blog, or talked about it on Facebook. You must, because somebody does. Okay, so I finally broke down and wrote about her too, but only in reaction to her first post-show interview. But I only intend to divulge the cure for crap like this that poses for entertainment, make my point, and move along; no dwelling on this subject. Here's the secret to putting an end to these lurid displays: turn the channel. Don't buy that CD. Avert your eyes from that train wreck. If I'm never as famous as Miley Cyrus is today, please listen and believe me as I give thanks to God. Whoever coined the phrase "ignorance is bliss" certainly had a valid point. The less I knew about the Miley Cyrus performance at the VMA, the better. Only a few years ago, my granddaughter idolized Miley Cyrus, at least in her Disney persona, Hannah Montana. What in God's name happened to Miley? I never watched the Disney program, of course, but my daughter assured me the show was harmless, wholesome entertainment. Thankfully, I also didn't watch Miley Cyrus perform her infamous "twerking" soft porn dance routine at the VMA, neither harmless or wholesome. It was nothing short of pathetic and disgusting. What message did that send to young and impressionable minds? Now if you were as blissfully ignorant about this twerking phenomenon as me, this video may help. Jae Tracie offered a … [Read more...]
Pure Evil
Writing horror and detective novels requires research into some very dark subjects. The writer must always ask his or herself, why do people intentionally hurt or kill other people? What was the motive for the crime? The villain in my novel Secondhand Sight was the embodiment of pure evil, a sadistic person who derived pleasure from the suffering and pain of others. Do people that sick and twisted really exist? Absolutely! My imagination isn't anywhere near that dark or fantastic to conjure up a serial killer without any inspiration from real life. My dreams are of rescuing puppies, not beheading them. I can't comprehend nor want to contemplate the sort of evil, twisted mind that could compose a letter to a young mother suggesting that she euthanize her autistic son. We all know that such evil exists. That is inarguable. History is replete with accounts of evil people committing atrocities for various reasons or flimsy excuses. The only remaining question to consider is whether or not pure evil exists, which has been defined as the idea that bad people inflict intentional harm on others for no rational reason. Do Satan and his minions actually exist? Are real demons present in the natural world? I say yes. Professional skeptic Michael Shermer reported that Florida State University professor Roy Baumeister proclaimed that the concept of pure evil is nothing but a myth, asserting that any act of aggression can be sorted into one of these four categories: Instrumental violence -- meaning violence with war-like purpose of conquest and … [Read more...]
