Saturday Thoughts: My Dream House

    So it's Valentine's Day and I'm not doing anything special for most of the day. Though getting together with friends later tonight. I did allude to talking about my dream house in a future blog post, and here it is. With some ramblings as well as with any Saturday Thoughts Column. Also note there will be a Monday Review on Monday. I'm trying to make the blog run all week with an optional break on Sundays. I have a few ideas for next week, but we'll see how those pan out.
    Today we are talking about what I would do with my first dream house. I plan to have a few over my lifetime depending on how big I can get in the publishing world, so there will be other discussions on this I'm sure. But with the first one it would have a finished basement as well as an elevator through the whole house since I hate stairs. And I'd be sharing it with at least my friend, Tim, who I consider a brother. It would be a three storied house counting the basement as a story. Not sure on the spelling there but bear with me on it. I'd have solar panels for electricity and hot water on it as well. Along with maybe a small windmill outside that looked nice. Plus siding if they made it in a color me and Tim could agree on. And I'd make sure it was insulated as well, since it gets really cold in winter up here in Maine. Plus I would look into Geothermal heating and cooling for the house. If you hadn't guessed by now I want the house to be as environmentally friendly as possible but I would also have a wood stove in the house as well. It would probably be in a section of the basement since I want the basement to be really large.
    The reason for the wood stove is back up in case of total power failure which is doubtful, but it pays to be prepared. That would take up a third of the basement, and Tim is not sure what he would do with his third of the basement yet. In my third of the basement would be my office. And all three would intersect at an elevator going through the whole house as I mentioned earlier. In my office would be wall to wall bookshelves looking like they were built into the walls. With various decorations on them in front of the books and pictures above them. As well as my desk over in one corner snug as a bug in a rug. Definitely more organized than it is currently. But still with decorations on it. Ready for use as always. I'd bring my laptop down to it every morning after coffee. As well as my kindle. My reading chair would be in a corner near one of the windows for plenty of light with the foot rest. Unless I got a recliner instead for the office. There would be a fold out table and fold out cushioned chairs for when friends came over on game night. It would be a nice big table with plenty of chairs for however many people came over. Though never more than could fit in the elevator with me.
    The elevator would ideally come out between the kitchen and living room. In the kitchen it would be all stainless steel with a wood breakfast bar attached. The kitchen would be all stainless steel for easy cleaning and a show of professionalism with our cooking. We'd use the latest in cooking technology that fit us. The stove would be one of those smooth top cooking surfaces that you can wipe down easily. No sense having something that can have food get dropped down into it. All the dishes would also be dishwasher safe since we would have a dishwasher since I absolutely hate doing dishes, and I doubt Tim would want to do them all the time. There would be plenty of counter space and a built in slot for a microwave up above. On the counter would go a coffee maker first and foremost. Followed by a toaster, deep fryer, and crockpot.
    Then straight across from the kitchen would be the dining room with an oak table able to fold out bigger when company was over for meals. Plus wooden chairs with rigid backs for back support. The floors here would be hardwood unlike the tiled kitchen floors. There would be candles on the table and a chandelier above it would be lights for lighting at night. There would be paintings and photos on the walls and maybe a nick knack cabinet as well.
    From the dining room you could head towards the kitchen and take a left and head down the hall finding on the right the bathroom with a shower and toilet nothing really fancy. On the left would be the guest room with a Queen Bed and large dresser along with nightstand on either side of the bed and a desk to work at, all made from wood.
    Heading straight back past the dining room and kitchen you would find yourself in the living room next to the door to the garage. There would be a fireplace in the living room right next to the garage and a leather couch facing it that wrapped around to under the window. With a leather recliner next to the door. Next to the fireplace in the corner would be a television with various video game systems hooked up to it.
    Then heading back on to the elevator would bring you up to the top floor where Tim's office and bedroom are as well as my bedroom and another guest bedroom. The guest bedroom would be laid out like the one downstairs primarily. And Tim is still making decisions on his bedroom and office. My room would have a dresser in the walk in closet with clothes hanging on the other side of it. A Queen Bed facing the window so I could watch the stars at night and be woken up by the sun in the morning. Hanging on the walls would be the most personal pictures to me. There would be a nightstand next to the bed as well as a stand next to the bed for the laptop. And an empty nightstand on the other side of the bed for when that special someone comes into my life. Plus room for wherever she wanted to put her dresser.
    Well that is my house ideally as I picture it, and hopefully I will get most of it when I make enough money to buy a house someday. It's a long way of it seems but working on it. I'll get there I know I will. *Tips hat and walks out the door humming to himself.*

Story Time Friday: Johnny’s Everyday Adult Life

    This week's Story Time Friday Prompt is again a request from my counselor. She wants to know what Johnny's daily adult life would be like since he had the ideal parents. So for the first time ever on Story Time Friday we will have a sequel to a story. This should prove interesting in my eyes. So without further ado on with the show.

Prompt: What would Johnny's daily adult life be like after having the ideal parents growing up?

The Ideal Adult Life For A Writer Hopefully

    Johnny had been privileged growing up in that sense that he had had the ideal parents that any kid could have wished for. Now he was a college graduate and his parents expected him to go out on his own. Johnny was admittedly nervous, but his parents were there to guide him through it all. They helped him find a good paying job as an editor that allowed him time to write as well, so that he could pursue his dream of being an author while making a living for himself.

    Then after he had saved up enough they helped him get an apartment showing him what he needed to do. Which made it less intimidating for him. He got a nice but affordable place that let him have one separate space for working and one for sleeping. His parents also supplied him with some additional furniture to help fill out the place. Johnny liked it as a good start but knew it would morph over time as he personalized it. As well as made it the perfect work and company space and the same thought went through his head about the sleeping space.

    Johnny's routine changed a bit but not much with the new place. He got up early for work and got dressed though instead of school clothes it was now always in a suit. Then he would hop in the car his parents had helped him get when he was younger and drive to work, stopping along the way for a cup of coffee. Johnny was always right on time or a little early to work, and he would chat with coworkers as he came into work.

    Since it was still early in the morning he would look through the incoming manuscripts and see if there was anything that should be passed on up to his superiors to look at. Then as it got later into the morning he would check in with authors he had manuscripts out with and see if they had any questions or concerns. After that it was down to working on making edits to manuscripts he had on his desk that needed editing. He'd field calls and emails as they came in on his laptop and phone as the day went on. But overall he just worked on editing throughout the day, which ended around 5 PM.

    Usually there was nothing going on after work so he just packed up his laptop and headed home from work. Johnny would get home around 5:30 or 6 PM depending on traffic and flip on the news as he set his laptop up at his desk. Johnny would then grab a cup of juice as he looked at the empty spot on the counter where he was planning to put the coffee maker soon.

    Johnny then went back to his laptop that was booting up and got everything opened up that he needed for the night. Opening an email from the boss that said he had done a great job and could work from home tomorrow. Which was great for Johnny since it had been pay day that day. It would allow him to get some extra time for errands though he would still put in the time for work as always. Next Johnny went through his recipe notebook on his laptop to see what he wanted to make for dinner that night.

    Knowing he had a little extra time to sleep in the next day Johnny decided on a stew in the crockpot he had gotten from his mother. He pulled out the stew meat from the freezer and put it in some warm water. Then went to work chopping up the vegetables and herbs for the stew. He set them aside and went back to the computer to check his personal email while he waited for the stew meat to thaw out.

    He combed through the emails and deleted the junk keeping only those emails that were good or interested him and weren't in the junk mail folder. Before doing anything further Johnny checked on the stew meat, noting that it only needed a little longer before it was thawed enough for cooking. So he decided to read his email and then start cooking. The email gave Johnny some laughs and smiles as well as some news on favorite authors of his. Plus it let him get some free books for the kindle he had from his senior year in college.

    After email had been taken care of Johnny put the stew meat and vegetables as well as some water and the herbs into the crockpot and set it on high since he was hungry. Normally he would be willing to wait six hours for a stew to slow cook, but tonight he was in a bit of a rush to eat. Then he turned his attention back to the laptop and signed into Facebook. He took care of his notification on his page and his author page. Then started chatting with friends near and far seeing how their day had been.

    He chatted for a couple of hours pausing now and then to stir the stew. Working on his writing in between messages as he did so after the first half hour. He got a good thousand words or so in on one project that night. As the second hour came to a head he checked on the stew and could tell that it was done. So he used a gravy master packed and some corn starch to thicken it up before serving it up. He sat at a card table that served as his dining room table of sorts to eat dinner. Johnny was indeed hungry that need eating half the crockpot of stew before being full.

    He set the stew on a very low setting to keep it warm but not dry it out. Then put the dishes in the sink to soak for a half hour while he went back to working on the laptop. He checked his work email for anything urgent before going back to his writing. He checked his to do list and saw he was right on target for the day. Then made a note in his schedule to visit the local gaming store on Saturday, which was his day off.

    As he finished a paragraph he check on the soaking dishes, and seeing that they had soaked enough washed them. Since there were only a few he dried them as well and put them away. Until around 9 PM he works on his writing and chatting with friends then saves his work and closes it. Next up is his Wii time so that he gets a little exercise in. Tonight he is in an RPG mood, so goes for one of those games. Within a half hour he is starting to feel the burn from all the hacking and slashing.

    Finally at 10 PM he has no more left to give to the game and has to save and quit. He checks over Facebook one more time and then says goodnight to his friends before heading to the bathroom and drawing a nice hot bath. He soaks for most of an hour before cleaning up. After a nice long bath he heads for his bedroom changing into clean clothes for night time. Then he pulls out his Kindle and makes the updates he has to before choosing a book to read that night. Before he starts reading he takes his night time meds and then starts reading.

    As his eyes get heavy as he is reading he knows it is time for sleep. So he puts the Kindle on the charger, and turns the light off. And after a long day Johnny closes his eyes drifting off to sleep.

Throwback Thursday: The Dungeon

    Now I know that sounds ominous but it really isn't. It's just what I used to call my basement bedroom at my dad's place in my teenage years and preteen years. Would have been a better room if not so messy, but that was party my fault and partly those in charge of me for not making me pick it up. Though there was a bit of organization to the chaos I will admit. My music stuff was always organized for the most part. As were the books I was reading at the time, but not much else.

Probably if the couch had been taken out and a desk and bookshelf had been put in there it would have worked better. But I still made it work. Read on my bed, and worked at my word processor on top of my dresser at all hours of the night for the most part. Listening to sports talk radio and sports games of all kinds. What was I expecting for a radio signal down there in a basement after all other than AM Talk Radio.

I'd start out doing my homework around 5:30 PM and be done around 8. Then either read for a bit or go right into working on my writing. Just pounding away on those keys. Surprisingly I never got blisters from typing so much, and still never do. I'd work till I was hollered for to jump in the shower and then again till I was told I had to go to bed. Then fall asleep to the sports radio station. And wake up in the morning to my alarm.

In the afternoons I'd be down there blaring my music as loud as I could. Just jamming away. And typing away as well if I was inspired. Using my free time for my own purposes. But when 5:00 PM rolled around on went the sports radio since I had to keep it down and to reading I went before doing homework.

It was a pretty cozy room just needed a different set up to work better for me. I've never been the best at being organized though I have some sense of it in chaos to a degree. But working on improving being organized. Since I was so productive in "The Dungeon" it has made me want my office in my future house to be a basement one. I figure I'll get more work done that way. Then I'll have "The Dungeon 2". Though maybe this time I'll give it a view instead of a small rectangular window under a porch.

Don't get me wrong that was nice since it allowed me my privacy, but a view would be nice as well. I'm still not sure on which one to go with. But there will definitely not be any sports radio unless I'm listening to a game on the radio. Instead will be music to inspire me to write though not as loud as I would have played it in my younger days. But that is a bog post for another time, maybe later this week. We'll see. *Tips hat and walks out the door rubbing his chin thoughtfully.*

Wednesday In The Library: Me As A Reader

    I'm not sure if this will stick as a column but trying out new things this week to give you, my readers, more content. As well as some more insight into me. I figure most of you are readers so this might be a good piece to use for Wednesdays when it is hump day and just to discuss what we are reading. Me in the blog and you in the comments. I like book discussions a lot. Sometimes it even leads to me picking up a book I never would have before.

    Though as much as I like novels I'm always cruising through magazines looking for tid bits to use in stories and bits of knowledge to get my brain thinking. And I'm constantly finding fascinating things out. Some magazines I read for literature that just let me wander around too. I also read newspapers to keep up to date with what is going on in the world around me, because I think that is important. Plus it is a habit I developed as a kid. Every day at breakfast I would read the front page of each section and find out what was going on in the world and local news. I'll eventually get back to that someday.

    I never seem to have enough time to read everything I want to read, but I keep trying. Eventually I will be caught up or leave it to someone else to catch up for me. The kindle is a great asset to me letting me take my whole library with me everywhere I go, though there are times I just want the book itself in my hands. So I keep hard copies of all my reading material as best as I can around.

    I even read graphic novels and comics here and there, though I should do better at keeping up with the storylines. I'm slowly developing a reading schedule for myself though it isn't easy. But it might be the only way I get to read everything I want to and more in the time I can wrangle to read. I'm also part of three book clubs so you can see how this could be difficult on me.

Though I think audio books might be able to help sometimes as well. At least if you can multitask and sometimes they are fun to listen to after reading the book to hear how someone else interpreted it. Sort of like an audio movie for the books that don't get a movie. And to me it gives me a sense of what the older generation experienced with radio programs since those were like reading books over the radio.

That would be interesting on a side note though, a book radio station I mean. The closest I can come up with at the moment would be a podcast on books and/or the book we are reading in the book club I run. Or a mix of the two. Plus have to throw in a little writing in the mix as well. After all I'm a writer.

And that influences my reading choices as well. I'm always finding new ideas here and there. I like anthologies because they can sometimes me filling or sometimes only give you a taste of what you are after, and leave you wanting more. I've had a lot of short stories do that to me. But it is hard for them not to. They only have such a short space to tell there tale in, and there can be such a bigger tale to tell than the space allows for. But the writer tries to tell just one tale in that space anyways.

One poet I plan to read more of in the future is Maya Angelou. I heard a recording of one of her readings the other day, and it made me think. It also made me want to read more of her work. Another person that most people should here speak is Stephen King. He is witty and sarcastic but also wise. One of his books is the next in my book club's reading list as well.

Well my cup of coffee has run out, and I've started to ramble. So I will say I've enjoyed sharing my reading habits with you, and I think I'll try this column out for a while. Not sure what we will talk about next time, but isn't the surprise half the fun. *Tips hat and walks out the door whistling.*

Tuesday Insights: My Thoughts On This Valentine’s Day

    So I figured with Valentine's Day coming up I'd put my feelings down on the upcoming holiday along with my feelings on my love life and give you all a surprise entry as well. Unfortunately for me I'm single, which doesn't bode well for me on Valentine's Day. A holiday dedicated to couples. Being a romantic at heart I enjoyed the holiday as a teenager when I was in a relationship during the holiday, but being single makes the holiday depressing for me as well as making me vulnerable for getting into unhealthy relationships.

    Normally I can shrug off the fact that I'm single without a problem, but at times it gets to me. I get lonely like anyone else after all. Wanting someone to talk to about my hobbies and reading and career/schooling. As well as my writing. Among other things. Along with the physical touch of another human being. Plus it wouldn't be so bad to have a woman cook for me once in a while.

    I mean I like to cook and I have a few things I wouldn't mind experimenting with when I get the chance. But there is just something about a woman's touch to a meal that makes it special. And while I crave all that I would plan to bring my own fair share of talking points to any relationship as well as carrying my fair share of the chore load.

    Hell I know I'm not perfect with epilepsy and mental illness it is not easy to find someone. Plus being a big guy, makes it harder to find someone when people can be so superficial in my neck of the woods from what I've seen. But I keep looking and hoping to find that special someone, because I'm naturally optimistic. Plus a bit stubborn in general. I trust that fate has someone special in store for me.

    So while at this point Valentine's Day won't be romantic for me I will be spending it with a good friend, which makes it much less depressing. I'm lucky to have such good friends who can understand my depression and help me deal with it. Sometimes it does indeed suck having a heart that is so big. But it helps having friends you know you can depend on to be there to help you when you need it. And I do my best to be there for them in return when they need it. My friends are my family after all, and family takes care of family. It will always be that way for me.

    Whoever ends up with me will have to accept that, and I trust that they will be able to. I'm not sure this post will make much sense to everyone, but I hope it does. I also hope it gives you all some more insight into me on some level. As always feel free to ask any questions of leave any comments. *Tips hat and walks out the door shoulders slumped slightly.*

Monday Review: Pet Shop Boys

    It's the dreaded Monday folks and as promised we have a Monday Review today. It's another Kim Harrison story, but as always there is no disappointment here. I finished reading it just this week within days of getting it for just $0.99, which is a good price for any short story but a steal for this one.     

    We start out meeting Cooper a pet shop worker with a college degree who sticks around because he has a crush on the owner. But soon after meeting Cooper and getting to know him weird stuff starts happening in the shop. And it only gets weirder from there, but in a good way. Yes I'm being very vague deliberately not wanting to spoil any of it for you.

    Kim Harrison as always builds solid characters here that I could see evolving if given the chance. As well as the scenery. This seems like such a tease when you come to the end of it, but a good tease. It makes me hope she will pick this world back up again and give us more of it, so we can see where these characters might go in the future.

    Overall I like the slow build up to a bursting climax in this story. But the conclusion is too fast for me though it doesn't take away from the story. Maybe it is just my hunger for more after the climax that makes me not like the conclusion so much. Still I give it five out of five stars. *Tips hat and walks out the door in search of more good reading.*

Saturday Thoughts: It’s Been An Interesting Week

    So it's been a while since I wrote one of these. But I think it might become a regular column eventually for just letting my thoughts run loose at the end of the week. And this has been one interesting and productive week. Though I still have a few things to figure out for the upcoming week. I'm working on getting organized and on the ball but taking a little more work than I anticipated so bear with me please. I do appreciate all the patience you are showing me I really do. It has helped me grow so much since this blog first went up.

    There will be a Monday Review next week. This one will be of a short story by Kim Harrison I just finished today before starting on this blog entry. There will also be a Story Time Friday next week as well, where we find out about Johnny's adult life on a daily basis. I'm also planning to revamp the Wednesday Column into something else since my cleaning habit have a long way to go still. And in general I'm revamping my whole schedule in the next few weeks. I'm not sure what it will look like in the end but we will see.

    I'm going to try and put myself in high gear before spring gets here, so I can ride that wave of energy through to next winter. I know it won't be easy but I'm going to try still. My two chairs have arrived and are in place now. I'll be utilizing them next week as well. So you will be hearing from me from my desk and I will be reading in my reading chair. I expect my back to rebel at first, but I'm committed to doing this for better work habits. I'll post pictures sometime next week once I get my desk in order. I still need a new mail sorter to complete my desk, but overall the office is complete.

    I'm working on two big projects I hope to have out either later this year or early next year. I'm also in the early stages of drafting a magazine for all of you who like to read stories in magazines and miss those types of magazines. I'll keep you posted on all of those and more in the coming weeks and months.

    On the cleaning front I'm slowly falling into routine with cleaning my room/office, but it is taking time to get to where I want it to be. I still have to work on the dishes more as well as the kitchen as a whole. I see the light at the end of the tunnel on the cleaning journey it just seems so far away sometimes. But I'll keep working at it.

    Lastly I plan to put more me time into my schedule when I revamp it so that it is balanced better than this last one was. Plus it might be a good idea to rename this column Saturday Ramble. Let me know what you think. I also want to thank everyone for all the helpful advice they have given over the months this blog has been up and running, and to let them know it has been helping. For now I better get back to working on some of those projects I mentioned. *Tips hat and walks out the door with a skip in his step.*