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Sunday, August 5, 2007

Carl's Jr. Commercials - Love 'em or Hate 'em?

Okay, I have to say that I simply cannot STAND Carl's Jr. commercials. Perhaps it's because I'm sensitive to people chewing loudly, and food dripping everywhere. I actually have to change the channel! Now the new commercials with the guys licking the outside of a shake cup... not to be rude (as Simon Cowell would say), but I'm shaking my head. It's obnoxious and makes me NOT want to eat there.

I'm sure they must be effective, and the fact that I'm even blogging about the commercials is probably one of the reasons they make commercials like this... am I the only one bothered by the loud sounding obnoxious crunching munching sounds? I know I can't be the only one.

I hope Carl's Jr will take note and change their campaign. :-)
(Thanks for listening to my latest rant...)

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Getting Back to Writing

Well, I've finally decided to take the time off from working to finish my book. I've been thinking about how to transition from the business and logical thinking required with work, and the creativity and inspiration which is necessary for writing.

It has been difficult for me to switch between the two sides, and thus I have put off my writing. However, I've gotten to the point where I feel such a need to finalize my first book, I'm trying to get rid of distractions and take time away from my routine in order to write.

Does anyone else have this problem -- probably -- and there are probably many solutions which would make it possible for me to do both. But I've not yet found that solution, so I'm thankful I can get back to writing for at least a little while.

Friday, June 8, 2007

New Publishing Company

For those of you interested in getting published -- there is a new publishing company called Meridian Publishing that will allow you to have a contract and they will print books on demand. It's a very exciting concept. I know the publishers and am happy to recommend them and this business model to any aspiring author. Check it out.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Dreams

"The key is to have a dream that inspires us to go beyond our limits." Robert Kriegel

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Dave Barry "16 Things I've Learned"

Dave BarryImage via Wikipedia
I thought this was good and you might enjoy it.

By: Dave Barry, Nationally Syndicated Columnist

1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

2. If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will, its full potential, that word would be "meetings."

3. There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."

4. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.

5. You should not confuse your career with your life.

6. Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance. (This one is very important.)

7. Never lick a steak knife.

8. The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.

9. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.

10. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.

11. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age 11.

12. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers.

13. A person, who is nice to you, but rude to a waiter, is not a nice person. (This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.)

14. Your friends love you anyway.

15. Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

16. Thought for the day: Men are like fine wine . . . They start out as grapes; and it's up to the women to stomp the crap out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.

Dave Barry Books













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Friday, March 23, 2007

Lost - Why I love it so!

This week's episode of Lost reminded me why I love it so much. It keeps you guessing! That's pretty rare for me -- since during movies sometimes I'll even say the lines in my head before I know what they are -- and most of the time I'm right. But with this show -- some things I just don't see coming.

Okay, I admit I knew that when John opened the door -- his dad would be inside. But last week I predicted that the reason John was in the wheelchair was because he had killed his dad or something like that -- not that his dad pushed him out a window. (nice dad huh).

But I do have a hard time believe that John's dad seems so much younger -- they seem about the same age to me -- oh well.

Blowing up the submarine was so dumb -- it's like shooting yourself in the foot because you're afraid you're going to shoot yourself in the leg -- let's hurt ourselves so we don't get hurt later -- or something like that.

This week I also had hopes again that Kate and Jack will get together. I hope the "other" girl won't get in the way.

So, kudos to the brilliant writers of Lost -- to the great actors -- and to everyone who makes it a pleasure to watch!

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

American Idol Blog

If you want to read my thoughts about American Idol, check out my American Idol Blog. I can't believe what happened tonight!

Friday, March 16, 2007

Keeping Track of Writing Ideas

I've tried several systems in the past to keep track of all of my writing ideas -- I've gone from 3x5 cards, to my planner, to notebooks full of thoughts, to emailing myself, to tracking everything in Word documents, to Folio software. But haven't found anything that really works the best. I end up having ideas all over the place.

Do any of you writers out there have a good system to keep track of your writing ideas?

Thursday, March 1, 2007

New American Idol Blog

Okay - I've created a website just for American Idol and would like to invite all of you to come and contribute. I'd love to hear your thoughts about the contestants and performances. It's called My American Idol Blog.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Book Review: 5 Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me

Richard Paul Evans is best known for his writing of "The Christmas Box" and founding The Christmas Box House - a charity which helps abused children. But his 5 Lessons books is the highest seller financial book at Costco (outselling even Oprah picks) and is the Business Book of the Month for February.

Here are my notes from a lecture he gave about his new book "Five Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me"

1. Decide to be wealthy!

Don't conform to the masses -- those who have little. If you're going to conform, find a millionaire and conform to what they are doing. Imagine what the world would be like if only the bad people had money. Money is not evil. There is much good that we can do if we have money. Think about the parable of the Good Samaritan -- he was only able to help because he had the means to pay for the care of the injured man. How many of us could do that?

The first step to having wealth -- is to deal with your own beliefs and feelings about money.

2. Take responsibility for your money.

Know your net worth -- there is a free financial calculator at TheFiveLessons.com where you can figure out your net worth. Know where your money is coming from. Know where your money is going. Know what your money is doing -- find ways to have your money work FOR you.)

3. Keep a portion of everything you earn.

"The Richest Man in Babylon" a book by George Clason taught this principle. Keep a minimum of 10-15% of everything you earn. Create a nest egg for yourself.

4. Win in the Margins.

The successful wealth builder finds additional ways to build their nest egg. You will find what you look for -- so look for ways to earn more money. Keep trying -- eventually you'll get it right. Carefully consider each expenditure -- "Do I really want it? What am I appeasing?" Use the phrase "Is that the best you can do?" -- save money on shopping and then any money you've saved add to your nest egg.

"Freedom and Power are better than Momentary Pleasure"

5. Give back

That is the fun of having money -- being able to serve and change lives -- to help those who cannot help themselves -- to make a difference in the world.

Friday, February 9, 2007

Writing Contest - Deadline May 1, 2007

If you have a self-published book, Writer's Digest is looking for the best self-published book from the past several years. You can win $3,000 in cash, get national exposure for your book and get the attention of prospective publishers and editors.

CATEGORIES:
Mainstream/Literary Fiction
Genre Fiction
Nonfiction
Inspirational (Spiritual, New Age)
Life Stories (Biographies, Autobiographies, Family Histories, Memoirs)
Children's Picture books
Middle-Grade/Young Adult books
Reference Books (Directories, Encyclopedias, Guide Books)
Poetry

ENTRY DEADLINE: Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Enter Writing Contest

Penguin Books - Launches First Wiki Novel

Penguin Books has launched the first web-based wiki novel -- a collaborative novel which can be edited, written or read by anyone online. Using wiki software, this novel should be interesting. It's an experiment of sorts.

The novel will be entitled "A Million Penguins" and is available at www.amillionpenguins.com. It should be a very unique novel with many voices. Hopefully writers who contribute will do so for the purpose of creating a great novel, rather than just messing around.

Although there are no plans to publish the finished book -- if it gets as much publicity as expected, certainly all of the individual authors of the book would want to purchase a copy, so it would be worth publishing. Of course, that depends upon the experiment being a success.