I have been hard at work in updating and creating many of the subpages located here. The Space Pages are finally complete! Only took about 20 years to finally complete the Skylab and Soyuz pages along with checking and double checking and triple checking the links. I also updated the main menu links to include the new pages, the last Godzilla movie and more Video Game pages/links. I spent a long time going through the game images and the space programs that my eyes are crossed! I hope that anyone that comes across my pages learn something new.
In other news, I am still struggling with finding the motivation to write. I found an interesting article stating that I should change writing locations. I found that notion to be intriguing. My “office” is in my basement and it is also where I do my normal 9-5 job. In my mind it is where I am supposed to work and not write. It is also dark, as in zero sunlight. I think I need to start taking some vitamin D and find a new location to write. My recliner is the next location but the TV is the main distraction. I think I need to go to the library at least twice a week and spend a minimum of 2 hours writing. That should get me back on track. I’ll keep you all posted.
I have been hard at work doing some updates to the site. Take a look at the menu bar and you’ll see the new Iron Maiden and Video Game tabs. I have created a singular Iron Maiden page that uses the album covers as wallpaper, created in Adobe Photoshop by yours truly!
The Video Games tab/page will house a plethora of NES, SNES, GB, GBC, and GBA game maps and strategies for my favorite and most often played games. I decided to create this page out of desperation. I am tired of having to search through menus and flashing frames of stupid insipid ads that clog up my data connection for a simple PNG or JPG file that will show me where the next heart piece is!
Yeah it makes me sound old and crotchety, but darn it! When I am camping or up at my cabin, where the internet is still on dial-up, and I need to find the next energy tank, or heart piece, or Lego brick, this is now the place to go!
That’s all for now and I am hoping to keep this up!
All Hallow’s Eve. Samhain. Halloween. The time of year that has always sparked an interest in the occult in me. My home is decorated in skeletons and spider webs. My yard has become a cemetery with a ghoul or ghost lurking about. The walk up has become a who’s who of cinematic serial killers, from Chucky, to Freddy, and Jason Voorhees to Michael Myers. With a slightly over-weight Werewolf thrown in to scare the kiddies. My days and nights filled with viewings of the original Universal monsters Frankenstein and Dracula or The Invisible Man and the Creature from the Black Lagoon.
Halloween 2006Halloween 2021
These last couple of years has been different. I have found the allure of Halloween to be waning. I’m not sure if it is my age or health, both of which are just fine, by the way. I am thinking that my interests have finally matured beyond childish scares and spooks.
My children are in their teens and they have all but stopped going door to door begging for treats. My son has taken over as the Werewolf this year after previous years of insisting that I don the fur once more. They have even taken on the role of decorating the outside of the house! A job that had originated with me has been passed down to them. ‘Bout time! They have even started talking about which decorations they each want when they move out.
Maybe that’s it. Maybe I am dreading the day that my kids will no longer join in my fun at jumping out at the kids and getting the screams and squeals to echo in the neighborhood. My daughter loves to decorate, but has always shied away from the scaring. She would much prefer to go hang with her friends than her old man dressed in a dumb old costume scaring kids. Not that I blame her. It’s cold and sometimes rainy on Halloween Night. I dread the weather.
But you know, when the clock strikes 6pm on Halloween night and I hear the laughter and voices echoing in the neighborhood something seems to awaken. My son asked if I wanted to pass out candy with him.
Well, I can finally give an update on my writing progress. I’ve decided to abandon Scrivener, for now, and go back to my Word document. I had to make the chance because it was just too hard to start in the middle of a trilogy and try to put in all the back logged data and history of the characters and locations, then try to move forward. I am planning on trying it again when I start my D&D inspired series.
Home Sweet Home update: After ditching Scrivener and diving back into the world of Jake Hawkins, I have continued fleshing out the story and it will be another journey. One of discovery for the main character and one of desire to flee the more populated areas in Southeastern Michigan.
Many of my scouts have asked to be in the last book. So I am now working on creating new and interesting characters based on my scouts. I have asked them if it is okay that they don’t survive the book, and many have said yeah! Kill ’em off! That helps me SO much!
In other news, we are getting a new garage door this week! Whoo hoo! Except for the cleaning part. That sucks. It may give me a chance to clear out some space for this winter’s wood working projects.
Hello Iron Maiden fans! The last album for my collection finally arrived! The Final Frontier, released in 2010, then remastered in 2015 and was their last studio album until the 2021 release of Senjutsu, which I also have. I couldn’t wait to listen to it. Then I did.
The Final Frontier
I have pretty much loved everything else by Iron Maiden and was excited by this latest offering. I slapped that CD in and quickly ripped it to my iBroadcast library. As soon as it was done I hit play. I can honestly say that I wasn’t disappointed, but I wasn’t blown away either.
Is it fair to compare this to Powerslave or Number of the Beast or Somewhere in Time? Absolutely not. I have tried to give each album a fair shake. Are there any good songs on it? Sure there is, but none really jump out to me. Does it sound like Iron Maiden? Yeah and no. See, to me it sounds like they are going through the motions. Is age finally catching up to them? Hell no! Senjutsu has so many great tracks, but this one, well…
I am grateful that I have this album in my collection, not just because it completes the set, but because it came from Germany and is a true import. Just like Iron Maiden themselves!
Good afternoon faithful reader! I come to you on my knees, groveling for forgiveness. My struggles with finding the muse to write is overwhelming me. I know that I have to get back to Book 3 and I am stuck on trying to sell my paperback copies and incessantly checking Amazon reviews for positive feedback. I am getting it, but still.
Please forgive me for not writing and getting back into the groove. My eye is feeling much better. The swelling is gone and my vision has somewhat normalized which eliminates that excuse. I feel that I will need to take a step back from Scrivener and go back to my trusty MS-Word doc.
I have to go up north this weekend to my cabin and rebuild the well house/box before winter. The old wooden siding is rotten along with the box frame. I am planning on replacing as much as I can with pressure treated lumber and composite materials. Wish me luck as I tend to injure myself when I use tools.
My infatuation/obsession with Iron Maiden is slowing starting to diminish. I have all but one of their studio albums, Final Frontier (it’s on its way!) and I am waiting on their second Greatest Hits album. In the meantime I have been binging on their discography and I am LOVING IT! Most of their tracks are awesome and catchy but I am finding myself gravitating towards their more popular hits, such as Run To The Hills, The Trooper, Powerslave, Fear of the Dark, Wasted Years, Flight of Icarus, The Clansman, and of course, Iron Maiden! Here is the latest album on my playlist:
Good day, faithful reader! Today’s blog entry is all about my wife and how great she is to me and our family, *all names are withheld to protect the innocent*.
Today is fairly close to her “~40+”th (*age not specified to protect me!) birthday and she is just as beautiful today as the day I married her. She has accomplished so much in her life that I could not more proud of her.
We have been together 24 years and married for 21. We went to high school together, but didn’t start dating until after she graduated. She has a knack for making me laugh and I adore her for it.
She has blessed us with two beautiful children and helped to raise them into two decent members of society. She has helped to maintain our home for many years and without her our home would crumble.
I can’t express how much I love her and her light in my world. She supports us and helps us and loves us even though my kids and I can be a serious handful.
Good afternoon faithful reader. Just a quick word on the website updates. I have uploaded the new Book, Movies, Music, Video Game and Train databases to the site. I have a sneaky feeling that I will be working on created a true database system for all them plus Godzilla, and Camping Trips! I need to start learning about DB’s again!
My Iron Maiden obsession has continued to grow. I am now only missing two of their studio released albums. 16 of 18 albums! I am thinking of getting a few of their live albums and even the second Greatest Hits album. It’s a sickness! But they are so good and the music is great! Here are the two latest albums added to my collection and playlists!
Killers – 1981
No Prayer For The Dying – 1990
On a more personal note, I have just had a crown “corrected”. Some of the more faithful readers may remember my troubles back in August in regards to a botched root canal. Well, the repairs have begun.
Book 3 has stalled. I got caught up in trying to use Scrivener for Book 3 and it seems that it is giving me an excuse to not write. I think I need to go back to my Word docs and just get it done. Then when the dust settles, I can jump back in to it and use it for the Adventure novels.
On the scout front, I just completed the 2nd Chief Pontiac Trail! 10.5 miles of hiking with a 40lb pack and 2 nights of camping followed with 6.5 miles of canoeing! I gotta tell ya, that I was more afraid of the first hike than this one even though I was carrying FAR more weight! I fell only once, going up hill. In all fairness and with full disclosure, the ground crumbled beneath my feet and I only fell to a knee and hand.
Over all the trip was a success! The 5 scouts and 4 adults had a ball and we are now looking forward to January and completing the last leg, which is a winter hike! I’ve been hesitant because of the snow and coldness and extra gear, but the hike/trail coordinator mentioned utilizing a sled to carry the gear and we drag it behind us! I had not thought of that! I’m stoked for the winter trek now!
Well that’s it for now. It has been a busy week and I hope you’ll check back next week for the next great installment in my dull life!
We stepped off on our hike the morning of September 18, 2021, at 8:30am. Alec Vella spotted a toad and picked it up. It pooped on him, and his demeanor changed from happy to sad. After we crossed South Hill Road, we found a stump that Troy called the Toilet Tree! It was cut in such a way that it looked like the lid was up and there was a rotted hole for the bottom of the toilet! We encountered some heavily overgrown spots and Troy turned to tell us about some small stumps in the path and he fell down. He scratched his leg and bumped his head but was all good.
Right around the 4 mile mark the scouts spotted an orb weaver web that was illuminated by the sun. It was beautiful. Shortly after that we were climbing up a hill where the path was washed out. The ground kept crumbling under my feet and no matter how much I scrambled and stumbled I fell down, going uphill. We caught up to the group ahead of us and enjoyed a short picture break at the railroad tracks. We took a lunch break at the Proud Lake Equestrian Trail Staging Area. While there I met with another adult hiker and spoke about seeing the ISS, the moon and two planets (Jupiter and Saturn).
When we finished the hike at the Proud Lake boat launch and when we dropped our packs to put the canoes in the water, it felt like our inner balance was mis-calibrated. The adults agreed that it felt like stepping off a treadmill and feeling like you’re still going! Jacob Elbode and I paired up and put in and led the way across Proud Lake and Moss Lake all the way to the first portage spot! There were a lot of people out on the river, and it was nice to see people. We made it to our camp, the Upper Pines, just before 5pm. Almost 6 hours of hiking and an hour of canoeing, with small breaks and we are done with day 1!
Day 2:
We pushed off at approximately 9:45am. I sat on my tent for cushioning, and it was nice! Jacob and I continued as canoeing buddies and we had some pretty heady conversations along the river. We talked about what I was like at his age (17) and what his plans are for after high school. He asked me about my college years and we talked about his future. I enjoyed the time spent with him.
We floated under North Main Street and saw many classic cars parked above us. Shortly after that we came across a bag floating in the river. We practiced some aquatic conservation and picked up an almost full bag of Jalapeno Doritos! We also saw two dead deer floating in the river. Yuck!
The portage at Hubble Pond was a harrowing experience! The water was disgusting and full of scum and the stairs were pretty high up. I feared throwing my back out when lifting the canoe, with our loaded packs up onto the rollers. Once we had it up the steps, across the path, and down the other side, I felt relief. We put back in and took pictures of the waterfall/dam. The rest of the trip went smooth and this was a wonderful adventure and I am very happy to have completed it!
Joshua Thomas- 2021-58C – Troop 211 –Michigan Crossroads – Council Chippewa District – Age, 46 – Assistant Scoutmaster – #4184
Hello faithful reader! Well, as things have been going, I have not been faithful to you. You see, as much as I want to write, it is difficult for me to focus on the words. Not because of any attention deficit issue, but because of my vision issue. I am still battling the, now safely identified, Chalazion. Yeah. Another one. This time in the center of my right eye lid and it distorts my vision such that I cannot see the letters clearly. It is highly irritating.
But Josh, you say, how is that you are writing this blog? Surely you can keep writing Book 3? Well, yes. But I am struggling to write just this. The letters are blurred and doubled and I have to look away frequently. *sigh….
In other news, I am still excited about learning and listening to Iron Maiden! What a fascinating band and amazing music! I wish I had listened to them years ago! They are not played on any mainstream radio stations here in the States and that may be due to the length of their tracks. MANY are over the 3 minute mark. Now to be fair, some stations do play the 7+ minute Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, so there may be hope yet. I may try to contact our local heavy metal station and ask why. Another thought for another day.
Somewhere Back In Time – Greatest Hits
Currently jamming to this awesome album! IRON MAIDEN ROCKS!
This site is undergoing some changes as well. I am adding some database pages to that I can view which books, music, Movies, LEGO’s, Lionel Train ornaments and Video Games while away from home. I have a simple one for my Music, and one for my Books. I may be changing the layouts and views as they grow and mature. Stay tuned and feel free to ask me about anything you find in them!
Book 2 sales are not what I had hoped they would be. I think it may be due to the fact the first book had an ad campaign supplied by Amazon when it was released. I may have to run another ad campaign for this one. Once again, *sigh.
Good day faithful reader. As you can probably surmise from the title, there is a lot to talk about today. Well, on with the show!
On my last vacation I had some really good conversations with my brother-in-law and his best friend. They are massive fans of heavy metal/hard rock music and have recommended Iron Maiden to me. All I can say is this: Holy Crap! Where have I been? I must have been hiding under a rock and listening to Metallica and Ozzy all my life! Oh wait! I have! To make a long story short, I am now the proud owner of 5 of their albums and am working on getting more. I am familiar with a couple of their songs via the Guitar Hero games, but because they were extremely hard I shied away. Well not anymore!
It was my birthday this past weekend and we celebrated as usual. I am grateful that my beautiful wife made me a cake and celebrated the anniversary of my birth! Since I am on the high end of my 40’s and 50 is in sight, I am grateful and humbled to have her in my life. Love you!
Update on my eye issues: Still freaking screwed up. I finally gave up and made an appointment with my Ophthalmologist and he was able to determine that I have ANOTHER chalazion! WTF! Well, I am back on a special ointment to put in at night and I have ANOTHER surgery is my future, but not until the end of the month! Effin-great.
Well, it’s been almost a week since New Homestead was released to the world. I have sold a whopping 5 paperbacks and 32 eBooks. Not great, but you know what? I’m not doing it for the monetary gain, but for the fun of it. So much so that I am getting geared up for a fantasy series that is a combination of Legend of Zelda, Dungeons & Dragons, Lord of the Rings and the comic series of Infinity Gauntlet! But before I get started on that I need to keep working on Home Sweet Home. Due out next September! That’s right sports fans, I have set a rough date of September 2022 to release the final installment of the Hawkins Family Trilogy. It’s shaping up to be another traveling/journey story.
Well howdy and hello to you fellow readers. My best well wishes and heartfelt blessings be upon you. Now, with that out of the way, I humbly ask for the same in return! I have been dealing with an almost unbearable painful and irritating issue with my right eye. My GP says that it could be a stye or an infection. Regardless of the underlying cause, they have prescribed me some antibiotics which are tearing me up! Thank goodness for modern medicine an all, but holy hell Batman!
On to better and brighter things. My birthday is fast approaching and I am looking forward to this year for the simple fact that New Homestead will be released on that day! Screw the birthday, it’s another day on the calendar and marks me growing another year older. Whoopdee-do. No parties. No fun to be had.
Book 3 is stalled. Since my eyesight is effed-up, I haven’t been into book 3 very much. Also I was looking at using Scrivener as a writing tool and I am slowly working my way through the tutorial. I am still excited about it, and it will be written. I’ve set a deadline to publish it on Sept 4th, 2022. I’ve set a theme for publishing the Hawkins Trilogy. Maybe I’ll set a different date for the fantasy series I’m planning.
Well sports fans, here is the link to New Homestead, Book 2 in the Hawkins Family Trilogy:
My daily journal project is barreling along, not as nicely as I had hoped, but moving forward. I am struggling with maintaining it and keeping it current. I am drawn to making it electronic, since I will have my phone and tablet nearby, but that is a HUGE project. Maybe this fall. We’ll see.
Book 3 is in progress and in flight! I have already started plotting out the final adventure for the Hawkins family and it is shaping up to be a whopper of an adventure. The book picks up where the last left off, Jake is injured, Tank has survived but has nowhere to go. They encounter, radiated snowfall, a cannibalistic preacher and his flock, and a marauding gang led by Tank all while they try to find their Home Sweet Home!
In addition to all of this, my other novel, Uprising – A zombie survival story that has been plotted, is ready for writing AND I am chomping at the bit to jump back into my fantasy novel. I have some grand ideas to make it a series of short novels, 200-300 pages, and each one delves into a dungeon/temple/cave to retrieve an item of power that grants the user something….Yeah. Good idea, but need to flesh it out more!
I did it everybody! I finished the manuscript for New Homestead and sent it off to the proof/beta readers. I also received the final cover art from my good friends wife. She did an awesome job, and I am super pumped!
In my excitement I uploaded the manuscript to Amazon and it will be released on Sept. 4th, my birthday, 2 years after Book 1 was released. I am going to try and stay away from any reviews, and start work on Book 3, the final in the trilogy. I’ve already started brainstorming some scenes and I will make sure that it isn’t as long as Book 2. It clocked in at 471 pages! Book 1 was only 327 pages!
So Book 3, Home Sweet Home is in the early development stages. I have my zombie survival story, Uprising, percolating on the back burner. Then in the on deck circle is my fantasy novel that I had a great thought about. I had planned another sweeping trilogy, but I may just write a 5-6 novel, 300 pages or less series on that one. Still thinking on this one.
In addition to all of the above, my creative writing course has me completing daily writing prompts, 10 minutes each. Some of these have been really good and I may develop them further into a collection of short stories!
Good afternoon faithful friends! I am currently vacationing in Silver Lake, Michigan with my wife and her family. Pray for me. We are here with my kids and in laws celebrating our 21st wedding anniversary! 25 years together. A quarter of a century. Holy Moly!
We have been here many times and I am using this time to recharge my batteries and focus on getting into some better habits. For a detailed rundown of our trip, head on over to the Camping page located here: http://huaiwarp.com/Camping/Trips/TripsPage06.html
We had a blast and I thoroughly enjoyed this trip compared to some others we’ve been having. From the laid back days to going shooting and then soaking up the beach and waves! Ah good times!
The other main focus of my trip was to buckle down and get the 2nd and 3rd parts of Book 2 edited and completed. I can say definitively that I have finished Part 2 and half of Part 3! I am so stoked that the end is finally in sight! Time to start thinking about the cover art.
Good afternoon loyal reader(s). I have been busy editing New Homestead, the 2nd book in the Hawkins Family Survival Series. I am at one third of the way done, but I know it will speed up as I go through. The first half of the book is where I need to really clean up the characters and backstories. I have a hard and fast deadline and I need to get the first part out to my beta readers ASAP!
To help me in my writing journey, my employer has a training site. Like most employers, there are courses that are specific to my field of work. But unlike most employers, I have access to 1000’s of other training courses. Training courses like Creative Writing!! I am so pumped! I started the course last week and I am almost half way through! I have daily 10 minute creative writing journal entries and a smattering of assignments! The worst assignment so far, hands down, has been the 55-word story.
IT SUCKS!
It is so hard for me to convey enough information, dialogue and description in only 55 words! I did it, though. I may put them on this site for people to discover, read, and laugh at. It won’t hurt my feelings since I’ll be wallowing in my self-pity that it won’t matter. Nah Psych! or is it Sike? Not really sure about that now or back in the 80’s when we used to say it.
I have also started a formidable, analog, nigh un-crackable process of utilizing a day planner for my daily habits and to-do’s. I talked about it in last weeks blog entry. It is fun, and keeping me on track and off of YouTube a lot less than I was. I have even started to become more productive at work too! Weird!
The last topic for today is my drive to learn a second language. I have over the years attempted to learn Deutch/German. I tried using my wife’s German text books and they helped, with no accountability. I tried some audio courses to listen to when traveling to and from work. Not so great. I even found an old Win95 program to learn German and it was awesome, but seriously outdated. Until I found Duolingo several years ago. I started using the app and found it to be AWESOME! I used it for a whole year straight and was getting pretty good at reading and hearing/translating German. Not so good speaking it. Well, I have redoubled my efforts and am giving another go. So far, I am on day 10 and rocking and rolling!
Good day to you faithful readers. This weeks post is brought to you by our advertisers, No One! Yeah. My mind has been all over the place lately and I’ll give you one guess as to where it hasn’t been. That’s right! In New Homestead. The editing process has stalled and I need to light a fire under my own ass to get it done and out to my beta readers.
The trouble is I keep finding other things to distract me! Curse you YouTube!! I have decided to roll back the clock and climb into my way back machine to dig out my old day planner. I watched a video by a wonderful creator and author, Jenna Moreci on YouTube. In one video she described using a day planner to organize her life. I think I’m gonna give it a try.
Using Excel, I made my own planner sheets and starting August 1st, I will be planning out my life, week by week. Sounds boring, but if I leave it up to chance and feeling, then I ain’t getting shit done. Plain and simple.
Upside: I am looking forward to planning out my days and weeks and getting into a strict and organized schedule.
Downside: My brain is already hatching a plan to turn my hard copy planner into a series of webpages to use on my tablet. The iPad is a source of distraction, as is my phone (when it isn’t playing music). I need to curb my usage of the technical devices, except my laptop when writing.
In other news, I have had my second appointment for my root canal and I can say with out a doubt, that my Endodontist, Dr. Thomas Vokel, is a genius! Three injections of lidocaine and 15 minutes later, I am out of the chair and on my way! No pain later on either! Now to wait for my regular dentist to call to setup the appointment to REPLACE my eff’d up crown!
Hello loyal readers and fans of my blog. I have been hard at work, ya right, on editing Book 2 of the Hawkins Family Series, New Homestead. It is a slog fest. I am working hard on cleaning up the dialogue and clarifying some scenes. Apparently I had some pretty grandiose ideas about the characters in the beginning. Due to pacing and time constraints I am eliminating most of them. I have to pare down the amount of named characters and pump up the action sequences. I also have been fixing the backstories of the villains! Yeah, I was writing them as tragic people with hard and difficult pasts, but all I really wanted to do was make them assholes! Being in the headspace of your hero and then writing about his adversary is not a good place to be!
Hello loyal readers! I have some great news. Today, I finished the first draft of New Homestead, Book 2 in the Hawkins Family Trilogy! I can’t tell you how good it makes me feel that I finally finished the bulk of the novel.
Right now it clocks in at 434 pages and ~87k words. I am now working on the and I am sure that those numbers will be changed once completed. I am hoping to have the done by this weekend and off to my beta-readers. With any luck I’ll have it ready for publication on time!
Happy 4th of July to the rest of our Colonial Rebellion Revolutionaries! If it wasn’t for our American ancestors rising up against an oppressive government we would have the rights that we are fighting for today! Drink up all the tea and beer you can! Light off all of the fireworks the D-government will allow! I’m a bit angry, can you tell?
Tooth update: Not too bad today, still sore, and only taking 800mg of Ibuprofen every 6-8hrs. I had been alternating with Acetaminophen every 4 hours. Jaw still freaking hurts like I got kicked by a horse, and I know from experience what that feels like!
Camping is going pretty good. The drive was beautiful and easy. The sites at this campground suck! They are too small for today’s campers with all of the slide outs and such. The campground owner blames the camper manufacturers for making them too big to fit the older campgrounds. Hey lady? How bout you redesign your campground and you just might get more visitors!!
Read the camping journal for the River RV Park located on the Camping pages for more of our journey!
