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About This Author
I am SoCalScribe. This is my InkSpot.
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Blogocentric Formulations
Logocentric (adj). Regarding words and language as a fundamental expression of an external reality (especially applied as a negative term to traditional Western thought by postmodernist critics).
Sometimes I just write whatever I feel like. Other times I respond to prompts, many taken from the following places:
Thanks for stopping by! 
December 25, 2009 at 3:05pm December 25, 2009 at 3:05pm
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Just wanted to send a quick note to wish everyone on WDC happy holidays! (BTW, I'm blogging on my new iPhone using WDC Mobile, and it's fantastic! So far I've read and responded to email, updated a forum, read a few items, donated GPs to an auction... And now blogged! As much as I miss having a blackberry and its email capability, WDC Mobile is almost reason enough to switch. 
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December 18, 2009 at 9:40pm December 18, 2009 at 9:40pm
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So I'm switching my cell service over from Verizon to AT&T. As much as I love Verizon, my wife got an iPhone a couple months ago, and with my phone on Verizon, we've been paying for it (literally) both in terms of burning through minutes and monthly fees. Since my contract is up, I'm going to transfer over to an AT&T family plan with her.
But the real question is, do I get a Blackberry or an iPhone?
I've had a Blackberry for years, and I love 'em. I'm usually on the go, so having instant access to e-mail and my contacts and calendar is great. On the other hand, the web browsing and apps for the iPhone are equally appealing, since browsing on a Blackberry is weak. Anyone have an iPhone and/or a Blackberry Bold? If so, how do you like it?
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December 17, 2009 at 6:36pm December 17, 2009 at 6:36pm
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Last night, I was scouring the bookshelves at home for something to read, and I came to realize that I'm actually mid-way through not one, not two... but three different books! How that happened, I have no idea, but now I'm committed to finishing all three of them over the winter break and starting 2010 with a clean slate, from a literary standpoint. The problem is, which one should I read first? I'm about 1/3 of the way through each of Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer, Inca Gold by Clive Cussler, and The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie. I'm thinking Eclipse first just because the other two are paperbacks and will therefore be easier to lug around on my holiday travels... but does anyone want to weigh in? |
December 14, 2009 at 1:56am December 14, 2009 at 1:56am
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Right now, I'm watching the Christmas at the White House, Oprah's holiday special on ABC. Despite my usual policy of not watching or listening to Oprah, I got sucked into it since my wife wanted to watch. Despite what is thought about President Obama's effectiveness and policies since taking office in January, I have to admit that they've brought a certain dignity back to the presidency. The Bush Administration (again, without trying to get into a political policy debate) had a standoffish feel to it and was marred by a president with countless bloopers, blunders, and bungles in everything from press conferences to casual conversations.
What I'm grateful for this year is a President that people can look up to again. Obama (and his wife) are well-educated, well-spoken, and seem to have a desire for at least some level of transparency and interaction with the public. It's nice to have someone in office who isn't seen as a punchline and who inspires people to achieve great things. Only time will tell whether his policies - and therefore his presidency - are worth remembering... but for now, I'm content to have our country led by someone who inspires people to try harder and achieve more.
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December 12, 2009 at 9:35am December 12, 2009 at 9:35am
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Today is my mentor's (and good friend's) birthday. Oddly enough, we we're born only a day (and quite a few years) apart.  I can safely say that up until this point in my career (my executive career in the entertainment industry, not my writing career), everything I know has either been directly from him, or as the result of his encouragement and guidance to learn it for myself. Starting a few years ago, when I was his assistant, I didn't have a lot of money - and he doesn't like to make a big deal about his birthday - so I made him a simple birthday cake from scratch to thank him for everything. Well, it wasn't really so simple... it was a dark chocolate brownie cake with raspberry jam filling and double-chocolate frosting...
But over the years, even as I've made more money and we've both moved on to different jobs, it's become a tradition that I make some kind of homemade birthday cake for his birthday. Last year, I surprised him at his office on one of the movie studio lots with a white chocolate fudge cake... and this year I'm going to continue the tradition. The wife and I are going to go visit his family this afternoon. Just as soon as I can figure out what kind of cake to make!
Keeping the tradition alive... and not sure how I feel about getting older myself tomorrow. heh
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December 9, 2009 at 4:57pm December 9, 2009 at 4:57pm
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Well, as the new URL of this blog implies, I made the leap and changed my username. I sent out an e-mail to all of my friends and groups to tell them it's been changed, and so far so good. I only overlooked two things in my transition:
 I forgot to make a note of the e-mails in my inbox... I use my inbox as a "to do" list, filing away e-mails or deleting them after I finish whatever I need to do with them. I didn't write down which e-mails were in my inbox before switching over. Oops.
I updated the username tags in all of my group items, forums, etc. ... but I realized that as the editor of the UEN, there are 50+ individual newsletters in the archive that link to my old username, which means that I either have to do a lot of editing, or leave all those newsletters with dead links to my old and now non-existent original username. I think I'll end up transitioning them all... a few at a time until everything's updated.
Other than that, things seem to be pretty good. I feel like the new username (and as a result, the new portfolio and blog URLs) is a little more professional, and I'm sure the kinks will work themselves out. At Jace's great suggestion, I think I'll write an editorial about the process, so other people can read about what all goes into changing a username, from a pretty active member of WDC for whom the change impacts a lot.
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December 7, 2009 at 8:41pm December 7, 2009 at 8:41pm
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I'm pretty jazzed today. This weekend, the wife and I saw Up In The Air, Jason Reitman's new film. You know, the Juno and Thank You For Smoking guy, son of the guy who did Ghostbusters, Evolution, Kindergarten Cop, etc. Absolutely fantastic movie, and very topical (especially for someone who just lost his job!). Anyway, after seeing a great movie I came home and started to think about the next screenplay I want to write. It's been far too long since I've written an original spec on my own, and I'm excited about the process again. I've got a killer idea and everything fell into place really quickly. I've got my characters figured out, the twists and turns in the narrative... it's all coming together and I might even be able to start writing as early as this weekend.
Now that would be a great birthday present, wouldn't it? The inspiration to write!
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December 2, 2009 at 3:57pm December 2, 2009 at 3:57pm
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So I'm considering re-vamping my WDC account. My seventh WDC birthday is coming up in February (and I won't tell you which real birthday is coming up in December... ), and I think it might be time to make a few changes. You know, freshen things up a little bit and keep it interesting. Here's what I'm thinking of doing:
1. Changing My Username: My current username (ragefire2000) is a relic of my younger days - you know, when combining cool-sounding words was the hip thing to do for e-mail accounts - and I've been thinking about changing it to SoCalScribe, to reflect the handle that I've been using for years.
2. Re-Designing My Port: For the last couple years, I've been using the "house" motif, organizing the folders in my port according to rooms in a house. I've already changed it over to a "city" motif... I figure if the number of items in my port keeps expanding, I should be thinking bigger for the organizational system too.
3. Writing With More Variety: I have over a hundred short stories on WDC, and the vast majority of my port is fiction. Actually, except for items related to the WDC community (groups, sigs, etc.), I think my port is nearly ALL fiction, most of which comes in the form of short story static items. I'm thinking about branching out and trying to do more Interactives, Campfire Creatives, and even exploring the realm of nonfiction by starting to write articles and essays and whatnot.
What do you all think? It is time for me to give myself a makeover... or should I stick with what works and keep a good thing going? And don't tell me that no matter what, you love me just the way I am, 'cause even I can't stand myself that much.
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December 1, 2009 at 6:02pm December 1, 2009 at 6:02pm
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So I think I'm finally done, for the most part, with the "NaNoWriMo Write-A-Thon"  for this year. I still have a few lingering MBs to hand out, and I'm just waiting for all of the donations to make their way into the group account so I can distribute them to the beneficiaries of the activity. But I have to tell you, I'm exhausted. I think I need to find a better way to manage this activity next year because I was doing the accounting (word counts, donation calculations, etc.) for three hours last night, and another five hours today.
I realized that the 5% of the activity funds dedicated to prizes (the other 5% being for the winning team) wasn't going to cover all the MBs that were going out, so between my own sponsorship donations and the MBs today, I burned through over 750,000 GPs of my own funds and gave out 54 Merit Badges, all in the span of about an hour and a half. 
But hey, it's all in the name of a good cause (or causes), and now I'm looking forward to the rest of the donations coming in and being able to surprise the groups with nice big donations this year. If my math is right (and everybody pays up! ), I think we're looking at about 410,000 GPs per group, which is fantastic.
And I even managed to get an entry for the official Short Shots contest submitted. It may have been at the last minute, but it still counts.
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