Fiona's first day on Earth.
In her favorite place, the newborn napper.
5 years ago
Friday, December 25, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Happy Festivus
A colleague at work pointed me in the direction of this great great wiki entry. Check it out if you get a chance.
Apparently, this holiday was created long before it became popularized by its infamous appearance on Seinfeld. There are some potentially great traditions associated with it, especially the Airing of Grievances, which, if done right, could be therapeutic and constructive for all parties concerned.
______
Sort of off-topic, but in college one of my friends nicknamed me "Jerry," as it was his opinion I strongly resembled Mr. Seinfeld. I didn't see much of a resemblance back then and still don't, but my buddy was not alone in his view. As recently as last winter, while at a restaurant with my wife, a party waiting for their table approached me just to say I looked like Jerry Seinfeld. This is not the first time this has happened, though I hope it is the last. And several years ago, at a holiday party, a friend of the family pulled me aside and suggested I try to earn some money being a celebrity look-alike. Thinking she was joking, I broke into laughter, only to discover too late her advice had been given in earnest.
This picture of me was taken a few years back. I don't see a resemblance at all, though I'll let you decide for yourselves.
Apparently, this holiday was created long before it became popularized by its infamous appearance on Seinfeld. There are some potentially great traditions associated with it, especially the Airing of Grievances, which, if done right, could be therapeutic and constructive for all parties concerned.
______
Sort of off-topic, but in college one of my friends nicknamed me "Jerry," as it was his opinion I strongly resembled Mr. Seinfeld. I didn't see much of a resemblance back then and still don't, but my buddy was not alone in his view. As recently as last winter, while at a restaurant with my wife, a party waiting for their table approached me just to say I looked like Jerry Seinfeld. This is not the first time this has happened, though I hope it is the last. And several years ago, at a holiday party, a friend of the family pulled me aside and suggested I try to earn some money being a celebrity look-alike. Thinking she was joking, I broke into laughter, only to discover too late her advice had been given in earnest.
This picture of me was taken a few years back. I don't see a resemblance at all, though I'll let you decide for yourselves.
Friday, December 18, 2009
A Good Review of The Unearthed
Bitten by Books, a paranormal book review site, recently gave The Unearthed a good review. If you're on the fence about buying it, check out the review. It doesn't spoil the story, and it gives you a good feel for what it's about.
I can't believe it's been nine months since the book came out. As far as unmarketed e-books written by first-time authors go, it has done well. Looking back now, I wish I had marketed it more, but in all fairness to me I didn't (and still don't) have the time, resources, or bank account for it.
It also doesn't help that I can't stomach shameless self-promotion.
That being said, I'll take this opportunity to once again thank everyone kind enough to buy, read, recommend, and/or review it! I see The Unearthed as a stepping stone really, something I'm proud of and can use as a marketing tool in query letters for future manuscripts. And, as far as first books go, I think it's pretty good. Even the agents and other publishers who passed it up had nice things to say about the story. Sure, when I look back at it now, I can think of a few things I'd like to change, but I'm certain all authors feel that way about most of the books they write. As the saying goes, you don't really ever finish a book; at some point you just have to abandon it.
____
People have asked if there will be a sequel, and I'll answer by saying, yes, at some point there probably will be. But it will definitely be a very different story - I'm not interested in re-hashing the haunted house tale again.
I can't believe it's been nine months since the book came out. As far as unmarketed e-books written by first-time authors go, it has done well. Looking back now, I wish I had marketed it more, but in all fairness to me I didn't (and still don't) have the time, resources, or bank account for it.
It also doesn't help that I can't stomach shameless self-promotion.
That being said, I'll take this opportunity to once again thank everyone kind enough to buy, read, recommend, and/or review it! I see The Unearthed as a stepping stone really, something I'm proud of and can use as a marketing tool in query letters for future manuscripts. And, as far as first books go, I think it's pretty good. Even the agents and other publishers who passed it up had nice things to say about the story. Sure, when I look back at it now, I can think of a few things I'd like to change, but I'm certain all authors feel that way about most of the books they write. As the saying goes, you don't really ever finish a book; at some point you just have to abandon it.
____
People have asked if there will be a sequel, and I'll answer by saying, yes, at some point there probably will be. But it will definitely be a very different story - I'm not interested in re-hashing the haunted house tale again.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Me? A Dad?
Apropos of my last post, about people using the internet to share all manner of personal information, I'm thrilled to say that Fiona Helen O'Rourke arrived last week, on December 9, 2009.
She and Jenna are doing well, as am I. Fiona came in weighing 8 pounds 13 ounces, and unfortunately for her, it looks like she may have gotten her feet from her father (I wear a size 15).
In my estimation, Jenna and I have averaged about four hours of sleep a night for the past week. I'm fairly delirious at this point, so I hope this post makes the least bit of sense.
Now I know what it feels like to be a Muslim detainee at Gitmo, being woken up every couple of hours.
In terms of this blog, well, I won't be posting with much frequency for the foreseeable future, for obvious reasons. I hope you all can forgive me, and by "all," I mean: Seana Graham, Nate Green, Marco, Adrian McKinty, Nicklas Hughes, Rita Vetere, and any lurkers (?) that might be out there, including dear old Dad. But I wanted to thank you for taking the time to read my otherwise inane ramblings and comment on same.
A bientot.
She and Jenna are doing well, as am I. Fiona came in weighing 8 pounds 13 ounces, and unfortunately for her, it looks like she may have gotten her feet from her father (I wear a size 15).
In my estimation, Jenna and I have averaged about four hours of sleep a night for the past week. I'm fairly delirious at this point, so I hope this post makes the least bit of sense.
Now I know what it feels like to be a Muslim detainee at Gitmo, being woken up every couple of hours.
In terms of this blog, well, I won't be posting with much frequency for the foreseeable future, for obvious reasons. I hope you all can forgive me, and by "all," I mean: Seana Graham, Nate Green, Marco, Adrian McKinty, Nicklas Hughes, Rita Vetere, and any lurkers (?) that might be out there, including dear old Dad. But I wanted to thank you for taking the time to read my otherwise inane ramblings and comment on same.
A bientot.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Information Overload
It's time we brought an end to this so-called Information Age.
I was reading this article this morning, about a groom who stopped his marital proceedings mid-ceremony so he could update his Facebook and Twitter pages.
Are you effing kidding me?
Why do so many human beings feel the need to alert hundreds, if not thousands, of mere acquaintances of the most personal, intimate details of their lives, in real-time nonetheless?
And conversely, why do so many human beings soak this sort of thing up?
In this day and age, we are bombarded with information, from blogs (yes, including this one), yahoo groups, tweets, facebook pages, myspace pages, text messages, and so many other different emerging "news" sources, most of it inconsequential at the end of the day. I don't think we were meant, as a species, to be barraged by all this stuff. But for whatever reason, people are spending inordinate amounts of time transmitting the most random (and often) meaningless information to one another.
The pervasive nature of this information overload - both the giving and the receiving of it - seems to be an addiction of sorts. My uneducated guess is that the ability to tell hundreds of people something about oneself makes one feel important.
But far be it from me to shake my finger at everyone else. Despite the fact I think Tiger Woods's "transgressions" (to use his word) should remain a private affair - for the sake of his family - I'll admit I've checked up on the developing story every day since it broke.
Shame on me for perpetuating this gossipy nonsense that passes for news.
Inane status updates on social networking sites bug me the most. Oh, you're having your third coffee of the morning? Good for you, as Christian Bale would say.
Oh, you don't know what to do with your day, so you decided to tweet about not knowing what to do with your day? That's awesome, thanks for the update.
Oh, you have a hangover because you were out partying last night? Actually, that's pretty cool, which bar did you go to...
I don't know what we can do to reshape the cultural zeitgeist, but I'd like to see us enter a new Age, whatever it is. Like, let's say, a Second Space Age.
Hell, I'd even take another Bronze Age over what we have right now. Okay, just kidding. But seriously, I'd love to see us enter the Think Before You Speak/Text/Tweet/Blog Age.
I was reading this article this morning, about a groom who stopped his marital proceedings mid-ceremony so he could update his Facebook and Twitter pages.
Are you effing kidding me?
Why do so many human beings feel the need to alert hundreds, if not thousands, of mere acquaintances of the most personal, intimate details of their lives, in real-time nonetheless?
And conversely, why do so many human beings soak this sort of thing up?
In this day and age, we are bombarded with information, from blogs (yes, including this one), yahoo groups, tweets, facebook pages, myspace pages, text messages, and so many other different emerging "news" sources, most of it inconsequential at the end of the day. I don't think we were meant, as a species, to be barraged by all this stuff. But for whatever reason, people are spending inordinate amounts of time transmitting the most random (and often) meaningless information to one another.
The pervasive nature of this information overload - both the giving and the receiving of it - seems to be an addiction of sorts. My uneducated guess is that the ability to tell hundreds of people something about oneself makes one feel important.
But far be it from me to shake my finger at everyone else. Despite the fact I think Tiger Woods's "transgressions" (to use his word) should remain a private affair - for the sake of his family - I'll admit I've checked up on the developing story every day since it broke.
Shame on me for perpetuating this gossipy nonsense that passes for news.
Inane status updates on social networking sites bug me the most. Oh, you're having your third coffee of the morning? Good for you, as Christian Bale would say.
Oh, you don't know what to do with your day, so you decided to tweet about not knowing what to do with your day? That's awesome, thanks for the update.
Oh, you have a hangover because you were out partying last night? Actually, that's pretty cool, which bar did you go to...
I don't know what we can do to reshape the cultural zeitgeist, but I'd like to see us enter a new Age, whatever it is. Like, let's say, a Second Space Age.
Hell, I'd even take another Bronze Age over what we have right now. Okay, just kidding. But seriously, I'd love to see us enter the Think Before You Speak/Text/Tweet/Blog Age.
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