True Life and Fiction

 I know what your thinking. "What do shopping carts (or buggies, if your from the South) have to do with the coming Zombie apocalypse?" Others might be thinking, "What Zombie apocalypse?" My answer to this is: "What? have you been living under a rock? Come on, we all know it's on the way." Okay. Enough of that. I don't want you to think I'm crazy. But, when the Zombie apocalypse does arrive, you'll realize I'm crazy like a fox because I'll be prepared with this valuable shopping cart survival knowledge. First, a little history ... The shopping cart had a very humble beginning way back in 1937. when Sylvan Goldman, owner of the Piggly Wiggly supermarket chain, was thinking of ways to get his customers to buy more groceries. He had an epiphany while looking at a folding wooden chair and, shazam, the first shopping cart was invented. The shopping cart did not catch on right away. Women did not like it because it reminded them ...

Today I would like to highlight a new author on the scene. Laura Watts is the author of the wonderful book: Confessions of a Backpacker: My Adventure Down Under. Laura wrote a kind of travelling memoir of her time living and working in Australia. It's a good read, funny, poignant, and even heart wrenching at times. Here's a few questions Laura answered so we can all get to know her a little better: 1. When did you realize you wanted to become a writer? When my travelling days were over and I decided I wanted to write a book about my experiences. It was only as I began to write that I realised how much I actually enjoyed the process, and decided to write other books. 2. Is this the only job you’ve had? I wish it was! I’ve done quite a few things from working in a psychiatric ward to working in pubs. My favourite job other than this has been working in a library. 3. Have other work experiences made you more determined to follow a writing career? Definitely. There’s nothing ...

I guess it has been some time since I last posted here, and for that I am sorry. As some of you know, I like to write (duh, it's listed on the blog title) and have been taking on some projects under my pen name. I gotta tell ya, it's hard to run two separate lives. In addition to my real life (this one) I maintain a twitter account, a facebook page, a profile on goodreads, and an email address under my pen name. Since I've been doing so much writing in the genre of my pen name lately, I've neglected my real life. But hey, don't feel like you're the only person or thing I've neglected lately. My lawn has gotten so long that we are actually having lawnmowing business stop by the house to ask if we might need their services. I think my neighbors are beginning to wonder whether I'm growing grass or corn in my front yard. At least I know the same rule of growth would apply. You know, "Knee high by the fourth of July." Anyway, Happy Fathers day t...

I find it amazing how some of the smartest people can exhibit almost no sense when it come to general knowledge. Maybe someone that becomes really book smart loses something in their education. I can certainly support that theory because I was feeling really smart when I graduated from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University with a bachelor degree in science. But after later graduating with an MBA, I somehow felt ... less smart. My job entails training prospective helicopter pilots for the US Army. Specifically, I teach academic subjects about all the systems that make a helicopter fly. Recently, I had a student in one of our classes that had an engineering degree. Each new concept I would explain to the class (made up mostly of students that have very little scientific or physics background) but could not move on because my engineer student would ask numerous questions. While I do understand that some of the subjects covered are complex, I do explain them in a way I feel every student c...

M e too. Well, it looks like we all made it through the rapture. Wait, isn't the idea of the rapture that you WANT to get swept up? The good thing is, Harold Camping is still here too, so we've got someone to blame. I don't know though, he looks to me like he could go any day now. W ait. Does this mean that we are all sinners? Have we all been left behind? I guess we'll never know. That is ... until 2012. T he terrible thing about this whole situation is that I believed in it just enough to put off mowing the yard yesterday, and I have to do it on a Sunday.  I'll probably do the same thing on December 21st, 2012 when our planet is believed to be crossing the galactic center of our universe and become subject to the forces of the black hole ejecta. O kay, so maybe I'll go ahead and put on some sunscreen that day too - just in case.