Author Archives: David Crampton

Advice from a Michigander

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Blizzard, Take 2I cannot tell you how inspired I get when I listen to the Flobots.  Whether it’s on 88.9 the Impact or on Pandora, every track I hear makes my chest fill up with hope and confidence in my ability to change the world.  This feeling, this is essential.

We’re getting hit with a second round of severe snowstorms.  I didn’t even think about the weather as I left Lansing, because while the clouds were low and dark, there wasn’t a hint of snow.  I made really good time in my commute, until halfway there, when I hit a wall of snow.  I made it just after my start time, thanks to several stretches of 25-mph travel as I-96 and I-696 parted ways.  I’m just hoping that the salt (non-salt?) trucks don’t run out.

I don’t think that I’ve gotten around to sharing my good news in my little bloggy corner of the intertubes.  As you know, Bob, my wife is pregnant.  There’s been a parasite in there sapping her energy and destroying her appetite (one-two punch!) and, recently, kicking her square in her bladder.  And, now we know what gender the little bladder-destroyer is.  I’m going to have a daughter!  This, apparently, explains how different this pregnancy has been from the boys’ hormone-induced trips through candyland.

Any tips on how to best improve my sword and/or warhammer collection in the next twelve to fourteen years for maximum date intimidation factor are more than welcome.  >:)

I’m back to reading about The Boy (he HAS a name, you know!) in Eyri, whenever I get a few spare minutes to rub together.  I’ve rated and reviewed the new Dark Tower graphic novels over at GoodReads, and they were well worth the read.  By the way, so is The Magic of Eryi.  I plan on doing a full review once I’ve finished.

In geek news, I’m starting to think that attempting to install Windows Server Home Edition on actual server hardware might not be the best route.  On the flip side, the quick restore CDs for Hunter’s PC have been shipped.  I’ve got my fingers crossed, as there is some small doubt about whether or not they’ll like or reject the PC’s BIOS entries.  Two slightly different models of that machine, one with a v, and one without.  So, like I said, my nerd-Dad fingers are crossed.

Today, I leave you with some advice from a Michigander:

Don’t drive like an idiot.  I don’t want to end up in a ditch.

Thankee-sai

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I keep re-starting this post.  Perhaps I’ll delete this, and start again.  Perhaps not.

I’ve put Daniel J. Hogan‘s book, The Magic of Eyri, on pause.  I know, I know.  How could I possibly put down a page-turner like that?  Well, first off, I don’t have any damn ElderCherry wine.  Mr. Hogan?  Let’s get on that, quick-like.  :)

What could I possibly be reading in its place?  The Dark Tower graphic novel series, that’s what.  If you’ve paid attention to my sporadic updates on GoodReads, then you’ll have seen them before.  I’ve recently been gifted with the next two in the series (hardcover – you are SO jealous) from my wife.  And because they are so very good, and it has been a while since I read them, I am going back through from the beginning.  Am I enjoying my re-read?  I say yes, and I say yes again, can ya kennit?  I knew ya could.

Don’t worry too much, though.  I’ll be back in Eyri soon, trying to find where I dropped my swordfish.

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Two years.

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BeautifulI like biting off more than I think that I can chew – and then chewing it.  Chomp.

I like when someone – in this case, my father – says something in a way that is so crystal clear that feeling lost turns into feeling like I have a foothold.

I like making the decision to use my small lunch break to write, instead of read, even if it’s only a few words.

I like how the Body (what used to be Gary, Indiana) is shaping up, and how our intrepid historian, Robin, is reacting.  Here’s a hint – what would an historian do in a place where long-term memory is outlawed?

I like that there’s less hopping from place to place in The Glass Crown, and yet there still doesn’t seem to be enough room for all of the words.

I like that my kids like talking to me over the phone when they’re getting ready for bed.  Not being the bed-time guy is rough.

I really, REALLY like my wife.

Happy 2-year anniversary, Nikki.  We made it.

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Mind Threads

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I can’t tell you how many loads of laundry and dishes I’ve done over my weekend.  I say my weekend, because my work schedule shifts my days off to Sunday and Monday.  Hence, my weekend is not the same as everyone else’s weekend.

I’ve mostly caught up on the laundry, and have entirely caught up on dishwasher-safe dishes.  I’ve spent nearly an entire day shopping and putting away the procured items from said purchasing craziness.  When you live paycheck-to-paycheck, the day of your wife’s student loan’s arrival can be a second Christmas, let me tell you.  Speaking of, it also allows us to finally purchase, put together, and schedule each others’ belated holiday gifts.  I’m trying to find the best local spa that is certified to massage pregnant women so that she can be pampered for a day, and she’s creating (as I type) a blanket with fabric that I picked out.  She has warned me that the blanket is just Stage 1.  Exciting!

I have some hopes regarding work that I’m going to keep to myself for a bit.  I can’t stop planning and trying to improve the systems in which I find myself, it seems.  I’ve got my fingers crossed that my ideas will (1) be adopted and (2) turn out for the best.

I’d like to thank Izzy for my replacement mouse.  My Microsoft Bluetooth Mouse 5000 bit the dust in such a way that its sleep function would randomly enable.  Reading forums and blogs turned up that this is a common fate for that model.  Izzy happened to have upgraded recently, and I now have a shiny black and purple Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 3000.  I do enjoy using that which can no longer be used by previous owners.

In the photo, Cian is sitting on the bench behind my computer desk.  He often shouts suggestions that I show him videos and pictures of people that he knows.  It makes both of us a bit happier to see the people tied to us by blood and by friendship.

La la la la, I can’t hear you!

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“Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals,” – Dwight D. Eisenhower

I had so much to say when I finished my shift yesterday, and I didn’t get any of it down. However, I -did- get PixelPipe downloaded to my G1. So, while I’ve lost of the earth-shattering (and trust me, these lost thoughts WERE that) revelations, I’ve now got a tool that will allow me to jot the newer, better(er) thoughts down as they happen.

This is SuperWhy. Someone may tell you that it’s Aidan, dressed up as SuperWhy, but don’t believe the naysayers. This kid has (and he will tell you that he has) the power to READ. Also, a cape. You cannot deny the cape. Can NOT.

I’m not really any better at dealing with understanding things that I don’t want to agree with than Aidan is. We both want to put our fingers in our ears and sing out at our loudest volume, “LA LA LA I CAN’T HEAR YOU.” I think that it’s fair to note here that we both actually do this on occasion. This is totally counterproductive to being a member of an educated citizenry. Sure, I don’t like what I’m learning. Sure, it totally undermines the reality that I’ve constructed for myself. But knowing the truth IS better than not.

How can I speak out if I’m not speaking the truth?

Food for creativity

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The well is no longer dry.  In fact, my creativity has filled the well and exploded into the sky as a foaming geyser.

I’m not sure that this well metaphor is going to work out.

I am working again.  With the commute rolled in, I’m putting in twelve-hour days.  However, with the state of extended unemployment benefits up in the air in DC, not to mention the gestating parasite in my wife’s womb, I heartily welcome the paycheck and the insurance.  The financial transition is a bit rocky, but couldn’t have come at a better time.

As often happens when I regain employment, my creativity has switched back on.  My urge to progress on Fight or Flight came first, and I’ve gotten months worth of scripts written.  I’m no longer panicked about its slow progress, which was a problem earlier in the year.  It’s back to being fun.

The same urge is hitting me for The Glass Crown, as well.  It’s coinciding with filling up my current paper notebook, which has other implications.  It’s a beautiful leather-bound book, imported from Italy, that I received on my first Father’s Day.  It’s taken me two and a half years to fill its pages.  Judging by the ratio of journal entries to fiction, becoming a husband (again), a stepfather, and a father was (and is) a rocky and emotional ride.  Who knew?

Looking back through the pages of the notebook reminded me that I didn’t just want to finish the story in The Glass Crown.  I liked what I read.  I got into it.  The characters didn’t have to be poked with a stick to come alive.  They’re bounding around in my head all on their own.  This pleases me to no end.

Motor City Mafia – and, really, Adam’s Name – feels content to wait its turn.  I feel pulled to reconsider its original purpose – a fiction based role playing game – but I have no idea how I’d restructure it.  I’ve got some time, though.  Its time will come.

I still have hope for projects like Steven and Two Vampires.  I still have my wife’s challenge to write a paranormal romance/urban fantasy book, which Adam’s Name will probably turn into, or Two Vampires could, or I could write something totally new… I still have the Aztec spirit-based clanker story that I want to tell.

So, as long as this creative urge wants to stick around, I’ve got food for it.

Customer Service – Doing it Wrong

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Strike two against Banfield Pets (). I finally got some time and motivation to call the number that they left in my last post (here) to speak about the $150 they ripped off from us.

Guess what? Standard customer service queue. Not a direct line to a human.

They took my money, they are NOT taking my afternoon. I will give them one more chance. They can contact me at any of the means available on my profile page to speak to me directly. I would advise them to read the actual complaint before contacting me, so that they are at least moderately familiar with the situation.

Who thinks they’ll actually follow through?

More progress!

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The rewrite on the now-erroneously-titled “Motor City Mafia” piece is going really well.  I’m hoping that the romantic tension that I’m adding isn’t ridiculously clumsy, and will instead add some depth to Seth and Susan.  If I’m really lucky, they’ll be easier to relate to when all is said and done.

I’m quite pleased at how smoothly the notebook/journal conversations are going with the new subject matter.  Less forced by a great deal.  Also, the characters became crazy in a whole different way, and it’s a way that’ll let them push their way through the story, instead of me pushing them.  I’m looking forward to seeing how Sol will turn out with the new story focus, as well.  I think his personality will shift less, but he will react to Seth and Susan with a whole new intensity.

The S-names were accidental, but I’m totally sticking with them.  It’s a great quirk of the story.

Here’s a little teaser:

“Seth took another drink from his cup of coffee. Every bone in his body was chilled, like he was afraid, or about to jump out of a plane. In contrast, his mind was placid. His emotions were jostling him around; he’d never felt like this before. This entire conversation had been to distract Susan from her family drama, and his emotions had no call getting all riled up over the way her hair was brushing against her cheek. He was supposed to be safe for her. He would not add drama to her life.”

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