Something new
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Aaron Gonzalez
Oct 4, 2015, 1:29:32 AM10/4/15
to WOYP
Hey everyone.
Long time no talk. How's everyone doing? Good?
I know about 15 years ago when I joined this group we used to have actual discussions about writing on our devices and writing in general. So I figured I'd share something new that I finished writing (and drawing) recently.
It's a short comic titled "Headache". I drew it by hand but I did do the lettering and some touch ups on a surface pro and also wrote parts of it on my phone, so that counts as "writing on my _________" right?
You can read it on my site here:
http://houseofoctober.com/work/headache/
Anyone else working on anything they care to share? We had such a diverse group here. I'd love to see what you all are up to.
Take care,
-Aaron
Buzz
Oct 4, 2015, 3:17:04 AM10/4/15
to wo...@googlegroups.com
Kia ora from New Zealand
Aaron
Great to see an email from WOYP!
'Headache' - wow, what a read! Grabbed my attention and kept me scrolling without distraction; liked the fact that it took unexpected twists and turns and doesn't resolve everything for the reader. I've bookmarked your page and will go back to view the other stories there soon.
As for me, I have been writing a few things, mostly on my Mac but also on my Nexus and S5. After a clean OS install and major re-working of my files and folders, all my writing projects are stored in the cloud as well as on my Mac, so I have no excuse to to access and update/revise as and when the muse strikes.
After years of doing very little and allowing even my blogs to shrivel, I've recently found myself starting to do a few things here and there. A few months back, I finished pulling together an ugly and rough-as 113,000 word first draft of our emigration story - the product of 10 years' scribbling and tapping here and there. Working on the second draft and editing ruthlessly but learning heaps as I go.
Elsewhere, I have been trying my hand at podcasting. I have always loved storytelling and radio, so I thought I'd try my hand and see what happened. I have just finished my first series of 10 short shows and have learnt heaps about writing for broadcast and the basics of audio engineering, all on a shoestring budget. You can have a listen at:
https://newzealandpocketradio.wordpress.com
There's something for everyone, with episodes about emigrating, experiencing terrorism first hand and a couple of fun 'outside broadcast' episodes recording around our farm. The next series, if all goes well, will be the audio version of our emigrations story, to celebrate our ten year anniversary of moving to NZ.
Enough from me - but nice to see you name in the inbox!
Buzz
Great to see an email from WOYP!
'Headache' - wow, what a read! Grabbed my attention and kept me scrolling without distraction; liked the fact that it took unexpected twists and turns and doesn't resolve everything for the reader. I've bookmarked your page and will go back to view the other stories there soon.
As for me, I have been writing a few things, mostly on my Mac but also on my Nexus and S5. After a clean OS install and major re-working of my files and folders, all my writing projects are stored in the cloud as well as on my Mac, so I have no excuse to to access and update/revise as and when the muse strikes.
After years of doing very little and allowing even my blogs to shrivel, I've recently found myself starting to do a few things here and there. A few months back, I finished pulling together an ugly and rough-as 113,000 word first draft of our emigration story - the product of 10 years' scribbling and tapping here and there. Working on the second draft and editing ruthlessly but learning heaps as I go.
Elsewhere, I have been trying my hand at podcasting. I have always loved storytelling and radio, so I thought I'd try my hand and see what happened. I have just finished my first series of 10 short shows and have learnt heaps about writing for broadcast and the basics of audio engineering, all on a shoestring budget. You can have a listen at:
https://newzealandpocketradio.wordpress.com
There's something for everyone, with episodes about emigrating, experiencing terrorism first hand and a couple of fun 'outside broadcast' episodes recording around our farm. The next series, if all goes well, will be the audio version of our emigrations story, to celebrate our ten year anniversary of moving to NZ.
Enough from me - but nice to see you name in the inbox!
Buzz
4 October 2015 at 6:29 PM
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Buzz
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bert.latamore
Oct 4, 2015, 10:49:25 AM10/4/15
to woyp
Hello & greetings from the rain forest.
It is good to see messages on WOYP. And no, we haven't moved across the US to coastal Washington state. Today is the 9th straight day of overcast, rain and fog here in northwestern Virginia. Temperatures are consistently 10°F~15°F lower than normaal here for early October.
Tuesday evening we had an hour or two of heavy rain that completely washed out our gravel driveway. Now we have a foot deep trench going down it.
Last night I was walking down the driveway in drizzle and fog, with water dripping off the leaves in our little bit of the forest, & I realized we are living in a cloud forest. I have long wanted to visit the cloud fores in Belize to see the birds, and now the clouds have come to us. Hey, I could adapt to this.
On the subject of writing on handhelds: My handheld these days is a Samsung Galaxy S6 that I bought in May. It has been growing on me. Last month I moved my personal daily journal to it from my Surface II to get practice thimb-typing, and I am getting good enough to wtire other things on it, including this e-mail. I may start drafting some other writing on it. I work in Office 365 and once a day or o save my journal to the Microsoft cloud, which allows meto put it on my table an external SSD also, so I keep multiple copies.
The S6 is the first smartphone I have had that really replaces my long lamented T3. I still keep Pimlical, Quicken and most of my HanDBase databases on the Surface, partly because they benefit from thelarger screen and partly because I consider the Surface to be more secure than the Android platform.
I do miss Fitaly. I would be much faster typing on the S6 with that than with the Samsung Querty keyboard. But I manage.
I am still working as a freelance journalist in the computer industry. One of the things I do (not on the S6) is cover live streaming of interviews from computer industry events from my home over my client SiliconAngle.tv. I cover them on another of this client's ventre, CrowdChat, which is a virtual private meetingroom off Twitter. If that isn't the new journalism I don't know what is. At 69 years old I laugh when I hear how old folks don't understand social media.
Now I am,going off to read your blogs, on my S6. I don't have a blog myself, but I am considering writing some traditional long form projects this winter. If so I will probably draft them on the S6.
All the best, Bert
Sent on my Boost Mobile Samsung Galaxy S® 6
bert.latamore
Oct 4, 2015, 11:02:34 AM10/4/15
to wo...@googlegroups.com
Wow, Aaron, that is incredible. Do you suffer from migraines? Or does someone close to you suffer? You write as someone with experience. That is a great blog. It has real impact. I really liked the ending. Suddenly disappearing is usually not a good thing, but you turn the implication of that completely around.
You said you did some of the lettering & graphics on your Surface. I wondered what software you use.
Keep doing these pieces. They are terrific. I need to tell my social media friends about this.
bert.latamore
Oct 4, 2015, 1:27:21 PM10/4/15
to wo...@googlegroups.com
Buzz,
Read/listened to your blog. I definitely am going to listen to your earlier entries. You have a very good speaking voice for recordings. Have you written/recorded anything on how the bombings in London impacted you & your family personally?
You have inspired, me to consider starting a blog about life in the Shenandoah. So you pblish your blog sirectly on WordPress or on another site?
I am familiar with Wordpress as my client SiliconAngle.com uses it as the backend to the public site. But everything is actually published on www.silionangle.com. You don't need to go there to read anything by me as the stuff I write professionally is rather technical and, frankly, dull. So am wondering if I,could just create a personal account on WordPress and publish my blog through that. What would you advise.
I like your photos. One of the things I like about my 6S is the high quality camera. I now take all my photos with it & then imbed them in my personal journal.
BTW One thing I don't often do with my 6S is listen to music. My FiiO has proved to be the perfect portable music machine. Thanks for the recommendation on that.
Bert
Sent on my Boost Mobile Samsung Galaxy S® 6
-------- Original message --------
From: Buzz <bignose...@gmail.com>
Date: 10/4/2015 03:16 (GMT-05:00)
Subject: Re: [woyp] Something new
Great to see an email from WOYP!
'Headache' - wow, what a read! Grabbed my attention and kept me scrolling without distraction; liked the fact that it took unexpected twists and turns and doesn't resolve everything for the reader. I've bookmarked your page and will go back to view the other stories there soon.
As for me, I have been writing a few things, mostly on my Mac but also on my Nexus and S5. After a clean OS install and major re-working of my files and folders, all my writing projects are stored in the cloud as well as on my Mac, so I have no excuse to to access and update/revise as and when the muse strikes.
After years of doing very little and allowing even my blogs to shrivel, I've recently found myself starting to do a few things here and there. A few months back, I finished pulling together an ugly and rough-as 113,000 word first draft of our emigration story - the product of 10 years' scribbling and tapping here and there. Working on the second draft and editing ruthlessly but learning heaps as I go.
Elsewhere, I have been trying my hand at podcasting. I have always loved storytelling and radio, so I thought I'd try my hand and see what happened. I have just finished my first series of 10 short shows and have learnt heaps about writing for broadcast and the basics of audio engineering, all on a shoestring budget. You can have a listen at:
https://newzealandpocketradio.wordpress.com
There's something for everyone, with episodes about emigrating, experiencing terrorism first hand and a couple of fun 'outside broadcast' episodes recording around our farm. The next series, if all goes well, will be the audio version of our emigrations story, to celebrate our ten year anniversary of moving to NZ.
Enough from me - but nice to see you name in the inbox!
Buzz
4 October 2015 at 6:29 PM
Hey everyone.
Long time no talk. How's everyone doing? Good?
I know about 15 years ago when I joined this group we used to have actual discussions about writing on our devices and writing in general. So I figured I'd share something new that I finished writing (and drawing) recently.
It's a short comic titled "Headache". I drew it by hand but I did do the lettering and some touch ups on a surface pro and also wrote parts of it on my phone, so that counts as "writing on my _________" right?
You can read it on my site here:
http://houseofoctober.com/work/headache/
Anyone else working on anything they care to share? We had such a diverse group here. I'd love to see what you all are up to.
Take care,
--
-Aaron
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Writing On Your Palm" group.
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Buzz
Buzz
Buzz
Oct 4, 2015, 7:38:12 PM10/4/15
to wo...@googlegroups.com
Hey Bert
Thanks for the feedback – it is much appreciated.
Podcast
What speaking voice I have left is probably the remnants of my first career as an actor (training from ’79-‘83; working ’82-’86). I did a little voiceover work in that time and enjoyed it and I always had a hankering to go into radio. However, laziness and meeting the future Mrs Buzz saw me move into work that actually paid a living wage and allowed me to underwrite the wooing needed to capture her heart ☺. Doing the podcast has made me realise how much vocal technique I have lost, so I’m slowly working on recovering those old skills.
Regarding the impact of the bombings on the family, beyond what you can hear in these episodes (which are taken almost word-for-word from my blog posts) and the BBC4 documentary (which I can’t find anywhere), I haven’t written or shared much more. Part of that is due to the conflict I felt at the time (and refer to in the episode) about writing on issues that hurt others and their families so much. I also felt that there were/are so many first hand accounts of terrorism and bombings from around the world that mine would contribute little, if anything, new to the subject. That said, a longer, wide-ranging first person narrative such as our emigration story, may be a more suitable place to reflect on the impact on our family.
Though close in some situations, none of us were within the immediate blast zone of any of these bombings, so we were spared the death and injury others suffered. Our experience was more akin to that of ‘guilty survivors’, pondering ‘why them, not us?’ None of us needed treatment or counseling but these are events that I think of each time I hear of bombings (or school shootings, for that matter). Our four girls (then 14-4, now 24-14) never refer to it but Wendy and I occasionally reference these times - often when feeling so blessed to live so far from such threats.
In summary, I guess I have already written my two key thoughts in terms of impact.
In 2005, I wrote:
As I went on to say:
Blogs
A free blog at Wordpress.com is definitely the way to go if you want to get started with the least hassle but have expandable options for the future (Blogger and Tumblr are fine but perhaps offer less future proofing in my experience, though others may know better).
Setting up a blog with Wordpress is pretty straightforward (it’s highly configurable but you don’t need all that to start), the platform is updated regularly, there are heaps of extensions to help manage things and lots of online support resources (WP and user community)
As for my blogs, my set-ups are as follows:
If the podcast gets more subscribers and starts to become a bigger ‘thing’, then I’ll probably spring for the domain and move it to my own server etc.
Phones and Fiio
I use my Fiio at my desk and around the house. However, ever since I swapped out the Japanese-tuned stereo in my imported Toyota for an NZ-tuned Bluetooth model, my S5 has become the de facto in-car entertainment module. Attached to the dashboard by a sophisticated arrangement of three blobs of Blu-Tak and sync’d to the stereo, the S5 becomes a voice-activated hands-free phone (rarely used), my podcast server for the daily commutes (daily use, using the excellent and value for money Pocket Casts) and my music player (default Google music app) when I’m in the mood or have run out of podcasts.
All the best
Buzz
Thanks for the feedback – it is much appreciated.
Podcast
What speaking voice I have left is probably the remnants of my first career as an actor (training from ’79-‘83; working ’82-’86). I did a little voiceover work in that time and enjoyed it and I always had a hankering to go into radio. However, laziness and meeting the future Mrs Buzz saw me move into work that actually paid a living wage and allowed me to underwrite the wooing needed to capture her heart ☺. Doing the podcast has made me realise how much vocal technique I have lost, so I’m slowly working on recovering those old skills.
Regarding the impact of the bombings on the family, beyond what you can hear in these episodes (which are taken almost word-for-word from my blog posts) and the BBC4 documentary (which I can’t find anywhere), I haven’t written or shared much more. Part of that is due to the conflict I felt at the time (and refer to in the episode) about writing on issues that hurt others and their families so much. I also felt that there were/are so many first hand accounts of terrorism and bombings from around the world that mine would contribute little, if anything, new to the subject. That said, a longer, wide-ranging first person narrative such as our emigration story, may be a more suitable place to reflect on the impact on our family.
Though close in some situations, none of us were within the immediate blast zone of any of these bombings, so we were spared the death and injury others suffered. Our experience was more akin to that of ‘guilty survivors’, pondering ‘why them, not us?’ None of us needed treatment or counseling but these are events that I think of each time I hear of bombings (or school shootings, for that matter). Our four girls (then 14-4, now 24-14) never refer to it but Wendy and I occasionally reference these times - often when feeling so blessed to live so far from such threats.
In summary, I guess I have already written my two key thoughts in terms of impact.
In 2005, I wrote:
‘I am convinced that we are no different
to millions of families who live in London, Belfast, Madrid, Jerusalem,
Gaza, Baghdad – ordinary folk who have little choice but to pause,
reflect and then carry on as normal.’
I truly believe that – that, because of where we were born and live, we have come to take for granted (or, God forbid, believe we deserve) a safer place than those we see on the nightly news.
I truly believe that – that, because of where we were born and live, we have come to take for granted (or, God forbid, believe we deserve) a safer place than those we see on the nightly news.
As I went on to say:
‘…upon reflection, my feelings in the
wake of the latest attacks are similar to those I had nine years ago and
I would sum them up in this way. I am an ordinary person with a
wonderful family, good friends and trusting colleagues. Just as I rely
on them to be themselves, they all rely on me to do the same. To let the
actions of terrorists change such things would be to allow the
perpetrators and those that guide them to alter the most fundamental and
important elements of who I am. Quite simply, that is not something
that I am willing to permit for, as well as the great, the good and the
worthy, this world needs ordinary people because it is ordinary,
everyday folk that we turn to first in our lives.’
Blogs
A free blog at Wordpress.com is definitely the way to go if you want to get started with the least hassle but have expandable options for the future (Blogger and Tumblr are fine but perhaps offer less future proofing in my experience, though others may know better).
Setting up a blog with Wordpress is pretty straightforward (it’s highly configurable but you don’t need all that to start), the platform is updated regularly, there are heaps of extensions to help manage things and lots of online support resources (WP and user community)
As for my blogs, my set-ups are as follows:
bignoseduglyguy.com
A Wordpress theme (via wordpress.org) hosted on my own server space (I have a friend in Bakersfield who runs a very good and very reasonable hosting business – and also manages the 6 or 7 domains I have too).
This is the latest and longest running of my personal blog. In recent years, I have imported most of what I have blogged elsewhere (on Wordpress by and large) into this one place – for my ease as well as that of my readers.
(I started out as ‘cyranoG1UK’ on Yahoo’s Geocities a million years ago, learning the hard way by hardcoding HTML pages in Notepad or finding a website I liked, using the ‘View Source’ menu item in Netscape to capture it and then converting to my own needs ☺. You can still find the odd cached page via various web archive sites)
hillsidebandb.co.nz
Same set up as above for our home stay business - plus email hosting and management for the business too.
newzealandpocketradio.wordpress.com
newzealandpocketradio.libsyn.com
A Wordpress theme hosted for free (with some storage limitations) by Wordpress.com on their servers.
This is the simplest and quickest way to get started – no need to register a domain, just find a name not yet used and away you go. That said, the backend audio files are hosted at the specialist podcast hosting site, LibSyn (50MB per month for US$5) and they provide a hosted page that will suffice for a barebones website (like my LibSyn link above but with pictures/logo). Other folks use SoundCloud.com or YouTube.com as their platform but each has limitations.
A Wordpress theme (via wordpress.org) hosted on my own server space (I have a friend in Bakersfield who runs a very good and very reasonable hosting business – and also manages the 6 or 7 domains I have too).
This is the latest and longest running of my personal blog. In recent years, I have imported most of what I have blogged elsewhere (on Wordpress by and large) into this one place – for my ease as well as that of my readers.
(I started out as ‘cyranoG1UK’ on Yahoo’s Geocities a million years ago, learning the hard way by hardcoding HTML pages in Notepad or finding a website I liked, using the ‘View Source’ menu item in Netscape to capture it and then converting to my own needs ☺. You can still find the odd cached page via various web archive sites)
hillsidebandb.co.nz
Same set up as above for our home stay business - plus email hosting and management for the business too.
newzealandpocketradio.wordpress.com
newzealandpocketradio.libsyn.com
A Wordpress theme hosted for free (with some storage limitations) by Wordpress.com on their servers.
This is the simplest and quickest way to get started – no need to register a domain, just find a name not yet used and away you go. That said, the backend audio files are hosted at the specialist podcast hosting site, LibSyn (50MB per month for US$5) and they provide a hosted page that will suffice for a barebones website (like my LibSyn link above but with pictures/logo). Other folks use SoundCloud.com or YouTube.com as their platform but each has limitations.
If the podcast gets more subscribers and starts to become a bigger ‘thing’, then I’ll probably spring for the domain and move it to my own server etc.
Phones and Fiio
I use my Fiio at my desk and around the house. However, ever since I swapped out the Japanese-tuned stereo in my imported Toyota for an NZ-tuned Bluetooth model, my S5 has become the de facto in-car entertainment module. Attached to the dashboard by a sophisticated arrangement of three blobs of Blu-Tak and sync’d to the stereo, the S5 becomes a voice-activated hands-free phone (rarely used), my podcast server for the daily commutes (daily use, using the excellent and value for money Pocket Casts) and my music player (default Google music app) when I’m in the mood or have run out of podcasts.
All the best
Buzz
5 October 2015 at 6:27 AM
Buzz,Read/listened to your blog. I definitely am going to listen to your earlier entries. You have a very good speaking voice for recordings. Have you written/recorded anything on how the bombings in London impacted you & your family personally?You have inspired, me to consider starting a blog about life in the Shenandoah. So you pblish your blog sirectly on WordPress or on another site?I am familiar with Wordpress as my client SiliconAngle.com uses it as the backend to the public site. But everything is actually published on www.silionangle.com. You don't need to go there to read anything by me as the stuff I write professionally is rather technical and, frankly, dull. So am wondering if I,could just create a personal account on WordPress and publish my blog through that. What would you advise.I like your photos. One of the things I like about my 6S is the high quality camera. I now take all my photos with it & then imbed them in my personal journal.BTW One thing I don't often do with my 6S is listen to music. My FiiO has proved to be the perfect portable music machine. Thanks for the recommendation on that.Bert
--
Buzz
Aaron Gonzalez
Oct 7, 2015, 9:25:18 PM10/7/15
to WOYP
Thanks for the kind words, Bert!
I actually do not suffer from migraines myself. Someone I know did for quite some time though. That coupled with a documentary or some news segment I saw years ago on people with these things called Cluster Headaches are what sparked the story with me I think.
As for the Surface, I used it to handwrite the text. I just did that in Photoshop using some brushes I purchased from this artist Ray Frenden, who makes fantastic brushes for Photoshop and Manga Studio. Photoshop has such awful brushes by default, you really do have to buy some good ones from other people if you plan on doing any sort of brush or ink work in it.
Aaron Gonzalez
Oct 7, 2015, 9:30:41 PM10/7/15
to WOYP
I just added your podcast to my PocketCasts account, Buzz. I'll give it a listen soon!
Hope that editing you're doing goes well. Are you planning on self publishing it when you're done? Putting it up as a kindle ebook or something?
Buzz
Oct 7, 2015, 11:36:41 PM10/7/15
to wo...@googlegroups.com
Aaron
Thanks - let me know what you think.
Yes, I plan to self publish the story at some point - as an ebook and probably an on-demand print format too.
Cheers
Buzz
Thanks - let me know what you think.
Yes, I plan to self publish the story at some point - as an ebook and probably an on-demand print format too.
Cheers
Buzz
8 October 2015 at 2:30 PM
I just added your podcast to my PocketCasts account, Buzz. I'll give it a listen soon!Hope that editing you're doing goes well. Are you planning on self publishing it when you're done? Putting it up as a kindle ebook or something?
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4 October 2015 at 8:16 PM
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