New Page on the Blog: "On Writing"

This morning I found myself doing something I initially felt guilty about. I was on the internet reading a blog when I've got so many other things needing my attention. But that blog led me to a video interview of author Anne Rice doling out some pretty interesting and motivating advice. One video led to another and before I knew it I'd basically squandered a full hour listening to what effectively became an Anne Rice writer's seminar.

I thought I might feel guilty for having wasted away precious minutes to "playtime" on the internet, but no. To me it didn't feel like playtime. Anything that furthers my education and inspiration in writing is as important as a college student going to classes or a potential lawyer putting in the time to pass the bar. Listening to the knowledge that other writers, especially über successful ones like Rice, have to say is time well spent.

In the end, I left motivated and decided to throw up another page on my blog dedicated to those interesting and inspiring things I've found and did not want to lose. Things I can go back to later and watch for inspiration when times are tough. Hence, you'll notice the new "On Writing" tab at the top of the blog. 

There's not much populating it yet, but it is a project I suspect will grow fast in a short time. And while it may not be very interesting for book readers, I hope that other potential authors out there might find it as useful as I do.

Old Stomping Grounds, NAS Pensacola, FL

Last Thursday I got an early morning text from my buddy over at Warbird Radio, Mr. Matt Jolley. Matt's an aviation aficionado to the extreme. Probably a good thing considering his line of work. Anyway, the essence of his message was that he'd just gotten a call from a friend doing research at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL, and would I like to come along for the visit? The train, he said, departed at eight.

I was still in my post-workout nasty wear when I replied around 0730 something to the effect of: "Hell, yeah! I want a ticket on that train!" Hardly showered, I was picked up promptly at eight and we were off for a two hour jaunt to Pensacola, my old Navy stomping grounds from a lifetime ago.

Now, if you've got an interest in aviation history, and specifically Naval aviation history, and you've never been to the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, then you've missed the bus to Coolville, USA, Mister. This place is, in a word, amazing, and that word doesn't even come close to doing it justice. Aside from the museum's multitude of displays, its many rare pieces of history and its very polished presentation, it is one of the few museums I've been to where you can actually walk up and touch history. There are few if any ropes to cordon off visitors. For my money, this is the best air museum in the country outside of the Smithsonian, although I may be a bit bias given my resume.

Much has changed since my last trip there many years ago, however. Many new exhibits, an entirely new hanger, and an "academy," whose real purpose I've yet to divine. Other things remain the same. The Cubi Dog comes to mind -- a delectable, beany-brown sauce, sour cream, cheese and chopped onion covered piece of carcinogenic meat known in other circles as a chili dog.

What made this trip super special, though, goes beyond the nostalgia of retracing my past. Matt and I got our own personal tour of the museum with a walking encyclopedia of naval aviation history, Captain Richard Dann, a former Naval aviator and current author of several books devoted to various past warbirds. I learned things about aviation I never knew I didn't know. He's just one of those kind of guys.

The other part of this adventure that added to its cool factor is related to the pictures below. We were honored with a behind the scenes tour of the restoration area of the museum. Okay, forgive me as I take a moment to geek out and go all hyper aviation nerd on you.

Entrance to the restoration area of National Naval Aviation Museum.

You see, when you're in the display area of the museum you get the polished pieces. The ones that have had their flaking paint scraped off and redone or their rust holes drilled out and patched. But when you go to the restoration area, it is an entirely different ball game. Walking through this facility is about as close as I will come to being with some of these old warbirds in their last fatal moments before they and perhaps their crews met perilous ends. Many are as they were recovered, crumpled and encrusted in deposits built up over decades at rest under salty waters.

Piece of a Corsair under renovation. Note how the magnesium reacted with the minerals in the salt water.

They are as they were when they met their demise, and as I walked amongst them goosebumps peppered my flesh as these ghostly warbirds recovered from hallowed grounds all over the world encircled me. Some were found much closer to home, but their stories were no less harrowing. The below pictured Dauntless, recently recovered from Lake Michigan, is a prime example.

Engine, propeller and fuselage of recovered Dauntless located at NAS Pensacola.

Cockpit of recovered Dauntless located at NAS Pensacola.

Matt pointed out, as we poked our heads under the Dauntless fuselage and looked into the rear seat from where the crewman's feet once might have rested, how strange it was that the aircraft could have sustained so much damage and been at the mercy of cold and crushing depths and corrosive waters for so long, and yet we could still look up into the compartment and see the crewman's maplight still dangling from its connection, just as it was when he'd last used it.

Dauntless map light (shown in black and grey center screen) still dangles from connection point.

I could go on and on about this trip and maybe I will later, but for now it's time to get some work done. This trip keeps jumping to the forefront of my mind when I'm trying to write, though, so I figured it needed to get out 'there' or I'd never get any real writing done.

So, there it is. If you're close enough, drive to Pensacola and visit the museum. If not, plan a trip to the Florida Panhandle and then go see it. The beaches in Pensacola are beautiful. It'd make a great vacation spot and an even better excuse to visit the museum. Admission is free and the Cubi Dog comes highly recommended!

Coming off a long Memorial Day weekend with no writing or work routine...

"The test of a vocation is the love of the drudgery it involves." - Logan Pearsall Smith, Afterthoughts, 1931

'Nuff said. Time to get to work.

Memorial Day

I'd like to wish everyone a happy Memorial Day out there. I'd also like offer you a little reminder as we all enjoy our beer, barbecues and time with friends and family that this day is more than just about a day off from work. It is a time to remember those of our Armed Forces who never came home from war. Those who will never again get to enjoy barbecues with their friends and family. Who will never go on to see their children grow into adulthood and have children of their own. It is a day to honor the fallen.

So, as you all wipe the sweat off your brows and beer bottles, I encourage you to take a moment to pause and think of those who will never see home again. They gave their lives for us and it is the least we can do for them.

Defying Death at 150 MPH

Now, I'm a pilot and can go sit in an airplane or helicopter and go fly it...

But this man can F-L-Y!

I mean the tolerances that he had to achieve to make this happen were ridiculous. No second chances in this game.

Had to jot down a few notes and post. Check it out.



http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2013/04/18/moos-pkg-batcave-wingsuit-stunt.cnn.html

Author = Idea Man = Entrepreneur???

I'm an author, and the way I see it writing is by its very nature an entrepreneurial pursuit. You are your own sole proprietorship. The only difference between an author's products and a brick and mortar business is that an author's workshop is in their mind. We manufacture our products -- our stories -- in our heads, pump them out through our fingers and into our computers, and, eventually, on down to the printing presses (or spit them out electronically to all you kindle/nook/ipad readers).

The point I'm slowly getting to is that I am always asking questions. Not just about writing, but about life in general. Business, personal and professional goals, careers, relationships, etcetera. And the ultimate follow-on question that ties them all together: "What am I going to DO with my life?"

I know, it sounds silly asking that in middle age. Especially when you would have thought I'd answered it years ago after college. But life these days is not as straight forward as it once was. Not all people stick with one profession their entire lives. Sure, doing so suits some, and kudos to them. Life is much less complicated. But for those of us who choose lives that have little to do with conforming to society's norms, those previously mentioned questions on life (and about what we/you want to do with mine/yours) are important.

To that end I've decided to post a link to a powerpoint presentation I thought very informative and inspiring. It was intended as a kickstarter for those freshly graduated from college, but I think it suits my sort of person too. It was pieced together by billionaire entrepreneur Reid Hoffman, the creator of LinkedIn.

Enjoy, and be inspired.

The Rum Diary and Hunter S. Thompson

Maybe I'm behind the curve on Hunter S. Thompson. Maybe I'm too new to his writing to make any credible summations. True, the only full H.S. Thompson story I've made it through is Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and that wasn't even his book but a Johnny Depp film made from it. And the only writing of Thompson's I've actually read so far is The Rum Diary, and here I'm no more than half way through the book. But I have to say, the man knew his craft. The Rum Diary is an exquisite example. He's created a protagonist that's at once crabby, observant, despicable, a lush, indecisive, but thinks he knows what he wants, and that, despite your own inclinations towards the man, you find yourself somehow liking and admiring.

I love a book that's built like Thompson pieces together his Rum Diary. Each chapter feels almost as if it is a little vignette, a story in its own right but really part of a larger whole that eventually brings to life an entire plot you never knew you were reading. His character descriptions make me feel nostalgic, like I'm remembering the character he's describing instead of listening to him form a picture of that character in my head.

I'll admit I'm still apprehensive to read his other works, Fear and Loathing in Vegas being one of them. But the reasons for my trepidation are different now. Before I'd read any of his stuff I'd known him really by reputation only, and later the aforementioned movie made from his work. Based on that, I thought reading Thompson wouldn't be worth my time. It seemed too off kilter to relate. Now, though, I don't know that I want to read his other stuff because I'm loving this earlier* work so much that I don't want his later writings to diminish the admiration I'm presently feeling for him as an author.

Strange, I know, but there it is. And if you're wondering what brought me to reading Thompson now? Well, if you must know, I'm a sucker for catchy titles and good rum.

(*Just FYI, though The Rum Diary was published in '98, Thompson originally conceived it in the late 1950s.)