Category: Instructional
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Small Successes
Small successes build into larger ones, and so on ad infinitum. Well… maybe not to infinity. But at least until the end of the timeline of our lives. Even at the low points, when we feel that we have failed, there is some small success. It’s just that you can’t always see it. We…
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The Prompt Challenge
This begins week 18 of the Odd Prompts challenge. I’ve been having a ton of fun with it, as any of you who have been enjoying the Case of the Perambulating Hatrack along with me can attest. But I’m not the only one working on that challenge and blog. I’ve been aided and abetted…
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Ladders are Evil
One of my coworkers loves to say this. “Ladders are Evil!” he’ll proclaim. “They’re all trying to kill you!” Which isn’t, precisely, true. It’s not that ladders are evil. It’s that people are dumb and don’t always think things through. Like gravity. The earth loves us all, and wants to give us a big hug,…
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Stressball
You know what I mean – when there is so much that needs to be done, and such tight deadlines, that you feel your guts knot up into a giant stressball. You can’t sleep, you forget to eat until it’s so bad you’re weaving on your feet. You can’t focus, because your thoughts are racing in…
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How To Blog
Well, first, you have to write something. No, wait, first, you have to pick a platform. No, wait… I have been doing this for eleven years now. At first, I was doing one thing, and then I was doing another, and now? I’m doing something else, with touches of the first thing and the second…
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Simple Life: Handwashing Dishes
I’ve washed dishes by hand all my life. There was a dishwasher, once, but it was old and busted and eventually got used for storage. So I know the routine well, of standing there with your hands in hot soapy water and staring at the wall… and the dishes never end. You can wash them…
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To my Daughter, on the Occasion of her 17th Birthday,
I don’t anticipate that you will read this, or understand. Actually, in some ways I hope you never understand. It’s difficult, to tell you what you need to know, since you are so distant now. Perhaps I should have said more, sooner, but your childhood was precious to me, and I did not desire to…
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Fisking 27 Ways to be a Modern Man
Written by Sanford Begley I’ve never fisked anything before, this much stupid annoyed me into doing it. For those of you who wish to see the original idiocy. No need really, I’ll be copying each point here before replying. His points will be in normal font, I’ll bold my replies. 1. When the modern man…
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Get out and Vote!
I am on the road this week. I have to pick up my kids, get married, and go to a convention. We’ll fit in some camping and hiking around those little things, too. There will be photos. Loads of them. But I wanted to make a public-service announcement before I forget about it, and a…
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The Fan Reaction
This is a guest post by a fellow Fan who has asked to remain anonymous – I can’t at all blame him, given the vitriol being flung around on the ‘net recently. He did ask that I make sure you all knew he was proudly Canadian. So here is our friendly Blue Dragon, who recently…
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With Many Thanks
Yesterday afternoon was exciting. For the first time since becoming involved in the process, I didn’t feel like my Hugo nomination had simply disappeared into a black hole. I also got the thrill of hearing my name as one of the nominations. I am honored and humbled by that. My personal involvement with organized fandom…
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3 Easy Steps to Load a Book on Your Kindle
We’ve all been there. This new piece of technology, so shiny, and new, and confusing… what’s more, Kindles don’t really come with a user manual. The First Reader just got a new Paperwhite (touchscreen e-ink ereader, pretty nifty, really) and all it came with was a fairly useless guide on basically how to turn it…