Where Have All the good Writers Gone?

Well, you can rest assured that they are not here! So, at least in the mean time, you have to put up with me. At least on this Weblog! I know that they are out there, I have even seen a few. But what is a good writer? I guess there are as many answers to that question as there are writers. Some people judge a good writer by their ability to hold your attention. That sounds good and reasonable to me. But one might also say that a good writer is known by the content of his or her writing. I have known some people who spend their entire lives reading romance novels. They say that this one or that one is a good writer. But I have to wonder about that. Maybe they can hold the attention of their readers, but what are their readers learning? Writing is like Cooking. Just because it tastes good, doesn’t mean that it is good for you. Now don’t get me wrong, I love a good pork chop done on the grill. Or that big juicy porterhouse steak grilled to perfection with a huge baked potato swimming in real butter on the side! YUM! But if I ate that way everyday, I would be bigger than a house! Right now, I am only as big as the garage.

In the end I think it is about content and how that content moves the reader. If it can move the reader to think, then it is good. That is of course assuming that in the process of thinking, the reader learns something that is beneficial to both themselves and others as well. But sometimes I would be happy with just getting some people to think.

Have you ever said to your self, “I wish I had a brain?” Well, I know I have, but then you have to have a brain to say that, don’t you? I guess what I am really saying is, “I wish my brain would kick into some other gear than neutral!” I think brains work better though when you use them. I know mine does, the only problem is, it takes so much energy to get it going. Reading can be one way to get the brain working. Especially when you read something that provokes you to thought.

Have you ever heard the saying: Don’t talk about Religion or Politics? Of course you have, just as I have many times. Isn’t it funny that the two most important topics on this planet are also the two most shunned? There is a reason for that, you know. Reading, talking, even arguing over religion and/or politics is a good way to ‘kick start’ the brain into working. I think that most people have a fear of being rejected, therefore they avoid subjects that they perceive will cause them to be rejected. I have learned over the years, that it is not I that is rejected, but sometimes what I say is. After all, I am a nice guy. Anyone who knows me, would have to like me! (Well, that’s just one opinion.)

But to sum it all up, I would have to say, that in my opinion, a good writer is one who not only keeps the attention of the reader, but one who can provoke others to think. Think for themselves and not just ride along with the wave like a bunch of lemmings running to their death to jump off of the cliff, not even stopping to ask, “Where are we going and what will happen when we get there?”

My Brain Is Hurting!

Just a short little note. I have been working on about five projects in the last few days since my last post and still trying to learn new software! My brain is hurting and everything is starting to run together!

I have been working with Front Page for web design for years and I just got Dreamweaver. Need I say more?

Why do people hate Jury Duty?

I had something happen to me the other day that really got me thinking. Why do people, including myself hate the idea of being called for Jury Duty? I would almost bet if you took 10 people off the street and asked them, nine out of ten of them would tell you that if they were called, they would try to find a way out of it. In fact the number would probably be higher.

Everybody you talk to has an excuse or a ‘reason’ that they wouldn’t want to serve, but I wonder how many of them really know the reason? I think they do in their subconscious mind, but I really doubt if they ever really thought it out and know the real reason. I know I didn’t until just recently.

I guess it started back a couple of months ago. I live out in the desert. It is about 20 miles to the highway and most of that is on very bad roads. Once you get to the highway, its another 65 miles to the County Seat. We I got a summons for Jury duty. Now it was in the middle of our rainy season. Out here in the desert the rainy season can be treacherous. Our road become canals and sometimes can have ravines created in them. There are some people who can’t get out for weeks. Well I called the court house and told them my situation. The Clerk called me back and told me that the Judge said he didn’t care and that if I didn’t show up, there would be a warrant issued on me.

Needless to say, I was just a little p**sed! It is a good thing that I have a big truck with 4 wheel drive. The water was over two feet in some places. Anyway I arrived on time. I got the chance to talk to the Judge and told him about a medical problem that I have (I really do) and he excused me.

The next thing I know my daughter gets a summons and she doesn’t have a car. She called up and told them and the Judge told her that he didn’t care. If she had to walk to the courthouse she better be there or go to jail! Now I am really mad! After all, who does this JERK think he is?

I stayed up all night fussing and fuming over this thing until it finally hit me! It wasn’t the fact that we run a ranch out here and have chores that HAVE to be done! It wasn’t any of the reasons that I had worked through that made me so mad. It all had to do with FREEDOM!

Being called to Jury Duty is the one biggest offense that that the Government has place upon the Citizens of this Country that screams the fact that we are not free!

Here in America everybody ‘prides’ themselves on being free! Well we were years ago, but those days have long since passed away! But at least we can ‘pretend’ that we are free.... until we get that summons calling us to Jury Duty! Then there is no way around it. We can’t pretend any longer. It hits us full in the face! We are not free!

Stay tuned for part two. Why we should want to be a juror.

Rick Davis

Well I Am Back About The Mac!

Well, you might have wondered where I’ve been. (At least one or two of you, lol) I have been very busy the last few days working and playing with my new iMac. I still haven’t gotten in all of the software. Apple messed up with the addressing and left the street address off of every package. I have had to call FedEx on every one of them to keep them from being sent back.

It is 2:33 AM right now. Got up because i couldn’t go back to sleep. I got to thinking about this stupid Judge over in Hudspeth County. My daughter got a summons for jury duty. Well, it is about 70 miles, 30 of which is through the desert. Very rough roads. She doesn’t have transportation and she called up to let them know. He told her he didn’t care if she had to walk all the way, she better show up or go to jail! Sometimes I wonder just who these people think they are? America! Where have you gone? I am trying to keep a Christian attitude about this thing, but I would rather have an ‘Old Testament’ attitude!

Anyway, this is supposed to be about the iMac. Forgive my little rant, please.

I have finally gotten almost all of my ‘stuff’ ported over from the PC. I could have used some of the automatic software that is out there, but I guess I just wanted to do it the hard way. The biggest problem I have had with it, is getting the email program to work right. I don’t know why, but it seems that this has always been one of my biggest problems. I know its simple, because I did it in the past, but it just hasn’t hit home yet. I have gotten some of them to work, but still working on others. Fortunately I loaded on FM Ware Fusion. I didn’t want to spend the $200-$300 it would cost to put a new copy of Microsoft’s Windows XP on it, so I used an old copy of Windows 2000 that I had left over from a computer that bit the
dust. I figure that I paid for the right to use it on ‘one’ computer. So, I am using it on ‘one’ computer.

Anyway, it loaded up in Fusion’s Virtual Computer like a dream. It was very simple and it works grate! So I am using Thunderbird From Mozilla to get most of my email. By using Ypops, I can even get my email off of Yahoo without having to go through a browser. So at least in the mean time I have that problem taken care of, even though it is not really how I want it. But I will figure it out.

I have been playing around with some of the software on it and will be putting up some of my thoughts on it soon. But for now I think I am going to go back to bed and see if I can get some sleep. Got to get up in three hours.

Rick

Well the iMac is in.

Well, the new iMac finally came in yesterday. Better late than never I guess. I was very impressed with the way it was boxed up. Not like any PC that I have gotten before. I had ordered it second day air because I don't like getting computers by ground. I wanted to limit the amount of abuse that it would have to go through. But the way this thing was packed, I wouldn't have had to worry about that. It could have been used as a football in a game between FSU and the Gators and survive with no problem.

I must say that it looks much better in person, than it did on TV or in one of the adds on the Apple site. I was a little concerned about how steady it would be on that little foot they have holding up the iMac. But my concerns were totally unfounded. It is more than sufficient to hold up the computer/monitor. Another thing that I was impressed with is the keyboard. I halfway expected it to be on the flimsy side, but I was wrong. It is amazing how thin it is and yet, I believe it to be the sturdiest keyboard that I have ever used in the last twenty years. (My all time favorite keyboard was on the Osborn Executive Computer, back in the '80's.) The keys take a little getting used to, but they are responsive and precise. All, in all, I give it a +9. The screen? Well, I just can't say enough about it. It is great!

I spent the first day just playing around with it. Other than my iBook, it has been a long time since I worked on a Mac. It sure is good to be back 'home'. I did learn something very interesting, at least to me. One of the things that has always bugged me on the iBook, was the mouse cursor. It was always so small that I had a hard time finding it. On the PC I would just change to a larger size by clicking on the mouse settings in control panel.

Well, after all of these years, I found out that the answer to my cursor problems was even simpler to overcome on the Mac. Just click on system preferences, then universal access, then mouse and just adjust the size! DUH! I wish I had know that a long time ago. lol

Anyway, I really like it. Today I did some real work on it, getting it set up and moving files over from my PC Laptop to the iMac. I will write on that later.

Rick Davis

Today is the Day?

Well, today should be the day that my new iMac comes in. It's about time! It's only a few days late. That wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't paid for second day shipping. But when I go up on the net and read what others have said about getting their new iMacs, I guess I am pretty lucky. Just hope it comes in today. I know that it should, it is sitting at the airport waiting to be delivered. We'll see.

Rick Davis

Boy was I surprised!

Well, I guess all good things have to come to an end! "Well, what are you talking about?" you might ask. Then again, maybe you won't. Anyway, here goes.

I just ordered the brand new iMac from Apple. The top of the line 20" model, maxed out in memory and hard drive. Couldn't wait for it to arrive from California! Right, I get this email telling me it is coming from Shanghai, China! What a surprise! Looking back, I know that it shouldn't have been such a surprise, but for some reason, I just didn't figure Steve Jobs as selling out to the Chinese.

I have owned Apple computers in the past. I had the old Macintosh SE and another one, can't remember now what it was, but newer and better. Its really been a long time since I had one. Then I got a iBook, really like it. But my work always dictated to me that I needed a PC (or so I thought), so I have mainly been using PC's.

Well, to make a long story short, I have finally gotten fed up with PC's or should I say, Microsoft! I am fed up with it crashing every time you turn around, or popping up in the middle of your work telling you it has to do an update or some other thing. I am tired of having to mess with virus checkers and other such stuff.

So, I am making the move back to Mac. hmmm... back to Mac, that rhymes. I will let you know how it works out. I KNOW that you just can't wait!

To bad though, it is made in China! Is anything still made here?

Rick Davis