Mike Williams

The Next Big Thing

Last night I began work on the 5th story in my 60 Pages project.

I have already laid out the nine story ideas I want to use but surprisingly enough, I’ve been following the structure. I am picking and choosing the order that I am writing them out.

I may end up choosing to write different stories for the remaining four. I am not sure. There is really only one idea that grabs me. In addition to that, I’d love to write something about Marilyn Manson and undue process. Society has literally turned into a guilty before proven innocent mind set.

I’m so excited to be where I am in only a few short months. The basic premise for anyone who wants to become a writer is just…write. Keep writing. Write often. It doesn’t matter what it is or even how good those first few things are. It will get better over time. My writing still sucks but I feel like I am getting better at it. I do it everyday and in many different forms. I write a journal. I write a blog post. I write short stories. I write emails however, we won’t count those. That is the kind of writing I’d like to steer clear of but life pulls me in.

Ok. Wicked little post about nothing in general or possibly just a writing update.

Have a super sparkly day!

Cold

It is roughly 17 degrees Fahrenheit.

For you types that use the Celsius scale, that would be -8.333 degrees.

I’m happy to see that things are still capable of cooling down with all of this global warming going on.

Once Upon a Time on Earth

I just finished writing the fourth entry into my short story collection called 60 Pages.

I like this story and definitely felt like this could have easily been a novel. I even left the end of the story open for that purpose.

Here is a summary I wrote for it…

An alien fleet discovers that Earth has unlocked the powers of magic. In a universe still reeling from a previous conflict the goals are clear.

This new threat must be neutralized.

With help from an unlikely source, the humans prepare for the battle of their lives as they defend their world and their way of life from a threat light years more technically advanced than they are.

In the end, the only real question is who will win? Will the aliens save the galaxy from the new magical threat or will humanity survive to fight another day?

NSFW in a Covid-19 Era

What does NSFW mean? It stands for Not Safe for Work. This generally refers to nudity.

You certainly wouldn’t want your boss to see that you are looking at explicit photos while you are at work, would you? Normally, it isn’t even an issue. You generally don’t go through your work day looking at nude pictures, porn, or other such things.

If you work from home, does NSFW apply to you?

Just thinking out loud this morning.

Why did I choose the picture I did for this post. Two words. Great. Furniture.

Profound Wisdom

I have another fine quotable from myself.

In speaking to a young couple about what they have versus what their neighbor’s have. In other words, they have a nice house and I wish we could have a house like that.

The only difference between you and the neighbor’s down the street is the decisions you’ve made.

Yes. Utterly profound. Indeed.

Hell – I Found It

There is nothing I loathe more than political discussion. Using the word “discussion” is usually putting it mildly.

While I was waiting for my ride to work yesterday, I was in a really bad position. I had to stand at the door and look out for my ride to show up so I couldn’t really go anywhere. It was too cold to just stand outside and wait or I would have.

Another person in my house came down stairs and sat in the kitchen with his phone on speaker talking to another person about…wait for it…you guessed it. Fucking politics.

If the door would have been made of glass, I would have thrown myself through it. It would have been a more pleasant experience.

The very definition of hell for me is being forced to listen to anyone talk about politics. I went into work feeling dirty after that.

True story.

HDWGH – Story 18 – Bang a Box

HDWGH – Story 18

From The How Did We Get Here Series

Now: Wyatt Ford sat on his porch with a hammer in one hand and a look of utter sorrow on his formerly angry face. A box full of mangled pieces of plastic, aluminum, and glass sitting at his feet. A crumpled note at the bottom of the box reads “To my weird brother, may this brand new iPad Pro serve you well in whatever weird shit you may get into next. Love, Sis.”

Before: Wyatt Ford was not a very patient man. His impatience grew in intensity as the front doorbell rang while he was in the middle of shall we say, extra curricular activities. At his front door was a UPS delivery driver with a box addressed to Wyatt. He signed the device and decided to open it on the porch. It was a nice day after all. After about 5 minutes of fighting with the packaging and basically no closer to opening the box, Wyatt went into his garage and brought out what he considered to be the most appropriate tool for the job. A hammer. Wyatt’s technique worked and soon the box was opened. He was so angry that the contents of the box didn’t fair too well. He didn’t really recognize it before in all of his rage but there was a note at the bottom of the box.

Learning

Since this is my website I can write about whatever I feel like writing about. Today, I’d like to say a few things about learning.

I used to have a membership to a weird little website called Lynda.com. I found it because some of the Photoshop podcasts I followed would often advertise that they had more content on Lynda.com. It was a weird name so I stayed away until one day, I didn’t.

I signed up and began learning all kinds of things. It was mostly technical and had a lotto do with work related applications but it was a place you could go and learn pretty much anything.

And then LinkedIn, a site that I didn’t really like although I can’t remember why bought Lynda.com. I was almost devastated but I quickly got over it as the site kept the logo and all was good. It did hound me to upgrade to LinkedIn Learning which I ignored for a very large amount of time, until I didn’t.

I am using LinkedIn Learning now and I really like it. I exceed my goal of 120 minutes of learning time every week. One week, I ended up with over 400 minutes.

This isn’t a paid advertisement but if you are so inclined. I would recommend them.