Monday, October 29, 2007

Christmas Packages for the Troops

Lubbock Marine Parents are at it again. It's that time of year. These fine folks are putting together countless care packages to send to forward deployed troops for Christmas. Stop by and lend a hand. Tell 'em I sent you, and you'll get a year's supply of sunrises for free!

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Healthy Hobbies

Hobbies can be a healthy way to pass the time. I've enjoyed my hobbies in the past, and have adopted a new one.

I enjoy playing golf, and usually get out every weekend for a round. I also enjoy writing little tidbits to post on this blog. For my current college class, I had to build a website. Not a cheesey single page that merely demonstrates a few HTML features, but a real website with a purpose. I've discovered that I thoroughly enjoy it.

I secured web hosting for my site and registered my own domain. Nothing screams amateur like a URL of "mysite.someoneelseshost.com". Having a real host and domain presented some new challenges. Not only have I had to learn much more about HTML than I thought I would, but I've also had to learn how to use FTP, or File Transfer Protocol, to publish the content of my site. It's much easier than I anticipated.

Some FTP software allows you to edit your pages right on the host's server. I opted for a free FTP client, and it does not have that feature. I edit my pages on my laptop, and then upload the new version to the server with my FTP software. Since I've fallen in love with HTML Kit, I prefer it that way. HTML kit is an editor that allows me to edit my pages and, with a single click, preview them either in my browser, or right in HTML Kit. Pretty nifty. It also has some trouble-shooting tools that I've (thankfully) not had to use yet.

In a nutshell, building a website has been fun, and it has been a great learning experience. I fully intend to keep it going after the class ends. I recommend that others take a stab at it. Who knows what kind of things you can come up with when you let your imagination run free?

Friday, October 19, 2007

Busy Little Bee

Once again, I'm busy as can be. School, work, family, yadda yadda yadda.

School is coming down to crunch time, and I have a big pile of stuff to get accomplished over the next couple of weeks. I don't mind, but it doesn't leave much time for blogging. Quite honestly, there hasn't really been anything interesting going on here to blog about. I'm between stories at the moment, but I'm working on a doozie. My final project for my English class is a short story that I'm sure will amuse some, and anger others. Oh well; can't please 'em all.

Some of my millions of readers have already read a snippet of the story, but it has undergone a few major changes since I posted that tidbit. My Editor In Chief rejected my original plot idea and made a "polite suggestion" that I change it ("I hate it; it's well written, but a horrible story," was part of the conversation).

I was fond of the original plot idea, but fully understand that many people would not find it amusing at all. The current version may be gentler, but still has plenty of conflict to keep the imagination running on all eight cylinders.

Once the dust settles, I'll post the finished product and, perhaps, spend more time writing on here. Until then, the world will just have to do without frequent posts on Write On The Right.

If you are craving stories from military folks, you can always check out the latest fare at Writing Along. Tell 'em I sent you, and you'll get a free one year supply of air!