My wife and I have lived in this neighborhood since 2003. Prior to selecting our first home, we had visions of energetically greeting our neighbors and offering them friendship and ministry. I saw us opening our home and inviting the neighborhood over once a week for food, fellowship, and worship.

THEN we moved into the senior citizen mecca of DFW. Somewhere in the ballpark of 85% of our neighbors were retired and completely uninterested in making any move to say hello or welcome to the neighborhood.

That’s no excuse. I should have and could have reached out and been a friend. But I didn’t. In fact, I spent so little time in my neighborhood outside my home that I went months without even waving to a single neighbor.

The point: over the weekend, I heard that my neighbor’s 20 something year old son died of cancer. He was bedridden for months. We only heard about his condition for the first time maybe a month ago. We weren’t involved in our neighbors’ lives and people are dying.

If that weren’t enough, my neighbor on the other side of us lost his wife a couple years ago. I never knew she had died. She had Alzheimer’s and never really left the house. One day he just mentions in passing that his wife died a year before, and I stood there in disbelief. How could I not know the pain and trouble my neighbors were feeling?

Easy. I don’t spend time with them. I don’t know them. I am embarrassed and a little ashamed. The truth is, I didn’t have the faith to pray for healing and actually expect healing for the longest time. I don’t know that my prayers would have done any good. But my concern, my time, and my love would have made a difference. I have failed for too long to reach the people easiest to touch. They are literally next door, yet I know more about people halfway across the country because of their tweets.

Confession: despite all this, I don’t have the greatest desire to know my neighbors. We don’t appear to have many common interests. I’m 32. Most of them are 50-75. I have a young child. Most of them don’t. I’m all about the Web. They’re all about cable tv and fixing up their yards.

It’s not that I can’t find a way to bless them. It’s that I don’t see them as potential close friends. And because of that, it’s more difficult to will myself to step outside my comfort zone and talk to them. But some of them may be very lonely. Some of them don’t get many visitors. I wonder what I could do to bless each one.

I am pretty much always on the go. Even when I am home, I’m usually working on something. That was always my excuse for not working out regularly. I didn’t have time for the gym or a work out video. I had lost some weight by watching my food intake, but that will only take you so far.

Then I was going to Vegas. I wanted to lose a few pounds for the trip. I wasn’t looking to be a size 4, but I wanted to lose a few pounds so I could wear my sundresses without feeling self conscious. Motivating myself to go to the workout center was harder than I thought it would be. I was embarrassed and self conscious. I tried the ballet work out DVD and it worked, but it still wasn’t enough to keep me hooked.

I decided it was time to brush the dust and bird fluff off the Wii. I do not have a Wii FIT yet, but I did enjoy playing the sports games. This time I tried something different. I tried the training options. This is where things started to turn around.
Yes, I don’t have a personal trainer, I can’t go Yoga, and I can’t run with just my Wii, but I can do things I enjoy doing. I like batting practice, learning how to play tennis, working on hitting home runs, doing a couple rounds with the punching bag, and learning how to dodge tennis balls.

I could easily come home from work every night and put in at least 25-45 minutes with out even thinking about it. I get my cardio, I work my legs and arms, and I even work on my abs a bit while I train. I also like using the Wii because you can chart your results. I take the fitness test once a week just to make sure I am improving myself even just a little through the training, and even occasionally playing one of the games.

Another plus to the WII is that is exercise I actually like. It may have started as a way to lose weight for Vegas. It may have even kept momentum because I want my Halloween costume to look awesome. However, it is part of my everyday routine now. Plus once I have started exercising, I am more apt to do the things I don’t like. The stretches, crunches and push ups on the ballet DVD may be torture, but I am actually in a mood to do them. Being bored on the exercise bike or treadmill may not be my favorite thing to do, but already being in exercise mode helps.

Maybe I can actually keep this up and be at my target size by New Year’s?

It is finally October. Yes, my favorite month is here. Fall is in full swing. It is the one month a year my bat purse doesn’t make me odd, dark make up is okay, and I get to watch all the cheesy horror movies until I want to gouge my eyes out with a dull spoon (and that is a good thing). Another thing I love about this time of year, my favorite serial killer is back with new episodes. Yes, I am talking about Dexter.

I didn’t have Showtime during the first season, but CBS aired edited versions of that season during the writer’s strike. I was hooked immediately. I love Michael C Hall from Six Feet Under (another dark cable show). When I moved, I upgraded my cable to include the premium channel.

This season we find our twisted hero…protagonist…eh I’m not sure what to call him juggling the new baby, a life in the suburbs, his job and of course his dark secret. I know I shouldn’t like Dexter. He’s a killer, but they have created a character that you can’t help but root for. We know he’s a killer. We know he’s sick. However, he kills the bad guys the police can’t take down. We hope week after week he gets his target, doesn’t get caught and keeps it all together. They take a person who by definition we should all hate, and make him some how enjoyable.

Dexter is well written, well acted (most of the time) and tends to have lots of twists and turns every season. They keep coming up with new fresh ideas that keep the show from getting boring or just repetitive. This season it looks like Dexter’s nemesis will be John Lithgow. Lithgow will be playing another serial killer: the Trinity killer. This guy started his killing 30 years ago in Miami, and now he is back. Keith Carradine returns as Lundy….he’s on the hunt for the Trinity killer. How will this effect Dexter and Deb this season? Will Dexter be able to get a full night’s sleep? Can he juggle it all? Every season he comes so close to losing it all, but he always comes out ahead. Will his luck keep up?

There are other things going on this season too. I am curious to see what they do with Joey Quinn. I wonder how the whole Batista /Laguerta relationship will work. I see Astor getting to the age where she is going to start to rebel. As if Dexter doesn’t already have enough to worry about! Will Rita learn Dexter’s secret?
Only time will tell. For now my calendar is booked on Sunday nights.

I travel somewhat regularly. While I have watched the changes (especially those in air travel) make the experience less user friendly. However, my last trip gave me a much clearer insight. I flew with a friend who had not been on a plane in over a decade. It is one thing to deal with new rules, extra charges and other changes each time you fly. It is another thing to almost all the rules change since your last flight.

Those of us who fly frequently are almost conditioned to tolerate the lack of meals included, paying for snacks and maybe one beverage service on a four hour flight. We understand that with the extra fees for checking luggage, more people are just sticking with carry ons. That means there are more bags in the over head bins. Some less polite fliers from the back of the plane will put their carry ons in the bins in the front of the plane, leaving no space for those actually sitting in the front of the plane.

Even if you opt for carry on only, even with the carry on restrictions, your bag still might get checked. Yes one carry on and one personal item can be “abused” or some people who really should keep their one bag under the seat in front of them will insist on taking up bin space. We have been there done that, and it is like we are desensitized to the whole ordeal.

Maybe we shouldn’t be. Maybe we should still feel the outrage like we did the first time we experienced this. My friend had a very eye opening experience. She was amazed and annoyed by the fact that she could take her razor in her carry on, but she wasn’t able to take her shampoo and conditioner unless she bought travel sized items. You either have to pay the baggage fee , or spend money to meet the security requirements. She was outraged when the flight attendant was very rude to us on our first flight. We didn’t try to board early.

We waited until they called our row, and in theory their should have been space around our seats for our bags. However, there was not. We had to go all the way to the back of the plane to find open space in the bins. Did we hold up progress while we did this? Yes. Did we have an option? No. Did that stop the flight attendant from yelling at us? No. Apparently we were the ones being rude in her mind. I was annoyed, but what else could I do but say sorry and get back to my seat? My friend was outraged. To her, if the airlines are going to institute fees that make more people do carry-ons only, the flight attendants should stop passengers from putting their bags in front when they are sitting in back. There should be a better system in place. I agree. There has to be a better way.

I also agree the flight attendant was rude, but I guess I just had become accustomed to the system being broken and hoped that the flight attendant was just having a bad day. We were holding up boarding, and I am sure that was frustrating. My friend only saw that if boarding had been more organized, we wouldn’t have been forced to go in search of bins. This was just the beginning of the observations.

It was very interesting to hear her take on the things that have changed. Some of her frustrations were actually set in her not being familiar with airline and security procedures. We were supposed to have another person with us. On our first flight her seat remained open, but on our two longer flights the seat was given to another passenger. She didn’t understand the whole people flying stand by and overbooking policy.

In Detroit, we had to walk from the far end of concourse A to the other side of the airport to get our connecting flight in concourse B. It was a haul, (and the Twin Peaks esque tunnel is a little creepy)but it is one of these reasons you never book anything with less than an hour layover. It just is how things work. Still, I can see how people who aren’t familiar with all the rules can get frustrated rather quickly.

Flying used to be more of a luxury, service was better, and your biggest concern was making it to your destination safely. Now there are more little things you have to take into consideration. The big thing I take away from this is should we be outraged? Are we just dealing with the changing times, or should we be more vocal about the decline of quality and sometimes infringement on our well being? Is this a case of just needing to put our big girl panties on and deal, or should we be doing more?

I remember going on vacation when I was young and even in high school. You didn’t call your friends on the road. You might write them a letter or send a postcard, but that was it. When we went to France, I didn’t call home once. I went for 21 days without talking to anyone on the home front. It didn’t seem weird, it was just how things were. If you were on vacation, you were not in communication. That is no longer the case.

Are we ever really on vacation? We have become so digitally acclimated that it seems like even when we are “out of town” we aren’t really out of reach. Honestly, unless we go somewhere completely isolated (and even then if we are willing to pay for access we can sometimes get it)we have the access to keep up with our friends, e-mail and work.

Six years ago we were already heading that way. I could only afford to go on vacation because I was staying in a hostel. I couldn’t afford a laptop, or a hotel that had internet access, but I had my brick of a cell phone and access to internet cafes. It wasn’t ideal, and I usually wasn’t online for long, but it was still a way to connect with home. However, I wasn’t going to spend the money on extra time to check my work e-mail. Now it is a whole new ball game.

Many of us have laptops. Aircards are becoming more and more common place. Heck wireless providers are selling netbooks with their wifi system already built in (you have to also purchase the internet package). Yes, many hotels and resorts charge out the nose for internet access, but most of us can find free access pretty easily. I know I discovered at recent conference there was a fee for wifi, but you could waive it if you were an AT&T customer. They had process in place similar to Starbucks and other AT&T hotspots. Just enter your user name and password and you were connected. Working for a DJ/Karaoke company, I have learned many bars (just like coffee shops) also have free access. It is just a matter of keeping your eyes open and in some cases just checking it out yourself.

Even if I didn’t have a laptop or a netbook, I could still check my personal e-mail, P3 e-mail, Facebook, Twitter and Yahoo Messenger (which I only use for work) from my phone. I have a Blackberry, but even people without smart phones can get in on the action. Even my mom (who I love but is behind the curve on technology) can get e-mail on her cell phone. Twitter and Facebook (ok and Myspace…but really who uses that anymore) have mobile options. Even if you do not have a data plan, you can use text messages for both Twitter (which started as a text service)and Facebook and Yahoo messenger. Not to mention, if your boss (or anyone) has your cell phone number, they can reach you by phone or text.

I’m all about being connected. I like that if something goes wrong, I have the option of getting a hold of someone quickly and cost effectively. However, I also see my vacation time as my me time. I want to be able to relax and just be off the clock for few days.

I leave for vacation in less than ten hours. I will be taking my netbook with me, but I am not paying for wifi. I’m mainly taking it to do write ups and if we want to look something up we can waddle on over to a hot spot and check it there. I will not be checking my work e-mail. I refuse to do it. I will send updates on Twitter and Facebook on my phone, but I am not connecting to work. When I was on my cruise, I didn’t pay for wifi, turned off my phone’s data and turned the thing off. I have international coverage on it, but I didn’t want the extra texting fees or long distance charges that came with that plan. If I needed the phone, I had it. Otherwise it was a paper weight.

I chose to (for better or worse) make that boundary. If I didn’t I would most likely end up working from my vacation destination. I know how tempting it is just to check the e-mail, check in on the office, or just look at some data one last time. Maybe I’m just weak, but I see this as a trend. Ina world where we are always connected, how do we keep our work and our personal time apart?

Facebook and Twitter have made my life easier in many ways. Yes, I reap the benefits of social media. I keep in touch with friends and family. I keep up on things I don’t have the time to actually sit through. I share pictures and stories. There is one thing that I interesting about social media and controversy: it makes the debate, discussion and even trash talk instant.

In the past week alone we have had the debate over the President’s healthcare speech, Rep.Wilson’s outburst, Serena Williams’ meltdown (see below), Kanye West deciding it was a good idea to interrupt Taylor Swift on MTV’s VMAs (see parody at the end of this post), and now President Obama calls Kanye a “jackass”. I didn’t witness any of these (yes I know I really should have watched the healthcare speech, but Wednesdays are generally my only “night off” and even then I had to work until 8). I haven’t learned about them in the papers or the television. I have watched the debates go down in my Twitter Stream and on Facebook.

In a way I like having this level of observation. I enjoy seeing both sides of the issue. I like seeing my friends speak their minds even if I do not agree with them. It is exposing me to viewpoints I may have never considered. However, I do have one fear: that this immediate feedback may become the only source of information for some people.

Yes it is only natural that people will use the internet to express their feelings. With social media anyone can do this, and anyone can respond. It is a great way to get insight, but should it be a person’s main mode of gaining information. Generally, if I see something that piques my interest I research it a little before I make my own opinion. I have that level of discernment. I’m not going to just take a random person’s opinion as gospel. I know other people do, and that is what worries me. Are we instilling the younger generation with these skills? I know I teach my students how to determine the validity of an internet source, but is that being done through out the educational system? In a society that tends to come up short in actual media literacy, could we be facing more issues in the future?

I recently read that corporate America makes the mistake of not thinking the younger generations are savvy enough to evaluate an internet source. I’m not totally convinced of this. As an educator who has taught students in this “younger” demographic, I see some evidence that speaks to the contrary. These are skills I have to teach to my 19 year old students and 49 year olds alike.
The immediate access to events and ideas, even those you did not witness, is wonderful. My question is how are we educating ourselves and our youth to understand and interpret this?

Oh, and one last thing, just for kicks:

Although there is a sufficient number of titles to grant “fantasy” a section separate from science fiction in most bookstores, they are still grouped together.  The irony is, in most cases, a fantasy novel has to incorporate many features of science fiction to create a new world or environment.

Whether it be a new flora, fauna, world, technology or form of magic, it is common to reuse one or more of these devices from other authors, but put it together in a, supposedly, “unique” way.  Sometimes this succeeds; sometimes the author’s work is merely a derivative of either Tolkien or Asimov.

In Warbreaker, Sanderson succeeds.  The primary form of magic comes from the ability to gain “Breaths” (the most common corollary in our mythology that comes to mind is “soul”) and then put them to use.  This proceeds to pour the foundation for the entire story and world.  It is the basis of two religions within two kingdoms at odds with each other and in danger of going to war.  The disagreement is based partly on the morality of using these Breaths (souls of other individuals, dead or alive) for any purpose.

The second issue creating tension is the worship of the Returned, men or women who come back from the dead (granted due to a great deed they performed in their previous life), are treated as gods and must make use of Breaths to stay alive (I know, kinda ironic, but what else do you have when there is a physical presence considered a god and it can be killed?).  This story pushes against the boundaries of what we human-beings would consider as “gods”, and, thus, a new world is born in the hands of Sanderson.

The impetus for the events in Warbreaker is that a treaty is forcing the daughter of the king of Idris, Vivenna, (whose nation separated from Hallandren in opposition to worship of Returned and use of Breath) to prepare her entire life to marry the God-King of Hallandren (where the gods live in seclusion from the world at its capital, T’Telis, and only interact with their own priest/guardians and the worshipful petitioners).  Events conspire to send Siri, the youngest sister of Vivenna, in her place.  This creates sufficient confusion in both kingdoms and causes factions on both sides to question the motives of the king’s decision.

Brandon Sanderson intertwines the storylines of three primary characters: Siri, Vivenna, and Lightsong, one of the gods of Hallandren, who is consistently the most lazy of the gods, at least until Siri arrives to fulfill the treaty of Idris.  The most significant factor in all of this is Breath, which manages to grant the bearer the ability to see perfect tones and colors, hear perfect notes and sounds, and produce an aura of brighter color wherever they travel.  Most importantly, it grants the ability to be an Awakener, an individual who uses the Breath to bring to life something that was, at one point in time alive, but is now dead, such as cloth (cotton), sticks (living trees), and human bodies (who are now dead, but are turned into a “Lifeless“), all of which perform duties based on Commands.

What I loved the most about this book was not the imagery and magical world, but the verbal interaction between characters.  Sanderson has a true talent in bringing alive discussions in a way that makes it seem so real.  I honestly laughed out loud at the following quote from Lightsong who conjured up a mental image he’d rather forget: “Make a note to have my imagination flogged for its insolence in showing me that particular sight.”  This truly made me realize that Sanderson could expand on this world, already quite full of beautiful landscapes and imaginative magic, by providing lifelike, funny, heartwarming, characters to dwell within.

Overall, it is a vibrant story with a very rich other-worldly feel without duplicating a bunch of common tropes in fantasy.  As I read Warbreaker, I yearned for it to be made into a movie where it would be quite the visual treat.  However, as I, personally, am a stickler for spelling/grammar, I was disappointed at how many mistakes made it into the final version, but this did not detract from the story (some I’ve read in the past such as the later titles in the Wheel of Time series where the editors seem to get lazy could be rather frustrating).  Brandon, find better proofreaders.

On the subject of the late Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series and his recent demise, Brandon Sanderson is an excellent choice for completing Jordan’s work and he has an eye for detail and originality that should be a real treat when we see his first entry, The Gathering Storm, hit the bookshelves in November.  I look forward to more of Sanderson’s works as it appears that we’ve not seen the last of the world introduced in Warbreaker.

Order your copy of Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson today.

Want a FREE COPY of Warbreaker? Retweet the following for a chance to win a FREE COPY!

RT @culturefeast for a chance to win a FREE COPY of the new fantasy novel, Warbreaker, read the review http://tr.im/yr6r & retweet this!

That’s right. I’ll be drawing one name from the people who retweet that message above and sending him or her a free copy of the book.

As summer comes to a close, we bid farewell to our favorite summer shows. They kept us company over the past few months. There are even a few that I wish would get the full 22 week season treatment (who doesn’t need more True Blood?). Soon our regular season shows will be back in rotation. Along with our friends that made the cut last spring, we will see a handful of new shows hoping to make it through a full season.

Actually, the fall season technically began back on August 19. Bravo beat every one to the punch with Top Chef: Las Vegas. There will be a few more shows trickling in over the next few weeks. These are mainly on the CW. Along with the new season of 90210, it will be joined by its sister show Melrose Place on September 8. A few more shows will filter in that week, but the season really gets underway starting September 17. Most of the major networks are launching their new season that week. The season premieres keep coming at a pretty good clip through September 28. After that, shows will continue to stagger in.

There is just something about this season that feels different. A large number of shows were cancelled in the spring, but we have very few new shows replacing them. Some of that is due to NBC having 5 hours a week of primetime sucked up by Jay Leno.

Then there are the shows banished to start dates in October. I know it happens, and it actually makes sense for a new show like Three Rivers to have a late arrival. However, poor Ugly Betty has not only been condemned to the Friday night time slot of death, it has also been pushed back to an October 9th release date.

As I go to set up my DVR, I try to remember the The Mentalist has been moved to Thursday. I am saddened that I have to sit through a whole season of Heroes before I can see new episodes of Chuck (but I am still grateful it was brought back). I debate whether to admit I might record Castle. I look forward to NCIS and I hope NCIS Los Angeles is not a total let down.

It should be interesting to see what old shows keep their audience and thrive, and which new shows make it past episode 5. Of course, the mid season replacements and our shows that will not be back until spring add yet another new dimension.

When I was a kid, I bought my first science-fiction magazine at the age of thirteen. All older science-fiction fans remember when they bought their first magazine, and we were all about the same age – twelve, thirteen, maybe fourteen. In the 1930s and 1940s we were all pretty much alike as well. We wore knickers, sat down to a chicken dinner every Sunday, and spent Saturday afternoons at the movie theater where we saw two features, three or four cartoons, and got a free candy bar – all for a dime.

Nobody had a television set, though every family had a radio. Our parents tuned in to Lux Radio Theater and Fibber McGee and Molly but most of us kids listened to Lights Out! and Inner Sanctum and Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy. We made model airplanes out of balsa wood and tissue paper and rubber bands, telephones out of string and two tin cans, and occasionally we tinkered with crystal sets.

Most of us were skinny, wore glasses, were not very adept socially, and were usually sent out to left field – way out – when the Phys Ed class divided us up into baseball teams.

As writer Joanna Russ put it many years later, young science-fiction fans were “… nervous, shy, pleasant boys, sensitive, intelligent, and very awkward with people. They also talk too much.” It was an accurate description (And yes, almost all of us were boys – though with the passage of time girls became welcome).

When we discovered science fiction, we were consumed by it. We haunted the library for books by Verne and Wells and read and re-read the cheap Grossett & Dunlap editions of Edgar Rice Burroughs that we were given for our birthdays or at Christmas. But the real epiphany came when we discovered the magazines with their fascinating covers of aliens, rocket ships, and distant planets. We read them under the tree in the backyard on sunny days, curled up on the couch on rainy afternoons, and under the covers at night.

Our neighborhood friends looked at us with contempt (an excellent reason to search for science-fiction pen pals who might live halfway across the continent – or maybe half a dozen blocks away), our parents fretted that we read too much and played too little, and our teachers were indignant that we were obviously addicted to that “trash” when we should be reading the classics.

We loved science fiction, and we wanted other people to love it as much as we did. We were dazzled by the wild ideas and the lurid artwork, we thought it was great literature (in some instances we were right), and we proselytized for it shamelessly. Almost all of us published amateur magazines – “fanzines” – devoted to it, some of us grew up to write our own science-fiction stories and others became editors or publishers of it. We went to conventions and watched them grow from a few hundred participants to the thousands, from a single convention during a year to an average of one per week.

When actor William Shatner – the beloved “Captain Kirk” of the original “Star Trek” series – stared into the camera on Saturday Night Live and told us to “get a life”, we had to smile even in the face of betrayal. We already had a life. And to a large extent, it was one to which Captain Kirk, Luke Skywalker, the Grey Lensman, Michael Valentine Smit, and John Carter of Mars – all heroes of the science-fiction universe – had contributed an enormous amount.

* This has been an excerpt from Frank M. Robinson’s collector’s coffee table book:  Science Fiction of the 20th Century : An Illustrated History. Pick up your copy on Amazon today!

“Butterfly in the sky, I can go twice as high” ok now many of know those words. We grew up hearing them everyday after Sesame Street and Mister Rogers, it is the opening words to Reading Rainbow’s theme song. That song has now been silenced. The last episode of the show aired August 28, 2009. After 26 years, a great show that has helped children learn to enjoy and in some cases inspire them to read has been taken away.

Part of my outrage stems from that feeling that part of my childhood is now dead. I was 4 when the show started airing in 1983. I was too young to remember LeVar Burton from Roots and he hadn’t started his tenure as Geordi LaForge on Star Trek: The Next Generation (and honestly I was little confused at 7 years old to why the “Reading Rainbow guy was on some show basically wearing a chrome banana clip over his eyes once I actually watched TNG it made more sense). To me, he was like a friend that took us (my brother and I) on a new adventure each day. He made reading fun, and that was a huge influence in my life. I looked forward to each new story, and actually had hopes of maybe being one of the kid reviewers one day (you know the ones at the end of the show “but you don’t have to take my word for it.”)

I’m not saying it is the reason I learned to read. My parents are big readers. As a result they read to me frequently, and I caught on quickly. However, the show did inspire me to be an avid reader and to use my imagination to bring books to life. It also started my interest in being a writer. I wanted to write the books that people read. I wanted to create characters that could be brought to life. Twenty-six years later I still have that goal.

The other part of my outrage come from what this says about our culture. We can come up with money to keep shows that we basically lose brain cells watching, but no one will fund a show that has been a positive influence on children for a little less than three decades. I get that educational programming has its issues. Trust me, I blame Sesame Street as much as I blame MTV and Nintendo for my short attention span. I agree that the television shouldn’t be the only teaching tool. There are some things parents need to be doing on their own. However, this was a wonderful show that nurtured love for reading, and many people my age as well as children that came after us reaped the positive benefits.

On August 28, 2009 my Twitter stream and Facebook page were both full of angry and sad people saying good bye to our old friend. It may not have been a part of our lives any more, but it is a strong part of our past and we cannot believe it will not be there for more children in the future.

In a world where the announced “final season” of a television show may not actually be the last season and where shows linger much longer than they need, shows that end gracefully are a breath of fresh air.

Law & Order has been around for ages. Honestly I liked the shows and enjoyed the spin offs, but it is past its prime. I know I am going to catch flack for this, but Battlestar Galactica
and ER kept promising us they would go away, but some how they came back season after season. They deviated from their original core, story lines became repetitive, over dramatic and over done. New cast members were brought on, but some were more stunts than anything.

What ever happened to the good old days where good shows bowed out gracefully? I get that the longer the show is on the air the long the cast and crew is employed, and the more it can make money. However, flogging the dead horse and dragging the show out season after season. Once a show has run it’s course, let it end on a high note. Don’t keep bringing it back so the ratings can sag, people can lose interest and becomes parody of its former glory.

In this regard, I have to applaud the show Monk. It is a fun and quirky show on USA. While it isn’t one of my “must watch shows” I have a healthy respect for the OCD private detective and the show they have created around him. His ratings aren’t nose diving. They aren’t adding to the cast. They are letting the show end with this season.

This will be the show’s eighth season, and I am glad they are choosing to let it go out on top instead of putting the die hard fans through seasons of bad writing, overdone story lines and regret. When they remember their show they will remember all the things they like about it. Their memories won’t be plagued by the disappointing final years.

I guess the thing that cracks me up is the same networks that will cancel good shows without giving them a fair shot, will let shows in the last stages of life linger for seasons. I know it is all about money, but both can result in poor ratings and low revenue. I’m just saying, if Law and Order (the original) comes back next season…expect a lengthy blog from me.

Sometimes it feels like finding freelance writing gigs is a full time job on its own. I have these grand dreams of having enough gigs to make this writing my full time occupation. I know it will be a long road. I know I will have to keep applying and making a name for myself. I know I can’t give up or “take a break” or it will just take longer. There are weeks where I spend more time on the search than I do actually working on content.

When you are just starting out, you know things won’t just happen over night. You know it will take time to build a client base and to become one of those bloggers that can work from home and pay all the bills. What many writers do not realize is breaking into this market is very hard. I know I have had many false starts and put my goals and game plan on hold over the years. Sometimes the set backs were for good reasons, sometimes they were just bad choices on my part. However, I have learned that even short breaks can lead to basically having to start over. That is why I am not giving up this time.

Everyday I come home and spend at least an hour looking at job leads. At first, I just flag all the ones that at first glance seem like a good fit. Then I go back and look at each lead more closely. Applying or submitting a query for a gig that I am not qualified for or have little to no interest in is a waste of my time. If I can research the company, I take time to do that. If the add seems sketchy, I go with my instincts and just avoid applying.

When you apply for jobs, remember that many times it requires more than just a cover letter and resume. They may ask for writing samples. They may ask you to put specific things in your cover letter. They may want specific things listed in your resume. It helps to have a couple different resume templates ready to go. That way you can pick the resume that best fits your needs, and make the additional changes as needed.

I have a detailed resume, a shorter “one page resume,” a writing CV and a CV that combines my resume and my writing CV. I want to be sure to give the potential client or employer exactly what they request. Your goal is to first make it past the recycle bin and onto someone’s desk. Not giving them what they ask for is a good way to fail. Yes, just putting together the information needed to apply can take well over an hour, but each time you make a information packet, you get practice.

The worst part for me is the waiting game after you apply. Sometimes you never hear back. Sometimes you do get a positive response, but the editor is flaky and the whole project never takes off. Sometimes once you do hear back and you get more details on the project, you realize it may not be as good of a fit as you thought it would. Rejection is just part of the game.

The biggest challenge is to not get lazy. Don’t neglect your blog. Be discerning and avoid scams and jobs where the costs are less than the rewards, but also do not snub jobs that could be a great networking opportunity. Like consumertraveler.com (formerly Tripso) is an unpaid site, HOWEVER your post will be published along side posts from heavy hitters in the Travel writing world like Christopher Elliot and Janice Hough. Your post may be featured on MSNBC or another high profile site. If you want to be a successful travel blogger, you want these people to know who you are, take their advice and have them on your side.

I had my reservations about this show, but I was hopeful it would only get better. I had concerns about the female lead, and the stories moving a little slow. So far, the show has met my expectations, but there are a few rough patches.
The show has picked up the pace. I do like the new take they are taking on this premise (well premises seeing how it is three shows jumbled into one: Friday the Thirteenth the series, Poltergeist the Legacy, and X-Files respectively).

The Good:

Myka is not nearly as shrill as she was in the pilot. She is still grating and annoying at times, but I can let that slide for now.
They aren’t trying to make Pete another Mulder. They are keeping his intuition down to a more subtle art.
It has some classic lines. It brings the sarcasm and snark on occasion.

The Bad:

Are they really already jumping the shark with the addition of Claudia? I mean yes it is nice to have someone to interact and sass Artie, but I’m a little scared this will get old fast. I’m just saying if she magically ages mid episode or between seasons (like the baby on Family Ties) I’m done.

The writing…is well lacking. It has potential. As I mentioned before, it has moments of brilliance. However, the stories and the dialogue would be a death sentence if it weren’t for the leads. Their chemistry saves it time and time again. I’m all for smart dialogue written shows, but this writing is missing the mark.

The whole Claudia thing bugs me because I think they are under using Leena. I get that may be for a reason, but at the moment it is just annoying.

Where is the ferret? I’m sorry this might be lame, but I miss the ferret. That was one of the things that helped me to decide if I was going to keep watching the show. I’m not saying it needs to be a huge part of the show, but seriously bring back the ferret.
Either make Artie a geek or a technophobe. I’m just asking for a little consistency.

The Verdict:

It is show I am interested in following, despite my inability to remember to set it up on my DVR (thank goodness for Video on Demand on U-Verse). It keeps me interested enough to tolerate the little things that annoy me. Lets give it until the end of the season before determining its fate.

Are you hoping to see Zach, Screech, and Kelly reunite? Follow the URL listed at the end of this clip to sign the petition requesting a Saved By the Bell Reunion.

I guess I’m just spoiled by the digital age. I have my laptop and my Blackberry. What more do I need for my life to be portable? I like being on the go. I like that I can work from just about everywhere, but it has drawbacks.

The Blackberry is a fabulous tool. I love having access to my e-mails, the internet, documents, and other items while I am on the go. I can even access my Google Calendar and my Google Docs, and that makes running my business much easier. I love being able to Twitter and use Facebook when I am working and just out and about. I can even update my Blog from everywhere my phone has service. How can I be disappointed with that?

My laptop is practically my best friend. I keep in touch with my friends and family with it. I make money, write stories, edit photos, edit video, and help run a karaoke show from with my little laptop. I can take it anywhere I need to be.

The only negative I can see, is the bulk factor. Lets face it, dragging my laptop to meetings and shows is cumbersome. With my “life in a bag” aka my purse, and my laptop case, things get heavy and clunky fast. That means if I want to run video at a show, work on some blogs while enjoying time out or travel, I sometimes just avoid doing it. If I am doing stills or video…add a camera bag to the mix and I can barely get out of my car or make it through doorways. It was annoying, but I was content with the world because at least I had the portability option.

Then I saw my mom’s netbook. Yes the “baby laptop” to my less technically evolved friends. It seemed like the perfect solution. No I wouldn’t want to photo edit or anything like that, but for basic functions it seemed pretty perfect. It could fit in my “life bag” and it would make traveling much easier. I remember the headache of getting the laptop through security the last time I flew. I want to take my computer on my next vacation, and a netbook would make it much easier.

Then there is the practical side of me. I feel materialistic for wanting another gadget. I feel guilty for wanting another item. I question my motives. Part of me sees this as something that will help me be more productive and help my writing. Another part of me wonders if it just my way of making my irrational thought seem rational. I’ve never been the “gotta have it” type. I feel guilty about spending the money, but I see so much potential in it.

In this world it is so easy to get sucked into the “shiny” things. They are packaged to get our attention convince us we need them. Many people just fall prey to it. I know I do sometimes, but I work hard to not fall into that trap. Now I have to determine if I am just being shallow or if I’m just over thinking a good business decision.