Novel Progress

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I have been an avid reader since I can remember, and that memory goes back quite the distance. And in that whole time I’ve always felt that there is a story for me to tell, something that hasn’t been written yet and it was up to me to tell it since no one else will. The trick is to tell a compelling story that is unique or maybe offer a small twist. I do not have lofty aspirations nor fancy myself as a brilliant writer- at all. 

Now that the disclaimer is out there I can proceed.

The idea of a my first novel came from a photo book documenting the Angkor province of Cambodia from the Khmer Empire, a topic that hardly anyone knows anything about so of course I was intrigued and have been pursuing research and ideas on how to tell a story there. That has been burned in my brain for the past thirty years. 

During this past month I was in a hotel room alone with my thoughts and there were plenty of thoughts for other novel ideas. Work by day then come back to the hotel at night to read and write. As I said, for one month I have generated almost thirty-five (35!) novel ideas and concepts. I have even gone so far as to come up with plot lines from start to finish on most of these. At least ten unique characters to be interjected as well. 

To break them down I’d say at least 20 of these are novel sized with the remaining 15 are more like individual short stories that can/will be combined into one overall story with a common theme.

My brain and fingers are swollen from over use but I am pleased. 

There are so many issues though with the most difficult being- which story do I want to start first? Which one do I invest my time in research and development? Should I start on a smaller series and build from those small victories?

Check up on some of the progress on my Writing page above.

Quick Test

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I am trying to sort out how to not only post these quick notes in a different format but to also have them show up all on one page. Think Twitter/X but as an experiment. Check out more on the Notes page.

Regarding Reading

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  1. I will make lists of books I want to read for the upcoming year as a guide and promptly ignore it in favor of following wherever my heart and brain take me instead.
  2. The books on the nightstand and shelf will eventually be read, if only I stop adding to them. But I know I won’t stop adding to them.
  3. Reading does not make me superior. 
  4. Reading, instead, makes me feel inferior as I have much to learn and sort out how to apply.
  5. Bookstores, libraries, junk shops are labyrinths for the mind I plan on getting lost in every time.
  6. I will make time for reading, in the same way I make time for food
  7. I will read whatever I find interesting including novels, short stories, blog posts, essays, biographies, magazines, etc.
  8. I will try not to prejudge or set expectations before read something.
  9. I will practice marginalia by highlighting and notating sentences and paragraphs that reach out to me.
  10. I will notate and add quotes and passages inside my personal operating system (Grey Matter)
  11. I will re-read books just like I would have songs on a playlist or re-watch movies.
  12. I will make lists of books I want to read for the upcoming year as a guide and promptly ignore it in favor of following wherever my heart and brain take me instead.
  13. I will try to bring a book with me at all times. (E-books are great for this)
  14. I will read whatever I feel like without hesitation or guilt. 
  15. I will read whatever I find interesting including novels, short stories, blog posts, essays, biographies, magazines, etc.
  16. I will not allow an author to waste my time and allow myself to label a read as “did not finish”
  17. It’s okay to put a book down and go off to do something physical. The book will be there when I get back.
  18. Do I want to read more biographies? Will I learn something or is it propaganda?
  19. I have a smile on my face after finishing a book and immediately pick up the next one with the same energy.
  20. When I find a book that I enjoy, I will make an effort to read other titles by the same author. Maybe even try to discover their influences and read those too.
  21. I will turn off notifications and distractions
  22. I will not finish books “just because”
  23. I have to accept that is impossible to read everything I want to.
  24. I enjoy book reviews and discussions of books if done correctly. I will download and skim samples of a book, including the Table of Contents before deciding to purchase.
  25. I will follow up on what people suggest after I ask them what they are reading.
  26. I will keep, document, and share what I am reading and maybe even explain why. 

Go visit my Bookshelf page for more insight

Connecting Ideas

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There have been some questions/discussions about my research-thinking-writing process and I thought I would address them here. First step is to gain input. I read voraciously- not just books but articles from other critical thinkers on a wide variety of subjects up and down the Dewey Decimal System. There is zero chance I can remember all of this input so I dump them into my custom built personal database that I call “Grey Matter” where I can retrieve at will.

The process is extensive but worth it. I’ll read something of interest and make notes and highlights which immediately transfers into my digital brain. Inside there I wrote code scripts to organize and catalog these ideas to be referenced for later.

Connected ideas on one subject in a customized graph view
Another view of connected ideas on a specific subject for easier reference
Highlights & notes automagically imported into my digital brain for reference

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Mesmerizing look inside my brain at how ideas are connected and grow on each other.

Personal knowledge management, or digital asset management can be daunting but if it is set up correctly to connect ideas and go down the rabbit hole of new thoughts. It is amazing to me to come across an article and then be immediately capable of connecting those thoughts expressed into my own while completely connecting them to other thoughts for an entirely new line of thought.

Stereo Denbow

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For the past few months I have been slowly acquiring digital music files cheaply either through small purchases at record stores or through local libraries. The idea being is to minimize subscriptions and future costs.

The feeling of taking old media and converting it into new media formats takes me back to the days of LPs, cassettes and CDs where you would insert the media format onto a player, set it to the desired side or song and then study the inside jacket for the band’s cover art/bio/lyrics as the music played. Today I slide compact discs into the Apple SuperDrive CD reader connected to the MacBook Pro (aka Mac), and do the same thing- study the over art/bio/lyrics as the files are converted. Eject, plug a new compact disc in and then overtime, your digital library grows.

Then all of these freshly ripped music files are transferred quickly via the internal home network to be stored inside my local server (Minnie.)

Now whenever I need to I can stream/download these files to my iPhone and/or iPod and be on my merry musical way.

Recent haul from a local library and the SuperDrive on bottom.

While editing this post I was listening to an album I ripped:

Thirst Quencher

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“Everything we’re forced to learn at school we quickly forget, but the things we set out to learn ourselves — to quench a thirst — are never forgotten, and inevitably become an important part of our existence.”
—Werner Herzog

The Art Of Un-Noticing

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One of my favorite writers, Rob Walker, has a brilliant book on my shelves (thanks, Mom) titled “The Art Of Noticing: 131 ways to spark creativity, find inspiration and discover joy in the everyday.” He also has an excellent weekly newsletter I subscribe to in my RSS feeds.

Anyway, I’ve been doing some initial thinking of ways we can practice ignoring or not giving notice to those that would take away our time and attention in unhealthy ways. The first few culprits are adverts everywhere, social media and television.

What are some other distractions we can hide our eyes and ears from to regain that creativity, inspiration and joy?

I’ll be back with more on this after some proper thought.

Human Feeders

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I think it was Kleon who used the phrase “human bird feeders” to describe those places that attract and feed us. A Little Free Library certainly counts as a feeding place. We ventured out for some geocaching after lunch today and had a 2-for-1 special in that while we were looking for a hidden cache it was inside the LFL. Bonus: I found a title that is currently on my “to be read” list called Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. Now I can scratch that one off of my public library hold request list.

I can also check two more geocaches from local hiding places. Love it.

What are some other “human bird feeders” that attract us and make us pause?

Sneaky hide
Easy grab and go cache hidden under a rock

You’ve Been Served

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Now that I am back home for a bit I can finally play around and setup the Mac Mini desktop computer as a standalone file server.

“Minnie” is all setup to host and share any number of photos, music, videos and documents to any of my (and Sweet T’s) iDevices. Even better, I will have the ability to retrieve these documents from anywhere in the world as long as I have access to an internet connection.

And now for the moment of truth…will it work?
Of course it did(!), I am brilliant.
And here is the setup configuration as seen from Minnie’s screen.
Offsite backup? Yessss…

In the near future I will migrate all of my website code and documents on to Minnie and use it as a cheap, self-hosting website.

Time Machine back-ups of all of my hard disks, will be stored and easily retrieved if necessary. (Hopefully it won’t be necessary)

I will also be able to host and serve all of my own Podcast files as opposed to relying on a third-party file host that I pay for.

And then, I can run and publish other sites I need including my own RSS server.

All of this is designed for easy access, off-site backups/restoration, and file sharing with family/friends. Which reminds me, eventually I will allow access so family members can view/download our family’s images. “Hey Chris, do you have those pics from that 2012 Christmas party?” Yep, go fetch!

Two Essential Apps

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Day One- Over the previous ten years I have enjoyed using this journaling app and just re-subscribed. I appreciate the attention to logging every detail that may be used in context with, well, the text I input. Details such as the music I was listening to, the location, weather, fitness activities and more.

An inside look into my digital journal using Day One.

Book Tracker- Quite simply, one of the best purchases I have made to remind me of what I have read that includes stats, reading progress, reading goals, what I plan to read next, track the physical library I have on my shelves, etc. Adding tags to help me catalog specifics such as what year I have read a book, and where it was consumed such as physical, Kindle, Kobo, audio, etc.

Books read for my 2024 reading goals and books I am currently reading to the left