Bruce A. Borders: June 2012

Friday, June 29, 2012

New Social Media Site - Zurker

Want to try a new social media site? Zurker is fast becoming the new Facebook. With more control and flexibility, and the chance for members to own shares, Zurker is already a favorite. Check out Zurker at http://www.zurker.com/i-257173-biwrinnott

Monday, June 25, 2012

But We Need The Rain

Taken and adapted from the book, Holy Terror, by Bruce A. Borders.

I live in the desert on purpose. The reason is simple – I don’t like rain. Never liked it, never will. In fact, I’d prefer that it never rain at all. Our water supply could be provided by the summer run-off of mountain snow. But apparently, I don’t get to decide such matters, as one look out the window will attest. Yes, it’s raining, and has been quite a lot this year. At the rate it’s going, this normally arid climate will soon be reclassified from desert to rainforest.

I’m convinced that the rain is slowly driving me crazy. The cold temperature. The soggy ground. The damp air. I try to stay busy doing everything I can that needs done – inside. But a guy can only take so much. I’ve considered moving to the Sahara, where it hasn’t rained for around a hundred years – but given my luck, it would rain the first week after I’d arrived. Rain seems to follow me wherever I go.

I’ve also contemplated offering my services for sale – a modern-day rain man. I wouldn’t even need a forked stick, all I’d have to do would be to show up. Then again, it probably wouldn’t work. If I actually wanted it to rain, there’d be a drought – sort of inversely raining on my parade.

Yes, rain is definitely one of my many pet peeves – my apologies to anyone who actually likes the stuff. And it appears that, there are quite a few people who do like it, even where I live. (I often wonder what they’re doing living in the desert if that’s the case). When I complain about the wet weather, I constantly hear them telling me, “But we need the rain.”

Actually, we don’t.

Rain, and the supposed dependency on rain, is highly over-rated. The existence of deserts and the nomads who have long thrived in those dry climates are proof – life can be sustained without rain. True, farmers like the rain – yet, they’re never satisfied. No matter how much precipitation falls, invariably, someone will utter the phrase, “But we need the rain.” I seem to hear it two or three times a week.

I have a pretty good idea the last thing Noah heard from outside the ark was a gargled gasp of, “But we need the rain.” Then, they all drowned.

Apparently, people haven’t changed much.

Bruce A. Borders, author and songwriter has over 500 songs and more than a dozen books. Over My Dead Body, The Journey, and Miscarriage Of Justice, his latest books, are available on Apple I-Pad®, Amazon Kindle®, Barnes & Noble Nook® and Sony Reader®, Kobo, Diesel Books, and Smashwords. For more information, visit http://www.bruceaborders.com/. See Bruce’s Amazon Author Page at www.amazon.com/author/bruceaborders or view his Smashwords Profile at www.smashwords.com/profile/view/BruceABorders

Monday, June 18, 2012

Home

I'm a person who likes to stay at home. I've never particularly enjoyed visiting places and have no desire to travel to foreign countries. I like it at home. Yet, here I am, writing my blog in Hawaii. (Yes, I know that Hawaii is the 50th state and part of the USA - technically. However, in reality, it is the closest to a foreign country, as I want to get).

The reasons are many; I'll list just a few of them. First, the people here don't speak English much, but Hawaiian, or Japanese, or Chinese, or some other language I can't understand. Second, trying to find the way to anywhere touches on the edge of insanity. There are very few things marked, streets and addresses follow no sort of logic. At times, you can see where you want to go, but getting there is next to impossible, especially with the constant parade of traffic and the swarms of pedestrians. Third, asking the locals for information or directions produces a blank stare, followed by a few sentences of useless information totally unrelated to what you needed to know. Or, they might say nothing - just point down the street - which may, or may not be the right direction.

The Hawaiian Islands are supposedly modernized but they aren't quite as advanced, as I'm accustomed to. For instance, the idea of debit cards hasn't quite made it here. Most businesses do not process them as debit, but credit cards. They have trouble with such concepts as time - no one is in a hurry at all, and walking on the right side of the walk – they seem to prefer using the left side. And, while they do have Wi-Fi and the Internet, the connection speed leaves much to be desired - and you have to pay for it. But then, not much is free here. Prices are not only exorbitantly high, they are insanely outrageous. At $10 a gallon for milk, $7.50 for a small box of cereal, or over $8 for ice cream, one quickly realizes it's cheaper to simply starve! Unfortunately, an entire week of starvation is not an option.

To most people, Hawaii is considered a tropical paradise, and in many ways, it is. Temperatures are around 85 degrees, it seldom rains, there are plenty of beaches and resorts with an abundance of water sport activities, the food is generally pretty good - as long as your wife doesn't decide to sample some of the questionable local eating establishments and the unsavory cuisine, that is (we tried the Kalua pulled pork - a word of advice - don't), and the scenery, with the aqua-blue ocean, the pristine beaches, the mountains with the waterfalls and scenic overlooks, is all beautiful. Yet, I have all of this where I live - and a lot cheaper! We could've saved ourselves a few thousand dollars and just stayed home!

Okay, I'll admit it's not as bad as I make it sound. My wife and I both had a great time in Hawaii for our 25th anniversary. We visited many interesting places including, Pearl Harbor, Waikiki Beach, The Dole Plantation, The North Shore, and Diamond Head Crater. The weather was nearly perfect the entire week and we were treated very nice. In short, we enjoyed our vacation. But after surviving an extremely long week on this island, we are ready to go home. And since I'm a person who likes to stay home, I think I'll stay there awhile!

Monday, June 11, 2012

Island Getaway

This week marks the twenty-fifth anniversary for me and my wife. We celebrated the event by taking a trip - a weeklong trip. Sounded like a great idea when we planned it but, well, let me start at the beginning.

We got up Saturday morning at 6:30, (that's way too early), had breakfast and then rode with our daughter to the airport. We checked in, made it through security, and boarded the plane, all without incident. So far, so good, right? Then, things went south.

A Boeing 767 transported us 1000's of miles to the middle of the Pacific Ocean where we are now stuck on an island. Stranded. Marooned. Isolated from the rest of the world. I have now gone literally hours without Internet service!

So far, we've managed to find shelter and enough food. No tidal waves have come swooping over the island either. We were lucky and managed to locate all of our luggage - and it was intact! Even better news is that the natives haven't tried to kill us so evidently, they're not cannibals. In fact, they've treated us very nice - almost like guests on their island. They seem to think life is great here, but then, they live here. To me, it seems a bit more like a real life episode of Gilligan's Island! I'm just not sure which character I'm playing - hopefully not Gilligan. I'd like to think the professor best represents me, and I do have some evidence to support that - after all, I did find a way to connect to the Internet! Maybe I need to work on a way to get us off the island and back home. I'll let you know if I make any progress.

Actually, we are having a great time in Hawaii. The weather is nice, sunny and 85 degrees. The place is not overrun with people, which is good for someone who doesn’t like big crowds, and I don't have to go to work! The food is delicious and our room on the 20th floor provides a great view.

Still, being thousands of miles from home on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, is a little distressing for home-loving country boy. But I believe I have arranged for us to be "rescued" and taken back to the mainland next week. Maybe in twenty-five years, for our 50th Anniversary, we'll try Alaska.

Monday, June 4, 2012

Doing My Research

It’s no secret that writers have to do research – lots of research. No one could possibly have all the facts and figures just rolling around in their head waiting for the right moment to be written down – at least it’s not that way for me.

That’s why the Internet is so great and makes writing less complicated and faster than it used to be. Once, research entailed spending hours at the library, sifting through volumes of material. It was definitely a lot of work. Now, the same amount of research can be accomplished in a matter of minutes – online. However, there is a small caveat to this – just because it happens to be on the Internet, doesn’t make it true. But, that just means there are a few rules to follow, things like, use only reputable sites, verify any information with multiple sources, and don’t run with a story until you the information is accurate. (I can think of several well-known reporters who would have done well to take this advice).

So, now the time saved is lost due to double and triple checking everything. Ironic isn’t it, that we never seem to be able to actually get more time. Still the research process is much easier, and far more comfortable. I’d much rather spend my research time relaxing in my easy-chair in my own house than to endure the hassle of sitting in the uncomfortable chairs at the library.

But then, there are all the warnings about spending too much time on the Internet to consider. Somebody’s always telling us what detrimental health effects it can have, no exercise, eye strain, a sore back, carpal-tunnel syndrome, poor blood circulation, etc. They make it sound bad.

So, what’s the point of all this? The point of this blog? Nothing really – except, well, it’s nice to be a writer. I have an excuse. If I happen to spend an excessive amount of time on the Internet – just remember, I’m doing “research.”