RonVitale.com

Good News

I spoke with an editor of a magazine today and he informed me that he’d be running both of the articles I submitted in the next issue. I have to say that I was extremely happy to hear that. Not only am I building up my writing clips, but I am proud of the one article that I worked on. I’m looking forward to seeing the articles in print. It’s definitely some good news. Last week (I can’t even remember if I mentioned this), I received a rejection from Orson Scott Card’s magazine for a story of mine. The rejection came in the form of an e-mail and it was just a basic, non-descript rejection letter. Nothing exciting there. I’ve been increasingly frustrated on my lack of success on the fiction front so I keep working on article ideas. I’ve had more luck in selling those types of pieces as well as enjoyment in doing the work. I’ve not had a really great story idea that I’ve wanted to sit down and pound out. As a fiction writer, I’m a bit disjointed over that fact. I really don’t know what to think. I expect to write other stories in the future, but I’ve not been inspired to work on one. However, I do have two article ideas floating around in my head that I would like to start work on. I could probably sell the one but it’ll take some research and interviewing. As for the other, I like the topic, but I’m not sure if I could sell the piece. It’s a probability, but not necessarily a given.

In the area of fun, back in January my wife bought me an arcade game cabinet. Now we’re at a stage in which we’ve not had a lot of time to finish the project, but I did by a USB two joystick game controller. We still need an adapter for our case so that the joystick console can fit snuggly into the game cabinet and I need to put the PC into the case and finish a few other details. We’re getting there, little by little. This past weekend I played Joust and Robotron off of a CD that came with the game controller and I had a blast. I’ve a bunch of joystick configuring to do, but these two games work enough that I can play them without any problems. I had never been really good at Robotron, but being able to play without putting quarters into an arcade machine is fantastic. I’ve built the PC that we’re using for the game cabinet to also allow us to play Dance Dance Revolution (this is our old setup, but you’ll get the idea of the DDR pads being on the floor) as well as watch videos on the TV (output from the PC).

Well, let me dash. Take it easy!

Native American Festival

On Saturday my wife, son, and I went to a Native American festival over in New Jersey.  While there we heard several Native Americans perform for the assembled crowd: Singing, dancing, and telling people their stories.  Some of the people who had come to the festival had travelled from as far away as Mexico, Central America, and Puerto Rico.  Before the festival started, a woman stood on stage in front of the crowd and asked for all of us to pray to the Creator.  The prayer was intimate, asking that all of us there remembered our connection with our Creator and with the Earth and also to remember all of those soldiers who were fighting in wars.  With this weekend being Memorial Day weekend, we take a moment to remember all of those in our armed forces--past and present.

At the festival, my son also fed a horse a carrot, we saw a live snake in the bushes as we waited in the car to park, there were several birds of prey (hawks and the like) there with a handler, buffalo, and pigeons and peacocks.  I enjoyed my time there and my son had a blast, running around playing, seeing the animals, and just having a great time in general.

Yesterday we went down to the shore and it was the first time my son had been on the boardwalk in Ocean City since last year.  What I found so interesting was seeing his comprehension of games in the arcades, building sand castles on the beach, and then getting a chance to see his friends at our friends' house.  By the time we left to go home, it was almost 11pm and because of massive amounts of traffice it took us over 2 hours to get home.  When I finally fell into bed around 1:15 a.m., all I wanted to do was shut my eyes and just turn off into a deep, deep sleep.

Why did we stay so late?  Well, it was my fault.  I had been playing a game of   Risk that started at about 5:00 p.m. and took about 3 and a half hours to play.  At the end, Michelle and myself were locked in a battle for the world.  The other three opponents had been knocked out of the game.  Since it was so late, we called the game a draw and we packed up and headed off home.

Today was a day of work.  We drove all over the place this morning trying to buy all the materials we need for our garden (plants, dirt, mulch, etc.).  And that's what I'm doing now: I'm taking a break to write this.  So it's been a very busy last three days.  I'm looking forward to just relaxing tonight.

Take care!

Episode 15: News, Drafting, and Trading, Oh My!

Download the show:

Download the show (audio only) (11.3 MB)

Total running time: 16 minutes and 27 seconds.

Show Notes:

--Introduction to episode 15: News, Drafting, and Trading, Oh My!
--Announcement: The Magic Sock will be working with Londes.com
--Discussion of Wizards' Draft Viewer from Pro Tour Prague 2006.
--Playing live and getting ready for Coldsnap pre-release.
--Music by Amplifico (check out the Podsafe Music Network)

Creative Commons License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Contribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.

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Busy

I've been a bit busy these days working so I haven't had much free time. I am awaiting for some news concerning an article I had been asked to write. I'm hoping that the article will be published in the next issue of the magazine. I'm looking forwrad to talking about that piece because I'm rather proud of how I put it together. I can't say anymore than that.

I've also been trying to meet up with one of the editors of Londes.com so that we can begin planning how The Magic Sock will go. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to meet up yet. I'm hoping to work these details out soon.

I need to get going. It's 6 a.m. and I need to get ready for work and get my son ready for daycare. Take it easy.

AT&T Documents: NSA Spying on Americans

It's not often that I'm impressed. This morning Wired released documents to the public concerning AT&T's working with the NSA to spy on Internet traffic. Wired put together and article that lists not only all the details, but they also put up, in PDF format, the entire document.

Former AT&T technician Mark Kelin opens up by saying: "I wrote the following document in 2004 when it became clear to me that AT&T, at the behest of the National Security Agency, had illegally installed secret computer gear designed to spy on internet traffic. At the time I thought this was an outgrowth of the notorious 'Total Information Awareness' program which was attacked by defenders of civil liberties. But now it’s been revealed by the New York Times that the spying program is vastly bigger and was directly authorized by president Bush, as he himself has now admitted, in flagrant violation of specific statutes and Constitutional protections for civil liberties. I am presenting this information to facilitate the dismantling of this dangerous Orwellian project."

This is big news. Not only are the allegations damning to what the American government is doing to its people, but Wired has decided to move forward and release the documents to the public. If you want to know why Wired released the documents, be sure to read their explanation.

I'm getting a bit tired of the American government claiming that it's in the "best interest" of its citizens that spying and wiretaping take place to help "fight terrorism." Granted, I don't have all the facts, but after reading the AT&T documents that Wired has put forth, I want to know more. I want our privacy to stop being breeched and for the American government to be held accountable. There's a difference between fighting terrorism and protecting our country. Dare I say that United States government has crossed the line? I'm extremely happy that these documents have been released and I want to see them spread like wild fire.

I usually talk about writing and playing Magic, but I'm an American citizen and I'm concerned. Take a moment to read the documents and question. There's a lot of spooky stuff going on behind the scenes and I want it to stop. Have a good day.