RonVitale.com

Get Out and Vote

I make no apologies for my political leanings: I'm frustrated with President Bush and general Republican strategy and I want change. I'm looking for change because I don't believe that the country has been well governed. I don't believe in pandering to the religious right. And I don't believe that our country has been made "safer" since Bush came into office. With the 2008 election, still far off in the distance, I'm urging people to get out and vote--Democrat. I've spoken to several Republican friends at work and they've agreed that President Bush is not following the course they had anticipated. I admire any Republican who is able to admit that they were wrong for voting for Bush. I've heard grumblings of several who are seriously considering voting Democrat in the upcoming Nov. 7th election. I hope they do vote for Democratic candidates.

One of the biggest concerns I have, which is not being addressed by Republican leadership, is the war in Iraq. The "war on terror" has become a "war on drugs." We're fighting shadows that we cannot possibly win against. I wish to see American troops withdrawn from Iraq. I want to see a realistic timetable for when American troops will come home and international peacekeeping troops might remain longer. I want to see the monthly counts (98 soldiers have died just this month) stop. And most of all, I want to see America put right instead of our being led, like sheep, believing we're fighting an enemy that were directly responsible for acts of terrorism against us. Drop the lies and smoke and mirrors. Let's chance the course and make our country stronger by electing Democratic leadership. Thanks.

Working

I'm a bit tired tonight, but I did wish to take some time to chill out and just let my fingers do the walking. I learned that an article of mine was accepted for publication and that the galleys for a previous article that will soon be published were sent to me. I looked over the galleys tonight and fixed the article by updating several parts.

I still haven't been able to break into any other markets. I keep trying, but no luck as of yet. I am also waiting to hear about my membership status to the Science Fiction Writers of America. I hope to hear back from them within two weeks. We'll see what happens.

Not too much to talk about. Oh, I am working on the next episode of The Magic Sock. I've received a good amount of feedback and hopefully I'll do the recording late this week.

Hope you're all doing well. Peace.

Up Early

I couldn't sleep so I'm up early.  I wanted to get some work done so now that that is out of the way, I can spend some time working on some fun things.  Heck, I might even get a chance to go food shopping way early.

I wanted to mention that I'm struggling with the freelance writing.  I've not been able to snag another assignment.  I just received a contract for a piece I wrote over a month and a half ago and I've a manuscript out with an editor, but I haven't been able to snag a new assignment.  It's frustrating, but at the same time the reality of the situation is rather clear: I only have so much time in the day and my full-time job keeps me plenty busy.  Writing, on the side, is simply a drop in the bucket.

In other news, I wanted to talk about something positive (rather than my frustration over North Korea and how the U.S. media [Fox news] has misrepresented the facts on TV.  Real quick: After the supposed nuclear test, Fox reported that North Korea had successfully completed a nuclear missile test.  Not only that, but they showed video footage of missiles shooting up into the air.  You just have to love how slanted Fox news is.  Not only did they "mistakenly" report Congressman Foley as being a Democrat, but they totally gave out false information about the nuclear test.  There's a big difference between a small, possibly unsuccessful nuclear test that was UNDERGROUND, and North Korea shooting missiles up into the air with nukes on them.  The news media just loves frightening the pants off of Americas.  Pisses me off to be sure).

But on that more positive note: Although it's Capitalism with a twist of goodness, I am happy to hear that the   Product Red campaign has been launched.  One of the cooler products is a   red iPod Nano that Apple is selling.  For $199, you get a normal iPod in the color red and $10 will go to the Global  Fund to help Africans fight against HIV/AIDS. 

Why do I like this idea of Product Red?  People will be buying gifts for the upcoming holidays and if some of that money can go to help others, then I think it makes sense (provided that the Global Fund's funds actually reach those people who are supposed to relief it).  So take a moment to think about helping others.  I know that I get off on this kick from time to time, but I've made it a personal goal to give a portion of all money I earn through writing to various charities.  Granted, I'm not earning a lot of money through writing, but 10% of every sale I've made has gone to charities.  Why?

I've been called a bleeding heart liberal on my blog and I simply like to help others: No matter if I'm giving to a charity locally or somewhere in another country.  When I was in graduate school and had a heck of a lot more time than I have now, I used to tutor someone on how to read.  Adult literacy is an issue close to me.  Heck, literacy in general is a major cause for me.

I believe that education (reading, writing, thinking, etc.) is the key to freedom.  If you are educated and can learn how to work better, then you have an opportunity to pull yourself up from poverty.  Yes, I know that life isn't so simplistic and that those dying from malaria in Africa would rather receive medicine than a book (that's why I am happy that Bill Gates has made it his foundation's goal to wipe malaria from Africa). 

If I had a magic wand, which I don't, I'd swirl it and take away people's suffering.  There isn't anything more frustrating to know that some people just don't care about others.  This might be a generalization but it appears that many Americans don't care about other people.  I hear a lot of "we should take care of our own first" and the like, but our problems in America are vast.  Ever walk the streets of San Francisco and see how many homeless people there are?  What about in Philadelphia, New York?  What about the working poor?  What about children who aren't getting a good education because they were born in an area where there aren't opportunities for growth and education?  I could go on an on.  America might be a rich country but it also has problems that many might ignore.

If you're morally opposed to helping "those people over there," then why not help out in your local area?  Give to a local charity, volunteer your time in your neighborhood.  We can't wait for our politicians to put things right.  That will never happen.  But people can make a different.  If a little girl, before she died, could make a different starting   Alex's Lemonade Stand, then why can't you help out? 

Google Tube!

What am I listening to right now? Check out Croncast. Very cool podcast. My wife turned me onto this podcast and I have to say that the show just grows on you.

I also wanted to take a moment to talk about YouTube being purchased by Google for $1.65 billion. Read the article for more information. What's so cool about that announcement? I truly think that the future (I mean way, way far in the future) of "TV" will be IPTV. Imagine video content on demand from the Internet. No, I'm not talking at the extremely slow bandwidth we have now, but really fast speeds of the future.

If you've been under a rock for the last six months, then you might want to crawl out and check YouTube out. There's a lot of funny stuff there. Yes, there's a lot of illegal content (clips of copyrighted shows) on there, but it's a great place to see everything from news clips of former President Clinton smacking it down on Chris Wallace to a clip of some kids doing the live action roleplaying thing. (If you've not seen that clip, be sure to laugh.)

Granted, there's a LOT of junk on YouTube, but there's also some great content. Be sure to check it out. And now that Google is buying YouTube for $1.65 billion, I would think they have some serious plans for the service. Serious plans. We shall see.

Not much else to write about. I'm tired and had a long day at work. Any writing news? Not really. I haven't heard anything on the writing front and haven't made time to work on any new projects.

Where Was I?

Busy, busy, busy lately. I took my rejected story and send it to Glimmer Train magazine and I've been involved in the business of writing: following up with editors, logging in payment, etc. I did work on a Magic: The Gathering article earlier in the week but I'm not being paid for that one. The editor informed me that he'd use my idea for his website and although working for free isn't something that I aspire to, I did want to have some fun with the idea and just to with it. We'll see.

I was able to see the first episode of Battlestar Galactica late last night. I had been away for the last few days and didn't start watching the show until 11:00 p.m. last night. Good so far. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to tape episode 2 of season 3--I only thought one episode was on Friday night. But I have my DVR to tape the 2nd episode this morning. I'm looking forward to seeing the new episode.

The Eagles game is on today and with how busy I've been at work this past week, I'm looking forward to watching the game and just relaxing. I need some down time. Take it easy all. Peace.

Games!

You have to love Google Gadgets.

Have fun!

Rejected!

Rejection is never easy--especially when you put your heart and soul into something. Over time, I've learned to grow thicker skin, but it's still frustrating to send a short story in the mail and then receive a rejection. My latest story wasn't even out in the mail longer than a week and a half. Such a fast rejection, and one that's a form letter, makes it even harder because you ask yourself: Did they spend about 30 seconds on reading my story? The truth is that the magazine probably gets about 800+ submissions per month and they need to screen through these as quickly as they can. Am I happy about that? No, I'm not, but there isn't much of a choice I have.

So... I'll be repackaging the story and sending it back out again in the hopes that I'll have better luck elsewhere. Honestly, though--I have made more money on freelance writing this past year in writing "how to" technology articles and gaming articles. My fiction just isn't selling. I'm bummed out by that, but the reality of the situation is that the market is tight and competition is fierce. I'll keep trying, but sometimes I feel as though I'm banging against a wall and I've not made a dent.

For you fellow writers out there, take heart: This is the reality of writing. Even after all my education, writing, practice, and networking, I still haven't been able to break into the fiction market. Obviously, I can't count on fiction sales for an income as I'm in the negative (when you factor in the mailing costs and the like). I still won't give up. Later today I'll do some research and get my story out for another magazine. Just wanted to share the story of my rejection. Peace.

Star Wars Gangsta Rap: Special Edition

Some days start off rough today's been one of those. To help deal with the stress, check this out:



Enjoy!

P.S. I attended the Time Spiral prerelease on Sunday so hopefully this week's The Magic Sock episode will be about that. I just need to make time to record the show.

Back in Action!

I'm back from Chicago and I must admit with all honestly: It's damn good to be back!  I was sick with a bad cold while I was away for work and the problems with my flight (both going and returning) pushed my patience to the limit.  On the way to Chicago, I woke up at 4:30 a.m., took a taxi cab and arrived at 6:00 a.m. for my 7:40 a.m. flight.  We found out about 30 minutes later that, because of bad fog and thunderstorms in Chicago, that our flight to Chicago was cancelled.  I didn't get on the plane until 10 a.m. and it didn't take off until 10:30 a.m.  By the time I arrived in Chicago, I had only a few hours to complete all the necessary tasks I had in front of me before my work started.  I was up at 4 a.m. and didn't arrive in Chicago until 2 p.m., working until 9:30 a.m. east coast time. Long, long day.

Last night in returning from Chicago we got on the plane and then were told: "Philadelphia air traffic control has called us and we might need to sit on the runway for 2 hours before we can take off."  Our flight was already 50 minutes late in taking off.  Again, rain showers was stopping us from taking off.  Thankfully, we only needed to wait 30 minutes before we could take off.

Once we landed in Philadelphia, we had to taxi on the runway for a bit (about 20 minutes) before we came into our final gate.  As I'm writing this, I'm e-mailing an image I took of the sun setting while I was on the plane.  I'll share it with all of you.

Well, I'm back and now I've a lot to get caught up on on the home front.  I've a ton of wash to do!  But in the realm of work, I just finished a good bit of work, but I'd also like to work on some writing today and the business of writing. 

Enjoy your weekend and take it easy!  It's good to be back!  Peace.

A Room of One's Own

It’s been a few weeks now, but my new room is nearly finished.  For those of you who haven’t been following along, I decided a couple of weeks ago to renovate my home office.  When we moved into the new house late last year, my office had thick green rugs, an ugly tan with specks of green wallpaper, and it smelled like smoke.  I scrubbed the wallpaper, put deodorizer rocks to suck the smell out of the air, but nothing took away the smoke smell in the closet. Once I made a decision to redo the room, my wife and I pulled down the wallpaper, scrapped off the glue (that took hours and hours to do), then I spackled holes, put on one coat of primer, and two coats of the blue paint.  My wife then put on the glaze.  This past weekend I bought the rug, my wife put my desk together, and I moved all my equipment and books back in.  The most difficult part was deciding where to put all the equipment (TV, stereo, computer, etc.).  With working full-time and having a 3 year old, I didn’t have a lot of free time to work on the room.  And last weekend, with being away, I just couldn’t get a solid block of time to work on the room.

Though before Labor Day, my wife and son had gone down the shore on a mini-vacation and I didn’t join them until that Friday night (right before Labor Day).  I had three nights that I could paint away.  Those were rough days: I’d leave for work at 6:50 a.m., get home around 6 p.m. and paint until 9:00 p.m.  After I cleaned up, I’d sit down and have dinner at 9:30 p.m.  Long, long days.

What I realized though is that gone are the days of working late at home.  With the office being right across from my son’s room, I couldn’t make a lot of noise banging, scraping, and the like.  It’s funny because back in the winter when we were working on our library my son would come to the top of the stairs and yell: “Daddy, stop making all that noise!”  Heck, since he’s now sleeping through the night, it’s best to turn the power tools off and pick up at the same spot the next day. 

In the eight months that we’ve been at the new house, we’ve remodeled the basement (man, that took a lot of work), the front living room (turning it into a library), our son’s room, and now our office.  We still have the master bedroom, and the fourth bedroom, the back living room and the dreaded kitchen and dining room—so basically we’ve a lot of work yet to do.  I had originally thought that I wouldn’t work on remodeling my office until after we did all the other work, but with how hard I’ve been working on writing, getting published, and on my regular job, I really wanted to have another blue room.  A room of my own.  My wife had put together a sign with cool marbles and the like on it that reads: “The Blue Room.”  I used to have this hanging in my old office (which also had blue for the wall paint).  But the room I put together now has a new desk, with editing space for me and all my work tools (books, pens, paper, envelopes, etc.).  The picture that I’ve shown of the “final” office still has the old, beat up blinds (new blinds will be going up later) and I haven’t hung up any of my artwork and photos.  Still, we’ve come a long way from having bare walls that were ripped up and needed spackling to where I’m at now.

What’s the next project?  Not sure yet.  Maybe that dreaded kitchen.  But in the meantime, I’ll be happy to be able to record my podcast in my remodeled office (of course I can also do that in the basement on the PC there) or I can finish a story that I’ve been working on.  I’ve written four drafts of a story that I had in my head a few weeks back, but now I’ll be able to sit down and give it one final read and fix a critical scene, adding some content to beef the story up emotionally.

What I’ve tried to focus on is to strengthen not on the look of the room, changing the colors to blues which I find calming and creative, but also to add functionality to the room.  There’s a lot more desk space for me so that I can put out manuscripts that I’m working on without cramming them on a small side table.

I’ve written stories and articles in all sorts of situations so the “Room of One’s Own” is a bit of a trick you see—I can be on an airplane, on the train, in my office, on a laptop in another room—it doesn’t matter as I can write wherever I want.  But the sanctuary of having a room to think in is extremely important.  Peace!