Kanban Boards Organizes Work Flow

Atlassian

Japanese Word for "Stinking Mess"

Little yellow Post-Its proliferate: lining my computer screen, on the desk, on the calendar, reminding me of writing matters and indie author marketing. Also, there are piles of scrap paper suggesting I upload an ebook to Draft2Digital, or buy a new eBook cover and send it to my niece as she builds me a Squarespace web page.  But in a recent quest for organizational help, I came across concept of the kanban board. 

Actually, kanban means "visual signal." An organizing system, it can be as simple as three columns with the headings To-Do, Doing, Done, or broken down further to a more granular level. I like seeing a cohesive lists of tasks. So I used half a piece of foam core and divided it into three sections with duct tape. 

Like Ordering from Pizza Hut

Order a pepperoni and mushroom pizza online and Pizza Hut uses little icons to show your order received, cooked, and en route to your dwelling. Basically, that's the kanban system. My first section I call the Bullpen. Contained within are all my short story drafts, novellas, a finished short story that needs to be sent out, and two novel drafts. Those little yellow Post-Its come in handing for listing projects. In addition, there are marketing tasks such as obtaining reviews, updating back matter, updating cover photos, formatting manuscripts for softcover conversion, etc.

In the second section, Doing, I transfer a small amount of Bullpen material. I further divide Doing into Pending and Ongoing. Pending pertains to projects like sending out a story where I have no control over the time. Ongoing contains stories that I'm currently writing or rewriting. Sell a story and it moves to the third column.

Done is Done. I have two projects up there: a pair of recently purchased new books overs. Like the pizza, the goal is to move a Post-It along to its final destination. Seeing progress where you normally see nothing until a story is sold or a book published helps with focus and moral. Like "Dr. Strangelove," there is a big board and I can see it.

I'm a Poor Bloglord

Cell phone photos depicting all the above would be nice, but I'm writing this while watching John

PI

Walsh on Investigation Discovery guide me through the murder of a South Carolina women by her drunken former live-in boyfriend. I'd need to visit my office with the cell phone, well, you know the rest. Not that I won't. But it won't be this post.  More t/k on the kanban board.

Pasadena 5K Results

As mentioned a few weeks back, my wife Joy and I tackled the Pasadena 5k. A very chilly morning, I  felt cold throughout. Finishing up inside the fabled Rose Bowl, I was passed in the last 40 yards by a woman pushing a double stroller, an 11-year-old boy and his mother, and got picked off at the finish line by a young woman. Nevertheless, it was a successful run. I finished in 33:48, a high ten minutes per mile, my best 5k time in over a decade. 

This week, I travel down to Santa Monica for an all-day workshop with Danny Dryer, the founder of Chi Running. Hopefully, I can straighten out any problems with my form and pick up a few tips for better performance. Should be fun. 

eBook Decay, Poor Man's Peloton, and Hurrah for France

How loquacious I feel today! Three topics for the non-price of one. For openers . . . .

Crossroads Initiative 

Geriatric eBook Irks Aggregator

To be fair, Smashwords wasn't especially miffed, but they won't release one of my ebooks to their premium catalog—which means no Barnes and Noble, Kobo or other potential sales sites. Reasons given are murky and technical. Fixes necessary are to refer me to a list of approved technical fixers. And the book has been up on Smashwords for almost seven years. I have another idea.

Draft2Digital Beckons

At least their advertising is winsome and coy. Allow me to quote:

"Draft2Digital has always made it a priority to make eBook conversion as easy as pushing a button. Our free eBook conversion tool has been praised as the best there is.

Authors get attractive EPUB and MOBI files they can count on to work with any eReader app or device on the market. They even get a print-ready PDF to use with Print On Demand (POD) services, such as CreateSpace and Ingram Spark—all for free."

Basically, I send them my doddering old manuscript and they update it to Mobi or Epub or pdf for a writer guy like me. They'll supply an ISBN, though I prefer to use my own. That said, I'll be shifting the surreal, cosmic satire Little Book of Big Enlightenment over to D2D. If successful, more books may follow. 

Cycle Through the Seasons

A cross-training favorite of mine is stationary cycling. My ride consisted of a cheap Chinese bike

with pedals, wheels that turn and a knob for increasing effort. Basic with a capital "B." However, my force multiplier is YouTube, specifically the Global Cycling Network. By spinning away to one of their numerous videos I can ride hills in Majorca, or perform sprints, tabatas, fat burns all to human beings with British accents urging me on. (Note: I'm paid nothing, NOTHING for this.) Commercial at the beginning, but no interruptions, at least on the videos I employ. My current favorite is a 15-minute cardio burn. You sweat more than an IRS audit.

Thanks, Nice French People!

Speaking of Europe, a tip of the old beret to the French who've been clicking through Write Enough! in large numbers the last two weeks. Why? I cannot say. But muchas gracias for stopping by.

WSJ

Tomorrow's Pasadena 5k Plus Free Marathon Update

OOPS

Larry Cuban

Yesterday I picked up my race bib. Had to show a QR code and a picture ID. In return, I received my 5k race bib. (No technical shirt until after the race. I don't know why either.)

Email this morning. I was issued the wrong bib, receiving one for the half-marathon. Now I must return today, or arrive extra early tomorrow, negotiate the pre-race crowd, and exchange bibs. Issuing race bibs shouldn't be a complicated process or involve extra effort on the part of a runner paying today's inflated prices. But alas, so many things are fouled up in California. Why not 5ks?

Wife Joy shall join me this year. Due to a ruthless work schedule, her training suffered, but she'll amble in whenever for a medal and a technical shirt.

Being 34 pounds lighter than 2019, I should do better. This brings me to:

Dream Time

IMPORTANT FREE MARATHON ANNOUNCEMENT 

From such 5k and long run data as I've collected, it appears I could run a 5:30 marathon. That's around 12:32 a mile for 26.2. A reasonable pace for a guy my age, in my condition, informed by competent medical authority eleven years ago that he'd never run again. (Always gotta throw that in.) Right now, I'm only running three days a week. I'd like to add a fourth day while building up my core.

In May, I'll be running my first 10k since 2008. Should my finishing time be around 1:13, then I'll increase my weekly mileage in preparation for a half-marathon. By the time this theoretical 13.1 rolls around, I'll know whether or not I can manage 26.2.

If all goes according to plan, I'm thinking this November might see me lined up once more on the marathon start line.

We are our dreams.

And mine are to finish 26.2 miles before the water stations close. Hence, running aspirations will be to focus on good form, strong core, greater flexibility through yoga, and no more stinking injuries. 

YOU good blog reader will be updated as the year unfolds. 

sivanna east

From Civilian to Recruit in a Single Haircut

USMC League

MCRD San Diego Back in the Day

Everything must begin somewhere. And in the United States Marine Corps, my enlisted tour commenced with yellow footprints. Drawn on the asphalt of the recruit depot with heels close together and toes angled out to 45 degrees, they are where I, along with seven other guys from our suburban Chicago neighborhood, stood to begin military service. Then we marched somewhere, boxed up our clothes and mailed them home, coming to the realization that our new life would be different from drinking beer behind a bowling alley.

The Vietnam War was winding down, at least for the United States, though the North Vietnamese would launch a huge attack against South Vietnam toward the end of March as we conducted infantry training at Camp Pendlelton. (In September, now a Private First Class, I would find myself in an Army hospital called Camp Kue on Okinawa, sharing  a ward with American advisors who'd been wounded helping the South Vietnamese forces stop the communists.)

In 1991, I visited the footprints on a vacation to San Diego with my girlfriend. (Now My Fine Wife or MFW.)

In 2002, I stood on a hill in Vietnam called Con Thien with a Vietnamese guide who told me about the obliteration of his village by B52s, bombing the NVA advance.

In 2008, I was back at MCRD finishing up a marathon with Team in Training.

But on a Friday night, January 14, 1972, I stood on yellow footprints. Oh, right before we boxed up our clothes, this happened:
(The following scene is rather accurate, except there's no C&W music. Just buzzzzzzz.)

h/t: amp1776

Note 2020:

On this 48th anniversary of my enlistment, I pay my respects to Tom Poto and Steve Lovell, two of my comrades who are no longer with us. RIP, bros. Hard to believe we were once young together.
   

What's the Matter with Smashwords?

Youtube

Ebook Antidote to Amazon Dominance

Yesterday, I basked warmly in the fine sales of my prostate book. Two more positive reviews popped up from men either in the cancer pipeline or on the brink. Good me. Nice me. But then I thought, whaz'sup with Smashwords?

Nothing at all from what I can tell. In the world of ebooks, they offer such worthy features as presales, discount coupons, and access to markets like Barnes and Noble, Apple Books and Kobo. Essentially, Smashwords is a large portion of the twelve percent of the ebook market not dominated by Amazon Kindle.

Anti-Marketing Campaign Drawbacks

Which returns me to my original point. I'm such a marketing Luddite when it comes to my own books—possibly a reaction from having worked in marketing—that I fail to wrest full advantage from all the open venues. Yes, Kindle is King. But if authors don't wish it to become god-emperor, then it would be wise to foster competition. 

A side order of oppression, please.

The Federal Bureau of Rapid Nourishment

Imagine a favorite coffee shop. Now picture that establishment owned and operated by the federal government.  Would your French Toast and bacon be cooked to order? Would unionized wait staff with faces like Greta Thunberg provide crisp, efficient service? Ponder such a world.

Eat Out Launching This Month

In January, I will release a solo short fiction piece. Instead of publishing on Amazon and forgetting about it for several years, I'll release "Eat Out" to pre-order on Smashwords. This horror tale about genetic engineering and unintended consequences will feature a discount coupon. I'll explain more as soon as I figure out how they work. 

(One might always check out my author Facebook page where updates thrive, awaiting your perusal. Do sign-up and stay abreast of my writerly doings.)

Fear of Elderly Male Runners

WBUR Maybe it wasn't this crowded. 

Running in Early 2020

Normally, I don't run Saturdays and I most certainly don't run in Griffith Park. Like the Rose Bowl, the park's trails are alive with runners, almost all of whom are faster than I. One also encounters a fair number of runner/dog walkers.

Gerontophobia

Alamy There was a dog, too, and no track. Just read the copy

Leading a little mutt on a leash, this chick in her thirties zipped past me. Fine. I'm used to it. A few hundred yards ahead, she slows and allows her mutt to nose around the leaves on the side of the trail. I continue on pace. But as I near her location, she tugs the dog by the leash. "Come on." Off she goes at a good clip. Whatever. I continue on pace. Rounding a curve, I spot her again, letting the mutt sniff away near a telephone pole. This time I ran past her. Behind me I hear, "Come On." Yanking the dog along, she speeds up to pass me. This time the woman burned some calories. At one point, she turned around and checked the distance between us. Then I lost sight of her.

When young male runners find themselves passed by young female runners they call it being "chicked," I believe there's a corollary. Gerontophobia is fear of the elderly. From my observations, I suspect certain young women detest being passed by older men or "fossiled." Having coined the phrase, I will now translate it with my college German:

 Befürchtungen Alte Männer

Brittanica A German scholar.

Nothing says dead serious like a German translation. So now you know two words and a phrase to describe the aforementioned condition:

1. Gerontophobia - far too formal.
2. Fossiled - Just the right touch of breezy American slang.
3. Befürchtungen Alte Männer - Only if you enjoy being a snotty show-off.

Choose whatever you will, but I suspect such a phobia may've been in play on this chilly morning.

Black Days in 2018

Without creating a link web that no one ever follows, 2018 was a brutal year for my physical fitness. In toting up my 2019 mileage, I noticed I didn't really start fully running until July. (That means running my training distance with zero miles walking.) Curious, I checked my stats for '18. In June, I injured my good right leg—not the benighted left leg—climbing over a construction fence. And that was it. Save for a brief half-mile, I did not run again for six months. And I did not resume where I left off for over a year. No wonder I weighed 271 pounds.

More news on a possible marathon coming soon. Soon. Oh, so very soon. Did I tease it enough? SEO, SEO, click, link, SEO.

New Decade Fun

mediascape.com

Theoretical fun, that is. May your new year/decade be productive and interesting. 

Year and Decade in Review

You Only Get the 1990s Once

Now THAT was a sweet decade, followed by the roller coaster ride of the oughts. Still, as the old saying goes, at least I had my health—until 2009. Now we review the tens.

As decades unfold, 2010 to 2019 covered the spread from miserable suckery on multiple fronts to a serene stability that I have yet to take for granted. Rating ten years in football terms, I'd be 4 - 5 - 1.

Health

spring.org.uk

I entered the tens in physical therapy from my 2009 left knee surgery. (My orthopedist said I'd never run again. For six years, it looked like he was right.) But a right shoulder injury was blossoming. I began physical therapy, but would need surgery in 2011. In 2012, I developed skin cancer and required Mohs surgery on my nose. Then came 2014 and my diagnosis with prostate cancer, subsequent surgery and a number of complications. In 2016, a health upswing kicked in, interrupted by a fractured left arm in 2017, then a 2018 right knee injury unrelated to sports but not stupidity. That scrubbed running for half the year. At last, this year, running picked up again and stayed consistent

Over the decade, my  weight fluctuated, with gains, slight losses, then more gains, always trending upwards. This March I peaked at 271 pounds. My chins gave my face a soft rounded appearance like mascot for a French tire company. Fortunately, with diet and exercise, I've dropped 34 pounds and start the new year with hopes of cutting another 30 in the upcoming year.

Running

republic

Proving my orthopedist wrong motivated me in 2010. Running started out rather well. I'd taken a few lessons in chi running, read the book, cross-trained, and commenced a schedule of walking and running. In July 2010, I ran a 5k, finishing under 30 minutes for the last time. A month later, pain swelled up in the left knee. (Poor chi running form was the culprit.) I backed off running for the rest of the year, cross-trained, put on weight, then, in 2011, started building up to three miles again. That May I injured myself again. The same month I mostly walked a 5k, my last for the next five years. Running ebbed and flowed in-between operations, more injuries and depression.

In 2016, as my weight continued to climb, I committed to walking 3x a week. Eventually, I took up chi running once more, finished a 5k in April and went on to regular running 3x a week. For most of that time, I did not record my times. I figured that way I wouldn't be tempted to overtrain. I was jazzed just to be running steady again.

In 2019, I decided to record times, try and improve. My first 5k in January I averaged 14 minute miles. My last 5k in November, I averaged 11:17. In 2020, I'm already signed up to run the same 5k in January and a 10k in May. If I can increase my distance and speed without injuring myself, I might venture another marathon in late fall.

Writing

brainpickings.org

 In 2010, my animation writing career sank like a cinderblock. No work, maybe one job interview. Yet, I was writing and selling short stories, jokes, essays, along with completing a novella, and putting up 338 blog posts with comments and everything. Alas, this was the high-water mark of blogging. In years to come, social media would gobble up the Web. At the same time, our money ran out and credit card debt swelled.

Wife Joy found only part-time work at irregular intervals. In 2011, I was hired by a group of marketers, writing copy for various products. I continued in their service for the next four years, occasionally snagging a courtesy union writing project, but, otherwise an unemployable man in his late 50s, early 60s.

By 2013, I'd written several drafts of short novels and decided to embrace the wonderful, overcrowded world of ebooks. I took an extended blog post of my 2011 jury duty experience and built it into an ebook. Since then, I've written several fiction and non-fiction books, novellas, and essays. The best seller is my autobiography on prostate cancer which has sold several hundred copies. In 2020, I hope to add an audio version to the ebook and softcover.

Joy landed a full-time job in 2016 as a technical writer. It paid pretty good. Around the same time, I retired from TV animation. A small annuity showed up in my bank account every month. In early 2018, Joy traded up, finding a position at a firm right near our home. For the first time in years, we didn't sweat the monthly bills and started paying down the fat blob of credit card debt we'd run up over the last five years. We bought new clothes and took vacations once again. How very posh.

Welcome 2020

So there you are. Ten rather interesting years, more down than up, but ending on a high note. I hope I'm still around to chronicle my path in the 20s. Blogs will probably be obsolete. I'll have to implant my notes directly into your mind with technology yet to be invented. Or else I'll just write a seasonal letter.

OL27deviantart

Sanskrit Wisdom for the New Year

Happy New Year Live

Sanskrit Proverb

Look to this day,

For it is life,

The very life of life.

In its brief course lie all

The realities and verities of existence.

The bliss of growth,

The splendor of action,

The glory of power—

For yesterday is but a dream,

And tomorrow is only a vision.

But today, well lived,

Makes every yesterday a dream of happiness

And every tomorrow a vision of hope.

Look well, therefore, to this day.

Happy Darn New Year!

Merry Christmas 2019

A Christmas Twist

A past blast from Animaniacs and a big old Merry Christmas to all! On our way into Mass this morning, my wife twisted her ankle. That put a round through the head of cooking. But our guests were understanding and we'll be dining out, crutches and walking boots included. 

h/t: Craig Eager

Indie Author Christmas Gifts 2019

A Yuletide Boon to Authors and Others

My God, where did the decade scamper away to? Nonetheless, if an element of Christmas involves the giving of gifts, then consider surprising someone with the works of an indie author. They struggle, they labor, they produce, often in the stillness of anonymity. Bring a smile to the visage of a struggling scribe. I've either read the books listed below, or other works by these authors, and vouch for them as worthy of bestowing upon the special people in your life. Read on, I say!

Ghost Star in Softcover and eBook Formats

Space adventures await!

Actor and fellow animation scribe Roger Eschbacher propels us to the very antipodes of outer space via the saga of young Galen Bray, captain of the vessel Ghost Star. Galen is bound for vengeance on his quest to rescue his sister from the grasp of a ruthless alien band. But much more is discovered in surprising fashion as Galen encounters a mysterious race and the compelling choice of whether to pursue his own destiny.  

Hidden Truth Trilogy with Hardcover Option

Mysteries Abound!

If anyone should write sci-fi thrillers, its Hans G. Schantz. Hans is a bona fide scientist, a trained theoretical physicist with a brain weighing over twenty pounds—according to something I read on the Web. In any case, his Hidden Truth series follows the scrapes of a young protagonist who learns that certain scientific theories are being methodically scrubbed from public awareness. Peter's search for the truth pits him against a vile conspiracy intent on controlling past knowledge to secure future power. With the help of friends, he races to stay one step ahead of the bad guys and learn the very secrets they wish to conceal.

Year on the Desert Unveils Subtle Unseen Dramas

A dry read worth perusing.

There's more to our arid landscapes than seems apparent. Fairy shrimp live out their brief lives in a rain pool. Fearsome tarantulas fall victim to huge wasps. Water triggers the migration of millions of butterflies. The American desert's harsh conditions bring forth innovative natural responses in this study by science writer and biologist Barbara Goodheart. This illustrated paperback is a great read for kids 10 and up, as well as Mom and Dad. 

Place Outside the Wild Also Available in Audiobook

When Zombies Attack!

Daniel Humphrey's four books plunge you into the zombie apocalypse as a handful of survivors confront the wicked among them while fending off hordes of the shambling undead. A 2017 Dragon Award finalist, this first book introduces readers to the community of Hope. Subsequent books reveal that the zombie menace is evolving and only greater risk on humanity's part will ensure survival. A fast-moving, fun read. 

Aurora's Gold Mines Adventure

Gold in them thar seas.

Dredge or fall for Aurora Darling as she battles business and relationship issues in Nome, Alaska. Penned by tech writer and former Russian linguist K.J. Gillenwater, this tale of a  family's livelihood at risk finds Aurora taking a chance on a mysterious man who may just have the skills she needs to uncover gold and save all that Aurora holds dear. But can she overcome the yearnings of her own heart in a world of greed and betrayal? 

And if that's not enough, here are 20 Christmas Gifts for the writer in your life, as well as a rich collection of gifts for readers.

Ah, well, a trove of items. Choose none or all or somewhere in-between.