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Archive for the 'Writing' Category

Aug 13 2009

Awaiting the Flash of Genius

Published by dougkueffler under Humor too, Senior Living, Writing Edit This

Ever hear about the “flash of genius” that inventors and novelists speak of? I’m a wannabe writer, and I’m still awaiting the brilliant flash.

idea-blog-for-money.pngI have a feeling that I could wait “until the cows come home” (which is every night), but never have that “AH HA!” moment that will enable me to find the story and angle to publish a best-seller. I have Writer’s Block and, when I am stuck–I am really stuck.

Posting to a blog is a good excuse NOT to work on my novel or memoirs. I used to put out a new post on this blog every day. I was brimming over with ideas, and once I got going I could write five to seven posts at one sitting, and would frequently stop to write down additional ideas on a note pad. I’ve had “Blogger’s Block” for about three months now.

Note pads can be good or “good and useless.” I just counted 12 separate yellow notepads in my desk drawer that each have three or four pages of notes and ideas. Most of the ideas are not much good. I think it is like the “brilliant” observations a person makes when drunk; they never sound as “profound” when sober.

I notice that I write with a lot of “quotation marks.” That can be annoying. It’s sort of like speaking “tongue-in-cheek.” (There I go again with the quote marks.)

Making lists of stuff “to do” has also become a habit. As I have gotten older I haven’t gotten any wiser, just forgetful. If I think of some chore that needs doing, I have to write it down or it will slip my mind. It’s awfully frustrating. I find myself walking into the kitchen and forgetting what I am there for. As the joke goes: “I believe in the hereafter. Whenever I walk into a room, I ask myself, ‘what am I here after?’”

Perhaps some day I will make a list of all the stuff I have forgotten.

Now doesn’t THAT make a lot of sense?
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May 18 2009

Blog Anniversary ONE Year

Published by dougkueffler under Uncategorized, Writing Edit This

Writing and Publishing a blog has become so commonplace that we hardly notice when new ones arrive on the scene and others seem to simply “disappear.”

There are, by some estimates, over 100 million blogs worldwide. That means NONE of us will ever see even one percent of all the blogs. We could surf the internet all day every day and barely make a dent. That’s overwhelming when we think about it.

1-year-102px.pngI have to acknowledge that this blog, Gruggers Way, Retired and Restless, has been in existence for one year as of May 19, 2009. During that time I have posted 335 articles. There have been a lot of visitors, although only 63 the first month, 274 the second month and 588 the third month. Then….EntreCard!! August: 3,558 unique visits and 5,525 page views!

Traffic kept growing with unique visits and page views that reached what I considered to be very successful for a one-person operation. I have to credit EntreCard visitors and Google Images with building the following numbers:
MONTH/YR VISITORS / PAGE VIEWS
SEPT 2008 - - 8,048 / 14,153
OCT 2008 - - 11,455 / 25,298
NOV 2008 - - 10,787 / 32,014
DEC 2008 - - 10,543 / 25,202
JAN 2009 - - 12,361 / 24,337
FEB 2009 - - 18,860 / 34,044
MAR 2009 - - 27,751 / 51,283 (Highest monthly counts)
Then…EntreCard visits no longer count….EntreCard widget removed from site.
APR 2009 - - 14,754 / 30,015
MAY 2009 - - 2,973 / 8,155 (May 1 to May 18 at this hour)

Although I have been working hard to keep visitor interest high, the absence of Entrecard traffic is obvious.

What the future holds for Grugger’s Way is yet to be determined. This blog has outlasted thousands of others. I have kept it fairly active, although I am not able to post every day, and summer will bring competing interests.

I hope that I will be able to observe a second anniversary and post another progress report. I sincerely thank each and every blogger and blog reader who has visited this site. I thank all the “Blog-Loggers,” “Catalogers” and “Stumblers” who have helped promote Grugger’s Way during the past year.

I thank you, the reader, for your comments.

5 responses so far

Apr 30 2009

Stephen King - Double Take!

Published by dougkueffler under Culture, Humor too, Writing Edit This

On TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS today, I did double-takes on old guys that I would SWEAR looked just like Stephen King.

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So that we are on the same page here, I think Stephen King has a very distinctive, almost unique look about him–especially his eyes.

stephen-king.jpgBut, Nay, both of my look-alikes turned out to be ordinary, late-middle-age guys with a paunch, shaggy unkempt hair and glasses.

I don’t recall EVER, in my life, doing double takes on Stephen King look-a-likes, so twice in one day seems just exceptionally STRANGE.

Both of these guys were shopping for stuff, like me, and were intensely interested in what they were checking out. Perhaps it was the intensity that made me think of Stephen King. I haven’t read any of this stuff lately, just his how-to book On Writing that describes his craft and techniques.

jonathan_franzen-looks-like-stephen-king1.jpgThere are other people who do resemble Stephen King, just in case you are now curious. One of these is the Author of the book, The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen, so here is a photo of him:

There is another guy who picture is out on the internet who asks if we think he looks like Stephen King. I really see a resemblance to the Stephen King of thirty years ago, but not so much any more.
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So, in the end, I finished buying my broccoli and spinach and headed out to my next stop. Perhaps tomorrow will bring other illusions of familiarity.

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Apr 12 2009

Inspired to Excel

Published by dougkueffler under Uncategorized, Writing Edit This

Some days I really struggle with finding a topic to write about. On other days, the words just flow.cap-and-gown.jpg

I was looking for inspiration when I thought about school teachers who had inspired me. I came up with four who played major roles in my life and career.

Bill Spahr was my high school Journalism teacher. He advised us on the school newspaper and the yearbook. He helped me learn to sell advertising for the yearbook and school paper because that was where I was needed. He taught me that there is always a contribution we can make regardless of our talents. Bill was sent home from Africa during World War II and given six months to live due to Sahara Desert sand in his lungs. He recovered and is still going strong.

Terry Radcliffe taught Speech Communication at a small private college. He helped me get a job as a disc jockey at a local radio station. Then he taught me the “art” of sportscasting “play-by-play” for basketball. I learned the importance of the rhythm of the game and the importance of the audience and I learned how to create a picture of the game in the listeners’ minds. My career in radio and television only lasted five years but always included sportscasting play-by-play, which paid extra in talent fees. That extra skill was worth extra money.

Jules Karlin taught Constitutional History and Diplomatic History at the University of Montana. His classes were small, only six to a dozen students at a time and he challenged us face to face each day. He was a taskmaster. He required us to OUTLINE our notes from the required readings each night. His handwriting was almost unreadable. He was also the volunteer tennis coach. He never drove an automobile. He only rarely rode in one. His day would begin at 4 a.m. and by noon he was done teaching classes and was off to a myriad of other activities. It was said that his recommendation could get a student into any Law School in the country.

Bill Wilmot taught Interpersonal Communications at the University of Montana. He was the most dynamic professor that I ever worked for. He wrote and published several books, some of which I still own over thirty years later. One specialty was “Dyadic Communication” and another was the art of Small Group Discussion as a way of achieving goals. I learned a great deal that I put to use for thirty years.

These teachers all inspired me to set and aspire to high goals, to become a more knowledgeable scholar and a better person. I tried teaching for one year and found that I did not have the patience. Teaching is a very difficult and valuable profession. The best teachers are also some of the best people. My world is a better place thanks to them.

2 responses so far

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