Felix, with his colourful past, finds himself running errands and solving mysteries for all those upright citizens who would rather keep appearing as such – and not expose their shady dealing…

Source: About Felix

We need to knock down the thing that is telling the world that it’s ending. There is more life to live. More dreams to dream. A whole new world awaits because you chose to be a part of it. There is also lots of love to give. Be the future you want to see. Go […]

via Be The Future — The Tony Burgess Blog

Happy 100 blog entries and 20 years on the internet!

A happy celebration for today!

I’m excited to say I’ve posted 100 blog entries on this site and it just so happens to correspond with me having the internet for almost 20 years.

I was born way before the internet and due to the type of rural life we led, we didn’t have a phone growing up and sometimes we didn’t have TV. Even going to the library was a treat. As a young adult, I didn’t have a normal college education, but I taught myself anything I wanted to know.

After a few years of the internet coming to homes, in June 1996 (almost 20 years ago) my ex and I purchased a brand new computer and signed up for our first account through AOL. I took to it immediately. I had used computers for years at work, but having the internet at home was a brand new world.This was amazing! I spent years learning everything I could from the internet.

I wanted to learn everything and even learned how to make my own webpages. I took C++ and all kinds of computer classes.

I started making little 5 page websites for CVs and resumes, and charged $25 per page, plus extra for photos. As the blogs became more important to people, my upper income was $30 per page for a 5 page website. I expanded and created pages for families and photographers looking for places to store their work. My favorite website was created for a Veteran who passed away. He was a WWII Veteran and his family wanted something special for his funeral. The funeral home had the internet, so I created a full webpage, 10 pages, with his career, family photos, his career photos, and so much more (I did this for free because he was a WWII Veteran and I’m a Veteran). His family brought a computer to the funeral home and his extended family and friends were able to enjoy his childhood and career memories like never before.

With the personal websites and CV websites I created, I also started accepting a few business clients. I was making a few hundred dollars a month. I never claimed to be anything I wasn’t. I was the small business webpage designer for those businesses who were just starting out. I was a busy mom and wife, so I could only accept a few pages at a time, so personal attention to each one was important. The clients really liked that. Making these little websites was extra money for our family. My work was growing and people started requesting me.  I thought that was pretty cool for a farm girl.

Through many late nights and just plain stubbornness I eventually earned my college degree in May 2002. At that time, I was a 34 year old single parent and I finally had the coveted piece of paper I had wanted since I was little. That one piece of paper opened many doors. Using my internet skills, I started working on more classes, and even though I haven’t finished my graduate degree, I actually have two graduate degree paths I’ve almost completed.

When I retired from the Army, in 2014, I realized my writing skills were severely lacking. During my career I picked up some really bad writing habits and I wanted to correct those mistakes. Most people don’t realize, in the military we write in simple sentences, bullets, and blurbs, anything else is turned away and considered “flowery.” After a lifetime of writing this way, I knew I needed help. There was only one problem. Due to my degree path, foundation writing courses, or actually any writing courses, would not be paid for through my GI Bill. I was on my own. I searched and searched and ended up taking many free courses on Coursera, Khan, and even You Tube. I’m still not up to the standard of where I wish I was, or need be, but I’m better than I was last year, and that is progress.

During the process of learning to write better, I wanted to also start a new blog. I wanted something that reflected my new retired life.

I’ve kept personal blogs before, but they were used for a daily journal and, before bookmarking or Pinterest, they were also used as a place to keep my favorite links. I never went beyond the “one page” blog. I didn’t even know how to. I knew how to load photos on many pages, or information, but not how to create drop-downs for more information. After some work in 2014 and watching as many free courses on You Tube as I could, I started a brand new blog in 2015. This wasn’t in E-blogger, like I had used before, and it wasn’t “Webs”, which I also knew how to use, but this was WordPress. This was a horse of a different color.

Basically, I was starting from scratch. I had to learn everything all over again. I had to understand categories, drop downs, widgets, and so much more. I even took a long break from my blog because I didn’t think I would ever learn how to use it. While facing many physical ailments and feeling sorry for myself, I figured this was just too much to learn at this time. I became really frustrated with myself for giving up, so I jumped right back in and learned more. I figured even if I was the only one who read this blog, I was going to learn to use it and I was also going to learn to write a book. Again, even if I was the only one who read it, I was going to write it.

During 2015 and the winter of 2016 year I also met some wonderful people. These were people different from my military career (some crossed over, but not all). These were writers, artist, filmmakers, and bloggers. They encouraged me to keep doing what I was doing and not give up. I took their advice and kept going.

This week I received a message from WordPress that I had 100 public blog entries (I have some private ones also), and I rejoiced. That little message meant I was learning how to use this silly blog thing and I could learn more.

In the background, I’ve also been working on my book a little at a time, and putting in the effort to create some YouTube videos of my very own. Without actually going to a real school, I’ve used my personal time in 2015 and 2016 to learn various means of communication and I’ve experimented with different  styles. In just over one year I’ve learned more blogging skills, how to use more social media sites, how to create short videos, how to write a book, and I’ve learned an abundance of background information that makes all of these things work together.

I say all of this to remind those who want to give up; don’t. Just don’t. This advice is from a 48 year old disabled woman, who grew up in the backwoods of NC and had very little access to technology as a child or young adult. Now, I’ve been on the internet almost 20 years and for my first “real” blog, I now have 101 public blog entries. Is it perfect? No. It isn’t. I have a very long way to go.

I know there are times when my writing sucks. My editing is terrible, my punctuation needs tons of help, and my sentence structure sometimes resembles examples from my 7th grade book reports, but my friends and family have continued to read my work and support my dreams, so I’m gonna stick with it and I’m not giving up.

It’s like the first time someone tries to create something great from clay. More than likely, the first few times, they will end up with a big pile of clay. Eventually, if they stick with it, and keep their hands dirty, they can throw some fantastic pieces of pottery. I’m not giving up just because I created a few piles of clay instead of works of art.

It’s hard, frustrating, and at times, it seems impossible, but whatever you do, don’t give up the dream. Even if you have to take breaks or scream at the computer, don’t give up. (I’m so glad my computer can’t repeat everything I’ve screamed at it).

It takes a lot of hard work, determination, and many long hours of practice to create something worthwhile. If you are creating art, film, writing a book, keeping a blog, or as my friend is doing, learning a new instrument later in life, just stick with it. These new talents will eventually click.

Thank you to all those who support me, encourage me, and those who given me a big kick in my rear-end when I needed it. I plan to remain part of our creative family for a very long time. The world needs more creative people. One day, I hope to be considered one of those creative people who made a difference.

Until next time…be safe, be kind, and always be happy.

In one week, I’ve searched the following terms;

Worm farming, honey suckle, auto trader, sex trafficking, UFOs, ancient aliens, mold and stain remover, being naked in your home laws, naked gardening day, bathroom gender laws, cornbread recipes, increase your level of Vitamin D, length of time for a body to decompose, and human survival time without breathing.

How have I survived the week without the FBI knocking down my door?

Hey, Stargate SG1 is also in my search history, so it isn’t all bad.

BTW — Very few of these subjects were related to the other, but, when taking out of context, I would hate to see what a jury would say about this.

Hummm…. Opening another tab and now I’m searching, “How to search “incognito?”

Until next time…be safe, be kind, and always be happy.

(and use incognito when researching stories)

I have sensory issues. I’ve always had them and I always will. No matter what label or diagnosis those types of issues are listed under, I have them all. Smells, taste, sounds, jerky motions, a combination of certain colors and/or lights, and even the feel of certain materials, will drive me crazy and can make me physically sick.

In spite of literally hating the sound of someone (or an animal) crewing or drinking loudly, and dealing with all stupid MTHFKRing smells in a big box store (to the point of getting migraines from Fabreez), I managed to become a very successful adult. I learned to deal with strong smells by knowing exactly what detergent I wanted and needed, holding my breath, and running to the exact spot to get what I want and get the hell away from the rest of them. In church, or social gatherings, I started sitting alone,  or very far away, from the Avon ladies, who pour on perfume like a teenage boy who uses Ax deodorant. Flashing lights of certain colors don’t send me into seizures as some people, but they irritate me to the point of being physically sick. Even the mixture of certain colors in certain patterns (where they play off of each other) can start my head spinning and I feel nauseous to the point of either turning my head from the colors or leaving the area completely. I never really paid attention to which colors, or the combination of colors, make me sick, I just started avoiding things that I knew my brain physically hates.

I’ve learned to avoid offending smells, but others find it kind of crazy the things that make me sick and those that don’t. Natural bodily odors, from someone who hasn’t taken a shower in a week, does not bother me. The smell of dirt and manure, even when freshly laid on a farm, does not bother me either. But someone, who recently used body wash, shampoo, deodorant, hair spray, perfume, body spray, and tons of makeup, can give me a quick hug and I will almost pass out from pain that immediately washes over me. At the very least, I’ve had to go home early after an encounter such as this, but in the worst case scenario, I’ve actually landed in the ER from this exact kind of situation.

It’s very hard to get most people to understand I can’t use their lotions, purchase their monthly sales perfume, or use the new essential oil of the month, because, unlike them, their innocent little bottle can land me in the hospital, followed by bed-rest for 3 days and a “pain hangover” for 2 more days. I can literally lose a week of my normal life just by using a co-worker’s peach-strawberry-lavender name brand lotion. (AND No. Just because it’s hypo-allergenic does not mean it’s is made for people with over-sensitive senses).

I’m not the only person this happens to and there are way more of us than most people realize. Most of us only complain about our over-sensitive senses when we are trying to escape from the offender causing the reaction. We politely excuse ourselves, meltdown avoided, no need to talk about it further. Most people, like me, do the same thing. Why should we complain, when we can just change our own habits?  I don’t complain that another person’s perfume makes me sick, I get up and move away. I don’t complain someone’s loud chewing makes me want to scream, I get up and find somewhere else to sit.

I’ve been able to control what I smell or don’t smell, what I touch and don’t touch, what I hear or don’t hear (my gosh, certain sounds can really drive me as crazy as a mad hatter), and even what I see or don’t see. Except, with the last one, the internet (which I use every damn day) has taken it’s love for smashing colors and sounds together, to a whole new excruciating level.

I’ve managed to survive this long in the normal world, so I’m sure I’ll find ways to hang on a while longer,  but the continuous evolution of the internet is making it harder and harder to avoid these issues.

The amount of sights and sounds on most pages are enough for me to turn off my sound and turn down the brightness of my screen for a short time (I’ve even been known to try out new colors just to get a break from the overload of so many colors bombarding me at once).

I don’t know if I’m just over the top sensitive to these types of things or do page owners just don’t care how others perceive their content? There are so many ads on some websites, I refuse to visit the websites or share the websites. I know there are others out there, like me, who don’t want their day ruined from a migraine, irritability, or upset stomach, all due to someone who over loaded their page with more ads than content, so I’m not sure why it continues to get worse. I would guess these pages must make a ton of money with this tactic or they wouldn’t keep it up.

The click-bait pages are the worst. I’ll search for something online and think I’ve found something interesting to read, but in reality the link creators either faked the thumbnail and the content has zero to do with the headline or they have so much click bait going on, the content becomes irreverent. I doesn’t matter how interesting an article is if a reader never reads it. Very few people really enjoy wading through an enormous amount of ads just to read less than 1000 words of content.

The two I hate most are pop-up and auto-play ads. There’s no way to stop them or click out of them (especially since the x is so tiny and anywhere you click you basically opens the damn ad and this either slows down your computer or downloads the black screen of death on your computer.) If it’s an auto-play ad at least I can turn off my sound and ignore it, but the pop-up ads are super annoying. I understand content creators need to make money and obviously people need your information, or I wouldn’t have needed your page, but somewhere in the mix, a compromise needs to be reached.

Paid content is an option. Just like magazines, there are people who will pay for real content, just to avoid the intrusion of ads popping up. The plus side of online subscription is, there are zero perfume samples in them (my gosh I hate those and yes, I get physically ill when a random one arrives in my mailbox. The entire magazine goes straight to the trash) and they are environmentally friendly!

Another option is allowing the writers of websites to make extra income by finding and selling sponsorship ads. The writers could then make a percentage of the sponsorship they sell. These types of ads are small  advertisements, nicely placed in a non-intrusive manner, purchased by companies who support the site and the content.

I hope to one day make a small income from my words, but not in a manner which shouts, screams, or throws sounds at my readers before they get to the first word. There are many things I do wrong on my blog; I cuss, I’m pretty terrible at grammar, and my spelling is atrocious, but I promise I’m not going to set up ads to scream at my readers to make a few dollars.

At the moment, I have no ads on my blog (and I try not to share links which are full of ads). This was set up as much for me as it was for my readers. Sure, I could set up pop-up ads and banner ads, but those things not only distract the readers from my content I want them to enjoy (um, you know, the reason for setting up a blog in the first place), but they also distract me from my own page.

I want my readers to enjoy my content and maybe learn a few things along the way, not get angry and upset due to a bunch of random advertisements.

One day I hope to add legitimate paid sponsors,  and maybe even add a few affiliate links, but when I do, these will be non-intrusive. They will be created in a comfortable reading style, not created as pop-up ads which could irritate or anger my readers.

After a long day of dealing with the perfume sales people in the mall, those stupid, stupid, auto commercial thingies in big box stores, and living in a world where polyester is a real thing, it’s nice to be able to click on a link and not get bombarded with lights, sounds, and colors which can’t be turned off.

To any content creator, who includes ads to the left, right, or even at the top of your website, here is a resounding, “THANK YOU!” From those of us who already have trouble focusing, you are our friend.

Let’s hope more webpages will follow your lead.

Until next time…be safe, be kind, and always be happy.

Just an update on Bearded Lady, she’s very sick and won’t be with us very much longer. She’s receiving great care and her favorite treats every day. I love her dearly and it’s my pleasure to give her all the happiness in the world.

Pets come into our lives and bring us joy with their feathers and fur, and even scales, so it’s our responsibility as owners to respect them as they make their way across the rainbow bridge.

I post this not to bring too many tears, but to show, in the right home, chickens are just as loved as any other pet. They are sweet, kind, smart, and loving. If you have a child allergic to cats or dogs, maybe they need a lovely chicken in their lives.

Chickens can be taught tricks and will follow their loved one everywhere. They can even take baths when needed. In fact, if they are raised to take baths, they actually kind of like it (or at least they will tolerate and not fight it too much). They don’t take up much room and will snuggle with you just like a cat or dog.

Although Bearded Lady has been with us for only 1 year, she brought so much happiness to me and my family. She will be missed very much.

On Wednesday I’ll be contacting the right people to help me give her a peaceful rest. I will be by her side letting her know she was loved.

Until next time…be safe, be kind, and always be happy.

Amazon Book Reviews

I learned something incredibly important today; reviews on Amazon (and other book provider websites) are necessary to increase the success of an author. This applies to all authors, but especially indie authors.

If you take the time to read a book, a comic book, purchase a coloring book full of curse words, or you know how to read one of those super technical books that include a table of contents a mile long, this blog entry is for you.

Self-published author (and cosplayer extraordinaire) @Robin Burks explains the need for personal book reviews on Amazon. She is the only reason I understand this subject now.

Check out her recent blog post http://www.robin-burks.com/2016/05/the-importance-of-reviews/

** Robin’s self-published works can be found here; http://www.robn-burks.com/ and Twitter contact is @sunriserobin – She’s really cool. Give her a shout out. I’ll wait. **

Now, back to the importance of book reviews.

Not only are reviews a nice way to tell an author how much you enjoyed a book, but authors need reviews to progress to the next stage of online publishing. The reviews can also help an author reach a wider audience by allowing the book to be accepted by other online sales sites.

Personally, I had no idea how important book reviews meant to authors (even famous authors) to progress through the Amazon equation of what makes a “hit book.”

I’m a huge advocate of indie writers and filmmakers. I like supporting the writers, artists, and entertainers I enjoy, including brand new entertainers, so this information was important to me.

If we readers want to see a wider variety of work on the market, we have to take the time to do what is necessary to help the creative artists reach the same limits of big corporate works. This doesn’t mean not supporting big productions, but it also means we have one more way to support those who are are just starting out. What this means for us as readers is we take a few more minutes of our time and leave feedback on the material we read, watch, and enjoy. It’s the least we can do for those who word hard providing new content and enjoyment.

Do not be afraid to write a review. Reviews do not have to be as long as a dissertation nor does it have to be a summary of the book.

If you are pressed for time, a review can be as short as a few sentences. If you are starting out and you are unsure of how to complete a serious review, the “sandwich method” of reviewing is a good place to start. When following this method you can make the review as long as you wish or you can provide one or two quick sentences for each part.

Example: What did you like about the book? Something made you purchase the book, so there is something you like about it. Even if it was just the cover which caught your eye, there was a reason why you spent time reading the book.

What did you not like about the book? Be honest with yourself and the writer. If there is something you don’t like, how do you think it could have been better? Was this the first book of the author? Is this a topic you don’t like personally? Was the story good but not the editing? Was the editing great, but not the story development?

Then, the final part of the “sandwich” is what is the one thing another reader might enjoy about the book? What makes the book worth purchasing? Would you suggest this as a “beach book” on Kindle or a book for your personal library to be shared with others? Unless the book is just downright terrible in every way and even if the book is not your style, what is the one thing which another reader might enjoy?

If you have time and you really enjoy the book or author, upload images of yourself doing nice stuff while reading the book (on the subway, lying on the beach, sitting in your favorite chair, etc), a photo of your favorite passage (no more than one short paragraph), or even a photo of your new book placed beside your morning coffee. These “action” photos make others want to experience your happiness with you and increase sales of the book.

As readers (just like an audience at a play or a business meeting) we have a responsibility to the people on the stage or the authors of a book. Reviews are just one more way we can show our appreciation for those who work so hard to provide us with great entertainment every day.

Excuse me while I log-into my Amazon account and … take care of some stuff. Now that I know what I should be doing, I owe some reviews to some wonderful people.

Until next time… be safe, be kind, and always be happy.