Here is what I wrote for those of you that have missed the links:

Chess. You may think of this game as a boring and uninteresting activity played by the educated and socially-inept but you would be entirely far from the truth. It is a thinking game, a game where one can almost spend a day contemplating every move possible before right-footing into battle only to find themselves plummeting to their death and untimely defeat. It is a game of war; mastered by Generals and Field Marshalls all over Europe for over a Millenia and used as a strategic tactic honing tool; it is not to be trifled with and neither are the players. It is a game played by the strategists amongst us; the social elite, the commanders of armies and the battle hardened chess player.

What is chess? Why would we attempt to play this? On first glance it may seem similar to a game of checkers with carved pieces; one may even assume that it is an Asian board game, slotting into genres such as backgammon and similar but it is oh so much more. You can topple Knights, Regions, and Kingdoms; finally triangulating your last move for your opponents King and for his country, that last co-ordinated move spurred on by several pre-determined and strategically manipulated moves beforehand, leading your opponents King into a corner; the point of no return and ultimately their fateful demise.

You are the commander of an Army; several Legions of men, Knights and Bishops, with Castles and your faithful Queen by your side all working towards one goal: to win the war. The war takes place on a Chess Board, imagine a mini country with an entire Army all with places your regiments can and cannot go, each with their own specific moves, reliant on your every command. Your opponent trespassing on your well cherished soil has seized this opportunity to engage you in war, a war they have committed to, will die for and will topple their entire Kingdom to have yours. How dare they, how dare they entertain notions of taking over your land by force.

You on the other hand must protect your Kingdom from a notorious foe and one that will stop at nothing to get what they want. It is not a game that can be drawn; one must win, the other… must die. This is a game of manipulation and back-door Politics, it is certainly not for the front-line warriors for most of them can be thrown to their doom in a larger game of chess; tossed aside as cannon fodder for the greater good, to make way for the more weightier pieces in a larger picture of cat and mouse such as Bishops and Knights or even… the Queen.

The Queen. Your Queen can move any number of squares and in any direction provided the line is straight. You should consider this piece as your greatest foe and equally your greatest ally. She has the ear of the King and can command a massive presence on the board. Pray you never leave her vulnerable; have her exposed to the harsh terrain of enemy territory or have no near-equally presence-commanding pieces watching her back, because she will be killed, she will be snapped up before you realise what has just happened. Losing your Queen is about the single most crushing blow to your Country your army can take, it is like a right handed foot soldier losing his right hand, or an archer losing their index and middle finger in the heat of battle.. your army will fall, the battle will be almost won, your enemy has the utmost upper hand. Never lose your Queen.

A game of strategy, ethics, morals and manipulation. Who will you sacrifice? Who will you send to their doom in an effort to gain the upper hand? Which opponent will you have directly killed in an all out slaughter fest by your battle-hardened army of killing machines? You will all out attack in bloody revenge, you will manipulate, you will run scared; stroking power pieces in outright possessiveness, you will kill, you will laugh, you will live.. at least for a while, or you will die.

Chess. Eat, sleep, breath it.

And that’s all from me.

Once again, thank you my lovely readers for enjoying my content; after all if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t exist here!

Raymond.

I would be even if it wasn’t on my business card. (It is.)

I wake up a proofreader. I go to sleep a proofreader. It’s possible my dreams are pedantic.

I adore abstract art, and messy hair, and long-form improvised jazz, and unplanned weekends. But the methodical neural sequences are always running — as subtle, pervasive and persistent as those that maintain subconscious respiration and the miraculous auto-focus of my blessedly functional human eyes. I don’t switch this part of me on and off as I approach and depart the office each day.

As a proofreader, that’s the way things work, and it’s the way I work (even when I’m not at work). Just as an artist sees the world through creative eyes even in the non-painting, non-sculpting, non-drawing moments. Just as the curiosity that drives a scientist, deep-sea explorer or astronomer isn’t silenced the moment they step away from the microscope, periscope or telescope.

{image via PowerScore}

People are afraid of the red pen.

They fear seeing their writing covered in proofreading glyphs, and they resent the person who made it so.

Some editors use green or purple ink because red is ‘too aggressive’.

But red is also the colour of love, and of passion.

I do not proofread in anger. I proofread with passion. When I scrawl all over the page, I am sharing the writer’s devotion to the words they have coaxed forth. It is with love that I — as gently as possible — nurture and nudge those words just a little bit more, hoping to make them as perfect as we both desire them to be.

So writers? Don’t hate the red pen. Your proofreader actually loves your writing.

Proofreaders, don’t be ashamed to be called a persnickety, pedantic perfectionist. Wear that badge with pride (especially if you couldn’t take it off if you wanted to).

And everyone: go to as many Sydney Writers’ Festival events as you can between now and Sunday (26 May 2013). Let your brain be caressed and your thoughts provoked.

I like to go and do something different, although I favour something with a creative bent to it. I will usually go and play the guitar for a bit. Others may like to go into the garden and pull up a few weeds or do the washing up. Usually after a few minutes my mind is clearer and whatever was stopping me from writing has resolved itself.

I guess what I am really asking though is, what do you do when you are lacking creativity and need a boost?

As a follow up to yesterdays post, I have reblogged something and written this today. Best of both worlds!

The lead robot drips coolant.
His subordinates climb into
His rear entry compartment.
It is a mere drip,
But it causes attention.
The lead needs attention, like
A human baby needing changing.
The subordinates clamber to
Give.

One stands apart.
He is wired differently.
He has had bigger scratches on
His outflow pipe and is confused
By the strange dance that occurs.
He hasn’t long been with these
Robots.
His diodes are already sparking.
He knows he will not be with them
Long.

Doctors have been telling fat people to eat less and exercise more for at least 2,500 years.

Here’s Hippocrates, father of Western medicine: “It is very injurious to health to take in more food than the constitution will bear, when, at the same time one uses no exercise to carry off this excess.”

And here’s the blunt advice of Polybus, student (and son-in-law) of Hippocrates: “Persons of a gross relaxed habit of body, the flabby, and red-haired, ought always to use a drying diet . . . Such as are fat, and desire to be lean, should use exercise fasting; should drink small liquors a little warm; should eat only once a day, and no more than will just satisfy their hunger.”

Public health experts no longer disparage red-haired folks, and as far as I know, they don’t recommend drinking warmed-up liquors. But they’re still spreading the message of the harms of obesity, via television, magazines, school curricula, and even First-Lady policy agendas. These efforts have some merit. People who are obese (defined as having a BMI of 30 or higher) have an increased risk of developing heart disease, diabetes and some cancers compared with people who are not obese. And people who are severely obese have a higher death rate than thin people.

The message that thinner = better just seems intuitive, doesn’t it? I’ve certainly heard it all my life (or at least since 3rd grade, when I was mortified to be one of the chubby kids in gym class to not get the President’s Physical Fitness Award badge) and have never questioned it. But over the past few months, while researching a story published in today’s Nature, I’ve started to wonder whether we’ve gone too far in our cultural war against fat.

Read more at…

Only Human, May 2013.

You can find thousands of good domains by searching at NameLoot.com

addtoblog.com
appetiteblog.com
bikerideblog.com
courtesyblog.com
crossbowblog.com
dealsiteblog.com
dongblog.com (lol!)
fateblog.com
feelfitblog.com
furiousblog.com
furyblog.com
getpaidblog.com
hairtipsblog.com (Great one! I’m bald so I can’t use this one)
headlessblogger.com
henrysblog.com (Is your name Henry? Want a blog?)
howellblog.com
humpdayblog.com
kittycatblog.com (MEOW! Purrr! Purrr! Purrr!)
mclovinsblog.com
menslifeblog.com
moneyforblog.com
nursejobblog.com
painfullblog.com
ourphotoblog.com
paysiteblog.com
prostestblog.com
redhotblog.com
siteflipblog.com
sportfanblog.com
staysafeblog.com
totallyblog.com

On a side note, here is a list of domains that will be deleted within the next couple of days.
Check our website if you want to know the exact date.

afitnessblogger.com
airportblog.com
automateblogs.com
hotsalesblog.com
latestblog.com
sexcrimeblog.com
workingblog.com

Reblogged from The Red And The Blue:

Thanks for such a detailed and measured analysis of the polls concerning Gillard's standing with the people and what they say about the results on September 14. Personally, and this is based upon nothing other than my political instincts, I am expecting a Queensland level obliteration of the ALP because I suspect that a lot of Labor voters who are surveyed may keep the faith in response to the pollsters but when in the booth clutching the stubby pencil they will change their mind because deep down in their hearts they know that Labor no longer deserves their vote. Cheers Comrade Yale

..

They have three tiers of paid advertisements: bronze, gold and silver. I qualified for Silver after 10 posts and a blog that was less than a month old. They have a minimum payout of $10.00 and allow you to customize the size and colour of the text ads.

Chitika claims there ads are very effective because they are based on the consumers search query providing targeted advertisements which should provide a high quick through rate.

For the current month my click through rate is 0.08%, and I made $0.18 for 21,423 impressions and my cpm (cost per a thousand impressions) average at $0.01 for the month and peaked at $0.06.

Overall Impression: Chitika is simple to customize and very easy to be accepted by however they have a very low cpm rate and I would only use them until I qualified for a company with a higher cpm which sometimes require a minimum number of views.

InfoLinks – I have only recently joined InfoLinks, 3 days ago on the suggestion of a fellow blogger so I cannot give a complete analysis of my experience with them – I will update my review shortly however my initial experience with them has been fairly positive. They require a 2 day processing period and once I was excepted I started seeing instant results – too good actually.

On my second day I saw an ad CPM of $19.17 which then dropped to $0.53. I made $1.24 for 778 net page views and 105 ad views. It’s difficult to give an accurate review after such little amount of time however so far I am impressed with InfoLinks.

A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are for. – John A. Shedd

Don’t be afraid to take risks.

The regret of a missed chance, or the anxiety of never knowing what might have been will almost always outweigh the effects of taking that risk and failing. In the end, you lose more by never taking risks, and therefore never gaining from them, than you would ever risk in the first place.

With that said, I would also say that I believe every part of my life has lead me to where I am now, so in many ways I would not want to advise myself on anything because you never know how you’ll turn out until you turn out that way. And I think I’ve turned out ok.

..

Even if nobody is listening I yell it to the ceiling and I celebrate the fact that I’m alive and I’m breathing.
- George Watsky “Show Goes On Mini-Mix”

I am celebrating the fact that I have people who liked my last post. [Small victories!] Writing has always been very therapeutic for me, but I usually never received feedback from readers. It was refreshing to see that I do have a small audience. Hopefully I’ll see more growth as I continue to post here.

To those of you who liked my last post, thank you. It’s nice to be acknowledged, even if it was by a stranger. Strangers can eventually become friends. The possibilities are endless.

At school I have been given nicknames by some people I used to call “friends”

I have received comments saying i’m weird of stupid for having a blog. All the positive comments have made me want to post more and forget about what other people are saying.

Once again, Thank you

Aidan Parkhouse

What to you is the best website to publish your books on?

Which site gives you the best feedback?

Why did you become and indie author?

How do you feel about other non indie authors say that indie authors are vanity publishers?

What is your writing process?

What is your editing process?

How do you come up with story ideas?

Why do you like writing the in the genre you write in?

Have you ever thought of writing in a different genre?

I’m asking these questions to kind of better know my fellow indie writers. Some of you may have different answers, some may have the same. Either way, I would like to know about you as an indie author.

There’s a wonderful community of writers out there sharing their passion with the world. Some have even made a business out of it. As I sit down to write each week, I sometimes doubt whether my blog is worth the time and effort.

Is anyone actually going to read this? And if they do, will they enjoy it? 

And then I come across this blog. And this one. And my confidence is restored.

Let’s get serious. I’m not saving lives here folks. The recipes I share are not revolutionary. Contrary to what I believe, one can only handle so many puppy pictures. But the more I write the more I realize that it’s the process itself in which I find fulfillment. Writing is my form of expression. Well one of them at least. Sometimes I kid myself into thinking I can actually sing in the shower and am quickly reminded that it was my sister who got the vocal talent in the family.

In a world of Pinterest, final drafts and Photoshop, we see a version of a project, recipe or person that has a lot of editing behind it. And just like the real world, it’s hard not to compare your dimly lit eggplant stack to the perfect Pinterest version you were striving for.

The more blogs I read, the more I find myself jumping to the About section after finishing the initial post. I’m interested in the content, but before I get to it I want to know more about the author. What does he or she look like? Do we share any similarities? 

It’s like the little girl in the AT&T commercial says,

We want more, we want more. You really like it, you want more. 

And I’d be a hypocrite if I noticed this tendency and didn’t do something about my own about. If you visited my about page previously you would have seen a very brief paragraph and a photo of Finn and I. And that was it.

OK, so this girl likes food, photography and dogs. Not necessarily in that order.

I know it’s hard to believe seeing as how most of this blog is dedicated to observations about my life, but when it came to making a list of items to help strangers get to know me as a person, I actually had a hard time writing them down. I got a little overwhelmed thinking that the throngs of visitors the few new visitors that came across the page might judge me based on the list.

What if they think I’m presumptuous? What if they think I’m boring? What if they think raisins are disgusting? 

And while I know I still have some work to do on improving the section, I hope that this small list will help you learn a little bit more about me and perhaps just maybe a few things that make you want to read more.

If those random observations weren’t enough to make you judge me, this next one might put you over the edge:

I locked my puppy inside my condo last week. 

It gets worse.

Not only did I lock my puppy inside my condo, but I hopped on a flight to D.C. for a work trip for the remainder of the week shortly thereafter. You may be thinking,

Well don’t you lock your puppy inside your condo everyday, Sarah?

And you would be right (except for the days he goes to daycare). But on this particular day, my boyfriend had a game in Houston and would not return until late that evening, far too long for a large but young puppy to be cooped up inside.

And before you send my information to the ASPCA, know that I wouldn’t have left my puppy locked in my condo without a plan. My mom was in town for work and offered to let the monster out mid-day. We had a belated Mother’s Day dinner the night before and I was so proud of myself for remembering to give her the security key to get into my building. I would just keep my door key so I could get back in that night and leave the door open for her the next day.

Point Sarah? 

But come Tuesday morning, I rushed out the door to get to the airport and, wait for it, locked the door.

Fast-forward several hours later and my phone rings mid-conference set-up.

Mom: Well honey, I think I have the right unit but the door seems to be locked. Are you sure I’m at the right door? 

(confusion, realization, helplessness)

Me: Yes. You are. I ran out so fast. I think I locked it. 

Mom: Oh well don’t you worry about it honey. He will be fine.  

The good news is my mom is sweet even when I’m an idiot. Even better news is that I was able to call in a favor from another family member to open the door and let Finn out before anything bad happened. You know, like the poor puppy having to take an extra long nap instead of a long one that day.

In an effort to begin to show my gratitude to my cousin for letting Finn out for me, I inquired about his taste in baked goods from his sister. She mentioned that he liked Scotcheroos.

Scotcherwhats?

I’ll admit, I had to Google the name to figure out what they were. However, once I saw a photo the baker in me laughed. Oh, Scotcheroos. That’s what these blogs call those Peanut Butter Rice Crispy Bar things. Because my version was so much easier to explain all these years.

I had a few hours Friday between D.C. and Milwaukee so I made a batch and delivered them to my cousin and a few friends on foot. Yes, on foot. In 80 degree weather. You might remember the first half of the story when I gave myself a point for proactively giving my mom my security key. And how proactive I was. It wasn’t as though I would need that particular key when I returned to gain access my garage where my car is parked. Or the stairwell. Or the building.

Negative points Sarah. 

But I survived thanks to a keypad and some nice neighbors. And along the way I learned that Scotcheroos don’t melt if you properly load them in a cinch-sack, run fast and deliver to air-conditioned condos early in the morning.

Chocolate Scotcheroos

• 6 cups Puffed Rice Cereal
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup peanut butter (I used 1/2 C almond butter and 1/2 C peanut butter)
• 1/2 C semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 C butterscotch chips
• Chopped heath bars (for topping)

In a large bowl melt corn syrup, sugar and peanut butter. Pour mixture over puffed rice and stir until combined. Press into a greased 9×13 pan.

In a separate bowl melt butterscotch chips and chocolate chips. I was in a hurry so I melted the chocolate in the microwave on 30 second intervals. I added a little chocolate almond bark at the end.

Spread melted chocolate mixture over puffed rice, top with chopped heath bar bits and let cool. If needed refrigerate for a few minutes until it sets up.

Cut into small squares and serve. Be sure to add the extra weight of Scotcheroos into your calculations for distance traveled as part of delivery. Continue running because those suckers are decadent!

So now that we’ve established the formal name of those token bake sale, tailgate and office treats, we can all move on to memorial day.

As for me I’m just excited to have access to my building again. I received a package in the mail this week that reminded me how lucky I am to have such considerate parents.

I’m not sure at what point my parents decided to have a second child, but it’s times like these I feel pretty lucky that they did. They could have stopped at one, you know. Just enjoyed the peaceful sounds of my sister singing and eating nothing but chicken sandwiches throughout the years. But no. They decided to have always hurried and often forgetful Sarah. And while I’m sure they would say there are other perks to having me as a daughter, I am fairly confident that thanks to me they are on a first-name basis with the key man at Ace Hardware by now. And I think we all know how valuable that can be.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Carol anne

Next I got a sign up for Melaleuca! woo hoo! It really is a good company and the products are so easy to fall in love with but I’m just not great at getting people to take a look at it. Today I had a win – to celebrate I got a nice big latte.

Last but not least a dear friend of mine had a baby girl and I love the name they picked. This is her news overall so no more from me but it just made a good day even better.

Aside from those big good things, yesterday my sister’s house and family was not flattened by the tornado in Oklahoma (nor the one on Sunday) and today I had a very good workout and Fiona is taking a nice nap so I can blog and read my book (and maybe clean). I also got one step closer to my pet art project – getting empty windows on main street filled with art – the chamber of commerce is now behind the idea, there are no rules against it and now we are getting business to agree and if they agree it is game time with artists. This would be a very cool thing to get done.

Speaking of books…. I just finished the last Sookie Stackhouse book after not reading any since the last one published when Zoe was born (3 years ago) and having watched the majority of the HBO True Blood between then and now. Boy those are only loosely related concepts. I’m thinking about the comparisons so there may be a post in the future on that – future post also on my art and window project.

What good things happened for you all today?

Edited to add: my BiL appears to have had a positive change. That counts as very good too