Planning to Blog...or Blogging to Plan?

If you were to compare my blogging ambitions to a standard wavelength, the past couple days would have been the trough. Today, however, has peaked at the crest and so continues my blogging quest. 



I've been plotting out how I want to approach this and what sort of message I hope to send to my potential readers. Since I'm considering doing this weekly I don't want to burn out too quickly, so I think doing 3 posts/week to start should be fun for most. As for what in the world I'll write about...here's what I've come up with thus far:

In no particular order (yet):

1. Reviews - things like video games, toys from my childhood, websites I think you all might grow attached to, etc.
2. Throwbacks - getting semi-personal here, but using a picture, toy, other memorabilia to focus on and provide a post about my weird and sordid past... okay, I'm about as far from sordid as you can get. But if that got your interest let's just run with it.
3. Shout Out - taking the time to not so much as review, but boast or promote a site/podcast/YouTube Channel/etc that I truly enjoy. Maybe I'll get you hooked on these as well. As part of wanting to promote more positive things on the World Wide Web I felt that this might be a fun weekly post to do.
4. Silly/Weird anecdotes - Since my site starts off with 'sillyhusband' in the address, you'd probably like to know why that's even there or how I qualify as such. I'll post something recent that happened, or a memory that immediate family will never let me forget and let you be the judge. This isn't self-inflicted torture, it's juicy content for my followers to eat up! 



All in all, I know blogs are popping up every few minutes, but I hope to stand out in a niche of like-minded folks. Many people start blogs, but fewer keep posting, and fewer yet post something interesting. Here's hoping I can meet and exceed that criteria. Feel free to share on your own walls and feeds. I am really looking forward to deleting comments-er-reviewing your feedback!

Lastly (surprise! Not done yet!), my brother was motivated by me a bit to start blogging and has a profile on medium.com. I too have done so and will give a go at writing an article of some sense-make to link to here. It's a way for us to put forth something fun to read and see what kind of trouble we can get into. :)

Stay Silly! (Working on some sort of sign off as well. Excelsior was already taken)

~Brandon

Posted by Unknown on Wednesday, March 9, 2016 | Tagged , , , , , , | 0 comments

How Ambitious Can I Be?

I am all over the place in terms of what I want to do with my life. I feel more indecisive now vs. when I was in grade school and wanted to be in these obscure job roles. For example:

Paleontologist (thanks to a specific dinosaur movie that had come out in the early 90's):

 
My reaction when I realized at age 7 I wouldn't be working with live dinosaurs.
 
 
Gemologist (not sure, but I blame Scrooge McDuck for this one):
 
 
I'll take my paycheck in gem-form please.
 
 
Detective: I watched A LOT of TV Land in grade school, and for some reason Dragnet had me hooked for some time. It was in 8th grade I thought I could be just as thick-skinned and smooth-talking as Joe Friday himself:
 
"So you think you can be like me, kid? There's more to being on the force than having a reliable partner and a slot on NBC. It takes determination, persistence, and the willingness to do anything for the good of the people. Kids these days lack all that, with your smart phones and social media leading you astray like deer on the highway. Let me tell you the hell I went through to get where I am today. When I first joined the force..." (You're lucky I cut off there. We'd have at least another 1/2 hour of content from this guy.)

 
I didn't pursue any of those careers. When I got to college I went from Computer Science (dreams of coding for video games were dashed after my first programming course) to Theater (the thing my dad said to keep as a hobby). I graduated with a B.S. (I know, normally a B.A. but with my courseload somehow it made sense) and hoped to do voice work.
 
I got married, worked for Sprint at a call center for a year or so, then a small software company where my uncle is the VP of marketing. Now I'm with a major manufacturing company working the internal help desk. See how things streamlined there?
 
I started this blog years ago to talk about a sci-fi novel I was writing, but now want to open it up to be about more things I enjoy and want to share with people. I hope to talk about retro games, action figures, things my family thinks is silly about me, etc. If all goes well I could have a topic of the day kind of thing. Mostly, it's going to be a way for me to keep writing when I'm not working on a story. Feel free to share this wherever you want. The end goal is to put something out there that people will enjoy. No politics or any issue that normally causes people to argue virtually over. So with that, I hope to get this going over the weekend. Thanks and happy Friday all!
 
 
 Who hasn't thought of this when looking forward to relaxing? That and that's what came up in my image search for 'goodbye'.






Posted by Unknown on Friday, March 4, 2016 | Tagged | 0 comments

At Least I'm Consistent!

I'm not surprised that it's been just over 6 months since my last post. I've been a busy guy. Since June we're down a gecko (went back to sis-in-law), Mandy has graduated college (yay!), and my brother just had his second kid (welcome to the world, Milo!).
After learning today about the 2nd celebrity death this year (Alan Rickman, following in the footsteps of David Bowie), I've realized I need to get things in gear. As of this morning I've given up all dairy and eggs. It's possibly been affecting my health a wee bit. I'm also doing my 3rd edit of my sci-fi novel in hopes of entering it in an upcoming contest this April. That and Mandy & I are dieting and working out to better ourselves, and to keep up with our kids.
I'd like to keep busy with writing, but I also need to focus on our home. We want to fix the cosmetics and list it for sale so we can relocate to La Crescent. That means many long nights and weekends getting projects that were started back before Noah was born (shush! I know how long ago that was!) done with. Wish us luck! I'll try to stay semi-consistent with this, but as the past has shown...

Posted by Unknown on Thursday, January 14, 2016 | Tagged | 0 comments

So Much to Do...Or Is There?

I have been so neglectful of this blog; this virtual journal of mine. I meant for it to be a progress report on my life so I can let all who read this know just how I'm doing. If I were to grade myself appropriately I'd probably be averaging a B-. But there's always those extra credit assignments.

I have books to write, agents to nag with query letters, and so on.

But I have a higher commitment, or responsibility that I wholeheartedly take on: raising a family. My loving wife and two boys (and dog and now a gecko) are all that I need. My lifelong goal is to try and give them everything that would make them happy. Every time I come home from work and hear the boys' elated screams of joy my heart is warmed. God bless them; I'm truly happy with life!

I know we're doing fine now, but my subconscious pokes its head out of the water of the conscious waves in my mind and says, 'Hey, why not do this for a while?' and then swims away before I can retort. One of those recurring nagging thoughts is about writing. So far, I've loved what I've worked on. I've even submitted an entry to Writer's Digest for their annual writing contest. I have a completed manuscript I have to do a full edit on, plus I'm 7000+ words in on a different tale I've wanted to tell for a while now. It is something I would consider as a full-time career should God send that option my way. I have a Rolodex in my mind with stories that I want to put to paper - and I think a few people out there would enjoy reading them.

 For now, I whittle away at one story when I have a few minutes to spare, and I admire my work thus far. Other nights I'm lost surfing the Net or playing on my 3DS. Here's hoping I can keep blogging away for motivation and fun!

Posted by Unknown on Wednesday, June 17, 2015 | Tagged | 0 comments

So There's This Game...

I have been quiet for while because I've been so preoccupied with a few things.
1. New job - Started at Fastenal working their internal IT department. Basically taking calls from any of the 3000+ stores that Fastenal operates and helping their employees. Fun stuff, plus I get to work with my sis-in-law!
2. Book  editing - This has been moving so fast that-okay it hasn't. My goal this year is to get my book published, but I realized I need to do a few edits. It's not that I don't want to; it's because of point number 3.
3. Bob's Space Adventure - This is an iOS/Android game that came out last month by a company called Red Magnet Studios. To help promote the game they're holding a contest: Whoever maintains the #1 score on the scoreboard after August 17th will win one hundred thousand dollars. And I held the #1 spot for about 12 hours. Now I'm #6. I can't put this game down.

Anywho, family has been amazing, especially with Adam taking his first steps the other day! Noah is loving school and making such strong friendships. Mandy is finishing her first quarter of school and eager to find out about her most recent final. She's going for Massage Therapy! It's a great time to be a guinea pig. Hope you all are well and are enjoying the warming weather. Bring on spring!

Posted by Unknown on Sunday, March 15, 2015 | Tagged | 0 comments

A Writer's Group? Here!? In La Crosse? I'm in!

Hello all, or one, maybe. Depending on how many folks are interested in this. I've been on a Blogger hiatus for a while and for good reason. I have family to love and take care of, plus I'm still waiting on my potential future literary agency to get back to me on my book. Which brings me to a new development: I've joined a group.
It's the La Crosse Area Writer's Group; not some sort of self-help group, but they do help in a way. I found them via the site Meet Up, which will help find groups that share similar interests in your area. Even though over 100 writers have joined, only about 12 showed up on Thursday in a cramped room in the Gundersen Lutheran basement. It was hosted by two folks: Larry and Roshan. They kept the atmosphere alive and well as each volunteer read his/her work. I was nervous as all get-out when reading my piece, but it was enjoyed and I received some valuable feedback. I plan to go again in 2 weeks with more to read. Next Thursday, however, is set aside for another group I found that plays strategy board games at River City Hobbies. Joy! Until next time folks!

Posted by Unknown on Saturday, December 6, 2014 | Tagged | 0 comments

I Can't Believe I Haven't Been on Here-well, yeah...

So much to say!

1. My son's b-day was on October 4th and he had a blast! YMCA is good for parties, that's for sure. My wife celebrates her 28th b-day today and is getting her first tattoo! Wowee! And I've been told that I'll be getting one someday too. Going to go with the Sierra On-Line logo ;).
2. An agency, WordWise Media, is checking out my manuscript! It's a foot in the door, but they could still lop my foot off if they don't want to represent me. And here I hold my breath...*faint, collapse, wake up dazed a few moments later*. Well, I think I'll just keep waiting.
3. Noah started school end of August and has bloomed in so many ways. Still I wish they'd keep him for 5 days a week vs. 3. He's really taken off with it and loves it. I couldn't be a prouder parent.

That's all for now, but I have to discipline myself to keep writing...maybe I will get that first page done...

Posted by Unknown on Wednesday, October 15, 2014 | Tagged | 0 comments