Where to even begin? ...
Well I started a new job on the 22nd. I'm now a Crisis Line Specialist, I work for an amazing Crisis Center in ye olde East Bay California, and despite the occasional delusional and or suicide call I actually feel less stressed than I did working for my last employer where without the looming bankruptcy should have been a really chill job.
It was an excruciating decision to leave Windrush. I was appreciated at the school for my ability to communicate, for my ethics, for my dedication, and I could take my pups to work with me and they in turn were appreciated for their thirst for adventure and never ending reserves of love.
I left my best friend, my Aunt, new friends and a lot of little persons that I truly miss every single day. I have a lot of feelings about what is continuing to go on at the school, about what happened to the school, and perhaps someday I'll write a blog post about the entire experience, but it just would be kindling on a vast bonfire, so I will just say I left and I'm better off, but I do feel sad that I had to.
Ze new job is great. I'm gaining the experience I need for my career and for graduate school (of which I'm in the 2nd quarter). The people I work for and with are amazing and loving and have been kind enough to take me under their proverbial wings and show me the ropes, fine tuning the abilities I've acquired over the last 18 months of volunteering four hours a week on the lines.
I get to help a colleague as she works to develop a grant prescribed crisis chat line, and every week I become more intimately involved in the process. I've never developed or helped develop a program before, it is really quite exciting!
I really like my professors this quarter in grad school. Social Policy is like an orgasm for my brain, it involves social welfare, history and politics, which I mean is the shizzle I geek out on. I don't like all the reading and the incredibly short amount of time I have to prepare for presentations, but honestly I've kinda come to realize that the world operates on short term deadlines, so why should graduate studies be any different?
I'm working hard at keeping connected to my small kinship of friends, and being fairly successful.
The wedding plans are coming along well.
I've sold 14 copies of my book across various media and I still have some advertising ideas up my sleave. I wish I had more time to write, but at least this lack of "time" allows for slow percolating of my sequel.
In my miniscule free time I have been enjoying a lot of pleasureable reading, and hanging out with my fiancee, and my Boston buddies playing Star Wars the Old Republic.
Overall life is good, which doesn't mean it isn't at times stressful.
So that's the weekly dose of my life. Who are you that read? Drop a comment, let's converse.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Monday, January 16, 2012
Star Wars the Old Republic-SWTOR-Best Co-Op Game Ever!

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My Sith Warrior |
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Flashpoint |
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Our naughty Jedis |
In SWTOR we can do just that. We login, group up, we can say whatever the hell we want in the cut scenes and the game randoms which answer will be there for us to see across the screen. Her character talks and my character seems to be checking out her ass, which is very true to real life, doesn't mean I'm not listening! We group up in what they call a flashpoint, which is basically a group instance where we all get to control the speech. Hilarity ensues when one person wants a badguy to die and the other three roll a speech answer that allows him or her to live. Don't worry flashpoints can be redone once a day if you want to see different scenarios play out.
We finally get to Co-Op through a dynamic world that recognizes us as equal heroes. And those thousands of other players are periphery, I barely know that other "heroes" are running around too, because the story instances are private and well I turn off general chat.
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Our Jedi Light Side Crew |
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My Shepard voiced Trooper named Morrigen |
So if you and your girlfriend/boyfriend/brother/sister/M.. ok you get the point the other gamer in your life that you like to play games with want a new game to play that feels like it could very well be the next big MMO for the casual RPG enthusiast, then pick up SWTOR and start playing.
There are a million other reasons to play, I mean lightsabers, hello?!
Saturday, January 14, 2012
The Calling begins...Book #1 Qualia has been released!
Hardcover Version Cover |
For $32.52 on Lulu you get an original photograph of mine as the cover, the Calling Series Book One: Qualia on high quality paper with a glossy hardcover (kind of feels like a small textbook). I tried to price things as low as I could while still making sure I got something. If you purchase this from Lulu.com I actually get ten bucks, once it is available anywhere else I get like a penny just to give some information on that. You can preview it online to the tenth page, which is the first page of Chapter 1, before purchasing. My Lulu Page.
After Christmas, and doing some research, I embarked on publishing the book on the Kindle. No easy feat I will let you know. I had to brush up on some very old HTML skills. Don't let anyone tell you that someone is taking the easy road by self publishing. Basically you're doing the work of an entire publishing house! However, I feel the experience has been very rewarding. I actually am really proud of the way it looks on the Kindle because I worked so hard on it to make sure the formatting was done well. It isn't perfect, none of the versions are, I learned a lot from doing my own formatting, and I'm excited to improve my skills as I publish more books in the future. So for $1.00 you can read Qualia on the Kindle and Kindle Fire through Amazon.com. The pictures featured here don't do it justice, but taking a picture of the Kindle Fire's beautiful high def screen with an iphone probably isn't the best way to get the best photo of it. You can preview it on your Kindle before purchasing. Also you can download the Kindle app to the iPad or iPhone to read it on those devices.
If you are interested in publishing to the Kindle I'm happy to help, answer any questions etc. I'd even be willing to format it for you for a small fee. If you are a DIY kind of person check out Format Your Ebook For Kindle by Derek J. Canyon.
It has been very important to me that I publish to every format someone might want to read my book on. So on Lulu there is an Ebook publishing option. So I published Qualia in that format as well. It runs on Adobe Digital Editions, which is a free app, and can then be read on any device that isn't a Kindle, so your Apple products, PCs etc. It is available in this format for $1.25.
Qualia in Adobe Digital Editions on my Computer |
On the Nook previewer for PC |
If you want a signed copy just hit me up with a comment here or on facebook and we'll figure out the details on shipping etc. I'm happy to do that, I mean this is my dream so I frakkin' better be happy to do that right? I also have business cards to advertise for the blog and the book if you want one as a collector's item or want a stack to hand out to people that might be interested, just let me know. Happy to sign one for you too. Glossy prints of the cover can be done up as well if anyone is interested that perhaps wants a signed book but owns it on a Kindle/Nook/Ebook device.
I really hope you take the time to post comments here on the blog and to review my book on any (or all please!) of the sites it is availble. Spread the word, let's keep this indie publishing scene alive!
Thanks to Sharon Shutjer who shouted out on amazon.com for me! Gave Qualia 4/5 stars, hot damn!
Thanks everybody, for everything, sincerely,
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