My Absence Has Been Longer Than Expected...But I'm Back!

Okay, I was gone from Da Muse a bit longer than I had planned.  The vacation was nice though, there were ups and downs, and everyone in the family had a great time.  I even got to hang out with Tigger (kind of ironic that I'm wearing a California shirt while visiting Florida, huh?).  Mickey Mouse may be cool, but Tigger is one of a kind (his song even says so).

DisneyWorld is both good and bad.  It's a unique experience everyone should take at least once, but once you've been there, the shine (at least for me) tends to dull.  You start noticing how many shops there are, how many times the Disney machine tries to get your coin rather than providing you with entertainment, and you get really tired feet from walking everywhere.  To say Disney World is spread out is an understatement big time.

Epcot however, is a completely different story.  For one thing, it seemed like there were a lot less crowds.  The entertainment is also geared towards a more adult crowd, which appeals to me more as well.  Since I don't have little ones (mine are growing up faster than I want them to), all the cutesy little kid stuff isn't as much fun.  I could go back to Epcot multiple times, while I'd be fine with skipping all the other Disney theme parks ever again.

Since returning home, I've had to scramble to get back to work and back into the mode of doing homework (and it hasn't been easy).  Suffice it to say that after 2 weeks of vacation, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with "normal life".  And as for writing...well, I'm fitting it in wherever I can get a spare moment.

On the good side, I found an awesome deal for a motorcycle (a divorcee getting rid of her ex's bike that she doesn't ride), so now I'm riding again.  Check out this beautiful bike:

As part of celebrating Independence Day here in the Good Ole USA, I went on a nice motorcycle ride with the members of my wife's family who are also bikers.  In fact, my brother-in-law gave me some really nice saddle bags he had sitting in his garage, so now I don't have to buy those.  I don't have new pics of how the bike looks with them on, but trust me - it's B-E-A-UTIFUL!

For those of you in America, I hope your 4th of July celebrations are safe and full of fun.  I'm not a big fireworks person myself, mostly because I grew up in a household with a firefighter dad.  I like watching them though, so we may go outside this evening and see what we can see.  And for those of you who are military or related to them, thank you for continuing to honor and work for the ideals we're celebrating today.

Ten Word Tuesday - Vacation Effects

Two days back from vacation and already wanting another escape!

A New Year...With A More Refined Goal

Welcome to 2011, everyone.  Hopefully everyone's holidays were wonderful, with lots of good food, good times, and fun family moments.  I know some of you have had to deal with personal tragedies and difficulties recently, but I hope this new year will bring you great things - great enough to help you overcome those difficulties.

As you can see, I have made some changes here.  The foremost (to me at least) is the description of this blog (directly under the title).  It used to read "This blog is one author's attempts to work through those dry deserts known as writers block, using free writings, ramblings, and plain old storytelling."  I think the new description more adequately describes what I'm here for.  It's also a bit more of a positive outlook on who I am and what you can expect when you come here.  Rather than focusing on the moments when I am unable to write or have difficulty writing (which I hope will be less often this year), I've chosen to focus on what I really want to strive for.  In essence, I want to be a good writer.  There will still be some stories, some free writings, or ramblings.  I am just choosing to focus on the writing itself rather than the dry deserts between bouts of writing.  Heck, with a few rain dances, I might just eliminate those deserts completely.  Sorry, no Youtube videos scheduled for these performances.

I've also changed the background and colors, partially because I wanted something new.  I like the torn and yellowing page in the background.  In one way, it reminds me of my writing.  The edges are a little rough, but the page has lots of room for improvement.  As for the blue banner and tone, I guess I just like that color.

I'm really energized for the new year.  I got up this morning and did some exercise (pushups) before heading off to work.  I've made a few tweaks on the blog (and there may be more coming, who knows).  And I'm actually looking forward to getting home this evening and squeezing in some writing time.

My vacation was wonderful (the whole reason I was absent for the past 10 days).  I slept in a little bit, spent lots of time with the family, and didn't do homework OR writing.  Now some of you may be cringing out there as you imagine how much writing I could have gotten done during such a break, and I completely understand. But I needed to take a moment and examine where I was and where I want to be.  Take stock of things.  So while my goal of being an exceptional writer hasn't changed, I'm more energized to work on it because of the break.

There will be more fun coming as the week unfolds.  And I hope everyone else is ready for a great year.  I am overly optimistic, and I'm really looking forward to what new works I can create.  How about you?  Do you have some goals for this year?

Helllooo.....

Yep, I've been absent for a while. I'm sure nobody noticed. For those that did, I apologize. I took a vacation, from everything. I was off from my day job for a week, and I spent a bunch of time with my kids and wife. We didn't really do anything, just spent time. It was really nice and relaxing. I realize I left everyone and everything here in a lurch, and for that I apologize. I should have at least left notice.

In any event, I'm back and will be getting back to regular posts. I'm currently beginning my Masters degree program, which I am sure will prove to be fairly difficult. I've also applied for a new job, so we'll see how that goes. If I'm lucky, I'll get the opportunity to join a new team and start new adventures in a slightly different direction. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and my hopes up anyway.

I have to admit though, it's fairly energizing to take a vacation like that. No appointments, no demands on my time. Just waking up when I wake up, walking around in the pj's, breathing in and out. If you get the opportunity to do something similar, I highly recommend it. It's amazing how much we miss while we're working away like busy little bees, frantic in our lives to get things done. There's nothing wrong with being productive of course, but taking breaks and relaxing is important too. For example, one evening the wife and I found shapes in the clouds with our kids, marveling at their imaginations and the beautiful shades of color streaking across the sky. Small moments like these can have great impact.

Okay, enough reminiscing about my past vacation. Time to get back to work. Thanks for stopping by.