Month: December 2011

My Book Is Finally Finished, but…

On By Michel McDonaldIn Autobiography, Books, eBook2 Comments

My book is finally finished being edited and is ready to be published.  It took me 2 months to write it, but then it took me another 4 months to edit it.  I have been working for at least 8 hours a day to get it right so there are no mistakes.  It is ready, but not ready because I may have made a mistake with the copyright.

I copyrighted it on November 28th 2011 and I uploaded my unfinished book and the cover, but haven’t taken any other action, besides uploading the current revision of course.  I’m not sure if I was supposed to mail it to them or not.  It still says pending so I’m not sure when it will be completed.  I don’t want to take any chances with it so I won’t publish it until the copyright has gone through.

I said I was going to publish it tomorrow, January 1st 2012, but now I have to wait until January 2nd when I can call the copyright office and talk to someone.  This really sucks but my hands are tied.

That will give me another opportunity to read the book one last time to make absolutely sure there are zero mistakes.  It sucks because I have read my book about 20 or 30 times.  I have never read a book this many times before, and since it’s my life story, I have to relive it again every time I read it.  I just want to be done with it and move on.

Anyway, I will update this on Monday when I have spoken to someone at the copyright office.  If my claim has expired because I didn’t mail a printed copy, then I will have to copyright it again and mail it to them and wait for god only knows how much longer before I can publish it.  I’m sure it won’t take that long though, I’m hoping I can upload it on Monday when I get off the phone with them.  I can’t make any promises though.

Now that I am finally finished editing, I can finally enjoy playing Lord of the Rings Online again.  WOOHOO!

Offensive Anti-Gay Calendar

On By Michel McDonaldIn Anti-Gay1 Comment

I heard a couple of days ago that this calendar was being sold on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  At first I didn’t believe that it was an actual calendar because I didn’t want to believe that someone would sell such a thing, but it’s true.  Barnes & Noble had discontinued sales while Amazon still sold it, but has since taken it down.

I was reading the “about the author” part, and this is what it said:

“In the early ’80s Joe parlayed his position as one of the original Blue Sky Rangers, [Mattel Electronics videogame designers] into a Department of Defense [D.O.D.] software engineer, enjoying a TOP SECRET security clearance at Lockheed’s fabled Rye Canyon facility [Skunk Works], original nest for the SR-71 Blackbird fleet. Today he suffers the slings and arrows of outrageous mis-fortune – frequently at the hands of other cartoonists!”

Does that last sentence mean that the other cartoonists hate him?  Hmmm, could it be because he’s a bigot?

“The 2004 Pulitzer Prize Nominee most recently served as Artist-In-Residence at the Charles M. Schulz Museum and is currently in production of several self-syndicated comic strips distributed world-wide under the banner of his publishing forge: http://www.FUNNYPAPERZ.com; a whimsical fusion of fine art, popular culture and humorous illustrations. Joe King, a native Son of the Golden West – born in the shadow of The Lone Ranger Rock – is making the world a funnier place one cartoon at a time. Explore more of his creative universe at http://www.TOON-GUY.com”

Pulitzer Prize Nominee, but not winner?  Shocking.

I was so offended by this that I took all of the ads for Amazon down from my site.  I was not going to sell my book through the Amazon website until this calendar was taken down either.  I am actually also kind of pissed off at CreateSpace because that is who I was going to use to sell paper copies of my book through Amazon.

I am glad that both Barnes & Noble and Amazon have taken that horrible monstrosity from their site down because my book is almost ready to be published.  I can feel good about buying my webcam through them again, because I started to feel like a hypocrite for buying it with the $25 gift card that I won the other day.  So thanks Amazon for making things right.

California Lemon Lawyers

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily Blog3 Comments

Did you buy a car only to find out that it was a lemon?  That could happen if you buy a car from someone through Craigslist without checking carfax first.  Don’t worry because there is an attorney who is on your side.  California Lemon law lawyers are there to help you file a claim if you were misled into buying a car that was a lemon.

California Lemon Law attorneys have law offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Newport Beach.  You can either call them and tell them what happened, or you can fill out a form on their website describing your lemon case, and one of their representatives will get back to you within 24 hours.

I don’t have a car, nor do I even know how to drive, but if I did and I was misled into buying a lemon, I would be sure to contact the Lemon Law attorneys in California.  I like knowing that there are lawyers that have your back.

Their website has stories from other lemon victims, maybe you might be able to learn from other people’s mistakes and take advantage of that knowledge.  They also have a blog so you can get more information.  I hate to repeat the same thing over and over again but knowledge is power.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, or call a lemon lawyer today.

Brand Thunder Holiday Browser Theme Contest Results

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily Blog2 Comments

On November 29th 2011 I wrote a sponsored blog post for Izea’s Social Spark to advertise for Brand Thunder, which is a cool website where you can create browser themes for Internet Explorer and Firefox.  One of the requirements was that I create a holiday browser theme and enter in their contest to win an iPad2.

On December 17th 2011 I found out that my browser theme was good enough to be in the top 5 browser themes eligible to win an iPad2.  I asked for votes here on my blog, and on Facebook and Twitter.  I wasn’t as successful as the 3rd and 4th holiday browser themes because not enough people voted for me, so I lost.

Well, I didn’t really lose, I was still in the top 5 so I consider that to be successful enough.  Because I was in the top 5, I won a $25 gift card for Amazon.com, and tonight I bought a new webcam for my desktop.

The webcam that I have on my desktop is a Flexic@m which at one time was acceptable, but it’s such a horrible webcam that I no longer want to use it.  I would much rather have this Microsoft LifeCam HD-3000 because it is HD 16:9 and it has a mic.  I would like to be able to call my aunts and friends with Skype, but I can’t because I don’t have a mic.  I can use the built-in webcam on my Chromebook, but it doesn’t do Skype.

I would also like to be able to do time-lapse videos to put on YouTube.  I have a time-lapse video of my Scooby Doo Chia Pet, which is not that great because of the horrible webcam.  Tonight I tried making a time-lapse video of my lava lamp, but the webcam is so horrible that you can’t see the beautiful colors of the lava. That was my motivation for choosing to buy a new webcam.

This webcam was only $24 and it was available for free shipping if I paid $25.  In order for me to get the free shipping, I had to buy something else, so I chose to buy a $5 4GB USB memory stick.  I needed a new memory stick anyway so this is perfect.  The USB memory stick I have now is only 1GB and it’s almost full, so I had planned on upgrading anyway. What I’d like to do is take all of my photos off of the 1GB stick, and put them on the 4GB stick.  I can use the 1GB stick for my book as a backup.

I wasn’t expecting to win the iPad2, and frankly I didn’t think my holiday browser theme was as good as the other ones, so I’m happy for the person who did win because they certainly deserved it.  Even though an iPad2 would have been cool, I’m happy to have a new webcam and USB memory stick.  So thank you Brand Thunder for the Amazon $25 gift card, I really do appreciate it.

*This post is not a paid advertisement for Izea‘s Social Spark or Brand Thunder.

Merry Christmas

On By Michel McDonaldIn Christmas1 Comment

Can you believe that it’s finally Christmas?  Neither can I,  I mean, it seems like it was just summer like a week ago, and now it’s Christmas, and it will be a whole new year in a week.

We didn’t go out of town like we usually do because Darrin thought he was going to work on Monday, and he didn’t want to drive for 6 hours just to have to drive back home tonight.  So instead, we stayed home to enjoy the peace and quiet.

Presents…  Darrin has the job, so he makes the money and buys everything.  I can’t even afford to buy underwear, which by the way I asked for and got lol.

He really needed good cell phone service instead of his crappy Net10 service, so we went to Verizon and he bought himself an iPhone 4S.  He wanted to buy the iPhone 4 because it was $99, and at first he did, but then they added $45 tax and sold him a package of accessories and it all came to $199.  I told him to buy the 4S because I knew he would kick himself in the ass if he didn’t, but he didn’t think he could afford it.  When he realized that the 4 didn’t do what the 4S did (Siri and voice recognition instead of typing), he changed his mind and switched a couple of days later.  He had to pay the tax on the first one, plus the $35 restocking fee, but he’s really happy with it and that’s all that matters.

He asked me what I wanted, and he bought me the underwear that I mentioned before.  2 packages of boxer briefs which had 4 pairs per package for $32 each, but it was buy 1, get 1 half off, so it was $48 total before tax.  See why I can’t afford to buy underwear?  It’s expensive as hell lol.

We went to Kmart yesterday to buy presents for other people and he decided that he wanted to buy me something else, so he bought me a lava lamp.  I’ve always wanted one, but could never afford one.  It looks cool when it is working, but it’s mostly a blob on the bottom.  I don’t know why it isn’t doing what it’s supposed to, but then again isn’t that just my luck?  I finally get a lava lamp and it doesn’t go up and down.  But I still love it and I’m sure it will eventually get the hang of it.

Chips high school girlfriend gave him a tetris game, no not the video game, this is a physical game with plastic pieces.  It’s called Tetris Link.  I think that I love it more than he does because I’m a gamer and he isn’t.  He said he wanted to give it a try, but if he doesn’t like it then the only way I will be able to play it is if I can get people to play it with me via Google+ Hangouts.

I made some pumpkin pies yesterday and gave one of them with a container of Cool Whip to our tenant.  I don’t know if they really wanted one or not, but I made it for them so I hope they like it.  I love pumpkin pie, I don’t think you can have a Christmas without pumpkin pie, but that’s just me.

My final present will be the Christmas episode of Doctor Who.  If we had gone to San Diego today, I would have missed it because I don’t have a DVR.  I would have had to wait until it repeated, which I’m not sure when it will.  So I’m very happy that we didn’t go for that reason.

We had lunch at China Town Buffet.  We were going to go to either the Golden Corral or Hometown Buffet, but neither of them were open, so we ate Chinese food instead.  It was good, I mostly ate all chicken, which is all I ever eat there, but it was very good and filling.

Well, I hope you all have a great Christmas and get lots of presents that you were hoping for.  Happy Holidays.

Pictures – click to see it bigger.

Happy Holidays 2011

On By Michel McDonaldIn Christmas, HolidaysLeave a comment

I forgot to send out cards this year.  Oopsie!  So instead of sending our cards out late, this is what everyone is getting lol.  If you are wondering why it’s not a photo of us, neither Darrin nor myself are photogenic (we hate our pictures being taken) so you get to see our tree instead.  Hey, Darrin just got his new iPhone, I don’t want to be responsible for breaking the camera with my image LOL.  No but seriously, I would like to get a picture of us together but I’d prefer in a more professional setting.  Maybe in the year 2025…

Every year since the 90’s, I have spent Christmas with either my family, or with Chips.  This year we are going to stay home instead of traveling.  It is fun to drive south for the holidays, but Darrin just can’t get the time off.  I actually don’t mind staying home because I’ll be able to watch the Doctor Who Christmas special.  I would hate to have to wait for the next series to come on when it finally repeats.  That has happened every year too so I’m looking forward to finally watching it the day it actually airs.

Santa has already visited us, so we really don’t have much to celebrate anymore.  Darrin bought himself, or should I say Santa bought Darrin a new iPhone 4S with a 2 year contract with Verizon.  And I got some new underwear.  Yes, I asked for underwear lol.  That was actually what I really wanted so I’m happy.  I was down to 3 holey pair, so I was long overdue.  I would have asked for an iPod Touch 4th gen 16GB, but Santa has already spent too much money on one apple product, so I can wait to see if I get any money from book sales for that, or an iPad2 lol.

Speaking of my book, I had hoped I would have been finished with it by the day after Christmas but I am still in editing.  I finished my final edit, but then I went back to the beginning and have found more issues.  I am working on my final final edit so hopefully it will be finished by January 1st 2012.  I can’t promise anything because when I finish with my final final edit, I will of course have to read the whole book again to make absolutely sure it’s perfect before I publish it.  I don’t want even one word out of place or misspelled lol.

In case you are wondering, yes I have been working on this book for the last 6 months.  I actually started in 1989… started over in 1997… started over summer 2010 and only wrote 3 or 4 chapters.  Started over again in May or June 2011 where I rewrote the chapters that I wrote in 2010 and wrote the rest of the book.  It only took 2 months to write it, but it has taken me 4 months to edit it.  Writing is hard ya’ll!

Anyway, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to you all.

Final Edit Of My Book

On By Michel McDonaldIn Autobiography, Books, eBookLeave a comment

My book is nearly completed.  I have finally finished editing it but I have to read it one last time to make absolutely sure that it is right before I publish it.  While I was editing chapter 40, it occurred to me that I may have left something out of chapter 20.  I went back and as I was reading a few paragraphs to find where I needed to add, I found 4 errors.  That means that I am not completely finished.

It only took me 2 months to write it, but it has taken me 4 more months to edit it.  I never knew that writing a book was so difficult.  It really makes me appreciate the hard work that writers and editors do.  I am constantly remembering things that I want to add, discovering discrepancies, spelling, grammar errors and redundancy.  Writing is hard ya’ll!  LOL.

I had a good laugh today because when I finished editing the book, I had lost 15 pages from the ODT (OpenOffice) file.  It was originally 182 pages and now it’s 167.  The epub file on my Book had 289 pages, but edited it has 302.  It doesn’t make any sense to me that I lost 15 pages in the ODT file, but gained 13 in the epub file.

What happened to all of those page numbers is that I had too many paragraphs because I split too many thoughts up.  I combined the paragraphs which made me lose pages.  I also deleted a ton of things, but then I also added some things which gave me 5000 more words.  I think that was why I gained 13 pages in the epub file.

My cover is finished and I have shared it with a few people to get some opinions.  So far I haven’t had too many complaints.  It was my 4th or 5th cover design job.  I liked the first couple of covers, but none of them really stood out as much as the final cover does.  I am really happy with it and that is all that matters.

I uploaded the epub file so that I could read it one last time on my Nook.  I hope I don’t find any errors, but if I do, I can jump on the computer and find where they are and fix them.  I have never read one book so many times on a white screen until now and it’s killing my eyes.

I have spent a lot of time on this book and have started feeling bad for my family because of how I talk about them.  But then I look at a picture of my step-dad and realize, I’m writing this because of him.  He never cared enough about me to stop beating me, or enough to not hurt my feelings with his words every day my whole life, so why should I give a rats ass about his feelings?  The arrogant nasty look on his face in all of his pictures is all the motivation I need to keep going.

I didn’t just write this because of him, I wrote it because I want to show what life was/is like for gay people.  What bullying does to gay children, whether it’s the parents doing the bullying, or the children in school or both at the same time.  I want to share my first hand experiences and give a message to the gay teens that it gets better.  I hope that it opens eyes and helps someone who may need advice on how to cope with it.

Anyway, the book will be published after Christmas this year so stay tuned for the blog post announcing it.

Thank you for reading.

Please Help Me Win an iPad! :)

On By Michel McDonaldIn Christmas1 Comment

I entered into the Brand Thunder contest to win an iPad and I need your help.  All you have to do is go to this website and vote for the first one which is the Xanapus` Lair browser theme.

http://brandthunder.com/2011/announcing-best-holiday-browser-theme-finalists-vote-for-your-favorite/#pd_a_5767963

You can vote daily but please help me win.  I will love you all forever.  Ok so I already love you but I will love you even more 🙂

Thanks for listening.

Mike

 

Who Said People Can’t Celebrate Christmas?

On By Michel McDonaldIn ChristmasLeave a comment

I have been hearing a lot of talk lately about how people aren’t allowing anyone to celebrate Christmas.  The thing is, I’m only hearing about it from the Christians.  I’m not hearing anyone saying they are offended by Christianity or Christmas itself.  I’m very confused here. I mean seriously help me out, who is saying it is offensive?

I feel like if people don’t want to celebrate Christmas, then don’t celebrate it.   If you want to call it something else, then call it something else but Christmas is a Christian holiday so just deal with it.

If you are Jewish, you have Hanukkah. If you are Atheists then you probably celebrate it for the tree, presents, Santa and a reason to get together with your family.  I should know because I am atheist, I don’t knock the holiday because I know it is a Christian holiday.  I celebrate it because I have always celebrated it since I was a kid and I don’t see why there is any reason to stop.

I just don’t understand why people are making such a huge deal about people being offended when I haven’t actually seen or heard anyone being offended over the words “Merry Christmas.”   I mean really people, quit bitching about everything and celebrate your holiday the way you want to celebrate it and get over it.

Slim-Fast’s Best Tasting Shakes Ever!

On By Michel McDonaldIn AdLeave a comment

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Slim-Fast for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

The New Slim Fast 3*2*1 on the go bottles - Rich Chocolate Royale

We all remember Slim-Fast when it became popular in 1987.  They started with the powder that you mix with skim milk, then they added the ready to drink cans.  Now they have the new on-the-go shake plastic bottles.  I bought an 8-pack today and had one for lunch and I can tell you that they taste amazing.

I have done the Slim-Fast plan many times and I lose weight every time.  I think the most that I have lost was 40lbs while on the Slim-Fast plan and I think that it’s time that I started losing weight again.  I plan on doing the new Slim-Fast 3-2-1 plan.  I will eat 3 snacks a day which is either veggies or the Slim-Fast snack bars, replace 2 meals with the Slim-Fast on-the-go shakes or meal bars and eating 1 sensible 500-calorie dinner with half of the plate being veggies, a quarter being protein and a quarter being grains.  It also helps to drink a full glass of water before eating dinner.

I love the snacks bars because they look and taste like candy bars.  The snack bars are good because they are a delicious calorie controlled snack that will curb your sweet cravings until dinner time.  My favorite snack bar is the chocolate nougat gone nuts.  The meal bars and shakes give you the perfect amount of calories with tons of vitamins and minerals that your body needs.

The new on-the-go shake bottles are perfect for people who don’t have time to mix their shakes.  They are easy to slip into your purse, backpack or gym bag and you can drink them any time you need to.  The shakes give you 4 hours of hunger control, which is what I need because my stomach is always hungry.

You can buy Slim-Fast on-the-go shakes, powder cans, snacks and meals at Wal-Mart, Target, Safeway and Kroger in the pharmacy department and online at Amazon.com.  Become a fan of the Slim-Fast Facebook fan page and enter in the Vow to Wow contest, enter the video contest and get some coupons for $1.50 off your next purchase.

I have heard people tell me that now is not the time to try to lose weight because of the holidays.  This is the perfect time to lose weight.  If you don’t start now then when?  Don’t make excuses and don’t let anyone pressure you into waiting until you have tried Aunt Betty’s homemade fruit cake.  Tell her no thank you, I am eating a Slim-Fast snack bar instead.  There, I have saved you from having to eat fruit cake.  You can thank me later.

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