Oliver Counting

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It was just recently that Oliver started using the number two. For Evie, I remember this phase going on for a long time, before she moved on to higher numbers. It was almost like there were two different levels of understanding: phase 1 where they realize that there can be more than one of something (i.e. two), and phase 2 when they realize there is value in knowing exactly how much of something there is.

After going with the “two” thing for only a few weeks, Oliver started in on “three”. I figured he was just parroting his older sister or something, but based on how Evie was, I figured he couldn’t possibly be on to three already. He definitely seemed to be counting three, not just saying it, but I assumed it was not what it seemed.

So imagine my surprise the other day, when I heard him count all the way to nine!

He’s done it several times since then, and even made it all the way to eleven. It just seemed so unlikely, especially considering how much of his speech I still don’t understand (although he’s becoming clearer by the day). In fact, I think it points more to the fact that he’s just becoming his own person. He’ll occasionally say things spontaneously that indicate he’s really thinking his own thoughts in there. Maybe it will be something about his day at daycare, or the other day he said, “I miss grandma” out of nowhere.

It’s really cool just watching him become his own person, watching his personality emerge. It’s one of the best parts of being a parent.

She’s like a newborn

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Sometimes I think my wife is so much smarter than me. But then we talk about something important, like Star Wars or comic books or Internet memes, and I realize that she just fills her head with trivialities. I’d probably seem that smart too, if I didn’t have to worry about keeping the Internet afloat and I could just concentrate on silly details, like how the stock market works.

Writing Year 3

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This year:

Stories Written: 7
Number of [Submission-Ready] Words: 20,500
Number of Story Submissions: 47
Number of Rejections: 35
Number of Acceptances: 0
Postage Costs: $26.28

Total:

Stories Written: 15
Number of [Submission-Ready] Words: 73,300
Number of Story Submissions: 114
Number of Rejections: 102
Number of Acceptances: 0
Postage Costs: $114.19

Just as a housekeeping note, this year I’m adding the running total of money spent on postage (i.e. not counting ink, paper, etc.). You’d think postage wouldn’t be all that much, especially with most everybody switching over to e-submissions these days, but you’ll notice that I’m now over $100. I think it will be an interesting milestone once I pass the break-even point of having made more money than I’ve spent (to put the cart before the horse, so to speak, since I haven’t made a dime yet!)

Speaking of milestones, I just crossed my 100th rejection. Whoo hoo? I’m not at all surprised to have reached 100 rejections before getting any acceptances, and hitting my 100th does feel like progress. Why? Well, I hung in there through all that, first off, and second off because it hasn’t dissuaded me in the slightest. So I must have outlasted some people there, right?

On the positive side, I beat my goal of 4 stories, even if three of my 7 this year were pretty short. Nonetheless, 4 was a goal set based on what I thought I could accomplish, and I beat it. Overall, I wrote a lot more words than last year, even if it was still a lot less words than year 1. I think year 1 was a little more than average, since it was new and exciting, and year 2 was a little less than average, due to Oliver arriving on the scene. This year feels a little more sustainable. I also credit some of the production with Oliver learning to go to bed by himself, leaving my evenings a lot more free.

I’m still considering retiring a few stories. I always think I’m going to, but then I find *one more venue* to send them to. It will probably be sooner rather than later.

I definitely feel like my writing continues to improve. I think I like my stories better overall (although sometimes I go back and read an old story and I think, “Huh, this better than I remember it being!”), but sometimes I feel like they are missing just a little something: that extra oompf that really puts them over the top.

This year I snagged my 2nd honorable mention from Writers of the Future, as well as generally feeling like my rejections have gotten better. I’ve recently gotten a “the quality of writing is excellent”, “the story was interesting and well written”, and even a “nicely written and I enjoyed reading it” from an editor I really admire. In fact, the rejections have really been inspiring me lately.

Sometimes it feels like I am so close!

Dr. Pepper 10 has me confused

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I heard a commercial on the radio the other day for Dr. Pepper 10. This is a new product from Dr. Pepper that’s not exactly diet (0 calories) and not exactly regular (7,000,000 calories). The ad campaign has sparked some controversy, since it caters exclusively to “manly men”. The commercial I heard basically lists all the most manly things, and implies that Dr. Pepper 10 should be added to that list.

This really surprised me. Here they are using super manly He-men to try to sell diet soda to a group that traditionally considers diet soda outside of their domain. It’s certainly a good thing that men, who are traditionally allowed to be as fat as they can while simultaneously putting pressure on women to watch their weight, are now starting to realize that weight is something they need to pay attention to and be responsible for. On the other hand, the whole commercial is dripping with stereotypes and starts by saying how Dr. Pepper 10 is “not for women”. How do you manage to be both extremely sexist and gender-barrier-breaking at the same time? Or maybe they really are only being extremely sexist, because they’re really overcompensating a little bit there, aren’t they? “We know that diet drinks are inherently girly, but maybe if we surround them with pure manliness, we can trick someone into drinking it without realizing the 10 calories are from the added estrogen.”

Not only did they manage to offend women with the ad campaign, but they also managed to offend me. As a male who loves Dr. Pepper, I expected to be firmly in their wheelhouse. I began to be dismayed a little bit as every “manly” thing didn’t apply to me. Am I not man enough for Dr. Pepper? Does this mean I can’t like it anymore? (well, technically I like Diet Dr. Pepper, so maybe I was already in the “woman category” anyway)

Luckily, the last item on the list was, “If you have ever blogged about bacon…” Whew! Qualified at the last minute. I feel like they threw that one in just to include me. They might as well have added, “If you have ever answered to the name Shane Halbach…”

Anyway, here’s another ad from the same campaign. You can decide for yourself what it means:

George Lucas should hire this guy

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Full disclosure, I didn’t think Episode 1 was all that awful. I think people had very, very high expectations and the movie couldn’t possibly live up to them.

That being said, it wasn’t that amazing either. There was certainly something…missing. I couldn’t say exactly what, until I watched this quick (12 minute) video. This guy totally nails it. It’s kind of surprising how little he would actually change, and how much better it would make the movie. I don’t know if it is because the movie was approached more from a merchandising point of view than from a purely storytelling point of view, if this guy just has more of a feel for story than Lucas does, or if hindsight is just 20/20.

Anyway, enjoy:

Link via somebody, on Facebook I think, but I couldn’t find it anymore.