New Theme and other stuff

November 2, 2010

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As you may have notice, we have a new theme on the site today.  I got about 18 months of life out of Drew Stauffer’s Elements of SEO theme.  I doubt Drew would have recognized the theme when I was finished tweaking it – the finished product looked nothing at all like the original.  It was a great learning experience, and I thank Drew for assisting in my development.

Recently, I kicked off a site to save Dinger, the Rockies mascot, from possible extinction.  While setting up that site, I became aware of the Notepad theme by N. Design.  True to my nature, I have also tweaked this theme a bit – adding author photos bio information, adding the logo at the top, and making a handful of other changes under the hood.  If you notice anything that looks really strange, send me an email at kosmo@ObservingCasually.com (include information about your OS and browser, if possible).  It’s a mostly complete solution (until I get restless again), although I do want to tweak things so that less information will print when you print an article.

Today is election day in the United States.  I will be making a trip to the poll with my 3 year old daughter and 10 month old son.  I’ll make a concerted effort to prevent my daughter from pulling many levers.  I urge you also to vote.  Although pundits are expecting a record turnout for a mid-term election, that turnout is still expected to be just 40% of eligible voters.  Surely there’s at least one race that’s important to you?  Bear in mind that congressional redistricting in many state legislatures – these races could shape how your state is represented in the US House of Representatives for the next 10 years.

The San Francisco Giants defeated the Texas Rangers to win the World Series.  I hate the Giants, since they are in my division, but I have to take off my hat and applaud their performance this year.  They weren’t the most talented team offensively, but they managed to get the job done when it counted (including a completely unexpected offensive explosion early in the World Series).

It was a good weekend for football in Iowa.  The Iowa Hawkeyes (located in the city where I live, and my wife’s favorite team) demolished previously undefeated Michigan State.  More importantly, my Iowa State Cyclones rode a dominant 3rd quarter to a win over The Angry Squirrel’s Kansas Jayhawks and now stand just one win away from bowl eligibility.

The Vikings waived wide receiver Randy Moss just 4 games after giving up a third round draft pick to acquire him.  I’ve been on a team boycott since they picked up Brett Favre, but recent personnel moves have made me wondering if my boycott will continue beyond the Favre era.  While I hate to say most of this is the fault of Brad Childress, most of this is the fault of Brad Childress (I hated to say it, but I still said it).

What I Miss From The Past

October 28, 2010

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At 35, I’m not old by most measures, but life has moved swiftly at times, and I miss some things from the past.

IBM Presents “You Make The Call” – IBM’s 2 part commercials featured a question and answer about a specific baseball rule.  As a budding baseball fan at the time, I loved the commercials.  Then, sadly, they disappeared forever.

Cheers – For whatever reason, I can never seem to find this classic TV shown on TV, in spite of the fact that many contemporary shows are featured nearly 24/7.  Cheers spawned Frasier, but I was never nearly as much of a fan of Frasier … and how could I be, with the absence of Norm and Cliff?

Quality sports announcers – It seems that nearly every game is televised these days, which is great – except that the quality of broadcaster has gone down.  Part of this is just a numbers game that comes from having to dig deeper in the barrel to fill all the spots, and part of this is from the networks wanting to put former stars in the booth.  Former stars make good guest, but I don’t want them calling the game if they suck.

New Coke – Yeah, I’m one of the five people on planet earth who preferred New Coke to Coca Cola Classic.  Why?  I don’t know.  Coke ranks third among colas for me now (behind RC and Pepsi), although some of their speciality varieties (vanilla, in particular) are pretty good.

TV Dinners – You know what I mean.  Metal trays and bigger portions.  Today’s TV dinners are a far cry from those of decades ago.

Reasonably priced baseball cards – When I was a kid, you could get 3 packs for a dollar.  Now, you’re lucky to get a pack (with fewer cards) for $2.  It’s no longer reaslistic for kids to put together a complete set by buying packs (unless they have a good line of credit).

Smurfs – The show still cracks me up when I catch it on Boomerang.  Smurfing hilarious.

Cheap gas – Oh, for the days of gas at $1 per gallon.

OK, that’s the tip of the iceberg – I’m certainly missing a lot of things.  What do YOU miss from the past?


Cheers

Smurfs

What Will Happen On Election Day

October 27, 2010

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Although I’m not much of a rah-rah political person, I do enjoy following things from an analytical viewpoint.  Here are my thoughts on what will happen on election day and beyond.

Christine O’Donnell will lose the race for the Senate in Delaware and return to her coven.  (That’s a joke – I don’t really think she is a witch).  There is some speculation that she may also cost the GOP the Pennsylvania race.  The logic is that O’Donnell has been quite visible in the Philadelphia market (grab a map, for those who aren’t familiar with the area) and that Democrats may be playing a winning game by saying that Pat Toomey is another Tea Party candidate … with the implied message that Toomey = O’Donnell.  It’s possible that this is not the reason that Joe Sestak has been making up substantial ground … Evan, any thoughts?

Marco Rubio leads a three way race in the Florida Senate race.  Former governor Charlie Crist is in the race as an independent.  You’d think Crist would be in a unique position to paint his opponents (Rubio and Democrat Kendrick Meek) as being the anti-Crist  …

Senate Majority leader Harry Reid continues his battle royale with Sharron Angle.  The compact nature of Nevada’s media market make it fairly inexpensive to run ads that reach a high percentage of constituents.  A loss by Reid would force the Democrats to choose a new leader.

In Alaska, incumbent Lisa Murkowski (a Republican) is running as an independent and has been polling roughly even with GOP candidate  Joe Miller (with both candidates comfortable ahead of Democrat Scott McAdams).  With Alaska lagging several hours behind Iowa,  I’ll be going to bed about the time the polls close up north.  At some point in the evening, the number of write-in votes that were cast (i.e. that someone marked the circle for write-in) will be known … but not who they were cast for.  If the write-in totals are high enough to put the winner in doubt, then the write-in votes will be tallied – and wrangled over in court.  The Democrats will probably laugh all the way to the bank, as they see Republicans spend millions of dollars deciding which conservative should represent Alaska.

In South Carolina, Republican Jim DeMint will score a decisive win over Democrate Alvin Greene.  Greene scored a stunning victory in the Democratic primary, despite having done negligible campaigning – leading to some accusations of fraud.  Greene was later indicted on a felony obscenity charge.  The real question to me – why didn’t another Democrat jump into the race and make it a three way contest?  As it stands, Greene is getting roughly 20% support in the polls.

In the governor’s races, Jerry Brown is starting to distance himself from former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, who has spent around $150 million (wow!) of her own money into her campaign.  Whitman’s campaign has been sidetracked by the revelation that she once employed an illegal alien as a made (and the allegations that the Whitman family were aware of this and did nothing). 

In Illinois, my former landlord (Bill Brady) is running a close race with incumbent Pat Quinn, who got his gig when Blago was forced out in the midst of a corruption scandal.  I don’t know Brady personally. but we had (legal) free cable when his management company got the rent checks, and had to pay for cable when another company replaced them.  Sure, it was only $17 (around 2000) and only a couple dozen channels, but nonetheless was a pretty sweet deal.

What do I see happening on the grand scale?  I see the GOP taking back the House and the Democrats probably retaining  slim majority in the Senate – quite possibly 51-49.  I also see the end of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s tenure on the Supreme Court.  Ginsburg doesn’t want to be replaced by a conservative, and will likely retire while Obama is still choosing justices rather than risk dying in office and having President Palin choose her replacement.  What’s one likely characteristic of the Justice that will replace Ginsburg?  Youth.

Speaking of Ginsburg … time for a bit of trivia. Whom did she replace on the Supreme Court?  Byron “Whizzer” White, the former NFL star.  White took the term student-athlete to the highest level – leading the NFL in rushing in 1938 and 1940 being awarded two bronze stars for his service in World War II – and then embarking upon a legal career which took him to the peak of his profession.  You may agree or disagree with his opinions, but it’s hard to argue that he didn’t live an amazing life.  Whizzer died in 2002 at the age of 84.

A Cyclone Hits Austin

October 24, 2010

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My alma mater notched their biggest win of the season on Saturday, as Iowa State held off Texas for a 28-21 win in Austin, Texas.  Longhorns quarterback Garrett Gilbert threw three interceptions, and Cyclone defenders had their hands on several other passes.  A guy who really caught my attention was ISU punter Kirby Van Der Kamp, who blasted a 74 yard punt and had several other good efforts.

After a surprisingly good 7-6 season in Paul Rhoads’ first season as coach last year, there were plenty of reasons for pessimism going into this year.  The 2010 season featured some great opponents that were missing from the 2009 schedule – conference games against Oklahoma and Texas and the non-conference tilt against Utah.  The game against in-state rival Iowa would be in Iowa City instead of Ames.

Eight games into the season, the squad stands at 4-4.  In addition to losses to big guns Iowa, Oklahoma, and Utah, the Cyclones lost a heartbreaker against a good Kansas State team.  On the plus side, Iowa State also knocked off  Texas Tech 52-38.

At the beginning of the season, I was hard pressed to find a scenario that would lead to a bowl for Iowa State.  I’m a pretty optimistic person, but generally temper things with a bit of realism, and my scenarios kept topping out at 5-7.  However, with four games left in the season, a bowl game is a real possibility.  We have games left against Kansas and Colorado, who have combined for zero conference wins this year.  The two toughest games – Nebraska and Missouri – are both home games.  Running the table is probably out of the question, but the Cyclones should definitely get to six games if they continue to “hit that line and hit it hard”.

Who sits atop the Big 12 South standings at the moment?  Yeah, you guessed it.  Baylor.

Another happy result from Saturday was Navy’s 35-17 win over the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.  I have no real reason to cheer for Navy, but I do like to see Notre Dame take a beating.  The 4-4 Irish will face tough tests in at least two of their remaining games, against Utah and USC.  The Notre Dame – USC game always puts me in the awkward position of wanting both teams to lose.

In the “where the #$*^ did that come from” department, the Oakland Raiders put the smack down on longtime rivals the Denver Broncos, 59-14.  For at least a day, fans had to stop bashing Al Davis and stand in awe of that which the Raiders wrought.

Flipping the page to baseball … The Texas Rangers knocked off the “best” team that money could buy, sending the Yankees packing.  The Rangers raced out to a 3 games to 1 lead before finishing off the Yankees in six games.  On the opposite side of the bracket, the Giants put an end to the Phillies reign of terror, halting their run of NL pennants at three.  The NLCS was the only series I have picked incorrectly in my pool, but it ended up clinching a victory for me.  I have Texas picked to win it all, and my other guy had the Phillies.

An interesting note … the Rangers scored at least six runs in all four of their wins against the Yankees.  The Giants scored no more than six runs in any of the NLCS games.  What to expect in the World Series?  Some really good starting pitching.

Creating Characters That People Care About

October 22, 2010

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One of the most important aspects of any story is character development.  There’s a reason why you see may writers develop an entire series for a character – because people come to identify with characters and want to see what comes next.

The trick is to build characters that people can identify with and care about.  How can you do this?

Use the first person perspective

There are two major perspectives to use in fiction writing – first and third person (in theory, you could write in second person, but this is rare outside of the “choose-your-adventure” sort of novels).

Writing in the first person perspective lets the reader see the world through the eyes of the main character.  Since the reader is going to be force fed just the one perspective,they’ll tend to identify with the character and be sympathetic to the character’s struggle.  The reader will see the character’s biased view as reality.

The downside to the first person perspective is that the reader will be privy only to details that the main character knows about.  When you write in the third person, you can have the narrator be omniscient and know everything that is going on.

Writing in the first person can also be difficult if you have more of an ensemble cast.  Whose viewpoint do you use in this case?

Some successful writers use first person, while others do quite well with third person.  Play around with it and see what suits you.  I typically write in the third person (probably to subconsciously distance myself from the nasty nature of some of my characters), but I’ll be experimenting with the first person in my Halloween story (coming on October 29).

The quest

Many stories feature the main character on a noble quest. I tend to read a lot of mysteries, so my characters are often trying to bring bad guys to justice. I can easily see how the character is doing important work – catching a serial killer benefits society. The quests aren’t always quite so cut-and-dried, but a protagonist is usually engaged in some sort of meaningful work. It’s unlikely that a character who repeatedly tilts at windmills is going to garner a huge number of fans – unless he happens to be Don Quixote.

“Everyman” attributes

Let’s say your main character is tall, rich, handsome, enjoys opera, and has no personal problems at all – living the perfect life.  How can I identify with this character – we have nothing in common!  (Well, maybe the handsome part …)  Developing some traits that the character shares with “real” people will help make the character seem more real.  This can be something as mundane as a distrust of politicians or  a dislike of pet owners who refuse to clean up after their animals (I absolutely hate the people who let their dog poop on my lawn and then don’t clean it up – they give all pet owners a bad name).

Warts and all

If you find yourself developing characters who are absolutely perfect, this is a problem.  People are not perfect, and the most believable characters have some flaws.  Lawrence Block’s Bernie Rhodenbarr is a thief, while his Matt Scudder characters battles with an alcohol addiction as well as a slightly nonstandard concept of justice.  Jeffery Deaver’s Lincoln Rhyme (brought to the silver screen in the motion picture The Bone Collector) has a body that is flawed, and can be a bit of a jerk at time.  In the long run, all of these characters are good guys, but in the short run, they can do some bad things.

The best characters aren’t necessarily ones that you could hang out with 24/7.  The most believable characters are people who could get on your nerves from time to time.


Who Should I Vote For?

October 20, 2010

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Election day is looming – and with it, the decision of whom to vote for. 

For the majority of Americans, this won’t be a difficult choice.  As devoted members of the Democratic, Republicans, or Toga party, they will simply vote for the candidate with a D, R, or T next to their name.

However, millions of unaffiliated voters will face a choice when they stare at the ballot.  Conventional wisdom suggests that voters should cast a vote for the candidate whom they have the most in common with.  But is this a time to turn conventional wisdom on its head?

There are hundreds of issues that you can take a stance on, but the vast majority are irrelevant for one of three reasons:

  • You don’t have particularly strong views on the issue
  • Nearly everyone agrees with you
  • Nearly everyone disagrees with you

By definition, an issue that you don’t care about very much shouldn’t sway your vote.  It really doesn’t matter if you vote for someone who agrees or disagrees with you – it won’t have much of an impact on your life.

If an issue has widespread support, it’s also irrelevant.  For example, I favor sustained peaceful relations with Canada (despite the fact that they have soiled the good name of bacon by releasing their own, inferior version).  Of course, so does nearly everyone else.  Regardless of whether I vote for a pro-Canada or anti-Canada candidate, I don’t see a war against Canada in the near future.

How about the flip side of this – an issue where nearly everyone disagrees with you.  Let’s say I support the deportation of all Nebraska residents to a colony on the moon (I’m fairly sure that I’m not in favor of this).    While this idea would likely get some support from people in other Big 12 states, it’s not likely to get more than token support in congress.  So even if I vote for the Nebraska-Moon party candidate, it’s not going to happen.

(Yes, these examples are both pretty contrived)

What does that leave us with?  Issues that are both:

  • Important to you
  • Competitive

I’ll quantify “competitive” as some with between about 43% of 57% support (among people who have an opinion on the issue).  This is an arbitrary range, but “feels right”.  These are issues where you can actually make a difference – if you and like-minded people elect a few people to congress who share your views, you may push support from minority to majority (or vice versa) and get new legislation enacted.

This year, two issues are front and center for me.

The first is gay marriage.  I have not friends that are openly gay, but I have become a strong proponent of allowing gay couples to get married (not just civil unions, but actual marriage).  I’ve written on this a number of times, and am not going to rehash everything I have said in the past.  Suffice it to say that it’s an issue that I feel strongly about.

The supreme court of Iowa (where I live) has deemed that a ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional.  Opponents of the rule would like to enact a constitutional amendment to trump this ruling … but state law dictates that such a proposal must pay in two separate state general assemblies, at which point it would be placed on the ballot.  The current makeup of the state legislature doesn’t have enough support to get the ball rolling – and I’ll do my part to ensure that this remains true.

On the judicial side, three of the justices (the only three up for renewal this November) who joined in the unanimous opinion are under attack by groups opposing the ruling, who are running ads asking voters to throw them out of office.  In Iowa, voters simply vote to retain a judge or not retain them.  It’s not common for this to become politicized.  The judges, of course, can’t simply have fund-raisers to run their own ads – as this would be a major conflict of interest.  A group siding with the judges has recently begun to run ads.

I’ll be voting “retain”.  If the justices are thrown out because of this decision, what sort of message is this sending to the court?  A pretty clear one – don’t make decisions that could be unpopular, even if the decision is correct.  That’s a disturbing thought.  I have no problem throwing out justices who engage is judicial misconduct – but not for simply making a controversial decision. 

The second issue is the privatization of social security.  This falls completely on the other side of the political spectrum from gay marriage – being supported only by conservatives.

I’m very puzzled by the politicization of this issue.  Groups who oppose privatization point to downturns in the stock market and suggest that turning over Social Security to Wall Street would be very risky.

Of course, nobody has ever suggested that people take the contributions that currently go to Social Security (12.4% of wages) and throw them into penny stocks.  In my particular situation, I can beat the return of Social Security by putting your money into 30 year treasuries (this is not an exaggeration – my rate of return on Social Security is projected to be slightly over 2%).  Your mileage may vary a bit, but the reality is that you don’t need to take on a lot of risk to beat the return of social security (in my case, no additional risk).

This issue is probably a bit outside my range, as I don’t know that it has 43%.  However, I do feel that the issue would have considerably more support if it were properly explained on a bigger stage.

I doubt that these are the two issues that you care most about.  However, I suspect that you have a number of issues that are important to you and also competitive  – make sure your view is represented on these issues.

How The Internet Is Saving Society

October 15, 2010

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There are some people who would suggest that the ever-present nature of technology is tearing apart the very fabric of society.  Indeed, it can be disturbing to see teens hospitalized with texting-induced carpal tunnel syndrome.  Really, though, technology is not all bad.  In fact, the internet is contributing significantly to our daily lives – perhaps even saving society!

Keeping In Touch

As a result of an ever-increasing number of people attending college, more people find themselves moving away from their ancestral homes as they market their specialized skills.  22 year old kids end up moving hundreds, or even thousands of miles away – often without a support structure in their new town.

Without technology, it would be pretty easy to lose touch with old friends.  Today, there’s really no excuse.  You can just shoot off an email to a friend, and they’ll respond when they get a chance.  Unlike phone calls, time zones don’t matter.  Keeping in touch with a friend halfway around the world via phone can be tricky because of time zones – not to mention extremely expensive.

I use Facebook to keep in touch with a lot of friends from my younger days.  I can see pictures of their kids, news about their promotions, and more – with just the click of a mouse.  Additionally, I get a chance to see sides of people that I didn’t realize existed – particularly true regarding people that I wasn’t overly close to in high school.  Sure, there are distractions like Wordscraper (which I play) and Farmville (which I don’t), but really, it’s all about the people.

Friends With Common Interests

Now, more than ever, it’s easy to meet people with common interests.  I have a wide variety of interests that include (but are not limited to) sports, writing, and forensics.  It can often be difficult to find others who share these interests at the same levels.  This is particulalry true with baseball, which I follow with a fanatical passion.

When I find people who share these interests with the same intensity, I make an effort to stay in contact with them.  Increasingly, many of these people are friends whom I know only from the internet.  I have never met them in “real life”, nor have I talked them on the phone.  They are nothing but a string of emails to me.

Expose Yourself

I abdondoned my fiction writing for about a decade, largely because there really wasn’t a good way to get feedback.  I’d write some stories, but then what?  Show them to a handful of close friends?

With the explosion in the popularity of blogs, it’s incredibly easy to put your writing (or artwork) on display for the world to see.  With six billion people in the world, there is a decent chance that someone will enjoy your work.  It’s incredibly easy to get started.  For the quick and easy setup, go the Blogger or WordPress.com and you’ll have a blog within minutes – at no cost to you.

Want a bit more control over your site (with a bit more cost)?  Go to a web host like Dreamhost, register a domain, pick a hosting plan, and you’re good to go.

Never has it been easier to reach an audience.  The great thing about the internet is that readers place imortance on the message itself, with few pre-conceived notions about the author.  I could care less if you are the son of doctors or ditch-diggers – if you write an interesting anlytical piece about baseball, I’ll read it.

Collaborate

The Soap Boxers has 16 official writers.  One of these writers does not actually exist in real life, but is just a fig newton of my imagination.  Another of them is me.  Of the 14 others, I have met four of them in person.  I have long friendships with Crunchy and Phil – friendships that orginated in “real life”.  I knew Squeaky from work.  I became acquainted with Bob over the computer – and, although I consider him a good friend, I’ve only met him a handful of times (always at the same pizza joint in the town that houses my company’s corporate headquarters).  I’m actually meeting Martin for lunch later today (we work a few blocks from each other).

The others?  I wouldn’t know some of them if I bumped into them on the street.  I know most of them from before the days of The Soap Boxers, but that’s not true of everyone.  Zarberg writes an article every month, but I didn’t know him until last fall.  He’s a friend of another of the writers (nope, I haven’t actually met our mutual friend, either).

In the “real world” it would be unusual for such a motley group to come together in one organization.  But in today’s world, it’s realitively easy for this group of writers to come together and create a collaborative work – albeit with wildly different components.

Congressional Redistricting

October 13, 2010

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As some of you may be aware, there was a census in 2010.  A major result of the census will be a reapportionment of seats in the US House of Representatives.  States lose seats when they grow at a slower pace than the rest of the nation (and thus represent a smaller percentage of citizens) and gain seats when they grow at a faster rate than the rest of the nation.

For this reason, races for the state legislatures are critically important in many states.  In 36 states, the legislature is responsible for drawing the new districts.  The party that controls the state legislature controls the redistricting process.

On the surface, this would appear to be a rather straightforward exercise – but there is an ugly underbelly to the process.  Whichever party is in control of the legislature would prefer to consolidate the supporters on the other part into as few districts as possible.

Let’s look at a very simple example.  We have a state with six congressional districts.  There are thirty citizens – eighteen are affiliated with the Alpha party and twelve with the Beta party.  Let’s look at two different district maps.

The first map cuts the state of Confusion into two identical halves north/south and three equal sections east/west.  The resulting districts each have three Alphas and two Betas.  If everyone toes the party line, the states representatives in the US House will all be Alphas.

The second map cuts the state into three sections north/south and two sections east/west.  This time, the districts break down this way:

  • District 1: 5 Alpha, 0 Beta
  • District 2: 5 Alpha, 0 Beta
  • District 3: 3 Beta, 2 Alpha
  • District 4: 3 Beta, 2 Alpha
  • District 5: 3 Beta, 2 Alpha
  • District 6: 3 Beta, 2 Alpha

Now, the Alphas – comprising sixty percent of the voters, statewide – hold just two of the congressional districts, while the minority Betas will send four representatives to Washington.

These maps were drawn without any attempt to manipulate – just simply by splitting a rectangular state into six equal parts via the two most logical methods.  Yet, we end up with a situation where neither map will send a congressional delegation that accurate reflects the political distribution of the constituents.

Now, imagine that politicians were to get involved?  The party in control of the state legislature could do several things to minimize the political power of the opposing party.  They could consolidate the supporters of the other part into as few districts as possible (as I’ve done with the second scenario above) or draw the maps in such a way that two (or more) incumbents from the other party are now in the same district.

The courts help to reign in the worst of the gerrymandering (creating non-contiguous districts in an effort to strengthen the power of one party), but I wonder why we even need to travel down this road any more.

One solution would be to simply make the US House seats represent all constituents of the state.  If you have six representatives, they represent every citizen of the state.

This wouldn’t be a popular idea – or even a good one – in many states.  San Diego has issues that San Francisco doesn’t, and vice versa.  A generic “California” representative might not have enough knowledge to competently represent the entire state.

Earlier, I mentioned that state legislatures draw the districts in 36 states.  What do the others do?  Well, seven state have just one representative, making the issue academic.

Five states – Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, New Jersey, Washington – have an independent bipartisan committee draw the districts without interference from the legislature.  In Iowa and Maine, an independent body proposes redistricting plans, which must then be approved by the legislature.

I’d like to see a move toward more states using a bipartisan group to redistrict.  It’s impossible for each district to reflect the political leanings of the entire state – and in many cases, you’ll see completely fair maps that happen to lean toward one party by mere coincidence – simply because some geographical area within the state are more liberal or conservative that the state as a whole.

However, intentional gerrymandering of districts undermines the will of the voters – and continued partisan involvement in the process can only serve to make the problem worse.

What Do Writers Do When They Aren’t Writing?

October 8, 2010

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It’s Friday, a day which usually brings a new Fiction Friday story from Kosmo.  However, I’ve decreed that I will not write any stories this month (although I am accepting guest submissions at kosmo@ObservingCasually.com).  I was having to dip the bucket a bit lower into the well of creativity each week and had run into some symptoms of temporary burnout.  Time for a break to recharge the batteries.  Better to go a month without new stories than to lose the desire forever.

So, then, what do I (and other writers) do when I’m not writing?

Break the Rules

Two days into the month, I was technically in violation of my self-imposed exile when I wrote a satire about a shocking new smartphone app.  However, I’ll rationalize this by saying that I don’t consider satires and parodies to be true fiction stories, since they tend to be “based on a true story.”

Read

One thing that makes a writer better – and gives the writer new ideas – is reading the work of good writers.  I love reading, and am a fast reader, but a shortage of time meant that I was really having trouble finishing  books lately.  When Jeffery Deaver’s new Lincoln Rhyme book, The Burning Wire, landed in my mailbox, I knew that I had to do something!  You may know Rhyme as Denzel Washington’s character in the movie The Bone Collector.  I love mysteries and forensics, and was happy to see that Rhyme is a recurring character!

Research

A big reason for taking the break from short fiction is that I am in the early stages of adapting The Cell Window into a novel.  In the short story, I winged it a bit, making up some things out of whole cloth (how many of them did you catch?).  However, I’m going to make a more concerted effort toward accuracy of details in the novel.  I personally hate it when I read a book and can pick up glaring errors that point to a lack of research.  I’m definitely going to engage consultants in the areas of technology and law enforcement, and may learn a few things about the psychological makeup of voyeurs.  I’ve become quite attached to this story and have a lot of pride in the work.

Steal Use Other People’s Ideas

While The Cell Window didn’t rise to the level of national bestseller, it did receive a very positive response at the local level.  I’m going back to some people who gave me very positive feedback to see what they would like to see in the novel version.  I won’t guarantee that I’ll use any of their ideas, but I’m happy to listen.

If you want to look at this in a different way, I’m engaging unpaid consultants to help me with the creative process.

Outline

While many of the plot elements of The Cell Window are going to carry forward from the short story to the novel, transforming a work from a 10,000 word story to a 100,000 word novel necessitates a lot of new content – both in terms of the plot and new characters that need to be developed.  I’m going to let these develop within a lengthy brainstorm (likely a couple of weeks in duration), but will eventually hammer out a high level outline to aid the actual writing process.

Watch Baseball

Hey, it’s the playoffs!  My favorite thing to watch on TV is a Rockies game … but my second favorite thing to watch is ANY baseball game.  I’m trying to actually be in front of the TV for some game action, but when I’m not, I’m making and effort to listen to the games.  All work and no play makes Kosmo a dull boy.

Baseball Playoff Preview (National League)

October 6, 2010

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Yesterday, we previewed the American League playoff teams.  Today, we look at the National League.

Philadelphia Phillies – National League East Champions (97-65)

How did they get here:
The Phillies were 7 games out of first place on July 22.  Going 47-17 from that date through the end of the season locked up the division for the reigning National League champions.

Strengths:

  • Rotation – Halladay, Hamels, and Oswalt are a stunningly potent trio.  The 33 year old Halladay paced the National League in wins and innings pitched, and will pitch in the playoffs for the first time in his career.  While Cole Hamels never seems to rack up high win totals, it’s not due to lack of performance on his part.  He posted a 3.06 ERA – the third season of 3.40 or lower in the past 4 seasons.  Roy Oswalt is the new kid on the block.  After starting the season 6-12 with a stellar 3.42 ERA for Houston, he flourished in Philadelphia, going 7-1 with a 1.74 ERA.  All three guys pitched at least 200 innings.
  • The big bats – Ryan Howard had an off year and still managed 31 homers.  Jayson Werth hit 27 homers while leading the National League in doubles (46).  He’s also a free agent at the end of the year – so he has extra incentive to perform in front of a national audience.  I’m not exposed to the east coast media, and perhaps he gets more coverage there – but Werth seems like a very under-the-radar star.  Chase Utley slipped a bit, but still posted numbers that are strong for a second baseman.  Carlos Ruiz put up a .302 batting average at catcher.

Weaknesses:

  • Shortstop Jimmy Rollins fought injuries and saw his OPS decline for the 3rd straight season.  It’s probably too early to yell that the sky is falling … but there is reason for concern.
  • 3B Placido Polanco doesn’t hit with the power most team expect from their third baseman.
  • Paul Hoover sucks.

Player to watch:
Jamie Moyer.  There’s not really a young breakout player to keep an eye on, so let’s focus on the 47 year old 267 game winner.  Moyer won’t pitch in the first round, but might crack the roster later in the playoffs, as a lefty out of the pen.

San Francisco Giants – National League West Champions (92-70)

How did they get here:
The Giants finished the season strong – 45-29 in the second half and 19-10 in August and September. However, it would be prudent to give the Padres some credit. A stunning collapse by San Diego – including a 10 game losing streak – allowed the Giants to snatch the division from them. The Giants won a game against San Diego on the final day of the season – and clinched the division as a result.

Strengths:

  • Rotation – Reigning Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum’s 3.43 ERA ranks 4th among Giants starters – Madison Bumgarner, Matt Cain, and Jonathan Sanchez all posted ERAs of 3.14 or lower. This is the best rotation in the playoffs. However, it may be worth noting that Bumgarner is a 21 year old kid with a total of 19 career starts.
  • Hitters who rose to the occasion in limited roles. Rookie catcher Buster Posey made the most of his opportunity by batting .305 with 18 homers. Pat Burrell hit his 18 in just 289 at bats. Veteran players Aubrey Huff (26 homers) and Juan Uribe (24 homers) also had strong seasons.

Weaknesses:

  • 3B Pablo Sandoval saw his number drop dramatically across the board. He hit .330 with 25 homers in 2009, but just .268 with 13 homers this year.
  • An awful lot of players filled roles for the Giants this year. Only 1 outfielder (Andres Torres) got more than 500 at bats. Sure, some of the limited role players succeeded with their opportunities, but will the familiarity with teammates be there at critical junctures in the game?

Player to watch:
Buster Posey. 18 homers and a .305 average from a rookie CATCHER! Heck, he doesn’t even strike out very much. I was high on the kid when he was drafted, and I’m still a fan.

Cincinnati Reds – National League Central Champions (91-71)

How did they get here:
A 19-8 August, combined with an unexpectedly underperforming Cardinals team, allowed the Reds to claim the division title. They didn’t finish the season on a strong note, going 14-16 in their final 30 games.

Strengths:

  • Hitting, top to bottom. SS Orlando Cabrera was the only regular to finish the season with an OPS lower than .758. MVP candidate Joey Votto hit .324 with 37 homers.
  • Chemisty – This group should also have good cohesion, as everyone other than catcher Ramon Hernandez recording at least 494 at bats.

Weaknesses:

  • Rotation – Only Bronson Arroyo (17) and Johnny Cueto (12) won as many as 9 games. Edinson Volquez served a 50 game suspension for using performance-enhancing drugs, and wasn’t great after he returned – he’ll need to step up in the post-season in order to have this rotation match up with the other teams.
  • Closer – Francisco Cordero’s notched 40 saves, but his 3.84 ERA and 11 decisions (6-5) are indications that he wasn’t as dominant as the Reds would have liked.

Player to watch:
22 year old Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman touched 105 mph on the radar gun. He had a bit of an up-and-down season in the minors before his call-up, but there have been more ups than downs. Chappy was used exclusively out of the bullpen late in the season, pitching just 13 1/3 innings.

Atlanta Braves – National League Wild Card (91-71)

How did they get here:
The Braves were in first place by 7 games on July 22, before fading and finishing 7 games behind the Phillies. Had the Padres beaten the Giants on the final day of the season, the Braves would have ended up in a tie for the wild card – but the Giants prevailed and punched playoff tickets for themselves and the Braves. The Braves were 14-16 in their final 30 games.

Strengths:

  • Bullpen – Billy Wagner notched 37 saves and posted a 1.73 ERA. He led a bullpen corps that included 5 guys who pitched in at least 56 games and record an ERA below 3.00.
  • Emotion – this is the final year for Braves manager Bobby Cox. Cox won more than 2500 games during a managerial career that dates back to 1978 – and 2149 of those wins were for the Braves. He took the team to the World Series 5 times, winning one title. He also holds the distinction of being ejected more times than any other manager in history (yes, they track this stuff), earning him the appreciation of his players. The players want to send Cox out on a high note.

Weaknesses:

  • Hitting – there are some serious holes in this lineup. Chipper Jones, the heart and sole of the team for a decade and half, suffered a season ending injury. OF Nate McClouth was an All Star in 2008, but was the worst hitter on the team this year. Once promising SS Yunel Escobar was traded to the Blue Jays. Only one player, catcher Brian McCann, managed to hit 20 homers (he had 21). There are still some solid hitters in the lineup, but it’s not as scary as what other teams will put on he field.
  • Rotation – Tim Hudson (17-9, 2.83 ERA) and Tommy Hanson (3.33 ERA) should be able to hold their own with the other top guns, but the Braves lack the third elite arm that their opponents are going to be able to throw at them.

Player to watch:
21 year old outfielder Jason Heyward is one of the best prospects in the game and could become a household name with a strong performance.

Who is my choice? I’m going to go with the Phillies. They have the second best rotation of the 4 teams, and their offense is much better than the Giants.

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