Table of Contents (Click on the scissors to cut to new content)
[BLOG] Learning Good from Bad (SPOILERS!) — Discussing how to learn better storytelling from exploring bad writing. [BLOG] Food in Fiction — Pondering the use of food included in fiction. [BLOG] The Benefits of Journaling — The different types of journals I keep and their benefits. [BLOG] Membership has its Privleges — Details of using subscriptions to access locked content. [BLOG] Wonka - Review and Predictions (SPOILERS!) — I discuss my favorite adaptation of Wonka and make predictions for a Wonka movie franchise. [BLOG] Eating My Own Doug Food — Being more mindful of the tools I have created to better support myself and other indie authors. [BLOG] Dougie vs. Social Media — What I dislike about social media and ways I suggest of improving it. [BLOG] The Q-ness of Humor — Humor has a codependency on other genres. [BLOG] Developer Bootcamp - The End? — We completed the long, three-month learning experience, but is this really the end of this educational journey? [BLOG] Developer Bootcamp - Final Exam — Dougie conquers the beast of all exams. [BLOG] Developer Bootcamp - Weeks Eleven and Twelve — Covering SQL, testing, debugging, and a mock interview. [BLOG] Developer Bootcamp - Week Ten — Learning databases. Learning remotely. Learning with a purpose. [BLOG] Developer Bootcamp - Week Nine — Next level Git and coding with EJS, plus kicking off the projects. [BLOG] Developer Bootcamp - Week Eight — Connecting the front and back ends, capstone project pitches, and a four or more hour test. [BLOG] Developer Bootcamp - Week Seven — Learning more React concepts and revisiting old projects. [BLOG] Developer Bootcamp - Week Six — Nearly halfway there and learning ReactJS, advanced JavaScript, and this. [BLOG] Developer Bootcamp - Week Five — Learning APIs, Express, and EJS. Plus, navigating bootcamp across a family vacation. [BLOG] Developer Bootcamp - Week Four — Continuing education with the ACC developer bootcamp. [BLOG] Developer Bootcamp - Week Three — Javascript, JQuery, DOM, and a lot of practice. [BLOG] Developer Bootcamp - Week Two — The 2nd week of bootcamp involving Bootstrap and Javascript [BLOG] Developer Bootcamp - Week One — First impression after a first week of a 14-week coding bootcamp. [BLOG] Yertle - A Book and Breakfast Blog — Recap of the Yertle Book and Breakfast Party event. [BLOG] Thank You Schwartz Family! — Recapping a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with my family. [BLOG] Big, Blue Changes — A brief overview of the major changes to the Checkered Scissors website. [BLOG] Is the Big 50 Challenge Over, Yet? — A recap of the Big 50 Challenge. [BLOG] The Selfish Comedian — A blog of taking ownership of a stupid comment and lessons learned from this experience. [BLOG] Planning the Big Five Oh — Thoughts on how to celebrate my 50th birthday. [BLOG] Under Lock and Key — Incorporating a user management system to my websites. [BLOG] A Session of Tutoring English — Sharing a customized tutoring session for a friend's son. [BLOG] A Christmas Treasure Hunt — Details of an Amazing Race-themed holiday treasure hunt. [BLOG] The Complexity of Teaching — My thoughts on the struggles of teaching from the perspective of a long-term substitute teacher. [BLOG] Humorous Branding — Rebranding myself as a humor author. [BLOG] Artificial Evolution — If humans impose an artificial layer over the world, how does this impact our evolution? [BLOG] Creative Mixed Media — Creative presentation of mixed media. [BLOG] Finding Theme — How to find the theme of a book. How writers approach theme when writing. [BLOG] Tools Other Than Checkered Scissors — What tools are available on the Checkered Scissors site? [BLOG] Reinventing a Story — The different ways authors have delivered the same story in a variety of formats. [BLOG] Motivation — Pondering How to motivate students to study and readers to read.. [BLOG] Warped History — How the whitewashing of history needs to be fixed, and how fiction can help people face those harsh truths. [BLOG] Over-Elaborate To Do List — More details about my ticketing system. [BLOG] Homemade Search Engine — Describing the working on the search engine I constructed to locate content on my author site. [BLOG] Experimental Fiction — Exploring some of my favorite modern forms of experimental storytelling. [BLOG] The Gray Area Between Hero and Villain — Talking about how characters become more interesting when they blur the lines between hero and villain. [BLOG] Social Marketing — My understanding (or lack there of) of social media and how best to use the platform for marketing. [BLOG] Alternate Realities — Creating the worlds in which we envision living. [BLOG] Glazomaniac — About my obsession with list making. [BLOG] E Pluribus Unum — My thoughts on what it might take to unite our country. [BLOG] Does the Character Know or Not? — Writing about what characters do and do not know. [BLOG] How Fan Fiction Benefits Writers — The benefits of writing fan-fiction. [BLOG] Good News Jar — The list of good news pulled from the Good News Jar for 2020. [BLOG] Making the Necessary Edits — The concept of corporate layoffs and how it relates to writing. [BLOG] Considering Kwanzaa — What I have learned about Kwanzaa and why I would love to celebrate it properly. [BLOG] Creative Solutionist — Striving to find creative solutions for difficult problems. [BLOG] Where Editing Goes Wrong — Discussing editing for correctness versus editing for content when it comes to an already released work. [BLOG] My Vision of the World — How a German cross-dresser encapsulates my vision of the world. [BLOG] The Appeal of Twin Peaks — Detailing my daughter's experience with Twin Peaks and what I appreciate about this unique series. [BLOG] Evolving Traditions — My thoughts on traditions and why I am okay with changing traditions. [BLOG] Crossing the Troll Bridge — A character study in three scenarios in which I try to understand the inner workings of internet troll behavior. [BLOG] Wabi-Sabi Writing — The appreciation and embracing of imperfections. [BLOG] Teaching Fiction to Animals — How one might approach teaching a creature who has little to no understanding of language how to appreciate fiction. [BLOG] Self Review of Checkered Scissors — Giving my own book a critical look and writing my own review. [BLOG] Websurfing the Witching Hour — Pointing out strange anomalous behavior on the website. [BLOG] The Art of Propaganda — How to recognize propaganda by looking more closely to how it is written. [BLOG] Warning Signs — Pondering why people choose to look the other way when presented with blunt warning signs meant to protect them. [BLOG] True to Self, or True to Form? — Is it better to tailor a story to better fit a genre? Or, stay true to yourself and your style of writing, despite genre boundaries and guidelines? [BLOG] My Fascination with Alice in Wonderland — How my writing is inspired by the elements of Alice in Wonderland. [BLOG] My Fascination with Time Travel — How my writing is inspired by my deep fascination with time travel theories. [BLOG] Do These Genres Make My Story Look Fat? — Matching a story to a genre. [BLOG] A Positive Bake — Building upon what you know. [BLOG] Harry Potter - A Writer's Perspective — Observations of the Harry Potter series. [BLOG] 45 is Guano Crazy — Why 45 should NOT be prez. [BLOG] Dirk vs. Dirk — How people process the same source differently. [BLOG] Togetherness — The power of workings together. [BLOG] Reality Fiction—Backstage—Recruitment Tour — How the first season's candidates of Rality Fiction could have been recruited. [BLOG] Embracing the Weirdness — How to connect with the unusual. [BLOG] Superpowers — If you had super powers, how would you use them? [BLOG] Why Are You Doubting Yourself? — What sets off self doubt and how do you combat it? [BLOG] Juneteenth — Thoughts about racism and Juneteenth. [BLOG] Choices — Making a choice and dealing with the consequences. [BLOG] What Was the Question? — The Big Question in stories. [BLOG] Discomfort Zone — Turning outrage into change. [BLOG] Writing Road Signs — Feedback from my editor. [BLOG] Next Evolution of Storytelling — Different storytelling delivery methods. [BLOG] Pandemic Lessons Learned — What I hope the world learns from this pandemic. [BLOG] Honesty in Writing — On the subject of death. The saddest moments of my life. [BLOG] Pigeonholed Author — Assumptions and typecasting. [BLOG] A Very Boring Blog — How to cope with boredom. [BLOG] Ticket Tracker - Exposed — Sharing the ticket tracking system with the public. [BLOG] Church of Checkered Scissors — Starting a church based on my book. [BLOG] How to be Creative — How to exercise your creativity. [BLOG] How to Write Stories — How to go from not having an idea to creating stories to bring ideas to life. [BLOG] Go Around, Again! — Celebrating another birthday by being comfortable with my life. [BLOG] Ticket Tracker — An overview of the ticket tracking system designed for the UberPlan. [BLOG] It's All Connected — A description for a master project encompassing all five ideal jobs. [BLOG] 2020 Vision — Goals and resolutions for 2020. [BLOG] Christmas Letter to You — Many Christmas traditions. [BLOG] One Banana is Worth a Million Books — The craziness (and creativeness) of marketing. [BLOG] Color Bursts — How artists and authors can feed people's thoughts. [BLOG] Thankful — Happy Thanksgiving 2019! [BLOG] Wholesomeness vs. Offensiveness — The world has lost much of its wholesomeness and has become a more offensive place, causing people to become more defensive. [BLOG] How I Would Save the World — Thoughts on a self-sustaining model. [BLOG] Hello, My Name is... — The glory of name tags. [BLOG] The Ghosts in My Life — Who ya gonna call? Ghostbloggers! [BLOG] To Build a Brand (Writing Style) — Figuring out how to best brand my fiction. [BLOG] Slippery Slope — Struggling with issues and gaining traction. [BLOG] Major Website Changes — Brief summary of the recent website changes. [BLOG] Time for a Career Change — Career change and writing job search. [BLOG] The Selfishness of Art — Is the act of creating art selfish? [BLOG] "Fan Fiction kills the original" — Does fan fiction harm the original work? [BLOG] This Author's Toolbox — The various tools this website has to offer. [BLOG] Return of the Black Sheep — Finding acceptance in being different. [BLOG] Star Wars - A Prediction — Prediction of Star Wars Episode Nine. [BLOG] What Teacher Appreciation Week means to me — Expressing my appreciation to all the teachers in my life. [BLOG] Interview with Katherine Luck — Interview about the How to Write Like blog. [BLOG] Time Traveler Logic Puzzle — Presenting an original logic puzzle touching on the theme of time travel fo the Time Travel Themed Birthday Weekend. [BLOG] Time Travel Birthday Weekend - Recap — Best birthday weekend ever! [BLOG] Sharing Ideas — Sharing ideas as creative prompts. [BLOG] Airing of Grievances — Around the time of Festivus is the Airing of Grievances. My list contains more constructive grievances. [BLOG] Do Over! — If you could change something to potentially make it better, would you? [BLOG] The Pledge — Thoughts on writing and reciting pledges. [BLOG] Where to Begin — How to start writing stories. [BLOG] Recipe for an Author Page — Suggestions for designing an author website. [BLOG] Go Around the Room — Talking about a pet peeve of mine going around the room saying a little something about ourselves. [BLOG] Speaking What is Written — How video editing is similar to writing. [BLOG] Juggling Act — Finding balance between projects and pastimes. [BLOG] Bullied or Ignored? — How promoting a book is like being the new kid in school. [BLOG] Are You Not Critical Enough? — Accepting a more critical approach to your writing in order to improve. [BLOG] Parody -- Flattering or Insulting? — The pros and cons of parody. [BLOG] To the Honk of My Own Trumpet — Staying true to oneself despite peer pressure to follow a more normal behavior. [BLOG] Organizing Thoughts — Thoughts on keeping my thoughts organized.
This weather is crazy. It's like that animated sequence in Monty Python's Holy Grail: "...winter changed into spring, spring changed into summer, summer changed back into winter, and winter gave spring and summer a miss and went straight on into autumn..." We hit near freezing temperatures on Halloween. Again, we have an arctic blast across the country, and it is not yet winter! It's not even Thanksgiving! The weather needs to stop imitating stores and rushing the winter season before we've even ordered our first pumpkin-spice lattes. We know winter is coming. Winter just broke down the door, took the Sheldon spot, and propped up its muddy boots on the coffee table. The question is, is autumn coming?
I can't do anything about the weather (yet). But, I have given thought about possible ways to save the world. I'm a fiction writer. I daydream... a LOT!
One of my earlier projects, which I intend to write a new series of novels around (eventually) started with the premise like Stephen King's "Under the Dome". What if you confined citizens to a closed area, but you developed the area to be self-sustainable? If we want to put people on Mars and be able to allow them to live there indefinitely, we should practice locally. I'm not saying to build a dome around Austin. Think of a city as an island. What would I do to make Austin self-sufficient and to be the least dependent on any other place? First, provide the basic necessities for all citizens: food, clothing, and shelter.
FOOD
Before I get into food, I would improve the waste management in Austin. Austin already does a decent job of providing trash and recycling services. I would also make a move for a third bin for composting. My family does all three. Each week, waste management collects trash and recycles. They also have a service that collects lawn clippings and branches on a different day. We produce very little garbage (mostly plastic wrappers). Recyclables and compost is a majority of the waste our family produces (excluding bodily wastes). We've trained people to recycle. There are recycle bins all over the city. Now, train the citizens to also compost. As for bodily wastes, Austin does create Dillo Dirt, which is bio-based soil product. Why is this important?
Now, we get back to food. If the entire city composted and contributes to Dillo Dirt, the city now has enriched soil for urban farming. Austin already has a few neighborhood farm patches. But, to feed all the people in Austin, we need other farming areas. Why not reuse retention pond areas for farming? They're there to collect water. Why not feed it to crops? What about rooftops of the businesses? Need more space? Learn from drug growers who are able to grow tons of marijuana indoors using UV lighting or hydroponics. Reuse dead office spaces. I'm sure we could adjust the sprinkler systems. There are plenty of vacant places for farming. With indoor, urban farming, the city could grow vegetation year-round with minimal worry about frost or pests. Plus, I've seen some cities turn walls of buildings into herb gardens. I'm sure we can find plenty of places to grow food.
What about land for farm animals? If everyone went vegan or vegetarian, it would make things a little easier. So, where do we raise farm animals? I would keep the grazing pastures and fisheries to the perimeters of the city. Again, the animal wastes can contribute to the enriched soil of the urban farming.
We we accommodate farming within the city structure, it also handles part of the next necessity...
CLOTHING
With cattle and sheep at the perimeter of the city, this provides for leather and wool clothing. If part of the crops produce cotton, that's another textile to provide clothing.
I have seen ads and articles where plastic is turned into shoes or sandals or other items. I tried wearing Crocs, but decided they aren't comfortable to me. But, I wouldn't mind wearing recycled plastic soled sandals with sheep's wool straps.
People donate clothing all the time, but rarely do people patch clothing. For a city to be self-sustaining, any holey clothes that might be thrown out could be used for patching other clothing. Or, for quilting.
I don't see too big of a problem with clothing. Most clothes last a long time. Unless you are a young boy with a new pair of jeans, in which case, your knees will Hulk-rage holes in those jeans within a day.
The fashionistas might object to limited or patched clothing, but we aren't talking about fashion. We are talking about sustainability.
SHELTER
Austin has plenty of places for shelter. Even if no additional houses were built, and the city's population expanded, we could accommodate more with what we currently have.
One thing that could happen is doubling up households. If necessary, would you welcome your single or coupled friends to your big home, would you make room for them and allow them to live with you? There's also the perk of more adults per household helping everyone financially by splitting the costs.
Regardless, even some of the out-of-business commercial places could be converted into some kind of communal shelter. I like Halloween quite a bit, but do we really need that many Halloween stores? If we are talking about sustainability to a confined area, we could convert commercial areas into residential areas.
With the necessities taken care of, what else?
UTILITIES
I've already mentioned adding composting to waste management. What about water treatment? Instead of pumping water to a facility to have it treated, why can't homes be retrofitted with individual water treatment functionality the way homes are retrofitted with solar panels? Why does all the water need to feed back to the city? Couldn't at least part of the water be recycled and treated in a household? If the International Space Station can do it, why can't individual homes?
Solar panels. Another thing the space station has. I see more and more houses adding solar panels to their roofs. I can picture a day in the not too distant future (a decade maybe?) where solar panels become part of the standard building procedure the way houses are designed to handle water runoff.
I still follow Solar Roadways, and it's awesome to see how much support they receive. From what I have seen, they have set up tiled areas and attended green energy meetings all over the worlds.
Even though there are plenty of surfaces across Austin to pave with solar panelling, I'm not sure if it is enough to make Austin self-sustaining. Although, in the imagined island of Austin model, we could add wind farms to the surrounding pastures.
MEDICAL CARE
I have seen more and more clinic type places sprout up across Austin. Most of these are in commercial areas. Why not build these closer to the residential areas? Why not convert one of the houses in a neighborhood into this kind of clinic? Or, make it part of the plan for the community center?
Why don't doctors make house calls much anymore? If residential areas provided a service of family practitioners who did house calls to check on households on a rotation, more people might live healthier lives with the doctors coming to them. Plus, if it was paid for as part of the residential tax system, there wouldn't be as much need for medical insurance. It is a service the neighborhood pays for and is automatically scheduled. The doctors could get paid whether you are home or not to make your appointment.
I remember learning some basic first aid, and I can't remember if it was part of PE, Boy Scouts, a health class, or all of the above. First aid and health should be a mandatory class taught in school along with some basic home remedies. Even teach kids about how to recognize and deal with allergic reactions and seizures and all sorts of other common medical emergencies. If we engrain these things into society, then more people are better prepared for emergency situations. As GI Joe says...Knowing is half the battle.
CULTURE CHANGE
I admit it. Most of these suggestions are based on little to no research, but at least I am thinking of possible solutions for problems that impact all of us. These suggestions may not be glamorous or fashionable solutions. Many of these will take retraining our brains and becoming comfortable with uncomfortable situations.
I see a lot of complaining in the news, but I don't see that many suggestions. When I do see suggestions, and some of them aren't that crazy, I see it followed up by a bunch of nay-saying, which is not followed up by a better solution. It's not even followed up by a list of reasons why the idea won't work. The nay-saying is mostly followed up by insults, which they might as well say, "This idea is new to me, therefore I must fear it. I am Lothar of the Hill People."
Crazy ideas change the world. Finding a shortcut for the trade route by sailing across an ocean of sea monsters and going over the Earth's edge?! You're a madman! Land a giant tin can with people in it on the moon, and then fly part of that tin can back to Earth?! Are you insane?! A telephone that takes pictures and displays cat videos?! That's ridiculous! A movie about a tornado full of sharks?! Brilliant! Okay. Sharknado didn't really change the world, but it did create a franchise of six movies and had celebrities begging to be part of it.
When the world changes, it starts with someone's crazy idea. When other people open their minds a little, they begin to see that the idea is not as crazy as it first appeared. What are your crazy ideas?
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